Hartford County CT

Hartford County CT is bounded North by Hampden county, Mass., East by Tolland county, South by the counties of Middlesex and New Haven, and West by the county of Litchfield. This is considered the most important and valuable county in the state, in regard to the variety and richness of its soil, and the high state of culture it has attained. It was constituted in 1666, since which, Tolland county and parts of Middlesex, Windham, Litchfield, and New London have been detached. Its present limits comprise an area of about 727 square miles. Besides the Connecticut, which traverses its whole length, the Farmington, Hackanum, Podunk, Scantic, and other streams, water the county in almost every direction. On these streams important manufacturing establishments have sprung up, and unite with the agricultural interest and river trade in rendering this county the center of a large and flourishing business. Hartford is the capital.

The family of Nelson Drake

The family of Nelson Drake; back to 1630, New York and Michigan pioneers, with genealogy supplement. Surnames: Allen, Barre, Bickford, Boyer, Bravender, Brosius, Brown, Christmas, Corner, Coey, Cozzi, Davis, Day, Diener, Drake, Dust, Engleberg, Fishel, Fookes, Gorton, Groce, Hawkins, Hewes, Hill, Hilton, Hirsch, Huddlestun, Kaiser, Kellogg, Langfield, Lear, Martinchak, McClellan, Point, Rae, Rayner, Ritter, Roehm, Rossi, Shilander, Smith, Soule, Stingley, Tucker, Ward, Wauvle, West, White, Wickham, and Wright.

Biography of Harmon Pumpelly Read

HARMON PUMPELLY READ AMONG the young men of note in our city whose ancestry has filled an honorable place in American history, and who by his interest in the prosperity of his native town and his extensive knowledge of men and things in other lands, is the genial and accomplished Major H. P. Read. Born in the city of Albany on the 13th of July, 1860, when the storm of civil war was fast gathering to burst over the country, he descended from a long line of illustrious ancestors. His father, General John Meredith Read, was born in Philadelphia on … Read more

Volkert, William – Obituary

Enterprise, Wallowa County, Oregon Enterprise Resident, William Volkert, died Sept. 6, 1992, at his home. He was born Nov. 19, 1934 at Manchester, Conn. On Oct. 2, 1965, he married his wife, Karen, at Canoga Park, Calif. At his request no service will be held and he was cremated. Memorials in his memory may be made to the charity of choice in his care of Bollman Funeral Home, Main at W. 3rd in Enterprise. Wallowa County Chieftain-Thursday, September 10, 1992, Page 2 Contributed by Sue Wells Transcribed by Dixie Ricker

Lewis Family of Norwich Vermont

William Lewis and family, consisting of his wife, Naomi, five sons and three daughters, (Joseph, his eldest son, having been a citizen of the town for some years) came to Norwich in 1781 or 1782 from Windsor, Hartford county, Connecticut, and settled on a farm now owned by Benjamin Clifford, where he resided for a number of years. In 1787 he purchased the farm now occupied by John W. Hutchinson. From time to time he added to it by purchase until at his death it contained 250 acres of good land, mostly covered with a large growth of timber. This … Read more

Biography of Louis H. Chapman

Louis H. Chapman, commissioner of water and light of Kansas City, Kansas, is the man chiefly responsible for bringing these municipally owned plants to a perfection of service where they completely justify the management and control by the city. Mr. Chapman is an expert electrician and general engineer, and has achieved a significant success through his own energies and ambitions. He has been a resident of Kansas the greater part of the time since 1886. He was born at Hartford, Connecticut, June 17, 1873, the youngest of the nine children of John Oliver and Louisa E. (Smart) Chapman. His parents … Read more

Biography of Lauren Newell

For more than thirty years Zeandale Township, Riley County, had been the chosen home of Lauren Newell, an old pioneer of this section and an honored veteran of the Civil war. Mr. Newell came to Kansas a youth of nineteen years, in search of material independence, and had done much in the way of making easier the paths of those who came later. After the close of the Civil war settlement in Kansas was rapid, but few found so much hardship as had faced young and old when they reached here in 1858. In his New England home Mr. Newell, … Read more

Biographical Sketch of Horace Smith

Horace Smith, born in Old Hartford, Conn., immigrated to Williston at the age of twenty-one years, where he married Rachel Phillips. About seventy years ago he came to this town and located upon the farm now owned by his son, Truman B., on road 45. For his second wife Mr. Smith married Nancy Montgomery, by whom he had eleven children. He had three children by his first wife.

