USA > Connecticut > Illustrated popular biography of Connecticut > Part 48
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In ISSo, Dr. Newton was appointed a director of the State Prison at Wethersfield, and has been con- tinued by re-appointment in that office ever since. He is also actively interested in the public affairs of Stafford and has been chairman of the board of selectmen and chairman of the board of school visi- tors during various years.
Dr. Newton married, in 1856, Caroline, daughter of John Fuller, Esq., who was prominently identi-
fied with the early growth and development of Holyoke, Mass. Four children have been born to them, one of whom died in childhood. Dr. Newton has enjoyed remarkably good health, and during thirty-five years of exacting professional service has lost scarcely a fortnight from active personal attention to his business.
EDWARD GRISWOLD, GUILFORD: Merchant.
Mr. Griswold is a native of the town where he now resides; was born June 30, 1839. He studied in the public schools, and graduated at the Guil- ford Institute. When the civil war broke out he was twenty-two years old, and in September, 1861, he, with another resident of Guilford, enlisted thirty-four of the young men of that place as members of the First Light Battery, and served with them as a private soldier in that organiza- tion three years. At the end of that time his rec- EDWARD GRISWOLD. ord showed that he had participated in one more engagement than any other member of the battery. Returning from the war, he was solicited by the late Governor Buck- ingham and by Generals Russell and Kellogg to re- cruit a section of artillery for the Connecticut Na- tional Guard. This he did, the condition of many enlistments being that he too should become a member, and upon organization he was unani- mously eleeted commander - a position he most satisfactorily filled six years. It was the first bat- tery that ever appeared with the state militia fully equipped for mounted service. He has been an active member of the Grand Army from its organ- ization. For upwards of twenty years he has kept a " country store " of general merchandise, and for several years was business manager of the Guil- ford Canning Company. He has held various minor offices in his town and borough, and in 1882 and 1883 represented Guilford in the Connecticut legislature. He voted for the " parallel road" in the house, and cannot resist the impression that this action cost him the bitter personal ill-will of some of the active opponents of the measure. He has always been a republican in politics, and cast his first vote for Abraham Lincoln; but he now classes himself as an independent. He is married and has three children, his wife being Miss Annie E. Parmelee prior to her marriage. His church membership is with the First Congregational so- ciety of Guilford.
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HERMAN W. HUKE, TORRINGTON: General Foreman and Assistant Superintendent Excelsior Needle Company.
Herman W. Huke was a member of the general assembly in 1889 and acquitted himself with credit on the republican side of the house. He was born in Torrington October 2, 1854, and was educated at the Torrington High School and Yale College of Business and Finance, preparing himself for a business career. He is a member of the Board of Education in his town and is connected with a number of industrial enterprises, including the Excelsior Needle Com- pany, the Torrington Co- H. W. HUKE. operative Company, and the : Alvord & Spear Manufacturing Company. Hethas been in the employ of the Excelsior Needle Company for twenty years, occupying the posi- tion of general foreman and assistant superinten- dent for the past fifteen years. He is the presi- dent of the Torrington Co-operative Company. Mr. Huke is a member of the Third Congrega- tional Association at Torrington, and is a repub- lican in politics. His wife, who was Miss Nellie H. Allen prior to her marriage, is the daughter of Sheriff Allen of Litchfield county. There is one child, a boy of seven years.
ERWIN O. DIMOCK, TOLLAND : Attorney-at- Law.
E. O. Dimock was born in Stafford, October 6, 1842, and received a good common and select school education. He served with the Twenty- fifth Connecticut regi- ment in the late war, and spent a year at General Banks' headquarters after the regiment returned home. He engaged in farming and lumbering a few years, and afterwards took up the fire insurance business and the study of law, and was admitted to the Tolland county bar in IS71, and engaged in the E. O. DIMOCK. practice of law in Stafford till 1873, when he estab- lished himself in Tolland, and has been in practice there to the present time. In 1875 he was ap- pointed assistant clerk of the superior court for
Tolland county, and was appointed clerk the fol- lowing year, which position he now holds. He has also held several town offices. He was a lib- eral republican in the Greeley campaign, and a St. John prohibitionist, and is now acting with the re- publican party.
Mr. Dimock married Miss Mary E. Sparrow. She died June 15th of the present year. He has no children. He is a member of the Con- gregational church in Tolland; also of the Ma- sonic fraternity, Patrons of Husbandry, Grand Army of the Republic, and Sons of Temperance.
HON. OSCAR LEACH, DURHAM.
