USA > Connecticut > Representative citizens of Connecticut, biographical memorial > Part 51
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Mr. Swift was united in marriage with Sarah B. Gillett, of Rome, New York, in 1855. Mrs. Swift was a daughter of Norman and Jane (Shep- pard) Gillett, of New York State. Three children were born to them, as follows: Robert, who died in infancy; Howard R., who died in the year 1889, and Mary, who died in the year 1901. She became the wife of Pro- fessor Arthur L. Gillett, and to them were born: Edward Bates, died at the age of five ; Robert Swift, of Hartford ; Frederick Webster, of Hartford, Con- necticut.
Rowland Swift came of a long-lived race. He was one of ten children and the youngest, yet, notwithstanding the advanced age he attained, he is survived by a brother, General Frederick W. Swift, a resident of Detroit, Michigan. And while his years were many he retained his faculties and powers in a remarkable degree to the end. His death is characteristic of him in many particulars, in that it was only the last extremity that forced him to give up his normal activities and wonted manner of life. It was from Bright's disease that his death finally resulted, yet it was only two weeks before the end that he remained at home and a still shorter period, measured
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in days only, that he was confined to his bed. This amazing vigor and vitality was his possession throughout life and marked all that he did. The whole city felt the force of his influence and gave him unreserved admiration and praise that it was always a beneficent one. The institutions with which he was directly connected were without exception successful, and it is beyond question that they owed a great measure of their prosperity to his masterly direction and clear foresight. His virtue was not less than his ability and his name deserves to be, and doubtless will remain, an example for posterity of the duties of the citizen, the husband, the parent and the man, well and honorably performed.
Joseph Dagarty
IT IS RARE, indeed, to find among those who have been given public duties to perform, our public officials, servants of the people as they are designated in a democracy, to find a sense of duty and obligation so strong that it overcomes self inter- est to the point of high and altruistic self sacrifice. Self seek- ing, greed and corruption are so much the common thing that we are disposed to congratulate ourselves with consider- able fervor when we happen upon one who does not crudely abuse and exploit the people at large in his own interests and who subordinates his personal ends to those of the community. But when this is carried to the point where not only interest in its usual sense is involved, but leisure, health and even life itself is offered up as a sacrifice upon the altar of public duty, we are apt to be far less than adequate in our thanks and praises, surprised, perhaps, by so unwonted a spectacle into a temporary inertia. Such a career was actually that of Joseph Hagarty, of Hartford, Connecticut, where he was born, who gave his time and energies to his work so unreservedly that he died a victim to his indefatigable efforts for the public health, September 10, 1915, when but forty-six years of age.
Joseph Hagarty was born in Hartford, November 28, 1868, a son of Patrick and Margaret (Dowd) Hagarty, of Dublin, Ireland. He received his rather brief schooling in the excellent local schools, but was forced by hard conditions to abandon his studies early and seek a means of earning his own livelihood. He was still a mere lad when he secured employment in the grocery store of Patrick Kehoe. He remained in this establishment for a number of years working his way up to more responsible positions and in the meantime making himself master of the details of the business. He became, indeed, something of an expert on food stuffs, their qualities, various adul- terations, etc., and could detect with precision and speed any variations from the standard commodity. Upon the death of Mr. Kehoe the estate to which his business descended requested Mr. Hagarty to take charge of it as manager, and this he did for a time until everything was settled. His con- scientious attention to duty had already made its appearance in this, his first position of trust, and his employers were not slow in noting it and taking advantage of his rare integrity and sense of honor. At length, when he felt that he could do so without hurting the interests of the Kehoe estate, he severed this connection and engaged in the grocery business on his own account, opening an establishment on the corner of Front and Grove streets. He did not continue this very long, however, as he received the managership of the large grocery and provision store of P. S. Kennedy on the corner of Main and Morgan streets, an offer he at once accepted, the business being a large and well established one. Here he remained until the years 1907, which marked the opening of his public career in connection with the Health Department. It was at this time that the department decided to appoint a food inspector whose duties should be to keep a supervising eye
