History of Windsor, (Hartford County) Connecticut United States of America

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Local History Notes:

WINDSOR, a post-township of Hartford county, Connecticut, bounded on the E. by the Connecticut river, and intersected by the Farmington river, 6 miles N. from Hartford. The first English settlement in the state was made here in 1633, by Captain William Holmes and others, who came from the Plymouth colony in Massachusetts. The township contains three handsome and thriving villages, viz. Windsor, Windsor Locks, and Poquannock. Almost all the inhabitants of that portion of the township which was first settled reside in Windsor village, situated on the right bank of the Connecticut, and on the New Haven, Hartford, and Springfield railroad. It is built principally on a single street upwards of 2 miles in length, parallel with the river, and beautifully shaded. Windsor has been the birthplace of several eminent men, among whom may be mentioned Roger Wolcott, governor of Connecticut, and Oilver Ellsworth, for nearly four years chief-justice of the supreme court of the United States. Population in 1840, 2288; in 1850, 3254.

Biographies:

Horace H. Hayden, dentist, was born in Windsor, Conn., Oct. 13, 1769; the son of a Revolutionary patriot who was an officer in the American army. He taught school, became an architect, and in 1790, through the influence of Dr. Greenwood, took up the study of dentistry which he practised in Baltimore, Md., 1804-44. He attained eminence as a geologist. He also studied medicine and was a volunteer surgeon in the war of 1812, serving with the Maryland troops in the battle of North Point in 1814. He received the honorary degree of M.D. from Jefferson medical college in 1837, and from Maryland medical university in 1840. He founded the Baltimore college of dental surgery, was its first president, and first professor of dental pathology and physiology, 1839-44. He founded and was the first president of the American society of dental surgery, and a founder and first vice-president of the American academy of science and literature. He published Geological Essays (1820); and various scientific articles in the American Medical Record (1822) and Silliman's Journal (1832); and "Silk Cocoons" in Journal of the American Silk Company (1839). He died in Baltimore, Md., Jan. 26, 1844.

From: Twentieth Century Biographical Dictionary of Notable Americans, Johnson, Rossiter, editor

Frederick Eugene Pond, author, was born in Packwaukee, Wis., April 8. 1856; son of Simeon and Flora (Hotchkiss) Pond; grandson of William and Elvira (Forbes) Pond, and of Willis and Samantha Hotchkiss, and a descendant of Samuel Pond, a pioneer of Windsor, Conn., who died at Windsor, Conn., March 14, 1654. He attended the public schools of Montello, Wis.; was field editor of the Turf, Field and Farm in New York, 1881-86; associate editor of the American Field in Chicago, Ill., for six months in 1883, and editor of Wildwood's Magazine in Chicago, Ill., 1888-89, which was then merged into Turf, Field and Farm, and of which he became corresponding editor. He was married, June 22, 1892, to Frances Harriet, daughter of Frank and Harriet (Juneau)Fox, and a granddaughter of Samuel Juneau, founder of Milwaukee, Wis. He was editor of the Sportsman's Review at Cincinnati, Ohio, from 1897; was prominent in organizing the National Game and Fish Protective association in 1893, and was its secretary, 1893-96, and was one of the founders of the Wisconsin Sportsman's Association for the Protection of Fish and Game in 1874. He contributed to cyclopaedias, and edited Frank Forester's works, including "Fugitive Sporting Sketches" (1879) "Sporting Scenes and Characters" (2 vols., 1880); also Isaac McLellan's "Poems of Rod and Gun" (1883), "Sportsman's Directory" (1892), "A Strike "(1897 ), and wrote an in introduction to Frank Forester's "Poems" (1887). His published works, written chiefly as "Will Wildwood," include: Handbook for Young Sportsmen (1876); Memoirs of Eminent Sportsmen (1878); Gun Trial and Field Trial Records of America (1883), and American Game Preserves, a serial (1893).

From: Twentieth Century Biographical Dictionary of Notable Americans, Johnson, Rossiter, editor

John Milton Niles, senator, was born in Windsor, Conn., Aug. 20, 1787; son of Moses and Naomi (Marshall) Niles, and grandson of Benjamin and Lucy (Sill) Niles. His father was a native of Groton, Conn., and removed to Windsor prior to the Revolutionary war. John attended school at Windsor, studied law with John Sargent and was admitted to the bar in 1817. In January, 1817, he established and was manager of the Hartford Times, and obtained for that paper a large circulation. He was an associate judge of the county court, 1821-29; was a representative in the general assembly in 1826, and was defeated for the state senate in 1827. He supported General Jackson for president, and upon his inauguration, in 1829, President Jackson appointed Maj. H. B. Norton, editor of the Times, postmaster of Hartford, in recognition of the service rendered by the paper during the campaign. Against this appointment Niles protested vigorously, and the President dismissed Norton and appointed Niles his successor. On the death of Nathan Smith, U.S. senator from Connecticut, Dec. 6, 1836, Niles was elected to complete the term expiring March 3, 1839. In 1840 President Van Buren appointed him post-master-general in his cabinet, as successor to Amos Kendall, who resigned, May 9, 1840, and Niles held the office until the close of Van Buren's administration, March 3, 1841. He was the Democratic candidate for governer of Connecticut in 1839 and 1840, and was again U.S. senator, 1843-49. He was twice married, first June 7, 1824, to Sarah; daughter of William Robinson, and widow of Lewis Howe. She died, Nov. 23, 1842, and he was married secondly, Nov. 26, 1845, to Jane H. Pratt of Columbia county, N.Y., who died in September, 1850. He made several bequests, including $70,000 in trust to the city of Hartford, the income therefrom to be devoted to the worthy poor, and his large library to the Connecticut Historical society. He is the author of: The Independent Whig (1816); Gazetteer of Connecticut and Rhode Island (1819); History of the Revolution in Mexico and South America, with a Viewer Texas (1829); The Civil Officer (1840); Loss of the Brig Commerce upon the West Coast of Africa (1842). He died in Hartford, Conn., May 31, 1856.

From: Twentieth Century Biographical Dictionary of Notable Americans, Johnson, Rossiter, editor

Christine Ladd Franklin, author, was born in Windsor, Conn., Dec. 1, 1847; daughter of Eliphalet and Augusta (Niles) Ladd; granddaughter of Henry and Hannah (Hard) Ladd of Portsmouth, N.H., and of Richard and Christiana (Griswold) Niles of Windsor, Conn., and great-granddaughter of Col. Eliphalet Ladd, who served on the staff of his cousin, Governor Gilman. She was graduated from Vassar college in 1869, and for some years she taught mathematics and science in different schools, in the meantime continuing her studies in mathematics and contributing to mathematical journals. In 1878 she was invited to study at Johns Hopkins university, and from 1879 to 1882 she remained there upon the footing of a fellow, being the first woman to receive this honor. In 1891-92 she pursued her studies in the Universities of G?ttingen and Ber lin. In 1882 she was married to Prof. Fabian Franklin of Johns Hopkins. The degree of LL. D. was conferred upon her by Vassar in 1887. She contributed articles on mathematics, logic and psychology to the American Journal of Mathematics, the American Journal of Psychology, the Psychological Review and Mind (London). Her theory of the sensation of color was published in the Zeitschrift f?r Psychologie in 1892 and also in Mind in 1893. She also wrote reviews and editorials for various journals, including the Nation, and is the author of Woman's Education in the South, a contribution to Woman's Work in America.

From: Twentieth Century Biographical Dictionary of Notable Americans, Johnson, Rossiter, editor