The subject of this sketch was born in Madison in 1831. He had the advantages of the common schools and academy, and an acquaintance early in life with all the prominent people of the community through his father, Hon. L. W. Leach, who was long a leading citizen of Middlesex county. The senator removed to Dur- ham when young, and be- came a successful mer- chant. He was early in- terested in the success of the republican party, and filled many local positions of honor and trust. He was appointed postmaster OSCAR LEACH. at Durham at the opening of President Lincoln's first term, and was removed during the last year of Johnson's term, but was re-appointed the next year, under President Grant. He held the office until his resignation in October, 1885. In 1866 he represented Durham in the house, being the col- league of William Wadsworth, and serving upon the committee on incorporations. In 1869 he was elected to the state senate, and became a con- spicuous member of a body in which were Hon. David Gallup, Hon. Heusted W. R. Hoyt, Hon. Charles B. Andrews, Hon. Carnot O. Spencer, Hon. George M. Landers of New Britain, and ex- Mayor Lucien W. Sperry of New Haven. In 1887 Senator Leach was returned to that body, and was made senate chairman of the committee on cities and boroughs, and served with distinction through- out the session.
Senator Leach has been always in politics, and has probably exerted a more controlling influence in the deliberations of his party asso- ciates, locally and statewise, than almost any of his contemporaries. He is entirely at home in legislative affairs, is a fluent speaker, and has a most happy faculty for impressing his audience
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with the righteousness of his cause, which he adopts conscientiously and advocates with great persistence and profound earnestness of manner and language. Senator Leach married, in Decem- ber, 1853, Miss Eliza J. Hickox, daughter of L. C. Hickox of Durham, and they have two children.
HON. THOMAS CLARK, NORTH STONINGTON: President Norwich & New York Transportation Company.
Hon. Thomas Clark is the only son of Hon. Thomas A. Clark of Lisbon, Conn., and was born in that town, December 26, 1830. His early boy- hood was spent at home. He received his education at the common and select schools, and from a pri- vate teacher. At sixteen years of age he taught school in his own district, and was so efficient that the same board chose him again for teacher the fol- lowing winter. When eighteen years old he left home, spending a year at Norwich and a THOMAS CLARK. year or two in Mata- gorda, Tex., as merchant's clerk. In the autumn of 1853 he returned north and opened a store temporarily in North Stonington, where he married Miss Sarah E. Wheeler, only daughter of the late William R. Wheeler, and where he has since resided. He was educated a democrat, but his sojourn at the south and other influences decided him to work with the republican party from the day of its organization. He has ever since been its staunchest friend, and one of its most earnest workers.
For many years he pursued an energetic and suc- cessful career as a manufacturer. At the time of the war, and for several years succeeding, his health was much impaired. He sent a substitute, and with his zeal and purse gave all the aid in his power to the cause in which he so thoroughly be- lieved. Subsequently his physicians recommended a voyage across the ocean and entire rest from business as the only means of saving his life. In 1870 he made the trip to Europe, spending several months on the continent and placing himself under the care of Sir Henry Thompson. This course re- sulted, after long debility, in an entire cure.
In 1861, 1862, and 1866, he was a member of the house, and in 1867 a member of the senate. In 1868 he was a delegate-at-large at the national re- publican convention at Chicago, acting in place of the late Hon. H. H. Starkweather, and as secre-
tary of the Connecticut delegation. In 1889 he was elected president and manager of the Norwich & New York Transportation Company, which posi- tion he now holds. In 1882 he was nominated for the office of judge of probate for his district, but declined the honor. He was comptroller of the state in 1887-88, having been elected on the state ticket which had the Hon. P. C. Lounsbury at its head. He discharged the duties of this office with signal ability, his ripe judgment and experience in business affairs serving to good purpose in enabling him to decide promptly and wisely concerning the responsibilities and obligations of this important trust. His church connections and membership are with the Congregational society. He has one son, Wilfred A. Clark, who is a lawyer in New York city.
Mr. Clark is a gentleman of pleasing social quali- ties, and his wide circle of personal friends hold him in the highest esteem.
HENRY W. WESSELLS, LITCHFIELD: Druggist.
