USA > Connecticut > Representative men of Connecticut, 1861-1894 > Part 64
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The Hartford Courant closed a beautiful tribute to his memory with the following description of his personal appearance : " Major Day was a gentleman of striking personal appearance. He was of medium height, but even in his old age had, until within the last two years, every indication of strength and vigor- a straight frame and an elastic and active step. He had always a smooth-shaved face, never wearing whiskers, and his full head of hair was a beautiful silvery gray. He always carried a cane, but it was generally tucked under his arm and seldom touched the ground. It never seemed to occur to him that a man of eighty needed it to lean upon. To see him, even once, upon the street, was to receive an indelible impression of the dignity and power that were in him."
Numerous resolutions of respect were passed at the time of his death by the various corporations and institutions with which he was connected, but perhaps those of the directors of the Retreat for the Insane were the most comprehensive and will voice the sentiments of the rest :
In the death of the Hon. Calvin Day, which occurred on the Ioth day of June, 1884, at the advanced age of eighty- one years, the city has lost one of its most distinguished and respected citizens, whose presence upon our streets, in our places of business, and in our religious, educational, charitable and patriotic assemblies has for all these years marked him as a man to be depended upon; as the man whose influence and voice would be always for good order, and for the advancement and promotion of the great and controlling interest of the city of his adoption, and whose great purpose was to secure the moral and material interests and advancement of his fellows. The
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record of his life is impressed upon the city in which he lived ; upon the church of which he was a most exemplary and consistent member; npon the extensive industrial and business enterprises which have distinguished the city and which, to no small extent, have been promoted and made successful through his efforts, persevering endeavors and good judgment ; upon the great religious charities of the times, to which he contributed with an open hand, upon the benevolent and educational undertakings which give character to Hartford, and are exemplified in our schools, our asylums and our Retreat; and in his successful efforts when a young man to secure for the city and its citizens the erection of the Athenaeum Building, with the libraries and art collections accommodated there. His patriotism and love for the Union led to his selection as a trusted adviser and counselor of Governor Buckingham during the dark and most trying and discouraging period of the war, and the work he did in that direction is entitled to our grateful remembrance. His integrity of character is scen in his whole life, and in the esteem in which he was held in this whole community. Though he had well-settled and decided views and opinions of his own and fearlessly gave expression to what he believed to be right and proper, he was tolerant and considerate of the views of others. His liberality and large-heartedness is seen in the expenditure of his time and money in the advancement of all good and charitable enterprises. For these many years he has been an active and efficient member of the board of managers of this Retreat. The benefit of his counsel and judgment is seen in the beauty of its grounds and surroundings, and in the comfort and home-like accommodations of its halls and rooms. In his death the Retreat has lost an earnest friend and benefactor ; an able counselor and its second officer and oldest director, and each member of this board a friend and associate whose memory we shall delight to cherish and honor. JONATHAN B. BUNCE, Clerk.
W ILE, WILLIAM CONRAD, A. M., M. D., of Danbury, was born in Pleasant Valley, Dutchess County, N. Y., Jan. 23, 1847. He was the son of Rev. Benja- inin F. Wile, a noted Presbyterian minister, and Betty Buckley, a lady from one of the prominent families of the state. The family, an old Dutch one, came originally from Amsterdam. Doctor Wile's mother is of English descent, and came from the same stock as Ex-Governor Bulkeley of Connecticut.
Doctor Wile's early education was acquired under the direction of Rev. Edgar Poe Roe, who occupied at the time a prominent place among the teachers of that state, and of whose pupils were numbered many who have gained eminence and reputation. Under this effi- cient tutorship, he remained several years, gaining an extensive knowledge and proficiency in various branches of learning. When the call was made for troops at the beginning of the rebellion, he responded to the urgent demands of the occasion, and became a member of Company G, One Hundred and Fiftieth New York Volunteers. He was then in his sixteenth year, and his terin of service lasted two years and eight months. Gettysburg was the first real battle in which he was engaged, and he followed Sherman on his march to the sea.
