1822-1896 Jeremiah Halsey
The Hon. Jeremiah Halsey, LL.D., was one of the most honored attorneys to practice in New London County. He was born in Preston, CT, in February 1822, a son of Jeremiah S. and Sally (Brewster) Halsey. Educated in local Preston schools and for a time at Norwich Academy, he had intended to continue his education at Yale, but ill health ended that prospect, and he headed south in pursuit of a milder climate.
Jeremiah continued his training as a law student with a Georgia law firm and, in April 1845, was admitted to the bar in the state of Georgia. He was later admitted to the bar in Windham County in December. By 1849, his health had improved to the point that he opened a law office in Norwich, CT, with Samuel Morgan, where he began his celebrated career. Halsey’s skills and confidence continually improved so that in a short time, he was ranked among the top lawyers in the state.
In 1863, he was admitted to the bar of the U.S. Circuit Court, and in 1870, he was admitted to the Supreme Court of the United States. In 1852–53, he represented Norwich in the State Legislature, and again in 1859-60. In 1865, the Norwich Board of Trade included Jeremiah Halsey on their list of the wealthiest men in Norwich with an annual income of $5,795. In 1873, he was appointed by Gov. Ingersoll to supervise the construction of the new statehouse in Hartford. In 1853, Halsey was made city attorney and served for 15 years.
He was a trustee for the Norwich Free Academy, a member of the advisory council of United Workers, trustee and council of the Norwich Savings Society, director of the First National Bank, council for the Chelsea Savings and Thames Savings Banks, a director of the New London Northern Railroad Company, and one of the original incorporators of the Huntington Memorial Home.
Jeremiah Halsey married Elizabeth Fairchild of Ridgefield, CT, in 1854. He was an active member of Christ Church. Halsey passed away while at the Hamilton Hotel in Washington, D.C. in 1896.
Judges and lawyers admired him as a brilliant member of their profession, and they respected him as a man among men.
1822-1907 John Denison Crocker
John Denison Crocker was born in Salem, CT, in 1822 and spent most of his life in Norwich, CT. At twelve, Crocker was apprenticed to a silversmith. He left that trade to work at the shop of a furniture maker and restorer. While there, he was captivated by a portrait that had been brought to the shop for varnishing. At the age of seventeen, he became determined to become a portrait painter. Sources indicate that Crocker sought advice and perhaps lessons from the respected artist Charles Lanman of Norwich. Since Crocker moved to New York City for a short time, he would have been exposed to the painters of the Hudson River School, which would have served as a further influence.
Although he started as a portrait painter, he soon turned to landscapes, where he documented his native southeastern Connecticut. He spent time in the Catskills and is known to have painted at least one New Hampshire scene titled “View of New Hampshire.”
In addition to painting, Crocker produced a cure-all called “Crocker’s Magical Stomach Powders,” which was purported to be “a sure cure for Indigestion and all Bowel Difficulties.”
In addition to his powder, Crocker was an inventor. In 1865, he was granted a patent for a new “file-cutting” machine.
His house was located at 103 Franklin St. His shop was situated on Shetucket Street
References
Smithsonian Inventory of American Paintings.
Zoe, Vivian F., John Denison Crocker, Renaissance Man, The Muse, Newsletter of the Slater Memorial Museum, Fall 2005.
Photo Credit
John Denison Crocker, photograph c. 1885. Courtesy of Slater Museum, Vivian F. Zoe, Director.
1824-1891 Henry Bill
Few of the sons of Norwich have made a more lasting impression upon its material and moral interests than Henry Bill. Born in May 1824, Henry was the second-born of Burdon and Lucy Bill in the northern part of Groton, now the town of Ledyard. He attended the academy in Plainfield, then one of the most celebrated schools in the country. Following graduation, he taught in the cities of Plainfield and Groton until the age of twenty. Henry accepted an offer from a relative, Hon. James A. Bill of Lyme, who owned a book publishing company in Philadelphia, to work for him.
He learned the publishing business and traveled frequently throughout the western states, selling books door-to-door, which was a typical sales method at that time. After three years, he returned to Norwich in 1847 to open his own book publishing company. He was encouraged by the elder Harper Bros. of New York, who recognized Henry’s skills and provided him with unlimited credit.
Henry’s company, located at Water and Shetucket Street, produced hundreds of thousands of books, primarily focusing on travel or religious themes, such as Alvan Bond’s “History of the Bible.” Henry Bill’s publishing company grew and prospered over the next twenty-five years. In 1865, the Norwich Board of Trade listed Henry as one of the sixty wealthiest people in Norwich with an annual income of $6,923. With ample prosperity and failing health, Henry embraced retirement. He converted his large publishing business into a joint-stock corporation, which continued to flourish as the Henry Bill Publishing Company.
Henry was a Congregationalist and a member of the Broadway Congregational Church here in Norwich. He was an active member of the Democratic Party and represented the town of Norwich in the State Senate in 1853, receiving a large portion of the votes of his opponents in the election. In 1856, when the party split, he aligned himself with the anti-slavery faction and remained an active member of the Republican Party
Henry was married to Julia O. Chapman of Groton on February 10, 1847. They had seven children. A daughter, Julia F. Bill, married Joseph H. Selden, minister and chairman of the Norwich Chapter of the Red Cross.
1825-1916 Phillipena Young
* Place cursor over image to see the entire tomb
Phillipena Young came to America with her husband, Charles Young, in 1849, just four weeks after their marriage. They sailed from France to New York, a voyage which took thirty-one days.
Two days after landing in New York, the young couple came to Norwich, CT, where Charles learned the trade of molder at Vaughn’s foundry, while his enterprising wife, Phillipena, obtained work as a seamstress. Her skills were immediately recognized. As a popular dressmaker, she often worked from early morning until late at night, contributing to the family’s savings that would eventually lead to financial success.
In April 1864, during the Civil War, the Youngs purchased the corner building at Main and Franklin Streets in downtown Norwich. Over time, they acquired the surrounding buildings, and the block became a landmark known as Young’s Block.
Phillipena Young was a talented businesswoman who significantly increased the family fortune during her seventeen years of widowhood. She remained alert, without the need of spectacles, and traveled often to New York to conduct real estate business until her death in September 1916 at ninety-one. The beautiful vault she erected for her husband’s remains she now shares with him.
Charles and Phillipena had one daughter who died after only two days. Both were Lutherans.
Phillipena Young died at her residence on September 13, 1916, at the age of ninety-one. She survived her husband, Charles Young, who had passed away 19 years earlier, in 1897.
1826-1871 William T. Norton
William Norton was a prominent businessman in Norwich, engaged in the family wholesale grocery business, manager of the Montville Woolen Mills, and one of four major shareholders in the Attawaugan Cotton Mill. The Norwich Board of Trade listed William as one of the sixty wealthiest men in Norwich with an annual income in 1865 of $20,800.
William T. Norton died as a result of a shipwreck. In November 1871, the ship City of New London caught fire in the Thames River when a cook carelessly placed a hot poker next to a wall. The initial fire was thought to have been put out but rekindled in bales of cotton stored on board. In search of additional help to fight the fire, the ship continued upstream toward Norwich until the pilot was forced from the helm by smoke and fire. The ship went aground, and passengers jumped into the freezing water to escape the flames.
Mr. Norton, one of the passengers on board that night, was able to rescue several swimmers and reportedly gave a life vest to the sole female passenger, but due to exhaustion and icy temperatures, he drowned in his final efforts. A $1,000 reward was offered to anyone who could recover his body, which was found nine weeks later by a young girl. The reward money was used toward her education.
Norton was 44 years old.