USA > Connecticut > Representative men of Connecticut, 1861-1894 > Part 32
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In August, 1862, Mr. Strong and his brother, Clark, enlisted in Company C of the Twenty-fourth Connecticut Volunteers, a nine months' regiment. He rose to the rank of first lieutenant, and took part in General Banks's expedition in the Gulf Department, being in all the forced marches from New Orleans to Port Hudson. His captain was off duty from sickness, and he commanded the company during these marches, and also at the siege of Port Hudson. The army record is one filled with faithful service and no shirking of duty.
Returning from the scenes of battle, Mr. Strong resumed his place on the paternal farm, his brother taking charge of the factory, which had been managed by Mr. Markhamn in the meantime. Just after the close of the war, Mr. Strong opened up a trade with undertakers, selling by sample and buying his goods of Markhamn & Strong, and this proved to be a growing business. In January, 1866, arrangements were perfected for moving to Winsted. A joint stock company was formed there, under the title of the Strong Manufacturing Company, and Mr. Strong was authorized by the company to buy the Markhamn & Strong business, and the purchase was effected. For the first three years W. L. Gilbert served as president, then N. Adams filled the chair, and in 1871, Mr. Strong was chosen president, an office he has held up to the present time. He soon took a leading position among the manufacturers of that thriving town, and continues to hold a commanding place in the community. The company has passed through several financial crises, but continues to increase the volume of its trade from year to year.
Mr. Strong is also identified with the Winsted Hosiery Company, the New England Knitting Company, the Winsted Silk Company, and the Winsted Shoe Manufacturing Company, and in all these companies takes his full share of the management, being president of the first and last named companies. Financial interests have called for a share of Mr. Strong's attention. He is president of the First National Bank of Winsted, having been a director since 1883, and is a member of the firm of H. M. Tanner & Company.
Men of Mr. Strong's probity of character and acknowledged capacity in business affairs inust expect to be called upon to accept official honors at the hands of their fellow townsmen. He has been a selectinan of the town of Winchester, and twice warden of the borough of Winsted. From early manliood he has been a consistent Republican, and has always upheld the principles of that party on the battle-field and in civil life. In 1872, he represented the town of Winchester in the lower branch of the state legislature. Mr. Strong was again a member of the House in 1886, at which session he served on the appropriation committee, as well as other committees of lesser importance.
For many years he has been an active member of the Congregational church, and he puts into his work for his Master the same characteristic energy he does into his business. Mr. Strong's life has been passed mainly in farming and manufacturing, but wherever he has come in contact with his fellow men, as a workman himself, as an employer of labor, as a town officer, as a member of the legislature, he has always gained their entire confidence and highest respect.
David Strong has been married three times. First to Frances A. Daniels, Nov. 4, 1852. She died March 24, 1856, leaving no children. He was married Sept. 14, 1857, to Chloe Maria, daughter of Henry Colt, by whom he had one son, who died in infancy. She died Feb. 2, 1865, and for his third wife he married Emnerette L. Colt, sister of his previous wife. Five children have been born to them, of whom three are living, Frederick Clark, Herbert Gillette and Homer David Strong.
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W
ILSON, GROVE HERRICK, M. D., of Mcriden, was born in Stockbridge, Mass., March 25, 1824.
Two of the oldest and most honorable families in England and America arc united in the subject of this sketch. He is descended from Rev. William Wilson, D. D., a canon of His Majesty's Royal Chapel, who married thc daughter of the Puritan Archbishop Grindal, and whose son, the Rev. John Wilson, married Elisabeth, daughter of Sir John Mansfield, and, as one of the cxpedition of Governor Winthrop, became the first pastor of the church of Boston.
On the maternal side the ancestry of Dr. Wilson can be traced to Eric the Forester, of the royal house of Denmark, whose long war with the Angles resulted in the cession to him of the counties of Warwick and Leicester in England. To this day the Eric (or Herrick) family have a manor at Great Stratton, and a perpetual pew in the cathedral at Leicester. The Rev. William Herrick, who was chaplain to Edward VI. and also minister to the Sublime Porte under Elizabeth, was the grandfather of Robert Herrick, the famous poet, and Sir William Herrick, whose son Henry was the first member of that family to emigrate to America. It is recorded that he settled at Salem, Mass., in 1639, and his great-grandson, Dr. Daniel Herrick of Preston, Conn., was the father of Sally Herrick, who married Joseph H. Wilson in 1822, and became the inother of the future doctor. To the family of Eric also belongs the discoverer of Greenland, whose son, Leif Eric, founded the settlements at Martha's Vineyard and Rhode Island, an event commemorated by a statue in Boston. Eminent positions in public and private life have also been adorned by other members of the Herrick family.