In accordance with a long cherished desire, he began the study of medicine in 1865, with Dr. John H. Dwan at Pleasant Valley, N. Y. In 1870, he received his degree of M. D. from the medical department of the University of New York. Soon after graduation he engaged in the practice of his profession in New Brunswick, N. J., and Highland, N. Y., but later he removed to Newtown, Conn. Here Doctor Wile remained for several years, occupied with professional work, which was distributed over a large territory, and of which surgery formed a prominent feature. It was during this period that he conceived the idea of founding a medical journal, and the outcome of his thinking took shape in the New England Medical Monthly. This publication, by reason of its inany distinctive features, soon acquired popularity and assumed a foremost position among medical journals of the day, its circulation in this, its twelfth year of existence, being equalled by few medical publications in this country. Two years ago he began the publication of "Prescription," and it is proving as great a success in its field as the "Monthly."
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Dr. Wile's professional and literary attainments were destined to still further and more marked recognition. In 1887, he was tendered the professorship of mental and nervous diseases in the Medico-Chirurgical College of Philadelphia, where his success as a practitioner and his skill in imparting information rendered him a highly popular and valued teacher. The surroundings at the college and the conditions attending city life were not congenial to him, and having received urgent inducements to go to Danbury, Conn., he removed to that city and has since inade it his home. The specialty of surgery has always received greater or less attention from him, and by reason of his knowledge of anatomy, and his marked mechanical ingenuity, he has made from time to time valuable contribution to this department of medicine. His success in nearly all the major operations, as well as in the specialty of abdominal surgery, have likewise added to his reputation and given him an extended consulta- tion practice throughout the southern portion of the state. He holds the position of medical examiner of the town of Danbury, and surgeon of both the Housatonic and New England Railroads.
In the development and welfare of medical organizations of all kinds, Doctor Wile takes a deep interest, and this feeling has gained for him an extended acquaintance among members of the profession in this country and Europe. The high esteem in which he is held by his contemporaries is evidenced by the numerous official stations to which he has been chosen. He has been vice-president of the American Medical Association, president of the American Medical Editors' Association, of the Fairfield County Medical Society and of the Danbury Medical Society, secretary of the Section of Anatomy at the Ninth International Medical Congress. He has been a member and delegate to the British Medical Association, and is a member of the Medico-Legal Society, the Connecticut State Medical Society, and in January, 1894, he was chosen president of the Merchants' Board of Trade of Danbury.
Doctor Wile is a prolific writer, and has contributed to these societies and to the inedi- cal publications many important papers upon surgical, imedico-legal and other subjects. In addition to such work, he is occupied with the editorship of the Monthly, and another inore recent publication, the Prescription, which has already attained a large circulation. His literary acquirements, which are of a high order, and his interest in educational matters have won for him deserved recognition from the Central College of Kentucky, which has awarded him the honorary degree of A.M. The mysteries of the Masonic fraternity find in Doctor Wile a faithful exemplar. One of the leading Knight Templars of the state, he is also a thirty-second degree Mason. He is a member of other fraternal and business organizations.
In the social circles of Danbury, and wherever he is known, Dr. Wile is considered a valuable acquisition whenever his onerous duties allow him to devote a few hours to his friends. Politically, he has always been identified with the Republican party, though never an office seeker in any sense of the word. His wide professional knowledge, his keen lit- erary acumen and his rare executive ability have won for him a foremost place among his imedical brethren, and it would seem as if they delighted to do him honor.' His many attractive qualities of mind and heart have placed him high in the esteein of all who have the honor of his acquaintance. Such inen give distinction to any position which they are called upon to fill, and are a credit to the state in which they live.
Dr. W. C. Wile was married in 1871, to Eliza Scott Garrison of New York. After a dozen years of devoted companionship, she succumbed to disease of the lungs, but she left an only daughter who perpetuates her many endearing qualities. In 1887, he was married a second time to Hattie Adele Loomis of New Haven. She is an accomplished lady, and dispenses hospitality with a lavish hand.
