1768-1854 Joseph Otis
Joseph Otis was born at Norwich, CT, July 1768. Educated locally, at the age of twelve, he became involved in the mercantile service at the Landing, eventually becoming a commission agent, or middleman in today’s terminology, engaged in the import/export business. At age 21, Otis relocated to Charleston, SC, where he remained for seven years. Finding few business prospects, Otis relocated to New York City, where he established a mercantile business in 1796. Later, that same year, at age 29, he married Nancy Huntington, another Norwich native. Following 47 years of marriage, Nancy passed away in 1842 at the age of 72.
Joseph Otis returned to Norwich in 1838, where he lived on Broadway until he died in 1854 at age 86.
An extremely religious man, Otis was the founder, along with several other influential men, of the Cedar Street Ecclesiastical Congregation in New York City, which later moved uptown to become the Dunne Street Presbyterian Church. In 1807, Joseph Otis, along with six other individuals, convened the first meeting to devise and adopt measures for providing Sunday school instruction in the United States. (George Colgate was one member, the soap manufacturer and founder of Colgate College.)
The Sunday school movement was founded to give secular and religious education to poor children who were unable to attend school during the week. As free public education gained traction in the United States, Sunday schools evolved to offer strictly religious instruction, often conducted by individual churches.
Throughout his lifetime, Joseph Otis continued to give liberally to various charitable organizations and supported clergymen, including Norwich’s Rev. Alvan Bond (when his son became ill). He contributed to the building of the Broadway Congregational Church and purchased a modern organ for the church for $3000.
In his later years, Joseph Otis began to ponder the question of what legacy, within the range of his means, he might leave that would best serve the important purpose of cultural and social improvement for Norwich citizens. In the 1800s, libraries were held privately and required a subscription fee for membership. Otis decided to establish a public library, which would enable all classes of people to access its resources. In 1849, construction of the Otis Library began at the corner of Union and Church Streets. Today’s Otis Library of Norwich, is a public library available to rich and poor alike, has become an enduring memorial and lasting legacy to the wise judgment and selfless generosity practiced by Joseph Otis.
1782-1864 Gurdon Chapman
Gurdon Chapman was born in North Stonington in 1792. He settled in Norwich at an early age and engaged in trade, which subsequently developed into a large grain business that brought him great financial success. By utilizing his strong work ethic and native common sense, coupled with a photographic memory, Gurdon was able to overcome the obstacles presented by a lack of childhood education common among the country boys of his day.
During his lifetime, he became a familiar figure in the city’s public affairs in Norwich. He qualified himself as a leader and for high positions of trust in the community. He was a director of the Uncas Bank and the Merchants Bank of Norwich, as well as an incorporator, director, and assistant treasurer of the Chelsea Savings Bank.
He served as Norwich’s mayor from 1843 to 1845.
In November 1850, he married Mary Ann Moore. He died in January 1859 at the age of sixty-seven.
1788-1870 General William Williams
William Williams Jr. was born in Stonington, CT, in March 1788, the son of William Williams, a self-made man of exceptional business acumen and integrity. Like his father, William, Jr. possessed a great interest in the mercantile area. He was educated in district schools in Stonington and graduated from Plainfield Academy. Following graduation, William traveled to New York City, where he worked as a clerk in the commission-house of W. & S. Robinson, where he stayed for about three years, acquiring practical knowledge in the duties of a shipping merchant’s business. In 1806, William returned to Stonington, where he was dispatched on one of his father’s ships bound for Labrador and Bordeaux.
This, his first voyage, took two years. Upon his return, William went to Norwich and, in partnership with his father, initially engaged in a large-scale flour manufacturing business, followed by cotton, until he closed the businesses in 1818-19. William returned to the mercantile business and, from 1821 to 1827, made successful voyages to Europe and South America. In 1828, he became involved in the whaling business alongside Capt. Acors Barns and formed the highly successful firm of Williams & Barns. He remained in this business for the remainder of his life. The success of William’s business contributed significantly to New London’s reputation as a center for the whaling industry.
Additionally, William was one of the incorporators and the first president of the Merchants’ Bank of Norwich in 1833. He remained very active in the state militia, rising through the ranks to become a major general. As a measure of his public-spirited nature, William was one of the individuals who organized and endowed the Norwich Free Academy, a pioneering high school in New England.
He joined the Congregational Church in 1820 and remained a consistent and prominent member of the church community throughout his life. His charities were significant and judicious. He was a cooperative member of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions and vice-president of the Bible, Seaman’s Friend, and Home Missionary Societies. William devoted a large portion of his time to advancing education. He would visit every school within a twenty-mile radius of the district on an annual basis, distributing books and information to teachers and students. He made weekly visits to the Mohegan reservation to support and speak at their church.
