USA > Connecticut > Representative men of Connecticut, 1861-1894 > Part 57
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Richard D. Hubbard was married Dec. 2, 1845, to Mary Juliana, daughter of Dr. William H. Morgan of Hartford. Six children were born to them, of whom one son and three daughters are now living. He died at his home in Hartford, Feb. 28, 1884.
His eminent qualities of mind and heart and the high esteein in which he was held by his fellow citizens caused inany suggestions to be made in respect to a statue or some other fitting public memorial of him. Nothing definite, however, toward this end was accomplished until after the death of George D. Sargeant in 1886. Mr. Sargeant was a resident of Hartford, a gentleman of ample means, of much culture, and a warin friend of Governor Hubbard. By his will he bequeathed to his executors, Alvan P. Hyde and John R. Redfield, Esquires, the sum of $5,000, to be by them used, together with such additions as might be made thereto, in the erection of a suitable statue of Governor Hubbard, either in the capitol building, on the capitol grounds, or on Bushnell Park, as might be deemed most advisable. It was thought most fitting that the statue be placed on the capitol grounds, and at the January session, 1887, of the General Assembly, a resolution was passed appoint- ing a commission consisting of the governor, the comptroller, and the Honorables Oliver Hoyt of Stamford, Jeremiah Halsey of Norwich, and Henry C. Robinson of Hartford, to select a suitable location for the saine. These gentlemen decided upon the conspicuous site near the southeast corner of the grounds, a short distance from the capitol building, where
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the statue now stands. The executors invited competition for a bronze portrait statue, and the design submitted by Mr. Karl Gerhardt, the emineut seulptor, was aeeepted by them as being in all respeets satisfactory, and the statute was ereeted in accordance therewith. The statue is of lieroie size, a most admirable likeness of its subjeet, and represents him standing in a natural attitude, as though about to address the court or jury. The granite pedestal bears upon a bronze tablet the simple inseription :
RICHARD D. HUBBARD LAWYER ORATOR STATESMAN
The statue was unveiled on June 9, 1890. On the afternoon of that day the governor and other state offieers, the judges of the Supreme and Superior Courts and of the United States Court, the ex-governors of the state, and other distinguished eitizens, assembled by invitation at the Allyn House, and were eseorted by The First Company of Governor's Foot Guards and The Hubbard Eseort to a platform which had been ereeted on the capitol grounds near the statue, where the dedieatory exereises were held. The members of the State Bar Association and of the Hartford County Bar, of which organizations Governor Hubbard was president at the time of his deeease, attended the exereises in a body, and there was present a very large assemblage of the eitizens of Hartford and of other parts of the state.
From the memorial address of Judge William Hammersley, delivered on this oeeasion, a few paragraphs are quoted :
To the study of the law Hubbard devoted liis life. He quickly attained eminence, and was called n pon to deal with the highest ranges of the profession, and thus came to the study of the social and political questions, that in the latter years of his life so gained by his discussion and advocacy. But through all he was the lawyer, recognizing in his profession the field of action that more than all others called for the high- est qualities of manhood, and gave opportunity for the most useful gifts to the present and the future.
It is true that during his two years in Congress he was little more than a spectator; for he was a member of the iminority at an exceptional time, when the tyranny of the "standing rules" that manacled free deliberation deprived the minority of responsibility as well as rights. But as governor of this state he felt the responsibility of office, and had the opportunity to respond. The state will long have reason to remember gratefully the aid he gave in promoting, to use his own language, the "needed betterments in the system of laws which govern us; in the prompt administration of justice between man and man; the econo- mies of public expenditure; in the interests of popular education, the reformation of suffrage; in the regulation of corporate franchises ; and in the protection of the savings of the poor against fraud and embezzlement."
