1834-1911 William Callyhan Robinson
William C. Robinson
Jurist and educator, William C. Robinson was born in Norwich, Connecticut, in July 1834, the son of John Adams and Mary Elizabeth (Callyhan) Robinson. After preparatory studies at Norwich Academy, Williston Seminary, and Wesleyan University, he entered Dartmouth College, from which he graduated in 1854. He then entered the Theological Seminary of the Protestant Episcopal Church, graduated in 1857, and was ordained to the Episcopalian Ministry, in which he served first at Pittston, PA, and then at Scranton, PA. He was received into the Catholic Church in 1863, was admitted to the Bar in 1864, and was lecturer and professor in law at Yale University (1869-95).
For two years (1869-71), he served as judge of the City Court and later as judge of the Court of Common Pleas at New Haven, Conn. In 1874, he served as a member of the Legislature. From Dartmouth College, he received (1879) the degree LL.D., and from Yale University the degree M.A. (1881). He married Anna Elizabeth Haviland in July 1857 and, following her death, Ultima Marie Smith in March 1891. His thorough knowledge of law made him eminent as a teacher and enabled him to render important service to the Church. In 1895, he was appointed professor at the Catholic University of America, where he founded the School of Social Sciences and served as Dean of the School of Law. This school eventually merged to become the Columbus University School of Law in 1954. William Robinson died in Washington, DC, in 1911.
The family had a fear of being buried alive and, as a result, had a metal door installed in their tomb in the Yantic Cemetery. Burial instructions requested that a hammer be placed inside the tomb to use in banging on the door and drawing attention. The tomb rules also called for the coffin, with an open lid, to be placed in the center aisle so that one could easily gain access to the hammer. Wine and food were also to be left behind.
The tomb was built in 1874 by William A. Robinson, who relocated his father from the city cemetery and his mother from the Chapman tomb;17 inside, seven on top.
Callyhan – Robinson Tomb
William Callyhan was born in 1783. He was a hatter and came to Norwich from the Waterford area at an early age. William was trained as a tin smith and invented the “Tin Baker,” a beehive-style oven made of tin, which he had patented by his grandson, Hon. William C. Robinson, a trained patent attorney. He retired in 1850, having accumulated a substantial real estate portfolio. William Callyhan owned, among other things, the Mansfield Block and the Lanman property. He died in 1853.
1838-1878 Charles Morgan Coit
Charles Morgan Coit, son of Charles Coit, was born in Norwich in March 1838. At the age of seventeen, the death of his father caused him to drop out of college and enter the business world reluctantly. He was initially employed at the Uncas Bank in Norwich. Still, at the young age of twenty-one, he was soon selected to be treasurer of the Chelsea Savings Bank, following the departure of the previous treasurer after just one year of service. Charles was held in the highest esteem by bank officials, so that when the Civil War broke out, if he volunteered to fight, his bank position would remain open for him. Unable to leave home due to family and business obligations when the first call for enlistment was made, Charles could not resist Lincoln’s second call for volunteers and, in 1861, joined the service as adjutant of the 8th Connecticut Volunteer Infantry, organized under General Edward Harland.
Charles was wounded at Fair Oaks, Virginia, in 1864, and upon his recovery, he was promoted to brevet in March 1865 and discharged in May 1865. Upon returning to Norwich, Colonel Coit was offered his former position as treasurer of the Chelsea Savings Bank, which he accepted.
Charles was an aide to General Joseph Hawley during his tenure as governor of the state. Colonel Coit was also an early and active supporter of the local post of the Grand Army of the Republic. He was an active member of the Second Congregational Church as Deacon and treasurer.
Colonel Coit lost his life in July 1872 by drowning in New London. His infant son had fallen overboard from a yacht, and in his effort to rescue his little boy, which he was successful in doing, he lost his own life.
Charles was married to Mary B. Hillard in June 1872. They had two sons: Charles (1873) and Augustus (1876).
Following the untimely death of Colonel Charles Coit in 1872, his brother George D. Coit, then treasurer of the Dime Bank, was chosen to fill his position of treasurer at the Chelsea Savings Bank. In July 1878, George transferred his services to the Chelsea Savings Bank, where he remained until his death in October 1906.
1838-1912 Lewis J. Saxton
Lewis J. Saxton was born in Germany and educated in the National Schools of that country, where he learned the trade of cabinet maker. At an early age, Lewis realized his life’s ambition was to become a manufacturer, and America offered the most significant opportunity for success. He left his native country and traveled to New London, where he began to apply his trade as a cabinetmaker. When the Civil War began, he enlisted in the Twenty-sixth Connecticut regiment and was sent into the Deep South, where he participated in the capture of New Orleans, LA. He next shipped to Mississippi, where he took part in the siege of Port Hudson, which surrendered in 1863.
In 1875, Lewis became the paymaster for the Clinton Mills Co. of Norwich, a manufacturer of woolen fabrics. At that time, the Clinton Mills Co., situated on two and a half acres along the Yantic River, produced 250,000 pounds of finished goods and was capitalized at $160,000. Lewis Saxton took each opportunity to study and learn every facet of this business. Due to his hard work and efficiency, he was offered one promotion after another, until in 1906 he became an agent for the company. During this period, by following a frugal lifestyle, Lewis was able to save a large portion of his income.
