USA > Connecticut > Illustrated popular biography of Connecticut > Part 5
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Professor Pratt was married early in life to Miss Sarah Putnam Gulliver. They have one son, Waldo S. Pratt, A.M., professor of music and hymnology in the Hartford Theological Seminary.
DR. P. W. ELLSWORTH, HARTFORD.
Dr. Pinckney Webster Ellsworth was born in that city, December 5, 1814, being the grandson of Chief Justice Oliver Ellsworth of the United States Supreme Court and the son of Governor W. W. Ellsworth of Connecticut. His mother, Emily Web- ster Ellsworth, was the eldest daughter of Noah Webster, the noted lexi- cographer. He is a de- scendant of Governor Bradford of the May- flower, and also of John Webster, one of the first governors of the Connec- ticut colony. Governor Webster was one of the P. W. ELLSWORTH.
leading members of the First Church of Christ, now known as the Center Church, in Hartford. but ow- ing to differences of opinion concerning baptism he removed to Massachusetts, establishing his home in Haverhill. This Governor Webster was one of Noah Webster's ancestors, and it is supposed that the text of the original Unabridged Webster was prepared in the old Massachusetts home of the governor. John Steele, who came to Hartford about six months prior to Thomas Hooker's arrival here was also an ancestor of Dr. Ellsworth. Chief Justice Ellsworth, who represented Connecticut in the national constitutional convention in Philadel- phia, was the originator of the plan giving each of the states two senators in the national congress. Dr. Ellsworth graduated from Yale College in the class of 1836 and pursued the most exacting medi- cal course then required in the noted medical schools in Philadelphia and New York, graduating from the College of Physicians and Surgeons in the latter city in 1839. His medical studies were afterwards continued in Paris, London, and Dublin. He set- tled in Hartford as a practitioner in 1843 and in a few years became one of the foremost surgeons in the state. He was the partner of Amariah Brig- ham, who became, subsequently, the superintendent of the Retreat for the Insane in this city. From this city Dr. Brigham removed to Utica and became the superintendent of the Insane Asylum there. Dr. Ellsworth, in conjunction with his father, Gov- ernor Ellsworth, was mainly instrumental in pro- curing these promotions for Dr. Brigham. Dr. Ellsworth was himself one of the visiting physicians for a considerable period at the Retreat. He was one of the organizers of the City Medical Society. and is among the leading members of the Hartford county and the state medical societies, and honorary member of the New York State Medical Society. During the war his distinction as a surgeon led to
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his appointment to a brigade-surgeonship, receiving his commission from Governor Buckingham. He served on the staff of General Isaac T. Stevens of the Army of the Potomac, who was shot and killed at the head of his command in the second battle of Bull Run. General Stevens was the governor of California and one of the bravest men in the field. Dr. Ellsworth was an examiner of recruits for the service and probably made the personal examination of 9,000 men for the service. He has also held the office of pension examiner in this state for nine years, serving in that capacity under Presidents Johnson, Grant, and Cleveland. He is a member of the Center Church, where he was baptised in infancy by the Rev. Dr. Strong, one of the most noted divines of his day. He be- came a member of the church soon after his gradua- tion. His father, Governor Ellsworth, was a dea- con in the Center Church for fifty years. The only brother of Dr. Ellsworth, Oliver Ellsworth, was in- terested for several years with John F. Trumbull of Stonington in the manufacture of cotton gins. Afterwards he became a successful publisher of school books in Boston. Losing his fortune in the end, he went to Montana and died there some years ago. There were four sisters in the family, only one of whom is now living. One died in in- fancy; one was the wife of President Jackson of Trinity College; and one the wife of Russell S. Cook, who was secretary of the American Tract Society. The youngest sister, Elizabeth Ellsworth, married the late Waldo Hutchins of New York, a distinguished lawyer and member of congress from the metropolis. She is still living. Dr. Ellsworth has been married twice. His first wife was Julia M. Sterling, daughter of Jesse Sterling of Bridge- port, who was one of the first treasurers of the Housatonic Railroad Company. She died at the age of twenty-nine years. The second wife, who is now living, was Julia Townsend Dow, daughter of Lucius K. Dow of New Haven. There are six children by this marriage now living. The three elder are Mrs. Augustus Julian Lyman of Ashe- ville, N. C., son of Bishop Lyman of North Caro- lina; Wolcott Webster Ellsworth, who is now pur- suing a post-graduate course at Yale University, a brilliant linguist and a student of great promise; and Emily Webster Ellsworth. The three remain- ing children of the family are under age. '1 he son of Dr. Ellsworth by his first marriage died in the old home on Main street near St. John's Church, when only two and a half years old. From that day until now it has been impossible for Dr. Ellsworth to speak of the loss without the deepest emotion. The busiest part of the doctor's life was spent in the home which he occupied for years, where the Phoenix Insurance Company's office now stands on Pearl street. Dr. Ellsworth is an independent in
politics and has invariably abstained from public office. Even in the church, where his father was a deacon for half a century, he has maintained the same position with regard to the holding of office. Dr. Ellsworth has long been a thorough and con- scientious student of the Scriptures, the Greek Tes- tament especially attracting his attention and inter- est. He is the author of a number of valuable contributions to the science of theology, including a work of more than ordinary research entitled "Immanuel, God with us." His life has been a notable one in this city.
