In 1887, officers were first elected for the Lowrey family reunion, minutes were kept for the first time, and the reunion was held at the home of E F. (Edward Fenn) Gaylord, in Bristol. Later reunions in 1892,1897, and in 1902 were also held there.
E. F. Gaylord was a self-made man, who lead an extraordinary life of leadership, generosity, and prosperity. Fortunately for us, short biographies of his life were published in two books.
E.F. Gaylord was born in 1848 in New York and later moved to Kansas. In 1861 with his brother and widowed mother the family moved to Connecticut. He obtained an education, apprenticed at wood-turning, and was a salesman covering Ohio, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Connecticut, and an employee of Stanley Rule & Level Works.
Purchasing a farm of 129 acres, he extended it to 800 acres, becoming the largest land owner in Bristol and Burlington. However, farming was only a small part of his business interests. In peak seasons he employed 50 people in a large dairy, grain and feed business, horse dealing, and a year-round portable saw mill business. At times he held contracts to sprinkle the streets of Bristol and to maintain 80 miles of public roads.
Although history records that agriculture was a secondary interest relative to his businesses, he was actively involved in the Whigville Grange, serving as its third
Master. He served as President of the Bristol Agricultural Society, Chief Marshall of the Bristol Fair Association, ~ and a Master of the Pamona Grange. He was an active Republican and a member of Prospect Methodist Episcopal Church.
He joined the Whigville Grange in a time of financial crisis, as recorded in the 1st reference
"bringing with him his characteristic push and energy ...under his efficient, business-like management we were soon freed from
debt".
The first reference also contains a brief biography reading, in part:
"He ...has been a moving force and power for progress in his adopted home. He belongs to the order of busy men, and his tireless energy is a
stimulus for activity in all with whom he comes in contact. His enlistment in any undertaking gives it impetus, whilst his example and ready mental resourcefulness insure its speedy consummation. These qualities applied to his ...enterprises have clothed them with profit ..his membership ..is marked by the same concentration
of force and executive zeal that characterizes his other activities."
References:
The Connecticut Granges, Industrial
Publishing Company, New Haven, CT, 1899
Commemorative Record, Biographies and
Portraits, of Hartford County, CT, Chicago,
J. H. Beers & Go, 1901