At the common schools of Tyringham and Lee Academy, Mass., the early education of Dr. Wilson was obtained, the special object in view being a preparation for the profession of teacher. In his native state as well as in Delaware, he successfully engaged in teaching, until failing health obliged him to seek occupation less confining. The problems of medicine attracted him, and, beginning its study, he graduated from the Berkshire Medical Institution in 1849. The scientific principles of Hahnemann attracted his attention, and two years later he adopted homnœopathy, and has since followed in the footsteps of his great leader. After practising his profession in North Adams and Conway, Mass., for several years, he located in Meriden during the financial crisis of 1857, when the outlook of the place was decidedly unpromising. It required but a limited period to establish an excellent reputation for himself, and his professional career has been exceptionally successful, continu- ing uninterrupted to the present time. Before Meriden becane a city, his patronage embraced nearly two-thirds of the grand list of the town.
Dr. Wilson's activity as a practitioner would seem to preclude efforts in other directions, however ineritorious, but such has not been the case. To the medical knowledge of the country he has contributed several original papers of much value, and, in 1882, he published a monograph which clearly established the theory of the epidemic nature of intermittent fevers in New England. Well informed in all the mechanical progress and invention of the times, all the doctor's tastes lie in the direction of liberal and scientific culture. His townsmen have frequently been given the benefit of his extensive knowledge in the forin of familiar talks on subjects of natural science. Two years before Edison invented the phono- graph, Dr. Wilson had brought out an instrument of that nature. Among his inventions may be mentioned the "aural masseur," an instrument for treating deafness by the massage of the internal ear, through the medium of aerial vibrations, a inode of which he claims priority.
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In the public schools the doctor has maintained a continuous interest. He successfully advocated the abolition of the "rate bill," making the schools absolutely free to every child in Meriden. Within two years thereafter the state confirmned the wisdom of this action by passing a law extending the same privilege to all the children of the commonwealth. Other public interests have been accorded his sanction and support, nor has he shirked the duties and responsibilities of official station. In 1880, and again in 1882, he served as a member of the General Assembly for Meriden, and at each session his course was both creditable to himself and beneficial to his constituents. For the past dozen years he has been a member of the Connecticut Board of Health, and in this position his protracted experience and intimate knowledge of affairs made him a valuable addition to that body. A resident of a manufacturing community, the doctor has kept himself in close touch with the life of the place, and is a zealous supporter of all that pertains to its welfare. He is president of the Meriden Buckle Company, a young but growing corporation organized for the purpose of manufacturing buckles and trimmings for arctic overshoes.
In early manhood Dr. Wilson connected himself with the followers of Masonry, and has since become acquainted with all its mysteries. He had the honor of being the first commander of St. Elmo Commandery, No. 9, and by successive elections passed through the various chairs in regular order until, in 1893, he reached the eminence of grand commander of the Grand Commandery of Connecticut. For the year 1893 he served as mayor of the city of Meriden, and was a worthy successor to the honorable inen who had preceded him in that office. An active member of the Ecclesiastical Society of the First Congregational church of Meriden, he has been given an opportunity to show his appreciation of religious truth. Says a sketch of him in the History of New Haven County :
Although somewhat independent in regard to theological systems, he has, without being a member of the Christian church, never failed of supporting the measures of the gospel, and holds to a rigid morality in all the ways of life. His religious sentiments are exalted, and his thoughts upon such subjects, profound and liberal, are often evinced in his actions in his social and professional life. He served on the building con- mittee of the present First Congregational church edifice-one of the finest in the state-which was greatly embellished by his artistic taste and efforts to elevate the style of architecture. The finely ornamented capitals, designed by him, are examples of his love for this work, and show his knowledge of sacred symbolismn, ex- pressing in carved and enduring stone the course of natural and revealed religion in the human lieart. Dr. Wilson has a genial and benevolent nature, is a ready conversationalist, loving controversial discussions, but is, withal, conservative in his speech and actions, and is justly considered an influential and popular citizen.
