CORNELL 
 
 UNIVERSITY 
 
 LIBRARY 
 
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 XI 
 
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 The original of this book is in 
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 http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924028841935 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 VOLUME XXVI 
 
 CONTAINING LIFE SKETCHES OF LEADING CITIZENS OF 
 
 NEW LONDON COUNTY 
 
 CONNECTICUT 
 
 "Biography is the home aspect of history" 
 
 BOSTON 
 
 Biographical Review Publishing Company 
 
 1898 
 
ATLANTIC STATES SERIES OF BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEWS. 
 
 The volumes issued in this series up to date are the following : 
 
 I. Otsego County, New York. 
 
 II. Madison County, New York. 
 
 III. Broome County, New York. 
 
 IV. Columbia County, New York. 
 V. Cayuga County, New Vork. 
 
 VI. Delaware County, New York. 
 
 VII. Livingston and Wyoming Counties, 
 
 New York. 
 
 VII [. Cliivtonand Essex Counties, New York. 
 
 IX. Hampden County, Massachusetts. 
 
 X. Franklin County, Massachusetts. 
 
 XI. Hampshire County, Massachusetts. 
 
 XII. Litchfield County, Connecticut. 
 
 XIII. York County, Maine. 
 
 XIV. Cumberland County, Maine. 
 
 XV. Oxford and Franklin Counties, 
 Maine. 
 
 XVI. Cumberland Count-.', New Jersey. 
 
 XVII. Rockingham County, New Hampshire. 
 
 XVIII, Ply.mouth County, Massachusetts. 
 
 XIX. Camden and Burlington Counties, 
 New Jersey. 
 
 XX. Sagadahoc, Lincoln, Knox, and 
 ^^'ALDO Counties, Maine. 
 
 XXI. Strafford and Belknap Counties, 
 New Hampshire. 
 
 XXII. Sullivan and Merrimack Counties, 
 New Hampshire. 
 
 xxiii. hillsboro and cheshire counties, 
 New Hampshire. 
 
 XXIV. Pittsburg, Pennsylvania. 
 
 XX\' Norfolk County, Massachusetts. 
 
 XXVI. New London County, Connecticut. 
 
 Note. — All the biographical sketches published in this volume were submitted to their respective subjects or to the sub- 
 scribers, from whom the facts were primarily obtained, for their approval or correction before going to press ; and a reasonable 
 time was allowed in each case for the return of the typewritten copies. Most of them were returned to us within the time allotted, 
 or before the work was printed, after being corrected or revised; and these may therefore be regarded as reasonably accurate. 
 
 A few, however, were not returned to us ; and, as we have no means of knowing whether they contain errors or not, we 
 cannot vouch for their accuracy. In justice to our readers, and to render this work more valuable for reference puqjoses, we have 
 indicated all uncorrected sketches by a small asterisk (*), placed immediately after the name of the subject™ They will be found 
 printed on the last pages of the book. 
 
 / , B. R. PUB. CO 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 TRUE to our purpose of bringing out in the closing years of the nineteenth 
 century — a period of record searching and of record making such as, we 
 venture to say, the world has never before known — an extended series of biographical 
 works of special local interest and value, thus far within the limits of the Atlantic 
 States, we issue herewith our twenty-sixth volume, devoted to contemporary worthies 
 of New London County, Connecticut. Its pages set forth, in brief outline sketches, 
 the character, connections, and activities of representative citizens of this ancient 
 shire, showing what manner of men and women have succeeded to the possession and 
 occupancy of the territory settled by Governor Winthrop and his followers, in many 
 instances tracing lines of descent from the pioneers of old, showing who are the 
 conservators of the goodly heritage to-day, and what they have done to prove their 
 title to the vast heirship of privilege and responsibility, to win the respect and good 
 will of their compatriots and deserve the remembrance of posterity. 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW PUBLISHING CO. 
 April, 1898. 
 
^^ 
 
 /_-i>.;'i*-s. i'j ,* 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL. 
 
 IIDNEY MINER, whose portrait 
 appears on the opposite page, 
 was for many years a prominent 
 citizen of New London, Conn., 
 his native place, where he died 
 on December 29, 1881, at 
 seventy-six years of age. He 
 was a son of Frederick and Han- 
 nah (Wood) Miner, the father a 
 native of Stonington and the mother of Groton. 
 Stonington was the home of the Miner fam- 
 ily for four generations or more; and Simeon 
 Miner, the father of Frederick, spent his life 
 there. Thomas Miner, an English yeoman, 
 from Chew-Magna, Somersetshire, England, 
 the first of the family to settle in America, 
 came, it is said, with John Winthrop in the 
 ship "Arbella. " He lived in Boston at first, 
 was a member of the church in 1632, but soon 
 removed to Hingham, Mass. ; and about the 
 year 1646 he came to New London. In 1653 
 he removed from here to Quiambog, where he 
 spent the remainder of his life. The farm 
 that he owned is still occupied by his descend- 
 ants. Lie was but twenty-two years old when 
 he left England, and he was married in Bos- 
 ton. His son Ephraim married Mary Avery, 
 June 20, 1666. Ephraim, Jr., son of 
 Ephraim and Mary, married Mary Stevens; 
 and their son Simeon married Hannah 
 Wheeler. Simeon, Jr., son of Simeon, and 
 the next in this line, was twice married, first 
 to Anna Hewitt, and second to Mary Owen, 
 
 a daughter of "Schoolmaster" Owen, who was 
 well known in that section of New London 
 County. Frederick Miner, the father of Sid- 
 ney, was the son of Simeon, Jr., by his second 
 marriage. He was a successful merchant. 
 Three sons and a daughter were the fruit of 
 his union with Hannah Wood, but all have 
 now passed away. 
 
 Sidney Miner, the special subject of this 
 sketch, was largely interested in the whale 
 fishery up to 1855. After that he engaged in 
 the coasting trade as a merchant. He was 
 actively interested in local affairs, and served 
 on the Board of Aldermen of New London 
 many years. In 185 1 and 1852 he built, on 
 the site of one of the old block-houses, the 
 handsome mansion-house in which he after- 
 ward made his home with his family. The 
 main portion of the house is forty-four by 
 forty-two feet in ground area, with a large L 
 adjoining, and is three stories in height, built 
 of stuccoed brick. At the time of its erection 
 it was one of the finest in the city, and it is 
 not surpassed by many at the present time. 
 
 Mr.' Miner married for his first wife Mary 
 Ann Ramsdell, of Mansfield, Conn. She 
 died at twenty-nine years of age, leaving 
 three children, two sons and a daughter. 
 Only the daughter, Mary Miner, is now living. 
 She resides in California. Mr. Miner mar- 
 ried for his second wife on April 23, 1844, 
 Lydia J. Belcher, who survives him. Their 
 union was blessed by the birth of a son and 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 daughter, both of whom have passed away, the 
 daughter having died in infancy. The son, 
 Joseph Lawrence Miner, died in September, 
 1876, aged twenty-nine years. Mr. Miner's 
 second son, Frederick W. Miner, married Jen- 
 nie Hale, and had two sons — Sidney H. and 
 Frederick R. Sidney H. Miner married Lucy 
 K. Bishop, of New London. They are living 
 with Mrs. Miner at the family residence, 68 
 Main Street, and have one son, Sidney Bishop 
 Miner. Frederick Miner is unmarried, and 
 resides in California with his mother. 
 
 Mrs. Miner was born in Norwich, a daugh- 
 ter of Colonel William and Sally (Wilson) 
 Belcher, the former of whom was a native of 
 Griswold, and the latter of Jewett City, this 
 county. They had eight sons and two daugh- 
 ters, but only two survive at this day; namely, 
 Mrs. Miner and her brother, Charles Belcher, 
 who is living in retirement in St. Louis, Mo. 
 Mrs. Miner is a member of Dr. Blake's 
 church, whose house of worship was erected 
 under the supervision of Mr. Miner at the 
 same time that he was building his own 
 house. 
 
 WILLIAM FITCH, late a retired mer- 
 chant residing in Norwich, where 
 he died December 22, 1880, was 
 born in Bozrah, Conn., on October 27, 1800. 
 He was the youngest son of Colonel Asa and 
 Susanna (Fitch) Fitch, and was a descendant 
 of James Fitch, who came to America in the 
 ship "Defense" in 1635. 
 
 James F'itch, when sixteen years of age, 
 studied theology under the instruction of the 
 Rev. Messrs. Hooker and Stone, of Hartford, 
 Conn., and was ordained at Saybrook in 1649. 
 After remaining as pastor there fourteen years, 
 the Rev. Mr. Fitch removed thence to Nor- 
 wich with the larger part of his congregation, 
 and continued active in the work of the min- 
 
 istry till very near the close of his long and 
 useful life, his death occurring at Lebanon, 
 Conn., November 18, 1702. He was a native 
 of Booking, County Essex, England, the date 
 of his birth being December 24, 1622. The 
 Rev. James Fitch married first, in 1648, Abi- 
 gail, daughter of the Rev, Henry Whitfield. 
 She died in 1659; and he married in Oc- 
 tober, 1664, Priscilla Mason, daughter of 
 Captain John Mason. He had fourteen chil- 
 dren, six by his first wife and eight by the 
 second. Their descendants are very numer- 
 ous. Thomas Fitch, who settled in Nor- 
 walk, Conn., and Joseph Fitch, who settled 
 permanently at Windsor, and was the ancestor 
 of John Fitch, the inventor, were brothers of 
 the Rev. James Fitch; and a Samuel, school- 
 master, who was married in Hartford in 1654, 
 it is said "may have been another brother." 
 
 Samuel Fitch, born in 1655, son of the 
 Rev. James and Abigail (Whitfield) Fitch, 
 is said by Stiles in his History of Windsor, 
 Conn., to have been the ancestor of the Bozrah 
 Fitch families. 
 
 Colonel Asa Fitch, father of the subject of 
 this sketch, was born in Bozrah, February 14, 
 1755. He was a farmer and iron manufact- 
 urer at Fitchville. By his first wife, Su- 
 sanna, he had ten children, five sons and five 
 daughters. The maiden name of his second 
 wife was Mary House. 
 
 William Fitch in his boyhood for some 
 years worked on his father's farm summers 
 and attended school winters. Later, in his 
 sixteenth or seventeenth year, he attended 
 Bacon Academy at Colchester, where he com- 
 pleted the course of study, and was graduated. 
 He had always been fond of books and study, 
 and he next applied himself for several terms 
 to teaching school. At the age of twenty he 
 began his business career, going with his 
 brother Douglas to Marseilles, France, join- 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 ing in business their elder brother, Asa 
 Fitch, Jr., who had been in New York City 
 for some years, and who there founded the 
 mercantile house of Fitch Brothers & Co., 
 who sixty years ago and more were doing an 
 immense commission business. In a volume 
 entitled "Old Merchants of New York City" 
 we read that nearly all the American vessels 
 and American produce sent to Marseilles were 
 consigned to "the great firm," also that the 
 United States government appointed this 
 house agent of the navy, charged with supply- 
 ing the provisions and making the payment, 
 etc., of the American squadron in the Medi- 
 terranean. Returning to this country in 1825 
 or 1826, Mr. William Fitch was engaged for 
 about twelve years in the New York office of 
 the house, having in this period entire charge 
 of the same. Mr. Fitch returned to his native 
 town in 1848, and there remained until 1858, 
 when he removed to Norwich. In this city 
 he became the owner of considerable real es- 
 tate. The house that' he bought in 1857 of 
 Edward Worthington, and which has since 
 been the family home, was built one hundred 
 and thirty years ago or more by Colonel Will- 
 iam Bradford Whiting, who sold it in 1771 to 
 Azariah Lathrop. A picture of this historic 
 mansion may be seen in the volume entitled 
 "Old Houses of the Ancient Town of Nor- 
 wich." 
 
 Mr. Fitch was married October 14, 1857, 
 to Mary E., daughter of Dr. Elias and Mary 
 Ann (Hillhouse) Williams. A biographical 
 sketch of Mrs. Fitch follows this. 
 
 kRS. MARY E. FITCH, for many 
 years a highly esteemed resident 
 of Norwich, was a daughter of 
 Dr. Elias W. and Mary Ann (Hillhouse) 
 Williams. Her paternal grandfather was the 
 
 Rev. Joshua Williams, a native of Middletown, 
 Conn., and a man of great personal worth. 
 He married Mary Webb, who died in middle 
 life some years before her husband. They 
 had six children, two sons and four daughters. 
 Dr. Elias W. Williams was born in Harwin- 
 ton, Litchfield County, Conn., September 16, 
 1797. He was skilled in his profession, and 
 was a man of cheerful disposition and genial 
 and courteous manners. His career of useful- 
 ness was cut short in his thirty-first year, his 
 death occurring September 16, 1828. His 
 wife, who survived him many years, died in 
 1885, at the home of her daughter, Mrs. Will- 
 iam Fitch, at the advanced age of eighty-nine. 
 They had two children — Mary E., and a son 
 who died in infancy. 
 
 Mary E. Williams received careful home 
 training and as good an education as in those 
 days was readily obtainable by women. On 
 October 14, 1857, she was married to William 
 Fitch, a member of the family for which 
 Fitchville was named. His father. Colonel 
 Asa P'itch, who was born in 1755, at one time 
 operated an iron furnace in the town of Boz- 
 rah. His sons subsequently built, owned, and 
 operated a cotton-mill in that town. This 
 mill was three times burned, and twice rebuilt 
 by Asa Fitch, Jr. In February, 1781, 
 Colonel Asa Fitch married Susannah Fitch, 
 who bore him five sons and five daughters. 
 After her death he married for his second 
 wife, in January, 1816, Mary House, who sur- 
 vived him some years. 
 
 William Fitch was the ninth child and 
 youngest son of Colonel Asa and Susannah 
 Fitch, and was born in the town of Bozrah, 
 October 27, 1800. He became a member of 
 the firm of Fitch Brothers, commission mer- 
 chants and importers of New York City. 
 Having inherited from his father's estate a 
 goodly patrimony, he added to it from the 
 
12 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 results of his successful business career. A 
 fuller account of his life and ancestry may be 
 found in his own personal sketch, immediately 
 preceding this article. Mr. and Mrs. Fitch 
 had six children, of whom four are now living. 
 Their record in brief is as follows: William 
 died at the age of twenty months in i860; 
 Fanny, a young lady of great promise, died 
 February 21, 1890, at the age of twenty-two 
 years; Marian Hillhouse is the wife of Elihu 
 G. Loomis, an attorney-at-law of Boston, 
 Mass., and the mother of four children; Susan 
 Lee is Mrs. William R. Jewett, of Grand 
 Rapids, Mich., and has three children; Eliza- 
 beth Mason is the wife of William N. Wilbur, 
 a manufacturer of Philadelphia, Pa., and has 
 three children ; and Sarah Griswold, the wife 
 of Francis Hillhouse, of New York City, has 
 musical talents of a high order, and is a 
 skilled performer upon the piano. 
 
 Mrs. Fitch died at her home in Norwich 
 town on July 12, 1897. The spacious stately 
 looking house in which she resided is built in 
 Southern Colonial style, and dates back more 
 than a hundred years. It stands back from 
 the street, and is reached by a wide and beau- 
 tiful private driveway leading from the foot of 
 Norwich town green. The extensive grounds 
 are beautifully cared for, and are shaded by 
 tall old trees, which give one a feeling of 
 being in the country, far from the rush of city 
 life. The mistress of this beautiful estate 
 was a modest and genuine lady, unaffected and 
 easily approached; and visitors to her home, 
 however humble, were always courteously wel- 
 comed. 
 
 (sjYOHN MITCHELL, a prominent manu- 
 facturer of Norwich, was born at Stour- 
 bridge, England, in 1819, son of 
 
 Thomas and Elizabeth (Williams) Mitchell. 
 
 The father, who was born in 1798, came to 
 
 America in 1828 with his wife and five chil- 
 dren. He spent the first three years in New 
 York City. Subsequently, in 1845, he came 
 to Norwich. He was an iron manufacturer, 
 having learned the business in England, and a 
 member of the Cold Spring Iron Company, 
 which he established here and the Gosnold 
 Mills in New Bedford, Mass., in 1855. He 
 died in 1867, when sixty -nine years of age, 
 having led a busy and successful life. Eliza- 
 beth Mitchell, his wife, was a native of Bris- 
 tol, England. They were the parents of 
 nine children, of whom five sons and three 
 daughters reached maturity. Of these Mary 
 A., John, William, Elizabeth, Charles, and • 
 Emma are living. Mary A. is the widow of 
 William Garner, and resides in Derby, Conn, j 
 Elizabeth is the wife of George W. Geer; and 
 Emma is the wife of Frank Davis. Except- 
 ing Mrs. Garner, all reside in Norwich. The 
 mother died in March, i860, at sixty-seven. 
 
 At the age of thirteen John Mitchell left 
 the district school, and became an apprentice 
 to the iron business, which has been his chief 
 occupation since. He has been connected 
 with the Cold Spring Iron Works fifty years. 
 Since 1879, when he purchased the Thames 
 Iron Works, he has been the president of that 
 corporation. Also for the past seventeen years 
 he has been the president of the Richmond 
 Stove Works, of which he was one of the 
 founders. He is also interested in the Uncas 
 Paper Company, of which he was one of the 
 original directors. 
 
 On June 6, 1841, Mr. Mitchell was married 
 to Miss Joanna Dexter Gibbs, a daughter of 
 Captain Joshua and Deborah (Washburn) 
 Gibbs, of Wareham, Mass. Her father, who 
 was a sea captain, died in the prime of life, 
 leaving two other children, namely: Azel W. 
 Gibbs, of Norwich; and Mary B., the wife of 
 Samuel B. Caswell, living in Los Angeles, 
 
JOHN MrrCllELL, 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 IS 
 
 Cal. Her mother died in 1852, aged fifty-two 
 years. Mr. and Mrs. Mitciiell have had four 
 sons, of whom two died in infancy. The 
 others are: Albert Gibbs Mitchell, residing 
 in Norwich, who is married and has one son; 
 and Frank Arthur Mitchell, living in Ari- 
 zona, who is married, and has one daughter. 
 Mr. Mitchell has served on the Common 
 Council for two years. For a quarter-century 
 he has been a director of the Thames National 
 Bank. He has been interested in the Nor- 
 wich Savings Bank for about twenty-seven 
 years and its president since 1895. He is 
 also a director of the Crescent Fire Arms 
 Company of Norwich, Conn., and a trustee of 
 the Norwich Free Academy and of several 
 other institutions. A man of sound judg- 
 ment, he has been very successful. Both he 
 and Mrs. Mitchell attend the Second Congre- 
 gational Church. They reside at 178 West 
 Thames Street, where he erected his present 
 home and settled in 1859, within a short dis- 
 tance of the residence of his father. 
 
 ^ARL J. VIETS, of New London, 
 dealer in books, stationery, and fancy 
 goods, is a lineal descendant of 
 some of the original settlers of Connecticut. 
 He was born in East Granby, Conn., and is a 
 son of John Jay and Jane (Wadsworth) Viets. 
 The family is of German origin. The first 
 progenitor in this part of the country was a 
 colonist from the vicinity of Dorchester, 
 Mass., who with a party under the leadership 
 of ministers Hooker and Stone made the first 
 settlement at Hartford. The exodus of these 
 colonists took place in June, 1636; and their 
 journey to Llartford (named for Mr. Stone's 
 birthplace in England) is vividly described in 
 Ellis's Youth's History of the United States, 
 vol. i. p. 117. Dr. John Viets settled in 
 
 1 710 in Simsbury (now East Granby), which 
 has since been the home of the family. His 
 grandson. Captain John Viets, who was the 
 great -great-grandfather of the subject of this 
 sketch, was the first keeper of the old Newgate 
 Prison at Simsbury, and during the Revolu- 
 tion had Tory prisoners under his charge 
 there. From his time to the present the male 
 members of the family generally have been 
 engaged in agricultural pursuits. John Viets, 
 Carl J. Viets's grandfather, died in 1858, at 
 the age of seventy-five years. His wife was 
 in maidenhood Abigail Eno, of Simsbury; 
 and Amos R. Eno, of New York City, is a 
 cousin of the present Mr. Viets. Mrs. Abi- 
 gail Eno Viets survived her husband ten 
 years, living to be fourscore, and is now rest- 
 ing with him in the East Granby cemetery, 
 where sleep many generations of the family. 
 She reared four sons and two daughters, of 
 whom the only survivor is Ardelia, widow of 
 Edward Bowers, and a resident of Hartford. 
 The last to die was James Rollin Viets, a 
 successful merchant and influential public 
 man, who breathed his last in East Granby in 
 July, 1896, at the age of seventy-five years. 
 
 John Jay Viets was born in Simsbury (East 
 Granby) in 1806. He was in business for a 
 number of years in his native town, dealing 
 extensively in general merchandise. Though 
 a Republican in a strong Democratic town, he 
 was often called upon to take an active part in 
 public affairs; and his ability was generally 
 recognized. His death pccurred December 
 10, 1885. He was married in 185 1 to Jane 
 Wadsworth, of Farmington, Conn., daughter 
 of Timothy Wadsworth, and a direct descend- 
 ant of William Wadsworth, who was one of 
 the first settlers of Hartford, coming thither 
 with the Rev. Mr. Hooker from the vicinity of 
 Dorchester. Her mother's maiden name was 
 Strong. Mrs. Jane Wadsworth Viets died at 
 
i6 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 the age of sixty-one years, sixteen days after 
 her husband's demise. They reared three 
 children: Jennie A., wife of 0. L. Livesey, 
 now living in California near Los Angeles; 
 Carl J. ; and Hubert Wadsworth Viets, pro- 
 prietor and manager of a large steam laundry 
 in La Crosse, Wis. 
 
 Carl J. Viets acquired his elementary edu- 
 cation in the district school, and was gradu- 
 ated at Columbia Institute at the age of seven- 
 teen. Shortly after leaving school he obtained 
 a position in the post-office at Windsor, 
 Conn., and was Assistant Postmaster there for 
 some five years. In the spring of 1881 he 
 was engaged as book-keeper for the Livesey 
 Manufacturing Company in New London; and 
 in 1888 he purchased his present stand, buy- 
 ing the whole estate of Charles Allen. As a 
 book store this place of business has been in 
 existence nearly sixty-eight years, having 
 been established by the Bowles Brothers in 
 1830. Mr. Viets has a large and well-selected 
 stock, and controls a good business. 
 
 He was married May 23, 1883, to Mary, 
 daughter of Major William H. H. and Eliza 
 (Smith) Comstock. She was born in East 
 Lyme, Conn., and has lived in New London 
 thirty years. Mrs. Viets also is of old New 
 England stock. She is a member of the 
 Mayflower Society by right of five ances- 
 tors, two on her father's side, and three on her 
 mother's, all passengers on the historic craft. 
 She is also a member of the Daughters of the 
 Revolution; belongs to the Sons of the Revo- 
 lution, which she joined as an honorary mem- 
 ber, being one of the few ladies to have that 
 distinction ; and is a member of the Society of 
 Colonial Dames, besides being eligible to 
 several of the more exclusive Colonial socie- 
 ties. One child was born to Mr., and Mrs. 
 Viets, a daughter, who died in infancy. 
 
 Mr. Viets is a Republican politically, and 
 
 he is now serving his third term as a Council- 
 man of New London. He is a Master Mason, 
 belongs to the Independent Order of Odd 
 Fellows, and is also a member of the Sons of 
 the American Revolution by right of two 
 lines of descent, being eligible to the May- 
 flower Society by virtue of being a descend- 
 ant of John Alden. He has an attractive 
 home on Granite Street, one of the charming 
 residences in the vicinity of the park, into 
 which he moved February 17, 1896. 
 
 ^ANFORD NELSON BILLINGS, 
 a skilful farmer and extensive land- 
 owner of Stonington, Conn., was 
 born May 18, 1841, in North Stonington, a 
 son of Horatio N. Billings, and is of ancient 
 Colonial stock. 
 
 Roger Billings, probably the first of this 
 surname in New England, came over about 
 1635, and settled at Dorchester, Mass. His 
 epitaph, which has been preserved in print, 
 reads as follows: — 
 
 Here lyeth buried 
 ye Body of Roger 
 Billings Senior aged 
 63 years Departed 
 this life ye 1 5 day 
 of November 
 1683. 
 
 William Billings, an ancestor of the subject 
 of this sketch several generations removed, 
 married February 12, 1658; and to him and 
 his wife, Mary, were born seven daughters 
 and two sons, William being the eldest and 
 Ebenezer, the next in line of descent, the 
 youngest child. In 1680 Ebenezer married 
 Annie Comstock, who bore him five daughters 
 and an equal number of sons, among them 
 being Ebenezer and Increase. The latter, 
 their eighth child, born May 13, 1697, settled 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 17 
 
 in Ledyard, jConn. Ebenezer Billings, Jr., 
 their second child and first son, was the next 
 in this line. He was born January i, 1684, 
 and on April 2, 1706, married Phebe Denni- 
 son, by whom he had eleven children, six of 
 them being sons. The line was continued 
 through their third child and second son, 
 Ebenezer, third, born March 20, 1711. He 
 married Mary Noyes on November 20, 1733, 
 and had four sons and four daughters. San- 
 ford, the second child and first son, born 
 April 21, 1736, was named in honor of an 
 uncle or aunt who had married into the family 
 of George Sanford. Sanford Billings married 
 Lucy Green, daughter of James Green, whose 
 wife, it is said, was a direct descendant of 
 John Alden and Priscilla Mullins, immortal- 
 ized by Longfellow. Nine sons and two 
 daughters were born of this union, Gilbert, 
 the fifth son and child, being the grandfather 
 of Sanford Nelson Billings. 
 
 Gilbert Billings was born November 25, 
 1768, on the old homestead in Stonington. 
 He married Lucy Swan, by whom he had 
 eleven children, eight sons and three daugh- 
 ters; and of these two sons and one daughter 
 died in early life. A daughter, Lucy, was 
 twice married; and one of her grand-daughters, 
 whose father was a surgeon in the Twenty-first 
 Illinois Volunteer Infantry, commanded by 
 General Grant, now lives in Illinois. A son, 
 Robert Billings, married Calista Kinney, and 
 at his death left one son, Gilbert, of Mill 
 Town. Sanford Billings, second, another 
 son, a young man of great promise, went West 
 as a surveyor when young, and died in Illi- 
 nois. 
 
 Horatio N. Billings was born in 1803, and 
 married on January 30, 1838, Mary Ann Fish. 
 He was a seafaring man, and in 1849 or 1850 
 went to California as first mate of a sailing- 
 vessel. He was heard from soon after his 
 
 arrival, but never afterward. Mrs. Billings 
 struggled nobly to educate their four children; 
 namely, Lucy H., Sanford Nelson, Edward 
 E., and Mary A. Lucy H. Billings became 
 the wife of John L. Spalding, and died in 
 1 88 1, aged, forty-two years; Edward E. is a 
 farmer in North Stonington; and Mary A. is 
 the wife of Charles D. Thompson, of North 
 Stonington, and has twin daughters. Mrs. 
 Spalding, who possessed rare literary ability 
 and artistic talent, was educated at Cooper In- 
 stitute in New York, where she won the first 
 prize medal in art. She wrote much for the 
 press; and in 1871 a volume of her poetical 
 works was published by J. B. Lippincott, 
 bearing the title of "The Ruined Statues and 
 Other Poems," by Louise Billings Spalding 
 (her pen name) . She was twice married, but 
 had no children. 
 
 Sanford N. Billings began the battle of life 
 on his own account when a lad of sixteen, 
 working as a farm hand for his uncle, Ben- 
 jamin F. Billings, in Griswold, this county. 
 At the age of eighteen he began farming on 
 the old homestead farm that his early ances- 
 tor, William Billings, had taken from the 
 government, and a portion of which has since 
 been in the family, being now owned by a 
 cousin of Mr. Billings. In August, 1862, 
 Mr. Billings enlisted as a private in Company 
 G, Twenty -first Connecticut Volunteer Infan- 
 try. Six months later he was detached, and 
 for a year and a half was turnkey of the jail at 
 Norfolk, Va. Rejoining his regiment at 
 Washington, N.C., he was taken prisoner in 
 front of Richmond on May 16, 1864, and con- 
 veyed to Libby Prison and two weeks later 
 to Andersonville, where he was confined until 
 the fall of' 1864. He was then taken to 
 Charleston, S.C., thence three weeks later to 
 Florence, and from there to Wilmington, 
 N.C., and afterward to Goldsboro. Mr. Bill- 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 ings had in the meantime endured untold 
 horrors, and, having suffered a shock, had be- 
 come so reduced that he could scarcely walk. 
 He had barely clothes enough to cover him; 
 but in sheer desperation he and a comrade 
 wandered away, and were fortunately picked 
 up by some of the boys in blue. Mr. Billings 
 was so feeble in mind that he knew not his 
 name or where he was; but after weeks of 
 faithful nursing he was partially restored, and 
 as soon as able was sent home, arriving here a 
 mere shadow of himself. He had weighed 
 one hundred and seventy-five pounds when in 
 his normal health, but after becoming conva- 
 lescent he weighed but ninety-four. Though 
 he escaped the missiles of death that flew 
 around him in battle, he suffered worse agonies 
 than were ever caused by a bullet's wound, 
 his prison life having been a veritable "hell 
 upon earth," the very memory of it even now 
 overshadowing him with a sickening horror. 
 While he was in Andersonville, his mother 
 died on the old homestead. 
 
 Mr. Billings has since turned his attention 
 to agricultural pursuits in Stonington and 
 North Stonington, paying much attention to 
 stock-raising, a part of the time having been 
 in partnership with W. W. Billings; but he is 
 now more interested in dairying. In 1873 he 
 took possession of his present fine farm, which 
 was presented to him by William W. BHlings, 
 of New London. He also owns another farm 
 and two tracts of land, amounting in all to 
 some three hundred acres. 
 
 Mr. Billings was married October 28, 1867, 
 to Miss Lucy E. Main, of North Stonington, 
 a daughter of Charles H. and Almira (Egles- 
 ton) Main. Mr. and Mrs. Billings have eight 
 children, the following being their record: 
 Byron, born January 4, 1869, is foreman of 
 the Wilcox Fish Works at Mystic; Mary, 
 born May 15, 1871, married Arthur g! 
 
 Wheeler, and has one son and one daughter; 
 William W. , a farmer, resides in Stonington; 
 Lucy was born June 20, 1881; Grace W. was 
 born December 18, 1882; Lilla M. was born 
 July 6, 1886; Priscilla Alden was born May 
 29, 1892; and Sanford N,, Jr., was born Au- 
 gust 17, 1895. Mr. Billings is a decided Re- 
 publican in his political affiliations, but has 
 never aspired to oflficial honors. He is a mem- 
 ber of the J. F. Trumbull Post, No. 82, 
 G. A. R. 
 
 T^YRUS G. BECKWITH, a dealer in 
 I J| meats and groceries and a substantial 
 
 ^ ^ citizen of New London, was born 
 
 December 3, 1841, in the town of Waterford, 
 this county, son of James and Nancy S. 
 (Caulkins) Beckwith. Jason Beckwith, the 
 father of James, and also a native of Water- 
 ford, had ten children, seven sons and three 
 daughters, of whom James was the sixth or 
 seventh in order of birth. Both parents lived 
 to an advanced age, and were buried in Water- 
 ford. 
 
 James Beckwith, who was born September 
 12, 1803, followed the occupation of ship- 
 builder, first in Waterford and later in New 
 London, whither he came about the year 1850. 
 He built coasting-vessels principally, of from 
 one to three hundred tons' burden, and had a 
 fair-sized business. In 1865 he retired, and 
 returned to Waterford, where he died when 
 seventy-two years of age. After his return to 
 his native town he was elected to the State 
 legislature on the Democratic ticket, and 
 served two terms. In religious belief he was 
 a Baptist and for many years a Deacon in the 
 church. James and Nancy S. (Caulkins) 
 Beckwith had four children, all of whom are 
 living. They are: Cordelia, the wife of Sid- 
 ney A. Smith, residing in Waterford; James 
 E. Beckwith, a retired farmer, and the Town 
 
CVKL'S G. JiKCKWrni. 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 ii 
 
 Clerk of Waterford, which he has also served 
 in other offices, including that of Representa- 
 tive to the State legislature; Elisha P. Beck- 
 with, who resides in New London ; and Cyrus 
 G., the subject of this sketch. The mother 
 died in 1847, when Cyrus G. , the youngest 
 child, was but six years old. The father 
 afterward married Mrs. Eliza Keeney Fox, 
 who survived him some years. He died when 
 seventy-two years of age. 
 
 Cyrus G. Beckwith completed his education 
 in New London at the Bartlett High School. 
 When seventeen years of age he became a 
 clerk in the grocery store and ship-chandlery 
 of Comstock & Miner, with whom he remained 
 three years. He then started in business for 
 himself in East New London. Twelve months 
 later he sold out and formed a partnership 
 with N. L. Smith, with whom, under the 
 style of Smith & Co., he carried on a giocery 
 business at the corner of State and Bradley 
 Streets for two and a half years. Mr. Beck- 
 with then sold out, and afterward was a travel- 
 ling salesman for a firm of wholesale grocers 
 in New York City for fourteen years, princi- 
 pally in Connecticut and Rhode Island. In 
 1878 he left the road and opened a grocery 
 store at the corner of Bank and Pearl Streets, 
 in this city. After being alone some years, 
 he took in Arthur Keefe, his clerk, as a part- 
 ner, after which they purchased property on 
 Bank Street and started a store. This venture 
 prospered, and they became one of the leading 
 grocery firms in this place. In 1894 Mr. 
 Beckwith sold his interest to his partner, and 
 on January j, 1895, in company with his son, 
 J. Allan Beckwith, opened their present gro- 
 cery store and market. 
 
 In February, 1863, Mr. Beckwith married 
 Augusta A. Dart, a daughter of Captain Sam- 
 uel B. and Adeline (Hand) Dart, of New 
 London, both of whom have passed away. 
 
 Her father was a sea captain. Mr. and Mrs. 
 Beckwith have lost one son. Their surviving 
 son is J. Allan Beckwith, referred to above. 
 
 A Democrat in politics, Mr. Beckwith 
 served in the Common Council for three terms, 
 was State Senator in 1887-88, and a delegate 
 to the National Convention in 1892 and 1896. 
 In the fall of 1894 he was a candidate for 
 Congress. In 1896 he was elected to the 
 legislature, and was his party's candidate for 
 Speaker. In the fall election of 1897 he was 
 elected Mayor of New London by the largest 
 majority received by any chief magistrate of 
 this place. He is a member of the Board of 
 Trade, a Master Mason, an Odd Fellow, a Red 
 Man of the Improved Order, and a Captain on 
 the Major's staff of Putnam Phalanx, an inde- 
 pendent military company. The family reside 
 at 60 Hempstead Street, in the beautiful home 
 that he purchased about twenty years ago, and 
 which, facing the Park, affords a fine view of 
 the Thames River. 
 
 Ji 
 
 ANIEL BURROWS SPALDING, a 
 banker of Stonington and a son of 
 Daniel Brown and Lucy Breed 
 (Grant) Spalding, was born in Preston, New 
 London County, April 14, 1843. The Spal- 
 dings are of English origin. Edward Spal- 
 ding, who came to this country about 1633, 
 was one of the first settlers of Braintree, 
 Mass., where, according to the old records, he 
 owned realty and filled a public office. He 
 was made a freeman of the town in 1640, a 
 fact that proves he was also a member of some 
 church there. He died February 26, 1670. 
 A copy of his will, dated April, 1666, and 
 proven in 1670, is still extant, a most inter- 
 esting and valuable document. He left much 
 property and considerable sums of money to his 
 sons, who were then wealthy land-owners in 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 Plainfield and Killingly, Conn. His children 
 were: John, Edward, Benjamin, Joseph, An- 
 drew, Grace, and Dinah, all of whom left 
 large families. The Spaldings are now 
 scattered all over the United States. Of Ed- 
 ward's sons, John is a lineal ancestor of 
 Daniel Burrows, the subject of this sketch. 
 John had a son John, whose son Samuel, also 
 a native of Plainfield, had six children, one of 
 whom was Jedediah. Asa Spalding, born in 
 Plainfield, October 6, 1751, son of Jedediah, 
 was the grandfather of Daniel Burrows. He 
 studied medicine with Elisha Perkins in his 
 native town, and became a noted physician. 
 He was also an ordained evangelist in the 
 Baptist church, and was one of the leading 
 Deacons, but not a regular pastor. He was at 
 the siege of Fort Griswold in 1781, where by 
 his knowledge of surgery he saved the life of 
 a wounded soldier. His death occurred in 
 the place now called North Stonington on 
 February 21, 1811. He had fourteen children. 
 His son, Daniel Brown, was a farmer in his 
 early days, and lived at one time in Pitcher, 
 Chenango County, N.Y., which was then 
 reached only by water. Daniel moved to 
 Preston, Conn., but stayed there, for only one 
 year. Then he came to Stonington, where he 
 spent the rest of his life. In 1843 he en- 
 gaged in business with his wife's brother, 
 Oliver B. Grant, a prominent business man of 
 the town. Mr. Grant was one of the incor- 
 porators of the Stonington Bank, served on its 
 Board of Directors, and was its secretary, 
 treasurer, and afterward president. Mr. 
 Spalding was an efficient worker as colporteur 
 and evangelist for the Baptist denomination 
 in Stonington. He died in 1866. His wife, 
 Lucy, who was of English descent, was born 
 in North Stonington, October 13, 18 ro. 
 They were married May 10, 1832. Of their 
 four children two died in infancy; and one. 
 
 Frederick William, died at the age of five. 
 The mother died October 25, 1888. 
 
 Daniel Burrows Spalding was but seven 
 months old when his parents moved to Ston- 
 ington. After attending the public schools 
 in the town for a time, he studied at a private 
 school under old- Dr. Hart and later at the 
 Schofield Commercial School in Providence,^ 
 R.I. When he left school, in 1864, he en- 
 tered the bank as assistant treasurer to his 
 uncle. When Mr. Grant became the presi- 
 dent in 1876, Mr. Spalding was made the 
 treasurer and the secretary, which offices he 
 has since filled. He was the president of the 
 Uncas National Bank of Norwich, Conn., for 
 two years, a director of the First National 
 Bank of the same place, and he is a director 
 of the Stonington Building Company in Ston- 
 ington. 
 
 Though an ardent Republican in politics, 
 Mr. Spalding has never sought office; yet he 
 has been a Burgess of the town for four years, 
 and he was elected a Warden, but he did not 
 qualify. In 1875 he married Drus-illa R., a 
 daughter of Ebenezer W. and Elizabeth Dun- 
 can Parlow, of New Bedford, Mass. Mr. and 
 Mrs. Spalding have lived in their present 
 home since March, 1875. The house, which 
 was erected in 1837, by Charles H. Smith, a 
 contractor, is one of the fine old residences of 
 Stonington. 
 
 W': 
 
 LLIAM PARKINSON GREENE, 
 an old and respected resident of 
 Norwich, was born in this city, 
 March 26, 1831. He comes of a long line of 
 American ancestors, being descended from 
 John Greene, who sailed from Southampton, 
 England, in April, 1635, in the ship "James" 
 of London, and arrived in Boston on the 3d of 
 June. John Greene was accompanied by his 
 wife and five children — John, Peter, James, 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 23 
 
 Thomas, and Mary. An associate of Roger 
 Williams in the Providence purchase of 1638, 
 he became proprietor of a tract of land on the 
 Providence River in 1642, and was one of the 
 original purchasers of Shawshomet in 1642- 
 43. His wife died in 1643. In 1644 he 
 went to England on business, and while there 
 married his second wife, Alice Daniels. He 
 died at Warwick, R.I., about 1659, and was 
 buried at Conanicut. (Further information 
 concerning John Greene may be found in Ar- 
 nold's History of the State of Rhode Island, 
 Palfrey's History of New England, Savage's 
 Genealogical Dictionary, and the Lives of 
 Roger Williams by James D. Knowles and 
 William Garawell. See also New England 
 Historical and Genealogical Register^ vol. iv. 
 
 p. 7S-) 
 
 The line of descent from John Greene is 
 
 through Thomas, born in England in 1631, 
 who died at Warwick, June 5, 1717; Na- 
 thaniel, born April 10, 1679, who lived in 
 Boston a number of years, dying there August 
 8, 1714; Benjamin, born in Boston, January 
 12, 1712, died in 1776; to Gardiner Greene, 
 who was born in September, 1753. An emi- 
 nent merchant, he was one of the leading 
 financiers and capitalists of the first quarter 
 of this century. His residence was in Boston, 
 on Tremont, near the head of Court Street. 
 The site of his mansion and grounds, which 
 extended to Somerset Street, is now covered 
 by Pemberton Square and the rooms of the 
 American Board of Commissioners for Foreign 
 Missions. Gardiner Greene died December 
 19, 1832. He was thrice married. His first 
 wife was Ann Reading. His second, to 
 whom he was married in Boston, November 
 28, 1788, was Elizabeth Hubbard. She was 
 born March 23, 1760, and died September 7, 
 1797, in Boston. The children of his second 
 marriage, who were born between 1790 and 
 
 1795, were: Mary Ann, who married Samuel 
 Hubbard, and died July 10, 1827; Gardiner, 
 who died in 1797; Benjamin Daniel (M.D.), 
 who married Margaret M. Quincy, and died 
 October 4, 1862; and William Parkinson, 
 the father of the subject of this sketch. 
 The third wife of Gardiner Greene was 
 Elizabeth Clarke Copley, whom he married 
 July 3, 1800, in London. She was born in 
 Boston, November 20, 1770, and was a 
 daughter of the great portrait and historical 
 painter, John Singleton Copley, and a sister 
 of the celebrated Lord Lyndhurst. The 
 children of this marriage (born between 1802 
 and 1817) were: Gardiner, who died February 
 20, 1 8 10; Elizabeth Hubbard, who died De- 
 cember 12, 1854, wife of Henry Timmins; 
 Susanna, who died March 22, 1844, wife of 
 Samuel Hammond; Sarah, who died in Paris, 
 February 26, 1863; John Singleton Copley, 
 who married first Elizabeth P. Hubbard and 
 second Mary Ann Appleton; Martha Babcock, 
 wife of Charles Amory; and Mary Copley, 
 wife of James Sullivan Amory. 
 
 William Parkinson Greene, Sr., son of 
 Gardiner and Elizabeth (Hubbard) Greene, 
 was born in Boston, September 7, 1795. He 
 acquired his elementary education in the Bos- 
 ton schools, and entered Harvard in 1810, 
 being one of the class which enrolls upon its 
 catalogue the names of President James 
 Walker, Dr. F. W. P. Greenwood, and the 
 historian Prescott, who was for a time his 
 room-mate. Graduating at nineteen, in com- 
 pliance with his father's wishes he entered the 
 law office of his brother-in-law, Samuel Hub- 
 bard, Esq. ; and he subsequently became Mr. 
 Hubbard's partner. Boston was at that time 
 the centre of religious and philanthropic en- 
 terprises, and Mr. Greene came into contact 
 with many of the leaders of public thought. 
 Judson, Evarts, Channing, Edward Everett, 
 
24 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 and Lyman Beecher were his contemporaries. 
 John Adams, the Nestor of the legal profes- 
 sion, was living. William Prescott, Harri- 
 son G. Otis, and Josiah Quincy upheld the 
 dignity of the bar; and on Court Street, in 
 1816, was to be seen the sign, "Daniel 
 Webster, Attorney and Counsellor-at-law." 
 New party lines were forming, and political 
 aspirants had unusual opportunities. Mr. 
 Greene had his opportunity, but refused; and 
 only once did he accept public office, serving 
 with credit as Mayor of Norwich. His career 
 as a lawyer was short. His father had in- 
 vested largely in domestic manufactures, and 
 had placed considerable capital in the Thames 
 Company at Norwich Falls, established by 
 him and other Boston capitalists in 1823; 
 and he shortly received from his father as 
 a gift the whole amount invested in this city, 
 on condition that he should move hither, and 
 take the property under personal charge. 
 Failing health — a warning hemorrhage — in- 
 fluenced his decision; and in the summer of 
 1824 he entered on his new life. Within a 
 year after his arrival in Norwich he was at 
 the head of the movement which resulted in 
 the organization of the Thames Bank; and he 
 was its first president, and held office sixteen 
 years. He was the first and largest contrib- 
 utor to the fund for improving the water-power 
 of the Shetucket River; and in 1826-27 he 
 with others' inaugurated measures for improv- 
 ing the educational advantages of the com- 
 munity. In the spring of 1829 his plans for 
 utilizing the Shetucket water-power were car- 
 ried into effect by the Norwich Water Power 
 Company, their work being completed the 
 following year; and in 1832 the Thames Com- 
 pany, of which he was an original director, 
 built the first cotton-mill on the Shetucket, 
 and hired a portion of the completed water- 
 power. Their manufactures included cotton 
 
 and iron. In the panic of 1837 this company 
 failed; and their work was afterward carried 
 on by the Falls Company, of which also Mr. 
 Greene was a director. In 1830 the people of 
 Norwich began to agitate the subject of con- 
 structing a railroad between this city and 
 Worcester; and it was through Mr. Greene's 
 personal influence that the credit of the State 
 of Massachusetts was obtained. In the crisis 
 of 1837 most of his fortune was swept away; 
 but with the aid of his brother, Dr. Benjamin 
 D. Greene, he was soon on his feet again. 
 In 1838 he, with his brother Benjamin and 
 Mr. Samuel Mowry, organized the Shetucket 
 Company. The Falls Company was organ- 
 ized in October, 1843; and the two companies 
 had a prosperous career. (An extended ac- 
 count of the operations of these companies and 
 Mr. Greene's work in connection with them 
 is found in "The Life and Character of the 
 Hon. William Parkinson Greene, by Elbridge 
 Smith, A.M., published in 1865.) 
 
 His indomitable energy and far-reaching in- 
 telligence, his generosity and wisdom, had 
 much to do with establishing the foundations 
 of the thriving city of Norwich. A gifted 
 lawyer, successful manufacturer, and brilliant 
 financier, he was also a philanthropist and a 
 patron of religious and educational enter- 
 prises. Funds contributed by him placed the 
 Norwich Free Academy on an assured basis, 
 and his influence established some of its most 
 important features. He was president of its 
 corporation and Board of Trustees from 1857 
 to the time of his death. He also contributed 
 generously toward the erection of the Meth- 
 odist church on Sachem Street. From early 
 youth he had suffered from a pulmonary com- 
 plaint, and death was ever at his side; but his 
 iron will refused to succumb, and he lived to 
 be nearly seventy years old. He passed away 
 on the morning of June 18, 1864. He was 
 
ASA JJACKUS. 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 27 
 
 married July 14, 1819, to Augusta Elizabeth, 
 daughter of Leonard Vassall Borland, a lady 
 of rare accomplishments and winning manners. 
 On September 7, 1859, the birthday of her 
 husband and of the city, Mrs. Greene put 
 into the hands of the treasurer of the Norwich 
 Free Academy a deed of the estate now occu- 
 pied by the principal. 
 
 William Parkinson Greene, the direct sub- 
 ject of this sketch, son of the late Hon. Will- 
 iam Parkinson Greene, was educated in the 
 Norwich Free School and the Cheshire Acad- 
 emy, which was then in charge of Professor 
 Paddock, Bishop Paddock's father. His 
 health was poor, and he did not follow an ex- 
 tended course of study; but when he attained 
 his majority he began to take an interest in 
 the manufacturing business established by his 
 father. He has been a director in the mills 
 at Shetucket and at the Falls. The Bozrah 
 mills, which were established about 181 3, and 
 were in need of new management in 1879; 
 were bought by Mr. Charles Kenyon and Mr. 
 James Peckham, who organized a new com- 
 pany. Mr. Greene is at present the senior di- 
 rector of these mills, the only one of the orig- 
 inal board living, and the principal stock- 
 holder. He has a beautiful home at 170 
 Washington Street. 
 
 On October 18, 1854, Mr. Greene was 
 united in marriage with Theodosia, daughter 
 of Benjamin Wildman Tompkins. Mr. 
 Tompkins, who was born September 3, 1808, 
 was a prominent citizen of Norwich, active 
 and zealous in secular and church matters, and 
 lived for many years at 172 Washington 
 Street. He died February 3, 1892. Mr. arid 
 Mrs. Greene have two children — Augusta 
 Borland and Benjamin Tompkins, both unmar- 
 ried and living with their parents. Mr. 
 Greene, though interested in the welfare of ' 
 the Republican party, has refused all offers of 
 
 public office. He is a member of the Centre 
 Congregational Church. 
 
 SA BACKUS, a retired merchant and 
 capitalist of Norwich, residing on a 
 fine farm to the west and just out- 
 side the city limits, was born in this town, 
 July 21, 1836, son of Asa and Caroline 
 (Roath) Backus. The family came originally 
 from England, the first representative in this 
 country of whom there is record being Will- 
 iam Backus, who was a resident of Saybrook 
 in 1637. In 1660 a member of it came from 
 Saybrook to Norwich, and took up his resi- 
 dence in a house that is still standing. 
 
 The first Asa Backus was born in 1736. 
 His son Asa, Jr., was born May 12, 1763. 
 The third Asa, son of the preceding Asa, and 
 the father of the present bearer of the name, 
 born in Norwich in 1803, died in June, 1836. 
 He was reared to farming. Though he re- 
 ceived but a limited education, he was gener- 
 ously endowed by nature, and was successfully 
 engaged in a mercantile business as a member 
 of the firm of Hyde & Backus at Yantic vil- 
 lage. About the year 1831 he was married to 
 Miss Caroline Roath. The union was blessed 
 by the birth of three children: Caroline, who 
 died in 1861; Cynthia M.; and Asa. The 
 mother married a second time. 
 
 Asa Backus, the subject of this biography, 
 was a student in the Andover Phillips Acad- 
 emy for a time. When about sixteen years of 
 age he entered the employ of Ely & Co. as 
 clerk, remaining with them three years. In 
 the fall of 1857 he went to Toledo, Ohio, 
 where he was employed in the same capacity 
 for a short time. In 1858 he became a mem- 
 ber of the dry-goods firm of Eaton & Backus, 
 which, from a small beginning, developed a 
 profitable business. He retired from busi- 
 
28 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 ness in 1875; ^"d, returning to Norwich, he 
 settled on his fine country home just outside 
 the city limits. The original estate was pur- 
 chased by him in the fall of 1874 from C. B. 
 Rogers, Enlarged by additional land, bought 
 since then, it now contains about twenty-five 
 acres. On it are three good dwellings. 
 
 Mr. Backus first married Miss Julia W. 
 Bissell, of Lockport, N.Y. She died in De- 
 cember, 1891, leaving three children, namely: 
 Asa William, who lives in Toledo, Ohio; 
 and Julia R. and Frederick Tracy, who are at 
 home. A second marriage, contracted in 
 1893, united Mr. Backus to Mrs. Sarah G. 
 (Button) Champlin, of Norwich. They have 
 a daughter, Florence. In politics Mr. 
 Backus is an Independent. He is a director 
 of the old Norwich Savings Bank, which has 
 over eleven millions on deposit. By the will 
 of the late William W. Backus he was made 
 executor of the large and valuable estate left 
 by the latter. He is the secretary and treas- 
 urer of the Norwich Mutual Assurance Com- 
 pany, which was established in 1794; the 
 secretary and treasurer of the Kitemang Asso- 
 ciation of Norwich; and one of the original 
 incorporators of the Backus Free Hospital 
 of Norwich, one of the finest institutions in 
 the State. 
 
 'OSHUA C. LEFFINGWELL, an en- 
 terprising dairy farmer of Bozrah, was 
 born in this town. May 9, 1836, son of 
 Joshua B. and Mary A. (Woodworth) Lefifing- 
 well. His father was a native of Bozrah, as 
 was also his grandfather, Christopher Leffing- 
 well. 
 
 The founder of the family in America was 
 Thomas Lefifingwell, an Englishman, who emi- 
 grated about the middle of the seventeenth 
 century, and settled in Saybrook, Conn., 
 
 where his daughter Rachel was born in 1648, 
 a son Nathaniel in 1656, and other children 
 between those dates. A few years later 
 Thomas Leffingwell was living at his new 
 home in Norwich. According to Trumbull, 
 the early historian, he received a deed of 
 a tract of land a number of miles square, 
 the site of the present city of Norwich, 
 from Uncas, sachem of the Mohegans, for 
 his services in carrying a boat-load of pro- 
 visions to the fort in which that friendly 
 chief and his warriors were besieged by the 
 Narragansetts. "There is, however," says 
 Miss Caulkins in her History of Norwich, 
 "no such deed or record." To this statement 
 she adds that Mr. Lefifingwell, petitioning the 
 General Court in 1667 to confirm a grant of 
 land that Uncas had proffered him, received 
 from that body the grant of two hundred acres 
 on the east side of the Shetucket River. 
 
 Deacon Joshua B. Lefifingwell, son of Chris- 
 topher Leffingwell, was a stirring farmer; and 
 in connection with tilling the soil he operated 
 a stone quarry. In politics he was originally 
 a Whig, but joined the Republican party at 
 its formation. He represented his town in 
 the legislature, and was a man of prominence 
 and political influence in Bozrah and vicinity. 
 He was a Deacon of the Baptist church. He 
 died March 21, 1873. His wife, Mary A. 
 Woodworth, was a native of Montville, Conn. 
 Their son, Joshua C. Lefifingwell, the sub- 
 ject of this sketch, was educated in the com- 
 mon schools of his native town and at a select 
 school in Norwich. For a number of years he 
 was engaged in the stone-quarrying business, 
 but his chief occupation in life has been farm- 
 ing. He owns about two hundred acres of 
 land, which he cultivates to good advantage; 
 and he has acquired a high reputation for the 
 superior^ quality of his butter and other prod- 
 ucts. He owns and supplies a large milk 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 29 
 
 route in Norwich, which through good man- 
 agement is exceedingly profitable. 
 
 On August 19, 1868, Mr. Lefifingwell was 
 united in marriage with Mary L. Ross, of this 
 town. She is a daughter of Enos C. and 
 Mary A. (Lefifingwell) Ross. Her father was 
 a native of New York State, and her mother 
 was born in Bozrah. Mr. and Mrs. Leffing- 
 well are the parents of six children, as fol- 
 lows: Anna M., wife of Nathan Whiting; 
 Fanny E., wife of Herbert E. Beard; Harriet 
 C, wife of Robert E. Champlain; Thomas 
 C; Frank E. ; and Minnie F. 
 
 In politics Mr. Lefifingwell is a Republican. 
 He has served as Selectman, Assessor, and a 
 member of the School Board, and was a mem- 
 ber of the House of Representatives in the 
 State legislature during the session of 1881 
 and 1882. He is a Deacon of the First Bap- 
 tist Church, is a well-known and exceedingly 
 public-spirited citizen, and enjoys the confi- 
 dence of the community. 
 
 ^rj^ORMAN SMITH, the popular mer- 
 I =1 chant of Hanover, Conn., was born in 
 -L? V , ^ this place, June 8, 1826, son of Dr. 
 Vine and Lydia (Lilly) Smith. His paternal 
 grandfather was Josiah Smith, who was born 
 in the neighboring town of Windham, in the 
 county of that name, and is buried in that 
 part of the town that is now Scotland, Conn. 
 
 Vine Smith was a genial, courteous man 
 and a skilled physician in lifelong practice in 
 Hanover. He was born in Windham in 1800, 
 and lived to be fifty-seven years of age. His 
 books showing his charges for professional 
 visits are now in the possession of his son 
 Norman. From them it is seen that for calls 
 made in the village the fee was a few cents, 
 and for calls made at a distance of four miles 
 a half-dollar. The professional fees of an 
 
 ordinary practitioner of to-day would seem to 
 him enormous. He served in the State legis- 
 lature when the only way to reach the capital 
 was by stage or by private conveyance. The 
 Doctor is well remembered by many of the 
 older residents of Hanover, and even some of 
 the men and women of middle age can recall 
 his visits to their homes during their child- 
 hood. His wife, whom he married in 1824, 
 survived him for twenty years, dying at the 
 age of seventy-six. They had one daughter, 
 Eliza Smith, who married Jared Filmore. 
 She died in childbirth, at the age of twenty- 
 two. 
 
 Norman Smith, having obtained his educa- 
 tion in the common schools and at the Nor- 
 wich Town Academy, a private institution, 
 taught school for a full year in Hanover, and 
 as a pedagogue was an unquestioned success. 
 Believing, however, that better business 
 chances for advancement were to be found in 
 trade, he opened a general merchandise store 
 in the fall of 1845, some time before he was 
 twenty-one. He was out of mercantile pur- 
 suits for eight or ten years previous to 1869, 
 when he opened the store which he has since 
 carried on. It has always been Mr. Smith's 
 endeavor to keep only strictly first-class 
 goods and always to give the largest value 
 possible for the money received. He has a 
 well-established trade, and during the twenty- 
 eight years he has been in business at this 
 stand he has made many acquaintances and 
 won many friends. 
 
 Mr. Smith was married in 1850 to Sarah 
 Cutler, born in New York, daughter of Will- 
 iam C. Cutler, who was a native of Connecti- 
 cut. By this marriage there was a family of 
 four children: Ella E., wife of James W. 
 Bennett, of Willimantic, and mother of two 
 children; Mary E., now Mrs. E. O. Tarbox, 
 of this place; Annie C, wife of George P, 
 
3° 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 Fenner, of New London, and mother of one 
 daughter; and Ernest L., who is married and 
 resides in Hanover. Mrs. Sarah Smith died; 
 and her husband subsequently married her 
 sister, Lucinda M. Cutler, who for the past 
 twenty-eight years has officiated as Postmis- 
 tress. She is the mother of four children, 
 namely: Adeline A., who is a stenographer 
 and typewriter in the office of Mr. Fenner; 
 Bertha B., a teacher in Portsmouth, N.H.; 
 Lillie L., the wife of Webster Standish, of 
 this place, and mother of two children; and 
 Vine H. Smith, who is now a student in 
 Harvard College. 
 
 In politics Mr. Smith is a Democrat. He 
 has served the town as Assessor, Selectman, 
 and as a member of the Board of Relief, and 
 has twice been sent to the legislature. In all 
 these public positions he has used for the ben- 
 efit of his fellow-townsmen that sound judg- 
 ment and keen insight into affairs that have 
 made his personal business life a success. 
 He has never been an office-seeker, and has 
 accepted positions only as they were urged 
 upon him. He has been satisfied with legiti- 
 mate gain in his business; and, although he 
 has lived quietly and in a small country town, 
 he has had contentment, which is better than 
 riches, and has not worn himself out with the 
 stress and rush of life in a large town. It is 
 interesting to note that Mr. Smith claims de- 
 scent from Myles Standish, the military leader 
 of the Pilgrims. 
 
 bTRANCIS NELSON BRAMAN, M.D., 
 pl, of New London, Conn., was born 
 in Belchertown, Hampshire County, 
 Mass., May i8, 1836, being the second son of 
 Nathaniel Park and Lucy Ann (Crocker) 
 Braman. The family came originally from 
 Bremen, Germany; and the Doctor belongs to 
 
 the Flemish branch. The earliest direct an- 
 cestor of whom he has any authentic account 
 was a man of mathematical and mechanical 
 genius, the inventor and manufacturer of 
 mathematical instruments. One of his early 
 ancestors was a Major in the English army, 
 who, connected in some way with the Rye 
 House Plot, was twice imprisoned in the 
 Tower, and twice released. 
 
 Dr. Braman's great-grandfather, John Bra- 
 man, was a native of Washington County, 
 Rhode Island. His grandfather, John Bra- 
 man, Jr., was a citizen of Groton, Conn., a 
 competent farmer and for a while manager of 
 the Fisher's Island (N. Y.) property. He was a 
 man of affairs, active in public matters in Gro- 
 ton, and was a soldier in the Revolutionary 
 army. He died in Riystic, Conn., at the age 
 of seventy-five. He was twice married, and 
 was the father of sixteen children, fifteen of 
 whom attained maturity. His second wife. 
 Dr. Braman's grandmother, was Mary Park, 
 of Mystic or Groton, daughter of Nathaniel 
 Park, of Revolutionary fame. Her ancestry 
 was English. She was the mother of four 
 sons and four daughters. The youngest of 
 the family of sixteen is the only one living 
 to-day, Julia, widow of the late Abraham 
 Mason, of Springfield, Mass. 
 
 Nathaniel Park Braman, who was the old- 
 est child of his father's second marriage, was 
 born on Fisher's Island, N.Y., in 1802. He 
 was a farmer in good circumstances, and was 
 active in town affairs. He died in Clinton, 
 Conn., in 1892, aged eighty -nine years and 
 eleven months. He was survived by his wife, 
 Lucy, to whom he was united in March, 1826. 
 Her parents were Ezra and Hannah (New- 
 bury) Crocker, of Waterford, Conn. Her pa- 
 ternal grandfather, Steadman Newbury, of 
 Waterford, served throughout the Revolution- 
 ary War, and was afterward pensioned by the 
 
FRANCIS X. I;K,\.\I.\N\ 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 33 
 
 government. He was a man of high repute, 
 active in public and religious matters, and 
 was a member of the old Darrow Church of 
 Waterford. He lived to attain the great age 
 of ninety-nine years and nine months. Mrs. 
 Braman was born in Waterford, Conn., April 
 4, 1808, and, though now in her ninetieth 
 year, is active in mind and body. Six chil- 
 dren were born to her; and, losing one daugh- 
 ter at the tender age of three years, she reared 
 the following: Nathaniel Perkins, now in 
 Florida; Jane L., wife of James L. Davis, in 
 Clinton, Conn.; Francis N., the subject of 
 this sketch; Alfred A. W., who died in Chi- 
 cago in 1893, in his forty-fourth year, having 
 been a skilled tool-maker, in business for a 
 number of years in that city; and Ellen S., 
 widow of Henry Weeden, now living in New 
 Haven, Conn. Nathaniel P. Braman, who is 
 a skilled mechanic, was with the Remingtons, 
 the Colts, and the Winchester Arms Com- 
 pany at different times, and is now retired 
 from active business. 
 
 Francis Nelson Braman received his early 
 schooling at Belchertown, Palmer, and Wilbra- 
 ham, Mass. He studied medicine in Palmer 
 and New London, and was two years a student 
 in New York under the eminent physicians, 
 Drs. Mott, Mosley, and Austin Flint, Sr. In 
 April, 1866, he opened an office in Salem, 
 Conn. ; and on New Year's Day, 1868, he re- 
 moved to New London, the field of his labors 
 ever since. Dr. Braman is a man of marked 
 ability, and has long been regarded as a 
 leader among his contemporaries. He is a 
 member of the American Medical Association, 
 the county and city medical societies, and has 
 served as president of the State Medical So- 
 ciety. Dr. Braman is physician in charge of 
 the Smith Memorial Home and a corporate 
 member of the Board of the New London 
 Memorial Hospital, also chairman of the med- 
 
 ical staff of the hospital. He has won the re- 
 gard of the citizens of New London, not only 
 by his professional work and his fine social 
 qualities, but also by his disinterested efforts 
 as a member of the Board of Education six 
 years, being chairman three years, to bring 
 the schools of the city to their present high 
 standard. During his term of service a new 
 era in school matters was entered upon, the 
 old and unsanitary school buildings were con- 
 demned, a sentiment favoring school sanita- 
 tion was developed, and with it a liberal finan- 
 cial policy. This resulted in the construc- 
 tion of two new edifices and the providing of 
 ways and means for a third. 
 
 Dr. Braman has always been active in 
 church and Y. M. C. A. work. At the pres- 
 ent time he is Deacon of the Second Congre- 
 gational Church of New London and its 
 treasurer. In politics he is a Republican. 
 
 Dr. Braman was married November 26, 
 1868, to Miss Jennie E. Loomis, of Salem, 
 Conn., daughter of • the late Hubbell and 
 Sophronia (Strickland) Loomis, and has two 
 promising sons^ Francis Loomis and Sidney 
 Royce. Mrs. Jennie E. Braman died May 2, 
 1895. On December 15, 1897, Dr. Braman 
 formed a second matrimonial alliance with 
 Miss Lulu M. Tobias, daughter of Daniel J. 
 and Matilda (Gawthrop) Tobias, of Chicago, 
 111. 
 
 irx ANIEL F. PACKER, who has won 
 I ——J a world-wide reputation as a manu- 
 c^-X^^ facturer of choice soaps, is an es- 
 teemed resident of Mystic, where he has a 
 beautiful and attractive home. He was born 
 April 6, 1825, in Groton, Conn. A son of 
 Captain Charles Packer, he comes of excellent 
 Massachusetts stock. His great-grandfather, 
 John Packer, came to the county from Plym- 
 
34 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 outh, Mass., in the seventeenth century, and 
 settled in Mystic. 
 
 Eldredge Packer, son of John and the pater- 
 nal grandfather of Daniel F., was born in 
 Mystic in 1747. He was a ship-builder, and 
 it is claimed that he launched the first large 
 vessel in Mystic. It is supposed that he 
 owned or commanded a privateer in the Revo- 
 lution. He married Sabrina Packer, who bore 
 him one child, Charles. When he died he 
 had attained the age of fourscore and four 
 years. His widow survived him a few 
 years, dying at the same age. Captain 
 Charles Packer was born in Groton, near 
 Mystic, in 1774. He was a mariner, engaged 
 principally in coast trade during his life. 
 For some years he did an extensive fishing 
 business as captain of a fishing-smack. In 
 the great Christmas snow-storm of many years 
 ago he was among the castaways of Long 
 Island Sound, when he barely escaped death. 
 Very successful in his ventures, through his 
 industry and thrift he acquired a competency. 
 He married Abigail Latham, who was born in 
 Mystic on Brook Street, then called Noank 
 Street. Of their eleven children, five sons 
 and five daughters grew to maturity, and two 
 are still living. The latter are: Hannah W., 
 the widow of the late S. B. Latham, residing 
 at Noank; and Daniel F. , the youngest mem- 
 ber of the family. The mother died in 1829, 
 at the age of forty-seven years, and the father 
 died in 1834, aged threescore years. They 
 and the grandparents, together with three of 
 Mr. Packer's sisters and his brother Eldredge, 
 were laid to rest in the Packer Burial-ground 
 near Mystic. 
 
 Daniel F. Packer obtained his early educa- 
 tion in the district school of Fishtown, com- 
 pleting his studies at a boarding-school in 
 Northfield, Fairfield County, Conn., where he 
 was a pupil for three years. In 1840 he went 
 
 to New York to assist his brother Eldredge, 
 who had a poultry market in that city, and in 
 the following year shipped before the mast on 
 the packet ship "Emerald," under Captain 
 George Howe, a most daring and able skip- 
 per. With Captain Howe, Mr. Packer made 
 two trips to Havre, France, each lasting from 
 thirty-four to forty-five days. He was subse- 
 quently in the market business in New York 
 City for four years. From there, in 1847, he 
 went to Key West, Fla., with Captain C. H. 
 Mallory, and was afterward employed by Cap- 
 tain Latham Brightman for a year. Six days 
 before attaining his majority he bought and 
 assumed the charge of the "Plume of Mys- 
 tic," having for first mate Augustus Will- 
 iams, of North Stonington, and for two years 
 coasted along the reefs of the Tortugas and 
 Florida. In 1851, 1852, and 1853 he was 
 in California, mining for gold. While on the 
 Pacific coast he began the manufacture of 
 soap, to which he has since devoted his atten- 
 tion. He is the originator of the pine tar 
 soap, which is so well known all over this 
 continent and Europe. He also manufactures 
 other kinds, making specialties of "Packer's 
 All-healing Tar Soap" and "Packer's Cuta- 
 neous Charm." Beginning on a modest scale, 
 he has gradually enlarged his business to its 
 present large proportions. He has established 
 factories in twelve States and in Canada and 
 Cuba, and sold rights to Central and South 
 America. His largest enterprise was in Pitts- 
 burg, Pa. One plant, that in New York, 
 with its entire business, he sold for ten thou- 
 sand dollars to Mr. I. P. Morrison, who has 
 since sold his rights to Mr. A. Constantine. 
 He established his factory in Mystic some 
 twenty-eight years ago, and it has since been 
 one of the leading industries of the place. A 
 man of rare executive ability, keen and far- 
 seeing, Mr. Packer has brought his goods 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 35 
 
 before the public most successfully by attrac- 
 tive advertising. The firm is now known as 
 The Packer Manufacturing Company of New 
 York. 
 
 Mr. Packer contracted his first marriage on 
 June 7, 1849, with Margaret M., daughter of 
 Captain Elisha and Margaret (Annan) Nor- 
 cross, of New York City. She died in 1855, 
 leaving one child, Arline M., now the wife of 
 John S. Rathbone, of Mystic. His second 
 marriage, on February 27, 1861, united him 
 to Miss Carrie A. Randall, of Ridgefield, 
 Conn. The only child born of this union, S. 
 Edward, died at the age of five years. Mr. 
 Packer erected his present substantial and 
 commodious residence in 1868. It is beauti- 
 fully located on the hillside of Mystic River, 
 commanding an extensive view. In this 
 pleasant home Mrs, Packer, a woman of re- 
 finement and culture, presides with graceful 
 dignity, vying with her husband in extending 
 the hospitalities of the house to their many 
 guests. In politics Mr. Packer is a sturdy 
 Republican. He was brought up in the Bap- 
 tist faith, but is now a Methodist and a trus- 
 tee of the church. Mrs. Packer belongs to 
 the same church. 
 
 fREDERICK FARNSWORTH, one of 
 the prominent wealthy citizens of New 
 London, Conn., was born in the neigh- 
 boring city of Norwich in 1842, and is a son 
 of the late Dr. Ralph and Eunice W. (Bill- 
 ings) Farnsworth. 
 
 The Farnsworth family is of English origin. 
 Three persons of this name came to America 
 in the seventeenth century, namely: Joseph, 
 of Dorchester, Mass., about 1632; Thomas, 
 who settled in New Jersey in 168 1 ; and Mat- 
 thias, whose name appears in the records of 
 Lynn, Mass., in 1657. Matthias Farnsworth, 
 
 a sturdy yeoman, settled in Groton, Mass., 
 about 1660 (see Matthias Farnsworth and his 
 Descendants in America, a monograph by 
 Claudius Buchanan Farnsworth, of Pawtucket, 
 R. I., published in 1891). Several succeed- 
 ing generations of the family lived in Groton, 
 including Amos, the great-grandfather of the 
 subject of this biographical sketch, and Amos, 
 Jr., his grandfather, the latter a well-to-do 
 farmer and an active military man. He was 
 one of the minute-men, ready for action when 
 war was brewing between the colonies and 
 the mother country, and fought in the Revo- 
 lution; and after the war he retained his con- 
 nection with the State militia. As an officer 
 he was first commissioned Ensign, then First 
 Lieutenant of artillery. In 1783, at the close 
 of the Revolution, he was made Captain of 
 the old Groton Artillery Company; and he 
 was afterward promoted to the rank of Major 
 of artillery, receiving a commission dated 
 July I, 1794, signed by Samuel Adams as 
 Governor. Major Farnsworth attained the 
 great age of ninety -three years and six 
 months, passing away in October, 1847. His 
 wife, who was then ninety years of age, fol- 
 lowed him within two weeks. Five children 
 were born to this couple — ■ Luke, Amos, 
 Ralph, Walter, and Elizabeth. The daugh- 
 ter, who never married, lived nearly as long 
 as her father, dying in Groton in her ninety- 
 second year. 
 
 Ralph Farnsworth was born in Groton, 
 Mass., September 20, 179S, and was grad- 
 uated from Harvard in 1821. He subse- 
 quently taught school for a while in Ports- 
 mouth, N.H. For some time he studied 
 medicine with Dr. Warren, of Boston ; and, 
 the honorary degree of Master of Arts having 
 been conferred on him by Dartmouth College 
 in 1824, he received the degree of Doctor of 
 Medicine from the Harvard Medical School in 
 
36 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 1826. In 1827 he settled in Norwich, Conn., 
 where he was in active practice some forty- 
 eight years, until 1875. Dr. Farns worth was 
 large and well proportioned, six feet in 
 height, and weighing nearly two hundred 
 pounds. He was strong and active, capable 
 of a wonderful amount of labor; and one of 
 his contemporaries expressively said he was 
 several men in one. He died July 16, 1875. 
 
 On November 25, 1828, he was married to 
 Eunice W., daughter of Coddington Billings, 
 Esq., of New London. The Billings family 
 has lived in this part of Connecticut for sev- 
 eral generations, and accumulated property 
 here. Coddington Billings, who was born in 
 1770,. was a prominent attorney and a bank 
 president. He married a Miss Wheeler. 
 Mrs. Eunice W. Billings Farnsworth was 
 born in 1804, and lived to be seventy -three 
 years old, dying at her old home on East 
 Main Street, Norwich, in 1877. She was 
 the mother of nine children, seven sons and 
 two daughters. Only three sons attained ma- 
 turity; and one of these, Charles, met his 
 death by drowning when thirty-one years of 
 age, in April, 1867. He left a son Charles, 
 who is now in Colorado Springs, Col. The 
 surviving children of Dr. Farnsworth are: 
 Coddington Billings Farnsworth, of Norwich, 
 Conn. ; and Frederick, of New London, whose 
 personal history is here outlined. 
 
 Frederick Farnsworth received a liberal 
 education, graduating from the scientific de- 
 partment of Yale College in 1867. During 
 the year 1869 he served in the Nursery Hos- 
 pital in New York City; and he subsequently 
 went to Philadelphia, where he lived until 
 1887. In that year he removed to New Lon- 
 don, and took up his abode in his present res- 
 idence, 25 Federal Street. This dwelling, 
 which is over one hundred years old, was 
 originally the mansion-house of a Mr. Led- 
 
 yard, and for some fifty years was the resi- 
 dence of William W. Billings, Mr. Farns- 
 worth's uncle. It is a fine specimen of the 
 generous architecture of a century ago. 
 
 Mr. Farnsworth was married in 1879 in 
 Philadelphia to Miss Lydia Warner Sander- 
 son, who died March 12, 1888, in the pleas- 
 ant New London home. He has been a mem- 
 ber of the University Club of New York City 
 since 1890, and belongs to the Thames Club 
 of New London. 
 
 ■TpT^ICHARD SILL GRISWOLD, of Old 
 I ^^ Lyme, a retired manufacturer, was 
 -t-^ V_^ born in this town, June 3, 1845. 
 He is the son of Richard Sill and Frances A. 
 (Mather) Griswold and a representative of 
 some of the oldest and best New England 
 families. His first American ancestor, Mat- 
 thew Griswold, was born in England, came to 
 this country in 1630, settled first at Windsor, 
 Conn., and later, in 1639, ^t Saybrook, fixing 
 his residence in that part of the colony which 
 in 1666 was set off as the town of Lyme. 
 His estate at the mouth of the "Great River" 
 has since been known by the name of Black 
 Hall. He married in 1639 Anna, daughter 
 of the first Henry Wolcott, of Windsor, and 
 had five children. He died in 1698. 
 
 His son, Matthew Griswold, Jr., was born 
 here in 1653, and died in 1715. The Rev. 
 George Griswold, son of Matthew, Jr., and 
 Phebe (Hyde) Griswold, was born in 1692, 
 and died in 1761. The next in this line, his 
 son, George Griswold, of Giant's Neck, 
 Conn., was born September 19, 1726, and 
 died in 1816; and the grandfather of Richard 
 S. Griswold was George Griswold, born at 
 Giant's Neck in 1777, a member of the firm 
 of N. L. & George Griswold, of New York 
 City, china merchants, one of the leading 
 
4^ 
 
 RICHARD S. tiklSWULlJ. 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 37 
 
 importing houses of that time. He succeeded 
 in building up a large fortune, and died in 
 1858. 
 
 He was twice married. By his first wife, 
 Elizabeth Woodhull, he had five children, 
 three of whom grew up, and by his second 
 wife, Maria M. Cummins, four children. Of 
 these nine, one, John N. A. Griswold, the 
 youngest - born, is now living at Newport, 
 R.I., at an advanced age. 
 
 Richard Sill Griswold, father of the subject 
 of this sketch, was born in New York City in 
 1809. He was educated at Yale College, 
 and after his graduation in the class of 1829 
 went to China as his father's agent, remain- 
 ing there several years. During this time he 
 was taken into partnership by his father. 
 About 1840 he erected a mansion in Lyme, 
 and made this town his residence, still con- 
 tinuing his business in New York City. He 
 was a capable and successful business man. 
 He first married Louisa G. Mather, a descend- 
 ant of the Rev. Richard Mather, of England, 
 who died in Dorchester, Mass., in 1669. She 
 died leaving no children; and on March 31, 
 1841, he married her sister, Frances A. 
 Mather, daughter of James and Caroline 
 (Tinker) Mather. Three children were born 
 to them, as follows: Louisa Mather; Richard 
 Sill, subject of this sketch; and Frances 
 Augusta. Louisa M. Griswold is the wife of 
 General Joseph G. Perkins, of Lyme? and 
 Frances Augusta is the wife of Professor 
 N. M. Ferry, of the Naval Academy at 
 Annapolis, Md. 
 
 Richard Sill Griswold died in 1847, at the 
 age of thirty-eight years. His widow, Mrs. 
 Frances A. M. Griswold, lived until Decem- 
 ber 19, 1889. 
 
 The present Richard Sill Griswold received 
 his education in New Haven and in New 
 York City. After this he went to sea for his 
 
 health, and made many voyages across the 
 Atlantic and elsewhere. He was afterward 
 in the brass-manufacturing line for several 
 years, being of the firm of Brown & Brothers, 
 Waterbury, Conn., for many years a leading 
 house in this business. He has since retired 
 from active mercantile life. Mr. Griswold is 
 a Knight Templar and a thirty-second degree 
 Mason. He has served as a Representative 
 to the State legislature. 
 
 In 1869 Mr. Griswold was married to Rosa 
 Elizabeth Brown, daughter of Dr. James and 
 Charlotte E. (Todd) Brown, of Waterbury, 
 Conn. They have eight children, as follows: 
 Richard Sill, Jr., a practising physician at 
 Hartford, Conn., and a graduate of Bellevue 
 Medical College, New York; James Brown, 
 a physician in New London, Conn., and a 
 graduate of Dartmouth College and the Col- 
 lege of Physicians and Surgeons, New York 
 City; Daniel Eddie, a lawyer in New York 
 City; George, now in school and living at 
 home with his parents; Harry, in New York 
 City, studying at the Conservatory of Music; 
 Rosa Elizabeth; Joseph P.; and Woodward 
 Haven, a boy of twelve years. 
 
 Si.x years ago Mrs. Griswold established 
 the Boxwood School for young ladies, in 
 which some twenty pupils are being prepared 
 for college. Mr. Griswold has greatly en- 
 larged and improved the buildings, and the 
 school itself is of a high grade. They re- 
 moved to their present home in 1890. 
 
 ,ELSON A. BACON, a retired lumber 
 dealer of Old Lyme, Conn., was born 
 !^ V»__^ in this town. May 7, 1841, a son of 
 Almond and Margaret S. (Clarke) Bacon. His 
 grandfather, Mathew Bacon, who was born in 
 Middletown, Conn., in 1785, was a farmer 
 and also proprietor of the Bacon House, which 
 
38 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 he built about 1829, and carried on success- 
 fully for a number of years. He was also a 
 prominent Thompsonian doctor. He married 
 Rebecca Roberts, of Middletown; and they 
 had five children, four of whom grew to ma- 
 turity. They were: Almond, Ebenezer, Dan- 
 iel, Clara, and Lucretia. Ebenezer, who was 
 financially interested in stearaboating, mar- 
 ried, and died at the age of thirty years. 
 Daniel, after many years' service as captain 
 of a steamboat, retired with a competency, 
 and resided subsequently in Brooklyn, N.Y. 
 He died at the age of forty-two years, leaving 
 two sons: Stephen H., who is unmarried, and 
 resides in Brooklyn; and Daniel, who is a 
 broker in New York City, and has a family of 
 two children. Clara became the wife of Eb- 
 enezer L. Roberts, an architect. 
 
 Almond Bacon, father of the subject of this 
 sketch, also became captain of a steamboat 
 and subsequently an agent for a steamboat 
 company. In 1864 he started in the lumber 
 business, and soon became known as one of 
 the leading business men of the town. Six 
 years previously he had built the house in 
 which he resided the remainder of his life, 
 and which is still standing. He was a 
 Republican politically, and served as Town 
 Treasurer for a period of sixteen years. He 
 was married February 29, 1836, to Margaret 
 S. Clarke, daughter of Abraham and Lura 
 (Champion) Clarke, of this town. They had 
 one child. Nelson A. Almond Bacon died 
 in the fall of 1886, aged seventy-five years, 
 and his wife in the spring of 1889, aged 
 seventy-four. 
 
 Nelson A. Bacon was educated in the 
 schools of his native town, at the select 
 school of the Rev. Mr. Nichols, and at the 
 academy. He became associated with his 
 father in the lumber business, which they 
 carried on until 1885, when it was closed out. 
 
 In his politics he is a Republican, but has 
 never held public office. He has been a 
 member of the Baptist church for the past 
 thirty years, and is now one of the trustees. 
 His mother was a member of the same church. 
 
 PALMER BINDLOSS, a well-known 
 and respected citizen of New London, 
 Conn., who now lives retired after 
 an active and honorable career of some forty- 
 six years, was born December 19, 1829, in 
 Kendal, Westmoreland, England, son of 
 William and Margaret (Palmer) Bindloss. 
 
 He traces his descent from Sir Christopher 
 Bindloss, who was Mayor and head of the cor- 
 poration of the town of Kendal in 1579-80 
 under the charter of Queen Elizabeth. Sir 
 Christopher, with his son Robert, established 
 a regular express service between Kendal and 
 London for the conveyance of their noted 
 woollens. Robert was created a Baronet by 
 Charles I. in 1641, and is believed to have 
 been the builder of Berwick Hall, York- 
 shire. Sir Robert Bindloss was member 
 of Parliament for Lancaster in 1613. His 
 son Francis, born 1603, married for his second 
 wife Cecilia, daughter of Thomas West, Lord 
 de la Ware. He also was member for Lan- 
 caster. He died in the lifetime of his father, 
 and was succeeded by his son Robert, the last 
 male Bindloss of Berwick Hall. It is a mat- 
 ter of history that King Charles II., on his 
 southward march with his Scottish army, 
 reached Kendal on August 16, 1651, and spent 
 the following night at Berwick Hall. The 
 line of T. Palmer Bindloss comes from Sir 
 Christopher's son Christopher, born 1570, 
 continuing through his son Peter, baptized 
 1607, Peter's son Robert, baptized 1630, 
 Robert's son Christopher, baptized 1666, to 
 Robert, son of Christopher, baptized 1696, 
 
-y#^ » A_' 
 
 r'l ''" 
 
 ,y. ^a4^T2^ri,^4y lyj /yT^cC/tT^f^ 
 
 ' ^c/i^cLc<r^</ 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 41 
 
 who was a farmer and dealer in cattle in 
 Rowel, Westmoreland County, and was a man 
 of considerable means, the typical representa- 
 tive of an English yeoman. The next ances- 
 tor, Robert (third) of Greenside Milnthorpe, 
 Westmoreland, the eldest son of a large fam- 
 ily of children, inherited his father's fine 
 estate, and succeeded to the business. His 
 son Philip, of Park House, Heversham, 
 Westmoreland, married Jane Watson, a sister 
 of Richard Watson, D.D., who was for years 
 the honored Bishop of Llandaff. 
 
 The subject of this sketch has an excellent 
 portrait of Bishop Watson, a fine steel engrav- 
 ing taken from a painting by George Roraney, 
 the celebrated historical artist and portrait 
 painter; and he has also a full-length steel 
 engraving of the artist. 
 
 William, son of Philip and father of T. 
 Palmer Bindloss, engaged in mercantile busi- 
 ness. He was a popular man and held office, 
 and his brother Thompson was twice Mayor 
 of Kendal. William Bindloss came to this 
 country in 1848, and bought a farm just out- 
 side of New London, that is now owned and 
 occupied by his youngest son. His wife was 
 a native of Liverpool, and it was in that 
 city that their marriage took place. Of 
 their children, three sons and four daugh- 
 ters are still living, all American residents, 
 the youngest being now sixty-four and the 
 eldest seventy-four years old. The first one 
 to immigrate was Jane P. Bindloss, who came 
 over in 1843, and was followed a year later by 
 Margaret. Both settled in New London, their 
 present home, Jane P. being the widow of 
 Leander U. Knight, and Margaret the widow 
 of George Elliott. They each have children. 
 The other brothers and sisters living are: 
 Ellen, widow of Henry Hilliar, aged seventy- 
 four; William, aged seventy-three; Mary, 
 widow of Joseph Scroggie, aged sixty-six; 
 
 and Philip George, aged sixty-four. The two 
 deceased are a son who -died in England, aged 
 two years and nine months; and Esther B., 
 who married Daniel Collins, and died April 
 28, 1897, aged sixty-eight. The mother, 
 Margaret Palmer Bindloss, died in 1858, at 
 sixty-two years of age; and the father, Will- 
 iam Bindloss, died in 1864, aged sixty-eight. 
 Their mortal remains rest in Cedar Grove 
 Cemetery. In their native land they were 
 both members of the Church of England, and 
 after coming to this country both they and 
 their children identified themselves with the 
 Episcopal church. 
 
 T. Palmer Bindloss received his education 
 in Kendal and Liverpool. When twelve 
 years old he was apprenticed to the tailor's 
 trade for seven years in Liverpool, but when 
 he had served five years his employer died. 
 In 185 1, with his widowed sister Ellen and 
 her two children, he came to New London. 
 He subsequently worked eight years as a cut- 
 ter in Elizabeth, N.J., and four years in New 
 York City at the same occupation. Since 
 then he has been a resident of New London. 
 About three years ago his cousin, William 
 Bindloss, Mayor of Kendal, died leaving a 
 large estate and a will in which there were 
 many public bequests, a residue of three hun- 
 dred and twenty-five thousand dollars being 
 set apart for heirs in America. These heirs 
 selected T. Palmer Bindloss as their attorney, 
 to go to England and look after their interests, 
 a task that he accomplished in a manner satis- 
 factory to all. Plis stay in England exceeded 
 a year; and during that time he availed him- 
 self of the opportunity to gain information of 
 an historical and genealogical character relat- 
 ing to the Bindloss family, searching the rec- 
 ords of many generations. He also secured 
 a large number of portraits and landscape 
 views, among them being views of Castle 
 
42 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 Green, the residence, garden, and grounds of 
 the late Mayor, who, with his noble wife, was 
 much loved and esteemed by both high and 
 lowly, schools having been special objects of 
 their interest and recipients of their bounty. 
 Mr. Bindloss has a beautiful testimonial in 
 colors which was presented to them by the 
 school children in honor of their silver wed- 
 ding anniversary, and another testimonial with 
 their portraits, the size of a newspaper folio, 
 speaking in the highest terms of their work. 
 Mention should also be made of the views 
 of Levens Hall and gardens of Captain Bagot, 
 which show the stone castle and gardens, now 
 some eight hundred years old ; also the Bind- 
 loss room in Sizergh Castle, with the family 
 coat of arms, which is a combination of those 
 of the Bindloss and West families, who inter- 
 married, as before noted. 
 
 Mr. Bindloss is a Republican voter, but has 
 never sought or held office. He belongs to 
 the Masonic order, and is a member of Pales- 
 tine Commandery of Knights Templars, in 
 which he has passed the chairs. Of genial 
 manners and a true gentleman in all that the 
 word implies, he has many friends in New 
 London and vicinity. 
 
 KRANCIS E. MERRITT, a prosperous 
 farmer of Groton, Conn., was born in 
 the adjacent town of North Stonington, 
 June 9, 1836, son of Samuel and Sarah G. 
 (Thomas) Merritt. His grandfather Merritt 
 was a farmer of North Stonington, and he 
 also worked at carpentering and boat-building. 
 He lived to be ninety years old, and was 
 twice married. By his first wife, whose 
 maiden name was Partlow, he had six sons, 
 one of them being Samuel, the father men- 
 tioned above, and three daughters. Of this 
 family one daughter is still living. Grand- 
 
 father Merritt's second wife, Nancy Brown, 
 survived him. 
 