C. W. HUNTINGTON, HARTFORD : Professor of Music.
Prof. Charles Wesley Huntington was born in New London, March 13, 1829, and received a com- mon school education. He adopted the profession of music and was organist and teacher from 1846 un- til 1886. He located in Hartford in 1856 and oc- cupied for years the pro- fessorship of music in the State Normal School in New Britain, and in the Hartford High School, and Hartford Female Seminary. Prof. Hunt- ington was the first to discover the merits of the great singer, Signor Foli, and introduced him to C. W. HUNTINGTON. the brilliant experience he has had in Europe and the United States. When the Professor first ob- served the talents of the distinguished vocalist, he was a carpenter in this city. The first systematic musical training which he received was from Prof. Huntington. As a musician, the Professor has attained an enviable reputation, and his efforts in behalf of the higher musical instruction and train- ing have placed the public under permanent ob- ligations to him.
It should be stated that the subject of this sketch is of the eighth generation from Christopher Hunt- ington, who as a child sailed from England with his father (Simon) and mother in 1633, the father dying on shipboard and being buried at sea. Christo- pher and his mother settled in Windsor, Conn., after their arrival in America, and since that gen- eration all the American ancestors of C. W. Hunt- ington have been natives of Connecticut.
There are many pleasant memories of Mr. Hunt- ington's early professional career. Away back in 1852 he organized the " Continental Vocalists," and with them made a complete and most successful tour of the United States. After four years thus occupied he came to Hartford just before the open-
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ing of the presidential campaign of 1856. During this year the republican party in Hartford effected its original organization, and Mr. Huntington en- tered ardently into the work. He formed a pat- riotic glee-club of one hundred and twenty-five members, whose singing he personally conducted, which became one of the most effective features of the public demonstrations of that enthusiastic cam- paign. Later he organized the old "South Church quartette," by means of which the devotional exer- cises at that church acquired new interest and effectiveness. The musical accomplishments of this quartette and its leader made for them a repu- tation beyond the limits of the city, and they were induced to make frequent excursions into neighbor- ing towns and cities, giving popular concerts and receiving a most royal welcome. All the members of the old quartette are still living. Since 1886 Mr. Huntington has discontinued active professional work, and devoted his time to various business enterprises. He is connected with the masonic fraternity, being one of the charter members of LaFayette Lodge, No. 100, of Hartford. His wife was Miss Martha Eddy of New Britain before her marriage. She has been for years one of Hart- ford's most noted singers. Professor and Mrs. Huntington have but one child, who is the wife of Mr. Charles E. Newton of this city.
SHERMAN WOLCOTT ADAMS, LL.B., HART- FORD: Attorney-at-Law; President Board of Park Commissioners.