Dr. Wilson was married Nov. 30, 1848, to Margaret A., daughter of John Adams of Pencader Hundred, Delaware. He has one son, Edgar A. Wilson, who graduated from the University of Pennsylvania in 1881, with the degree of M. D., and after practicing several years in Rockville came to Meriden, and is now associated with his father, and materially lightens the cares of the increasing practice.
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LOWES, GEORGE HEWLETT, of Waterbury, president of the Board of Trade, and managing member of the firm of Randolph & Clowes, was born at Clinton, Oneida County, New York, June 17, 1842, during his father's presidency of the Clinton Liberal Institute.
In the latter part of the seventeenth century the name of Clowes first appears in America. Herc, its starting point was in that old, historic and thriving town of Hempstead, L. I. Indecd, the burying ground of St. George's church in Hempstead is, in its epitaphs, a sufficient history of the family since its first advent to this country. It is a surprising fact, in looking over its records from the beginning, to find so many of the name in succeeding generations who have pursued professional and scholarly lives, - doctors, lawyers, clergymen, almost exclusively, - many of them quite distinguished in their life work. Perhaps, however, no one of the name acquired so high a position in the world of letters and scholarship as the Rev. Timothy Clowes, LL.D., the father of our present subject. This man, most eminent in his profession, was born March 18, 1787; was graduated as Master of Arts at Columbia College in 1808; was a clergyman in 1809 of the established church, with a parish at Jamaica, L. I., and later one in Jersey City; was rector of St. Peter's church, in Albany, from 1810 to 1817,-at the end of which time he returned to Hempstead, and for three years taught with marked success one of the leading classical institutes of the country. Recognizing his vast and varied erudition, he was honored in 1821, with the degree of Doctor of Laws by Allegheny College, and the same year was appointed the principal of Erasmus Hall, Flatbush, L. I. In 1823, Dr. Clowes received a call to the presidency of Washington College, Maryland, which he accepted. Over this insti- tution of learning he presided for six years. During a part of this period he was also rector of the Episcopal church in Chestertown, Md., and of St. Paul's, Kent County, Md. In 1829, Washington College was destroyed by fire, and Dr. Clowes again opened his classical school in Hempstead, L. I. This seminary in the succeeding nine years became widely celebrated as an institution of learning. The Clinton Liberal Institute, Oneida County, N. Y., called him in 1838 to its presidency, - a position which he creditably occupied for four years. Dr. Clowes died at Hempstead, Long Island, June 19, 1847.
If the subject of this notice derives some of his best qualities to insure success in life from his distinguished father, he is no less indebted for many of his most manly characteristics to his mother. Her maiden name was Miss Mary Hewlett, and her mother's name was Mary Sands. She came from a long and noted ancestry. Her lineage is distinctly traced, step by step, to the middle of the eleventh century in England, and her family was exclusively of Saxon origin. The name was originally Sandys in the olden times, but has since been spelled Sandes, Sandis, and Sands. Dr. Benjamin Sandys was Archbishop of York in the time of Cromwell, who confiscated his vast estates just as he treated every- thing of value with which he came in contact. There is at present an association of the Sands's family heirs,-of which Mr. Clowes is a member,-seeking for a restoration to them through the British Parliament of these estates, aggregating $100,000,000. In America, the Sands family first appears in the person of Sir Edwin Sandys, who, in 1617, became governor and treasurer of the Virginia colony. Subsequently, in 1640, representatives of the parent stock in England settled in Boston, Mass. The genealogy of the Sands family from this point to the present,-covering nearly three centuries,-is both interesting and instructive, but our narrow limits forbid its introduction here. Suffice it to say, that it comprised members of all of the three recognized professions, men prominent in business circles in New York and elsewhere, officers, soldiers and patriots of our wars of the Revolution and of 1812, bankers, members of Congress, judges, naval officers, and scholars.
