Trails to the Past
Fairfield County Connecticut
Biographies From the Men of Mark in Connecticut
Source: Written by Colonel N. G. Osborn editor of "New Haven Register" in 1906
KEELER, EDWIN OLMSTEAD, president of the Fairfield County National Bank, of the Southern New England Wholesale Grocery Association, of the Norwalk Club Company, and otherwise prominent in business and finance, was born at Ridgefield, Fairfield County, Connecticut, January 12th, 1846. He is of English descent, his first ancestor in America being Ralph Keeler, who came from the mother country to Hartford, Connecticut, in 1640. Mr. Keeler's grandmother, Anne Belden Olmstead, was the daughter of Azar Belden, born 1749, who was an officer in the Revolutionary War. His father was Jonah Charles Keeler, a prosperous farmer. His mother, Henrietta Keeler, died when he was but seven years old. Unlike most country boys Mr. Keeler had a delicate constitution, but the judicious use of physical culture and the determination to make the most of his strength partially overcame the obstacle of ill health, and Mr. Keeler's life has been an unusually full and active one. His early home life was simple and wholesome, for the Bible was the dominant influence and the principal field of study in the Keeler homestead. Mr. Keeler was educated at William 0. Seymour's private school in Ridgefield, and, after an eight years' course there, attended the New Haven Business College, where he was graduated in 1865. Shortly after his graduation Mr. Keeler went to New York to work as a bookkeeper. Three years later, in May, 1868, he married Sarah Velina Whiting, by whom he has had two children, Inez Rosaline and Rutherford Ballau, Returning from New York Mr. Keeler settled in Norwalk and engaged in the wholesale grocery business, and was gradually promoted from bookkeeper to president of the company. Besides his responsible positions as president of the Norwalk Club Company, the Southern New England Wholesale Grocery Association, and the Fairfield National Bank, Mr. Keeler is also president of the Norwalk Steamboat Company, vice-president of the South Norwalk Trust Company, and director in several other corporations. Mr. Keeler, who is a devoted Republican, has been as active and as prominent in politics as he has in business. He was the first mayor of the city of Norwalk, serving from 1894 to 1895. He represented the town of Norwalk in the State Legislature during 1893 and 1895, and was senator from the thirteenth district in 1897 and 1899 and lieutenant governor from 1901 to 1903. Business and politics have by no means been the only interests in Mr. Keeler's life. He is an active worker in the Congregational Church and has been chairman of the committee of the First Congregational Church of Norwalk for twenty-five years. He is both a Mason and an Odd Fellow and in the latter order he has held the chair of Noble Grand. Mr. Keeler is also a member of the Norwalk Club. Men of Mark Index LEEDS, CHARLES HENRY, retired manufacturer, ex-mayor, and a leading citizen of Stamford, Connecticut, was born in New York City, January 9th, 1834, the son of Samuel and Mary Warren Mellen Leeds. Through his father he is a descendant, in the eighth generation, of Richard Leeds, who emigrated from Great Yarmouth, England, in 1637, and settled in Dorchester, Massachusetts. His mother was a granddaughter of Lieut. Col. James Mellen, a Revolutionary officer. Another of his ancestors was Solomon Stoddard, the divine, who was graduated from Harvard in 1662, and still another was Col. Israel Williams, who participated in the French and Indian Wars Charles Henry Leeds fitted for college at Phillips Academy, Andover, Massachusetts, and was graduated from Yale University in 1854, After leaving college he engaged in the business of manufacturing straw goods in New York and continued at this business for thirty years. In 1883 he moved to Stamford, Connecticut, which has been his home ever since. At the time of his removal to Stamford he gave up the straw goods business and for the next four years he was secretary of the Stationers' Board of Trade of New York City. Since 1888 he has not been actively engaged in business, but he has been one of Stamford's busiest and most useful citizens. In 1893 he was elected warden of the borough and during his term of service Stamford was incorporated as a city and he was made its first mayor in 1894. He has always been a loyal and leading Republican in political allegiance. In 1897 he was appointed a deputy collector of the United States Custom Service of the Fairfield district in charge of the sub-port of Stamford and he still fills that office. Mr. Leeds is a trustee and treasurer of the Stamford Presbyterian Society and treasurer and manager of the Children's Home of Stamford. He has been secretary, was for twelve