Biography of Rev. Linville J. Hall

For over half a century the Rev. Linville J. Hall devoted himself to bringing spiritual consolation to the soul-weary and those fearful of the after-life, for he was blessed with unusual sweetness of spirit and tactful sympathy. At the same time he was effective in the more militant side of a minister’s duties, in condemning evil stirringly and fearlessly wherever he found it, in offering a constructive life program, and in demonstrating by his own life all his preachments. His ministerial activities carried him to many localities throughout the United States, but his last years were passed in his native … Read more

Biographical Sketch of William Marks

William R. Marks, who has for many years been connected with the commercial interests of Yates and Ontario counties, New York, and has held numerous public offices, is descended from the early settlers in Connecticut. (I) William Marks, grandfather of William R. Marks, was born in Burlington, Connecticut. He was an influential member of the community in which he lived. Served as a member of the legislature of Connecticut, both houses; was a justice of the peace for a period of forty years; and was prominently identified with church and Masonic affairs. He married Polly Roberts, of Burlington.

Biography of Sheldon Griswold Catlin

Sheldon Griswold Catlin. A notable figure in the commercial life of the City of Leavenworth was the late Sheldon Griswold Catlin. He was a Yankee, of Connecticut birth and ancestry, and possessed the genius of a typical New Englander for trade. Bulwarking his genius in this direction was a remarkable integrity of character and a wholesomeness and breadth of mind which made his presence in any community a source of strength and uplift. It was in 1863 that he came to Leavenworth and became a member of the old wholesale shoe firm of George O. Catlin & Company, a business … Read more

Biographical Sketch of Simeon Hayes

(IV) Simeon, son of Captain Samuel (2) and Rosanna (Holcombe) Hayes, was born in Simsbury, February 17, 1768, or January 17, 1769, and died in Plattsburgh, New York, August 18, 1841. In , 806 he removed from his native state to Plattsburgh, where he engaged in farming and also turned his attention to mechanical pursuits. He was a mechanical genius and an inventor, and at different times worked at wagon-making, shoemaking and coopering. Above all he was a man of unsullied integrity and deep religious principle. He married (first), March 22, 1790, Elizabeth, daughter of Rev. Israel Holly, a Congregational … Read more

Olcott Family of Norwich Vermont

Hon. Peter Olcott was born at Bolton, Connecticut, April 25, 1733; married Sarah, daughter of Peletiah Mills, Esq., of Windsor, Conn., October 11, 1759, and removed to that place in 1772. That year or the following one he came to Norwich, Vermont. He was the oldest of his parents’ four children (two sons and two daughters), and the only one of them to come to Norwich to reside. Mr. Olcott‘s name first appears in the town records of Norwich in 1773, when he was chosen one of the overseers of the poor, at the annual March meeting. He early took … Read more

Biographical Sketch of James Albion Perkins

Treasurer of the Perkins Appliance Company, Inc., of Springfield, Massachusetts, and one of Springfield’s representative business men, he is a brother of Julian L. Perkins. James Albion Perkins engaged in the lumbering business when his school days were over, and operated sawmills in Blanford, Williamsburg, and Goshen, Massachusetts. When he attained his majority, however, James Albion decided to make a change and went to Hartford, Connecticut, where for a time he was engaged in photo-engraving. He came to Springfield and entered the employ of the Springfield Photo-Engraving Company; but after a time he transferred his association to the Phelps Publishing … Read more

