USA > Connecticut > Illustrated popular biography of Connecticut > Part 52
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68
When the United States Agricultural Convention met in Washington some time since, he attended as delegate from the New England Agricultural Association.
He has also been called to numerous other offices by the citizens of his town and state. He was county commissioner for Tolland County in 1842-43; a member of the house of representatives from Stafford in 1851-52; a delegate to the national democratic convention at Baltimore; and in the presidential campaign of 1860 he took a prominent part, identifying himself with the state rights faction, whose head and candidate was Breckin- ridge, and was made an elector on their ticket. He was a state senator and president pro tem. of the senate in 1876 and 1887, and lieutenant-gov- ernor in 1867 and 1868. While occupying the latter position the office of commissioner of agriculture at Washington became vacant, and he was strongly pushed for the place, every member of the legisla- ture then in session, irrespective of their party affiliation, signing the petition, and nearly all the state delegation in congress. He took an earnest and lively interest in the Connecticut Experimental Station, and was chosen vice-president of the board of control at its organization March 29, 1879, and still retains the office. He presided at the one hundred and fiftieth anniversary of the primitive organization of the Congregational church and society in Franklin, Conn., Oct. 4, 1868. He was president of the Tolland centennial celebration in 1876, delivering the opening address, and he has occu- pied many other offices of more or less importance.
In all his public life, covering a period of nearly half a century, his aim has been to subserve the in- terests of the state, and not the shadow of a suspicion rests on his honored name. His conduct, motives, and methods have been straightforward and honor- able, and his record is one of which he may well be proud.
Ex-Lieutenant-Governor Hyde has filled a large place in the state, but his name will be best known as that of the eminent breeder, who by his enlight- ened efforts materially assisted in raising the farm- ing industry of the state to a higher level, and in vastly increasing the value of its dairy farms and stock.
In the course of years he is now aged; but few are the men of half his age who are to be compared with him in activity and endurance. Always strictly temperate in his habits, he has saved him- self from the infirmities that so often overtake pub- lic men in their declining years. With a tall and slender form, a well-bred face, a flowing white beard and the graceful courtesy of an elder day, he presents a striking figure. Affable and agreeable, fond of society and companionship, kind and con- siderate of others, with a pleasant smile and a cheerful greeting always, he has as large a circle of personal acquaintances and friends as any man in the state, and no one is more highly esteemed.
NELSON A. BROWN, NORTH STONINGTON: Farmer.
Mr. Brown is a native of North Stonington, and was born Feb. 16, 1847. He received a common district school education and has followed the busi- ness of farming in North Stonington except for two years, when he resided in Westerly, R. I. He has always acted with the republican party, politi- cally, and has held the office of selectman and assessor for a number of years, his re-election for ten successive years show- ing the esteem in which he is held by his fellow- townsmen. He is gener- N. A. BROWN. ally recognized as a man of strict integrity, sound judgment, quick percep- tion, and executive ability. He is a prominent member of the Baptist church and was chosen deacon at the age of twenty-four years. He was superintendent of the Sunday-school for three years, during which time the school was prospered greatly. His wife was Lovisa K. Crary, and they have one son.
0
e
-
€
284
AN ILLUSTRATED POPULAR
HON. SAMUEL FERDINAND WEST, COLUM- BIA: Farmer.
Mr. West was born in Columbia, Conn., Decem- ber 13, 1812. He was the son of Colonel Samuel West, who was a lineal descendant of Francis West, who came from England and settled in Duxbury, Mass., in the early settle- ment of New England, and died 1694,aged eighty- six. His mother was Re- becca Little, a lineal de- scendant of Thomas Lit- tle, a lawyer, who came from Devonshire, Eng- land, and settled in Ply- mouth 1630. He received his education principally in the common district S. F. WEST. school, with the exception of one term in a select school; labored on his father's farm during the farming season, and taught district schools during the winter, from the winter of 1830- 31, to the winter of 1835-36. In November 1835, he left home and the state of Connecticut and went westward into Ohio and made a stopping point at Delaware in that state. In the spring of 1836 he joined a partnership with Nathaniel W. Little of that place, under the firm name of Little & West, in mercantile business, which business he pursued until the spring of 1841. In the fall of 1841, at the earnest solicitation of his father, he returned to Columbia, Conn., and went on to and managed the ancestral farm where he was born and where he still resides. This farm has been unincumbered in the West family since 1773. Tilling the soil and the cultivation of fruit has been his principal occu- pation. September 28, 1837, he married Miss Charlotte Porter of Columbia, who is yet living; have had eight children, three only of whom are now living, Samuel Brainard West, who now manages the farm, and two daughters who are married and living in Providence, R. I.
