USA > Connecticut > Representative citizens of Connecticut, biographical memorial > Part 16
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A number of the great business concerns with which he was connected also passed resolutions, among which were his own huge house, the J. B. Williams Company, the Williams Brothers Manufacturing Company, and the New England Gold and Copper Mining Company. Those passed by the first of these read as follows:
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David adillard adilliams
Resolved : That by the removal by death of David Willard Williams, the president of this company, June 8, 1909, we have lost one, who by his kindly and affectionate nature, his unfailing cheerfulness and courtesy, and loyalty to the interests of the com- pany, had endeared himself to every one connected with it. That we all shall greatly miss his genial presence and deeply deplore his loss as an associate, and to the com- munity in which he exerted a large influence for good.
The testimonial of the New England Gold and Copper Mining Com- pany read in part as follows :
In the passing by death of Mr. David W. Williams, the business world has lost a strong factor. He was a staunch supporter of every honest worthy enterprise, ever ready to lend his counsel and aid to that which measured up to the standard of right. His keen perception, staunch integrity and never-failing loyalty made him a man to be desired in any position. His strong hand grasp, ready smile and sweet comradeship invariably won the hearts of his associates and inspired confidence in the sincerity of his life. He was a man who moved quietly but with great force and effectively and maintained the respect and good will of all. His life among us was a splendid example of a strong upright Christian man who worked for a principle and never wavered from his sense of right and duty.
Among the most valuable testimonials which appeared at the time of his death were two sets of resolutions passed, the one by the First Church of Christ in Glastonbury, and the other by the executive committee thereof. They follow in the order given :
Whereas, in the Divine order of nature, David Willard Williams, president of the corporation of the First Church of Christ in Glastonbury, and a member of its board of deacons, has been removed from ns by death, Resolved: That in his death the church has lost a most efficient officer whose sincere devotion to all the interests of the church was unceasing, and whose generous service of the church was in the spirit of Him who came not to be ministered unto, but to minister. That the church has lost a brother beloved of all; whose life was unspotted from the world ; whose love for his friends, his neighbors, his associates in business, his employees, his fellow townsmen, his brethren in the church, ever manifested itself in loving service; whose human sympathies forgot all social or religious or racial lines; whose kindly and cordial manner won for him many and devoted friends ; whose simple faith in God and whole-hearted love for Jesus Christ quickened the faith and stimulated the service of all.
Those of the executive committee ran :
Whereas, It has pleased our Heavenly Father to take unto Himself our beloved friend and counsellor, David Willard Williams, who for thirteen years was president of the church corporation and of this committee; therefore be it Resolved, That while humbly bowing to Divine Wisdom, we, the officers of this church, do hereby express our deep sorrow and regret over the loss of one so long the efficient head of this organization, and one whose wise and loving counsel was always sought and freely given. Also be it Resolved, That these resolutions be spread upon the records of this committee, and a copy sent to his family.
Timothy Allyn
Timothy A. Allyn
F ROM the beginning of its history, Hartford, Connecticut, has been the home of distinguished men whose deeds have written themselves upon the history of our country. Its name has been associated with the names of those who have formed a sort of aristocracy of intellect and culture, and is representative of all that is best and most worthy in the New England character. Perhaps among all the groups of strong and virtuous men which the city has given birth to and fostered to a ripe and capable manhood, there is none of which it has more reason to feel proud than that long succession of merchants and leaders of industrial enterprise who have done so much to develop its material growth, and who have left the mark of their personalities and ideals upon business in such a manner and to such an extent as to have raised its standard throughout the country and given it a higher place in the general regard. Typical of this group, of which, indeed, he was one of the leaders for many years, was Timothy M. Allyn, than whom, during the long period of his active career, no one was more closely identified with the development of the city or took part in more various aspects of its life.
