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F. W. Chesson FILE: LF\LWF-GEN.TXT.
Waterbury, Conn. 06710 Minor Rev: Oct, 2003
Southington Historical Notes
on...
The Family Genealogy of Leonard William Francis, founder and headmaster of
the
Saint James School of Berlin, Conn., founder and director of Camp Leo,
near
Laconia, New Hampshire, and founder of the Leo Foundation in N.H. and
Conn.
Oak Hill Cemetery is largest if not the oldest cemetery in Southington,
Connecticut, having been established in 1733 as an adjunct to the
Congregational
Meeting House, which stood at its northern extremity. Its many gravestones
run
the gamut from primitive "Skull & Bones" motifs on brownstones to the
"Weeping
Willow" design of the early 19th Century, to Victorian baroque excesses in
cast
zinc, to today's basic stone and bronze ground-flush slabs.
At the north end is a towering stone cross, unusual for its size, standing
on
the Oxley Plot, but serving as a general monument to all of those at rest.
Just up the hill from the entrance, a chapel bears the names of the once-
prominent Bradley, Yeomans and Barnes Families.
The locale, overlooking busy Route 10, was more isolated in earlier times,
and is now pressed from north and west by burgoning shopping plazas, but
still
retains an atmosphere of sylvan dignity. There are many markers of
military
veterans, including some from the Viet Nam War. Southington seems to have
had
a disproportionate number of fatalities from that action, for its
population of
then about 35,000. Lately, there has been controversy concerning
industrial
polution causing the untimely death of many young persons....
There are numerous Francis interments in the cemetery. The family plot in
question being sited in the middle of Section Ten. A horizontal monument,
about four by three feet, bears the name FRANCIS on its west-facing
exposure.
In front are three identical low granite markers. The one on the far left
reads: Harry B. (Blinn) Francis / 1885-1951. The next reads: Mary Ellen
Jordan / 1884-1971. The next: Son, Clayton J. B. Francis / 1907-1976.
A newer stone to the far right reads: Son, Leonard W. Francis / 1918-1992
Like many monuments, this one does double duty, the east-facing side being
ing marked FLAGG. This is for the family of Robert B. Flagg, whom Anna
Victoria
Francis, born 1911, married, c 1940. One marker here reads Robert B. Flagg
-
1911-1990. He was born in Meriden and died in Middletown, July 29, 1990.
Two
small evergreens are at each end of the monument on the Flagg side. There
is
now another for Anna Victoria Francis Flagg, his wife, 3-14-1911 +
7-28-1995.
Nearby is a marker for Frederick N. Francis, 1882-1965, one of Harry's
four
brothers. Also interred is his wife, Lillian I. Bradley, 1886-1939.
According to an obituary notice, the other survivors were brothers Howard
P. Francis, also of Southington, and Charles W. of New Britain. There was
one
sister, Mrs. Addie Mary Francis Scranton, also of New Britain.
Across the road are other Francis interments: John Woodruff Francis, born
in Manchester, Conn., February 17, 1855, died 1933. His wife, Minnie B (Blinn?)
Harris, 1856-1922. Their son, Charles Woodruff Francis, born May 22, 1890,
died July 3, 1955. His wife, Harriet Coons Francis; born.....died October
13,
1972. Also Emma Amelia Francis, daughter of John and Minnie; born December
26,
1876, died 1927. Her husband, Minott A. Scranton, 1871-1943, outlived her
by
some 16 years.
Francis Family Genealogy
The Southington News for September 3, 1937 carried an item concerning a
Francis Family Reunion, to be held on Labor Day, in Durham, Connecticut,
for
the descendents of Robert Francis (1629-1712), a founder (or at least a
very
early resident) of Old Wethersfield, Conn. Fred N. Francis (brother of HBF)
and his wife were listed among the organizers.
Wethersfield, a few miles below Hartford, on the west bank of the Conn-
ecticut River, is one of the state's oldest settlements and retains much
of
its colonial heritage. There is a Francis Street, which runs into Hartford
Street, on which, at #194, stands the John Francis House, built circa
1720.
In 1906 a book of Francis Family genealogy was published posthumously by
Dr. Charles E. Francis, died 1905, a dentist of 200 Summer St., Stamford,
Conn.
He gives Robert Francis' death as Jan. 29. 1705 in Wethersfield. A family
coat
of arms bares the motto, translated from the French as "Wither Fate
Calls."
similar to that of the Crown Colony of Bermuda.
One of Robert's descendents was Cyrus Francis, born in Newington, CT. Dec.
16, 1797. He married Sabara Blinn on June 23, 1823 and died October 22,
1845.
She died in 1824, probably following the birth of her son, Blinn Francis,
on
March 10, 1824. Cyrus married Nancy Dorrance Pratt in 1827. She died in
1850.
Blinn Francis was a Captain of the First Conn. Infantry Regiment in the
Civil War and died in West Hartford on Nov. 5, 1895. He married Lucy Hart
on
April 26, 1848. They had nine children.
One son was John Woodruff Francis, born in Manchester on Feb. 17, 1855.
He married Minnie B. Harris of Salisbury, July 11, 1876. They had two
girls,
Emma Amelia (born Dec. 26, 1876), Addie Mary (born June 16, 1879) plus
five boys
William Harris (born March 14, 1881), Frederick Newton (born Nov. 15,
1882),
Harry Blinn (born April 17, 1885) Howard Pratt Francis (born May 8, 1888),
and Charles Woodruff (born May 22, 1890; died July 3, 1955). All
apparently
were born in Southington, where John was a carpenter and house builder.
