USA > Connecticut > Illustrated popular biography of Connecticut > Part 49
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BIOGRAPHY OF CONNECTICUT.
tion party in Connecticut in 1884, and during the four years following was one of its most able and aggressive leaders. The productions of his pen were scattered broadcast over the state, arousing the hostility of some, carrying deep and permanent conviction to others, and giving new inspiration and courage to those who had already entered the prohibition ranks. In 1888, he was sent as a dele- gate at large to the national prohibition convention at Indianapolis. He there became satisfied that the party as officered and managed stood as much for woman-suffrage as for the abolition of the drink evil, and, being strongly opposed to that measure, he was reluctantly compelled to leave the party; but he never lets slip a good opportunity to strike a blow at the liquor traffic and its political protectors. Physically, Mr. Hammond is not what would be called vigorous, but intellectually and spiritually he is thoroughly equipped for his import- ant work. He is a sincere, manly man, who "abhors that which is evil, and cleaves to that which is good."
GOULD SMITH CLARK, MIDDLEBURY: Farmer.
Mr. Clark, now in his seventy-eighth year, was born in the town of Prospect, March 12, 1814. He was reared a farmer, in an agricultural neighbor- hood, where the educa- tional facilities were few, and at a remote date when school-houses were of very primitive design exteriorly and interiorly, in striking contrast with the public schools of to- day and the buildings in which pupils are now taught. He was married in 1840 to Miss Maria H. Skilton of Watertown, by whom he has had three children. His married G. S. CLARK. life has been spent almost entirely in Middlebury, where he has owned and managed the farm upon which he now resides, and where he has held nearly all the offices within the gift of the town, being elected thereto by the republicans, of which party he has been a member since 1856. He is a member of the Congregational church of Middlebury, and has been one of its deacons since 1864. He repre- sented that town in the legislature in the years 1857, 1871, and 1872, and was appointed by Gov- ernor Andrew as one of the appraisers of the state prison property in Wethersfield. Deacon Clark has had a long, useful, and honored life. He was of sturdy New England stock, and in his person and character exemplifies the noblest and best traits of a Puritan ancestry.
NATHANIEL LYON KNOWLTON, ASHFORD: Farmer.
N. L. Knowlton was born in Ashford, May 19, 1844. After acquiring a solid education at the pub- lic schools he engaged in mechanical and agricultu- ral pursuits, which have since occupied his atten- tion. He represented Ashford in the legislature in 1872, and was post- master at West Ashford from 1881 till 1887. He was married in 1868 to Miss Sarah S. Wright of Ashford. He is a demo- crat in politics, and by that party has been raised to the various positions of trust and honor which N. L. KNOWLTON. he has held. Mr. Knowl- ton is of distinguished ancestry, being a nephew of General Lyon, the brave and lamented soldier who lost his life in the service of his country, during the war of the rebellion, at Wilson Creek, Aug. 10, 1861; and also a descendant of Colonel Thomas Knowlton of revolutionary memory, who was killed in the battle of Harlem Heights, Sept. 16, 1776.
AMOS S. BLAKE, WATERBURY: Inventor and Manufacturer.
Amos S. Blake has been a member of the general assembly during three sessions. He was originally elected to the house from Waterbury in 1869, and was returned during the two successive years of 1874 and 1875. In politics Mr. Blake is a democrat. He has also held public offices in Vermont and Michigan. For a number of years he was one of the judges of jail delivery in the former state, where the law until recent years authorized imprisonment for debt. He was a coun- ty commissioner for three A. S. BLAKE. years in the state of Michigan. Mr. Blake is an inventor of distinc- tion, his inventions being covered by nineteen patents. During the winter of 1830-31 he con- structed the first locomotive ever seen in New England. The model was small, being designed to illustrate the principles of railroad constric- tion. It was able to carry two persons around a hall on a circular track. The design was very generally exhibited through the northern states,
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by Asa Harrington of Middlesex, Vt. During the war Mr. Blake was the superintendent of the Ameri- can Flask and Cap Company at Waterbury. In one year the concern delivered one hundred tons of percussion caps to the government. Mr. Blake has employed not less than 3,000 persons for him- self and others in various kinds of work. He was born at Brookfield, Vt., January 18, 1812, and was educated at Southmade Academy and Scott's Mili- tary School at Montpelier, Vt. He was a captain in the artillery service for two years. The maiden name of his wife, who is still living, was Eliza Cor- delia Woodward. Two daughters are also living. The subject of this sketch has spent his whole life in the profession of dentistry and in mining and manufacturing.