Sherman W. Adams was born in Wethersfield, Conn., May 6, 1836, and is a son of the late Welles Adams of that place. The latter was descended from Benjamin Adams, an early, but not one of the earliest, settlers of the township. The subject of this sketch is also de- scended from Ens. Wil- liam Goodrich, Ens. John Nott, John Robbins, " Gentleman," Michael Griswold, Gov. Thomas Welles, and other pioneer settlers of Wethersfield; and from Henry Wolcott, the Windsor settler. His education was obtained S. W. ADAMS. in a common school (in the section now known as South Wethersfield), in the academy of the town, and in a select school or " institute " at Cornwall, Conn. His early life was partly spent upon his father's farm, and partly in a general "store " in Wethersfield belonging to his father. It was while in the latter occupation that he turned his attention
to the study of law. His legal studies were pur- sued in the offices of the late Thomas C. Perkins and Heman H. Barbour; after which he studied at, and was graduated from, the Law School of Har- vard University, taking the degree of LL.B. in the class of 1861. In March, 1862, he received from Secretary Welles a commission as acting assistant paymaster in the Navy; reported at once to Com. Hiram Paulding at the navy yard, Brooklyn, for duty on board the gunboat Somerset. The vessel proceeded to the gulf and was attached to the eastern gulf squadron. Here Paymaster Adams remained until June, 1864, on the same gunboat. At that date, being much worn down, he was re- lieved, and came north to settle accounts, and also to regain his impaired health. In October, 1864, he called upon Secretary Welles and tendered his resignation, which was accepted.
Returning to his profession in 1865, Mr. Adams has continued in practice ever since in Hartford, with the exception of one year, 1868-9, spent in Europe. While there, he devoted special attention to the study of the French and German languages, and translated and published Eugène Ténot's nar- rative of the coup d'état of 1851. He has also made occasional translations from the German, Spanish, and Italian languages, and has paid some attention to the Dutch, Portuguese, and Danish. He is also fond of studying the natural sciences, more especially botany.
Mr. Adams has been much of a delver in matters of local history, having written many articles in that line. He is the author of several chapters in the Memorial History of Hartford County. He is a member of the National Historical Association, and of the Connecticut Historical Society, having been one of the officers of the latter institution for some years, and compiled the pamphlet recently issued by its authority.
While republican in politics, Mr. Adams has never been an active politician. Nevertheless, he represented his native town in the legislature of 1866, when he introduced a proposed constitutional amendment, providing for a sole capitol for this state. It passed, but barely failed to receive the requisite two-thirds majority in the following year. He is the author of some of the laws of this state, of which, perhaps, the most important is the " judg- ment-lien " law. He is also author of the resolution providing for a topographical survey of the state. passed in 1889. Beginning in 1877. he was for six years associate judge of the Hartford police court. Since IS84 he has been president of Hartford's park commissioners, and was the active member of the commission for the erection of the Memorial Arch. While not robust in health, he has never ceased to be active in some useful labor. He is unmarried.
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FRANCIS A. PRATT, HARTFORD : President the Pratt & Whitney Company, Manufacturers of Machine Tools, Gun Machinery, etc.
The name of Pratt occurs among the earliest of English sirnames, and the family, in many of its branches, held stations of influence and power in the British Empire. The first American ancestor of Francis A. Pratt was John Pratt, who came to America from the south- ern part of England, and settled in Dorchester, Mass., where he was made a freeman May 4, 1632. His grandson, John Pratt, 3d, and subsequent de- scendants for several gen- erations, were natives or citizens of F. A. PRATT. Reading, Mass., from which place the family ultimately removed to Reading, Vt. The subject of this sketch is of the ninth genera- tion from the original John Pratt above men- tioned. The later ancestors of Francis A. Pratt, for several generations, have been natives and residents of Vermont, in which state, in the town of Woodstock, he was born Feb. 15, 1827. His father, Nathaniel M. Pratt, a leather merchant, and a noted temperance agitator, was a native of Read- ing, Vt., where he was born in the year 1800. His grandfather, Charles Pratt, also a native of Read- ing, died at the advanced age of ninety-four, in Michigan, to which state he removed from Read- ing in 1834. They were both men of great mental and physical strength, of the true New England type of that period.
From his childhood Francis A. Pratt possessed mechanical inclinations which indicated genius. Whether inherited or not, they were manifested at a very early age, when the boy was found repeat- edly stealing away from his companions to con- struct and put in operation a water-wheel, or a turning lathe, or a steam engine. The time after school or on holidays, which other lads devoted to play, he employed with his jackknife and such rude tools as he could command, in giving shape and form to mechanical designs which had been evolved from his busy brain during school hours or while lying awake in bed at night; mechanical schemes even then, as later in life, often effectually banishing sleep. It is related of him that when he was ten or twelve years old he would set up a train of simple machinery, including perhaps a wood lathe, to be driven by a belt from the grindstone ; and by some inducement would tempt his younger brother Rufus to turn the grindstone while he fashioned a top or a ball-club with his rude turn-
ing-lathe, keeping poor Rufus at the fountain of power till his back seemed breaking, by his special pleading or by the tender of some favorite toy.
