USA > Connecticut > Representative citizens of Connecticut, biographical memorial > Part 33
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Kind hearts are more than coronets And simple faith than Norman blood.
Mr. George C. Hubert, general secretary of the Young Men's Christian Association, speaking of Mr. Hillyer, said as follows:
Mr. Hillyer represented in his life the choicest Christian principles, modesty, integ- rity, and the desire to serve others were among his outstanding characteristics. Because of his aversion to publicity his life of good and great and generous acts is far too little known to the younger generation of the community. He was deeply interested in the welfare of young men and women. His interest in them was as broad as their human needs. As a benefactor of the local Young Men's Christian Association he took delight in giving in a princely manner to endow its educational work, now known as the Hillyer Institute of the Young Men's Christian Association, and also to make possible the erec- tion of the new building which is this week to be pronounced completed. But his hearty, personal sympathetic interest followed his gifts. He gave in no impersonal fashion. His first interest was in the men his gifts were serving, and his face lighted with the keenest pleasure when he heard of individuals, men and boys, who were personally helped by the agencies his gifts were aiding. His life will be an inspiration to many others to high, unselfish, and noble living. His native streets will see him no more, but his good deeds will live after him.
Many other tributes of like kind were paid Mr. Hillyer by his associates such as that of Alfred Spencer, Jr., president of the Aetna National Bank, who said:
I have not the words at my command to express my regard for Mr. Hillyer. It was a pleasure to be associated with him in business for twenty-four years. He was the truest kind of a friend and a man of the loftiest ideals and character I have often leaned on him for advice and counsel.
From the Hartford "Times" came the following:
Hartford owes much to the Hillyer family. It owes much to Appleton R. Hillyer, whose death occurred yesterday at the ripe age of eighty-two. Mr. Hillyer was a
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believer in the use of wealth for the good it can do. His gifts were munificent and intel- ligently bestowed. He was always found aiding worthy causes. In his death Hartford loses a genuine friend and one of her very best citizens.
The resolutions of the Aetna National Bank, with which Mr. Hillyer was associated for well nigh sixty years, follow:
At a regular meeting of the Board of Directors of The Aetna National Bank of Hartford, held April 26, 1915, the following resolutions were unanimously passed :
Whereas: The Board of Directors and Officers of The Aetna National Bank of Hartford have lost a valued member in the decease of Mr. Appleton Robbins Hillyer, who was so closely associated with The Aetna National Bank continuously since the organization of the corporation in 1857; be it therefore
Resolved, That we but express the sentiment of all the Directors and Officers when we affirm that his death is a serious misfortune for this Bank and a personal loss to each member of its Board and Official Staff.
Resolved, That his quiet counsel, his loyal assistance and sympathy, his devotion to the interests of the Bank he served, his impartial attitude to those who labored with him will be cherished as a lasting memory of worthiness to those who are left to carry on the upbuilding of firm principles and a sound institution he loved so well.
Resolved, That his death means a loss to the State, City and Church; that the civic pride and unselfish support he at all times exhibited, lent and will continue to lend an inspiration to those who were fortunate enough to work with him.
Resolved, That as a testimonial of our regard and esteem for him who was first Cashier, then Director, President and Vice-President of this Bank, it is ordered that these resolutions be incorporated in the records of this Bank, and that the Cashier be directed to send to the family of Mr. Hillyer an engrossed copy thereof, with an expression of our sincere sympathy.
Ellsworth Morton Tracy
T HERE ARE SOME lives which, although if measured by years and months and days appear all too brief, have yet been so crowded with events and useful service that gauged by the true standard of things accomplished, are in that sense longer than many of their fellows though these may have outlasted the allotted three score years and ten. The case of the Rev. Ellsworth Morton Tracy whose name heads this sketch, most admirably exemplifies this proposition. His death at Thomaston, Connecticut, on September 1I, 1913, cut short before the com- pletion of his thirty-ninth year a career at once brilliant and full of the promise of future value, yet so rich in activities beneficial to his fellows had been the few years allowed him by destiny, so strong had beat in him the pulse of existence, that, if the figure be permissible, he seemed to have pressed into the mould of those years a larger measure of life than that with which most men are blessed.