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An article in the Medical Mirror, published in 1891, contained the following comment regarding Doctor Wilc :
Dr. Wile is a combination with which one rarely meets. He is somewhat of a universal specialist ; possessed of a considerable amount of Yankee ingenuity, he lias invented several mechanical appliances for the treatment of diseases which are worthy of use by the profession. He lias contributed largely and well to the literature of the profession during the past ten years. About nine years ago he established in Connecticut the New England Medical Monthly, in spite of the cautious advice of friends who felt that the undertaking was a risky one, and were not fully aware of liis great abilities as a journalist. It was not long until he had made a very pronounced impression upon the calm and placid sea of medical journalism. From one end of the country to the other it was soon evident that the New England Medical Monthly had at its helm a seaman well able to keep the vessel in full command.
His reputation is not confined to America. Among his most intimate friends was the late J. Milner Fother- gill, whom the entire medical world knew and honored. Dr. Wile was elected president of the American Medical Editors' Association at the meeting held at Cincinnati in 1888; he was also chairman of the committee of arrange- ments of the American Medical Editors' Association when the latter entertained the visiting editors from the various countries of the world in attendance upon the International Medical Congress at Washington in 1887. Dr. Wile's superb executive ability and skill in managing such affairs was here manifested. It was one of the grandest meetings that the medical editors ever held, followed by a banquet rarely equalled ; the dining-hall, filled with tables decorated in a royal way, with guests gathered from the uttermost parts of the earth; the leading men in medicine, not only as writers and thinkers, but workers as well were there. One may live a long life and yet never have an opportunity to be present at such a gathering. The success of this meeting and dinner was largely due to Dr. Wile.
ITCH, SAMUEL, of Rockville, manufacturer, was born in Enfield, Conn., Dec. 2, 1821, and though he has passed the three score and ten allotted to inan he is still in vigorous health.
The Fitch family is of French origin. Samuel Fitch, father of the sub- ject of this sketch, was a native of Bolton, Conn., but removed to Albion, N. Y., and died there. He married Nancy Atwell of Montville, Conn., and the present Samuel was their only child.
Like mnost of the youth of his time he passed several terms in the district school, his education being completed at the academy at Wilbraham, Mass. Until he was twenty-two he followed the quiet and healthful life of a farmer, but wishing to see more of the world he engaged in the sale of merchandise in New England. His trips were frequently extended to Canada, where furs were exchanged for other commodities. Wearying of the travel and erratic course of living which his business necessitated he settled in West Stafford, and renting a building he began the manufacture of knit goods. For thirteen years he continued at this location and during that time, though he labored diligently and built up an excellent reputation for the quality of the goods he produced, the result was not entirely satisfactory. His fellow citizens soon learned his many excellent characteristics, and in 1858, and again in 1859, he was chosen selectinan of the town.
The growing village of Rockville attracted his attention, and he transferred his business to that point. In 1874, Mr. Fitch purchased the site of his present factory, and since that date the buildings have been greatly enlarged and improved. Though manufacturing an extensive variety of knit goods, there are certain specialties which have given the mill a deservedly high reputation. Desiring to perpetuate the name and at the same time appreciating the advantages of a corporative existence, the business was regularly incor- porated as "Samuel Fitch & Sons Co." With him was associated his son, Spencer S. Fitch. To these were added later, George G. Smith, who is now the secretary, and Edwin G. Butler.
TWEEDINRENT
Sam& Fitch
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Originally an " Old Line Whig," on the organization of the Republican party, Mr. Fitch became one of its supporters and has since done all in his power for the success of Republican principles. Official stations naturally seek inen of his stamp for acceptance. The list of local offices he has held would be quite extended. For the years 1860, 1861 and 1877, he represented his town in the state legislature, and during the first two years used his utinost endeavors to support the energetic efforts of Governor Buckingham in the prosecution of the war. Froin 1863 to 1869, he was state railroad commissioner. Mr. Fitch was one of the incorporators and is a director in the People's Savings Bank of Rockville. On the second of December, 1889, being his sixty-eighth birthday, he was elected the first mayor of the new city of Rockville for two years. In the administration of his office as inayor he exercised the same kind of business ability which characterizes the management of the affairs of his own corporation, and as a consequence liis official career was a marked success. The same year he was elected imayor he was chosen vice-president of the United States Central Railroad Company.