Timothy M. Allyn was born in 1800, in one of the old houses still stand- ing just within the city limits near the Windsor line. The place was at that time well out in the country, and consisted of a small farm owned by his father, who cultivated it and made bricks to eke out his none too abundant living. The family was large, and consisted of eleven children, of whom Timothy was the youngest, a disadvantage under the circumstances, and which was augmented by the fact that he was of delicate constitution and generally in poor health. In him was exemplified, however, the health- giving powers of the wholesome rural life in which the greatest possible time is spent in the open air in the pursuit of occupations that develop not only the body but the mental faculties. Like the sons of farmers in those days, he was expected to aid with the work of cultivating the land, and, as he did so, his health gradually improved until he had laid the foundation of the great physical strength and endurance which remained with him during all the latter part of his life and enabled him to continue his activities long after the time when most men are obliged to abandon them. He persevered in his work for his father until he had reached his majority, when he determined to embark upon an enterprise of his own. For this purpose he very wisely chose an occupation of which he had already had some experience, namely that of making bricks, a task in which he had often assisted his father. It was a task which involved much difficult labor, however, but at which the young man worked with the greatest ardor, actually making with his own hands as many as one hundred and twenty thousand bricks in the course of a single year. Mr. Allyn's friends well remember hearing him recount with much gusto the labors he accomplished in those days, which involved hauling sand for mixture with the clay, the mixing process itself
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during which he drove the cattle as they trod it together in the old-fash- ioned manner, the cutting of wood for the kiln, the burning of the bricks, the hauling to Hartford, and the final disposal of them there at the price of four dollars and a half per thousand. It seems but a pitiful return for so much hard labor, yet Mr. Allyn continued to make his livelihood thus for a considerable period, before turning his hand to other things. It was the period, however, when all eyes, especially all youthful eyes, were being turned to the western part of this great continent and a multitude of tales, some false or exaggerated, but many true, were circulated regarding the opportunities that there awaited enterprise and courage. Like many of his fellows, Mr. Allyn harkened readily to these accounts and in 1825, when he had reached the age of twenty-five years, he took a position as a book sales- man and traveled in Ohio and other parts of the middle west doing an excellent business and laying aside a considerable portion of his earnings. Two years later he took the little capital he had accumulated and, return- ing to the east, took up his abode in New York City and there entered the wholesale dry goods business. His venture was necessarily a small one at the outset, but Mr. Allyn was gifted with unusual business perspicacity and it was not long before his trade began to increase greatly and he was soon the owner of a large establishment and making a great deal of money. The dry goods business was in those days much simpler than it is now, but even then it involved much detail, and this Mr. Allyn is said to have mastered within six weeks. He did not remain a great while in New York, however, but after three years, during which he had become an experienced and suc- cessful merchant, he returned to his native city of Hartford and there, in partnership with one of his brothers, founded the important dry goods house with which he was identified so long. His brother retired from the firm after a short time and Mr. Allyn continued it alone until the year 1848. The directory of Hartford in 1843 contained the following direction: "T. M. Allyn, commission merchant and wholesale dealer in American and foreign dry goods, Nos. 9 and 1I Asylum street." This location is now occupied by Gemmill, Burnham & Company's establishment. In 1848 he retired from active business for a time, having amassed a very substantial fortune and made a reputation as one of the most successful and trustworthy mer- chants and business men in the city. His retirement was in part due to the fact that other interests of his were becoming very large and required more and more of his time and attention. These were his large property holdings in the city which, with foresight, he had invested much of his fortune in, foreseeing the rise in values that must accompany the increase in popula- tion and rapid industrial development. He could not remain entirely aloof from the business in which he had been so successful and grown to take so great an interest, however, and he later became a partner of the firm of Spencer, White & Company, engaged in the wholesale dry goods trade at No. 22 Asylum street. In this, however, he did not actively engage in the management of the concern. Besides his real estate interests, Mr. Allyn became connected with a number of important corporations and financial institutions in Hartford, which at once greatly increased his fortune and gave the prestige and weight of his name and reputation to these concerns,
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a valuable financial asset in itself, to say nothing of the share he took in their active management in his capacity of director. He held this office in the Hartford Corporation, the Connecticut Western railroad, the Connec- ticut Fire Insurance Company, the Hartford Steam Company, the Security Company, the Spring Grove Cemetery, and the Connecticut School of Design. He was also a director and at one time president of the Hartford Carpet Company, and a very large stockholder in the Atlas Fire Insurance Company. The property which he owned in the city Mr. Allyn went about developing in a way that should not only serve his own ends, but prove a benefit to the community generally. Among the large and handsome buildings, of which he erected many, may be mentioned the Charter Oak Bank building and Allyn Hall, put up about 1860. Altogether there were but few men in Hartford at that time so prominent in the financial and business world as Mr. Allyn, nor were there many fortunes as large as his.