Slave Narrative of Mom Jessie Sparrow

Interviewer: Annie Ruth Davis Person Interviewed: Jessie Sparrow Date of Interview: December 1937 Location: Marion, South Carolina Age: 83 “No, I ain’ cold. I settin in de sun. Miss Ida, she went by here just now en call at me bout de door been open en lettin dat cold wind blow in on my back wid all de fire gone out. I tell her, it ain’ botherin me none, I been settin out in de sun. Well, I don’ feel much to speak bout, child, but I knockin round somehow. Miss Ida, she bring me dis paper to study on. … Read more

Biography of Thomas F. Lawrence

One of the splendidly organized and carefully directed organizations that has been built up in St. Louis is the Missouri State Life Insurance Company, of which Thomas F. Lawrence is the vice president. He might be termed a man of singleness of purpose, so closely has he applied himself to the interests of his business, so carefully organized the work in its different departments and so thoroughly studied every phase of the business to a point when he can speak authoritatively and instructively to any who seek advice or information. An eminent statesman has said that when eastern training and … Read more

Biography of Zerah S. Westbrook

ZERAH S. WESTBROOK HON. Zera S. Westbrook, the present deputy comptroller of the state of New York, has an interesting and instructive history. As a state official he is at this time a temporary resident of Albany, his residence and home being at Amsterdam, N. Y. His career is one which illustrates in a striking manner, the rise, progress and development of a character such as only can be found in a land of free institutions, without the aid of the wealthy, titled, so called nobility. As will be seen in a brief review of his life, he has already … Read more

Biographical Sketch of George P. Comey

Comey, George P.; manufacturer; born, Brooklyn, N. Y., April 21, 1858; son of George P. and Clara Dean Comey; educated, Brooklyn Polytechnic Institute and Connecticut Literary Institute, at Suffield, Conn.; married, Hinsdale, Mass., June 29, 1881, Miss Nannie J. Gill; issue, seven children, Clara M., Florence L., George Lawrence, Frederick Harlan, Ralph, Harold and Robert; business career with his father and uncle in New York City, in the manufacture of ladies’ hats and straw goods for two years, came to Cleveland in 1880, and engaged in the same business with J. G. Pettee & Co.; after three years bought Mr. … Read more

Biography of Charles Trumbull Hayden

Charles Trumbull Hayden, whose name is linked with the early history of Arizona, was born in Windsor, Connecticut, April 4th, 1825. When eighteen years old he taught school in New Jersey, and afterwards near New Albany, Indiana, and in St. Louis, Missouri. In 1848 he loaded a wagon with merchandise, and left Independence, Missouri, for Santa Fe, New Mexico, where he marketed his goods and returned in the fall. He continued in business at Independence for some time, but when the gold excitement began in 1849, he outfitted a train of ox teams, and started over the Santa Fe Trail. … Read more

Biographical Sketch of Newton S. Calhoun

Calhoun, Newton S.; pres. and treas. The Johnson Jennings Co.; born in Connecticut, Feb. 12, 1855; son of William E. and Almira Tracy Calhoun; educated, Suffield Academy, in Connecticut, and Brown University, Providence, R. I., graduating in 1879, degree of A. M.; married, Cleveland, 1884, Miss Caroline Jennings; issue, one son, Tracy Jennings, born in 1885, and one daughter, Carol, now Mrs. Lyman Narten; business career, taught school two years in the Providence high school; studied law while teaching and summers; one year in office of Judge Tillinghast in. Providence; came to Cleveland in the fall of 1882; in 1883, … Read more

Jonah Todd

Jonah Todd6, (Jonah5, Stephen4, Samuel3, Samuel2, Christopher1) born Nov. 2, 1769, died Dec. 23, 1834, married March 14, 1792, Mary, daughter of Uri and Thankful (Ives) Tuttle, of Bethany, Conn., who was born March 25, 1773, died March 27, 1839. They at first lived in East Plymouth, then later they removed to Plymouth, Conn., where they lived a number of years and died. Children: *653. Charles Harrison, b. Feb. 1, 1793. 654. Juliana, b. April 4, 1795, d. March 15, 1796. *655. Jonah Hansel, b. Aug. 23, 1797.656. Julius M., b. Sept. 17, 1799, d. Jan. 4, 1829, m, Oct. … Read more