USA > Connecticut > Representative citizens of Connecticut, biographical memorial > Part 27
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Daniel Kingsbury
Dr. Kingsbury was twice married. His first wife, to whom he was mar- ried in October, 1853, was Mary Chapman Loomis, a native of Tolland county, and a daughter of Elmer and Cynthia (Davis) Loomis. Of this marriage there were two children: I. Frances Estelle, born April 13, 1856; attended Mount Holyoke Seminary; married, 1880, the Rev. Thomas H. Gordon; he was rector of St. John's Church, Chews, New Jersey, for twenty- three years; Mr. and Mrs. Gordon now reside in Trenton, New Jersey. 2. Carrie Alice, born March 4, 1858, lives in Glastonbury. Mrs. Kingsbury died August 10, 1859, and on June 12, 1862, Dr. Kingsbury was married to Lucy M. Cone, of East Haddam, Connecticut, a daughter of Erastus and Lucy B. (Beebe) Cone, of that place. There were three children of this union, as follows: I. Mary Aurelia, born July 3, 1865; graduated from the Glastonbury Academy, where she was afterwards an assistant teacher; studied in Germany; was graduated from the Pratt Institute School of Library Science, 1899; has been librarian of Erasmus Hall High School, Brooklyn, New York, since 1901 ; she was the first trained high school librarian in the United States. 2. William Sanford, born September 17, 1867; graduated from Hartford High School; received degree of Bachelor of Science from Trinity College, Hartford, Connecticut, 1891; graduated from Yale Medical School, 1896; was interne in St. John's Hospital, Lowell, Massachusetts, for one year ; since that time he has been a practicing physi- cian in Glastonbury, Connecticut ; he represented his town in the Legisla- ture, 1905; in 1898 he married Mary L. Raymond, of Boston, Massachu- setts ; they have two children: Elizabeth and Honor Prince. 3. Lucie Eve- lyn, born July 4, 1869; was graduated from Mount Holyoke College, 1891; received degree of Bachelor of Arts from Radcliffe College, 1902; taught in the high schools of East Hartford, Connecticut, and Montclair, New Jersey; married, 1907, Dr. Charles G. Rankin ; resides in Glastonbury.
It is not always an easy matter to state in definite terms the reasons for the success won by this or that man in his chosen career. The subtle qualities of the mind and character are combined in still more subtle unions which often defy analysis. There are, of course, always to be noted as present certain great underlying traits of character such as impregnable honesty, unwearying industry, and a broad understanding of and sympathy with human character, without which no success that is really worth while is possible. But having called attention to these things the analyst of char- acter is often at a loss how to proceed. The effect of personality is realized intuitively without reference to whether it can or cannot be explained. Such was very largely true in the case of Dr. Kingsbury. One might not be able to account for it other than in the bare, elementary way already described, and yet it was true that one could not be in contact with him more than a moment without feeling a sort of innate power which was highly impressive and convincing. Perhaps it can best be put by saying that he had the faculty of making his fellows trust him, not only his intentions, but his ability to carry out these intentions. This is, of course, only a way of putting off the ultimate question of his influence, another step, and leaving it ultimately unsolved, yet perhaps it may throw as much light on the matter as the nature of the case will permit. Whatever its origin it was certainly an in-
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valuable faculty for a physician. Dr. Kingsbury's patients instinctively felt it, and the position which he occupied with them transcended that of the mere practitioner, and he seemed largely a doctor of souls as well as of bodies. It is a relation that practically never obtains in this day of special- ists and highly trained attendants, and which required something unusual in the personality even of the old fashioned general practitioner, for its full development, but was entirely realized by Dr. Kingsbury with his great clientele, so that he was at once physician, counselor and trusted friend, to whom one might turn with confidence in time of doubt and trouble. To say of a man that he occupied such a position, and to say of him further that he occupied it adequately, that he betrayed no trust, and offered no foolish counsel, that he was a friend of every man, "at his most need to go by his side." is surely one of the greatest tributes which can be paid him, and such indeed may truly be said of Dr. Kingsbury. This sketch cannot be more appropriately closed than in the words of the set of resolutions adopted by the rector, wardens and vestrymen of St. James' Parish, Glastonbury, No- vember 28, 1914, in memory of him who had for so long been a faithful friend and co-laborer in the interests of the church. It expresses strongly and feelingly the respect and affection with which he inspired those with whom he associated, and makes plain how deeply his influence entered into the fabric of the community of which he was a member. The resolutions follow :
Inasmuch as it has pleased Almighty God to call to Paradise the soul of the late Dr. Daniel Kingsbury.
