USA > Connecticut > Illustrated popular biography of Connecticut > Part 45
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Since his advent into the business in 1866, Mr.
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Whiting has been quite a prolific writer on insur- ance matters; he has also delivered several ad- dresses upon this theme, one before the New York State Association of Supervising and Adjusting Agents at Niagara Falls, and others before the Connecticut State Firemen's Association in 1888; also one of special note before the Northwestern Association. At the annual meeting of the national board of fire underwriters in 1890 he contributed a paper which attracted much attention.
Mr. Whiting has held various positions of public trust. He was supervisor of the town of Wheat- land, Wisconsin, in 1863; in 1865 was a member of the Wisconsin state convention which nominated Hon. Jeremiah M. Rusk to the first state office he ever held. Here in Hartford he is vice-president and a director in the City Bank, director in the National Life Insurance Company and the Perkins Electric Lamp Company, chairman of the finance committee of the Hartford Board of Trade, a mem- ber of the Historical Society and of the Sons of the Revolution. He is a member of the Asylum Hill Congregational society, and in politics an inde- pendent republican. He married in 1856 Miss Sarah E. Fairchild, daughter of Frederick Fair- child of Greenbush, N. Y. They have had two children; both died in infancy.
HON. HOMER TWITCHELL, NAUGATUCK : Manufacturer.
Senator Homer Twitchell is an active and in- fluential democratic leader in his section of the state. In 1884 he was a member of the house of representatives, and was in the senate during the session of 1889, represent- ing the Fifth senatorial district. He was returned to the senate of 1891. In 1884 he was a delegate to the national democratic convention in Chicago which nominated Presi- dent Cleveland. The sen- ator has held numerous local offices, including that of first selectman, justice of the peace, mem- HOMER TWITCHELL. ber of the boards of assessors and relief in his town. He has also been prominently connected with business interests, having been president of the Naugatuck Savings Bank, president of the Naugatuck Water Company, and being now direc- tor in the Naugatuck National Bank, trustee of the Naugatuck Savings Bank, and manager of the ex- tensive manufacturing firm of H. Twitchell & Son. Since 1870 he has been engaged in the manufacture
of umbrella trimmings and shield pins. He is a member of the Congregational church, and a past master of Shepherd Lodge, No. 78, F. and A. M., of Naugatuck. The wife of Senator Twitchell, who is still living, was Miss Lavinia Mason of Coventry. He has one son, who is engaged with him in business. The senator was born in Oxford, August 19, 1826, and received a common school education. He lived on a farm until he was eighteen years of age, when he began work in a pocket cutlery establishment. His success in life has been due to his personal exertion and manage- ment.
HON. HENRY E. SHOVE, WARREN: Farmer and Salesman.
Mr. Shove is a descendant in the fourth genera- tion of the Rev. Seth Shove, who came to this country from England about 1700, and was the first settled minister in Dan- bury, Conn. He was born January 22, 1831, at War- ren, Conn., where he has spent the greater part of his life as farmer and salesman. He was for a number of years previous to 1885 associated with the firm of Richards & Shove, at Brewsters, N. Y., where his son, L. A. Shove, still 7 carries on business. MIr. Shove has held the office of selectman for a number H. E. SHOVE. of years, assessor for six years, collector, grand juror, and justice of the peace for thirteen years, which office he still holds; also a member of the school board - all of which he has filled with credit to himself and to the entire satisfaction of his con- stituents and fellow-townsmen. In the numerous suits that have come before him as justice he has always been guided by the strict principles of equity in rendering his decisions, which have been to the general satisfaction of all parties concerned. He is always ready to help those who are willing to help themselves, liberal in his donations and in his views. He has been associated with the Methodist church forty years, and has always been very active in all temperance movements. In I851 he was married to Miss Fannie Lain of Kent, Conn. The fruit of their union is five sons and one daughter, all of whom are living and filling honorable posi- tions in four different states. In 1879 Mr. Shove received a nomination as representative for the town of Warren to the general assembly by the democratic party, and was elected by the largest majority ever given to any candidate in that town. He filled the office with credit, and to the great
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satisfaction of his constituents. He has been fre- quently called upon to officiate at special religious gatherings, for which service he seems specially qualified. He is a man of great kindness of heart, urbanity of deportment, and of the strictest integ- rity. As such he commands the respect and confi- dence of all with whom he becomes associated in the active duties of life.