While he has been building up a successful business of his own, Mr. Fitch has given much time and thought to the development of his adopted city. In its material welfare he takes a zealous interest, and all movements for the general good of the community find in him an active supporter. During the existence of the Second Congregational church of Rockville, Mrs. Fitch was a member, and he was a liberal contributor to its treasury.
Samuel Fitch was married Jan. 9, 1845, to Mariette, daughter of Daniel Spencer of Enfield. Their children are: Spencer S., now associated with his father in business ; Sarah E., wife of C. H. Strickland, and Fred H., who died in 1875.
OOKE, LORRIN A., of Barkhamstead, ex-lieutenant-governor of Connecticut, was born amid the Berkshire hills in New Marlboro, Mass., April 6, 1831. The Cooke family dates back to an early period in Massachusetts history. Hezekiah Cooke, the first known of the name, settled in New Marlboro, at a date it is impossible to fix. His son, Solomon, had a son, Solomon, Jr., and the latter was a faithful soldier in the Revolutionary army. Lewis, son of the second Solomon, was a captain in the Massachusetts state militia, before his removal to Chenango County, N. Y., early in its history. He took his son, Levi, then but a lad, and brought him up amid the roughness of a pioneer experience. A few years' experience satisfied him that life in the east was preferable. Levi Cooke married Amelia Todd in 1829, and in 1837 he removed to the adjoining town of Norfolk, and six years later he again changed his residence to Colebrook. Here, after having spent an honorable career as a farmer, citizen and neighbor, he died in May, 1871, while serving as a member of the House of Representatives. Mrs. Cooke died in 1889, aged eighty-seven. Lorrin A. was the only child of Levi and Amelia Cooke.
Receiving his education in the common schools and Norfolk Academy, his early inan- hood was passed teaching school in the winter and tilling the soil during the summer season. He had a rare faculty of imparting knowledge, which is the first element of a successful teacher, and was repeatedly invited to teach the same school. Gradually laying aside the vocation of teaching, Mr. Cooke, in company with his father, settled down to a farmer's life upon the farm owned by Jonathan Edwards, D. D. (afterward president of
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Union College) while he was the pastor of thic Colebrook church. In all that goes to make intelligent, progressive farming, he soon took the lead, and at an carly age was made president of the agricultural society in his part of the county. He was foremost in the movement to secure for his brother farmers the advantages of a inilk train to New York, and in various other practical ways showed au enterprising spirit and zcal for thic general welfarc.
Mr. Cookc's political life began in 1856, when, at the age of twenty-five, he was elected to the state House of Representatives. An enthusiastic, conscientious young Republican, in those formative days of the party when Know-Nothingisin controlled the state, he held to his convictions and voted for Francis Gillette and against James Dixon until the very last. He was always proud of his course at that time, especially after Mr. Dixon's change of political faith. Having a practical knowledge of cducational affairs, he was early inade acting school visitor, and rendered valuable service to the town in this capacity. In1 1864, he was chosen first selectmian. It was a time when the burden of recruiting, filling quotas and other labors connected with the prosecution of the war demanded the best executive ability the town could furnish, and a wiser selection could not have been inade. He met every test success- fully, and filled the office by successive elections until he removed from Colebrook.
It was but natural that such marked energy as Mr. Cooke displayed should attract the attention of others than his immediate neighbors. In 1869, he was urgently invited to become manager of the Eagle Scythe Company at Riverton in the town of Barkhamstead. He accepted the position and filled it until the company discontinued business in 1889. His inanagement of this trust has been characterized by vigor, industry and success. The factory had just been rebuilt, a debt contracted larger than the capital stock, prices had begun to steadily decline, and competition was increasingly strong. The situation was severe enough to try severely the capacity of a man fresh from the farin, without previous experience in any line of manufacturing. In the face of every obstacle, however, existing or which has arisen, the company became solidly established. For several years hc was postmaster at Riverton.