Mr. Pratt's parents moved from Woodstock to Lowell, Mass., when he was but eight years old. His schooling, begun in his native town, was con- tinued in Lowell, and here at an early age he was apprenticed to the machinist trade with Warren Aldrich, a machinist of good reputation at that time as to his products, and a kind master, who is now living at an advanced age. The indifferent facilities which the machine-shops of that day were supplied with, furnished just the incentive which the mind of this young apprentice needed to bring into exercise his expanding inventive genius ; and the lack of an appropriate tool was often the father (as necessity is said to be the mother) in his case of an invention which eventually supplied it. In 1848, when twenty years of age, he went to Gloucester, N. J., where he was employed in the Gloucester Machine Works, first as a journeyman and after- wards as a contractor. The leading partners in the concern, Messrs. Melchor and Ranlett, were both New England men. Associated with him in his contract work for the Gloucester concern, was a Mr. Samuel Batchelder, who, leaving New Jer- sey soon afterwards and coming to Hartford, Conn., became connected with the pistol factory of Samuel Colt. Through his influence, in 1852, Mr. Pratt followed him to Hartford and took a position in the same establishment, where he found and be- came acquainted with Amos Whitney. While he was there an application came from Lincoln's Phœ- nix Iron Works for a good foreman, and Mr. Pratt was selected and recommended for the position. He accepted the situation, and afterwards became superintendent of the works. Later on, when an- other important opening was to be filled under his direction, he selected Mr. Whitney for the place, and the two worked together in this establishment until 1861. The year before closing their connec- tion with the Phoenix Iron Works, the young men resolved to unite their fortunes and open a shop of their own, and accordingly hired a room on Potter street, doing some of their first work for the Willimantic Linen Company. The next February their shop was destroyed by fire, but a month later they were settled in new quarters, where they con- tinued to grow until all the available space in the building was occupied by them. In 1862, Pratt & Whitney took into the partnership Monroe Stan- nard of New Britain, each contributing $1,200. In 1865, the firm erected the first of the present group of buildings, and from time to time others have been added till the plant now occupies about four acres. In 1869, under a charter from the state, the Pratt & Whitney Company was incorporated with a capital of $350,000, afterwards increased
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from earnings to $500,000. The story of the finan- cial and other struggles of the early partners, Messrs. Pratt and Whitney, in laying the foundations of the present great corporation, sounds almost like a romance. Nobody but the parties themselves can ever understand or appreciate the nature or the magnitude of the obstacles they en- countered, the sacrifices involved, and the unccas- ing and gigantic efforts employed, in surmounting them one after another as they presented them- selves. The end sought, and finally obtained, would never have been successfully pursued if the two young men had not possessed a reserve-fund of determination, pluck, and endurance, which gave them a sublime faith in themselves and a con- fidence which cannot suffer defeat.
Of the present company F. A. Pratt is president, and has been from the outset the leading spirit. He has made no less than eight trips to Europe, principally in the interests of the company, travel- ing in England, Germany, France, Austria, and Italy, and has first and last sccured foreign busi- ness for the company amounting to between two and three millions of dollars. The European fea- tures of the company's business is entirely the re- sult of Mr. Pratt's suggestion and efforts ; and the value of the connection thus formed, and of the reputation thus made for the Pratt & Whitney company all over the civilized world is beyond computation in dollars and cents. Mr. Pratt enter- tains a broad and comprehensive view of business, believing that for his company the world is the field, and that it is only necessary to seek business in a liberal and intelligent way to command it in the open market every time.
Mr. Pratt has been a prominent and leading rep- resentative of the industrial enterprises of Hart- ford for thirty years. He has also acquired a high reputation among scientific men at home and abroad, and is regarded as an expert in pretty much all branches of mechanical art. He has re- cently been appointed by the secretary of the treasury of the United States as one of the board of commissioners for the expert examination of the treasury vaults ; the other members of the com- mission being Theodore N. Ely, superintendent of motive power of the Pennsylvania railroad, and Professor R. H. Thurston of Cornell University. He has served the city of Hartford four years as member of the board of water commissioners, and four years as alderman. He is a director of the Hartford board of trade, the Pratt & Cady Com- pany, president and director of the Electric Genera- tor Company, and is officially connected with various industrial corporations. He is a member of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, and of the Masonic fraternity a master mason and member of St. John's Lodge of Hartford.