Mr. West has been selectman, justice of the peace, and has held other minor town offices. In the spring of 1847 he was chosen to represent the twenty-first senatorial district in the Connecticut legislature, and faithfully performed the duties of that position in the Connecticut general assembly during its session in May, 1847. He was county commissioner for Tolland county in 1855 and 1856; had a large share in the oversight of the building of the present county jail at Tolland. In Decem- ber, 1864, he was appointed assistant assessor for the ninth division of the first district of Connecticut, which position he filled until July, 1868. This divi- sion embraced the south part of Tolland county, including the town of Willington. He has been
president of the Tolland county Agricultural Society and a member of the State Board of Agriculture. Has been a director in the Willimantic Savings Institute, and a trustee in that institution for many years, a place he still occupies. Politically, in the early part of his life, he was an unwavering whig; ever since the formation of the republican party he has been identified with that party. He and his wife, then Miss Charlotte Porter, united with the Congregational church in Columbia in 1831; in 1838 removed their relationship to the Presbyterian church in Delaware, Ohio. In 1842 returned to the membership of the Congregational church in Columbia.
Mr. West has been a live, active, stirring, ener- getic citizen, interested in all the advancements and improvements of the times.
REV. EDWARD PAYSON HAMMOND, HART- FORD: Congregational Clergyman.
Edward Payson Hammond, son of Elijah and Esther Griswold Hammond, was born in Ellington, Tolland county, Conn., in 1831. At the age of seven his parents re- moved to Vernon Centre, which was his residence thenceforth until he re- moved to Hartford, but a few years ago. Mr. Ham- mond's paternal American ancestor was Thomas Hammond, who came to America in 1635, and set- tled in Hingham, Mass. His mother was a de- scendant of George Gris- wold, of Kenilworth, Warwickshire, England. E. P. HAMMOND. Connecticut received two governors from this fam- ily - Matthew Griswold, who held the office from 1784 to 1786; and Roger Griswold, who was the incumbent in 1811, and died in office, serving one year and five months. It will thus be seen that on both father's and mother's side Mr. Hammond has some of the best New England blood in his veins.
Rev. E. P. Hammond is a graduate of Williams College, Mass. After his graduation he studied theology for a while in New York city, then fin- ished his studies in the seminary of the Free Church at Edinburgh, Scotland. While a student at Edinburgh he was invited to hold meetings in a vacant church six miles distant. Here he labored so earnestly, zealously, and wisely, that there was a great religious awakening; hundreds were con- verted. Ministers in Edinburgh, Glasgow, Aber- deen, and other cities heard of this wonderful re-
285
BIOGRAPHY OF CONNECTICUT.
vival; they recognized in this youthful evangelist a man called of God to a special work; they invited him to their pulpits; they encouraged him to hold special services, at which they assisted him, in halls that would hold immense audiences. Thou- sands and tens of thousands, who never entered the churches, were drawn to these meetings, and many of them became Christians. After laboring thus two years in Scotland, going only where the ministers and churches invited him to go, not set- ting himself up as a leader, but yielding to the urgency of the ablest and best men of the land, that he should use the gift with which God had en- dowed him, in the special department of minis- terial work to which he was so manifestly called, he returned to his native land. Here his experience was the same. Wherever he went the people thronged to hear him, and multitudes were brought to Christ. After five years of evangelistic labor in New England and the Middle States he again went abroad. He has spent six years and a half on the other side of the Atlantic, having been there at three different times. In 1886 he, with his wife, visited the Holy Land, and at that time he wrote Sketches of Palestine. Since his return from Europe the second time he has held meetings in towns and cities from Minneapolis in Minnesota, to Galveston, Texas; and from the shores of Lake Erie to Denver, among the mountains. He has gone to none of these places without a special in- vitation. Wherever he has gone the various evan- gelical churches have been drawn together in brotherly love and cordial cooperation, and in every place conversions have followed his labors, not a few of the subjects being men and women who previously had been notoriously wicked. One of the most successful of Mr. Hammond's series of meetings was in St. Louis. The largest halls in the city were crowded day after day, and one of the pastors afterwards stated that over five thousand persons were added to the churches of St. Louis as the result of these special services. Mr. Hammond was for nine weeks in San Francisco, holding about two hundred meetings, and speaking to more than two hundred thousand people. His efforts there were blessed abundantly.