years treasurer, and is now a director of the Stamford Yacht Club and he was for a number of years treasurer and a governor of the Stamford Suburban Club. He has been very active in the organization and promotion of the Stamford Hospital, of which he is a director and one of the executive committee. On the twenty-first of December, 1865, Mr. Leeds married Sarah Perley Lambert, daughter of William G. Lambert of New York City. She is descended on her father's side, in the seventh generation, from Francis Lambert, who, with several others, came from Rowley, England, under the leadership of the Rev. Ezekiel Rogers, and founded the town of Rowley, Massachusetts, in 1639. Mr. and Mrs. Leeds have had seven children, of whom six, four sons and two daughters are now living. All the sons are graduates of Yale University. Men of Mark Index LOCKWOOD, EDWARD KEELER, merchant and prominent citizen of Norwalk, Fairfield County, Connecticut, was born there on the fourteenth of November, 1828. On his father's side he is of English descent and his mother's ancestors, the Keelers, came from Scotland. His grandfather, Aaron Keeler, was in the War of 1813 and his sons, John, Nathan, and Seth, went West to help found Norwalk, Ohio. Mr. Lockwood's father, Carmi Lockwood, a manufacturer of woolen and cotton goods, was a leading citizen of Norwalk and was selectman, bank director, treasurer and director of the Norwalk Gas Light Company, and vestryman of St. Paul's Church. He was a man of careful mental habits and firm determination in the proper performance of all duties. Mr. Lockwood's mother was Laura Keeler Lockwood, a woman of admirable character and strong moral influence. The boy, Edward Lockwood, was a typical country boy, healthy and active and brought up to understand the necessity of forming industrious habits by doing necessary chores around the house and farm before and after school hours. He was educated at Professor Coffin's Academy and Professor Storrs Hall Academy. He was extremely studious and always strove to be at the head of all his classes. In 1847 he began work as a clerk in his father's store and remained in that capacity until he became of age, when he was given an active interest in the business. The occupation of merchant was chosen both through parental advice and personal preference, and he has continued in the mercantile business throughout his entire life. He succeeded his father as director of the Norwalk Gas Light Company and as director in the National Bank of Norwalk. He was also, at one time, director of the First National Bank of South Norwalk and is now a trustee of the Norwalk Savings Society. From 1865 to 1867 Mr. Lockwood was selectman of Norwalk. In church interests as well as in business and public affairs Mr. Lockwood has followed his father's worthy example. In 1865 he was made a vestryman of St. Paul's (Episcopal) Church, in 1883 he became junior warden and in 1903 senior warden of that church. He was parish treasurer for sixteen years and is now chairman of the finance committee and of the committee on repairs and supplies for the parish. In politics Mr. Lockwood was formerly a Whig and is now a Republican. He has been through all the chairs in Our Brothers' Lodge, No. 10, I. 0. 0. F., and was once treasurer of that lodge, but he took a card of withdrawal forty years ago because he did not have time to attend to fraternal matters. On the 24th of October, 1854, Mr. Lockwood married Harriet S. Warner of East Haddam, Connecticut. No children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Lockwood. Mr. Lockwood condenses the advice which the experiences of a long and fruitful life enable him to give with especial import and says, very simply, "Get an education and cultivate proper observance of all laws." Men of Mark Index LOUNSBURY, CHARLES HUGH, president of the Stamford Savings Bank, senior member of the firm of Lounsbury & Soule, manufacturers, was born in Stamford, Fairfield County, Connecticut, August 19th, 1839. His ancestors were English and came to America before the Revolution. In the struggle for independence, they fought on the side of the Colonists, Mr. Lounsbury's father was George Lounsbury, a farmer of marked industry and integrity, who served his townsmen as selectman, assessor, and representative in the General Assembly. His mother was Louisa Scofield Lounsbury, a woman who exerted a strong moral and spiritual influence on her family. A robust farmer boy and fond of all out-of-door sports, Mr, Lounsbury spent a busy youth. He worked with his father on the farm outside of school hours until he was sixteen, and learned during these boyhood days the lessons of honesty, industry, and economy, which his father was so well fitted to teach, and which laid the foundation for his own success in life. After acquiring such