USA > New Hampshire > Genealogical and biographical records of American families, representative citizens: New Hampshire > Part 3
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"real, original, and important . . . That the Academy rejoices when, as now, it can signalize an invention which unequivocally tends to pro- mote that which the founder had most at heart -the material good of mankind."
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THE CORLISS ENGINES AT THE AMERICAN CENTENNIAL EXHIBITION, 1876
CORLISS
Dr. Gray, in stating the grounds upon which the award was being made, said that Mr. Corliss
"has shown conspicuously his mastery of the re- sources of mechanism . . no invention since Watt's time has so enhanced the efficiency of the steam engine, as this for which the Rumford medal is now presented."
In February, 1872, Mr. Corliss was appointed Commissioner for the State of Rhode Island to the Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia, and was chosen one of the Executive Committee in charge of the preliminary arrangements. Upon his suggestion the Centennial Board of Finance, which did much to insure the financial success of the great enterprise, was organized.
The fourteen hundred horsepower Corliss engines, up to that time the largest ever erected, which fur- nished the power for Machinery Hall at the exposi- tion, were installed by Mr. Corliss at a cost of more than $100,000.00, without any additional expense to the exposition, perhaps the most pricely contribu- tion ever made by an individual to any interstate ex-
WELTAUSSTELLUNG ITS IN WIEN.
DIE INTERNATIONALE JURY HAT HERRN
CORLISS (VER ST. V.NORDAMERIKA! FOR VERVOLLKOMMNUNG V. DAMPFMASCHINEN DIE HÖCHSTE AUSZEICHNUNG DAS EHREN-DIPLOM ZUERKANNT.
GRAND DIPLOMA OF HONOR AWARDED GEORGE H. CORLISS AT VIENNA EXHIBITION OF 1873,
CORLISS
position. The engines were later installed at the Pull- man Car Works, in Chicago. Commissioner M. Bartholdi, in his report to the French Government, said that, "it belongs in the category of works of art, by the general beauty of its perfect balance to the eye."
The Grand Diploma of Honor was awarded Mr. Corliss at the Vienna Exposition in 1873, although he did not attend, and his engine was not on exhibi- tion. Foreign builders exhibited engines designed and built on his principles and had placed the name of Corliss on their products, but the judges decided that the original designer should receive the honors as
"a particular distinction for eminent merits in the domain of science, its application to the edu- cation of the people and its conducement to the advancement of intellectual, moral and material welfare of man."
The Institute of France acknowledged his great achievement, when it by public proclamation on March 10, 1879, awarded him the Montyn prize, the most coveted prize for mechanical achievement
CORLISS
in Europe. By a peculiar coincident this honor came to him on the thirtieth anniversary of the granting of his first patent. In 1886, the King of Belgium created him "Officer of the Order of Leopold".
Mr. Corliss invented and patented many other in- genious devices, notably a machine for cutting the teeth on bevel gears, an improved boiler with con- densing apparatus for marine engines and a pumping engine designed for water works.
Inventive achievements, the superintendence of great industrial plants and important business in every part of the world made exacting demands upon his time and energy, but did not prevent him from taking an active interest in his adopted city and state. He was a leader in the Republican party and served from 1868-70 as Representative from North Provi- dence in the Rhode Island General Assembly. He was chosen presidential elector in 1876, casting his vote for President Hayes. In his religious faith Mr. Cor- liss was a Congregationalist, and was deeply interested in the welfare of his church.
His passing deprived Providence of one of its most
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useful and highly honored citizens and the world at large of a great benefactor and an inventive genius. The following is quoted from the press in Providence at the time of his death:
"The community loses one of its master minds and a man who has done more for the develop- ment of the steam engine than anyone who has yet lived in this country. His fame was world- wide and his years were devoted to the very end to the one purpose of his life. To say that he has left a void which it is impossible to fill is simply to reveal the poverty of language in the presence of an irreparable loss."
