USA > Connecticut > New Haven County > New Haven > Noted men of Connecticut as they look in life : as published in the columns of The Evening Leader of New Haven : being a collection of portraits and biographical sketches of representative men of Connecticut who have made and are making the history of the states > Part 7
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While farming has been his mainstay and his favorite occupation, Senator Barnes has not been oblivious of other lines of activity, and some years ago was chosen president of the New Milford Hat Company, to whose prosperity his official connection has materially con- tributed.
In politics, he is a Republican and highly esteemed by members of that party. In 1895. New Milford sent him to the General Assembly as her representative and was very much pleased with the record which he made. His private affairs kept him out of the arena for a time after his term was completed, but in 1905 he was again prevailed upon to serve as a rep- resentative.
He was assigned to the committee on railroads and also on the Putnam Memorial Camp, and became a power in the legislative body. In 1907 he was sought as Republican candidate from the Thirty-second Senatorial District, andI was nominated and elected.
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He was again selected as a member of the committee on railroads during his senatorial term and also acted on the Committee on Capitol Furniture and Grounds.
Senator Barnes is a dependable, reliable character, a man whose word is the equal of his written promise, and he holds the respect and confidence of every man, woman and child with whom he deals. He thinks before he speaks and his reserve and caution have given him a wide reputation for prudence and wisdom, and his word has extraordinary weight in his home town and vicinity.
At the Capitol, this same hard sense and caution made him one of the most highly respected members of the Senate, and although he took less active part in debate than many of his fellow members, when he did speak, all gave closest attention.
His heart is centered in the quiet life of the country, however, and he gladly returns to his farm and his cattle, after discharging his public duties.
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Senator ISAAC W. BROOKS
SENATOR ISAAC W. BROOKS, TORRINGTON
Concentration of purpose backed by force of character accomplishes more in this world, forms a more certain path to success and honor, marks a man as one who achieves more, than any other combination of aims and characteristics. Thus it is that Senator Isaac W. Brooks of Torrington has become a man of distinction, has proved himself a man whom his townspeople delight in honoring.
He has had the gift of foresight, has seen his way clearly before him and with fixed purpose has pursued the paths which wisdom dictated as the best.
Mr. Brooks was born in Goshen, Connecticut, November 8, 1838, and his early life was spent in that beautiful little town. His parents were Watts H. Brooks and Mary Wadham Brooks. His ancestry was very distinguished, his forefathers having been prominent among the early settlers of New England, in the Colonial wars and taking an active part in the Revolutionary War.
He attended the public schools in Goshen and was graduated from the Goshen Acad- emy. He then went to Brown University in Providence, R. I., from which he received his diploma in 1861.
Merchandising was his hobby and at the completion of his college course, he immediately engaged in business in his native town. A decade of remarkable success followed and the business broadened and thrived. He had a natural gift for finance and a very strong interest in banking. So in 1872 he combined with his brother John W. Brooks, establishing in Tor- rington, the banking house of Brooks Brothers. For twenty-seven years this house grew in public confidence and its depositors became more and more numerous, including people from all of the surrounding towns.
In 1899 it merged into the Brooks National Bank and the present senator was chosen as its first president. So admirably has he fulfilled the duties of that position, he has been regularly re-elected and occupies that position to-day.
As banking has been proved to be his natural line, and his qualification became known to the people of affairs, his election as treasurer of the Torrington Savings Bank in 1873, was looked on as a wisely inspired act and he has retained that position ever since.
His town also wished to profit by his wide knowledge and close acquaintanceship with financial affairs and he has been elected as treasurer of the town and borough of Torring- ton for many years.
When the Torrington Water Company was organized in 1878, its promoters and men financially interested felt that they could find no man so eminently well equipped to act as its president as Isaac W. Brooks, so he was unanimously chosen and has been re-chosen at every succeeding election.
Again, the Torrington Library felt that a man of weight in the community, of sturdy honesty, of tried principle, loyal to the highest interests of the community, with solidity of character and executive ability, was needed to act as president of its board, and the choice fell on Mr. Brooks.