Mr. Pratt was married, Oct. 31, 1850, to Miss Harriet E. Cole of Lowell, ex-Alderman Asa S. Cook of Hartford marrying an older sister at the same time and place. There have been eight children, five of whom died in infancy ; and one son, Melvin D., dying in 1883, at the age of twen- ty-six years. Of the two surviving children, the elder, Carrie Louise, was married, in 1885, to J. E. Spalding of Hartford, and they have one son. The younger, Francis C. Pratt, recently graduated from the Sheffield Scientific School of Yale Univer- sity, is in business with his father.
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REV. WILLIAM DELOSS LOVE, JR., HART- FORD : Pastor of the Pearl Street Congregational Church.
Rev. William DeLoss Love, Jr., was born in New Haven, Nov. 29, 1851, being the second son of Rev. Dr. Wm. DeLoss Love. He was prepared for college in the Milwau- kee Academy at Milwau- kee, Wis., and graduated from Hamilton College at Clinton, N. Y., in the class of 1873. His theo- logical studies were pur- sued at Andover Semina- ry, his graduation from that institution occurring in 1878. He was ordained at Lancaster, Mass., Sept. IS, IS78, and remained there for three years. He W. D'L. LOVE, JR. then spent one year in foreign travel, visiting important centers of inter- est in the East. After returning home he resided at Keene, N. H., for two years, occupying the posi- tion of private secretary to Gov. S. W. Hale dur- ing his administration. In 1884, on account of an obstinate throat trouble, he engaged in com- mercial enterprises. On the first of January, ISS5, he resumed the work of the pastorate and was settled over the Pearl Street church, May 6, in that year. Mr. Love has been married twice. His first wife was Miss Ada M. Warren of Leicester. Mass., the marriage taking place July 6, 1878. Her death occurred May 31, ISSI. His present wife was Miss Mary Louise Hale, daughter of ex- Gov. Hale of Keene, N. H., the marriage with her occurring Oct. 30, 1884. There are two daugh- ters by this marriage. Mr. Love is the chaplain of the Connecticut Society of the Sons of the Ameri- can Revolution, and an interested member of the Connecticut Historical Society. His preaching and pastoral work in Hartford have been emi- nently successful, and the church, under his leader- ship, has made decided progress. Mr. Love is a
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man of superior culture and training, and his pul- pit ministrations have entitled him to much recog- nition in Connecticut.
HON. FRANKLIN CHAMBERLIN, HARTFORD: Attorney-at-Law.
Franklin Chamberlin was born in the town of Dal- ton, Mass., April 14, 1821, and was educated in the best public schools in Berkshire county and at the Harvard Law School in Cambridge, being a mem- ber of the class of 1844 in that institution. His classmates in the Harv- ard Law School included Anson Burlingame, sub- sequently the champion of Charles Sumner in congress and Minister to China under the adminis- tration of President Lin- coln. Henry Stevens, the celebrated antiquarian, FRANKLIN CHAMBERLIN. was also a member of the class of '44. Mr. Chamberlin has spent a por- tion of his life in Springfield, Mass., and in New York city. He removed to Hartford prior to the war and immediately established himself in a large and prosperous legal business. For years the late Ezra Hall was associated in the partnership, which became one of the best known in this community, its standing in legal circles being of the highest character. In 1865 Mr. Chamberlin was elected a member of the house of representatives from this city, his colleagues on the floor including Governor Henry B. Harrison and the late E. K. Foster of New Haven, speaker of the house that year, the Hon. Frederick J. Kingsbury of Waterbury, ex- State Treasurer V. B. Chamberlain of New Britain, the late David Gallup of Plainfield and David P. Nichols of Danbury, the former subsequently lieu- tenant-governor and the latter state treasurer, Rail- road Commissioner George M. Woodruff of Litch- field, ex-Bank Commissioner A. B. Mygatt of New Milford, P. T. Barnum of Bridgeport, Judge Henry S. Barbour of this city, then a member of the house from Torrington, the late Edward L. Cundall of Brooklyn, Edwin A. Buck of Ashford, the late John W. Thayer of Ellington, and John M. Douglas of Middletown. Mr. Chamberlin was one of the ablest representatives that Hartford has had in the general assembly during the past thirty years and his work as a legislator was recognized as being of a high order. His legal attainment and standing placed him among the most prominent representatives in the house. Mr. Chamberlin was a member of the state capitol commission,
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