JOHN HENRY HURLBURT, BRIDGEPORT, In- surance and Real Estate.
J. H. Hurlburt was born in Wilton, Fairfield County, Jan. 21, 1840. He was educated at Wilton academy, and spent two years in Trinity College, Hartford, from which ill- health compelled him to retire. In 1860 he became assistant to Mr. C. M. Sel- leck in his famous school at Norwalk, from which he resigned to take charge of "Rocky Dell Insti- tute," a private school founded by Hon. William H. Barnum at Lime Rock, in 1864, which position he retained until January, J. H. HURLBURT. 1887, at which latter date he was appointed internal revenue agent under President Cleveland. He resigned the agency July 1, 1889, at the request of the Harrison administration, under the frank avowal that the place, being one paying a good salary, was much sought after and desired for some friend of the new administration. For fifteen years he served as secretary of the school board of Salis- bury, bringing the public schools of that town to a high degree of efficiency. During his long connec- tion with educational institutions and affairs he accomplished great results in the enlightenment and discipline of youth, and acquired a wide and honor- able reputation, not only as an instructor, but also for his able management of the public schools. In the fall of 1881 he was chosen a member of the legis- lature from Salisbury, and served on the committee on education. After resigning from the government service he was obliged on account of the loss of an eye to relinquish the charge of the school he had held through assistants up to that time. At present he is residing at Bridgeport, and acting as special agent of the Mutual Life Insurance Company of New York.
Mr. Hurlburt has been twice married; first to Miss Rebecca Maria, daughter of B. O. Banks, of Norwalk, by whom he had two children; and sec- ond to Roxana Sophia, daughter of C. H. Glens of Salisbury, by whom he has five children.
REV. J. H. CHAPIN, PH.D., MERIDEN : Univer- salist Clergyman, and Professor of Geology and Mineralogy in St. Lawrence University, New York.
Dr. J. H. Chapin is a descendant of the eighth generation of Samuel Chapin, who came from Wales to Dorchester, Mass., in 1636, and finally settled at Springfield in 1642, where some of his descendants still reside. He was born Dec. 31, 1832, at Leavenworth, Ind., but spent his youth in Illinois, whither his father removed in 1839. He graduated at Lom- bard University, Gales- burg, Ill., in 1857, and was for several years an instructor in mathematics and natural science in J. H. CHAPIN. that institution. In 1859 he was ordained to the ministry in the Univer- salist church, and was settled at Pekin, and afterwards at Springfield in that state. Dur- ing the war of the rebellion he was in the ser- vice of the United States Sanitary Commission, and crossing the Rocky Mountains in the spring of 1864, canvassed the greater part of the Pacific coast from Mexico to British Columbia for funds for the commission, supplementing the work that had been so well begun by Rev. T. Starr King just before his death. In the autumn of 1865 he went to Boston as secretary of the New England Freedmen's Aid Society, of which Governor John A. Andrew was president, and while holding that position made several tours of inspection of the schools in the Southern States. In 1868 he became financial secretary of the Universalist convention, with headquarters in Boston, and during the cen- tennial period of that church was instrumental in raising the larger part of the " Murray centenary fund," now held for missionary purposes. In 1871 he became professor of geology and mineralogy in St. Lawrence University in New York, which posi- tion he' still holds. In 1875 he was elected presi- dent of his alma mater at Galesburg, Ill., but after due consideration declined to go. In 1873 he re- sumed regular pulpit ministrations, and became pastor of the Universalist church at Meriden, Conn., and continued in that relation till 1885, when, finding himself overloaded with professional duties, he resigned. He is a member of the school board in Meriden, and from 1880 to 1887 was acting school visitor ; and it was during this period that the high school was established, and the present capacious building erected. He is an active Fellow of the American association for the advancement
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of science, and one of the founders of the associa- tion of American geologists. He has been presi- dent of the Connecticut convention of Universalists for a dozen years, and was for a long period, pre- ceding his recent absence from the country, chair- man of the committee on missions in the national convention of that church. He belongs to the free masons and odd fellows, and among the former holds the rank of knight templar. He has been twice married -first in 1857 to Helen M. Weaver of Alstead, N. H., and again in 1878 to Kate A. Lewis of Meriden, Conn., and has one daugh- ter, Mary A., born in 1863. Dr. Chapin has made several tours in foreign lands, and not long since returned from a tour around the world. He is the author of several volumes, among them " The Creation, and the Early Development of Society," which had a large sale for a scientific work ; and one recently from the press entitled " From Japan to Granada," is well received both by the press and public. He has been identified with the re- publicans since the organization of the party, but never held a political office till elected to the house of representatives in 1888.