Saxton Woolen Corporation on the Yantic River
By 1910, he realized his life’s ambition by buying out the company for which he had worked for thirty-five years. As an example of tenacity of purpose and final achievement, this record has rarely been equaled. The business was incorporated under the name Saxton Woolen Corporation, with Louis J. Saxon as president. He lived but a short time to enjoy the fruits of his success, but long enough to see his sons assume control and continue to bring success to the business. Louis died in November 1912.
Lewis Saxton married Sarah Bingham of New London, and together they had six children: Carroll, deceased; Alice D.; Louis Henry; Eliza L., wife of Charles Bartlett of Washington, C.; Charles A.; and Mabel S., who was the wife of Charles H. Standish of Norwich.
1841-1923 Emil Welte
Emil Welte (1841-1923)
The Welte family story begins in Germany, where Emil Welte was born in 1841. Following graduation from a technical college, he became involved in the family business of manufacturing clocks and automated musical instruments. At the age of twenty-one, he was appointed by the Grand Duke to represent the clock and automatic musical instrument industries from the Black Forest region at the London exhibition in 1862. Four years later, in 1866, Emil sailed to New York City, by way of Boston, for the express purpose of delivering and installing a large (and expensive) orchestrion.
His automatic, self-playing organ attracted much favorable attention, and, recognizing a business opportunity, Emil wrote to his father, Michael Welte (b. 1807 – d. 1880), to ship him several smaller orchestrions. He opened a store on the corner of 5th and 22nd Street in New York under the business name of M. Welte & Son, a Branch of M. Welte & Soehne in Voernbach, Germany.
Business prospered, and Emil soon opened a second store on East 14th Street, a popular shopping district in NYC at the time.
In 1867 Emil traveled to Norwich for business. He remained acting head of the company until 1914, when he retired to Norwich, CT, to live at 34 E. Town Street.
Emil Welte married, June 1871, in the Second Congregational Church of Norwich, Emma Marguerite Foerstner, born in Norwich, March 1853, daughter of Joseph and Mary Foerstner, and niece of Mrs. Phillipena T. Young
1850-1935 Adams P. Carroll
Adams Carroll was born in Norwich in June 1850, the third child of Lucius and Charlotte (Pope) Carroll. He attended local public schools and, after graduating from Norwich Free Academy as valedictorian in 1868, entered Brown University, where he obtained an advanced degree in business, following the death of E.P. Jacobs and the retirement of Capt. In 1876, Adams was taken into the company, which became L. W. Carroll & Son, dealing in mill and manufacturers’ supplies, at 17–21 Water Street, Norwich, CT. For nearly a quarter of a century, father and son continued a prosperous business.
An engraving of the L.W. Carroll & Son warehouse is shown on the left.
Adams was an active member of the Central Baptist Church, serving as trustee and president of the board. He was also a trustee of the Norwich Savings Society and the Otis Library. He was a prominent member of the Norwich Board of Trade, which evolved into the Chamber of Commerce.
1872-1955 Carl Michael Welte
Carl Welte was born in Norwich, August 1872, in the Samuel Huntington mansion at 34 East Town Street, then the home of his great aunt, Phillipena Young. The same year, his parents relocated from New York City. He attended public school in New York City. He graduated from college with advanced degrees in mechanical drawing and music, with a focus on piano, in preparation for entering his father’s business (M. Welte & Sons), which he joined in 1889, beginning an apprenticeship in organ building. In 1893, he was sent to Chicago for the World’s Columbian Exposition to oversee the firm’s exhibition. In 1901, he became a member of both firms, in New York and Germany.
On May 1, 1914, Carl, retaining stock ownership, withdrew from active participation in the business and retired, living in the Samuel Huntington mansion in Norwich. Here, he continued to manage his mother’s estate and father’s business. Carl was a member of the New London County Historical Society, the Norwichtown Rural Association, director in the Tin Mining Company of Alaska, and a life member of the Luther Burbank Society of Santa Rosa, California. Carl died in 1955.
Carl married Annie Easter Morgan of Norwichtown in 1903 in New York City and was the parent of one son, Carl M. Welte, Jr., who was born in 1907 but died in July 1908.
1880-1923 James Dana Coit
James Coit was born in Norwich in December 1880. He was educated in local public schools, spending two years at the Norwich Free Academy, followed by two years at Holbrook Military Academy in Sing Sing, New York, where he graduated. After two years at Yale, James withdrew and began employment in the Merchants National Bank in Norwich, CT. (oldest national bank in Norwich, 1823) where he remained until 1906.
James then went to work at the Chelsea Savings Bank, where his father had established his honored career. He began as a clerk and, over the years, worked his way up to assistant secretary and treasurer. James was well-known and highly respected in the banking community and was also involved in many of the city’s social and philanthropic activities.
He was the Treasurer of the Americanization Institute and the Norwich Tuberculosis Fund of the American Red Cross. He was a member of the Arcanum Club, Norwich Golf Club , Sons of the American Revolution, Society of Colonial Wars, and Delta Phi fraternity.
Charles’ father was George Douglas Coit (b. 1845 – d. 1906), and his mother was Sarah Perkins Grosvenor Coit (b. 1806 – d. 1894)
In May 1909, James Coit married Emily H. Turnbull of Baltimore. They were both active members of the Park Congregational Church.