 Samuel Merritt was born in North Stoning- 
 ton in 1804. Like his father, he engaged in 
 farming and ship - building. He married 
 Sarah G. Thomas, who was born in Wickford, 
 R. I., in 1807. They had eight children, five 
 of whom are living — William H., Charles 
 E., Samuel T., Francis E., and Annie E. 
 William H. Merritt is in Providence, R.I.; 
 Charles E. is in^Ashaway, R.I. ; Samuel T. 
 is here with his brother, Francis E. ; and 
 Annie is Mrs. George S. Champlain, of 
 North Stonington. Another son, John Mer- 
 ritt, died in early life; Albert, at the age of 
 fourteen; and Mary Merritt, who was married 
 at the age of eighteen, died the same year. 
 The father died in 1890, at the age of eighty- 
 six years. The mother still lives on the old 
 farm with her daughter; and, although in her 
 ninetieth year, she is bright and active. 
 
 Francis E. Merritt, after acquiring his 
 education in the common schools and Mys- 
 tic Academy, worked on his father's farm and 
 in the ship-yard, also in the woods getting 
 out timber, and remained at the homestead 
 until i860. He now has a garden and dairy 
 farm, and has driven his own milk wagon in 
 Noank for twenty -eight years. In connection 
 with his farming he has carried on butchering 
 and marketing, and has also dealt in fertil- 
 izers. The farm, including a salt marsh, 
 covers more than two hundred acres. In poli- 
 tics Mr. Merritt is a Republican. Officially, 
 he has served as Tax Collector and on the 
 School Committee, being at present a member 
 of the Board of Relief. 
 
 On July 2, i860, he was united in marriage 
 with Abbie E. Crouch, who was born in Led- 
 yard in 1841. Her parents were David and 
 Elizabeth (Whipple) Crouch. Her father, 
 who was born in Ledyard, was a son of Will- 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 43 
 
 iam Crouch, of Vermont. Her mother died in 
 1 88 1, at the age of sixty-three, and her father 
 in 1892, at the age of eighty-seven. They 
 were the parents of fourteen children; and 
 they reared three sons and five daughters, all 
 of whom are living. Mrs. Merritt was mar- 
 ried at the age of nineteen, and has had seven 
 children. The five now living are: Nettie 
 A., Ida C, Francis L., Carrie B , and Lottie 
 G. Nettie A. Merritt married William O. 
 Bailey, and lives in Pontiac, R.I. She has 
 two children. Ida C. married Herman Wirz, 
 of Brooklyn, N.Y., and has three children. 
 Francis L. is in Boston, Mass. Carrie B. is 
 a teacher here, and lives at home. Lottie 
 G., who is fifteen, is still in school. Albert 
 W. Merritt died at the age of eleven years 
 and eight months, and Mary A. when she was 
 three years old. 
 
 kRS. MARY E. MORGAN, now 
 residing at Preston City, .having 
 removed hither since the death of 
 her husband, the late Daniel Morgan, was 
 born in North Stonington, Conn., where her 
 parents, Ephraim and Eliza Prentice Hewitt, 
 who were married on December 4, 1835, had 
 settled on their farm. Mr. and Mrs. Hewitt 
 had a family of six children, two sons and 
 four daughters, of whom Mary E. , now Mrs. 
 Morgan, is the sole survivor. One son died 
 in infancy. The other son, Giles Hewitt, 
 died in the prime of life, at the age of thirty- 
 two, his wife and only child surviving him 
 but a short time. The father died in 1848, at 
 the age of fifty, and the mother September 
 II, 1862, at the age of sixty-four years. 
 
 Mary E. Hewitt received a good education, 
 and in her maidenhood taught school for some 
 years. She was married to Daniel Morgan on 
 January i, 1862, and went to live with him 
 
 on the old Morgan farm, which was originally 
 owned and occupied by his great-grandfather, 
 Samuel Morgan, whose father, John, son of 
 Captain James Morgan, of New London, set- 
 tled in Preston about 1692. The tract of two 
 hundred and twenty-five acres purchased by 
 Samuel Morgan has since been occupied by 
 three succeeding generations of Morgans, 
 namely: Daniel Morgan, first, son of Samuel; 
 Daniel, second, born in 1788, who died about 
 1864; and his son, Mrs. Mary E. Morgan's 
 husband, the third Daniel in direct line, who 
 was born on the homestead, and died there on 
 the first day of January, 1892, at the age of 
 seventy-two. He was the second Captain 
 Daniel Morgan in the State militia. In poli- 
 tics he was a Republican. Though not a 
 church member, Mr. Morgan regularly at- 
 tended and helped to support the Congrega- 
 tional church, of which Mrs. Morgan is a 
 member. He was a great reader and thinker, 
 and was well informed on all topics of public 
 importance or interest. 
 
 Mrs. Morgan has leased the farm upon 
 which her married life was spent, and with 
 her daughter, Carrie Prentice Morgan, is liv- 
 ing, as above mentioned, at Preston City. 
 She chose this place as being not far from her 
 old home and near the last resting-place of 
 her husband, whose grave is in the Preston 
 City cemetery. 
 
 lAPTAIN ROBERT PALMER WIL- 
 jT BUR, of Mystic, Conn., now engaged 
 .If ^ in ship-building at Noank, his na- 
 tive place, was born on October 28, 1839, 
 being the third son of William Allen and 
 Lucy (Palmer) Wilbur. His remote paternal 
 ancestors were English. 
 
 His great-grandfather Wilbur's name was 
 William. His grandfather, John Wilbur, 
 
44 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 who was master of a fishing-smack, died in 
 Norfolk, Va. , in 1836. He was survived 
 some time by his second wife, Betsy Burrows. 
 A daughter born of their union, Mrs. Lucretia 
 Brown, is still living, now a widow. Her 
 husband, who was a mariner, died in 1836. 
 Grandfather Wilbur's first wife, whose maiden 
 name was Eleanor Ashby, was the mother of 
 nine children, seven sons and two daughters: 
 James; Nathaniel; William Allen; Ray S. ; 
 Allen, who was lost at sea; John; and Whit- 
 man. The last named was accidentally shot 
 in California. Mary Ellen and another 
 daughter died in childhood. Ray S. died in 
 1896, at the age of eighty-seven. 
 
 William Allen Wilbur, the third son as 
 here recorded, was a mariner and also a mer- 
 chant in Noank. He married Lucy Palmer, of 
 that village. They had six children — Lucy 
 Ellen, Abby, William Allen, John Palmer, 
 Robert Palmer, and Charles. Lucy Ellen 
 died at the age of four; Abby lived to be 
 nineteen; William Allen, second, a ship- 
 master, died in Cuba at the age of twenty-five, 
 of yellow fever; John Palmer, a sea captain, 
 died in Calcutta of cholera; Robert P., the 
 subject of this biography, is the only sur- 
 vivor; Charles Wilbur died at the age of six 
 years. The father, who was born in Noank 
 in' 1 802, died December i, 1846. The 
 mother is still living. Her parents were 
 Deacon John and Abby (Fish) Palmer. Dea- 
 con Palmer was a ship-carpenter. He out- 
 lived his wife, who died leaving seven of her 
 twelve children. But two of the family are 
 now living: Mrs. Wilbur and her brother, 
 Robert Palmer, who is at the head of the 
 ship-building interest in Noank. 
 
 Robert Palmer Wilbur had limited educa- 
 tional advantages in his boyhood and youth, 
 going to school only winters after he was ten 
 years of age, when he began to engage in fish- 
 
 ing. From the age of sixteen to twenty he 
 attended school at Winsted and Mystic, Conn. 
 During the Civil War he was a three months 
 volunteer in Company A, Second Connecticut 
 Regiment, of New London, going as private. 
 At the age of twenty-five he commanded the 
 steamer "Ulysses." The other vessels in 
 which he sailed as captain were: the bark 
 "Caleb Haley," which was lost on the coast 
 of Mexico in August, 1866; the schooner 
 "Robert Palmer"; the "A. E. Campbell"; 
 the ship "Dauntless"; the "M. P. Grace"; 
 and the "St. Frances," in which he made his 
 last voyage, quitting the merchant marine 
 service in April, 1894. Since that time he 
 has been interested in ship-building, being 
 vice-president of a company in Noank. In 
 politics Captain Wilbur affiliates with the 
 Republican party; and he is fraternally con- 
 nected with Williams Post, No. 55, G. A. R., 
 as Commander. 
 
 On May 10, 1864, he was united in mar- 
 riage with Phoebe Miner Fish, daughter of 
 Nathan G. and Emeline (Miner) Fish, her 
 maternal grandfather being John O. Miner. 
 Her father is now dead. Captain and Mrs. 
 Wilbur have had six children. They lost an 
 infant son, Albert, and a little daughter 
 named Gertrude, who passed away at the age 
 of seven years. The four now living are: 
 Helen F., Emeline Miner, Roberta P., and 
 John P. Helen F., a young lady at home, 
 was graduated at the Mystic Valley Institute. 
 Emeline Miner, who is also at home, was 
 graduated at the Williams Memorial High 
 School- in New London in 1895. Roberta is 
 a maiden of ten years, and John Palmer, a 
 boy of seven. 
 
 Mrs. Wilbur accompanied her husband on 
 several long voyages, going round Cape Horn 
 and to various foreign ports. They reside on 
 the homestead formerly belonging to Mrs. 
 
tllAKLi;S I). AlAIXK. 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 47 
 
 Wilbur's father, which has been owned by 
 Captain Wilbur for many years. Personally, 
 he is a man of refinement, one who has a 
 great love for home and its higher associa- 
 tions. Mrs. Wilbur is a true wife and 
 mother. The family circle is still blessed by 
 grandmother's presence. Socially, the Wil- 
 burs stand among the highest and most 
 esteemed citizens. Captain Wilbur is a Dea- 
 con of the Union Baptist Church. 
 
 T^HARLES O. MAINE, M.D., an ac- 
 I Vp tive and successful physician of Ston- 
 
 ^^ ^ ington, Conn., was born April lb, 
 1843, in New Hartford, this State. He is 
 the eldest son of the late Sidney O. Maine, 
 and is descended from one of the best known 
 families of New London County, rhany of his 
 ancestors having been prominent in industrial 
 and professional circles. His paternal grand- 
 father, Jabez Breed Maine, was born in North 
 Stonington in 1772, and died there in 1856. 
 He was a stone-mason by trade, and an expert 
 in making the broad, old-fashioned fireplaces 
 with good draft that were always found in the 
 Colonial mansions; and as a government em- 
 ployee he did the masonry on the Stonington 
 Light-house. On March 15, 1798, he married 
 Freelove Edwards, a direct descendant of Jon- 
 athan Edwards, the celebrated theologian; and 
 of the thirteen children born of this union six 
 sons and five daughters grew to mature years, 
 married, and reared families. One son, 
 Sebeus C. Maine, was for many years a noted 
 counsellor and judge in Boston; another son, 
 Jonas C, was a well-known physician of Con- 
 necticut; and a third son, Christopher Ira, 
 was a skilful surgeon and physician of Central 
 New York, acquiring eminence in his profes- 
 sion throughout the counties of Tioga, Tomp- 
 kins, and Chemung, and at his death leaving a 
 
 handsome property to be divided among his 
 large number of children. The grandmother 
 died in 1856, a few months before her hus- 
 band. 
 
 Sidney O. Maine was a farmer by occupa- 
 tion, and a man of literary tastes and attain- 
 ments. He taught school many terms; and he 
 was a writer of some note, many -of bis articles 
 on scientific subjects appearing in the public 
 press. He was broad-minded and liberal- 
 hearted, spending his money as he made it, 
 being unselfish and generous almost to a fault. 
 Fraternally, he was a Master Mason. He was 
 a lifelong resident of North Stonington, where 
 he was born May 6, 1818, and died August 
 20, 1894. His wife, whose maiden name was 
 Eliza L. Wentworth, was born April 12, 
 1818, in Barkhamsted, Conn., and is now liv- 
 ing in North Stonington, being a bright and 
 active woman of nearly fourscore years. She 
 is the mother of five children, namely: Dr. 
 Charles O., of Stonington; Milo M., a stone- 
 mason, living in North Stonington; Albert 
 S., a farmer in Hampton, Conn. ; Myron M., 
 D. D. S. , who was graduated from the Balti- 
 more Dental College, where he took the first 
 prize for excellence of workmanship, and now 
 has a fine dental practice in South Manches- 
 ter, Conn. ; and Annie M., wife of Henry M. 
 Newton, a farmer living in North Stonington. 
 
 Charles O. Maine was reared on the home 
 farm, obtaining his early education in the dis- 
 trict school, and at the age of seventeen be- 
 ginning life on his own account as a teacher in 
 the public schools. He taught several terms 
 in country and village, in the meantime con- 
 tinuing his studies; and he subsequently en- 
 tered the medical department of Dartmouth 
 College, from which he was graduated with the 
 class of 1870. He settled first in Voluntown, 
 Conn., where he remained eleven years. Be- 
 sides attending to an extensive practice, he 
 
48 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 held town offices, and was School Visitor for 
 many years. Dr. Maine removed to Stoning- 
 ton on April i8, 1881, and has here built up 
 an extensive and lucrative practice, his profes- 
 sional skill being recognized throughout this 
 section of the county. In 1894 he built his 
 present commodious residence on Water 
 Street, at the corner of Harmony, on which 
 his handsome and well -arranged barn is situ- 
 ated. The house is furnished and equipped 
 with all modern conveniences, with a suite of 
 offices both for himself and for his son, who 
 is a popular young dentist. The Doctor is a 
 Master Mason and quite active in the order. 
 He is a Republican in his political affiliations, 
 has been elected a Justice of the Peace many 
 terms, and is a Burgess. He has stock in the 
 velvet-mill, but pays no especial attention to 
 its management, his professional labors de- 
 manding his entire time and energies. He 
 and his wife are valued members of the Baptist 
 church. 
 
 Dr. Maine was married December 18, 1866, 
 to Sarah Phebe Main, who, though bearing the 
 same name with a slight difference in spelling, 
 is not akin to him, unless it be possibly on the 
 maternal side, her parents being Robert I-", 
 and Phebe (Edwards) Main, of Voluntown, 
 Conn. Her father was in early years a stone- 
 mason and a farmer, but is now living retired, 
 both he and his wife being quite advanced in 
 years. They bad but one child besides Mrs. 
 Maine, a son, Crawford R., who died in West- 
 erly, R.I., in 1876, leaving a widow and one 
 daughter, Gertie L. The latter was left an 
 orphan when three years old, and was brought 
 up by her grandparents until about five years 
 ago, when she became an inmate of the Doc- 
 tor's household. Dr. and Mrs. Maine have 
 but one child, a son named Charles Everett, 
 who was graduated from the New York Dental 
 College, March 10, 1888, and has since had 
 
 his home and dental rooms in his father's 
 house. He was married June 5, 1889, to 
 Miss Susie Miller, of Stonington, Conn. 
 
 DWARD N. CROCKER, of New Lon- 
 don, a wholesale dealer in cold stor- 
 age m,eats, was born here, July 26, 
 1841, son of John and Nancy (Thompson) 
 Crocker. The grandfather, Nehemiah Crocker, 
 who was a farmer, had four sons and four 
 daughters, none of whom are living, and was 
 over ninety years old when he died in 1849. 
 John Crocker, who was born in Waterford, 
 this county, in 1793, served in the War of 
 18 1 2, married Nancy Thompson about the 
 year 1838, and died in 1866. He had previ- 
 ously married Clarissa Brown, who died leav- 
 ing three sons and a daughter. Of these the 
 only survivor is Benjamin A. Crocker, residing 
 in Waterford, who was the captain of a yacht, 
 and has tried a number of cases in the capacity 
 of Justice of the Peace. 
 
 Edward N. Crocker lived on a farm during 
 his early years. When the Rebellion broke 
 out, he was attending the district school. In 
 August, 1862, he enlisted for the defence of 
 the Union in Company F of the Twenty-first 
 Connecticut Infantry. Before leaving the 
 State he was detailed from the ranks as a 
 Quartermaster's clerk, in which capacity he 
 served eighteen months. Then he was de- 
 tailed as clerk under Major J. M. Lucas, Port 
 Commissary at Portsmouth, Va., with whom 
 he remained sixteen months. He served con- 
 tinuously until June, 1865, when he was hon- 
 orably discharged. Afterward for a few 
 months he was engaged in a manufacturing 
 business at Meriden, Conn. Since that time 
 he has been in the meat business, beginning 
 as an employee of Henry Hobron. In 1881 
 he purchased the market in which he was 
 
CHARLES E. 1;RAYT(_).\. 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 51 
 
 employed from Clark Steward, and has since 
 carried on a wholesale business. He first 
 sold Nelson Morris & Co.'s meat; but since 
 1886 he has been interested in the Swift busi- 
 ness, being an equal partner with G. F. and 
 E. C. Swift, each owning a third. They 
 built their finely equipped establishment in 
 1890. Their business now amounts to about 
 two hundred thousand dollars yearly. 
 
 In June, 1867, Mr. Crocker and Janette H. 
 Tiffany were united in marriage. She was 
 born in East Haddam, Conn., daughter of 
 John Tiffany. They have two children: 
 Stephen M., a graduate of Brown's Business 
 College in Brooklyn; and Leonard G., a clerk 
 in the railroad freight office. Both are living 
 at home. Mr. Crocker is a stanch Republi- 
 can, and has been chairman of the Republican 
 Town Committee for the past five years. 
 During the past six years he has served as 
 a member of the Common Council of this 
 city. He is a Master Mason, a member of 
 the Independent Order of Odd Fellows; the 
 Commander of the W. W. Perkins Post, No. 
 47, G. A. R. ; and a communicant of the First 
 Congregational Church. The family reside 
 at 182 Ocean Avenue, in the house built by 
 Mr. Crocker's father forty years ago. 
 
 kHARLES ERSKINE BRAYTON, 
 M. D., of Stonington, son of Atwood 
 Randall and Sally M. (Davis) Bray- 
 ton, was born in this town, February 11, 1851. 
 He represents the eighth generation of his 
 family in this country, being a lineal descend- 
 ant of Francis Brayton, born in England. in 
 161 1 or 1612, who in 1643 became an inhabi- 
 tant of Portsmouth, R.I. Succeeding Fran- 
 cis in this line were: Francis''; Thomas, ^ 
 born 1681 ; Francis, ■• born 1721 ; Benjamin, 5 
 of Fall River, born 1746; George,'^ born 1786; 
 
 Atwood 7 Randall Brayton, born December 2, 
 1806. 
 
 George Brayton, the Doctof's grandfather, 
 died of pneumonia at his home in Johnson, 
 now a part of Providence, R.I., when but 
 thirty-five years of age. He was survived by 
 his wife, formerly Nancy Randall, and five 
 children, three sons and two daughters. After 
 her husband's death Mrs. Nancy R. Brayton 
 married a Mr. Carey, a widower with twelve 
 children, and, outliving him also, died a widow 
 at the age of sixty-seven. She was a descend- 
 ant of Roger Williams, three of whose great- 
 grand-daughters — Mercy, Lydia, and Martha 
 Williams — married respectively William, 
 Joseph, and John Randall. Atwood Randall, 
 eldest son of George and Nancy R. Brayton, 
 was born in Providence, December 2, 1806. 
 By trade a mason, he was also a contractor and 
 builder. He built the stone work of the 
 old Baptist, Congregational, and Episcopal 
 churches, and most of the other stone build- 
 ings of that time. He built his own dwell- 
 ing-house in 1840. Although he began life 
 a poor boy, his unremitting industry enabled 
 him to retire from business at the age of 
 seventy-seven, a well-to-do man. He died 
 at the age of eighty-four and a half, having 
 survived all of his brothers and sisters. His 
 wife, Sally Maria, was born in what is now 
 North Stonington, January 25, 181 1, being 
 the youngest of thirteen children of Samuel 
 and Lucy (Dewey) Davis. She is the only 
 one of the family now living. Her father was 
 a soldier of the Revolution. He enlisted at 
 the age of seventeen, was in the battles at 
 Princeton and Trenton, and was at Groton, his 
 three brothers also being in the army. Their 
 father, John Davis, who married Patience 
 Palmer, was a son of Peter Davis, Sr. , of 
 Westerly, R.I., a noted preacher of the Soci- 
 ety of Friends, who went on a mission to Eng- 
 
52 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 land. Samuel Davis died at the age of sixty- 
 eight ; and his widow died in 1857, ninety-four 
 years old. Their daughter married Atwood 
 Randall Brayton, October 2, 183 1. 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Atwood R.. Brayton had 
 eleven children, four of whom died in infancy 
 or childhood; and one, the eldest-born, a 
 daughter Sarah, died in 1895, a maiden lady 
 of si.xty-two years. The survivors are: At- 
 wood W. , the eldest son, and his father's suc- 
 cessor in business, unmarried and living at 
 the old home; Frances Almira and the young- 
 est sister Adelaide, also living at home; 
 George, a house painter and decorator, who is 
 married and has two children; and Charles 
 Erskine, the subject of this sketch. The 
 three sisters were successful teachers for many 
 years. 
 
 Charles Erskine, the tenth child and the 
 third Charles, was sent to private and public 
 schools until he reached the age of twelve, 
 when he was placed under the instruction of a 
 private tutor, Dr. Hart, of Stonington, for five 
 years. He worked at his father's trade four 
 summers, and when he was eighteen years 
 old he taught school one term before he began 
 the study of medicine with Dr. "William Hyde. 
 He was graduated from the medical depart- 
 ment of Columbia College in 1873, having 
 been a private pupil of Professor William 
 Parker. He began practising in Stonington 
 the same year as assistant to Dr. William 
 Hyde, who died in a few months. He then 
 succeeded to his practice, and remained in his 
 office seven years. In 1880 Dr. Brayton 
 erected a large and handsome building, where 
 he has some fine offices and sleeping apart- 
 ments. On the first floor of this building 
 there. is a drug store, on the second dental 
 parlors and a great hall, where the G. A. R. 
 Post and other societies hold their meetings. 
 The Doctor lives in this building, but takes 
 
 his meals at the family home, in the house 
 built by his father, which he has remodelled 
 and modernized, and where his mother is still 
 living. He owns a number of tenements and 
 several vacant lots. 
 
 Dr. Brayton is a busy man ; and he has held 
 many positions, both in public life and within 
 the scope of his profession. He has been 
 president of the New London County Medical 
 Society, is a member of the State Medical 
 Society, of the American Medical Association, 
 and of the National Association of Railway 
 Surgeons, and has been Health Officer "for six 
 years. He was chief of the railroad surgeons 
 of the New York, Providence & Boston Rail- 
 way until that was merged into the N. Y., 
 N. H. & H. R.R., and examiner for several 
 life insurance companies. In politics he is a 
 Democrat, and he has been a Burgess of the 
 borough six years. He is a member of the 
 Royal Arcanum, and is Past Regent and life 
 member of the Grand Council of Connecticut. 
 He is also connected with the Sons of the 
 Revolution. Dr. Brayton is an active member 
 of the Second Congregational Church, is treas- 
 urer of the society, and a member of the soci- 
 ety committee. 
 
 •ffiYABEZ B. HOUGH, the well-known and 
 popular merchant of East Lyme, was 
 born in Bozrah, an inland town in this 
 county, on April 19, 1855, son of Jedediah 
 Stark and Lydia Amelia (Fowler) Hough. 
 Representatives of the Hough family have 
 lived in the same house in Bozrah for a hun- 
 dred years, and have been among the most 
 highly respected and influential citizens of 
 the town. 
 
 Guy Hough, father of Jedediah, was a 
 farmer. He married Hannah Bailey, of 
 Groton, a relation of the renowned "Mother 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 53 
 
 Bailey," whose name is a synonym for warm- 
 hearted patriotism. By this union there were 
 nine children, all of whom are now dead. 
 Grandmother Hough died in 1875, aged about 
 eighty-four years; and her husband, who out- 
 livejl her, died in his ninety-ninth year. 
 
 Jedediah Hough, father of the subject of 
 this sketch, was a prosperous farmer, accumu- 
 lating a property of some thirty-five thousand 
 dollars. He was a Republican, and was 
 active in local politics. He was Selectman 
 for some fifteen years consecutively and Town 
 Treasurer for a number of years. In 1855, 
 at the time when his son Jabez was born, he 
 represented the town in the legislature. His 
 wife, Amelia, was born in 1822 in Lebanon. 
 They were married in 1854, and had seven 
 children. A son, Charles, died in early child- 
 hood. The six living are as follows: Mary, 
 wife of John J. Gager in Bozrah ; Lucretia, 
 wife of J. Milton Newton; Lathrop Alanson, 
 a farmer, unmarried; Jabez B. ; Lydia, wife 
 of George O. Stead, of Norwich, a retired 
 merchant; and Katie, wife of Warren S. 
 Abel, an assistant superintendent in the Yale 
 Lock Works, living at Stamford, Conn. The 
 father died in 1869, and the mother in 1893. 
 Jabez B. Hough lived on the old homestead 
 until fifteen years of age, attending the dis- 
 trict school. He then left home and became 
 a clerk in Fitchville, where he remained for 
 several years. In the spring of 1880 he came 
 to East Lyme as salesman and agent in charge 
 of the factory store. He was in this position, 
 working on salary and helping with the 
 books, never losing a day's pay, until the 
 business was closed. In 1894, when the 
 Niantic Manufacturing Company was started 
 by Messrs. Park Brothers and D. R. Camp- 
 bell, Mr. Hough opened the store in company 
 with Luther C. Eaton, the firm name being 
 Hough & Eaton. In March, 1895, Mr. Eaton 
 
 died; and in the following May Mr. Hough 
 became the sole proprietor of the business. 
 He began with limited capital, but with a 
 good stock of energy and capability, with 
 well-formed habits of industry, and has been 
 successful in business. At present he employs 
 two clerks and keeps three horses, but looks 
 after the book-keeping hirhself, and is a very 
 busy man. Genial and accommodating, he 
 is always ready to do anything in his power 
 to oblige a customer or acquaintance. 
 
 On March 17, 1879, ^^- Hough married 
 Ida J. Grover, daughter of the late William 
 Grover, who was a travelling and local sales- 
 man. Mr. and Mrs. Hough reside at their 
 delightful home on Flanders Street, in the 
 house which was built in 1895 and 1896. In 
 politics Mr. Hough is a Republican; but, al- 
 though deeply interested in the welfare of the 
 town and in all its public affairs, he has 
 stoutly refused to hold office. Fraternally, 
 he is a Master Mason. 
 
 R. BIGELOW, farmer, residing in 
 olchester, was born in this town, 
 January 17, 1830, son of Guy Bige- 
 low and his wife, Sarah Ann Waite Bigelow. 
 He is of old and substantial Colonial stock, 
 being a direct descendant in the male line of 
 John Bigelow, who came to New England — 
 some have thought from Wales — and settled 
 at Watertown, Mass., where his marriage took 
 place in 1642, and was the first one recorded 
 in the town. His wife was Mary Warren. 
 
 Lieutenant John Bigelow, grandson of John 
 of Watertown, came to Colchester from Hart- 
 ford, Conn., between 1706 and 17 10. He 
 was four times married, and had two children 
 by his first wife and five by his second wife, 
 Sarah Bigelow, a cousin. He died March 8, 
 1770. Asa Bigelow, first, born in Colchester 
 
54 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 in 1720, one of the second group, married 
 early in life, and died in 1754, leaving a 
 large family. His posthumous son and name- 
 sake, Asa, grandfather of Asa R. Bigelow, 
 married February 5, 1783, Lydia Newton, of 
 Colchester, a daughter of James Newton. 
 During the Revolution Asa Bigelow, second, 
 was Assistant Commissary to Commissary- 
 general Champion, and took a drove of cattle 
 to Valley Forge. He was a carpenter by 
 trade, and used the firsf cut nails seen in the 
 town in shingling his own barn in 1794, the 
 nails being brought by his son Guy on horse- 
 back from Windham, Conn. The old build- 
 ings are still standing. Grandfather Bigelow 
 was a large landed proprietor, owning seven 
 hundred acres of land, which was divided into 
 three farms. He was one of the first trustees 
 cf Bacon Academy. Of the eleven children 
 born to him and his wife, ten, three sons and 
 seven daughters, reached maturity, and nine 
 were married. Three of the daughters mar- 
 ried clergymen ; one became the wife of Dan- 
 iel Safford, an iron merchant of Boston, who 
 was one of the promoters of the school at 
 South Hadley, now Mount Holyoke College; 
 and the son Asa, third, became a prominent 
 New York merchant. - Grandfather Bigelow 
 died July 28, 1830, at the age of seventy-five. 
 His widow survived him fourteen years, dying 
 in 1844. 
 
 Guy Bigelow was educated in the common 
 schools of Colchester and at Bacon Academy. 
 He was a prominent and influential citizen, 
 active in town affairs; and he served one year 
 as Representative in the legislature. He 
 settled on his farm of two hundred acres in 
 1 85 1. He married March 8, 1827, Sarah 
 Ann Waite, a daughter of Remick and Susan- 
 nah (Matson) Waite. Of the seven children 
 born of this union four died young; and three 
 — Asa R., Jonathan E., and Henry W. — 
 
 survived their parents. The father died in 
 1868, in the eighty-third year of his age; 
 and the mother died in 1891, at the age of 
 ninety-five. They were active members of 
 the Congregational church. Jonathan E. 
 Bigelow, who is unmarried, lives with his 
 brother Asa on the home farm. Henry Waite 
 Bigelow, the other brother, was a volunteer 
 in 1861 in the Fourteenth Ohio, going as 
 private from Toledo, and becoming the Cap- 
 tain of Company H. He was twice wounded 
 at Chickamauga, first from a ball passing 
 through his thigh and afterward in the arm. 
 For these injuries he received a pension from 
 the government. He was a merchant and 
 manufacturer in Toledo, Ohio, and was a 
 thirty-third degree Mason. He died unmar- 
 ried, March 12, 1895. 
 
 Mr. Asa R. Bigelow, following his father's 
 footsteps, attended the Bacon Academy in his 
 youth; and, beginning at the age of seven- 
 teen, he taught school for ten seasons. On 
 September 13, 1855, he was united in mar- 
 riage with Anne Putnam Brown, of Brooklyn, 
 Conn. Mrs. Bigelow was a great-grand- 
 daughter of General Israel Putnam, and was 
 also descended from the Brinleys, of Boston, 
 who were among the founders of King's 
 Chapel, and from the Hutchinsons. She was 
 one of thirteen children born to her parents, 
 James and Emily (Putnam) Brown, of whose 
 family four daughters and five sons lived to 
 maturity, and four of the sons married. To 
 take the places of the four sons who died in 
 childhood, four nephews of Mr. Brown were 
 adopted. The two children now living are: 
 the Rev. Edward Brov.m, Episcopal rector at 
 Stafford Springs, Conn.; and his sister, Jane 
 C. Brown, at the old home in Brooklyn. The 
 mother died in 1873, at the age of seventy- 
 three; and the father five years later, at 
 eighty-two years of age. 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 SS 
 
 Mrs. Bigelow died April 27, 1897, aged 
 sixty-seven, leaving four children; namely, 
 James Dixon, Elizabeth Brinley, Sarah Waite, 
 and Henry Waite. James Dixon Bigelow is 
 an attorney-at-law and real estate broker in 
 Terra Haute, Ind. He has a wife and two 
 daughters. Elizabeth Brinley Bigelow, a 
 young artist, was educated at Carl Hecker's 
 school, and now has a class in the village. 
 Several years of her life have been spent in 
 the West, in Indiana and in Illinois; but 
 both she and her sister Sarah are now living 
 at home. Henry Waite is a graduate of the 
 Polytechnic Institute of Terre Haute, Ind. 
 He is a fine mechanic and chemist, and is now 
 in the department of tests for the Pope Manu- 
 facturing Company of Hartford. The family 
 are all Episcopalians. Mr. Bigelow is a 
 Master Mason. He is a Republican, and 
 served his town as Assessor for many years. 
 He was Representative in 1873, and has been 
 a defeated candidate many other years, the 
 town being strongly Democratic. To the old 
 farm of two hundred acres he has added thii-ty 
 acres. It is in a most delightful location, 
 reached by a walk or drive through the shaded 
 and picturesque wood road past the old mill, 
 now silent, and the babbling trout brook, 
 which is the outlet of a fine large mill-pond; 
 and the secluded homestead, so neatly kept and 
 so plainly the abode of taste and culture, is 
 one of the most attractive in this fine agri- 
 cultural town. 
 
 'BEL P. TANNER, an attorney-at-law 
 ioing a successful business in New 
 London, was born across the river 
 in Groton, July 7, 1850, a son of Abel and 
 Clarissa (Watrous) Tanner. His paternal 
 grandparents, Palmer and Mary N. (Case) 
 Tanner, were residents of Rhode Island. 
 
 They had four sons and a daughter, of whom 
 two sons — Abel and Jeremiah — are now liv- 
 ing. Palmer Tanner died in Centreville, 
 R.I., at about seventy years of age. His 
 father, Palmer Tanner, Sr., was a soldier in 
 the Revolutionary War, being a member of 
 General Spencer's division. 
 
 Abel Tanner was born on Prudence Island, 
 R.I., in August, 1805, and now resides at 
 Mystic, this town. Though he is now ninety- 
 two years of age, he is still well preserved in 
 mind and body. He married Clarissa Wat- 
 rous about 1848. She was a descendant of 
 James Rogers, a noted Quaker, whom tradi- 
 tion claims to have been a descendant of John 
 Rogers, the martyr. Mrs. Tanner died Au- 
 gust 15, 1850, leaving her only child, Abel 
 P. Tanner, a babe of five weeks. The father 
 afterward married Cordelia Heath, by whom he 
 had a son, Wendell Phillips Tanner, who died 
 when in his twenty-first year. The father was 
 associated as a lecturer with Wendell Phillips 
 in the early days of the abolition movement, 
 and named his boy for the great orator. 
 
 Abel P. Tanner received a good education, 
 supplementing his elementary schooling by 
 a course at Brown University, at which he 
 was graduated in the class of 1874 with the 
 degree of Bachelor of Arts. He studied law 
 at Mystic with Colonel Hiram Appelman, and 
 on February 23, 1875, was admitted to the 
 bar. He practised for several years in Mys- 
 tic, then in 1882 came to New London, where 
 he has a large clientage. He is very promi- 
 nent in political affairs, and in 1872 was 
 elected on the Republican ticket to the 
 State Senate, but owing to an irregularity in 
 the court, it is claimed, never took his seat. 
 Following the example of his -father, he has 
 done effective work as a campaign speaker. 
 In 1896 he was the Democratic candidate for 
 Presidential elector. 
 
S6 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 On June i8, 1874, Mr. Tanner was united 
 in marriage to Miss Emma B. Wliitford, a 
 daughter of Clark N. VVhitford, of Stoning- 
 ton. Mr. and Mrs. Tanner have no children 
 living, having lost their only daughter in in- 
 fancy. Their home is at 5 Hempstead Street, 
 where Mr. Tanner built a pleasant residence 
 in the summer of iSgi. 
 
 V^jVpVORRIS W. BACON, of New Lon- 
 1 1 =/ don, now retired from business, 
 
 {A ^ilr ^ has engaged in many enterprises 
 
 which have left lasting monuments along the 
 road of progress in this city, and has won re- 
 nown in the sporting world, both through his 
 horses and his fine yachts, one of Jiis boats a 
 few years since taking the cup at New York 
 City. He was born in Middlefield, Middle- 
 sex County, Conn., October 11, 1830, a son 
 of William and Elmina (Johnson) Bacon, both 
 of Middlefield. 
 
 His grandfather, John Bacon, who was the 
 fourth John in succession (see Bacon Gene- 
 alogy, owned by Arthur W. Bacon, of Middle- 
 town, Conn.), was born in Middlefield in 
 1779. He managed a farm and kept a hotel 
 in Middlefield, and at one period was con- 
 sidered wealthy; but he lost some fifteen 
 thousand dollars by indorsing notes for 
 friends, and had little to devise at the time of 
 his death. His homestead, however, is still in 
 the family, owned by a female cousin of 
 Morris W. Bacon. John Bacon died" in Mid- 
 dlefield, December 6, 1859; ^"d his wife, 
 Amy Coe, of Middlefield, a noble woman, 
 strong in the Methodist faith, died October 
 30, 1865, over fourscore years of age. They 
 were the parents of the following children: 
 Curtis, United States Marshal in Middle- 
 town; William, father of Morris W. ; John 
 L. and Lucy, twins; and George W. 
 
 William Bacon, second son of John, was 
 born in Middlefield, near his son's birthplace, 
 July 20, 1805. He began life "even with the 
 world," so to speak, he and his brother Curtis 
 purchasing a farm of one hundred acres for 
 twelve hundred dollars, giving a mortgage 
 note for the purchase price. Energetic and 
 capable, this farm they paid for in a short 
 time. On April 18, 1839, Mr. William 
 Bacon took charge of the Bacon Hotel in New 
 London, which was owned by his uncle 
 Matthew; and in this sphere of action he was 
 successful and very popular. Large-hearted 
 and whole-souled, he never turned a man away 
 hungry because he had no money ; and he asked 
 no favors himself, always paying one hundred 
 cents on the dollar. He died in Lyme, 
 Conn., May 28, 1882, aged seventy-seven, and 
 is survived by his second wife, formerly Miss 
 Anna M. Lay, of Lyme, and now living in 
 that town. Morris W. Bacon's mother, 
 whose maiden name was Elmina Johnson, was 
 William Bacon's first wife, whom he married 
 April- 21, 1828. Her parents were residents 
 of Middlefield. Her father died in early 
 manhood; and her mother lived to be seventy, 
 passing away in 1846. Mrs. Elmina J. 
 Bacon was one of six children, two sons and 
 four daughters, all of whom married and had 
 families. She died July 22, 1866, aged fifty- 
 nine, the youngest of her family to pass away. 
 She had but two children: Morris W., of 
 New London; and Watson Coe Bacon, who 
 died the day he was nine months old. 
 
 Morris W. Bacon was born on the hundred- 
 acre farm purchased by his father and his 
 uncle Curtis in Middlefield, and in a district 
 school in that town he acquired his primary 
 education. He completed his studies in the 
 public schools of New London, and at the age 
 of fifteen went to work, engaging as clerk for 
 Cady & Newcomb. With this firm he re- 
 
^»<^ft 
 
 MORRIS W. DACON. 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 59 
 
 mained three years, his salary being raised as 
 his services became valuable; and on Novem- 
 ber 22, 1849, he assumed the duties of passen- 
 ger clerk on the steamer "Connecticut." He 
 remained in the employ of the steamboat com- 
 pany until 1874: between 1855 and 1872 he 
 was also a member of the jewelry firm of Gor- 
 don & Bacon, whose place of business was at 
 the corner of Main and State. Streets, New 
 London. 
 
 He has engaged in some important transac- 
 tions in real estate that have caused a marked 
 improvement in property in New London. 
 He erected a handsome marble block on State 
 Street, containing spacious stores and a hall; 
 and for ten years prior to 1890 he managed a 
 billiard room in this block, which was one of 
 the finest in this part of the country. The 
 room was eighteen feet in height and sixty-two 
 by forty-one feet in dimension, and not a post 
 broke the harmony of the space. It was 
 fitted with seven billiard tables. 
 
 Mr. Bacon purchased a handsome residence 
 property on State Street in 1876, and, build- 
 ing a fine barn, bought a number of thorough- 
 bred horses. Some noted animals were bred 
 on this place, and at one time he was the 
 owner of twenty-one. He brought out "Will- 
 iam H. Allen" and "Mary A. Whitney," and 
 others known to the racing world. This 
 State Street property he sold in December, 
 1895, disposing of his horses at the same 
 time. Mr. Munsey, who was induced by Mr. 
 Bacon to come to New London, purchased the 
 estate for thirty thousand dollars, and has 
 erected a magnificent brick block, costing 
 four hundred thousand dollars, eight stories 
 in height, and one hundred and twelve by 
 ninety feet in dimension, and strictly fire 
 proof. 
 
 Prior to 1877 Mr. Bacon was actively inter- 
 ested in yachting; and he has owned a number 
 
 of yachts, some of which he had built. He 
 was licensed as a captain while he was in the 
 employ of the steamboat company; and he 
 always sailed his own boats, being his 
 own pilot. In 1859, with the sloop yacht 
 "Rowena," he won the cup in the New York 
 Yacht Club regatta. 
 
 Mr. Bacon was married October 11, 1853, to 
 Jane E. Gordon, who died July 19, 1891, leav- 
 ing two children — Charles G. and Lizzie J. 
 Charles G. Bacon was educated at Exeter, 
 N. H., and is now in business in this city. 
 Lizzie J. Bacon, who is also in New London, 
 was educated at Auburndale, Mass., and is an 
 accomplished artist. Mr. Bacon contracted a 
 second marriage, October 3, 1892, with Jane 
 D. , daughter of the late William Carroll, of 
 this city. Mr. Carroll, who was extensively 
 engaged in teaming, died in 1882. He left a 
 widow, Mrs. Ellen Carroll, and two children 
 — Martha and Jane — all residents of New 
 London. In politics Mr. Bacon is nominally 
 a Democrat, but he reserves the privilege of 
 voting for the candidate best fitted for the 
 office. He has refused all offers of public 
 preferment. 
 
 W" 
 
 ILLIAM DIXON MOSS, a retired 
 merchant and manufacturer of Po- 
 quetuck, was born in Westerly, 
 R.I., August 25, 1830. His grandfather, the 
 Rev. Reuben Moss, of Connecticut, a Con- 
 gregational minister, who was educated at 
 Yale, married Hedassah Chesebro, and be- 
 came the father of a large family of children. 
 These included: George Washington, born in 
 1800.; William C. ; Reuben; Ephraim; Jesse 
 L.; and two daughters. Reuben married in 
 1794, and died in 1812. His widow married 
 a Mr. Tyler, in Griswold. Her death oc- 
 curred in her seventy-sixth year. William 
 was ninety-two when he died. 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 Jesse Lathrop Moss, the father of the pres- 
 ent Mr. Moss, was born in Ware, Mass., in 
 1805. He married in 1828 Fanny Dixon, 
 daughter of Nathan F. and Elizabeth Palmer 
 Dixon, all of Westerly, and became the father 
 of four sons and one daughter. These were : 
 William Dixon, the subject of this sketch; 
 Esther, the only daughter; Courtlandt Dean, 
 of New York; Nathan Fellows, who was a 
 Major in the Civil War; and Jesse L., who 
 is in the real estate business in Chicago. 
 The mother died in her forty-second year. 
 The father subsequently married her sister 
 Sally, by whom he has had two children: 
 Fanny D. Frankenstein; and Rowse B., of 
 St. Louis. He lived two years after the 
 death of his second wife, which occurred in 
 1884. For many years he was a leading man- 
 ufacturer in Westerly, R.I. He was also a 
 partner in the firm of Babcock & Moss, who 
 built mills and hotels at that place, and did 
 a very extensive business. Among the large 
 contracts of this firm were the cotton factory 
 at White Rock, the mills in Westerly and 
 Stillraan Mill. Messrs. Babcock and Moss 
 were in business for forty-three years, and 
 made a noteworthy record in their line. 
 
 The boyhood of William Dixon Moss was 
 passed at school in Hadley, Mass. When 
 quite young he evinced a deep interest in his 
 father's business, and he was in charge of the 
 store for a time. He then went to California, 
 rounding the Horn, and spending nine months 
 on the voyage. After two or three years he 
 returned home, just before his father's second 
 marriage. He and Mrs, Moss reside at 136 
 West Broad Street, Poquetuck. Moss Meads 
 is the charming name of the place, so called 
 because it was built on a beautiful meadow of 
 the farm that has been in the family for a 
 great while. 
 
 Mr. Moss was married October 17, i860, to I 
 
 Elizabeth Hazard, of Providence. She is a 
 daughter of Stanton and Bethiah (Aborn) Haz- 
 ard. Her father, who was a furniture dealer, 
 retired from business many years before his 
 death, which occurred in 1892, when he was 
 eighty-two years old. Living with her is her 
 mother, who was born in 18 14, on the day 
 the British left Stonington. Her sister, who 
 is a widow, resides in Providence, and has 
 two children. The latter, a son and a daugh- 
 ter, are great favorites of Mr. and Mrs. Moss. 
 Mrs. Moss belongs to the Daughters of the 
 Revolution. Mr. Moss has taken all the 
 degrees in the Franklin Lodge of Masons in 
 Westerly, of which he was a founder. In 
 politics he is a Republican. Both he and his 
 wife are members of the Congregational 
 church, which they helped to organize with 
 other earnest persons in the parlor of his 
 father's house. Since 1890 they have occu- 
 pied their present home, a most delightful 
 and commodious, though unpretentious, one, 
 enjoying their quiet life of leisure. 
 
 RS. JULIA A. LATHAM FOR- 
 SYTH, the wife of George For- 
 syth, of Salem, is the eldest 
 child of John and Eliza (Brown) Latham. 
 The other children of her parents are : Will- 
 iam J. Latham, a liveryman of Westerly, 
 R.I. ; and Elizabeth Esther, the wife of 
 Charles H. Bailey, of Salem. The father 
 died February 13, 1866, at the age of fifty- 
 six; and the mother's death occurred at the 
 home of Mrs. Forsyth on February 22, 1895, 
 in the eighty-fifth year of her age, after eight 
 years of sickness and suffering. Mrs. Latham 
 was remarkable for her physical and mental 
 powers. 
 
 The marriage of Miss Latham with George 
 Forsyth took place February 13, 1853. He 
 
n 
 
 I'ALMER IJILL, 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 63 
 
 is a son of Latham and Abigail (Lee) For- 
 syth. His grandfather, Timothy Forsyth, 
 who was probably born in Scotland, followed 
 the occupation of farmer in Montville, and 
 married a Miss Latham. Timothy had at 
 least three sons and a daughter. Of these 
 Sanford, a, sailor, was lost at sea in the 
 prime of life; and William was a farmer in 
 Massachusetts. The grandmother lived to a 
 great age, and resided with her grandson 
 Latham for many years. The father, Latham, 
 Sr., was born in New London or Montville 
 in 1760, and died on the farm now owned by 
 his son and namesake in 1835, at the age of 
 seventy-five years. He had been a Selectman 
 of Montville, and he received a pension from 
 the government for his services in the Revo- 
 lution. His first wife was Eleanor Fox 
 Forsyth, who bore him two sons and five 
 daughters. The sons, Elisha and Thomas, 
 went to Livingston County. His second mar- 
 riage was contracted with Miss Abigail Lee, 
 who, born in 1787, daughter of Edgecomb and 
 Rachel (Thompson) Lee, died June 6, 1868. 
 Born of this union were ten children, namely: 
 Sanford, in 1805; Maria; Jane; Henry B. ; 
 Edmund; Latham; Harriet; George; Augus- 
 tus; and Noyes. The only members of the 
 family now surviving are: Harriet, the widow 
 of Samuel T. Smith, of New London; and 
 Latham and George, who are both farmers in 
 Salem. Latham, born December i, 1815, 
 inherited his father's farm of two hundred 
 acres, situated about a mile distant from the 
 home of his brother George. George Forsyth 
 bought his present farm of one hundred and 
 thirteen acres in 1868. His children are: 
 Harriet Elizabeth, John Latham, Jennie 
 Maria, George A., and Fannie Eliza. Har- 
 riet Elizabeth, who is a teacher in New Lon- 
 don, was educated in the common schools and 
 at the young ladies' high school, and for the 
 
 past thirty-seven years has taught the district 
 school. Indeed, since the age of four, with 
 the exception of one year, her life has been 
 passed in the school-room in the capacity of 
 scholar or teacher. John Latham Forsyth 
 died at the age of two years. Jennie Maria 
 is the wife of Theophilus H. Hanney, a 
 farmer of Waterford, and has two sons and 
 a daughter. George A. is a farmer and 
 teacher in Waterford, and has three sons. 
 Fannie Eliza died in February, 1887, of con- 
 sumption, at the age of twenty. She was a 
 lovely girl, and, though young, a ripe Chris- 
 tian and ready for the change which came so 
 early. 
 
 ALMER BILL, an influential resident 
 of Norwich, was born in the town of 
 -^ Ledyard, April 20, 1823, son of 
 Avery and Betsey (Barnes) Bill. Joshua Bill, 
 the father of Avery, divided his attention be- 
 tween coopering and farming. Of his eight 
 children, all now deceased, three were sons. 
 His wife lived to a venerable age. Both rest 
 in the Ledyard cemetery. 
 
 Avery Bill, who was born in Ledyard, 
 October i, 1797, successfully followed the 
 cooper's trade in Ledyard, Griswold, and Col- 
 chester. He also speculated in farm property 
 to a moderate extent, but was, perhaps, better 
 known in connection with his official duties as 
 Constable, having served in that capacity for 
 thirty years. Betsey Bill, to whom he was 
 married about the year 1820, bore him ten 
 children, four sons and six daughters, all of 
 whom reached maturity. Five of the number 
 survive, namely: Palmer, the subject of this 
 sketch ; Maria E., the wife of Horatio Bardon, 
 living in Peoria, 111. ; Emeline, the wife of 
 William O. Brooks, living in Lincoln, Neb. ; 
 Joshua, in Southington, Conn. ; and Abby, the 
 wife of Henry D. Frost, of Hartford, Conn. 
 
64 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 The father died in March, 1862; the mother 
 on July 7, 1861, in her sixty-fourth year. 
 Both lie buried in the Yantic cemetery. 
 
 Palmer Bill spent his boyhood on the farm. 
 He obtained a good education in the schools of 
 Wilbraham, Mass., and of Suffield, Conn., 
 and afterward was engaged in teaching for 
 three winters. After his marriage he worked 
 at carpentry with his father-in-law. Although 
 neither of the two men served an apprentice- 
 ship to the trade, they were good workmen, 
 and they erected a large number of houses in 
 Norwich and other places. In 1852 Mr. Bill 
 went to Peoria, 111., where he spent two years 
 in the building and grocery business. Return- 
 ing at the end of that time to Norwich, he pur- 
 chased a farm. His present estate, at 211 
 West Thames Street, with about two acres of 
 land, was bought by him in 1884. The small 
 house then standing here has been replaced by 
 an attractive and commodious residence. 
 
 On January 15, 1849, Mr. Bill married 
 Miss Sarah Maria Brown, of Lebanon, Conn., 
 a daughter of William W. and Nancy (Post) 
 Brown. They have four living children, 
 namely: H. Arthur Bill, of this city, who is 
 married and has three .daughters ; Fannie M. 
 Bill, for several years a teacher in the West 
 Chelsea school district; Sarah T., the wife of 
 John E. Post, of Norwich, by whom she has 
 one son; and Frank A. Bill, a shoe dealer, 
 who is also married and lives in Norwich. In 
 politics Mr. Bill is a Republican. He has 
 served the town as Assessor for a long period, 
 and he has been Tax Collector for several years. 
 In both the old and new State-houses he held 
 the position of door-keeper, and published the 
 legislative statistics from 1882 to 1885 inclu- 
 sive. He was for several years a member of 
 the Board of Education, acting as visitor for 
 one year; and he has been on the District 
 School Board three years. He has held the 
 
 important office of Registrar of Voters for over 
 twenty-six years. Both he and his' family 
 are members of the Central Baptist Church, he 
 being one of the Board of Managers. 
 
 ■I^TENRY C. PALMER, of the well- 
 r^i known firm of Palmer & Sistane, 
 -Li® \^ who keep a meat market at 450 
 Bank Street, New London, Conn., was born 
 in the town of Montville, New London 
 County, May 4, 1838. His parents were 
 Samuel W. and Harriet (Parish) Palmer. 
 Samuel, his paternal grandfather, was a 
 teacher and also the author of a manual. 
 
 Samuel W. Palmer was born at Montville 
 in 1796. He was a shoemaker, and he also 
 owned and worked a small farm. He married 
 Harriet Parish, of Norwich, this county; and 
 they reared three sons and one daughter, all 
 of whom are living except one, Samuel N., 
 who died July 4, 1895, at the age of fifty- 
 nine. The survivors are: William S., of 
 Coshocton, Ohio; Harriet M., in New Lon- 
 don on the old homestead; and Henry C. 
 The father died in 1881, at the age of eighty- 
 four years and six months; and the mother in 
 1884, at the advanced age of eighty-seven 
 years, being well preserved. 
 
 Samuel N. Palmer was born at Montville, 
 January 13, 1836. For a number of years he 
 was proprietor of a first-class meat market in 
 New London, and at one time he was inter- 
 ested in two markets; but, being in failing 
 health for several years before his death, he 
 was not able to do so much business as he 
 would otherwise have done. He was a man 
 that was highly respected. In politics he was 
 a Republican. At the age of twenty-five he 
 was married to Eliza E. Holdridge, of Led- 
 yard, Conn., daughter of Randall Holdridge. 
 Of this union were born two children, 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 6S 
 
 namely: Nelson S., who has a meat market; 
 and IdaE., residing in New London. 
 
 William S. Palmer, the eldest son, was 
 born at Montville, March 20, 1828. He com- 
 pleted his education at the Colchester Acad- 
 emy, and, after teaching school a few terms, 
 went into the meat business, which he has 
 followed to the present time, having removed 
 from Norwich to Coshocton. He is a Repub- 
 lican in politics, and in his fraternal relations 
 he is a Master Mason. He married on No- 
 vember 2, 1853, Mary R. Brown, of Water- 
 ford, this county, daughter of Daniel Brown. 
 Mrs. Palmer died May 5, 1856, leaving one 
 daughter, Mary L., now residing in New Lon- 
 don. On September 4, 1858, William S. 
 Palmer married Marietta M. Williams, daugh- 
 ter of William Williams, of- Greenville, New 
 London County. By this union was one son, 
 Willie C, who was born October i, 1862, and 
 died September 11, 1864. 
 
 Henry C. Palmer, at the age of seventeen, 
 after acquiring a common-school education, 
 shipped before the mast on board the whaling- 
 vessel "Clematis" of this place. Captain E. 
 Watrous in command. They were gone 
 thirty-four months, during which time young 
 Palmer had been promoted to boat steerer. 
 Out of the thirty-two who shipped, he was one 
 of the five who returned. He followed whal- 
 ing twenty-four years, wintering nine times in 
 Greenland. At the expiration of the first 
 seven years he became captain, having been 
 promoted from all the intervening positions. 
 He took Howgate's vessel for him on that 
 commander's last trip. Captain Palmer was 
 master of five different vessels, making his 
 last trip on the steamer "Callinasar" on the 
 return from Wygate Straits in 188 1. He and 
 his brotiier, Samuel N., were running a market 
 in Colchester, Conn., when he took command 
 of this steamer, with which he had many mis- 
 
 haps after starting from the Far North. In 
 politics he is a Republican, but sometimes 
 votes independently; and in his fraternal rela- 
 tions he is a Master Mason. 
 
 At the age of thirty-three Captain Palmer 
 married Martha Holdridge, of Ledyard, this 
 county, a daughter of Randall Holdridge. By 
 this union there are two children: Isabella, a 
 young lady, who is book-keeper in her father's 
 market ; and Samuel, a boy of ten years. The 
 family live in a pleasant house in the town of 
 Waterford, where they settled ten years ago. 
 
 TT^APTAIN OLIVER C. GRIFFIN, a 
 I Sp veteran seaman, living in Stonington, 
 
 vi^ ^ was born in 1842 at Fort Jefferson, 
 L. I., son of John L. Griffin. The latter, now 
 a venerable man of fourscore and four years, 
 was born in 18 13 at Guilford, Conn. He was 
 a vessel rigger in his earlier years, and later 
 was engaged in the coast trade, residing at 
 Fort Jefferson. During that time he had 
 charge of three different, vessels as captain. 
 Since retiring from the sea he has made his 
 home in Flanders, L. I., where he has a small 
 farm. He married Hannah A. Grififin, who 
 was born at Fort Jefferson in 1816, their 
 union having been solemnized in 1840. They 
 became the parents of eight children, three of 
 whom have passed to the life beyond. These 
 were: John H., who was the mate of a vessel, 
 and died in Flanders, L. I., at the age of 
 thirty years, leaving a widow, a son, and a 
 daughter; William Edward, who died at the 
 age of seventeen years;, and Frank, who was 
 married very young, and died when but twenty 
 years old. Those living are as follows: 
 Oliver C, the special subject of this sketch; 
 Hannah A., residing at Brooklyn, N.Y., the 
 widow of E. -W. Phillips, who was a boss car- 
 penter and builder of that city; Charles F., 
 
66 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 of Flanders; Joseph, of East Quogue, L.I. ; 
 and Samuel S., who resides with his father in 
 Flanders, and carries on the farm. 
 
 Captain Oliver C. Griffin received a com- 
 mon-school education in Flanders. At the 
 age of twenty years he began life for himself 
 as a sailor before the mast on a wood boat 
 plying between Long Island and Stonington. 
 Within the first five years he worked his way 
 up from the lowest position in the seaman's 
 service to that of first mate. During the late 
 Rebellion he was second mate on vessels char- 
 tered by the government to transport army 
 supplies from New York City to Southern 
 ports. Being shipwrecked on the South Caro- 
 lina coast, he was captured by a party of 
 guerillas, and with his ship's crew had been 
 kept a prisoner some ten days, when he was 
 rescued by a detachment of the Ninety-sixth 
 New York Volunteer Infantry, at Currituck, 
 S.C. In 1866 he entered the service of the 
 Neptune Steamship Company of Providence, 
 R.I., -as wheelman of a vessel plying between 
 that city and New York, and has continued 
 with the company and its successors since. 
 He was employed as wheelman for four 
 years, then as second pilot for the same length 
 of time. In 1874 he was promoted to the post 
 of first pilot and three years later to that of 
 captain. Captain Griffin has had many stanch 
 vessels under his command, including the 
 "Francis," "Electra," "Stonington," " Narra- 
 gansett," and "Massachusetts." Exception- 
 ally fortunate, he has met with no serious loss 
 or accident, although he was in some of the 
 most terrific gales off the coast. He makes 
 no long trips now, being seldom absent from 
 his pleasant home more than a week at a time. 
 
 Captain Griffin was married May 15, 1876, 
 to Miss Fannie E. Pollard, the only child of 
 William J. H. and Eliza (Chesebrough) Pol- 
 lard, of this city, with whom the Captain | 
 
 and his family make their home. The Cap- 
 tain and Mrs. Griffin have two interesting 
 children, namely: Grace Pollard, a young lady 
 of seventeen years, now attending school in 
 Brooklyn, N.Y. ; and William Pollard, a 
 school boy of fourteen. Mrs. Griffin is a 
 member of the Baptist church at Stonington; 
 whil.ethe Captain still retains his membership 
 in the Methodist church at Good Ground, L.I. 
 
 OHN L. PAYNE, a prominent farmer 
 of Waterford, was born January 5, 
 1835, on Black Point, East Lyme. 
 William L., his father, was a native of Block 
 Island, R.I., born October 4, 1809; and his 
 mother, Mary P. Halliday Payne, was born 
 in New London, June 14, 18 10. 
 
 William L. Payne, Sr., grandfather of John 
 L., was at one time a farmer on Block Island. 
 He married Margaret Clark, and some years 
 later removed to Fisher's Island, where he 
 was overseer of the island for William 
 Winthrop for some time. He then went to 
 Black Point, and, purchasing a three-hundred- 
 acre farm, devoted his attention to agricult- 
 ure. He and his wife had two sons and two 
 daughters — Eliza, Margaret, Simon R., and 
 William L. Eliza became the wife of George 
 Sheffield; Margaret married the Rev. Harlem 
 H. Hedden, a Baptist preacher; Simon R., 
 who was born on Block Island, married and 
 had one son, Robert G., a farmer on Black 
 Point, who owns the place on which his 
 grandfather died. Simon R. and the two 
 sisters lived to be octogenarians. After the 
 death of the mother of these children Will- 
 iam L. Payne married a second wife. He 
 died in Waterford on the place now occupied 
 by the subject of this sketch. 
 
 William L. Payne, Jr., followed farming on 
 Fisher's Island for a time, and also in Water- 
 
y 
 
 / 
 
 CHARLES G. 15KK15E, 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 69 
 
 ford, coming here in 1839, ^^'^ buying about 
 sixty-five acres of land. Five years before, in 
 1834, he had married Mary P. Halliday, the 
 Rev. Daniel Wildman performing the cere- 
 mony. Her mother, in maidenhood Mary 
 Powers, and of English parentage, was one of 
 nine children, of whom five sons and two 
 daughters lived to be octogenarians. She 
 died during the Civil War, in the house in 
 which her grandson lives, at eighty-four years 
 of age. The subject of this sketch has an 
 antique silk copy of the Powers coat of arms, 
 a representation of the lion and unicorn on a 
 blue and gold field. He also has an old Bible 
 left by his grandmother, in which is the fam- 
 ily record. It was printed in 1795, and was 
 presented to Grandmother Powers by her father 
 in 1802. William L. Payne, Jr., died June 
 27, 1866. His wife died while on a visit to 
 New London, October 28, 1883, aged seventy- 
 three. 
 
 John L. Payne was reared on his father's 
 farm, on which he resided for some years after 
 attaining maturity. He was educated in the 
 common schools and at an academy. He has 
 since been engaged in general farming, and 
 also devotes considerable time to town affairs. 
 His farm is one of the best kept in the county; 
 and his home, though a modest one, is most 
 pleasantly situated on the shore of the Sound, 
 of which it commands a fine view. 
 
 On January 22, 1857, Mr. Payne married 
 Miss Harriet Daniels, a daughter of Neherniah 
 Daniels, of this town. Her mother, Char- 
 lotte Smith Daniels, was a daughter of 
 Deacon John Smith, a farmer. Mr. and Mrs. 
 Payne have one daughter, Mary Annie Payne, 
 a young lady who resides at home with her 
 parents. Politically, Mr. Payne is a Demo- 
 crat. For the past nine years he has served 
 on the Board of Selectmen, and he has also 
 been a member of the Board of Relief. He 
 
 was a member of the legislature during the 
 "dead-lock." 
 
 iHARLES GORDON BEEBE, whose 
 portrait is here shown, was engaged in 
 business in the village of Mystic, at 
 first as a merchant and later as a manufact- 
 urer, for more than half a century; and for the 
 last thirty years of his life he resided with his 
 family on West Main Street in the house now 
 occupied by his widow, Mrs. Emily T. Noyes 
 Beebe. Mr. Beebe was born in Norwich, 
 Conn., November 16, 1818. Pie was the 
 younger son of William and Elizabeth (Brooks) 
 Beebe, was a grandson of John Beebe, and was 
 a descendant of Myles Standish. William 
 Beebe was a manufacturer in Norwich, and 
 died there at the age of forty-five. His wife, 
 Elizabeth Brooks Beebe, who survived him 
 many years, lived to be seventy-seven, dying 
 in 1865. They were the parents of two sons 
 and a daughter; namely, Eliza Jane, William 
 N., and Charles Gordon. Eliza Jane married 
 Calvin Stetson, became the mother of ten chil- 
 dren, and died in the spring of 1896. Will- 
 iam N. Beebe, who died in New Haven, aged 
 seventy-two, had been married, and had lost 
 all of his six children. 
 
 At the age of twenty, in 1838, Charles 
 Gordon Beebe came from Norwich to Mystic, 
 and in company with the late E. R. Gallup 
 was engaged in trade for three years. Dis- 
 solving his firm relations with Mr. Gallup, he 
 then formed a partnership with the late Hon. 
 B. F. Palmer, and continued in the same line 
 of business seven years more. In 1848 he 
 began the manufacture of cotton twine and 
 cordage, which he continued with success for 
 about forty-four years. On September 28, 
 1843, Mr. Beebe was united in marriage with 
 Emily T. Noyes, who survives him, as above 
 
7o 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 mentioned. Mrs. Beebe was born in Stoning- 
 ton, Conn., daughter of Joseph and Eunice 
 (Chesebro) Noyes. She is a descendant in 
 the ninth generation of the American progen- 
 itor of this branch of the Noyes family, who 
 was a native of Nottinghamshire, England, 
 whence he came to this country in the seven- 
 teenth century. Mrs. Beebe' s father, Joseph 
 Noyes, was twice married. By his first wife, 
 Zurviah Wheeler, he had eight children, 
 seven sons and one daughter; and by his sec- 
 ond wife, Eunice Chesebro, be had nine chil- 
 dren, five sons and four daughters, Emily, 
 Mrs. Beebe, being ne.xt to the youngest. All 
 grew to maturity, and five are still living, the 
 eldest, Nathan Noyes, a son by the first mar- 
 riage, being ninety -four and the youngest 
 seventy-one years of age. Joseph Noyes out- 
 lived both his wives, dying in August, 1851, 
 aged eighty-four. 
 
 The death of Mr. Beebe occurred March 28, 
 1895, his latest years having been passed in 
 retirement. He left a good name. To quote 
 from the obituary published in a local sheet: 
 ■'Mr. Beebe was a citizen whose voice and in- 
 fluence were always given to the side of virtue, 
 temperance, and humanity. He secured and 
 maintained the respect of all those with whom 
 he came in social or business contact, and by 
 them will be long kept in remembrance." 
 
 His pure faith and loyalty of affection are 
 revealed in a poem dedicated to his wife on 
 the forty eighth anniversary of their marriage, 
 a portion of which we quote below, regretting 
 that lack of space prevents us from giving it in 
 full: — 
 
 Through many years of cahns and storms 
 We have sailed life's sea together, 
 
 And shared alike its changing forms 
 Of foul and pleasant weather. 
 
 Together eight and forty years 
 
 We've journeyed for our heavenly home, 
 
 Mid joys and tears, while hopes and fears 
 Alternate frowned or cheered us on. 
 
 Sickness and pain, as well as joy, 
 Were wisely sent, our faith to try ; 
 
 But He who gave us grace to live 
 Will grant the needed grace to die. 
 
 Now, as passing years remind us 
 One soon must leave the other here, 
 
 Our tested faith should closer bind us, 
 
 While this great hope our prospects cheer : 
 
 That, when the night of death is ende'd, 
 We'll rise, from sin and sorrow free, 
 
 In purer love our spirits blended, 
 United for eternity. 
 
 The union of Mr. and Mrs. Beebe was 
 blessed by the birth of seven children, six of 
 whom — Charles H., Edward S., Emily A., 
 Courtland, Lillian E., and Herbert L. — lived 
 to celebrate with them the golden anniversary 
 of their marriage. Edward Stewart, the sec- 
 ond son, unmarried, is engaged in the insur- 
 ance business at Mystic; Emily A. is the wife 
 of William A. Shutze, of Baltimore, Md. ; 
 Courtland, of Norwich, is married, and has 
 five children; Lillian E., widow of Frank R. 
 Mallory, with her son, Charles B., and daugh- 
 ter, Lillian Stark Mallory, lives with her 
 mother here in Mystic; and Herbert Lincoln, 
 a commercial traveller, who has his home in 
 Syracuse, is married and has one son. The 
 eldest son, Charles Hamilton Beebe, died on 
 April 12, 1895, aged fifty years, but two weeks 
 after the burial of his father, a cold having de- 
 veloped into pneumonia. He had returned to 
 his home in Roanoke, Va. , where he was en- 
 gaged in business. He left a wife and three 
 children. In announcing his death, the Roa- 
 noke Daily Times said of him: "Mr. Beebe 
 has been connected with, and was practically, 
 the Norwich Lock Manufacturing Company, 
 for almost a quarter of a century; and since 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 71 
 
 his removal to the city about five years ago he 
 has done much toward the upbuilding of Roa- 
 noke. He was a man of integrity and of char- 
 acter, who enjoyed the full confidence of all 
 with whom he came in business or social con- 
 tact ; and his death removes a man Roanoke 
 could ill afford to lose." 
 
 ]C|LIJAH B. HARVEY, who died at his 
 Jpl home in Salem, New London County, 
 Conn., September g, 1895, was a son 
 of Levi and Lucy (Benjamin) Harvey, and 
 one of a family of four sons and four daugh- 
 ters. The father was a blacksmith and farmer. 
 One of the sons died at fourteen, and the 
 others lived to marry. The two youngest 
 children are now living, namely: Parke B. 
 Harvey, a retired marine engineer of New 
 London, Conn. ; and Olivia, widow of Charles 
 Benjamin, a sea captain, born in Norwich. 
 Captain Benjamin left great wealth, which 
 was largely accumulated in South America, 
 where his uncle had established a large busi- 
 ness in marine merchandise, dealing with 
 English firms. Mrs. Benjamin and her step- 
 grand-daughter, the wife of Lord Walker, re- 
 side in London, England, at the present time. 
 Mr. Elijah B. Harvey was born August 4, 
 18 1 2. He married Miss Sarah A. Hilliard, 
 September 21, 1837. She was born Septem- 
 ber 12, 1814, daughter of Joseph Hilliard and 
 his wife, whose maiden name was Sarah 
 Waterman. Mrs. Harvey now lives on the 
 farm where her great-grandfather Hamilton 
 was the first settler. His daughter was born 
 on this farm. May 31, 1756, in the old farm- 
 house known as the Hannah Miller cottage, 
 about one hundred and eighty years old, in 
 which six generations of the family have lived 
 and died. Miss Hamilton married Zebulon 
 Waterman, who was born May 27, 1742, on 
 
 Waterman's Point, Saybrook, Conn. Their 
 daughter, Sarah Waterman, was born October 
 II, 1779. She first married in 1802 Butler 
 Treadway, who died leaving one daughter; 
 and she married, second, Joseph Hilliard, who 
 was born in Ledyard in 1781, and became a 
 sea captain and afterward a farmer. Mr. and 
 Mrs. Hilliard had three children — Henry 
 Oscar Hilliard (deceased), Sarah A. (Mrs. 
 Harvey), and an infant son. Mrs. Sarah W. 
 Hilliard died in December, 1849, at the age 
 of seventy-one, her husband dying in April, 
 1 86 1, in the eighty-first year of his age. 
 Mrs. Hilliard had a most retentive memory 
 for facts and past events, and could quote the 
 Scriptures and repeat whole sermons with 
 wonderful ease. 
 
 Charles B. Harvey, only son of the late 
 Elijah B. Harvey, conducts the farm for his 
 aged mother, now in- the eighty-fourth year of 
 her age. He was born July 28, 1838. He 
 received his early education in the common 
 schools of Salem, and afterward studied math- 
 ematics for a few months in Norwich. He 
 began to earn his own living as a clerk in a 
 retail grocery store, where he spent the first 
 two years; and a third year he spent in the 
 wholesale department. Becoming clerk on a 
 steamboat at the age of eighteen, he spent 
 twenty years in the employ of the Norwich & 
 New York Transportation Company, during 
 which time he was their New London agent 
 for two years. 
 
 He married January 6, 1862, Mary L. Stan- 
 ton, daughter of John Stanton, of Norwich. 
 They had two children — -Frederick and 
 Charles Waterman. Frederick, the elder, 
 died when three months old. Charles Water- 
 man Harvey, who is a marine engineer and 
 unmarried, still makes his home on the old 
 farm. He was educated at Eastman College, 
 Poughkeepsie, N.Y., and began work as a 
 
72 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 fireman on the Norwich line at the age of 
 eighteen years. His next position was with 
 the Morgan steamship line running from New 
 York to Galveston, Tex. He was promoted 
 to position of engineer while with this line of 
 steamships, and after two years with the 
 Panama Steamship Company he has spent the 
 past two years as engineer of different pleas- 
 ure yachts. 
 
 Mr. Charles B. Harvey has spent his win- 
 ters for the last eight years in Salem. His 
 mother received a fall in 1895, breaking her 
 hip; and since that time he has remained at 
 home. He is a Democrat in politics, and 
 represented the town in the legislature in 
 1872. He is now the First Selectman, and 
 he also holds the office of Judge of Probate. 
 
 JSRAEL F. BROWN, of New London, a 
 retired manufacturer, has had a long and 
 successful career in business, producing 
 machinery for two of the greatest industries of 
 the United States, the manufacture and print- 
 ing of cotton. He was born in Salem, Conn., 
 December 31, 1810, son of William F. and 
 Sarah G. (Edgerton) Brown. His grand- 
 father, William Brown, was one of seven 
 brothers. 
 
 William F. Brown was born at Gale's Ferry, 
 Conn., about the year 1771. Having learned 
 the trades of cabinet-maker and ship-joiner, he 
 was engaged for some time in the manufacture 
 of furniture in Montville, this State, sending 
 his goods to the West Indies. In 1823 he 
 went South, and for some five years was in 
 business in Macon, Ga., where his brother, 
 E. E. Brown, was afterward the proprietor of 
 the Brown House. E. E. Brown erected this 
 hotel, was a prominent man in Macon, a Jus- 
 tice of the Peace for several years, and was 
 associated with General Winfield Scott in 
 
 military service at the time o.f the Seminole 
 War in Florida. William F. Brown died in 
 Macon in 1837. He was married in 1795 in 
 Norwich, Conn., to Sarah G. Edgerton, of 
 that place, who also died in 1837. They were 
 the parents of five sons and two daughters, 
 who all married. Of these Eunice died at 
 the age of sixteen; Elizabeth Leffingwell, who 
 was the wife of Samuel Jacob Hicks, died at 
 eighty-three; Alexander D., an ingenious 
 natural mechanic, died in Columbus, Ga., at 
 eighty-three, leaving a family. Israel F. is 
 the only survivor of the seven children. The 
 sons, who were all gifted with mechanical • 
 skill, conjointly made two miniature vessels 
 about three feet long, perfect in every detail 
 
 — a brig and a steamer having a copper boiler 
 
 — named respectively the "Bunker Hill" and 
 "The Independent." 
 
 Israel F. Brown was left with a brother in 
 Norwich, Conn., when his parents went South 
 in 1823. In 1825 he and his brother fol- 
 lowed; and in 1828 he was engaged by Sam- 
 uel Griswold to work on cotton-gins in Clin- 
 ton, Ga. After spending three years in that 
 employment, he returned then to Macon, 
 whence he went to Girard, Ala., where he was 
 engaged in the same industry for some years. 
 Then, with Dr. E. T. Taylor, he formed the 
 firm of E. T. Taylor & Co., who carried on a 
 successful business manufacturing cotton-gins 
 at Columbus, Ga., for the ensuing eight years. 
 In 1858 he returned to Connecticut, and es- 
 tablished a cotton-gin factory in New London, 
 beginning in 1861 to make these machines for 
 New York firms in his own name. The war 
 put an embargo on the trade in the South, but 
 he found a market in Brazil until after peace 
 was declared. In 1869 he formed a stock cor- 
 poration, of which he has since been the presi- 
 dent, and his son, Edward T., the secretary 
 and treasurer. In 1882 the plant was moved 
 
JIJHN M. N. LATHROP. 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 75 
 
 to a new brick structure on Pequot Avenue of 
 imposing architecture and measuring five 
 hundred by fifty feet. The capital stock of 
 the company at this time was twenty thousand 
 dollars. One of the leading manufacturing 
 enterprises in the United States, it employs 
 from two hundred and fifty to three hundred 
 hands, and has turned out eighteen hundred 
 cotton-gins in one year, worth from one hun- 
 dred and eighty dollars to two hundred and 
 fifty dollars each. During the past ten years 
 it has made printing-presses for the Babcock 
 Company. 
 
 Mr. Brown was married at the age of 
 twenty-two to Maria L. Martin, of Jones 
 County, Georgia, who lived but a year after 
 that event. In 1837 he was united to Ann 
 Smith, of Macon, Ga., who died in New 
 London in 1865, aged forty-six years. She 
 bore him five children, of whom two sons and 
 one daughter reached maturity. The elder 
 son, Edward T., is the secretary, treasurer, 
 and manager of the manufacturing company of 
 which his father is president, the elder man 
 being practically retired, and leaving all the 
 responsibility to his son. The second child, 
 George C, was employed by the American 
 Bank Note Company some ten years, and then 
 went to Georgia to take charge of the Brown 
 Hotel. He died in Macon in 1886, in the 
 prime of life, leaving three children. The 
 youngest living child of Mr. Brown's second 
 marriage, Sarah A.., is the wife of George 
 Colfax, of this city. In 1866 he contracted a 
 third marriage, which united him with Miss 
 Emma Conant, of Massachusetts, the adopted 
 daughter of William Albertson. There are 
 no children by this union. In politics Mr. 
 Brown favors the Democratic party. He is a 
 Master Mason, and belongs to the Indepen- 
 dent Order of Odd Fellows. His religious be- 
 lief is that of the Swedenborgians. On Au- 
 
 gust 13, 1895, he moved from the house on 
 Howard Street, which had been his home for 
 twenty-seven years, to the pleasant and at- 
 tractive cottage at 83 Willets Avenue, where 
 he now resides. 
 
 's^-OHN MILTON NEWTON LATHROP, 
 a representative farmer of Bozrah and 
 formerly Representative from Franklin 
 to the Connecticut legislature, was born in 
 Franklin, New London County, Conn., May 
 20, 1830, son of James and Clarissa (Spicer) 
 Lathrop. He is a descendant of the Rev. 
 John Lathrop, a Congregational preacher, who 
 settled in Scituate, Mass., and who was the 
 founder of the Lathrop family in America. 
 The line of descent continues through Samuel 
 Lathrop (of Norwich, Conn.), Ezekiel, James, 
 and James (second) to John. Grandfather 
 James Lathrop, who resided in Franklin, 
 fought for American independence, and is said 
 to have served all through the Revolutionary 
 War. 
 
 James Lathrop, second, father of John, was 
 a native and lifelong resident of Franklin. A 
 farmer and carpenter by occupation, he was 
 quite prosperous, and was one of the prominent 
 and highly respected citizens of his day. He 
 lived to reach his seventy-fifth year, dying in 
 1862. He held some of the town offices, and 
 in politics he supported the Whig party. A 
 man of strongly defined character, he was 
 positive in his opinions, and was an anti- 
 Mason. His wife, Clarissa, was a native of 
 Connecticut. Of her children, the only sur- 
 vivor is the subject of this sketch. 
 
 John Milton Newton Lathrop began his 
 education in the common schools of Franklin; 
 and his schooling was completed at the Phil- 
 lips Academy in Andover, Mass. He was 
 reared to farm life, and has given his time and 
 
76 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 attention to agriculture. He continued to 
 reside in his native town until September 4, 
 1895, at which time he moved to his present 
 farm in Bozrah. He owns some two hundred 
 and forty acres of land, situated in this town 
 and in Franklin ; and as a farmer he is practi- 
 cal, energetic, and progressive. 
 
 Mr. Lathrop was first married to Lydia E. 
 Gager, daughter of Samuel A. Gager, late of 
 Bozrah. By this union there is one son, 
 Charles E. His present wife, whose maiden 
 name was Lucretia Hough, is a native of this 
 town, and daughter of Jedediah and Amelia 
 (Fowler) Hough. Her father was born in 
 Bozrah ; and her mother was a native of Leba- 
 non, Conn. Neither is now living. Mrs. 
 Lathrop is the mother of three sons — James 
 H., Clifford A., and Jabez G. 
 
 While residing in Franklin, Mr. Lathrop 
 took an active part in public affairs, serving as 
 a Grand Juryman for many years, as Assessor 
 eight years, and as a Selectman for one term. 
 In the autumn of 1890 he was elected to the 
 legislature, in which body he served with abil- 
 ity for two years. In politics he acts with the 
 Republican party, and he and Mrs. Lathrop 
 are members of the Congregational church. 
 
 iHARLES PRENTICE ALEXAN- 
 DER, a successful farmer of North 
 Waterford, New London County, 
 Conn., was born in Groton, this county, Feb- 
 ruary 8, 1832, son of William and Eliza 
 (Williams) Alexander. The father was a na- 
 tive of the same town, born in 1800. The 
 mother was born in Stonington, Conn., in 
 1802. They were married in 1825, and had 
 three sons and three daughters — Eliza Ann, 
 William, Charles P., Pardon, Emily, and 
 Am.anda. Eliza Ann married William El- 
 dridge, and died in Groton in 1892, at the age 
 
 of sixty-two, leaving four children. William 
 was a sailor and farmer, and died in Groton at 
 the age of forty, leaving four children. Par- 
 don is a carpenter at Groton Banks, where he 
 holds the office of Postmaster. Emily mar- 
 ried Simeon Perkins. Amanda is now Mrs. 
 Chipman. With the exception of Charles 
 Prentice, all the children live in Groton. 
 The mother died in 1864, and the father in 
 1875. 
 
 Charles P. Alexander was brought up on 
 the farm, and acquired a common-school edu- 
 cation. At the age of twelve years he shipped 
 as sailor on a fishing-smack, but followed the 
 sea during one summer only. For fifteen 
 years thereafter he was employed as farm 
 hand, receiving from four to eighteen dollars 
 a month, out of which he contrived to save 
 quite a fair amount. In 1870 he invested his 
 savings in a pleasant farm of thirty acres, 
 which by energy and perseverance he has since 
 greatly improved. It is picturesquely situated 
 on an eminence commanding a fine view of the 
 Thames and of the hill on which Commodore 
 Decatur planted his cannon; and it also has 
 excellent buildings. Mr. Alexander has a 
 good dairy of Jersey cows, and sells milk in 
 New London. 
 
 On November 14, 1858, he married Harriet 
 E. Jerome, daughter of Jesse and Harriet 
 (Loomis) Jerome, who had five children, three 
 sons and two daughters, of whom four are now 
 living. The parents have both passed to the 
 life immortal. Mr. and Mrs. Alexander have 
 two children: Charles Jesse, a farmer, resid- 
 ing at home with his parents; and Frank 
 Jerome Alexander, a merchant at Quaker 
 Hill, who married Martha Alice Lawson. 
 The brothers were both educated in New Lon- 
 don. In politics Mr. Alexander affiliates 
 with the Democratic party. The family are 
 members of the Baptist church. 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 77 
 
 (Tj-jENJAMIN F. BAILEY, a prosper- 
 0.\ ous sail -maker of New London, 
 was born in Niantic, New London 
 County, September 2, 1840, son of Henry 
 and Susan (Franklin) Bailey. His paternal 
 grandfather died in Niantic in 1845, at an 
 advanced age. Henry Bailey, the father, 
 came to this county near the close of the 
 eighteenth century. He married Susan 
 Franklin, of Block Island, and they had a 
 farhily of ten children, seven sons and three 
 daughters, only two of whom are now living: 
 namely, Benjamin F. ; and George, his young- 
 est brother, a sailor, who lives in Mobile, 
 Ala. The father and mother both died at the 
 age of sixty-four, the mother surviving her 
 husband fifteen years. 
 
 Benjamin F. Bailey, after attending school 
 for the usual period, at the age of sixteen 
 began to learn his trade with the firm of Ar- 
 nold & Beebe. He subsequently enlisted in 
 Company C, Twenty-first Connecticut Regi- 
 ment, and served thirty-four months as pri- 
 vate, with the exception of a short time when 
 he was in the hospital. After concluding his 
 military service, he began business in Noank, 
 where he continued nearly thirty years, em- 
 ploying generally about eight men, and con- 
 trolling the sail-making industry in that 
 place. In 1891 he came to New London, 
 where he has more competition, there being 
 three sail lofts. Mr. Bailey's loft is located 
 in the rear of the Day ofiiice. Being a man of 
 energy and careful to turn out none but the 
 best work, he does a large business. In poli- 
 tics he affiliates with the Republican party, 
 and has occasionally held town offices. He 
 belongs to Williams Post, G. A. R., of 
 Mystic, and also belongs to the Independent 
 Order of Odd Fellows, in which he holds the 
 office of Chaplain. 
 
 At the age of twenty -one years Mr. Bailey 
 
 was united in marriage with Miss Abby 
 Perry, of Colchester, Conn. She died leav- 
 ing a daughter, Georgiana, who is now the 
 wife of Samuel Dennis, a machinist. In 1866 
 Mr. Bailey married for his second wife Miss 
 Amanda Franklin, of Ontario County, New 
 York. By this union there are two sons: 
 Fred Bailey, who is a resident ef Pensacola, 
 Fla. ; and John, who resides with his father, 
 is married, and has two daughters. 
 
 yGBERT N. MOORE, a well-known 
 JP' nurseryman of Waterford, Conn., son of 
 '^""""— ^ William C. and Abby L. (Richards) 
 Moore, was born in Waterford, New London 
 County, Conn., June 3, 1830. His grand- 
 father, William Moore, resided in Lyme, 
 Conn., but subsequently removed to Western 
 New York. Here he was joined by nearly all 
 of the members of his family, including the 
 father of the subject of the present sketch, 
 who at a later period emigrated to Janes- 
 ville, Wis., where, in company with three of 
 his brothers, he engaged in the manufacture of 
 fanning-mills. 
 
 Egbert N. Moore remained in Waterford at 
 the home of his maternal grandparents, Daniel 
 and Jemima (Harding) Richards, both lineal 
 descendants of John Richards, one of the early 
 settlers of New London. At the age of seven- 
 teen Mr. Moore went to New London to learn 
 the carpenter's trade, at which he worked for 
 a number of years in Connecticut, and also in 
 Philadelphia, Pa., and Charleston, S.C. On 
 February 5, 1853, he went to California, via 
 the Isthmus, being on the steamer "'Tennes- 
 see," which was wrecked near the harbor of 
 San Francisco. The steamer was a total loss, 
 but the passengers and mail bags were saved. 
 Mr. Moore worked at his trade in California 
 for over three years, and then returned to Con- 
 
7S 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 necticut, where on May ii, 1857, he was mar- 
 ried to Lucy E. Hunt, second daughter of 
 William and Ann (Baxter) Hunt, of Water- 
 ford, Conn. Mrs. Moore was born in Leices- 
 ter, England, April 22, 1839, but came to 
 this country with her parents in early infancy. 
 Her grandparents settled in Western New 
 York, and died near Nunda, Livingston 
 County, where many of their descendants are 
 still living. 
 
 Soon after Mr. and Mrs. Moore were mar- 
 ried they went to Independence, la., where 
 they lived nearly four years. While there 
 Mr. Moore took a pedestrian tour to Topeka, 
 Kan., walking four hundred miles in thirteen 
 and a half days. In 1861 he made another 
 trip to California, going afterward to Virginia 
 City, Nev., in April, 1862, crossing the 
 snowy mountains on foot. In Virginia City 
 he was a foreman carpenter at the Gould & 
 Curry mill for two years and a half. In the 
 fall of 1866 he returned to Connecticut, and 
 purchased the site of his present home and 
 nursery, about one mile south of Uncasville, 
 Conn. It consisted of twenty-eight acres of 
 land, beautifully situated upon a commanding 
 eminence in the midst of fine natural scenery. 
 Since its purchase many improvements have 
 been made, suitable buildings erected, and 
 also a nursery established. Mr. Moore's love 
 of nature and botanical studies has eminently 
 fitted him for his work, and he has designed 
 and planted many fine places in New London 
 County. His home grounds contain rare 
 ornamental trees of large size, together with 
 many choice and beautiful plants and shrubs. 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Moore have had four chil- 
 dren: Mary Ba.xtcr, who was born in Inde- 
 pendence, la. ; Egbert William, who was acci- 
 dentally drowned in his nineteenth year; Lucy 
 Abbie; and Annie Hunt — the last three 
 born in Waterford, Conn. 
 
 ISS LOUISA J. BREWER, a rep- 
 resentative of one of the oldest 
 families of Norwich, and resid- 
 ing at 92 Washington Street, one of the most 
 sacredly historic homes in Norwich, is a 
 daughter of Lyman and Harriet (Tyler) 
 Brewer and a grand-daughter of John and 
 Hannah (Tracy) Tyler. She is a descendant 
 of Colonel Thomas Leffingwell, who was one 
 of the original settlers in this part of Con- 
 necticut, and owned all the land in this sec- 
 tion. Mary E. Perkins, in "The Old Houses 
 of the Ancient Town of Norwich," makes the 
 statement that his grandson, Isaac Tracy, to 
 whom a small portion of the original estate 
 descended, could walk on his own land a dis- 
 tance of nine miles in one direction. John 
 Tyler, the maternal grandfather of Miss 
 Brewer, was the first rector of Christ Church, 
 which he served for fifty-four years. That 
 church stood on the site of the present fine 
 stone structure, in which a tablet to his mem- 
 ory has been placed. The land, therefore, 
 was originally given to the church by the 
 Tyler family. Being a servant of the Church 
 of England and loyal to the crown, he was 
 greatly disliked as a Tory, and his life was 
 frequently threatened. In 1768 he went to 
 England to receive ordination, and in that 
 same year was joined in marriage with Miss 
 Hannah Tracy, a daughter of Isaac and Eliza- 
 beth (Bushnell) Tracy. The Rev. Mr. and 
 Mrs. Tyler had nine children, of whom three 
 were sons; and all but one son grew to matur- 
 ity. The father was born in 1742, and died 
 in 1823. 
 