His whole nature was in revolt against the inequalities that come from privilege. All his personal ambitions, the acquirement of influence, power, wealth, centered in his passion for independence. The only privilege he coveted was the "glorions privilege of being independent." To the attainment of that end, as the prime ambition of life, he bent his energies. And so there grew up pervading his whole nature a not ignoble pride. It breathed no contempt, but was the champion of equality ; it was not based on selfishness or self-esteem ; it was a generous pride, for it freely scattered from the full horn the good gifts of fortune, and only kept under the lock and key of an impenetrable reserve its troubles and its cares. This was hardly pride in the current meaning of the word ;. it was rather the tribute he paid to the master spirit of his life, the service by which he held his grant of independence.
To the office which he held, as governor of this state, many men have come and gone- some without regret - some possibly with censure. He was one of those whose inauguration was greeted with rejoicing, whose retirement was accompanied with unfeigned and deep regret. This was not because of the manly figlit he made to protect and promote the interests of the people, not because of his masterly state papers that have even now become admitted precedents and acknowledged anthority; it was mainly and chiefly because his logic, brilliancy, courage, truth, were pervaded by a personality that unconsciously, but most really, laid hold of the heart of the people.
To this crowning power we owe this statue now given to the guardianship of the state. It is the gen_ erous gift of one whose later years were passed in quiet retirement, wholly aside from the struggles and interests of the busy world, and who, as a looker-on, not only saw the brilliant gifts of the lawyer and the public man, but felt the fascination of liis personal attraction, and so out of the fullness of his heart gave this memorial, not to the lawyer, the orator, the statesman, but to the man.
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P
ORRANCE, DAVID, judge of the Supreme Court of Connecticut, lieutenant- colonel, U. S. V., and late secretary of state, was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, 011 March 3, 1840. His father died in Scotland, and, after his death, his widow, with five children, including the subject of this sketcli, came to America in 1849.
The family settled in Norwich, Conn., where young Torrance attended the public schools, and also learned the trade of paper-making, working at this business until July, 1862, when he enlisted as a private in Company "A, " of the Eighteenth Regiment of Connecticut Volunteers. A younger brother, James Torrance, enlisted in 1861, in the Third Regiment Connecticut Volunteers for three months, and at the expiration of that period enlisted in the Thirteenth Regiment Connecticut Volunteers for the term of three years. He was killed at Port Hudson in the year 1863. Soon after his enlistment the subject of this sketch was promoted to a sergeantcy in his company, and, on Dec. 22, 1863, he was commissioned captain of Company "A," Twenty-ninth Regiment of Connecticut Volun- teers -a command which was composed of colored inen recruited in the state. With this regiment he remained in active service in the field, until October, 1865, when he was inustered out with his command at Brownsville, Texas, having in the meantime been commissioned major of the regiment in July, 1864, and its lieutenant-colonel in the month of November following. While a member of the Eighteenth Regiment he was taken prisoner by the rebel forces, and was confined for a time in the famous (or rather infamous) Libby prison, whence he was removed to Belle Isle, where, a little later, his exchange was effected.
Upon his muster out of service in 1865, lie returned to Connecticut, and entered upon the study of law at Derby, in the office of Col. William B. Wooster, under whom he had served in the army. He was admitted to the bar in 1868, and immediately thereafter forined a co-partnership for the practice of law with Colonel Wooster. This co-partnership continued until Colonel Torrance was appointed a judge of the Superior Court of Connecticut in 1885. He was chosen to represent Derby in the lower branch of the state legislature, in 1871, and was reelected the following year. In 1878, he was nominated on the Repub- lican ticket for the office of the secretary of state of Connecticut, and, being elected, served in that office during the administration of Gov. Charles B. Andrews, the present chief justice of the state. In 1880, he was appointed judge of the New Haven County Court of Cominon Pleas, for the four years' terin beginning in 1881. At the expiration of his terin he was appointed a judge of the Superior Court by Gov. Henry B. Harrison, and in 1890, he was appointed a judge of the Supreme Court of Errors, by Gov. Morgan G. Bulkeley. His term upon this bench will expire in 1898. Judge Torrance has been connected with the Grand Army of the Republic for many years, and is also a member of the Army and Navy Club of Connecticut.
He was married in 1864, to Miss Annie France, daughter of James France of Norwich, who has borne him three children, two sons and a daughter.