HON. HEZEKIAH SIDNEY HAYDEN, WIND- SOR: Judge of Probate.
H. Sidney Hayden - a descendant in the seventh generation from William Hayden, the American ancestor- was born at Haydens, in the town of Windsor, January 29, 1816. In boyhood he de- veloped no very marked traits to distinguish him from his brothers, except possibly that into the dull routine of farin and school life he infused more en- thusiasm, and managed to find a quicker market and drive a little sharper bargain than his associ- ates when trying to dis- pose of the wild game which they captured each H. S. HAYDEN. autumn, and on which they were largely dependent for pocket money. At the age of about sixteen he left the farm and entered a country store, from which he graduated two or three years later, and joined his brother in Charleston, S. C. Here, with untir- ing enery, he applied himself, under the leadership of his elder brother, and on the retirement of that brother in 1843 took the lead of the business him- self. After successfully conducting the business in Charleston about fifteen years, he returned to Windsor in 1858, where he has since resided. He has served in both branches of the Connecticut
legislature - in the senate in 1866, where he served as chairman of the joint special committee for the care and education of the orphans of soldiers; and in the house in 1868 and 1872, where he was on the joint standing committee on the school fund. He was judge of probate for the district of Windsor for twenty-seven years, or until disqualified by the seventy-years limit set by law for all judicial offi- cers. He was appointed one of the trustees to select a site and erect buildings for a hospital for the insane; has been chairman of the trustees and of their building committee, and has had super- vision over the erection of nearly all the buildings now composing the Connecticut Hospital for the Insane at Middletown, which have cost the state a million dollars. His services have been gratuitous (as have been the services of the other trustees), and he has devoted much time to the interests of the institution. In July, 1889, Mr. Hayden volun- tarily retired from the board of hospital trustees, which action called forth the following expression from his associates a few months later:
RESOLUTION IN REGARD TO H. SIDNEY HAYDEN. THE CONN. HOSPITAL FOR THE INSANE, ; MIDDLETOWN, CONN. 1
We, the trustees, desire to have entered upon our records an expression of our regard at the voluntary retirement of Mr. Hayden from our board, and our appreciation of his long and valuable services. To no citizen of our state is a greater debt of gratitude due for the amelioration of the condition of its insane than to Mr. Hayden. From the very inception of the plan for the founding of our insane hospi- tal before 1865 to last July, when he retired, he has been un- tiring in his devotion to, and work for, the afflicted in mind of the state. The present condition of this hospital, of which we are justly proud, is in a great measure due to his unflagging zeal. No weather was so inclement, or call so inconvenient, that he could not attend to his charitable duties here; in the early days, when the income was not always sufficient to meet the expenses, loaning his personal credit, and aiding all by his advice and mature judgment. His absence will long be felt at our meetings, and his men- ory ever be held in affection and esteem.
Resolved, That the above resolution be entered upon our records, and that the secretary transmit an engrossed copy of the same to Mr. Hayden.
Attest: J. W. ALSOP. Secretary Board of Trustees.
Middletown, Conn., Nov. 4, 18SQ.
Soon after Mr. Hayden's return from Charleston to Windsor he prepared and furnished suitable buildings for a young ladies' seminary, an insti- tution which has been well sustained, and is still in the full tide of success, with Miss Julia S. Williams as principal. He is one of the trus- tees and the treasurer of the Loomis Institute, an educational institution ultimately to be established with its large fund at the old Loomis homestead in Windsor. His enterprise and investments have added much to the growth and attractiveness of the historie old town of Windsor, in which he takes a
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commendable pride as the home of his ancestors from its early beginnings. He has been a large contributor to Grace (Episcopal) church in Wind- sor, of which he is a devoted member and senior warden.
Mr. Hayden married, October 9, 1848, Miss Abby S. Loomis, daughter of Colonel James Loomis of Windsor, and a descendant of one of the first settlers of the town. They have one (adopted) daughter, Sarah Elizabeth Hayden, who married H. T. Haskell of Chicago, Il1.