But it was not alone in this department of activity that Mr. Allyn was active. It was almost inevitable that a man of his prominence and wealth and of his public spirit, should be drawn into public life, especially as he took so keen an interest in general political questions. He was one of those who joined the Republican party early in its career, and from that time until the end of his life he was a firm supporter of its principles. He early allied him- self with its organization in Hartford and rapidly became a leader therein. He was elected alderman, and served in that capacity for a number of years, and was a member of the Water Commission for a time. In 1858 he was elected mayor of the city, and held that office until the close of 1860, and as early as 1843 he had been sent from Hartford to the State Legislature. From 1864 to 1867 he was major of the Putnam Phalanx, the best known military body in the city.
Mr. Allyn was a man of strong philanthropic instincts, and he gave generously to many charitable institutions and movements. He was highly interested in the movement to establish industrial schools for those who could not otherwise gain a training in the trades, and was one of the prin- cipal supporters of the Industrial School for Girls at Middletown, Con- necticut, as well as a director, and one of its principal buildings was erected by him at a large cost and was known as the Allyn Home. He also offered one hundred thousand dollars to the city of Hartford to be applied to the founding of a similar institution for boys, an equal sum to be raised by the city. This offer was declined. He was a man of strong but liberal views in religion, and for a number of years was a member of the Unitarian church which stood on the present site of the Charter Oak Bank. The church was finally abandoned and as its site was sold to the banking cor- poration, the building was disposed of to Trinity Church, and the material used in the construction of the new church building on Asylum Hill. It is illustrative of the general confidence reposed in Mr. Allyn that he should have been chosen by both parties to the contract to conduct the nego- tiations, and it is evidence of his tact and fairmindedness that they were both satisfied.
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Mr. Allyn was united in marriage with Miss Susan Pratt, and to them were born seven children, four of whom survive their father. They are as follows: Arthur W., whose rose to the rank of major in the United States army, but resigned from the service in 1880, and is now engaged in a mer- cantile business in Chicago; a son, who settled in Wisconsin, where he is engaged in farming on a very large scale; another son, who has resided in Europe for a number of years; and Robert, who became his father's business assistant some few years before the latter's death, and whose sketch follows. One of the deceased sons of Mr. Allyn was Justice Joseph Pratt Allyn, an honored figure on the Arizona bench when the territorial government of that region was organized.
The death of Mr. Allyn occurred August 25, 1882, and was the occasion of universal mourning, since they were few indeed to whom his abilities and activities had not made him known, and since this knowledge was not wider than the affection and honor to which it gave birth. As a token of this fact the manifold testimonials spoken and written on that sad occasion are an abundant evidence; the press of Hartford and the State particularly voicing the general feeling. From the "Hartford Daily Courant." which printed a long obituary notice, the following excerpt is taken, which will illustrate this sentiment and appropriately close this short sketch:
His familiar figure has been often seen on the streets, often in his carriage, of which he was his own driver, or on horseback, where his striking resemblance to George Wash- ington was a matter of general comment. This resemblance was marked a few years ago when he was major of the Putnam Phalanx and dressed in the continental uniform. For one of his advanced years, he has led for a long time rather an active life in looking after his real estate interests, for he was one of the largest renters in the city. He was one of Hartford's representative citizens, and his loss will be felt in many circles. * * * To works of charity and philanthropy he has given with liberality in very many instances, and in all enterprises involving the welfare of the city he has taken a lively interest. The loss of such a man as T. M. Allyn is a matter of much moment to the community.
