USA > Connecticut > Men of mark in Connecticut; ideals of American life told in biographies and autobiographies of eminent living Americans > Part 9
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GEORGE PAYNE MCLEAN
sterling character and amiable disposition, and what is always popular with men in high position, approachable to every one.
Although there are doubtless many chapters still to be written, the story of ex-Governor McLean's life already serves as an inspira- tion for younger men and as a source of pleasure to those beyond him in years. In his case, application plus natural ability have made success.
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Aliment toffin.
OWEN VINCENT COFFIN
C OFFIN, HON. OWEN VINCENT, ex-governor of Con- necticut, president of the Middlesex Mutual (Fire) Assur- ance Company of Middletown, Connecticut, was born in Union Vale, Dutchess County, New York, June 20th, 1836. His first ancestors in America were Tristram and Dionis (Stevens) Coffin, who came from England to Haverhill, Massachusetts, in 1642, Tris- tram Coffin later becoming the chief magistrate of Nantucket. His father was Alexander Hamilton Coffin, a farmer by occupation.
The usual interests and tasks of life on a farm filled the days of Mr. Coffin's boyhood. Farming, reading, and school took most of his time. He was, and remains, very fond of music. His favorite study was natural philosophy, which he began to study at school at the age of nine. He inclined to very general reading, with a particu- lar interest in history and with Cowper as his favorite poet. His education was acquired at the Cortland Academy, Homer, New York, and at the Charlottesville (New York) Seminary. At seven- teen he went to New York to be a salesman for a mercantile house, and two years later, in 1855, he became the New York representative of a prominent Connecticut manufacturing firm. In 1858, Mr. Coffin married Ellen Elizabeth Coe of Middletown, Connecticut, by whom he has had two children, a daughter and a son. The latter, Seward Vincent Coffin, is the only one now living, and is connected with the Connecticut Mutual Life Insurance Company. When the Civil War broke out, Mr. Coffin was a strong supporter of the Union cause, though he was physically debarred from active service; but he fur- nished a substitute, though not required to do so. He was president two terms of the Brooklyn, New York, Y. M. C. A., which aided largely during the period of the War in valuable field hospital work, and he was also active in the same work in connection with his membership of the New York Committee of the United States Christian Commission.
In 1864 Mr. Coffin moved to Middletown, where he has since made
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his home. During his residence in Connecticut he has been connected as president, secretary, treasurer, and director with banking, rail- road, fire insurance, manufacturing, and other business corporations. Since 1884 he has been president of the Middlesex Mutual (Fire) Assurance Company. From 1865 to 1878, when he suffered a serious breakdown in health, he was secretary and treasurer of the Farmers and Mechanics Savings Bank of Middletown during the most im- portant period and most rapid growth of that bank and he held the same offices and that of director for several years in the old Air Line Railroad Company. He has been for years and remains director of the reorganized Boston & New York Air Line Railroad Company. In politics he has always been a Republican, but per- sonally decidedly averse to standing for any public office, then, or later for other positions, until his candidacy for governor seemed to come in sight. From 1872 to 1874 he was mayor of Middle- town. He was tendered a renomination by leading men of both parties and assured of unanimous reelection, but felt obliged by other engagements to decline. In 1887 and 1889 he served as State senator two terms, and was urged to accept the unanimous nomina- tion when tendered for a third term, but pressure of business duties led him to decline. In 1894 he was nominated for governor. His popularity with the people carried him through, thousands of Demo- crats voting for him, and he was elected governor of Connecticut by the greatest majority recorded up to that time, a fact considered prophetic of his successful career as the chief magistrate of the State.