Ellsworth Morton Tracy was born April 17, 1875, in Waterbury, Con- necticut. He was a son of Morton and Ida (Kilborn) Tracy, honored residents of that town, and through both was descended from fine old New England stock. He spent the years of his childhood in his father's house in his native town, engaged in the appropriate occupations of that age. Chief of these was the gaining of his education, the seriousness of which task seemed to impress the lad at an unusually early age. Indeed it was in his life at school that his unusual powers first made themselves apparent in an unmis- takable manner, and he soon began to attract the attention of his instructors by the progress he made in his studies and the standing he maintained in the class room. He was a born student and when in 1896 he graduated from the high school, he was class valedictorian and carried off most of the honors. From the high school he went at once to Trinity College, Hartford, where he again distinguished himself and from which he graduated with the class of 1900. In the meantime he had decided definitely upon his career in life. Possessed of strong religious feelings from childhood, it had become more and more his conviction that his duty lay in this direction and, accordingly he now bent his efforts to prepare himself well for his high calling. After his graduation from Trinity, Mr. Tracy at once entered the General Theological Seminary in New York to pursue his studies in divinity. He was graduated therefrom with the class of 1903 and the same year was ordained a deacon in the Church of the Holy Trinity at Middletown, Connecticut. After a year spent in this preliminary service, he was raised to the priesthood and given charge of his first parish at Ogdensburg, New York. From Ogdensburg he was sent to Maplewood, New Jersey, where he remained until 1909, when he was finally put in charge of Trinity Church, Thomaston. He arrived in his new parish in the early autumn and at once began his work there with energy. In this he was highly successful, a magnetic personality and a very sincere zeal acting together to draw his little flock under his most
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beneficent influence. He worked most faithfully at his task and in a very short time made himself a distinct force in the community in all its depart- ments of activity. He took a much more active part in public affairs than the majority of his fellow clergymen and served in some of the town offices, notably as director of the public library and member of the Board of Educa- tion. In the year 1912 he was elected from Thomaston to the State House of Representatives and represented his town there during the term which followed with great disinterestedness and efficiency. While a member of that body he was chosen house chairman of the Committee on Education, in which capacity he did valuable service, not only to his home district, but to the State generally. In the more immediate work of the parish, too, he accomplished much and it was he who succeeded in establishing the parish house and who organized a body of boy scouts among the children. The children were, indeed, an object of especial interest and solicitude to him, and he did a great deal toward their happiness and training. He was a man of the most charitable impulses and never withheld any aid that it was in his power to give from any worthy cause.
On May 31, 1904, Mr. Tracy was united in marriage with Bertha Bristol, a native of Naugatuck, a daughter of Benjamin H. and Pauline (Phelps) Bristol, of that place. Born to Mr. and Mrs. Tracy were three children: Ellsworth Morton, Jr., Phelps Kilborn, and Bristol Potter (posthumous), who with their mother survive Mr. Tracy.
The death of Mr. Tracy, coming as it did in the prime of life, to a man so useful to the community, was severely felt by all who had associated with him in any way or at any time. His sterling virtues and essentially manly and courageous character had won the admiration and affection of all so that his removal by death was felt as a loss of a beneficent and potent influence and one that could hardly be spared. His fondness for young people and his charitable impulses have already been noticed and there are many both among the old and young who can look back to aid of many kinds extended to them of which only he and they were aware, for it was ever his way to hush the rumor of his own good works both on account of the recipient and his own modesty. His strong convictions, while they made him positive of speech and action, never interfered with his broad tolerance for the beliefs and opinions of others. As his example while he lived, so may now his memory serve to keep alive in the hearts of the coming generation for whom he took so much thought, an ideal of strong, clean manhood and devoted Christian service.