 Lyman Brewer was engaged in mercantile 
 business in Norwich for a few years. Then 
 he became the cashier of the Thames Bank, 
 holding that position for a quarter-century 
 from its establishment. He was one of the 
 founders of this institution and of the Nor- 
 
LVMAN liKKWKK. 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 8i 
 
 wich Savings Society. He died in the house 
 now occupied by his daughter, June 19, 1857, 
 aged seventy years, leaving a name that was a 
 synonym for integrity and benevolence. His 
 widow survived him until November 3, 1880, 
 reaching the venerable age of ninety-two 
 years, and retaining her faculties to the last. 
 The Brewer home, now over a century old, has 
 been occupied by members of this family for a 
 period of eighty years. With the exception 
 of nine years spent in California, Miss Brewer 
 has lived here all her life, often surrounded by 
 her nieces and nephews, whose frequent visits 
 make the old home bright with their youth. 
 Arthur H. Brewer, a grandson of Lyman 
 Brewer, is a director in the Thames Bank, 
 which is the second largest national bank 
 in New England outside of Boston. Miss 
 Brewer is active in church work, and in her 
 home and social life exerts a kindly Christian 
 influence. 
 
 'OHN MILTON KEENEY, sea cap- 
 tain, for the last ten years of his life 
 retired and residing at his home in 
 New London, Conn., where he died on No- 
 vember 15, 1897, was born in this city, De- 
 cember 12, 1 8 12. His parents were Captain 
 Giles and Tassie (Chappell) Keeney. His 
 paternal grandfather, John Keeney, who also 
 was born here, served under General Washing- 
 ton in the Revolutionary War. 
 
 Captain Giles Keeney likewise was a native 
 of New London, being born in 1790. In 
 1809 he married Tassie Chappell. They had 
 nine children, seven of whom grew to matu- 
 rity; namely, Samuel, John M., Giles, Will- 
 iam, Albert, Jane, and Caroline, the latter 
 now the only survivor. Samuel .C. Keeney 
 was captain of a fishing-smack for nearly fifty 
 years. He died in New London in March, 
 1885, at the age of seventy-five, leaving a 
 
 widow and six children. Giles Keeney, Jr., 
 was a seaman. He died in 1867, in the prime 
 of life, leaving a widow and three children. 
 William, another sea captain, died in Water- 
 ford, Conn., of a cancer, in 1887, at the age of 
 seventy-one, leaving a widow and two chil- 
 dren. Captain Albert Keeney died at his 
 home on Blinman Street, New London, in 
 1 89 1, at the age of seventy-seven, survived by 
 his wife and three children. Caroline, now 
 Mrs. Lester, a widow, lives at Shelter Island, 
 N.Y. Jane married Captain Charles Lewis, 
 and died in 1867, at the age of fifty, leaving 
 three children. Her husband died in 1895, at 
 the age of eighty years. Mrs. Tassie C. 
 Keeney, the mother, died at the age of thirty- 
 six; while Captain Giles Keeney, the father, 
 survived many years. 
 
 John M. Keeney began to go to sea at the 
 early age of five years on his father's fishing- 
 smack; and three years later he hired himself 
 out as cook on a fishing-vessel, at a salary of 
 three dollars a month. When he was fourteen 
 he shipped before the mast, having his salary 
 raised from fourteen to eighteen dollars a 
 month that year; and at the age of seventeen 
 he commanded his first .vessel, the "Flash," 
 of which he was the sole owner. Five years 
 later he sold that vessel, buying the "Atlas," 
 which he owned and commanded three years, 
 subsequently being captain and owner of 
 eight vessels. For a quarter of a century he 
 was in government employ, being captain in 
 the inspecting service and engineer depart- 
 ment. During that time he commanded a 
 schooner and the steamers "Cactus," "Iris," 
 and "Mistletoe." For twenty-one years he 
 was on the "St. George's Bank."" In 1887 
 he retired, having been engaged in seafaring 
 for seventy years. In politics he was formerly 
 a Republican, but in his later years he affili- 
 ated with the Prohibition party. 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 On January 20, 1834, he was united in mar- 
 riage with Louisa Young, daughter of Joseph 
 and Lydia (Butler) Young, of this city. Mrs. 
 Keeney was born April 4, 181 5. She became 
 the mother of nine children, six of whom 
 grew to maturity — Mary, Dr. B. M., Louisa, 
 Wallace, Lavinnia, and George W. Mary, 
 now widow of Thomas Allender, kept house 
 for her father in his later years. Dr. B. M. 
 Keeney is a medical practitioner in New York 
 City. He has a son who is a dentist in New 
 London. Louisa Keeney married John C. 
 Ladd, of Middletown, Conn., and has one 
 daughter. Wallace, a dentist in New Lon- 
 don, has one daughter and a son. Lavinnia, 
 wife of Frank Phillips, of this city, has two 
 children, the elder now a young lady and the 
 younger a little boy. George W. Keeney, 
 who was born in 1840, died at the age of 
 thirty-six in 1876, leaving a widow, who died 
 ten years after, and a son, who died four years 
 ago. Mrs. Louisa Y. Keeney died at the age 
 of seventy-one on March 24, 1886. For fifty- 
 five years the home of Captain and Mrs. 
 Keeney was in the unpretentious but comfort- 
 able dwelling built by him at 24 Truman 
 Street. He and his wife were members of the 
 Baptist church for nearly sixty years; but, as 
 they were not rigidly sectarian, they often at- 
 tended other churches. 
 
 ■-I^TERBERT M. CAULKINS, the effi- 
 r^l cient Postmaster of Lyme, is a na- 
 
 -1-^ Vi^ ^ five of this town, born October 13, 
 
 1856, son of Lemuel A. and Maria Caulkins. 
 His grandfather, Elisha Caulkins, was a well- 
 known farmer and influential citizen of Lyme 
 in his day. Elisha had a family of four sons 
 and three daughters, all of whom are living 
 with the exception of Elisha, Jr., and Lemuel, 
 the father of the subject of this sketch, Lem- 
 
 uel A. Caulkins was born in November, 1822, 
 near Thanksgiving time, and died January 13, 
 1896. He was a farmer by occupation, and 
 was prominently identified with the public 
 life of the town, filling capably numerous po- 
 sitions of trust and responsibility. He was 
 Tax Collector for some thirty years. Select- 
 man of the town for several terms, Assessor, 
 and Representative to the legislature. He 
 was an active member of the Baptist church 
 and a man widely respected by his fellow- 
 townsmen. He married Maria Calkins, of 
 Wilbraham, Mass., who bore him four sons 
 and one daughter. Mrs. Caulkins is now re- 
 siding with her son, Eugene D., on the farm. 
 The other children besides the subject of this 
 sketch are: Frederick L., a member of the 
 mercantile firm of Caulkins & Post, of Middle- 
 town, Conn.; Frank L., a mechanic, em- 
 ployed in a large manufactory in Chicago; and 
 Emma A., wife of W. S. Searle, a machinist 
 with Mr. Whiton in New London. 
 
 Herbert M. Caulkins received a common- 
 school education, and became himself a 
 teacher, having charge of a school in Lyme 
 for some twelve or thirteen terms. He then 
 worked three years as a butcher, a part of that 
 time being in business for himself, and dur- 
 ing the rest being employed by others. For 
 thirteen years he was a partner in the firm of 
 Champion & Caulkins in this place, but sold 
 out his interest in January, 1896, to Roger 
 B. Champion, his former associate. He has 
 been Postmaster of Lyme for the last three 
 years, and his administration of this office has 
 given general satisfaction. He has also 
 served the town capably as Assessor. He is 
 a member of the Baptist church, in which he 
 has served as Deacon, following in the foot- 
 steps of his father. 
 
 On December 25, 1882, Mr. Caulkins mar- 
 ried Miss Ida J. Champion, daughter of Cal- 
 
NATHANIEL O. HARRIS. 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 8S 
 
 vin B. and Anna R. (Slate) Champion. Mrs. 
 Caulkins is the tenth in order of birth of a 
 family of iifteen children, all of whom at- 
 tained maturity except two sons, Frederick 
 and Israel, who died in childhood. Three 
 daughters and a son have since passed away. 
 Mr. and Mrs. Caulkins have an adopted son, 
 Clarence Edgar Caulkins, a young man of six- 
 teen years of age, and the youngest graduate 
 of the Morgan School of Clinton, Conn., grad- 
 uating at the age of fourteen. He is now 
 clerk for his foster-father. He is the son of 
 Mrs. Caulkins's sister Mary, who married 
 Curtis Lamb, and died of consumption when 
 her son was a lad of nine years. In 1894 Mr. 
 Caulkins built his present commodious resi- 
 dence, where the family have a pleasant 
 home. 
 
 » 
 
 R. NATHANIEL OTIS HARRIS, 
 manager of an invalid home at 19 
 North Main Street, New London, 
 was born in Salem, this county, on May 2, 
 1823. His parents were Samuel and Anna 
 (Otis) Harris. 
 
 The earliest known paternal ancestor, 
 James, represented the fifth generation of his 
 family in Weymouth, England. He came to 
 America, and in 1690 removed from Boston, 
 Mass., to New London, bringing his three 
 sons — James, Asa, and Ephraim. The eldest 
 son, familiarly known as Lieutenant James, 
 was born in Boston, Mass., in 1673. He was 
 very friendly with the Indians, especially with 
 Owaneco, the Mohegan chief. From him he 
 purchased valuable tracts of land on the 
 Thames River, from New London to Norwich 
 and Colchester, Conn. His first wife, whose 
 maiden name was Sarah Rogers, died; and he 
 subsequently married her widowed sister. He 
 died at the age of eighty-four years, leaving 
 nine children. 
 
 His son, Jonathan Harris, was born June 
 15, 1705. He married Rachel Otis, daughter 
 of Judge Joseph Otis, a man of wealth and 
 distinction and an extensive landholder, and 
 his wife, Dorothy Thomas, who was a native 
 of Scituate, Mass. Jonathan and Rachel 
 Harris had thirteen children. Their son 
 Nathaniel, born April 2, 1743, who was the 
 grandfather of the subject of this biography, 
 served as Captain in the Revolution. He mar- 
 ried Mary Tozer, of Colchester, Conn., on 
 February i, 1764; and this union also was 
 blessed by thirteen children. 
 
 Samuel, son of Nathaniel and Mary (Tozer) 
 Harris, born December 10, 1780, became a 
 farmer in East Haddam, Conn., where he 
 lived for a quarter of a century. On Septem- 
 ber 29, 1805, he was married to Anna Otis, 
 daughter of Deacon Nathaniel Otis and grand- 
 daughter of Hon. Joseph Otis. They had six 
 children — Rachel A., Samuel Selden, Har- 
 riet Salome, Lydia Maria, Nathaniel O., and 
 Elizabeth. Rachel A. married Aaron T. 
 Niles. She died in East Had-dam, May 21, 
 1843, at the age of thirty-seven years, leaving 
 three children. Samuel Selden, a farmer, 
 who was born March 8, 1809, married Mercy 
 A. Baker in 1836, and died in 1882, at Mont- 
 ville, Conn. Harriet S., born August 3, 
 1812, died December 19, 1838. Lydia M., 
 wife of James E. Swan, died in East Haddam, 
 Conn., October 3, 1863, at the age of forty- 
 eight years. Elizabeth C. married Ephraim 
 Martin, a farmer of East Haddam. The father 
 was the first Methodist in East Haddam, 
 where he was a zealous church member. He 
 died in that town in 1857, in the seventy- 
 seventh year of his age. His wife lived until 
 1862, dying at the age of seventy-three. 
 
 Nathaniel O. Harris obtained his el,ement- 
 ary education in the common school, remain- 
 ing on the farm until he was eighteen years of 
 
86 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 age. He then attended Colchester Academy 
 one year, subsequently taking a course of study 
 in West Poultney, Vt. , for two years. He 
 was graduated from the New York Medical 
 College in 1854. He gained practical experi- 
 ence in his profession by studying with Dr. 
 J. T. Evans, a pioneer of homoeopathy in New 
 York City, for whom he worked perseveringly 
 at a time when their remedies were prepared 
 by hand. For some years he was engaged in 
 teaching, during which time he also gave hy- 
 dropathic treatments, gradually working into 
 medical practice altogether. Fi'om 1854 to 
 1857 he lived in New London. He then 
 settled in East I^addam, where he remained 
 until 1884, when he returned to New London, 
 buying his present residence and Home for 
 Invalids. In politics he votes independently. 
 Fraternally, he is a member of Columbia 
 Lodge, No. 25, F. & A. M., East Haddam, 
 and is also a Scarlet Member of Middlesex 
 Lodge, No. 3, I. O. O. F., of East Haddam. 
 Doctor Harris has been three times married. 
 His first wife, to whom he was married on 
 November 14, 1855, was Juliette Mason, a 
 native of this city. She had twelve children, 
 ten of whom reached maturity, and nine are 
 now living, namely: Pauline Goddard, of New 
 York City; Ulrica Eleonora, wife of William 
 W. Gates in East Haddam; John Mason, a 
 resident of New London; Juliette A., wife 
 of Dr. E. E. Williams, the successor of his 
 father-in-law. Dr. Harris, in East Haddam; 
 Nathaniel Otis, Jr., a veterinary surgeon of 
 Hartford, Conn. ; Florence Celestia, a trained 
 nurse in New York City, who has won fame 
 in the treatment of contagious diseases; Mary 
 Christina, who married W. Von Haff, of New 
 York City; Victor Emanuel, who is with an 
 electric company in Hartford; and Jennie 
 June Harris, who has been for five years 
 the efficient post-mistress at Moodus, Conn. 
 
 Another daughter, Harriet Halsey Harris, 
 died in East Haddam, January 13, 1887, at 
 the age of twenty-four years. Dr. Harris lost 
 his first wife on July 31, 1875, at the age of 
 forty-four. He married his second wife. Miss 
 Sarah E. Johnson, January 8, 1877. She 
 died on April 30, 1894, leaving one daughter, 
 Anna Otis, born July 12, 1883. On Septem- 
 ber 12, 1895, Dr. Harris married his third 
 wife, whose maiden name was Helen J. Trimm. 
 Her parents were George E. and Mary E. 
 (McArthur) Trimm, her father being a native 
 of Spain, and her mother a native of Scotland. 
 Mrs. Harris was instructed in the profession 
 of nursing by her grandmother, Mrs. Jean 
 McArthur, who was a trained nurse -of Glas- 
 gow, Scotland. Mrs. Jean McArthur was the 
 mother of fifteen children, and during the 
 course of her life she was nurse to over eigh- 
 teen hundred. She died in April, 1895, at the 
 age of seventy-eight, leaving four daughters, 
 two of whom are trained nurses. By Dr. 
 Harris's last matrimonial alliance there is one 
 little son — Otis George, born June 11, 1S96. 
 Among the Doctor's kin have been some 
 remarkable instances of longevity. His 
 grandfather Otis lived to be over ninety, and 
 his grandmother Harris to be one hundred 
 years old; while his Aunt liannah, wife of 
 Jared S. Smith, of New London, lived to be 
 over one hundred and eight years old. 
 
 "GRACE F. YORK, a farmer of 
 North Stonington, was born in this 
 neighborhood, November 14, 1828. 
 His great -grandparents, Thomas and Deborah 
 (Brown) York, were married November 10, 
 1737. His grandfather, Jesse York, born Au- 
 gust I, 1740, son of Thomas York, was a 
 farmer of the same place, in good circum- 
 stances, and served his country in the Revolu- 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 87 
 
 tionary War. Jesse married Anna Breed on 
 January 7, 1762. He died December 13, 
 1808, and his wife on April 28, 1818. Tliey 
 had a family of four sons and three daughters, 
 none of whom are living. 
 
 The father of the present Mr. York was 
 Nathan, born in Stonington, September 8, 
 1 77 1. He married a Martha Breed, who was 
 born August 19, 1791. They had fifteen chil- 
 dren, of whom four sons and two daughters 
 grew to maturity, and Horace F. and William 
 O. are the only survivors. The place, com- 
 prising about one hundred and fifty acres, had 
 been divided between these. The father's 
 death occurred January 5, 1854, and the 
 mother's on March 9, 1873. She was a de- 
 vout Baptist and a noble mother. Both rest 
 in the family burial-ground on the farm. 
 
 Horace F. York was reared to farming, re- 
 ceiving his education in the common schools. 
 At the age of seventeen he engaged in teach- 
 ing, and he subsequently taught for eight 
 winter terms. All his life has been passed 
 on the old farm where his father and grand- 
 father lived and died; and he has occupied his 
 present house since he erected it, together 
 with the substantial barn and outbuildings, 
 forty years ago. A member of the Baptist 
 church for the past fifty years, he has been 
 Deacon and clerk of the society for several 
 years and the superintendent of the Sabbath- 
 school for over twenty years. He was mar- 
 ried December i, 1850, to Deborah, daughter 
 of John and Matilda (Brown) Main, of North 
 Stonington. She had four brothers and three 
 sisters. Her mother died September i, 1844, 
 aged fifty-four, and her father on June 3, 
 1854. Of her sisters, Mrs. Hannah E. Clark, 
 a widow, living in this town, is the only sur- 
 vivor. Mrs. York died July 5, 1896, aged 
 seventy-one years. Her children are: Anna 
 D., the wife of William H. Latham, of Hope, 
 
 R.I., and the mother of two daughters — Ethel 
 and Mabel; Mary M., who is the wife of the 
 Rev. Archibald McCord, a Congregational 
 minister at Keene, N.H., and has two chil- 
 dren — Beatrice and Horace M. ; and Horace 
 F. York, Jr., a farmer at Tenafly, N.J., who 
 has a son, Ernest W. York. Mr. York gave 
 his children a liberal higher education, and 
 all have at some time been engaged in the pro- 
 fession of teaching. 
 
 ~^^^: 
 
 ALTER FITZMAURICE, the pro- 
 ietor of the Morning Telegraph, a 
 popular daily paper published in 
 New London, is a native of Providence, R. I., 
 born in 185 1. When but six months old, his 
 parents, Michael and Mary Fitzmaurice, 
 brought him to New London. In 1864, being 
 then thirteen years old, he entered the employ 
 of D. S. Ruddock, of the New London Star, 
 with whom he began as a printer's devil. 
 Beginning in 1868, thanks to the kindness of 
 the Hon. Henry P. Horn, he was able to con- 
 tinue his education for four years in the first 
 evening school of Connecticut. From the 
 position of devil he rose in regular grada- 
 tion to that of the proprietor of the Morning 
 Telegraph. The Telegraph, which has eight 
 pages of seven columns each, and was started 
 July 15, 1885, has become the largest news- 
 paper in New London County, with a circu- 
 lation of upward of five thousand. 
 
 Mr. Fitzmaurice is a Democrat and an 
 ardent advocate of the principles of that party. 
 During the State legislative sessions of 1891 
 and 1893 he served as a Representative. A 
 prominent temperance worker, he was for two 
 years president of the Catholic Total Absti- 
 nence Society of Connecticut, and represented 
 the State at many national conventions. He 
 is serving his seventh year as secretary of the 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 New London Board of Trade, and is a trustee 
 of the Mariners' Savings Bank. 
 
 In 1873, at the age of twenty-two, Mr. Fitz- 
 maurice was married to Miss Elizabeth 
 Hogue. Six children, two sons and four 
 daughters, live to bless their union. These 
 are: Walter, a graduate of the Bulkeley 
 School, now employed in the Telegraph office; 
 Teresa, who is attending school; Frank; 
 Bessie; Ruth; and Mary. Riary, the young- 
 est child, is three years old. The family re- 
 side at 563 Burk Street, which has been their 
 home since 1891. 
 
 Y^TEZEKIAH UFFORD WILLIAMS 
 r^l was born August 10, 1822, on the 
 i-^ V_^ old "Cider Hill " farm in Ledyard, 
 Conn., and died June 21, 1891, at the home 
 of his later years in New London, now occu- 
 pied by his daughters, the Misses Antoi- 
 nette A. and Jenny E. Williams. His father 
 was Warren Williams, son of Seth and Abi- 
 gail Williams, the grandmother Abigail being 
 a descendant in the sixth generation of Robert 
 Williams, who settled in Roxbury, Mass., in 
 1637; while the grandfather, Seth Williams, 
 was fourth in descent from William Williams, 
 one of the early settlers of Ledyard, the 
 line being William,' Henry, ^ Henry,^ Seth.'' 
 Warren Williams, son of Seth, married on 
 January 12, 181 5, Elizabeth Stanton Gallup. 
 She was descended on the maternal side from 
 Thomas Stanton, who was Governor Win- 
 throp's interpreter in his dealings with the 
 Indians and a man of much influence in those 
 early days, and on the paternal side from the 
 famous old Indian fighter, John Gallup, so 
 that Mr. Williams could claim many brave 
 ancestors. His great-grandfather, Phineas 
 Stanton, served in the campaigns of Cape 
 Breton and Crown Point; and Colonel Nathan 
 
 Gallup, another great-grandfather, was a dis- 
 tinguished officer in the Revolutionary War. 
 Enoch and Daniel Stanton and Lieutenant 
 Henry Williams, who fell at the massacre at 
 Fort Griswold, September 6, 1781, were his 
 great-uncles. 
 
 Hezekiah U. Williams was one of a family 
 of ten children. When he was quite a young 
 boy his parents moved to Salem, Conn., where 
 his father kept the tavern and store. Here he 
 was educated, helping his father in the store 
 as he grew older. Later he went out to De- 
 troit, Mich., entering the employ of his uncle, 
 Gurdon Williams, who, having gone to Michi- 
 gan in the early days, had become wealthy 
 through large mining and railroad interests. 
 His uncle gave him a position as conductor 
 on one of the trains running out of Detroit, a 
 position attended with much more danger than 
 at present, as the old strap rails were then in 
 use. Afterward he went into the office at 
 Pontiac, Mich., where, with his partner, Mr. 
 Charles B. Petrie, he had charge of his uncle's 
 large shipping business. It was customary 
 for one of the partners to sleep in a room ad- 
 joining the office; and on the night of Mr. 
 Petrie's marriage a man (supposed to be a 
 discharged employee) thought this would be a 
 good opportunity to rob the safe, as, of course, 
 Mr. Williams would attend the wedding. But 
 here he was greatly mistaken, for Mr. Will- 
 iams, being prevented from going by extra 
 business, was quickly awakened and ready to 
 rush out on the would-be burglar, though, 
 his revolver being unloaded, he had nothing 
 better to defend himself with than a wood 
 cleaver left that day by a carpenter. This, 
 however, proved sufficient; for the burglar 
 was so greatly surprised at finding any one 
 there that he hurriedly fled. 
 
 Mr. Williams, contracting malarial fever in 
 its worst form, was compelled to give up and 
 
HEZKKIAH U. WILLIAAIS. 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 91 
 
 return East in the hope of regaining his 
 health. He very slowly recovered, and was 
 married in Salem, Conn., by the Rev. Charles 
 Thompson, to Celina Anna King Niles. She 
 was a daughter of Horatio Nelson Niles, of 
 Groton, Conn., who was descended from the 
 AUyns, Averys, and Stantons, of this State, 
 his mother being Anna Allyn, his grand- 
 mother Anna Avery, and his great-grand- 
 mother Anna Stanton. 
 
 When a young man Mr. Niles went out 
 with his brother Edwin to what was then 
 known as New Connecticut, afterward called 
 the Western Reserve, taking up land in Port- 
 age County, near the present city of Akron, 
 Ohio. There he married Celina King, daugh- 
 ter of Joshua King, who had left his home in 
 the State of New York, and was among the 
 first to settle in "Old Portage." She died 
 July II, 1826, soon after the birth of their 
 little daughter; and, his brother dying of 
 consumption. May 21, 1826, Mr. Niles, 
 stricken with the same disease, hastened to 
 return to the old family home, near Centre 
 Groton. It must, indeed, have been a tedious 
 journey in those days, and especially so to 
 this half-sick man, with a little baby of only 
 six months to care for. Nevertheless, Groton 
 was at last safely reached; and here Mrs. 
 Anna Warner Bailey ("Mother Bailey") 
 kindly helped him, and loaned him a pillow, 
 so that he could more easily carry the baby, 
 for the rest of _the journey was accomplished 
 on horse-back. He did not long survive, 
 dying March 7, 1827, leaving his child to the 
 kind care of his father aqd mother. When 
 her grandparents moved to Salem in 1840, 
 she, of course, went too, and thus was enabled 
 to attend the famous old school at Music Vale, 
 where she must have been a favorite pupil of 
 Mr. Whittlesey's; for her children treasure 
 several pieces of music dedicated to her, as 
 
 well as sundry notes in Mr. Whittlesey's 
 quaint and original hand. 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Williams went West on their 
 wedding trip, visiting in Ohio and Michigan, 
 intending to settle in Detroit; but, as she 
 took a great dislike to the West, he was 
 obliged to give up that plan, and so came 
 East again, purchasing a farm near the village 
 of Mystic, Conn., now the site of Mystic's 
 beautiful cemetery. They lived there for 
 several years, and then removed to Groton 
 village, where Mr. Williams entered the em- 
 ploy of his uncle, Erastus Gallup. He next 
 purchased a farm in Waterford, on the Nor- 
 wich turnpike, about two and one-half miles 
 from New London. At that place three of 
 their children were born, a son and two 
 daughters. Their eldest daughter, Celina 
 Camilla, was born February 4, 1852, on the 
 farm near Mystic village. The second, Flor- 
 ence King, was born in Groton, Conn., Feb- 
 ruary II, 1854. Mr. Williams became a very 
 successful farmer, took much interest in the 
 affairs of the town, and held many offices of 
 trust. The death of their only son, Paul 
 Frederic, a most promising boy, in his fifth 
 year, was a great blow to both parents. He 
 was born in Waterford, August 8, 1859, ^-^^^ 
 died there, June 7, 1864. This loss was fol- 
 lowed seven years later. May 17, 1872, by 
 the death of the eldest daughter, and on April 
 26, 1873, by the death of Mrs. Williams. 
 Thus bereft, Mr. Williams determined to 
 give up his farm, and move into New London. 
 He first located on Huntington Street; and 
 while living there his second daughter died on 
 December 23, 1880. Finally, he purchased 
 the Churchill property (now the family home) 
 in East New London, where he died June 21, 
 1891. 
 
 Mr. Williams was a Congregationalist, both 
 he and his wife joining the First Church of 
 
92 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 Christ in New London soon after their re- 
 moval to Waterford. He was a man of ster- 
 ling integrity, whose advice was frequently 
 sought in legal matters ; for he had that ready 
 grasp and comprehension of the law which 
 characterized his brother, the late Judge Will- 
 iams, of Pittsburg, Pa. 
 
 /^TeORGE ROBERT HARRIS, M.D., 
 VJ^I ^ prominent physician and surgeon 
 of Norwich, is a native of Preston, 
 Conn. He was born December 20, 1864, son 
 of George A. and Catherine Amelia (Dewey) 
 Harris. Robert Harris, the father of George 
 A., who was a native of Bozrah, this county, 
 was a cabinet-maker, painter, and decorator, 
 and worked in Norwich for N. S. Gilbert. 
 He married Betsey Brewster, a daughter of 
 Benjamin Brewster and a direct descendant of 
 William Brewster, who came here in the 
 "Mayflower." Grandfather Harris died in 
 1864 or 1865, when about forty-seven, and his 
 widow in 1895, when about seventy-seven 
 years of age. They were the parents of three 
 sons and one daughter. 
 
 George A. Harris, born in 1839, ^^^ been 
 employed on the Norwich & Worcester Rail- 
 road, beginning at the bottom and working 
 his way up through the different positions, in- 
 cluding that of conductor, station agent at 
 Norwich, and division freight agent for many 
 years. In September, 1893, he was obliged 
 to resign on account of illness. After a sick- 
 ness lasting four years, he died August 22, 
 1897. His wife has borne him five children 
 — Elijah D., George R., Hattie Augusta, 
 Jennie Louisa, and Efifie Louella — all of 
 whom are living in Preston. 
 
 George Robert Harris spent his boyhood on 
 a farm, and for a time drove a milk cart for 
 his uncle. He obtained his preparatory edu- 
 
 cation in the district school and at the Nor- 
 wich Free Academy. Then he entered the 
 College of Physicians and Surgeons in New 
 York City, from which he was graduated in 
 1885. After that he spent considerable time 
 in different hospitals, first in the New York . 
 and Roosevelt Hospitals. Later he was 
 house surgeon to the Charity Hospital for 
 eighteen months, and, following that, to the 
 Chamber Street Hospital for fifteen months. 
 In April, 1889, Dr. Harris joined his uncle. 
 Orris F. Harris, M.D., who has been in prac- 
 tice here for thirty years. This uncle was a 
 medical cadet during the Civil War, and was 
 on duty at the Alexandria Hospital. 
 
 In politics Dr. Harris is a Republican. 
 He is a member of the city, county, and State 
 medical societies. He is a Mason of the 
 Mystic Shrine; the Master of St. James 
 Lodge, No. 23, F. & A. M. ; and a member of 
 the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. Of 
 an agreeable personality and skilled in his 
 profession, no doubt can be entertained that a 
 successful future lies before him. On No- 
 vember 27, 1896, he was joined in matri- 
 mony with Miss Jessie L. Hegarty, daughter 
 of Cornelius and Nettie (Morse) Hegarty, of 
 West Wareham, Mass. His first child, a son 
 named George A., was born November 27, 
 1897. 
 
 IRA F. LEWIS, the proprietor of the 
 only hotel at Jewett City, was born in 
 the town of Plainfield, this State, on 
 May 20, 1845, son of Caleb and Patience 
 (Johnson) Lewis. The family settled origi- 
 nally in Rhode Island, where it has been 
 prominent and influential. Its first represent- 
 atives in America were two brothers, who 
 came in the seventeenth century from Wales. 
 One of these, John, was the direct ancestor of 
 Mr. Lewis. Grandfather and great-grand- 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 93 
 
 father Lewis- were each named John. The 
 former, who, born in Coventry, R.I., about 
 1788, died in 1813, became a man of influ- 
 ence and prominence, and was sent to the 
 Rhode Island State legislature. His wife, 
 who was a Miss Jordan before marriage, sur- 
 vived him for a number of years, and con- 
 tracted a second marriage, by which she be- 
 came the mother of three children. She lived 
 to a good old age, and was buried in the cem- 
 etery at Coventry, which was also the burial- 
 place of her first husband. 
 
 Caleb Lewis, the only son of Grandfather 
 • Lewis, was born in Coventry, August 22, 
 1809, and his death occurred on September 
 12, 1886. He was reared by his grandfather. 
 His wife. Patience, born in Coventry on Au- 
 gust 26, 1819, was the youngest child of 
 George Johnson, who died in 1823, leaving 
 his widow with three sons and four daughters. 
 She is still living with a daughter in Nor- 
 wich, active in mind and body. Mr. Lewis's 
 parents, who were married in Coventry in 
 1837, came to Connecticut in 1843, settling 
 on their farm in Plainfield, Windham County, 
 where they lived for five years. They subse- 
 quently resided in Sterling for three years. 
 In 1853 they came to Jewett City, where the 
 husband was employed by J. & W. Slater for 
 some nine years, and later was a farmer and 
 teamster. Their six sons and three daughters 
 grew to maturity, and had families. Of these 
 Ira F. was the fourth-born. The eldest child, 
 Mary J., married Stephen A. Green. After 
 Mr. Green died of fever, she married Edwin 
 L. Ingraham. She died in October, 1872, 
 aged thirty-six years, leaving two children. 
 Henry W. and Rhodes K. Lewis, twins, are 
 married and have children. James E. and 
 Emma M. were also twins. James is living 
 in Worcester, and Emma is the wife of 
 Charles Olin, of this place. Edgar L. Lewis, 
 
 who was accidentally killed in Boston in Au- 
 gust, 1892, was survived by seven of his eight 
 children. Ida A. is now Mrs. Alfred Barrett, 
 of Norwich, and Charles L. Lewis is in 
 Sterling. 
 
 When eight years of age Ira F, Lewis en- 
 tered the Slater mill. After working there 
 until 1861, he lived at home, and drove a 
 team for his father. At the age of twenty- 
 one he started a store in company with his 
 father for the sale of confectionery and fruit. 
 In 1868 he embarked in the hotel enterprise, 
 beginning business on his present site, his 
 father buying the stand. The old house in 
 which he started, and which was burned in 
 1878, was replaced by a much more commodi- 
 ous one. Within the' last two years this 
 building has been enlarged and beautified. It 
 is now ninety-three by fifty feet, four stories 
 high, and contains forty-one guest rooms, fur- 
 nished in a manner fitted to secure the great- 
 est comfort and convenience of the guests. 
 There are modern improvements throughout 
 the house. The dining-room and parlors 
 would do credit to a much larger hotel. The 
 only hotel in Jewett City, it is well patronized 
 in the summer by people who find it a de- 
 lightful place in which to spend the heated 
 season. 
 
 On May 13, 1869, Landlord Lewis was 
 married to Lydia A., daughter of James and 
 Mary (Clark) Sweet, of Jewett City. Mr. 
 and Mrs. Sweet are both deceased. Their 
 only son, William E. Sweet, went to the 
 Civil War in 1861 with the Twelfth Regi- 
 ment, and was killed at the battle of Port 
 Hudson. Besides Mrs. Lewis, there are two 
 other daughters living, namely: Sarah, now 
 Mrs. James M. Young, of Warren, R.L; and 
 Mary F., now Mrs. William H. Baker, also 
 of Warren. Mr. and Mrs. Lewis have lost an 
 infant son, William F. They have a daugh- 
 
04 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 ter, Sadie F., who is fifteen years of age. 
 Mr. Lewis is a Past Chancellor of the Knights 
 of Pythias and a member of the Independent 
 Order of Odd Fellows. In politics he is a 
 Democrat. He has served the town in va- 
 rious local offices, and was its Representative 
 to the legislature in 1896. He was Captain 
 of Company H of the Third Regiment, suc- 
 ceeding Dr. Soule. Mrs. Lewis and daughter 
 attend the Congregational church. " 
 
 M 
 
 ANIEL B. HEMPSTED, who is 
 now retired from active business, 
 was a well-known jeweller of New 
 London. Born in New London, July 9, 1822, 
 son of Daniel B. and Grace (Lanpheer) Hemp- 
 sted, he comes of one of the oldest families in 
 the State. His descent is traced back to 
 1645, when one of his ancestors, Joshua 
 Hempsted, erected a house in this place. His 
 great-grandfather, Captain Nathaniel Hemp- 
 sted, of New London, who was a seafaring 
 man, com.manded a privateer during the Rev- 
 olutionary War. When New London was at- 
 tacked. Captain Hempsted happened to be at 
 home, and during the defence of Fort Non- 
 sense, in which he took an active part, was 
 shot through the hip. Though the wound was 
 a serious one, he recovered sufficiently to be 
 able to follow the sea for a number of years 
 after. During the trouble between France 
 and this country he was in the West India 
 trade, and his vessel was chased for several 
 days by a French man-of-war. The fatigue 
 and exfjosure incident to this trying situation 
 opened his old wound, and eventually caused 
 his death, though then in the prime of a \-ig- 
 orous manhood. In 1760 he built the stone 
 house in front of the old Hempsted house al- 
 luded to above. The stone house was built at 
 the same time that the Perkins house was 
 
 erected by the Huguenot settlers, who came 
 to this country at that period. Captain 
 Hempsted was married in 1727 to Hannah 
 Booth, of Long Island, and reared three 
 daughters and three sons, all of whom had 
 families. Of these Samuel B. Hempsted, 
 who was both the second child and second son, 
 and the grandfather of Daniel B., was born in 
 New London in 1755. He was the captain of 
 a vessel for a number of years, and died in 
 1795. On September 17, 1779, ^^ was 
 united in marriage with Lucretia Goddard. 
 She left two children, namely: Lucretia, who 
 was born in 1782, and died at the age of six- 
 teen; and Daniel B., the father of the subject 
 of this biography. The Captain subsequently 
 married again, and his second wife survived 
 him. 
 
 Daniel B. Hempsted, Sr., was born in New 
 London in 1784. He was left an orphan at 
 the age of eleven, with some property; and his 
 uncle, Giles Hempsted, was appointed his 
 guardian. Giles Hempsted accompanied a 
 colony of thirty persons, mostly ship-builders 
 and rope-makers, who went from New London 
 in schooners to Alexandria, Va. , and thence 
 across the mountains to Marietta, Ohio. 
 When fairly settled in their new home they 
 engaged in building schooners and freighting 
 produce to New Orleans. The Hempsteds of 
 the Western Reserve are descendants of this 
 Giles. In Marietta his nephew grew to man- 
 hood; but he was not content to stay there, as 
 the malarial climate seriously affected his 
 health. When he was eighteen years of age, 
 he returned to New London; and there he 
 learned the watch-maker's trade with Asa 
 Spencer, in the employment of a Mr. Doug- 
 las. Asa Spencer, who was a remarkable 
 man, invented the engine-turntng machine — 
 a contrivance never since improved upon.' — and 
 a tool for making the indentations in thimbles.' 
 
' a 
 
 NELSON MUK(;AN. 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 ^7 
 
 When Mr. Douglas died, his employees, 
 Hempsted and Spencer, continued the business 
 under the firm name of Spencer & Hempsted, 
 the latter furnishing the capital to purchase 
 the estate, and taking Spencer's experience 
 and mechanical genius in lieu of cash. In 
 1 83 1 Mr. Hempsted erected the house and 
 store where he lived and managed his busi- 
 ness. It is a solid brick structure, four 
 stories in height, with some thirty feet front- 
 age; and the jewelry store is still there, occu- 
 pied by his son's successor. This site has 
 been occupied by jewelry firms for over a 
 century, and it was here that Mr. Hempsted 
 learned his trade. His death occurred in 
 1852. He was married May 4, 1806, to 
 Grace Lanpheer, of New London, a daughter 
 of James and Sarah (Mayhew) Lanpheer. 
 Mr. Lanpheer, who was a naval officer, was 
 one of the volunteers who took the "Luren- 
 burg. " He was taken prisoner, with all on 
 board of the frigate "Trumbull" — ^ on which 
 he was a lieutenant — captured off the capes 
 of the Delaware. His -wife died in 1865. 
 She was the mother of eight children, five of 
 whom attained maturity, namely : Lucretia 
 G. , the widow of David Hustace, now in 
 Brooklyn, N.Y.; Caroline L., the widow of 
 Henry O. Ames, in Jersey City; Elizabeth, 
 the widow of Samuel N. 'Valentine, late of 
 New York City; Daniel B., the subject of 
 this sketch; Augusta S. , who was the wife 
 of the Rev. James T. Hyde, and died in Chi- 
 cago in 1890. The youngest child, Helen, 
 died in her eleventh year. 
 
 The present Daniel B. Hempsted was edu- 
 cated in New London. He learned the 
 jeweller's trade with his father at the same 
 stand where the latter acquired the knowl- 
 edge. In- 1 845 he became his father's part- 
 ner; and he was in active business in this 
 pYace until 1881, when he retired. Mr. 
 
 Hempsted has been actively interested in pol- 
 itics for many years, favoring the Republican 
 side; but he has never allowed his name to be 
 used in connection with public office. In the 
 Masonic fraternity he has attained the Mas- 
 ter's degree. 
 
 -r^ELSON MORGAN, station agent at 
 I =¥ Poquonnock Bridge, Conn., on the 
 A}P \^ ^ Stonington Division of the Old 
 Colony Railway system, and Town Clerk of 
 Groton, is a native of the village of Noank, in 
 the same town. He was born July 6, 1830, 
 son of Roswell and Jemima (Fish) Morgan. 
 He comes from an old Welsh family, whose 
 history has been traced by N. H. Morgan, 
 author of the Morgan Genealogy, to the. year 
 800 in Wales. The immigrant ancestor was 
 James Morgan. 
 
 As early as 17 12 the progenitor of this par- 
 ticular branch settled in Noank and became 
 the owner of a large tract of land. His home- 
 stead is now owned by Nelson Morgan of this 
 sketch, having been held by his descendants in 
 the male line for about one hundred and 
 eighty-five years. Roswell Morgan, son of 
 Joshua, was born in Noank in 1790, and died 
 in 1839. -He was a mariner, and engaged in 
 the coasting trade. His marriage to Jemima 
 Fish took place September 24, 1814. She 
 was born iri Groton in 1787, daughter of 
 Thomas Fish, who served in the Revolutionary 
 War two or three months, November to Janu- 
 ary, under Captain Hungerford. She was a 
 descendant of Moses and Martha (Williams) 
 Fish, who were married in Groton in 171 3. 
 Five children, two sons and three daughters, 
 were born to Roswell and Jemima Morgan. 
 One daughter, Harriet, died at the age of 
 seven. Caroline married Frederick A. Will- 
 iams, and died aged twenty-two years. Three 
 
98 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 are still living, namely: R. A. Morgan, of 
 Noank; Amanda, widow of Perry Bennett, re- 
 siding in Springfield, 111., whither she went 
 in 1855; and Nelson, of this sketch. 
 
 Having received a good practical education, 
 when eighteen years of age Nelson Morgan 
 began teaching in common schools; and that 
 occupation he followed about twenty-five years 
 all together, in Rhode Island, Connecticut, 
 Michigan, and Illinois. He first went to 
 Michigan in 1852, and after teaching a few 
 months in Hillsdale County returned to Con- 
 necticut, remaining here until 1857, when he 
 made a second trip to the same place. The 
 year following he went from there to Winches- 
 ter, 111., as a teacher. In 1862 he enlisted 
 at Jacksonville, 111., in the One Hundred and 
 First Illinois Infantry, Company B, entering 
 as a private; and during his eighteen months 
 of service he rose to the rank of Second Lieu- 
 tenant. He eventually resigned his commis- 
 sion on account of disability, and returned 
 home. He entered his present position as 
 station agent of Poquonnock Bridge four years 
 ago, and by his faithful performance of all 
 duties has won the respect and confidence of 
 both his superiors in office and the patrons of 
 the road. 
 
 On June 28, 1855, Mr. Morgan married 
 Miss Virginia Haley, daughter of Henry 
 Haley, and grand-daughter of Elisha Haley, 
 who was often in the upper and lower houses 
 of the Connecticut legislature as far back as 
 1 8 10, and who was also twice a Congressman 
 from this district. The Hon. Elisha Haley 
 was a man of means and high mental endow- 
 ment, and though not a church member he was 
 always a ruling spirit for the right. Mr. and 
 Mrs. Morgan had a son, Harry Archie, who 
 died at Groton Centre when si.xteen months 
 old. Their living son is John Albert, who 
 was born in Bethel, Morgan County, 111., 
 
 March 23, 1861, and received his schooling in 
 the common schools of Illinois up to 1875, 
 when he came to Connecticut with his parents. 
 Not long after he entered the employ of Brain- 
 ard & Armstrong, doing errands and sweeping 
 the store, sleeping there nights. He was with 
 them about eight years all together, during five 
 of which he travelled as a salesman in New 
 York. Following that he was a commercial 
 traveller from New York City until 1893, 
 when the territory of the Cherokee Nation was 
 opened for settlement, and he went thither 
 and lived for six months. He came to his 
 present position as Assistant Town Clerk to 
 his father in 1894. He was married, first, 
 January 4, 1888, to Hattie Rathburn Potter, 
 of Noank, daughter of James Potter. She 
 died January 4, 1892, four years to a day from 
 the date of their marriage, leaving no chil- 
 dren. He married for his second wife, No- 
 vember 7, 1896, Harriett Slocomb Storey, by 
 whom he has one child, Mary Virginia, born 
 October 7, 1897. John Albert Morgan is a 
 member of the New London Historical and 
 Genealogical Society, and during the past 
 three years has done considerable work in the 
 line of genealogical research. 
 
 Nelson Morgan has been a Republican from 
 the birth of the party. For ten years he has 
 served on the Board of Education, and has 
 been a Justice of the Peace six years. In 
 1894 he was elected to the office of Town 
 Clerk, defeating his predecessor, who had held 
 the office for twenty years consecutively. 
 F'raternally, he is a Master Mason and a mem- 
 ber of the G. A. R. 
 
 LIVER DENISON CHESEBRO, 
 late an esteemed and influential resi- 
 dent of Stonington, for many years a 
 member of the Board of Burgesses, was born 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 99 
 
 in this town in 1820, and here spent the 
 greater part of his. long and useful life. His 
 death, which was caused by accident, occurred 
 on January 4, 1895. Mr. Chesebro was the 
 son of Denison and Martha (Denison) Chese- 
 bro, and was named for his maternal grand- 
 father, Oliver Denison. On his father's side 
 he was a descendant of William and Anne 
 (Stevenson) Chesebro, who were married in 
 Boston, Lincolnshire, England, in 1620, came 
 to this country, and in 1650 settled at We- 
 quetequock, establishing the first Puritan home 
 within the present limits of Stonington, 
 Conn. They had four sons, the eldest being 
 Samuel, then twenty-two years of age, and 
 the youngest, Elisha, a lad of twelve. 
 
 Oliver Denison, the grandfather above 
 named, whose wife was Martha Williams, was 
 a son of George, Jr., and Jane (Smith) Deni- 
 son, grandson of George and Lucy (Gallup) 
 Denison, and great-grandson of Ben Adam and 
 Esther (Prentice) Gallup. Captain John 
 Gallup, the father of Ben Adam, was a noted 
 Indian fighter. 
 
 When about thirty-five years of age Oliver 
 D. Chesebro entered the employ of the Ston- 
 ington Steamboat Company, being intrusted 
 with the full charge of repairs of the wood- 
 work of the steam.ers on their line. He con- 
 tinued to hold the position, and filled it so ac- 
 ceptably that he was subsequently retained in 
 the enlarged business of the Providence & 
 Stonington Steamboat Company. His ability 
 and integrity won and kept the approval and 
 confidence of his employers, and he was soon 
 charged with the entire supervision of that de- 
 partment of the business. As a citizen of the 
 borough of Stonington, he was held in the 
 highest respect. He was of a retiring dispo- 
 sition, and never sought preferment, which 
 was, however, often most fittingly bestowed 
 upon him, official duties being worthily dis- 
 
 charged. As senior member of the Board of 
 Burgesses he was the acting warden during 
 the long absence of Warden Ephraim Will- 
 iams. He was chief of the fire department 
 for ten years, from 1870 to 1880, and always 
 took an active interest in its affairs. For sev- 
 eral years he was a director in both the First 
 National Bank and the Savings Bank of Ston- 
 ington, and he was also a stockholder and a 
 director in the Stonington Building Company. 
 He was a member of the First Baptist 
 Church and a most liberal contributor to its 
 support. In Wadawanuck Council, No. 110, 
 American Legion of Honor, he held the high- 
 est office. Of an unusually active and indus- 
 trious temperament, even after the possibility 
 of his retiring on a comfortable competency 
 was assured, he chose rather to continue his 
 interest in his business. 
 
 Mr. Chesebro was married March 6, 1847, 
 to Frances H., daughter of Benjamin F. and 
 Iilunice (Stevens) Hancox. Her father was 
 born in Stonington, January 22, 1803; and her 
 mother was born in the same place, July 24, 
 1803. They were married January 30, 1825, 
 and reared two sons and four daughters — 
 Benjamin F., Frances H., George S., Mary 
 Jane, Emeline L., and Alice D. The first of 
 these, Benjamin F. Hancox, born in October, 
 1825, is now a resident of Cliftondale, Mass.; 
 Frances H., now Mrs. Chesebro, was born 
 February 8, 1827; George S. Hancox was 
 born March 15, 1830, and died in Stonington, 
 August I, 1866; Mary Jane was born July 8, 
 1832, and became the wife of Captain Ben- 
 jamin F. Cutler, of Brooklyn, N.Y. ; Emeline 
 L. , was born October 29, 1835, and married 
 Erastus Chesebro; Alice D. was born August 
 10, 1845, and is now the widow of Elias Bab- 
 cock. Two children came to brighten the 
 home of Mr. and Mrs. Oliver D. Chesebro, 
 namely: Mary Ella, who was born June 20, 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 1848, and died in April, 1850; and Mary 
 Contest, born August 5, 1852, now the wife 
 of Horace N. Pendleton, of Stonington. Mr. 
 and Mrs. Pendleton have one daughter, Maria 
 Louise, born May 14, 1879, i^o^^ occupied 
 with the study of the violin in Brooklyn, 
 N.Y. 
 
 Mr. Chesebro's death was a sudden one, and 
 came as a shock to his family and the whole 
 community. Leaving his home in the morn- 
 ing, apparently in perfect health and vigor, he 
 went to Westerly, R. I., five miles distant, on 
 a little matter of business, and, falling 
 through an open space from one of the upper 
 stories of a building to the cellar, was at once 
 cut off from the living. His days were many 
 and useful, and his virtuous memory will long 
 be cherished. Mrs. Chesebro still lives in 
 Stonington. 
 
 USTIN O. GALLUP, better known as 
 A. O. Gallup, who died at his late 
 home in Salem, New London 
 County, Conn., April 12, 1896, was born in 
 the town of Ledyard, Conn., December 27, 
 1828. He was the second son of Alfred and 
 Eliza (Hewitt) Gallup, and was a lineal de- 
 scendant of Captain John Gallup, who came 
 from Mosterne Parish, County Dorset, Eng- 
 land, in 1630, sailing in the good ship "Mary 
 and John " from Plymouth on March 20, and 
 arriving at Nantasket, near Hull, May 30 of 
 that year. 
 
 John Gallup went first to Dorchester, but 
 soon afterward removed to Boston, where he 
 joined the First Church, January 6, 1634. 
 His wife, Christobel, joined on June 22 of the 
 same year. He was made a freeman, and was 
 one of the earliest grantees of land in the 
 northern part of the town, having a wharf and 
 house in the locality then known as Gallup 
 
 Point. Besides these he owned Gallup's 
 Island, where he had a snug farm, also a 
 meadow on Long Island and a sheep pasture 
 on what became known as Nix's Mate. He 
 was a skilled mariner, and made frequent 
 trading expeditions on the coast, one of which 
 is memorable by his encounter with the mur- 
 derers of his friend, John Oldham. His 
 vessel was the only source of communication 
 between the two colonies of Rhode Island and 
 Connecticut; and at one time, when his vessel 
 had been overdue, and he was at last heard 
 from, Roger Williams wrote to Governor 
 Winthrop, "God be praised, John Gallup has 
 arrived." He died January 11, 1650, at his 
 home in Boston. His wife died there, Sep- 
 tember 27, 1655. 
 
 Their son John, born in England, came 
 over in 1633. In 1643 he was married in 
 Boston to Hannah Lake, daughter of John and 
 Margaret Read Lake. Her mother was the 
 daughter of Edmund Read, Esq., of Wick- 
 ford, Essex County, England, sister of Eliza- 
 beth Read, wife of John Winthrop, Jr., Gov- 
 ernor of Connecticut. They had ten children, 
 one of whom was Benadam, who was born in 
 1655 in Stonington County. He married 
 Esther Prentice, daughter of John and Esther 
 Prentice, of New London, Conn. His wife 
 was born July 20, 1660. Both were members 
 of the Congregational church in Stonington. 
 He died August 2, 1727, and she died in 
 175!) c^t the age of ninety-two. Lieutenant 
 Benadam, son of the first Benadam and Esther 
 (Prentice) Gallup, was born in 1693 at Gro- 
 ton, and died September 30, 1755. He mar- 
 ried Eunice Cobb, January 11, 1716. Their 
 fifth son, Henry, one of their eleven children, 
 was born October 5, 1725, and married Han- 
 nah Mason, daughter of Nehemiah and Zerviah 
 (Stanton) Mason, October 4, 1750. He died 
 in 181 1, at the age of eighty-six, having 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 outlived his wife three years. She was the 
 great-grand-daughter of Major John Mason, 
 and was born in Stonington, June lo, 1726. 
 
 Henry Gallup, Jr., son of Henry and Han- 
 nah (Mason) Gallup and grandfather of Aus- 
 tin O. Gallup, was born October 17, 1758. 
 He married November 17, 1792, Desire Stan- 
 ton, by whom he had three children — Alfred, 
 Anna, and Desire. Alfred Gallup married 
 Eliza W. Hewitt, October 19, 1823. He 
 died at Salem, December 24, 1854; and his 
 wife died in New London, February 21, 1876. 
 They had seven children, three sons and four 
 daughters. Five of them lived to a mature 
 age; namely, William A., Austin O., Harriet 
 A., Laura E., and Lewis A. William A., 
 the eldest son, was born June 28, 1827, and 
 died August 31, 1843; Harriet A., the eldest 
 daughter, was born October i, 1836, in 
 Salem; Laura E., born in Montville, May 28, 
 1840, is the wife of Sanford W. Haven; and 
 Lewis A. Gallup, the youngest of the five, 
 was born June 30, 1846. 
 
 Mr. Austin O. Gallup was brought up on 
 the home farm, and taught his first district 
 school at the age of twenty-one, being thus 
 occupied for five succeeding winters. In 1854 
 he began the topographical survey of New 
 York, and during the next ten years was en- 
 gaged in his business in New York, Massa- 
 chusetts, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Ken- 
 tucky. He furnished the only topographical 
 survey then made of ninety miles of the Alle- 
 ghany range of mountains, which at one time 
 was really the dividing line between the con- 
 tending armies of the North and South. 
 These plans and surveys were carried by him 
 in person and alone, and delivered to the 
 commanding general of the Union army a few 
 days before the battle of Gettysburg. Upon 
 his return he was safely escorted by a guard to 
 a point beyond the contending armies. 
 
 He was elected Probate Judge in 1864, and 
 died in office in 1896, having ably filled the 
 position for many years. He represented the 
 town of Salem in the legislature in 1877, 
 serving on the Committee of Finance with the 
 late Hon. David Gallup, of Plainfield, Conn. 
 He was Selectman of Salem for eleven years 
 and chairman of the board nine years of that 
 time. He also served the town as School 
 Visitor and in other minor offices. He was a 
 Master Mason, becoming a member in New 
 London in 1853 of Union Lodge, No. 31. In 
 politics he was a Democrat. He joined the 
 Congregational church in 1876, and was an 
 active worker in early life. 
 
 Mr. Gallup married January 22, 1855, Lucy 
 A. Rathbun, who died March 30, 1893, in the 
 sixty-second year of her age. Mr. Gallup was 
 a man of more than ordinary intellectual abil- 
 ity, taking an unusual interest in biographical 
 and genealogical work, in which he had no 
 equal in the county. He was large-hearted 
 and generous, and never amassed great wealth. 
 He left his fine farm and home to Mrs. Doug- 
 las, who so kindly cared for him in his last 
 illness. 
 
 RAYMOND DOUGLASS, a promi- 
 nent farmer of Salem village, was born 
 in the adjacent town of Waterford, 
 New London County, on September 3, 1839, 
 son of John and Ann Elizabeth (Raymond) 
 Douglass. He is descended from William 
 Douglass, a Scotchman, born in 1610, who 
 came to this country in 1640, bringing his 
 son Robert, then a year old, and in 1660 set- 
 tled in New London. Since that time the 
 Douglass family have been among the influen- 
 tial and respected inhabitants of this region. 
 Both father and son were coopers by trade. 
 The former, who was a Deacon of the Presby- 
 terian church and an earnest Christian, died 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 on July 2, 1682. Robert Douglass died on 
 the 15th of January, 1715 or 1716. 
 
 Among his posterity may be found many 
 whose names help to swell the roll-call of 
 soldiers who fought in the Revolution and in 
 the early Indian wars. From Robert the 
 line continues as follows: his son Thomas 
 ■ was born May 15, 1679, and died on March 3, 
 1723-4; Robert, second, son of Thomas, was 
 born December 28, 1705, and died in Octo- 
 ber, 1786; and his son, Thomas, second, was 
 born August i, 1734, and died in 1826. 
 A third Robert, son of the second Thomas 
 and the grandfather of the subject of this 
 sketch, was born on January 18, 1774, prob- 
 ably in New London; but his working life was 
 spent chiefly in Waterford, where he was en- 
 gaged in farming on the estate now owned by 
 Mrs. Stanley Morgan. He died October 8, 
 1834. His wife, Abiah Douglass, who was born 
 on May 25, 1775, survived him for many years, 
 and died on the 30th of June, 185 1. She 
 was the mother of three daughters and five sons. 
 John Douglass, one of the five, was born in 
 Waterford, then a part of New London, on 
 February 23, 181 1, and died in that town on 
 March 27, 1866. His wife, Anna Elizabeth, 
 the daughter of Josiah Raymond, of Mont- 
 ville, was born in Salem in 1817. They were 
 married on December 3, 1838, and reared a 
 family of four children — John Raymond, 
 George R., Robert Henry, and Elizabeth H. 
 George Ransom Douglass died on February 6, 
 1865, at the age of seventeen; Robert Henry 
 Douglass is engaged in the fruit-growing in- 
 dustry in North Pomona, Cal.; and Elizabeth 
 Douglass since 1896 has been in Pasadena, 
 Cal., with her mother. 
 
 John Raymond Douglass, the eldest son, 
 was educated in the district schools and in the 
 Norwich and Norwich Town select schools. 
 Politically, he is a strong Republican, and in 
 
 1885 and 1886 was in the legislature .from 
 Salem. He has been First Selectman of the 
 town several terms. On December 24, 1864, 
 he was united in marriage with Julia Ray- 
 mond, daughter of Richard and Julia (Gard- 
 ner) Raymond, of Montville. Mr. Richard 
 Raymond died on November 30, 1878, at 
 Montville, which had been the home of his 
 family for many years. His wife survived 
 until May 18, 1896, when she died at the old 
 homestead. Of their family of nine children, 
 four sons and three daughters grew to matu- 
 rity, and all are living but one daughter. 
 
 Mrs. Douglass has many rare souvenirs and 
 heirlooms, among them being a fine old solid 
 mahogany secretary and bureau combined, 
 which is known to contain a secret drawer 
 never yet discovered. It is of most beautiful 
 workmanship, and proclaims the mechanics 
 and wood workers of "ye olden days" fully as 
 artistic and skilful as those of our own times. 
 A generous-sized painted punch bowl or tank- 
 ard of glass was formerly the property of Mrs. 
 Douglass's great-great-grandfather, and a 
 beautiful alabaster jewel case was left by Mrs. 
 Sigourney. There is also a china mug over 
 two hundred years old, and Commodore 
 Perry's flint-lock derringer with the accoutre- 
 ments, including moulds and combination 
 i^ask for powder and balls. Very interesting 
 are two fans, one of which, bearing the date 
 of 1747, belonged to Mrs. Douglass's great- 
 great -grandmother, Elizabeth Griswold. The 
 other is of ivory, and bears the record of the 
 marriage, on May 26, 1774, of Mercy Ray- 
 mond and John Raymond. Other relics are: 
 a piece of sage green brocaded silk, which was 
 part of Elizabeth Griswold's wedding dress; 
 a rare copy of the Bible, dated 1738, and 
 handed down from the fourth generation back; 
 and an exposition and notes on Thessalonians, 
 bound in full vellum, and dated 1627. 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 103 
 
 (JOSEPH STANTON WILLIAMS, a 
 well-known citizen of Stonington, son 
 of the late Joseph Stanton Williams, 
 Sr. , and grandson of Captain Elias and Thank- 
 ful (Stanton) Williams, owns and occupies a 
 part of the old Stanton farm, near Mystic, on 
 which he was born. This farm, originally of 
 about two hundred and twenty acres, was the 
 birthplace of his father and of his paternal 
 grandmother. It was granted by a deed of gift 
 to Thomas Stanton, the noted Indian interpre- 
 ter, by Thomas and Nathaniel Beebe, January 
 2, 1656, the deed stating that there were two 
 hundred acres, more or less, and eight acres 
 of meadow. (See sketch of Elias Williams.) 
 
 Mr. Williams is of English ancestry, being 
 a lineal descendant in the ninth generation of 
 Robert Williams, who was born in Norwich, 
 England, in 1593, and died in Roxbury, 
 Mass., in 1638. Robert's son Isaac lived 
 and died in Roxbury, where his son John, the 
 next in line of descent, was born. John 
 Williams married Martha, daughter of Isaac 
 Wheeler, and removed to Stonington, where 
 was born his son, Colonel John Williams. 
 The line was continued through the Colonel's 
 son, William Williams, who was born in the 
 same place, May i, 1716, and died July 27, 
 1801; and his son. Captain John Williams, 
 born December 23, 1744, to the grandfather 
 above named, Elias Williams, who was born 
 in what is now North Stonington, September 
 28, 1773, son of Captain John Williams, and 
 died January 31, 1808. 
 
 Mr. Williams is also the representative of 
 another ancient and respected family of this 
 town. Thankful Stanton, the wife of his 
 grandfather, Elias Williams, having been a 
 daughter of William and Hannah (Williams) 
 Stanton, a grand-daughter of Joseph and Ann 
 (Wheeler) Stanton, and a great-grand-daugh- 
 ter of Joseph, Sr., and Margaret (Cheseboro) 
 
 Stanton. Joseph Stanton, Sr. , was a son of 
 John and Hannah (Thompson) Stanton and a 
 grandson of Thomas, the first of the name to 
 come to America. Thomas Stanton sailed 
 from England, January 2, 1635, in the mer- 
 chantman "Bonaventura, " landing in Vir- 
 ginia, where he remained for a time. He 
 subsequently went to Boston, thence to Hart- 
 ford, this State, and there married Ann Lord. 
 In 1650 he established a trading post in Paw- 
 catuck, Stonington, being one of the first set- 
 tlers here, the others at that time being the 
 Cheseboros, Miners, Palmers, and Denisons; 
 and six years later he received the deed above 
 mentioned. 
 
 Joseph S. Williams, Sr., was born on this 
 farm, March 16, 1802, being one of a family 
 of four children, two sons and two daughters, 
 who were left fatherless at an early age. He 
 was reared a farmer, and followed that occupa- 
 tion continuously, living on the homestead 
 until his death, which occurred February 19, 
 1889. - A man of fine physique, noted for his 
 strength, standing six feet in height and 
 weighing two hundred and ten pounds, he was 
 as forceful mentally and morally as physically, 
 and wielded great influence in the commu- 
 nity. He was a member of the Old Road Con- 
 gregational Church and one of its most active 
 workers. He married on December 9, 1824, 
 Julia A. Gallup, daughter of Christopher and 
 Mrs. Martha Stanton Prentiss Gallilp, and 
 by this union was the father of eight children 
 — Joseph S., William S., Elias, Julia A., Jo- 
 seph Stanton, Charles, Warren, and Martha 
 Ellen. Mrs. Williams, the m.other, was acci- 
 dentally killed by a runaway horse. May 19, 
 1883, at the age of seventy-six years. Joseph 
 S., the eldest-born son, who died at the age of 
 eight years and nine months, requested that 
 his name be given to the subject of this 
 sketch, who was then a babe of three or four 
 
104 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 weeks, and, when told that they already had 
 one Joseph S., he replied, "You will not have 
 long." William S. , the second child, died at 
 the age of twenty-nine, leaving one daughter, 
 Mrs. Henry Morgan, of Colchester. Elias, of 
 whom a brief sketch may be found elsewhere 
 in this volume, lives on a portion of the old 
 homestead farm. Julia A. is the wife of 
 Salmon C. Foote, who also occupies a part of 
 the home farm. Charles died here at the age 
 of twenty-eight years, leaving a widow, two 
 sons, and a daughter. Warren died on the 
 farm in 1865, aged twenty-five years. Martha 
 Ellen died in childhood. The three brothers 
 that died after reaching mature years were the 
 victims of typhoid fever. 
 
 Joseph S. Williams was born on August 12, 
 1834. He was reared to agricultural pur- 
 suitsf and with the exception of two years 
 passed in Yates County, New York, and six 
 months in New Jersey, has spent his life on 
 his native heath. He has a farm of eighty 
 acres, most of it in a good state of culture, 
 and carries on general agriculture with excel- 
 lent success. His house, which is in good 
 repair, is at least one hundred and twenty-five 
 years old. It was erected by Nathan Stanton, 
 a brother of Captain William Stanton, who 
 lived here from 1777 until 1793, when he re- 
 moved to Florida, Montgomery County, N.Y., 
 where his descendants still reside. Mr. Will- 
 iams is a stanch Democrat in politics and an 
 ardent worker in the temperance cause. He 
 has rendered his full share of public service, 
 having been Postmaster when a young man 
 and again under Cleveland's administration; 
 Selectman four years; and one term Repre- 
 sentative to the State legislature, to which he 
 was elected in 1876. He is not a member of 
 any church, but was reared a Congregational- 
 ist, and was. christened in a church of that 
 denomination, 
 
 On January 13, 1858, Mr. Williams mar- 
 ried Elizabeth C. Foote, a native of New 
 Marlboro, Berkshir_e County, Mass., and the 
 tenth child of a family of eight sons and five 
 daughters born to Salmon and Margaret (Tay- 
 lor) Foote. Mrs. Williams's father died at 
 the age of ninety years in 1882, and her 
 mother in 1857, aged sixty-three years. 
 
 OHN A. BOWEN, Chief of Police in 
 Norwich, was born May 25, 1843, at 
 Voluntown, in what was then Wind- 
 ham County, now New London County, Con- 
 necticut. His parents were Philip A. and 
 Charlotte C. (Gardner) Bowen. The history 
 of the family has been traced back to Cadivor, 
 who, about the twelfth century (1133), was of 
 the fourth generation in Wales. He had two 
 sons, we are told, Myrick and Griffith, 
 from the former of whom this particular 
 branch of the family is descended. 
 
 Griffith Bowen came to America in 1638; 
 and Richard Bowen, the progenitor of this 
 branch, said to have been a brother of Griffith, 
 came about 1640, settling in Rehoboth, 
 Mass., where in 1643 his estate was valued at 
 two hundred and seventy pounds. From him 
 the lineal representatives are, named in their 
 order: Obadiah, first; Obadiah, second; 
 Aaron; Asaph; Philip; Aaron; Philip A.; 
 and John A., of Norwich. 
 
 Asaph Bowen was a mariner, and died at 
 sea in 1748. Philip, his only son, had eight 
 sons and two daughters that reached adult life. 
 The eldest was Asaph, second; and the sec- 
 ond was Aaron, who resided in Washington, 
 R.L, where he owned nearly all of Bowen 
 Hill, so named for his grandfather, Asaph 
 Bowen. Aaron Bowen married Hannah Mer- 
 rill, of Rhode Island. They had eight chil- 
 dren, three sons and five daughters, of whom 
 
JOHN A. lJ(JWL.\. 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 107 
 
 the sons and four daughters grew to manhood 
 and womanhood. One daughter, Sally A., the 
 widow of Albert Randall, an octogenarian, 
 recently of Greenwich, R.I., is now deceased. 
 Philip A., the youngest child, was born in 
 Rhode Island about the year 18 19. He was a 
 stationary engineer, and during the latter 
 years of his life he owned and kept a hotel in 
 Franklin. He died there in 1873, survived 
 by his wife, Mrs. Charlotte C. Gardner Bowen, 
 who died in 1880, aged fifty-seven years. 
 Two of their five children are now living in 
 Norwich, namely: Lucy, the widow of Henry 
 A. Bowen, who died in 1891; and John A., 
 Chief of Police. James T. , his twin brother, 
 died when sixteen months old; a brother 
 Charles died at three years; and Henry, at 
 four years of age. The family burial lot is in 
 Yantic cemetery. 
 
 John A. Bowen was kept in school until his 
 eighteenth year, when he volunteered in the 
 Fifth Connecticut Infantry, Company G, and, 
 going to the front as a private, served four 
 years, coming out as a Sergeant. At Resaca, 
 Ga., he was wounded in his right hand; and 
 at Cedar Mountain, Va., August 9, 1862, he 
 was taken prisoner, but in November follow- 
 ing was exchanged and returned to his regi- 
 ment. Mr. Bowen became a member of the 
 police force when it numbered but eleven, and 
 from the lowest rank rose step by step 
 through all the positions in the department, 
 until in 1886 he became the Chief. This re- 
 sponsible position he continues to fill in a 
 very creditable manner. 
 
 In 1865 Mr. Bowen was married in Wood- 
 stock, Conn., to Eleanor Arnold, a daughter 
 of Samuel and Esther Arnold, of Westerly, 
 R.I. Her father died several years ago; and 
 her mother was left with six children, all now 
 living, with the exception of Joseph and 
 Rouse, who were killed on the railroad. Mr. 
 
 and Mrs. Bowen have one child, Philip E., a 
 merchant in Webster, Mass. He is married, 
 but has no children. 
 
 Politically, Mr. Bowen is a Republican. 
 Fraternally, he is a member of Somerset 
 Lodge, No. 34, F. & A. M., of which he is 
 Marshal; Columbian Commandery, No. 4, 
 K. T. ; and Sedgwick Post, No. i, G. A. R., 
 in which he has served as Quartermaster, also 
 as Assistant Inspector of the Department of 
 Connecticut. 
 
 c- 
 
 jAPTAIN JAMES LENNEN, a citi- 
 zen of Waterford, Conn., was born in 
 Waterford, Ireland, in 1841. His 
 parents, John and Mary Lennen, who sailed 
 for America in 1844 with their four children, 
 both died on the passage, and with one child 
 were buried at sea. The father was a farmer 
 in good circumstances, and had with him, it is 
 said, about six thousand dollars in gold, 
 which with most of their goods were lost to 
 their children. The three young orphans, two 
 boys and a girl, were cared for by the dock- 
 master and his friends. The Captain's 
 brother William is now a farm gardener in 
 Brooklyn, N.Y. ; and their sister is the wife 
 of a Mr. O. Meyer in New York City. 
 
 James was adopted by Captain Elnathan M. 
 Wilcox, of New London County, a resident of 
 Mystic, and received a fair common-school ed- 
 ucation. At the age of sixteen he began to 
 spend his summer vacations upon the water, 
 and at the age of nineteen he left school. He 
 continued to go on the water with Captain 
 Wilcox till he attained his majority. His 
 first independent venture was in the menhaden, 
 or bony-fish, business in a company of five, 
 their factory being at the Neck in Mystic. 
 About the year 1882 he established works at 
 the Delaware Breakwater. He became cap- 
 
io8 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 tain of his first craft at the age of twenty- 
 three years. He was in the "Milo" two 
 years, and in the "W. T. Sherman," the 
 "John Green," and the steamer "Samuel S. 
 Brown "" about twelve years. For the past 
 four years he has lived on shore. 
 
 Captain Lennen married in 1879 Hannah 
 Adams Stead, who was born at Edwardsburg, 
 Cass County, Mich., daughter of Angel and 
 Rhoda (Buddington) Stead. Her father and 
 mother were both natives of -Connecticut. 
 After their marriage, in 1837, they went West, 
 and spent three years at Edwardsburg. The 
 fever and ague then sent them back to Nor- 
 wich, where Mr. Stead died in October, 1895, 
 in the eighty-seventh year of his age. He 
 was a farmer. Mrs. Stead still survives, and 
 is now about eighty-four years of age. Two 
 of her three daughters are living, namely: 
 Mrs. Lennen; and Mary E., wife of John 
 Hibbard, of North Woodstock. Captain and 
 Mrs. Lennen have no children. 
 
 Mrs. Lennen is a member of the Central 
 Baptist Church in Norwich. The Captain is 
 a member of the Knights of Pythias, Wauregan 
 Lodge, of Norwich. He is not active in pol- 
 itics, but votes the Republican ticket. He 
 owns a place in Norwich; and in the spring of 
 1894 he bought the residence property at Har- 
 rison Station, where his wife and her mother 
 are most pleasantly situated, and where he is 
 at home when business permits. Though he 
 is not now leading a life of such extreme ac- 
 tivity as formerly, his business interests have 
 grown to such proportions that they require 
 close supervision. The penniless orphan who 
 was cast a waif upon the waters has become a 
 successful financier. He is still young and 
 vigorous and a splendid type of his rugged 
 and ruddy race over the sea. It is rather a 
 singular coincidence that he was born in 
 Waterford, Ireland, and has drifted after many 
 
 years to the town of the same name in the 
 United States. 
 
 RS. ELIZA PALMER NOYES, 
 who resides on a small farm of 
 thirty-eight acres at "The Road," 
 in the town of Stonington, was born Oc- 
 tober 18, 1844, daughter of Noyes Palmer 
 and Martha Denison (Noyes) Brown. Mrs. 
 Noyes's mother was her husband's double 
 cousin. Her parents had two children besides 
 herself, namely: Annie Brown, who has been 
 twice married, her first husband being Asa 
 Fish, and her second John I. MacDonald, 
 with whom she resides in Providence, R.I. ; 
 and Helen, wife of Henry Townsend, of this 
 town, living at the old home, in the house 
 which her father erected fifty-one years ago. 
 
 Eliza Palmer Brown and Edmund S. Noyes, 
 son of Joseph and Grace B. (Denison) Noyes 
 and grandson of Joseph Noyes, Sr., were 
 married on February 5, 1867. They began 
 their wedded life at the Road, a short distance 
 from her present residence, in the old home of 
 her grandfather, Thomas Noyes, who died in 
 1874. This house, which they subsequently 
 bought, was built in 1706, or nearly two cen- 
 turies ago. It was once the home of Colonel 
 Giles Russell, a Revolutionary ofificer, of 
 whom Mrs. Noyes has an interesting relic, 
 the copy of a public notice written and signed 
 by him, bearing date of May 12, 1777. The 
 Road received its name when there was only 
 a bridle path, over which the mail was carried 
 on horseback. This house, which was a 
 stopping-place for travellers, was then called 
 an "ordinary" and later an inn. For forty 
 years the Town Clerk's office was here, and 
 the present kitchen in the L of the house was 
 the room in which the business was conducted 
 by John D. Noyes, who served as Clerk for 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 forty-one years. He died in office, just two 
 days before his successor was elected. For a 
 long time he had been in feeble health on ac- 
 count of his age, he being then over eighty. 
 
 Mr. Edmund S. Noyes died May 31, 1877, 
 aged forty-one years. Having spent his life 
 in industrious toil, he had acquired a fair 
 property; and he left to Mrs. Noyes and their 
 little son Joseph, then five years old, the 
 homestead which they occupy and another 
 farm. Mrs. Noyes is a capable business 
 woman; and, though her son's health would 
 not permit of an extended schooling, as a re- 
 sult of her early instruction he has become a 
 man of good business capacity. Joseph Noyes 
 lives with his mother, never having married, 
 and now has charge of their property. Mrs. 
 Noyes belongs to the First Congregational 
 Church of Stonington, Conn. 
 
 TT^APTAIN THOMAS A. SCOTT, a 
 ( Y^ famous diver, wrecker, and contractor 
 Vjf_^ of New London, Conn., was born at 
 Snow Hill, Worcester County, Md., August 
 10, 1830, son of William and Elizabeth 
 (Pruett) Scott. James Scott, his paternal 
 grandfather, also a native of Snow Hill, was a 
 farmer, stock-breeder, and salt manufacturer, 
 and acquired a large property. His wife, 
 whose maiden name was Rebecca Burch, died 
 at the age of ninety; while he attained the age 
 of one hundred years. They had two sons and 
 two daughters. 
 
 William Scott, the father of Captain Scott, 
 was born at Snow Hill in 1795. His first 
 wife was before marriage a Miss Pointer. The 
 two children born of their union died young. 
 Elizabeth Pruett, his second wife, whom he 
 married in 1828, had previously been the wife 
 of Zachariah Shelley, who had died leaving 
 one son, since deceased. Her parents were 
 
 Zachariah and Susan Pruette, residents of that 
 region, both of whom lived to be ninety years 
 of age. William and Elizabeth (Pruett) Scott 
 had three children — ^ Sarah Truth, Ann Maria 
 Hudson, and Thomas A., the subject of this 
 biography. The daughters grew to maturity 
 and were married, and both died leaving chil- 
 dren. The mother died at the home of her 
 son, March 2, 1890, at the age of eighty-eight. 
 Thomas A. Scott in his boyhood received a 
 very limited education, as he shipped as a 
 common sailor on board a merchant vessel in 
 early life. He gradually worked his way up 
 until in 1850 he became captain and part 
 owner of the "Thomas Page." Seven years 
 later he bought an interest in the "William 
 Hone," of Connecticut, and engaged in the 
 transportation of heavy cargoes of stone from 
 Bridgeport, Conn., to Washington, D.C., 
 which proved to be a very successful enter- 
 prise. After that he became a merchant in 
 Fort Lee, N.J., but subsequently, deciding 
 that he was then out of his element, he re- 
 turned to maritime pursuits. He then began 
 diving, a calling that he has followed more or 
 less ever since. A steamer having been 
 burned and sunk off Fort Lee, he contracted 
 with the speculator who bought the wreck, 
 to bring the cargo to the surface. From that 
 beginning he was drawn by degrees into the 
 kind of work which has made him famous 
 among his craft. His first large contract as 
 wrecker and diver was taken in 1865, which 
 was to raise the "Dashing Wave" off Sandy 
 Hook. Four years thereafter he was engaged 
 at a salary of two hundred and fifty dollars a 
 month to bring to the surface what could be 
 saved of the cargo of the steamship "Scot- 
 land," of the National Line, which was 
 wrecked off Sandy Hook. The recovered 
 goods amounted to one hundred and ten thou- 
 sand dollars, of which sum, including his 
 
112 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 salary and percentage of salvage, he realized 
 eleven thousand dollars. Here he remained 
 under water seven hours and forty-eight min- 
 utes, breaking the records of divers' feats of 
 endurance. Captain Scott's presence of mind, 
 added to his quickness of thought and prompt, 
 decisive action, make him admirably success- 
 ful in his chosen line of work. 
 
 In 1873 he became a resident of New Lon- 
 don, at which time he undertook a government 
 contract to build Race Rock Light-house, be- 
 sides many other important contracts in wharf 
 and sea-wall building, among which may be 
 mentioned Pier No. i. North River, New York. 
 He also enjoys the distinction of being the 
 first man to work on the Brooklyn Bridge, hav- 
 ing made all the preliminary examinations of 
 the river bottom and superintended the work of 
 laying the foundations of the spans. His 
 wharf on Pequot Avenue extends two hundred 
 feet into the harbor, and has a frontage of two 
 hundred and fifty feet. His extensive busi- 
 ness requires three tugs, four lighters, a pile- 
 driver, and mud digger, besides pumps and 
 derricks, and a working force of forty men, his 
 equipments being equal to any emergency. In 
 politics Captain Scott is a Republican. He 
 has served as Alderman one term. 
 
 On September 5, 1855, he was married to 
 Harriet Whitbeck, of Port Jefferson, L.I. 
 She was born in Catskill, N. Y. , being the 
 daughter of John and Mary E. Ackerly. 
 Isaac Ackerly, her grandfather, was a farmer; 
 and her father was a paper-hanger and decora- 
 tor. Mrs. Scott has one brother living — 
 Theodore Whitbeck, who succeeds his father 
 in business at Port Jefferson. Her brother 
 Sidney S. Whitbeck died in April, i8g6, at- 
 the age of fifty-four. Her father died at the 
 age of seventy-three, and her mother at the age 
 of eighty-three. 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Scott have had twelve chil- 
 
 dren, six of whom survive: John A., Mamie, 
 Eva L. , Harriet F., Cassi-e V., and Thomas 
 A., Jr. John A. Scott, born in 1859, is a 
 merchant on his father's dock. He is married 
 and has two daughters. Mamie Scott married 
 William H. Hull, of New York. Eva L. 
 married Woodruff Hull, a brother of her sis- 
 ter's husband, and has one son and daughter. 
 Harriet F. is at home. Cassie V. was gradu- 
 ated from the high school, and then studied 
 designing in New York. She^ married Joseph 
 Hardwick, and now resides in Shelby, Ohio. 
 Thomas A., Jr., a young man at home, was 
 graduated from Mystic Academy. Another 
 son, Willie A., born April 18, 1858, was 
 lost in the Sound in 1880, while wrecking, 
 falling overboard from the "Narragansett. " 
 
 Captain Scott has a beautiful residence at 
 88 Pequot Avenue, surrounded by well laid 
 out and well-kept grounds, which commands a 
 fine view of the harbor and Fort Trumbull. 
 He also owns White Rock Island, which is 
 valuable for its large quantity of excellent 
 stone. Persona-lly, Captain Scott is a man 
 of large physique, weighing three hundred 
 pounds. He is held in high regard, his portly 
 frame being typical of a generous heart and 
 soul within. 
 
 TTO LAWSON, a well-known farmer 
 and dairyman of Waterford, Conn., 
 residing on his farm, about three miles 
 north of New London, was born in Sweden, 
 January 7, 1845. At the age of sixteen years 
 he shipped before the mast on board the Swed- 
 ish bark "Hilda," bound for New York City, 
 via Cadiz, Spain. This was the beginning 
 of a career as seaman that lasted for some 
 years. During the course of his voyages he 
 visited numerous ports and many countries. 
 Upon arriving at New York, he shipped on 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 113 
 
 the American schooner "Stephen S. Lee," of 
 Philadelphia, Pa., in which he sailed for 
 nearly a year. In 1864 he was in Buenos 
 Ayres, and from there returned to New York 
 City. He next went to Stockholm, Sweden, 
 then to Northern Sweden for a cargo of lum- 
 ber for Cadiz, Spain, and after going to 
 Malaga, Montevideo, La Plata River, and 
 other South American points, went back to 
 New York City, where he shipped in the 
 "Hilda" for Honduras. On this voyage a 
 number of the men were taken sick and died 
 suddenly, and great consternation was excited. 
 His own feelings at that time, and the panic 
 that spread among the crew, Mr. Lawson will 
 never forget. At the age of twenty-three he 
 was second mate of the "William A. Vail," 
 of New Haven, Conn.; and in less than two 
 months he was promoted to be first mate. He 
 remained in this vessel for three years; and 
 after losing her he sailed in the "William 
 C. B.," of Noank, for eight years, five years 
 with that noble man, Captain Daniel Chester, 
 and three years with his brother, Captain 
 Charles Ira Chester. 
 
 In 1878 Mr. Lawson bought twenty -two 
 acres of land and two houses, and settled down 
 to farming. Since that time he has made ad- 
 ditions to his property; and he now has forty- 
 eight acres, reaching down to the river. 
 When he first bought the land, it would barely 
 keep a cow and a horse. He now has four 
 horses and sixteen cows, and sells milk to cus- 
 tomers in New London. He carries on con- 
 siderable market gardening, and employs two 
 men to help in the farm labor. In politics 
 Mr. Lawson is a Democrat. He has served 
 some six years on the Board of Relief. He 
 is a member of one of the Baptist Church 
 Committees, and both he and his wife are 
 members and active workers in the church. 
 
 In New London Mr. Lawson first met 
 
 Martha Cone, daughter of Oliver and Louisa 
 (Knight) Cone; and there he married her on 
 February 12, 1872, the ceremony being per- 
 formed by the Rev. Ezra Withey, of New 
 London. Mr. and Mrs. Lawson have lost a 
 daughter, Lizzie May, born July 5, 1883, who 
 died at the age of six and one-half years, and 
 a son Nelson, born November 28, 1872, who 
 died at the age of sixteen months. They have 
 three living children: Alice, born April 14, 
 1877; Jennie Louisa, born October 22, 1880; 
 and Ruth, born January 2, 1894. Alice Law- 
 son is now the wife of F. J. Alexander, who 
 conducts a general store at Quaker Hill, 
 Conn. 
 
 Ji 
 
 ANIEL N. HOBRON, a retired 
 merchant of New London, Conn., 
 at present (winter of 1897-98) 
 residing in Washington, D.C., was born on 
 Hempstead Street, in New London, on Octo- 
 ber 2, 1826, being the son of Russell and 
 Martha (Howard) Hobron. His grandfather, 
 George Hobron, married Elizabeth Mason, 
 and had eleven children, ten of whom grew 
 up; namely, William, Thomas, Samuel, 
 Charles, George, Russell, Edward, Harriet, 
 Mary, and Dempster. Russell, Mr. Hobron's 
 father, was born in New London on Fort 
 Street, now Shaw Street, in 1803. For some 
 fifty years of his mature life he was a meat 
 dealer on the corner of Green and Banke 
 Streets. He married in 1823 Martha, daugh- 
 ter of Captain John Howard, of the same 
 place. Her father commanded a vessel, and 
 carried passengers and freight between New 
 York and the West Indies for many years. 
 He was in the War of 1812. He died at the 
 advanced age of ninety-two at his home on 
 Howard Street, which was named for him. 
 A remarkable and interesting fact here claims 
 
114 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 our attention; namely, that three sisters be- 
 came the wives of three brothers, Martha, 
 Mary, and Nancy Howard marrying respec- 
 tively Russell, George, and Edward Hobron. 
 
 Russell Hobron and his wife Martha had 
 eleven children, eight sons and three daugh- 
 ters, only three of whom are now living: 
 Daniel; and his brother Washington, of New 
 York City, engaged in the fish trade; and 
 Mrs. Mary E. , widow of James Pierpont 
 Davis, M.D., of Providence. Mrs. Davis has 
 one daughter, who is married to Captain 
 Henry L. Starr, and has one child. Mr. 
 Russell Hobron died at the ripe age of eighty- 
 five, and his wife in 1866, at the age of sixty- 
 three. 
 
 Daniel Hobron in his boyhood attended 
 the district school in his native place, his lasf 
 school days being spent in a little frame 
 building now used as a shoe shop, a beloved 
 landmark, concerning which there is a feeling 
 prevalent that it should be preserved as a 
 relic, and removed from Banke Street to the 
 ample grounds of the new school-house. 
 When fourteen years of age he went into a hat 
 store, where he worked two summers, going 
 to school in the winter. He then entered the 
 employ of Whiteman & Turner, grocers, still 
 keeping up his schooling. Ne.xt he worked 
 for six months for Eben E. Dart on Ranke 
 Street. The winter following he was clerk 
 for A. R. Harris. Then he was with Congden 
 & Latham a while: and in February, 1846, he 
 went into his father's meat market as clerk, 
 eventually succeeding him in the business on 
 the corner of State and Green Streets. After 
 a time he sold out to Samuel Stewart ; and four 
 years ago the business passed into the hands 
 of Thomas & Gumble, the latter member of 
 this firm being Mr. Hobron's son-in-law. 
 
 In 1858 Mr. Hobron married Mary Isabella 
 Pitcher, who died December 11, 1863, leaving 
 
 one living child, a daughter Ruth. This 
 daughter married a Mr. Phillips, and resides 
 in Sagamore, Mass. She has three children. 
 In November, 1871, Mr. Hobron married 
 Ellen Elizabeth Saunders, of New London, 
 the daughter of the venerable Matthew S. 
 Saunders. She died April 17, 1889. By 
 this marriage there were two children — 
 Mabel and Nina. Mabel is the wife of Frank 
 W. Gumble, of the above-mentioned firm, 
 and the mother of one child, an interesting 
 boy, five years old, named Wolcott for Mr. 
 Hobron's brother, who was killed in the Civil 
 War. Nina, a most promising girl of twelve, 
 died six months after her mother's death. 
 
 That Mr. Hobron has had some varied ex- 
 periences in life may be shown by the fact 
 that within three years he had in his family 
 three births, two marriages, and two deaths. 
 He is now living in Washington, D.C. He 
 built a block in 1877. He is still hale and 
 hearty, and enjoys a life of ease but not idle- 
 ness, his time being well occupied. His fine 
 health and vigor have been secured to him by 
 his correct habits of living. His tastes and 
 character are refined and cultured, and he 
 evinces much skill in an accomplishment 
 rarely cultivated by one of his sex — namely, 
 embroidery. His friends have many a sou- 
 venir of his art. Mr. Hobron is independent 
 in matters of religious belief, being bound to 
 no creed or church. It is noteworthy that he 
 never drank a glass of liquor in his life, never 
 was so sick as to have to call in a doctor, and 
 he never shot a gun of any kind. 
 
 LIAS B. HINCKLEY, Judge of Pro- 
 bate, Town Clerk and Town Treasurer 
 in Stonington, was born here, Feb- 
 ruary 19, 1852, son of Henry Hinckley. He 
 is of English extraction, the emigrant ances- 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 IIS 
 
 tor having been Samuel Hinckley, who came 
 from Tenterden, County Kent, England, to 
 Boston in 1634, sailing in the good ship 
 "Hercules," commanded by Captain Witherly. 
 A fellow-passenger in the "Hercules" was 
 Nathaniel Tilden, from whom Samuel J. Til- 
 den, of national fame, was descended. In 
 1635 Samuel Hinckley settled in Scituate, 
 Mass., where two years later he was made a 
 freeman. In 1640 he removed to Barnstable, 
 Mass., where he died October 31, 1662, leav- 
 ing three sons and some daughters. Thom.as, 
 the eldest son, became Governor of Plymouth 
 Colony. John, another son, was the next pro- 
 genitor of the branch of the family to which 
 Elias B. Hinckley belongs. John Hinckley's 
 son, Samuel, born in Barnstable, February 2, 
 1670, settled in Stonington, being the first of 
 the family to come here. A son of this Sam- 
 uel, also named Samuel, born in Stonington, 
 March 4, 1706, had a son, Abel, who, born 
 April 10, 1743, spent his life here, and died 
 March 20, 18 18. 
 