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upon the general food supply of the city for the purpose of detecting non- compliances with the law and safeguarding the public health from this prolific source of danger. Mr. Hagarty's skill and integrity were well known in the city and the post was offered to him, and at once accepted. Mr. Hagarty appreciated fully the great responsibilities of his position and at once threw himself heart and soul into the performance of his new duties, keeping the ideal of a perfectly healthy city ever before him as the end to be attained. His choice was a fortunate one for the community for his efforts were extremely successful, and much of the result of ignorance was done away with. However, the field was an enormous one, and as it developed a large amount of detail was involved, and the Health Department found it would be necessary to divide up the duties somewhat, and accord- ingly Mr. Hagarty was placed in charge of the milk supply as milk inspector, that so vital element in the nourishment and health of the people being entrusted entirely to his care. Never did anyone more fully live up to the task undertaken by him, never more completely fill a trust. Up early and late, he was forever pursuing evidences leading to cases of careless or deliberate neglect and one by one removing now this, now that menace to the city. So indefatigable were his efforts that his health gradually broke down under them, but he would not cease, though counselled to, feeling so strongly as he did his obligation to the city. Finally his failing health cul- minated in positive disease which after a course of several weeks resulted in his untimely death.
Mr. Hagarty was a man of strong social tastes and before his duties became of so exacting a character, had played a prominent part in this side of the city's life. He belonged to a number of clubs and other organizations among which should be mentioned Olympia Camp, Modern Woodmen of America; Court Ericsson, Foresters of America, and the Second Division, Ancient Order of Hibernians. In religion Mr. Hagarty was a Roman Cath- olic and a very devout one. His faith had been handed down to him from his ancestors and in turn he has passed it on to his children. He was all his life a member of St. Peter's Catholic Church in Hartford and took an active part in the work of the parish, being a member of the Holy Name Society and supporting materially the charities in connection with the church.
On October 7, 1891, Mr. Hagarty was united in marriage with Anna L. Dungan, a daughter of William and Bridget (Ruth) Dungan, of Ireland. To them were born nine children: Joseph, Jr., now a clerk in the Hartford Post Office; Ruth, Katherine, Marguerite, Isabelle, William; Mary, died in infancy, and two others that died in infancy.
It is fitting that this brief notice should close with the words of some of those associated with Mr. Hagarty in the city government and who knew at first hand the value of his services. One of the finest tributes paid him was that of Health Commissioner Frank G. Macomber who spoke at the time of Mr. Hagarty's death as follows:
That oft misused phrase, "good and faithful servant," was never applied with more truth than to the life of Joseph Hagarty. He was one of the finest types of faithful and loyal employee it has ever been my fortune to meet. In fact I may say in all truth that, had Mr. Hagarty been less faithful, less conscientious to his trust, he would probably
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be alive and well to-day instead of dead in what should have been the prime of life. He knew no hours, he knew no limit to his work. His ambition to see that Hartford had a pure and safe milk supply was almost an obsession with him; he seemed to look upon this duty as a peculiar and particular personal responsibility. When a tainted milk source was discovered, no matter how trivial, no matter how far removed from the per- sonal equation, he took the matter to heart and would in a sense apologize to the board as though he were the offender. Combatted and antagonized at every turn by those with whom he had to deal when he first took up his work, he soon convinced the men with whom he came in contact that just two motives were his ruling passions-a rugged, sterling honesty and conscientious loyalty to his duties, and he came to be loved, admired and respected by the men who at first had disliked him and had tried to obstruct his work. The saying is that there is no man whose place cannot be filled at once ; that no man is indispensable. But it is my belief that Hartford will wait many a day to find another servant who so far forgot self in love of his city and his work as did Joseph Hagarty.
