USA > Connecticut > Representative men of Connecticut, 1861-1894 > Part 21
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Although fully alive to his responsibilities as a medical practitioner, Dr. Dickinson has not denied the calls of his fellow-townsmen, when they have requested him to serve them in an official capacity. In 1850, and again in 1857, he represented the town of Willington in the state legislature, and after his removal to Rockville, he was again sent to the legislature from the town of Vernon for the years 1875 and 1876. During the session of 1875, he served as chairman of the committee on insurance, it being the first year such a cominittee had been appointed, and naturally various perplexing questions came up for set- tlement, and in the latter year he was a member of the committee which superintended the erection of the Connecticut state building at the Centennial.
Receiving the nomination of the Republican party for senator in the twenty-first district, he accepted and was elected by a handsome majority. In this instance, as well as in 1875, when he was the candidate for the lower house, the town had been strongly Democratic, but his popularity was such that he gained the victory for his party each time. His services were so acceptable that he was elected for two following years. While in the senate, he was chairman of the committee on education and of the canvassing committee, besides holding a membership on several other committees. But his constituents were not yet done with him. In 1880, for special reasons, Dr. Dickinson was urged to stand as a candidate for selectman, and finally consented, and was easily elected. Since that time he lias positively declined to accept political or other office.
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For over twenty years he has been a director in the First National Bank of Rockville, and for half that time he has served as vice-president. Dr. Dickinson has been president of the Tolland County Medical Society several times, and takes an active interest in everything which pertains to the development of medical science.
Dr. F. L. Dickinson was married Sept. 28, 1840, to Roxie, daughter of Col. Francis McLean, who built the first mill in Rockville, and was practically the founder of the place. Four children have been born to thein, of whom three are now living. His oldest son, Francis P., is a farmer, A. P. is selectman of Rockville, and A. T. is in charge of the plant of the Rockville Electric Light Company.
ASE, NEWTON, of Hartford, founder of the Case, Lockwood & Brainard Com- pany, was born in Canton, Conn., March 12, 1807. Mr. Case had an abund- ance of excellent company in starting on the journey of life. Henry W. Long- fellow, John G. Whittier, Charles Francis Adams, Morton McMichael, Prof. Louis F. Agassiz, David Dale Owen, William L. Dayton, Hiramn Sibley, Ezra Cornell and a score of others known to faine were born the saine year. Having passed the fourscore allotted to inan, he died Sept. 14, 1890.
He came of a sturdy Connecticut ancestry containing its full share of the pioneer and Revolutionary spirit. Mr. Case was a descendant of John Case, a settler in New London, in 1656, who removed to Windsor the following year, and afterwards to Siinsbury, where he died in 1704. He was a member of the General Assembly for several years, and a man of prominence in his day. From him, by successive generations, the family line came down through Joseph, and Jacob, one of the pioneers of Simsbury, Case's Farms being named after him, to Jesse Case, who was a native of Simsbury, and is known to have served in the Revolutionary War as a corporal in Capt. John Brown's company in the Thirteenth regiment at New York in August and September, 1775. His son, Jesse Case, Jr., married Sarah, daughter of Deacon Elisha Cornish, of West Simsbury, now Canton. Of their ten children, the subject of this sketch was the eighth.
The early life of Mr. Case was spent on his father's farin, receiving a limited educa- tion. At the age of twenty-one he came to Hartford, as a writer in the Hartford Courant well said of him, "Bare-handed, with no title to fortune, save what lay in his natural ability, a sturdy physique, habits of industry and economy, an upright character, and a coinmon school education." At first his occupation was that of a copper-plate printer. On the fiftieth anniversary of his entrance into the printing business, Mr. Case celebrated the event by inviting to his home a number of his old friends and employees. Among them were all his old partners except three, who were deceased. During the course of the evening he told thein in a well written paper, the history of his business career, from which we quote several paragraphs describing what he terms, "way marks along the un- even pathway of a business life."