 Samuel Hobart Hinckley, son of Abel and 
 the grandfather of Elias B., was born in Ston- 
 ington, December 26, 1772, and died here, 
 November 19, 1862, being almost ninety 
 years old. He was a farmer by occupation 
 and fairly successful in his operations. His 
 first marriage was contracted with Abigail 
 Helms, of this town, who bore him seven 
 children; namely, Samuel, Abby, Abel, Elias 
 B., B. Frank, Henry, and Mary Esther. 
 Samuel lived but a year; Abby, who became 
 the wife of George D. Cross, reared seven 
 sons and five daughters; Mary Esther is the 
 widow of Charles M. Davis, late of Stoning- 
 ton; Elias and Mary are the only survivors 
 now. After the death of his first wife, which 
 occurred while she was yet in the prime of 
 womanhood, the father married Mrs. Nancy P. 
 (Clark) Chapman, who proved herself a true 
 
 mother to her step-children, and was dearly 
 beloved by her grandchildren. 
 
 Henry Hinckley, who was born in this 
 town, July 15, 1809, is still living on his 
 farm at Wequetquock, near where the greater 
 part of his long and useful life has been 
 passed. He bears his burden of years with 
 ease and dignity, being as active in mind and 
 body as most men a score of years younger. 
 On Decem.ber 12, 1838, he married Prudence 
 Mary Chesebro, a daughter of Thomas R. and 
 Mercy Chesebro, and a descendant of William 
 Chesebrough (or Chesebro), who was born in 
 England in 1594, and was the first white set- 
 tler in Stonington, Conn. After a happy 
 wedded life of fifty-eight years she passed to 
 another life on September 9, 1896, at the age 
 of seventy-nine years and six months. She 
 reared seven children, namely: Mary, who 
 was the wife of Charles E. Chace, of Mystic, 
 and died March 24, 1881, leaving one daugh- 
 ter; Abbie H., who married Charles H. 
 Babcock, then the Superintendent of Schools 
 in Westerly, R.I., and a member of the Ston- 
 ington School Board of Visitors, and died 
 March 14, 1883, aged forty-two years, leaving 
 two daughters and a son; Thomas H., of 
 Springfield, Mass.; Eliza C, who is the 
 widow of the late William H. Palmer, of this 
 town, and has one son, Bert Palmer; Vincent, 
 unmarried, who lives on the home farm; 
 Elias B., the subject of this sketch; and 
 James B. , of New Haven. 
 
 Elias B. Hinckley was reared to agricult- 
 ural pursuits on the old homestead on Hinck- 
 ley Hill. He had acquired a fair education 
 in his district, when on account of ill health 
 he was obliged to leave school at the age of 
 seventeen years. He subsequently worked in 
 a market for his brother about four years. 
 From 1876 to 1880, in company with Calvin 
 Wheeler, he was engaged in the meat and pro- 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 vision business. Then he was a book-keeper 
 for four years, in the employment of Nathan 
 H. Gates, a leading contractor of Stonington. 
 This position he resigned in 1882 to become 
 clerk in the auditor's office of the Stonington 
 & Providence Railroad Company. On Au- 
 gust 9, 1886, he was appointed Postmaster by 
 President Cleveland; and he held the office 
 until February i, 1891. In the fall of 1890 
 he was elected Town Clerk. A year later he 
 was chosen Town Treasurer, which respon- 
 sible position he has since filled most accept- 
 ably. In 1892 he was elected Probate Judge, 
 after an exciting contest, by a majority of 
 three. The outcome was doubted by the for- 
 mer incumbent, a Democrat nominated by the 
 Republicans, who was the defeated candidate, 
 and who fruitlessly carried it to the Superior 
 Court. In 1894 Mr. Hinckley was re-elected 
 by a majority of thirty-seven, defeating the 
 regular Republican nominee. In 1896 he was 
 again re-elected, receiving two hundred and 
 fifty-eight more votes than his opponent, 
 whom he had beaten in the previous election. 
 He has discharged the duties of his office with 
 ability and fidelity. While the Democrats 
 find in him one of their most active workers, 
 Stonington claims him as one of her most 
 loyal and faithful citizens. 
 
 Mr. Hinckley has been twice married. On 
 October 23, 1876, Miss Fannie Clift, a 
 daughter of Horace and Frances (Burrows) 
 Clift, of Mystic River, became his wife. She 
 died August 28, 1885, aged twenty-nine 
 years, leaving two children, namely: Eleanor, 
 who is now in school; and Hobart, who died 
 at the age of eight years. On December 20, 
 1893, Mr. Hinckley married Grace M. Levey, 
 a daughter of Antoine Levey, of this borough. 
 She has given birth to one child, a beautiful 
 little girl, Thelma, now three years of age. 
 Mr. Hinckley is an active member of the 
 
 Royal Arcanum, Pequot Council, of which he 
 has been secretary for thirteen years. 
 
 ■«■♦•*-»■ 
 
 -OHN TURNER ALLYN, whose last 
 years were spent in New London as an 
 agriculturist, followed the sea. in his 
 younger days until obliged to give up that oc- 
 cupation on account of poor health. Born in 
 New London, March 10, 1838, he was the 
 only son of Captain Lyman and Emma 
 (Turner) Allyn, who also had five daughters, 
 one of whom is Mrs. Harriet U. Allyn, widow 
 of James Allyn. He was educated at Cheshire 
 Episcopal Academy and at Monson Academy 
 in Monson, Mass. Mr. Allyn was a Master 
 Mason, a member of Union Lodge, F. & 
 A. M., of New London. He died February 
 23, 1887, before completing his forty-ninth 
 year. 
 
 Mr. John Turner Allyn and Miss Lucretia 
 L. Brown were united in marriage on January 
 30, 1873, and were the parents of one child, 
 Mary Seymour Allyn, who was born February 
 25, 1874, and died October 6, the same year, 
 aged seven months and eleven days. Mrs. 
 Allyn is the youngest daughter of the late 
 Nathan S. and Sarah F. (Browning) Brown, 
 and a grand-daughter of Daniel and Delight 
 (Strickland) Brown, of Waterford, Conn. 
 She now resides with her husband's sister, 
 Mrs. Harriet U. Allyn, above mentioned. 
 
 Nathan S. Brown was a farmer of Water- 
 ford and a very prominent citizen of that 
 town. He was active in town affairs, and 
 held many of the important offices, being 
 Justice of the Peace when a very young man, 
 and subsequently Assessor and Selectman. 
 He was born in Waterford on March i, 181 1, 
 and was married on September 9, 1835. His 
 wife, Sarah, who was born April 27, 1817, 
 was a daughter of Rouse and Ruth (Morey) 
 
JOHN T. ALI.Vx\. 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 11^ 
 
 Browning. Mr. Browning was the owner of 
 the fine old Browning Beach farm, which is 
 now owned by Ezra J. Hempstead. He was 
 of the sixth generation from Nathaniel Brown- 
 ing, who came from England, and settled in 
 South Kingston, R.I. Nathaniel's great- 
 grandson Ephraim, who was born in 1746 and 
 died in 1826, .was the great-grandfather of 
 Mrs. Allyn. He removed from Rhode Island 
 to Waterford, and bought a large tract of land, 
 which was added to by his son Rouse, and 
 which now forms a part of the Browning farm. 
 His wife, whose maiden name was Susanna 
 Davis, died in 1832, at a very advanced age. 
 Rouse Browning was a very prosperous farmer. 
 He was a Baptist in religious faith, very ac- 
 tive in the denomination and very benevo- 
 lent. The land upon which the Quaker Hill 
 Church is built was given by him. His wife, 
 Ruth, who was a native of Stonington, Conn., 
 was the mother of ten children, four sons and 
 six daughters, of whom Sarah, Mrs. Brown, 
 was the eldest. Nathan S. and Sarah F. 
 Brown had a family of three sons and three 
 daughters, all of whom are living except Na- 
 than, the eldest son, who died in i860, at the 
 age of twenty years. The survivors are: 
 Delia S. Brown, the eldest daughter; Eliza- 
 beth C; and Mrs. Allyn — all residing in 
 New London; Orlando H. Brown, who is in 
 business in Cincinnati, Ohio; and Charles J. 
 Brown, in this city, a well-known business 
 man, who has a family of six sons and a 
 daughter. 
 
 rOSEPH EDWARD LEONARD was 
 for a long period a prominent business 
 man of the town of Griswold, his home 
 for the greater part of his life being about four 
 miles from Jewett City, on the Leonard farm, 
 which, when it was sold in April, 1897, 
 
 had been in the family nearly two hundred 
 years. Mr. Leonard was born September 
 6, 1838, and died October 22, 1896, at the 
 age of fifty-eight years. 
 
 His father. Deacon Joseph Leonard, was 
 born in 1802, and died at the homestead in 
 1887. Deacon Leonard married Laura John- 
 son, of Jewett City, and was the father of 
 eight children. Of this family two sons and 
 two daughters are now living, namely: 
 George, in Wisconsin; Mrs. Maria French, a 
 widow, residing in Appleton, Wis.; Mrs. 
 Sarah Geer, in Griswold; and Howard, in- 
 Jewett City. 
 
 Mr. Joseph E. Leonard carried on a large 
 business in flour, grain, and feed for sixteen 
 years, handling also farming implements and 
 machinery, and was connected with a fire in- 
 surance company. In these various lines of 
 business he was successful, bringing to bear 
 in each the sound judgment and keen insight 
 into affairs that were his native gifts. He ac- 
 cumulated a handsome property, which was 
 bequeathed to his family. The fine grain ele- 
 vator now in use was erected soon after he 
 began business. Mr. Leonard was active also 
 as a citizen, and was deeply interested in all 
 local affairs. He was a Republican in poli- 
 tics, and represented his town in the State 
 legislature. He was for many years a Justice 
 of the Peace, and held that position up to the 
 time of his death. Like his father he was a 
 Deacon of the Congregational church, and he 
 was active in Sunday-school. 
 
 He married March 5, 1862, Martha E. 
 Northup, who- was born at Manchester on Au- 
 gust 24, 1836, daughter of the late Rev. B. F. 
 and Martha (Stillman) Northup. Her father 
 was a clergyman of the Congregational church, 
 and was settled for twenty-four years at Man- 
 chester, Conn., and for seventeen years at 
 Griswold. He was a man of great learning. 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 and firmly grounded in the doctrines of his 
 faith, being a graduate of Yale College and of 
 Andover Theological Seminary. Of deep and 
 fervent piety, he was a preacher of persuasive 
 eloquence, and became to the members of his 
 congregation a safe counsellor and a tender 
 shepherd. Naturally sympathetic and unsel- 
 fish, he made the burdens of his people his 
 own, and was ever ready to aid the suffering 
 or visit the distressed and afflicted. His first 
 wife, Martha Stillman, above named, was a 
 nati-ve of Wethersfield. She died in 1843, 
 leaving six of the eight children born to her, 
 all of whom are now deceased except Mrs. 
 Leonard and an elder sister, Mrs. Fannie 
 Prentice, widow of Neheraiah Prentice, resid- 
 ing at Union Hall, N.J. The Rev. Mr. 
 Northup died in 1875, at the age of seventy- 
 five years. His second wife, Elizabeth C. 
 Bull, died at the age of eighty -four in 1891 at 
 Mrs. Leonard's home. 
 
 Mrs. Leonard was educated in the schools 
 of Norwich Town and Springfield. Inheriting 
 scholarly aptitudes from her father, she has 
 always been a reader of the best literature, 
 and has been able to foster and cultivate a 
 taste for the same in her children. She was 
 bereft of an infant son some years ago, and 
 has two children living: Fred Stillman 
 Leonard; and a daughter, Bessie Northrop 
 Leonard. Mr. Fred Leonard graduated from 
 the New Britain schools, and subsequently 
 taught school, being very successful, and 
 finally receiving an appointment as assistant 
 principal of the Jewett City graded school. 
 Since the death of his father Mr. Fred S. 
 Leonard has succeeded to the business, and is 
 now devoting himself to that. He is a young 
 man of refined tastes, with musical ability, 
 and of high moral character. His sister, a 
 graduate of the New Britain Normal School, 
 kindergarten department, has taught in New 
 
 York and in Northampton, and has met with 
 marked success. 
 
 In the fall of 1896 Mrs. Leonard left the 
 farm, and moved into Jewett City, where she 
 has rented a pleasant and commodious house. 
 
 OHN MORAN, a well-known and suc- 
 cessful business man of New London, 
 Conn., was born in Ottawa, Canada, in 
 November, 1847, being the eldest son of John 
 and Mary Jane (Devine) Moran. 
 
 His father, John Moran, Sr., was a native 
 of Ireland, born in County Waterford in 1813. 
 At nineteen years of age, in 1833, he came to 
 Canada, and was one of the early settlers of 
 Ottawa, where he followed tailoring for some 
 years. He then removed to Fitzroy Harbor, 
 and at that place he worked at farming in ad- 
 dition to tailoring. Although possessed of 
 but small means when he came to this coun- 
 try, he amassed considerable property; and, 
 being a man of much intellectual ability, he 
 was elected to various public ofifices, includ- 
 ing that of City Councilman. In 1844, at 
 Fitzroy Harbor, he married Mary Jane De- 
 vine, who came from Ireland in the "Belle 
 Castle," the same year that he came, but was 
 thirteen weeks on the voyage, four weeks 
 longer than he. She came with her brother; 
 and they spent the first year after their arri- 
 val in Quebec, where she first met Mr. Moran. 
 Four sons and two daughters were born to 
 them, and all grew to maturity. They were 
 named : John, Mary, James, Bridget, Mathias 
 R., and Patrick. Mary Moran married Ed- 
 ward Dooner, and died leaving an infant son. 
 James Moran, who has never married, is en- 
 gaged in the lumber trade in New London. 
 Bridget, widow of John O'Brien, is living in 
 New York City. Mathias R'. Moran, who was, 
 a well-known railroad man and superintendent 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 of the Jacksonville, Tampa & Key West Rail- 
 road, Florida, died in New London in July, 
 1895, leaving a family. Patrick Moran is on 
 the New London police force. He has a wife 
 and children. Mr. and Mrs. John Motan, 
 Sr. , removed from Canada to New Jersey, 
 where they resided five years, and then came 
 to New London, and spent their declining 
 years with their son John. The father died 
 in 1885, and the mother ten years later, in 
 1895, in her eighty-sixth year. Both were 
 devout Catholics, and they reared their chil- 
 dren in that faith. 
 
 John Moran, the special subject of this 
 sketch, left the common schools quite early, 
 and became a clerk in the lumbermen's supply 
 store at Brudenell, Canada, kept by his father, 
 who also carried on a large farm. He contin- 
 ued to live at home until his marriage. In 
 1884 Mr. Moran bought out the livery busi- 
 ness of Elias Dennison, which was established 
 over fifty years ago, and at once tore down the 
 old barns, and replaced them with a fine large 
 building one hundred and twenty feet deep, 
 forty feet wide, and two and one-half stories 
 in height. He employs seven men, and keeps 
 thirty-five horses in all, nineteen of which are 
 his own, the others being boarders. He car- 
 ries on the largest livery business in New 
 London. Since January i, 1889, Mr. Moran 
 has also been associated with Caulkins & 
 Prentis, supplying them with coaches and 
 horses. 
 
 Mr. Moran married first Miss Elizabeth C. 
 Murphy, of Canada. She died in New Jersey 
 in 1883, aged twenty -eight years, leaving four 
 children, namely: Mary F., now a young lady 
 of eighteen, who has just been graduated from 
 the Young Ladies' High School as the vale- 
 dictorian of her class, in which there were 
 twenty besides herself, and who is also an ac- 
 complished pianist; E. Letitia, who is in the 
 
 Meriden Convent; Helen Gertrude, an attend- 
 ant of the Young Ladies' High School; and 
 Elizabeth, who is also in school. In 1885 Mr. 
 Moran married Miss Alice Quinn, of Can- 
 ada, a daughter of Patrick Quinn, one of 
 seven Irishmen well known in the history of 
 Canada, who went into the woods on foot some 
 six hundred miles from Montreal to Ramsey 
 County, and began the opening up of that part 
 of Canada, which now has attained a high de- 
 gree of civilization. There are no children 
 by Mr. Moran's second marriage. 
 
 The family reside at 9 Huntington Street, 
 in the house that he built in 1888. Politi- 
 cally, Mr. Moran is a Democrat. He has 
 served in the City Council. 
 
 /^^TeORGE ELDREDGE, a highly re- 
 V f5 I spected citizen of Mystic, residing 
 in the house in which he was born 
 September 22, 1834, is a son of Elam and 
 Hannah (F"itch) Eldredge, and comes both of 
 English and Irish ancestors. The Eldredge 
 family came to this country from England,, 
 and settled in Massachusetts. George, the 
 father of Elam and son of Thomas, married 
 Hannah Burrows, who bore him eight sons 
 and a daughter; namely, Elam, Nathan, 
 Charles, Delight, George, Thomas, Winthrop, 
 Robert, and William, all of whom, with the 
 exception of Winthrop, who died young, mar- 
 ried and had children. Several of the sons 
 were mariners, and more than one lived to 
 pass the age of fourscore. Their mother died 
 in 1847, aged eighty-two, and their father in 
 1850, at the same age. Daniel Eldredge, 
 brother of George Eldredge, Sr., was one of 
 the wounded at the battle of Fort Griswold. 
 
 Elam Eldredge was at one time master of a 
 coasting-vessel, making trips as far South as 
 Florida. He subsequently engaged in the 
 
BIO&RAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 fish business. He was twice married', his 
 first wife being in maidenhood Eunice Bur- 
 rows, daughter of Elam Burrows, of Mystic, 
 Conn. For his second wife he married Han- 
 nah Fitch, who was born December 28, 1803, 
 daughter of Chester and Deborah (Paclcer) 
 Fitch, of Mystic. There were seven children 
 by this union, four sons and three daughters, 
 all of whom attained maturity. Those now 
 living are: Hannah, wife of Henry Latham, 
 of Mystic; George, whose name appears at the 
 head of this sketch; Eunice B. , who resides 
 with her brother; and Mary E. , who lives in 
 this vicinity. The father died in 1870, aged 
 seventy-seven, and the mother on May 27, 
 1885, lacking just seven months of reaching 
 her eighty-second year. George Eldredge re- 
 ceived his education chiefly in the excellent 
 district schools of his native town; and, hav- 
 ing a taste for the higher mathematics, he 
 subsequently devoted considerable time to 
 that study. In 1854, at the age of twenty, he 
 began learning the blacksmith's trade. For 
 some years he was em.ployed in a machine 
 shop, and he was later engaged in the meat 
 business for fifteen years. Since 1892 he has 
 lived retired. 
 
 On October 3, i860, Mr. Eldredge was 
 joined in marriage with Susan Moody Kemp, 
 of Mystic. She died in 1883, at the age of 
 forty-seven, leaving no children. Mr. El- 
 dredge is a stanch Democrat, and has served 
 two terms in the Connecticut legislature, in 
 1883 and I 
 
 ^wj) /heeler brothers, blacksmiths 
 VpV in that part of North Stonington, 
 Conn., known as Mill Town, are 
 the proprietors of a long-established and pros- 
 perous business, the firm consisting of J. O. 
 Wheeler and his brother, Thomas W. 
 
 Wheeler. Both these gentlemen were born 
 in the village where they now live, the birth 
 of J. O. Wheeler having occurred June 5, 
 1 818, and that of Thomas W., October 20, 
 1822. Their grandfather, Lester Wheeler, 
 was among the early farmers of this com- 
 munity. He and his wife, Eunice Lewis 
 Wheeler, reared a large family of sons and 
 daughters, among them being Jesse Wheeler, 
 father of Messrs. Wheeler, the subjects of this 
 sketch. 
 
 Jesse Wheeler was born in Stonington, May 
 28, 1786, and was reared to man's estate on 
 the home farm. A natural mechanic, he 
 turned his talents to good use, learning the 
 blacksmith's trade in his youth at Central 
 Farm in Stonington. In 1812 be settled at 
 Mill Town, buying a smithy that had already 
 been used for some years; and here he fol- 
 lowed his chosen occupation until his death, 
 January 16, 1852. On May 30, 181 1, he 
 married Nancy Peckham, who was born in 
 North Stonington, July 31, 1793, and died at 
 Mill Town, March 9, 1885. They were the 
 parents of four children; namely, Stephen 
 H., Elisha P., J. O., and Thomas W. 
 Stephen H. Wheeler, born March 6, 1812, 
 was a blacksmith at Old Mystic, where he died 
 when about seventy years of age, leaving a 
 family, of whom but one daughter is now 
 living. Elisha P. Wheeler, born December 
 IS, 1815, for many years a machinist at Shan- 
 nock, R.I., died there at the age of forty-two 
 years, leaving a widow and three sons, of 
 whom two are living, namely: Van Rensse- 
 laer, a carriage smith in New London, Conn. ; 
 and Edward, who is a clerk and president of 
 the Providence Horse Shoe Company in Prov- 
 idence, R. I., and is a noted singer, more es- 
 pecially of sacred music, his services being in 
 demand in church and camp meetings. 
 
 J. O. Wheeler learned the blacksmith's 
 
THOMAS \V. WHEELEI 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 125 
 
 trade of his father, beginning when a very 
 young lad; and at the age of twelve years he 
 was able to set shoes, a part of the business in 
 which he became exceptionally skilful. Dur- 
 ing the sixty-six years in which he was ac- 
 tively employed, he shod many hundred 
 horses and a great number of oxen, besides 
 doing the miscellaneous work required in a 
 country smithy. He was in company with his 
 father for many years, subsequently forming a 
 partnership with his brother, Thomas W. In 
 1850 the old shop, built some eighty years 
 before, was torn down, and the present one 
 erected. These brothers have never swerved 
 from the religious faith in which they were 
 brought up, both being members of the Third 
 Baptist Church, to which their parents also 
 belonged. They occupy the same residence, 
 a large, attractive house; and on either side of 
 them are several tenement houses which they 
 own, the whole forming a pleasant little 
 hamlet. 
 
 Thomas W. Wheeler was married Novem- 
 ber 7, 1844, to Emily E. Brown, of North 
 Stonington, a daughter of Cyrus W. and 
 Elizabeth (Babcock) Brown. Her parents 
 reared a family of seven sons and three daugh-' 
 ters, all of whom are living but one, unless 
 William Brown, who went to Australia some 
 years ago, has since died. Mr. Brown 
 was a farmer, and carried on his occupation 
 until his death, at the age of sixty-nine years. 
 His widow survived him three years, dying at 
 the same age. Mr. and Mrs. Wheeler have 
 one child, Nancy Mary, wife of ex-Judge 
 William H. Hillard, of this town. Mr. 
 Wheeler is a man of literary tastes and 
 talents, and for some years has been an occa- 
 sional correspondent for Western papers, 
 writing under his own signature. He is an 
 active member of the Democratic party, and 
 has served his fellow-townsmen in several 
 
 official capacities. He has been Constable, for 
 eight years was Town Clerk, and for three 
 years was Probate Judge. In these positions, 
 when he needed an assistant, he had the ser- 
 vices of Mrs. Wheeler, who proved herself a 
 most efficient helper, being a woman of more 
 than ordinary intelligence and ability. 
 
 LISHA POST, a contractor and builder 
 of Pequot, New London, Conn., was 
 born in Bozrah, July 11, 1853, son 
 of John and Nancy M. (Rogers) Post. 
 
 The paternal grandfather, Elisha Post, a 
 farmer of Bozrah, had a family of two sons and 
 five daughters, of whom John was born on the 
 old farm, December 17, 1825. John Post in 
 early manhood followed the occupations of 
 mechanic, wheelwright, and shoemaker; but 
 he later settled upon his father's large farm, 
 of which he subsequently became the proprie- 
 tor. In 1847 he married Nancy Maria 
 Rogers, of Norwich, Conn., and they had 
 seven children, five of whom grew to maturity, 
 namely: Alfred R. , a painter and decorator of 
 Beanhill; Elisha, whose name appears at the 
 head of this sketch; John E., a farmer and 
 dairyman of Norwich; Nancy M., wife of 
 C. J. Wilson, of Natick, Mass. ; and Char- 
 lotte R., wife of F. L. Weaver at Beanhill. 
 The mother died in 1896, at the age of sixty- 
 six. 
 
 Elisha Post was reared on the old farm, and 
 received his education in the district school. 
 His leisure moments in early youth were few, 
 as, when not employed on the farm or in at- 
 tending school, he found plenty of occupation 
 in the shop and grist-mill. In 1877 he left 
 home to engage in farming in Norwich, where 
 he remained some years. Coming to New 
 London in the spring of 1888, for four years 
 he was occupied in teaming and jobbing. In 
 
126 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 1892 he began taking contracts for stone 
 work, grading, and concrete walks. He owns 
 two quarries in tliis vicinity, employs regu- 
 larly ten or twelve men and not unfrequently 
 forty or more. He has established a reputa- 
 tion for reliable work, and has a large and 
 growing business. In 1892 he bought a piece 
 of land, and erected thereon his present resi- 
 dence. In politics he is a Republican. Feb- 
 ruary 28, 1878, Mr. Post married Lilly A. 
 Chapman, of Salem, an adopted daughter of 
 William A. and Tabitha Chapman. Mrs. 
 Post is a member of the Baptist church. 
 Both she and her husband are much respected 
 in New London, where they have many 
 friends. 
 
 fHE NIANTIC MANUFACTURING 
 COMPANY, a joint stock concern lo- 
 cated in East Lyme, Conn., consists of 
 three of the best known woollen manufacturers 
 in the United States: David R. Campbell, 
 president of the company; William Park, 
 agent and treasurer of the mills; and Angus 
 Park, secretary. 
 
 William Park, first, the paternal grand- 
 father of the Park brothers, was a Scotchman, 
 and was engaged in lead mining in that coun- 
 try throughout his life. He reared four sons 
 and two daughters. The sons, named respec- 
 tively James, John, Thomas, and William, are 
 now living. All four became woollen manu- 
 facturers, James pursuing this occupation in 
 Australia, John and Thomas in their native 
 town, Galashiels, Scotland. 
 
 William, second, the youngest son, and the 
 father of Messrs. William and Angus Park, of 
 East Lyme, is also a woollen manufacturer, 
 now retired. He was born in Scotland in Oc- 
 tober, 1830. He married in 1852 in Gala- 
 shiels, Scotland, Catherine Campbell, who 
 
 was born in Elgin, Scotland, in 1836. Her 
 father, Angus Campbell, who was a woollen 
 spinner and a master at his trade, was a 
 brother of David R. Campbell, the president 
 of the Niantic Company. Mr. William Park, 
 second, left Scotland with his family in the 
 fall of 1872, and settled in Sherbrooke, Can- 
 ada, where he was engaged with his sons in 
 the manufacture of woollen fabrics for twenty- 
 one years. His children were ten in number. 
 Six of them are now living; namely, Angus, 
 William, James, George, Thomas, and 
 Eunice. Angus and William are mentioned 
 above; James and Thomas are employees of 
 the Niantic Manufacturing Company; George 
 is a designer of patterns in Pittsfield, Mass. ; 
 Eunice is the wife of William T. Mountain, 
 and resides in Sherbrooke, Canada, the home 
 of her parents. 
 
 William Park, the third of the name in di- 
 rect line here recorded, began work at the age 
 of twelve in the factory of the Paton Manu- 
 facturing Company at Sherbrooke, Canada, the 
 largest woollen manufacturers in this country. 
 He was promoted in due course, and at the 
 age of twenty-five became a designer. Five 
 years later he was appointed superintendent of 
 the mill, which contained thirty sets, and 
 manufactured all kinds of wool fabrics, in- 
 cluding fancy Pullman rugs, worsted suitings, 
 overcoating, tweeds, etc. ; and in two years' 
 time, upon the death of the former incum- 
 bent, he was made manager of the concern. 
 He continued in charge of the Paton mill 
 until 1894, when he came to East Lyme as 
 the treasurer of the Niantic Company. 
 
 He was married in Sherbrooke in 1887 to 
 Emma Whitcher, of that place, daughter of 
 John and Jane (Crawford) Whitcher, both of 
 Canada. Her grandfather, John Whitcher, 
 was an Englishman, and was a purser in the 
 royal navy of Great Britain. Mr. and Mrs. 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 127 
 
 William Park, of East Lyme, have four chil- 
 dren, two daughters and two sons, comprising 
 a very interesting family. Eunice, the eldest 
 •child, is nine years of age; Mabel is seven; 
 Angus, five; and Raymond, three years old. 
 Mr. William Park is a member of the 
 I. O. O. F., and is connected with the Cana- 
 dian Order of Foresters. All the members of 
 the family are Presbyterians. 
 
 Angus Park, secretary of the Niantic Manu- 
 facturing Company, began, as did his younger 
 brother, at the very foundation of the busi- 
 ness. He was placed in a woollen-mill in 
 Scotland at the age of thirteen, and by his 
 own industry worked his way up to his present 
 responsible position. While still a resident 
 of Sherbrooke, he was married in 1880 to 
 Elizabeth Eadie, of that place. Her father, 
 Nathaniel Eadie, who was a manufacturer of 
 woollen goods in Preston, Elngland, came to 
 Canada in 1872, and is now a dry-goods mer- 
 chant of Sherbrooke. The children of Mr. 
 Angus Park are: Margaret Alice, Catherine 
 Campbell, and William George. He is a 
 member of the Order of Foresters. 
 
 David R. Campbell, the great-uncle of the 
 Park brothers, is one of the oldest and most 
 successful manufacturers in the United States. 
 He began life in New York at the lowest 
 round of the ladder. Deeming honest toil 
 ennobling and idleness a disgrace, he took ad- 
 vantage of the earliest opportunity for work 
 which offered itself, and, though not reduced 
 by financial straits, was first employed as a 
 hod-carrier. But few men have made a 
 grander success in life than has Mr. Camp- 
 bell, the president of this company; and he 
 refers with commendable pride to his youthful 
 struggles in America. 
 
 This mill was originally started seventeen 
 years ago by A. P. Sturtevant, and was oper- 
 ated on ladies' cloths. The mill property was I 
 
 purchased by these gentlemen in 1894, and 
 many and expensive improvements have since 
 been made, until it is now ranked among the 
 best manufactories of the country. It is an 
 eight-set mill, with forty looms and one hun- 
 dred and ten hands. Cassimeres and cheviot 
 goods for men's wear are manufactured exclu- 
 sively, the company carrying a capital stock 
 of seventy-five thousand dollars. Mr. Camp- 
 bell and his nephews own handsome resi- 
 dences, bought soon after coming here; and 
 each has taken an active part in the business, 
 social, and educational affairs of the flourish- 
 ing little hamlet of East Lyme. 
 
 AMES S. WILLIAMS, an ex-conductor 
 on the New London & Northern Rail- 
 road, a resident of New London, 
 Conn., was born on September 13, 1827, in 
 Stonington, this county. His parents were 
 Thomas W. and Lucy Ann (Fairfield) Will- 
 iams. His paternal grandfather, James, Sr., 
 was a descendant of the Williams family in 
 Roxbury, Conn. He was by occupation a 
 farmer. He died young, leaving his wife, 
 whose maiden name was Wheeler, with seven 
 children. They have all since passed to the 
 life immortal. James, Jr., who was unmar- 
 ried, was lost at sea in middle age. 
 
 Thomas W. Williams, father of the subject 
 of this sketch, was born in Stonington in 
 1803; and his wife was born in 1807 in Wood- 
 stock, Windham County. They were married 
 in 1825. Eight children blessed their union, 
 and four of them are now living; namely, 
 Lydia Ann, James S., George, and Mary E. 
 Lydia Ann, widow of Angel Wheaton, resides 
 in Wheaton, Conn. George Williams is a 
 conductor on the West Shore Railroad of New 
 York. Mary E. Williams is abroad, travel- 
 ling in Egypt. A Mary, earlier born, died in 
 
128 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 infancy. Thomas Williams, a brother, now 
 deceased, was a farmer in Pomfret, Conn. 
 Another brother, David F. (also deceased), was 
 a conductor on the New London & Western & 
 Palmer Railroad, and the New York Central, 
 and was also superintendent of the Troy & 
 Saratoga Railroad. He was a clear-headed 
 man, with much force of character. While 
 on the New York Central Road he showed 
 his bravery and self-possession by successfully 
 combating three or four sporting men who 
 annoyed and intimidated a carload of passen- 
 gers and also made an assault on him. The 
 sum of one hundred dollars and fifty cents, 
 which was raised for him on the train in grate- 
 ful acknowledgment of his valor, he declined 
 to receive; but, the testimonial later taking 
 the form of a chair, he accepted it. After- 
 ward the same sporting men presented him 
 with a purse of five hundred dollars and a 
 handsome diamond pin, which he finally 
 accepted and utilized. The chair he left to 
 his brother James, the pin to his sister 
 Mary. 
 
 James S. Williams in his boyhood acquired 
 a common-school education, and at the age of 
 seventeen began life on his own account, 
 his father having given him his time. For a 
 while he was engaged in farming. Then going 
 to Dennisonville, now Dennison, he was em- 
 ployed three years as clerk in a store. In 
 1852 he entered the railroad service as bag- 
 gage-master on the train, and two weeks later 
 he was made conductor of a freight train. In 
 less than two years he was appointed conductor 
 of a passenger train, and this position he con- 
 tinued to hold for nearly forty years. During 
 his long service no accident and no damage to 
 the railroad property was ever chargeable 
 to him. Since his retirement from the rail- 
 road he has officiated as agent of the Steam- 
 boat Company. 
 
 On Thanksgiving Day, 1850, he was united 
 in marriage with Mary E. Adams, of Pomfret, 
 Conn., where his parents lived and died on 
 the farm, and where he had his home from 
 1830 to 1852. Mr. and Mrs. Williams then 
 removed to Palmer, Mass., remaining fifteen 
 years, thereafter coming to New London. 
 Since 1891 they have resided at 4 Pleasant 
 Street. Mr. and Mrs. Williams have had 
 four children, two of whom are living, 
 namely: Charles C, a trainman residing here, 
 who is married and has two daughters and one 
 son; and Jennie, who is the widow of Judge 
 John G. Crump, lives in this city, and has two 
 sons. Mr. and Mrs. Williams lost an infant 
 daughter and a daughter Nellie, who died at 
 the age of two and a half years. 
 
 In politics Mr. Williams afifiliates with the 
 Republican party. Fraternally, he is a 
 Mason, belonging to Brainard Lodge, No. 
 102, F. & A. M. ; and to the Royal Arch 
 Chapter. He and his wife are highly re- 
 spected members of the Second Congregational 
 Church of New London. Personally, Mr. 
 Williams is a man of fine mental and physical 
 strength. 
 
 JOHN T. WAIT.— Among the 
 many things for which Norwich is 
 notable, is the fact that she has 
 within her borders an honored resident who is 
 the oldest practising lawyer in the State, the 
 Hon. John Turner Wait, for nearly sixty years 
 a member of the bar, and still not only active 
 in his profession, but keenly alive to the in- 
 terests of the community which he has so 
 effectively served in his long and distin- 
 guished public career. 
 
 Born in New London, Conn., August 27, 
 181 1, Mr. Wait lost his father by death while 
 yet very young, and removed with his mother 
 
JOHN T. WAIT, 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 131 
 
 to Norwich, here obtaining his early educa- 
 tion. Reaching a suitable age, he received 
 nearly three years' mercantile training, after 
 which he decided to adopt the profession of 
 law. Resuming his early studies, he there- 
 fore passed a year at Bacon Academy, Col- 
 chester, and two years at Washington, now 
 Trinity, College, Hartford. He then studied 
 law with the Hon. Lafayette S. Foster and 
 the Hon. Jabez W. Huntington, and was ad- 
 mitted to the bar in 1836, beginning practice 
 in Norwich, which has since had in him a 
 most conspicuous figure. In 1842 he was ap- 
 pointed aide-de-camp on the staff of the late 
 Governor Cleveland, while in 1842-44 and 
 1846-54 he was State's attorney for New Lon- 
 don County. When the Bar Library Asso- 
 ciation of the county was organized in 1874, 
 he was elected as president, to which position 
 he has been re-elected every year since. In 
 the years 1854, 1855, 1856, and 1857 he was 
 the candidate for Lieutenant Governor on 
 the Democratic ticket, which each time failed 
 of election. In 1864 he was chosen as a war 
 Democrat to be first elector at large on the 
 Lincoln and Johnson ticket, the Republican 
 Convention nominating him by acclamation. 
 He was a member of the State Senate in 1865 
 and 1866, serving at both sessions as chair- 
 man of the Judiciary Committee, and the last 
 year as President pro tempore. During the 
 years 1867, 1871, and 1873 he was a mem- 
 ber of the Connecticut House of Representa- 
 tives, serving the first year as Speaker, for 
 which position his party nominated him by 
 acclamation. In 1874 he was candidate for 
 Lieutenant Governor on the Republican 
 ticket, which was unsuccessful. In 1876 he 
 was elected to fill a vacancy in the Forty- 
 fourth Congress; and he was also re-elected 
 five times, thus serving eleven years, after 
 which he declined a further renomination. 
 
 While a member of Congress Mr. Wait served 
 on some of its most important committees, 
 and he looked after the interests of his con- 
 stituents with such untiring vigilance that 
 his popularity became as widespread as it was 
 enduring; and it may be truly said that no 
 man in the State to-day has more and firmer 
 friends than the Hon. John T. Wait. 
 
 In his law practice Colonel Wait has been 
 eminently successful, his commanding influ- 
 ence at the bar bringing in hundreds of im- 
 portant cases, which he has conducted with 
 signal ability in the county, State, and United 
 States courts. As a public speaker his ser- 
 vices have always been in active demand; 
 and his literary acquirements have been duly 
 recognized in the degrees of Master of Arts, 
 bestowed upon him by Trinity and Yale Col- 
 leges, and Doctor of Laws by Howard Univer- 
 sity and Trinity College. 
 
 Mr. Wait is a member of the New London 
 County Historical Society and the Sons of the 
 American Revolution, an honorary member of 
 the Norwich Board of Trade and the Arcanum 
 Club, and has been president of the I. K. A., 
 a Trinity College society, since its incorpora- 
 tion. He is also one of the incorporators of 
 the William W. Backus Hospital, the founda- 
 tion of which institution he was active in pro- 
 moting. He has, too, been president of the 
 Eliza Huntington Memorial Home since its 
 establishment, and has been prominently 
 identified with numerous financial and trust 
 institutions. 
 
 As an indication of the respect and affec- 
 tion felt for Mr. Wait by all classes of people, 
 we need only mention that his every public 
 appearance has been greeted with enthusiasm, 
 the warmth of which has been amply attested 
 by his numerous elections to public office. It 
 may be added, too, that, on his retirement 
 from the speakership at the session of 1867, 
 
132 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 he was presented by the members of the house 
 with a handsome silver set suitably inscribed, 
 "as a testimonial of their appreciation of his 
 ability, urbanity, and impartiality in discharg- 
 ing his duties of the chair." From Sedgwick 
 Post, No. I, G. A. R., of which he was 
 chosen an honorary member, he also received 
 in 1887 a richly engraved badge of solid gold, 
 denominating him "the soldiers* friend"; 
 while a history of Connecticut's part in the 
 Rebellion was formally dedicated to him by 
 the author. The Military and Civil History 
 of Connecticut was dedicated to Mr. Wait in 
 these words: "To John Turner Wait, late 
 Speaker of the House of Representatives, a 
 patriot whose only son fell in defence of his 
 country, and whose many acts of kindness have 
 endeared him to the soldiers of Connecticut, 
 this volume, the records of their services and 
 sufferings, is cordially dedicated." 
 
 Colonel Wait comes of good old Revolution- 
 ary stock, and is connected by blood with 
 many of the leading families in Connecticut. 
 He married in 1842 Mrs. Elizabeth Harris, 
 who died in 1868; and he has not remarried. 
 Of his three children two survive. His son, 
 Lieutenant Marvin Wait, left college at the 
 age of eighteen, enlisted in the Union army, 
 served with distinguished courage on the field, 
 and fell mortally wounded in the gallant 
 charge of the Connecticut Brigade at 
 Antietam. 
 
 Hale and hearty at the age of nearly eighty- 
 three. Colonel Wait is still seen daily upon 
 our streets and at his office, as active as most 
 men twenty years his junior. A courteous 
 gentleman of the old school, he is a respected 
 neighbor, an honored friend, and a welcome 
 visitor wherever he goes; and Norwich is 
 proud to own him as one of her foremost citi- 
 zens. (From the souvenir edition of the Nor- 
 wich j5't'^;«'«^ ^^(;£i/-(/, 1894.) 
 
 iRS. LOUISA B. GILLET, of 
 Colchester, widow of Solomon T. 
 Gillet, was born and reared in 
 Hebron, Conn., daughter of Abel Bissel and 
 Lucy (Post) Bissel. She is the last living 
 member of a family of two sons and six daugh- 
 ters. Her brothers were Abel and Benjamin 
 Bissel. The former was a merchant and 
 farmer of Cazenovia, N.Y., where he died in 
 July, 1885, at the age of eighty years. Ben- 
 jamin, who was a farmer, kept up the old 
 home in Hebron, which, in the days when 
 Mrs. Gillet lived there, was one of the best 
 estates in that section of the country. 
 
 Mrs. Gillet's marriage with Solomon T. 
 Gillet took place October 18, 1832. He was 
 a farmer of Colchester, where, after the cere- 
 mony, they resided on a farm about two miles 
 east of the village. Mr. Gillet's parents were 
 Caleb and Civil (Huntington) Gillet. The 
 first representative of the Gillets in Colches- 
 ter was Josiah, who came from Windsor, 
 Conn., and, with the family of Strongs, set- 
 tled in the eastern part of the town. His de- 
 scendant, Eliphalet, was the grandfather of 
 Solomon T. The father, who was born in 
 Colchester in 1763, died in 1830. Solomon 
 T. died January 26, 1868, at the age of sixty 
 years. His children were: Abel Bissel 
 Gillet, who died September 20, i860, in Ver- 
 non, Conn. ; and Louisa, now the widow of 
 the late Phineas Rollin Strong. Phineas R. 
 Strong, who was a son of Ebenezer and Electa 
 (Foster) Strong, followed the trade of machin- 
 ist. At one time he was an undertaker in 
 Colchester. He was a reader; and he took 
 much pleasure in genealogical research, on 
 which subject he was an authority. He was 
 a member of the Genealogical Society. His 
 wife was an able and enthusiastic assistant in 
 his researches. He took an active part in 
 public affairs, and was for twenty-five years 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 133 
 
 superintendent of the cemetery. He was a 
 Master Mason in the lodge of Colchester. At 
 his death, which occurred February 12, 1895, 
 he was sixty-six years old. He was twice 
 married. His daughter by the first marriage, 
 Miss Fannie M. Strong, is unmarried, and 
 lives at home. Both she and Mrs. Strong are 
 members of the Congregational church, with 
 which Mr. Strong was connected during his 
 life. The old house, which has been their 
 home for the past twenty-nine years, was built 
 in 1776. It was thoroughly remodelled in 
 1897, and is now one hundred and twenty-two 
 years old. 
 
 Mrs. Gillet is a woman of great natural in- 
 telligence and refinement. She is one of 
 those rare persons who never grow old, though 
 she is now approaching her eighty-ninth 
 birthday. 
 
 Wi 
 
 IlLIAM henry BURDICK, a 
 well-known boat-builder of New 
 London, was born in Hopkinton, 
 R.I., April 26, 1848, son of William Robin- 
 son and Catherine (Champlin) Burdick. His 
 grandfather and father were millwrights. 
 The latter was drowned in 1849. The 
 mother, who married again, and by her second 
 husband. Captain Dudley Brand, has had three 
 sons and a daughter, survives both husbands. 
 
 William H. Burdick, the only child of his 
 father, was reared by Joseph Burdick, receiving 
 a common-school education. In 1866 he went 
 to sea before the mast with Captain Charles 
 Jeffres, in the bark "Acors Barnes," on which 
 he served for three years, and became ship's 
 carpenter. Fifteen years later, in 1881, he 
 became quartermaster of the steamer " Metro- 
 politan." In the following winter he ran the 
 tug-boat "S. N. Briggs," and during the year 
 after the tug "T. W. Wellington." Subse- 
 
 quently he was master for a time of the 
 "A. E. Burnside. " He then spent six years 
 in command of the steam pleasure yacht "Sur- 
 prise," of W. W. Billings. After that he was 
 captain of the steamer " Gypsy " for two years 
 and of the sloop yacht "Lady Anna," which 
 he left in 1892; and he was Inspector of 
 Dredges for the government for two seasons. 
 Since that time he has lived on shore, follow- 
 ing his present business of boat-building, hav- 
 ing acquired the necessary experience during 
 past winters in the employment of George W. 
 Belgers. A partnership with R. R. Green, 
 under the style of Burdick & Green, lasted 
 until the fall of 1896, since which time he has 
 successfully conducted the business alone. 
 
 In 1 87 1 Mr. Burdick was married to Mi- 
 nerva Gardner. His son Joseph died at the age 
 of three years, and an infant daughter. Pearl, 
 at the age of six months. In politics he is 
 an Independent. He is a member of the Jib- 
 boom Club and of the American Association 
 of Masters and Pilots. Formerly he was a 
 member of the Grand Harbor American Pilots 
 and Masters. His present residence at 21 
 Howard Street was built by him in 1887. 
 Besides this he owns the house 7 Howard 
 Street. In 1887 he built his wharf, sixty-five 
 by twenty-two feet. He builds yachts and 
 fishing-boats thirty feet in length. In 1896 
 he built a boat for the federal government. 
 
 r.RIS PENDLETON, of New Lon- 
 lon, the senior member of the firm 
 Pendleton & Son, undertakers, 
 is well known in the community as a man 
 of integrity and business ability. His 
 birth occurred July 15, 1845, in Brooklyn, 
 N.Y. ; and he is a son of Harris and 
 Sarah A. (Chester) Pendleton. His grand- 
 father Harris, son of Amos, was born in Ston- 
 
134 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 ington, November 19, 1786, and died June 11, 
 1863. The father, who was born in Stoning- 
 ton, February 25, 181 1, became a mariner. 
 During the gold excitement in 1849 he went 
 to California with Captain Chester, and there 
 purchased real estate, which he held for two 
 years. He also owned a large amount of 
 property in Stonington. His wife, Sarah A., 
 was a daughter of Captain Josiah Chester, who 
 was the commander of a whaling-vessel, 
 making his home between voyages in New 
 London, and who died here at an advanced 
 age. Harris and Sarah A. Pendleton had 
 eight children, of whom seven are living: 
 Sarah, the wife of Clarence A. Gould, lives in 
 Providence, R.L; James, Lucien, Charles, 
 and Millard, reside in Stonington; Jennie was 
 married to Wert A. Breed, of Painesville, 
 Ohio, and resides there. The father died 
 April 19, 1890, aged seventy-nine, and the 
 mother on August 10, 1883, aged sixty-three 
 years. 
 
 After attending the common schools of 
 Stonington, the present Harris Pendleton took 
 a course at the Eastman Business College. 
 He began his business career as a telegraph 
 operator, after which he took up civil engi- 
 neering, in which he was employed for a 
 time on the construction of the New England 
 Railroad. Following that he held a position 
 as clerk in a drug store in New York City, 
 learned the business, and in 1869 opened a 
 drug store in Guilford, Conn., where he car- 
 ried on a profitable business for twenty years. 
 He came to New London in 1888, and estab- 
 lished his present business, with Wilmot L. 
 Parlow as partner, under the firm name of 
 Pendleton & Parlow. In 1892 Harris Pendle- 
 ton, Jr., succeeded Mr. Parlow in the firm, 
 the style of which since then has been Pendle- 
 ton & Son. 
 
 On November 10, 1871, Mr. Pendleton 
 
 married Mary B. Burch, of Stonington. She 
 is a daughter of Billings Burch, a retired sea 
 captain residing at Stonington. Her mother 
 was Nancy M. (Chesebrough) Burch, a daugh- 
 ter of the Rev. Elihu Chesebrough, a Baptist 
 minister. He went into the pulpit to preach 
 when ninety years old. Mr. and Mrs. Pen- 
 dleton lost two infant sons. Their living 
 children are: Harris, Bessie, Coddington, 
 and May Belle. Harris is in business with 
 his father; Bessie is at home, attending the 
 Young Ladies' High School; and May Belle 
 was born May 15, 1889. 
 
 In politics Mr. Pendleton is a Republican. 
 In 1886 he represented the town of Guilford 
 in the State legislature. He served as Alder- 
 man for two terms, and at present is senior 
 Alderman and chairman of Finance Commit- 
 tee. Also he was Treasurer of the town for 
 ten years, was Borough Warden for a time, 
 and served in other minor capacities. A 
 prominent Mason, he is a Past Master of 
 Union Lodge, No. 31, and District Deputy 
 Grand Master of New London County, having 
 jurisdiction over all the lodges in the county. 
 He is also Past Grand Marshal of the Grand 
 Lodge of the State of Connecticut, I. O. O. F. ; 
 holds a retired commission as Major of the 
 Patriarchs Militant; and he is a member of 
 the Improved Order of Red Men. 
 
 AMES ALLYN, late an honored citizen 
 of New London, for some years County 
 Commissioner, was born in Ledyard, 
 Conn., October 22, 1822. At the age of ten 
 he removed with his parents, Charles and Lois 
 (Gallup) Allyn, to Montville, in this county. 
 He completed his education at Bacon Acad- 
 emy in Colchester, Conn., and subsequently 
 engaged in farming. He was a man of liter- 
 ary tastes, owned a fine library, and was well 
 
JAMES ALLYN. 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 137 
 
 read on current topics, his general knowledge 
 being also augmented by travel. He was a 
 man of strong convictions, and inspired the 
 respect and confidence of his fellow-men. In 
 politics he affiliated with the Republican 
 party. Oificially he was prominent, serving 
 as County Commissioner and as Representa- 
 tive to the legislature from Montville. He 
 died on March 17, 1893, at the age of seventy, 
 survived by his second wife, Mrs. Harriet U. 
 Allyn, and his two brothers: Robert, who was 
 a clergyman and president of an educational 
 institution in Carbondale, 111. ; and Calvin 
 Allyn, a resident of Norwich, Conn. Mr. 
 Allyn and Harriet U. Allyn, daughter of 
 Captain Lyman and Emma (Turner) Allyn, of 
 New London, were married December 11, 
 1889. 
 
 The immigrant progenitor of this family 
 and the earliest known ancestor of both Mr. 
 and Mrs. Allyn was Robert Allyn, a resident, 
 of Salem, Mass., in 1637, who, obtaining a 
 land grant, removed to New London in 1651, 
 and settled at Allyn's Point on the east side 
 of the river. In 1665 he kept store there. 
 He was subsequently one of the first company 
 of Norwich purchasers, and lived for some 
 years in the west part of the town, being in 
 office from 1661 to 1669. He died in this 
 city in 1683, at the age of seventy-five years, 
 leaving a son, John, who received a legacy of 
 one hundred and thirty-three pounds, and four 
 daughters, each of whom received half of that 
 amount. John Allyn, the son, married Eliz- 
 abeth Gager, of New Norwich; and in 1691 he 
 removed to Allyn's Point, where he died in 
 1709, leaving an estate of twelve hundred and 
 seventy-eight pounds to his son Robert and 
 daughter Elizabeth. Robert, son of John, 
 married Deborah Avery, and died in 1730, 
 leaving nine children. His son Robert occu- 
 pied the same place, and died in 1760, leav- 
 
 ing worldly possessions to the amount of 
 three thousand pounds. This third Robert 
 Allyn, who represented the fourth generation, 
 was born January 25, 1697, in Groton, Conn., 
 and married in 1725 Abigail Avery. Their 
 sons, Robert, Nathan, Simeon, and Timothy, 
 were soldiers in the Revolutionary War, Sim- 
 eon and Timothy being Captains. Captain 
 Simeon Allyn was killed at Fort Griswold on 
 September 6, 1781, in his thirty-seventh year. 
 Timothy was a worthy Deacon of the Congre- 
 gational church. He died in Agawam, Mass., 
 June 26, 1838, at the age of ninety years. 
 Nathan Allyn, who was born June 5, 1740, 
 was one of the first to enter Fort Griswold 
 after the British left; and he helped extin- 
 guish the fire set to blow up the fort. He mi- 
 grated to Ohio in 1805 with all his children, 
 going from Granville, Mass., to what they 
 named Granville, Ohio, where he died in 
 1814, at the age of seventy-four. Nathan's 
 son Freeman was Mrs. Allyn's grandfather. 
 
 Captain Lyman Allyn, son of Freeman 
 Allyn and father of Mrs. Harriet U. Allyn, 
 was a master mariner in the whaling trade at 
 the age of twenty-one years. In 1833 he left 
 the sea, becoming an outfitter with the 
 Messrs. Billings. He married Emma Turner, 
 who was born in New London, Conn., Au- 
 gust 31, 1804, daughter of Captain John and 
 Mary (Newson) Turner and grand- daughter of 
 Robert Newson, an English sea captain and a 
 resident of Groton, Conn. Her father, Cap- 
 tain John Turner, was born in Stonington, 
 Conn., June 15, 1769. Captain Lyman 
 Allyn and his wife had six children, a son and 
 five daughters, of whom Harriet U. was the 
 youngest. One daughter died in early life; 
 and Emma Ann, a maiden lady, passed away 
 on October 29, 1877. The son, John Turner 
 Allyn, was a seaman. He retired to a farm 
 on account of poor health, and died on Febru- 
 
138 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 ary 23, 1887, at the age of forty-nine. He 
 left a widow, Lucretia L. Brown before mar- 
 riage. Mrs. Harriet U. Allyn and her sis- 
 ters, Mrs. Mary T. A. Henry and Charlotte 
 C, are the only survivors of the family. 
 Their father died on April 8, 1874, and their 
 mother on February 4, 1881, at the age of 
 seventy-seven years. Mrs. Allyn has lived at 
 her present fine residence on the Norwich road 
 since 1851. The house is a large stone man- 
 sion, surrounded by beautiful lawns and 
 choice shrubbery, and was built seventy-one 
 years ago. Her father bought it with a sixty- 
 acre farm, to which he added forty acres more, 
 making one hundred acres. 
 
 I^^ATHAN H. AYER, a leading farmer 
 of Preston, was born here, in School 
 
 L^ V District No. 3, on the loth of 
 
 April, 1833, son of Nathan and Nancy 
 (Green) Ayer. He is the third Nathan Ayer 
 in the direct line of descent. Grandfather 
 Ayer, who was an able farmer and well known 
 in the town for his public spirit, served for 
 some time as Tax Collector, and bought con- 
 siderable land that was sold for taxes. He 
 owned five farms, and gave one to each of his 
 sons. His death occurred in 1833; and he 
 was buried in Preston City Cemetery, where 
 have been interred the most of his descend- 
 ants. Besides three daughters he had four 
 sons — Elisha, William, Jonas, and Nathan. 
 The Ayers have been connected with the 
 Baptist denomination, and are active church 
 workers. 
 
 Nathan Ayer, second, who was born in 
 1771 and died in 1853, was a farmer in com- 
 fortable circumstances. His wife, Nancy, to 
 whom he was married in 18 16, was born in 
 Rhode Island in 1798, daughter of Peter 
 Green, who came to Preston in 1800. Mr. 
 
 Green, a well-to-do farmer, was prominently 
 connected with the public affairs of the town. 
 He was buried in Long Society Burial- 
 ground. Mrs. Nancy Ayer died in 1857. Of 
 her eight children seven reached maturity. 
 Nancy, the eldest, who married Henry Gal- 
 lup, died at the age of thirty in Greenville; 
 Desire, who died in this town in middle life, 
 leaving three children, was the wife of Rus- 
 sel Davis; Sarah, the widow of George W. 
 Cook and now living in Kansas, is the mother 
 of six children; Abby, who lives in Marl- 
 boro, Mass., is the widow of William S. Cun- 
 dall, and has two daughters ; Harriet, who 
 married Henry Albro, died in middle life, 
 leaving three children; John Ayer died in 
 Kansas in 1892. 
 
 Nathan H. Ayer received his education in 
 the common schools and at a private school 
 in Meriden, Conn., which he attended for 
 three years. At the age of twelve years he 
 began to work out as a farm hand, receiving 
 five dollars per month for his first summer, 
 six dollars for the next, and seven for the 
 third. When nineteen years old he went to 
 South Coventry, Conn., to learn the hatter's 
 trade, and remained there for three years. 
 In 1854 he returned to the farm where he now 
 resides. He owns three hundred acres, 
 mostly farming lands, and carries on general 
 farming and considerable dairying. He 
 keeps about thirty cows of good grade, five 
 horses, and employs a number of men. Dur- 
 ing the past twenty-six years he has sold the 
 product of his dairy in Norwich, to which he 
 has gone daily for ten years in all kinds of 
 weather. 
 
 On August 20, 1854, Mr. Ayer was united 
 in marriage with Adeline J., daughter of 
 Lewis and Jerusha (Moulton) Tinker, of 
 Mansfield, Conn. She died in 1861, leaving 
 her husband with two young children, namely: 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 139 
 
 Alice M., who is now the wife of Dr. George 
 C. Clark, of East Douglas, Mass. ; and 
 Louis N., now an ice dealer in Willimantic. 
 In 1862 Mr. Ayer married for his second 
 wife Amelia S. Baldwin, a daughter of Ray- 
 mond and Amanda Baldwin, of Mansfield. 
 She died in 1871, leaving one son, Frank R. 
 Ayer, now a mechanic in Norwich. In poli- 
 tics Mr. Ayer is a Republican. He served as 
 County Commissioner from July, 1883, to 
 July, 1893, as a member of the legislature in 
 1886, and as State Senator in 1890 and 1891. 
 He has also been a member of the Board of 
 Relief and on the Grand Jury. In all these 
 positions he manifested due appreciation of 
 the trust reposed in him; Mr. Ayer is one 
 of the best known farmers in the country, 
 and has a large number of acquaintances and 
 friends. 
 
 ]CjDWARD E. SPICER, a well-known 
 Jpl resident of Eastern Point, Groton, and 
 the proprietor of a large ice-house 
 and an artificial ice pond, was born in Led- 
 yard, this county, July 25, 1856, son of Ed- 
 mund and Bethiah Williams (Avery) Spicer. 
 The paternal grandfather, John, who was also 
 a native of Ledyard, born in 1770, followed 
 the business of carpenter and builder. By 
 his wife, whose maiden name was Elizabeth 
 Latham, he became the father of ten children. 
 Edmund Spicer, likewise a native of Led- 
 yard, born in January, 1812, was a farmer and 
 a merchant in Ledyard Centre. He owned 
 several tracts of land in that town. In poli- 
 tics he was a Democrat; and he was Town 
 Clerk, Judge of Probate, and the Postmaster 
 for many years. In the State militia he 
 held the rank of Captain. His wife, Bethiah, 
 whom he married in 1837, had eight children, 
 seven of whom reached maturity; namely, 
 Mary A., John S., Sarah E., Carrie G., Ce- 
 
 celia W., Edward E., and George W. Mary 
 A. married George Fanning, a farmer, of Led- 
 yard. John S. lives in Norwich. Sarah E. 
 is the wife of Nathan L. Lester, of San Jose, 
 Cal. Carrie G. married Amos Lester, and 
 lives in Gilroy, Cal. Cecelia W. is Mrs. 
 Jonathan L. Lester, of Norwich. George W., 
 who resides in Ledyard, is unmarried. In 
 religious belief the parents were Congrega- 
 tionalists. The mother, who was remarkable 
 for both physical and mental strength, died in 
 March, 1886. 
 
 Edward E. Spicer attended the common 
 school, and worked on the farm. At the age 
 of sixteen he learned the carpenter's trade, 
 which he afterward followed for a number of 
 years. For twelve years he was engaged in 
 dairy farming on the old Avery estate, in 
 which he still holds an interest. He now 
 owns a valuable ice plant, where he whole- 
 sales and retails thousands of tons annually. 
 In politics he is a Democrat. 
 
 On December 22, 1878, Mr. Spicer and 
 Sarah Adelaide Griswold were united in mar- 
 riage. They have five children — Bethiah 
 W., Edmund, Clare, Sarah Ayer, and Roger 
 Griswold Spicer. Bethiah, residing with her 
 parents, is now attending the business col- 
 lege. Edmund is attending school in New 
 London. Clare, who is twelve years old, 
 Sarah Ayer, who is nine, and Roger Griswold 
 are also attending school. Clare has musical 
 talent, and bids fair to become a fine violinist. 
 In 1891 Mr. Spicer built and moved into a 
 new residence at Eastern Point. Mrs. 
 Spicer's parents were Lafayette and Hope 
 (Ayer) Griswold. They were farmers in Led- 
 yard. Her father served as Tax Collector and 
 in other town offices, and was also a Repre- 
 sentative to the legislature. They reared 
 another daughter, Fanny Elizabeth, who still 
 lives with her parents. 
 
140 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 kRS. ANN R. CHAMPION, a re- 
 spected resident of Black Hall, in 
 the town of Old Lyme, is a 
 daughter of Lathrop E. and Mehitable (Reed) 
 Slate. Her maternal grandfather, George 
 Reed, was a prominent farmer and large land- 
 owner of Lyme. His wife in maidenhood 
 was Mary Ely. Lathrop E. Slate, father of 
 Mrs. Champion, was a blacksmith by occupa- 
 tion and a man unusually expert at his trade. 
 By his wife, Mehitable Reed Slate, he had 
 thirteen children, of whom four sons and five 
 daughters attained maturity, Ann R. being 
 the youngest of the family but one. Those 
 living, besides Mrs. Champion, are: Mehita- 
 ble, now eighty-six years old, a resident of 
 Ivoryton, Conn., and widow of William J. 
 Lord, having been the mother of nine chil- 
 dren; Sylvester W., nearly eighty years old, 
 a resident of East Lyme, and by his marriage 
 with Mary Jane Hurl but the father of one 
 son, Charles W. by name; and Philena, a 
 resident of Ivoryton and widow of Gideon 
 Rogers. Lathrop E. Slate died at the age 
 of eighty-four years, his wife surviving him 
 about two years. 
 
 Ann R. Slate in girlhood attended the dis- 
 trict schools of her native town, and was care- 
 fully trained by her parents in the knowledge 
 of household duties essential to a good house- 
 wife. In 1845 she was united in marriage 
 with Calvin B. Champion, and for some 
 twenty years subsequently they resided to- 
 gether on their farm of eighty acres in Black 
 Hall. Mr. Champion, who was a native of 
 Lyme, at the age of thirteen adopted a sailor's 
 life, and followed the sea until his marriage. 
 He was subsequently successful at farming, 
 and was regarded as one of the substantial 
 and reliable citizens of this town. He died 
 here, August 3, 1875, aged fifty-three years. 
 Mr. and Mrs. Champion had a family of fif- 
 
 teen children; namely, Philena, Wallace 
 Ruthven, Calvin Winslow, Christina Scott, 
 L'rederick Lathrop, Israel, Imogene Abigail, 
 Anna Mehitible, Mary Rogers, Ida Jane, 
 Roger Burnham, Ancil Anderson, Edith Man- 
 waring, Edward Griffin, and Virgil Warren. 
 Of this family Calvin W., Frederick L., 
 Israel, Anna M., Mary R., and Edith M. 
 are now deceased. Mrs. Champion still re- 
 sides on the farm, enjoys good health, and is 
 highly respected by all the townspeople. 
 
 Y^\p\YRON WINSLOW ROBINSON, 
 FI I M-D-, the senior physician of Col- 
 
 i-i ^J-^ V -• Chester and an ex-president of 
 
 the New London County Medical Society, is 
 a native of the adjoining town of Lebanon, 
 where he was born May 4, 1839, son of Will- 
 iam and Sophia (Robbins) Robinson. He 
 has an ancestry of which any man might be 
 justly proud, the name he bears having been 
 honored in New England from its earliest set- 
 tlement. Seven generations come between 
 him and his English-born progenitor, John 
 Robinson, pastor of the Pilgrim Church in 
 Leyden, a man of eminent piety and learning, 
 prophetic-visioned, in sweet-spirited liberality 
 in advance of his time. 
 
 The Rev. John Robinson was born in Lin- 
 colnshire, England, in the year 1575, and died 
 in Leyden, Holland, March i, 1625. In 1606 
 he became assistant pastor of the Separatist 
 church that was organized about 1602 at 
 Scrooby, Nottingham, England, in the manor 
 house then occupied by William Brewster, 
 the afterward famous Elder Brewster of the 
 Plymouth Colony. The congregation re- 
 moved in 1608 to Amsterdam and thence in 
 1609 to Leyden, where Mr. Robinson was 
 chosen pastor. The wife of John Robinson 
 was Bridget White, who bore him three sons 
 
MYRON W. ROIMXSUN. 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 143 
 
 and three daughters. One son, Isaac, born in 
 Leyden in 16 10, came to this country in 
 1 63 1, and died at Barnstable, Mass., in 1704. 
 His first wife was Margaret Hanford, whom 
 he married June 27, 1636. She died in 1649. 
 His second wife, whom he is said to have 
 married in 1650, was the mother of Peter, 
 born in Barnstable, Mass., in 1653 or 1655, 
 died in Windham, Conn., in 1740. The 
 next in line was Thomas, born at Tisbury, 
 Martha's Vineyard, in 1699, who died in 
 Windham, March 28, 1738. Then came Reu- 
 ben, born in 1725 at Windham, and his son 
 Clifford, born in Mansfield, Conn., 1756, 
 grandfather of Dr. Robinson. 
 
 Clifford Robinson was a farmer and well- 
 to-do. On October 21, 1778, he married 
 Lucy Morgan, born February 3, 1756. She 
 was descended from James Morgan, born in 
 1607 in Wales, who was in Roxbury in 1640, 
 and was made a freeman in 1643. James and 
 his son, Captain John Morgan, born March 
 30, 164s, were commissioners and advisers to 
 the Indians, Deputies to the General Court 
 in 1690 from New London, and in 1694 
 from Preston. Captain John's son James, 
 born about 1680, died in Preston before No- 
 vember 7, 1 72 1, when his estate was inven- 
 toried. Then came Samuel Morgan, born 
 December 16, 1705, father of Dr. Robinson's 
 grandmother Lucy. He died December 29, 
 1769. Clifford and Lucy (Morgan) Robin- 
 son had seven children, six sons, and a daugh- 
 ter Lucy, who never married. The sons mar- 
 ried and had families of from four to fourteen 
 children, excepting Festus, who had no chil- 
 dren. Grandfather Robinson died in 1814, 
 and his wife in 1841, after twenty-seven 
 years of widowhood. 
 
 Dr. Robinson's father, William Robinson, 
 born at Chaplin, Conn., May 24, 1789, died 
 September 29, 1866, in Columbia. He mar- 
 
 ried for his first wife Hannah Robbins, who 
 bore him eleven children, nine of whom grew 
 to maturity, and seven of whom are now liv- 
 ing. Two are in Brooklyn; namely, Mrs. 
 David A. Pitcher and Miss E. A. Robinson. 
 William L., the eldest son, is in East Somer- 
 ville, Mass. Two brothers and a sister are in 
 Lebanon, and one brother is in Columbia. 
 William Robinson's second wife, whom he 
 married December 25, 1833, was born Sep- 
 tember 27, 1794, daughter of Ebenezer Rob- 
 bins. She had three children — Theron, Or- 
 ville, and Myron Winslow. Theron, born 
 February 19, 1835, died at the age of forty, 
 leaving four children. Orville, born February 
 16, 1837, died December 6, 1864, leaving one 
 daughter. William Robinson gave his large 
 family good educational advantages. In poli- 
 tics he was a Whig and later a Republican, 
 and held numerous offices in the town. He 
 died in 1866 at the age of seventy -seven 
 years. 
 
 Having finished his preparatory education 
 at the Ellington High School, Myron W. 
 Robinson began the study of medicine in 1858 
 at Hebron, Conn., with Adam G. Craig, 
 M.D., later matriculated at the Berkshire 
 Medical College, Pittsfield, and was gradu- 
 ated from that institution in the class of 1861. 
 He engaged in the practice of his profession 
 at Hebron until 1862, when President Lin- 
 coln issued his call for more volunteers. He 
 then left everything, and shouldered a musket 
 in the Eighteenth Connecticut Regiment of 
 Infantry, Company C, Captain Isaac Bromley. 
 At F"ort McHenry, Md., he was detailed 
 to the hospital department, where he had 
 charge of the convalescent ward of the 
 wounded until April 11, 1863, when he re- 
 ceived his commission as assistant surgeon of 
 the Sixth Regiment of Connecticut Volun- 
 teers. In December, 1864, he was promoted 
 
144 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 to be surgeon of the regiment; and he estab- 
 lished the Hillhouse Hospital at Wilmington, 
 N.C., during an epidemic of typhus fever. 
 After the war he took a post-graduate course of 
 lectures at Bellevue Medical College, New 
 York City. Dr. Robinson is a member of the 
 New London County Medical Society and of 
 the American Medical Association. He is 
 a Mason, and is also a member of the Ancient 
 Order of United Workmen, of the Ancient 
 Order of Foresters of America, of the 
 Knights of Pythias, of the grange, and of the 
 Grand Army of the Republic; and in 1884, 
 1890, and in 1895 he was medical director of 
 the Department of Connecticut. Since 1880 
 he has been health officer of the town and 
 borough of Colchester, where he settled at the 
 close of the war, and engaged in the practice 
 of his profession. In 1897 he was appointed 
 by President McKinley pension examining' 
 surgeon. Since 1885 he has been post sur- 
 geon and medical examiner for the county 
 coroner. 
 
 In 1867 Dr. Robinson married Miss Emma 
 J., daughter of Ralph Stewart, of Portland, 
 Conn. By this marriage have been born two 
 children: Ralph, who was graduated at the 
 Sheffield Scientific School in the class of 
 1894; and Annie M., who is a graduate of the 
 Connecticut State Normal School in the class 
 of 1 89 1. The house in which the Doctor and 
 his family reside was built over a hundred 
 years ago, and is a fine example of the solid 
 and comfortable dwellings of the Colonial 
 style and time. 
 
 -ONATHAN NEWTON HARRIS was 
 for many years one of the most promi- 
 nent figures in the mercantile and re- 
 ligious life of New London. Born in Salem, 
 this State, November 18, 1815, he belongs to 
 
 the sixth generation descended from James 
 Harris, who was a resident of Boston, Mass., 
 in 1666. Seven children of James Harris 
 were baptized in the Old South Meeting-house 
 in 1683. In 1690 James and his wife, to- 
 gether with their three sons — ^ James, Asa, 
 and Ephraim — came to New London, where 
 he died in 171 5, at the age of seventy-four 
 years. The family has since been represented 
 by men of high character and fine abilities, 
 and none of its members have displayed more 
 noble characteristics than the Hon. Jonathan 
 Newton Harris. 
 
 Mr. Harris began his working life when 
 about twenty years of age by entering the em- 
 ploy of a large mercantile house in New Lon- 
 don, for which he had received a special 
 business training. Having gained valuable 
 experience during the two years he spent 
 there, he started in business for himself. 
 Later he was successively the senior part- 
 ner of the firms Harris & Brown, Harris, 
 Ames & Co., and Harris, Williams & Co. In 
 1865 he retired from the last-named firm to 
 take charge of different interests. Previous 
 to this, in 1848, he had established in Cin- 
 cinnati, Ohio, the firm of J. N. Harris & Co., 
 which has now been in business for nearly 
 fifty years, and is managed by the resident 
 partner, Mr. Thomas H. C. Allen. 
 
 From 1856 to 1862 Mr. Harris was Mayor 
 of New London. In this capacity, at the 
 opening of the Civil War, he was able to ren- 
 der valuable assistance to his old friend. 
 Governor Buckingham. New London was the 
 recruiting centre of the State, and Fort Trum- 
 bull the rendezvous for troops on their way 
 to the front. He was the promoter of the re- 
 ligious services held at the fort nearly every 
 Sunday, and which, by reason of the advice 
 there imparted, were most helpful to the 
 men about to face the hardships and perils of 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 145 
 
 war. In 1862, in company with Mr. Hill, of 
 Philadelphia, he built and successfully con- 
 ducted the collieries known as the Hill & Har- 
 ris coal mines at Mahanoy City, Pa., the coal 
 of which obtained a wide reputation for its 
 power of generating steam. In 1864 he was 
 the State Senator from the New London dis- 
 trict, and during his term he was the chair- 
 man of the Joint Committee on Banks. At 
 this session of the legislature an act was 
 passed enabling the State banks to organize 
 under the national banking law, while still 
 retaining their rights under their old charter, 
 so that they might at any time thereafter, 
 without further legislation, withdraw from 
 the national organization and return to their 
 previous methods. All the State banks sub- 
 sequently adopted the national banking act. 
 Mr. Harris had represented his town previ- 
 ously in the lower branch of the State legis- 
 lature, where he served as a member of the 
 Joint Standing Committee on Banks and Fi- 
 nance. While he was there the free banking 
 law of 1852, that had caused much loss to 
 stockholders, was repealed, and the banks or- 
 ganized under that law were given special 
 charters. Outside the legislature Mr. Harris's 
 connection with banking interests had been 
 extensive, and it was his experience and 
 known abilities as a banker that added weight 
 to his counsels as a member of the legislative 
 body. He was a director of the New London 
 Bank of Commerce for many years, and from 
 1876 was the president of the City National 
 Bank. He was also connected with many 
 other commercial interests, notably with rail- 
 road and steam navigation companies. One 
 of the organizers of the Fellowes Medical 
 Manufacturing Company of Montreal, Canada, 
 with branches in New York and London, 
 England, he was its president for a number 
 of years. He was also a director of the 
 
 Davis & Lawrence Company of Montreal, of 
 the New London Northern Railroad, of the 
 New London Steamboat Company, and of 
 other companies. 
 
 Mr. Harris was as prominently identified 
 with the religious and benevolent work of 
 the city as with its business interests. He 
 was a Deacon in the Second Congregational 
 Church, the president of the Board of Trus- 
 tees of the Bradley Street Mission for twenty 
 years, the president of the Young Men's 
 Christian Association for a time, a director of 
 the Evangelical Association of New England, 
 a charter member of the Connecticut Bible 
 Society, a corporate member of the American 
 Board of Foreign Missions, and a charter 
 member and for several years the president 
 of the trustees of the international committee 
 of the Young Men's Christian Association of 
 New York. He was a firm friend of Dwight 
 L. Moody from the beginning of the career 
 of that great evangelist, and substantially 
 aided in founding the school at Mount Her- 
 mon and at Northfield, being elected presi- 
 dent of the Mount Hermon Seminary in 1893. 
 Deeply interested in religious work and edu- 
 cation in Japan, he founded and endowed in 
 1889 the scientific department of Doshisha 
 University at Kioto, which was opened in 
 1890. This munificent gift amounted to one 
 hundred thousand dollars. In 1893 he built 
 and practically presented to the city of Nev/ 
 London the Memorial Hospital, whose doors 
 were opened in August of that year. His 
 public spirit and the confidence he felt in 
 the future of New London were shown when 
 he erected the Harris Building, one of the 
 finest business structures in the State. Many 
 deeds of kindness to individuals are remem- 
 bered by his fellow-citizens. 
 
 Mr. Harris was first married to Jane M., 
 daughter of Benjamin Brown, of this city. 
 
146 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 She was the mother of eight children, none of 
 whom are now living. A second marriage, 
 contracted in Jiily, 1869, united him to 
 Martha Strong, a daughter of the Hon. Lewis 
 Strong, of Northampton, and a grand-daughter 
 of Governor Caleb Strong, of Massachusetts. 
 
 kAPTAIN BILLINGS BURCH, a re- 
 jT tired sea captain of Stonington and 
 
 »ilf ^ a son of Samuel and Mary (Sloan) 
 
 Burch, of Stonington, was born October 18, 
 18 1 8. The grandfather, Billings Burch, of 
 Stonington, was in the Revolutionary War, 
 and for the services then rendered drew a 
 pension during the rest of his life. He fol- 
 lowed the trade of carpenter and wheelwright, 
 and died in 1839 or 1840, at the age of 
 ninety-two. By his first marriage, which was 
 contracted with Susannah Bentley, of Hop- 
 kinton, R.I., he had five children — Samuel 
 and four daughters — all of whom married and 
 had families. A second marriage united him 
 with Jane Clark, of Stonington. 
 
 Samuel Burch, born either in Stonington 
 or Hopkinton, R.I., in 1776, was a carpenter 
 by trade. He served in the War of 18 12, 
 and afterward drew a pension from the govern- 
 ment. At his death, in 1858, he was eighty- 
 two years of age. His wife, Mary, whom he 
 married April 5, 181 1, had six children, 
 namely: William, born in 1814, now living 
 in Bozrah ; James, who died in Preston in 
 1881 ; Billings, the subject of this biography; 
 George, who was a mason, and died in Ston- 
 ington; Charles, who died in Rhode Island; 
 and IMary, who was the wife of Captain 
 Brewster, and died in Stonington, which was 
 her native town. 
 
 Billings Burch received a good education 
 in the district schools. When fourteen years 
 of age he went to sea as cook on the coasting 
 
 schooner "Brakewater." After spending two 
 years in the coasting trade, he was offered the 
 command of a schooner, but preferred to avail 
 of a chance to go on a whaling expedition. 
 On this occasion he shipped as a hand before 
 the mast, and went on a voyage of twenty-one 
 months, going around Cape Horn. Captain 
 Burch has been on eight whaling expedi- 
 tions, serving in the several capacities of 
 boatswain, third mate, second mate, and cap- 
 tain. In the last-named capacity he com- 
 manded the ship "Corva" on the "West 
 Coast'' and the "Charles Phelps" twice in 
 the Arctic Ocean. He has been three times 
 around the world, and during his sea voyages 
 took twenty-five thousand barrels of sperm 
 and whale oil, and whalebone enough to make 
 him a millionaire if he had it now. He left 
 the sea forty years ago, and since then has 
 led a quiet life at his home in Stonington. 
 In 1847 Captain Burch married Nancy M. 
 Chesebro, a daughter of Elihu and Nancy 
 (Pendleton) Chesebro and a grand-daughter 
 of Elihu Chesebro, who was a Baptist 
 preacher in Stonington for twenty years. 
 Captain and Mrs. Burch have had six chil- 
 dren, of whom two died in childhood. The 
 others are: Mary, the wife of Harris Pendle- 
 ton, of New London; Nancy Bell, the wife of 
 James V. Trumbull, of Hartford; Oliver C, 
 who lives at home; and Billings, now in New 
 York. Both the Captain and Mrs. Burch are 
 earnest workers and members of the Baptist 
 church. 
 
 JB 
 
 ANIEL FRANCIS GULLIVER, 
 M.D., for many years a highly es- 
 teemed resident of Norwich, was 
 born in Boston, May 29, 1826, son of Deacon 
 John and Sarah (Putnam) Gulliver. His fa- 
 ther was born in Taunton in 1792, son of 
 Gershom Gulliver, who was one of the min- 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 147 
 
 ute-men at Lexington ; and his mother was 
 born in Reading, North Parish, now North 
 Reading, Mass. She was a daughter of Dea- 
 con Henry and Mary (Hawkes) Putnam, grand- 
 daughter of Deacon Daniel Putnam, and great- 
 grand -daughter of the Rev. Daniel Putnam, 
 who was the first minister of the North Parish 
 of Reading, where he was ordained and set- 
 tled in 1720, and where he died in 1759. 
 "Minister Putnam" was a son of Deacon 
 Benjamin and grandson of Nathaniel Putnam, 
 who came from England with his two brothers 
 and their father, John Putnam, and settled 
 at Salem, Mass., about 1634. 
 
 Deacon John Gulliver was an able merchant 
 and an earnest Christian worker. He died at 
 Pawtucket, R.I., at the age of eighty-seven 
 years. Three of his children — John P., 
 Sarah, and Daniel F.— grew to maturity. 
 Sarah Gulliver is the wife of the Rev. Lew- 
 ellyn Pratt, D.D., of Norwich. The elder 
 son, the late Rev. John Putnam Gulliver, 
 D.D., of Andover, Mass., was the pastor of 
 Broadway Church at Norwich for nineteen 
 years, and was active in furthering the educa- 
 tional interests of the city. To his untiring 
 and effective efforts Norwich owes her Free 
 Academy, which is widely and favorably 
 known. 
 
 Daniel F. Gulliver was graduated at Yale 
 College in 1848 and at Jefferson Medical 
 College in 1852. Although a student of fine 
 abilities and by nature well suited to be a 
 physician, he gave up the practice of his pro- 
 fession in a few years on account of his 
 health, and engaged in stock - raising, in 
 which he attained notable success. Being 
 considered an authority on this subject, he 
 delivered a course of lectures at Yale at one 
 time on stock-raising, which attracted very 
 favorable comment. He was a man of refined 
 tastes and keen intellect, a great reader and a 
 
 delightful conversationalist. He was a man 
 of deeply religious nature, and at one time 
 took part in revival work in various parts of 
 the State. His zeal and efficiency in this 
 work are still spoken of with enthusiasm. 
 During the last twenty years of his life Dr. 
 Gulliver was connected with the Broadway 
 Church, being for nine years a Deacon. For 
 years he conducted a young men's Bible class, 
 and in that capacity was a power for good. 
 His death occurred on May 22, 1895, just one 
 week before his sixty-ninth birthday. 
 
 Dr. Gulliver was married on September 16, 
 1852, to Mary, daughter of Henry and Eu- 
 nice (Huntington) Strong. Eight children — 
 namely, Henry Strong, Arthur Huntington, 
 Gertrude Putnam, Charlotte Chester, Fred- 
 eric Putnam, Eunice Henrietta, Benjamin 
 Wolcott, and Robert Joseph — ■ were born of 
 this union; and six are now living, Ger- 
 trude, the eldest daughter, died at the age of 
 three years; and Robert (Williams, 1894) 
 died at twenty-two. Henry (Yale, 1875) is 
 married, and is now teaching in Waterbury, 
 Conn. Arthur (Yale, 1877), also married, is 
 a cotton manufacturer of Ashton, R.I. Char- 
 lotte (Smith, 1883) is now teaching in' Nor- 
 wich Free Academy. Frederic (Harvard, 
 1893; Ph.D., 1896) worked for some years 
 in the United States Geological Survey, and 
 is now teaching in Southboro, Mass. Eu- 
 nice (Smith, 1891) is at home in Norwich. 
 Benjamin is living in Providence, R.I. 
 
 Mrs. Gulliver's paternal grandparents were 
 the Rev. Joseph and Mary (Huntington) 
 Strong. The Rev. Joseph Strong, D.D. , 
 who was born September 21, 1753, and was 
 graduated at Yale College in 1772, was called 
 to the pastorate of the First Church in Nor- 
 wich as colleague of the Rev. Dr. Lord in 
 March, 1778. His ordination sermon was 
 preached by his brother, the Rev. Nathan 
 
148 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 Strong, D.D., of Hartford; and the charge 
 was given by his father, the Rev. Nathan 
 Strong, of Coventry. He remained pastor of 
 this church till his death, December, 1834. 
 The Rev. Joseph Strong's preaching was 
 simple, but solemn and earnest, and proved 
 very effective. He was a man of command- 
 ing physicjue, being fully six feet in height, 
 and correspondingly proportioned. The house 
 in which Mrs. Gulliver now resides at Nor- 
 wich Town was built by him about 1786. 
 
 His youngest child, Henry Strong, LL. D., 
 Mrs, Gulliver's father, born August 23, 1788, 
 was a graduate of Yale in 1806, and a lead- 
 ing citizen and influential lawyer of Norwich. 
 He died November 12, 1852. His wife, Eu- 
 nice, who died June 19, 1865, at the age of 
 sixty-seven, vvas the daughter of Joseph and 
 Eunice (Carew) Huntington. She was one of 
 a family of ten children, five sons and five 
 daughters, of whom five daughters and three 
 sons grew to maturity, Mrs. Gulliver her- 
 self was the only one of a family of three to 
 reach adult years. 
 
 ^APTAIN NATHAN KEENEY, a 
 native of New London, Conn., com- 
 mander of the steamer "City of 
 Lawrence," was born on April 18, 1833, son 
 of Josiah and Sarah B. (Maynard) Ke^ney, 
 His paternal grandfather, Josiah Keeney, Sr., 
 died in 1820, at the age of twenty-seven years. 
 His father, the younger Josiah, who was born 
 in this city on July i, 181 1, was a sea cap- 
 tain engaged in the coasting trade. In 1832 
 he married Sarah B. Maynard, of Waterford, 
 Conn. They had five children, of whom they 
 reared but two: Nathan; and his sister, Mary 
 A., who married John Winslow, of New Lon- 
 don. Another daughter, named Lydia A., 
 lived to be ten years of ag-e; and two children 
 
 died in infancy. Josiah Keeney, the father, 
 died at the age of fifty-four. His wife sur- 
 vived him twenty -six years, dying at the age 
 of eighty. 
 
 Nathan Keeney had limited educational ad- 
 vantages, attending an ungraded school only 
 in the winter time. At an early age he began 
 to go to sea, and he was so rapidly promoted 
 that at the age of twenty-two he became cap- 
 tain. Later he officiated as first pilot for the 
 steamers "City of Worcester" and "City of 
 Lawrence," taking command of the latter in 
 March, 1896. At intervals he has been cap- 
 tain of the steamers "City of Norwich," 
 "City of Lawrence," "City of New York," 
 "City of Boston," "City of Lowell"; and in 
 the summer of 1897 he was captain of the 
 "New Brunswick." At present, as above 
 noted, he is captain of the "City of Law- 
 rence.' In politics he affiliates with the Re- 
 publican party. 
 
 On April 12, 1859, Captain Keeney was 
 married to Sarah J. Paige, daughter of John 
 F. and Harriet N. (Beebe) Paige. Mrs. 
 Keeneys grandfather Beebe kept the alms- 
 house, which was then located where the 
 Bulkley School is now, for eleven years. Her 
 father also kept it there, and on its present 
 site for several years. He was a stone-cutter, 
 and worked on the high bridge across the 
 Harlem River, New York. He also laid the 
 last stone of the New London custom-house, 
 and was the last survivor of the builders. 
 Mrs. Keeney is one of a large family, of whom 
 six daughters and one son are now living. 
 Her twin sister, Mary Breckenridge Paige, 
 married William H. Sistare, of this city. 
 Captain and Mrs. Keeney have had eight chil- 
 dren, but have lost four: Lydia A., who died 
 in her sixth year; Ella M., who lived to be 
 only four years and five months; Hattie N., 
 who passed away at the age of nine years; and 
 
NATHAiX KEENEV. 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 151 
 
 Flora Mai, who married Walter L. Allen, 
 and died May 22, 1893, without children, at 
 the age of twenty-eight years. She was a 
 graduate of the New London High School, 
 and had been a successful teacher. The sur- 
 viving members of the family are: Sarah A., 
 wife of Nathan E. Geer, of this city; Edgar 
 E. Keeney, of Newport, R. I., who has a wife, 
 three sons, and a daughter; and two interest- 
 ing daughters at home, namely, Lydia, a 
 young lady of musical talent, and Alberta S. 
 Captain Keeney and his family reside at 
 their pleasant home on Keeney's Lane, in the 
 suburbs of New London, in the house which 
 was built by his uncle, Charles Keeney, forty- 
 six years ago. 
 
 5. 
 