William Gold Brinsmade
T HERE IS SOMETHING eminently satisfactory in the sight of a thorough scholar, an exponent of culture in its highest and best sense, casting aside the cloak in which his kind is so apt to enshroud themselves from public view, and coming forth into the market place to mingle familiarly with every- day people in their every-day affairs. The laity in this age of scant veneration, while they may feel some awe for the scholar, are not without contempt for him too, in the long run, conceiving that he is a creature of books and old libraries with little of the tingling sense of nature's vast movements, one whose existence is wrapped up in theory and hypothesis and who should be at a loss did he find himself confronted with one of the flaming verities of life. But when such a one surprises him by voluntarily confronting this same nature and dealing quite as well if not better with those same verities as the scarred man of the world, then is the latter's scorn turned suddenly to a most hearty and spontaneous admiration and he grudges no success that he may win. Such was William Gold Brins- made, student, scholar and man of wide culture, yet withal a man of affairs and one whose influence was felt directly in the community.
Mr. Brinsmade was born January 21, 1858, at Springfield, Hampden county, Massachusetts, a son of William Bartlett and Charlotte Blake (Chapin) Brinsmade, and was descended on both sides of the house from fine old New England families. The founder of the Brinsmade line in this country was John Brinsmade, who came from England and settled in Charlestown, Massachusetts, some time prior to the year 1638. He removed to Stratford, Connecticut, in 1650, being one of the early settlers of that beautiful old town and was very prominent in its affairs, representing it for a time in the General Court. From that time onward the Brinsmades have occupied a distinguished position in the community and taken leading parts in the church, on the bench and at the bar and in the army, as well as in many other departments of activity. The Chapin family also is very old, being founded in America by Deacon Samuel Chapin, who came from Wales and settled in Springfield, Massachusetts, about 1640, nor have its members distinguished themselves less than those of the paternal line. The father of Mr. Brinsmade, William Bartlett Brinsmade, as the son of General Daniel B. Brinsmade, and was himself an able and well known engineer, for many years holding the position of superintendent of the Connecticut River railroad.
William Gold Brinsmade passed the years of childhood and early youth in the home of his father at Springfield. He early displayed the scholarly abilities that so greatly distinguished him later, and it was at once his father's desire and his own that he should receive the best possible education. He received his early instructions in the excellent public schools of Spring- field, and prepared for his college course in the high school there. He matri- culated at Harvard University in the year 1877 and graduated therefrom
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with the class of 1881, after distinguishing himself in his studies and with the degree of A. B. He had gained a strong taste for school and college life and determined to follow the profession of teaching as his career. Accordingly he sought and secured without difficulty a position as instructor in the well known Gunnery School at Washington, Connecticut, and there, upon the opening of the school term after his graduation, he started in his new work. He was successful from the outset, having a manner which instantly won him the friendship of the boys under his charge, and he established a basis of understanding between teacher and pupil very advan- tageous for the school. He began teaching at the Gunnery in September, 1881, the classics being his subject, continuing in this capacity thirteen years, making in the meantime his department a model one. In 1894 it became pos- sible for Mr. Brinsmade to carry out a project that he had long been con- templating, and severing his connection with the Gunnery he established the Ridge School for Boys at Washington, Connecticut, on his own account. The Ridge School was designed for the preparation of twenty odd boys for col- lege and the skill and knowledge of Mr. Brinsmade was expended to make it perfect of its kind. It is situated on what is known as the old Brins- made farm which has been in the family for generations and was originally owned by the Rev. Daniel Brinsmade, a great-grandson of the immigrant, John Brinsmade. It is situated ideally and the limited number of pupils made it possible for Mr. Brinsmade to give his individual attention to each scholar who thus benefited directly by the association.