F. F. STREET, EAST HARTFORD: Insurance Agent.
Frederick Ferdinand Street was born in Cheshire, Conn., January 26, 1830. The family ancestry on both sides is traced back to English origin- on his mother's side to the Hon. Henry Wolcott, who came from Tolland, England, and settled in Windsor, Conn., and whose grand- son was Governor Roger Wolcottof the Connecticut colony; also to the Rev. John Davenport, one of the original settlers of New Haven. In the pa- ternal line Mr. Street is of the sixth generation from the Rev. Nicholas F. F. STREET. Street, who came from Taunton, England, in 1630, or thereabouts, settling in what is now the city of Taunton, Mass., naming the place after his native town. The Rev. Samuel Street, son of the emigrant, came to this country with his father, was educated at Cambridge, Mass., and settled in Wallingford, this state, being the first minister in the town, and one of the original settlers there. In his early life the subject of this sketch was for eight years engaged in exten- sive farming, and the West India trade in New Haven, especially during the winters; alternating this occupation with the manufacture of brick dur- ing the summers. For the following seven years he was in the india rubber business in Naugatuck, being one of the superintendents of what is now the Good- year Metallic Rubber Shoe Company, where he still retains an interest. He afterwards went on to the road as commercial traveler for a Philadelphia house, journeying through the northern and south- ern states for several years. After this Mr. Street settled in Harrisburg, Pa., in the building and brick business, under the firm name of F. F. Street & Co., where he continued until 1868, when he came to Hartford and established himself in the fire in- surance business, where he has since remained.
During his business life in Hartford Mr. Street has been often engaged in promoting or establishing business enterprises and manufacturing concerns, among them being the Hartford Machine Screw Company, previous to its present organization, and others on the west side. He is one of the auditors of the Pratt & Whitney Com- pany, a director of the Pratt & Cady Com- pany, and secretary and treasurer of the Tucker Stop Motion Company. Mr. Street's early edu- cation was acquired at the common schools and the Cheshire academy. His wife previous to her marriage was Miss Mary Abbott Chapman, daugh- ter of the late Reuben Chapman of East Hartford, and they have one adopted daughter. Mr. Street resides with his family in East Hartford, where he is a member of the First Congregational church, and a director in the Raymond Library. In poli- tics he is a republican, but has always refused to accept public office. He is also a member of Hart- ford Lodge of Masons.
N. A. MOORE, KENSINGTON: Landscape Artist. Nelson Augustus Moore was born in Kensington in 1824, in the paternal homestead owned by his grandfather, probably one hundred and fifty years ago, and still standing, though in a dilapidated condition. He is a lineal descendant of John Moore, his first American ancestor, who emigrated from England to Amer- ica in 1630, and settled in Dorchester, Mass., re- moving thence to Wind- sor, Conn., in company with Dr. Wareham, in 1636. Nearly thirty years N. A. MOORE. ago the subject of this sketch erected his present residence in the vicinity of the ancestral mansion above referred to, and to its natural beauty of sit- uation he has since, by the aid of nature and art, added such adornments as to entitle it now to con- siderable distinction among the picturesque resi- dences of New England. Mr. Moore's father was a manufacturer, of the firm of R. Moore & Sons, who were the first to make and successfully intro- duce hydraulic cement as an article of commerce into the markets of this country. He was a man of some means, and anxious that his son should take a collegiate course at Yale; but, though the latter received what was then considered a liberal education, he neglected to avail himself of the higher advantages contemplated by his father, which neglect he has in his later life often regret-
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ted. From the age of eighteen to twenty-five his occupations were thoroughly varied. Much of his time was spent at the mills, and he thus acquired a facility for turning his hand to almost any mechanical work. One of these years was spent in railway service, in 1846, when railroading in this country was in its infancy. His position was that of local agent at the Berlin station on the New Haven & Hartford Railroad, which then had its termini at these two cities. During all these years he found more or less time to gratify his taste for drawing and painting; and when at the Berlin station, he maintained a studio in the attic of the little depot building, where he painted gratuitously a few portraits for his friends. Of these it might be said there was a resemblance to their subjects! Although he always had a love for pictures, his first strong impulse to paint was when a portrait painter (the father of the present state labor commissioner, S. M. Hotchkiss,) invited him to assist in painting by candle-light a portrait (or a study for one) of a