 INDLOSS H. HILLIAR, of New 
 London, a successful dealer in 
 hardware, was born in Liverpool, 
 England, May 13, 1848, son of Henry and 
 Ellen (Bindloss) Hilliar. The father, who 
 was lost at sea in 1850, at the age of twenty- 
 one, besides a widow left another son, Henry 
 P. Hilliar, now in business at Niantic, New 
 London County. The mother, a native of 
 Kendal, Westmoreland County, England, was 
 a daughter of William and Margaret (Palmer) 
 Bindloss, eight of whose children are now 
 living in this section. Of these William 
 Bindloss is a retired ship-carpenter of Mystic. 
 Bindloss H. Hilliar came to America with 
 his widowed mother when he was only four 
 years of age. After completing his studies 
 in the Bartlett High School at the age of 
 eighteen, he served an apprenticeship of three 
 years to the machinist's trade, and subse- 
 quently worked at it for seven years. Then 
 he engaged in his present business at 49 Bank 
 Street, under the style of Hilliar & Mallory, 
 which partnership lasted seven years. Since 
 
 then the firm name has been Hilliar & Co. 
 They keep first-class goods, and are equal to 
 any emergency in their line of trade. In 
 politics Mr. Hilliar votes the Republican 
 ticket. He is a Master Mason, has member- 
 ship in the Independent Order of Odd Fel- 
 lows, and he has been president of the Young 
 Men's Christian Association. 
 
 On August 19, 1869, Mr. Hilliar and 
 Luella Benham were united in ^marriage. 
 Her mother, Frances Bolles Benham, died 
 of consumption in the prime of life, leaving 
 six children, of whom one son and two daugh- 
 ters are living. Her father, Austin Benham, 
 keeps a fish market in this city. Of her six 
 children by Mr. Hilliar, four — Charles 
 Henry, Luella B., Florence, and Raymond 
 A. — are living, and reside at home. Benja- 
 min Austin died at the age of fifteen years, 
 and Edgar Harold passed away at the age of 
 twelve. In 1886 Mr. Hilliar bought two 
 acres of land situated in a desirable location, 
 and built thereon four fine dwellings. In 
 one of these he resides with his family. It 
 is a beautiful residence, equipped with all the 
 modern improvements. Connected therewith 
 is a large hennery, where his wife keeps fowl 
 of the choicest breed. 
 
 ONATHAN JEROME PALMER, a 
 prosperous farmer of Preston, whose 
 farm is located on Zion's Hill, was 
 born in Norwich, Chenango County, N.Y., 
 June 28, 1820, son of Benjamin and Betsey 
 (Kendall) Palmer. His grandfather, Jona- 
 than Palmer, who was a native of Stonington, 
 Conn., married a daughter of Christopher 
 Palmer, a distant relation; and they reared 
 twelve children. Benjamin Palmer settled in 
 Norwich, N.Y., where his son, Jonathan 
 Jerome, was born. He married for his first 
 
152 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 wife Patty York, of that town, who died 
 leaving two daughters and two sons. In 1818 
 he married Betsey Kendall, of Chenango 
 County, New York. Jonathan Jerome, the 
 subject of this sketch, was the only child of 
 this union; and the mother died when her son 
 was but two years old. The father married 
 for his third wife Phebe Ives. 
 
 Jonathan Jerome Palmer was brought up 
 by his half-sister. He received a good edu- 
 cation, attending the high school at Colum- 
 bia, Mich., where he lived between the years 
 1837 and 1841, and where his father died 
 at the age of seventy-five. Returning from 
 Michigan in 1841, he spent one winter in 
 travelling in Pennsylvania and Southern New 
 York with his eldest brother Prentice, who 
 sold Yankee notions and traded in furs. He 
 then occupied himself for two years in the 
 cultivation of his grandfather's farm. In 
 April, 1844, he found employment driving 
 a team for B. A. & J. W. Smith in Mont- 
 ville, Conn., and remained with them one 
 year. In April, 1845, he moved to Groton, 
 Conn., where he worked for some time in a 
 granite quarry. In the fall of 1846 he 
 moved to Norwich, Conn., where he engaged 
 in the meat business in company with a man 
 by the name of Darrow from Providence, 
 R. I., their market being located at Central 
 Wharf. They ran two meat carts, and Mr. 
 Palmer continued in business there for a num- 
 ber of years. Later, in company with John 
 P. Kingsley, of Norwich, Conn., he con- 
 ducted a market and general provision store 
 at 90 Eighth Avenue, New York City, for 
 some time. He also sold meat for about 
 eleven years in several towns in Connecticut, 
 chiefly Baltic, Versailles, and Taftville. 
 During this time he resided in Hanover, 
 Conn., where he had a farm. This farm he 
 sold in 1867, and moved back to Norwich, 
 
 Conn. He was at one time engaged in the 
 manufacture of soap in Binghamton, N. Y. , 
 in company with John W. Smith, of Mont- 
 ville. Conn. They did a good business, and 
 sold a number of soap receipts to such men 
 as William Colgate, of New York City, and 
 others. In 1869 Mr. Palmer bought his pres- 
 ent farm of one hundred and fifty acres, situ- 
 ated on the east side of Quinebaug River. 
 Through the farm flows a pretty stream called 
 Chaote Brook, where many a fine black bass 
 and speckled trout may be caught. Besides 
 general farming Mr. Palmer slaughters live 
 stock for the market. 
 
 February 8, 1844, he was married in Mont- 
 ville, Conn., to Mary, daughter of Abel 
 Smith. She died in 1862, leaving two chil- 
 dren: Elisabeth, who married George M. Rey- 
 nolds, of Chicago, and died in that city at 
 the age of thirty-five, leaving no children; 
 and Albert Jerome, who died of consumption 
 in Norwich, Conn., at the, age of twenty-nine 
 years. In 1862 Mr. Palmer married for his 
 second wife Emma M., daughter of Deacon 
 Charles H. Starr, of Groton. By her he had 
 two children — Louisa Starr and Therressa. 
 Louisa Starr became the wife of Charles 
 Lamphere, and died at the age of eighteen 
 after a single year of married life. Ther- 
 ressa died when an infant of two years. The 
 mother of these children passed away in 1877. 
 Three years later, on June 28, 1880, Mr. 
 Palmer married, on his sixtieth birthday, 
 Emma Jane, daughter of Dr. Beckweth, of 
 Angola, N.Y. She was of delicate constitu- 
 tion, and lived but four years after her mar- 
 riage. The present Mrs. Palmer, whose 
 maiden name was Beckweth, was a cousin of 
 his third wife. They were married February 
 28, 1886. Mr. Palmer is a stanch Prohibi- 
 tionist from the Republican ranks. He is 
 much interested in educational affairs, and 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 IS3 
 
 has served on the School Committee. He is 
 a Baptist in religion, and has been on the 
 Society Committee in several different 
 churches with which he has been connected 
 as a member. He is physically a heavy, 
 robust man, well preserved, and one who en- 
 joys life thoroughly. 
 
 (sTV^N^^LD RUDD, of the New London 
 t^ firm Arnold Rudd & Co., wholesale 
 ^ '^ V._- dealers in flour, feed, and grain, 
 was born near Seneca Falls, N.Y., February 
 8, 1823. A son of George and Mary (Ar- 
 nold) Rudd, he counts among his ancestors 
 Governor Bradford, of Plymouth. His grand- 
 father, Daniel Rudd, Jr., was a son of Mary 
 Metcalf Rudd, who was a daughter of the 
 Rev. Joseph and Abiel (Adams) Metcalf. 
 Abiel Adams was a daughter of the Rev. 
 William Adams, of Ipswich, and his wife, 
 Alice (Bradford) Adams. Alice Bradford 
 was a daughter of Major William and Alice 
 (Richards) Bradford. Major Bradford was a 
 son of Governor Bradford and Alice (Carpen- 
 ter) Bradford. 
 
 Daniel Rudd, Jr., who was born in Con- 
 necticut, and died in Bozrah, at the age 
 of sixty-five years, followed farming in 
 Bozrah, and also conducted a saw-mill which 
 was located on his farm. A soldier in the 
 Revolutionary army, he took part in the bat- 
 tles of Long Island, Harlem Heights, Tren- 
 ton, and Princeton. During the Lexington 
 alarm he served for one day as a private in 
 Captain John Perkins's company, Colonel 
 Josiah Huntington's regiment. Beginning 
 in December, 1775, he was a Corporal in 
 Captain Robinson's company, Colonel Dur- 
 kee's regiment. On July 9, 1779, he en- 
 listed as a private in Captain Nehemiah 
 Waterman's company, regiment of Colonel 
 
 Samuel Abbott, and served on a tour of duty 
 to New London. In the fall of that year he 
 went to France in the frigate "Providence," 
 commanded by Captain Whipple, and re- 
 turned in the following April. Drafted for 
 a tour to Horse Neck in July, 1781, he served 
 for two months in that place, under Captain 
 Nehemiah Waterman, of the Connecticut 
 Twentieth. He also served for a few days in 
 New London when that place was burned. 
 On December 7, 1780, he married Abigail 
 Allen, of Montville, Conn., who lived to be 
 nearly a hundred years old. They reared two 
 sons and three daughters, each of whom also 
 reared families. One daughter, Lucy, who 
 was the wife of General Henry Burbeck, at- 
 tained the advanced age of ninety-seven. 
 
 George Rudd, born in Bozrah, Conn., Oc- 
 tober 8, 1785, who was a cooper by trade, also 
 followed agriculture, residing for the most of 
 his life on a hundred-acre farm in Montville 
 that was bequeathed him by his mother. He 
 was in military service on the Canadian fron- 
 tier during the War of 1812. His death oc- 
 curred in the spring of 1866. On June 30, 
 181 1, he was married to Mary Arnold, who 
 was born October 13, 1793, and who died in 
 1883, aged ninety years. Both Mr. and Mrs. 
 Rudd rest in the new cemetery on the river 
 in Montville. They were members of the 
 Congregational church until the time of the 
 abolition movement, when Mr. Rudd was 
 ruled out of the church on account of his bold 
 advocacy of that cause. Of their children, 
 six sons and two daughters, seven attained 
 maturity. A daughter died in early child- 
 hood. Two of the children are now living — ■ 
 Arnold and his brother John. The latter, 
 who is six years younger than Arnold, is a 
 grain dealer, and lives in Montville. 
 
 At the age of fourteen Arnold Rudd went 
 to work in a cotton factory, where he was em- 
 
IS4 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 ployed for two years. Subsequently he was 
 employed in an oil-mill for six years, receiv- 
 ing thirteen dollars and fifty cents per month. 
 When he was twenty-three years old he pur- 
 chased a grist-mill in Montville, contracting 
 a debt of three hundred dollars. Six years 
 later he bought a saw-mill close by. In the 
 spring of 1866 he sold his mill property to- 
 gether with a tract of land, and with the pro- 
 ceeds started in his present business. Begin- 
 ning as a retailer of grain and produce, he 
 steadily enlarged the scope of his operations. 
 Some six years ago he took into partnership 
 Mortimer Beckwith and George M. Cole, em- 
 ployees and kinsmen of his. His business 
 block, a fine three-story brick edifice with 
 commodious basement, at 157, 159, and 161 
 Bank Street, New London, was erected by 
 him in 1886. He is a trustee of the old Sav- 
 ings Bank and a director of the Union State 
 Bank. His handsome home at 12 Hunting- 
 ton Street was purchased some twenty years 
 ago. 
 
 When he was twenty-five years of age he 
 was married to Miss Margaret Lyon, of Mont- 
 ville, Conn., by whom he became the father 
 of two children. These were: John, who died 
 in infancy; and Stephen A., who died in his 
 fourteenth year. By a second marriage, con- 
 tracted in 1870, Miss Louisa C. Beckwith, of 
 New London, became his wife. She has 
 borne him three daughters, of whom one died 
 in infancy. The others are: Mary L., who 
 has attended school in Northampton, Mass., 
 and later became a pupil of Miss Emerson's 
 School in Boston; and Charlotte F., also 
 attending school at Miss Emerson's. Both 
 young ladies are accomplished musicians. 
 Mr. Rudd votes the Republican ticket. He 
 has served the public efificiently at different 
 times, acting as Justice of the Peace in Mont- 
 ville for three years, serving on the Grand 
 
 Jury, and fulfilling the duties of Sewer Com- 
 missioner in New London for nine years. 
 
 'AMES A. BROWN, an honored citizen 
 of Norwich, Conn., residing on Laurel 
 Hill, was born in Middletown, near 
 Newport, R.I., February 19, 1828. His par- 
 ents were George and Elizabeth (Peckham) 
 Brown; and his paternal grandfather was Will- 
 iam Brown, a prosperous Rhode Island farmer, 
 who was the father of four sons and two 
 daughters, all of whom attained to years of 
 discretion. 
 
 George Brown was born in Middletown 
 about the year 1788, and died February 23, 
 1853. Elizabeth Peckham Brown, his wife, 
 who survived him a number of years, was a 
 daughter of Peleg and Elizabeth Peckham, of 
 Middletown, R.I. She was the mother of ten 
 children, six sons and four daughters, of 
 whom four sons and two daughters are living, 
 James A. Brown, now about seventy years of 
 age, being next to the youngest. The other 
 survivors are: Elizabeth, aged eighty-four, 
 who is living in Lebanon, Conn., widow of 
 Ira B. Tucker, and has no children; George, 
 aged eighty, a farmer in Lebanon, who has 
 one daughter living; Almira E., who is the 
 wife of John C. Palmer, a ranchman and 
 banker at Paxton, Neb., and has one daughter; 
 Peleg P., a liveryman in Jamestown, R.I., 
 who has five sons and one daughter; and 
 Charles H., a real estate dealer in Ogallala, 
 Keith County, Neb., who has five children. 
 Mrs, Brown died in Lebanon, July 10, 1874, 
 at eighty-six years of age, and was buried be- 
 side her husband at Middletown. 
 
 James A. Brown passed his boyhood on his 
 father's farm; and up to sixteen years of age 
 he was a pupil of the district school, where he 
 gained a fair knowledge of the rudimentary 
 
JAMES A. liR(J\VX. 
 
Biographical review 
 
 IS? 
 
 branches of learning. At eighteen he took 
 up the trade of a carpenter, but a year later 
 he returned to farm labor. After his marriage 
 he removed to Lebanon, Conn., whither his 
 father-in-law had gone, and purchased a farm. 
 From Lebanon Mr. Brown subsequently went 
 to Colchester, and engaged in the meat busi- 
 ness, which he had followed for two years prior 
 to leaving Lebanon. In April, 1869, he em- 
 barked in the wholesale grocery business here 
 in Norwich, having as a partner John C. 
 Palmer, and doing business under the style of 
 Palmer & Brown. When they had been to- 
 gether seventeen years, Mr. Brown purchased 
 his partner's interest, and continued the busi- 
 ness alone for ten years, selling out in April, 
 1896. During the war he was Captain of the 
 Wide-awakes, and but for the interposition of 
 his friends would have enlisted for active ser- 
 vice at the front, they persuading him that he 
 could ill be spared from the town, where he 
 was untiring in his efforts to relieve the needs 
 of the families of the soldiers in the field. 
 
 On December i, 1850, Mr. Brown was 
 united in marriage with Miss Susan Weaver, 
 a native of Middletown and daughter of Abner 
 and Susan (Peckham) Weaver. Her mother 
 died June 23, 1867, aged sixty-six, and her 
 father. May 17, 1875, aged seventy-six. 
 They had seven children; namely, six daugh- 
 ters and a son, George Abner Weaver, of Leb- 
 anon, Conn. The three daughters now liv- 
 ing are: Mrs. Brown; Ruth M., wife of 
 William Brown, of Willimantic, Conn., a 
 brother of James A. ; and Emma B. Peckham, 
 of Lebanon. Mr. and Mrs. James A. Brown 
 have a son and daughter: Francis H., of Nor- 
 wich, who is married, and has one daughter; 
 and Ella J., wife of Charles M. Cole, a drug- 
 gist of Newport, who has one son. 
 
 In political affiliation Mr. Brown is a Re- 
 publican. In Colchester he served as Con- 
 
 stable. He has here served on the Common 
 Council five years, on the Board of Water 
 Commissioners two years, also as Second Se- 
 lectman, and since 1895 as First Selectman. 
 For ten years he was a member of the Com- 
 pensation Committee, having in charge the 
 adjustment of damages, holding the office 
 under both Democratic and Republican ad- 
 ministrations. He is also trustee and director 
 of the Dime Savings Bank. Mr. Brown is a 
 member of the Central Baptist Church, in 
 which he has been a very active worker, and 
 was a member of the Building Committee in 
 the erection of their fine church edifice. Mr. 
 and Mrs. Brown reside at 124 Laurel Hill 
 Avenue. 
 
 tOBERT R. CONGDON is a promi- 
 nent citizen of New London, now for 
 __^ some time retired from business. 
 He was born in Newport, R.I., April 19, 
 1842, and is a son of the late William P. 
 and Nancy (Tilley) Congdon. His paternal 
 grandfather, Carey Congdon, was born in 
 Newport, R.I., about 1775. He died in the 
 prime of life; and his wife, whose maiden 
 name was Sarah Prior, was left at his death 
 with a family of nine children, six sons and 
 three daughters, the youngest eleven years 
 old. She was a capable and thrifty woman, 
 and was equal to the emergency, rearing all 
 her children respectably. She died in 1858, 
 aged seventy-five years, and is buried in New- 
 port. Of her children three sons — ^John, 
 Joseph, and Robert — learned the cooper's 
 trade, and eventually became sailors, each ris- 
 ing to the rank of captain; and James, Will- 
 iam, and Peleg were merchants. Peleg and 
 John never married, and Robert and Martha 
 had no children. The rest reared families, 
 and all have now passed away. 
 
 William P. Congdon was born in Newport, 
 
iS8 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 R.I., in 1807. He was engaged as clerk in a 
 store in Georgetown, S.C., when he was but 
 fifteen years old; and two years later he went 
 into business himself. In trade over fifty 
 years, he was very successful; and at his 
 death in 1879 he left a valuable property to 
 his children. He was married in Newport, 
 June 26, 1830, to Nancy Tilley, of that city, 
 a member of an old and numerous family. 
 Her immigrant ancestor was William Tilley, 
 an Englishman, born in 1641, who settled in 
 Boston, Mass., and was the first rope-maker 
 in this country (see Genealogy of the Til- 
 ley Family, published in Newport, R.I., in 
 1878). Mrs.. Congdon's grandfather, Will- 
 iam Tilley, was born in Newport, October 19, 
 1738, and died there, April 14, 1825, aged 
 eighty-seven. He was three times married, 
 and by his first wife had seventeen children. 
 During his lifetime his progeny increased to 
 ninety grand-children and thirty great-grand- 
 children. Abraham Tilley, Mrs. Congdon's 
 father, was one of the children born of his 
 father's first marriage. Mrs. Congdon died 
 in 1890. She was the mother of twelve chil- 
 dren, nine of whom attained maturity, namely: 
 William, who went to California in 1849, 
 and was engaged there in silver mining until 
 1876, coming East then to attend the Centen- 
 nial, and who has since resided in Newport; 
 Charlotte, Ruth, and George, all now de- 
 ceased; Sarah, wife of Joseph P. Stevens, of 
 Newport; Robert, the subject of this sketch; 
 James, living in Newport; and Martha and 
 John, both deceased. 
 
 Robert R. Congdon acquired his early 
 education in the district school. In 1859, 
 when he was seventeen years old, he became 
 a clerk in his father's store in Georgetown, 
 S.C, where he was employed until the break- 
 ing out of the Civil War in 1861. He then 
 returned with his father to Newport, and re- 
 
 mained until the close of hostilities, resum- 
 ing business in 1865. The firm of which the 
 younger Mr. Congdon was a member was at 
 that time known as Congdon, Hazard & Co. 
 In 1870, when about twenty-eight years of 
 age, he severed his connection with the firm, 
 and entered the employ of C. D. Boss, a 
 cracker manufacturer in New London. In 
 1879 Mr. Congdon succeeded Mr. Boss as a 
 member of the firm, and was successfully en- 
 gaged in business until 1886, when he retired. 
 In 1885 he purchased the Cheeseboro property 
 on Post Hill. His house, which is located on 
 Nathan Hale Street, is one of the largest, 
 handsomest, and most beautifully situated in 
 the city, commanding a beautiful view of 
 Groton and the Thames. 
 
 Mr. Congdon was married November 12, 
 1867, to Eliza Boss, of this city, daughter of 
 C. D. Boss, whom he succeeded in business. 
 Mr. Boss died in 1895. Three sons — 
 Thomas Boss, Carey, and Robert R., Jr.^ 
 have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Congdon. 
 Thomas Boss Congdon died in 1892, aged 
 eighteen years. Carey Congdon, who studied 
 at the Boston Institute of Technology and at 
 Harvard University, is in the water and 
 sewer department of this city. He has taken 
 several degrees of Masonry, being at present 
 a member of the Blue Lodge, and is Lieu- 
 tenant of Company I, Third Regiment, Con- 
 necticut National Guards. Robert R. Cong- 
 don, Jr., who is a graduate of the Boston 
 English High School and Bryant & Stratton's 
 College, is a clerk in the New London Sav- 
 ings Bank. He, too, is a Mason, and is a 
 private in the militia. Mr. Robert R. Cong- 
 don, Sr., has been elected by the Demo- 
 cratic party in New London, with which he 
 has long been connected, to the offices of 
 Councilman and Water Commissioner, and 
 is at present serving on the Water Board. 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 159 
 
 ALLACE R. CHAMPION, a mer- 
 chant of Black Hall, was born in 
 1848 at Old Lyme, Conn. He is 
 the second child and first son of his parents, 
 Calvin and Anna R. (Slate) Champion. His 
 mother is still living on her farm near this 
 place. He attended the district schools of 
 his native town in his boyhood, and also 
 worked on his father's farm. At the age of 
 twenty-one he became a clerk for R. W. De- 
 Wolf, he remaining in this situation for three 
 years. He then went to Madison, where he 
 continued for two years. Still later he com- 
 menced in business for himself in Hartford, 
 trading in field and country produce. After 
 a year he sold out and removed to Lyme, 
 where he became a partner in the firm of Mor- 
 ley & Champion, who kept a general store. 
 Three years later, on the death of Mr. Mor- 
 ley, George W. DeWolf, Mr. Champion's 
 brother-in-law, became a member of the firm, 
 the name of which was then changed to De- 
 Wolf & Champion. At the end of one year 
 they were succeeded by Champion & Caul- 
 kins. This firm had conducted the business 
 for ten years when Mr. Champion sold his 
 interest to his brother, R. B. Champion. He 
 then went on the road as commercial travel- 
 ler in the gentlemen's furnishing line, travel- 
 ling through New York and the New England 
 States. In 1894 he opened his present store, 
 where he has since carried on a general mer- 
 chandise business. 
 
 In politics Mr. Champion is a Republican, 
 and has been Town Clerk for one year. His 
 religious principles are those of a stanch Bap- 
 tist. In June, 1870, he married Lillie L. 
 Butler, of Rocky Hill, Conn., and now has 
 three children — Edgar R., Florence Augusta, 
 and Gertrude Louise. Edgar R., a graduate 
 of New York City College of Pharmacy, is at 
 present a druggist in Hartford, Conn. He 
 
 is married and is twenty-four years of age. 
 Florence Augusta is a student at Smith 
 College, class of 1898. Gertrude Louise 
 resides with her parents, and attends the 
 Morgan School, where she is taking a pre- 
 paratory course. Mrs. Champion is a Con- 
 gregationalist. Mr. Champion has succeeded 
 in building up a fine trade with his experi- 
 ence, natural adaptability, and pleasing ad- 
 dress. He is highly respected in the town. 
 
 BEL H. HINCKLEY, the Postmaster 
 of Old Mystic, was born in the ad- 
 joining town of Groton, October 
 18, 1839, son of Abel and Abbie Eliza (Bab- 
 cock) Hinckley. The Hinckleys trace their 
 lineage through a long line of noble ances- 
 tors, and are identified with New England 
 history from its earliest period. Samuel 
 Hinckley came from Tenterden, Kent County, 
 England, on the "Hercules," commanded by 
 Captain Witterly, and landed at Boston in 
 1634. In the following year he settled at 
 Scituate; and in 1640 he removed to Barn- 
 stable, where he died October 31, 1662. His 
 son Thomas became Governor of Plymouth 
 Colony. Another son, John Hinckley, was 
 the progenitor of this particular branch of the 
 family. 
 
 Abel Hinckley, who was born on Hinckley 
 Hill, Stonington, November 12, 1803, died 
 September 18, 1883, nearly eighty years of 
 age. His chief occupation was farming. In 
 his earlier years he taught school for twenty- 
 two winters in Stonington, North Stonington, 
 and for six years of the time in Westerly. 
 He served his town as Assessor and in other 
 offices. His wife, in maidenhood Abbie 
 Eliza Babcock, who was born in Groton, Sep- 
 tember 22, 1 81 7, daughter of Stanton Bab- 
 cock, and whom he married May 5, 1836, 
 
i6o 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 died April i, 1894. Of their five children, a 
 son and two daughters reached the years of 
 discretion, namely: Abel H., the subject of 
 this sketch; Alice B., born July 31, 1845, 
 the wife of Allen Avery; and Agnes J., born 
 February 18, 1848, in Groton, the wife of 
 Jefferson O. Bailey. 
 
 Abel H. Hinckley attended the high 
 school in Syracuse, N.Y., of which place his 
 parents were residents from 1848 to i860. 
 At the first call for volunteers he enlisted 
 from Latrobe, Pa., in the Eleventh Pennsyl- 
 vania Regiment, with which he served three 
 months. In 1862 he re-enlisted in the One 
 Hundred and Thirty-fifth Pennsylvania Regi- 
 ment, and was out nine months, rising to the 
 rank of Lieutenant. While living in Syra- 
 cuse, he became interested in the nursery 
 business, with all branches of which he made 
 himself familiar by a five years' apprentice- 
 ship. Thereafter it engrossed his time and 
 attention up to 1886. He owned fourteen 
 acres of land here in Mystic village on Main 
 Street, four acres of which were set with fruit 
 and evergreen trees, and the remainder used 
 for the nursery proper. His trade was a local 
 one. 
 
 When discharged from the army, Mr. 
 Hinckley returned to Latrobe, Pa., and on 
 November 11, 1863, was married to Caroline 
 M. Bair, a daughter of Sebastian and Naomi 
 (Keenor) Bair. Her father, who was a mer- 
 chant and Justice of the Peace, died in 
 March, 1895, when seventy-one years of age, 
 leaving his widow and this one child. Mr. 
 and Mrs. Hinckley have lost their first-born, 
 Minnie G. Hinckley, who died January i, 
 1885, in her twenty-second year. They have 
 one child living, Helen Hobart Hinckley, fif- 
 teen years old, who is attending school and 
 taking piano lessons. They reside on Main 
 Street, where they settled soon after mar- 
 
 riage. In politics Mr. Hinckley is a Demo- 
 crat. He has been a Selectman of the town. 
 Tax Collector for nine years, and has been a 
 Notary Public for some time. He was the 
 Postmaster under President Cleveland's first 
 and second administration, and he has contin- 
 ued in the office so far under President Will- 
 iam McKinley. 
 
 ORACE WAIT TINKER, retired 
 ship-carpenter and builder of Mystic, 
 Conn., was born in the town of 
 Lyme, in the south-western part of New Lon- 
 don County, July 17, 1828. His parents 
 were Charles and Mahala (Beckwith) Tinker. 
 His mother, who was born in Genesee 
 County, New York, in 1805, was the daugh- 
 ter of Joseph and Esther (Wait) Beckwith; 
 and his maternal grandmother was an own 
 cousin of the late Chief Justice Waite. In 
 1842 Charles Tinker died, in middle life, 
 leaving his widow with five children. 
 
 A few years after his father's death Horace, 
 then a boy of about seven years of age, went 
 to live with Nathaniel Wait, a farmer, con- 
 nected with the distinguished family of that 
 name. He lived there twelve years, and was 
 brought up a thorough farmer, working hard 
 in the summer, and attending school in the 
 winter. Mr. Tinker has a vivid remem- 
 brance of the father of Judge Morrison R. 
 Waite, Henry M. Wait, who was the brother 
 of Nathaniel above mentioned. About the 
 year 1858 Mr. Tinker went from Lyme to Old 
 Mystic, Conn., where he worked in the ship- 
 yard of Greenmans and Charles Mallory many 
 years, remaining there until they gave up 
 their business. He became a master of his 
 business, and was most successful and enter- 
 prising as a subcontractor. He has done no 
 active business of any account for the past six 
 years. 
 
HORACE W. TIXKER. 
 
.MRS, IKjKACE W. TIXKEK. 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 i6s 
 
 At the age of twenty-three Mr. Tinker mar- 
 ried Ardelia Smith, the daughter of John and 
 Hope (Whipple) Smith, of Old Mystic, where 
 she was born, June 6, 1826. Three children, 
 two sons and a daughter, were the fruit of 
 their union. All are now living and are mar- 
 ried, the sons, Horace Henry and Charles Al- 
 phonso, being practising physicians in New 
 York City, graduates of the New York Ho- 
 moeopathic College. The daughter, Esther 
 Ardelia Tinker, born October 14, 1869, is the 
 wife of John H. Johnston, of Mystic, and the 
 mother of one son, Charles Horace Johnston. 
 Charles Alphonso, of New York City, has a 
 wife, one son, and one daughter. Mrs. Ar- 
 delia S. Tinker was for the last twenty years 
 of her life a great sufferer from rheumatism, 
 and was most tenderly and devotedly cared 
 for by her husband, he sparing no pains or ex- 
 pense to secure her comfort and happiness. 
 He sustained a deep loss in her death, which 
 occurred in Mystic, December 25, 1896. She 
 was a model wife and mother, and the union 
 between the two was an ideal one. 
 
 Mr. Tinker is bound down to no creed in 
 religion and to no one platform in politics," 
 but on election days he has in the main voted 
 on the Republican side. A man of finely 
 developed physique, which the excellent com- 
 bination of sturdy manual labor and freedom 
 from all bad habits has doubtless done much 
 to preserve, he is possessed of a noble and 
 kindly nature, and is strictly honest. He is 
 devoted to his family, and takes especial pride 
 in his daughter's six-year-old son, a handsome 
 and manly boy, giving great promise for the 
 future. 
 
 7TAHARLES GRISWOLD BART- 
 I \r^ LETT, the principal and proprietor 
 V.k_^ of the Black Hall School, established 
 by him twenty-two years ago, was born in the 
 
 town of Old Lyme on Christmas Day, 1848, 
 son of Shubael Fitch and Fannie (Griswold) 
 Bartlett. He belongs to the ninth genera- 
 tion descended from Robert Bartlett, who 
 came from England on the "Ann" in 1623, 
 and who married Mary Warren. In Mr. Bart- 
 lett's ancestry there are in all seven "May- 
 flower" ancestors. The male line of descent 
 in the Bartlett family from Robert is as fol- 
 lows: Benjamin, Ichabod, Josiah, Ichabod, 
 John, Shubael, Shubael, and Charles. 
 
 The first Shubael Bartlett, who was born 
 in 1779, married Fannie Leffingwell, of Nor- 
 wich, a descendant of Lieutenant Thomas 
 Leffingwell, well known in the Colonial his- 
 tory of this country. In this family were 
 nine children, all of whom had families ex- 
 cepting one son, Henry. Grandfather Bart- 
 lett died at the age of seventy-five, and his 
 widow, at the age of eighty-four. Both are 
 buried at East Windsor. Shubael Bartlett, 
 Jr., was born in East Windsor in 181 1. He 
 was a Yale graduate, class of 1833, and was 
 well known all through this section as Dr. 
 Bartlett. His wife, Fannie, whom he mar- 
 ried on September i, 1842, was born in New 
 London in March, 1822. She bore him three 
 children, one of whom, a daughter, died in 
 infancy. The remaining two are: Charles G. 
 Bartlett; and Mrs. Adaline Bartlett Allyn, 
 now residing with her brother. 
 
 Mr. Bartlett prepared for college at the 
 Hartford High School, and entered Yale, 
 class of 1872. He did not graduate with his 
 class, but' in 1888 the college conferred upon 
 him the honorary degree of Master of Arts. 
 He has become widely known as an educator 
 and as the successful principal of a private 
 school. His institution is so popular that 
 students come to it from nearly every State in 
 the Union. He has about forty boys, to 
 whom he gives full preparation for collegiate 
 
1 66 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 courses. The fine estate on which the school 
 building is now located was formerly the 
 property of Captain George Moore. Since 
 buying it, Mr. Bartlett has enlarged it, made 
 many improvements, and arranged it so as to 
 make it most admirably adapted to his work 
 and to the growing needs of his school. It 
 has a most desirable situation on Long Island 
 Sound and on the Connecticut River, and, in 
 respect to sanitary arrangements and in the 
 facilities it offers to students, is unrivalled. 
 
 On October 3, 1871, Mr. Bartlett married 
 Anna Pierson Terry, of Hartford, daughter 
 of Roderick Terry. Mrs. Bartlett died Feb- 
 ruary 9, 1896, at the age of forty-six years. 
 Their children are: Henriette Collins, who 
 was educated at Orange, N.J., and at Water- 
 bury; Charles Griswold Bartlett, Jr., a stu- 
 dent in Yale University, class of 1899; Sarah 
 Pierson, now at school in Brooklyn, L. I.; 
 Frank Trowbridge, deceased; and Harold 
 Terry, ten years old, who is a pupil in his 
 father's school. On July 6, 1897, a second 
 marriage united Mr. Bartlett with Miss Har- 
 riet Butler Banning, of Old Lyme. In poli- 
 tics he is a conservative Republican, in re- 
 ligious faith an Episcopalian. 
 
 -^ENJAMIN W. JENKINS, a resi- 
 dent farmer of Salem since 1882, 
 was born in New York City, Au- 
 gust 6, 1847, son of William and Harriet A. 
 (Tiniam) Jenkins. The father was a head 
 drayman and carman, and in the steamboat 
 agency. The mother, whom the latter mar- 
 ried May 28, 1846, was a native of Troy, 
 N.Y. Of their six children four are living, 
 namely: Benjamin W., the subject of this 
 sketch; William W., a boss drayman of New 
 York City; Theodore F"ranklin, an agent for 
 a steamboat company; and Lillian A., who 
 
 resides with her brothers at 6 Commerce 
 Street, New York, the home of the only mar- 
 ried brother. When the father died, in 1877, 
 his sons William and Theodore succeeded 
 him in business. The widow died on Decem- 
 ber 27, 1893, at the age of sixty-six years. 
 Both are buried in the Lutheran cemetery on 
 Long Island. While he did not profess any 
 religion, he was kind and generous. 
 
 At the age of twelve years, after receiving 
 a common-school education, Benjamin W. 
 Jenkins began to earn his own living. When 
 fourteen years old he went into the employ of 
 a silversmith in Ball, Black & Co.'s build- 
 ing, remaining for more than six years. In 
 1870 he was employed by Tiffany, the well- 
 known jeweller, who one year later made 
 him foreman of his department, a position 
 that he held for twelve years. In 1882 he be- 
 came the foreman of a department in the 
 Whiting Manufacturing Company. After 
 eleven years spent with this firm, on finding 
 his health in a poor condition, he bought of 
 Wellington S. Gott, for the sum of twenty-six 
 hundred dollars, his present farm of one hun- 
 dred and eighty-five acres. Here he lived 
 quietly for a time, and regained his health. 
 Then he returned to the employment of the 
 Whiting Company, leaving his family on the 
 farm. 
 
 On February 3, 1868, Mr. Jenkins married 
 Susan Cornelia McNaughton, a daughter of 
 James and Agnes McNaughton. Her father, 
 who served in the Federal navy during the 
 Civil War, at the close of the war was num- 
 bered among the missing, and without doubt 
 lost his life in the cause of the Union. Mr. 
 and Mrs. Jenkins have three children, as fol- 
 lows: Agnes C, wife of William R. Golding, 
 who resides in Tenafly, N.J., and has three 
 children; Grace E., who is the wife of Alvin 
 F. Fargo, a farmer in Bozrah, and has one 
 
h'liCIMIKX H. HAL.L. 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 169 
 
 son; and Mary I., who is the wife of Edward 
 W. Fargo, of New London, has two sons. In 
 politics Mr. Jenkins supports the Republican 
 ticket. He is a member of the Knights of 
 Honor, .and was formerly connected with the 
 Order of United American Mechanics. Con- 
 sidering his early training and long residence 
 in a great city, Mr. Jenkins has been fairly 
 successful as a farmer among the Connecticut 
 hills. 
 
 IRA J. MARTIN, the superintendent of 
 the Bozrahville cotton-mill, was born in 
 Sterling, Conn., June 8, 1857, son of 
 William D. and Maria M. (Harrington) Mar- 
 tin, who were natives respectively of Kill- 
 ingly and Woodstock, Conn. The father, 
 who was for some years a cotton-mill super- 
 intendent, later in life invented a turbine 
 water-wheel. He died when his son, Ira J., 
 the subject of this sketch, was nine years old. 
 Ira J. Martin began life for himself at the 
 age of eleven years as an operative in the 
 Whitestone Mill at East Killingly. Here 
 for some years he was employed during the 
 summer season, and attended school during 
 the winter. At the age of twenty he went to 
 Pawtucket, R.I., where he was for a short 
 time a pupil at the high school. From Paw- 
 tucket he went to Springvale, Me., as over- 
 seer in the Springvale cotton-mills; and a 
 short time later he went to North Uxbridge, 
 Mass., where he was employed in the same 
 capacity at the Uxbridge cotton-mill for four 
 years. After working as overseer in the 
 Smithville mills at Willimantic for a time, 
 he was appointed superintendent of the Staf- 
 ford Manufacturing Company's mills in Paw- 
 tucket. In the spring of 1892 he accepted 
 his present position, that of superintendent of 
 the Bozrahville cotton-mills, and has since 
 
 devoted his energy and experience to this en- 
 terprise. He has under his direction an aver- 
 age of one hundred and twenty-five hands, and 
 the quality of goods turned out at these mills 
 has acquired a high reputation. 
 
 Since coming to Bozrah, Mr. Martin has 
 taken much interest in public affairs, acting 
 with the Republican party. Since 1894 he 
 has been the chairman of the Republican 
 Town Committee. He is a Justice of the 
 Peace; has served as the chairman of the 
 Board of School Visitors; is connected with 
 the Masonic fraternity of Uxbridge, Mass., 
 the Ancient Order of United Workmen of 
 Lebanon, Conn., and with the Royal Arcanum 
 of Norwich. Also he is the chairman of the 
 Executive Committee of the Bozrahville Re- 
 ligious Union, an incorporated society in 
 which he takes an active interest. 
 
 He wedded Verina L. Pray, a native of 
 Killingly, and has a family of seven children. 
 A self-made man, he is held in high consider- 
 ation by the people of Bozrah; and he fully 
 merits the respect accorded to him. 
 
 1p)T0N. STEPHEN H. HALL, Po.st- 
 r^H master of Norwich, Conn., the post- 
 J-^® \^ office here having been under his 
 able management since April i, 1894, was 
 born in Waterford, Saratoga County, N.Y., 
 January 3, 1849, son of Henry M. and Betsey 
 (Van Voorheis) Hall, His grandfather Hall 
 was a native of Massachusetts and a lifelong 
 resident of that State. He married Miss 
 Sophia Cooley. 
 
 Henry M. Hall was born in Springfield, 
 Mass., in 1820. He was an iron moulder by 
 trade, and for many years was superintendent 
 of the foundry in Elizabethport, N.J. He 
 died in 1863, aged forty-two. Betsey Van 
 Voorheis, to whom he was married in 1848 at 
 
lyo 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 Clifton Park, Waterford, where the early years 
 of their wedded life were spent, was a daugh- 
 ter of Jeremy and Ann (Lasalle) Van Voor- 
 heis. She bore her husband three children; 
 namely, Stephen H., Charles, and George D. 
 Charles Hall, born in 1850, died in Water- 
 ford, N.Y. , in 1880, leaving a wife and two 
 children, one a son, George, living in Water- 
 ford. George D. Hall is a machinist in 
 Waterford, and has two sons. Their mother 
 continues to live on the old Waterford home- 
 stead, and is still very active despite her 
 seventy-three years. 
 
 Stephen H. Hall was an attendant of the 
 Waterford district school until fourteen years 
 of age. Then, in 1863, his father having 
 died, he'started out for himself, without cash 
 capital, and with his few earthly possessions 
 tied together in a bundle. When leaving 
 home he intended to become a sailor; but in- 
 stead of shipping he replied to an advertise- 
 ment in a Springfield paper for a newsboy, 
 and was soon installed in the news store of 
 A. F. Jennings, of that city, where he worked 
 over two years, beginning at one dollar and a 
 half per week and board. His next position 
 was in the pistol manufactory of Smith & 
 Wesson, he being the only boy employed 
 there. He remained in the factory for four 
 years, during which time he gained a thor- 
 ough knowledge of certain parts of the me- 
 chanical work. In 1869 he went West, and 
 spent the succeeding two or three years in 
 various places, securing work first in Chicago, 
 later successively at Des Moines and Council 
 Bluffs, la., and Omaha, Neb., engaging in 
 the then new enterprise of rubber-stamp mak- 
 ing. He also went South to Missouri, Texas, 
 Arkansas, and Tennessee, then back to In- 
 diana, Ohio, Michigan, and Canada, meeting 
 with good financial success. In 1873 he 
 came to Norwich, and went to work in the 
 
 pistol factory, where he remained for fifteen 
 years. 
 
 He was elected in 1887 a member of the 
 upper house of the State legislature over 
 H. H. Osgood, the Republican candidate, and 
 served two years. After that he went into the 
 mail service as route agent from Boston to 
 New York City, working at this sixteen 
 months. In 1888 he was the Democratic 
 candidate for Congress, and ran ahead of his 
 ticket, coming closer to an election than any 
 of his predecessors had done. His Republi- 
 can opponent received a majority of somewhat 
 over six hundred, which, compared with the 
 majority of over three thousand given the Re- 
 publican candidate in 1894, speaks well for 
 Mr. Hall. He served on the School Board 
 three years. In his religious views he is a 
 Universalist. Fraternally, he is a member of 
 the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, in 
 which he has passed the different chairs; of 
 the Knights of Pythias; the Improved Order 
 of Red Men; the A. O. U. W. ; the New 
 England Order of Protection ; the Veteran 
 Fire Association; and the Foresters. Mr. 
 Hall is president of the local board of the 
 Guarantee Savings Loan and Investment Com- 
 pany of Washington, D. C. In the New York 
 Joiimars vote for Connecticut's most popular 
 man Mr. Hall was second, receiving eighty- 
 four thousand and thirty-nine votes. Ex- 
 Governor Waller was first, receiving ninety- 
 two thousand. 
 
 On November 2, 1878, Mr. Hall was mar- 
 ried to Miss Caroline E. Blackwell, of East 
 Wareham, Mass. Her parents were Ellis and 
 Elizabeth Blackwell, and she has one brother, 
 Thomas Blackwell; of East Wareham. There 
 were two sisters, but neither is now living. 
 Maude E. Hall, the only child of Mr. and 
 Mrs. Hall, is a student in Norwich Free Acad- 
 emy. The family reside at 22 Fairmont Street. 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 171 
 
 lAPTAIN DANIEL WEBSTER 
 CHESTER, a well-known sea cap- 
 tain of Noank and a son of Charles 
 and Betsy (Wilbur) Chester, was born here, 
 January 14, 1839. His ancestors were among 
 the first settlers of New England. The first 
 Chester of whom there is a record was a certain 
 Captain John Chester, who, it is said, came 
 from England in his own ship. Nathan Ches- 
 ter, the grandfather of Captain Daniel, was 
 born April 14, 1765, at the Chester farm near 
 Eastern Point. He followed farming on the 
 old homestead, a mile distant from Noank, 
 and lived to be ninety years of age. With his 
 wife, who was a Wallsworth, he reared seven 
 sons and one daughter. Nathan, the eldest of 
 these children, went to Ohio, where he was 
 president of a college. Asa and Eldredge, 
 who were twins, settled at Albion, N.Y. Ex- 
 cepting Albert, all Nathan's children are de- 
 ceased. Their descendants still live in the 
 West. Charles Chester, the father of the 
 subject of this sketch, born in Noank about 
 1794, died in 1848. He married Betsy Wil- 
 bur, of Noank, who, born in 1800, died in 
 1884. Their four children were: Delia, who 
 is now the widow of George Chipman, of 
 Noank, and has one daughter; William 
 Chester, who was a bachelor, and died in 
 1863; and Charles Ira Chester, of Noank, 
 born in 1834. 
 
 Captain Daniel Webster Chester was edu- 
 cated in the district schools, which he at- 
 tended until about thirteen years of age, 
 being employed for eight months of the year 
 on a fishing-smack. For the past twenty 
 years he has been "Captain" Chester. Dur- 
 ing the first ten years of this time he was em- 
 ployed in the coasting trade with Southern 
 ports and the West Indies. In the last ten 
 years he sailed to Australia, Africa, Europe, 
 Peru, and the Philippine Islands. The two 
 
 latter places were visited while the Chilian 
 War was waging. His coasting service of 
 five years was performed on the "Triumph," 
 a two-masted schooner. His second boat, 
 which served him for five years, was a three- 
 master; and his last ship was a three-master 
 of eighteen hundred tons, called "The Daunt- 
 less," built in Mystic, and in which he made 
 his foreign voyages. This vessel was cast 
 away on the coast of Africa. He abandoned 
 his seafaring life in 1883. Since that time 
 he has been engaged in the coal business. 
 About twenty-seven years ago he erected his 
 residence at the corner of Chapel Street and 
 Chester Avenue. 
 
 On December 10, 1863, Captain Chester 
 married Mary Emma Fitch, of Noank, daugh- 
 ter of Elisha and Mary Peabody Fitch, of the 
 same place. Her grandparents were Latham 
 and Waty (Burrows) Fitch. Mr. Fitch, a na- 
 tive of Groton, followed the sea, and died in 
 1808. His wife was born August 18, 1769, 
 and died May 22, 1863. Nathan Burrows, the 
 maternal grandfather of Mrs. Chester, lived 
 in the village now known as Mystic, where 
 his house afforded a hospitable retreat to refu- 
 gees from Fisher's Island, Long Island, and 
 Block Island. Many were the interesting 
 stories that Mrs. Waty Fitch related to her 
 children, grandchildren, and great-grandchil- 
 dren, of the stirring events of the Revolution. 
 Among them she told of the massacre at Fort 
 Griswold in 1781; of the burning of the 
 houses on Fisher's Island in the first bom- 
 bardment of the coast in September, 1775; 
 and of the mutiny, three years later, on the 
 privateer "Eagle," in which several of her 
 friends were murdered. She had nine chil- 
 dren, eight of whom, four sons and four 
 daughters, reached maturity. Captain Ches- 
 ter and his wife have had five children, 
 namely: Lizzie D,, who died at the age of 
 
172 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 nine years; Juliette F., who was educated at 
 Wilbraham; Hattie, who died when nine 
 months old; John D. W., now a student at 
 Colgate University in Hamilton, N. Y., class 
 of 1899; ^nd Claude Milton, a graduate of 
 Bulkeley School, and now attending Colgate. 
 Both the Captain and Mrs. Chester are mem- 
 bers of the Baptist church. Captain Chester 
 is a trustee and the treasurer of the society. 
 
 ;^ILAS B. WHEELER, an enter- 
 prising and progressive agricultur- 
 ist of Stonington, Conn., has been 
 identified with the leading interests of this 
 section of New London County for many years 
 as an educator, a town officer, and a member 
 of the legislature. He was born June 25, 
 1845, on the farm where he now resides, and 
 which was also the birthplace of his father, 
 the late Hiram W. Wheeler. He is of Eng- 
 lish antecedents, the emigrant ancestor on 
 both sides being Thomas Wheeler, who came 
 to this country in the very early part of the 
 seventeenth century, and is likewise a direct 
 descendant of John Alden and Priscilla Mul- 
 lins. The homestead property, originally 
 containing one hundred and sixty acres, was 
 formerly owned by the great-grandfather of 
 Mr. Wheeler, who willed it to his sons, Na- 
 thaniel and Silas, the latter being the grand- 
 father of Silas B. The first house on the 
 place was built in 1680; but of this nothing is 
 left standing excepting the large stone chim- 
 ney, the remainder having been taken down in 
 1895. 
 
 Hiram W. Wheeler was born February 19, 
 1805, and spent his life engaged in agricult- 
 ural pursuits on the homestead, his death oc- 
 curring here, January 19, 1891. He married 
 Mary B. Wheeler, who was a distant relative. 
 She was born in Stonington, January i, 181 2, 
 
 and died December 14, 1885. On February 
 I, 1832, the union of the parents was solem- 
 nized. They had five children, as follows: 
 Hiram W. , born November 19, 1832, a car- 
 penter by trade, went to Minnesota when a 
 young man, and was accidentally drowned Au- 
 gust 27, 1856, in the Mississippi River; Sam- 
 uel A., born October 23, 1838, a resident of 
 Providence, R. I., is superintendent of the 
 Consolidated Railroad from New London to 
 Providence; the Hon. Ralph Wheeler, born 
 May 14, 1843, was graduated from Yale in 
 1864, studied law in Mystic and Ohio, is a 
 leading attorney of New London, of which he 
 is an ex-Mayor and Judge of the Superior 
 Court, an office to which he was appointed in 
 1893; Silas B. , the special subject of this 
 brief biographical sketch; and Mary A., born 
 January 30, 1850, who lives on the old home- 
 stead with her brother Silas. 
 
 Silas B. Wheeler was graduated from the 
 Mystic River Academy when but sixteen 
 years of age, and at once began his profes- 
 sional career, continuing for twenty-eight con- 
 secutive years as a teacher in the public 
 schools of this locality. In 1868 he was 
 elected a member of the Town Board of Edu- 
 cation, in which he has since done faithful 
 service, his thorough acquaintance with the 
 duties and needs of the schools making him a 
 most efficient and desirable official. He has 
 also been Assessor, a member of the Board 
 of Relief, a Justice of the Peace, and in 1888 
 was elected as a Representative to the State 
 legislature, in which he served on the Educa- 
 tional Committee. In 1890 he was re-elected 
 to the same responsible position, and during 
 that term was a member of the Committee 
 on Railroads. Having given up his school to 
 enter the legislature, Mr. Wheeler has since 
 turned his attention to farming, occupying the 
 ancestral homestead, which he bought from 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 173 
 
 the remaining heirs after his father's death. 
 This contains one hundred and twenty acres of 
 land, and three miles away he has another 
 farm of one hundred acres. He carries on 
 the various branches of mixed farming with 
 success. 
 
 On September 3, 1872, Mr. Wheeler mar- 
 ried Mary A. Cooper, of Centreville, R.I., a 
 daughter of the Rev. John Cooper, who came 
 from England to Connecticut, and was for 
 many years a manufacturer in Woodstock, 
 Conn., and afterward became a Methodist 
 clergyman. 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Wheeler have had four chil- 
 dren: Edna M. was born August 20, 1873, 
 graduated from Wesleyan Academy, Wil- 
 braham, Mass., in June, 1891, and was mar- 
 ried October 20, 1896, to Orson C. Pulver, a 
 merchant of Hillsdale, N.Y. ; Ralph C. was 
 born November 5, 1876, completed his educa- 
 tion at the Connecticut Literary Institute, 
 Suffield, Conn., and is now in business at 
 Dedham, Mass. ; Richard W. was born May 
 3, 1885, and died March 16, 1S88; and Helen 
 L. was born August 12, 1889. 
 
 In politics Mr. Wheeler is a Democrat. 
 
 'AMES F. BUGBEE, a well-known 
 merchant of Lyme, was born in Tol- 
 land, Conn., on the last day of Janu- 
 ary, 1863, son of A. S. Bugbee and his wife, 
 Serepta Barrows Bugbee. He represents the 
 fifth generation of his family in America, his 
 great-great-grandparents having come from 
 England when their son, John Bugbee, his 
 great-grandfather, was but a youth. They 
 were industrious people in humble circum- 
 stances. John Bugbee was a tailor by trade, 
 and lived to be an old man. His son Alan- 
 son, a farmer in Tolland County, now retired 
 and living in Hartford, was born in Mans- 
 
 field, August 25, 1804, and at the age of 
 ninety-three is still remarkably well and 
 strong for his years, and in possession of all 
 his faculties. He was a manufacturer of 
 woollen goods in Tolland, and at one time had 
 three stores. He met with heavy loss through 
 indorsement and fire, but in all business was 
 thoroughly honest, and would never keep a 
 cent that was not lawfully his own. His 
 wife, Abigail Spellman, of Stafford, who died 
 in 1887, at the age of seventy-nine, was the 
 mother of nine children, eight of whom, five 
 sons and three daughters, grew to maturity. 
 One of the sons, Sylvester by name, enlisted 
 in the cavalry at eighteen, and had served 
 nearly three years in the Civil War, rising 
 from the ranks to be Sergeant, when he was 
 killed at Wilson's Raid, being then but 
 twenty-one. The living children of Alanson 
 Bugbee are: Arthur, of Springfield, Mass.; 
 Walter, in Middletown, Conn. ; and Mr. 
 A. S. Bugbee, of Saybrook, born in 1832. 
 
 For eight years Mr. James F. Bugbee was 
 in business at Silltown in Lyme, in company 
 with R. W. Chadwick, the firm being R. W. 
 Chadwick & Co., dealers in flour, feed, and 
 grain. In 1889 the firm sold out, and Mr. 
 Bugbee bought the stock and trade of Robert 
 Ebell at the general merchandise store where 
 he is now located and carrying on a successful 
 trade. Mr. Bugbee is a Master Mason of 
 Pythagoras Lodge, No. 45, of Lyme, and also 
 a member of the I. O. O. F. In politics he 
 is a Democrat. He has been a member of the 
 Board of Relief, and is one of the Selectmen 
 of the town. In 1895 he was sent as Repre- 
 sentative to the legislature, and served his 
 constituents to their satisfaction and to his 
 own credit. Both Mr. and Mrs. Bugbee are 
 members and earnest supporters of the Con- 
 gregational church. 
 
 On July II, 1880, Mr. Bugbee was married 
 
174 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 to Mary Louise, daughter of Thomas S. and 
 Charlotte Augusta (Rogers) Swan. Her 
 father, a native of East Haddam, was born in 
 i8i 5, and died in 1882 ; and her mother, a na- 
 tive of Lyme, was born in 1824, and died in 
 1870. Grandfather Thomas W. Swan, father 
 of Thomas S., was a man of note in public 
 life. His wife was Louisa Emmons, of East 
 Haddam. She bore him three sons and three 
 daughters. Thomas S. Swan was a farmer in 
 Old Lyme, near Laysville, and was very 
 prominent in public affairs in the town. He 
 served as a Representative in the legislature, 
 was Town Clerk for over twenty-five years, 
 and was actively interested in educational 
 matters. Mr. and Mrs. Swan had five chil- 
 dren, of whom four grew to maturity; namely, 
 T. Walter, Ada, Helen, and Mary Louise. 
 T. Walter Swan, born in 1846, was graduated 
 from Yale College in the class of 1869, was 
 admitted to the bar in 1871, and died in Flor- 
 ida in 1878 of lung trouble. His wife sur- 
 vives him, together with a son, T. Walter 
 Swan, Jr., in Yale, and Isabel, also a student 
 in college. Ada Augusta is a widow, and 
 lives at Shelburne Falls, Mass. Helen 
 Lizzie was the wife of Austin Perkins, of Nor- 
 wich. She died in Kingston, N.Y., in 1890, 
 on the loth of September, at the age of thirty- 
 one years. Mary Louise was educated in the 
 common schools of Lyme and in Norwich. 
 She was married to Mr. Bugbee at the age of 
 nineteen, and began her wedded life in this 
 town. Mr. and Mrs. Bugbee have one child, 
 a daughter Ruth, eleven years of age. 
 
 One of Mrs. Bugbee's great-grandfathers on 
 the maternal side was Lynde Lord, born at 
 Lyme in 1767. He was a descendant of 
 William Lord, who was born in England in 
 1623, came to America with his father, 
 Thomas Lord, in 1635, and was a compara- 
 tively early settler of Saybrook. Lynde Lord 
 
 married Mehitable Marvin, a descendant of 
 Reynold Marvin, who came from England 
 about the year 1635, it is thought, and died 
 in Lyme in 1662. Matilda, daughter of 
 Lynde Lord and grandmother of Mrs. Bugbee, 
 was born in 1794, and married in 1822 John 
 Rogers, a graduate of Yale in the class of 
 1815 and a physician. He removed to Ohio 
 in 1837, where he died many years later. 
 His two children were: Mrs. Bugbee's 
 mother; and an older daughter now living in 
 Ohio. 
 
 ALTER FISH, one of the progres- 
 sive farmers of Groton, was born in 
 his present abode, November 22, 
 1854, son of William R. and Lydia (Will- 
 iams) Fish. He is a descendant of John 
 Fish, who settled in Groton, Conn., as early 
 as 1655, being one of the first settlers there. 
 Captain Samuel Fish, son of John, and the 
 next in line of descent, was born in 1656 or 
 1657. His name occurs in the patents of 
 New London in 1704, the year prior to the 
 incorporation of Groton. He was the second 
 townsman in Groton on its organization, and 
 was re-elected to this position for many years. 
 In the French and Indian War he bore a Cap- 
 tain's commission. His lands, which must 
 have exceeded a thousand acres, were situated 
 between the Mystic River and the north-east 
 spur of Fort Hill. Near the centre of his es- 
 tate was Pequot Hill, between which and the 
 river he built his house. His son, Nathan 
 Fish, the paternal great-great-grandfather of 
 Walter Fish, was a shoemaker by trade. 
 After he lost his parents, he was reared to 
 manhood on Shelter Island, New York, where 
 he learned his trade. He was also a farmer. 
 His son Sands followed the same pursuits in 
 Mystic, Conn. Simeon, son of Sands and the 
 grandfather of Walter Fish, was a ship- 
 
WALTER FISH, 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 177 
 
 builder, being one of four who established the 
 old Field ship-yard. His partners were: 
 William Clift, who left the sea to engage in 
 the enterprise; Nathan S. Fish, his brother; 
 and William E. Maxson. They began by 
 building fishing smacks. Later they fur- 
 nished coasting-vessels for the cotton trade, 
 and clipper ships for the California trade. 
 Among many fine craft of their construction 
 was the "B. F. Hoxie," which was well known 
 to the merchant marine service in California. 
 Grandfather Simeon married Eliza, daughter 
 of Jedediah Randall, on whose land the ship- 
 yard was located. Mr. Randall was an out- 
 fitter, and prepared many whaling-vessels for 
 sea. Simeon, who was born here in 1797, 
 died in 1861, at the age of sixty-four years. 
 His wife, who was six years younger, survived 
 him fifteen years. Their children were: 
 William R.; Nathan S., of Mystic; and Jede- 
 diah Randall Fish, of New London. 
 
 William R. Fish was born in the village of 
 Mystic, July 17, 1824. From the time he 
 was fifteen years of age he worked on the 
 farm, toiling for almost a half-century. This 
 farm of one hundred acres is one of the best 
 of its size in this section. In 1849 William 
 married Lydia Williams, of Ledyard, Conn. 
 Her parents were Erastus and Nancy (Hewitt) 
 Williams, her father having been the son of 
 the third William Williams. She had three 
 children — ^ Ida, Mary, and Walter. Ida mar- 
 ried Russell W. Welles at Poquonnock 
 Bridge, and Mary married Thomas Wolf on 
 this farm. The father was a member of the 
 Baptist church from early youth. He died in 
 May, 1890, in the sixty-sixth year of his age. 
 The mother passed away on October 8, 1896, 
 sixty-seven years old. The house in which 
 they ended their life had been their residence 
 since it had been erected by the father in 1864. 
 
 Walter Fish, after completing his studies at 
 
 the academy, engaged in farming, which he 
 follows in an up-to-date manner. He has two 
 silos, which were the first built in this sec- 
 tion, with a capacity of one hundred and 
 seventy-five tons, and which he fills with corn 
 grown from twelve acres, gathering from his 
 land twelve Jiundred bushels besides. He has 
 the latest and best farming implements, in- 
 cluding a portable steam-engine. As a 
 breeder and dealer in the superior Brown 
 Swiss stock he stands second to none, and 
 now keeps thirty head of cattle on his farm. 
 On a part of the original farm that he sold, 
 many village homes have been erected. The 
 many massive and well-built walls surround- 
 ing and dividing the property represent a vast 
 amount of labor and expense. For several 
 years he has been the president of the Brown 
 Swiss Breeders' Association of America, in 
 which capacity his father served for twelve 
 years or more before his death. 
 
 In 1884 Mr. Fish married Eunice Avery, 
 of Preston, Conn. They have a comely and 
 interesting daughter, Fanny Ella, who was 
 born November 14, 1888. Mr. Fish is a 
 member of the Baptist church. Mrs. Fish is 
 a daughter of Erasmus and Eunice (Williams) 
 Avery, both of whom reside near her. She 
 is a descendant of Christopher Avery, who, 
 born in England in 1590, lived in Gloucester, 
 Mass., in 1644, officiating as Selectman. 
 His son James, born in England in 1620, 
 married Joanna Greenslade in Boston. The 
 line of descent comes through Christopher; 
 James; James (second); John; John, Jr.; and 
 Robert, the grandfather of Mrs. Fish. 
 Through the Avery family she traces her an- 
 cestry to Elder Brewster, of the "Mayflower." 
 In their possession is a fine specimen of the 
 tall, old-fashioned clock, which was built by 
 John Avery, her great-grandfather, and is re- 
 garded as an heirloom of the Williams family. 
 
178 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 Tp)TARRIET HUBBARD, a respected 
 Y^\ resident of Stonington, is a daughter 
 -i-^ \^_^ of George and Sally (Swan) Hub- 
 bard, both of this town, and was born Septem- 
 ber 2, 1812. Her grandfather, John Hub- 
 bard, was one of three brothers, young men of 
 means, who came to this country from Eng- 
 land, and spent here the rest of their lives. 
 The grandfather settled in Windsor County, 
 near Hartford, Conn., where he died when 
 over eighty years of age. His wife was in 
 maidenhood Susanna Mills; and they had 
 three sons — John, Job, and George. George 
 Hubbard, father of Miss Harriet Hubbard, 
 was born in Windsor County, July 23, 1780. 
 Entering Yale College, he subsequently took 
 a degree there; and in 1807 he came to Ston- 
 ington, where he practised law for many 
 years, becoming one of the leading lawyers in 
 the town. He had a financial interest in 
 shipping, and was also the founder of the 
 Stonington Bank. A loyal citizen, interested 
 in public affairs, he was elected Representa- 
 tive of the town for several terms, serving 
 both in the upper and lower house. He 
 was also a Master Mason. In 1809 he mar- 
 ried Mrs. Sally Swan Phelps, widow of 
 Dr. Charles Phelps, who died in 1800, leav- 
 ing her with four children, three sons and one 
 daughter, none of whom lived beyond middle 
 life. She was born October 5, 1772, and died 
 in 1 841, at sixty-nine years of age. Mr. 
 Hubbard died in 1853, his death being widely 
 regretted. He left his daughter a fair com- 
 petency. He and his wife were the parents of 
 three children — George, Harriet, and one 
 that died in infancy. George, born in 18 10, 
 was for many years Collector of the Port at 
 Stonington. Miss Harriet Hubbard received 
 a liberal education, attending schools in Ston- 
 ington, New Haven, and New York. After 
 finishing her studies, she returned to her na- 
 
 tive village, where she has since resided, 
 doing much good in a quiet, unobtrusive way. 
 She is an earnest worker in the Second Con- 
 gregational Church, and is the last surviving 
 member of her family. 
 
 ATTHEW STILLMAN CLARK, 
 a well-known and esteemed citizen 
 of Salem, was born in the town 
 of Westerly, R.I., January 13, 1816, eighty- 
 two years ago, son of Augustus and Ruth 
 (Barker) Clark. The family is noted for its 
 longevity. Grandfather Clark was an octo- 
 genarian, and his wife also lived to be very 
 old. Mr. Clark's mother, who was a Barker, 
 of Newport, R.I., died at the age of eighty- 
 five. She had nine children, six of whom 
 lived to maturity. George Barker Clark went 
 to Jasper County, Illinois, forty years ago. 
 
 Matthew Clark received his education partly 
 in Westerly, R.I., and partly in Franklin, 
 New London County, to which place his par- 
 ents removed when he was about sixteen years 
 old. He spent two years, 1855 and 1856, in 
 Poquonock, where he was engaged in the sash 
 and blind industry. In 1848 he married Har- 
 riet M. Pratt, daughter of Joshua and Hannah 
 A. (Brown) Pratt, of Lyme. Her maternal 
 grandfather. Deacon William Brown, of Gro- 
 ton, was a soldier in the Revolution. Her 
 father, Joshua Pratt, who was a blacksmith by 
 trade, served as a Drum Major in the War of 
 1812. He settled in Salem when a young 
 man, and married first Abby Way, who died 
 leaving two daughters. By his second wife 
 also he had two daughters, but Mrs. Clark is 
 now the only surviving member of the family. 
 Mr. Pratt died at the age of eighty-three 
 years. His widow passed away at their old 
 home about 1879, aged eighty-seven. 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Clark lost one son at the age 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 179 
 
 of eleven months, Arthur Henry by name. 
 They have three living children, namely: 
 Joshua P., who conducts the farm, saw-mill, 
 grist-mill, and shingle-mill, and who is mar- 
 ried and has one son, Charles Stillman Clark, 
 now five years of age; Thomas S., also a resi- 
 dent of this place, and married; and Ora E. , 
 wife of Nathaniel Clark, and a resident of 
 this town. Mr. Nathaniel Clark is a relative 
 of the family by marriage only. 
 
 The original owner of the Clark homestead 
 was Lavine Stoddard, who built the dam and 
 the grist-mill in 18 12. The Clarks settled 
 here forty years ago, the farm then compris- 
 ing fifty-four acres of land, with the saw and 
 grist mill. Mr. Clark erected a shingle-mill 
 a few years later, which has proved profitable 
 to him and of benefit to the community. He 
 made one hundred and fifty thousand shingles 
 in one year, which he sold at two and one-half 
 dollars per thousand. During the same year he 
 ground eleven thousand bushels of grain, and 
 his saw-mill netted him two hundred dollars. 
 The property has doubled in value since it 
 came into his possession. Mr. Clark, in 
 spite of his eighty-two years, is a hale and ac- 
 tive man, and retains all his faculties unim- 
 paired. He has not even been obliged to use 
 eye-glasses, now so generally worn; and to 
 his intellectual powers the years have only 
 added strength. 
 
 ^ENJAMIN FRANKLIN WILL- 
 '^^r\ lAMS, a prosperous farmer of Ston- 
 ington, was born in Ledyard, 
 Conn., September 7, 1841, son of Seth and 
 Lucy A. (Noyes) Williams. The grand- 
 father, Seth Williams, was an industrious 
 farmer of Ledyard, who had six children, 
 three sons and three daughters. The father, 
 Seth Williams, second, born in Ledyard in 
 
 1 80 1, married Lucy Ann, a daughter of Jo- 
 seph and Zerviah (Wheeler) Noyes. Her 
 mother was a daughter of Paul Wheeler, a 
 man of wealth and note in his time. Mr, 
 and Mrs. Williams had ten children: Seth 
 N. ; Lucy Ann; Eunice Servia; Harriet; 
 Newel Gurdon ; Joseph Warren; William 
 Henry; Benjamin Franklin, the subject of 
 this sketch; Abbie Eliza; and Orrin Merwin. 
 Eight of them are still living. 
 
 Benjamin Williams attended the district 
 schools until he was fifteen years old, when 
 he was sent to a boarding-school in East 
 Greenwich, where he studied three years. He 
 then entered Phillips Academy at Andover, 
 Mass., where he finished the usual course of 
 study. Returning to Ledyard, at the begin- 
 ning of the Civil War he was one of the first 
 volunteers, but was rejected on account of 
 rheumatism. He then turned his attention to 
 farming as his chief occupation, although 
 later in life he has done much business as ad- 
 ministrator of estates and conservator of the 
 unfortunate and as guardian of minors. He 
 has taken a prominent part in public affairs. 
 He served as School Visitor for nine years, 
 during which time he was clerk of the School 
 Board, and for sixteen years was District 
 Committeeman. Although he is a firm Re- 
 publican and the town of Stonington is Dem- 
 ocratic by a large majority, he is now serving 
 his eighth consecutive year as Selectman, four 
 of which years he was First Selectman. Mr. 
 Williams took an active part in securing for 
 Mystic the new velvet plant of the Rossie 
 Brothers, of Germany; and, when the Mystic 
 Industrial Company was formed in the winter 
 of 1897, he was chosen one of the directors, 
 and was elected its first president. He joined 
 the First Congregational Church in Stoning- 
 ton in 1866, and has since been a member of 
 the Society Committee. He has been a 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 Deacon since October 4, 1868, and superin- 
 tendent of the Sunday-school since 1874. 
 Since 1888 he has been treasurer of the so- 
 ciety and of the church fund, amounting to 
 twenty-five thousand dollars. He lives on a 
 farm which was settled by his father-in-law 
 thirty-five years ago, and carries on a large 
 dairy. 
 
 Mr. Williams was married February 4, 
 1864, to Ann Louisa, a daughter of Nathan 
 S. and Nancy (Dennison) Noyes, of Stoning- 
 ton. They have had eight children, only 
 three of whom are living. Nathan, the eld- 
 est, died in 1892, leaving a widow; Everett 
 and Joseph died in infancy; George passed 
 away in 1876, at the age of seven years; 
 Eliza Dennison died in 1880, at the age of 
 five; Frank Lincoln, a commercial traveller, 
 is unmarried, and makes his home with his 
 parents; Annie Louise is the wife of Noyes 
 Palmer; and Clarence Henry is a commercial 
 traveller. 
 
 TT^APTAIN JAMES F. SMITH, the 
 I jp proprietor of a steamboat line running 
 
 vjf_^ between New London and the east 
 end of Long Island, and a member of the New 
 London Board of Aldermen, was born in this 
 city, December 17, 1837, son of Franklin F. 
 and Mary C. (Chapel) Smith. He comes of 
 a family of sailors, and is the sixth James 
 Smith, each succeeding generation giving to 
 the world one of that name. His great-grand- 
 father and grandfather, both named James, 
 were seafaring men. The grandfather, who 
 was lost from a privateer when about forty- 
 four years of age, married a Miss Hempstead, 
 who lived to be quite old. They reared six 
 sons and five daughters of whom all but one 
 nearly reached the age of eighty. Only one 
 of this family is living to-day. Five of the 
 sons — Parker, Robert, James, Franklin F. , 
 
 and Richard — ^ were successful ship-masters 
 in the whaling trade. The other, John, was 
 cut off in the flower of young manhood, being 
 lost from the topsail-yard of his vessel off the 
 Cape of Good Hope. 
 
 Franklin F. Smith was born in New Lon- 
 don about 1800. He followed the sea during 
 a large part of his life as the captain of a 
 whaler. For some time he was a member of 
 the firm of Perkins & Smith, whaling agents; 
 and at one time he was quite wealthy. He 
 died in 1872; and his wife died about five 
 years later, in the seventy-fifth year of her 
 age. Five children were born to this couple, 
 four of whom grew to maturity. The latter 
 are: James F., the subject of this sketch; 
 Frank, a seafaring man ; and Chelsea and 
 Elias P., who reside in this city. 
 
 James F. Smith acquired his education in a 
 district school of New London and at East- 
 hampton (Mass.) Institute. His first voy- 
 age was made to California with his father, 
 who was at that time the captain of the ship 
 "Charles Carroll"; and he first sailed as a 
 hired seaman on the ship "Crystal Palace" 
 in 1855, receiving five dollars a month for 
 seventeen months. In 1865 he was offered a 
 captain's command, but did not undertake 
 such responsibility until 1868, when he took 
 charge of the bark "Peru." He was cap- 
 tain of the "Peru" for two years. Next he 
 took command of the "Paiea," which name 
 signifies the flag of Hawaii. On this vessel 
 he had a unique experience. Having lost her 
 rudder during a typhoon in latitude forty- 
 eight north, longitude one hundred and 
 seventy-eight east, the captain made and 
 shipped a temporary one, with which he suc- 
 ceeded in reaching Honolulu Harbor in forty- 
 eight days. From 1855 to 1868 he was away 
 from home, most of the time on the high 
 seas, successfully weathering the dangers of 
 
JAI\l£S F. SMITH. 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 183 
 
 arctic icebergs and tropical storms. In 1871 
 he established a home of his own on the land; 
 and on July 4, 1875, he started his steamboat 
 line from New London to the east end of 
 Long Island. He made many friends in his 
 travels. Since 1882 he has resided at i 
 Granite Street, formerly the home of his 
 uncle and aunt, Captain James Smith and 
 sister, who died here. 
 
 In 1 87 1 the Captain was united in marriage 
 with Miss Sarah B. Ward, daughter of Cap- 
 tain John L. Ward. Of their three children 
 one is living. This is a promising boy of fif- 
 teen years, the seventh James Smith. Cap- 
 tain Smith takes an active interest in the city 
 government. Elected Alderman on the Re- 
 publican ticket, he has served in the City 
 Council for five years. A veteran Mason, he 
 has taken thirty-two degrees. He is Past 
 Grand of Mohegan Lodge, I. O. O. F. ; ex- 
 State Councillor in the Order of United 
 American Mechanics; Past Chancellor of 
 Mistuxet Lodge, Knights of Pythias, of 
 Mystic; Great Sachem in the Improved Order 
 of Red Men ; and he belongs to the Daughters 
 of Liberty, the Daughters of Rebecca, and the 
 Daughters of Pocahontas. For some time he 
 has been the vice-president of the Veteran 
 Firemen's Association of New London. 
 
 r3RGE OSCAR JACKSON, of Col- 
 chester, the present High Sheriff of 
 New London County, was born Jan- 
 uary 13, 1854, in South Coventry, Tolland 
 County, son of John and Mary (Scott) Jack- 
 son. Andrew Jackson, the father of John, 
 was a native of Scotland. He came to this 
 country when a young man, and settled in 
 New York. By trade he was a builder and 
 contractor. He married Margaret Snow, a 
 native of the north of Ireland. Thirteen 
 
 children were born to them, two of whom died 
 in childhood. Six sons and five daughters 
 reached maturity. 
 
 John Jackson was married about 1852 in 
 Mansfield, Conn., to Mrs. Mary Scott Perry, 
 of Windham, Conn., daughter of William 
 Scott. She is a great-grand-daughter of the 
 William Scott who came over in the English 
 army, subsequently took up the cause of the 
 patriots, and fought against the British in the 
 Revolution and in the War of 18 12. By her 
 marriage with Ransom Perry, who died in the 
 prime of life, she had two children, one of 
 whom, P. G. Perry, resides in South Wind- 
 ham, Conn. Two children were born of her 
 union with John Jackson — -George Oscar and 
 Lydia. The latter is now the wife of Charles 
 BuUard, and lives at Big Stone City, S. Dak. 
 The father died at Colchester Springs in 
 1888. Besides carrying on a farm, he con- 
 ducted a tan-yard, which he started in Marl- 
 boro, Conn., in 1858. The mother, now 
 seventy-nine years of age, but still very ac- 
 tive, is living with the son. 
 
 George O. Jackson spent his boyhood with 
 his parents, assisting his father on the farm 
 and in the tan-yard. His education was ac- 
 quired in the old red brick school-house, 
 which is still standing. In 1877 he left 
 home and went to the Black Hills, where for 
 a twelvemonth or more he led an adventurous 
 life, engaging in the hotel and mining busi- 
 ness and as a mounted guard for the express 
 company. He then returned home, and in 
 July, 1879, went to Colchester, and estab- 
 lished himself in the manufacture of har- 
 nesses. Here he did a prosperous business 
 up to the time that he sold out, in January, 
 1895. For thirteen years he has been a 
 Deputy Sheriff; and on April i, 1896, he was 
 appointed to fill the unexpired term of High 
 Sheriff Frank Hawkes, deceased. At present, 
 
i84 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 besides attending to his official duties, he is 
 engaged in developing a fruit farm in the 
 village. 
 
 On Thanksgiving Day, 1879, Mr. Jackson 
 was united in marriage with Miss Hattie F. 
 Crocker, of Colchester. They lost a son at 
 the age of eight, and three others younger. 
 Three of the deceased died of scarlet fever 
 within a few days of each other. Their living 
 children are: Lila, aged twelve; Alice, 
 seven; Agnes, five; Ruth, three; and Myron, 
 two years old. The family reside on one of 
 his south village places. In politics Sheriff 
 Jackson is a Republican, and he has served 
 very acceptably for twelve years on the party's 
 State Central Committee. He was a Con- 
 stable for many years, and was also Tax Col- 
 lector and Bailiff for the borough. In the 
 Masonic fraternity he is a Knight Templar 
 Mason, and he belongs to the order of the 
 Knights of Pythias. 
 
 fHEOPHILUS BROWN, a retired sea 
 captain, who is now engaged in farm- 
 ing in Groton, New London County, 
 Conn., was born in that part of the town 
 which is now Ledyard, on January 12, 1824. 
 His parents were Aaron and Mary (Wilcox) 
 Brown, both of old Colonial stock of English 
 origin. Nathaniel Brown, the earliest known 
 progenitor of Captain Brown on his father's 
 side, married a Miss Haines in Groton, Conn., 
 in 171 5. Their son Comfort was the father 
 of Nathaniel, second, the father of Aaron 
 Brown. Nathaniel Brown, second, was one 
 of the minute-men during the Revolutionary 
 War. His wife, whose maiden name was 
 Deborah Morgan, was a native of Groton. 
 They reared two sons — Nathaniel, third, and 
 Aaron — and seven daughters, all but one 
 of whom had families. Grandfather Brown 
 
 lived to be threescore years and ten. His 
 property at his death was inventoried at 
 twenty-five hundred dollars. His widow, who 
 survived him twelve years, died in 1830, at 
 the age of eighty. 
 
 Aaron Brown engaged in farming on part 
 of the original home farm. He married, in 
 1807, Mary Wilcox, of Groton. They reared 
 seven children — Robert, Eleazer, Sabrina, 
 Allura, Laura, Theophilus, and Jeffrey. 
 Robert Brown, who was a master mariner, 
 went to Seattle, Wash., in 1873, and died 
 there in 1894, at the age of eighty-five. He 
 and his wife reared a family. Eleazer Brown 
 died single, at the age of twenty-two years. 
 Sabrina married Jeremiah Wilcox, had two 
 daughters, and died in 1881. Allura died at 
 the age of eighteen. Laura married Thomas 
 Lanphere, and died, she and her only child, 
 an infant, being buried in the same coffin. 
 Jeffrey died in 1868 on the old farm, at the 
 age of forty-two, leaving two sons and three 
 daughters. The father, Aaron Brown, died 
 in 1871, and the mother, Mary Wilcox 
 Brown, in 1877, at the age of eighty-four. 
 Their remains rest in the Brown burial-ground 
 with several generations of their family, Com- 
 fort, the donor of the ground, being its first 
 occupant. 
 
 Theophilus Brown was reared on the home- 
 stead farm, and there remained until he was 
 twenty years of age, receiving a limited dis- 
 trict-school education. In 1843 he shipped 
 as sailor before the mast, with Captain Jona- 
 than Nash, on the bark "Vermont," of Mys- 
 tic. They went round Cape Horn to the 
 Pacific, and were gone twenty-nine months, 
 making a very poor voyage as to profits, oil at 
 the time of their return being only twenty- 
 five cents a gallon, and bone but twenty-seven 
 cents a pound, his entire earnings amounting 
 to but one hundred and twelve dollars. His 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 185 
 
 second voyage on the "Vermont" was still 
 more disastrous, the vessel and her cargo 
 being cast away on Amsterdam Island, sev- 
 enty-eight degrees east longitude, and forty- 
 one degrees south latitude, the crew being 
 rescued by the whalers. For sixteen years 
 he was a master mariner, for several years 
 sailing the "Elector." In 1869 Captain 
 Brown settled down on a small farm in Gro- 
 ton, where he now lives. His fine, large 
 mansion-house was built by a Mr. Perry, who 
 died shortly after it was finished. Captain 
 Brown has expended thousands of dollars in 
 clearing and cultivating the grounds, beautify- 
 ing the place by setting out shade, fruit, and 
 ornamental trees and shrubbery. The house 
 can be seen from New London and other 
 points; and it affords a commanding view of 
 the majestic Thames River flowing by, oppo- 
 site Fort Trumbull and the lovely banks and 
 lawns of Pequot and New London. As the 
 eye follows the many sailing and steam craft 
 gliding out of the harbor and river into Long 
 Island Sound, it sees in the distance Fisher's 
 Island and other smaller islands, apparently 
 floating on the waters. 
 
 Captain Brown was first married in 1857 
 to Julia Hallet, a native of that part of 
 Groton now known as Ledyard. She died, 
 childless, two years later, of consumption. 
 In 1868, after leaving the sea, he was united 
 in marriage with Mary Louisa Geer, daughter 
 of Isaac and Experience (Avery) Geer. Cap- 
 tain and Mrs. Brown have two daughters, 
 namely: Alice Experience, a graduate of 
 Mount Holyoke College in South Hadley, 
 Mass., now living at home; and Clara Louise, 
 who was graduated from Williams Memorial 
 High School in New London in 1895, subse- 
 quently taking a post-graduate course. Mrs. 
 Brown was one of a family of four children. 
 One brother and one sister have passed away. 
 
 Isaac Geer, her surviving brother, is now 
 living on the old Geer homestead; and she 
 has nieces and nephews of education and re- 
 finement, who are filling positions of trust 
 and honor. 
 
 RS. FANNY A. WILCOX, widow 
 of the late Leander Wilcox, of the 
 town of Stonington, is a daughter 
 of Elias and Frances (Wilcox) Davis, and was 
 born in Quinebaug, New London County, 
 Conn., May 10, 1846. 
 
 Her father, Elias Davis, a son of Peter 
 Davis, was born in Lisbon, Conn., and is now 
 living in Stonington, not far from the resi- 
 dence of his daughter, Mrs. Wilcox. He was 
 twice married. His first wife, Frances A., 
 a daughter of Lodwick Wilcox, died August 
 6, 1848, leaving three children, including 
 Fanny A., the subject of this sketch, then an 
 infant. The other two were Elias N. and 
 Benjamin F. I. Elias N., who was a volun- 
 teer in Company C, Twenty-first Coiinecticut 
 Regiment, enlisting in 1862 and serving six 
 months, died in a hospital in Newport News, 
 Va., in March, 1865, when but nineteen 
 years of age. Benjamin F. I. Davis is now 
 a resident of Westerly, R.I. Mr. Davis's 
 second wife was in maidenhood Julia Ann 
 Wilcox. Five daughters and one son, the 
 children of Mr. and Mrs. Davis, are now 
 living. 
 
 Fanny A. Davis received her education in 
 the common schools. Her marriage to Lean- 
 der Wilcox occurred January i, 1865. She 
 began her married life in the house in which 
 she now lives, being at that time but eighteen 
 years old, and her husband twenty. Mr. 
 Wilcox was a son of Elias Wilcox, a retired 
 fisherman of Stonington, who was born in that 
 town April 3, 1815. He was engaged in the 
 
i86 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 fish business, at first in company with others; 
 but for some years before his death he con- 
 ducted business alone. He was a consistent 
 member of the Union Baptist Church of Mys- 
 tic, in which he was also a Deacon. His 
 death, which occurred December 22, 1895, 
 was most tranquil, his last words being, 
 "How beautiful! how beautiful!" He was 
 a much respected citizen, and his loss was 
 widely regretted. 
 
 Mrs. Wilcox has one child, Ella May, who 
 now resides with her mother, and is a student 
 at the Mystic High School. Further infor- 
 mation in regard to the family may be found 
 in the sketch of Captain Elias F. Wilcox, 
 published elsewhere in this volume. 
 
 EORGE LOVETT GRISWOLD, 
 Town, City, and School Tax Collector 
 of Norwich, Conn., is a native of 
 Willimantic, this State. He was born Feb- 
 ruary 6, 1858, son of George H. and Lucinda 
 (Cheney) Griswold. His paternal grand- 
 father, Henry Griswold, died early, leaving 
 this one son, George H., above named, who 
 was reared by his grandfather Paige. 
 
 George H. Griswold was born in the town 
 of Windham, Conn., in 1826. He became a 
 skilled machinist, and during the Civil War 
 he worked in the Eagle Armory, making guns. 
 His last years were spent here in Norwich, 
 where he died in 1868. Lucinda Cheney, to 
 whom he was married in the year 1845, was 
 born in Windham, and was a daughter of Jo- 
 seph H. and Abigail (Babcock) Cheney. 
 
 George Lovett Griswold is the fifth child 
 and second son of the three sons and five 
 daughters born to his parents. All of these 
 children except Henry, who died when but 
 two years old, grew to adult age. The living 
 are: Ellen A., wife of William P. Potter, Jr., 
 
 residing at 60 Prospect Street, Norwich; Jo- 
 sephine A., wife of Ripley J. Ramage, of New 
 Britain, Conn. ; George Lovett, of Norwich, 
 direct subject of this sketch; and Frank H. 
 and Clara E., who reside with their mother in 
 this city. 
 
 George Lovett Griswold, after obtaining a 
 common-school education, learned the carpen- 
 ter's trade. He then worked at type-wood 
 dressing for three years, and subsequently did 
 a contracting business in the manufacture of 
 gun-stocks. In the fall of 1893 he was 
 elected Town Tax Collector; in June, 1894, 
 he was chosen City Collector; and in Septem- 
 ber of that year School Tax Collector. In 
 these several capacities he is now serving. 
 
 On May 4, 1894, Mr. Griswold was mar- 
 ried to Miss Angle L. Thompson, daughter of 
 Charles Thompson, of Willimantic. Their 
 home has been brightened by the birth of a 
 daughter, Gladys L. , born March 23, 1896. 
 
 Mr. Griswold is prominent in fraternal 
 circles, being a member of Franklin Council, 
 No. 3, R. & S. M. ; Past Sachem of Mohican 
 Tribe, No. 4, Improved Order of Red Men; a 
 member of the Republican Club; the Arca- 
 num Club; the R. N. E. Wheel Club; Gardner 
 Lodge, No. 46, Knights of Pythias, of Nor- 
 wich; Captain of C. A. Russell Company, Uni- 
 form Ranks, K. P. ; also a member of Uncas 
 Lodge, No. II, I. O. O. F., of Norwich; and 
 a member of Citizens' Corps of Sedgwick 
 Post, No. I, G. A. R. He served nearly 
 eight years in the Volunteer Fire Department, 
 and afterward organized the Veteran Firemen's 
 Association, of which he is treasurer. For 
 eleven years he served in the militia, 
 and at the time he resigned he was Captain 
 of Company C, Third Regiment. He resides 
 at 103 River Avenue, Laurel Hill, having 
 bought the estate and settled here in October, 
 1895. 
 
(;k()K(,k l. (;kis\V(jlu, 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 189 
 
 RRIN EUGENE MINER, M.D., a 
 physician of Noank, Conn., was born 
 in North Stonington, Conn., Sep- 
 tember 29, 1834. He is the son of Denison 
 W. and Clarissa M. (Park) Miner. Thomas 
 Miner, the progenitor of this family, was 
 born in Chew Magna, in the county of Somer- 
 set, England, April 23, 1608, and emigrated 
 to this country with Governor Winthrop and 
 family in 1630, in the good ship " Arbella," 
 arrived in Salem, Mass., June 14, 1630, and 
 settled in Charlestown, Mass. On April 20, 
 1633, he married Grace, daughter of Walter 
 Palmer, and by this union had twelve chil- 
 dren. In 1635 he removed to Hingham, 
 Mass. ; and in 1646 he came to Connecticut, 
 and settled in New London. His seventh 
 son, Manasseh, was the first male child born 
 in that town. In 1653 he removed to Stoning- 
 ton (Wequetequoc), thence to Quiambog in 
 the same town, where he spent the remainder 
 of his days, and held about every office in the 
 gift of his townsmen, being elected Deputy 
 Magistrate, Selectman, Chief Military Offi- 
 cer, and also Town Clerk for a number of 
 years; and it is said his peculiar style of 
 writing forms one of the curiosities of the 
 Stonington records. Dying on October 23, 
 1690, aged eighty-three years, he was buried 
 at Wequetequoc, in Stonington. 
 
