USA > Connecticut > Representative men of Connecticut, 1861-1894 > Part 19
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In 1868, he was elected president of the Fairfield County Bank, and, after it was re-organized as the Fairfield County National Bank, he retained the presidency until 1890, resigning the office in favor of Hon. James W. Hyatt, late treasurer of the United States. This is the second oldest bank in Fairfield County, Conn., and is one of the solid insti- tutions of the state. Having previously served as director and vice-president, in 1882 he was chosen president of the Danbury and Norwalk Railroad, and still retains the office. He effected the lease of the road first to the Housatonic Railroad Company and later to the New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad, and it is now run as a department of the latter road. In his early manhood, Mr. Lockwood took a zealous interest in military affairs. For five years he was on the staff of Major-General King, and for seven years more he served on the staff of Gen. W. H. Russell as brigade inspector.
As a legislator, as a manufacturer, as a banker and as railroad manager, Mr. Lockwood has gained an honorable name for himself, and in each station to which he has been called he has more than filled the expectations of his constituents. He has always been a inov- ing force in the community where he resides, and has ever ranged himself on the side of right and of good government.
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Frederick St. John Lockwood was married Feb. 21, 1866, to Carrie, daughter of Frederick S. and Nancy (Raymond) Ayres of West Troy, New York. Three children have been born to tlicin. Elizabeth, now Mrs. Frank W. Hubbard of Michigan, Frederick Ayres, a student at Yale University, class of '94, and Julia Belden, a miss of twelve at home. They have an elegant honse built immediately alongside of the sharp conical hill on which General Tryon sat during the burning of Norwalk.
YLER, ORSAMUS R., ex-commissioner of insurance for the state of Connecticut, was born in Torrington, Conn., Jan. 17, 1840.
Lieutenant Walter Fyler, the first emigrant of the name, is known to have been in Dorchester, Mass., as early as 1635, but from what part of England he came, or anything concerning his previous history, it has been impossible to ascertain. He removed to Windsor with the colony from Boston, in 1635, his house being within the Palisade. That he was a man of much force of character and respected by his fellow-citizens is evidenced by the fact that he was deputy to the General Court in 1647, and again from 1661 to 1663. From Lieutenant Walter, Mr. Fyler's family line is brought down through (2) Zernbbabel, (3) Zerubbabel, Jr., (4) Silas and (5) Capt. Stephen Fyler. The latter was a soldier in the war for the independence of his country, and took part in the siege of New York.
After the close of the war he was a captain in the militia, and was one of the three original Democrats in what is now the town of Torrington. Not being a believer in the compulsory mode of supporting the gospel, he joined the Baptist church, and honored his profession of religion with a well-ordered life. His son, Harlow Fyler, inherited part of his father's homestead, and by purchase added to it until he owned eight hundred acres of land. In addition to his large-farin and dairy he carried on other successful enterprises, and was a man of great energy and business ability, pursuing all honorable methods of obtaining success. He married Sibyl R. Tolles. His death occurred in his eighty-second year. O. R. Fyler was the eighth child of this union.
The district school gave young Fyler his early education, and it was completed at Wes- leyan Academy, Wilbraham, Mass. When he returned to the paternal home, the stirring scenes at the opening of the War of the Rebellion were being enacted, and the patriotic spirit of Capt. Stephen Fyler found a fresh exemplification in his grandson. Mr. Fyler enlisted as a private in the Nineteenth Regiment Connecticut Volunteers, under Col. Leverett W. Wessels, Sept. 11, 1862. The regiment was one of those assigned to the defence of the capital of the nation. In December, 1863, the Nineteenth was changed from an infantry to a heavy artillery regiment, and was thenceforward known as the Second Heavy Artillery. As the numerical strength of a regiment of artillery is greater than that of the infantry, one mail was selected from each company to be a recruiting officer. Mr. Fyler was chosen from his company and did good work in bringing the total number up to 1,800 inen. At Camp Dutton, Litchfield, he was made color sergeant, and while on recruiting service he received a second lieutenant's commission bearing date of Feb. 6, 1864, and, on March 4, was mustered as such officer at Gen. R. E. Lee's residence at Arlington Heights. Lieutenant Fyler's command joined General Grant's army in May, 1864, and took part in the battles of North Anna River, Cold Harbor, the struggle around Petersburg, Weldon Railroad, and at Winchester, under General Sheridan, in September, 1864, where he was wounded in the left leg. Mr.