One of the important Hartford papers had this to say of him in its editorial columns :
When a city official yields up his life through devotion to the people whom he serves, it is fitting in these times, when there is often occasion to cite carelessness and neglect in public office, to call full attention to it. The people of Hartford are to-day deprived of the services of an efficient servant, who labored in a capacity almost vital to the wel- fare of the community, the protecting of the purity of its milk supply. Milk Inspector Joseph Hagarty labored early and late that the health of the people of Hartford might be preserved. In devotion to his duty he sacrificed his own health. It is well that the people of Hartford should know it. He was only forty-six.
Mayor Lawler, of Hartford, had this to say of Mr. Hagarty :
I have been acquainted with the fine service which Mr. Hagarty rendered this com- munity by the quality of his service as milk inspector. I feel that his record of faithful- ness in office cannot be too highly commended. He has set us all a splendid example. With deep sorrow I learned of his death, brought on prematurely perhaps by his devo- tion to his work, and I know of no more responsible work to the welfare of the com- munity than that which he was performing. I extend my sincere sympathies to his family, yet I feel that they have that in his civic record of which to be proud.
Lermon Willard Harlow
O F those hardy pioneers who from the earlier New England settlements penetrated the beautiful but stern wilderness to the north and formed the nucleus of what later became the States of Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont, there has descended a race, hardy like their forefathers, and which has been represented throughout the course of American his- tory by some of the most picturesque and admirable of all our great fellow-countrymen. Much of the breadth. the wholesome rugged- ness, the unbounded out-of-doors quality of the landscape in those parts seem to have entered into the nature of its inhabitants, who combine in a rare degree the intense love of home and an adventurous daring which are ever found at the roots of a great people. And these splendid qualities are by no means the sole possession of those more striking figures which have found their way into history, for these are but representative of their fel- lows, who share with them in hardly less degree the characteristics that made them famous. Of such stock was sprung the Harlow family, of which Hermon Willard Harlow, late of Hartford, was a distinguished member, and in whom were exemplified in a high degree the qualities we have been considering.
Hermon Willard Harlow was born November 16, 1835, in Charles- town, New Hampshire, and it is with this northern region, in his native State, in Vermont and the northeast corner of New York State, that his career is associated despite the fact that the last twenty years of his life was spent in Hartford, Connecticut. He began his schooling in the town of his birth, but, removing with his parents to Springfield, Vermont, while still a mere lad, he continued it in that town and there gained, among other acquirements, the great skill as a penman which characterized him, and which stood him in good stead later in his career. Upon completing his education, the young man began his business life by working in the woolen mills of Springfield, at first as a factory hand. It was not a great while, however, before his ability as a penman was discovered, and this in addition to his obviously alert mind and quick intelligence, soon gained him a most satisfactory transference of position, and he was installed as a bookkeeper in the same concern. But his ambition was rather stimulated than satisfied by this advance and he soon cast about him for means to still further better his condition. With characteristic energy he applied himself industriously to the study of telegraphy and a little later secured the position as operator at Rouse's Point, Clinton county, New York State, and at Ludlow, Ver- mont. He remained in these positions until the year 1859, when he went to New York City, and there lived for a period of seven years. In 1866 he returned to Springfield, Vermont, and there engaged in the hardware busi- ness on his own account. This he conducted with his usual clear-sighted- ness, and developed a large trade until his establishment was regarded as one of the foremost in its line in that region. His reputation as an able man-
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ager and substantial merchant was widespread and he rapidly amassed a very considerable fortune. He was one of the most influential figures in the neighborhood in the year 1888, when his home was entirely destroyed by fire. He was associated with a number of important local business enter- prises and these connections he also kept up during the remainder of his residence in Springfield. Mr. Harlow was greatly interested in the politics of his day, and was a keen observer of the questions and issues with which the country was at that time confronted. He supported with all his might the policies of the Republican party and made himself so useful to it in its local campaigns that he soon came to be recognized as one of the State leaders. The year following the fire which destroyed his home, he was the successful candidate of the Republican party for the State Legislature, and served his district most effectively in that body during that year and the next. In the year 1891, however, he retired altogether from active life and removed to Hartford, Connecticut, which city became his home until the time of his death, March 1, 1910.