Mr. Coffin has been as prominent in ecclesiastical, intellectual, and social affairs as he has been in those of state and business. In church classification he is a Congregationalist. He was a member of Plymouth Church, Brooklyn, New York, for many years, and after coming to Connecticut to reside joined the old First Church of Middletown, in which he retains membership. He was first assistant moderator of the Triennial International Congregational Council in Portland, Oregon, in 1898; superintendent of Sunday schools in Brooklyn and in Middletown for many years; moderator of the Congregational Council of Connecticut one term, and president of the Middletown Y. M. C. A., the Middletown Choral Society, and many other public or semi-public organizations. Though not a col- lege man Mr. Coffin has had the honorary degree of LL.D. conferred
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upon him by Wesleyan University and is an honorary member of the college fraternity Delta Kappa Epsilon. Aside from this Greek letter society he is not connected with any secret organization. He is a member of the old local literary society called the Conver- sational Club. The sports he most enjoys are shooting and fishing. He was for years president of the Middletown Rifle Association and he was vice-president of the Connecticut Rifle Association during the presidency of the late General Hawley. He is interested in athletics and considers regular outdoor exercise invaluable for people of sedentary occupations.
THOMAS M. WALLER
T HE HON. THOMAS M. WALLER of New London, beginning life as a New York newsboy and rising to many positions of public preferment, including those of governor of his State and of consul general to London, has had a career that fasci- nates by its romance and convinces by its success.
"Governor Tom Waller," as he is still familiarly and affectionately called, was born in New York City in 1840, of Irish parentage. His father, Thomas C. Armstrong, his mother, Mary Armstrong, and his only brother, William, died before he was eight years old, leaving him entirely alone and unassisted to face the world. Sufficient courage to bring him success could not have developed so quickly without his having inherited a good-sized germ of it; inheritance and develop- ment together produced an asset which dwellers in the sumptuous houses of the metropolis might have envied at that very moment when he was an orphan in the streets. And if ever he deserved the title of "Little Giant," later bestowed upon him, it was then.
With pennies given him by a stranger, the boy bought a few papers and started upon his carcer, soon doubling his capital and putting aside a fair percentage. But there were broader fields for him. Without realizing how broad, his boyish fancy began to pic- ture them till, after one summer as a newsboy, restlessness aroused his spirit of adventure. It was in the days of the gold fever of '49. We cannot dismiss this newsboy period, however, without enjoying one glimpse of it which he himself gives, with a quotation which at the same time will illustrate that native wit which on many occasions has served as a sesame for him. The quotation is from a speech delivered not many years ago in Brooklyn. "The papers I was sell- ing on the streets of New York," he said, "were so filled with accounts of mountains of gold that I thought gold would not be 'worth a cent,' and with this apprehension, instead of going west with the star of empire, I went to Connecticut. I went there as to a reformatory school, thinking that when I was good enough I would return to New
C
Thomas In Waller,
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THOMAS M. WALLER
York and become a New York politician. I have stayed there a good while. I have returned to New York, but only to do business, not to be a politician. I have had some temptation to step into the political waters here, but I have resisted it. I am satisfied that a larger probation is necessary. I am not good enough yet."
His next step after being a "newsy" was to become a cabin boy in a fishing vessel sailing from New York. Speak of it as he will now, it was almost impossible that he should not be caught in the strong current toward California. He had gone so far as to make his plans to sail in a schooner for the Golden Gate, when he came under the notice of Robert K. Waller of New London. Mr. Waller was of a benevolent disposition and his farsightedness was to be tested. Dis- cerning the boy's capabilities, he offered him a home and education, and the boy had sense enough to prefer them to the glittering allure- ments of the gold fields. He adopted him into his family and gave him the name to which he was to bring honor. The little fellow, who had picked up some schooling at odd moments in New York, was put into the New London schools, where he made rapid progress and entered the Bartlett Grammar School of which E. B. Jennings was the master. There he was graduated with high honors in a class which included several who were to become prominent in life, and there he began to develop those oratorical powers which later were to enable him to hold large audiences spellbound. He took the first prize in oratory at the school, at the age of seventeen, and has taken it in the forum, at the Bar, and in the convention hall many times since.
His inclination was toward the law. After a due course of study, he was admitted to the Bar and soon had established a lucrative practice. His power to move a jury was particularly wonderful. With the coming of the Civil War, his warm heart and good red blood compelled him to throw aside his law books and enlist. He was appointed sergeant in Company E of the Second Connecticut Volunteers April 22nd, 1861, but being incapacitated by a serious dis- ease of the eyes he was discharged on June 27th. Thwarted in this direction, he forthwith proceeded to employ his talents as a speaker in aiding the recruiting of other regiments in his own and other states. It was then, in this worthy cause, that he first gained fame as a public speaker.
