k MEN OF MAKK IN CONNlXniCUT Men of Mark in Connecticut IDEALS OF AMERICAN LIFE TOLD IN IHOG- KArillKS AM) AUTOHIOGRAPIIIES OF EMINENT LlVlNCi AMERICANS KDITKD BY COLONEL N. G. OSBORN EDITOIl " NKW HAVEN JOURNAL AND COURTKB' VOLUME III WILLIAM R. GOODSPEED IIARTFOHD, CONNECTICUT 1907 Copyright 1904 by B. F. Johkson ' LiBTiftsViTcONfiKESSl Two C-oles Heudived < APR 14 1908 cuss 0^ -nAc no, Tmb c«mc. LocKwooo 4i. Brainaro Co.. Pbintcrs. H*RTrono. Comn. MEN OF MARK IN CONNECTICUT OoL N. G. OsBORN, Editor-in-Chief ADVISORY HOARD HON. WILLIAM S. CASTE Hartford JUDOK OF 8UPERI0B CODBT. HON. GEORGE S. GODARD Hartford STATE UtiRAKlAN HON. FREDERICK J. KINGSBURY. LL.D.. WATE31BITBT MFMBER corporation yaij: umvinisiTT CAPTAIN EDWARD W. MARSH Brtdoeport TREASl'BER PBOPLE'S 8AVINGS BANK COL. X. G. OSBORN New Haven EDITOB NEW HATEN BBQISTEB HON. HENRY ROBERTS Hartpobo KX-<X)VEBNOB. HON. JONATHAN TRUMBULL Norwich LXBRARUJf PUBUC UBBABT JAMES ARTHUR ATWOOD A'l'WOOD, JAMES ARTHUR, manager of two of Connecticut's foremost manufacturing industries, bank president and lead- ing citizen of Wauregan, Windham County, Coimecticut, was bom in that town. May 18th, 18(31. He is a descendant of Francis and Mary Williams Atwood, of Providence, Rhode Island, the latter a great-granddaughter of Roger Williams. Francis At- wood's son, John Atwood, had a son John who was a sergeant in the Revolutionary War. Sergeant John Atwood married Roby Kim- ball and lived in Scituate, Rhode Island, where their son Kimball Atwood was born. Kimball Atwood's son John moved to Williams- rille, Connecticut, and became part owner of The Williamsville Manu- facturing Company, which present representatives of the family own and manage. James S. Atwood, son of John and father of James Arthur Atwood, waa a successful manufacturer of Wauregan, a loyal member of the Congregational Church and a most upright, useful, and high-minded citizen. James 8. Atwood built the Wauregan Mills at Wauregan and the Ponemah Mills at Taftville. Connecticut, and had charge of both companies until his death. He was also president of The Williamsville Manufacturing Company. He was representative and presidential elector, and through example and generosity did much for his town, especially in beautifying it and building up its industries. Mr. Atwood's mother wa.s Julia A. M. Haskell, a lineal descendant of W^illiam Haskell who came from Salem, England, to Gloucester, Massachusett>^, in 1642. and was prominent in the military, religious, and political affairs of his day. He is also descended on his father's side from Gov. Caleb Carr, Colonial Governor of Rhode Island, and on his mother's side from Isaac Allerton of the Mayflower. James Arthur Atwood attended the public schools of Wauregan and Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts, where he graduated at the head of his class. He then entered the Sheffield Scientific School of Yale University, where he took the course in mechanical engineering and graduated with the degree of Ph.B. in 1885. On 9 10 JAMES ARTHUR ATWOOD, leaving college he and his twin brother, John Walter, immediately became identified with the family manufacturing interests in Waure- gan, established by their father in 1853 and already grown to large proportions and embracing an extensive business. In 1889 Mr. Atwood was appointed agent of the Wauregan Com- pany and he still holds the position. In 1897 he was appointed agent of the Quinebaug Company of Danielson, Connecticut, and he con- tinues to hold the personal supervision of both these concerns and de-votes his time to their management. The two corporations employ over thirteen hundred hands and comprise one of the largest and most flourishing cotton goods industries in New England. Mr, Atwood is also interested in the Samoset Company of Valley Falls, Ehode Island, of which he is a director, and he is a former president of The Williamsville Manufacturing Company of Williamsville, Connecticut. He was a director of the Ponemah Mills of Taftville and of the Sterling Dyeing and Finishing Company of Sterling, Connecticut, until he sold out his interest in those corporations. He is president of the Windham County National Bank of Danielson, Connecticut, and a trustee of the Brooklyn Savings Bank of Brooklyn, Connecticut. With the exception of the college fraternity of Delta Psi, Mr. Atwood has no fraternal ties, having devoted all his time to business and home interests. His family consists of a wife and two children. Mrs. Atwood is Helen Louise, daughter of Philip and Helen Wolcott Mathewson, whom he married December 11th, 1888. The children are J. Arthur Atwood, Jr., born May 5th, 1890, and Dorothy, born March 27th, 1893. JOHN WALTER ATWOOD ATWOOD. GENEKAL JOHN WALTER, of Wauregan, Wind- ham County, Connecticut, one