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Fyler received a first lieutenant's commission for bravery displayed on the field of battle at Winchester. The battle of Cold Harbor was fought June 1, 1864. The regiment was disposed in three lines, the objective point being the heavy earth-works defended by Long- street's veterans. It passed at double-quick to the first line, capturing it, and sending to the rear over three hundred prisoners ; forward again at double-quick, with intervals of less than 100 yards between the battalions, to and through a stiff abattis within twenty yards of the enemy's main line, where it mnet a most destructive fire from both its front and left flank. Nothing could withstand the murderous fire that now inet them ; further advance was impossible. As a result of this conflict 323 of Litchfield County's bravest sons were left on the field, 129 of them dead, or mortally wounded ; a record unsurpassed by any regi- ment, north or south, in a single battle, during the war. After Mr. Fyler's return home it was nearly a year before he could engage in business. The effects of his wound were last- ing, making him lame for life.
Mr. Fyler's first business experience was in a flour and grain store, carried on under the name of O. R. Fyler & Company, a connection which lasted about two years. In 1866, he was appointed by President Andrew Johnson, postmaster of Torrington, and he had the pleas- ure of receiving two appointments from President Grant for the same office, one from Presi- dent Hayes, and he was one of the very few who received a commission with the signature of President Garfield. On the change of the administration his term of office expired in April, 1885. During the nineteen years he filled the position, the town of Torrington increased largely in population, and the needs of the office grew in similar proportions. Facilities were added as required, and, when he stepped down, the Torrington office was recognized as one of the best inanaged in the state. It was a long and honorable term to extend over nearly a score of years, and to cover the periods of four Presidents, one of them holding the execu- tive for two successive terms, and a majority of the citizens of the town united in expressing their regret that political exigency demanded a change.
Farming operations occupied Mr. Fyler's attention for the next year, and on July 1, 1866, he was appointed insurance commissioner by Governor Harrison. He was re-appointed by Gov- ernor Lounsbury and continued in office by Governor Bulkeley, holding the position for nearly seven years. He entered upon his duties resolved to carry out the requirements of the posi- tion without fear or favor. His first official act was to place the Charter Oak Life Insurance Company of Hartford in the hands of receivers, and his course was universally commended. The Continental Life Insurance Company was known to be weak, but it had contrived to pass previous examinations. He probed the matter to the bottom, and discovered a worse state of affairs than had been supposed. The company was placed in the hands of competent receivers.
Mr. Fyler's zeal, coupled with his success, gained him a name in the insurance world upon which he could look with great satisfaction. Later he made a systematic examination of the strength of all the companies, something which had never been done in but one instance before, and paid especial attention to the real estate investments in the West. This proved a most acceptable feature, as it showed the actual strength of the companies and raised Hartford higher than ever in the estimation of the insuring public. He reorganized the business of his office on a solid basis and left the affairs of his office in excellent shape for his successor.
The town of Torrington is indebted to Mr. Fyler for his active efforts in. securing a fine system of water works. He was the first to call a meeting of the citizens, at which time a committee was appointed, consisting of Isaac W. Brooks, Charles F. Brooker and O. R. Fyler, to investigate the subject and report. At a subsequent meeting the same committee was appointed to secure subscriptions and have charge of the work. He was inade superintendent and all the various works have been erected under his immediate supervision. The water
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company started with a capital of $30,000, and has been increased three times to provide for the enlargements required, and is now $75,000. The storage capacity of the first basin seems exceedingly meagre as compared with that of the present one. From 18,000,000 gallons in 1878, an increase was made in 1882 to 71,000,000 gallons, and in 1891 this was more than doubled by other basins, bringing the total capacity up to 196,000,000 gallons. 'The five miles of pipe at first have risen to eighteen, and the care and responsibility of the company increased in like degree. The engineering difficulties to be overcome have been in Mr. Fyler's charge from the inception of the company, and that the stock is in demand with none offered for sale, is the best test that his efforts have proved a success.