George Henry Corliss married (first) January 3, 1839, Phoebe Farnum Frost, daughter of Daniel and Louisa (Clark) Frost of Canterbury, Connecticut. She was born in Canterbury, January 7, 1814, and died in Providence, Rhode Island, March 5, 1859. He married (second) December 13, 1866, Emily A. Shaw of Newburyport, Massachusetts, daughter of William and Mary A. Shaw. She was born in 1835, in Newburyport, and died June 15, 1910, in Provi- dence.
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George Henry and Phoebe Farnum (Frost) Cor- liss were the parents of the following children:
(1) Marie Louisa, born in Greenwich, New York, December 13, 1839, and died in Providence, Rhode Island, June 13, 1929.
(2) George Frost, born in Greenwich, New York, October 12, 1841, and died in Providence, Rhode Island, September 7, 1927. He made his home in Nice, France.
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albut It, Corless.
CORLISS
EV. DR. ALBERT H. CORLISS, son of Dr. Hiram and Susan (Sheldon) Corliss, was born in Easton, Washington County, New York, May 11, 1823, and died in Cambridge, Washington County, New York, November 10, 1883.
As a young man, Mr. Corliss decided upon a medi- cal career and after the necessary preliminary preparation, began to study medicine under the pre- ceptorship of his father, from whom he received an excellent training, theoretical as well as practical. He also attended lectures in Albany where he received his degree of Doctor of Medicine. Early in life, how- ever, he had publicly professed his religious faith and after completing his medical studies found himself irresistably drawn toward the Christian ministry. After serious and deliberate consideration he entered the theological seminary at Auburn, New York, in 1848.
On October 3, 1849, Dr. Corliss was ordained by the Presbytery of Utica, New York, and installed at Westernville, New York. He was subsequently called
CORLISS
to Presbyterian churches in Marshall, Holland Patent, Lima and Waterville, all in the state of New York.
Rev. Dr. Corliss was a minister of broad views, who was not satisfied with accepted opinions, but gave calm and sincere consideration to all subjects. His preaching was never sensational or extravagant, but always eminently instructive, and it can truly be said, that from the time he entered the ministry, until his death, he gave his life to unselfish and devoted service for the glory of God.
He continued his practice of medicine along with his ministerial duties and his professional services were always at the disposal of his people. He might have been a distinguished physician, as was his father before him, but he preferred to devote his life to the ministry and he never regretted his choice. His tastes, his sober judgment, and his high ideals of service to mankind impelled this devotion to his duties as he saw them.
Rev. Dr. Corliss found his recreation in the Adirondack mountains. He was one of the first white men to visit the Piseco and he delighted in roaming through the great out-of-doors. The rest
CORLISS
which he found in his camp on Woodhull Lake was needful and beneficial, but he never allowed it to in- terfere with his duties as minister or doctor and wherever he went he carried his medicine kit for emergencies.
In 1882, Rev. Dr. Corliss resigned his pastorate at Waterville and took up his residence in Utica. He had been active in the ministry for more than thirty- two years and his health was beginning to fail. Among the books in his well-stocked library, and in the society of his beloved family, he spent his reclin- ing years in perfect happiness.
His death was sincerely mourned by all who had known him and messages of condolence, expressing the tenderest affection came from far and near.
President Grover Cleveland, a close friend of the family ever since the Rev. Dr. Corliss succeeded Mr. Cleveland's father to the pastorate of the Presby- terian church in Holland Patent, wrote to Mrs. Corliss:
"When I heard your husband preach, I won- dered how it was that a man with such gifts and
CORLISS
with such power had all his life contented himself in such narrow fields as the little village afforded His great, pure heart was near to God, because his knowledge of Him was gained through His works, and because his communion with Him was through the visible forms of nature . . . When I gazed upon his features, immovable in death, I would mournfully say, 'I knew this great preacher, this true and simple man, this loving friend, and this humble and trusting Christian.' Death leaves to but few sur- vivors a heritage so rich and lasting as the memory of such a husband, father and friend."