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Outside of Torrington, in neighboring towns and cities, the ability and career of Mr. Brooks have won recognition and admiration and he has been chosen as a director of the First National Bank of Litchfield and also a director of the widely known Phoenix Mutual Life Insurance Company of Hartford.
In the year 1884, politics claimed Mr. Brooks. Truly a representative citizen, his fel- low-citizens named him as Republican candidate for representative to the General Assem- bly. He was elected by a large majority and served his constituents with credit and close attention to their needs and best interests.
Business cares kept him out of the political arena until 1893. when he was again chosen as representative and yielded to the strongly expressed wishes of his townspeople to serve them.
The fine record which he had made in his previous term as well as his high repute throughout the state won him the speakership of that session of the General Assembly, and he has always been recognized as a power in the Republican state organization.
Through Goshen, Harwinton, Litchfield, and New Hartford, as well as in his own town, Mr. Brooks was held in honor ; and strong and insistent was their call to him to serve as senator from the Thirtieth District which comprises these towns, in 1906.
He was chosen by a very large plurality and served throughout the session. At once he was assigned to a position to which his gifts and life entitled him, the chairmanship of the committee on finance.
Senator Brooks is affiliated with several societies and clubs, among them the Torring- ton Connecticut Club, Sons of the American Revolution, Society of Colonial Wars, and Order of Founders and Patriots of America.
He is unmarried and makes his home in Torrington. He is a man who holds the respect of all with whom he comes in contact, and the loyal friendship of many. He is a typical New England citizen and his life shows the force of heredity, his qualities denoting his Puritan ancestry, and the courage and valor of his forefathers.
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Senator CHARLES A. GATES
SENATOR CHARLES A. GATES, WILLIMANTIC
Hon. Charles A. Gates of Windham ( Willimantic), Republican Senator from the Twenty-ninth District, is a product of the Middle West. He comes from that fertile region where the mountains of Pennsylvania have not yet fully flattened themselves out into the monotonous prairie ; where Nature is lavish of grass and fruit and flower; where the men grow tall in stature and broad in sympathy, "full of the milk of human kindness." I have named the state of Ohio. Charles A. Gates was born on the 22d of August, 1867, in Mifflin township, Richland County, Ohio. He passed, in due course of time, through the public schools of his native town, and subsequently followed a course in a business college at Mans- field, Ohio.
When looking about for a suitable business career, he did not follow the oft-quoted advice of Horace Greeley to go West and grow up with the country. On the other hand, he did not believe that the effete East was utterly overstocked with good men, at the top, or anywhere along the line. Thereupon he betook himself, in the month of April, 1888, to the State of Connecticut, and found employment at Willimantic. His first position was as baggage master and clerk with the New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad Company. This was about the time that the wonderful so-called "modern" expansion of the railroad business of this country was getting under way, and the officers of the companies were not only straining every nerve to make their tracks and rolling stock adequate to the constantly increasing demands made upon them by the new awakening of commerce, but they had their eyes wide open on the lookout for good men worthy of advancement. In a very short time the official gaze fell upon Mr. Gates, who was turning out his full quota of work every day, and made a Station Agent of him. This was in 1891. He served in this capacity at Frank- lin, Mass., at Waterbury, Conn., then at South bridge, Mass., and finally at Willimantic, Conn. He was given this appointment on March 1, 1895, and was promoted to the position of Gen- eral Agent, freight department, in January, 1907.
The position of station agent is one which tries out all the good qualities there are in a man. Ability to think quickly and accurately is necessary. Capacity to command, with sufficient force of personality to back up one's orders, are essential. Furthermore, there is no better school for studying human nature than a railroad station. Under the stress and excitement which all but the most care-hardened travelers feel to lesser or greater degree on a journey, the veneer of courtesy and culture slips off and we reveal our true selves, as ner- vous, irritable, unlovely.
All this is most excellent training for a man who aspires to sit into the game of poli- tics, and during all those years of serving the public, Mr. Gates was preparing himself for "public service," technically so called.