education as the public schools afforded Mr. Lounsbury began his lifelong mercantile career in the business of shoe manufacturing, with the satisfaction of seeing his business constantly enlarge and his influence and usefulness in the community increase. At nineteen he entered into partnership with Scofield & Cook, which became Cook & Lounsbury in 1861, and was reorganized as Lounsbury & Soule, with Mr. Lounsbury as senior partner, in 1884. In politics Mr. Lounsbury is identified with the Republican party and he has held many public offices. He was a member of the old Borough Board, city councilman for two years, and president of the Stamford Board of Trade for five years. His prominence in public affairs is further proved by his being a hospital director, a bank director, secretary of the Gas and Electric Company, and president of the Stamford Savings Bank. Mr. Lounsbury is a Mason and a member of the Union Lodge, F. and A. M. He is a trustee of the Presbyterian Church of which he is a member. Mr. Lounsbury's greatest enjoyment in life is found in his business and in his home interests. In 1863 he married Anna Perry Samuel, and, of the four children born to them, there are three now living. Home influence and a strong desire for success have been the dominant forces in Mr. Lounsbury's profitable life. He attributes his success to the principles of industry, integrity, determination, and ambition inculcated when he was a boy on the farm by his father and mother. Men of Mark Index LOUNSBURY, GEORGE EDWARD, the late ex-governor of Connecticut, State senator, manufacturer and scholar, who lived in Ridgefield, Fairfield County, Connecticut, from early-boyhood until his death which occurred August 16th, 1904, was born in Poundridge, Westchester county, New York, May 7th, 1838, His parents were Nathan Lounsbury, a farmer, and Delia Scofield Lounsbury, and his first American ancestor was Richard Lounsbury, who came from Yorkshire, England, about 1650 and settled in Stamford, Connecticut. Mr. Lounsbury’s grandfather, Enos Lounsbury, was a soldier in the Revolutionary War. When he was a very young boy George Lounsbury went to Ridgefield to live and that town was his home during the rest of his life. He was a youth of marked literary tastes and ability and naturally sought the highest education. After a course at the Ridgefield Academy he entered Yale College, where he was graduated with the class of 1863. Intending to be a Protestant Episcopal minister he then entered Bergely Divinity School at Middletown, Connecticut, and was graduated from that institution in 1866. He began his ministry as rector of the Protestant Episcopal Church at Suffield, but a chronic throat affliction made it impossible for him to continue in the ministry. Upon leaving the ministry Mr. Lounsbury entered into partnership with his brother in the shoe manufacturing business under the firm name of Lounsbury Brothers. He continued in that business during his whole subsequent life, though he had many outside business interests which were uniformly successful. Mr. Lounsbury's executive ability and loyal service to the Republican party could not but receive definite appreciation and, in 1894, he was elected State senator from the twelfth district by an unprecedented majority. In 1895 he was chairman of the committee on finance, in 1896 he was elected senator for a second term, and in 1897 became chairman of the committee on humane institutions. In 1898 he was elected governor of Connecticut and filled that office with the utmost tact and more that the ordinary ability. George Edward Lounsbury was a man of great strength of character and remarkable mental grasp, an unusually clever writer, whose diction was exceptionally clear and at times classical. He was a keen discerner of men and measures; reticent in disposition and of few words, he was nevertheless approachable to all. His reticence was no indication of indifference, for no man had a livelier interest in public affairs or a more genuine sympathy with his fellow men. In his own neighborhood, nothing so thoroughly characterized him as the breadth and extent of his charities and benefactions. As the chief executive of the State, his addresses were admirable for their clearness and directness, and in their literary quality to no small degree reflected the thorough training of his earlier years. Wesleyan University bestowed upon him the honorary degree of LL.D. He was a man of quiet tastes and few club interests. His greatest enjoyment in recreation from the work of life was in hunting and fishing. Mrs. Lounsbury was Mrs. Frances Josephine Whedon of Amherst, Massachusetts, whom he married in November, 1894. No children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Lounsbury. Men of Mark Index
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