Henry W. Wessells was born in New Milford, July 13, 1845, and was educated at the " Gunnery " in Washington. He is the son of General L. W. Wessells of Litchfield, who was a prominent sol- dier in the field during the war, and is actively connected with the Con- necticut Division, Sons of Veterans. When the C. O. Belden camp, No. 31, was organized at Litch- field, Oct. 5, IS87, he was elected captain and held the position until January, 1890. In May, ISS9, he was elected lieutenant- H. W. WESSELLS. colonel of the Connecticut division and was advanced to the command in Feb- ruary, 1890. February 5, IS91, he was chosen lieutenant-colonel and commander of the Arm Battalion of the division. He is also at present the captain of Belden Camp. He was the first dictator of the Litchfield lodge, Knights of Honor, and is a member of the New York Commandery, Loyal Legion. Colonel Wessells is a republican in poli- tics and has held the office of assessor in Litchfield. He is a member of the Episcopal church in that place. He is engaged in the druggist business, being a member of the firm of Wessells, Gates & Co., and is also the secretary of the Litchfield Mutual Fire Insurance Company. He was lieu- tenant Company H, Fourth Regiment, C. N. G., for three years, resigning in 1875. The wife of Colonel Wessells was Miss Anne E. Dotterer prior to marriage. There are no children in the family.
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WILLIAM F. J. BOARDMAN, HARTFORD : A Retired Merchant and Manufacturer.
W. F. J. Boardman, a representative of one of the oldest and most honorable families of Hartford, was born in Wethersfield December 12, 1828. He is a descendant in the seventh generation from Samuel Boardman (origi- nally spelled Boreman), who was born in Banbury, Oxfordshire, England, and emigrated to Ameri- ca about 1637, settling in Ipswich, Mass., where he was a land owner in 1639, and whence he removed to Wethersfield, Conn., in 1640. He was a deputy W. F. J. BOARDMAN. from Wethersfield to the general court for thirty- four sessions, and during his lifetime there occupied many positions of honor and trust within the gift of his township and the colony. "Few of the first settlers of Connecticut (says Hinman) came with a better reputation, or sustained it more uniformly through life, than Mr. Boardman." From the original American ancestor, Samuel, down through six generations, in the line of the subject of this sketch, the Boardmans have without exception been natives of Wethersfield, and during their lives prominently identified with that ancient town, where each has, in one or another official capacity, served with distinction his day and generation, leaving an honorable and patriotic record. The father of the present subject, William Boardman, was born at Lenox, Mass., but removed to Wethersfield with his father the year of his birth. He was by trade a printer; was a book and news- paper publisher, and afterwards a merchant and manufacturer for forty-six years. He came to Hartford in 1858, and until his death in 1887 was a prominent and useful citizen, as many of the resi- dents of Hartford of the present day will well remember.
William F. J. Boardman received his primary education at the public schools of his native town, and graduated from Wethersfield Academy in 1846, where he had studied under the preceptorship of Noah B. Clark and S. A. Galpin, distinguished educators of that day. On leaving school in the spring of 1846, he entered the coffee and spice manufactory of his father in Wethersfield, to learn the business in detail. Four years later, upon the removal of the business to Hartford, he purchased a one-third interest therein and it was continued under the firm name of William Boardman & Son. On the seventh of January, 1852, he was married to Jane M. Greenleaf, daughter of Dr. Charles
Greenleaf of Hartford. In 1853 his brother, Thomas J. Boardman, was admitted as a partner in the business, and the firm removed to larger quarters; its name was changed to William Boardman & Sons, and its operations extended to include importing, manufacturing, and jobbing in teas, coffees, and spices, with a wholesale trade throughout New England and other states. The financial part of the business being under the care of W. F. J. Boardman, his father attended to the buying, and his brother to the manufacturing and packing de- partment. This business connection continued with uninterrupted success until 1887, when Mr. Board- man, senior, died, and one year later W. F. J. Boardman retired, having been connected with the firm continuously for thirty-eight years.