 Over his grave lies a common pasture stone, 
 about six feet long, the top ten inches wide 
 and about one foot thick, having the following 
 inscription, " Here Lyes the body of Livten- 
 ant Thomas Miner, aged 83, departed 1690." 
 The fifth son, Ephraim, is buried at Taug- 
 wonk, in Stonington; and over the grave is 
 a beautiful and elaborately carved table stone 
 representing the Miner coat of arms and other 
 devices. Near the grave of Thomas are two 
 more finely wrought table stones, which mark 
 the resting-place of Deacon Manasseh (sev- 
 
 enth son) and grandson Deacon Thomas 
 Miner, each of these stones having engraved 
 upon it the Miner coat of arms. This coat 
 of arms was conferred on Henry Miner, of 
 Chew, county of Somerset, England, by Ed- 
 ward III., in 1339, for valorous services ren- 
 dered the king during the French war about 
 that time. The original document was pre- 
 served by his descendants to the sixth genera- 
 tion — that is, to the time of Asa Miner, 
 and was by him deposited with the Connecti- 
 cut Historical Society for preservation, at 
 Hartford, Conn. The following certificate is 
 appended to the original document: "This 
 Coat of the Miners of Chew, I attest to be 
 entered at Bath in Somersett, by Clarencieux, 
 the 4th of King James the first, which visita- 
 tion is in custody of me 1606, Alex: Cun- 
 ningham." 
 
 Isaac Miner, grandfather of the subject of 
 this sketch, was a farmer of Stonington, 
 where he remained during his life. He mar- 
 ried Keturah Brown, of North Stonington ; 
 and they had eight children — four daughters 
 and four sons, all of whom grew up and had 
 families. Isaac Miner died thirty years be- 
 fore his wife, who lived to the advanced age 
 of ninety years. 
 
 Their son, Denison W. Miner, the father 
 named above, was born in Stonington in 1808. 
 He was a well-to-do farmer, and he held some 
 offices in the town. He married Clarissa M. 
 Park, daughter of Israel P. Park, in May, 
 1832, and was the father of five children, as 
 follows: Orrin Eugene, Clarissa, Elmina, 
 Fannie, and Irving W. Clarissa, the second- 
 born, is the wife of Elias H. Miner, a second 
 cousin. They live at Taugwonk. Elmina 
 Miner, the second daughter, died in infancy; 
 and Fannie, the third, died at the age of six- 
 teen years. Irving W. Miner, the younger 
 son, is at present living in Westerly, R.I. 
 
igo 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 Their father, Isaac Miner, died in 1886; and 
 their mother died December 29, 1897, aged 
 eighty-three years. 
 
 Orrin Eugene Miner, the eldest born of 
 the family, attended the East Greenwich 
 Academy in his youth, and prepared for 
 Brown University, but changed his plans, and 
 entered the University of New York City in 
 i8SS> graduating in 1858, in a class of five 
 hundred, receiving a certificate of honor in 
 addition to his diploma. He settled soon 
 after in his present home, and erected his 
 drug store. He has a practice in Noank and 
 the adjoining villages, and also carries on 
 a successful business as a druggist. He has 
 invested considerably in real estate, and owns 
 a number of tenements. Dr. Miner is a mem- 
 ber of the American Pharmacy Association, 
 and of the Connecticut Association, and is an 
 ex-Fellow of the Connecticut Medical Asso- 
 ciation. He is also a Master Mason. In 
 politics he is a Republican, having been a 
 voter with that party since its formation. 
 He has been Notary Public, for over thirty 
 years was Medical Examiner, and has also 
 held the office of Postmaster for seventeen 
 years. He has resigned the duties of Coro- 
 ner, which he performed for some years. 
 
 On May 19, 1859, he married Abbie J. 
 Latham, daughter of James A. Latham. The 
 Doctor and his wife have two children — 
 Orrin E. and Fannie M. Orrin E. Miner, 
 Jr., resides in New London, being employed as 
 mail clerk from New London to Boston. He 
 is also his father's partner in the drug busi- 
 ness. He married Anna Libby, of Noank. 
 Fannie M. Miner was graduated from Mount 
 Holyoke College in 1891, and is now living at 
 home with her father and mother. Dr. Miner 
 is at present the oldest physician in his vicin- 
 ity. Descended from an honorable line of 
 ancestry, an eminently useful and worthy citi- 
 
 zen, he has the respect of his fellow-towns- 
 people. 
 
 « * ■ * > 
 
 20RENZO DOW BEEBE, one of the 
 oldest citizens of New London, re- 
 ^^ siding at 86 Shaw Street, where 
 he has lived for nearly half a century, was 
 born in the town of Waterford, three miles 
 from New London, on the 6th of March, 1809. 
 His father, Benjamin Beebe, who was born, 
 in the same town in 1775, died in 1813, 
 leaving his wife, Abigail Douglas Beebe 
 and six sons and two daughters. Of his chil- 
 dren, Lorenzo D., the fourth-born, is the only 
 survivor. One of the sons. Dyer Beebe, who 
 died in middle age, before the war, left a 
 daughter, who is now living. The mother 
 died November 23, 1840, and was buried in 
 Cedar Grove Cemetery. 
 
 Lorenzo Dow Beebe was named after the 
 celebrated Lorenzo Dow, whom his mother 
 greatly admired. When a lad, he attended 
 the district school in Waterford, which at 
 that time offered comparatively few advan- 
 tages to the pupils. When twelve years old 
 he was working out on farms in the neighbor- 
 hood. At fourteen he came here to learn the 
 trade of tanner with James Edgerton. After 
 serving three years, in accordance with the 
 good, old-fashioned custom, receiving but 
 slender wages, he worked at tanning as a 
 journeyman for a number of years. 
 
 In 1833 Mr. Beebe was married to Nancy 
 Daniels, of Waterford, a daughter of Nathan 
 and Nancy (Chappell) Daniels. Mrs. Beebe's 
 mother was daughter of Peter Chappell. Mr. 
 and Mrs. Beebe have had nine children, of 
 whom six are living. A son and a daughter 
 died in infancy. Horace Beebe, who was 
 always in delicate health, died, aged twenty- 
 six. The remaining children are: Ellen 
 Edgerton Beebe, a spinster, who lives at 
 
WILLIAM 1'. ISINDLOSS. 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 193 
 
 home, and is in frail health; Nathan B. , for- 
 merly a mariner, now a painter in this city, 
 who has one son, Horace W. Beebe, a rising 
 musician; Cordelia A., unmarried, who was a 
 very successful and popular school teacher, 
 and has devoted herself to the care of her aged 
 father and invalid sister since 1887; Eliza- 
 beth S. , who married John N. Brown, a car- 
 riage-maker of this city, who died October 16, 
 1897; Mary L. , who is the wife of Alanson 
 Beckwith, of this city; and Henry N., a sales- 
 man in the refrigerator business, who has 
 three children — Leburton, Bessie, and May. 
 Mr. Beebe has six grandchildren. He is a 
 stanch Republican, and has taken an active 
 interest in city affairs. For several years he 
 was Street Commissioner, and he was seen on 
 the streets with his oxen for many years. He 
 was the first man to light the street lamps in 
 New London. Both he and his wife have 
 been active members of the Methodist Protes- 
 tant church. Although bowed with age, he 
 is still young in feeling, and is active about 
 his home, caring for his farm animals and 
 still in possession of all his faculties. He 
 thinks and works well, appreciates fun as well 
 as some of his grandchildren, and it is the 
 hope of his friends that he may be spared, if 
 not longer, to round out a full century of 
 honored days. 
 
 ILLIAM 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 Bind- 
 loss, Sr., born in 1794, a native of Kendal, 
 Westmorelandshire, England, was a son of 
 Philip Bindloss and a brother of Robert Bind- 
 
 loss. A cousin, William Bindloss, was Mayor 
 of Kendal when he died, and left of his mill- 
 ions a fine endowment, including city water- 
 works, a city hall with chime bells, and the 
 revenue from his castle. Grandfather Bind- 
 loss 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 time chiefly as a gentleman of lei- 
 sure. He died in the town of Waterford in 
 1864, aged sixty-nine. His wife was Mar- 
 garet 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, Westmore- 
 landshire, 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, Philij) 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 8z. Grinnell, then with Charles 
 Mallory, and later with the Greenmans, fol- 
 lowing 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 
 
194 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 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. lier 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 re- 
 markably 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 1828. 
 
 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 bio- 
 graphical 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 daugh- 
 ter; 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 depend- 
 ent 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 un- 
 usual 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 mem- 
 bers, 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. 
 
 W' 
 
 ILLIAM H. BENHAM, a well- 
 known farmer of North Waterford, 
 New London County, Conn., was 
 born in this town on the farm he now occu- 
 pies, June 17, 1856. His parents were Will- 
 
WILLI. \.M LilMJLUS.S. 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 195 
 
 iam H. and Sally A. (Edgecomb) Benham. 
 His ancestors were English. 
 
 His paternal grandfather, John Benham, 
 was a native of the Isle of Wight, being born 
 in 1786. He was of wealthy parentage; but, 
 as the property went to the eldest son, he 
 came to America in early manhood, and set- 
 tled in Groton, Conn. After serving a seven 
 years' apprenticeship, he became an itinerant 
 shoemaker, with his bench and tools going 
 from house to house among the farmers, as 
 was the custom in those days, and remaining 
 in each, using their stock, mostly home tanned, 
 until the family were all shod. He married 
 Betsy Taft, of Mystic, and they reared eight 
 children, but two of whom are now living: 
 Austin, of New London; and James. John 
 Benham died in 1859; and his wife died in 
 1877, aged ninety-seven years. 
 
 William H. Benham, Sr., son of John and 
 Betsy (Taft) Benham, was born in the town 
 of Groton, July 16, 1816. He was a carpen- 
 ter by trade, and began his business career 
 with his chest of tools and twenty-five dollars. 
 He acquired considerable property as the 
 years of activity went on, and purchased a 
 farm of eighty acres for six thousand, five 
 hundred dollars. He erected a new house in 
 Groton, which he sold when they came to 
 North Waterford, in April, 1848. On July 2, 
 1840, he married Sally A. Edgecomb, with 
 whom he lived over fifty years. They had six 
 children, and they reared one son and three 
 daughters; namely, William H., Mary Emma, 
 Sarah J., and Josephine. Mary Emma mar- 
 ried George Payne, and lives in New London; 
 Sarah Jane is the wife of James E. Comstock, 
 of Quaker Hill in this town; and Josephine 
 married Asa O. Goddard, of New London. 
 The other children were: George H. Benham, 
 who died at the age of six; and Walter G., 
 who died at the early age of eighteen months. 
 
 William H., the father, died on October 10, 
 1893; but the mother still lives with her 
 son, being bright and active in mind and 
 body. Her parents were Jabez and Bridget 
 (Chesebrough) Edgecomb. Her father was a 
 native of Groton ; but her mother was born in 
 Stonington, Conn. 
 
 William H. Benham, Jr., attended the com- 
 mon schools and also the business evening 
 school in this town, remaining on the farm 
 until his marriage. He has a good dairy 
 farm, keeping sixteen cows of the best breeds, 
 and sells milk in New London. His farm, 
 which is pleasantly located on the west bank 
 of the Thames River, has a most accessible 
 shore and a commanding view. In politics 
 Mr. Benham is a Republican. He has served 
 on the School Committee. Fraternally, he is 
 identified with the American Order of United 
 Workmen. 
 
 On June i, 1882, he was married to Maria 
 S. Brooks, daughter of George A. and Mary 
 T. (Steward) Brooks. Mrs. Benham's mother 
 died in 1870, at the age of forty-three; and 
 her father, who was a butcher in the firm of 
 Steward & Brooks, died in 1894, at the age of 
 seventy-four. They reared three children, 
 namely: Emma A., a professional nurse, now 
 the widow of Charles Field, and living in 
 Montville, this county; Mrs. Benham; and 
 Jennie C, wife of Oliver T. Collins, of 
 Brooklyn, N.Y. Mrs. Benham was educated 
 in the New London public schools. She has 
 four children: Mary J. Benham, who is nine 
 years old; Ida E., who is seven; Tryon G., 
 aged four; and Lloyd Brooks, aged two years. 
 
 'AMES A. ROWLAND, a leading mer- 
 chant of Old Lyme, son of Asahel and 
 Abigail (Greenfield) Rowland, was 
 born in the town of Lyme, November 15, 
 
196 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 1839. His great-grandfather, Levi Rowland, 
 was a native of Lyme, where he owned many 
 acres of land, and carried on farming. He 
 had several sons, among whom was Asahel, 
 the grandfather of the subject of this sketch. 
 Asahel was also a farmer of Lyme, in which 
 town he died at the age of forty-nine, leaving 
 a widow, two sons, and two daughters. His 
 wife was in maidenhood Hannah Greenfield. 
 She survived her husband many years, dying 
 on the farm at an advanced age. Their son 
 Asahel was born on the old farm, February 
 II, 1796. He was at one time a Captain of 
 the militia, and saw a few days' service in the 
 War of 1812. He was a prosperous farmer, 
 and owned two hundred acres of land. By 
 his wife, Abigail, who was a daughter of 
 James Greenfield, he had three children: 
 John, who is now a farmer of Lyme; Mary 
 A., who became the wife of John De Wolf, 
 and died in 1858; and James A., the subject 
 of this sketch. 
 
 James Rowland was brought up on the old 
 farm, and received his elementary education 
 in the district schools. He subsequently at- 
 tended the New Britain Normal School, and 
 afterward taught in the district schools for 
 three winters. In 1866 he began dealing in 
 merchandise in the town of Old Lyme at the 
 stand of Captain Charles W. Wait, who had 
 been in the business for many years. He was 
 at first in partnership with George W. De 
 Wolf, the firm being known as De Wolf & 
 Rowland; but for the last twenty-five years 
 Mr. Rowland has carried on the business 
 alone. A Republican politically, he served 
 as Town Clerk for one year. He is a Deacon 
 in the Congregational church, of which he 
 has been an active member for years. Mr. 
 Rowland married Sophronia, daughter of Win- 
 throp and Hepzibah (Anderson) De Wolf. 
 They have one adopted daughter, Annie M. 
 
 During his business career Mr. Rowland has 
 gained a reputation for honesty and fair deal- 
 ing, and his trade has steadily increased. He 
 has the good will of his fellow-townsmen, 
 and is regarded as a substantial and useful 
 citizen. 
 
 LIAS PERKINS RANDALL, a retired 
 banker of Mystic, Conn., was born 
 July 4, 1821, the son of William and 
 Martha (Chesebrough) Randall. His great- 
 great-great -grandfather, John Randall, re- 
 moved with his wife from Newport, R.I., to 
 Westerly, R.L, in 1666. In 1670 he pur- 
 chased a lot of land in what is now the east 
 part of the present town of North Stonington, 
 and became an extensive land-owner. He 
 took the oath of allegiance in 1669, and was 
 a man of prominence in public life, serving 
 as Deputy to the General Assembly in Rhode 
 Island and in other offices. He died in West- 
 erly about 1685. 
 
 John Randall, second, born in 1666, son of 
 the first John, had a son John, born December 
 2, 1701, who likewise had a son John, the 
 grandfather of the subject of this sketch. This 
 fourth John Randall was born August 4, 1730. 
 He was twice married, first to Lucy Brown, by 
 whom he had eight children, and second to 
 Thankful Swan, who became the mother of 
 four children — William, Desire, Nancy, and 
 Dudley. Of this group all married, reared 
 families, and lived to a goodly age, Desire 
 being eighty-six at the time of her death; 
 Nancy, wife of Benadom Williams, Jr., about 
 sixty-seven; and Dudley, seventy-nine. The 
 father of these children died in 1802. 
 
 William Randall, son of John, fourth, and 
 Thankful (Swan) Randall, and father of Elias 
 Perkins, was born in Stonington, March 25, 
 1768, and was a man of note in his commu- 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 197 
 
 nity, throughout his life holding many offices 
 of trust both in civil and military affairs. 
 He was Colonel of the Thirtieth Regiment, 
 Connecticut Militia, and was in command 
 when the regiment was called out in 18 13 and 
 1 8 14 during the second war with Great Brit- 
 ain. During six sessions of the Connecticut 
 legislature he was a member of the lower 
 house; and in 1822 he was a member of the 
 Senate, being one of the twelve Senators 
 elected by the general election of Connecti- 
 cut. In 1 818 he was a member of the con- 
 vention which formed the Constitution. He 
 was from 1818 to 1833, inclusive, Associate 
 Judge of the County Court; and he received 
 the annual appointment of Justice of the Peace 
 for twenty-eight years. He was a charter 
 member of the Stonington Bank, organized in 
 1822, and was its first president, which office 
 he held for two years. 
 
 His third wife, Martha Chesebrough, was 
 the daughter of William and Esther (Will- 
 iams) Chesebrough, all of Stonington. Will- 
 iam Randall and his wife, Martha, had eight 
 children, six of whom they reared: Phebe 
 Esther, Hannah A., Roswell, Harriet N., 
 Martha C, and Elias P. Roswell died at the 
 age of twenty-one. Phebe Esther married 
 Colonel Ezra Hewitt, and had three children, 
 all of whom died in infancy. She died in 
 September, 1839, ^ged twenty-nine. Hannah 
 died when one year old. Harriet N. married 
 Reuben E. Moss, son of a well-known Con- 
 gregational clergyman, and had seven children, 
 of whom six survive. Mr. Moss was long a 
 druggist in New York City. Later he went 
 to Elraira, N.Y., where he became a wealthy 
 and influential citizen. He died October, 
 1896, aged eighty-nine. Mrs. Moss is now 
 living in Elmira. Martha C. married Ralph 
 H. Avery, of North Stonington, Conn. They 
 lived in Norwich, Conn., Brooklyn and Canas- 
 
 tota, N.Y. He was appointed in 1862, by 
 President Lincoln, United States Collector of 
 Internal Revenue, and held the office eight 
 years. He died in May, 1889, aged seventy- 
 three years. His widow, Martha C, died in 
 March, 1897, aged eighty years. They had 
 seven children, five of whom survive, two 
 having d;ed in infancy. William Randall 
 died June 17, 1841, at the age of seventy- 
 three. His wife, Mrs. Martha C. Randall, 
 lived until she was ninety, and died Septem- 
 ber 25, 1870. 
 
 Elias Perkins Randall was reared to farm 
 life and work, and was educated in the com- 
 mon schools and at the academy, which he at- 
 tended for about three terms. He was subse- 
 quently engaged in teaching for a very short 
 time, and at the death of his father he took 
 charge of the home farm. He settled in 
 Mystic in 1850, and went into business with 
 his father-in-law, whose successor he became. 
 About fourteen years later, in 1864, he was 
 elected cashier of the First National Bank of 
 Mystic Bridge; and this position he held up 
 to the time of its liquidation in 1894. He is 
 still occupied to some extent in closing up the 
 business. He has been an active man of 
 affairs, has served as Selectman, as Justice of 
 the Peace, and as Notary Public many years; 
 was Representative to the General Assembly 
 in 1859, and Judge of Probate for district of 
 Stonington in 1863. In politics he has been 
 a stanch Republican since the formation of 
 the party, which he helped to organize. Both 
 he and his wife are valued members of the 
 Congregational church, in which he was clerk 
 from 1869 to the present year, 1898. He has 
 been treasurer of the society for the past 
 twenty-seven years, and was Sunday-school 
 superintendent for almost twenty-five years, 
 to January, 1894. 
 
 Mr. Randall was married March 15, 1843, 
 
198 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 to Hannah Fish, born June 6, 1823, daughter 
 of Asa and Prudence (Dean) Fish, the former 
 of Groton and the latter of Stonington. Mrs. 
 Randall's father was a prominent merchant in 
 Mystic for many years, and held various im- 
 portant offices. His children were nine in 
 number. Eight of them were reared; namely, 
 James D., Sands H., Hannah, Silas, Asa, 
 Prudence, Benjamin, and Fanny. Three of 
 these, James D., Sands H., and Silas, are in 
 New York City, the last two being in partner- 
 ship in the ship supply business; Benjamin 
 lives in New York and Mystic; Prudence is 
 the wife of Uriah H. Dudley, of Brooklyn, 
 N.Y. ; and Fanny is the widow of Caleb S. 
 Woodhull, of that place, where she still re- 
 sides. Mr. Asa Fish died April 20, 1861, at 
 the age of seventy-one; and his wife, Mrs. 
 Prudence D. Fish, died in December, 1873, 
 aged seventy-four. Mr. and Mrs. Randall 
 have had four children. Their eldest child, 
 Martha C, was born April 20, 1844, and died 
 December 3, 1845. ^ daughter, Fanny, was 
 born February i, 1849, and died June 24, 
 1850. The fourth child was a son, who was 
 born and died December 6, 1853. The sur- 
 viving son, Sands F. Randall, A.B., LL.B., 
 who was born May 18, 1846, and is unmar- 
 ried, is a lawyer at 99 Nassau Street, New 
 York City. He is a graduate of Yale Col- 
 lege and Columbia College Law School. 
 
 Mr. Randall and his wife have lived at 
 their pleasant home on Church Street for 
 forty-seven years. He owns the two-hundred- 
 and-thirty-acre farm, Elm Ridge, where he 
 was born and brought up. The most of this 
 property was bought by his grandfather one 
 hundred and twenty years ago. On their fif- 
 tieth wedding anniversary, which was cele- 
 brated March 15, 1893, Mr. and Mrs. Randall 
 received many congratulations on their con- 
 tinued health and activity. At the present 
 
 time, 1898, also, they remain in comfortable 
 health. 
 
 T^APTAIN RICHARD K. MINER, 
 B jr^ master of the steel steamer "City of 
 
 V>? ^ ^ Lowell," which plies between New 
 London and New York City, was born in the 
 village of Lyme, Conn., August 11, 1836, 
 son of Samuel W. Miner, Jr., by his wife, 
 Phebe Kendrick, of Chatham, Mass. 
 
 His paternal grandfather, Samuel W. 
 Miner, Sr., was a shoemaker, and lived in 
 Old Lyme. He married Sarah Sill, of Lyme 
 village, and reared four sons and four daugh- 
 ters, all of whom lived to marry and to have 
 families; but only one daughter survives at 
 this date, Caroline Winslow, now a widow. 
 Grandfather Miner died in 1856, at the age of 
 seventy-five years; and five years later his 
 widow died at the venerable age of ninety. 
 They sleep in the Duck River Cemetery at 
 Lyme. 
 
 Samuel W. Miner, Jr., son of Samuel, Sr., 
 and Sarah (Sill) Miner, was born on February 
 21, 1810. He learned the shoemaker's trade 
 of his father, but spent most of his life upon 
 the water, principally upon the inland seas, 
 and was for many years captain of different 
 sailing vessels. He, however, took one voyage 
 on a whaler. His home was for many years in 
 Saybrook, just across the river. He married 
 Miss Phebe Kendrick in 1833, and had six 
 children, briefly mentioned as follows: Will- 
 iam, the eldest-born, a mariner and afterward 
 a hotel-keeper of Hartford, where he died in 
 the blizzard of 1888, at the age of fifty-four 
 years, leaving a wife and two sons; Richard 
 K., the sea captain; Charles Miner, a loco- 
 motive engineer, who lost his life between 
 Black Hall and South Lyme; Julia S., wife 
 of Rollin D. Lane in Hartford, Conn. ; Or- 
 
RICHARD K. jAIIXKK. 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 201 
 
 lando, who died young; and Orlando H., who 
 is in Hartford. The mother, Mrs. Phebe K. 
 Miner, died September 25, 1854, at the age 
 of forty-one; and the father married, second, 
 Phebe Whaley, a widow. His death occurred 
 November 18, 1894. 
 
 Richard K., the second son, attended the 
 common schools until fourteen years of age, 
 at that time beginning life as a cook on board 
 a small vessel alongshore. At nineteen he 
 was made captain of the sloop "Joel Hall," 
 from the Portland Brownstone Quarry; and 
 he was afterward captain and part owner of 
 four different sailing vessels. In 1868 he 
 became a steamboat captain on the Connecti- 
 cut River, Hartford line, and he commanded 
 successively the "Silver Star"; "Granite 
 State"; "City of Hartford," which was lost 
 on the Sound; the "City of Lawrence," then 
 in the Hartford line; the "Laura," of Bridge- 
 port, on the Sound line; the "City of Spring- 
 field"; and many others. His present com- 
 mand is the "City of Lowell," plying between 
 New London and New York, probably the 
 fastest boat in the country, stanch and pretty, 
 of which he assumed charge in 1893. 
 
 In 1861, on New Year's night, the Captain 
 was married to Mary I. Cone, of Cromwell, 
 Conn., daughter of William Horace Brockway 
 Cone, by his wife, Sarah Selinda Spencer, of 
 Haddam, Conn. Mr. and Mrs. Cone had 
 twelve children. He died in 1875, at the age 
 of fifty-seven, leaving his widow and five chil- 
 dren. She diecl in 1888, aged seventy -two, 
 at the home of her daughter. Mr. and Mrs. 
 Miner have one child, a son, Walter R., an 
 electrician on the steamer "Mohegan." He 
 married in Mobile, Ala., Mary Josephine 
 Chappell, daughter of Ezra P. Chappell, for- 
 merly of New London, Conn. She is an ac- 
 complished musician and pianist. 
 
 The Captain is a Republican in politics, 
 
 and cast his first vote for Lincoln. He is a 
 member of the Congregational church at Lyme. 
 They resided in the charming rural village 
 of Lyme until the winter of 1896. They 
 have since spent much of their time with 
 their son at 123 Huntington Street, New 
 London, but now have their own pleasant 
 home on Montauk Avenue in this city. 
 
 ♦♦♦♦-»■ 
 
 7TAHARLES JEREMIAH SLATE, an 
 I jr'^ experienced mariner residing at 94 
 
 V> ^ ^ Pequot Avenue, New London, was 
 born here, January 2, 1845, son of Jeremiah 
 and Sophia (Holt) Slate. The paternal 
 grandfather, John, who was a master mariner, 
 came to New London with the father of 
 Sebastian Lawrence, and built a house on Pe- 
 quot Avenue, now owned by the actor, James 
 O'Neil. 
 
 Jeremiah Slate was born in New London in 
 1800. At the age of eighteen he began a 
 sailor's life; and at thirty he was master of 
 the "Phoenix," in which he made two voyages 
 to the Indian Ocean, lasting three years each. 
 Subsequently he commanded the "Corinthian" 
 for four years. He married, and became the 
 father of five children, of whom Charles J., 
 Thomas Franklin, and Samuel N. are living. 
 Samuel, born at St. Helena in 1849, while 
 his father was master of the "Corinthian," 
 was the first male child of American parent- 
 age on that island. The authorities were so 
 delighted with his advent that they borrowed 
 him, and kept him so long that his parents 
 were afraid of abduction. He was taken to 
 Napoleon's grave, and laid upon it. Char- 
 lotte Ann died in her fifth year, on September 
 3, 1844; and Samuel N. (first) was drowned 
 in October of that year, at the age of six. 
 Very successful in whaling, the father ac- 
 quired a large property. Though he subse- 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 quently lost a part, he left his widow in com- 
 fortable circumstances. She was twice mar- 
 ried, being left a widow with two children, 
 the first time when she was only twenty years 
 old. Jeremiah Slate died on June 25, i860, 
 at the age of sixty-nine; while the mother 
 lived to be eighty-one and a half years old, 
 dying October 27, 1892. 
 
 Charles J. Slate attended the district school 
 for a short time. The most of his book 
 knowledge was subsequently acquired on 
 board ship. At the age of eleven years he 
 shipped as cabin boy with. Joshua Lyon, his 
 half-sister's husband, sailing from New Bed- 
 ford, Mass., in the bark "Isabella," being 
 away three years and nine months. He made 
 six whaling voyages, including two to the 
 South Shetland Islands in the Pacific, being 
 first mate on one voyage and second mate on 
 the other. For two years he was captain. 
 He sailed round Cape Horn, and for three 
 years he prospected in Patagonia. He 
 learned much from the book of nature by ob- 
 servation during his forty-eight years' experi- 
 ence as mariner. For the past six years he 
 has been running a summer steamboat in the 
 harbor. Captain Slate, in the capacity of 
 diver, New York City, spent six and a half 
 hours under thirty feet of water, examining 
 the vessel "State of New York," which sunk 
 off Goodspeed's Landing. He and his two 
 brothers, all bachelors, live together in the 
 house that formerly belonged to their great- 
 aunt, Lucy Harris, situated just across the 
 road from where their mother was born, and 
 where Grandmother Holt resided most of her 
 life. Every one in New London knows and 
 believes in Charles Jerry Slate, who has the 
 true heart of a sailor. He is identified with 
 the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, is a 
 Master Mason, and also a member of the Jib- 
 boom Club, 
 
 (gpr UGUST MiJLLER, founder of the firm 
 j=k of August Miiller & Sons, furniture 
 
 /"'IsV dealers and undertakers, one of the 
 
 most reliable business houses in Stonington, 
 was born April 19, 1820, in Weidenhein, by 
 Torgau, Kraes Daletzsch, Kingdom of 
 Prussia. His father was a tailor, born Feb- 
 ruary 24, 1786, and died at the age of ninety 
 years and seven months. His mother was 
 born December 14, 1784, and died at the age 
 of seventy-five years and ten months. They 
 had five children, four sons and one daughter. 
 August, the subject of this sketch, was the 
 second child. He attended school until four- 
 teen years of age, when he went to Torgau, 
 where he was apprenticed to a cabinet-maker, 
 with whom he remained five years to learn 
 cabinet-making. The next six years he spent 
 in Leipzig, where was being built at that time 
 the first Catholic cathedral, in which he built 
 the pulpit and altar in Gothic style. He then 
 visited the Rhine and several large cities, in- 
 cluding Niirnberg, Frankfort on the Main, 
 Mannheim, Strasburg, St. Goar, and Mainz, 
 where the finest cabinet-makers' shops were 
 located. Here again he stayed for six years. 
 The outlook for starting in business for him- 
 self not being of the best, he decided to try 
 his fortune in America. So he visited his 
 parents once more on the 28th of September, 
 1852. He then went via Leipzig and Magde- 
 burg to Hamburg, where on the first day of 
 October he took passage on the steamer "Vic- 
 toria" for Hull, England. He arrived there 
 on October 4, after a very stormy voyage, the 
 steamer losing two of her masts. On October 
 5 he travelled by rail to Liverpool, and taking 
 passage on the sailing-ship "Australia," Oc- 
 tober 8, after a pleasant voyage arrived in 
 New York, November 10, 1852. He very 
 soon found employment with the firm of 
 Fraede & Kamp, who were cabinet-makers lo- 
 
AU(;u.ST MlT.l.loK 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 205 
 
 cated on Broadway, where he was employed 
 until September 19, 1854, when the business 
 was destroyed by fire. 
 
 He was married in New York, October 26, 
 1853, to Barbara Scheinlein, of Langenfeld, 
 Bavaria, Germany. In the fall and winter of 
 1854 business was dull everywhere; and he 
 was out of employment until the middle of 
 April, 1855, when he was induced by a friend 
 to locate in Stonington, Conn., where a cabi- 
 net-maker by the name of Dayton was in need 
 of help. He accordingly went to his relief; 
 and after working for him two weeks he made 
 an agreement with Mr. Dayton for steady em- 
 ployment, and returned to New York for his 
 family, consisting of his wife and son Henry, 
 who came to Stonington with him on May i. 
 Work at Mr. Dayton's becoming slack, in 
 September he started out for himself, repair- 
 ing furniture in a small room in the house in 
 which he lived, still standing on the corner 
 of Main and Church Streets. After several 
 months, his business increasing so that he had 
 to have more room, in the spring of 1856 he 
 removed with his family to the Arcade Build- 
 ing on Water Street, where he lived and did 
 business until May, 1861. At this time the 
 only furniture dealer in town moved away, 
 and he hired of Dr. Ira H. Hart the building 
 vacated by them on Gold Street. There he 
 remained until 1866, when a stock company 
 that was formed for the manufacture of furnit- 
 ure went to Dr. Hart, and offered him twenty- 
 five dollars more rent. Mr. Miiller thereupon 
 bought the Eagle Hotel, corner of Gold Street 
 and Railroad Avenue, and on February 6, 
 1867, removed there with his business and 
 family, which consisted of two sons and two 
 daughters. 
 
 In 1887, having the opportunity to secure a 
 piece of land, corner of Gold and Pearl Streets, 
 he purchased the same, and erected thereon a 
 
 modern three-story business house, now known 
 as the Miiller Block, into which he moved his 
 business, November i, 1887. He here keeps 
 furniture of all descriptions and any variety 
 of house furnishings, and also all that pertains 
 to the undertaking branch of the business. 
 His sons, Henry and Edward, have been re- 
 ceived into partnership; and they are not only 
 doing a large business in furniture, but for a 
 number of years have been the leading under- 
 takers in Stonington. 
 
 Mrs. August Miiller died January 28, 1875, 
 aged fifty-two years. The four children that 
 survive her are: Henry, who was born in New 
 York ; Mary, Barbary, and Edward, who were 
 born in Stonington, Conn. Henry A. Miiller 
 was married .May 16, 1S89, to Miss Lizzie 
 Owen, of Springfield, Ohio, and has three 
 children, two sons and one daughter. 
 
 Mr. August Miiller is a Master Mason of 
 thirty-five years' standing. He is a member 
 of the Second Congregational Church, with 
 which his family are identified. His wife 
 was also a consistent member of the same 
 church. 
 
 EV. ALBERT A. KIDDER, a 
 
 Methodist minister of Mystic, Conn,, 
 who has been on the supernumerary 
 list for the past two years, after an active ser- 
 vice of fourteen years, was born in Berlin, 
 Mass., July 19, 1858. His early years were 
 passed on a farm. He attended the high 
 school; and, after preparing for college at 
 East Greenwich Academy, he was graduated 
 at Drew Theological Seminary. While there 
 and subsequently he devoted much time to the 
 study of different languages, including Latin, 
 French, Hebrew, and Hindustanee, also 
 Gujarati, one of the several languages spoken 
 in India. He then spent two years, from 
 
2o6 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 1879 '^0 1881, in Hindustan, studying the 
 language. The journey out was made through 
 the Mediterranean Sea and Suez Canal; and 
 the return trip, which was made leisurely for 
 his health, took him through Italy. While 
 in the East, his first pastorate was in Baroda, 
 where he was engaged in missionary work. 
 Here he broke the ground with his own hand, 
 digging out the dirt for the corner, and plac- 
 ing in the corner-stone the recording relics, 
 which included a Testament and a copy of the 
 Methodist Discipline, with an historical sketch 
 of the church and Mr. Kidder's nam.e as 
 founder and pastor. The edifice was of the 
 Gothic style of architecture, and built of 
 American brick. The funds for erecting this 
 church were largely secured through Mr. 
 Kidder's own efforts, he soliciting one-third 
 of the amount from the natives themselves, 
 and about one thousand rupees from the palace 
 or government. After his return to this 
 country he held charges as pastor succes- 
 sively on Staten Island, in South Orange, 
 N.J., and at Silver City, N.M. While in 
 the West he made a lecturing tour through 
 California and the Pacific Coast. He took 
 with him a fine illustrative apparatus, and his 
 audiences were large and appreciative. His 
 lectures included one before the University of 
 Southern California. Subsequently he had 
 charge of a church in Canon City. His next 
 pastorate was in East Weymouth, Mass., 
 where he remained four years, from 1888 to 
 1892. His last settled charge was at Mystic, 
 Conn., where he served the church for two 
 years. 
 
 Mr. Kidder was married November 13, 
 1882, to Miss Hattie L. Kinsman, of Au- 
 gusta, Me., daughter of F. W. and Octavia 
 A. (Greeley) Kinsman, her father being a 
 druggist and pharmacist by occupation. Mrs. 
 Kidder was educated in the high school of 
 
 Augusta, at Kent's Hill Academy in that 
 town, and at East Greenwich Academy. She 
 also studied music in Boston, Mass., and, 
 having a fine soprano voice, developed into an 
 accomplished vocalist. Before her marriage 
 she was engaged in the profession of teaching. 
 During Mr. Kidder's pastorate in Mystic, 
 Conn., his wife's failing health induced him 
 to cease his itinerancy, and become a super- 
 numerary. Mr. and Mrs. Kidder have a fam- 
 ily of four children, namely: Florence, who 
 was born on Staten Island, fourteen years ago, 
 and is now attending school; Frank, born in 
 New Mexico, and now eleven years of age; 
 Albert A., Jr., who is now in his ninth year; 
 and Ralph W., who is four years old. 
 
 Mr. Kidder has recently established a 
 church publishing business at Mystic, making 
 a specialty of collection helps, an invention of 
 his own which is novel and taking, as well as 
 practical. He is a Master Mason and Com- 
 mander of the Golden Cross. Having scarcely 
 reached the prime of life, it may well be 
 hoped that he is but in the beginning of his 
 career of usefulness. 
 
 HOMAS E. PACKER, a real estate 
 and insurance agent of Groton, Conn., 
 the son of George and Delight (El- 
 dredge) Packer, was born in Groton, April 11, 
 1827. The family are of English descent, 
 coming to America in the early days. John 
 Packer, Jr., grandfather of the subject of this 
 sketch, was born February 7, 1753. He was 
 a soldier of the Revolution, and enlisted in 
 February, 1778, for three years in Captain 
 Amos Stanton's company, of Colonel Sher- 
 burn's and S. B. Webb's regiment. He ap- 
 plied for a pension in 1816, which he received 
 sixteen years later. He died February 8, 
 1835, eighty-two years of age. His wife was 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 207 
 
 in maidenhood Hannah Gallup, of Stoning- 
 ton, who survived him a number of years, re- 
 taining her faculties up to the day of her 
 death. They had six children, three sons and 
 three daughters. Their son George was born 
 in Groton, December 26, 1794. He was a 
 farmer of Groton, and died in 1872, aged 
 seventy-eight years. His wife, Delight El- 
 dredge Packer, died in 1864, aged sixty -three 
 years. They were married July 17, 1820. 
 They had nine children, of whom three sons 
 died young: William Henry died on his 
 twenty-first birthday; Thomas is the subject 
 of this sketch; Mary Delight, widow of Gil- 
 bert S. Bailey, and Prudence Helen, widow of 
 Erastus William Denison, are living in Mys- 
 tic; John Green married Frances Park; Han- 
 nah Gore married Alexander Irving, of Groton. 
 Thomas E. Packer spent his early life on 
 the farm. He received a common-school edu- 
 cation, and at the age of seventeen began to 
 teach in the district schools, which he taught 
 sixteen years. This included, however, some 
 time spent in the Brandon (Miss.) College. 
 Thirty-two years ago he engaged in the gen- 
 eral insurance business with Charles H. Deni- 
 son. In 1875 they took William H. Potter 
 into the firm, which became Denison, Packer 
 & Co. Seven years later Denison and Potter 
 went out of the firm, and Mr. Packer contin- 
 ued the business, taking his son-in-law, Frank 
 W. Batty, into the firm with him. Mr. 
 Packer is a Prohibitionist in politics, and has 
 voted for every Presidential candidate of his 
 party since its inauguration. He is a Royal 
 Arch Mason, and is Past Master of Charity 
 Lodge in Mystic. He was married July 4, 
 1849, to Emma J., daughter of Daniel and 
 Mary (Hempstead) Burrows. They have two 
 children: Teresa Kossuth, who married Amos 
 Grinnell; and Addle B. , who married Frank 
 W. Batty, mentioned above. Mr. Packer was 
 
 the superintendent of the Baptist Sunday- 
 school for a number of years. He is a man of 
 quiet, studious habits and sound business 
 integrity. 
 
 (©JVLFRED H. VAUGHN, who was one 
 t^ of the oldest business men in Nor- 
 -^ ® V._^ wich, was born in the city of Provi- 
 dence, R.I., on February 26, 1828, son of 
 Christopher and Ruby Ann (Briggs) Vaughn. 
 
 Ruby A. Briggs was born in Assonet, 
 Mass. Her grandfather was Benjamin Read, 
 Captain of the First Company of Freetown 
 militia from 1776 to 1781, during the Revo- 
 lutionary War. 
 
 Alfred H. Vaughn's boyhood was spent in 
 Assonet; and he always retained a great fond- 
 ness for that town, and with characteristic 
 generosity gave it help in many ways. At 
 the age of eighteen Mr. Vaughn came to Nor- 
 wich, and entered the employ of Abner T. 
 Pearce, who was conducting an iron foundry. 
 Mr. Vaughn showed great aptitude for the 
 business, and became thoroughly skilled in 
 every department. In 1854 he, with two 
 others, started the Norwich Iron Foundry on 
 Ferry Street, in which he afterward became 
 so successful and so well known. In 1861 
 the original firm was dissolved, Mr. Vaughn 
 buying out the interest of his partners. He 
 continued the business; and, as it increased, 
 he enlarged the premises and added new build- 
 ings, until he had covered the square lying be- 
 tween Ferry. Street and Rose Place, and em- 
 bracing an acre of land. His sons, A. N. H. 
 Vaughn and C. W. Vaughn, learned the 
 business, and in 1881 were admitted to part- 
 nership, the firm name being changed to A. H. 
 Vaughn & Sons. In 1884 Mr. Vaughn built 
 a handsome four-story building on Ferry 
 Street. He was a very successful business 
 
2 08 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 man, but his success was largely owing to his 
 energy and careful supervision of details. 
 As a citizen Mr. Vaughn was genial, social, 
 and ever mindful of the highest interests of 
 the community in which he lived. In poli- 
 tics he was a Republican, and was at one time 
 a member of the Common Council; but he was 
 never a political office-seeker. He attended 
 the Broadway Congregational church. His 
 death occurred April 6, 1886, at the age of 
 fifty-eight years, after an illness of about 
 three months. 
 
 Mr. Vaughn was married December 10, 
 1849, to Eliza, daughter of Jefferson and Mary 
 (Crandal) Lamb. Jefferson Lamb was born 
 in Ledyard. His daughter Eliza was born in 
 Norwich, and in the public schools received 
 her education. Her residence is on Broad- 
 way. The children are: Alfred N. H.; 
 Charles W. ; Helen, wife of Foster Wilson; 
 Frank J., who died at the age of three years; 
 Eugene A., of Buffalo, N.Y. ; Rufus H. ; and 
 Annie E. Vaughn. 
 
 SUCIUS DWIGHT BROWN, late a 
 prominent resident of North Stoning- 
 ^^^ ton. Conn., his native town, a well- 
 known speculator in real estate and horses, 
 was born on May 21, 1839, and died April 9, 
 1897. He was a son of Jedediah and Eunice 
 (Bailey) Brown, and belonged to one of the 
 old families of this locality. His grand- 
 father, Elias Brown, was a farmer of Stoning- 
 ton, where he was born about 1760, and died 
 about 1840. He married Rhoda Williams, 
 and had a large family of sons and daughters. 
 Jedediah Brown, the father of Lucius 
 Dwight Brown, was born in 1806, and died in 
 1886. He was twice married. His first wife 
 was Betsey Irish, of Preston, who bore him 
 four children, two sons and two daughters. 
 
 All married and had families, and all are 
 now dead. The last survivor was Obadiah 
 Brown, who was born in 1829, and in 1855 
 went to California, where he kept a hotel and 
 carried on the livery business, dying there in 
 1896, and leaving considerable property to his 
 widow and two sons. Jedediah Brown's sec- 
 ond wife, Eunice Bailey, of North Stonington, 
 a daughter of Elijah Bailey, was born in 1816, 
 and died in 1874. She was the mother of ten 
 children, of whom the first-born, a daughter 
 named Elizabeth, died at the age of ten, and 
 the elder son, Lucius D., died about a year 
 ago, as above mentioned. The second daugh- 
 ter, Almeda, died in Norwich, iu 1866, leav- 
 ing a husband, Abner Geer, and one daughter. 
 The living are: Abbie, wife of William Rose, 
 of Norwich; Governor H. Brown, of Norwich; 
 Mrs. Ann Eliza Co^Dp, a widow, living in Nor- 
 wich; Margaret F., wife of Stephen Wilcox, 
 of Norwich ; Charles N. Brown, of New Lon- 
 don, who keeps a livery and sale stable ; Daniel 
 Miner Brown, of Providence, R. I. ; Mary, wife 
 of William Arnold, a hotel-keeper at Olney- 
 ville, R.I. 
 
 Lucius Dwight Brown, the subject of this 
 sketch, was brought up to farm life, receiving 
 his education at the common school, a mile 
 and a half from home, which he attended until 
 he was sixteen. After leaving school, he 
 worked on his father's farm until he was 
 twenty, when he entered the machine shop of 
 Cottrell & Babcock at Westerly, R.I., where 
 he worked one year. Soon after he hired a 
 farm of Dr. Kinney; and he subsequently 
 owned and occupied several in North Ston- 
 ington, buying and selling some thirty or 
 more. He owned at the time of his death 
 about eleven farms, located in towns in Con- 
 necticut and Rhode Island. Mr. Brown was 
 a great lover of horses; and he speculated 
 largely in them, owning in the course of his 
 
^f^'-- '%*-i4.< 
 
 ^ # 
 
 LUCIUS D. BROWN. 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 life several thousand. He left about seventy, 
 which was a moderate stock for him to winter. 
 He was widely known among horsemen all 
 through New England and in the West. His 
 new barn, which he built in 1894, at a cost 
 of thirty-five hundred dollars, is a model one 
 and the finest in the town. 
 
 Mr. Brown was married December 25, 1864, 
 to Mary Eliza Sisson, of Westerly, R.I., a 
 daughter of Clark E. and Susan H. (Hall) 
 Sisson, of that place. Mr. Sisson was a 
 farmer and fisherman, born in 18 14, and died 
 in 1880. His wife died at the age of forty- 
 nine, leaving twelve children, eight of whom 
 are now living. 
 
 Commencing life without capital, Mr. 
 Brown by good judgment in his business 
 dealings attained great financial success. 
 The losses sustained by many of his neigh- 
 bors, who were tempted by large interest to 
 invest in Western securities, he escaped, tell- 
 ing them he preferred to see his property, and 
 could find his horses. Mr. and Mrs. Brown 
 had no children. In April, 1875, they moved 
 into the fine residence now occupied by Mrs. 
 Brown. 
 
 _ 4 ^ ■ » » 
 
 ISAAC GILLETTE, a prominent farmer 
 of Lebanon and the Judge of Probate 
 was born on the farm which is his pres- 
 ent home, June 10, 1841, son of Milo and 
 Mary (Wilson) Gillette. The family is an 
 honored one in this town, and has long been 
 resident here. Great-grandfather Ebenezer 
 Gillette, who was a farmer, lived to be a very 
 old man. His son Isaac, who was born on 
 Liberty Hill, February 2, 1749, died Febru- 
 ary 21, 1840. Isaac's wife died July 20, 
 1824, at the age of seventy -two years. They 
 reared a family of eleven children, eight sons 
 and three daughters. One son was drowned 
 at the age of twenty-one years. 
 
 Milo Gillette, son of Isaac, was born here 
 in February, 1802, and was a lifelong farmer 
 of this town. While a quiet and unassuming 
 man, he had good judgment. He served the 
 town in various public offices, and always 
 with the strictest loyalty to public interests. 
 His death, which occurred on February 28, 
 1874, at the age of seventy-two, removed a 
 highly esteemed citizen. His wife, who was 
 born in New York in 1802, and reared in Cov- 
 entry, Conn., died on the day before Christmas 
 in 1866. Her children were: Mary Jane, 
 who was born September 25, 1836, was the 
 wife of Albert G. Lyman, and died November 
 16, 1897; George, who was drowned in 1863, 
 at the age of twenty-four; and Wealthy, who 
 is the wife of E. F. Reed, of Willimantic, 
 Conn. 
 
 Isaac Gillette grew up here on the home- 
 stead, which has been partly in the possession 
 of his family since the settlement of the town. 
 After passing through the district schools, he 
 studied for a number of terms at the high 
 school. Subsequently he taught school for 
 more than twenty-five years through both the 
 fall and winter terms. He has been a School 
 Visitor of this town for more than thirty 
 years, and was for fifteen years the secretary 
 of the School Board. Much of the advance- 
 ment made in the schools of this town during 
 the period Mr. Gillette has been officially 
 connected with them has been due to his 
 timely and wise suggestions. He has also 
 served his fellow -townsmen as Assessor, 
 Treasurer of the Town Deposit and School 
 Fund, and as their Representative in the 
 State legislature. Fourteen years ago he was 
 elected Probate Judge, which office he has 
 since filled with strict impartiality. Al- 
 though he is not a regularly qualified lawyer, 
 he is well read in law and thoroughly in- 
 formed in all matters coming under his offi- 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 cial notice. In politics he is a Republican, 
 in religion a Baptist. He has been a member 
 of the Ancient Order of United Workmen for 
 five years, and has occupied all the chairs in 
 that organization. He is also a Master 
 Mason. His home, one of the neatest and 
 most attractive places in Lebanon, located 
 on the green, with a beautiful environment, 
 was built by him in 1880. 
 
 On October 25, 1866, Mr. Gillette was 
 united in marriage with Mercy F. , daughter of 
 Thurston and Amy (Tucker) Tucker. Her 
 parents, who were not related, came to this 
 place from Rhode Island. The father is still 
 living near; but the mother died October 6, 
 1884, at the age of sixty -four. Mrs. Gillette 
 is a member of the Baptist church. She has 
 one sister, Phcebe, now the wife of George 
 Irish; and a brother, Orlando C. Tucker, of 
 this town. 
 
 \EV. LEVVELLYN PRATT, D.D., 
 the pastor of the Broadway Congrega- 
 tional Church, Norwich, was born 
 August 8, 1832, in Saybrook, now Essex, 
 Conn. Selden M. Pratt, his father, was born 
 in the same place, March 4, 1805, son of 
 Ezra Pratt, whose birth occurred on December 
 S> 1 757- Jared Pratt, the father of Ezra, 
 was born in 171 1, son of Benjamin Pratt, who 
 was born June 14, 1681, a son of Captain 
 William Pratt. Captain Pratt, born May 
 15. 1653, was a son of Lieutenant William 
 Pratt, who came from England in 1633, with 
 the Thomas Hooker colony. Three years 
 later Lieutenant Pratt settled in Hartford, 
 Conn., whence he removed in 1645 to Say- 
 brook, which has been the birthplace of all 
 the succeeding generations in this branch of 
 the family. He was a son of the Rev. Will- 
 iam Pratt, who for thirty years served as rec- 
 tor of the old parish church in Stevanage, 
 
 England. The father of minister Pratt was 
 Andrew Pratt, of Baldock; and his grandfather 
 was Thomas Pratt, of the same place, whose 
 will bore date of February 5, 1538. Lieuten- 
 ant Pratt was for many years in the General 
 Court, and held other public offices. When 
 the first court in New London County as- 
 sembled at New London on September 20, 
 1666, Major Mason, Thomas Stanton, and 
 Lieutenant Pratt occupied the bench; and on 
 May 9, 1678, the last-named gentleman at- 
 tended as Deputy for the twenty-third time. 
 He died in that year. 
 
 Ezra Pratt, the grandfather of the subject 
 of this biography, was a farmer. He married 
 on January 22, 1783, Temperance South- 
 worth, a native of Saybrook. Eleven children 
 were the fruit of the union, eight sons and 
 three daughters, of whom Selden M. was the 
 youngest. Ezra died soon after the birth of 
 Selden, leaving the mother, who was known 
 as "Aunt Tempe, " with a large family and 
 but limited means for its support. However, 
 one of the noblest types of womanhood, she 
 brought up her children in a manner that 
 made them an honor to their name. She lived 
 to be an octogenarian. Two of her sons, Ezra 
 and Alfred, migrated to the Western Reserve 
 (Ohio), where they became large land-owners 
 and influential and public-spirited citizens. 
 Horace and Nathaniel were educated for the 
 ministry at Princeton after graduating from 
 Yale College. The former became a Presby- 
 terian preacher in Tuscaloosa, Ala., and the 
 professor of belles-lettres in the university 
 there. The latter became a preacher, and 
 labored in Marietta, and in Roswell, Ga. 
 Henry acquired much wealth as a New York 
 merchant. Amasa and Lyman were sea cap- 
 tains, the latter dying a young man. All 
 but two of these sons married and had chil- 
 dren, some of whom are filling positions of 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 213 
 
 distinction, one of the number being a recent 
 Mayor of Minneapolis, Minn. 
 
 Selden M. Pratt spent the active years of 
 his life occupied in carrying on his farm 
 at Saybrook. Appreciating his ability and 
 worth, his townsmen conferred various official 
 honors upon him. He served as Town Clerk, 
 Judge of Probate for many years, and in the 
 State legislature for several terms. On Janu- 
 ary 15, 1828, he was married at Saybrook to 
 Rebecca Nott, daughter of Clark and Wealthy 
 (Pratt) Nott. They had nine children, six 
 sons and three daughters, all of whom reached 
 maturity. Selden, the seventh child, after a 
 year's service in the Civil War as a volunteer 
 in the Connecticut Infantry, was stricken 
 with a fever, and died in Baton Rouge, at the 
 age of nineteen years. He was brought to 
 Saybrook for burial. The living children 
 are: Lewellyn, the second son and child; 
 Jane, who for many years was a missionary 
 teacher in New Mexico, under the New West 
 Commission ; Amasa, now residing in Colum- 
 bus, Ohio, who was for a number of years 
 the superintendent of a deaf-mute institute; 
 James M., a successful business man of Phila- 
 delphia, Pa. ; and Abram Nott, who is en- 
 gaged in the lumber business in Eddy, 
 N.M. Henry Lyman Pratt, the first-born, 
 after graduating from Williams College, 
 studied law, and subsequently practised at the 
 bar in Essex. He was Judge of Probate, and 
 represented the town in the lower house of 
 the State legislature. In addition to his law 
 practice, he carried on the manufacture of bits 
 and augers for a number of years. He died 
 in 1894, aged sixty -four years, having sur- 
 vived for 'some time his wife and two chil- 
 dren. Selden M. Pratt died in 1881, aged 
 seventy-six, and his wife in i86g, aged sixty- 
 two years. 
 
 Lewellyn Pratt, after preparing in Durham 
 
 and Essex Academies, entered Williams Col- 
 lege in 1848, and graduated in 1852, with a 
 class of over fifty, having one of the orations. 
 Soon after his graduation he became the pro- 
 fessor of natural science in Gallaudet College, 
 Washington, D.C. In 1869 he went to 
 Galesburg, 111., to take the position of pro- 
 fessor of Latin in Knox College. After re- 
 maining here until 1871, he was installed as 
 pastor of the Congregational church at North 
 Adams, Mass. Five years later he accepted 
 the chair of rhetoric in Williams College, his 
 Alma Mater; and in 1880 he became the pro- 
 fessor of practical theology in the Theological 
 Seminary, Hartford, Conn. From the semi- 
 nary he came to the Broadway Congregational 
 Church in 1888. In this, the largest Protes- 
 tant church of Norwich, he has ministered 
 most acceptably during the past eight years. 
 Thoroughly practical himself in all depart- 
 ments of church work, his lectures while pro- 
 fessor of practical theology could but win the 
 indorsement of those he taught. His success 
 as a teacher and preacher lies, not so much in 
 special talents, as in a happy and rare combi- 
 nation of natural traits. A man of command- 
 ing presence, he is at the same time distin- 
 guished by the uniform courtesy of a thorough 
 gentleman. Williams College conferred upon 
 him the degree of Doctor of Divinity in 1877, 
 and later elected him a trustee. Hartford 
 Theological Seminary has also received him 
 on its Board of Trustees. He has published 
 many magazine and review articles, which 
 have been very favorably received. 
 
 On October 17, 1855, Dr. Pratt was united 
 in marriage with Miss Sarah Putnam Gulliver, 
 of Philadelphia, whose parents were John and 
 Sarah (Putnam) Gulliver, of Boston, Mass. 
 Of his two children, Theodore died when 
 four years old. The survivor is Professor 
 Waldo Selden Pratt, A.M., who fills the chair 
 
214 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 of ecclesiastical music in the Hartford Theo- 
 logical Seminary. Like his father, he was 
 graduated from Williams College. He has a 
 wife, but no living children. 
 
 W"^ 
 
 ILLIAM LADD, a highly esteemed 
 octogenarian farmer of Sprague, 
 now retired, was born February 17, 
 1 8 16, near his present home, then included in 
 the adjoining town of Franklin, New London 
 County. His parents were Festus and Ruby 
 Ladd. He is of old and substantial Colonial 
 stock, whose immigrant progenitor (see Ladd 
 Genealogy), Daniel Ladd, "took the oath of 
 supremacy and 'allegiance to pass to New Eng- 
 land in the 'Mary and John' on March 24, 
 1633-4." He had a grant of land in Ipswich, 
 Mass., in 1637, ^nd ^ little later on was one 
 of the original settlers of Haverhill, Mass., 
 where he was a Selectman in 1668. Daniel 
 Ladd's son Samuel was killed by Indians on 
 February 22, 1698. David Ladd, of Haver- 
 hill, son of Samuel, was twice married; and 
 Abner Ladd, born in 1740, is said to have 
 been David's son by his second wife. Abner 
 Ladd, grandfather of the subject of this 
 sketch, married Abigail Perkins, who bore 
 him five sons — Jedediah, Abner, Jr., Erastus 
 P., Festus, and George Washington. There 
 were also a number of daughters. 
 
 Festus, father of William Ladd, was born 
 on the farm adjoining the one on which his 
 son now lives. He was a farmer, and spent 
 his life in this town, dying here in 1855, at 
 the age of seventy-three years. His wife, 
 who was also his cousin, survived him twenty 
 years. They had a family of five sons and six 
 daughters. The eldest child was Asa Spald- 
 ing Ladd, who was born in 1808, and lived to 
 the age of seventy -three years; the next child 
 was Lura; Eliza, now the widow of Jerry 
 
 Sims on Bean Hill is eighty-eight years old; 
 Betsey, now Mrs. Ladd Perkins, a widow, re- 
 sides in Franklin at the age of eighty-six 
 years; William, of Sprague, has nearly com- 
 pleted his eighty-second year; Laura, a widow, 
 residing in Illinois, is in her seventy-ninth 
 year; Rufus S. is seventy-three years of age; 
 and Lydia, Mrs. Hall, a widow, is in her 
 seventieth year. The combined ages of all 
 these is five hundred and fifty years. 
 
 William Ladd was reared to agricultural 
 pursuits, and received a common-school educa- 
 tion. He was a fine penman in early life, 
 and spent considerable time in perfecting him- 
 self in that art. Leaving home at nineteen 
 years of age, he hired himself out as a farm 
 laborer at eleven dollars per month for the 
 year round, and until he reached his majority 
 gave the wages he earned to his parents. He 
 worked for nine years for one man, Edwin 
 Allen by name, who died in Mystic in 1895. 
 Mr. Allen was an inventor, and was the origi- 
 nator of wooden type. At one time Mr. Ladd 
 received from him six hundred dollars of his 
 wages; and then he and his sister Eliza 
 bought a farm here, and gave their mother a 
 lifelong lease of it. Mr. Ladd now owns five 
 farms, and on one of them has a fine dairy. 
 In 1892 he built his present cosey house on a 
 home lot of seven acres of l-and. Mr. Ladd is 
 a Democrat in politics. He has held various 
 town offices, and has represented his town in 
 the State legislature. 
 
 In 1865 he was united in marriage with 
 Lucretia Waldo. After her decease he mar- 
 ried on October 26, 1885, her cousin, Mrs. 
 Louise Jackson, widow of John R. Jackson, 
 of Hartford, Conn., and daughter of the Rev. 
 Horatio Waldo, a Congregationalist minister, 
 formerly pastor of the church in Portage, 
 Wyoming County, N.Y. 
 
 Mrs. Ladd's daughter, Anna Jackson, an 
 
WILLIAM LAUD. 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 .17 
 
 only and fondly loved child, died at the early 
 age of nineteen, a blossom of beauty already 
 ripened for a better land. She was not only 
 the flower of the home, but in social life and 
 religious circles occupied a prominent place 
 that no one else could fill. Her pastor, Mr. 
 Gage, of Hartford, who was abroad at the time 
 of her death, wrote to her mother that she 
 (Anna) was the most active and influential 
 young woman in Christian work in his large 
 congregation, that her loss would be deeply 
 mourned by all with whom she associated, 
 and, as they should all miss her so much, he 
 could scarcely conceive how the mother could 
 live without her. She was not only strikingly 
 handsome in face and figure, but was of a rare 
 type of beauty, with soulful eyes, that radi- 
 ated grace upon all who came within the 
 circle of her influence. She was gifted in 
 music and literature, but her Christian graces 
 outshone all other gifts. At the age of ten, 
 when a fine piano was presented her, she 
 sat down upon the stool gracefully, and, play- 
 ing her own accompaniment, sang in a most 
 pleasing and effective manner, "How the 
 Gates came Ajar," "The Golden Stairs," and 
 other hymns. A musician, who was present 
 at the time, said that, "if a child of that ten- 
 der age could sing with such spirit and pathos 
 such pieces as those, she well deserved a fine 
 instrument." 
 
 Mrs. Ladd says that it has always seemed to 
 her as if the child's grandparents, who were 
 most estimable Christian people, had let their 
 mantle fall upon Anna, and as if the grand- 
 father's blessing had proved most effectual. 
 He was a man of letters, versed in Greek. 
 When the baby Anna was brought to him as 
 he lay dying, he was bolstered up at his re- 
 quest; and, taking the child in his arms, he 
 most fervently asked the blessing of the Al- 
 mighty upon her. She grew from day to day 
 
 in Christian loveliness of character, under her 
 mother's watchful training. After Anna's 
 death Mrs. Ladd received a very affecting 
 letter of condolence from a young Chinese, 
 who had become converted to the Christian re- 
 ligion under her daughter's influence in a 
 Sabbath-school class taught by Anna for some 
 time in New York City. The Chinese lad 
 was thrown under her influence at a missionary 
 meeting, and subsequently joined her Sabbath- 
 school class, where he was always an attentive 
 listener. 
 
 " This world is His garden, Anna, 
 He but took thee from us here 
 To bloom the brighter there.'' 
 
 ^CjDWARD PREST, who was for fifty years 
 JQI a resident of New London and in later 
 life one of its best known and most 
 respected citizens, was born in Bolton, Lanca- 
 shire, England, in 1813. He was a son of 
 George and Mary (Wignall) Prest, his father 
 being a local Methodist preacher, who held 
 frequent religious meetings at his house. At 
 these gatherings he in early childhood re- 
 ceived impressions which had much to do with 
 shaping his moral character and laying the 
 foundation of his upright, useful, and prosper- 
 ous career. A separate sketch of his brother, 
 George Prest, including further ancestral his- 
 tory, may be found on another page of this 
 volume. 
 
 Edward Prest learned the trade of a stone- 
 mason in Plngland. In 1843 he came to 
 America with his father and brothers, and set- 
 tled in New London, where he subsequently 
 became a contractor and builder. An expert 
 mechanic, he was also a man of the strictest 
 probity, and would contract for nothing but 
 the best quality of work, which he always exe- 
 
2l8 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 cuted in the most skilful and thoroiigli man- 
 ner. By virtue of these qualities, though be- 
 ginning life a poor boy, he became a wealthy 
 man and one of New London's most substan- 
 tial citizens. Among the buildings erected 
 by him which bear witness to his skill as a 
 master workman are St. James Episcopal 
 Church, City Hall, Lawrence Hall, Metropol- 
 itan Hotel, Rogers Block on Main Street, and 
 the residence of J. N. Harris. He bought a 
 large tract of land in the western part of this 
 city, through which he laid streets; and he 
 built thereon many tenement houses. He 
 also erected a comfortable residence for him- 
 self on the corner of Blackball and Brest 
 Streets, where his death occurred in 1893, and 
 in which his widow still resides. 
 
 His first wife was Jane, daughter of John 
 and Barbara McDonald, who came from Scot- 
 land, her father being for years the leading 
 baker in New London. For his second wife 
 he married Frances H., daughter of Thomas 
 and Fanny Chester, both natives of Groton. 
 Her grandfather. Deacon Elisha Chester, as 
 well as her father, Thomas Chester, were 
 born in the old Chester homestead in Shin- 
 necossett, now Eastern Point. In 18 14, 
 Thomas, at the age of thirteen, assisted in 
 building a battery on the Chester property as 
 a defence against marauding British v'essels. 
 He taught school for twenty years. In 1834 
 he purchased a farm in Waterford, near what 
 is now Cedar Grove Cemetery, where both 
 he and his wife died in 1877. The farm still 
 remains in possession of the family. Mrs. 
 Brest's great -great-grandfather was Samuel 
 Chester, who was a ship-owner, commander, 
 and factor in the West India trade. He re- 
 moved from Boston to New London in 1663. 
 He owned a large tract of land in Groton. 
 His son John, the next in line of descent to 
 Mrs. Brest, married Mary Starr, a great -great- 
 
 grand-daughter of William Brewster, one of 
 the "Mayflower's" passengers in 1620. Two 
 of the sons of John Chester were Thomas and 
 Benajah. Thomas, who resided in the old 
 Chester homestead at Shinnecossett, was pay- 
 master for Connecticut troops in the Revolu- 
 tionary War. On September 6, 1781, he 
 armed three of his sons for the defence of Fort 
 Griswold. Two of them were massacred after 
 they had surrendered, and the other was taken 
 prisoner. The land on which the Fort Gris- 
 wold House and adjacent cottages now stand 
 was owned by Benajah Chester and his son 
 Starr. Their house was burned by the enemy 
 during the war. Starr Chester, son of Bena- 
 jah, subsequently purchased a large tract of 
 land, a part of which is now known as Long 
 Point. His son Nicholas became the father 
 of Fanny, wife of Thomas Chester and mother 
 of Mrs. Brest. 
 
 DWARD B. BREWER, M.D., is an 
 esteemed and successful physician of 
 Norwich, his native town. A son of 
 Bliny and Ellen M. (Whittemore) Brewer, he 
 traces his descent by both parents to English 
 colonists who came to New England in the 
 early part of the seventeenth century. His 
 great-great-grandfather, Isaac Brewer, first, 
 died about the time of the Revolutionary War. 
 Isaac Brewer, second, son of the first Isaac, 
 married in 1747 Sibyl Miller, of Ludlow, 
 Mass. They had eleven children, five sons 
 and six daughters. Of these one son died in 
 infancy and one at the age of seventeen. 
 Lyman, the youngest son and tenth child, 
 married Harriet Tyler, of Norwich, settled 
 there, and became the father of Arthur Brewer. 
 Isaac Brewer died when forty-seven years of 
 age. Chauncey Brewer, born about 1776, 
 who was the seventh child and third son, and 
 who located in Wilbraham, Hampden County, 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 219 
 
 Mass., owned a large tract of land extending 
 from Ludlow to Springfield. He married 
 Asenath Mandeville, who, with her father, 
 had recently come from England. Seven sons 
 and two daughters were born to them, of whom 
 Pliny was the youngest. The mother, who 
 survived the father several years, died at Nor- 
 wich in 1 871, over eighty years of age. 
 
 Pliny Brewer was born November 27, 1823, 
 in Ludlow, Mass. When fourteen years of 
 age he left home and came to Norwich. 
 About the year 1848 he went into the cloth- 
 ing business with his brother, John M. 
 Brewer. He was in trade until 1862, when 
 he enlisted for nine months' service in the 
 Civil War, and went out as Lieutenant of 
 Company G, Twenty-sixth Connecticut Regi- 
 ment, which was assigned to the Department 
 of the Gulf. After an absence of about a 
 year he returned home, and was in active busi- 
 ness until the spring of 1889, when he retired. 
 In or about 185 1 he was married to Ellen 
 M. Whittemore, a native of Providence, R.I. 
 Pier ancestry is traced in England to the year 
 121 1. Samuel Whittemore, the founder of 
 the American family, came to the country in 
 1630. He purchased meadow lands along the 
 Charles River, which were deeded to him by 
 Cotton Mather. These lands, after having 
 been in the family's possession for about two 
 hundred and fifty years, were sold within the 
 past twenty-five or thirty years. Several rep- 
 resentatives of the Whittemore family were 
 conspicuous as officers in the Revolution. 
 Mrs. Ellen M. Brewer's grandfather served as 
 Lieutenant throughout the war, being in the 
 campaign against Burgoyne. Her great- 
 grandfather, Benjamin Cady, and his son 
 joined the Revolutionary army from Killingly, 
 Conn. Her mother died in 1896, when 
 eighty-five years of age. The children of 
 Pliny Brewer and his wife were: Mary, now 
 
 living in Norwich ; Florence, a resident of 
 Wichita, Kan. ; Edward P., the subject of 
 this sketch ; and Frank, who was a medical 
 student, and died of diphtheria in New York 
 City. The mother's death occurred in Nor- 
 wich, in December, 1895, when she was sixty- 
 four years old. 
 
 Edward P. Brewer received the greater part 
 of his college preparatory education under a 
 private tutor. He then entered the Univer- 
 sity of Pennsylvania at Philadelphia, from 
 which he received the degree of Doctor of 
 Philosophy. Later he graduated from the 
 Dartmouth Medical College. He continued 
 his studies in New York and Philadelphia for 
 five years. Then, in 1881, he established 
 himself in Norwich, where he has since built 
 up a large and successful practice. In 1895 
 he went to Europe, and studied under the most 
 celebrated specialists in London, Paris, and 
 Vienna. Since his return he has devoted 
 himself to special work. He has been a con- 
 stant contributor to the medical press, and has 
 occupied important editorial positions. Pos- 
 sessed of an inventive faculty, he has devised 
 several important instruments, among which 
 is the torsiometer, which has attracted much 
 notice. 
 
 In 1886 Dr. Brewer was married to Miss 
 Alice L. Boardman, of Norwich. Her par- 
 ents were Clement and Louisa (Prentice) 
 Boardman, of whom the latter is living. Mrs. 
 Brewer's grandfather, General Mott, a civil 
 engineer, drew the plans for the fortifications 
 at New London, and accompanied the expedi- 
 tion that captured Ticonderoga. Her great- 
 grandfather. General John Tyler, served in the 
 Revolutionary War, having command of forces 
 in the Newport and Long Island expeditions. 
 Dr. and Mrs. Brewer have one child, Alice. 
 Dr. Brewer votes with the Republican party. 
 He is a member of the regular medical asso- 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 ciations of the county, State, and country, and 
 of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. 
 In religion he is a Congregationalist and a 
 member of the Eroadway Congregational 
 Church. The family reside at i8 Washing- 
 ton Street, where he built his dwelling and 
 office in 1891. 
 
 W^' 
 
 [LLIAM HARRIS BENTLEY, 
 
 the second son of William and 
 Hannah (Harris) Bentley, was born 
 in New London, Conn., July 6, 1833, His 
 father was descended from William Bentley, 
 who came from Scotland in 1716. His 
 mother was a lineal descendant of Governor 
 William Bradford (1620; and Walter Harris, 
 one of the first white settlers in the present 
 town of New London. She grew up in the 
 Blinman house, one of the houses which stood 
 through the burning of New London in the 
 Revolutionary War, and which is still in pos- 
 session of her daughter, the street on which it 
 is situated being named for the Rev. John 
 Blinman, who built the house. Mr. Bent- 
 ley's father received injuries from a severe 
 fall on his vessel, which deprived him of his 
 eyesight; and he was obliged to abandon sea- 
 faring life. As New London was then in the 
 height of its prosperity owing to its whaling 
 interests, he established a teaming business. 
 
 William H. Bentley, on coming of age, 
 succeeded his father; and, as the demands of 
 the business increased with the growth of the 
 city, he added a wholesale and retail ice busi- 
 ness at 24 State Street, wharfage at Howard 
 Street, and a storage department and stables 
 on Truman Street, all of which he still car- 
 ries on. His residence is on Vauxhall Street. 
 He became a member of the Second Congrega- 
 tional Sunday-school in 1839, of which he is 
 still a member, together with his three sons. 
 
 He joined the Niagara Engine Company, No. 
 I, in 1848, filling all positions in the com- 
 pany, from volunteer to chief engineer of the 
 fire department of New London. He was one 
 of the organizers of the Veteran Fireman As- 
 sociation, of which he is now first vice-presi- 
 dent. November 20, 1856, he married Miss 
 Frances Leech, of Norwich, who died January 
 28, 1874. He enlisted in the Twenty-sixth 
 Regiment, Connecticut Volunteers; and on 
 formation of the company he was elected Cap- 
 tain, and served with them during their enlist- 
 ment, being in the siege of Port Hudson 
 forty -two days, and having the entire charge 
 of the regiment fifteen days. On his return 
 he was unable to attend to business for a year, 
 his health having been impaired from the ex- 
 posure and hardships endured while in Louisi- 
 ana. He has been a member of the Grand 
 Army since its first formation in New Lon- 
 don, filling its various offices, being appointed 
 February 27, 1890, Aide-de-camp to General 
 R. A. Alger, and appointed March 19, 1891, 
 Aide-de-camp to General W. G. Vesey. He 
 joined the Union Lodge, F. &A. M., in 1866, 
 and is now Past Eminent Commander of Pal- 
 estine Commandery, No. 6, K. T. He was 
 elected Selectman for the town of New Lon- 
 don, serving in 1869-72. Subsequent to the 
 re-formation of the Third Regiment, C. N. G., 
 in 1 87 1, he was elected First Lieutenant of 
 Company D (in 1873) ; promoted to Captain in 
 1 88 1; promoted to Major, receiving sword, 
 straps, and all insignia of the office from mem- 
 bers of Company D in 1882; promoted to 
 Lieutenant Colonel ; and honorably discharged 
 June 30, 1886. He was a member of the 
 State legislature in 1883, and served on the 
 Military Committee. He was a charter mem- 
 ber of the A. O. U. W., being the first 
 Master Workman. He was a charter member 
 of the Royal Arcanum. The New London 
 
CAL\'IN ALLVX. 
 
MRS. CAL\'IN ALLYN. 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 225 
 
 Board of Trade was formed in 1885, and he 
 was its president in 1886. He has served the 
 city twenty-one years as Councilman and 
 Alderman. October 25, 1877, he married for 
 his second wife Miss Charlotte Bingham, of 
 Norwich, by whom he has four sons — George 
 Bingham, William Harris, Julian Bingham, 
 and Frank. 
 
 George graduated from the Bulkeley School 
 in the class of 1897; William is a student at 
 Bulkeley, in the class of 1898; Julian is now 
 deceased; Frank is a student at the Robert 
 Bartlett. 
 
 /T^ALVIN ALLYN, a prosperous farmer 
 I Np of Norwich, belongs to a family that 
 
 V,.^_^- came to America in the early days 
 of its setflement by white people, enduring 
 with brave hardihood the privations and suffer- 
 ings which were the lot of the early colonists. 
 He is a direct descendant of Sir Robert 
 Allyn, of England. Another of his ancestors 
 was I^ord Mayor of London, and the family 
 coat of arms dates from the second crusade. 
 
 Robert Allyn, the immigrant progenitor of 
 the branch of the family now being con- 
 sidered, came over in 1637, and settled in 
 Salem, Mass., remaining there until 1651, 
 when he removed to New London, Conn., and 
 obtained a large tract of land, including what 
 is now Allyn Point, much of which is still in 
 the family. From Robert Allyn the line de- 
 scends, through John, Robert, Robert, James, 
 a second James, and Charles, to Calvin, whose 
 name appears at the beginning of this sketch. 
 The younger James and his twin brother 
 Ebenezer, who was the progenitor of the pres- 
 ent Allyn Point branch, were born in that 
 part of Groton which is now Ledyard, Conn., 
 about 1750. James Allyn purchased the 
 farm of John Dean, and the active years of his 
 life were profitably spent in carrying it on. 
 
 James Allyn, Jr., was married in 1768 at 
 Stonington, Conn., to Anna Stanton, of that 
 place. She was descended from Thomas 
 Stanton, the Indian interpreter. A coverlid 
 made and marked by her mother in 1743 and 
 a chair that belonged to her ancestors have 
 been handed down as heirlooms to the present 
 generation. The children of James and Anna 
 (Stanton) Allyn were: Joseph, Anna, Althea, 
 Martha, Jabez, Charles, and Roswell, all of 
 whom had families except Jabez. The mother 
 died at sixty-seven and the father at eighty-six 
 years of age. Their remains are resting in 
 what is known as the Allyn Burial-ground, 
 which was taken from the old farm in the town 
 of Ledyard. The house in which James 
 Allyn, Jr., and his children were born was 
 also the birthplace of Silas Deane, one of the 
 commissioners to France in Revolutionary 
 times. 
 
 Charles Allyn, father of Calvin, was born 
 September 28, 1781, twenty-two days after the 
 massacre of Fort Griswold, New London, 
 headed by Arnold, the traitor, September 6, 
 1781. He became a well-to-do man and influ- 
 ential citizen, and served acceptably as Se- 
 lectman of Montville. He married in Groton, 
 February 9, 18 14, Miss Lois Gallup, a daugh- 
 ter of Jacob Gallup, who was a son of Colonel 
 Nathan Gallup, one of the Committee of 
 Safety that advised with Governor Trumbull. 
 The children born of this union were: Louisa; 
 Robert; Amanda; James; Calvin; and Har- 
 riet. Louisa married Robert A. Williams, 
 of Preston, and died March 22, 1896, at 
 eighty years of age, leaving five children. 
 Robert was educated at the Wesleyan Uni- 
 versity at Middletown, Conn., graduating in 
 1841. In 1857 he was elected Professor of 
 Greek in Wesleyan University at Athens, 
 Ohio; was afterward president of the Female 
 College in Cincinnati, president of McKen- 
 
226 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 dree College at Lebanon, III., and the first 
 principal of Southern Illinois State Normal 
 School at Carbondale, 111. The degree of 
 Doctor of Divinity was conferred upon him by 
 his Alma Mater, also that of Doctor of Laws; 
 and he was ranked with the leading educators 
 of the West. He died in Carbondale, III., 
 January 7, 1894. Amanda, who was the wife 
 of the Rev. Nathaniel Clark Lewis, a Metho- 
 dist preacher, died September 19, 1891, in 
 Onarga, III., leaving no children, and be- 
 queathing her large property to the North- 
 western University, at Evanston, near Chi- 
 cago. Her husband was in the itinerancy in 
 New England and Illinois, and was also en- 
 gaged in university work. James Allyn, 
 third, died in Waterford, Conn., March 18, 
 1893, aged seventy. Harriet lived to be but 
 sixteen, and Calvin is now the sole survivor. 
 At a family reunion held here August 15, 
 1889, all the sons and daughters except Har- 
 riet were present. Their mother died April 
 28, i860, at sixty-nine years of age; their 
 father, May 13, 1868, at eighty-six. 
 
 Calvin Allyn was born in Groton, Conn., 
 New London County, May 26, 1827. His 
 early education was supplemented by a course 
 at Wilbraham Academy; and after that he 
 taught school for three winters, but eventually 
 turned his attention to farming, in which he 
 has met with good success. He came to Nor- 
 wich from Montville, where he had lived for 
 forty-nine years, and now resides on the farm 
 known as the Riverview, which he purchased 
 of the Jedediah Spalding estate in 1S81. 
 Commodore Perry was staying at the tavern 
 here, which was kept by his father at the time 
 he was ordered to Lake Erie, where he en- 
 gaged with the British fleet, and won his 
 famous victory of September 10, 18 13. 
 
 On February 26, 1861, Mr. Allyn was 
 united in marriage with Sarah A. Gallup. 
 
 She died in 1864, leaving one son, Robert 
 Gallup Allyn, who lived to be but eighteen 
 years of age, dying in 1881. On November 
 7, 1865, Mr. Allyn was married to Mrs. 
 Eunice A. Ames, born Raymond, a daughter 
 of William and Eunice B. Raymond. By her 
 former marriage she had one son, Charles W. 
 Ames, who was accidentally drowned at seven- 
 teen years of age. Three children blessed her 
 union with Mr. Allyn, namely: Lois Anna, 
 wife of Dwight L. Mason, a manufacturer of 
 Winchendon, Mass. ; James Raymond Allyn, 
 who is engaged in the market business in Nor- 
 wich, is unmarried, and lives at home; and 
 Martha S., who was graduated from the Nor- 
 wich Free Academy in 1894 and from the 
 Normal School in 1896, and is now pursuing 
 the study of art, for which she has special 
 aptitude. Mrs. Allyn died April 19, 1897. 
 
 Mr. Allyn votes in the ranks of the Repub- 
 lican party, but prefers the quiet of home life 
 to the turmoil of political service, and as a 
 rule declines official honors. 
 
 T^URTIS LADD HAZEN, First Select- 
 I jp man of Sprague and a well-known 
 >*,1L— ^ farmer of this place, was born, son 
 of Eli Hartshorn and Ruth Kingsbury (Ladd) 
 Hazen, on the farm which is his home and in 
 the house built in 1839 by Grandfather Hazen. 
 Simeon, the grandfather of Curtis Hazen, was 
 a son of Moses Hazen, and was born in 1769, 
 in a house which stood on the homestead. 
 He was a lifelong farmer, and resided on the 
 farm now occupied by Charles T. Hazen. 
 Although he always lived in the same place, 
 his residence was in three different towns — 
 Norwich, Franklin, and Sprague. This was 
 owing to successive subdivisions of the town 
 under two governments. Simeon was twice 
 married. His first marriage was made with 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 227 
 
 a Miss Simpson. The second wife, Temper- 
 ance Sabin Hazen, was the grandmother of 
 Curtis L. There were in all ten or twelve 
 children in the family. Eli was born Febru- 
 ary 27, 1 8 16, in leap year, and so came near 
 losing three-quarters of his birthdays. The 
 event occurred in the red house now standing 
 on the farm owned by his brother, Charles 
 Thomas Hazen. He was an active man in 
 town affairs, serving as Selectman, on the 
 Board of Relief, and in other public posi- 
 tions. He sang for sixty years in the choir of 
 the Methodist church. Three years after his 
 marriage his father built the house in which 
 Curtis L. now resides, entailing it to Eli, 
 who in turn entailed it to his son Curtis. 
 
 Eli Hartshorn Hazen was married on April 
 2, 1837, at the age of twenty-one years, to a 
 daughter of Darius Ladd, she being then 
 twenty. Both were born in February. Her 
 mother belonged to a family named Frink. 
 Mrs. Eli H. Hazen died February 22, 1894, 
 when seventy-seven years of age, and was 
 buried in the Portapaug Congregational 
 Churchyard. Of her five children, Curtis L. 
 is the youngest. Charles Eli, the eldest, re- 
 sides in Hartford, Conn., and is an overseer 
 in an envelope factory. The only daughter, 
 Ruth Jeanette, is the wife of Joseph Henry 
 Giddings, of Mystic. The other sons are: 
 Dwight Bailey, who is a commercial traveller, 
 and resides in Batavia, 111. ; and Marcus 
 Morton, who is a farmer in the town of Leb- 
 anon. All have been Democrats in politics. 
 The father, who survived the mother three 
 years, was buried beside her. 
 
 Curtis Ladd Hazen received a common- 
 school education, and at an early age showed 
 an aptitude for mathematics. At the age of 
 sixteen years he had mastered Greenleaf's 
 "National Arithmetic." Beginning at seven- 
 teen, he taught school in the winter term for 
 
 three successive years. He has been active in 
 the public life of the town, and takes a warm 
 interest in all matters concerning the genera] 
 welfare. In the capacities of Tax Collector, 
 Constable, Justice of the Peace, and Select- 
 man he has shown unswerving loyalty to the 
 interests of the town, winning general esteem. 
 He is now serving his fourth term as First Se- 
 lectman. Besides carrying on general farm- 
 ing, he keeps a dairy of eight cows. When 
 the fine barn, now in course of erection, is 
 finished, he will increase his stock. He has 
 always been interested in music, and, like his 
 father, has sung for many years in the church, 
 having been the choirmaster and taken both 
 tenor and bass parts. 
 
 On September 30, 1876, Mr. Hazen was 
 united in marriage with Mary Catherine, 
 daughter of James and Caroline (Shepard) 
 Allen. Her grandfather, Aaron Allen, was 
 born in Springfield, Mass. Her mother, 
 whose people were English, is still living. 
 The father died in 1892, aged seventy-two, in 
 Mr. Hazen's house, where both parents had 
 made their home for the three preceding 
 years. Mrs. Hazen was born in Canada. 
 Her daughter. Miss Lottie Alice Hazen, who, 
 having inherited the musical taste of her 
 father and grandfather, is a skilful performer 
 on the piano, cornet, and organ, presides at 
 the church organ, and sings both soprano and 
 contralto parts. 
 
 ESSRS. H. F. AND A. J. 
 DAWLEY, of Norwich, the well- 
 known manufacturers and dealers 
 in lumber, shingles, mouldings, etc., are sons 
 of Joseph Frank Dawley, now a resident of 
 Westford. Their paternal grandfather, Jo- 
 seph Dawley, came from Rhode Island with 
 his wife and family, and settled at Willing- 
 
228 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 ton, Tolland County, Conn., where he carried 
 on farming. Both Grandfather and Grand- 
 mother Dawley lived to about the age of four- 
 score years. They had eight sons and one 
 daughter. The two sons now living are: An- 
 drew, who is superintendent of the Hadley 
 Thread Company in Holyoke; and Joseph 
 Frank, father of Messrs. Dawley. 
 
 Joseph Frank Dawley was born in Eastern 
 Rhode Island in February, 1828, and was the 
 seventh son of his parents. In his early ac- 
 tive life he was engaged in trade, having 
 a store and sending out a number of teams. 
 For the last thirty-five years he has given his 
 attention to farming on his estate of one hun- 
 dred and twenty-five acres in Westford, Conn. 
 His first wife, Elvira Robbins, whom he mar- 
 ried March 24, 1850, was born in Thompson- 
 ville on November 24, 1829, and died March 
 21, 1855, leaving only two sons; namely, 
 Herbert F. and Arthur James, of Norwich. 
 His second wife was sister of the first, and 
 was named Sophronia. She was born Novem- 
 ber 21, 1835, and was married in October, 
 1855. Her children numbered five. Three 
 of them are living, as follows: Clara E., the 
 wife of Elmer Walker, of Webster, Mass. ; 
 William H., who is in the employ of H. F. 
 and A. J. Dawley; and Edward R., who re- 
 sides in Evanston, 111., and is a commercial 
 traveller for a Chicago firm. 
 
 Arthur James Dawley, the younger of the 
 two elder brothers, was born March 9, 1855, 
 in the town of Willington, and was reared to 
 farm life. At the age of fourteen he began to 
 work out during the summers, attending school 
 in the winters. When he was seventeen years 
 of age, his father hired him out until he 
 should be twenty; and when that time came he 
 was given the rest of his time. At twenty- 
 one years of age he went to Boston, and en- 
 tered the office of E. A. Buck & Co., the firm 
 
 a year later becoming Dean, Foster & Co. 
 Their business was the manufacture of glass 
 bottles for druggists, with the name of the 
 customers blown in the glass. Mr. Dawley 
 began work the very day of his arrival, which 
 was on September 4, 1876, his wages being 
 eleven dollars per week. He was at first ship- 
 ping clerk, and within a year became salesman 
 and city collector. Some time after this he 
 was sent on the road as salesman for the New 
 England States at a salary of one hundred 
 dollars per month and expenses. In the 
 spring of 1879 he was sent out to the North- 
 western States, including among others Ind- 
 iana, Ohio, Michigan, Illinois, Kentucky, and 
 Kansas. He travelled in the interests of his 
 firm until 1883, doing business in various 
 parts of the country, and each year visiting 
 thirty States. In 18S2 he was offered a salary 
 of thirty-five hundred dollars and all of his 
 expenses paid; and in 1883 he became a 
 member of the firm of Dean, Foster & Daw- 
 ley, occupying the whole of a five-story 
 building at 120 Lake Street, Chicago, and 
 the other two partners being in Boston. This 
 firm was the second largest in the United 
 States in its line, doing a business of half 
 a million dollars a year. On April i, 1889, 
 Mr. Dawley severed his connection on account 
 of poor health, and, coming to Norwich, en- 
 gaged in the lumber business with his brother. 
 Fifteen months later he went to New York 
 City, and, becoming a partner in the firm of 
 Webster, Dawley & Co., at 52 Park Place, 
 wholesale dealers in druggists' glassware and 
 sundries, travelled in the New England States 
 and West as far as the Rockies. He built up 
 a large trade, but in February, 1892, sold his 
 interest in the business to his partners, and 
 returned to Norwich, where he has since been 
 engaged in his present business in company 
 with his brother. 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 229 
 
 Mr. Arthur J. Dawley is an independent 
 voter. Fraternally, he is a member of the 
 Independent Order of Odd Fellows. His 
 home is at 40 Oak Street. There are but few 
 keener and more successful business men in 
 Norwich or in the New England States than 
 he; and his success has been won entirely by 
 his own energy, enterprise, and natural busi- 
 ness aptness. 
 