Resolved, That the Rector, Wardens and Vestry of St. James' Parish, wishing to express their sense of the loss the church in this town has sustained in the calling away of one who has faithfully served the parish for many years, do place on record this tribute to his memory.
He has served the parish as Senior Warden, Treasurer and Vestryman. In each office he has been faithful and efficient. He has given generously of his thought, his interest, his time, his money, his prayers. To him as much as any one individual is due the organization, growth and prosperity of this parish. The honesty and integrity of his business dealings, his upright and consistent daily life, his constant participation in the services and sacraments of the church, his strong and unfaltering trust in God, won the esteem of all and the love of many. We thank God for his example and friendship; and we pray that light perpetual may shine upon him, and that he and we may be par- takers of the Heavenly Kingdom. And be it
Resolved, That we extend to his bereaved children our tenderest sympathies, and that we assure them of our earnest prayers that He who doeth all things well will grant them strength in this time of trouble, and the eternal peace which passeth all under- standing.
(Signed) EDWARD G. REYNOLDS, Rector, and Committee GILES H. WADSWORTH, HARRY E. WELLES.
Elisha Risley
T HE SETTING DOWN of the personal records of the men who, by dint of worthy effort, have raised themselves to a high position upon the ladder of success and secured them- selves in the respect of their fellows must always be a work of value. Self-made men, who have accomplished much by reason of their personal qualities and left the impress of their individuality upon the business and general life of the com- munities where they have lived and worked, men who have affected for good such customs and institutions as have come within the sphere of their influence, have, unwittingly perhaps, but none the less truly, reared for them- selves monuments more enduring than those of stone or brass. Such dis- tinction may well be claimed for Elisha Risley, whose career forms the subject-matter of this brief sketch and whose death on January 13, 1900, at Hartford, Connecticut, deprived that city of one of its most substantial men of business and a citizen of the highest type. He was a member of a very old Connecticut family, the immigrant ancestor, Richard Risley, was a man of good old English stock and formed one of the numerous party that accompanied Thomas Hooker upon that expedition which had for its result the founding of Hartford. In this city he settled and there and in other parts of the State his descendants have lived from that day to this. And if upon his father's side Mr. Risley is of English descent, this is equally true of the maternal line, he displaying the characteristic virtues of that strong and dominant race.
Mr. Risley's father, Ralph Risley, was a native of Hockanum, near Glastonbury, Connecticut, a very prominent man in that part of the country, and most typical of the splendid Connecticut farming population which for so many years has been the back-bone, as it were, of that entire region. He was a sturdy Democrat of the old school, an ardent believer in the rights of the common man and in his ability to take care of his own interests, a man of strong religious beliefs and feelings, an ardent Methodist and withal a clever business man and possessed of great executive ability. Six feet in height, spare and strong, he was a capable worker in the agricultural occu- pation he had chosen, in which he was highly successful. He and Deacon Horace Williams were the pioneer market gardners in the region, disposing of their produce in Hartford, and came to be regarded as the two wealthiest men in East Hartford in their day. Mr. Risley, Sr., was married to Anne Winslow, a daughter of Pardner Winslow, of East Hartford, and by her was the father of a large family of children, of which the Mr. Risley of this sketch was the youngest. The eldest brother, Ralph Risley, Jr., also dis- tinguished himself as a business man in Hartford.