Harry Blinn Francis was born in Southington, April 17, 1885. In the 1908
SCD he is listed as an electrician and lived on Raynor Street with his
father
and brother John W., who were carpenters. He was married to MARY Ellen
JORDAN,
the daughter of Bridget and Michael Leonard JORDAN of Darien. She was born
July
21, 1884, and died in Southington on May 24, 1971. Their first child was
CLAYTON John Blinn FRANCIS, born Sept. 2, 1908 and died in Southington
July 6,
1976. Their second child was Anna Victoria, born 3-24-1911. She married
Robert
Flagg c 1940 and died July 28, 1995.
In 1917 four of the Francis men were carpenters, including Harry B., Fred,
Howard, William, plus father John W. Fred N. had an entry in the SCD's
business
advertising section. None seemed to have had military service in World War
One,
but Harry's name appears on ther roster of the Southington Home Guard
Reserve.
Harry B. and Mary Ellen lived on Summit Street, a north-south crest on the
west
side of towen.
LEONARD WILLIAM FRANCIS was born Sept. 8, 1918, two months before the
Armistice. Harry B. was now listed as an electrical contractor, with an
address
at 75 Main Street.
1924 was probably the high point for Harry B.'s business career, as he was
listed as "Francis the Electrician" in the directory, with this title
along the
top edge of the front cover, and had an office at 144 Center Street.
In 1926 the advertisement was gone and by 1928 he was simply listed as an
electrician, home on Summit Street. However, his obituary stated that he
was a
lighting contractor on the Portland-Middletown Connecticut River Bridge in
1938.
Sub-contractor would probably have been more definitive, considering the
scope
of the project.
Harry separated from his wife c 1940 and moved to a residence on South End
Road, near the old Polish Cemetery, where he lived alone until his sudden
death
by heart failure on July 31, 1951.
His Obituary listed surviving brothers as Howard in Southington and
Charles
in New Britain. A sister, Addie, was also living in New Britain. The
funeral
was held in the Southington Episcopal Church, interment at Oak Hill
Cemetery.
Anna V. Francis married Robert Flagg c 1940 and lived nearby on Raynor
Street, before removing to Portland, Conn. in 1972. The couple had a
daughter,
Lois, who married Edward Stabach and had four sons. According to her
Obituary
in the Middletown Press for Saturday, July 29, 1995, in 1960 Anna became a
member of the Ester Stevens Brazer Guild of the Historical Society of
Early
American Decoration, Charter Oak Chapter and was a teacher of Early
American
Decor from her home. She was also an AARP Member.
A funeral Mass was at 10 AM from St. Mary's Chapel in Portland, with
burial in
Oak Hill. Memorial Contributions to the St. Mary's Rebuilding Fund or the
Xavier (High School) Alumni Association were specified.
Clayton spent his working life as an accountant in Hartford, probably with
one of the insurance companies, and died in July, 1976.
Leonard Francis entered the Navy Sea Bees as a Carpenter's Mate, First
Class in July, 1942. He served with the 35th NCB in the South Pacific
Theatre,
serving in the Russell Islands, near Guadalcanal. He was invalided out,
due to
malaria in June 1944. He graduated from Yale in March, 1947, but
identified
himself with the Class of 1948.
From 1954 to 1978, he operated the Saint James School for boys in nearby
Berlin, and Camp Leo, near Laconia, New Hampshire, from 1946 to 1987. He
was
also the founder and Treasurer of the Leo Foundations of both Connecticut
and
New Hampshire. It was reported that he had two short-lived marriages.
After his mother's death in 1971, Francis lived at St. James School until
its closing in 1978 and than at Camp Leo for another ten years. He died at
the
U.S. Veterans Hospital in Manchester, New Hampshire on July 22, 1992 and
was
interred in Oak Hill Cemetery six days later.
The family home on North Summit Street has since gone through several
changes of ownership.
There was also a Joseph Francis, a World War One aviator. He owned a large
junk yard at the bottom of Southington Mountain.
When Interstate I-84 was being constructed c 1960, he resisted the state's
efforts to acquire his land. Finally, condemnation proceedings were
initiated,
and many old cars were dragged out and temporairly deposited along the
margins
of Route 6A, east into Milldale, reminding onlookers of the debris of a
routed
army.
Stubborness seems to have been a Francis Family attribute, as he was also
involved with many protracted actions both with local and state
authorities.
Leonard was especially litigious with parents of former Saint James School
students and Camp Leo summer campers, as well as the Town of Berlin and
various
officials and residents.
The once-prolific family has now virtually disappeared from the area. Only
Francis Street, a small road off of North Summit Street, recalls the
former
residents and their lives and times.
References:
Francis Family Geneology. Dr. Charles E. Francis. Stamford, Conn. 1906
Southington City Directory, ca 1915 - ff. various issues.
Meriden Record-Journal: July 27, 1992
Middletown Press: July 25 & 27, 1992
New Britain Herald: various issues, 1954 - 1988, for St. James School
items.
Southington News: Sept. 3, 1937
Laconia Evening Standard: various issues, ca 1984-1990, for Camp Leo
items.
Manchester Union Leader: various issues ca same period about Camp Leo.
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