Mr. Harlow was a man devotedly fond of his fellows and one who enjoyed simple healthy intercourse with them, yet his chief happiness was found in his home life, and although he was a member of the Springfield Lodge, Free and Accepted Masons, and a prominent figure in general social circles, yet the greatest amount of his leisure time was spent by his own fireside in the familiar intercourse of his household and personal friends.
Mr. Harlow married, August 27, 1863, Nettie L. Parks, a native of Ohio, but at the time of her marriage a resident of Springfield, Vermont, and a daughter of William and Elizabeth Waters (Filley) Parks. The Parks family is an old New England one which for many years has resided in various parts of Vermont and New Hampshire and always retained a high place in the regard of the community. To Mr. and Mrs. Harlow there were born two sons, Frederick Milton and William Parks, both of whom are now married and reside in Hartford.
It is always profitable to study the records of such men as Mr. Harlow, representative as he is of so many thousand of our fellow-countrymen who have raised themselves by means of their own efforts from the lowest to the highest rounds of the ladder of success. Beginning as a factory hand, which he entered with the intention of working his way up from the bottom, he overcame whatever handicap he had in the race of life, until through patience, perseverence and indefatigable industry, he came to occupy a position as leader in the community, both as a merchant and man of affairs. Such a career cannot fail to prove an incentive and stimulus to similar efforts on the part of others and thus prove a strong instrumentality for good in the community where they appear. His earthly life is over, but the influence of which he was the origin still exerts itself in the lives of men.
Erastus P. Smasey, M. D.
T HE death of Dr. Erastus P. Swasey, of New Britain, Connec- ticut, on November 13, 1915, removed from that region one of the most prominent and conspicuous figures in the life of the community. One of a family of physicians and scientific men-Dr. Swasey's father and grandfather were both in medical practice -- he was himself especially gifted in this honorable calling and established himself as one of the leaders of his profession in that part of the State. The Swasey family is of the very oldest Colonial stock, having been founded in this country as early as 1632, when they settled in Salem, Massachusetts, since which time the members of the house have distinguished themselves in the affairs of that and other New England communities.
Dr. Erastus P. Swasey was born May 4, 1847, at Wakefield, New Hampshire, a son of Dr. Charles Lamson and Hannah (Barker) Swasey, of that place. Dr. Charles Lamson Swasey was a graduate of Bowdoin College and Medical School and removed from his New Hampshire home to the city of New Bedford, Massachusetts, while his son was still a small child. It was in this place that the latter received his preliminary education, attend- ing the excellent local public schools for that purpose. It was the father's desire from the very first that his son should follow in his footsteps in the choice of a profession, and as the latter grew to an age to think for himself he coincided entirely in this view and while still very young began to study the subject of medicine under the tutelage of his father. Upon finishing his general studies in the local schools, he went to New York City and there matriculated at the College of Physicians and Surgeons. He highly distin- guished himself in his course in this institution and was graduated from the same with the class of 1869, taking his degree of Doctor of Medicine. It was the intention of Dr. Swasey to perfect himself in all departments of his profession, as well in the practical aspect as in the theoretical, and accordingly he spent more than two years as an interne in the New York Hospital, a part of which he devoted to the surgical wards and the remainder to the children's hospital and nursery connected with that institution. Finally, in 1871, he came to the city of New Britain, Connecticut, and there established himself in practice and continued to make it his home and his professional headquarters during the remainder of his life. From the outset Dr. Swasey was successful; his practice rapidly increased and he gained a reputation for accuracy in diagnosis and general skill that caused many to resort to him for advice and treatment without the limits of the city. He soon became recognized as one of the leaders in the medical profession in that part of the State, both among his fellow physicians and the people gen- erally. Dr. Swasey's first office in New Britain was situated on Main street in the building known as Hart's Block and above what was at that time Thompson's drug store, and here he remained a number of years until his practice had reached very large proportions. He then, in 1900, built a very
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handsome mansion on West Main street, which served him at once as office and home until the time of his death. Dr. Swasey was associated with many professional bodies, chief among which were the Hartford Medical Society, the County, State and National associations.