The Honorable Erastus Clark, a life-long friend wrote:
"I knew Albert H. Corliss for many years- his intellectual and moral strength, his tender- ness, his tenacity of affection . . . . He was a clergyman who, having found his duty, did it; a theologian, taking little upon trust, going down to the foundations of his faith, giving weight to creeds other than his own, knowing too much to be bigoted. He could look from all standpoints, see all sides, without lessening his fervor or his
E
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Susanna ( Lawson ) Corliss
CORLISS
strength. But his mind liberalized and his charity grew for all."
The following is quoted in the daily press through- out the country from the Presbytery of Utica, in the New York Evangelist:
ce . Affectionately remembering him as one who shared our labors in the Gospel of Christ, and whose faith, love and fidelity we desire to follow, we would here record our conviction that in the death of Albert H. Corliss, the church has lost a faithful servant, this Presbytery an honored and beloved member, the pulpit an able and elo- quent preacher, and the cause of Christ a beloved friend."
The Rev. Dr. Corliss married in Rome, New York, August 29, 1848, Susanna Lawson, daughter of George and Sophia (Glynes) Lawson. She was born in London, England, April 22, 1821, and died in Utica, New York, August 4, 1907.
Rev. Dr. Hiram and Susanna (Lawson) Corliss were the parents of the following children:
(I) Sarah, born in Westernville, New York, August 24, 1849, died July 4, 1883, in Utica,
CORLISS
New York; married Frank Davis of Chicago, Children:
(i) Rachael Corliss, born in Utica, May 29, 1883, and died September 10, 1883.
(II) Sheldon, born in Westernville, July 30, 1851, and died in Cambridge, New York, October 31, 1883.
(III) Charles Albert, born in Marshall, New York, August 20, 1853, and died in Easton, Pennsyl- vania, May 10, 1878.
(IV) Susanna, born in Holland Patent, New York, October 11, 1856, and died in Utica, New York, May 27, 1917.
(V) Mary, born in Holland Patent, June 24, 1858, resides in Utica, New York.
(VI) George Lawson, born in Holland Patent, June 4, 1860, and died September 24, 1862.
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Charles Corliss
CORLISS
HARLES CORLISS, son of Dr. Hiram and Susan (Sheldon) Corliss, was born in Greenwich, Washington County, New York, February 26, 1826, and died November 12, 1862, in Providence, Rhode Island. The life of Charles Corliss held promise of bringing further honors to his distinguished family when his untimely death occurred in his thirty-sixth year.
He was of valuable assistance to his brother, George H. Corliss and shared with him the respon- sibilities of the management of the Corliss Steam Engine Company of Providence. He was of a kind and genial disposition, a giant in physique, with a charming personality and possessed of extraordinary executive ability.
Charles Corliss married, September 4, 1855, Anna Laing, daughter of Paisley and Catherine Frances Laing. She was born in 1830, in Northumberland, New York, and died April 15, 1880, in Saratoga Springs, New York.
Children:
(I) Mary Emma, born February 17, 1857, and died
CORLISS
in Providence, December 8, 1931; she married November 22, 1882, Senator Edgar Truman Brackett, son of William Watson and Elizabeth A. (Sherman) Brackett. He was born in Sara- toga County, New York, July 30, 1853, and died in Saratoga Springs, New York, February 27, 1924. Children:
(1) Edgar Truman, born March 25, 1890, and died July 10, 1899.
(2) Charles William, born November 26, 1892; married in Indianapolis, Indiana, Elizabeth Barrows Fletcher of Indianapolis. Children:
(i) Alexander Corliss born October 9, 1920.
(ii) Elizabeth Fletcher, born March 18, 1922.
(II) Charles, born in Providence, June 2, 1860, and died June 1, 1914. He was a prominent busi- ness man in Troy, New York.