Elisha Risley was born in East Hartford, January II, 1843, and spent the first eight years of his life in that place in his father's house, one of the two first brick dwellings on that side of the river, Deacon Horace Williams'
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being the other. Mr. Risley, Sr., died about the time his son had completed his eighth year, and thereupon the lad was sent to dwell with his guardian, Squire Thaddeus Welles, who in turn sent him to a boarding school in Ver- mont. He was always a quick ambitious lad and it was in this institution that he gained the beginnings of the excellent education that he acquired. He later attended an advanced school in East Hampton, Connecticut, where he completed the same. He was about nineteen years of age when the Civil War broke out, whereupon he enlisted in Company H, Sixteenth Regiment Connecticut Volunteer Infantry, and was ordered to the front, where he saw much active service, and took part in many notable engagements. He was wounded at the battle of Antietam and after remaining in the hospital for some time he returned to the north upon receiving his honorable dis- charge. Still ardent to serve his country, however, he secured an appoint- ment as clerk in the Navy Department, Gideon Welles, then Secretary of the Navy, being a native of the same region as Mr. Risley. It was only after the close of hostilities and the withdrawal of Mr. Risley from the government's employ, that his real business career may be said to have begun. He was first engaged in business in New Britain, Connecticut, but shortly after- wards became associated with a school friend, Edward Gridley, in the iron trade. He was employed as manager of the iron works at Amenia, New York State, between the years 1868 and 1875, and then went to Springfield, Massachusetts. In the latter place he became associated with the Connec- ticut Mutual Life Insurance Company, in the capacity of general agent for the western part of Massachusetts, and it is with this company that the most important part of his business career is identified. He remained in Spring- field about six years, or until 1882, when in January of that year he was appointed superintendent of agents for the company and removed to Hart- ford where he could take up his work at the central office. The position now assumed by Mr. Risley was an extremely responsible one as well as very desirable, and it is said that he was selected from a field of about one hundred contestants for the place, on account of the remarkable showing he had made in the western Massachusetts agency and because of his grasp of the general principles of insurance far above that of the average agent. He filled the difficult and delicate office with great skill and ability for eighteen years and more, and only ceased when death called him. During that time he had gained a high reputation in the insurance world as an expert in the business and came to be regarded as one of the most substantial men in the city. His activities were far from being confined to his business inter- ests or even to his private affairs at all. On the contrary he was a man of the broadest sympathies and interests and found himself connected with almost all the important movements in the city which had to do with im- provement and the advancement of the common weal. One of the most important of his activities was in connection with his religion and church, a matter in which he was most profoundly interested. He was an Episco- palian in belief and a member of Trinity parish, Hartford, for many years. He participated in the church work and aided very materially the many benevolences in connection therewith, being a member of the vestry for a considerable period. He was prominent in Masonic circles in the city, a
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member of the Free and Accepted Masons, the Royal Arch Masons, and the Knights Templar, of Boston.
While still engaged in the iron business in New York, or to be more precise, on February II, 1874, Mr. Risley was united in marriage with Sarah Reed, of Amenia, New York State, a daughter of Edward and Abbie (Hatch) Reed, of that town. To them were born six children, as follows: Abbie H., now Mrs. Arthur D. Chaffee, of Willimantic, Connecticut, and the mother of four children, Ruth R., Dwight and Marion, twins, and Barbara: Emily Welles, now the wife of Hon. William W. Seymour, of Tacoma, Washington; Ann Winslow, who resides with her mother ; George Edward, who married Edith Hall and is a resident of Hartford; Florence S., died in early youth; and Ralph Green, a lieutenant in the United States Navy and stationed at Annapolis, graduating from the United States Naval Academy with the class of 1911. Mrs. Risley and five of their children survive Mr. Risley, and she is still a resident of West Hartford, where she makes her home in the attractive dwelling on Farmington avenue.
David Wilton
T THE STORY OF the life of the late David Tilton, of Hartford, Connecticut, who until a few years prior to his death was a manufacturer of wide-spread reputation, was one of steady and persistent effort towards worthy ambitions, and of the success which step by step was won by his industry and talents. Occupying a recognized and enviable position among the well known citizens of Hartford, he might point with pride to the fact that he had gained this place owing to no favor or mere accident, but to his own native ability and sound judgment, and to the wise foresight by which he had carefully fitted himself for the work towards which his inclination directed him. High ideals were coupled in him with that force of character and that tenacity of purpose which must inevitably bring forth fruit in a well merited success. The family from which he was descended was undoubtedly of Saxon origin. The town of Tilton in Leices- tershire was in existence prior to the time of William the Conqueror and the town and family are mentioned in "Domesday Book." We are told that certain members of the family made honorable records in the Crusades (Sir John Tilton, Knight), and tradition says that the lives of both Edward I. and Edward III. were saved by Tiltons, that seven of the family fought at Bosworth Field, under Henry, against Richard, several of them losing their lives on that day.