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Mr. Clowes's father died when he was but five years of age. Upon his widowed mother devolved the care, education and training of two children, both of tender years. Until he was eleven years of age, Mr. Clowes attended the Hempstead Seminary and Jamaica Academy. For the four following years, he was a student of the Thetford Academy, Thetford, Vt. At the age of fifteen, his brother, then a banker in De Pere, Wis., gave him a position in his banking house, which he retained until he entered St. Lawrence University at Appleton, Wis. Since his college days, until 1875, he made his home with his mother in Brooklyn, N. Y. Mr. Clowes lias also an honorable record, as a young and patriotic citizen, in our late Civil War. Under the competent instruction of Colonel Tompkins, who had been commissioned to educate officers for military positions, he passed a successful examination before the board of United States examining officers, and was at once appointed adjutant of the McClellan infantry. Having aided in recruiting 600 men for a new regiment, an order of consolidation with another and smaller body of recruits was issued by the war department, and,-owing in all probability to political favoritism,-the entire regimental staff of the latter body was placed in command of the full regiment. It was a flagrant piece of injustice, but it did not in the least diminish the patriotic ardor of Mr. Clowes. On a second call for troops, he at once reenlisted, a musket on his shoulder, with the 47th Regiment, N. Y. N. G. Soon he was appointed sergeant-major of the regiment, which position he held when mustered out.
of the Rebellion, an extensive experience in the navy of the United States. For a year
He had, likewise, during the War and a half he served on the United States gunboat Flambeau, doing duty off the coast of North and South Carolina, Georgia and Florida.
Later he was transferred to the United States storeship " Home," and was faithful to duty aboard this ship until she was ordered home in the summer of 1864. His elder brother, Joseph Clowes, now retired, was also in the service of the navy of the Union as admiral's secretary, and the loss of a leg at the fall of Fort Fisher sufficiently attests his love of country and his sacrifice for her in her hour of sore distress. This is all the inore marked as he volunteered his services for shore duty against the admiral's advice not to go ashore with the marines.
In 1882, Mr. Clowes was united in marriage to Miss Mamnie T. Blacknall, daughter of Dr. George W. Blacknall of Raleighi, N. C., and their home is a model of refinement, happiness and domestic felicity.
The first experience of Mr. Clowes in a mercantile life began as bookkeeper and after- wards as salesman, for the flourishing house of Gardner & Company, New York. This was late in 1864. At the end of two years he received a flattering offer from the Middlefield Fire and Building Stone Company, 1269 Broadway, N. Y. While thus engaged, he was appointed paymaster's clerk on the United States gunboat "Juniata," ordered to the European station, and sailed in July, 1869. He was abroad till 1872. Returning to the United States, he at once was engaged as loan and discount clerk for the New York Loan Indemnity Company. In this position he won the respect and admiration of all who dealt with him, and, through their confidence in him personally, he influenced to this company during the two years of his connection with it, deposits of his friends of upwards of a quarter of a million of dollars. It was with this banking house that the old firm of Brown & Brothers of Waterbury, Conn., with a reputation world-wide for upwards of forty years, then kept their New York account. Late in 1874, when the New York Loan Indemnity Company were arranging to discontinue business, Mr. Philo Brown (the then president of Brown & Brothers), asked, in the course of a business conversation, its president, if he could recommend one of the employees of the bank to him, a man who would have the requisite character, stamina and ability, if engaged, to grow up and become identified with his large business establishment in Waterbury. Calling
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up Mr. Clowes, the president at once remarked to Mr. Brown: "Of all those employed in this bank, I speak in every respect mnost higlily of this one." That recommendation was sufficient, an engagement of Mr. Clowes at once followed, and, as a result, on Jan. 1, 1875, Mr. Clowes came to Waterbury and entered upon his duties as head bookkeeper of Brown & Brothers. During the entire period of his connection with Brown & Brothers, covering about eleven years, it should, however, be stated that Mr. Clowes had no part in the direction, policy or management of the concern. Owing to financial difficulties and embarassinents and other causes, entirely foreign to a discussion here, in January, 1886, it was deemed advisable for the once powerful and solid company of Brown & Brothers to make an assignment. This event occurred under the presidency of Franklin Farrel, Esq., the elder Brown having died some years before. The trustees of the company, however, recognizing the ability and integrity of Mr. Clowes, retained him for his aid to them in winding up its involved and intricate affairs.