(III) George, born in Providence, January 1, 1863, and died in Saratoga Springs, New York, March 26, 1902. He married Florence Katherine Hub- bard of Saratoga Springs, May 4, 1895,
CORLISS
daughter of George Goatley and Katherine (Stewart) Hubbard and was born May 24, 1875. Children:
(1) Florence, born April 1, 1896, and died October 26, 1917.
(2) Elizabeth, born January 24, 1899. She married Ernest Henry Duval, October 5, 1925, son of Napoleon Duval of Saratoga Springs. Children:
(i) Ernest Corliss, born June 4, 1931.
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William Corliss
..
CORLISS
ILLIAM CORLISS, son of Dr. Hiram and Susan (Sheldon) Corliss, was born in Greenwich, Washington County, New York, November 5, 1834, and died in Providence, March 29, 1915.
He received his early education in the district schools and later attended Fort Edward Collegiate Institute at Fort Edward, New York, where he showed a remarkable talent for mathematics. He could solve difficult mathematical problems as readily as the average student could read a printed page.
In 1844, he became associated with his elder brother, George H. Corliss, in Providence, and as- sisted him in the development of the steam engine. In 1856, he became vice-president of the Corliss Steam Engine Company, in charge of the testing department and also acted as salesman for the con- cern. William Corliss was decidedly an inventor and rendered valuable service to the Corliss Steam Engine Works.
As a member of the board of directors of the Mer- chants' National Bank of Providence, his attention
CORLISS
was called to the need of a strictly burglar-proof safe. He began to investigate the safes then on the market, but was never quite satisfied with the demonstrations, and in many instances, actually opened the strong- boxes to prove their inadequacy. Mr. Corliss began to experiment, and in 1874, designed the first burg- lar-proof Corliss safe, globular in shape. The Corliss Safe Manufacturing Company was organized with William Corliss as president and Henry W. Wilkin- son as vice president and treasurer. The safes were manufactured in Providence and shipped to all parts of the world, until the company was sold to the Mosler Safe Company of New York. Mr. Corliss had built up a most lucrative business and the price he received for his company was commensurate with its prestige and world renown.
Politically, Mr. Corliss was a Republican and took a keen interest in politics. He served several terms as a member of the Board of Water Commissioners and constructed a most efficient system of water supply and distribution for the city of Providence. He was a staunch supporter of all worth-while movements and a member of the Congregational Church. His
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friends were legion and his philosophy of life was that of Oliver Wendell Holmes; "I detect more good than evil in humanity; love lights more fires than hate extinguishes, and men grow better as the world grows old."
William Corliss married February 8, 1860, Phebe Catherine McEwen, who was born March 8, 1839, in New Scotland, Albany County, New York, and died April 1, 1915, in Providence. She was the daughter of John and Susan (Warren) McEwen.
William and Phebe Catherine (McEwen) Corliss were the parents of the following children:
(I) Eva Dickson, born July 26, 1861; married April 17, 1879, Clinton R. Weeden of Provi- dence. Children:
(1) Hortense, born May 12, 1880; married October 19, 1905, Thomas F. Lawrence. Children:
(i) Elizabeth Grinnell, born March 10, 1907, married William Slater Allen, January 31, 1929.
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(2) Eva Corliss, born November 29, 1883; married George Marsh. Children:
(i) Carol, born December 10, 1918.
(II) Mary Louise, born August 14, 1863, died July 19, 1864.
(III) William Jr., born August 8, 1865, died October 14, 1894, after having spent many years with his father in the safe manufacturing enterprise; married (first) Yola McKelvey; and (second) Carrie Stearns.
(IV) Edward Warren, born March 11, 1872, died in 1916.
.....
Sheldon
Arms: Azure, on a cross or, an annulet gules.
(Burke: "General Armory")
SHELDON
HE origin of the surname Sheldon is from the locality "of Sheldon," a chapelry in the parish of Bakewell, County Derby, England. There are also parishes of the name in the counties of Devon and Warwick.