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THOMAS M. WALLER
In 1867 and again in 1868, he was chosen representative from New London to the General Assembly. One of his most notable efforts of this period was his argument in behalf of a bridge across the Connecticut River at Saybrook. Senator W. W. Eaton, the "War Horse" of Hartford, was the leader of the opposition, which saw in the plan nothing but irremediable injury to commercial interests along the river, "God's highway." To-day when a wooden bridge has been succeeded by an iron one and that in turn is being succeeded by one still greater, to meet the growing requirements, it is difficult to recall or conceive the amount of excitement which the bridge project aroused and consequently the reason for the tremendous rejoicing by its advocates when the resolution was adopted. The point of Mr. Waller's argument was, "You can't resist the nineteenth century."
In 1870 Mr. Waller was elected Secretary of the State on the Democratic ticket, a position which did not interfere with his law practice. In 1876 he was sent to the House again and was the choice for speaker. The commendable shortness of that session was ascribed largely to his proficiency. After the close of the session he was appointed by the judges state's attorney for New London County. It fell to his lot to have to conduct some of the most remarkable cases known to Connecticut jurisprudence. Whatever the cases were, it might be said, he made them interesting. One of them was outside ยท his county-over in New Haven County, where State's Attorney Tilton E. Doolittle was disqualified because of professional relations with the accused. It was the Hayden murder trial, where the State introduced expert testimony on a more comprehensive plan than had been known up to that time. One juror by preventing a conviction made his name celebrated.
Mr. Waller, as mayor of New London for a period of six years, gave that city a sharp, strenuous administration, so much so indeed that at one time there was a mass meeting to censure him for ener- getic efforts to work improvements. However, at that meeting he was permitted to speak in his own defense. The meeting adjourned without action and at the next election the people continued the reformer in office.
In 1882, while still state's attorney, he was nominated at the State Democratic Convention for governor. With his brilliant cam- paign oratory supplementing his record, he won a splendid victory.
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THOMAS M. WALLER
Those who had professed to fear a whirlwind administration were happily disappointed in the dignity and conservativeness of it, in good keeping with those of Puritanical predecessors. At the next convention he was renominated unanimously by acclamation. It was the year of Cleveland's first presidential campaign. Waller's name was like a watchword, and "Our Tom" received even a larger vote than did Cleveland, who carried the State. By the peculiarity of the old Connecticut law, however, he failed of election because he did not have a majority over all, and a Republican General Assembly chose his Republican competitor, the Hon. Henry B. Harrison of New Haven.
In the National Democratic Convention which chose Mr. Cleve- land, the "Little Giant" from Connecticut had made a speech which was notable for its eloquence and power. On Mr. Cleveland's acces- sion to office, he gave Mr. Waller the very responsible and lucrative appointment of consul general to London, England. In that office the late governor made still another record for himself, and for his country as well. His achievements on several occasions elicited words of high praise from the State department at Washington. At the close of his four years' service, a banquet was tendered him by Eng- lishmen and Americans, including the United States officials in England, and a massive silver loving-cup was presented to him in appreciation of what he had done.
On his return to America, he resumed the practice of law, the firm of Waller, Cook & Wagner being established at No. 15 Wall Street. "I work five days a week in New York that I may live two in Connecticut," he once remarked. His name has been mentioned since his retirement to private life as a worthy one for the vice- presidency of the United States on the Democratic ticket and again for governor, but he practically has abstained from politics. He had no sympathy whatever with the free-silver movement. Governor Morgan G. Bulkeley appointed him on the commission for the World's Columbian Exposition at Chicago in 1893 and he was chosen first vice-president of that body, in which capacity he frequently had to preside in place of President Palmer, and his zeal had much to do in making it the crowning exposition of the world up to that time. His last public service was as delegate from his town to the Con- stitutional Convention in 1902, where his voice ever was uplifted in
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THOMAS M. WALLER
the interests of reform and fair representation for the people. The document as indorsed by that non-partisan body bears the impress of his ideas in many places. That the reforms failed of approval by the Legislature was a disappointment to him.