In May 1862, Gen. Williams and his wife, Harriet, celebrated their golden wedding anniversary. In June 1870, he celebrated fifty years’ union with the church in which he had so long been a leading member and councilor. With William’s death in October 1870, Norwich lost one of its oldest and most respected citizens and benefactors.
1788-1888 George L. Perkins
George L. Perkins was a well-known railroad official who held the position of Treasurer of the Norwich & Worcester Railroad Co. for nearly fifty years, until death removed him, after having outlived eight presidents and 90 directors of the corporation, at the remarkable age of 100 years and one month. The late Col. Perkins was one of the most noted citizens of Norwich. Such an abundance of material is furnished by the experiences, anecdotes, and historical facts connected with his life that no short sketch of his career could be made complete. Col. Perkins is remembered as a remarkable man. His prolonged life, extending a month over the century line, was closed on September 5, 1888.
While serving as treasurer of the Norwich & Worcester Railroad Company at the age of 100, he wrote with a clear, firm hand, and his figure, over six feet in height, was straight as an arrow, one that would cause more than a passing glance. Several years before his death, he was known as the oldest living railroad man, the oldest volunteer fireman, the oldest bookkeeper, and clubman in the world. His memory distinctly recalled the memorial services held shortly after Washington’s death, as well as the Reign of Terror and the downfall of Napoleon.
During the War of 1812, he served as paymaster of the Third District, which encompassed Connecticut, Rhode Island, and part of Massachusetts, where he earned his title of Colonel in the United States Army. He was also present at the Battle of Stonington. Possessed of delicate health, in his youth, he made a voyage to the West Indies, and later, to harden his constitution, he walked from Norwich to Poughkeepsie, New York (137 miles) to be a passenger on the first trip made by the historic steamboat Cordelia, invented by Robert Fulton. Col. Perkins also remembered when New York City had but 87,000 inhabitants. For 76 years, this noted centenarian never missed an election, his first vote being cast for James Madison. He afterward met personally James Madison, Samuel Adams, John Quincy Adams, James Van Buren, and Abraham Lincoln.
At the same time, Andrew Jackson and Rutherford B. Hayes were guests at his home in Norwich. Upon his hundredth birthday (August 5, 1888), he was given a reception by the Arcanum Club of this city, of which he was an honorary member. On this occasion, with his 90-year-old wife by his side, he received congratulations from 1,500 guests, including a large number of railroad officials and prominent citizens from various parts of the country. He was also the recipient of many valuable presents and letters of congratulation. Col. Perkins began his railroad career in 1836, when he was among the original incorporators of the Norwich & Worcester Railroad Company. Elected treasurer of that company, he fulfilled the duties of the office continuously until the time of his death in September 1888. He was a man of benevolence, goodness, and genial disposition, and even at the advanced age at which he died, he was an engaging conversationalist.
1791-1865 Amos Hallman Hubbard
Amos Hubbard was the preeminent name associated with paper manufacturing at Hubbard Mills in the Yantic Falls area of Norwich for many years. Amos Hubbard, a descendant of Christopher Leffingwell’s daughter, operated Hubbard Brothers Paper Mill at Yantic Falls. When he took over the business in 1818, paper was still being made traditionally by hand, one sheet at a time. In 1828, Amos imported a paper-making machine invented by Mr. Fourdrinier from England, becoming the second person in America to manufacture paper using an automated process that produced paper in a single continuous roll. He quickly realized the benefits of such equipment and ordered additional machines to be installed at Hubbard Mills.
Fourdrinier Paper-Making Machine
Both Amos and his brother Russell were in partnership and successfully ran the business at the Falls for forty years. In about 1857, the real estate and water rights were sold to the Falls Company, and Amos relocated his business to Greeneville, at the foot of Tenth Street, near the Chelsea Mfg. Paper Mill, on the Shetucket River. William P. Greene subsequently converted the old mill to cotton production, for by this time cotton was king in the Falls area. The Norwich Board of Trade listed Amos Hubbard as one of the sixty wealthiest men in Norwich in 1865, with an annual income of $ 24,082. The A. H. Hubbard Company continued under the control of the Hubbard family throughout the nineteenth century, with Charles L. Hubbard as president. In 1917, the E.I. du Pont de Nemours Company took over operations and ran the mill until it closed in 1926.
In 1824, Amos was one of the first incorporators of the Norwich Savings Society, 2nd second-oldest and largest savings bank in the state.