From his earliest manliood lie has been a strong Republican and an active worker in the ranks of that party, casting his first presidential vote for Abraham Lincoln while in hospital at Winchester, Va., the state having sent commissioners to collect the soldiers' vote. He was a delegate to the National Convention at which James G. Blaine was nominated for the presi- deney, and is a member of the state central committee. Though he has held his full share of the offices of the town, one term in the Legislature of 1866 will cover his official career outside of the positions mentioned. As postmaster and insurance commissioner, he was barred from holding other stations to which his many friends would gladly have elected him. As a soldier, Mr. Fyler brought back from the war a mnost honorable record, and still carries with him a visible remembrance of the "times that tried men's souls." Let his long term as postmaster bear abundant testimony that his management of the office was acceptable to his supporters ; while his sterling and fearless work as insurance commissioner is too fresh in the minds of the citizens of the state to need more than a passing mention as to its comprehensive efficiency.
Mr. Fyler married Mary E., daughter of David Vaill of Torrington, Dec. 14, 1865. One daughter, Gertrude B., was the result of this union.
OODWIN, JAMES, for nearly thirty years president of the Connecticut Mutual Life Insurance Company, Hartford, was born March 2, 1803. After passing by five years the three score and ten allotted to inan, he passed on to his reward, March 15, 1878, full of honors and sincerely mourned by all his contemporaries.
The family name Goodwin is one which has been, and is to-day, very widely dis- tributed, not only over England, but over most of the northern countries of Europe. Instances of its occurrence are to be met with in remote antiquity. As far back as the fifth century it is to be met with in Germany, in the forms Gudwin and Godwin. It is obviously a name composed of two elements, about the meaning of which there can be little dispute. The word vin, or win, certainly means a friend, but the question is open whether the element Good should be referred to the Gothic theme guda or to another thieme goda. According as it is combined with the first or second, the meaning of the name Goodwin will stand for good friend or God's friend. In either case it is a name of honor, and tells of a worthy ancestry. In English records the name Goodwin is numerously mentioned in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, and at the close of the fifteenth century there were three considerable families who bore the name of Goodwin known in the county of Norfolk, and of assured position in the counties of Suffolk and Essex.
Ozias Goodwin, the head of the Connecticut family, married Mary, daughter of Robert Woodward of Braintree, England. He is known to have been a resident in Hartford in
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1639. By successive generations the family line comes down through Nathaniel, Ozias and Jonathan to James Goodwin, father of the subject of this sketch. He was a man of promi- nence in his day, being an officer in the Governor's Foot Guards, and interested in the development of Hartford. He was married March 3, 1799, to Eunice, daughter of Captain Lemuel and Ruth (Woodford) Roberts. Of his three children, James, Jr., was the second.
The education of the future insurance president was gained in the school of John J. White, a popular institution of the times. At the age of sixteen lie left the pursuit of knowledge to enter the activities of business, becoming a clerk for Joseplı Morgan. The energy and executive ability which were characteristic of his later years manifested them- selves at an early age. Just after attaining his majority, lie became proprietor of the principal line of 111ail stages running out of the city. The possibilities there were in the coming power of railroads, Mr. Goodwin grasped at an early period, and gradually between 1835 and 1840 he disposed of his stage interests. No act of his life showed greater fore- sight and intuition into matters which affect mercantile success. In 1837, he was made a director in the Hartford & New Haven Railroad, and it was the successful operations of this road which decided his change of business.