Mr. Waller married Miss Charlotte Bishop of New London and has a family of one daughter, the wife of Professor William R. Appleby of the University of Minnesota, and five sons, Tracey, Martin B., Robert K., Charles B., and John M., all of whom, excepting John, who is a senior in Amherst College, are members of the Bar. The ex-governor spends a good share of his time now at his beautiful home in New London, but seclusion is impossible for one with pro- nounced ideas on affairs of public moment or for one whose opinion party leaders and the public generally are desirous to learn.
Since the above was written, the Hartford Courant, alluding to Governor Waller's appearance and speech as the president of the Democratic State Convention of September, 1906, editorially said :-
"Whoever heard Governor Waller's rattling speech at yesterday's Democratic Convention will be ready to aver that he is not a day over thirty years of age, no matter when he was born. It was com- mon talk about the convention that he was asked to speak only as he was going to bed the night before. It was essentially and neces- sarily an impromptu address, but it was full of fire, sparkling with quick wit, eloquent, and at times very right. Somebody said it was 'the old Tom Waller.' Utterly wrong ; it was the young Tom Waller,- who, in our opinion, will be young as long as he lives.
"Governor Waller never made a better off-hand speech than that of yesterday. He was never younger than he was yesterday. We look confidently to his appearance in, say, fifteen years, as a new boy orator; and we venture the safe prediction that the people will hear him gladly."
George E. Lorsburg.
GEORGE EDWARD LOUNSBURY
L OUNSBURY, GEORGE EDWARD, the late ex-governor of Connecticut, State senator, manufacturer and scholar, who lived in Ridgefield, Fairfield County, Connecticut, from early boyhood until his death which occurred August 16th, 1904, was born in Poundridge, Westchester county, New York, May 7th, 1838. His parents were Nathan Lounsbury, a farmer, and Delia Scofield Louns- bury, and his first American ancestor was Richard Lounsbury, who came from Yorkshire, England, about 1650 and settled in Stam- ford, Connecticut. Mr. Lounsbury's grandfather, Enos Lounsbury, was a soldier in the Revolutionary War. When he was a very young boy George Lounsbury went to Ridgefield to live and that town was his home during the rest of his life. He was a youth of marked literary tastes and ability and naturally sought the highest education. After a course at the Ridgefield Academy he entered Yale College, where he was graduated with the class of 1863. Intending to be a Protestant Episcopal minister he then entered Bergely Divinity School at Middletown, Connecticut, and was graduated from that institution in 1866. He began his ministry as rector of the Protest- ant Episcopal Church at Suffield, but a chronic throat affliction made it impossible for him to continue in the ministry.
Upon leaving the ministry Mr. Lounsbury entered into partner- ship with his brother in the shoe manufacturing business under the firm name of Lounsbury Brothers. He continued in that business during his whole subsequent life, though he had many outside busi- ness interests which were uniformly successful. Mr. Lounsbury's executive ability and loyal service to the Republican party could not but receive definite appreciation and, in 1894, he was elected State senator from the twelfth district by an unprecedented majority. In 1895 he was chairman of the committee on finance, in 1896 he was elected senator for a second term, and in 1897 became chairman of the committee on humane institutions. In 1898 he was elected governor of Connecticut and filled that office with the utmost tact and more that the ordinary ability.
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GEORGE EDWARD LOUNSBURY
George Edward Lounsbury was a man of great strength of char- acter and remarkable mental grasp, an unusually clever writer, whose diction was exceptionally clear and at times classical. He was a keen discerner of men and measures; reticent in disposition and of few words, he was nevertheless approachable to all. His reticence was no indication of indifference, for no man had a livelier interest in public affairs or a more genuine sympathy with his fellow men. In his own neighborhood, nothing so thoroughly characterized him as the breadth and extent of his charities and benefactions. As the chief executive of the State, his addresses were admirable for their clearness and directness, and in their literary quality to no small degree reflected the thorough training of his earlier years. Wesleyan Uni- versity bestowed upon him the honorary degree of LL.D. He was a man of quiet tastes and few club interests. His greatest enjoyment in recreation from the work of life was in hunting and fishing. Mrs. Lounsbury was Mrs. Frances Josephine Whedon of Amherst, Massa- chusetts, whom he married in November, 1894. No children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Lounsbury.