At the age of twenty-one I came to Hartford, having no knowledge of any business except that of farming, and obtained a situation to work for my board in a copper-plate printing establishment. After beginning to receive wages, I continued to work at the same business for about eighteen months longer. In August, 1830, I commenced business on my own account, associated with Mr. E. H. Wilcox, and continued that connection a little more than one year. I then conducted the same business alone for about two years, after which Mr. A. D. Waters was admitted as a partner. At that time there was a large amount of plate printing done in Hartford, a natural outgrowth of the publication of school geographies and atlases.
In 1835 and 1836 our business was carried on in what was then known as the Mitchell building on State street, the site now occupied by the Courant building.
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The printing office of J. Hubbard Wells was in the same building. Mr. R. D. Tiffany, with whom I had some acquaintance, was the foreman of the office, and from him I learned that the establishment was for sale. I think he stated the price and terms, and admitted that he was himself looking for some one to go in with him and make the purchase. At that time I had no idea of becoming one of the purchasers, for I did not suppose it in my power to raise the necessary money. The first serious thought of my attempt- ing the partnership came to me as I chanced to awake about three in the morning after our conversation. The matter then presented itself so clearly to my mind that I decided upon a plan of action for the coming day. The price asked for the printing office was $4,500.00;'of this, $1,500.00 was to be paid in cash, and the balance by a satisfactorily endorsed note. Then, beyond this, the purchasers were to assume obligations incurred by Mr. Wells for new materials amounting to $2,000. On the sixth day of January, 1836, I made a proposition to Mr. Tiffany to enter partnership with him and make the purchase. I had only $700 in cash, but was satisfied I could borrow $800 more, and thus make the cash payment of $1,500. O11 application to a friend I also learned that I could obtain the necessary endorsement of $3,000, and with this financial equipment, we concluded to embark upon the enterprise. Mr. Tiffany was the practical man in the printing department, and I undertook to keep the accounts and look after the finances of the establishment. Mr. Waters and myself were mutually interested in the copper-plate printing business and also in this new enterprise. Thus the ship was launched and the voyage beguu.
By 1837 the firm had paid all their indebtedness but $1,000, and amid the numerous financial disasters and failures in all branches of business they were sorely pressed. The money was finally raised by loan and their plant saved. In January, 1838, he severed his connection with Mr. Waters, the latter taking the copper-plate business and Mr. Case the Case, Tiffany & Company establishment. At this time they purchased the plant of Mr. Philemon Canfield, who was the proprietor of the largest printing house in the city, his foreman, Mr. L. Burnham, becoming a partner in the firm. This addition necessitated larger quarters, and the old county jail was leased for five years, being purchased at the end of that time. In 1840, they pur- chased the stereotype plates of the "Cottage Bible" issued in two volumes, with historical and practical comments. The first year they sold nearly ten thousand copies, and down to 1857 they had disposed of one hundred and fifty thousand sets.
Mr. Burnham died suddenly in 1848, leaving only Mr. Case and Mr. Tiffany. In 1850 the firm commenced to do its own binding, and Mr. Edmund Shattuck was given an interest, a connection which lasted five years. Three years later Messrs. James Lockwood and Albert G. Cooley were admitted to the firm, and, in 1857, Messrs. Tiffany and Cooley both retired, leaving Mr. Case with only one partner again to bear the responsibilities of their constantly increasing business. The services of "a young, capable and energetic man" were needed, and Mr. Leverett Brainard was taken into the concern, the name becoming Case, Lockwood & Brainard, and this connection remained unbroken until severed by Mr. Case's death. Jan. I, 1874, the business was incorporated under special charter from the state as The Case, Lock- wood & Brainard Company. Mr. Case closed his interesting paper with the following suggestive words :
A little less than twenty years ago, I gave up active service in the company, believing that I was to enjoy a period of partial retirement, and be relieved from any very laborious duties. But becoming interested in some other enterprises, I found that business cares were still upon me, and so they have continued to the present; the mitigating consideratiou of these continued responsibilities being the firin belief that under the care of a kind Providence, it is "better to wear out than to rust out." A "business man" I must expect to remain while health and strength are left me.