JEROME B. BALDWIN, WILLIMANTIC: Mer- chant.
Mr. Baldwin was born in the town of Mansfield, September 14, 1843. The common schools of the town afforded him his education, and at the age of eighteen he enlisted as a private in Company D,
Twenty-First regiment Connecticut Volunteers, serving three years; rose to the rank of sergeant, was in all the principal battles of his gallant regi- ment, and was seriously wounded in the second day's engagement in front of Petersburg. Return- ing from the war, after J. B. BALDWIN. three years' active ser- vice, he turned his atten- tion to mercantile pursuits, and for many years was senior member of the firm of Baldwin & Webb in the clothing and furnishing goods trade, doing business in Willimantic. For the last few years, since the retirement of Mr. Webb from the firm, he has conducted the business alone. He married Miss Ella M. Adams, and has three children, daugh- ters. M. Baldwin filled the position of town and borough assessor for three years and was on the board of water commissioners for a similar term, which latter position he still occupies. He is a member of the republican party, and as such was elected to represent the town of Windham in the state legislature in 1885, serving as chairman of the engrossed bills committee and also on the commit- tee on military affairs. He is a member of the Grand Army organization in Willimantic. Mr. Baldwin is a highly-respected citizen, and though never an aspirant for public office, takes an ac- tive interest in whatever promotes the public welfare.
HON. EDWIN HOLMES BUGBEE, PUTNAM.
Edwin H. Bugbee was born in Thompson, Conn., in 1820, the son of James Bugbee, born in Wood- stock in 1788, a descendant of Edward Bugby, who settled in Roxbury, Mass., in 1634, sailing in the ship Francis, from Ipswich, England. The family home of the immi- grant was Stratford-Bow, then a suburb of London, but now within the cor- porate limits of that city. The subject of this sketch was educated in the pub- lic schools of the town, and was early a clerk in his father's store. E. H. BUGBEE. In 1839 he entered the em- ploy of the Lyman Manufacturing Company at their mills in North Providence, R. I., as clerk and book- keeper. In 1843-44 he obtained a lease of the mills, and commenced business on his own account. The business of those years proved successful for manufacturers, and at the close of 1844 he returned to Thompson, having in the meantime purchased a farm in his native town. In 1849 he removed to Killingly, entering the employ of the Williamsville Manufacturing Company, at their factory in Kill- ingly, remaining with them till 1879. He early took an active interest in the political affairs of the town, and in 1855 received the nomination for rep- resentative to the general assembly. The exciting question in the several towns of the county at that time was that of the proposed incorporation of a new town to be formed from portions of Thompson, Killingly, and Pomfret, to be called Putnam. Mr. Bugbee having earnestly advocated the cause of the friends of the proposed new town was defeated, because of that advocacy, by a majority of fourteen votes. In 1857 he was again a candidate and was elected by a handsome majority; he was also elected a representative from Killingly in 1859, '61, '63, '69, '71, '73, and 1879. In 1865 and 1868 he was senator from the Fourteenth District, and in 1868 was elected president pro tem. of the senate. He served eight terms as chairman of committees, and in 1871 was speaker of the house. In all these years he proved an active member on the floor of either house. Mr. Bugbee is a republican, having acted with that party since its organization, but disclaims being a partisan. He is represented as being in favor of tariff and civil service reform, and is strenuously opposed to the so-called " Lodge Force Bill" of the Fifty-first congress. He con- tends that the country's greatest need at the pres- ent time is for more patriots and fewer partisans.
Mr. Bugbee was married in 1857, his wife surviv-
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ing less than one year. Since 1882 he has been a resident of Putnam, having retired from business. He has been a director of the Putnam National Bank since the year of its organization, and is vice- president for Connecticut of the New England Historic-Genealogical Society, and is much inter- ested in genealogical research.
JOHN D. BROWNE, HARTFORD: President Con- necticut Fire Insurance Company.