In the register of Oxford University is found Francis Sheldon of County Worcestershire, in 1584. Gilbert Sheldon, Archbishop of Canterbury died in 1677. He graduated from Trinity College, Oxford, in 1617. He was a Royalist and during the time of Cromwell's rule, retired to Staffordshire and Derby- shire. In 1660, he was made Bishop of London and in 1663 Archbishop of Canterbury. After the great fire he contributed two thousand pounds toward re- building St. Paul's Cathedral. He built the library at Lambeth Palace and the Sheldonian Theatre of Ox- ford. Sir Joseph Sheldon, his nephew, was Lord Mayor of London, and died in 1681.
JOHN SHELDON, progenitor of the family in America, died in 1706. He was one of the forty-one men of Narragansett, who, on July 29, 1679, peti- tioned the King that he "would put an end to these
SHELDON
differences about the government thereof which hath been so fatal to the prosperity of the place; animosi- ties still arising in peoples' minds, as they stand affected to this or that government." He bought 230 acres of land October 20, 1683, near Pettasomscott. His will was dated August 15, 1704, and proved January 16, 1706.
ISAAC SHELDON, son of John Sheldon, was born in Kingston, Rhode Island, and died in 1752. He was admitted a freeman of Kingston in 1712, and was councilman for South Kingston in 1723.
He married (first), Susanna Potter, daughter of Thomas and Susanna (Tripp) Potter. He married (second), Sarah.
BENJAMIN SHELDON, son of Isaac and Susanna (Potter) Sheldon, was born March 4, 1727. He is supposed to have been killed by the Indians during the Revolutionary War. He lived in South Kingston. He married Susan Sherman.
SAMUEL SHELDON, son of Benjamin and Susan (Sherman) Sheldon, married Tabitha Rogers.
SHELDON
SUSAN SHELDON, daughter of Samuel and Tabitha (Rogers) Sheldon, was born in Easton, New York, May 28, 1794, and died April 5, 1843, in Greenwich, (Union Village) New York. She married April 6, 1814, Dr. Hiram Corliss. (See Corliss Line) .
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Dow
Arms: Sable, a fesse dancette ermines between three doves argent.
(Burke's : "General Armory")
THE JOHN ALDEN HOUSE, DUXBURY, MASSACHUSETTS (Built 1653)
OHN ALDEN married Priscilla
Mullens; their daughter, Ruth Alden, married John Bass; their daughter, Sarah Bass, married Ephraim Thayer; their daughter, Esther Thayer, married Moses French; their son, Jonathan French, married Abigail Richards; their son, Jonathan French, married Rebecca Farrar; their daughter, Abigail French, mar- ried Joseph Dow; their son, Joseph Henry Dow, married Sarah J. Bunnell; their son, Herbert H. Dow, married Grace A. Ball.
DOW
THE acquisition of surnames by the people of Great Britain was gradual, the process covering about five centuries following the Norman conquest. The Cromwellian wars brought about a wide change of surnames, but they were not reduced to a fixed spelling until about 1700, and even after that they varied although mostly through ignorance of spell- ing. In England, the taking of a surname was mostly for the sake of convenience and as the population increased, the names, John, William, Richard and Henry multiplied with each king of that name, until they were not separable by the tax collector. It was to prevent subsequent confusion that each man became known to his neighbors by a qualifying name. John the little man became John Little, John who lived on a hill became John Hill, and so also with John the smith and John the strong. In many counties of England, there were men of mild manner, whose personalities called for a gentle name, such as dove. This name is not peculiar to England although we find it as early as 1200 in a Parliamentary writ
DOW
directed to a Nicholas le Duv and a Richard le Duv. As time went on there was a tendency to change the spelling and the form of Dow and Dowe resulted.