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ARNER, SAMUEL LARKIN, of Middletown, mayor of that city from June, 1862, to 1866, and representative of the Second District of Connecticut, in the Thirty-ninth United States Congress, was born in Wethersfield, Conn., June 14, 1828. He died Feb. 6, 1892. Bothi on the paternal and maternal sides lie descends from ancestors who were among the first settlers of Ipswich and Boston, Mass., and his paternal ancestors were members of that group of families that founded Wethersfield. His father, Levi Warner,·an enterprising and well-to-do citizen of Wethersfield, married Sarah Larkin, daughter of Jolin Larkin, a respected resident of that town1. The subject of this sketch was the third born of eight children.
His father's means permitting, he received a good education, attending first the local eominon school and academy, and subsequently the Wilbraham Academy. Having finished his studies, he engaged in school teaching, and for four years followed that pursuit witli gratifying success. Mr. Warner, early in life, decided to take up the profession of law, and, about the time lie becaine of age, began the systematic study of law under Judge William M. Matson of Hartford. In addition to a thorough training in the office of this gentleman, he had the advantages of a regular course of instruction at the Yale Law School, and of a two years' course at the Harvard Law School. He finished his legal studies at Boston, and in 1854, was admitted to the bar in that city. He then returned to Hartford, where he was well known, with the intention of beginning the practice of law. Through the influence of ex-Governor Seymour, who became interested in him while he was a student, he was brought to the notice of Governor Pond, then chief magistrate of the state, who made him his executive secretary. The duties and responsibilities of this position were greatly increased while Mr. Warner hield it, by the serious illness of Governor Pond. Not infre- quently the young secretary was called upon to direct and decide upon matters of grave moment without having opportunity to consult his superior, thus practically exercising his functions to a considerable extent. Acting thoughtfully, rationally and modestly, he secured the respect of all with whom he came into official connection, and won the esteem of the executive, who on many occasions gratefully acknowledged his indebtedness to liis clever young assistant. At the close of Governor Pond's administration, Mr. Warner went to live at Portland, Conn., where he opened law offices.
Unusually bright and alert in his profession, and well informed on public questions, he easily took a prominent position, and, in 1858, was chosen to represent the town of Portland in the state legislature. His experience at the state capital proved of great service to himn, directly and indirectly, for besides largely increasing his knowledge of the law, it had given him a thorough insight into public affairs, and a wide acquaintance with public men. In1 actual practice he soon developed a remarkable degree of ability, and clients came to liill from a wide extent of territory. In a few years he found it necessary to open an office at Middletown for the convenience of his clients in that section of the state, and thither he subsequently removed. Carried by his large practice into all the courts of the state, lie had frequently to do battle with some of the greatest lights of the legal profession, and although at first he lacked experience at the bar, he so completely inade up for it by diligent study, close observation and careful preparation of his cases, that he rarely failed to win his cause.
His success as a lawyer gave liim great local popularity, and, in 1862, lie was elected mayor of Middletown1. He assumed this office witli well defined ideas regarding its duties and responsibilities. The water supply of the city being noticeably defective, he applied himself with great energy to the task of securing a new system and placing it on a firm basis. His brilliant success in this and other directions so strengthened his popularity that he was
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OF CONNECTICUT, 1861-1894. 357
retained in office four years. While the Civil War was going on, he was distinguished in his state by the zeal with which he sustained the federal authorities. Appreciating his patriotic endeavors, the Republicans of his district nominated him for Congress early in the struggle. His opponent was the late Governor English, a man of ripe experience and great personal popularity, and, as the district was strongly Democratic, Mr. Warner was defeated. At the next Congressional election, Mr. Warner was again nominated by the Republicans. He was at this time at the zenith of his popularity in the district, and was loyally supported by many Democrats who cordially endorsed his views upon national issnes. The result was his election by a majority of seventeen hundred votes. His term in Congress was marked by close attention to duty and by an entlinsiastic support of the Republican administration. Although pressed to accept a re-nomination at the close of the terin, he felt compelled to decline for private reasons of a business nature.
