Dwight W. Thrall (1843-1916)

Dwight W. Thrall (September 19, 1843 - December 23, 1916) was an organizer of the Connecticut Humane Society and its agent for more than 25 years.

Thrall was born on September 19, 1843 in Bloomfield, Connecticut, as the son of Hiram Thrall and Melissa Griswold. He was educated in the Bloomfield schools and Hartford High School. His first occupation was surveying and farming, naturally fond of children and animals. In the winter of 1880, a meeting was held for the purpose of organizing a state humane society. Soon after the organization of the Connecticut Humane Society, Thrall gave up his business to take up humane society work. During the early financial embarrassments, he secured a suitable home in Hartford for the organization and by the time he left in 1911, it had become a powerful factor in the state. He maintained a cheerful disposition, despite a deafness brought about y shooting suffering animals.

Thrall died at his home, 219 High Street, following an illness of four months.

Family
Thrall married the daughter of Clark Corey on November 17, 1865. His sister, Virginia Thrall Smith, was a city missionary and almoner, prominently identified with children's aid society.
 * Mrs. George T. Fowler
 * Oliver H. Thrall
 * Dwight A. Thrall

Real Estate

 * On March 21, 1890, Thrall moved from the Boswell place on South Main Street to the Griswold cottage in Newington.
 * Elmer G. Clark sold him 9.75 acres in November 1903, adjoining the former land of his sister, Virginia T. Smith, as well as another 1.25 acres from the latter. In January 1904, Thrall sold 6.5 acres on Talcott Mountain beside the Reservoir to the heirs of William B. Smith and Virginia T. Smith.
 * After his death in 1916, his estate was transferred to Oliver C. Smith and William B. Smith, real estate owned on Sunset ridge tract bounded by Reservoir No. 1, Sunset Farm Road, Farmington Avenue, and the property of Everett T. Stanley.