little girl who had met with a fatal accident. His " assistance " was that of holding the light and watching the progress of the study. This was when he was eighteen years of age. After that he embraced every opportunity to practice in a crude way the art of painting. After leaving the service of the railroad company he decided to study in New York, and went into the studio of Thomas S. Cummings, now the only survivor of those who first organized the National Academy, of which Mr. Cummings was treasurer, and afterwards vice- president. Later, Mr. Moore entered the studio of D. Huntington, now and for many years the presi- dent of the Academy. After leaving New York he continued to practice his art at his home in Kensing- ton; and soon his love for natural scenery drew him from the practice of portrait and figure paint- ing to that of landscapes, which he has followed all his life with great assiduity. Few artists have spent as much time in out-of-door study, in pains- taking fidelity to nature, as Mr. Moore. His sketches comprise a great variety of subjects, in- cluding all seasons of the year. Much of his sum- mer life has been at Lake George. Since he built his house in Kensington his home has always been there, although before that time he lived several years in Hartford, and has since spent four years in that city in order that his children might enjoy the advantages of its excellent schools. Much of his adult life has also been spent in New York, his studio at one time being in the Y. M. C. A. build- ing in that city. His canvases have been exhibited in the academy more or less for the past twenty five years. He has painted to order for many leading and wealthy men, and his works are scat- tered from his own state even to Japan, where several are now owned by gentlemen who consider
themselves critics as well as connoisseurs of art. As a landscape artist he has an established reputa- tion, and has among his patrons some of the most noted picture buyers of the country.
Mr. Moore was married in 1853 to Miss Ann Maria Pickett, of Litchfield, Conn., who with their four children, is now living. There are three sons and one daughter; the oldest son, a figure and animal painter, has reached a high degree of suc- cess in the department of art to which his attention has been chiefly devoted.
RUSSELL L. HALL, NEW CANAAN : President First National Bank.
Mr. Hall was born in Warren, Litchfield county, Conn., August 18, 1832, being now in his fifty- ninth year. He is a descendant in the seventh generation from Francis Hall, who came from Mil- ford, county of Surrey, England, in 1639, settling first in New Haven, after- wards in Fairfield, and finally in Stratford, where he was engaged in the practice of law until the time of his death, which occurred in March, 1689 or 1690. The subject of this sketch, after complet- 1 ing his education, which R. L. HALL .. was acquired partly at the public and partly at private schools, learned the trade of cabinet-maker in Goshen, Conn .. remov- ing from there soon afterwards to New Canaan. where he has since resided. He has always been active in public affairs, is president of the First National Bank of New Canaan, which position he has held since 1879, is also treasurer of the New Canaan Savings Bank, and a member of the firm of R. L. Hall & Brothers, dealers in furniture.
The family of Mr. Hall consists of his wife, who, before her marriage, was Miss Betsey A. Jones of New Canaan, and two children, son and daughter. the former of whom, Lewis C. Hall, is a member of the present senior class at Yale University. In politics Mr. Hall is a republican, and he has held many local offices, being at present republican registrar of voters, as well as chairman of the re- publican town committee, which latter position he has held for nearly twenty years. He has been repeatedly chosen town assessor, has been deputy sheriff, and held other offices of minor importance. He is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church of New Canaan, of the order of Odd Fellows, and the Sons of Temperance, a man of wealth, sterling qualities, and of the highest standing, socially and intellectually.
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ARTHUR H. DAYTON, NAUGATUCK: Banker.
Mr. Dayton was born at Waterbury, November 24, 1854. He finished his education at Wilbraham (Mass.) academy, and at the age of sixteen entered the bank at East Had- dam, Conn., as clerk. After a few years of clerical service he was chosen cashier of the in-« stitution, retaining that connection until 1883, when he was appointed cashier of the Naugatuck National Bank, which po- sition he still occupies. In 1885 he was elected treasurer of the Nauga- A. H. DAYTON. tuck Savings Bank, and holds the office at the present time. He is also president of the Nauga- tuck Electric Light Company, and assistant treas- urer of Goodyear's Metallic Rubber Shoe Company of Naugatuck. He is a member of the Protestant Episcopal church, is a republican in politics, and has membership in the Odd Fellows and Masonic fra- ternities. Mr. Dayton is married, and has one son. His wife was Miss Millie C. Bliss of Longmeadow, Mass.
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