Mr. Case's natural energy and activity of mind found employment in various manu- facturing operations, ontside of the printing business. He was one of the organizers and president of the National Screw Company, a successful corporation which was finally merged into the American Screw Company of Providence, R. I. Another enterprise in which he was largely interested in later years was the Shelby Iron Works of Shelby, Ala. With his money and credit he carried the company through some trying times, but finally came out with a profit, selling his stock in 1889 for a round quarter million of dollars.
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At the time of his death, Mr. Case was a director in the Willimantic Linen Company, the First National Bank, the Orient Fire Insurance Company and the Charter Oak Bank, being one of the founders of the latter.
In the course of a long article the Hartford Courant said the following kindly words :
Though Mr. Case was a business man by his calling, commercial interests were not by any means the only subjects of his care. He was animated by an earnest public spirit : always warmly concerned for the public welfare. Hartford was the city of his love. He was very pronounced and ardent in his political views and full of the sentiment of patriotismn. He was a inan, too, of a strong and sincere Christian faith, and walked in the fear and love of God his whole life through. Religious things engaged his heart in a measure answerable to their importance. He was, as is well known, of a decidedly conservative type in his theological sympathies. Of his valuation of what he held the true evangelical doctrine he gave indisputable and ample truth. He was a trustee of the Hartford Seminary from its foundation and its unfailing friend ; while by his benefactions to it he has shown his sense of responsibilities attaching to the trust of wealth. Moreover, the fact that his chief gifts to it have been to its library (amounting to no less, first and last, than $150,000) is witness to the breadth of his conception of the place that belongs to learning in the due preparation of men for the service of the holy ministry. Mr. Case was one of the original members of the Asylum Hill Congregational Church at its organization in 1865, and by his wise counsel, liberal support and sincere and humble piety has ever been to it an element of strength. He was a person who went his way in life with much quietness, but a near acquaintance with him infallibly discovered that quality of a simple, true, honest nature that compels respect and affection. He was a good man, who aimed to serve God in this generation, and his earthly days had a fitting close in his tranquil departure.
Mr. Case was enthusiastic in carrying on the details of his business, and it was with pride that he watched its growth to its present extensive dimensions. He stood at the head of the printing and publishing interests of this state. Kind and just as an employer, it was usually said that to enter his establishment was to find a position for life. His integrity was unquestioned, and at every point where he touched his fellow men he was trusted to the fullest degree. A public spirited man, he was ready to lend his aid to worthy enter- prises and projects, and was associated with many business institutions, and in the direction of banks, insurance and manufacturing companies.
The sketch of him in the record of the Connecticut Society of the Sons of the Ameri- can Revolution has the following correct estimate of his character :
He was a genuine New England man, strongly attached to the principles and traditions of his New England fatliers. He was a true American. His patriotism was staunch and broad. He was proud of his Revolutionary ancestry, and used to exhibit with feeling an old musket which his grandfather carried in the war-a gun of peculiar make, much shortened of its original dimensions, but still of extraordinary lengthi. He was a man of quiet ways, not seeking publicity or preferment. He had an open and pronounced opinion as to men and measures, both in politics and religion, and was conservative in each. He was a Christian man as evidenced by his daily life. In his religious views he held strongly to the faith of his fathers; he had no room for the theological speculations of these later days, the old faith seemed to him the best. For nearly half his life he was a trustee of the Hartford Theological Seminary, and in this connection gave bountifully of his means to its support, both by hand and testament. The "Newton Case Library " connected with the Seminary, is both a witness to his generosity and a monument to his memory.
Newton Case was married Dec. 12, 1832, to Lemira B., daughter of Jehiel and Hannah L. Hurlburt of Chatham. Mrs. Case died in 1878. During the remaining years of his life his only daughter, Miss Ellen M. Case, was his constant companion. Miss Case still resides in the elegant parental home at Farmington Avenue.
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B AILEY, EZRA BREWSTER, secretary, treasurer and manager of the E. Horton & Son Company, Windsor Locks, and collector of customs at the port of Hart- ford, was born in Franklin, New London County, Conn., March 29, 1841.