And so the good work has gone forward for more than thirty years, and eternity alone will reveal its extent and blessedness. The winter of 1890-91 Mr. Hammond spent in evangelical work in Wash- ington, D. C .; the previous winter he was in the mining districts of Colorado -two fields in as strong a contrast as can well be imagined, but neither without a harvest. Mr. Hammond has written about a hundred tracts and books, most of which have been published both in this country and in Great Britain. Numbers of them have been translated into various languages. They are
usually distributed judiciously among his audiences, and thus often become a valuable auxiliary to his oral work.
Mr. Hammond is a gentleman of marked person- ality. He has a nervous temperament, with quick observation, keen perceptions, and intuitive judg- ment. Physically, as well as mentally, he is alert and active, possesses a thoroughly vigorous con- stitution, an erect and portly figure, with pleasing and impressive features. He is esteemed at home and abroad no less for his high personal traits than for his distinguished services in the advancement of Christianity throughout the world.
GEORGE W. BURR, MIDDLETOWN: President of the Middlesex County National Bank.
George W. Burr was born in Haddam in this state, April 12, 1816, the son of a farmer, to which calling his early years were largely devoted, while acquiring his education at the common schools of his native town. At the age of seventeen he passed a successful examination before the board of edu- cation in Middletown, where he was for a time employed in teaching. Two years later he en- gaged in selling books by subscription in the eastern counties of New York state, and at the age of G. W. BURR. twenty went to Charles- ton, S. C., and thence to Augusta, Ga., spending one year in southern Georgia in the book trade. Returning north on the decease of his father, he arranged the settlement of the ancestral estate, and afterwards returned south, traveling and selling books in most of the southern states. He subse- quently came back to Connecticut and located at Middletown, where he became a director of the Meriden Bank, trustee of the Middletown Savings Bank, and director of the Middlesex County Bank. He was elected president of the Middletown Sav- ings Bank, and during his incumbency of the office, covering a period of twenty years, the deposits in that institution increased under his wise and care- ful administration from $1,700,000 to $6,000,000. He was afterwards elected president of the Middle- sex County National Bank, which position he now holds, having been on its board of directors for thirty years. He is also president of the Connecti- cut Brown Stone Quarry Company of Cromwell. and a director of the Middlesex Mutual Assurance Company of Middletown. His religious connections are with the South Congregational church of Mid-
.
e S
S
e n
e
S
ied
it ezt red
he ne hat und
e, ce e- .a
an as to et-
le- is- h,
d of
286
AN ILLUSTRATED POPULAR
dletown; politically he is a republican. He mar- ried Miss Annie E. Sage of Cromwell, and they have two children, George B. and Annie M. Mr. Burr is a gentleman of mature judgment in finan- cial affairs, and has proved a most successful man- ager and able counselor for the various institutions with which he has been or still is officially con- nected.
WILLIAM B. CLARK, HARTFORD: Vice-Presi- dent Ætna Insurance Company.
