Commemorative Biographical Record of Fairfield County, Connecticut

Dr. Ralph N. Betts, Sr. , our subject's father, was born in Woodbury township, Litchfield county, August 24, 1812, and in his youth stud- ied dentistry with his brother, Charles, who was then practicing in Amenia, N. Y., as both a physician and a dentist, although later he de- voted his time to dentistry. After acquiring a knowledge of the business, our subject's father located at Woodbury, Conn., where he estab- lished a lucrative practice, extending up the Housatonic as far north as New Canaan, up the Naugatuck railroad as far as Winsted, and up the Harlem railroad as far as Boston Four Corners, becoming known as one of the leading dentists of this section. He was a man of talent, fond of reading, and as a citizen was always public- spirited and progressive. Politically, he was a stanch Democrat. His death occurred February 5, 1896; his widow, Anna (Plowman), to whom he was married in 1840, is still living. She was born at Christchurch, Hants (Hampshire), Eng- land, in 1820, a daughter of Samuel and Martha Plowman, and came to America when fourteen years old. They had three children: (1) Ralph N., Jr., our subject. (2) James Slade (i), born in Brooklyn, N. Y., September 14, 1844, and died there December 1, 1845. (3) James Slade (2), born F"ebruar)' 25, 1847, in Woodbury, Conn., and died in Middletown, Conn., February 18, 1889; he was a bright young man, a druggist by occupation, and after spending seven years in the business, the last two years as a clerk in Lewis W. Booth's drug store at Bridgeport, Conn., he was seized with a severe attack of typhoid fever, brought on by overwork, suffering two relapses, which so seriously affected him that he was finally placed in Middletown Asylum. Dr. R. N. Betts, Jr., our subject, was born September 25, 1841, at Woodbury, Conn., where his education was obtained in the public schools and the academy. When about sixteen years old he left school, and the next two years he spent as a clerk in the store of Mr. Newton, at Oakville, Conn. He .then went to Water- bury, Conn., to take a similar position in a gen- tlemen's furnishing store; but after four years he decided to enter the profession of dentistry, for which he prepared by a course of study with his uncle, then a dentist at Mt. Kisco, N. Y. At the end of his term of apprenticeship he located at Woodbury, where his business occupied his time for one week in a month, and soon after, in 1866, he established branch offices in Sandy Hook and Brookfield, this county, devoting one week in a month to each. His spare time was given to occasional visits to Torrington and Waterbury, and in this way he spent about three years. His business at Sandy Hook becoming a substantially profitable one, he settled there and continued in practice successfully until 1893, when he became identified with mercantile life. During his thirty years of practice he gained an enviable reputation, his business extending over a wide range of territory surrounding Sandy Hook. The Doctor is a firm believer in the principles of the Democratic party, but he has never been active in politics. He takes an interest in all progressive movements in his locality, and is prominent in religious work as a member of St. John's Episcopal Church, of which he has been treasurer since its organization as an independ- ent Society. On December 24, 1873, the Doctor was mar- ried to Miss Mary Jane Elizabeth Hough, by whom he has had seven children, whose names with dates of birth are as follows: Ralph G., June 13, 1875; Charles E., September 28, 1876; James Milton, April 9, 1878; William Er-iest, February 4, 1881; Gustavus A., November 9, 1882; Anna May, May 5, 1886, and William A., February 17, 1888. All are yet living except William Ernest, who died August 21, 1886. 842 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. Mrs. Betts was born in Sandy Hook in 185 1, a daughter of Gustavus A. Hough, a highly- respected resident of that place. He is a native of East Schuyler, N. Y. , whence he came to Sandy Hook in 1846 to take a position in the » rubber factory, with which he has now been con- nected for more than forty-four years. In 1853 he went to California, where he spent six years in mining, but since his return he has held the post of superintendent of the second rubber works, being at present the oldest employe in the company, and he was the first calender man to come to the town. He married Miss Jane Daniels, then of Sandy Hook, but formerly of Poughkeepsie, N. Y., whose father, Benajah Daniels, was a native of Wareham, England. Mrs. Betts was the elder of two daughters, the younger of whom, Martha T. , born in 1861, died in 1863. w lOYAL HOLMES, a well-known florist and landscape gardener of Shelton, is one of the most enterprising business men of that locali- ty. He has a large and constantly-growing trade among the best people, and the demand for his flowers outside of his immediate neighborhood has led him