Robert allen
Robert Allpn
T HE death of Robert Allyn on February 2, 1896, in Hartford, Connecticut, deprived that city of one of its most promi- nent and wealthy citizens, and a man who all his life had been identified with the progress and advancement of the community. He was a member of a family which had long made its residence in that city, and the son of Timothy M. Allyn, one of the foremost of its citizens in his day. The Allyn arms are as follows: Paly of ten argent and azure. Over all a cross potent or. Crest : A lion salient sable and a tower or and argent. Motto: Fortiter Gerit Crucem.
Timothy M. Allyn was born in the year 1800 on his father's farm in the vicinity of Hartford and there passed the years of his childhood and early youth engaged in gaining his education and in the work of the farm. He was the youngest of eleven children and much of his time was occupied in working the brick kiln which his father ran in connection with his other work. He cut the wood and mixed and baked the bricks and it is said that he himself made in one year one hundred and twenty thousand bricks, which were eventually sold in Hartford at the rate of four dollars and fifty cents a thousand. He remained on the farm until he had reached the age of twenty- five years, when he left the parental roof and went west as far as Ohio, where he travelled for some time. Two years later he returned east and settled for a time in New York City, where he was connected with a whole- sale dry goods business for three years. In 1830 he came once more to Hartford and this time located in the city proper, where, in partnership with his brothers, he started a store on Asylum street. The venture was emi- nently successful and Mr. Allyn, Sr., remained in business until the year 1848, when he retired entirely from his mercantile enterprises and devoted himself to caring for his large estate. While still but a young man he had foreseen the growth to which Hartford was destined, and with more than usual business judgment had set himself to take advantage of it by wise and extensive investments in real estate in the districts in which he believed the development would prove greatest. The event justified his policy. His prop- erty rapidly grew in value and he soon began large building operations, erect- ing in 1860 the well known hotel called Allyn Hall and a little later the Char- ter Oak Bank Building and a number of other large and important edifices. His activities were by no means purely selfish, for although he was of course made wealthy by these operations the city generally was also greatly stimu- lated in its development and strongly benefited thereby. His services and the general integrity and ability of his character were recognized by the district in which he dwelt, and he was elected an alderman for several terms and in 1858 became a member of the water commission for a period of three years. He was a staunch Republican in politics and in 1843 was elected on that party's ticket to the Connecticut State Legislature, in which body he
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Robert Allen
most effectively represented his city. He was a man of very great public spirit and had the welfare of his native city greatly at heart. He at one time offered it the sum of one hundred thousand dollars on the condition that an equal sum be raised for the founding of an industrial school for boys, and later offered the Allyn Hall Building and forty thousand dollars in cash for a library for the Young Men's Institute, but unfortunately the city was not in a position to take advantage of either offer. For many years Timothy M. Allyn was a member of the Unitarian church. He was very liberal in his religious views, but a staunch and practical Christian, and after his death a beautiful memorial was erected to him in the shape of the Allyn Chapel in the Spring Grove Cemetery. He was a man who left a lasting influence upon the community in which he dwelt and a memory which will always be honored. He was married to Susan Pratt, a daughter of Joseph Pratt. To them were born seven children, of whom Robert Allyn, the subject of this sketch, was the youngest. Timothy M. Allyn died in the year 1882, and Mrs. Allyn survived him about six years.
Robert Allyn was born March 8, 1849, in the city of Hartford, where he made his home during his entire life. He was educated in Hartford, and after completing his education turned to the management of his estate. At the time this was left him by his father it was already of great value, con- sisting principally of valuable real estate properties, and since that time, as a result of both the natural increase of properties incident to the growth of the city, and the skillful management of Mr. Allyn, this value has been greatly added to. About 1889 Mr. Allyn took charge of the management of the Allyn House, which up to then had been under the direction of a cousin, the late Robert J. Allyn. He had always taken an interest in the manage- ment of the property, but after his cousin's death he superintended the whole matter, although his name was never publicly associated with the management of the hotel. Before his death Mr. Allyn was one of the wealthiest men in the community and paid taxes on property valued at four hundred thousand dollars.