Vice-President Clark is the senior insurance offi- cer in this city in years of actual service with the Hartford companies. He was born here, June 29, 1841, and waseducated in the old North school, completing his course at the New Britain high school and at N. L. Gal- lup's College Green school in this city. The latter institution was located on Trinity street, opposite Trinity College, and fitted students for a collegiate course of study. The father of Vice-President Clark was the late A. N. W. B. CLARK. Clark, one of the proprie- tors of the Hartford Courant prior to the war, the name of the firm being A. N. Clark & Co. After spending one year in the Courant business office, Mr. Clark, the subject of this sketch, became a member of the clerical corps of the Phoenix In- surance Company in 1857. August 27, 1863, he was elected secretary, and remained with the company until December 1, 1867, when he was elected assist- ant secretary of the Ætna. The latter position was retained under President Hendee through a period of nearly twenty-one years. Assistant Secretary Clark became familiar with the vast detail connected with the Ætna's business, and was regarded with the utmost confidence and trust by his chief, who was one of the most successful insur- ance managers Hartford has known. The demise of President Hendee, September 4, 1888, necessi- tated a number of changes in the administration of the company. Mr. Clark was advanced to the vice- presidency, September 26, 1888, receiving the unanimous vote of the board of directors for the position. As vice-president of the company his course has been characterized by ability and judg- ment of the highest order, entitling him to a fore- most place among insurance managers in New England. Vice-President Clark occupies a number of important offices in business and public institu- tions in the city. He was elected a director of the City Bank January 14, 1879; director in the
Travelers Insurance Company July 6, 1875; trustee in the Mechanics Savings Bank July 18, 1883; and a director of the Retreat for the Insane April 10, 1890. He is also a member of the corporation of the Hartford hospital. April 5, 1880, he was elected a member of the board of aldermen from the Third ward, and served two years in that posi- tion. He was the aldermanic chairman of the ordi- nance committee, the mayor holding the chairman- ship ex officio. At the conclusion of his term in the board of aldermen he was appointed a member of the board of water commissioners, and has held that office for nine years, being one of the ablest mem- bers of that commission. Vice-President Clark is a member of the First Baptist church in this city, and has been clerk of the society and member of the society's committee for twenty-five years. He is also a member of the Connecticut Historical Society. He values the fact that he was one of the original Wide Awakes as the most interesting reality connected with the first years of his citizen- ship. In point of accuracy, he had not attained his majority when he became an active participant in that noted organization. It is not necessary to add that his republicanism has as true a ring in it now as in the great presidential campaign of 1860. Vice-President Clark was married May 13, 1863, his wife, who is still living, being Miss Caroline H. Robbins, daughter of the late Philemon F. Rob- bins. The family includes three daughters. Two sons have died. As a citizen, as well as the repre- sentative of great business interests, Mr. Clark has but few equals in the community. The people of Hartford regard him with the highest esteem and honor.
HEZEKIAH SPENCER SHELDON, SUFFIELD.
Mr. Sheldon was born in Suffield June 23, 1820, and was educated in the common schools and in the Connecticut Literary Institute. He has given a large amount of time to research concerning the history of Suffield, and is one of the best-informed men concerning local his- tory in the state. His work appears in the " His- tory of Hartford County," and in independent vol- umes, showing the thoroughness and relia- bility of his researches. His library of old and rare books and town histories is extensive and valuable. H. S. SHELDON. Mr. Sheldon has held numerous places of trust and re- sponsibility in Suffield, of which town he is and has long been one of the best-esteemed and leading citi-
287
BIOGRAPHY OF CONNECTICUT.
zens. He represented that town in the general as- sembly in 1858, 1881, 1887, and again in 1889. In 1881 he was a member of the committee on banks, where he proved himself, as always, an able and conscien- tious legislator. During the session of 1887, the first biennial session, he served with marked ability on the judiciary committee and as chairman of the state library committee - in both of which positions he was continued when called to the legislative duties of the succeeding session in 1889. In what- ever capacities he has served the state, or in local affairs, his duties have been performed with fidelity and success. His personal character and honorable record entitle him to the high esteem with which he is regarded by his associates in public service, and by his fellow-citizens without distinction of political party or religious sect.
EDWARD CHARLES NEWPORT, M.D., MERI- DEN: Physician and Surgeon.