to open a branch store at No. 1 1 Elizabeth street, Derby. Mr. Holmes is of English descent in both paternal and maternal lines. William Holmes (i), his grandfather, who was a carpet manufact- urer, passed his entire life in the old country. William Holmes (2), the father of our subject, was born in England, and for some years of his early manhood followed the trade of machinist there. He married Miss Lucy Walker, a native of Yorkshire, England, and on coming to America with his family he located first in Derby, where he continued to work at his trade. In 1868 he engaged in business as a florist at Huntington (now Shelton), and for about twenty-five years he carried on that enterprise with marked suc- cess. He was a believer in the principles of the Republican party, and in religious faith he was an Episcopalian. Of his ten children, the eldest, Joshua, is a machinist in Shelton; Mary Ann, who died December 18, 1875, married William Webster, a native of England and a machinist by trade; Walter died at the age of sixteen; Lucy married William Reed, a tackmaker, then resid- ing in Derby, but who is now in the employ of the Elgin Watch Company, Elgin, 111.; William is foreman of the plating department of the Derby Silver Company; Lillie married Frederick Valentine, a tailor at Sing Sing, N. Y; Emma died at an early age; Florence married Leonard Davis, an architect at Great Hill, Conn., but now residing in Omaha, Neb. ; Royal, our subject, is mentioned more fully below; Josephine mar- ried Frank North, then a machinist at Ansonia, who is now employed by the Elgin Watch Com- pany. Royal Holmes was born February 12, 1864, at Shelton, and his education was secured in the schools of that village. At the age of sixteen he began to learn the machinist's trade with the Farrell Machine Company, at Ansonia. After two years with that firm he was employed for about a year by the Bassett Machine Company, of Derby, and on leaving them he began to assist his father, acquiring a thorough knowledge of the florist business. Since the death of the father he has had full charge of the business, which is conducted under his own name. His artistic taste and sound judgment are frequently called into service by the wealthy residents of his locality for the beautifying of their grounds, etc., and he has won an enviable reputation by his skillful work. While he is not an active politi- cian, he nevertheless is interested in the various questions of the day, and is a stanch Republican. On January 21, 1S85, Mr. Holmes married Miss Emma Coney, of Woodbridge, Conn., and four children have been born to them: William F. ; Ethel May; Clarence, now deceased; and Pauline. Mrs. Holmes is of English extraction, and her father, William Coney, a veteran of the Mexican war, is a prominent citizen of Wood- bridge. B)OBERT H. BEERS. "History," says a 1^ well-known writer, "is best studied in biography," indeed history is biography, the story of collective humanity as influenced by in- dividuals, and this volume holds, in its records of separate achievement in various lines, informa- tion which will be of inestimable value to the future historian of this section. In the peaceful contests of business life the subject of this sketch, a leading merchant of Newtown, has won an honorable name for himself, and an account of his life will be of lasting interest. Mr. Beers belongs to an old and highly- esteemed family, and was born in Palestine Dis- trict, Newtown, August 3r, 1866, a son of George and a grandson of Lemuel Beers, both of whom were natives of the same town and district. After acquiring a practical education in the common schools near his early home Mr. Beers took a complete commercial course in Hill's Business College, at Bridgeport, graduating when he was about eighteen years old. He then spent six or COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 34a seven years as a clerk in the store of E. F. Haw- ley, and later engaged in general mercantile business on his own account at the " corner store " formerly occupied by Baldwin & Beers, -^ Henry Sanford, and, later, Edgar F. Hawley — a building at the corner of Main and West streets, Newtown. His partner in this enter- prise is H. G. Curtis, a brother-in-law, and they have successfully conducted the business since June I, 1892. They have now a most profitable trade, the largest, perhaps, of any store in the locality, and everything points to a bright future for them. On June 7, 1894, Mr. Beers married Miss Sarah Edmond Sanford, daughter of Henry San- ford, one of the most prominent merchants of Newtown, and one son has blessed the union, Henry Sanford Beers. The family is identified with Trinity Episcopal Church at Newtown, of which Mr. Beers is a leading member. While he is a public-spirited citizen he does not take an active part in movements of a political nature, though he is a stanch Republican, like all of his family, and his influence is none the less potent for being exercised in an unofficial way.