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BIOGRAPHIES
Source:
BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD
of
TOLLAND AND WINDHAM COUNTIES,
CONNECTICUT
Containing Biographical Sketches of Prominent and Representative
Citizens
and Many of the Early Settled Families.
Illustrated
Publ. Chicago - J. H. Beers & Co.
1903
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GILES HUMPHREY ALFORD,
one of the leading men of Willimantic, Conn., comes from one of
the old and long established families in Windham county.
Nathaniel Alford, his great-great-grandfather,
was born in Windsor, Conn., in 1702, and he died in 1769.
He married Experience Holcomb, and lived in Simsbury,
Conn., where they had a family of five daughters, and one son,
Nathaniel.
Nathaniel Alford (2) was born in 1738, in Simsbury,
and was a private in the Continental army; he died in1818, at
the age of eighty years. In 1760 he wedded Abigail Hill,
and to this marriage there were born nine children, among whom
was a son, Arba, the grandfather of Giles H. Alford.
Arba Alford was born in 1769, and when twenty-three
years old married Eunice Case, a daughter of Deacon
Hosea Case. She was born Aug. 20, 1771, and died July
27, 1846, outliving her husband by twenty-three years.
They had the following children: Roman, born July 25,
1793; Lora, born Aug. 15, 1795; Chloe, born Dec.
19, 1798; Abigail, born January, 1801; Esther,
born May 5, 1803; Eunice, born July 11, 1805; Arba,
born Nov. 6, 1807; Mary, born July 1 1810; and
Alfred, born Sept. 15, 1812.
Roman Alfred, the oldest member of the above
family of children, was born at Barkhamsted, where he was
married to Charlotte Case. Soon after his marriage
he removed to Otis, Mass., where he went on a farm, which was
his home for some thirty-five years. At the end of that
period he returned to Barkhamsted, spending there the remainder
of his life. He died Feb. 19, 1875. His wife,
Charlotte Case, was born Sept. 3, 1794, and died Nov.
22, 1876. Both were buried at Pleasant Valley cemetery, in
the town of Barkhamsted. Humphrey Case, the
father of Charlotte, was born in 1762, and died in 1813;
his wife, Freelove Harridon, was born in 1767, and
died in 1829. To Roman Alford and his wife
were born the following children: Case M., born Jan. 14,
1818, was a butcher and farmer of Pleasant Valley, Conn., where
he died Nov. 22, 1885; Harriet C., born Oct. 56, 1819,
married John Fairchild, and died in Otis, Mass.,
in 1845; Esther N., born June 10, 1825, married
Grandison Wilder, and died in Painesville, Ohio, Apr.
9, 1884; Giles Humphrey; Eunice M.,
born May 10, 1829, became the second wife of Obed
Smith, of Norfolk, Conn., and died June 23, 1873; Abigail,
born Mar. 13, 1831, was the first wife of Obed Smith,
of Norfolk, Conn.; Mary L., born Jan. 14, 1835, married
Isaac Everett, and died May 13, 1901: Henry B.,
born Mar. 19, 1837, became a merchant at Riverton, Conn., where
he died May 20, 1864; and Everett B., born Jan. 16, 1842,
was a butcher, at Riverton, Conn., where he died May 18, 1873.
Roman Alford was prominent in the Congregational
Church, in local affairs and in the State Militia, from which he
derived the title of Capt. Alford. Standing
two inches over six feet, he was well proportioned, and was in
his bearing and demeanor a "gentleman of the old school.''
His influence in the community was strong, and always exerted on
the side of the right and true.
Giles Humphrey Alford was born in
Otis, Mass., April 18, 1827, and received his education in the
district school, which was at times attended by seventy pupils.
In those days "work came first and school second," yet he was
exceptionally favored, and was a student at the Westfield Normal
where he prepared for teaching - an occupation upon which he
entered at twenty-one, at Springfield, Mass., receiving twelve
dollars a month and "boarding round" the district. At
Windsor, Conn., his monthly wages of twenty-six dollars,
including board was considered fine pay for teaching. In
1851 Mr. Alford went to Riverton, Conn., to take a
position as clerk in the store of his uncle, Alfred Alvord,
who was extensively engaged in the furniture business at that
point. At this time he made his first visit to
Willimantic, part of his work being to deliver a load of chairs
to a customer in that city. After a short time spent with
his uncle, Mr. Alford bought out the Union Shoe Co., of
Riverton, then comprising a general store, and this was his
first business venture. Although he incurred a heavy load
of debt, he pulled through, and became the sole owner of the
establishment. During the first years of the Civil war
Henry Alford cared for the store while Giles H. Alford
was engaged in Virginia and Maryland as a sutler with Gen.