P. C. Lounsbury
PHINEAS CHAPMAN LOUNSBURY
L OUNSBURY, PHINEAS CHAPMAN, ex-governor of Con- necticut, president of the Merchants' Exchange National Bank of New York, and consequently one of the leading financiers of that city, was born in Ridgefield, Fairfield County, Connecticut, January 10th, 1844. He traces his ancestry to Richard Lounsbury, who came from Yorkshire, England, by way of Holland and settled in Stamford, Connecticut, in 1651. Mr. Lounsbury's father was Nathan Lounsbury, a farmer, who held various town offices in Ridge- field and was once a member of the House of Representatives. He was a man of strong convictions and of earnest Christian character, a man who was never afraid to express his views and to live up to them. Mr. Lounsbury's mother was Delia A. Scofield Lounsbury, and in her he had the blessing and influence of another strong character.
Strong and vigorous and a typical New England farmer's boy, Mr. Lounsbury spent his boyhood days in healthy activity, the best possible foundation for his future busy career. Although he was obliged to perform farm labor of all kinds he was an eager student and found time for fruitful and extensive reading. The Bible was the chief literature in the Lounsbury household. Next to that Mr. Lounsbury delighted in works on mathematics, oratory, and public debating, all prophetic of his future career as a financier and a politician. He secured a thorough academic education at the district schools and academy at Ridgefield, after which he became interested in the wholesale shoe business in New York, where he studied the business thoroughly and made himself familiar with all its depart- ments, and soon organized the firm of Lounsbury Brothers, shoe manufacturers at New Haven, which later moved to South Norwalk and became Lounsbury, Mathewson & Company.
When the Civil War broke out Mr. Lounsbury enlisted as a private in the 17th Regiment, Connecticut Volunteers, and served until sickness necessitated his honorable discharge. After the War he settled down to business life, but his patriotic zeal had been quickened and his eloquence as a public speaker had proved him a leader of men. In 1874 he was elected representative from Ridgefield, and his experience and reputation as a public speaker were greatly added to by his speeches on behalf of temperance. He
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was one of the foremost speakers during the Blaine campaign in 1884. In 1885 he was unanimously elected president of the Mer- chants' Exchange National Bank of New York, a position which his integrity and business tact so well deserved. In addition to this high position Mr. Lounsbury is a trustee of the American Bank Note Company, president of the Preferred Accident Insurance Com- pany, vice-president of the Washington Trust Company, a director in the Worcester Salt Company, and a trustee of Wesleyan University, which institution has conferred upon him the honorary degree of LL.D.
In 1887 and 1888 Mr. Lounsbury was governor of the State of Connecticut, and the fair-minded, capable, and honorable way in which he took the helm won him the greatest respect and admiration. His championship of the questions of labor and tem- perance, and his influence in the passing of the Incorrigible Crim- nals' Act evinced both his high moral standards and his great executive ability, as well as his consistent Republicanism.
A notable incident worthy of record is the fact that for the first time in the history of this country two brothers, Phineas and George Lounsbury, have been governors of the same state.
In Mr. Lounsbury's private life there is also much of noteworthy interest. His early home life afforded a highly religious training, and the uplift of the good Puritan doctrines inculcated then has borne fruit throughout his later life. Mr. Lounsbury is a devoted member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and was, in 1888, lay delegate to the General Conference of that body. Socially he is a member of the Union League Club, of the Republican Club of New York, of the Hardware Club, and of the New England Society. His favorite sport is fishing "every time." In 1867 Mr. Lounsbury married Jane Wright. They have had no children. Their home is in Ridgefield, where Mr. Lounsbury spends much of his time, in spite of his many business ties in New York.
For the benefit of those who seek a practical ideal to shape their lives along successful lines Mr. Lounsbury gives the following sig- nificant advice : "Imbibe and practice Christian ideas, preach and practice purity in politics, be kind and considerate in your treat- ment of others. Honor your father and mother. Be just, have mercy and observe the Golden Rule. Remember that it is not money but character that makes men."
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