Fire insurance had long been a prominent feature of the business of Hartford, but life insurance was an untried experiment. In 1846, a charter was obtained for the Connecticut Mutual Life Insurance Company, the plan being purely "mutual," the policy-holders elect- ing the officers, and nominally controlling the company. The company organized with Mr. Bulkeley as president, Dr. Phelps as secretary and Mr. Ayrault as actuary. The Connecticut Mutual wrote 205 policies during the first year of only a few weeks, nearly 3,400 in the next two years, 4,243 in 1849, and 5,589 in 1850; its assets increasing meanwhile from nothing to $918,406.73. Its financial standing was much solidified by the severe economy with which Dr. Phelps had been trained, and which was part of his nature. After 1850 the company began to decline in new business, until it reached its lowest point in writing only 587 policies for 1856; then fortune changed. Gaining regularly, it wrote 1,544 policies in 1860, and 14,161 in 1867. But through all times alike its financial position steadily improved. Its assets, which had been only $3,760,748 in 1861, rose to $7,225,040 in 1865, $27,566,479 in 1870, and to $40,371,939 in 1875. In 1848, Mr. Bulkeley retired from the company and was succeeded by Major Goodwin. This able man retained the position until 1865, when he gave up the presidency (though remaining a director and financial adviser), and Dr. Phelps assumed the headship. In 1869, the latter died, and Major Goodwin was again called to the presidency, which he retained until his death in 1878. His name is intimately connected with the great growth and prosperity of the company, as well as with the solid foundation on which it is built. Much of the success of other similar companies which came later upon the scene is due to following the principles which he first enunciated and then tested. All credit should be given to the pioneer in whatever field he may devote his strength.
Major Goodwin's interests and activities were far from being confined to the insurance company he did so much to upbuild. For forty years he was a director in the Hartford Fire Insurance Company, and always took a share in moulding its lines of management. In the Collins Manufacturing Company, the Hartford Carpet Company, Holyoke Water Power Company, the Gatling Gun Company, Connecticut Trust Company, the Hartford Fire Insurance Company, and numerous other business enterprises, his influence was felt in everything pertaining to their development. He was indeed one of the "directors who direct," and it would be well for numerous corporations of the present day if the inen whose names. appear on the board of management took the same personal interest in every detail which Major Goodwin always felt in the companies of which he formed a part.
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Being interested in military matters, he culisted at the age of cigliteen in the First Company of Governor's Horse Guards, and by gradual stages lic rose to be major, an office lie filled from 1829 to 1833. A large number of religious societies and eliaritable instit11- tions shared his beneficent interest. He was a trustee of Trinity College and a director of the Hartford Hospital. A vestryman of Christ Church for sixteen years, his zcal for thic welfare of the parish was life-long. The higher offiec of warden lic always declined, and but for his refusal to serve lie would have been vestryman at the time of liis death.
Possessing the full confidence of the community alike in his judgment and in his integ- rity, his courage, foresight and self-reliance made him a natural leader. In all the affairs with whiel he was eonnected, his molding power was felt. Constant usefulness and benevolenee inarked every portion of his life, and when he passed on to his reward the loss was mourned by the state at large. A brief sketch of him in the genealogy of the Goodwin family has the following truthful summary of character :
His business career, which was uninterrupted to the end, was characterized by great courage, energy and firmness, united with equal wisdom and caution. He had to a remarkable degree the habit of self-reliance in all matters of importance. His discernment was keen, and his judgment almost unerring. He was of necessity a leader, and in everything in which he took part, however quietly, his shaping hand was manifest. His mind was comprehensive in perception, acute in analysis, direct and forcible in operation. His temperament was calm, cheerful and almost perfectly equal. Few men have carried more numerous or important trusts, and none ever discharged them with more fidelity. He had a simple, pure, deeply affectionate nature, and in all his private and social relations was particularly happy. His life was an example of perfect integrity in the faithful discharge of the highest responsibilities, and of constant usefulness in the community in which he dwelt.
James Goodwin was married July 30, 1832, to Luicy, daughter of Joseph and Sally Spen- cer Morgan. He died March 15, 1878, and his wife, who had lived the ideal life of a Christian gentlewoman, followed him Sept. 19, 1890. Seven children were born to them, of these two are living : James Junius, and Francis. The latter is an ordained priest of the Episcopal church, and though not now in charge of a parish, his time is largely devoted to chureh work. Mr. James J., besides holding several positions of trust and responsibility, has the management of his father's estate in connection with his brother.