The blood of the sturdiest New England stock flows through his veins. His carly ancestry on cither side of the line represents prominent families in both the Puritanic and Revolutionary periods of our country's history. They, with their descendants, have been distinguished for their physical vigor and intellectual attainments, as well as for inflexible integrity and patriotismn. Through his father, Aaron Bailey, he is a descendant of tlic Baileys of Groton, whose ancestor came from England in the early history of the country. His mother, née Eliza Brewster, descended in direct line from Elder Brewster of Mayflower and Plymouth fame, through his eldest son, Jonathan. Mr. Bailey's youth was passed on the ancestral farin in Franklin (of which he is now the proprietor), and at the district school, his elementary education, which is the basis of all literary accomplishments, was acquired. He was nurtured in the habits of industry, and it was here he laid the founda- tion of his future success.
Though still in his minority on the breaking out of the Rebellion in 1861, Mr. Bailey's impulses, inherited from a long line of patriotic ancestors, impelled hiin to enlist at once for the defence of his country. He joined Company B of the Twenty-Sixth Connecticut Regiment and went into camp Sept. 5, 1862. Prostrated by a severe attack of typhoid fever while in camp, he was taken home early in the following November, but still in a critical condition. His recovery was slow and long deferred, but at no time thereafter during the war was he able to perform active service, and his patriotic designs were of necessity abandoned. Resuming his former duties with his father as soon as he was sufficiently strong to be of assistance, he remained at the old homestead until 1867. In that year he removed to Windsor Locks, and for the space of a year he carried on a farin, devoting considerable attention to the raising of tobacco. In 1868, he was appointed assistant postinaster at Windsor Locks, and in connection with this position he held a general agency for various publications sold on subscription by canvassers. Making an engagement with W. J. Holland & Company, a large subscription book publishing firm of Springfield, Mass., in 1870, he occupied the responsible place of supervisor of agencies. While discharging the duties of this position, he travelled extensively, visiting nearly every town in the northern states, as well as in Canada and the British Provinces. For four years he followed this business, and succeeded in making it profitable.
Upon the organization of the firmn of E. Horton & Son of Windsor Locks on a joint stock basis in 1873, he became its secretary and treasurer, and continued in that position for three years. The corporate name of the new company was The E. Horton & Son Company, and their business was the manufacture of the Horton lathe chuck. This chuck was invented by Mr. Eli Horton in 1851, and was the precursor of numerous others which followed in the path he marked out. In fact all the lathe chucks offered at the present time are inodelled after Mr. Horton's original idea, and the nearer they come to his. standard the greater has been their success. The Horton chuck has borne the test of over forty years service, and its popularity is attested by use all over the civilized world. It has been awarded the first prize in every case where it has been exhibited in competition with others.
In the Centennial year he left the company and removed to his farm in Franklin, a . delightful country place, whose attractions include some of the most romantic spots to be found in the state. Here he devoted his time mostly to agricultural pursuits. Four years elapsed and there was a change in affairs at Windsor Locks, and he was called to assume control of The E. Horton & Son Company, since which time he has held the three offices
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as secretary, treasurer, and general manager. In this dozen or more years the business has grow11, under Mr. Bailey's skillful management, to such an extent that eight times as inany inen are employed at the present time as when he took it in charge. Further extensions are contemplated in the near future, which will add quite largely to the amount of business.
Not all of Mr. Bailey's efforts and executive ability have been confined to the corporation of which he is the controlling influence. He forms a component part of various other extensive business enterprises. Intimately concerned in the establishment of the Windsor Locks Electric Lighting Company, he was one of the incorporators, and is now president and a member of the board. He is a director in the Windsor Locks Savings Bank, and also in the Connecticut River Company, an important corporation which owns the Enfield and Windsor Locks water power, and furnishes water for all the mills at Windsor Locks, and he holds the same relations with the Dwight Slate Machine Company of Hartford, manufacturers of fine machinery. A prominent promoter and one of the original incorporators, he is a director in the Windsor Locks Water Company, which supplies the village with water for domestic purposes. When the J. R. Montgomery Company of Windsor Locks was re-organ- ized in 1891 as a joint stock corporation, with a large capital, he was made a member of the board of directors. This company manufactures warps and novelty yarns, and stands at the head of all enterprises of its class in the country. He is also a member of the Hartford Board of Trade.