of the most successful nianu- factunrs in New England, is of a family of manufacturers, descendants of Francis Atwood of Providence, K. I., and of Mary Williams, his wife, who was great-granddaughter of Koger Williams. Francis Atwood's son, John Atwood, had a son, John Atwood, who was sergeant in the Revolutionary War and who settled in Scituate, H. I. Sergeant John Atwood married Roby Kimball and they re- sided the whole of their lives in Scituate, as did aL;o their son, Kim- ball Atwood. John Atwood, son of Kimball Atwood, came to Kiliingly, Windham County, Connecticut, where he was employed in the old Williamsville mill, built in 1827 and owned by Caleb Williams. In 1S19 he became part owner and so continued till his death. His sons, James S. and William A., inherited their father's interest in the mill and owned a half interest in the corporation at their death. His grandsons. Henry C. and William E. (of Williamsville) and J. Arthur and John Walter (both of Wauregan) became sole owners of the Williamsville Manufacturing Company in 1890, but in 1903, J. Arthur and John Walter Atwood (both of Wauregan) sold their half interest to their cousins, Henry C. and William E., who then became sole owners of the corporation. James S. Atwood. son of John and father of J, Arthur and John Walter, who are twins, began his career a,s a manufacturer in Waure- gan in 1853, and met with great success, developing the business along lines purely experimental at the outset. The goods from Wauregan Mills and from the Ponemah Mills at Taftville (which he built and had charge of until his death), were sent to all parts of the world. The village of Wauregan. under the watchful care of Mr. Atwood, became one of the most l)eautiful in New England. He was a man whom everj'body loved. He served in the Legislatures of 1802 and 1868, and was an elector on the Republican ticket in 1884. 11 12 JOHN WALTER ATWOOD. His wife, Julia A. M. Haskell, was the daughter of Willard Haskell, direct descendant of William Haskell, who, coming from Salem, England, located in Gloucester, Massachusetts, in 1642, was deacon of the church, captain in the militia, selectman and represen- tative in the General Assembly six times. General John Walter Atwood, on his father^s side, is also de- scended from Gov. Caleb Carr, Colonial Governor of Ehode Island, and on his mother's side, from Isaac Allerton of the Mayflower. John Walter Atwood was born in Wauregan, -on May 18, 1864. After attending the public schools he went to Phillips Academy at Andover, Massachusetts, and thence to the Sheflfield Scientific School, Yale. On leaving college, he at once associated himself with the man- ufacturing interests of the family. In 1888 he was appointed super- intendent of the Wauregan Mills, which position he still occupies, displaying the same skill, judgment, and enterprise that characterized his father and his grandfather. Also he has taken like pride in the village of Wauregan and in every way the good works of his ancestors are carried forward. Though always deeply interested in public affairs and prominent in the councils of the Eepublican party, he re- peatedly declined office until 1899, when he accepted election as rep- resentative in the General Assembly and served on the committee on Appropriations. He was again elected as representative to the Gen- eral Assembly in 1903 and State Senator in 1905. He was appointed Commissary General on the staff of the late Governor George E. Lounsbury and later succeeded Heman 0. Averill as Paymaster Gen- eral, a position to which he was reappointed by George P. McLean, who succeeded Mr. Lounsbury as Governor. On Jime 1, 1887, he married Ethel Alexander, daughter of Luther D. and Amelia (Young) Alexander. They have two chil- dren, Helen Estelle and Beatrice. Their home is in Wauregan. Since the above was written. General Atwood has been appointed Paymaster General on the staff of Governor Woodruff. ISAAC WATTS BROOKS 1\ HOOKS, ISAAC WATTS, senator from the Tliirtieth Difl- I y trict and president of the Brooks National Bank of Torring- ton, is a native of Goshen, Litchfield County, Connecticut He was bom at the ancestral home in the southern part of that town on November 8th, 1838. His ancestry he traces back to Thomas Brooks of England who came to this country in the seventeenth cen- tury. Mr. Brooks' parents were Watts II. Brooks and Mary Wadhams Brooks. His father was an industrious farmer who kept well abreast of the times and who represented Goshen in the Legislature. The son grew up on the farm, taking his part in the daily routine and obtaining a good education in the district schools and at Goshen Academy. I-iter he went to Brown University in Providence. He did not graduate, but subsequently he received the degree of A.M.