He represented the town of Windham in the Legislature of 1899 and 1901, serving with credit on the committee of finance and chairman of the committee on contingent expenses. He was councilman-at-large in Willimantic during the years of 1902 and 1903. serving as a member of several of the important committees of the city government. In 1903 he represented the Seventeenth District, serving as Senate chairman of the committee
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on excise and contingent expenses. He was again elected to represent the "Old Seven- teenth," now the Twenty-ninth District, in 1907, and served on the committee of cities and boroughs, and committee on fisheries and game.
As Senator, which title he now holds, as the reward for faithful and efficient service, he is continuing his good work. He stands high in the councils of his party, having been a member of the Republcan State Central Committee since 1901, by whom he is regarded as an influential and capable member.
He is and has been president of the Horseshoe Park Agricultural Association since its organization in April, 1902. He is a member of Natchaug Lodge, No. 22, Knights of Pythias, an Order which comes very close to his heart. In 1904-1905 he was grand chancellor of the order in the State Grand Lodge, and in that position, added to his pres- tige and worth as a fraternity man. Also a member and Past Grand of Obwebetuck Lodge, No. 16, I. O. O. F., Putnam Lodge, No. 574, Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, and Border Grange, No. 93.
Sympathetic and kindly in his private and social life, straightforward and efficient as a public servant, Mr. Gates is a man whom all like to meet, and whom one is slow to forget.
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HOFFE 07
Senator HENRY J. POTTER
SENATOR HENRY J. POTTER, WOODSTOCK
From a life of books to a life among brooks and meadows, answering the call of the green earth, has gone Henry J. Potter of Woodstock. Descended from old New England stock, he was born in West Woodstock, Sept. 15, 1850, the son of Mr. and Mrs. Stephen L. Potter. His mother's maiden name was Sarah C. Morse, member of an old family of that town1.
At a tender age he trudged along with the big boys and girls to the tiny village school, and was there trained in the fundamentals. He was naturally bright and apt, and was pro- moted rapidly. At the Woodstock Academy, where he completed his education, he won honors, and decided that his vocation was that of a public school teacher. Pedagogy fas- cinated him. He had a sincere love of books, a studious disposition and a gift for imparting knowledge. That he was well guided in his choice of a profession was demonstrated by his constant success. For 29 years he followed the profession and gave impetus and inspira- tion to scores of youthful minds. His field of work lay in Rhode Island, Nebraska and Connecticut. He thus came in contact with various phases of minds, the New England type, to which he had been accustomed from his youth, and the Western mode of thought and action. Such experience is invaluable in molding thought and equipping a man to deal successfully with the world of men and women. As principal of the Sixth District Gram- mar School of Putnam, he served with marked success for a term of seven years. Follow- ing this, he was called to Thompson, where his teaching kept him for three years. From here he went to Shoreham, R. I., where he taught for four years.
At the Grammar School in Central Village ( Plainfield) he acted as principal for two years, and had a very interesting year at the head of the United States Industrial School at Winnebago Indian agency, Nebraska.
His taste inclined to the agricultural and industrial pursuits, and as time went on he became more and more a student and teacher in these lines. Farm life, at least, was his allegiance, and he abandoned school teaching for this congenial pursuit. A farmer who understood forces governing the earth and the elements, his training added to his practical knowledge, made him an emphatic success in this calling from the first. Prosperity crowned his efforts, and he demonstrated through his personal experiences that education and agricul- ture make an ideal combination.
Senator Potter was united in marriage to Miss Alice C. Chandler, daughter of William Chandler, of East Woodstock, Feb. 17, 1898, and they have lived in Woodstock since that time.
His broad interests led him to a place of prominence among his neighbors, and he was elected president of the Woodstock Milk Producers' Union.
In politics, he has always been a Republican and a man of influence in his party.
His long experience as a school teacher and principal made him an ideal man for the school board, and his close touch with school affairs admirably fitted him to fill the post of chairman of the board for two years. As acting school visitor he served his town faithfully and efficiently. During his administration the schools thrived and the town gained the
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advantage accruing from the services of this highly-trained and thoroughly-experienced schoolman.