Dr. E. C. Newport was born in Halle, Germany, July 1, 1837. His early paternal ancestors were Englishmen, who during the Cromwellian era drifted from England into Holland, and thence into Germany. His mother's ancestry dates back to Martin Luther's family. She died when the sub- ject of this sketch was six years of age. Dr. New- port was one of a family of four brothers, the others being Augustus, William, and Otto. Their father was a political agitator and participator in the E. C. NEWPORT. revolutionary disturb - ances of 1848, who, on account of this, was com- pelled to forsake his native country. He came to America, taking with him his sons Augustus and William, leaving Edward and Otto in the care of an uncle and aunt in Halle. Edward was kept at school quite closely from his sixth to his fifteenth year. After that he pursued the study of lithogra- phy very successfully, and combined therewith the study of music, anatomy, and physiology, taking great delight also in mastering the English lan- guage and familiarizing himself with its literature. In 1859 he emigrated to America, and the Decem- ber after his arrival in this country he went to Windsor Locks, where his brother Augustus was already employed in the Medlicott Mills; and, ashe had no pecuniary resources, he engaged as a cutter in the same establishment with his brother, remain- ing in that position for nearly two years. On the first of January, IS61, he was married to Miss Carrie Jeanette Norton of Suffield, who died in
February, 1875, after fourteen years of happy wedded life. By this marriage there were four children, namely: Mary, now Mrs. Dr. S. D. Otis, residing in Meriden; Herbert, who is a druggist in the same city; Belle, at present studying music in the conservatory of Xavier Scharwenka in Berlin, Germany; and Gussie, who is at home in Meriden. There is a fifth child, Alice, a daughter, by a second marriage.
In 1862, when the call for nine-months volunteers was issued by President Lincoln, Dr. Newport and several of his personal friends enlisted in Company C, Twenty-fifth regiment, C. V., in which company he was made a corporal, and afterwards promoted to be chief bugler of the regiment. January 13, 1863, he was ordered to general headquarters as brigade bugler, with rank of sergeant. He went through all the skirmishes and battles in which the brigade was engaged, including the sanguinary engagements at Irish Bend on the Mississippi, until the investment of Port Hudson by the Union army. On May 27, 1863, after the first general assault on the fort had been made, he was taken sick, sent to the hospital, and after more than two months of suffering was sent home, arriving contemporane- ously with his regiment, whose term of service had expired. On regaining his health Dr. Newport be- gan the study of medicine, and attended the New York Homeopathic Hospital College until 1868, when he graduated from that institution with the degree of M.D. He was more or less in practice, however, from 1865 to IS68 as assistant to Dr. Pierson of South Hadley Falls and Holyoke, Mass., whose delicate health and advanced age largely incapaci- tated him from the active practice of his profession. In the latter part of 1868 Dr. Newport went to California, where he remained nearly a year; but within that period came east again, and settled in Meriden, his present home. Here he established at once an extensive practice, which he has main- tained to the present time. In June, 1874, he visited Germany and England, spending about three months abroad. The same year he was elected alderman of the city of Meriden, which position, and that of president of the board, he re- tained one year. In 1875 he was elected medical director of the state encampment of the Grand Army of the Republic, which office he held through the regular ternf. Since that he has never sought or accepted any office, his large and increasing practice demanding all his time and attention. Having lost his wife by death, as before stated, in February, 1875, Dr. Newport was again married on June 23, 1886, to Miss Ann Ellsworth Horton. daughter of Eli Horton of Windsor Locks, a cele- brated inventor and manufacturer. Mrs. Newport is a lady of many accomplishments, of Puritan an- cestry, and a lineal descendant in the eighth gen-
.
S
-1 .
-
288
AN ILLUSTRATED POPULAR
eration from John Alden and Priscilla (Mullens) Alden of primitive New England celebrity, whose romantic courtship and marriage have become a familiar story to every descendant of the Puritans. Mrs. Newport's father's family, the Hortons, is an ancient and representative family of New England, prominent in political and civil affairs ever since the first settlement of the colonies.
Dr. Newport is connected with the following Masonic orders: Apollo Lodge, No. 59, of Suffield; Meridian Chapter, No. 8, O. E. S., Keystone Chap- ter, No. 27, R. A. M., Hamilton Council, No. 22, R. and S. M., St. Elmo Commandery, Knights Temp- lars - all of Meriden; and Pyramid Temple, A. A. O. N. M. S., of Bridgeport. He is also a member of Merriam Post, No. 8, G. A. R .; Teutonic Lodge, No. 95, I. O. O. F .; Montowese Tribe, No. 6, I. O. R. M .; Silver City Lodge, No. 3, A. O. U. W., and the Meriden Scientific Association - all of Meriden. He also holds the office of medical examiner for a number of life insurance companies and societies.
J. M. BAILEY, DANBURY: Journalist; Proprietor " Danbury News."
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.