John D. Browne is a native of Connecticut, hav- ing been born in the town of Plainfield, Windham county, in 1836. The old homestead, first occupied by his great-great-grand- father, is still in the fam- ily, and now occupied by an elder brother. Mr. Browne comes of long- lived, hardy, Puritan, and revolutionary stock; the kind which broke up the rugged soil, built the public highways, and the school-houses and churches, and fought the battles for liberty and na- tional independence. His grandfather, John J. D. BROWNE. Browne, enlisted as a musician in the patriot army in 1776, serving, with two of his brothers, through the long and trying period of the war, and was pro- moted while in service to the position of fife-major of his regiment. His father, Gurdon Perkins Browne, was a hard-working farmer, who reared his family in habits of industry and frugality, and did not forget to inculcate by precept and example those principles of robust morality and patriotism in which he had himself been trained. He was also a school teacher of con- siderable celebrity, beginning to teach at the age of seventeen, and continuing in that profession through thirty-six winters. He was an ardent democrat of the old school, always performing his duties as a patriotic citizen, and voting at every election in his town until the very close of his long life, dying at the advanced age of eighty-three years. Mr. Browne's mother was a woman of rare qualities, deeply solicitous for the intel- lectual and spiritual culture of her children, and earnestly devoted to her family. The early environment of the subject of this sketch was, therefore, of a healthy sort, in both its material and mental aspects, favorable to the formation of correct habits and a manly character, and promo- tive of the best development of the natural gifts which he had inherited from a long line of sturdy and honorable ancestors.
Mr. Browne's youthful life was devoted to the
farm and the district school, and at the age of nine- teen he taught one of the schools of his native town. But the duties of a school teacher were not congenial as a life work; and, having in 1855 made a visit to the then far-off territory of Minnesota, he made a second journey thither in the spring of 1857, and located in Minneapolis. He was for two years connected with the Minneapolis Mill Com- pany, and aided in the development and improve- ment of the magnificent water-power at that point. Afterwards he went to Little Falls, then a town of a few hundred inhabitants, located on the Missis- sippi River, about one hundred and twenty-five miles north of Minneapolis, where he spent a year as director and agent of the Little Falls Manufac- turing Company, engaged in developing the water- power there by the construction of a dam across the Mississippi.
While in Minnesota Mr. Browne was actively prominent in local and state politics, aided in or- ganizing the republican party in Minnesota, and held intimate relations with the dominant party at the national capital throughout the administra- tion of President Lincoln, for whose election he had been an enthusiastic and effective worker. He was often a delegate to county and state conventions, and was elected an alternate dele- gate to the national republican convention which nominated Mr. Lincoln. His republican- ism was known to be of the most pronounced type, and his political activity and enthusiasm con- stituted him an important factor in all the councils of his party throughout the greater portion of the period of eight years over which his residence in Minnesota extended.
At the close of the presidential campaign, in the autumn of 1860, he was elected messenger to take the first electoral vote of Minnesota to Washington, in which city he remained during the succeeding winter, having been appointed to a desk in the interior department at the capitol under Jo. Wilson, then commissioner of the general land office. He returned to Minnesota in the spring of 1861, and for four years, during Lin- coln's administration, was chief clerk in the office of the surveyor-general of public lands at St. Panl, to which city the office had been recently removed from Detroit.
In 1865 Mr. Browne returned east, and soon after- wards entered upon insurance work, in 1867 becom- ing permanently connected with the Hartford Fire Insurance Company as its general agent and ad- juster. In 1870 he was elceted secretary of that company, in the duties of which office he was en- gaged for ten years, or until called to the presi- dency of the Connecticut Fire in 18So. His incum- bency of this latter office still continues. It is but just to Mr. Browne to say that since his elevation
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to its chief executive office the Connecticut has abundantly maintained its high standing among the solid and prosperous institutions of its class in this insurance center, while its progressive tendency is illustrated by the fact that the volume of the company's yearly business has doubled since he as- sumed its management.
Mr. Browne sustains official relations with vari- ous business and social organizations in Hartford. He is a director in the Phoenix Mutual Life Insur- ance Company, the National Exchange Bank, the Board of United Charities, the Humane Society, and the Connecticut State Prison Association, with which latter society he is further connected as a member of its committee on visitations and dis- charges. He is also a member of the Connecticut Historical Society, and of the Connecticut Society of the Sons of the American Revolution. He was married, October 23, 1861, to Miss Frances Cleve- land, daughter of Luther Cleveland, Esq., of Plainfield. They have two children, the elder being now the wife of Francis R. Cooley, son of Hon. F. B. Cooley of this city.
OLIVER MARKHAM, MIDDLETOWN: Gunsmith.