Senator Potter, however, has by no means confined his activities to farm and school life. He is of an active social nature, and has become affiliated with several social and fraternal organizations. He is a member of the Friendly Union Lodge, No. 164, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, of Fall River, Mass., in which he is highly respected. He is an enthusiastic Granger, a member of the Woodstock Grange, and is prominent in its councils and affairs.
With "honor to his own country" back of him, Senator Potter first became known in the General Assembly in 1903, when Woodstock chose him as her representative. He acquitted himself with honor to his town and himself, and won many good friends.
His services to his town attracted attention to the other towns of his District (the Twenty-eighth) and people began predicting that he would be a senator some day. "He will go higher," said the skilled prophets.
Returning from Hartford, Mr. Potter resumed his quiet life, neither desiring nor seek- ing further honors, but he was not forgotten, and in 1907 delegates to the Republican senato- rial Convention for his District named him as their candidate. He was given loyal and con- sistent support. Personal popularity, a record for integrity and upright dealing, a reputa- tion for service to his fellowmen, combined to effect his election, which was by a decisive majority.
At the Capitol he was speedily recognized as a valuable member of the Senate. His committee assignment at once marked him as a man of weight, as well as being most appro- priate. He was chosen to act on the important committee on education, and was one of its most alert and conscientious workers. It was his persistent and skillful work which was instrumental in passing the bill for state aid to schools in small towns. Only people who live in small towns can realize what a welcome bill this measure has proved to be. Every son and daughter of Connecticut loves education and, theoretically at least, stands by the public school. Money to do the best thing educationally, however, is not always forthcom- ing. Through this bill the facilities afforded the children are very much greater, since the State assumes a portion of the burden, and under conditions which can only make for bet- ter education in the broadest sense.
It is men like Senator Potter, who, unmindful of selfish considerations, anxious only for the public good, bring about legislation of this excellent type, and win for themselves the gratitude of the thinking people of the commonwealth.
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Senator JAMES F. WALSH
SENATOR JAMES F. WALSH, GREENWICH
An indescribable atmosphere of power surrounds men who are born to lead their fel- lows-the force of magnetism, the persuasive, convincing qualities, the strength of mind and quick grasp of a situation are all enhanced by this quality, difficult to describe, but instantly felt and recognized by the most unobservant of people.
At once upon meeting Senator James Francis Walsh of Greenwich, this quality im- presses itself forcefully upon one and when the record of the man is revealed, one learns that from the first, he has been a natural leader and has won honor and distinction.
Senator Walsh was born in Lewisboro, Westchester County, N. Y., March 15, 1864. the son of James F. and Annie E. Walsh. In his infancy his parents moved to Ridgefield where he passed his boyhood days being educated in the public schools of that town.
His ambition early tended in the direction of the practice of law. His brother, Hon. R. J. Walsh, had achieved notable success in that profession and he bent all of his energies toward emulating his elder brother's example. When eighteen years of age, he entered his brother's law office in Greenwich as a student.
Zealous and concentrated study brought its reward and January 20, 1888, he reached the goal toward which he had been striving and was admitted to the bar. At first he began to practice in partnership with his brother, but two years later, he opened an office of his OW11.
Signal success has marked his progress and to him were entrusted cases of great importance. He fulfilled every requirement ; his intellect, oratory and grasp of the tiniest legal details won him victory after victory until the name of the young attorney, James F. Walsh, became known and honored throughout the country.
He also found time to accomplish considerable in the real estate line, his energy being responsible for his continued success.
It was at this period that the town of Greenwich emerged from its condition of staid conservatism to its present state of a thriving and fashionable suburb of New York City.
In the group of young business and professional men who have done so much to advance the town and achieve its prosperity, none has been more untiring and well-advised in his operation than Senator Walsh.
Although best known to the State at large through his continuous and efficient public service, Senator Walsh has numerous business affiliations which occupy much of his time and attention. Among these may be noted the fact that he is a director and the treasurer of the Byram Land Improvement Company ; a director in and the treasurer of the Riverside Water Company ; director in and attorney for the National Investment Company.