DOW
HENRY Dow, the progenitor of the Dow families of Hampton, Massachusetts, and vicinity, was the second son of Henry and Elizabeth Dow of Runham, Norfolk, England, where he was born in 1608. On the eleventh day of February, 1631, he married the widow of John Nudd, of Ormsby, same county. He was engaged in farming at Ormsby, England. After six years' residence in Ormsby, Henry Dow applied for permission to emigrate to America and, having been examined, was granted a license April 11, 1637, for himself and family, as follows: "Henry Dow, husbandman, aged 29 years; Joane, his wife, 30 years; with four children, and one servant (Anne Manning, aged 17 years) ; who are desirous to pass into New England to inhabit." Mr. Dow settled first in Water- town, Massachusetts, where he remained several years, and was admitted as a freeman in 1638. Here his wife died, June 20, 1640, and in 1641 he married Margaret Cole. He removed to Hampton in the latter part of the year 1643 or early in 1644, and here he bought a dwelling house and several tracts of land for a farm. This homestead remained in possession of his lineal descendants until after the
DOW
death of Olive Dow of the sixth generation, in 1854. Henry Dow was selectman in 1651, deputy from Hampton to the General Court of Massachusetts in 1655-56; and was appointed with two others in 1658 to examine and record all landgrants and highways. He died in 1659. He was one of the dozen men in Hampton who was styled "gentleman" and addressed as "mister."
DOW
HENRY Dow, son of Henry and Joane Dow, was about 25 years of age when his father died. He settled the estate, being chief executor of the will, and remained at the homestead, in charge of the farm. Two months later he married Hannah Page, who came with her parents from Ormsby in the same ship as the Dow family. He was a land surveyor, selectman, town clerk; was deputy to the General Assembly, clerk of the House, and speaker pro tem. He was marshall of Norfolk county from 1673 until the close of the Massachusetts government in New Hampshire, was deputy marshall, under royal government, and in 1680 was appointed marshall for a limited time. In 1686 Mr. Dow was "admitted and sworn as an attorney and paid his fee." He was ensign of the Hampton company of militia in 1689 and captain in 1692. His commission was signed by Sir William Phipps, then governor of Massachusetts, with which state the New Hampshire towns were temporarily connected. From this time on he was called Captain Henry Dow. Captain Dow at one time was one of the justices of the court for New Hampshire. In 1699 he was justice of the inferior
DOW
court of Common Pleas and was reappointed to this same office in 1697. He was senior justice in 1699 and held office until his death in 1707. Captain Henry Dow married first, in 1659, Hannah, daughter of Robert Page, "one just in her genera- tion"; second, on November 10, 1704, he married widow Mary Green, "a gracious gentlewoman", (as styled by a Boston newspaper), and daughter of Captain Christopher Hussey.
DOW
SAMUEL Dow, Deacon, son of Henry and Hannah (Page) Dow, was born November 4, 1662, and died June 20, 1714. He learned land surveying and aided in the establishing of a boundary line between Massachusetts and New Hampshire. He succeeded his father in the office of town clerk where he served five years and he also served as selectman five years. He was a leader in the church and other public affairs and while not a man of the same ability as his father, he was a citizen of high standing. He married, December 12, 1683, Abigail Hobbs. She was born, July 29, 1664, and died, May 12, 1700, a daughter of Morris and Sarah (Easton) Hobbs. Samuel Dow married, second, February 13, 1703, Sarah, widow of Peter Garland, and daughter of John and Deborah (Godfrey) Taylor.
DOW
SAMUEL Dow, Deacon, son of Samuel and Abigail (Hobbs) Dow, was born May 25, 1693, and died at Hampton, March 29, 1755. He succeeded his father in the office of deacon and was known as Deacon Samuel, Jr. He held the office of town clerk and selectman, and was the first town treasurer. He mar- ried, September 12, 1717, Mary Page, who was born December 13, 1695, and died March 6, 1760, daughter of Christopher and Abigail (Tilton) Page.
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