David Tilton was born in Meredith, New Hampshire, November 29, 1834, and died in Hartford, Connecticut, April 26, 1914. He received an excellent and substantial education in the common schools of his native town, and at the age of sixteen years was apprenticed to learn his trade in the Amoskeag Mills, in New Hampshire, where fire engines were manufac- tured. He was also employed for a time in the shops of the Northfield Central Vermont Railway Company. He then went to Hartford, Connec- ticut, where his first position was with the Colt's Firearms Company, but at the expiration of one year he went to Yonkers, New York, where he re- mained two years, then spent two further years in New Orleans, Louisiana. In 1867 he returned to Hartford and entered the employ of the National Screw Company, where he gained a thorough and practical knowledge of all the details connected with the manufacture of screws of every description. He was employed in various shops in Hartford, and in Lakewood, New Jersey, during the years from 1869 to 1875, and in the latter year went to Castleton, New York, where he formed the connection with the Atlantic Screw Company which was to be of such importance and benefit to him and the entire country. The history of the Atlantic Screw Works is an interest- ing one, and is as follows:
In 1875 a concern started to make wood screws at Castleton, New York, taking the name of the town for a firm name. At the end of a short two years, this company had lost seventy thousand dollars of its own money, and thirty-five thousand dollars, borrowed from George W. Bruce, a whole-
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sale hardware merchant of New York City. Mr. Bruce took possession of the plant in 1877, in order to secure his loan. So worthless, upon examina- tion, were the original machines found to be, that they were thrown into the scrap heap. In the meantime, however, David Tilton, who had been superintendent of the works, being of an inventive and ingenious turn of mind, had made a number of improvements in the devices for threading, and Mr. Bruce was so impressed by these, that he decided to develop the machine with the view of reviving the business. His faith was not misplaced. A model was set up in Brooklyn, New York, and so satisfactory were the results obtained when tests were made for quality and quantity, that other machines of the same type were immediately constructed. The manufacture was transferred to Hartford in 1879, where it was located in Colt's West Armory, and work was formally resumed under the business name of Atlantic Screw Works. Mr. Bruce spent about three years abroad, during a part of this time being assisted by Mr. Tilton, who personally superintended the exhibition of the threader in France and Belgium. He took out a number of foreign patents and built duplicate machines for use in Europe, but failing health and loss of eyesight obliged Mr. Bruce to abandon the enterprise, he returned to his home in New York, and died in 1887. So appreciative was he of the debt he owed to Mr. Tilton for his long, valuable and faithful service, that he made a handsome provision for him in his will, and also stipulated that the Atlantic Screw Works should be sold to him on very easy terms. Mr. Tilton remained the sole owner of the factory until April 6, 1908, when he retired in favor of his son, Fred N. Tilton. Under the management of the younger Mr. Tilton the manufactory continued to gain in importance, and to make satisfactory returns. On January 18, 1915, the Atlantic Screw Works filed a certificate of organization with the Secre- tary of State. The capital stock is one hundred and fifty thousand dollars, the value of each share being one hundred dollars. One thousand four hun- dred and ninety-four shares are the property of Fred N. Tilton, the others being owned respectively by Morton F. Miner, Andrew W. Bowman, Leon P. Broadhurst, Samuel S. Chamberlain, Charles D. Rice and Samuel M. Stone. The present factory building was erected in 1902, and is a substan- tial, modern, brick structure, especially equipped for the work done in it. In 1910 it was found necessary to add another building to the original structure, as its capacity had been outgrown, and alterations and improvements have been made throughout the establishment from time to time, as occasion demanded. The regular product of the factory is wood screws of every description, and by reason of the improved pointing and threading machines, the machinery invented by the late Mr. Tilton, the screws secure good points, round smooth bodies, and true, well-slotted heads. A specialty of the company is brass and bronze metal screws, with flat, round and oval heads.