 On September 12, 1877, Mr. Arthur J. 
 Dawley was united in marriage with Eugenia 
 M., daughter of Obed P. and Charlotte A. 
 (Ladd) McLean, of Glastonbury, Conn. Mrs. 
 McLean died in 1895, at the age of seventy- 
 two years, leaving four children: Ellen and 
 May E., who are both in Hartford; James 
 O, , a farmer and market gardener of Glaston- 
 bury ; and Mrs. Dawley. Mr. McLean is 
 living on his farm, still in good health. Mrs. 
 Eugenia M. Dawley was educated in the 
 schools of her native town, and subsequently 
 taught school for two years prior to her mar- 
 riage. She is a member of the First Congre- 
 gational Church on Broadway. 
 
 Mr. Herbert F. Dawley received a practical 
 common-school education, and at the age of 
 twenty struck out for himself in farming. 
 When twenty-one years old he entered a 
 wood-turning establishment, and he was in 
 the spoke department for four years at ordi- 
 nary wages. About 1876 he became partner 
 to E. A. Buck, the company being known as 
 Buck & Dawley, and carried on a grocery 
 business. They managed also a grist-mill 
 and a saw-mill, which were run by water, and 
 likewise a portable steam saw-mill, the two 
 latter being used for manufacturing into lum- 
 ber the timber cut from a number of lots of 
 woodland that they bought. The firm em- 
 ployed many workmen and many teams, and 
 did a large and paying business. Since his 
 brother Arthur returned to Norwich in 1892, 
 
 Mr. Dawley has been in company with him; 
 and together they have built up one of the 
 most thriving enterprises ever started in this 
 city. Their planing-mill and plant, which 
 covers fifteen acres, and is fitted with all 
 modern machinery, is at Fort Point, three 
 miles below Norwich, and their office and city 
 yard off Laurel Hill Avenue. They employ 
 fifty to sixty men. Their timber and lumber 
 come from the South and West, and from 
 Maine and other Northern sections. They 
 have a large wholesale trade for Georgia pine 
 timber and North Carolina pine and cypress, 
 and ship it by rail throughout the New Eng- 
 land States and Canada. They do a business 
 of about a quarter of a million dollars annu- 
 ally. Mr. Herbert F. Dawley was married on 
 May 30, 1876, to Martha, daughter of Peter 
 Piatt, of Ashford. 
 
 •Tt:^EV. JAMES CAMERON GAVIN, 
 I S^ recently of Lyme, New London 
 -Ly V ^ _ ^ County, Conn., now settled at Cole- 
 brook, Litchfield County, as pastor of the 
 North and the South Baptist Churches of this 
 town, was born at Aberdeen, Scotland, Janu- 
 ary 5, 1863, and is of Scotch parentage. His 
 father, James Gavin, was a native of Old 
 Meldrum, Aberdeenshire, and followed the 
 mercantile business. His mother was the 
 eldest daughter of John Cameron, of Udny, 
 Aberdeenshire, After receiving a common- 
 school education, James C. Gavin, the subject 
 of this sketch, adopted his father's calling, 
 serving his apprenticeship in his native city. 
 Ultimately finding that his interest was 
 deepening in missionary work, in which for 
 several years, as opportunity offered, he had en- 
 gaged, he relinquished his business prospects, 
 and at the suggestion of prominent friends 
 entered Harley College, London, England, as 
 
230 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 a missionary student. Subsequently he stud- 
 ied at Hulme Cliff College, Derbyshire, Eng- 
 land; and in 1890 he came to America, and 
 settled in New York, where he engaged in 
 ministerial work as assistant missionary in 
 the Baptist Mariners' Temple of that city. 
 He continued in that work for about one year; 
 and in December, 1891, he removed to Old 
 Lyme, Conn., having accepted a call to the 
 pastorate of the Baptist church in that town. 
 There he was ordained to the gospel ministry 
 in August, 1892. 
 
 In April, 1895, he married Ann Henderson 
 Davidson, who also is a native of Aberdeen, 
 Scotland, being the younger daughter of 
 George Davidson, late merchant at Kenneth- 
 mont, Aberdeenshire. In November, 1897, 
 after a successful pastorate of nearly six years 
 at Old Lyme, the Rev. Mr. Gavin accepted a 
 call to Colebrook, in the north-western part of 
 the State, and removed thither with his fam- 
 ily. Earnestly devoted to the duties of his 
 high calling, Mr. Gavin is a rising young 
 clergyman, and is doing a most acceptable 
 work in his new field of labor. 
 
 TTAHARLES CLARK PERKINS, the 
 I jy principal of the New London clothing 
 
 V»^__^ firm, C. C. Perkins & Co., was born 
 in Noank, this county, November 5, 1864. 
 An enthusiastic student of family history, he 
 has traced his ancestry back for twelve genera- 
 tions. One of his ancestors, John Perkins, 
 was high steward to Hugo Dispencer, one of 
 the richest and most powerful nobles of Eng- 
 land in his time. It is believed that John's 
 son, and his successor in the office of steward, 
 who also became Lord of the Manor of Madras- 
 field, was the first of the family to have the 
 fesse dancette between six billets for his arms. 
 This ancestor lived in the reign of Henry VI., 
 
 and was the steward of the Dispencer estates 
 when their heiress married the Earl of War- 
 wick, the king maker. 
 
 John Perkins, the immigrant ancestor, was 
 born in Newent, Gloucestershire, England, in 
 1590. Sailing from the port of Bristol on 
 December i, 1630, he was a fellow-passenger, 
 on the ship "Lyon," William Pierce, master, 
 of the celebrated Roger Williams. On the 
 mother's side Mr. Perkins claims descent 
 from Elder Brewster, who came to the coun- 
 try in the "Mayflower." His paternal grand- 
 father, Rufus, who was a farmer in Groton, 
 served in the Revolutionary War, and took 
 part in the battle of Groton Heights. The 
 grandfather. Civilian, born in 1805, was cap- 
 tain of a fishing-smack. In 1849 he went to 
 California, and was there engaged in specula- 
 tion for a few years. After his return home 
 he bought a sloop, and was thereafter engaged 
 in fishing for cod on the George's Banks. 
 His wife's maiden name was Lucy B. Potter, 
 of Noank. She belonged to one of the old 
 families of this county. Grandfather and 
 grandmother Perkins had seven sons and two 
 daughters, all of whom grew to maturity, 
 married, and had families. Six of the number 
 are now living, the most of whom are scat- 
 tered in the West. Grandmother Perkins died 
 at the age of forty-five, while her husband 
 lived to be seventy-two. 
 
 Albert W. Perkins, the father of Charles 
 Clark, was born in October, 1834. After 
 spending twenty-eight years in seafaring, hav- 
 ing had command of a vessel for several years, 
 he opened a general merchandise store. On 
 January 22, 1858, he was married to Julia 
 Burrows, a daughter of Austin and Almira 
 (Hill) Burrows. Her maternal great-grand- 
 father, Samuel B. Hill, was slain at the battle 
 of Groton Heights. His son, Moses Hill, 
 was her grandfather. Her children are: 
 
CHARLES C. PERKINS. 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 233 
 
 Lucy, Charles C, Almira, Warren C, Albert 
 W., and Abbie. Lucy married Charles I. 
 Fitch, Jr., the station agent at Noank; Al- 
 mira is the wife of O. W. Monroe, of Provi- 
 dence, R.L; Warren C, who is the baggage- 
 master at Noank, married Flora Stanton, of 
 Stonington; Albert W. , a young man of six- 
 teen years, and Abbie, now aged fourteen, are 
 still under the paternal roof. 
 
 Charles Clark Perkins was educated in the 
 common schools. At the age of seventeen, 
 after gaining some experience in mercantile 
 pursuits in his father's store, he went to Prov- 
 idence, R.L, where he was employed in a 
 wholesale gentlemen's furnishing store in the 
 several capacities of salesman, entry clerk, 
 and commercial traveller. While in Provi- 
 dence he supplemented his early education by 
 taking a business college course. Later, on 
 account of his father's failing health, he re- 
 turned home, and took charge of the latter's 
 business. In 1885, when Johnson & Shurts 
 opened their New York store in New London, 
 he came here, at the same time retaining his 
 interest in his father's business. After serv- 
 ing as second salesman in the new establish- 
 ment for four years, he embarked in the hat 
 and furnishing business. In April, 1889, 
 he bought out George W. Meeker, hatter and 
 furnisher. Owing to the smallness of the 
 store, he gave it the name of "Hat Box." 
 His stock comprised hats, caps, and furnishing 
 goods. So successful did this enterprise prove 
 that two years later, when the new Cronin 
 Block was completed, he moved from the " Hat 
 Box" to the " Hat Palace." Two years later he 
 established a branch in Norwich, buying out 
 John C. Clark. This place was conducted 
 under the style of Perkins & Montgomery, 
 until he withdrew from the connection in 
 1894. Next year the firm of C. C. Perkins & 
 Co. was formed by the consolidation of the Hat 
 
 Palace and the old establishment of Shepard 
 & Harris. S. E. Tyler was admitted to part- 
 nership; and the firm opened their fine store 
 at 130 State Street in November, 1895. Mr. 
 Perkins has been remarkably successful in 
 business. 
 
 Mr. Perkins is Past Grand of Mohegan 
 Lodge, I. O. O. F., and Chief Patriarch of 
 the encampment; a member of Sprague 
 Lodge, A. O. U. W., of which he is Over- 
 seer; Past Leader of the Home Circle; a 
 member of the Jibboom Club and of the Sons 
 of the American Revolution, and President of 
 the New London Business Men's Association. 
 
 On November 27, 1887, he was married to 
 Miss Hattie S. Fish, of Noank. They have 
 one child, Alice Tyler Perkins, who was born 
 March 23, 1891. In politics he affiliates with 
 the Republican party. In religion he is a 
 member of the Second Congregational Church. 
 His musical ability has led him to become a 
 chorister in his own church, and also of the 
 Third Baptist Church. For four years he was 
 the treasurer of the Young Men's Christian 
 Association. Mr. Perkins is also a trombone 
 soloist of unusual ability, having played that 
 instrument for five years in the theatre with 
 Wight's Orchestra. The family reside in 
 their pleasant home, 88 Huntington Street. 
 
 TEPHEN CRANE, of Norwich, 
 Conn., proprietor of the extensive 
 and well - stocked Norwich Nur- 
 series, situated near the fair grounds, was 
 born March 24, 1828, in Barre, Orleans 
 County, N.Y. He is a son of the late Jerry 
 Crane, of that State, and bears the name of 
 his grandfather Crane, an Onondaga County 
 farmer, who was born in 1776, and died in 
 1851. For his first wife the elder Stephen 
 Crane married a Miss Elsie Grinnell, by 
 
234 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 whom he had three sons and four daughters. 
 Both of these grandparents were devout Meth- 
 odists. They were buried in the town of 
 Spafford, N.Y. 
 
 Their son, Jerry Crane, the father men- 
 tioned above, long familiarly known as 
 " Uncle Jerry," was born in Saratoga County, 
 New York, November i6, 1797. On Decem- 
 ber 25, 1821, he married Miss Orrissa Fisher, 
 who was born in Cherry Valley, N.Y., in 
 1800. They shortly moved to Barre, Or- 
 leans County, N.Y. , and settled on a new and 
 uncleared farm, where for the first few years 
 they experienced the deprivations and hard- 
 ships common with the pioneers of those days. 
 By hard, honest, persistent labor the forests 
 to the extent of over three hundred acres gave 
 way to broad meadows and pastures. They 
 celebrated their golden wedding on this farm; 
 and the ten children who, from a total of thir- 
 teen, had grown to manhood and womanhood 
 were present, with about twenty-five grand- 
 children. 
 
 Jerry Crane died November 25, 1878, and 
 his wife, Orrissa, in 1882. They were sin- 
 cere Christians of the Methodist faith. Their 
 graves are in the cemetery taken from their 
 farm in Barre. 
 
 Stephen Crane, the subject of this sketch, 
 spent his boyhood on the homestead farm ; 
 and, with the exception of about three years 
 when he was employed as clerk in a country 
 store, he followed agriculture. From the age 
 of fourteen he performed the same hard, sturdy 
 work as the men. In 1861 he engaged with 
 Ellwanger & Barry, of Rochester, N.Y. , as 
 travelling salesman for their nursery at Nor- 
 wich, Conn., at a salary of one dollar per day 
 and expenses. He was well adapted and 
 thoroughly qualified for the position, and 
 soon became one of their most trusted and 
 best paid employees. After continuing with 
 
 them for six years, he embarked in the nursery 
 business on his own account. In 1882 he 
 purchased his present nursery property on 
 West Main Street, near the fair grounds, 
 which he devotes to the raising of fruit and 
 ornamental trees and flowers in rich and choice 
 variety, making a specialty of roses, rhododen- 
 drons, and rare evergreen trees. He keeps 
 from ten to fifteen salesmen on the road in the 
 New England States, and by years of honest 
 dealing has built up a profitable business. 
 
 Mr. Crane was first married August 16, 
 1849, to Miss Mary E. Starr, of Barre, N.Y., 
 a daughter of Deacon F. Starr. She died 
 November 25, 1878, aged forty-eight years, 
 leaving three of their five children; namely, 
 Floyd H., Carrie P., and Sarah M. Floyd 
 PI. Crane is superintendent of the parlor, 
 sleeping-car, and commissar}' departments of 
 the New York, New Haven & Hartford Rail- 
 road, and for several years previous to 1892 
 was superintendent with the Pullman Palace 
 Car Company. He has a wife and one son, 
 Lester S. Carrie P. Crane is the wife of Mr. 
 C. D. Noyes, of Norwich, Conn., and has 
 three sons — Charles, Fred, and Harry. Mr. 
 Noyes is the head of the firm of Noyes & 
 Davis, proprietors of the largest bookstore in 
 Norwich, and is one of the city Aldermen. 
 Sarah M. Crane is the wife of Mr. G. W. 
 Whaley, of Philadelphia. Mr. Whaley has an 
 important position with the Swift Chicago 
 Dressed Beef Company, and has handled over 
 a million dollars of their money annually with- 
 out bond. 
 
 Mr. Crane was married the second time, in 
 1879, to Sarah L. Brown, born Reynolds, a 
 daughter of the late O. F.. Reynolds. Mrs. 
 Crane has one brother, O. H. Reynolds, of 
 Norwich. She was educated in Norwich, and 
 is a most estimable woman and model wife. 
 Mr. and Mrs. Crane have resided at their 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 23S 
 
 present home, 106 William Street, ever since 
 their marriage. 
 
 Mr. Crane is a Prohibitionist from the Re- 
 publican ranks, and is one of the oldest here, 
 having first voted with this party in 1870. 
 He is a very zealous advocate of prohibition, 
 standing loyally by his principles and colors 
 at every Presidential election. His fine flag, 
 inscribed with the names of Levering and 
 Johnson, prohibitionist candidates for Presi- 
 dent and Vice-President in 1896, is the only 
 one of the kind in Norwich. 
 
 Ji 
 
 EACON ERASTUS C. KEGWIN, 
 a retired railroad official living in 
 Jewett City, was born in Volun- 
 town, then in Windham County, March 17, 
 1814. A son of Daniel and Anna (Crandall) 
 Keigwin, he is of English descent. The first 
 representative of the family in America was 
 John, whose surname was spelled Keigwin. 
 Coming here a single man, he subsequently 
 married a Miss Brown, of Groton. Their 
 grandson was Lieutenant Nicholas Keigwin, 
 a brave soldier and officer of the Revolution, 
 who died on April 22, 1813, in his seventy- 
 seventh year. He was twice married, the first 
 time on November 15, 1759, to Huldah Stark- 
 weather, and the second time to a Miss Gor- 
 don. By the first marriage there were five 
 children, namely: Sarah, born September 17, 
 1761; Joseph, born in November, 1763; 
 Anne, born October 27, 1765; Olive, born 
 March 16, 1769; and Daniel, born January 
 29, 1774. 
 
 Daniel Keigwin, who was born in Volun- 
 town, was a man of much prominence and in- 
 fluence. He was in the State legislature for 
 a number of terms, was Probate Judge and Jus- 
 tice of the Peace for many years, and con- 
 stantly held a public office of some kind 
 
 during his active life. Although not a pro- 
 fessional lawyer, he was a careful student of 
 the statutes and a keen and unerring inter- 
 preter thereof. He was the author of many 
 legal documents, and but -few of his decisions 
 were reversed. One important decision in- 
 volved the reputation of a worthy physician and 
 a former school teacher, who sued the town 
 in order to secure payment for professional 
 services to a poor family. The case was 
 appealed, but the decision rendered by 
 Judge Keigwin was sustained. He died on 
 May 16, 1852, and is buried in Kennedy Cem- 
 etery. All the Keigwin ancestors before him 
 were buried in the town of Sterling, in the 
 Plains Cemetery, which was originally in Vol- 
 untown. His first marriage was contracted at 
 the age of twenty-five with Anna Crandall, 
 who was then twenty-one years old. She was 
 a daughter of the Rev. Amos Crandall, who 
 was widely known in Connecticut and Rhode 
 Island as a Baptist minister. A second mar- 
 riage afterward united him with Belinda Cook, 
 a second cousin of the present governor of 
 Connecticut. His first wife had seven chil- 
 dren, namely: Sterry S. , born in 1803; Sally 
 L., born in 1806; Stephen S. , born in 1809; 
 Daniel A., born in 1811; Erastus C, the 
 subject of this sketch ; and two daughters who 
 died in infancy. By the second marriage 
 there was one child. Barton C, born April 
 22, 1823. Barton and Deacon Kegwin are 
 the only surviving children. 
 
 After attending the district schools for the 
 usual period. Deacon Kegwin, at the age of 
 eighteen years, began to work in a woollen 
 factory. Subsequently he was a clerk at Vol- 
 untown in the store of James S. Treat. He 
 was married in 1839 to Hannah, daughter 
 of Ebenezer Paine, of Windham County. She 
 died in 1871, having borne three children, of 
 whom two are deceased. The other child, 
 
236 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 Henry W. Kegwin, a graduate of Brown Uni- 
 versity, is now a teacher in Norwich Free 
 Academy, is married, and has two daughters 
 and one son, Richard P. Deacon Kegwin 
 was again married on November 5, 1874, to 
 Mrs. Louisa Read, the widow of Nelson Read. 
 Mr. Read died in 1870, leaving one son, 
 Asher N. Read, who is now married and has 
 one son, Nelson G. Read. Mr. Kegwin is a 
 Republican in politics, and has been very ac- 
 tive in the public life of the town. He was 
 Town Clerk for ten years, and has been a Jus- 
 tice of the Peace and a member of the Board 
 of Education for many years. Of the one 
 hundred and fifty wills he has drawn, not one 
 has been broken. In 1862 he was in the 
 State legislature. At the age of nineteen he 
 joined the Baptist church in Plainfield; and 
 for much of the time since he was twenty-one 
 years of age he has been a Deacon, having 
 during the last sixty years served in that ca- 
 pacity in three different churches. For nine 
 years he was in Norwich, and was very active 
 and prominent in the church there. Deacon 
 Kegwin purchased his present home in Jewett 
 City about thirty years ago. He was for fif- 
 teen years station agent in the railroad office 
 here, and in that responsible position made 
 many warm friends and admirers. 
 
 KOBERT PALMER, Sr., ship-builder, 
 president of the Robert Palmer 
 __^ Company at Noank, Conn., in the 
 town of Groton, his native place, was born on 
 May 26, 1825. His parents were John and 
 Abby (Fish) Palmer. His paternal grand- 
 father, Elihu Palmer, a mariner, died before 
 reaching middle age; and his grandmother, 
 Mrs. Annie Palmer, was left a widow with 
 one child, John Palmer, named above. Mrs. 
 Palmer afterward married a Mr. Ashby, and 
 
 had five children, four sons and a daughter, of 
 whom two sons are living. 
 
 John Palmer, who was born about the year 
 1786, was quite young when his father, Elihu, 
 died; and he went to live with his grandfather 
 Palmer. Early in life he began a successful 
 career as a boat and ship builder, building 
 principally vessels of from fifty to sixty tons' 
 burden. Of the twelve children born to him 
 and his wife, formerly Abby Fish, whom he 
 married in 1809, four sons and five daughters 
 grew to mature years. But two of these are 
 now living: Robert, the tenth child; and 
 Lucy, widow of Captain Jerry Wilber, the 
 uncle of her first husband, William A. Wil- 
 ber. Mrs. Wilber was born in 181 1, and is 
 now in her eighty-sixth year. Her only 
 child, Robert T. Wilber, is a stockholder in 
 the Robert Palmer Company. John Palmer 
 died in July, 1869; and Abby, his wife, died 
 in 1856, aged sixty -six years. 
 
 Robert Palmer, Sr., received only an ordi- 
 nary district schooling in his childhood, and 
 at ten years of age went on the water here. 
 When but thirteen years old he went on a 
 fishing trip to Nantucket; and for several 
 years after he went on fishing trips regularly 
 to different places, being for two years on a 
 vessel that his brother John commanded. At 
 eighteen years of age he went to Stonington, 
 where for a year and a half he was employed 
 in a boat builder's shop. He then came to 
 Groton, and worked for some years for his 
 father, whom he succeeded in the business, 
 about ten years prior to his parent's decease. 
 It is now fifty-one years since he set up for 
 himself in the ship-building business in a 
 modest way. His career has been a very suc- 
 cessful one; and he is a leader in his spe- 
 cial line, having the largest yard for wooden 
 ship building in this country, from which he 
 has turned out as many as thirty-three craft 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 237 
 
 of various styles in a single year. The three 
 Sound steamers, "Rhode Island," "Nashua," 
 and "Connecticut," of from twenty-four to 
 twenty-six hundred tons' burden, were built 
 here. He still owns his father's old yard, 
 in which boats have been built for eighty 
 years; and he has established two others. 
 In 1879 he started the marine railway. 
 
 In his twenty-first year, October 15, 1845, 
 Robert Palmer, Sr., married Harriet Rogers, 
 daughter of Ebenezer and Grace (Gallup) 
 Rogers and grand-daughter of Gurdon Gallup. 
 Seven children were born of their union, and 
 a son and two daughters grew to maturity, 
 namely: Jane, widow of Benjamin Humphrey, 
 living in Noank, mother of one daughter; 
 Harriet, wife of the Rev. William L. Swan, 
 of Auburn, N.Y., who also has one daughter; 
 and Robert, Jr. 
 
 Robert Palmer, Sr., is a Republican, but 
 has never participated in political affairs. 
 He has been a member of the Baptist church 
 since 1839, a Deacon forty-five years, and 
 superintendent of the Sunday-school fifty 
 years. He is president of the public library, 
 called the Mystic and Noank Library, given 
 to Groton by Captain Elihu Spicer, who 
 named Mr. Palmer as one of the trustees. In 
 1885 Mr. Palmer erected his present residence 
 near his ship-yard. 
 
 Robert Palmer, Jr., was born on February 
 15, 1856. He was educated in the schools of 
 Noank and Mystic and at Schofield Business 
 College at Providence, R.I., completing his 
 studies at the age of twenty-one. He then 
 entered his father's employ, and has thor- 
 oughly familiarized himself with every branch 
 of the business. In 1877 he was admitted to 
 partnership, the firm name being Robert 
 Palmer & Son, which was afterward changed 
 to Robert Palmer & Sons; and on December 
 10, 1894, when a stock company was formed 
 
 with Robert Palmer, Sr., as president, Robert, 
 Jr., became the secretary and treasurer. The 
 son has proved himself a genius as a ship- 
 wright; and under his direction the company 
 has built several fast boats of unique design, 
 which have carried off a number of regatta 
 prizes. The "Irma," built in 1894, and now 
 owned by Fred Allen, of Galveston, Tex., 
 was one of the first of these prize winners, 
 showing remarkable adaptability for racing in 
 both the calm waters of the Bay and the 
 rough waters of the Gulf. She is thirty-seven 
 feet long, twelve feet wide, and has a shoal 
 draught. She has thrice carried off the prize, 
 and is known as the "Queen of the Gulf." 
 The "Novice," built a year later, a sail-boat 
 twenty-seven feet long and ten feet wide, 
 proved a wonder, easily distancing all class 
 boats, and taking the prize over all the noted 
 boats and yachts in Southern waters. She is 
 of the skimming-dish type, with an overhang- 
 ing end, and is both fast and seaworthy. She 
 is of original design, with a centre-board, and 
 demonstrates that a boat can go faster over 
 the water than through it. The "Jennie," a 
 steam yacht thirty -three feet long, and having" 
 an eight-foot beam, has been the object of 
 much attention to yachtsmen along the At- 
 lantic coast; and the "Gleam," a cat-boat, 
 twenty-four feet long, but entering the 
 twenty-foot class, built in 1895, won the first 
 three of a series of races at Bushby Point, 
 July II, 25, and 31, 1896. Mr. Robert 
 Palmer, Jr., is likewise a designer of lobster 
 steamers, of which the company has built 
 three, qnd now has in process of construction 
 at Rockland, Me., a seventy-foot boat de- 
 signed to go outside in any kind of weather, 
 and bring in a cargo of eight thousand lob- 
 sters. He is now building a new boat for 
 racing, with which he hopes to win new 
 trophies in 1897. This one is to be thirty 
 
238 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 feet long, eleven feet wide, and is to draw not 
 more than nine inches of water. 
 
 In March, 1881, Mr. Robert Palmer, Jr., 
 married Elizabeth L. Murphy, of Noank. 
 She is a daughter of Charles and Nancy 
 Murphy, the former of whom died a number 
 of years ago, leaving his widow with a son 
 and three daughters. Mr. and Mrs. Palmer 
 have been bereft of their only son, Bernard 
 Ledyard, who died March 5, 1885, aged two 
 years and eleven months. Their dwelling is 
 the old Baptist church, which Robert Palmer, 
 Sr., remodelled. 
 
 In political affiliation Robert Palmer, Jr., 
 is a Republican. In 1886 he served as a Rep- 
 resentative to the Connecticut legislature, 
 and was a member of the Committee on Ap- 
 propriations. In 1889 he was again a nomi- 
 nee, but was defeated by one vote, by John 
 Morgan, the opposing candidate. Mr. Palmer 
 is a member of the Baptist church. 
 
 EATHAM HULL, one of the most ca- 
 pable and progressive farmers of New 
 ^m^ London County, son of the late 
 William B. Hull, resides at the old Hull 
 homestead, now known as the Westwood Stock 
 Farm, of which he is the proprietor. The 
 original owner of this valuable property, 
 which is situated in North Stonington, was 
 one Latham Hull, an ancestor of the present 
 Latham Hull, several generations removed; 
 and from Latham, the first, the land and the 
 name has been handed down from one genera- 
 tion to another until the present time, the 
 only exception being in the name of the im- 
 mediately preceding owner, William B. Hull, 
 above mentioned. 
 
 Latham Hull, grandfather of the present 
 Latham, spent his entire life on the home- 
 stead, living to an advanced age. He was 
 
 a Democrat in politics, and was quite promi- 
 nent in public affairs, serving several terms 
 as Representative to the State legislature, 
 and was one who helped divide the old town 
 of Stonington when North Stonington was 
 set off to form a town by itself. He mar- 
 ried Elizabeth Browning, of Stonington; and 
 they reared two children — William B. and 
 Latham. The latter, an able business man, 
 and for many years president of a bank in 
 Kalamazoo, Mich., died there in 1890, leav- 
 ing one daughter and a large estate. The 
 grandmother lived a widow for a long time, 
 dying in 1886, at the venerable age of ninety- 
 one years. 
 
 William B. Hull in his early manhood was 
 engaged in mercantile business in New York 
 City; but from his birth, which occurred in 
 18 16, until his death in 1894, he lived at in- 
 tervals on the home farm, following the occu- 
 pation in which he was reared. A man of 
 energy and foresight, he made many substan- 
 tial improvements on the estate, which is one 
 of the best as regards appointments and equip- 
 ments in this vicinity. He married Miss 
 Susan Wattles, daughter of Dr. Wattles, of 
 this town, and was the father of four chil- 
 dren — Thomas, Anna, Lucy, and Latham. 
 Thomas Hull, who was educated in a military 
 school, and afterward spent a year abroad, is 
 now a newspaper reporter in Boston. He is 
 married and has a daughter. Anna, with 
 whom the widowed mother makes her home, 
 is a woman of culture and accomplishments. 
 She was educated in Claverack, N. Y. , and at 
 Grand Rapids, Mich., and is now living in 
 Norwich, Conn., where she has a select kin- 
 dergarten school. 
 
 Latham Hull, the subject of this sketch, 
 was born in North Stonington, Conn., Febru- 
 ary 6, 1870. He acquired a good education, 
 attending Storr's Agricultural College, where 
 
^^^ 
 
 I.ATIIAM \\V'\A. 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 241 
 
 he was graduated with the class of 1890. 
 Putting into practice the useful knowledge he 
 there acquired, he has since been extensively 
 and profitably engaged in general farming, 
 dairying, and stock-raising at the old home- 
 stead, which he has named Westwood Stock 
 Farm. He keeps about sixty head of stock, 
 principally Jerseys, some of which are regis- 
 tered ; and he has thirty cows in his dairy, 
 which partly supplies the residents of Wes- 
 terly, R.I., with milk. He has a fine silo for 
 the preservation of fodder. In 1896 he built 
 his handsome horse barn, in which he keeps 
 six horses for his own use. All of his barns 
 and stables are furnished with water, the 
 power also supplying water for the house, 
 which is over one hundred years old, but is in 
 excellent condition. His stock is well known 
 throughout this region, and at the fairs held 
 in New London Mr. Hull has received many 
 premiums. Politically, he is an active and 
 loyal Democrat; and in 1893 he represented 
 North Stonington in the State legislature, 
 being one of the youngest legislators in that 
 body. 
 
 In September, 1895, Mr. Hull married 
 Miss Angle Brown, of North Stonington, a 
 daughter of the late Stephen E. and Mary 
 (Green) Brown. Mr. and Mrs. Hull have one 
 child, Ethel Louise, who was born in April, 
 1896. 
 
 LONZO H. HARRIS, business man- 
 ager, secretary, and treasurer of the 
 Bulletin Company, Norwich, was 
 born in this town, September 18, 1854, his 
 parents being Henry and Sarah W. (Dodge) 
 Harris. Henry Harris was born in Bozrah in 
 1817, and died in September, 1857. He and 
 his wife, Sarah, had three children, of whom 
 one daughter died in early childhood, and one 
 is still living. 
 
 Alonzo H. Harris was educated in the com- 
 mon and high schools. At the age of four- 
 teen he became a clerk in the bookstore of 
 Morgan Safford & Co., in whose employ he re- 
 mained for four years. In March, 1873, he 
 entered the Bulletin Company's office as clerk. 
 Seven years later, in May, 1880, he was made 
 business manager, which position he occupied 
 for four years. He then retired from the man- 
 agement, but still remained in the employ of 
 the company. In June, 1888, he was re-elected 
 secretary, treasurer, and business manager, 
 and up to the present time has continued to 
 attend to the duties of these several offices, in 
 which his fine executive ability has found a 
 wide scope for exercise. The fidelity he has 
 shown to the interests of the company has 
 further proved his fitness for his present posi- 
 tion. Mr. Harris is a Mason, belonging to 
 St. James Lodge, Franklin Chapter, and the 
 Council. Politically, he is a Republican; 
 but, although interested in local affairs and 
 well informed in regard to all public move- 
 ments, he has had no wish to enter politics. 
 
 On October 27, 1880, Mr. Harris was 
 united in marriage with Ida F., daughter of 
 Stephen and Margaret S. (Frink) Sylvester. 
 Mr. Sylvester is no longer living, but his 
 widow is a resident of Norwich. She has one 
 daughter besides Mrs. Harris. Mr. and Mrs. 
 Harris have a pleasant home at 93 Union 
 Street. 
 
 HARLES H. BABCOCK, superin- 
 tendent of the public schools of 
 Westerly, R.I., a position for which 
 he is well fitted by natural abilities and 
 scholarly acquirements, is a resident of the 
 village of Pawcatuck, on the opposite side of 
 the river, in the town of Stonington, New 
 London County, Conn. He was born July 16, 
 1838, in the town of Groton, this State, but 
 
242 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 is of Rhode Island stock, his father, the late 
 Charles Babcock, of Stonington, having been 
 a native of Westerly and a lineal descendant, 
 it is said, of John and Mary (Lawton) Bab- 
 cock, pioneer settlers of that locality. 
 
 Among the twenty-four free inhabitants of 
 Westerly, R.I., in 1669, the year in which 
 the town was incorporated, were James Bab- 
 cock, Sr., James Babcock, Jr., and John Bab- 
 cock, the two latter, no doubt, sons of the 
 elder James. John Babcock, born in 1644, 
 married Mary Lawton ; and their son James is 
 said to have been the first white child born in 
 the new settlement. 
 
 Henry Babcock, great - grandfather of 
 Charles H., born in Westerly in 1755, son of 
 Daniel Babcock, was a grandson of Captain 
 James Babcock, and is reputed to have been 
 a near kinsman of Colonel Harry Babcock of 
 Revolutionary fame. He and his wife Pru- 
 dence had eight children. The eldest of 
 these, Henry Babcock, Jr., a master mariner, 
 who commanded a merchant vessel, and for 
 many years was engaged in the West India 
 trade, was born at Westerly, R.I., in 1779, 
 and died at his home in that town in the sev- 
 entieth year of his age. His wife, Fanny, 
 who was a daughter of Timothy West, of 
 Rhode Island, an officer of some note in the 
 Revolution, died in 1866, at the age of three- 
 score and ten, having reared two sons and four 
 daughters, one son being Charles, the father 
 above named. One child is now living — 
 Rhoda, widow of the late Matthew Barber, of 
 Westerly. 
 
 Charles Babcock, son of Captain Henry and 
 Fanny (West) Babcock, was born in Westerly, 
 in April, 1815. After his marriage, which 
 took place in 1835, he removed to Stonington, 
 where he was engaged as a tiller of the soil 
 during his active years. His wife's maiden 
 name was Lovisa Brown. She was born in 
 
 1812, in the town of Ledyard, this county, 
 and was a daughter of Samuel Brown, who 
 married a Miss Latham. Ten children, four 
 sons and six daughters, were born to Charles 
 and Lovisa B. Babcock; and of these three 
 have passed away, one having died in infancy, 
 and John W. and Abbie J. in mature life. 
 John W. Babcock went to Kansas for his 
 health, and died there when about thirty years 
 old, in 1871, leaving a widow. Abbie J., the 
 widow of John H. Cross, of Stonington, died 
 at the age of thirty years. The children now 
 living are as follows: Charles H., the special 
 subject of this biographical sketch; William, 
 a physician in Connecticut; Erastus W. , a 
 resident of Stonington borough; Amanda M., 
 of Stonington; Mary N., the widow of Rowse 
 P. Babcock, of Stonington borough; Sarah 
 F., wife of Captain Amos Dickens, of this 
 town; and Helen M., wife of Captain Jesse 
 W. Hall, also of Stonington. The mother, 
 Lovisa B. Babcock, died in Stonington in 
 1886; and the father, Charles Babcock, died 
 there in 1889. 
 
 Charles H. Babcock was graduated from the 
 East Greenwich Academy when about nine- 
 teen years of age, in 1857. Choosing the 
 profession of teacher, he met with marked 
 success, not only in imparting knowledge, but 
 in winning the love and respect of his pupils 
 and as a disciplinarian, and has since contin- 
 ued his labors in the educational field, teach- 
 ing more or less in this vicinity. Since 1872, 
 or for twenty-four consecutive years, he has 
 been a member of the Stonington School Board, 
 an office in which he has rendered the town 
 most valuable aid; and for the past five years 
 he has been superintendent of the schools of 
 Westerly, R.I., the home of his ancestors for 
 several generations. Mr. Babcock has also 
 served in the various township offices. He 
 has been Assessor a number of terms and Jus- 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 243 
 
 tice of the Peace fifteen years. In 1871 he 
 was nominated on the Republican ticket as 
 a Representative to the State legislature, but 
 was defeated. Fraternally, he is a Master 
 Mason, belonging to Pawcatuck Lodge, A. F. 
 & A. M. 
 
 On March 30, 1863, Mr. Babcock married 
 Miss Abbie H. Hinckley, a daughter of 
 Henry and Prudence Mary (Chesebro) Hinck- 
 ley, of this town. She died March 14, 1883, 
 aged forty-two years. She had been the 
 mother of four children, namely: a son that 
 died in infancy; Harry H., a druggist, who 
 died at the early age of twenty years; Anna 
 Lincoln, who is the wife of Dr. John H. El- 
 dredge, of Norwich, and has four children ; and 
 Edith Vincent, a graduate of the Norwich 
 Business College, and a teacher, who now has 
 the care of her father's house, having given up 
 her personal ambitions to devote herself to 
 him and a half-sister, Mary Emma. This 
 child, a bright and winning little girl, is Mr. 
 Babcock's daughter by his second wife, for- 
 merly Mary Emma Gardner, whom he married 
 in August, 1884, and who died in July, 1892, 
 aged thirty-seven years. Mr. Babcock has 
 occupied his pleasant home at Pawcatuck since 
 1872. 
 
 (HThec 
 
 HEODORE F. POWERS, whose an- 
 ^1 cestors were among the early settlers of 
 Connecticut in the seventeenth cen- 
 tury, is a well-known and honored resident and 
 native of Waterford. He was born in 1839, 
 on the Powers homestead, son of Phillip M. 
 and Abbie Maria (Havens) Powers. The 
 father, born on the same farm in 18 14, was a 
 son of Joshua, who was born in Lyme, Conn., 
 October 24, 1783, son of Joshua and Elizabeth 
 Powers. The founder of the family, Joshua 
 Powers, came from Ireland in 1674. Joshua, 
 the grandfather of Theodore F., settled on 
 
 this farm nearly a hundred years ago. He 
 married Wealthy Morgan, of Waterford, and 
 had two sons and four daughters, all of whom 
 married, had families, and lived to nearly 
 threescore years of age. Wealthy Morgan 
 Powers died at a comparatively early age, and 
 Joshua Powers at the age of sixty-three years. 
 One of their sons, Joshua, who was a carpen- 
 ter by trade, went to Minnesota when a young 
 man. He died there at sixty-nine years of 
 age, leaving three children. 
 
 Phillip M. Powers was a successful agricult- 
 urist, and in later years ran the Jordan grist- 
 mill. He and Abbie Maria Havens were 
 married June 8, 1836, when he was twenty 
 years old, and she was eighteen. She was a 
 daughter of Silas Havens, of Lyme, and his 
 wife, Sabra (Griffin) Havens. Mrs. Havens 
 died in 1826, leaving five children; and he 
 afterward married her sister, who had by him 
 twelve children. Mrs. Abbie Maria Powers 
 has but one own sister living, Mrs. Eliza 
 Crocker, of Clinton. John Havens, the father 
 of Silas, and his two brothers came from Eng- 
 land. One of the brothers settled on Long 
 Island, and the other went to the West. 
 John was with General Israel Putnam on his 
 famous ride. His wife, Mary Havens, who 
 was buried in Cedar Grove Cemetery, died 
 aged ninety-nine years and seven months, and 
 the inscription on her tombstone is the oldest 
 in the cemetery. Phillip M. and Abbie 
 Maria Powers had eight children, three sons 
 and five daughters, of whom Theodore F., 
 Phillip H., and Fannie C. are living. Theo- 
 dore was the first son and second child. 
 Phillip H., who was formerly first mate on a 
 steamship, is in the employ of the Russian 
 Fur Company, and now resides in Kob6, 
 Japan, where he went with the Japanese em- 
 bassy in i860. He has a wife and four chil- 
 dren. Fannie C. is the wife of James G. 
 
2 44 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 Marthers, and resides in Middletown, Conn. 
 The father died in June, 1889. 
 
 Theodore F. Powers received a common- 
 school education. When fourteen years old 
 he engaged in the fishery business. At six- 
 teen he went on a whaling bark, the 
 "Tenedos,'' as harpooner or boat steerer, and 
 was gone three years. He was subsequently 
 on the schooner "Emma Rooke," of one hun- 
 dred and fifty-seven tons' burden, built by 
 Samuel Miller in New London for Thomas 
 Hobron, for service as a packet between Hon- 
 olulu and Latrina, and which he steered for 
 half the voyage from New London to Hono- 
 lulu. Having followed the sea for twelve 
 years all together, he in 1865 went to Will 
 County, Illinois, and there purchased a farm, 
 which he carried on for nine years. Then he 
 returned in 1874 to his native town, where he 
 has been the miller of the Jordan grist-mill. 
 This mill, which was erected by James 
 Rogers, an ancestor of Mr. Powers, was the 
 outcome of a controversy between Mr. Rogers 
 and Governor Winthrop. Built in 18 12, it 
 was chartered in New London, December 26, 
 1709; and it was conducted by James Powers, 
 an uncle of Mr. Powers, for many years. Mr. 
 Powers opened the Great Neck stone quarry 
 now owned by Booth Brothers, who are doing 
 a large business. 
 
 On October g, 1861, Mr. Powers married 
 Sarah S. Briggs, of Waterford. Two daugh- 
 ters have been born to them, namely: Nellie 
 A., the wife of William H. Rogers, a locomo- 
 tive engineer on the New London & Northern 
 Railroad, residing in New London; and E. 
 Willimene, who became the wife of George 
 E. Ryley, and died April 15, 1896, when but 
 eighteen years old. In politics Mr. Powers is 
 a Republican. He has served for one year in 
 the legislature, has been Town Treasurer for 
 three years and Town Auditor for two years. 
 
 He was a charter member of Relief Lodge, 
 No. 37, A. O. U. W., of Waterford, and 
 served the organization in the capacity of re- 
 ceiver for the first eight years. Both he and 
 Mrs. Powers are members of the First Baptist 
 Church. While a resident of Plainfield he 
 was the Sunday-school superintendent for 
 eight years, and since he came to Waterford 
 he has served in the same capacity for ten 
 years. 
 
 OSEPH HALL, senior member of the 
 firm of Hall Brothers, manufacturers 
 of woollen goods at Hallville, in the 
 town of Preston, Conn., was born in Hudders- 
 field, England, on May 8, 1840, son of Joseph 
 and Ann (Ague) Hall. His paternal grand- 
 father was James Hall, who died at Hud- 
 dersfield, at the age of eighty-seven, and is 
 buried at Thornhill, England. He was a 
 farmer by occupation. 
 
 Joseph Hall, first, son of James, was born 
 in England, and there grew to manhood, and 
 was married. He came to America in 1841; 
 and his wife and children followed him a year 
 later, coming in a sailing-vessel of the Black 
 Ball Line, and being eleven weeks on the pas- 
 sage from Liverpool to New York City. The 
 unusual length of the voyage was on account 
 of the detention of the ship for having smug- 
 gled goods on board. Mr. Joseph Hall, first, 
 was a weaver by trade; and, though he came 
 to this country without cash capital, he was 
 soon engaged in establishing a small mill at 
 Cedar Hill, Dutchess County, New York. 
 After being there for about two years, manu- 
 facturing carpet yarn, he removed to Wash- 
 ington Hollow in the same county, where he 
 established and carried on for nine years a " 
 manufactory for carpet yarns. His plant was 
 then burned; and upon that event he removed, 
 in 1852, to Poquetanuck, New London 
 
"'^"'W!*^**. 
 
 JUSKPH HALL. 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 247 
 
 County, Conn., where he worked as a shoddy 
 picker for about four years in the mill of 
 Frank Loomis. Going then to Cooktown in 
 company with Isaac Cook, he was there em- 
 ployed in the carpet yarn factory for four 
 years. At the end of that time he came to 
 Preston, where about a hundred years previous 
 a cloth-mill had been established on the site 
 of the present mill, by a Mr. Kennedy, 
 and began in a small way the manufact- 
 ure of carpet yarn. Joseph Hall, first, died 
 in 1861, at the age of fifty-four, leaving his 
 widow with six children, four of whom were 
 born in England and the other two in New 
 York. A brief record of the family is as fol- 
 lows: Sarah, widow of Henry McCrary, now 
 residing at Poquetanuck; Elizabeth, widow of 
 Charles W. Bedent, also at Poquetanuck; Jo- 
 seph, Benjamin, and George, constituting the 
 firm of Hall Brothers; and Harriet, who died 
 in 1880, in the prime of life, the wife of 
 Gardiner Wilcox. Their mother, Mrs. Ann 
 A. Hall, died in 1868, aged forty-seven years. 
 The subject of this sketch has an aunt, 
 Mary, now living in England, a well-pre- 
 served lady of seventy-six years, and the wife 
 of James Brown. Another aunt, Eliza, is the 
 widow of Joseph Oile, of Dewsbury, England. 
 Two uncles, George and James, both lived and 
 died in England. The former was one of the 
 wealthy citizens of Dewsbury, England. 
 
 Joseph Hall, of the firm of Hall Brothers, 
 began working in his father's yarn-mill when 
 only eight years of age. His early educa- 
 tional opportunities were limited, and he at- 
 tended school after he was sixteen years of 
 age only two winter terms. At twenty-two 
 years of age he became associated in the man- 
 ufacturing business with Dwight Cook, who 
 had been his father's partner for two years. 
 The building then used by the company was 
 about thirty by forty feet, two stories in 
 
 height, and fitted with one set of machinery. 
 Some four or five years later two sets more 
 were added, and the building was enlarged. 
 About six years after the death of the elder 
 Mr. Hall, Mr. Cook retired from the business, 
 and the three brothers who now constitute the 
 firm became sole proprietors. In 1878 the 
 mill was destroyed by fire, and a loss of sev- 
 eral thousand dollars ensued. A brick build- 
 ing, thirty-two by seventy-five feet, was, how- 
 ever, soon erected in place of the former 
 wooden structure. This was devoted to scour- 
 ing wool, and was in operation for about two 
 years. In 1880 the Messrs. Hall built a part 
 of the present mill, and began the manufact- 
 ure of ladies' dress goods, cloaking, etc. 
 This new mill contained four sets of machin- 
 ery. In 1882 an addition was built, and four 
 sets more put up. In 1888 the Mohegan mill, 
 a four-set mill in the town of Montville, was 
 bought; and during the last eight or nine 
 years, despite the hard times, these mills have 
 been kept in operation, the goods being sold 
 in New York. The business done annually 
 amounts to four hundred and fifty thousand 
 dollars, and about one hundred and twenty 
 men are employed. This presents a strong 
 contrast to the first year when Mr. Hall be- 
 came connected with the firm. Mr. Hall him- 
 self then did the teaming, and the five hands 
 employed received four cents per pound for 
 making yarn, and earned about five dollars a 
 day. The plant, now one of the most pros- 
 perous in this section, has a wide reputation 
 for turning out first-class product. 
 
 Mr. Hall was married at twenty-five years 
 of age to Sarah Rogers, of Ledyard, daughter 
 of James and Esther (Crouch) Rogers. Three 
 children have been born to them; namely, 
 Fannie and Flora (twins), and Joseph. 
 Fannie is the wife of Frank C. Turner, of 
 Norwich. Flora Hall, who resides with Mrs. 
 
248 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 Turner, was educated in the Boston Conserva- 
 tory of Music, and is a pianist of merit. Jo- 
 seph Hall, third, who is a young man of much 
 ability, formerly a student in Harvard Uni- 
 versity, has charge of the mill as superintend- 
 ent. He designs many of the patterns used 
 by the firm. Mrs. Sarah Hall died in 1873, 
 at the age of thirty-five; and Mr. Hall married 
 in 1878, for his second wife, Carrie B. Lucas, 
 of Poquetanuck. By this marriage the fol- 
 lowing named children have been born: 
 Grace, Raymond, Dorothy, Amanda, and 
 Ralph Gardner. 
 
 Mr. Hall is a Republican in politics. He 
 has not cared to serve in public office. In re- 
 ligious faith he is Episcopalian. Hallville, 
 which was built in 1880, covers about eighty 
 acres of ground, and numbers thirty -two fam- 
 ilies. Mr. Hall and his brother have built 
 fine residences here. The mill and annexes 
 cover about four acres. 
 
 (^OHN WILLIAM KEENLY, for many 
 years a farmer and latterly an exten- 
 sive land-owner of Waterford, Conn., 
 died at his home in this town, February 8, 
 1892, at the age of seventy-five years. He is 
 survived by his wife, Mrs. Frances A. E. 
 Keeney, who before marriage was Miss Frances 
 Ann E. Chappell, and by four sons — ^John 
 William, Jr., Frank, Griswold, and George. 
 
 Mr. Keeney's paternal grandfather, whose 
 name was William, was four times married. 
 By his first wife, formerly a Miss Moore, he 
 had four sons and one daughter, as follows: 
 Ezra; Joseph, who went to New York State; 
 John, father of John W. ; William; and Bet- 
 sey, who married Baruch Beckwith. All 
 these are now deceased. Grandfather Keeney 
 died at the age of seventy-one, his fourth 
 wife, born Chapell, surviving him five or six 
 
 years. They had one daughter, Mary, wife of 
 Thomas Manwaring, now dead. 
 
 John Keeney, third son of William and 
 father of the subject of this sketch, was a 
 farmer, beginning life as a poor boy and by 
 his own industry and enterprise securing a 
 good estate. He married Eliza Darrow, and 
 they reared three sons and one daughter. 
 Allen A. Keeney, the only son now living, is 
 a farmer on the old farm ; and the daughter, 
 Sarah Eliza Keeney, is with her sister-in-law, 
 Mrs. Frances Keeney. The father died at the 
 age of seventy-one, and the mother some five 
 years later, at the age of sixty years. 
 
 John W. Keeney and Frances Ann E. 
 Chappell, daughter of the Rev. Gurdon Tracy 
 Chappell, were married at Lake Pond, on the 
 13th of October, 1839, by Elder Francis Dar- 
 row. Mrs. Keeney was born at Lake Pond, 
 November 19, 1819. Her father was pastor 
 of the Baptist church at that place, and was 
 a noble, broad-minded man, full of charity for 
 all, reaching out a generous heart and hand far 
 beyond the borders of his own denomination. 
 He announced to the people that it was his 
 desire to see ten persons band together to or- 
 ganize a liberal church; and the fine Baptist 
 church at Lake Pond, now standing, was built 
 by him and a few others who were unwilling 
 that he should bear the full expense. He 
 preached many years without receiving any 
 salary, and at his death left a fund for the 
 poor whom he was in the habit of seeking out 
 and visiting. He had a fine property, most of 
 which was accumulated by his own energy and 
 industry. His wife was Mary Ann Avery, a 
 lady of education and refinement, descended 
 from the notable Avery family famous in the 
 annals of the Revolution, and well fitted by 
 birth and breeding to occupy the position of 
 a clergyman's helpmate. Thirteen of her 
 family connections spilled their blood at Fort 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 249 
 
 Griswold. She was married to Rev. Gurdon 
 T. Chappel], when about twenty years of age, 
 and died March 20, 1880, nearly fifty-nine 
 years after. Her husband died in 1876, at 
 seventy -five years of age. Their children 
 numbered eleven, of whom Mrs. Keeney was 
 the eldest. One son and a daughter died in 
 infancy. 
 
 Mr. Keeney and his wife began life as 
 tenant farmers near New London, where he 
 had a milk route for three years. He then 
 engaged in farming for two years on Mrs. 
 Keeney's home farm at Lake Pond; and for 
 the next two or three years he was in the meat 
 business at Montville. In 1853 Mr. Keeney 
 went to California by way of the Isthmus of 
 Panama, leaving Mrs. Keeney with three chil- 
 dren at home with her parents. After four 
 years of successful business venture in Cali- 
 fornia, Mr. Keeney returned and bought a 
 farm here. He added to this in later years, 
 and at the time of his death owned many hun- 
 dreds of acres of land in different parcels. 
 He was a member of the church and a de- 
 voted Christian. 
 
 John William Keeney, Jr., eldest son of 
 John W. and Frances A. E. (Chappell) 
 Keeney, is a merchant in Waterford. He is 
 married a second time, and has one son. 
 Frank Keeney, the second son, living in New 
 York City, married Clara Robinson in 1875. 
 He is in company with his brother George in 
 the firm of Keeney Brothers, fish dealers in 
 Fulton Market, established many years since 
 and now carrying on a very prosperous busi- 
 ness. Griswold Keeney, who is in the same 
 business at 10 Fulton Street Market, in com- 
 pany with Benjamin Wallace, married Fannie 
 Nugent, and has had one daughter, now de- 
 ceased. The fifth child, George Keeney, 
 married Elizabeth, daughter of Captain Ed- 
 ward Luce, and has two children — Mildred 
 
 and Edward. Another son, Allen F. Keeney, 
 died August 26, 1857, in infancy. 
 
 OLLIS HYDE PALMER, a success- 
 ful farmer of Preston, was born on 
 
 i^ V^^ the family homestead in this town, 
 
 August 13, 1850, being the son of Charles 
 and Lucy A. (Hyde) Palmer. He is a repre- 
 sentative of the eighth generation in descent 
 from his original American ancestor, Thomas 
 Palmer, who was one of the founders of Row- 
 ley, Mass., in 1639, and died there in 1669. 
 
 Thomas, grandson of the original Thomas 
 Palmer, removed from Rowley to Norwich, 
 Conn., and purchased there in 1723 the farm 
 on which the subject of this sketch now lives, 
 so that the latter is the sixth owner in lineal 
 descent of property that has been one hundred 
 and seventy-five years in the family. Jede- 
 diah Palmer, grandson of the second Thomas 
 Palmer, headed a petition whereby that part 
 of Norwich lying east of the Quinnebaug 
 River was set off in 1786 to Preston. His 
 ancestral estate lay within the tract so ceded. 
 He was one of the moneyed men of his time 
 in his town, which intrusted him with various 
 public offices. He married Esther Read, and 
 had besides other children Walter, born in 
 1766, the grandfather of Hollis H. 
 
 Walter Palmer was by occupation a sur- 
 veyor in early life, and later a farmer. He 
 was a Deacon in the "strict Congregational" 
 church of the so-called "Separatists" and a 
 Justice of the Peace, and he also served in the 
 legislature. He died in 1833, in the sixty- 
 eighth year of his age. An interesting diary 
 of his, kept when surveying in the lake region 
 of Central New York, 1789-90, is still in 
 existence. On March 25, 1792, he married 
 Martha Pendletpn, daughter of Joshua Pen- 
 dleton, of Westerly, R. I., a Captain in the 
 
21^0 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 war of the Revolution. Twelve children 
 were the fruit of their union, one son being 
 Charles (deceased), father of the subject of 
 this sketch. Colonel Edwin Palmer, now liv- 
 ing in Norwich at the age of ninety-two, is 
 the sixth child and third son. The other sur- 
 viving members of the family are: Mary Ann, 
 widow of Luther Pellett, also of Norwich; 
 and Joseph P., the youngest son, who resides 
 in the town of Andover, Tolland County, 
 Conn. 
 
 Charles Palmer was born in 1807 on the old 
 farm, and here spent a long and useful life. 
 He married Lucy A., daughter of Elijah and 
 Lydia (Burnham) Hyde, and had four chil- 
 dren, as follows: Charles L., Lydia A., 
 Martha A., and Hollis Hyde. Charles L. 
 Palmer is a merchant of Irwin, Pa., is married, 
 and has a family. Lydia A. Palmer was a 
 school teacher. She died at the age of 
 twenty-five. The father died here in 1887. 
 He was an exemplary member of the Congre- 
 gational church, a man of sterling character 
 and marked integrity, quiet and unostenta- 
 tious in habit, genial and kindly in disposi- 
 tion, a true son of a pious ancestry. Mrs. 
 Lucy A. Palmer, surviving her husband, lives 
 with her daughter, Martha A., at Preston 
 City. 
 
 Hollis Hyde Palmer was educated in the 
 schools of Preston and in a school at Hanover, 
 Conn., where he was a student one term. He 
 married October 23, 1877, Lydia E. Davis, 
 the only daughter of Oliver and Emily J. 
 (Crary) Davis, of Preston. She has five 
 brothers. Mr. and Mrs. Palmer have lived on 
 this and the adjoining farm since their mar- 
 riage, having purchased in 1889 the Palmer 
 homestead of two hundred and twenty-six 
 acres. Mr. Palmer has a well-managed and 
 very productive farm. He raises grass, corn, 
 and potatoes in large quantities, and, keep- 
 
 ing twenty grade Jersey cows, sells the cream 
 and milk; while Mrs. Palmer has fine flocks of 
 turkeys and chickens. They have four chil- 
 dren — Clara M., Frank H., Mary E., and 
 Emily Crary. The eldest daughter has a taste 
 for books. She is a student in the Williman- 
 tic Normal School. Frank H., the only son, 
 now seventeen years of age, assists his father 
 on the farm. The younger daughters are both 
 in school. 
 
 Mr. Palmer is a member of the Preston 
 City Grange, No. no, of which he is Master. 
 He is Republican in his political views and 
 affiliations, and has served as Selectman (as 
 did several of his ancestors before him) and 
 upon the Board of Assessors. In religion he 
 is a Congregationalist, and is the superin- 
 tendent of the Sunday-school at the present 
 time. 
 
 T^APTAIN JAMES V. LUCE, a well- 
 I jp known manufacturer of East Lyme, 
 
 ^- - Conn., is native of the island of 
 
 Martha's Vineyard, where the family is nu- 
 merously represented and much respected. He 
 was born May 14, 1838, son of Cathcart and 
 Mary Luce. His paternal grandfather, a resi- 
 dent of the Vineyard, was a master mariner, 
 and followed the sea for many years. Cath- 
 cart Luce was in the whaling business until 
 about fifty years of age. In 1838 or 1839 he 
 came to East Lyme, where he settled on his 
 farm of one hundred and sixty acres, and here 
 spent the rest of his life. He had a family of 
 nine children, five sons and four daughters, 
 all of whom grew to maturity, and all married 
 except Charles, who went to California among 
 the "forty-niners," and died there at the age 
 of twenty-seven. The living children of this 
 family are: Edward and John, of Niantic; and 
 Captain James V., of Lyme. 
 
 James V. Luce passed his boyhood on his 
 
JAMES V. LUCE. 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 2S3 
 
 father's farm, now his own property; and, in- 
 deed, the old home has been his residence 
 during his life, excepting the five years that 
 he spent in Virginia, where he was operating 
 a stamp-mill in quartz gold mining. He 
 began in the fish-oil and guano business with 
 his brothers in the year 1857 on Giant's Neck, 
 a mile from the farm. Starting in a small 
 way, they gradually extended the business 
 until they have had factories in Delaware, at 
 Portland, Me., in Long Island, and on Rocky 
 Neck in this county, also a floating factory, 
 which was stationed at Oyster Bay, and later 
 at Prince's Bay, and at other points wherever 
 fish were most plentiful. Their factories 
 cost from ten thousand to twenty thousand dol- 
 lars each, and the expense of running them 
 has some years been over eighty thousand dol- 
 lars. For the past ten years they have oper- 
 ated but two factories, one in Delaware and 
 the one here. At one time Luce Brothers 
 owned and ran four steamers in their business, 
 these being from one hundred and fifty to two 
 hundred tons' burden. Their tracle has been 
 altogether wholesale. In 1896 they engaged 
 in the manufacture of phosphates, sending out 
 selling agents. The factory of Luce Brothers 
 is a large building fitted in the most perfect 
 and elaborate manner for the guano and phos- 
 phate manufacture, and conducted on most 
 energetic and business-like principles. Cap- 
 tain Luce owns ten acres of land on Rocky 
 Neck, and has operated the stone quarry there 
 for the past fifteen years, doing considerable 
 business in shipping rock for building sea 
 walls and other substructures. 
 
 At the age of twenty-three Captain Luce 
 was married to Sophia A. Havens, of this 
 town, daughter of Silas Havens. She died 
 May 23, 1882, leaving no children. The 
 Captain married for his second wife Terrie 
 F, Havens, sister of the first Mrs. Luce. By 
 
 this union there are two children: Laura S., 
 aged eleven years; and Ervin J., aged ten. 
 Captain and Mrs. Luce are members of the 
 Methodist Episcopal church, the former being 
 an active and efficient officer in the church. 
 
 SCAR MAXSON BARBER, M.D., 
 a successful medical practitioner in 
 Mystic, was born in Hopkinton, R.I., 
 June 25, 1837, son of Franklin and Lydia W. 
 (Maxson) Barber. His ancestors were Welsh, 
 Scotch, and English. The founder of the 
 family in America, Moses Barber,- was in 
 Rhode Island in 1652. The great-grandpar- 
 ents of Oscar M. were Joseph and Deliverance 
 Barber. The maiden name of the latter was 
 not changed by marriage. Joseph was a ship- 
 builder in Westerly, R.I. In 1804 he built 
 the "Dauphin," which was the .first whaler 
 built in that locality; and he was its principal 
 owner. She sailed from New London, Sep- 
 tember 6, 1805. Sprague, son of Joseph, was 
 a sea captain in Westerly. He married Lucy 
 Stillman, a daughter of Colonel George Still- 
 man, of Westerly, R.I. Sprague Barber and 
 his wife reared several sons and daughters. 
 
 Franklin Barber, son of Sprague, was born 
 in Westerly in 1808. He removed to Mystic 
 in 1849. In ^^^ same year he became inter- 
 ested in a woollen factory that was established 
 by the Greenman Company. He married 
 Lydia W. Maxson, of Hopkinton, R.I. They 
 had four children, of whom two died in in- 
 fancy. The others are: Oscar M.; and his 
 brother Leander, who also resides here. The 
 father died in Mystic in 1856. The mother, 
 now in her eightieth year, is an honored mem- 
 ber of the Daughters of the Revolution. Her 
 earliest known ancestor, the Rev. John Max- 
 son, born in 1638, was a minister of the 
 Seventh Day Baptist denomination. His son 
 
254 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 John was one of the organizers of the town of 
 Westerly in 1660. The Rev. John Crandall, 
 who was also one of the organizers, was 
 another maternal ancestor. He died in 1676. 
 Phineas Crandall, who was born in Westerly, 
 April 7, 1743, died at the age of ninety. His 
 daughter Eliza, the great -great-aunt of Oscar 
 Maxson, was a resident of Rhode Island, and 
 died in 1897, aged ninety-five years. On the 
 old Colonial records and in those of the Revo- 
 lution and of the War of 1812 will be found 
 several of the names of other ancestors as well 
 as the foregoing. Grandfather Maxson was a 
 Captain during the latter war. 
 
 Oscar Maxson Barber, after attending the 
 common schools and Mystic Academy, studied 
 in the New York Homoeopathic College, from 
 which he was graduated in the class of 1871. 
 He then entered upon his profession in 
 Mystic, which had been his home since he 
 was eleven years old. He succeeded to the 
 practice of Dr. A. W. Brown, and his success- 
 ful work now covers a quarter of a century. 
 In politics he affiliates with the Republican 
 party. He is Health Officer of Stonington, 
 Conn. In 1889 he attended the Paris Exposi- 
 tion, and in 1892 he made a European tour, 
 returning with much food for thought; and 
 he was also a visitor to the World's Fair at 
 Chicago. 
 
 rm. 
 
 URDON F. ALLYN, farmer and 
 \^^ I auctioneer of Salem, New London 
 County, Conn., was born at Gale's 
 Ferry, in the town of Ledyard, this State, 
 October i, 1826, son of Gurdon L. and Sarah 
 S. (Bradford) Allyn. His paternal grand- 
 father, Nathan Allyn, was the captain of a 
 merchantman sailing to the West India 
 Islands. He married a Miss Lester, by whom 
 he had three children — Hannah, Nathan, and 
 
 Gurdon L. His death occurred on a return 
 voyage from the West Indies, and he was 
 buried at sea. Mrs. Allyn survived her hus- 
 band, and lived a widow for many years, dying 
 at the age of eighty. Her daughter Hannah 
 married John D. Bradford. Both sons fol- 
 lowed the sea. Gurdon L. Allyn, who was 
 the third child, sailed with his father when 
 only eleven years of age. He became the 
 master of a vessel at the age of twenty-two, 
 and later was part owner of many vessels and 
 in various enterprises. He made two whaling 
 voyages, one of two and one of four years' 
 duration; and he shipped guano off the coast 
 of Africa, on the Island of Ichaboe, when this 
 rich deposit was first opened up. He had 
 previously known of this new product, and 
 thought of going to Africa; but, when he 
 made his first trip, the English had opened it, 
 and he paid twenty-five hundred dollars for 
 the privilege of using one of the stagings, the 
 only wharf there. He was also in the guano 
 trade from Patagonia. An active, enterpris- 
 ing, and rather adventurous man, making and 
 losing large sums by his open-handed ways 
 and confiding nature, he left at the time of 
 his death only a fair estate. He participated 
 in the Civil War in the war vessel "St. Law- 
 rence," of which he was acting master, though 
 not the captain. While in Hampton Roads 
 the vessel was fired upon by the rebels, and 
 some of the flying shot and shell entered the 
 cabin, one cutting off a leg of the table at 
 which he was seated, engaged in writing. 
 Coming from Gale's Ferry to Salem in 1839, 
 he purchased a farm, a grist-mill, and a saw- 
 mill, and had his home here until 1863. He 
 left the sea at the age of eighty, and spent 
 his last years at Gale's Ferry, dying in 1891, 
 at the age of ninety-two. His wife, who was 
 a daughter of Adonijah Fitch and Sarah (Dol- 
 beare) Bradford, died two years before at the 
 
GURDON F. ALLVN. 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 2S7 
 
 age of eighty-nine. They had five children, 
 of whom three lived to maturity. The first- 
 born, an infant son, died in infancy; Gurdon 
 F. was the second child; James M. died on 
 the Isthmus of Panama on his way from Peru 
 to California in 1855, at the age of twenty- 
 three years; the fourth child died young; and 
 the fifth, Sarah E. , wife of Thomas Latham, 
 lives at Gale's Ferry. 
 
 Mr. Gurdon F. Allyn was educated at 
 Bacon Academy. On March 7, 1851, he mar- 
 ried Sarah Raymond Dolbeare, a native of 
 East Lyme and a daughter of John and 
 Eunice (Morgan) Dolbeare, of East Haddam. 
 Mr. and Mrs. Allyn have no children; but 
 they have fostered one boy, Herbert E. Beard, 
 who is now a dealer or travelling trader in 
 milk and produce. He is married and has 
 one son. Mr. and Mrs. Allyn came to their 
 present home about thirty-three years ago. 
 The farm consists of one hundred and forty- 
 five acres, for which they paid twenty-three 
 hundred dollars. The house is more. than a 
 century old, and was in former days the half- 
 way tavern on the stage road from Essex to 
 Norwich. 
 
 Mr. Allyn is an adherent of the Republican 
 party, has served as First Selectman, has 
 represented Salem in the legislature at three 
 different times, has also been School Visi- 
 tor, and has held other minor offices. He is 
 a Deacon of the Congregational church and 
 superintendent of the Sunday-school. He has 
 been the town auctioneer for the past twenty- 
 five years ; and, though he began the business 
 with diffidence, he has abundantly proved his 
 skill and efficiency in conducting public 
 sales. Although the greater part of his life 
 has been spent as a landsman and in New 
 London County, Mr. Allyn has travelled and 
 seen something of the world. When nineteen 
 years of age he sailed with his father to the 
 
 coast of Africa, and on the return voyage 
 visited the grave of Napoleon on the Isle of 
 St. Helena. 
 
 RS. SARAH M. MORGAN, 
 widow of Edward Morgan, resides 
 upon her farm in Waterford, six 
 miles north of New London. She is the only 
 child of George and Sarah (Powers) Gibson, 
 both of this section of the country. Her 
 grandfather resided in New London until his 
 house was sacked and burned by the British in 
 1 78 1, when he settled on the farm now owned 
 by Mrs. Morgan. Her father died here, 
 March 23, 1835; and his widow died Novem- 
 ber 24, 1853, at the age of sixty-four years. 
 They are buried in the Cedar Grove Ceme- 
 tery at New London. 
 
 Miss Gibson married Edward Morgan, Oc- 
 tober 15, 1837, son of Guy and Nancy (Gris- 
 wold) Morgan. Mr. Morgan's grandfather 
 was a man of force and character. He settled 
 in Ohio in the early days, taking all his chil- 
 dren but his oldest son Justus, whom he left 
 on the old farm. He died suddenly in Ohio, 
 just past middle life, having accumulated con- 
 siderable property. His wife was a Pickett, 
 of Wyoming County, New York. His son 
 Guy was born in Wethersfield, Conn. He 
 took up wild land in Wyoming County. His 
 wife belonged to a good family of Wethers- 
 field. 
 
 Mr. Edward Morgan was born at Wethers- 
 ford Springs, August 18, 18 18, and died 
 March 12, 1888, during the great and memo- 
 rable blizzard of that year. The snow em- 
 bargo was so complete that the news of his 
 death could only be telegraphed to his family 
 at Hartford by a cable sent to England, back 
 to Boston, and thence to Harttord. He was a 
 prominent citizen, a man of military tastes, 
 and was Captain of a company for many 
 
^S8 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 years. Mrs. Morgan reared eight of her 
 twelve children — Nancy, Martha M., Stanley 
 G., Stephen, Rowena, Strong, Kittie Lu- 
 cretia, and' Lottie. Nancy is the wife of 
 Edgar R. Smith, of Wethersfield, and has two 
 daughters; Martha M., wife of Henry Way in 
 East Lyme, has one daughter and a son ; Stan- 
 ley G. , a farmer in the vicinity, has two 
 daughters and one son, all bright and interest- 
 ing children; Stephen is unmarried, and re- 
 mains at the homestead, carrying on the farm; 
 Rowena, widow of Martin Cadwell, has two 
 daughters; Strong is unmarried, and is a com- 
 mercial traveller, located at Meriden, Conn. ; 
 Kittie Lucretia is at home; and Lottie is the 
 wife of Frank S. Seymour, of Hartford, and 
 has one son and a daughter. Mrs. Morgan is 
 a member of the Baptist church. She has 
 been able to give all her children a good 
 schooling, and is now happily surrounded by 
 her many children and grandchildren. 
 
 T^ATHANIEL PENDLETON NOYES, 
 I ^^ a respected and lifelong resident of 
 J-^ V^ ^ Stonington and a son of Captain 
 Franklin and Susan (Pendleton) Noyes, was 
 born here, March 12, 1846. One of his early 
 ancestors was William Noyes, who, born in 
 Choulderton, England, was made rector of 
 Wiltshire, England. In 1602 William mar- 
 ried Anna Parker, of Choulderton, and they 
 had two children: James, born in 1608; and 
 Nicholas, born in 1616. James, who was ed- 
 ucated for the ministry at Brasenose College, 
 Oxford, came to America in 1634, on the ship 
 "Mary and John." He preached in Medford, 
 Mass., that year. In 1635 he accepted a call 
 to Newbury, Mass., where he labored until 
 his death, which occurred October 22, 1656. 
 He married Sarah Brown, of Southampton, in 
 1634, just before leaving England. They had 
 
 nine children, six sons and three daughters. 
 Their second child, James, born in 1639, 
 graduated at Harvard College, and was or- 
 dained pastor of the church in Stonington on 
 the day before his marriage. He was one of 
 the founders of Yale College. He married 
 Dorothy Stanton, September 11, 1674; and 
 they had five sons and two daughters. He 
 died in Stonington, December 30, 1719, aged 
 nearly eighty years. The pier slab that for 
 more than a century has been over his grave 
 in the old Wequetequock burying-ground in 
 Stonington, has the following inscription: 
 "In expectation of a joyful resurrection to 
 eternal life, here lyeth interred ye body of the 
 Rev. Mr. James Noyes, aged eighty years, 
 who after a faithful serving of the Church of 
 Christ in this place for more than fifty-five 
 years," deceased Dec. ye 30, 1719-20. Maj- 
 esty, meekness and humility here meet in 
 one, with greatest charity." One of his sons. 
 Captain Thomas, born August 14, 1679, on 
 September 3, 1705, married Elizabeth San- 
 ford, a daughter of Governor Sanford and a 
 grand-daughter of Governor William Codding- 
 ton, of Rhode Island. They had five sons and 
 seven daughters. Their son, Thomas, born 
 January 26, 1 7 10, married Mary Thompson, 
 of Westerly, R.I., March i, 1731. His son 
 Thomas, born in 1739, married on January 24, 
 1760, and died at the age of ninety-two, in 
 the old house which formerly stood near the 
 residence of the subject of this sketch. His 
 wife, Mary E. Cobb Noyes, a daughter of 
 Henry Cobb, of Stonington, born February 
 IS, 1740, died in March, 1833, aged ninety- 
 four. They spent seventy years together in 
 the old house that was burned in 1855. They 
 had eight sons and two daughters. 
 
 Nathaniel Noyes, the third child of Thomas 
 and Mary E. Noyes and the grandfather of the 
 subject of this sketch, was born in Stonington 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 25^ 
 
 in 1771, and died there in 1854. On Febru- 
 ary II, 1800, he married Mary Saunders, of 
 Stonington, who died in 1852. They had two 
 sons and six daughters, all of whom were mar- 
 ried. Their son Franklin, who was a seafar- 
 ing man and the master and a part owner of 
 several vessels, died April 15, 1892. He 
 married June 14, 1829, Susan B. Pendleton, a 
 daughter of Paul and Sabra Pendleton, of 
 Westerly, R.I., and who died February 29, 
 1880. They had eight children — Charles 
 E. P., Thomas J., Benjamin F., William P., 
 Susan Sabrina, Paul Pendleton, Mary A., and 
 Nathaniel P. Benjamin was lost at sea in 
 November, 1859. 
 
 Nathaniel P. Noyes attended the common 
 schools in Stonington. After attaining the 
 age of eighteen years, he served as Assistant 
 Postmaster to Franklin Williams for fifteen 
 months. Subsequently he completed a course 
 at the Eastman Business College, Poughkeep- 
 sie, N.Y., graduating therefrom in the class 
 of 1865. On his return home he was made 
 Assistant Postmaster to Enoch B. Pendleton, 
 of Westerly, R. I., a position which he held 
 for three years. For the next five years he 
 was employed in the United States railway 
 mail service, on the night train between Bos- 
 ton and New York. After this his health 
 broke down, and obliged him to spend three 
 winters in the South. In 1875, having re- 
 gained his health, he again entered the 
 Westerly office as Assistant Postmaster to 
 Eugene B. Pendleton; but after seven years' 
 service he was again obliged to go South on 
 account of failing health. He came back to 
 Stonington again, however, and in 1885 en- 
 tered the Stonington office as Assistant Post- 
 master, and served three and a half years 
 under Postmasters James Pendleton and Elias 
 B. Hinckley. Appointed Postmaster on De- 
 cember 23, 1890, by President Harrison, he 
 
 held the office from February i, 1891, to March 
 I, 1895. He was doorkeeper of the House 
 of Representatives during the session of 1897. 
 In politics Mr. Noyes is a stanch Republi- 
 can. On October 30, 1869, he married 
 Fannie S. Hall, a daughter of Thomas and 
 Phcfibe C. Hall, of Westerly. They have had 
 two children: Minnie Pauline, a young girl 
 of considerable musical and artistic ability; 
 and Harry Pendleton, a bright boy of fifteen. 
 Mr. and Mrs. Noyes and their daughter are 
 members of the First Baptist Church of Ston- 
 ington. 
 
 « * ■ » > 
 
 ^ATHAN DENISON NOYES, a re- 
 tired gentleman of Mystic, was born 
 in Stonington, Conn., January" 20, 
 1832, son of Nathan Stanton and Nancy 
 (Denison) Noyes. The family trace their 
 lineage in England to a period prior to 1600. 
 The Rev. William Noyes, the rector of the 
 diocese of Salisbury in 1602, resigned in 
 favor of his brother Nathan in 1620, and be- 
 came attorney-general to James I. He mar- 
 ried Miss Parker; and their sons, James 
 and Nicholas, came to America in the ship 
 "Mary and John," settling in Newburyport, 
 Mass. The Rev. James Noyes, after he had 
 seceded from the Church of England and gone 
 to Holland, returned to Southampton, where 
 he married Sarah Brown in 1634, previous to 
 his emigration. His son, the Rev. James 
 Noyes (second), born March 11, 1640, was 
 graduated from Harvard College in 1659, ^^d 
 ordained in 1674. This ancestor was the pas- 
 tor of the Road Church — which was estab- 
 lished over two hundred and fifty years ago — 
 for fifty-five and a half years, and died at the 
 age of eighty. Dr. Bacon, of New Haven, 
 said of him, "He was one of the leading di- 
 vines of the country, and was greatly respected 
 for his unswerving piety in those perilous and 
 
26o 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 trying times, being distinguished not only for 
 his fervor and heavenly zeal in his public min- 
 istry, but for his ordinary conversation, which 
 breathed the spirit of that world to which he 
 endeavored to guide his fellow-man." He was 
 also eminently useful in theological controver- 
 sies. During King Philip's War he served as 
 physician and surgeon. The General Court 
 gave him an equal share with the volunteers 
 of the Narragansett Bay Company, said grant 
 comprising the present town of Voluntown. 
 Although then old and in a remote corner of 
 the colony, his influence was deemed necessary 
 to the success of the project of establishing 
 Yale College; and he was one of the founders 
 and one of the trustees of that institution. 
 He died December 30, 1719. 
 
 The Rev. Joseph Noyes, son of the preced- 
 ing James Noyes, became pastor of the First 
 Congregational Church in New Haven, Conn., 
 and one of the first professors of Yale College. 
 He married Abigail Pierrepont, who was a 
 sister of the wife of the first Jonathan Ed- 
 wards. Deacon John, another son, married 
 Mary Gallup; and they had four sons and 
 three daughters. The sons were: William, 
 John, Joseph, and James. Joseph wedded 
 Prudence Denison in 1763. Their son, Jo- 
 seph Noyes (second), the paternal grandfather 
 of the subject of this sketch, contracted his 
 first marriage on November 30, 1790, with 
 Zerviah Wheeler, who had seven sons and 
 one daughter, and reared five sons and the 
 daughter. Nathan Stanton Noyes, the only 
 survivor, is an aged resident of Stonington, 
 Conn., where he was born January 7, 1804. 
 He is still bright and active mentally. He 
 married Nancy Denison, a daughter of Ethan 
 and Eliza (Williams) Denison. By Joseph 
 Noyes's second marriage, which was made 
 with Eunice Cheesebrough on January 11, 
 1 8 14, there were five sons and four daughters. 
 
 Nathan Denison Noyes, after acquiring his 
 school education, was engaged as clerk in a 
 dry-goods store in Providence, R.I., and later 
 in the store of John Hyde at Upper Mystic. 
 In October, 1853, he went to St. Louis, 
 where he was clerk for a large wholesale dry- 
 goods jobbing house. Three years later, in 
 December, he became a member of the firm 
 Claflin, Allen & Co.., in the wholesale boot 
 and shoe business, of which firm Governor 
 Claflin, of Massachusetts, was the head. He 
 retired from this connection in 1862 to be- 
 come a partner in the firm of Appleton, Noyes 
 & Co., who carried on the same business, and 
 was the buyer in the Boston and other markets 
 during that firm's existence. 
 
 On August 4, 1857, in Mystic, Mr. Noyes 
 was united in marriage with Adelia Miner 
 Randall, a native of Hartford, Conn. In 
 1873 they removed from St. Louis to Newton, 
 Mass., where they resided sixteen years, 
 going from thence to Newton Highlands. 
 From the latter place in 1894 they came to 
 Mystic, taking possession of their present ele- 
 gant residence on West Mystic Avenue. Mr. 
 Noyes's chief occupation since has been the 
 raising and breeding of poultry, which he dis- 
 poses of by wholesale. 
 
 Mrs. Noyes's paternal great-grandfather, 
 Jonathan Randall, married Ann Crary, of 
 Groton, Conn. They were intellectual and 
 well-to-do. He was a tanner and fuller, own- 
 ing a tannery and fulling-mill in Norwich 
 during the Revolutionary War. His daugh- 
 ters married into the best families. His son 
 Jedediah, the grandfather of Mrs. Noyes, used 
 to say: "I have four sisters. One married a 
 Vanbuskirk, one a King, another a Lord, and 
 another a Cooper." Colonel Ebenezer Avery 
 (second) was Mrs. Noyes's maternal great- 
 grandfather. He served in the Revolutionary 
 War, and was killed at Fort Griswold. Her 
 
CHARLES ISISHOP. 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 263 
 
 maternal grandparents were Dr. John Owen 
 and Elizabeth (Avery) Miller, the latter born 
 October 28, 1768. Her parents were Isaac 
 and Adelia (Miner) Randall. Mrs. Noyes's 
 mother was the youngest of nine children, all 
 of whom were remarkable instances of lon- 
 gevity. The eldest daughter died at the age 
 of ninety-six, and the youngest at the age of 
 eighty-four. Mrs. Noyes is the eldest daugh- 
 ter of eight children, of whom two sons died 
 in early infancy. The other survivors are: 
 John F. and Charles Arthur. John F. Ran- 
 dall is in business in St. Louis. Charles A. 
 is in Prescott, Ariz., mining for gold and 
 silver. Jedediah, the eldest, was Captain of 
 Company K, Twenty-sixth Connecticut Regi- 
 ment, in 1862. He died in the Baton Rouge 
 Hospital, June 9, 1863, in the twenty-eighth 
 year of his age, having been mortally wounded 
 at Port Hudson. The father, who was born 
 in Milltown, Conn., in 1808, was married in 
 1831. He died March 9, 1881. The mother, 
 who was born September 6, 1809, died Au- 
 gust 19, 1893, at Newton Highlands, Mass. 
 Mrs. Noyes is the happy possessor of many 
 ancient and interesting family relics, some of 
 which are nearly two hundred years old. 
 
 /T^HARLES BISHOP, a retired business 
 ( Sp man of New London, was born in 
 
 v J^ ^ Montville, Conn., June 20, 1813. 
 Son of Charles and Charlotte (Lattimer) 
 Bishop, he comes of English origin. His 
 first American ancestor, Nicholas Bishop, was 
 kidnapped from the Isle of Wight when a boy, 
 brought to this country, and sold to a man 
 named Dart for the price of his passage. 
 When Nicholas reached manhood, he married 
 Dart's daughter. They had a son, Nicholas, 
 who married Hannah Douglas on February 14, 
 
 1749. This Nicholas had five sons and four 
 daughters. His fourth child and third son, 
 Joseph, born August 14, 1758, who was a 
 farmer in Montville, married Desire Gilbert in 
 1 78 1. Of Joseph's four sons and five daugh- 
 ters the first child was a girl, and two sons 
 and three daughters grew up. 
 
 Charles Bishop, the father of the subject of 
 this sketch, was born in Montville, April 20, 
 1784. In his early manhood he was a farmer 
 and a school teacher; but afterward he went 
 into the grocery business, setting up a store 
 in New London, near the centre of the town. 
 He died in this town at the age of eighty-two. 
 His wife, Charlotte, a daughter of Henry and 
 Sarah (Christophers) Lattimer, whom he mar- 
 ried in September, 1809, had seven sons and 
 one daughter, all of, whom reached old age. 
 They were : John and David, who each died at 
 eighty-two; Charles, the subject of this 
 sketch; Joseph, who died when past middle 
 age; Charlotte, the widow of Ezra S. Beck- 
 with; Henry, who died in 1891; Gilbert, a 
 retired lumberman of New London ; and Elias, 
 the superintendent of the cemetery. 
 
 Charles Bishop received his education in 
 the district schools and in Chesterfield. 
 When he was sixteen years old, he obtained 
 employment in a store as a clerk, and stayed 
 there four years. Then he went to Fisher's 
 Island for a short time. When he was twenty 
 he began to learn the carpenter's trade, serv- 
 ing two years with his elder brother John. 
 He and John started in the lumber and build- 
 ing business in 1838. In 1892 he retired. 
 
 Mr. Bishop built his large and handsome 
 house, 16 Franklin Street, in 1866. Besides 
 this he owns twenty tenements and a cottage 
 at Eastern Point. In politics he is a Demo- 
 crat. He was Selectman, Councilman, and 
 Assessor for a number of years. He has also 
 served on the Board of Relief. Although 
 
264 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 trained in the Baptist church, he has been an 
 earnest member of the Universalist congrega- 
 tion for years; and he helped that society very 
 much in building their last church edifice. 
 The first of his two marriages was contracted 
 with Cynthia Davidson, of Preston, in 1838. 
 Of their eight children, three died in child- 
 hood. The others were: Charlotte, the wife 
 of the Hon. Thomas M. Waller; Dr. H. M. 
 Bishop, now in Los Angeles, Cal. ; Charles 
 A., a lumberman in New London; Adam F., 
 a dentist in New London; and George, now 
 dead, who was a dentist in California, and left 
 a widow and three sons in Los Angeles. 
 Mrs. Cynthia Davidson Bishop died in 1892; 
 and in 1893, Mr. Bishop married Mrs. Cor- 
 delia Sanford Young, a widow, of Danielson, 
 Conn. 
 
 fmc 
 
 EORGE MAYNARD MINOR, the 
 Vp I well-known medical practitioner of 
 Waterford, is a native of Stamford, 
 Conn. He was born in 1863, and is the son 
 of Robert C. and Isabel (Smith) Minor. Dr. 
 Minor's paternal ancestor a few generations 
 back. Captain John Minor, son of Thomas, of 
 New London and Stonington, was one of the 
 first settlers of Woodbury, going to that place 
 from New London, and dying there, as re- 
 corded in the History of Woodbury, Sep- 
 tember 17, 1 7 19. He was Town Clerk of 
 Woodbury for thirty years, and "for twenty 
 years almost always a member of the General 
 Court." Israel Minor, Dr. Minor's grand- 
 father, was born at Woodbury, and died in 
 Brooklyn, N. Y., in 1893. His wife was be- 
 fore marriage Charlotte Crandall, of New Lon- 
 don. She is still living in Brooklyn, at the 
 age of ninety, in good mental and physical 
 condition. Of her four sons two are now liv- 
 ing: John Crandall Minor, M.D., a physician 
 
 of New York City ; and Robert, father of Dr. 
 George Minor. 
 
 Robert C. Minor is the well-known artist 
 of New York City, where he has spent the 
 greater part of his life. He studied art at 
 Antwerp, and in Holland with Diaz; and 
 while in France he was the personal friend 
 of Corot. He has been twice abroad, spend- 
 ing in all eight years. In the Paris Exposi- 
 tion of 1890 he received a medal from the 
 French Salon, an honor much coveted by 
 every artist of whatever nation. He is a 
 member of the National Academy of Design, 
 and was one of the organizers of the Salma- 
 gundi Society. Llis studio is in Sherwood 
 Studios. Mr. Robert C. Minor married Isa- 
 bel Smith, daughter of Orrin F. and Emma 
 A. (Loomis) Smith, of New London. He 
 has one daughter living: Louise, sister of Dr. 
 Minor, and now the wife of Hermon F. Tie- 
 man, son of ex-Mayor Tieman. 
 
 George M. Minor was educated in the pub- 
 lic schools of Brooklyn and in Plainfield 
 Academy. He then pursued a course of medi- 
 cal studies in the Long Island College Hospi- 
 tal, and graduated with the degree of Doctor 
 of Medicine in 1885. He began the practice 
 of his profession as ambulance surgeon of St. 
 Peter's Hospital, where he remained for two 
 years. He then accepted the position of sur- 
 geon on the steamship "Illinois," and in 1888 
 came to Waterford. Here he met and mar- 
 ried on November 19, 1895, Miss Anne B. 
 Rogers, daughter of James Chapman Rogers, 
 a well-known sea captain of New London, and 
 his wife, Nancy Hazeltine Beckwith, the 
 father born in New London, and the mother 
 in East Lyme, in the house where Mrs. Minor 
 was born. Mrs. Rogers's father was a well- 
 known ship-builder. She was married in 
 1849. Her husband died in 1866, leaving 
 her with five children to care for. All are 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 26s 
 
 now living, and are as follows: Irene, wife of 
 William N. Coates, of this place; Julius, a 
 resident of Tarrytown, N.Y. ; Alida, wife of 
 James D. Hanan, of Brooklyn, N.Y., son 
 of James D. Hanan, of the well-known firm of 
 Hanan & Son; Frank E. , of Tarrytown; and 
 Mrs. Minor. 
 