Mr. Boardman was one of the original members of the Putnam Phalanx under its permanent organ- ization in 1859. In 1863 he was elected a member of the Hartford common council from the third ward, in which he was a member of the highways committee and chairman of the committee on the horse railroad then being constructed. As a mem- ber of the council he did his whole duty, acting for the city's good without fear or favor. In1 1861 he was chosen a director of the State Bank of Hart- ford, serving several years and giving to the insti- tution the same conscientious attention that he did to his own business. This was during the war of the rebellion, when the "old State" Bank was called upon by Governor Buckingham, perhaps more freely and extensively than any other institu- tion in the state to furnish the " sinews of war," which it did to the extent of many times its capital. In 1868 Mr. Boardman's health suffered serious impairment, and he was obliged temporarily to retire from active business ; but, regaining it to a con- siderable extent, he gave renewed attention to the affairs of the firm. The establishment was again moved to larger quarters on State street, and in 1871 the fine " Boardman Building " on Asylum street was erected at a cost - including machinery, etc.,- of over $100,000, the firm occupying the new building in 1872. In 1887 he went abroad, visiting parts of England, Scotland, and France, in the hope of confirming his still imperfect health, and taking with him his medical adviser. The trip was not entirely successful, and as a matter of physical necessity he concluded on his return in 1888 to abandon all business activity, which he did by selling to his brother his entire interest in the old firm July 7, 1888, as above intimated, after an ex- perience of forty-two years, thirty-eight of which was with the firm already specified. During his business life Mr. Boardman has been actively en- gaged in promoting or establishing many enter- prises, including the Hartford & New York Steam- boat Company, the Merrick Thread Company of
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Holyoke, Mass., and the Hudson River Water Power and Paper Company of Mechanicsville, N. Y. He has also assisted many young men in establishing themselves in business. In 1863-64 he in company with others built a number of sailing vessels, for the coasting and foreign trade, among them the William Boardman, the M. M. Merri- man, the Sarah A. Reed, and the A. J. Bentley, with a considerable proprietory interest in many others. He has often served on commissions, has settled estates, operated in real estate considerably, attended to the construction of some of the best buildings in Hartford, and has generally led an active life. He has made it a point never to incur an obligation which he could not meet at once or on maturity of his promise, and has thus acquired and maintained a reputation for integrity which none can call in question. He is and always has been a democrat, inheriting that political faith from ancestors whose patriotism has been inflexibly loyal and solid in all emergencies. He has held no pub- lic office for several years, nor does he seek any. He has until recently retained his connection with the Phalanx, and is still a member of the Connecti- cut Historical Society, and of the Sons of the American Revolution.
Mr. Boardman's family consists of his wife and an only son, William Greenleaf Boardman, who was born in Hartford June 29, 1853, and still resides in this city.
EDWARD MILLER, MERIDEN: Manufacturer of Brass and Iron Goods.
Edward Miller was born in Wallingford, in this state, August 10, 1827. When he was two years of age his parents moved to Canistota, New York, eight years later return- ing to Connecticut and set- tling in Meriden, where his life has since been spent. His education was acquir- ed chiefly at the public schools of Meriden, with a brief subsequent acad- emical experience. After leaving school he engaged in mechanical pursuits, and ultimately established himself in Meriden in the manufacture of kerosene EDWARD MILLER. burners, lamps, bronzes, sheet brass, and various forms of utensils made from that metal; making and putting upon this market the first kerosene burner, for burning kerosene oil made from distilled coal. He is now the president and senior member of the house of Edward Miller & Company, one of the important industrial establishments of that city,
with offices and salesrooms in Boston and New York. This house was established in 1844, and in- corporated under the laws of the state in 1866. Mr. Miller has never sought public office, though having occupied various positions of trust within the gift of his townsmen. He is a republican in politics, and a member of the First Baptist church. He has a wife and three children living, two sons and a daughter. Mrs. Miller was Miss Caroline M. Neal prior to her marriage, and a native of South- ington.
S. Y. BEACH, SEYMOUR: Paper Manufacturer.
Sharon Yale Beach is a descendant of the Rev. Benjamin Beach, an influential clergyman of New Haven county. His father, Giles Beach, was born in North Haven, where the subject of this sketch was also born, May 21, I809. On liis mother's side he is a descendant of Captain Jonathan Day- ton, who was a justice of the peace and an officer in the revolutionary war. An interesting fact in connection with the mili- tary service of Captain Dayton is that his four sons were members of the S. Y. BEACH. company which he com- manded. The wife of Captain Dayton was Mary Yale, the latter name appearing in Mr. Beach's. Mr. Beach has four sons, who with himself compose the S. Y. Beach Paper Company of Seymour. The oldest of the sons, Mr. G. W. Beach, is also the su- perintendent of the Naugatuck division of the New York, New Haven & Hartford railroad system. The second, A. Y. Beach, is engaged in the coal and grocery trade. The third, Sharon D. Beach, is the manager of the paper company, while the fourth, Theodore B. Beach, is the railroad station agent at Seymour. The first wife of Mr. Beach, who died February IS, 1871, was Miss Adeline Sperry of Orange, sister of the late Dr. Isaac J. Sperry of Hartford. The second wife, who is now living, was Miss Julia L. Hine of Orange. There is also one daughter in the family. Mr. Beach has made his own fortune in the world. He began life on a North Haven farm and was afterward a clerk in a grocery store. Subsequently he spent about twelve years in a cotton factory at Humphreysville, now Seymour, and there began the manufacture of paper. In the latter industry lie inet with decided success. When the Ansonia Baptist church was organized, Mr. Beach was chosen its first deacon, and the office is still retained by him at the earnest solicitation of tlie people. He was the superin-
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tendent of the Bible-school until he was seventy years of age. Deacon Beach has been a member of the Baptist church for more than sixty years. He was a democrat originally, but abandoned the party on account of the extension of slavery and united with the republicans. At present he is an active supporter of the prohibition party. He has held the offices of selectman, justice of the peace, and chairman of the board of education. During the war he was chairman of the republican town committee of Seymour and called the first meeting in the town favoring President Lincoln. He also presided at the last meeting in the town held in consequence of the struggle. His life has been one closely identified with public interests.