Mr. Warner had the lionor of a personal acquaintance with Abraham Lincoln, and warmly supported his re-nomination for the Presidency. He acted as one of the secretaries of the convention which placed him in the field for his second term, and gave freely of liis services to secure his reelection. When his chief was struck down by the hand of an assassin, Mr. Warner was chosen by the people of Middletown to deliver the address on the occasion of the Lincoln memorial services held in that town. Upon the death of President Garfield, a similar honor was conferred upon him. As the unanimous choice of the committee having charge of the centennial celebration of Middletown, held on July 14, 1884, lie delivered the oration on that occasion. This, like all his public utterances, was carefully prepared and historically accurate, and was widely complimented for its interesting information and eloquent language. Mr. Warner's labors after leaving Congress were principally in the line of his profession, and his standing at the bar in his native state was second to none. He had great strengtli as a cross-examiner, and in trials before a jury seldom failed of success. The records of the Supreme Court of Errors show his mastery of his cases in that forum. It is said by the judges of that conrt, that no brief or presentiment of causes in their court show more or better preparation or conception of the case than did Mr. Warner's. The last case of prominence which he conducted was the Brainerd will case, which he fought hard and won after a long contest.
An upright lawyer, a useful citizen and a capable public official, he achieved an enviable record, and is deservedly held in high esteem not only in the city of which he was an honored resident, but in the state at large.
Mr. Warner was married, in 1855, to Mary E., dangliter of Jolin Harris, Esq., of Norwich, Conn., by whom he had two sons, Harris, and Charles Winthrop.
NGLISH, JAMES EDWARD, of New Haven, who was successively member of both houses of the state legislature, governor of the commonwealth, repre- sentative in Congress, and United States senator, was born in New Haven, March 13, 1812. He died March 2, 1890.
Governor English's ancestors on both sides were residents of Connecticut long anterior to the war for national independence. He was always proud of his descent from good Puritan stock, rightly estimating the worth of ideas at the root of New England civilization - fervent religious zeal; the sacrifice of ease and self-indulgence to lofty princi- ples, and the subordination of private life to the welfare of the state. He was descended from Clement English of Salem, Mass., whose son Benjamin married Sarah Hard in 1699,
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and the following year moved to New Haven. Here was born a second Benjamin English, who, when the British army invaded the city, July 5, 1779, fell pierced by a bayonet. His son, also a Benjamin English, owned vessels engaged in the West India trade, and during tlc administration of Thomas Jefferson held a position in the custom house. Of his family of eleven children, James English, the father of the governor, was one. Hc married Nancy Griswold, a woman of fine, serions dignity, and gifted with a shrewd intelligence, who came from one of the best families in the state.
After receiving a good common-school education, James E. English, then in his six- teenth year, apprenticed himself to Mr. Atwater Treat of New Haven, to learn the trade of carpenter and joiner. His first work at this calling was upon the old Lancaster school-house in his native city, and was performed on June 27, 1827. Upon coming of age lie attained the dignity of journeyman and at once entered upon a successful career. Within two years lie had made almost three thousand dollars, and reasoning that he needed a larger field for the exercise of his talents than that afforded by his trade, he gave it up to engage in the lumber business, in which he remained twenty years. His next great enterprise was in the development of the clock industry. In partnership with Mr. Harmanus M. Welch of New Haven, he bought the clock property of the Jerome Clock Company of that city, and organized the New Haven Clock Company, which under his able direction became in a few years one of the largest and mnost prosperous in the world. As his means increased he became connected with various other enterprises, manufacturing and commercial, some of them of great magnitude, and several being in other states. In 1855, Mr. English became identified with the Goodyear Metallic Rubber Shoe Company of Naugatuck, in which he retained a large interest up to the time of his death - a connection covering a period of thirty-nine years, during twenty-nine of which he was president of the company. He also became a large stock-holder in the Adams Express Company, the Plainville Mann- facturing Company, the Bristol Brass Company, and other enterprises. Investing largely in New Haven real estate, he did much toward improving and developing it. None of his wealth was gained by speculation, nor was he ever known to push his own interests at the expense of others. His remarkable business sagacity enabled him to accumulate a large fortune, and for many years preceding his death he was the reputed possessor of several millions, and was rated as one of the richest men in Connecticut.
