WILLIAM PARK BINDLOSS,
coal merchant of Stonington, Conn., who was for some years in the coal
business with the late J. N. Hancox, was born in the adjoining town of
Groton, this State, January 10, 1854. He is a son of William and Mary Ellen
(Park) Bindloss.
His paternal grandfather, William Bindloss,
Sr., horn in 1794, a native of Kendal, Westmorelandshire, England, was
a son of Philip Bindloss and a brother of Robert Bindloss. A cousin, William
Bindloss, was Mayor of Kendal when he died, and left of his millions a
fine endowment, including city waterworks, a city hall with chime bells,
and the revenue from his castle. Grandfather Bindloss came to America about
the year 1846, accompanied by his wife and five of their eight children,
two or more being already here. He was very social and generous, and spent
his lime chiefly as a gentleman of leisure, lit died in the town of Waterford
in 1864, aged sixty-nine. His wife was Margaret Palmer, daughter of Thomas
Palmer. Eight of their ten children are still living, the youngest being
sixty-three years of age and the eldest seventy-five.
William Bindloss, Jr., the second child and
eldest son, was born in Kendal, Westmorelandshire, England, July 22, 1824.
In the spring of 1844 he left Liverpool for New York City on the " Elizabeth
Denison," a sailing-vessel, and was thirty days on the voyage. His younger
brother, Philip George, who now lives in New London, came with him. Before
leaving England William had served a five years' apprenticeship at the
butcher's trade in Liverpool, receiving sixty cents per week to start with.
After coming to Connecticut, he worked for seven years as a cooper in Mystic,
and subsequently engaged as a ship-carpenter, first with Irons & Grinnell,
then with Charles Mallory, and later with the Greenmans, following the
business for five years all together. In January, 1854, forty-four years
ago, he bought his little farm of ten acres and mill site, paying fifteen
hundred dollars. The water-power was the little spring brook on which his
wife's grandfather Parks built a dam as early as 1750. Mr. Bindloss repaired
the old dam, and put up a new mill, which is still running; and in 1868
he built his residence and barn. For forty years, up to 1896, he gave his
personal attention to the running of the mill, which has now passed into
the management of a son, Frank Miner Bindloss.
The marriage of William Bindloss and Mary
Ellen Parks was solemnized on February 27, 1852. She is a daughter of William
Parks and a grand-daughter of Joseph Parks, spoken of above, who was lost
at sea in the memorable Christmas storm, while out in Southern waters on
a fishing trip. Her father died of yellow fever in 1838, in Key West, where
he was engaged in mercantile business; and her widowed mother, whose maiden
name was Catherine Mitchell, was left with six children. She now lives
with Mrs. Bindloss, and, though ninety-three years of age, is remarkably
well preserved, with hearing un-dulled and eyesight so good that she can
thread her needle without the aid of glasses. When but ten years old, she
began to learn tailoring. At eleven she cut and made a pair of trousers
for her father; and, during the eighty years that have followed, her skilful
fingers have fashioned a great number and variety of garments for both
men and women. She was married at twenty-four, in 1.328.
Mr. and Mrs. Bindloss have had eleven children;
and seven, four sons and three daughters, are living. Four sons have died
— three in infancy, and Roswell at the age of twelve. Those who reached
maturity are: William Park, the special subject of this biographical sketch;
Julia Ellen, wife of James W. Pollock, a nurseryman living in Mystic, who
has one son; Catherine, wife of Oliver Braman, of Newport, R.I., who has
a daughter; Austin Palmer Bindloss, also living in Newport, who has a daughter;
Dudley, a mason by trade, who is unmarried and lives at the parental home;
Margaret Ann and Frank Miner, also living at home, the latter having charge
of the mill. Mr. Bindloss is now retired from the active cares of business
life. He began with small means, and was dependent upon his own resources
until, in 1863, he received a small legacy from one of the family across
the water. He has been a man of unusual physical endurance, and his life
has been a very active one. In political views he is a Democrat and an
ardent advocate of the free trade policy.
William Park Bindloss, the elder of the four
brothers, completed his education in Mystic High School. At fourteen years
of age he began working on a farm, and continued thus employed for some
years. Later he learned the mason's trade, following that about fifteen
years. He has been in the coal business on his own account since January,
1897.
Mr. Bindloss and Miss Elizabeth Esther Bickley
were united in marriage on April 7, 1881. They have two children:
William, born January 2, 1896, after fifteen years of wedded life; and
Esther Helen, born January 25, 1897. Mr. Bindloss and his family
reside on Water Street, in the house which he built in 1884. Mrs. Bindloss
is a native of Lee, Mass., and is a daughter of John Bickley, of England.
In politics, like his father, Mr. Bindloss is a stanch Democrat. Fraternally,
he is a member of the Masonic Lodge and Council. He and his wife are church
members, the one of the Episcopal and the other of the Congregational church.
A full record of the Bindloss family in England may be found in the old
church in Kendal.
(2 photos attached)
Biographical Review Volume
XXVI
Containing Life Sketches of Leading Citizens
of New London County Connecticut
Boston
Biographical Review Publishing Company
1898
pgs 192 - 195
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