But Mr. Brinsmade was not the kind of man to retire into the seclusion of school and content himself with the society of his pupils, however much he may have loved them. His sympathies and interests were too broad to permit of his doing such a thing and he entered actively into the general life of the community where he had chosen to make his home. He was especially interested in the matter of religion and, as was to have been expected, educa- tional affairs. He was elected in 1888 a member of the town school com- mittee and was continued in that position until his death, holding the offices of secretary and chairman of the board for a considerable period. He was also chosen secretary of the Washington Library Association, and in 1889 became clerk of the First Ecclesiastical Society of Washington, and in 1892 chairman of its society committee, both of which positions he held until his death. Mr. Brinsmade could number among his various abilities a very marked musical talent which he had cultivated with his usual pains. This he turned to the increase of his own and other people's pleasure and edification, taking the directorship of the choir in the Congregational church. He also led the Washington Glee Club for some time, giving one or two concerts a year, but later resigned to take a similar position with the Washington Choral Club, a larger and more ambitious organization. Politically he was affiliated with no party, displaying in this connection the same independence of thought and action that always characterized him. He voted entirely independently for whatever cause or candidate was approved by his con- science and judgment. He was conspicuous socially, being very popular among a large circle of friends, and was a member of many organizations of a social and semi-social character. Among these should be mentioned the
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Harvard Union, the Harvard Club of Connecticut, the Harvard Teachers' Association, the Connecticut Association of High and Classical School Teachers, the Litchfield County University Club, the Civil Service Reform Association and the Pi Eta fraternity of Harvard.
On December 23, 1885, Mr. Brinsmade was united in marriage with Ada Gibson Colton, of Warren, Connecticut, a daughter of the Rev. W. S. and Lucy P. (Gibson) Colton, of that place. Mr. Colton was a graduate of Yale University in 1850 and for over thirty years held pastorates in Connec- ticut. To Mr. and Mrs. Brinsmade was born one daughter, Dorothy Chapin Brinsmade, who now resides with her mother in Washington, Connecticut.
The character of Mr. Brinsmade was one peculiarly well fitted to exert a beneficial influence upon those with whom he was associated. As has already been suggested, he was one of those unusual men who are able to make use of an exceptional degree of culture and learning in a popular manner and thus influence a larger circle of men than is usually the case. An attractive personality quickly won the stranger to become the friend and once thus won, his obviously sterling character, with its simple sincerity and devo- tion, bound the friendship to be life-long. The young people, of whom so many came into that close association with him of teacher and pupil, were devoted to him even beyond the devotion of their elders, and there are many young men in various parts of the country who look back upon his influence in their schooldays as one of the most important factors in their develop- ment.
Major William Jackson THood
I T HAS BEEN universally conceded that the busiest men are those who always find time to spare in order to assume addi- tional duties, and apparently they are able to accomplish wonders. The very simple principle lying at the root of this state of affairs is systematic and methodical work. Every moment of time is given its full valuation, and every phase of life is appreciated in proportion to the useful work which has been faithfully performed. A man who was a fine exponent of this admirable class of men was Major William Jackson Wood, late of Hartford, Connecticut, who was as efficient in the world of finance as in that of com- merce, and whose patriotism and devotion to his country ranked second to none.
Major William Jackson Wood was born in Rockaway, Morris county, New Jersey, March 28, 1836, and died at his home in Hartford, Connecticut, October 25, 1885. He was a son of Freeman and Mary Burwell (Jackson) Wood, the former a prominent iron manufacturer of New Jersey. The pre- paratory education of Major Wood was acquired at Flushing, Long Island, and he then matriculated at the College of New Jersey, now Princeton Uni- versity, and was graduated from this institution in the class of 1856. Having decided to follow the legal profession, he commenced the study of law, and was admitted to the bar, June 9, 1859, and at once commenced the active practice of his profession. He was successfully engaged in this when, in 1862, he was elected to serve in the State Legislature. He performed his duties in the Legislature with great credit, and in 1863, enlisted in the Union army, and was identified with this struggle in various capacities until its conclusion. As a member of General Gilmore's staff he displayed marked ability, and also as a disbursing officer at Hilton Head, South Carolina. Later he was stationed at Hartford and Boston, being connected with the office in those places for the payment of discharged New England volunteers. Upon the termination of the war in 1865, Major Wood engaged in the iron business at Troy, New York, in association with Corning, Wilson & Com- pany, and so signal were the services he rendered in this connection, that two years later, he was appointed vice-president and manager of the Collins Company, at Collinsville, Connecticut. While still connected with the firm in Troy, Major Wood, in association with some others, was instrumental in introducing the Bessemer steel rails for railroad use. Upon the death of E. B. Watkinson, president of the Collins Company, Major Wood was selected to succeed him, in 1884, and was still the incumbent of this office at the time of his death. While still living in Rockaway, New Jersey, Major Wood was the cashier of that institution, and he also served as clerk of the town in 1859. During his residence in Hartford at the close of the war, Major Wood had made many friends, and in 1873, he took up his permanent residence there. The sterling integrity of Major Wood was recognized by his fellow citizens, and he was chosen to fill many responsible positions.