W HITING, CHARLES B., president of the Orient Insurance Company of Hartford, Conn., was born in Greenbush, New York, Sept. 3, 1828. He came from New England stock, both his parents having been born in New Hampshire. Mr. Whiting descended from the Rev. Samuel Whiting, the first minister of Lynn, Mass., who came to this country in 1636. His wife was Elizabeth St. John, a sister of Sir Oliver St. John, who was lord chief justice of England under Cromwell, whose cousin he was. Oliver St. John defended John Hampden in the celebrated ship money ease.
The early days of young Whiting were passed partly in school and partly attending to various duties in his father's store. Beginning first in the publie schools of his native town, his education was completed at a superior boarding sehool at Williamstown, Mass. On attaining his majority he left his parental home and entered the employ of the Boston & Albany Railroad Company at East Albany, and remained in this position the space of three years. The next two years were passed in steamboating with the "People's Line " of Hudson River steamers.
In 1855, Mr. Whiting beeame infeeted with the " western fever," so prevalent at the time, and located in the town of De Soto, Wis., on the Mississippi River. Here he passed nine years of varied experiences as railroad and steamboat. agent, postmaster and representative of the
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Ætna Insurance Company of Hartford, Conn. Becoming interested in developing the insur- ance idea, he formed a connection with the Accidental Insurance Company of New York, and removed to that city in 1866. Attracting the favorable attention of the executive committee of the National Board of Fire Underwriters, he was offered the position of secretary a few months later, and filled all its requirements most satisfactorily until May, 1870. Without leaving his chosen sphere of action he inade a change in his field of work. At the last named date Mr. Whiting became the state agent of the Home Insurance Company for New York, and the next decade of his life was spent in faithfully and laboriously advancing the interests of that sterling corporation. Failing health compelled him finally to resign, greatly to the regret of his superiors. A few months of enforced rest intervened, but he could not remain idle. His first active service was with the Springfield (Mass.) Fire and Marine Insurance Company. This connection was of extremely brief duration. Receiving an unanimous election as secretary of the Hartford Fire Insurance Company, he removed to the capital city in October, 1881. Here he had excellent opportunities for gaining breadth of experience, and he easily met all the responsibilities placed upon him.
Faithfulness and zeal in a subordinate position brought the opportunity to accept a higher one. In May, 1886, lie was called to the presidency of the Orient Insurance Company, and is still engaged in filling the duties of that office. Under Mr. Whiting's management the busi- ness of the company lias rapidly increased. When he assumed the management, in 1886, the premiums were only $500,000, and in 1893 were $1,500,000. The company is represented in nearly every state in the Union, and during its existence has paid nearly $8,000,000 in losses.
A clear and forcible writer on the subject of insurance, Mr. Whiting has at times con- tributed articles to various newspapers. He has delivered addresses before the New York State Association and the Underwriters' Association of the Northwest. He has also delivered two addresses to the Connecticut State Fireman's Association. Mr. Whiting is vice-president of the city bank of Hartford, vice-president of the Mather Electric Company of Manchester, Conn., vice-president of the Perkins Lamp Company of Manchester, Conn., a trustee of the Holland Trust Company of New York City, and a trustee of the Dimne Savings Bank of Hart- ford, Conn., and an active member of the Connecticut Historical Society, in which he takes great interest. Though somewhat along in years his vigor remains unimpaired, and his capacity for work is as great as ever.
Mr. Whiting married Sarah Elizabeth, daughter of Frederick S. Fairchild of Greenbush, N. Y., who is still living. They have 10 children.
UNBAR, EDWARD BUTLER, of Bristol, ex-state senator, and a leading manufacturer of the town, was born in Bristol, Nov. 1, 1842.
Mr. Dunbar comes of a sturdy Pennsylvania stock. Butler Dunbar, the founder of this branch of the family, removed from that state about 1821, and settled in Bristol, Conn. Being of an inventive turn of mind, he soon went into the clock business, a line of trade with which the very atmosphere seemed charged in that section of the state. His son, Edward L., followed in his footsteps, and established himself in the manufacture of clock springs and clock trimmings in 1840, in Bristol. He was the first to make a specialty of the production of clock springs fromn sheet steel, oil-tempered. In 1857, with Wallace Barnes, he went into the manufacture of steel springs for hoop skirts, which were then coming into fashion. Finding the business profitable, they went into the making
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