He is also prosecuting agent for the County Commissioners which position he has cred- itably held since 1888, and since the organization of the Borough Court in 1888, he acted as prosecuting attorney until June, 1905, when he was appointed by Governor Roberts, Judge of the Criminal Court of Common Pleas of Fairfield County.
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Senator Walsh is rated as one of the strongest Republicans in the State of Connecticut and since January, 1901, has been a member of the state governing or administrative bodies continuously, in one capacity or another.
In the autumn of 1900, the citizens of Greenwich decided that they wanted him to rep- resent them in the House of Representatives and were very much pleased when his ability was so speedily recognized in the House that he was given the distinction of an assignment as chairman of the leading committee on railroads.
His brightness and executive ability made him one of the dominant figures in that General Assembly.
In the session of 1903 and 1907 he gained renewed laurels, having been elevated to the Senatorial body representing the Twenty-seventh Senatorial District. He was chairman of the most important committee in the body, the Judiciary, and his place as leader of the Sen- ate was undisputed.
During the years 1905-06 he served his commonwealth as State Treasurer and made an ideal official in that position. Few Republicans exert a stronger influence on the thought and deeds of the party than he, and his list of friends is far-seeing and includes men of mark and of loyalty.
His social life is confined to the Indian Harbor Yacht Club and the I. O. O. F. of which he has been a member for years. He is a highly respected member of the Episcopal Church and active in its affairs.
Senator Walsh married, April 11, 1893, Emily Cone Tweedale, the daughter of Joseph Tweedale of Portchester, N. Y., and her charm of manner and beautiful deeds of generosity have greatly increased the wide circle of friends enjoyed by both. The marked ability of Senator Walsh will yet bring him higher honors and greater distinction for his gifts are constantly ripening and becoming richer.
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Senator STILES JUDSON
SENATOR STILES JUDSON, STRATFORD
Men who stand true to the deepest convictions of their souls in the face of determined opposition when such a firm stand means heavy sacrifice of prestige, honor and position are not so numerous as the student of humanity might wish, but in Senator Stiles Judson, Strat- ford, Connecticut, has such a man; and the plain people glory in the possession of this valiant and brilliant man of public affairs. At no matter what cost, he has the reputation of remaining true unto himself, and as the immortal poet said, "Thou canst not then be false to any man."
Truth and loyalty are his two most conspicuous traits of character. Added to these are brilliant attainments of the intellect, an eloquence in speech, a knowledge of politics, gov- ernment and men, which make him the natural leader. Such as he cannot be placed in the background. Natural qualities make him a force to be reckoned with, a power to lead men.
Stiles Judson was born in Stratford, February 13, 1862, the son of Stiles and Caroline E. (Peck) Judson. He attended the public and private schools of the town and after grad- uating from the Stratford Academy, entered the law department of Yale University, from which he received his diploma in 1885.
In that same year, he was admitted to the bar and entered the office of Townsend and Watrous in New Haven. Here he continued until September, 1886, and early displayed keen- ness of mind and soundness of judgment.
From New Haven, he went to Bridgeport, becoming a member of the law firm of Can- field and Judson, where he has continued to practice ever since. The firm now bears the name of Canfield, Judson and Pullman, and is one of the best known and most highly rated in the state.
Senator Judson has won a high reputation as a lawyer and to him have been entrusted cases of very large importance.
He has also achieved distinction in military circles and was connected with the Con- necticut National Guard, at one time commanding Company K of the Fourth Regiment.
In politics, he is one of the best known figures in Republican circles in the state. In caucus and convention his words were heard with closest attention, his advice sought, his skill in planning the political battle making him a valuable adviser as well as leader.
The town of Stratford sent him as her representative in the General Assembly of 1891, and was so well pleased with his qualifications and deeds, she sent him again in 1895.
A decade later, the Twenty-fifth Senatorial District of which Stratford is a part, elected him as their Senator, for they remembered his valuable work as House Chairman of the very important Judiciary Committee.
He made an excellent Senator and two years later was re-elected by a plurality almost double that of the preceding election.
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