In 1873 Dr. Swasey was united in marriage with Agnes Smyth, by whom he had one child, Agnes Perry Swasey, who died at the age of eleven years. Mrs. Swasey died in July, 1874, and in 1889 Dr. Swasey was married to Hope S. Martyn, of Attleboro, Massachusetts, a daughter of Dr. John Calvin and Ellen (Barrows) Martyn, of that place. As in the case of her husband, Mrs. Swasey's father and grandfather were both physicians, so that the medical associations of the family were doubled by this union. Mrs. Swasey survives her husband and still resides in the charming home on West Main street.
Besides his highly developed professional skill and knowledge, Dr. Swasey possessed one of the most essential elements of success as a physi- cian, the quality, namely, of a profound and universal sympathy, combined with a cheerful optimism that relieved the tension and cast at least a momentary brightness upon even the most forlorn sick bed. In the days when Dr. Swasey practiced, the demands made upon this side of a physi- cian's nature were excessive, when in nine out of ten cases the patient was also the personal friend. Of this part of the medical life the modern special- ist, who sits in his office and has presented for his inspection what amounts to little more than a series of scientific problems, has but a vague idea. This coldly scientific attitude is held by some to be the ideal one for professional work, but it is a proposition that may be maintained with much reason that the stimulating power of such friendship as the old-fashioned family physi- cian was able to give is a most important factor in practical therapeutics.
Dr. Swasey was a man of unusually developed aesthetic instincts. All that was beautiful made a most powerful appeal to him from the various aspects of inanimate nature, to the most intricate achievements of art. He was a great traveller and spent as much time as possible in viewing the world and becoming familiar with its various peoples in all of whom he felt an abiding interest. He greatly enjoyed these journeys and took several trips to Europe as well as a number to various parts of his own country and other American lands. He was devoted to life of every kind and had a per- fect passion for making pets. On a trip to Brazil he purchased two of the small monkeys native there and brought them back to his New Britain home, where patience and kindness completely tamed them so that they are now the greatest of pets. Another manner in which his artistic tastes made themselves apparent was in his devotion to the art of photography, in which he developed the highest degree of proficiency. His object was to produce the most artistic work and to this he bent his unusual powers with a result that he became a master of the art and his home is to-day filled with remark- able examples of his skill.
howard George Arms
TT is always a great misfortune for a community when the bet- ter classes therein, either from indifference or other cause, cease to take an active part in politics and lose all ambition to hold public office or have a voice in the control of local affairs. There are, undoubtedly, some parts of this country to which this misfortune has occurred, especially in certain metropolitan districts, where the best people seem tacitly to have agreed to keep their hands off all public matters and leave the conduct of them unreservedly to the dregs of society. Such an impeachment of the public spirit of its citizens can never be justly directed against the com- munities of New England, where all classes are willing and even eager to take upon themselves the hardships and the honors of public office and where to have taken a part in the government of one's city or county is held to add lustre to the most aristocratic name, if that adjective be not an inex- cusable anamoly in a Democratic land. However that may be, it is certain that the members of the oldest and most highly honored families there set an example of disinterestedness and devotion to their social obligations that might well be followed elsewhere. As an excellent example of this worthy public spirit Howard George Arms, of Bristol, Connecticut, whose death on December 4, 1915, was felt as a loss by the entire community, should be prominently instanced. The Arms family were among the early settlers of Deerfield, Massachusetts, which is one of the old historic spots in that State.
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