ELIPHALET B. HULL, NOROTON HEIGHTS (DARIEN).
Eliphalet B. Hull, who is the sole survivor of the party that attempted to convey assistance to the passengers of the burning steamer Lexington Jan- uary 13, 1840, was born in the town of Westport February 4, 1820, and educated in the common schools of that section of the state. At the age of sixteen he was appren- ticed to the carpenter's trade. At the end of his apprenticeship he was employed for two years in Fairfield and Bridge- port. It was towards the E. B. HULL. end of his apprentice days that the event referred to above occurred. Young Hull was not twenty years of age at the time. With three others he manned a yawl boat at Southport and started for the rescue of the burning steamer's passengers. It was an act of great gallantry, the four men taking their lives in their hands, ready to sacrifice themselves in the effort to rescue the Lexington's passengers from the terrible calamity that engulfed them. The rescuers labored with a will to reach the ill- fated steamer but were unable to make much more than half of the distance before the vessel sank out of sight. In 1842 Mr. Hull entered the employ of the Stamford Manufacturing Co., being assigned to wheelwright and machinery work, and remained with the establishment for twenty-eight years. From the close of that period until within a few years he was engaged in his regular trade. Mr. Hull served in the state militia in the town of Fair- field. He is a member of the Methodist church and a republican in politics. He has been twice mar- ried. His present wife was Miss Sarah C. Hyde. There are three daughters living, by the first wife.
REV. SAMUEL M. HAMMOND, TORRINGTON: Pastor Methodist Episcopal church.
Samuel M. Hammond was born in Brookhaven, N. Y., March 10, 1833. He supplemented an aca- demic education by a theological course in the Methodist Biblical Insti- tute at Concord, N. H., graduating in 1859. When a young man he taught in the south, and, during the war, spent some time in the service of the Christian Commis- sion. He became a min- ister in the Methodist Episcopal church in 1860, and has spent part of his S. M. HAMMOND. ministerial career in Brooklyn, New Rochelle, New Haven, New Britain, and Ansonia, going to his present charge at Tor- rington in the spring of 1888. In 1859 he was mar- ried to Miss Fannie A. Howell of Mattituck, L. I., a lady in all respects well adapted to assist him in the prosecution of the work to which he has devoted his life. They have been blessed with ten children, three sons and seven daughters. Mr. Hammond is a most sympathetic and faithful pastor, and a logical, instructive, magnetic, and very earnest preacher. He has an excellent gift of language, is never at a loss for words to express either his thoughts or feelings, and, when fully aroused, in using either tongue or pen, not seldom reaches an eloquence that touches every emotion and awakens every sympathy. He is a man of clear, well-rea- soned, strongly-grounded conviction, and therefore a man of great moral courage, who is never afraid to stand with a despised minority, in defense of any cause that he deems right. He is well known throughout Connecticut and in other states as a fearless and uncompromising enemy of the Ameri- can grog-shop. During one of his pastorates on Long Island he took such an active part in pushing the temperance cause and suppressing the illegal sale of liquors, that the worshipers of Bacchus and Gambrinus, instead of canonizing him for the good work he had accomplished, cannonaded him by fir- ing a national salute, out of joy for his departure, the day he left for a new field of labor. When a young man he became deeply interested in the anti-slavery question, was a stout advocate of free- dom, and an ardent member of the republican party; but when, in, 1872, his party in the sixteenth resolution of its national platform, joined hands (as he believed) with the liquor interest, he became convinced that the drink evil could only be effec- tually dealt with by a political party organized for that purpose. He assisted to organize the prohibi-
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