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Among these were: President of the Connecticut Trust & Safe Deposit Company ; director of the National Exchange Bank ; director of the Connec- ticut Fire Insurance Company; director of the American School for the Deaf; and vice-president of the Hartford Library Association. In the social and religious life of the community he was equally active, and was a member of Asylum Hill Congregational Church, exerting a beneficial influence among the young people of the congregation. He was a close friend of General Hawley, and took a deep interest in all political matters. He was a deep and earnest thinker as well as student, especially in the science of metallurgy, was considered an authority in this field, and was about to pub- lish a work on this subject when he passed away.
Major Wood married, in 1866, Frances P. Howe, a daughter of Edmund Grant and Frances (Kies) Howe, residents of Hartford, where the former was at one time president of the National Exchange Bank. Major and Mrs. Wood had one child: Ethel, now Mrs. Herbert I. Thomas, of Ottawa, Canada.
Edward Woodruff Seymour
T HERE IS SOMETHING extremely delightful about the great fund of associations that has grouped itself about the legal life in our eastern United States that can only be fully appre- ciated by one who has seen it at home, so to speak. There is something intimate about the atmosphere in which these associations envelope themselves that makes one feel upon entering it almost as though he were being introduced to a large and attractive family, the members of which have their racy jests, their shrewd wit, and a great body of traditions in common. And what traditions they are, rich, keen, the product of many a brilliant mind and profound spirit, which, in the heat of legal conflict, or in the warmth of noble comrade- ship, have knocked from one another, like flint from steel, these sparks of verbal fire, or drawn forth like summer sun, these fruits of kindly wisdom and trenchant philosophy. A thousand splendid personalities have in their time enjoyed this common possession and added each one his own quota of individuality to enrich still further what those who followed them should receive. It is with one of these that the present brief sketch is concerned, a man of deep erudition especially in the realm of his profession, of clear, alert intellect, of forceful utterance, but above all, of kindly, virtuous spirit.
Edward Woodruff Seymour was born August 30, 1832, at Litchfield, Connecticut, and died October 16, 1892, when but sixty years of age and in the midst of a brilliant career. He was a member of a most illustrious family which for hundreds of years traces its descent in this country and in Eng- land. The coat-of-arms of the Seymour family is as follows: Quarterly: First and fourth, or, on a pile gules, between six fleurs-de-lis azure three lions of England (being the coat of augmentation granted by King Henry the Eighth on his marriage with Lady Jane Seymour) ; second and third, gules two wings conjoined in lure, the tips downward, or, for Seymour. Crest: Out of a ducal coronet or, a phoenix of the last, issuing from flames proper. Supporters: Dexter, a unicorn argent armed, maned, and tufted or, gorged with a ducal collar, per pale, azure and or, to which is affixed a chain of the last ; sinister, a bull azure ducally gorged, chained, hoofed and armed or. Motto: Foy pour devoir.
The dukes of Somerset were Seymours and it is from a cadet branch of this house that the American line is derived, the founder thereof being one Richard Seymour, who was an early settler in Hartford. He came to that point probably in 1639, one year after its founding by Thomas Hooker and his followers. He did not stay in Hartford, however, but was one of those who founded Norwalk, Connecticut, in 1650, the reason assigned by tradition being that his religious convictions did not coincide with those of the worthy Hooker and his flock, and he found it expedient to seek a home in the wilder- ness. The descendants of Richard Seymour have maintained to this day the high reputation won by their ancestor, and indeed in the past two genera- tions have greatly augmented it. The father of Edward Woodruff Seymour
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