Mr. Allyn was a very public-spirited man and was interested in many of the movements for the advancement of the community. He was a mem- ber of the Republican party and a keen and intelligent thinker on political subjects, although he never entered actively into the affairs of his city. Mr. Allyn was married, January 30, 1877, to Alice Belle Main, of Brooklyn, Con- necticut, a daughter of Elias H. and Sarah S. (Dorrance) Main. of that place. To them were born two children, who, with their mother, survive Mr. Allyn. They are Robert J. and Dorothy Belle. Robert J. Allyn married Louise Graham; they live in Hartford and have one daughter, Mary Belle.
The character of Mr. Allyn was one which won respect and recognition in all quarters. To the fundamental virtues of an unimpeachable integrity and a tolerant outlook upon life and his fellows he added the graces of enlightenment and culture, ease of manner, conversational powers and the cosmopolitan breadth of vision. He was fond of social intercourse with con- genial spirits, and was a pleasure to his friends and an ornament to those functions, which a man of prominence must constantly attend in the pursu-
FORTITER GERIT CRUCEM-CE
&G Allun -
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Robert Allpn
ance of his ends and duties. But despite his social tastes and powers he was possessed of all the domestic virtues and found the greatest happiness in the society of his own household and the pleasures of his home. His death was felt as a loss throughout the community which all his life had been his home and the scene of his busy activities.
John MClarp
T 'HE spirit which is willing to give the majority or any large fraction of its time and energy in the service of its fellows is not of such frequent occurrence to-day that we can afford to pass it by without comment and commendation. There are many ideals abroad at present, some better, some worse, and it is encouraging to note that more and more stress and emphasis is coming to be laid on the former, nevertheless it is only too obvious that, lay it to what cause we will, there is a pretty strong proclivity for each to take care of himself without much regard for the other fellow. It is the more refreshing, therefore, when we happen upon some con- spicuous example of the contrary intention and note the career of a man who is content to pass the major part of his life in the public service, and sacrifice, not only the reward which might otherwise accrue as the result of his efforts, but even the comforts of a permanent home, so dear to the hearts of all. Nor does it minimize the lesson to be learned from such a career to know that, when at length the energies were turned to private ends, the highest success was realized, but rather emphasizes still further the self- restraint involved in turning such faculties to a task from which the personal return must of necessity be totally incommensurate with the service rend- ered. Such was the case in the life of Mr. John McClary, whose death in Hartford on July 7, 1909, removed from that city one who, despite his long employment in the government service, had, in the comparatively short time he had devoted to it, made himself one of the most successful business men in the city.
John McClary was of Scotch parentage and inherited his full share of the positive virtues of his race, courage, perseverance and practical common sense, which have proved so valuable an element in weaving the fabric of American citizenship. The arms of the McClary family are: Or. A chevron azure between three roses gules. Both his parents, John and Ellen (Reilly) McClary, were natives of Glasgow, Scotland, and there passed their youth and were married. They later emigrated to the United States and made their home in Boston, where John McClary Jr. was born. While he was yet but a little lad his parents moved once more, this time to Wakefield, Massa- chusetts, and it was in that town that he was reared and there his youthful associations were formed. It was in Wakefield also, that he attended school and received his education up to the age of fifteen years. Two years prior to this there occurred an event which modified his whole subsequent life, as it did that of many millions besides. This was the outbreak of the Civil War, in 1861, when Mr. McClary was only thirteen years of age, an age which rendered it impossible for him to enlist in spite of his youthful desire to do so. However, in 1863, he left school and was given a place in the Signal Corps of the United States Army, in which he saw active service until the close of hostilities. He came into close contact with many of the stirring events of those days, and was actually in the Ford Theatre in Washington
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