McClellan's army in 1861 and 1862.
In 1862 Mr. Alford removed to Willimantic,
Riverton not affording as broad a field as he desired. In
company with his cousin, James Alford, he opened a
grocery store on Main street, in the present location of
Purinton & Reade, but the close confinement soon undermined
their health, and both retired from the store, Giles H.,
exchanging his interest for a farm belonging to Chauncey
Turner in Mansfield, to which point he removed at once.
Farm life restored his health, and after about two years he was
again strong and rugged. According he sold the farm and
became a traveling salesman for the Upson Nut Co., of
Unionville, Conn. He came into contact with machine
manufacturers, and for eight years followed the road.
During this time his family lived at Unionville but later
removed to Willimantic. It was also during this time that
Mr. Alford bought the bankrupt hardware stock of Mr.
Alford bought the bankrupt hardware stock of Mr. Simpson,
and put it in charge of his oldest son. Upon his
retirement from the road he went into this business himself.
C. N. Andrew was at one time a partner with him, and
later bought his interest in that store. At a later period
Mr. Alford opened the hardware store where he is found at
the present time, in company with his son, the firm being G.
H. Alford & Son. This son was Howard R. Alford,
and on this death, his brother, Carl R., succeeded to his
interest, and the firm is unchanged in its title.
Mr. Alford was married in Riverton, Nov. 13,
1854, to Miss Adeline C. Cadwell, who was born in
Bloomfield, Mar. 23, 1835, a daughter of Ira and Phoebe
(filer) Cadwell. Ira Cadwell was a farmer, and lived
in Bloomfield, where he had a family of seven children, Mrs.
Alford being his youngest child. He was a son of
Pelatiah and Elizabeth (Hopkins) Cadwell. The latter
was a widow, and a daughter of a family by the name of
Skinner. Phoebe (Filer) Cadwell was a native of
East Granby, and the daughter of Roger and Phoebe (Meacham)
Filer, the latter a daughter of Barnabas and Margaret
(Owen) Meacham. Barnabas Meacham was born in
1720, and died Oct. 15, 1812; he was a private in the
Continental army. Roger filer was a son of Roger
Filer, Sr. (who was born in Windsor in 1743, and served in
the Revolutionary War) and of Triphena Walcott Allyn (a
widow at the time of her marriage to Mr. Filer). In
the retreat from Long Island, with seven others Roger Filer,
Sr., was captured, owing to a lack of boats; in the battle
or in the retreat he lost a leg, and he died at New Haven, of
smallpox, soon after being captured.
Mr. Alford is the father to the following
children: Howard Roman, born in Riverton Conn.,
Aug. 18, 1856, died at Willimantic, where he was in business at
one time, Sept. 11, 1893, leaving a widow, Jennie Dow,
and children, May, Giles Howard and Marian Jennie;
Adelaide Louise, born Aug. 31, 1865, graduated from the
Willimantic high school, and is a very successful teacher;
Maude E. born July 25, 1874, in Willimantic, is at home; and
Carl R., born Aug. 13, 1878, is now in business with his
father. Mr. Alford is a Democrat, and was first
selectman in 1875, having charge of the building of the "horse
shoe bridge" across the river on South Main street. For
about five years in the latter '80s he was prosecuting attorney.
Over forty-five years ago he united with the Masonic fraternity
at New Hartford, and is now a member of the Masonic Veteran
Association. At one time he was connected with the I. O.
O. F., at Winsted, Conn., but has long ceased to be an active
member of the order. When seventeen years of age he united
with the Congregational Church, and in that church and
Sunday-school he has always been an interested and earnest
worker. For many years he was superintendent of the Sunday
school at Riverton, but in 1899 he declined further duty in that
connection on account of his great age. Mr. Alford
is a man whose long business career in Willimantic and elsewhere
has been singularly free from criticism. His personal
habits are exceptionally clean, and he has never sworn, smoked,
chewed or drank. He is still hale and hearty, and is
spending his last days in a peace and comfort that should
always attend so useful and honorable a career as his.
Source: Biographical Record of Tolland and Windham Counties,
Connecticut, Publ. by J. H. Beers & Co., 1903 - Page 354 |
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