Mr. Tilton married, November 29, 1859, Mary Jane Russell, born in Manchester, New Hampshire, in 1839, died at the beautiful summer resi- dence of the family, at Bow, New Hampshire, November 2, 1901. They had four children : Nella M., who died February 27, 1911 ; she was the widow of Horace G. Lord, born at Red Key, Indiana, June 29, 1851, died in Hart-
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ford, Connecticut, October 24, 1900; he had been identified with Colt's Works for a quarter of a century, during a number of years holding the position of foreman. Warra B., who married Morton F. Miner, associated with the Atlantic Screw Works; they reside at 127 Jefferson street, Hartford. Lela Alice, to whom we are indebted for much of the data upon which this sketch is based. Fred N., mentioned above; he married Alice B. Curry, and resides at No. 82 Charter Oak avenue; they have one child, Doris B.
David Tilton was a man who never sought popularity, but those who came in contact with him in social life were attracted by his geniality, affa- bility and old time courtesy. He had a natural kindness of heart which no stress of business ever diminished, and he made many sincere and admiring friends. Few men possessed a cleaner heart or a clearer conscience.
Albert Tilton, brother of David Tilton, was born August 19, 1839, and died May 5, 1914. He was the dean of the force of the Winchester Repeat- ing Arms Company, having been made general superintendent in 1892, and held this position until early in 1914, when he was made mechanical advisor in order to relieve him of the great care and responsibilities he had should- ered until that time.
Ulysses Hayden Brockway
Alysses Hayden Brockway
T THE DEATH OF Ulysses Hayden Brockway at Hartford, Connecticut, May 15, 1914, deprived that city of one of the business figures in its business world, a man who for many years had stood as a type of the conservative, successful merchant, the substantial and public-spirited citizen. Mr. Brockway came of the sturdy rural stock of Connecticut, his family having followed farming as an occupation for many years in the region of Lyme. The coat-of-arms of the Brockway family is as follows: Gules: A fleur de lis argent, on a chief of the second (argent) a lion passant guardant of the first (gules). Two bars wavy, each charged with three pales wavy, gules. Crest: An escallop or.
He was born at Hamburg, in the town of Lyme, July 19, 1851, a son of Jedediah and Elizabeth (Lord) Brockway, old residents of that place, and there passed the days of his childhood on his father's farm, living the not easy but wholesome life of a farmer's son of that time, and attending the district school for his education, and having to trudge a full two miles to it every morning. The most vivid recollections which he possessed of this part of his life was in connection with the Civil War which broke out when he was but ten years old, and thus too young to give his services in the cause he loved. What his childish ability could compass, however, that he did, playing the drum for the contingent of recruits which was drilled at Lyme. The lad was an ambitious one, and from early childhood was determined to alter his lot from that of farmer, which fate seemed to intend for him, to that of the business man in a city, where he might see more of the world and take a more vital part in the life of his fellows. Accordingly at the age of only sixteen years he threw down his hoe and left the parental roof, making his way to Hartford. It was not a great while before the bright, alert youth secured a position with Franklin Clark, a merchant tailor at No. 132 State street, Hartford. The business that Mr. Brockway thus became connected with, as though it were by chance hap, was the oldest tailor establishment in the city, having been founded as far back as 1824 by Robert Buell, and did a trade of the highest class. It was a piece of rare good fortune for the young man to thus become connected with the concern with which he was to remain associated for the remainder of his life. He gave eminent satis- faction to his employer and his promotion was rapid, so that upon the retire- ment of Mr. Clark in 1878, he and Mr. J. H. W. Wenk continued the business under the style of Wenk & Brockway. Eight years later Mr. Brockway became the sole proprietor of the business, and from that time until his death it was conducted under the style of U. H. Brockway & Company. Under his masterly management the business grew greatly and became one of the most important commercial concerns of the kind in Hartford. It was a long rise from errand boy and clerk, as he had started out, to the position of one of the first merchants of the city, and Mr. Brockway used to take great pleasure in recounting the circumstances thereof, especially of the time spent in the first humble position, when as errand boy he was obliged to
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