Dating back to the earlier years of the existence of the party, Mr. Bailey has been an ardent and active Republican, and as such has been elected to various positions of public trust. In 1879, he was elected representative to the state legislature for the town of Franklin, being awarded the largest majority any candidate ever received from that town. After his return to Windsor Locks he was again elected to the legislature, carrying the town by a majority of thirteen, though naturally it is a Democratic stronghold. Serving on the committee on incorporations in the session of 1883, he rendered essential assistance in the organization of the Windsor Locks and Warehouse Point Bridge Company. Four years later he was given additional honors by his constituents, being elected state senator, running ahead of his ticket in seven towns in the district. As chairman of the committee on education and of the fisheries committee, he was enabled to carry through several important measures. In the senate he was active and prominent in support of the movement giving towns the control and manage- ment of school district affairs. His efforts in this direction were so marked as to give him much favorable attention among the friends of education all over the state.
Reports of his solid business capacities and faithfulness in subordinate offices had been carried to Washington. In 1890, Mr. Bailey received the appointment from President Harrison as United States collector of customs for the port of Hartford. Speaking of the matter, that sterling Connecticut journal, the Hartford Courant, said: "The President on Saturday nominated the Hon. Ezra B. Bailey to be collector of customs for the Hartford district. Mr. Bailey is an excellent representative of the Connecticut citizen, born in the back country, brought up on a farm, subsequently trained in business, and always equal to his opportunity whenever it comes. He has been successful in whatever he has undertaken. and has come to occupy an important position in politics and business and social affairs. . He brings to the office of collector integrity and business ability, and his personal qualifications that have brought success elsewhere, and he will undoubtedly prove an efficient officer. He was cordially endorsed for the position by both Senator Hawley and Congressman Simonds, and his appointment has been for some time very generally expected. His many friends will be glad to hear of his good fortune." His administration of the duties of the office has proved the truth of all the good words previously said of his character.
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Mr. Bailey's social tastes and instincts are strong, and in all the activities of the various organizations with which he is connected lic engages with enthusiasm. His connec- tions include a membership in the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, in the Connecticut Society of the Sons of the American Revolution, and of various other socictics, ctc. In the Masonic fraternity, Mr. Bailey has attained high honors. He is a member of Euclid Lodge, No. 30, of Windsor Locks, of Washington Chapter, No. 30, R. A. M., of Suffield, Washington Commandery, No. I, K. T., stationed at Hartford, and of Pyramid Temple, A. A. O. N. M. S., of Bridgeport.
Success seems to be the natural conclusion of all Mr. Bailey's undertakings. Hc has inade the E. Horton & Son Company the leading concern in its special line, and his judg- 11cnt of business matters is such that he has materially assisted other corporations in which he is interested to success. Now in the prime of his mature manhood, he occupies an im- portant and influential place in the business, political and social affairs of the state.
Ezra B. Bailey was married Dec. 14, 1871, to Katie E., daughter of Eli and Katherine (Ellsworth) Horton, a mention of whom has been made previously. The Hortons of Wind- sor Locks represent one of the oldest and best of New England families, which, since colonial times, has contributed numerous distinguished names to the country's service and history. Miss Horton was a descendant in the eighth generation, from John Alden and Priscilla (Mullens) Alden, prominent characters in the story of the Puritans. Thus in the present generation are mingled several strains of ancient English blood which have separately quickened some of the best specimens of American manhood. The issue of this marriage are Philip Horton Bailey, now approaching his majority, and who is a student at Yale University, New Haven, and Helena Ellsworth Bailey, now in school at the Connecticut Literary Institute in Suffield, Conn.
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