Since his residence in Barkhainstead, Mr. Cooke has been sought for to fill other positions of trust. Living in a town strongly Democratic, his Republican principles have prevented his being elected to official stations. Nominated on one occasion, he reduced the normal, adverse majority of fifty to fifteen in his own case. As candidate for senator from the Fifteenth District in 1875, he was defeated with the whole ticket though he received an exceedingly flattering vote in Barkhamstead. Again a candidate for senator in 1881, from the reconstructed Eighteenth District, he received a majority of 328, 23 inore than the majority in the previous presidential year, and carried every town but Colebrook. His senatorial record proved so satisfactory to his constituents that he was again placed in nomination in 1882, and though pitted against a strong and energetic competitor, his majority was III, when almost every candidate of his party was defeated in the political tornado of that year.
Mr. Cooke's excellent service in the Senate rendered him more widely known, and had in uch weight in securing his nomination to the lieutenant-governorship. Few senators were more popular. At first he did not take a prominent part in the proceedings, but as he grew more accustomed to his surroundings, his voice was heard as occasion offered, and liis sugges- tions were so sound, and at the same time they were so modestly and clearly expressed that he attracted m1111ch favorable attention. Under the circumstances his election as president pro tem. at his second term followed as a matter of course. As chairman of the committee on education on the part of the Senate he made an enviable record, performing his duties with
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such an intelligent apprehension of the needs of the state as to call for the highest praise from those best qualified to judge. During the last session he was also chairman of the committee on, engrossed bills, a position affording no opportunity for display, but involving a liberal share of time, much hard work, and demanding qualifications of a high order. He was appointed on the part of the Senate, a special committee to investigate certain matters in connection with the Storrs Agricultural School at Mansfield.
At the Republican State Convention held in New Haven in the summer of 1884, Mr. Cooke was nominated for the office of lieutenant-governor on the first ballot without opposition, and was placed on the ticket with Hon. Henry B. Harrison. The nominations of the convention were subsequently ratified at the polls. When it had fallen to his lot to occupy the chair of the Senate, he performed his duties to the entire and cordial satisfaction of all the members, without distinction, and this experience gave him unusual fitness for the responsibilities of the lieutenant-governorship. The citizens of the state would have inade no mistake in placing him in the gubernatorial chair.
In religious faith Mr. Cooke is a Congregationalist, and takes a zealous interest in all that pertains to the welfare of that branch of the church militant. He was a delegate to the sixth triennial national council of that body held at Chicago in 1886, and had the honor of being chosen moderator of the proceedings. The gathering contained representatives of the church from all parts of the Union, and the selection was a high compliment. Mr. Cooke was also a delegate from the Fourth Congressional District to the National Republican Convention at Chicago in the fall of 1892, when President Harrison was re-nominated.
With Hon. John R. Buck, he was inade one of the receivers of the Continental Life Insurance Company of Hartford in 1887. The affairs of the company were in an exceedingly tangled and intricate condition, and they are just completing their labors. Mr. Cooke is a director of the State Industrial School for girls and of the State Humane Society, and is one of the trustees of the Hartford Theological Seminary. While a resident of Colebrook in 1860, he became a member of the Congregational church, and for the larger part of the time until his removal he was an efficient superintendent of the Sunday school. In Riverton he continues to render the same earnest service to the Master in whose cause he has enlisted.
Every public position Mr. Cooke has filled has come to him unsought and without effort on his part. He is one of the men whom office seeks, and has never been found in the ranks of the office seekers. He finds his best and highest enjoyment in his business, in the society of his friends and in his home; still he does not feel at liberty to neglect a call to serve his fellow citizens, and after a trust is once accepted he fills it conscientiously, and with all his trained abilities.
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