Charles A. Roberts

Source: https://archive.org/details/commemorativebio12inbeer
Scan label: 115
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432 COMMEMORATIVE  BIOGRAPHICAL  RECORD. remains  were  laid  to  rest  in  the  West  cemetery  of that  city.  He  was  noted  for  his  honesty  and  up- right character,  and  was  well-known  and  highly respected.  His  spirits  were  genial,  and  his  man- ners pleasant  and  attractive.  A  devoted  hushand and  an  upright  citizen,  his  personal  standing  was beyond  question.  He  was  a  stockholder  and  di- rector in  the  First  National  Eank  of  Meriden,  and was  also  a  member  of  the  Meriden  City  Council. In  politics  he  belonged  to  the  Democratic  party. In  traternity  circles,  he  was  a  ^Master  Alason.  and was  affiliated  with  Center  Lodge,  No.  97,  A.  F. &  A.  AI.  Domestic  in  his  habits,  he  was  broad- minded  and  well-read,  being  thoroughly  posted  on all  the  leading  events  of  the  day.  He  and  his  wife attended  the  Cniversalist  Church. Mr.  Roberts  was  married  in  1853  to  Miss Belinda  Shailer  Adams,  who  was  born  in  the  town of  Suffield,  Conn.,  a  daughter  of  John  and  Betsy (Snow)  Adams,  both  of  whom  were  natives  of Suffield,  where  they  lived  and  died.  None  of  the children  born  to  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Roberts  grew  to maturity. LINUS  MEAD,  president  and  sole  owner  of the  Crystal  Ice  Co..  of  New  Haven,  was  born  in Lewisboro,  N.  Y..  Sept.  20,  1835,  son  of  Richard and  Hannah  (Keeler)  Mead.  The  family  was  early settled  in  Greenwich,  Conn.,  where  two  brothers  of the  name,  of  English  birth,  settled  in  1660. Solomon  Mead,  the  great-grandfather  of  our subject,  was  born  there.  Fie  was  the  first  minister of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  South  Salem,  N.  Y. His  son  Clark,  the  grandfather  of  our  subject,  mar- ried Lois  Gilbert,  of  South  Salem,  and  they  had  a family  of  four  sons  and  three  daughters,  all  now deceased.  Clark  Mead  died  at  the  age  of  sixty-three years.  His  wife,  who  was  a  consistent  member  of the  Presbyterian  Church,  died  at  the  age  of  seventy- nine  years. Richard  ]Mead,  the  father  of  our  subject,  was reared  on  a  farm,  and  received  a  part  of  the old  homestead  as  his  portion  of  his  father's  estate. He  died  there  at  the  age  of  eighty  years.  He  mar- ried Hannah  Keeler,  a  daughter  of  Ammi  and Phoebe  (Strang)  Keeler,  the  former  of  whom  was a  farmer  in  Lewisboro.  Mrs.  Keeler,  who  was  one of  a  family  of  thirteen  children,  lived  to  be  over eighty  years  of  age,  as  did  all  the  family  except  one. She  had  two  children :  Hannah,  the  mother  of  our subject ;  and  Henry,  who  was  during  his  life  a  prom- inent man,  well  known  in  his  section  of  New  York State.  The  parents  of  our  subject  reared  five  chil- dren, all  sons,  and  all  of  whom  survive:  Solomon, whose  sketch  appears  in  another  part  of  this  vol- ume; Clark,  who  resides  near  the  old  homestead  in South  Salem:  Linus,  our  subject;  Henry,  "a  resi- dent of  New  Haven ;  and  Stephen  S.,  who  formerly resided  in  New  Haven,  but  now  lives  on  the  old home  farm  in  New  York  State.  The  beloved  mother still  survives  at  the  advanced  age  of  ninety-six  years, in  good  health  and  in  full  possession  of  all  her  fac- ulties. In  1832  she  and  her  husband  became  mem- bers of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  in  which  he  served as  trustee. The  early  years  of  Linus  Mead  were  spent  on the  farm  and  in  attendance  in  the  common  schools- of  his  locality.     At  the  age  of  eighteen  years  he came  to  New  Haven,  but  two  years  later  returned  to South   Salemi  and   engaged   in    farming   and   other kinds  of  work   in  that  neighborhood.     Some   two '  years  later  he  married,  ana  then  bought  a  farm  of i  his   father-in-law,  but  some  time   later  sold   it  and ;  removed  to  Bedford,  N.  Y.,  where  he  was  foreman ;  on  a  stock  farm,  and  was  also  engaged  in  the  busi- ness of  buying  and  selling  cattle  and  poultry,  suc- !  cessfully  conducting  this  enterprise  for  some  time. \  He  then  went  to  Poughkeepsie,   N.  Y.,  where  he i  was  engaged  as  a  farm  manager  on  the  farm  of  one ■  Burell,  a  grandson  of  John  Jacob  Astor,   remain- ing for  two  years,  and  then  spent  two  years  in  the j  same  capacity  on  the  land  of  M.  S.  Beach,  editor of  the  New  York  Sun,  near  Poughkeepsie.       He then  removed  to  New  Haven  and  built  his  present residence,  entering  into  the  foundry  business  with his  brother,  Solomon  2\Iead.     Later  Air.  Mead  re- turned to  Salem,  where  he  spent  one  year.     Later he  managed   a  business   west  of   New   Haven,   at Tyler's    Shore,   Conn.,   for  Mrs.   Tyler.      Here,   in 1877,  Mrs.  Alead  died,  at  the  age  of  forty  years. Her  maiden  name  was  Sarah  E.  Bouton,  and  she was  born  in  Lewisboro,  a  daughter  of  Linus  and Laura  (Pardee)  Bouton.    Linus  Bouton  was  a  far- mer, and  died  at  the  age  of  sixty  years ;  his  widow survived  until  the  age  of  ninety-two,  dying  in  1900. They  had  three  children,  the  survivor  being  Mrs. Laura  V.   Bennett,  of  Pulteney,   N.  Y.     One  son was   born  to   Mr.   and   Mrs.    Alead,   Frederick  L.,. who  was  educated  in  the  public  schools,  and  at  the age  of  eighteen  engaged  with  his  father  as  book- keeper.    Later  he  was  made  secretary  of  the  ice company,  and  now  assists   in  a  general   way.     In 1886  he  married  Alice  L.  Russell,  a  native  of  the town  of  Orange,  and  a  daughter  of  William   AL Russell,  who  is  a  prominent  man-  in  that  town,  and the  present  assessor.    Two  children  have  been  born of  this  marriage,  Alay  E.  and  Walter  Llewellyn. About  1878  Mr.  Alead  went  into  the  ice  business, beginning  in  a  small  way,  and  gradually  increasing — employment  being  given  at  present  to  some  thirty- five  men  and  from  twenty-eight  to  thirty  horses, during  the  busy  season.  The  harvest  consists  of some  20,000  tons  of  ice,  which  is  sold  both  retail and  wholesale.  A  track  has  been  constructed  for the  transportation  of  the  ice,  and  every  modern method  is  used  for  expeditious  handling.  The  first ice-house  was  fifty  feet  square,  and  the  ice  was  put in  by  hand.  Soon  after  four  other  houses  were erected,  each  25x60  feet  in  dimensions,  and  still another  40x60  was  soon  required,  and  another  35 x6o.  Two  years  later  another — 50x75 — was  added, and  two  years  later  the  business  was  so  extended.