His keen mercantile sagacity told him at once that the purchase of the seamless tube, brazed tube and boiler business from the trustees might be made the nucleus of a great industry. This, however, was at that time but a small portion of the original plant of Brown & Brothers. To secure its control required an outlay of $37,500. The purchase price of the kettle business of the late company was fixed at $5,000 additional. At once and without delay Mr. Clowes applied to a friend of years' standing, Mr. Edward F. Randolph, a man of wealth and with large business interests in New York, for the capital necessary to make this purchase. After a conference, Mr. Randolph at once agreed to furnish conditionally the requisite sum. The imposed condition was in substance that the entire responsibility of the direction and management of the plant, when bought, should devolve upon Mr. Clowes. It was an immense undertaking for one man to assume, especially when a new company, under new conditions and surroundings, must be built up on the wreck of the old. The entire purchase price of $42,500 was, however, at once furnished. Mr. Clowes assumed all personal responsibility of management, and in April, 1886, the sale was effected by a transfer of the portion indicated of the former Brown & Brothers' plant from the trustees to Randolph & Clowes. The partnership capital of the new firm was at that time fixed at $75,000 (though subsequently many times increased), and the partnership of Randolph & Clowes was launched upon its business career. At that time (April, 1886) they employed fifty men and one clerk. Their office quarters consisted of a small room, about fourteen feet square. By comparison, at the present writing (January, 1894) they now employ eight under superintendents, and over five hundred hands. The main office, a magnificent brick structure, beautiful in its architectural design, and its convenience, where all books, records and accounts are kept, gives employment to fifteen clerks. The firm also at present has its own offices in New York, Boston, Philadelphia, and Cincinnati, together with a large distributing depot in Chicago.
After their first purchase as before described, in 1886, for three years Mr. Clowes put forth all his energies towards building up the little business so acquired. From small begin- nings, the volume of business transacted rapidly increased. In three years $105,000 had been laid out upon it, and, at the end of that time, this thriving partnership, in its seamless tube, brazed tube and kettle departments was transacting a business exceeding $600,000 per annum, -a surprising showing upon the original investinent. At this juncture, the energy, executive ability and business skill of Mr. Clowes stood him well in hand. Consuming, as they did, large quantities of sheet brass and copper, his business sagacity suggested the pro- priety of his firin engaging likewise in its manufacture. Their increased business, also, had outgrown the quarters which it then occupied. Consequently, in March, 1889, the present partners purchased of the trustees, at a cost of $75,000, the old rolling inill of Brown &
OF CONNECTICUT, 1861-1894. 205
Brothers, - the largest single rolling mill in the country, - together with the remainder of the property. It was a business venture at which many old and experienced manufacturers shook their heads, predicting only impending rutin and disaster to the young and thriving firm. But, as we have seen, among his qualities Mr. Clowes does not number the coward- ice of a faint heart. He was not to be satisfied until he could reach a point where he could see his firin second to none, either in its capacity for volume of business, credit in its finance, or ability in its management.
Whether or not he has succeeded, the figures alone will show. Starting with about 200 customers on its books, this concern now has nearly 3000. Up to the present time over $500,000 has been spent in improving the property, as originally purchased. The cost, therefore, of this plant, - starting in such modest proportions but eight years ago, - is to the partners over $650,000.00. The betterments to the property, - taking into consideration the constantly increasing success of the enterprise, - give it a value more than double their entire cost. In the management and development of this enormous industry Mr. Clowes has had no aid from any source, except the generous financial assistance of his partner, who, however, has given no time whatever to its conduct, policy or supervision. It must also be remembered that, during these few years of the growth and maturity of this firin, it has been compelled in the open market to face and combat the competition of old and established cor- porations, with limitless credit and recognized experience born of many years. Its success, is, therefore, an added cause for congratulation to Mr. Clowes, as its manager. Perhaps one of the main causes for this rapid and enormous growth may, under the circumstances, be found in the rigid system of economy upon which Mr. Clowes has insisted in every detail. Expenses of selling and marketing goods, as well as the general expenses of the manage- ment, - all outside of the actual cost of production-have been reduced by him to a minimumn. The cost to the company of this item has never exceeded three per cent. of their sales. The difference between this figure, and the selling expenses of other companies in the same line -ruiming from seven to twelve per cent. on their output, - goes far towards explain- ing why Randolph & Clowes can make so good a financial exhibit, and how carefully, judiciously and systematically their business is managed. .
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