Encyclopedia of Connecticut biography, genealogical-memorial ...

after its opening an addition was found
necessary, and since then the inn has been
enlarged several times to accommodate
the increased numbers of enthusiastic
patrons.
In 1919 Mr. Cowles organized The
Pickwick Arms, Inc., purchased the
Lenox House property at the corner of
the Boston Post Road and Greenwich
avenue, and constructed The Pickwick
Arms, a million dollar hotel, which has
given to Greenwich one of the finest
hotels in the State. The building, mod-
eled after the old English inns, is of
fireproof construction, equipped with
every convenience and comfort. Mr.
Cowles has also entered the business of
candy manufacturing and, securing the
services of an experienced Parisian candymaker,
placed upon the market "Pickwick
Chocolates," which have come into exten-
sive demand in New York and suburbs.
It has been the good fortune of Mr.
Cowles to have his earnest eflorts for his
town's betterment appreciated and supported
in unusual degree. He has been
able to lend practical aid to many friends
and acquaintances, and in direct personal
manner has been instrumental in the promotion
of the success and welfare of no
small number of those with whom he
comes into contact. He is a member of
the Union League, the Down Town Club,
the India House, the Greenwich Country
Club, the Indian Harbor Yacht Club, and
the Blind Brook Club.
Mr. Cowles married Louise Marcia
Pfarrius, daughter of Ernst and Emma
(Tannatt) Pfarrius, and they are the
parents of Ernest Francis, and Francis
Russel.
McHARG, Henry King,
Man of Affairs.
Mr. McHarg's long record as a suc-
cessful man of affairs renders the inscrip-
ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY
306
tion of his name at the head of this article
an amply sufficient introduction not only
to his fellow-citizens of Stamford, but
also to the general public. Mr. McHarg
is now president of the Detroit & Mack-
inac Railroad Company, and director of
the Manhattan Bank of New York City.
The name of the family of which Mr.
McHarg is a representative is Graham,
McHarg being its backward spelling with
changing of "a" to "c." Tradition says that
one of the family fled from Scotland,
probably to Ireland, and that when he re-
turned to his native land, in order to
escape persecution, he changed the patronymic
to its present form. The earliest
ancestor on record was William de Graham,
who settled in Scotland not long
after the beginning of the twelfth cen-
tury. The name is a local one, its
Scottish form being Graeme, but its termination
proves it beyond doubt to have
been originally English.
(I) John McHarg was bom in 1733,
in Wigtownshire, Scotland, and in 1774
emigrated to the American colonies, settling
in Galway, Saratoga county. New
York. He was one of the twelve heads
of families who founded that settlement.
The year after his arrival witnessed the
outbreak of the Revolutionary War, and
he gave proof of loyalty to his adopted
country by serving as a soldier in Colonel
John Beekman's regiment, being also a
member of Jacob Schermerhorn's class.
After the war he conducted a retail dry
goods store in Albany, New York. Mr.
McHarg married, in Scotland, Griselda
Kelly, who was born in 1748, in the town
of Ayr, and their children were : Margaret,
Anne, Alexander, William, men-
tioned below ; a daughter, name unknown ;
Jane, or Janet ; Mary, died in infancy
Mary (2), and Sarah. All these, with the
exception of the two eldest, were born
after their parents came to America. John
;