For upwards of forty years Mr. English received elective honors at the hands of his fellow citizens, who held him in the highest esteem from his earliest manhood. When but twenty-four years of age he was chosen a member of the board of selectinen of the town of New Haven, and did his duty so well that he was retained in that position for several years. In 1848-49, he was a member of the board of common council of the city of New Haven. Chosen to represent New Haven in the legislature of 1855, he made such a good impression by his attention to public business that he was elected to the state Senate in the following year. While a member of the state Senate Mr. English obtained a charter and established the Connecticut Savings Bank, of which he was president fromn 1857 until the time of his death. Offered a renomination in 1857, he felt compelled to decline it, owing to the increas- ing importance of his private business, which demanded all the time at his disposal. In 1860, lie was a candidate for lientenant-governor of the state on the Democratic ticket, but was defeated, the threatening condition of affairs in the Southern states adding greatly to the strength of the Republican vote.
While a trite Democrat on national issues, Mr. English was opposed to the policy of secession, and sturdily adhered to the Union cause throughout the dark period covered by the war of the Rebellion. He was one of the staunchest supporters of the federal author-
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ities, and gloried in being what was then called a "War Democrat." Elected to Congress in 1861, he sat in that body during almost the whole period of the Civil War, and by his voice and vote on all occasions proved himself a patriot of the highest principles, one who regarded country as far superior to party, and who dared to act at all times as his honor and conscience dictated, regardless of personal consequences. During the four years that he was a member of Congress he served on the committee on naval affairs, where he rendered services of exceptional value to the country, and was also a member of the committee on public lands. He supported all the war measures of the administration, but on questions of finance, internal policy and revenue reforin, he remained a consistent Democrat, voting against the legal tender bill, and the national bank system. No Republican entertained a inore profound hatred of slavery than did Mr. English, and he never concealed his detestation of this "monstrous injustice" from his colleagues or the public; in this differing considerably from some of the inore timid members representing Northern constituencies and holding their seats as "WVar Democrats." One of the greatest acts of his life, in his own estimation, was his unflinching vote in favor of the emancipation of the slaves. His work in Congress, apart from the great issues of that momentous period, was attended to with the same fidelity as if it had been his private business.
In 1866, he was a delegate from Connecticut to the national union convention held at Philadelphia. The following year he was elected governor of Connecticut, succeeding William A. Buckingham, the famous "War Governor," whose faithful friend and supporter he had been throughout the crisis of the Civil War, although not of his party. The elections in Connecticut were held annually at that time, and Governor English was reelected executive of the state in 1868. In 1869, he was succeeded by the Hon. Marshall Jewell, one of the most distinguished and popular Republicans in the state, whom he defeated in 1870, in which year he served his third and last term as governor.
Few governors of Connecticut have been as popular as Mr. English. All Connecticut was proud of the man, of his personal history, of his private traits and his public record. The position of an executive officer gave especial distinction to his inost characteristic gifts, intellectual, official and social. His messages were models of terse and well chosen English ; his few words were to the point; his manners were dignified, and distinguished by a fine courtesy. His presence on all occasions and in every sort of assemblage roused intense enthusiasm. His services to his state and his country were widely recognized. He always took the deepest interest in the cause of education, and his efforts so greatly promoted and developed the facilities offered by the public schools, that he has been called "the father of the free school system in Connecticut."
After leaving the executive chair, Mr. English sought rest and recuperation in travel, and devoted the principal part of several years to visiting different sections of the United . States and a number of the foreign countries, being everywhere received with the consider- ation due to his long and prominent public service. In November, 1875, he was appointed by the governor of the state, a United States senator to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Senator Orris S. Ferry, and served as such until May, 1876, when he was suc- ceeded by the Hon. William H. Barnum, who had been elected to the office by the legislature.
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