The subject of this sketch was born in Middle- town, of which city, either as a municipality or a township, his ancestors for five generations were natives and residents. Mr. Markham is able to trace his descent in a direct line through nine generations to Sir Robert Markham of Nottingham- shire, England, who was seventeenth in descent from Claron de Markham, the Saxon chief, of West Markham, England, the first of the name, who died in the year 1066.
OLIVER MARKHAM. Oliver Markham was born in Middletown, as before stated, July 17, 1825. He learned the trade of gunsmith from his father, John Markham (the last owner of Markham's mills), at Savage's factory in Middletown. He went to Windsor, Vt., in 1848, took a contract for locks for Robbins & Lawrence, and when that firm removed to Hartford under the name of "Sharps' Armory," he went with them there, and subsequently to Bridgeport, being a con- tractor with the corporation during its entire exist- ence. He was an inventor of sundry parts of guns, and acted as draughtsman for the concern. While in Hartford, Mr. Markham was a member of the common council in 1862. He is now a director in the Central National Bank of Middletown, to
which city he removed in 1869, and has since main- tained his residence there. He was married, July 23, 1848, to Sarah Ann Clark, daughter of Ambrose Clark of Middletown. They have two sons living, one of whom is Dr. E. A. Markham of Durham.
CALEB J. CAMP, WEST WINSTED: Retired Mer- chant and Financier.
C. J. Camp was born in the town of Winchester, where he has spent his whole life. His early edu- cation was that of the common school, with a win- ter or two at the village academy by way of finish. This, however, was the foundation only. Reading and observation, and con- stant contact with able men have since made him a self-reliant and versa- tile man of affairs, judi- cious and sagacious. At fifteen he began his busi- ness career as clerk in the general store of Lucius C. J. CAMP. Clarke. At nineteen he was a member of the firm of M. & C. J. Camp, who were Mr. Clarke's succes- sors. Such was the enterprise and energy of this young firm that they soon not only surpassed all local competitors, but in amount of sales distanced every other mercantile establishment in Litchfield county. The management, largely, of this store soon came into this young man's hands, who not only made a grand success of it, but also a first- class training school for many a clerk, who was there drilled to do his very best, and taught habits of strictest integrity. In public enterprises he has often been a leader - always an active promoter. His strong characteristics have been an inborn business sagacity, a clear insight into the intrica- cies of almost any kind of enterprise, and the pos- session of that rare tact which enabled him to dis- arm prejudice, and secure for his own ideas an en- thusiastic approval, or at least a respectful consid- eration. He has been a successful organizer and an influential man at all times. During his career as village merchant Mr. Camp was progressive, and the promoter of various schemes which long ago resulted in making Winsted one of the most attractive boroughs in the state. The firm of which he was a member were active in the estab- lishment of several manufacturing enterprises. For thirty-five years they were the owners of the Union Chair Company of Robertsville; they built the first large brick block in Winsted containing a public hall, which was at that time regarded as in ad- vance of the demands of the village. To Mr.
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Camp's individual efforts the borough was in- debted for its flagging stone walks, and he was the first mover in the introduction of gas works. He was also the founder of the Winona Savings Bank at Winona, Minn., of which the late Secre- tary Windom was president at the time of his death. While president of the Connecticut West- ern Railroad Company he evinced the same ability to master the affairs of railway enterprises that he had manifested in mercantile and manufacturing pursuits. Under his management the securities of the company advanced in value more than one hundred per cent. In politics Mr. Camp has been a life-long republican, a firm believer in high tariff and protection, and a consistent temperance man. For many years he has been a member of the Congregational church, and an earnest and ac- tive supporter, and not only of the church but of every benevolent and worthy cause. He is always recognized as a friend and helper of the minister and the missionary, and as taking cognizance of the needs and bestowing judicious benefactions upon the deserving and unfortunate poor. He is known and honored not less for his marked ability than for his courtesy and kindliness of heart and unquestioned integrity, while his home is proverbial for its genial and generous hospitality.
LUKE M. HEERY, VERSAILLES: Woolen Manu- facturer.
Mr. Heery is a native of Ireland, where he was born in 1848. His father's family removed to this country and settled in Hinsdale, Mass., in 1858. At the age of twelve years, after earlier train- ing in the public schools, he went to work in the woolen mills at Hinsdale, and rose through the various grades of employ- ment to the superinten- dency, which position he held six years, until 1876, when he formed a part- nership with James Wal- ton, who owned and operated the Methuen Mills. This partnership L. M. HEERY. was dissolved two years later, when Mr. Heery assumed sole management and control of the ex- tensive business. In 1878 he was owner of the West Chelmsford mills, near Lowell, Mass., and in 1880 bought the Versailles Mill. A year later he also purchased mills in Monson, Mass., and for sev- eral years operated the several establishments in the manufacture of cassimeres and worsted goods, being probably the largest individual woolen man-
ufacturer in New England. In 1889 he suffered quite heavy losses through parties to whom he con- signed his goods, and shortly afterward contracted his business and disposed of the Versailles and Chelmsford establishments. In partnership with his brother he is now confining his attention to the Monson Mills, in the same lines of manufacture, the establishment being incorporated under the laws of Massachusetts, and known as the Monson Woolen Company. Mr. Heery is an active, ener- getic man, who will conquer success in the face of great obstacles. He was an aid-de-camp on the staff of Governor Waller in 1883-84, with the rank of Colonel.
GEORGE M. REDWAY, HARTFORD: Marble Dealer.
Lieutenant-Colonel George M. Redway occupies a prominent position in the Order of Odd Fellows in Connecticut, and is widely known throughout the state. He became a member of Charter Oak Lodge in Hartford, September 23, 1874, and united with Midian En- campment in 1876. He held all of the offices in that organization, occupy- ing that of Chief Patri- arch in 1881. He has been the treasurer of the encampment for a num- ber of years. He was a charter member of Can- G. M. REDWAY. ton Capitol City, Patri- archs Militant, and was elected captain of the organization in 1887. During that year he was also advanced to the position of major of the Second Regiment; December 22, 1889, he was elected lieutenant-colonel of the regiment, and still retains that position. September 25, 1890, the decoration of Chivalry, the highest degree in the order, was conferred on him in Hartford on the occasion of the annual field-day of the Connecticut Patriarchs Militant. October 21, 1890, he became an officer of the Grand Encampment, I. O. O. F., of the state of Connecticut. Lieut .- Col. Redway is one of the most exemplary of Odd Fellows, and is governed in all 'respects by the principles of the order. He has for years been an influential par- ticipant in the work of the different organizations with which he is associated, and was one of the originators of the Odd Fellow Memorial Day. He was born in Trenton, N. J., July 12, 1832. and was educated in grammar school No. 3. New York city. He removed from New York to Hartford. Nov. 16, 1848, going to Mobile, Ala., in 1853. He remained in that city not far from four years, and returned
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to Hartford in 1857. He engaged in the employ of the Hon. James G. Batterson as a marble engraver,, and remained with him until 1879, proving himself one of the most competent men in the state in his avocation. After retiring from the employ of Mr. Batterson in 1879, he established the monument business on North Main street, where he has since remained. In 1857 he married Miss M. Elizabeth, daughter of Elijah Bibbins of Windham, and has resided in this city since his marriage. There are no children in the family. As a citizen and busi- ness man Lieut .- Col. Redway possesses the fullest confidence of the public and is deserving in every way of the positions which he has attained in life.
LUZON B. MORRIS, NEW HAVEN: Attorney-at- Law.
Hon. Luzon B. Morris was born in Newtown, April 16, 1827, and received a collegiate education at Yale, being a member of the class of 1854. His life at the outset was en- vironed with difficulties from which men of less spirit and determination would have shrunk in despair. The means for defraying his college ex- penses were earned by himself, and the diploma that was awarded him by the great university of which he has been a loyal son was merited in the highest degree. With- L. B. MORRIS. in a year of his gradua- tion from Yale, he was elected a member of the legislature from the town of Seymour, was re- turned from that town in 1856, and in 1870 repre- sented New Haven in the same body. In 1874 he was a member of the state senate from the old Fourth district, and in 1876 again represented New Haven in the house, as he has since for one or two sessions. He was the candidate of the democratic party for governor in 1888, and again in 1890, receiving at each succeeding election a large plurality of the votes cast,-and by the face of the returns a majority in 1890. But his inaugura- tion in regular form was defeated by the republi- cans at the opening of the legislative session follow- ing, in January, 1891, on technicalities which are still occupying the attention of the courts at the present writing. Judge Morris is a distinguished mem- ber of the New Haven county bar and the presi- dent of the Connecticut Savings Bank of New Haven. His career has been an exemplification of the results attainable in New England by men of genius and perseverance. As a young man he
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