 Seven or eight years ago Mrs. Minor built 
 and opened Konomac Inn, which is now one of 
 the most popular summer hotels on the Sound. 
 Beginning on a small scale and with but few 
 guests, the business has increased so that now 
 from fifty to sixty guests are entertained. 
 The success of this enterprise is due to the 
 careful attention to the comfort of all persons 
 in the house, and to the most excellent ar- 
 rangements of the inn, and its unrivalled table 
 service. Abundant amusement is offered, in- 
 cluding golf, yachting, and tennis, no pains 
 being spared to make the place a delightful 
 resort. That this fact is appreciated by the 
 guests is evidenced by the growing patronage 
 the inn receives and the many words of praise 
 that are heard every summer. Mrs. Minor is 
 a member of the society of Daughters of the 
 American Revolution. Dr. Minor is a Mas- 
 ter Mason, and exceedingly popular in the 
 order. He is an independent voter, is the 
 Health Ofificer of this town, and Medical Ex- 
 aminer for the coroner. 
 
 |ZRA JUDSON HEMPSTEAD, a promi- 
 nent farmer of Waterford, Conn., son 
 of Orlando Hallem and Julia Ann 
 (Rogers) Hempstead, was born at Waterford, 
 June 3, 1851. He is a direct descendant in 
 the male line of Robert Hempstead, who 
 came to this country from England, and was 
 one of the first settlers of New London in 
 1645. On the maternal side Mr. Hempstead 
 traces his lineage to James Rogers, supposed 
 
 to be the immigrant of that name (without the 
 s) who came over in the " Increase" in 1635. 
 James Rogers lived for some years at Mil- 
 ford, Conn., and between 1656 and 1660 set- 
 tled in the New London plantation. He 
 carried on an extensive business as a baker, 
 and became the owner of a large estate near 
 New London, which has, however, to-day 
 dwindled to the twenty-acre farm of Mrs. 
 Hempstead. Some of the Rogers family were 
 Quakers, and a part of the town settled by 
 them has thus been known as Quaker Hill. 
 
 Mr. Ezra J. Hempstead's great-grand- 
 father Hempstead bore the name of Robert. 
 His grandfather, George W. Hempstead, was 
 a farmer in Stonington and a shoemaker in 
 New London. Alfred and Orlando Hemp- 
 stead, sons of George, went to New London 
 when young men, and together established 
 there a blacksmith shop on the Neck, where 
 they carried on a successful business in gen- 
 eral blacksmithing and the ironing of vessels. 
 
 Orlando Hallem Hempstead, son of George 
 W. and father of Ezra Judson, was born in 
 North Stonington, March 23, 1809, and died 
 at his farm in North Waterford, April 19, 
 1874. He was married January i, 1832, to 
 Julia Ann Rogers, daughter of Jonathan and 
 Sarah Rogers, who were cousins. The farm- 
 house where Mrs. Hempstead now lives was 
 built by him over fifty years ago. They had 
 one daughter and seven sons who reached ma- 
 turity, and two sons who died in infancy. 
 Four of these children are now living: Eliza- 
 beth, wife of Stephen C. Comstock ; George 
 W., of Main Street, New London; Andrew 
 Jackson, a bachelor, at home on the old farm ; 
 and Ezra Judson Hempstead, the seventh son, 
 the subject of this sketch. Francis Alexan- 
 der died at twenty'-seven years of age. Mrs. 
 Julia A. Hempstead is the oldest living mem- 
 ber of the Second Congregational Church at 
 
266 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 New London, with which she united herself in 
 1836. During the later years of his life her 
 husband was a Republican, but was formerly 
 a Democrat. He served in many of the town 
 offices. 
 
 Ezra Judson Hempstead was educated in the 
 New London schools, including the old Bart- 
 lett High School, the Connecticut State Nor- 
 mal School, and Scofield's Business College 
 at Providence, R.I. In early manhood he 
 taught school for some seven years at Water- 
 ford and other towns. Mr. Hempstead is 
 Master of New London County Pomona 
 Grange and State Deputy of the State 
 Grange. He also belongs to the A. O. U. W. 
 He is a Republican, and has served on the 
 Board of Education for twenty years, at least 
 part of that time being its chairman. He is 
 much interested in the Quaker Hill Church, 
 where in case of an emergency he fills the 
 pulpit. He is a member of the Second Con- 
 gregational Church at New London. 
 
 December 25, 1877, Ezra Judson Hempstead 
 married Mary M. Smith, of Erie, Pa., daugh- 
 ter of Newman and Mary Harris Smith. 
 They have two children : Ezra Judson Hemp- 
 stead, Jr., now eighteen years old, who, hav- 
 ing graduated from the Bulkeley High School 
 of New London and spent one year at Mr. 
 Moody's world-famous school at Northfield, 
 is now living with his parents upon their 
 farm ; and Agnes Burchard, born December 
 16, 1887. 
 
 Ezra Judson Hempstead has a place of about 
 two hundred acres, known as the Browning 
 Beach Farm. It is delightfully situated on 
 the Thames River, and has long been a favor- 
 ite resort for the people of that neighborhood. 
 The house, standing well back from the high- 
 way, is interesting on account of its age, hav- 
 ing weathered about one hundred years. The 
 views from the farm, both of the surrounding 
 
 charming country and of the river, harbor, and 
 far-off, shining waters of the Sound, are pict- 
 uresque and beautiful. 
 
 XfREDERICK DENISON CHESEBRO, 
 p'j one of Stonington's most venerable and 
 honored citizens, a descendant of Will- 
 iam Chesebro, was born here October 20, 
 1805, when the place was known as Stoning- 
 ton Point. His joarents were Elder Elihu and 
 Lydia (Chesebro) Chesebro. 
 
 The History of the First Congregational 
 Church, Stonington, contains an interesting 
 account of the life of his pioneer ancestor, 
 from which the following is condensed : Will- 
 iam Chesebrough, the first white man who 
 made a permanent settlement in what is now 
 Stonington, was born in Boston, Lincolnshire, 
 England, in 1594, and there married Anna 
 Stevenson, December 6, 1620. He came to 
 this country with Winthrop's fleet in 1630, 
 settled in Boston, Mass., and soon became a 
 member of the First Church. He was made 
 a freeman of the Colony in 1631; and in 
 1632 he was one of two men chosen for Bos- 
 ton in compliance with the order that there 
 should be "two of every plantation to confer 
 with the Court about raising a public stock." 
 "And this," says Prince, in his New England 
 Chronology, referring to the measure, "seems 
 to pave the way for a House of Representa- 
 tives in the General Courts." After residing 
 in Boston several years, serving as Constable 
 and being otherwise active in public affairs, 
 he removed to Braintree, Mass., and while 
 there was Deputy to the General Court. 
 Later he lived for a time at Rehoboth, where 
 in 1643 his list was returned at four hundred 
 and fifty pounds; and in 1644 he was one of the 
 planters there who signed a compact by which 
 they agreed to be governed by nine persons, 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 267 
 
 "according to law and equity," until they 
 should subject themselves jointly to some other 
 government. Owing to an affray with an Ind- 
 ian he was in disfavor; and in 1645 he visited 
 the colony of John Winthrop, Jr., at Pequot, 
 now New London, Conn., and finally, in 1649, 
 he and his family settled at Wequetequoc, now 
 Stonington. He was a gunsmith, and worked 
 at his trade until he came here, when he be- 
 came a farmer and stock-raiser, owning large 
 tracts of land. He traded with the Indians, 
 and was accused of selling them weapons of 
 warfare, which brought him before the au- 
 thorities; but he was an active man in busi- 
 ness and public affairs, and drew a goodly 
 number of settlers about him, making a place 
 of some importance for that period. He was 
 a man of more than ordinary ability and force; 
 and during the time that his settlement, We- 
 quetequoc, was in the jurisdiction of Massa- 
 chusetts, 1658—62, he was one of those ap- 
 pointed to manage the prudential affairs of the 
 town. He was elected Deputy to the General 
 Court at Hartford in 1653, 1654, 1655, and 
 1656. 
 
 Elder Elihu Chesebro was born here March 
 26, 1769. He was an unsalaried Baptist 
 preacher here for seventeen years; and in cold 
 weather he often sawed the wood for heating 
 the school-house in which the services were 
 held, displaying commendable earnestness and 
 sincerity. March 20, 1791, he married Lydia, 
 daughter of Zebulon Chesebro. She died in 
 1841, at seventy years of age; and he after- 
 ward married Mary Fish, whom he outlived 
 about six years, his death occurring on April 
 29, 1868, at the age of ninety-nine years, one 
 month, and three days. Rev. Elihu and 
 Lydia Chesebro were the parents of ten chil- 
 dren — Elihu, Denison, Lydia, Gilbert, Pru- 
 dence, Ethan Allen, Frederick D. , Lydia, 
 Amelia, and Mary Ann. Elihu, born Janu- 
 
 ary 3, 1792, married and had ten children, 
 five sons and five daughters. Denison, born 
 January 16, 1794, married, and had two sons 
 and a daughter. Lydia, born March 28, 
 1796, died, aged nine years. Gilbert, who 
 was born September 21, 1798, and died in 
 1851, aged fifty -two years, was twice married, 
 and had seven children, one by his first wife 
 and six by his second. Prudence, born Octo- 
 ber 5, 1800, became the wife of Samuel Lang- 
 worthy, and had two sons — Samuel C. and 
 Henry Allen Langworthy. Ethan Allen, who 
 was born December 25, 1803, and died at sea 
 in 1832, aged twenty-nine years, had two 
 daughters, one of whom is living; namely, 
 Mrs. W. J. H. Pollard. Lydia, born August 
 I, 1807, married Joseph S. Knight, and died 
 in 1892. Amelia, who was born July 17, 
 1809, married Thomas J. Wheeler, and had 
 one son, Thomas A. She died in 1856, aged 
 forty-five years. Mary Ann was born Septem- 
 ber 29, 181 1, and now lives in Norwich, 
 Conn., being in her eighty-seventh year. 
 
 Frederick Denison Chesebro received a 
 district-school education, attending school 
 until he was sixteen years old, during the last 
 few years in the winter only. Fie remained 
 at home until he was married. His years of 
 active labor were spent in farming; and he 
 still owns the old Chesebro homestead, which 
 has been in the family for nearly two hun- 
 dred and fifty years. During all this time 
 there have been but two dwellings on the 
 place, the present house replacing the original 
 structure in 1818. 
 
 On October 25, 1837, Mr. Chesebro mar- 
 ried Mary A. Chesebro, daughter of Elias 
 Chesebro, a distant relative. Five children 
 were born to them, as follows: Frederick 
 D. J., on April 7, 1839; t'lias, December 23, 
 1840; George W., November 28, 1842; Will- 
 iam H., November 26, 1845; and Jabez, May 
 
268 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 11, 1847. The last-named is the only sur- 
 vivor; and with him Mr. Chesebro has lived 
 since the death of his wife, which occurred on 
 February 2, 1884, at the age of seventy- 
 three years, less one day. 
 
 Jabez Chesebro is an operator in the velvet- 
 mill, which was erected here in Stonington in 
 1892, and in which he is a stockholder. The 
 business has now grown so that they are 
 doubling the capacity of the plant. On March 
 
 12, 1873, he married Etta Irons, of Mystic, 
 daughter of the late Resolved Irons, a ship- 
 builder. They lost their first child, William 
 W., who died July 11, 1893, when he was 
 between eighteen and nineteen years of age, 
 and was learning the drug business with Dr. 
 Brayton. They have one daughter living — 
 Grace E., a young lady at home, and attend- 
 ing the high school. Mr. Jabez Chesebro is 
 a member of the Independent Order of Odd 
 Fellows, and belongs to the Grand Lodge of 
 the State. He and his wife and daughter 
 are members of the Baptist church. They 
 live in the house that he built in 1887 at 66 
 Elm Street. 
 
 Frederick Denison Chesebro has been a firm 
 Democrat ail his life. He has served in some 
 of the minor town offices, and for twelve years 
 was Superintendent of the Highway. For 
 about seventy-seven years he has been a mem- 
 ber of the Baptist church, and he is now 
 senior Deacon. 
 
 M 
 
 AVID ERSKINE WHITON, a 
 manufacturer of lathe and drill 
 chucks and machinist's tools in New 
 London, is a native of Stafford, Conn., born 
 October 15, 1825. His ancestor, James 
 Whiton, who was one of the founders of 
 Hingham, Mass., came to this country from 
 either England or Scotland about the year 
 
 1630, and was made a freeman in 1636. Jo- 
 seph Whiton, his grandfather, resided in 
 Westford, was a carpenter and builder, and 
 had charge of the erection of the Westford 
 Orthodox Church edifice. Joseph married 
 Miss Joanna Chaffee, of that town; and their 
 union was blessed by the birth of several sons 
 and daughters. Both were members of the 
 Orthodox church. Their son, Heber Whiton, 
 born in Westford about 1780, died in Stafford 
 about 1827. A cooper by trade, he carried 
 on that business in conjunction with his 
 farm, and acquired a fair property. About 
 1806 or 1807 he married Miss Marcia Gay, of 
 Stafford. After his death she remarried and 
 moved to Monson, Mass., where she died 
 when about sixty-three years of age. Eight 
 children were born of her union with Mr. 
 Whiton, of whom six sons and one daughter 
 reached maturity. The daughter, Hannah, is 
 the widow of Penuel Eddy, and resides in 
 Stafford. 
 
 David Erskine Whiton, the youngest son of 
 his parents, attended the common schools of 
 Stafford. When about fourteen years of age 
 he began to learn the carpenter's trade with 
 his brother Lucius, and continued his school 
 attendance in the winter terms until eighteen 
 years old, working with him six years. At 
 twenty, having spent six years in his brother's 
 employment, he started for himself as a jour- 
 neyman carpenter. Subsequently he was en- 
 gaged in the millwright business for four 
 years, and still later he worked at pattern- 
 making. Until he took up the machinist's 
 business, he did not feel that he had found 
 the occupation for which his natural ability 
 fitted him. Before this, however, in 1849, 
 travelling by water he visited Buffalo, Chi- 
 cago, and Milwaukee, crossed Michigan by 
 rail, and then on horseback went to many 
 places in Illinois and Wisconsin. He made 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 269 
 
 a considerable stay in Beloit, which reminded 
 him of the East, and reached as far north as 
 Green Bay, stopping at Fond du Lac, Oshkosh, 
 and Appleton, where the first improvements 
 on Fox River were being made. He worked 
 at carpentry in different places, but the East 
 was still his preference. Returning in 1852 
 to Stafford, he built his first machine shop, 
 for which he made the water-wheel and much 
 of the other equipment. After renting it 
 some years, he occupied it for the manufact- 
 ure of machine tools, lathe chucks, etc., which 
 he continued there until 1886, building up a 
 good business, and employing about twenty 
 men. He then sold out and came to New 
 London, where he shortly after erected a shop 
 on Howard Street. Since 1896 he has con- 
 ducted the business in the present large brick 
 structure. In 1886 an incorporated company 
 was formed, with Mr. Whiton as the presi- 
 dent and his son as the secretary and treas- 
 urer. About one hundred hands are employed 
 in the establishment. 
 
 On November 13, 1856, Mr. Whiton was 
 united in marriage with Miss Asenath 
 Francis, of Stafford, a daughter of James and 
 Achsah (Howe) Francis. Her father died 
 when seventy-seven years of age, and her 
 mother about two years later, at seventy- 
 three. A son and four daughters survive. 
 Mr. and Mrs. Whiton were bereft of their 
 first-born, a daughter of four years. They 
 have a son and daughter living — Lucius 
 Erskine and Mary W. Lucius Erskine 
 Whiton, who is in company with his father, 
 married Viola King, and has two daughters — - 
 Helen King and Dorothy. His infant son, 
 David Erskine (named for his father), 
 died October 5, 1896. Mary W. is the wife 
 of Leander Shipman, M.D., of New London. 
 While a resident of Stafford, Mr. Whiton, 
 Sr., who is a stanch Republican, served in 
 
 many of the town offices, and was twice a 
 member of the State legislature, winning a 
 hotly contested election. He and Mrs. 
 Whiton are members of the Methodist Epis- 
 copal church. 
 
 »»•-»+ 
 
 iRS. MARY E. ALLEN, of Han- 
 over village, in the town of 
 Sprague, New London County, 
 Conn., is a native of Canterbury, Windham 
 County, being a daughter of Hubbard and 
 Sabrina (Adams) Adams. 
 
 Colonel Ethan Allen, late a well-known 
 woollen manufacturer of Hanover, to whom 
 she was married on December 9, 1855, was 
 born in Lisbon, this county, in 1822, and 
 died on January 15, 1884, at the age of sixty- 
 two years. He was the son of Deacon Eben- 
 ezer Allen, a native of Canterbury, Conn., 
 and was of the eighth generation in descent 
 from Samuel Allen, who came from England 
 about 1630, and settled at Braintree, Mass. 
 Deacon Ebenezer was a son of Pratt Allen, a 
 native of Scotland, Conn. 
 
 To Colonel Ethan and Mrs. Mary E. Allen 
 were born eight children, named as follows: 
 Ebenezer, Mary, Sarah, Thomas H., Morgan, 
 Harriet R, Olive B., and Maud E. Sarah 
 died April 6, 1874, at fourteen years of age. 
 Morgan died at the age of four years. The 
 living children are all residing in this place, 
 and are single, except Ebenezer, who married 
 Martha E. Gordon, of Hanover. They have 
 been liberally educated, and are citizens of 
 influence and prominence. Ebenezer and 
 Thomas are graduates of the Highland Mili- 
 tary Institute. The business of manufactur- 
 ing woollen goods, in which Colonel Allen 
 was engaged at the time of his death, has been 
 continued by his sons and their uncle, Eli- 
 sha M. Allen, who was Colonel Allen's part- 
 ner. During the business depression of the 
 
270 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 past four years the factory has been closed for 
 a considerable part of the time. Mr. Eben- 
 ezer Allen is the present Representative of 
 this town to the Connecticut legislature. 
 
 His brother, the Hon. Thomas Hubbard 
 Allen, who was born September 3, 1862, has 
 had a brilliant record as a public man. He 
 was educated at East Greenwich Academy, 
 Rhode Island, and at Highland Military In- 
 stitute, graduating from the last-named institu- 
 tion in 1881, as valedictorian of the class, and 
 having been Captain of the Cadet Corps. He 
 has always been interested in military affairs, 
 and for eight years was a member of the Third 
 Regiment, Connecticut National Guard, retir- 
 ing as Captain and Inspector of Rifle Practice. 
 He served his native town five consecutive 
 years as Selectman; and in 1885 he was 
 elected to the legislature, being at the time 
 he took his seat the youngest man in the 
 house. He has been five terms in the lower 
 branch, and one term in the Senate. During 
 his first term in the house he was clerk of the 
 Committee on Engrossed Bills, and during 
 the four successive terms he was chairman of 
 the Committee on Military Affairs. In 1886 
 he was also clerk of the Library Committee, 
 and in 1893 was a member of the Committee 
 on Joint Rules. The other years in which he 
 served were 1889 and 1895. In 1887 be was 
 elected State Senator, and was the youngest 
 man in the upper house. Here also he served 
 as chairman of the Committee on Military 
 Affairs. 
 
 Mr. Thomas H. Allen has had many other 
 civic honors conferred upon him. At the 
 time of President Harrison's second inaugura- 
 tion he was one of the aides-de-camp. In 
 
 1888 he was sent as delegate to the Republi- 
 can convention at Chicago, and in 1896 as 
 delegate to the St. Louis convention. In 
 
 1889 he was a delegate to the centennial cele- 
 
 bration held in New York City. Mr. Allen's 
 record as a public man has been one of dis- 
 tinguished service and high integrity. He 
 has worked faithfully for the interests of his 
 constituents, and has allowed no personal con- 
 siderations to deter him from carrying out 
 what he has believed to be for the general 
 good of his district or of the State as a 
 whole. He is a member of Hartford Lodge, 
 No. 19, Brotherhood of Elks; also of Court 
 Sprague, No. 90, Foresters of America, of 
 Sprague, Conn. 
 
 W'^ 
 
 ILLARD J. WAY, a member of the 
 Board of Selectmen of Bozrah, was 
 born in Salem, Conn., February 18, 
 1859, son of David and Sally R. (Gardner) 
 Way. The father was a native of Salem, in 
 which town the paternal grandfather, Joshua 
 Way, was an early settler. The Gardners are 
 native residents of Montville, Conn. David 
 Way was a prominent citizen of Salem in his 
 day. He was a Justice of the Peace for many 
 years, held several town offices, and was a 
 Deacon in the Baptist church. His last days 
 were spent at the home of bis son Willard in 
 Bozrah, his death occurring in 1893. His 
 wife, Sally, became the mother of several chil- 
 dren, of whom Willard J. is the only 
 survivor. 
 
 Willard J. Way was educated in the com- 
 mon schools of Salem. His boyhood and 
 youth were passed in his native town; and he 
 started in business life as the proprietor of a 
 livery stable at Fitchville, Conn. In 1884 he 
 settled upon his present farm in Bozrah, a val- 
 uable piece of agricultural property, which he 
 is cultivating with prosperous results. He 
 also owns a tract of land in Salem. 
 
 On December 2, 1885, Mr. Way was united 
 in marriage with Cora B. Ross, daughter of 
 
WII.LAKD ] \VA\'. 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 273 
 
 Enos C. Ross, late a respected citizen of 
 Bozrah. 
 
 Mr. Way is a Democrat politically. He 
 served the town for one term as Assessor, was 
 elected a member of the Board of Selectmen 
 in October, 1896, and has represented Bozrah 
 in the legislature. His public record is one 
 of fidelity to his constituents and sound judg- 
 ment in the exercise of his legislative duties, 
 which qualities have been recognized and ap- 
 preciated by the general community. Mrs. 
 Way is a member of the Baptist Church of 
 LefHngwell, Conn. 
 
 iEV. EDMUND DARROW was born 
 in Waterford, February 7, 1807, 
 youngest son of Joseph and Hannah 
 (Bishop) Darrow. His grandfather, the Rev. 
 Zadoc Darrow, born in New London, Decem- 
 ber 25, 1728 (O. S.), son of Ebenezer Dar- 
 row, was for half a century pastor of Jordan 
 Baptist Church. Ebenezer Darrow's wife was 
 a Rogers, a direct descendant, it is said, of 
 the Smilhfield martyr. Zadoc Darrow early 
 left the Congregational church, and, uniting 
 with the Niantic church under the Rev. 
 Mr. Howard, was chosen Deacon. He was 
 orS'ained in 1769, and from 1775 to 1827, a 
 period of fifty-two years, was pastor of the 
 First Baptist Church, Waterford. He lived 
 to the venerable age of ninety-nine. His suc- 
 cessor in the pastorate was his grandson, 
 Elder Francis Darrow; and the two pastorates 
 covered ninety years. 
 
 In 1830, at the age of twenty -three, Edmund 
 .Darrow united with the First Baptist Church, 
 Waterford, of which his cousin, Elder Francis 
 Darrow, was pastor. He served as Deacon of 
 the church and as superintendent of the Sun- 
 day-school several years, but in 1845 he 
 united with the Seventh Day Baptist church. 
 He often made allusion to the remarkable co- 
 
 incidence that his birth occurred in the 
 seventh year of the century, on the seventh 
 day of the month, and the seventh day of the 
 week, and that he became a Seventh Day Bap- 
 tist. The following year he was made a 
 Deacon; and in 1853 he was ordained to the 
 ministry, and accepted as a non-salaried posi- 
 tion the pastoral care of the church of which 
 he had charge until his death, thirty-five years 
 later. For some years also he was engaged in 
 teaching. He was a thrifty farmer, employ- 
 ing help, keeping his homestead property, 
 with its large barns and the house that he 
 built about fifty years ago, in good condi- 
 tion. The farm contains about eighty-five 
 acres, a part of which was handed down from 
 his father and grandfather. Mr. Darrow's 
 ability as a man of affairs was recognized by 
 his townsmen, who elected him to various 
 offices, including that of Selectman. In pol- 
 itics he was a Republican, and he served in 
 the State legislature. He passed away at his 
 home in Waterford, October 6, 1888, aged 
 eighty-one years. 
 
 Mr. Darrow was with his people at the last 
 communion before his death, also the follow- 
 ing Sabbath, although very feeble, coming as 
 he said, "to set them to work." He spoke 
 briefly from Dan. ii. 35: "The stone that 
 smote the image became a great mountain, 
 and filled the whole earth." One who knew 
 him well and was a coworker with him has 
 written of him: "Amid all his cares and 
 labors he regarded no sacrifice too great, if 
 thereby he might benefit others. . . . Not 
 anxious for a great name, but modest and un- 
 assuming, he^,was a man of simple habits and 
 Scriptural faith. He was a practical and 
 earnest friend of the temperance cause, having 
 signed the first pledge formed in the town 
 when, a boy. No one stood higher in the esti- 
 mation of the people for Christian character, 
 
= 74 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 as the large audience that gathered at his 
 funeral from many miles around attested. As 
 a friend he was hospitable, social, and true; 
 as a pastor^ genial and hopeful, having kind 
 words for all." 
 
 On March 4, 1831, Mr. Darrow married 
 Grace Rogers, by whom he had three chil- 
 dren: Edmund, who was born in March, 1833; 
 Josephine, who died November 5, 1841, at 
 the age of three years; and Francis Newton 
 Darrow, who was born October 10, 1842, is 
 now a farmer in Waterford, and has one son. 
 Earl W. Darrow, a teacher and preacher of 
 promise. The mother of these children died 
 nineteen years later, April 26, 1850. On 
 March 3, 185 1, Mr. Darrow was united in 
 marriage to his second wife, Elizabeth Potter 
 Darrow, by whom also he had three children, 
 namely: Mary E., wife of Adrian Almy, of 
 Altamont, Ky. ; George P., a prominent mer- 
 chant in Germantown, Pa. ; and Courtland R., 
 a civil engineer in Waterbury, Conn. Mary 
 E. and George P. are graduates of Alfred Uni- 
 versity, Courtland R., of Norwich Academy 
 and of the Massachusetts Institute of Tech- 
 nology, Boston. Their mother died Novem- 
 ber 15, 1872. December 25, 1877, Mr. Dar- 
 row married for his third wife Miss Ellen R. 
 Walden, who survives him. She was born in 
 Waterford, Conn., a daughter of the Rev. 
 Hiram and Rebecca (Bird) Walden. In her 
 girlhood she attended the common school, also 
 studied at home under her father's direction, 
 and later for a time she was a student at 
 Greenwich Academy. At the age of eighteen 
 years she taught her first school, and during 
 the next twenty-five years until marriage was 
 successfully engaged in teaching. Mrs. Dar- 
 row is a widely known and highly respected 
 resident of Waterford. 
 
 Her father, a Methodist minister, one of 
 the old-time circuit riders of the Massachu- 
 
 setts itinerancy, was born in Montville, 
 Conn., and spent his last days there. His 
 marriage to Rebecca Bird took place in 
 Stoughton, Mass., in January, 1827. She 
 was a daughter of Abner Bird, and grand- 
 daughter of a Revolutionary patriot who died 
 while fighting for American independence. 
 The Rev. Hiram and Mrs. Walden had eleven 
 children, of whom three died in infancy, five 
 sons and three daughters attaining maturity. 
 Six are living, namely: Elvira, wife of Travis 
 Douglass, of Waterford; Mary F., wife of 
 George L. Rogers, a Montville farm.er; Ellen 
 R., widow of the Rev. Edmund Darrow; 
 William B. , a merchant in Uncasville, Conn. ; 
 Charles H., superintendent at the New Lon- 
 don almshouse; and John Wesley, a resident 
 of New London. Their brother, Edwin H. 
 Darrow, a physician, died in Washington, 
 Kan., aged forty-nine; and Warren N., a Bap- 
 tist minister, died in New Jersey in 1893, 
 aged forty-nine. 
 
 /T^APTAIN JOSEPH J. FULLER is 
 I jy a well-known mariner, who after 
 
 Vfcl2_^ years of adventure on the sea, hunt- 
 ing the whale and the seal, is living at ease 
 in New London, Conn. He was born in 
 Danvers, Mass., October 13, 1840, son of Jo- 
 seph J. and Mary Ann (Glass) Fuller. The 
 Fuller family is an ancient one in England, 
 and one branch of it is said to have a coat of 
 arms that denotes service in the holy wars, 
 being a dove, three bars, and a crescent. 
 Two brothers, Samuel and Edward Fuller, the 
 former a physician, came to this country in 
 the "Mayflower" in 1620. Others of this 
 name came later, among them Thomas, who 
 arrived in 1638. He married first in 1643 
 Elizabeth Tidd, of Woburn, Mass., by whom 
 he had nine children. A number of years 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 275 
 
 after marriage, about 1665 it is tliought, he 
 removed to Salem, buying land, and establish- 
 ing his home in what is now Middleton, 
 Mass. 
 
 Timothy Fuller, Captain Fuller's grand- 
 father, was born in Hudson, N.H., and reared 
 in Danvers, Mass. He followed the sea in 
 early manhood, and after retiring was engaged 
 in farming in Danvers. He was fairly well- 
 to-do. He died when about sixty-five years 
 of age, and is buried in Middleton, Mass. 
 Timothy Fuller was twice married. His first 
 wife, who was the mother of Captain Fuller's 
 father, was Lucy Field. She bore him four 
 sons and four daughters, and one daughter is 
 now living in California. His second wife 
 was Lucy Putnam, said to have been a niece 
 or grand-niece of Israel Putnam, whose old 
 home is still standing in Danvers. 
 
 Joseph J. Fuller, Sr., father of Captain 
 Fuller, was born in Hudson, N. H., about 
 18 1 2. He followed the sea for eighteen 
 years, and when he retired was first mate. 
 When between thirty and forty years of age 
 he settled on the farm in Danvers which has 
 been in the family considerably over two 
 hundred years, and is now owned by his son, 
 Captain Fuller. There he died in 1878, aged 
 sixty-five years; and he is buried in the old 
 town where so many of his kindred rest. 
 When he was following the sea in his early 
 manhood, he was taken sick at one time, and 
 put ashore on the island of Tristan d'Acunha, 
 in the South Atlantic, then under the juris- 
 diction of Governor Glass, a Scotchman. The 
 young American sailor became acquainted 
 with the Governor's daughter, and won her 
 for his bride, the marriage taking place on 
 the island in 1832. Ten children were born 
 of this union. Six sons and three daughters 
 attained maturity, and all but three — Maria, 
 John, and Benjamin — are living to-day. 
 
 Benjamin Fuller volunteered at the time of 
 the Civil War, though hardly more than a 
 boy. He was wounded and taken prisoner at 
 Bermuda Hundred, and, after a term of suf- 
 fering and neglect in Libby Prison, died and 
 was buried in an unmarked grave. His death 
 occurred in 1863, when he was twenty years 
 old. Mrs. Fuller, the mother, a most estima- 
 ble woman, died an octogenarian in October, 
 1897. 
 
 The boyhood of Captain Joseph J. Fuller 
 was passed on the Danvers farm. His educa- 
 tion was limited to a few months' schooling 
 in the year, and he began to work out at the 
 early age of twelve. In July, 1859, i" his 
 nineteenth year, he shipped before the mast 
 from New London on the schooner "Frank- 
 lin," owned by Williams, Havens & Co., in 
 charge of Captain Church, and after three 
 years of sailing found himself forty-five dol- 
 lars in arrears. The war was at this time 
 fairly inaugurated, and his next berth was on 
 the gunboat "Genesee" from Boston. He 
 shipped as a seaman for thirteen dollars a 
 msnth, and was in the employ of the govern- 
 ment thirty months. From Boston he went 
 to the James River, and he was subsequently 
 engaged in the blockade of Wilmington, 
 N. C, and later on was in Farragut's squadron 
 on the Mississippi until Port Hudson and 
 Vicksburg fell. His vessel was afterward en- 
 gaged in the Mobile blockade. At the end of 
 his term of service he engaged as boat steerer 
 for the old firm, his first employers, on the 
 schooner "Roswell King." His fortunes 
 were linked with this vessel, of which he be- 
 came master in 1870 for some time. 
 
 After taking charge as captain, he made 
 four voyages to the South Indian Ocean in 
 pursuit of "sea elephants," and was quite suc- 
 cessful as a whaler. In 1880 he became cap- 
 tain and part owner of the large, two-masted 
 
276 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 schooner "Pilot's Bride," of which the agents 
 and principal owners were C. A. Williams & 
 Co., of New London. With this vessel he 
 sailed the same waters, and near the Ker- 
 guelen Isles he took twelve hundred barrels of 
 whale oil and seventeen hundred fur seals. 
 The seal skins he shipped from Cape Town, 
 Africa, to London, England; and the oil he' 
 disposed of in New London, Conn. On his 
 next visit to these islands he was cast away 
 (October 2, 1882). He had a crew of twenty- 
 two men, and they saved only their lives and 
 the clothing which they were wearing at the 
 time. They spent eleven months in that out- 
 of-the-way corner of the globe before they 
 were found and taken away by the rescue party 
 sent by the owners of the wrecked vessel. 
 This was the only serious mishap in the Cap- 
 tain's career as a sailor. After that he made 
 three successful voyages from New Bedford to 
 the South Seas. In 1884 he purchased some 
 land, and erected the pretty dwelling at 12 
 Freemont Street, New London, where he has 
 since resided. 
 
 In 1870, when he was first invested with 
 the authority of captain, he chose a mate for 
 life's voyage, marrying Miss Jane M. Adams, 
 daughter of James Adams, of Isleton, London, 
 England. She was born in England in 1855, 
 but was residing in New London when she 
 met the Captain. Four children have been 
 given to Captain Fuller and his wife, namely: 
 Jennie, a talented musician, living with her 
 parents; Joseph A., a young man who has 
 not yet chosen his life work; Gertrude M., 
 sixteen years of age; and Bertram R., twelve 
 years old, both attending school. In political 
 matters the Captain is independent. He is a 
 Master Mason of twenty-six years' standing, 
 and he belongs to the Grand Army of the Re- 
 public. Mrs. Fuller and the children belong 
 to the Episcopal church. 
 
 ON. ROBERT COIT, president of 
 the New London & Northern Rail- 
 road, is a member of an old Con- 
 necticut family which has figured extensively 
 in the records of Yale College, and has been 
 prominent in business and in public affairs. 
 He was born in New London, April 26, 1830, 
 son of Robert, Sr., and Charlotte (Coit) Coit. 
 On the paternal side his ancestry includes, it 
 is said, William Brewster, of the "Mayflower" 
 company, who was Elder of the church at 
 Plymouth, and has sometimes been called 
 "chief of the Pilgrims." Mr. Coit is lineally 
 descended from John Coit, one of the early 
 English inhabitants of Gloucester, Mass., who 
 settled in New London in 1650, and was the 
 first ship-builder in this place. Mr. Colt's 
 grandfather, Joshua Coit, son of Joseph Coit, 
 a substantial citizen, was born in New Lon- 
 don in 1762. He was graduated at Harvard, 
 became a brilliant lawyer of New London, 
 and was serving his third term in Congress, 
 when his life was cut short by yellow fever. 
 He was then but thirty-six years of age. His 
 wife, Ann Borrodell Hallan, of this city, 
 lived to be an octogenarian, and reared seven 
 or eight children. 
 
 Robert Coit, Sr., son of Joshua and Ann 
 Coit, was born in New London in 17S5. He 
 was a successful merchant and financier, presi- 
 dent of the New London Savings Bank, 
 and president also of the Union Bank, the 
 oldest institution of the kind in Connecticut 
 and one of the oldest in the United States. 
 He died in October, 1874, aged eighty-eight 
 years and eleven months, having been active 
 to the last. He was married in 1820 to Char- 
 lotte Coit, a distant relative, who was a de- 
 scendant of Lyon Gardner, of Gardner's 
 Island, otherwise known as the Isle of 
 Wight. This Lyon Gardner bore the title of 
 Lord of the Isle of Wight. Mrs. Charlotte 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 277 
 
 Coit died in 1874, aged seventy-six. Siie 
 was the mother of seven children, who all 
 grew to maturity, and of whom four are liv- 
 ing, namely: Fanny, widow of Dr. A. L. 
 Chapin, late president of Beloit College, 
 Wisconsin; Robert, the subject of this 
 sketch; the Rev. Joshua Coit, of Winchester, 
 Mass., who was graduated at Yale in the 
 class of 1853; and Ellen, widow of the late 
 Rev. Dr. Thomas P. Field, of Amherst, where 
 she resides. 
 
 Robert Coit, the younger, was graduated at 
 Yale in the class of 1850, and was admitted to 
 the bar of New London County in 1853. He 
 distinguished himself in his profession, and 
 was Probate Judge for a number of years and 
 Registrar of Bankruptcy during the continu- 
 ance of that office. Endowed with keen in- 
 telligence, marked executive ability, and con- 
 servative judgment in financial affairs, he has 
 long held the confidence of the public, faith- 
 fully discharging the duties of a number of 
 important offices. In 1867 he was elected 
 treasurer of the New London & Northern 
 Railroad, and since 1881 he has filled the 
 president's chair. He is also president of the 
 Union Bank, having been elected to that 
 office in 1894. An esteemed member of the 
 Republican party, he served with dignity and 
 ability as Mayor of New London from 1879 to 
 1882. He was a member of the Connecticut 
 House of Representatives in 1879, and was in 
 the State Senate the following four years, in 
 1882 and 1883 acting as president /w tem. of 
 that body. 
 
 Mr. Coit was married August i, 1855, to 
 Lucretia, daughter of William F. and Sarah 
 (Prentiss) Brainard, all of this city. Mr. 
 Brainard, who was a Yale graduate, was one 
 of the leading lawyers of Connecticut. He 
 died in middle life. His wife lived to be 
 over fourscore. Two of their children besides 
 
 Mrs. Coit are living — Sarah Prentiss and 
 Mary Gardner Brainard — both unmarried, re- 
 siding in New London. Two children have 
 blessed the union of Mr. and Mrs. Coit: Mary 
 G., who lived but three years; and William 
 Brainard Coit. The son was graduated in the 
 class of 1884 from Yale, and is now City 
 Attorney of New London. He is married. 
 Mr. Robert Coit is a member of the Second 
 Congregational Church. He resides in a 
 handsome three-story brick dwelling, 38 Fed- 
 eral Street, which he erected in 1855, the 
 year of his marriage. 
 
 ^l 
 
 ICTOR O. FREEMAN, superintend- 
 ent of the Totokett Mills, New Lon- 
 don County, Connecticut, was born 
 in Buffalo, N.Y. , on September 12, 1841. 
 His parents, Charles A. and Anna A. (Holt) 
 Freeman, reared four children ; but he is the 
 only one now living. His father was a native 
 of Norfolk, Va. 
 
 Mr. Freeman is a veteran of the Civil War, 
 having served as a Union soldier during two 
 periods of enlistments. In April, 1861, di- 
 rectly after the fall of Fort Sumter, he en- 
 listed from Lawrence, Mass., as a private in 
 Company I, under Captain John Pickering, 
 Sixth Regiment, Massachusetts Volunteer 
 Militia, which was the first to march for the 
 defence of Washington in response to the 
 President's call for troops on the 15th of 
 April. On the morning of the i8th the regi- 
 ment, commanded by Colonel Edward F. 
 Jones, passed through New York City, and on 
 the following day reached Baltimore, where 
 the detachment that brought up the rear, led 
 by Captain Follansbee, were obliged to fight 
 their way through a violent mob. Three sol- 
 diers were killed, including one member of 
 Company I, Sumner H. Needham, of Lawrence. 
 
278 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 Mr. Freeman served three months in the 
 Sixth, and subsequently re-enlisted as a pri- 
 vate in the First Massachusetts Cavalry, Com- 
 pany B. He was later made Sergeant, and 
 was with the regiment in all its engagements, 
 excepting when he was in the hospital. He 
 was first wounded at Aldie, where his com- 
 pany went into active service with fifty-two 
 men and came out with only thirteen. 
 Among the slain was his only brother, John 
 B. Freeman, a brave and dashing young man 
 twenty-one years old, who was killed in a rash 
 attempt to save himself from being taken by 
 the Confederates, choosing death rather than 
 the lingering horrors of a Southern prison. 
 He was buried in Aldie under the regimental 
 monument. At Brandy Station Mr. Victor 
 Freeman received a sabre wound in the thigh; 
 and at Black Water, Va., he received a severe 
 gunshot wound in his right thigh. He was 
 discharged at Readville, Mass., in July, 1865, 
 and shortly after went to work in the Naum- 
 keag Mill at Salem, Mass., beginning at the 
 lowest round of the ladder as a card stripper. 
 He worked subsequently at New Market, 
 N.H. ; Great Falls, N.H. ; at Indian Orchard, 
 Me., where he started Mill No. 7; and at 
 Arkwright, R.I., where he had charge of the 
 carding-room. He came from Arkwright to 
 Occum about twenty -seven years ago as super- 
 intendent of the carding-room, and within a 
 short time of his arrival was placed in charge 
 of the mill, succeeding Lyman Frisbie, who 
 was then travelling for his health, and who 
 subsequently died in California. In politics 
 Mr. Freeman is a Republican. He is a mem- 
 ber of Sedgwick Post, No. i, G. A. R. 
 
 In October, 1866, Mr. Freeman was united 
 in marriage with Mary Hines, of Readville, 
 Mass. Of the ten children that have been 
 born to them, three died in infancy, and seven 
 are living, namely: Lyman VV. ; Charles E. ; 
 
 Albert R.; John B. and his twin sister, 
 Hilda J. ; Mary E., eight years of age; and 
 Annie P., six years of age. These were all 
 born in Occum, Conn. Lyman W., the eld- 
 est, is paymaster and in charge of the cloth 
 department of the mill. The pay-roll em- 
 braces one hundred and fifty-six employees, 
 men, women, and children. Charles E. Free- 
 man has recently had charge of the mechanical 
 department of the mill; and on the retirement 
 of his father, on July i, 1896, he assumed the 
 superintendency. 
 
 1:^' 
 
 ILLIAM H. MANSFIELD, farmer 
 and merchant of Preston, one of the 
 central towns of New London 
 County, was born in Saxonland, Germany, 
 January 29, 1847, son of Andrew and Mary 
 Mansfield. His father died in Germany in 
 1851, when about forty-three years of age, 
 leaving a widow and five children. Mary, the 
 eldest-born, sailed from Bremen in 1853, ar- 
 riving in New York after a voyage of five . 
 weeks. Two years later her sister Louisa fol- 
 lowed her to America; and both settled in 
 Norwich, Conn. They were able to send 
 money home to their mother, who was in 
 humble circumstances; and she joined them in 
 1857, accompanied by her two younger chil- 
 dren: Henry, who was fifteen; and William 
 H., then but ten years of age. Christian, 
 an older son, joined them in Norwich in 1861. 
 Mrs. Mansfield died in 1891, in the seventy- 
 ninth year of her age. But three of the chil- 
 dren are now living, namely: Louisa, who 
 married Henry Hasler, of Ledyard; Henry, a 
 resident of Preston; and William H., the sub- 
 ject of this sketch. 
 
 William H. Mansfield began life in Nor- 
 wich by working out on the neighboring 
 farms, thus earning his clothes and schooling 
 
WILLIAM H. MANSFIELD. 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 and small sums of money besides. When 
 twenty years of age he made a five months' 
 voyage to Hudson's Bay on a whaling 
 schooner, under Captain Budding, of New 
 London. His second voyage was on the 
 schooner "Georgiana" from New London to 
 North Carolina, and thence to the West India 
 Islands and Australia. He followed the sea 
 for five years as sailor and mate, but at the 
 end of that time returned to Preston to enter 
 the Lucas woollen-mill. 
 
 On December lo, 1871, Mr. Mansfield mar- 
 ried Susan Bush, of Poquetannock, a daughter 
 of Peter Bush. With his wife he worked on 
 the Nash farm for about seventeen months, 
 afterward returning to the mill, where they 
 were employed for two years. He subse- 
 quently spent several years in different lines 
 of work, until in 1879 he opened a store in 
 Poquetannock, and two years later was able to 
 purchase his fine property of fourteen acres, 
 for which he paid thirty-eight hundred dol- 
 lars. Here he opened a store, and has since 
 done a small but profitable business. 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Mansfield lost one son when 
 seventeen months old. They have one son 
 living and one daughter: George, a young 
 man of about twenty-one years, who is at 
 present clerk in his father's store; and Phebe, 
 a young lady residing at home. Mr. Mans- 
 field is a member of the I. O. O. F., of the 
 Knights of Pythias, and of the German So- 
 ciety, Sons of Hermann, of which he is an 
 officer. In political ranks he stands as an in- 
 dependent voter. 
 
 lAPTAIN ELIAS F. WILCOX, a 
 prominent citizen of Stonington, 
 Conn., was born within a few rods 
 of his present home, October 6, 1850, son of 
 Elias and Hannah (Dennison) Wilcox. The 
 
 paternal great-grandfather was Hezekiah Wil- 
 cox, who lived at Watch Hill, where his son 
 Jesse was born in 1752. This son, by trade a 
 ship carpenter and builder, made and sailed 
 many different packets, carrying freight and 
 passengers to New York. Soon after the 
 breaking out of the Revolution he moved to 
 Stonington. He and his eldest son, Jesse, 
 while out in a small sail-boat in 1827, were 
 caught in a squall, and drowned. Their 
 bodies were recovered and buried in Stoning- 
 ton. Jesse Wilcox was twice married, By 
 his first wife, to whom he was united just 
 before leaving Watch Hill, and whose maiden 
 name was Nancy Pendleton, he had six chil- 
 dren. He married for his second wife Me- 
 hitable Wilcox, daughter of Ebenezer Wilcox, 
 of Stonington. Mrs. Wilcox was a remark- 
 able woman, of superb constitution and well 
 endowed both physically and mentally. She 
 came of a long-lived family, some of whom 
 reached the age of one hundred years, and re- 
 tained her powers to a remarkable degree until 
 her death, which occurred in 1868, at the age 
 of ninety-nine years, six months, and twenty- 
 three days. She bore her husband seven 
 children — lantha, Ebenezer, Elisha, Mason 
 B. , Elnathan M., Silas, and Elias. 
 
 Elias Wilcox was born April 3, 181 5. He 
 engaged in the fish business, establishing a 
 factory for the manufacture of fish, oil, and 
 fertilizer on the shore of Fisher's Island 
 Sound about 1866, which factory was burned 
 in 1882. In 1843 he married Hannah, a 
 daughter of Henry and Lucy (Smith) Denni- 
 son, of Groton, and one of ten children, all 
 of whom are living at the present time except 
 the eldest, who died in 1894, at the age 
 of eighty. Mr. and Mrs. Elias Wilcox have 
 had ten children, eight of whom grew to ma- 
 turity. The parents celebrated their golden 
 wedding in 1893. 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 Elias F. Wilcox, the direct subject of this 
 sketch, received his education in the district 
 school. At the age of eighteen he began 
 fishing in company with his father and other 
 members of the family, who were engaged in 
 menhaden fishing. This business, of which 
 he is now a half-owner, is run under the 
 company name of "The Wilcox Fertilizer 
 Works." The business of this company has 
 largely increased, and the high reputation of 
 Wilcox fertilizers is widely known throughout 
 New England. 
 
 January 15, 1873, Mr. Wilcox married 
 Sarah J. Davis, daughter of Elias and Julia A. 
 (Wilcox) Davis, of Stonington. They have 
 had two children, both of whom have gone 
 before to the heavenly mansions: Annie L., 
 a bright and interesting little girl, who died 
 at the age of ten years; and Willie F. , who 
 died when he was sixteen, having been an in- 
 valid for several years. Captain Wilcox is a 
 Republican in politics. He is a Master Mason 
 and a member of the A. O. U. W. He built 
 his present home, on the bank of the Sound, 
 in 1874. He and his wife are members of the 
 Baptist church, in which he is a Deacon; and 
 both are highly respected in Stonington and 
 the vicinity. 
 
 ^"C^/Tlliar 
 
 VSV inent 
 
 [LLIAM STORRS LEE, a prom- 
 farmer of Sprague, son of 
 William and Sarah (Storrs) Lee, 
 was born December 15, 1827, at the old 
 homestead near Hanover, where he now lives, 
 and where his grandfather, the Rev. Andrew 
 Lee, D.D., who was born in Lyme, in the 
 southern part of the county, in 1745, and was 
 pastor of the Congregational church at Han- 
 over more than sixty years, settled upward of 
 one hundred and twenty years ago, building 
 the farm-house here in 1770. 
 
 A detailed account of the Lee family, 
 founded by Lieutenant Thomas Lee, who set- 
 tled at Saybrook, Conn., in 1641, and later 
 lived at Lyme, is given in volume three 
 of Family Histories and Genealogies, by 
 E. E. and E. M. Salisbury. Lieutenant 
 Thomas was the only son of Thomas, first, 
 who died on the passage to America, with his 
 wife and three children. "The Lee family," 
 we are told, "of which he was the progenitor, 
 has always held a respectable position, and 
 many times has been prominent under its own 
 name, and in its female lines has carried its 
 traits into many families of distinction." 
 
 From Lieutenant Thomas ^ the line we are 
 now considering descended through his son 
 John 3 by his first wife, Sarah Kirtland; 
 John," son of John^; and Andrew, 5 above 
 named, son of John-" and Abigail (Tully) 
 Lee. The Rev. Dr. Andrew Lee was gradu- 
 ated at Yale College in 1766, and later in life 
 was a fellow of the corporation. He was the 
 author of an octavo volume of sermons and 
 of other writings. As a theologian he was 
 known as "moderately Calvinistic." He is 
 spoken of as a good classical scholar and a 
 very industrious and useful man. He was 
 chaplain of the Fourth Regiment, Colonel 
 John Durkee's, Connecticut line, January i to 
 October 15, 1777. Dr. Lee retired from his 
 pastorate a fevif years before his death, which 
 occurred in 1832. Of his large family of 
 children by his wife, Eunice Hall, William, 
 father of Mr. William S. Lee, was the youngest. 
 
 William Lee was born on the Lee home- 
 stead in 1785, and spent his whole life here, 
 engaged in agricultural pursuits. He was 
 for forty-one years a Deacon of the church of 
 which his father had so long been the pastor. 
 He was an earnest Christian man and active 
 in temperance and anti-slavery reforms. He 
 was three times married, his first wife being 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 283 
 
 Nancy Bingham, whom he married in 18 12. 
 She bore him six children; namely, Eliza, 
 Eunice Hall, Nancy, Andrew, Talitha, and 
 Lucy. Eliza, the eldest, now Mrs. Crary, a 
 widow, resides in Norwich; Eunice Hall is 
 the widow of Levi P Rowland, and lives in 
 Springfield, Mass. ; Nancy, wife of Nathan 
 Bishop, died at about the age of seventy years, 
 leaving a family; Andrew, who was born in 
 1820, died in Northfield, Minn., in May, 
 1 897; "Talitha, now Mrs. Cushman, a widow, 
 lives in California; and Lucy has been twice 
 married, and is now Mrs, Knowlton, of 
 Minnesota. Mrs. Nancy Bingham Lee died 
 January 4, 1825, at thirty-seven years of age; 
 and William Lee subsequently married Sarah 
 Storrs, who became the mother of the subject 
 of this sketch and of his brother, Samuel 
 Henry Lee, president of the French American 
 College at Springfield, Mass., a graduate of 
 Yale in the class of 1858, and an ordained 
 clergyman of the Congregational church. By 
 his third wife, Thankful Ayer, whom Deacon 
 Lee married May 27, 1840, he had no chil- 
 dren. He died March 24, 1871; and she sur- 
 vived him nine years. 
 
 William Storrs Lee obtained a fair educa- 
 tion in the common schools, and at the age of 
 seventeen began to learn the tinsmith's trade 
 at Plainfield, Conn. He worked there for 
 seven years, and subsequently in Springfield, 
 Mass., for seven years. After his marriage 
 he settled on the old Lee estate in Sprague, 
 which comprises some one hundred and sixty 
 acres of valuable land. Here he carries on 
 general farming and gardening. He has a 
 fine peach orchard of several hundred trees. 
 In politics Mr. Lee is a Republican, but his 
 sympathy is with the Prohibitionists. He 
 and his wife are members of the Congrega- 
 tional church. 
 
 Mr. Lee married on April 4, i860, Frances 
 
 Anna Calkins, daughter of Elisha and Abby 
 (Chapman) Calkins, of East Lyme. Mr. and 
 Mrs. Lee have one son, William Storrs Lee, 
 Jr., who is a graduate of Storrs Agricultural 
 College, and is now living at the old home- 
 stead. He ^married on March 28, 1894, 
 Hettie Chapman, of Sprague, daughter of 
 Fuller Chapman. Abbie S. Lee, late a music 
 teacher of New York City, the only daughter 
 of Mr. and Mrs. Lee, died on May i, 1896. 
 She was a graduate of Norwich Free Academy 
 and of the New Britain Normal School. For 
 nine years previous to her death she had been 
 a highly successful and deeply loved teacher 
 in New York at the Workingman's School, 
 under the Society for Ethical Culture, and 
 also in the People's Singing Classes and the 
 People's Choral Union from their inception. 
 Her success in all respects as a teacher at- 
 tracted marked attention among those capable 
 of judging her work. The director of the 
 singing classes said of her, "She was faithful 
 to every task at any cost," and "she had but 
 one idea, to do everything she attempted just 
 as well as she could do it." 
 
 'GRACE O. BURCH, of the firm 
 H. O. Burch & Co., who are general 
 contractors for sidewalks and build- 
 ing movers in New London, was born here, 
 September 20, 185 1, son of Isaac O. and 
 Mary Ann (Moore) Burch. The paternal 
 grandfather, Isaac, who was also a native of 
 this county, married Nancy Pettigrew. They 
 reared seven children, of whom four are liv- 
 ing, namely: Henry, a resident of this city; 
 Nancy Tinker, of East Lyme; and Hannah 
 Noyes and Harriet Watrous, who reside in 
 Waterford. Grandfather Burch died on his 
 farm in i860, and his wife in 1872, at the age 
 of seventy-five years. 
 
284 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 Isaac O. Burch, born in Norwich in 1822, 
 was engaged as building mover in New Lon- 
 don for over forty years, having begun with an 
 ox team in 1846. In 1843 he married Mary 
 Ann Moore. Of their six children they 
 reared: Francis Thomas, a fanner of East 
 Lyme; Mary, the wife of John A. Morgan; 
 Horace O., the subject of this sketch; Annie, 
 who married Albert E. Harris, of this city; 
 and Walter G. Burch, who also resides in 
 New London. The mother died here in 1879, 
 at the age of sixty years, and the father in 
 1889, aged sixty-four years. The mother's 
 ancestors settled in East Lyme at an early 
 day. Her grandfather, Edward Moore, reared 
 ten children, of whom Jairus, an aged resi- 
 dent of Deep River, is still living and active. 
 Her parents, Edward and Mary (Gee) Moore, 
 had six children, of whom George W., Lydia 
 M., and Adeline are now living in New 
 London. 
 
 Horace O. Burch acquired a common-school 
 education. At the age of fifteen years he be- 
 came a clerk in the grocery store of the late 
 William H. H. Comstock, remaining five 
 years. Then, after spending two years in the 
 business for himself, he entered the employ- 
 ment of his father in 1874. In 1884 his 
 father received him into partnership. At his 
 father's death he succeeded to the business 
 and considerable property. The land on 
 which the barns, sheds, and factory are lo- 
 cated comprises four acres on Truman and 
 Grand Streets. Messrs. Burch & Co. make 
 asphaltum for sidewalks and artificial stone 
 and coping. Mr. Burch has greatly improved 
 the stone or ornamental brick, the manufact- 
 ure of which he and his father began. The 
 old farm, twenty acres, at Great Neck, on 
 which is a large dwelling, is also owned by 
 Mr. Burch. 
 
 In politics Mr. Burch is an independent 
 
 voter, and he has served for three years in 
 the Common Council. He is a member of 
 the Ancient Order of United Workmen, the 
 United Order of the Golden Cross, and the 
 American Mechanics' Association. On Oc- 
 tober 2, 1872, he was united in marriage to 
 Nellie E. Melzard, of Boston, Mass. Mrs. 
 Burch's parents, Thomas and Ellen (Peterson) 
 Melzard, have both passed away. She has 
 three brothers and one sister, who are settled 
 in Boston, Mass., and Exeter, N. H. Her 
 children were: Emma E., now the wife of 
 Hervey E. Rogers; Ernest W., an electrician 
 in New York; Daisy E., who graduated from 
 the Williams Memorial High School in 1896, 
 and died in October, 1897; Edward, who is 
 engaged with the Warren Chemical Manufact- 
 uring Company, New York; and Mary Moore 
 Burch, a healthy young miss of thirteen 
 years. Both Mr. and Mrs. Burch are highly 
 respected members of the Methodist Episcopal 
 church. 
 
 TILES CRANDALL, an esteemed 
 resident of Ledyard, living in re- 
 tirement on his farm, which is situ- 
 ated about a mile north of Old Mystic, was 
 born November 25, 18 13, in the town of Gro- 
 ton, Conn., son of Wells and Sally (Wood- 
 bridge) Crandall. Jonathan Crandall, father 
 of Wells, was a Rhode Island farmer, and 
 lived to be about seventy-five years of age. 
 Wells Crandall was born in Rhode Island in 
 1769. While still a young man, after learn- 
 ing the trade of a tanner, he came to Old 
 Mystic, and was there employed at his trade 
 by Paul Woodbridge. He followed the busi- 
 ness throughout his life, but never on a suffi- 
 cient scale to bring in large returns; and at 
 his death he left but a small property. He 
 died at the age of sixty, and his widow, who 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 28s 
 
 was a daughter of Paul Woodbridge, at the 
 age of seventy-five. They lie side by side, in 
 the old Woodbridge burial-place 
 
 Early in life Stiles Crandall, the only son 
 of the four children born to his parents, went 
 to live with, his uncle, James Woodbridge, a 
 well-to-do farmer. He received a good com- 
 mon-school education. When the latter and 
 his wife died. Stiles became heir to the one- 
 hundred - and - fifty-acre farm he now owns, 
 which is half of the fine three-hundred-acre 
 farm left by his uncle. 
 
 Fifty -four years ago, on February 15, 
 1844, Mr. Crandall married Miss Caroline L. 
 Greene, daughter of Stephen and Sarah 
 (Bowles) Greene, who live on a farm on 
 Quaker Hill, Waterford. Mrs. Crandall, 
 now seventy years of age, is the only survivor 
 of the five children born to her parents. Her 
 only sister, Eliza, who was the wife of Will- 
 iam Thompson, of Montville, Conn., died in 
 1894, aged seventy-five years. Her father 
 lived to be eighty-three. Her mother died 
 five years later, aged eighty-eight. They are 
 buried in the Angel Burial-ground in Water- 
 ford. Three children have been born to Mr. 
 and Mrs. Crandall, namely: Augusta Caro- 
 line, who died when eight years old; Ashbel 
 Woodbridge, who lived thirteen months; and 
 S. Ashbel Crandall, an ex-Mayor of Norwich 
 and a successful attorney-at-law. 
 
 Mr. Crandall is a stanch supporter of the 
 principles of the Democratic party, and has 
 faithfully served his town in a number of 
 offices. He has been Assessor for about eigh- 
 teen years. Selectman for five years, and he 
 has served in the lower chamber df the Con- 
 necticut legislature. Both he and Mrs. 
 Crandall are esteemed members of the Baptist 
 church. Fifty-two years of their wedded life 
 have been most happily spent in their present 
 home. 
 
 TT^HRISTOPHER L. AVERY, a resi- 
 l jp dent of Groton, Conn., the son of 
 ^^ ^ Latham and Betsey Wood (Lester) 
 Avery, was born in Groton, June 8, 1826. 
 The Averys of England, we are told, trace 
 their ancestry back to the Saxon kings. The 
 immigrant progenitor of this branch of the 
 family was Christopher Avery from Cornwall, 
 England, one of the colonists who came over 
 with Governor Winthrop in 1630. He settled 
 first in Gloucester, Mass., but removed to Bos- 
 ton in 1658, and a few years later to New 
 London, Conn. James, son of Christopher, 
 born in England, was ten years of age when 
 he came to this country with his father. In 
 1656 he built a house in Poquonnock, Conn., 
 which had been in the family eight genera- 
 tions when it was set on fire by the sparks 
 from a passing locomotive, and burned to the 
 ground. James bad a son James, whose son 
 Benjamin, a farmer of Groton, was the great- 
 grandfather of the subject of this sketch. 
 Daniel, son of Benjamin, married Deborah, 
 the daughter of Colonel Ebenezer Avery, a 
 distant relation, and had six sons and two 
 daughters. Daniel Avery was a soldier of 
 the Revolution, and was killed at Fort Gris- 
 wold in his forty-first year. His wife, Debo- 
 rah, lived to be eighty-four years old. 
 
 Latham, son of Daniel and Deborah, and 
 the father of Christopher L. Avery, was born 
 in Groton in 1775. When quite a young man 
 he went to Demerara, South America, where 
 he engaged in ship-building and merchandis- 
 ing. After living there some twenty years, 
 he came back to his native town, and engaged 
 in farming. For a while he lived on a farm a 
 little north of Groton. Then he sold out, and 
 moved into the village, where he and his wife 
 spent the rest of their lives. This farm is 
 now in the possession of one of his grand- 
 daughters. He married Betsey, the daughter 
 
286 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 of Christopher and Mary (Fish) Lester, of 
 Groton, the ceremony taking place on the 7th 
 of July, 1 8 16, when he was forty and she eigh- 
 teen. Their children were: Latham, who 
 died unmarried at the age of forty; Betsey 
 Ann, who became the wife of Edmund Fish, 
 and died at sixty-nine, leaving three children; 
 Emily, who married Silas H. Fish, and died 
 at seventy-two, leaving two children; Mary 
 Jane, who married A. M. Ramsdell, and died 
 at sixty-three; Christopher, the subject of 
 this sketch; Julia, the widow of Richard J, 
 Sherman, of Buffalo, N.Y. ; and Deborah, 
 who married the late I. P. Bouse, and died 
 in 189s, aged sixty-five years. 
 
 Christopher L. Avery was educated in the 
 district schools and at the academy in New 
 London. At the age of fifteen he went to 
 New York, where he worked as a book-keeper 
 in a counting-house on South Street about 
 four years. He then went to China, where 
 he stayed a year. Returning to America, he 
 went to Buffalo, N.Y., and engaged in the 
 grain business until 1861, when he brought 
 his family to Groton, Conn., and engaged in 
 merchandising in New York City. He re- 
 mained in this business until 1873; and in 
 1876 he settled on his farm in Groton, where 
 he has since lived. 
 
 Mr. Avery is progressive in his ideas and 
 methods, and his well-kept homestead prop- 
 erty shows the signs of good management. 
 The spacious house, which is a model of com- 
 fort and convenience, is situated on rising 
 ground, commanding a delightful and ex- 
 tended view of hills and vales, with a part of 
 the Sound and the Pequonnock River. In 
 politics Mr. Avery is a Democrat, although 
 independent enough to vote the Republican 
 ticket when he considers that candidate to 
 be the better man. 
 
 He was married in Brooklyn, N.Y., in 
 
 1850, to Sarah W. Smith, who bore four 
 children, namely: Latham, a farmer; Mary 
 Louise, the wife of P. L. Schellens, a mer- 
 chant in Rio Janeiro; Ira Smith, who died at 
 nineteen; and Betsey, the wife of Belton A. 
 Copp, a bank cashier. Mrs. Sarah W. Avery 
 died in 1869; and Mr. Avery married on No- 
 vember I, 1870, Ellen B. Copp, a daughter of 
 Belton A. and Betsey Ann (Barber) Copp, of 
 Groton, and the grand-daughter of Daniel and 
 Sarah (Allyn) Copp, both descendants of old 
 families. Her father's family is descended 
 from the early Copps, of Boston, for whom 
 Copp's Hill was named. Mr. and Mrs. Avery 
 have two children: Christopher, a law student 
 at Yale; and Mary Jane, a graduate of the 
 Williams Memorial School, living at home. 
 
 T^APTAIN DUDLEY A. BRAND, of 
 I jp New London, an experienced navi- 
 
 V,«__-' gator, especially skilled in yacht- 
 ing, was born in Westerly, R. I., January 12, 
 1853, son of Captain Dudley and Catherine 
 (Champlin-Burdick) Brand. His paternal 
 grandfather married a Miss Green, who died 
 when their only son, Dudley, born in Westerly 
 in 1808, was a child. The boy was brought 
 up by his maternal grandfather, and became a 
 successful ship-master in the carrying trade 
 between the West Indies and the Strait of 
 Belle Isle. He commanded the brig "Buffalo," 
 and was lost off Squirrel Island while attempt- 
 ing to put ashore in a small boat. 
 
 Captain Dudley Brand married first, in 
 1836, Evelyn Bailey. She was drowned off 
 the coast of Long Island from the " Catherine 
 F. Hale" in 1847, her husband, the Captain, 
 the mate, and one sailor being saved. He 
 married second, March 30, 1851, Catherine, 
 daughter of John A. Champlin, and the 
 widow of William Burdick, who was drowned 
 
DUlJl-EN- A. l;l<AM). 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 289 
 
 in the prime of life, leaving but one son. 
 Mr. Charaplin's wife, the mother of Catherine, 
 was a Greene. Captain Dudley and Mrs. 
 Catherine Brand had three sons and one 
 daughter, namely: Dudley A., the yacht com- 
 mander, a further account of whom is given 
 below; John H., who is in Montana; Lym.an, 
 a marine engineer in Boston ; and Hattie, who 
 died at the age of eighteen. The father's 
 death occurred at the age of eighty-four years. 
 He had been captain and part owner of differ- 
 ent vessels. 
 
 At the age of twelve years Dudley A. Brand 
 was brought to New London, where he re- 
 ceived a common-school education; and at 
 eighteen he went to sea, shipping as a sailor 
 before the mast on the coasting schooner 
 "Daniel T. Willets," under Captain Stapelin. 
 In 1872 he made his last voyage as a seaman, 
 and in his twenty-second year sailed as mate 
 of the "H. R. King," Captain Bliven. Since 
 that time he has commanded many different 
 vessels. In 1882 he took charge of the yacht 
 "Alice," owned by Mr. Thomas G. Appleton; 
 brother-in-law of the poet Longfellow. He 
 sailed this craft for four years, leaving her to 
 take command of the steam yacht "Wanda," 
 owned by Woodward & Stillman, of New York 
 City. This position was held by Captain 
 Brand for ten years. In 1894-95 the Captain 
 took an extended trip in charge of the "Mar- 
 garita," owned by A. J. Drexel, of Philadel- 
 phia, sailing from New London on September 
 22, reaching Southampton, England, in eleven 
 days and five hours. During the year they 
 touched at Gibraltar, Tangiers, Barcelona, 
 Marseilles, Algiers, Toulon, Nice, Mentone, 
 Ajaccio, Cividivitch, then went inland to 
 Rome, thence to Naples, through the Strait 
 of Messina to Brindisi, thence to Corfu, 
 through the Gulf of Corinth and Corinth 
 Canal to Athens, from there to Alexandria, 
 
 and inland to Cairo, from Port Said to Joppa, 
 Jerusalem, and Beirut. Returning from 
 Beirut, they went through the Adriatic Sea to 
 Venice, thence to Genoa and Marseilles, 
 thence to Leith, Scotland ; from there they 
 went to the opening of Kiel Canal, and then 
 they sailed to Copenhagen, to Stockholm, and 
 St. Petersburg. They returned via Kiel 
 Canal to Southampton, England, and, taking 
 in coal and stores at the Isle of Wight, made a 
 safe voyage back to Philadelphia. The boat 
 has been renamed the "Narada" since it be- 
 came the property of Mr. Harry Walters, of 
 Baltimore; and Captain Brand will again take 
 her to Europe, starting about January i, 1898, 
 going also to China and Japan. 
 
 He was married on January 15, 1877, to 
 Lottie E. Brown, of this county, daughter of 
 Lyman and Mary Ann (Jones) Brown. Her 
 father was one of the first Deacons of the 
 First Baptist Church in Brooklyn, N.Y. The 
 eldest-born of Captain and Mrs. Brand is 
 Mary Catherine, eighteen years of age, now 
 studying in the Williams Memorial, belonging 
 to the class of 1898. Their second child was 
 a boy, and died in infancy. The youngest is 
 Harold Brand, now about eleven years old. 
 Captain Brand is the owner of a handsome 
 house on Ocean Avenue, which he purchased 
 in 1876. As a Mason he is a member of 
 Brainard Lodge, No. 102, F. & A. M. ; Union 
 Chapter, R. A. M. ; Gushing Council, 
 R. S. M. ; and Palestine Commandery, K. T. 
 In politics he is Republican. 
 
 -rj^OGER BURNUM CHAMPION, a 
 I I^Y merchant of Old Lyme, was born 
 -1-P \ ^_ , ^ here. May 30, 1866, son of Calvin 
 and Ann R. (Slate) Champion. The grand- 
 father, Frederick Champion, who was a farmer 
 and spent the greater part of his life here, was 
 
2go 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 twice married. The maiden name of his sec- 
 ond wife was Mahala Tinker. 
 
 Calvin B. Champion, son of Frederick, born 
 in this town about 1823, was a farmer. In 
 1845 he married Ann R. Slate, a daughter of 
 Lothrop Slate, of this town. Of their fifteen 
 children, two died in infancy. The others 
 were: Calvin B., Mary, Annie M., Edith M., 
 Philena A., Wallace R., Christena, Imogene, 
 Ida J., Roger B., Ansil A., Edward T., and 
 Virgil VV. Calvin B. died at the age of 
 twenty-three years; Mary, who was the wife 
 of J. C. Lamb, died aged twenty-nine, leaving 
 two sons; Annie M., who married Henry H. 
 Lay, died aged twenty-four years; Edith M. 
 Champion died aged sixteen years; Philena 
 A. is the wife of G. VV. DeWoIf, of this vil- 
 lage; Wallace R. is a merchant in Black 
 Hall; Imogene is the wife of J. S. Hopper, 
 of Ivoryton, Conn. ; Ida J. is the wife of 
 H. M. Caulkins: and Ansil A., Edward T., 
 and Virgil W. reside in this town. The 
 father died in 1876. The mother still re- 
 sides here with her two youngest sons. 
 
 Roger B. Champion received his education 
 in the schools of the town and at the academy. 
 At the age of fourteen years he was employed 
 as clerk by the firm of Morley & Champion, 
 of which his brother, Wallace R., was a mem- 
 ber. This position he left in 1889 to engage 
 in the meat business, which he followed for 
 several years. In 1891 he became a member 
 of the firm of Champion & Caulkins, buying 
 out his brother's interest. Since January, 
 1896, he has carried on the business alone. 
 In the Masonic order he holds the rank of 
 Master. While a Republican in politics, he 
 has never held public office. On May 12, 
 1891, he married Annie M. Daniels, of East 
 Lyme, daughter of Washington Daniels. 
 They have two sons: Roger W., aged four 
 years; and Harry V., aged two years. Mr. 
 
 Champion's success in business is entirely 
 due to his own industry and enterprise. 
 
 (5>rSAHEL TANNER, an esteemed resi- 
 f^ dent of Preston, was born in Volun- 
 ^'^ V.^. town. May 19, 1823, son of Asahel 
 and Susan M. (Tanner) Tanner. The grand- 
 father, Isaac B. Tanner, a cousin of the cele- 
 brated Wendell Phillips, was a native of 
 South Kingston, R.I. He settled in Volun- 
 town early in life, and there reared a large 
 family. One of his great-grandchildren, John 
 R. Tanner, is the present Governor of the 
 State of Illinois. Isaac B. Tanner long sur- 
 vived his wife. He went to Illinois in 1838 
 to reside with a married daughter, and died 
 thereabout the year 1840. His son Asahel 
 married Susan M. Tanner in 1820, and by her 
 became the father of the present Asahel 
 Tanner and of Cynthia C. Tanner. The latter 
 married Latham H. Babcock, of Providence, 
 R.I., and died in Galveston, Tex., at the age 
 of seventy-one, leaving a son and a daughter. 
 The father was in the prime of life when he 
 died, in 1836. After his death his widow, 
 who was left without means, came to Nor- 
 wich, where after many years spent as a faith- 
 ful and efficient nurse she died in 1861. 
 
 Asahel Tanner, the subject of this biog- 
 raphy, was able to attend school only until 
 the tenth year of his age. He lived upon his 
 grandfather's farm until twelve years old, 
 when he obtained employment in the rope 
 factory at Norwich during the winter, spend- 
 ing the summer months at work upon neigh- 
 boring farms. At the age of eighteen he 
 began to learn the tailor's trade. When 
 twenty-one years of age his services were en- 
 gaged by Mr. R. B. Moray. Three years 
 later he was persuaded to join Mr. Morey in 
 partnership, and invested his savings, amount- 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 291 
 
 ing to three hundred and fifty dollars, in the 
 business. In a short time, having realized 
 twenty thousand dollars, he was able to buy 
 Mr. Morey's interest. After conducting the 
 business alone for about three years, he re- 
 tired. For the past forty years he has made 
 a specialty of breeding fancy fowl, and for 
 nearly half a century he has been the chair- 
 man of the examining judges of the county. 
 
 On October 12, 1848, Mr. Tanner married 
 Sarah M. Ward, of Lebanon. By her he has 
 one child, Minnie M. Tanner, who is a gifted 
 musician and a highly successful teacher of 
 music. A strong advocate of temperance re- 
 form for a long time, he has been a member 
 and Chief of the Council of the Temple of 
 Honor. He was Captain of the Norwich 
 Artillery Company of the Third Regiment 
 for seven years, during which time he pro- 
 vided the company with uniforms at his own 
 expense. While his political principles are 
 Democratic, he votes independently. He rep- 
 resented his district in the House in 1862. 
 He has been the First Selectman for many 
 years, and he has served on the Board of Re- 
 lief. He is a regular attendant of the Baptist 
 church. Since coming to Preston in 1856, he 
 has dealt largely in real estate. He bought a 
 large lot of land, which is now covered with 
 dwelling-houses. At the present time he is 
 the owner of five houses and two stores, in- 
 cluding the fine brick house on Main Street, 
 built by him thirty years ago, and in which 
 he now resides. 
 
 (JOSHUA E. BROCKWAY, a prosper- 
 ous farmer of Old Lyme, living near 
 the village of Lyme, was born in East 
 Lyme, Conn., February 18, 1840, son of Ezra 
 C. and Lucy A. (Howard) Brockway. His 
 great-grandfather was Elias Brockway, a 
 farmer of this country and a man universally 
 
 esteemed. Christopher, son of Elias, was 
 mate of a vessel, and was lost at sea in 1832, 
 when in the prime of life. He left a wife, 
 whose maiden name was Christiana Chapel, 
 and who reared and educated their family of 
 four sons and five daughters on her small farm. 
 Of this family, one daughter, "Aunt" Caro- 
 line Beckwith, and two sons, Christopher 
 Brockway, a resident of Denver, and Ezra C, 
 father of the subject of this sketch, are living. 
 Ezra C. Brockway was born in this town, then 
 known as Lyme, on March 6, 1814. He mar- 
 ried Lucy A., daughter of Joshua Howard. 
 She died October 3, i88g. Her four children 
 were: Joshua E., Joseph B. , Christiana C, 
 and Lucy J. Christiana C. married Irving 
 Watrous, and died May 14, 1874, leaving an 
 infant son, Walter, now a resident of East 
 Lyme. Lucy J. Brockway, who was born 
 August 27, 1854, and became a successful 
 teacher, died November 19, 1875. 
 
 Joshua E. Brockway was reared on his 
 father's farm, and received but a limited 
 schooling. In the spring of 1861 he shipped 
 as a sailor on a vessel engaged in the halibut- 
 fishing industry; and he continued to follow 
 the sea for some nine years. On his mar- 
 riage, in 1872, he made a wedding journey to 
 Ohio, where he rented a farm for two years. 
 At the end of that time he bought fifty acres, 
 which he cultivated until 1892, when he re- 
 turned to Lyme, to take charge of the farm 
 owned by Mrs. Brockway's father. Here he 
 carries on general farming, and keeps a dairy 
 of four good cows, besides a yoke of oxen. 
 He still retains the ownership of the Ohio 
 farm. Mr. Brockway is a Democrat politi- 
 cally, and has always voted the straight party 
 ticket. He stands firm for "honest money," 
 and in 1896 he voted the gold ticket. He has 
 been Selectman of Lyme, and has served on 
 the Board of Relief. As a citizen his prob- 
 
292 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 ity is unquestioned, and his word is as good 
 as his hond. 
 
 On the loth of March, 1872, Mr. Brockway 
 married Sarah H. Huntley, of this town, by 
 whom he had one daughter, who died in in- 
 fancy. Mrs. Brockway is a devoted member 
 of the Congregational church and an active 
 worker in its varied charitable and benevolent 
 interests. Her parents were Sylvanus H. 
 and Lydia L. (Caulkins) Huntley, both of 
 whom have passed away. Mr. Huntley was 
 shot when only thirty-two years of age, while 
 in the discharge of his duty as constable; and 
 his death made orphans of four children. 
 Mrs. Huntley died in 1883, at the age of 
 seventy-four. The living children of this 
 family are: Louisa C. I-funtley, living in this 
 town; David C, a well-known farmer of 
 Lyme; and Mrs. Brockway. Mary E. Hunt- 
 ley, now deceased, was for some years a most 
 successful teacher. She lived a life of great 
 usefulness and helpful service to others, being 
 active in church and Sunday-school work, and 
 helpfully interested in every reform movement. 
 
 EORGE BREST, of New London, one 
 -5 1 of the largest masonry contractors 
 and builders in the State, was born 
 in Bolton, Lancashire, England, March 2, 
 1830, son of George V. and Mary (Wignall) 
 Brest. The paternal grandfather, also named 
 George, was engaged in lead mining in early 
 life, and subsequently became a stone-mason. 
 His wife bore him two sons and a daughter. 
 The sons, George and Edward, came to Amer- 
 ica with their families in 1843, the voyage 
 occupying thirty-one days. Both were stone- 
 masons, and after their arrival in this coun- 
 try they carried on a successful contracting 
 and building business. In England, in 1820, 
 George, who was also a native of Bolton, born 
 
 in 1787, married Mary Wignall, another na- 
 tive of Lancashire. Her parents had twenty- 
 one children, of whom two were born twins, 
 two were married on the same day, and two 
 were buried on the same day. In her child- 
 hood the mother of this numerous family 
 planted an apple-seed. That, later in her 
 life, yielded her the material for a wooden 
 leg, when a white swelling on her knee made 
 necessary the amputation of the limb. George 
 and Mary Brest had five sons and two daugh- 
 ters, of whom the only other survivor is Jacob, 
 who resides in Bellaire, Ohio. Edward, the 
 eldest son, was for many years a leading con- 
 tractor and builder in this city, and acquired 
 considerable property. Among the buildings 
 erected by him are the Episcopal church and 
 the city hall. He was twice married, but had 
 no children. The mother died in England 
 about 1837. The father, who afterward re- 
 mained unmarried, died in this country in 
 1851, aged sixty-four years. 
 
 The present George Brest learned the 
 mason's trade with his brother Edward, and 
 remained with him until 1864, acting as fore- 
 man for a number of years prior to that. He 
 subsequently succeeded Edward in the busi- 
 ness, and many stately structures have since 
 risen under his careful superintendence. 
 Among them may be mentioned the elegant 
 home of Henry A. Mott at Neptune's Nook; 
 the Hooper Manufacturing Company's mills 
 at Aucum, erected in 1865, on which sixty- 
 five men were employed; the stone paper-mill 
 in Montville for Bingham New, built in 
 1866; the Bequot Dam, an arched structure, 
 thirty-two feet high, forty feet wide at the 
 base, and having steps to the top; the Rock- 
 land paper-mill, a solid stone building com- 
 pleted about 1868; the Second Congrega- 
 tional Church edifice of New London and the 
 Buckeye School-house, both of stone, put up 
 
i'i:i'KK s ri:KKi:.\si;\, 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 29s 
 
 in 1871 ; the stone summer residence of 
 Zebulon Ely, of New York City, in 1872; 
 four large stone mills for Palmer Brothers, two 
 at Fitchville and two at Montville; a stone 
 paper-mill for C. M. Roberts & Son at Mont- 
 ville; and the Union Railway Station in Nor- 
 wich, in 1892. He has also been largely em- 
 ployed on other masonry work, including the 
 reservoir dam at Lake Konomack for the New 
 London water supply, the foundations of the 
 Harris Block and the Brainard & Armstrong 
 silk-mill; and he has just completed the 
 foundations for the new electric power house 
 and the addition to the old savings-bank in 
 this city. For the past twenty-four years he 
 has done the bridge and culvert work for the 
 New London & Northern Railroad, and he was 
 the superintendent of the large stone dock at 
 East New London for two years. 
 
 Mr. Prest was first married in 1853 to 
 Miss Lydia Morris, of New London. A son 
 and daughter were born to them, namely : 
 Mary, who died at the age of nineteen years; 
 and George B. Prest, who is living at home, 
 and is a very promising young business man. 
 The latter began as a messenger boy in the 
 Bank of Commerce, where he now holds the 
 responsible position of cashier. He is the 
 administrator of the estate of his uncle Ed- 
 ward (being appointed without bonds), the 
 treasurer of the Board of Trade, and a com- 
 missioner of the town deposit fund. Mrs. 
 Prest died in October, 1872; and Mr. Prest, 
 Sr., afterward married Miss Martha Maria 
 Tiffany, who was born in Salem, New Lon- 
 don County, and is a daughter of William 
 Tiffany. She was a district-school teacher 
 for a time, and then carried on dressmaking 
 in New "London. There are no children by 
 this marriage. The family resides at 18 
 Blackball Street, where Mr. Prest erected his 
 fine residence in 1889, after plans made by 
 
 himself. He has one hundred and eighty feet 
 frontage on Belden Street and one hundred and 
 twenty on Blackball Street, making an excep- 
 tionally desirable estate. Politically, he is 
 a loyal Republican, and has served on the 
 Common Council. Mrs. Prest is an influen- 
 tial member of the Second Congregational 
 Church. 
 
 ^>ETER STEFFENSEN, of Norwich, 
 residing just outside the city, on 
 - Laurel Hill, was born in Denmark, 
 
 near Copenhagen, on May 31, 1857. He at- 
 tended pay schools until he was foiirteen years 
 of age. Then he was confirmed in the Lu- 
 theran church, and apprenticed for four years 
 to the trade of ship-carpenter. During his 
 apprenticeship he also took lessons in draw- 
 ing and architecture. At eighteen he shipped 
 from Copenhagen as ship's carpenter, at sixty 
 crowns per month. His first voyage was to 
 Brussels and Riga and back. In 1875 he sailed 
 for Antwerp; and in 1876 he shipped as carpen- 
 ter on board the Nova Scotia bark, "Josephine 
 Benjamin," bound for Philadelphia, Pa. 
 
 Upon reaching Philadelphia, which was his 
 first stopping-place in America, Mr. Steffen- 
 sen remained there for about a month. At 
 the end of that time he sailed in an American 
 three-masted schooner for Belfast, Ireland. 
 Arrived in Belfast after a quick passage, he 
 joined the crew of a Norwegian bark bound 
 for Pensacola, Fla. From there he went to 
 England, thence on a Scotch bark to Que- 
 bec, Canada, and to Swansea in Wales. He 
 was next ashore at Gloucester, Mass. From 
 there he went in the Nova Scotia barkentine 
 "Economy," which was said to be the largest 
 craft of her kind afloat, to New York City. 
 Thence he visited successively St. John, 
 N.B., Dublin, Philadelphia, and Belfast, and 
 
296 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 returned to St. John. Sailing next in an 
 American barkentine, he went to Barcelona, 
 Spain. On the return voyage the vessel was 
 wrecked on the Bermuda Islands, and was sub- 
 sequently condemned, the crew coming to 
 New York by steamer. After spending a 
 month in New York, he went by rail to Phila- 
 delphia, from which port he sailed to Ant- 
 werp, and thence to Yokahama, Japan, being 
 one hundred and sixty-seven days on the voy- 
 age. After visiting other ports in Japan, he 
 sailed for Sydney, Australia. In a subse- 
 quent voyage from Hiago, Japan, to New 
 York, by way of Cape Horn, the boat was out 
 one hundred and seventy days, and won a new 
 hat for the captain by getting into port ahead 
 of another vessel. Mr. Steffensen next sailed 
 for Cardiff, England. On this voyage the 
 ship fell in with an abandoned vessel, which 
 Mr. Steffensen and three others of the crew, 
 including the first mate, undertook to take to 
 England. The craft was soon found to be in 
 a sinking condition, and the four men would 
 have gone down with it had they not been res- 
 cued just in time. They got ashore at South- 
 ampton. From there they were sent by the 
 English Shipwreck Society to London, and 
 thence to Cardiff, where they saw their own 
 vessel coming into port. 
 
 Having been absent from home for seven 
 years, Mr. Steffensen now returned to Copen- 
 hagen for a two months' visit. He next took 
 steamer for Antwerp, and thence shipped in a 
 Dutch bark for Alexandria, Egypt. On this 
 voyage he visited Smyrna, Salonica, Gibral- 
 tar, and France. Returning to Antwerp, he 
 shipped on a full-rigged German ship, bound 
 for Philadelphia. In 1884 he entered the 
 United States Coast Survey as ship-carpenter, 
 and remained in the service for six years, em- 
 ployed on cruisers engaged in surveying the At- 
 lantic coast from Maine to the Gulf of Mexico. 
 
 From the foregoing account it will be seen 
 that Mr. Steffensen has visited every conti- 
 nent, and most of the great ports of the world. 
 He has acquired in this world-wide travel a 
 surprising fund of information, and can spin 
 sailor's yarns with the best purveyors of the 
 article. He left the sea when he resigned 
 from the United States service in 1887, and 
 came to Norwich, where he settled his family 
 in Greenville. Here he purchased a few 
 acres of land, which he has since planted with 
 fruit-trees and shrubbery, and upon which he 
 erected his pleasant dwelling-house. For the 
 last four years he has been the repair man for 
 the Uncas Paper Mills. He is a member of 
 the American Order of United Workmen and 
 a Master Mason. In politics he is a Re- 
 publican. 
 
 Mr. Steffensen was united in marriage with 
 Alida Anderson, on November 29, 1885, the 
 twenty-fifth birthday of the bride. Mrs. Stef- 
 fensen was born in Gottenburg, Sweden, 
 daughter of Andres Anderson. She was only 
 sixteen years old when she arrived in Ston- 
 ington, Conn., where Mr. Steffensen first be- 
 came acquainted with her. Mr. and Mrs. 
 Steffensen have a very interesting family of 
 children, and are desirous of giving them 
 every educational advantage, including a train- 
 ing in music, for which the children have 
 a marked talent. The eldest child, Albert 
 Palmer, was born August 6, 1887. The next 
 is Abby Palmer, born December 11, 1889; 
 and the youngest is Raymond, a bright little 
 man of five years, born July 17, 1892. 
 
 THOMAS MURRAY, one of the ablest 
 farmers in the county, was born in 
 Ayrshire, Scotland, March 29, 1835, 
 son of Gilbert and Janet Murray. The grand- 
 father, Gilbert Murray, a Scotch farmer, lived 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 297 
 
 and died on his native heath. He had three 
 sons and two daughters. His son Gilbert, 
 Jr., who was born December 7, 1805, married 
 in 1826, and had thirteen children. Two of 
 their sons came to this country. The father 
 and mother followed them two years later, ac- 
 companied by ten children. In the next year 
 the remaining son followed with his bride. 
 William died in Illinois in 1880, at the age 
 of forty-three, leaving a widow and four chil- 
 dren. Nellie, who was the wife of Edwin 
 Niles, died in 1887, at the age of thirty-nine 
 years, leaving two children. The parents 
 bought a farm of two hundred acres in Salem, 
 where they lived until the death of the father, 
 in 1886. The mother, after surviving her 
 husband five years, died in Norwich in 1891. 
 In religion they were Congregationalists. 
 The father was a well-informed man, was 
 First Selectman for a time, and was in the 
 legislature. 
 
 Thomas Murray received a part of his edu- 
 cation in Scotland. In 1861 he enlisted in 
 the Fiftieth New York Volunteer Engineers 
 for three years. Upon receiving his honor- 
 able discharge after the expiration of that 
 term, he re-enlisted in the same corps. Dur- 
 ing the entire war he was off duty but two 
 days. He was in the Pontoon Brigade, and 
 worked on forts in front of Petersburg and at 
 other places. Though blessed with good 
 health, his experience in the field impaired 
 his physical condition, and in consideration of 
 this he draws a small pension. On March i, 
 1 88 1, he married Mrs. Clarissa A. Sisson, the 
 widow of Ebenezer F. Sisson and a daughter 
 of Joseph D. and Clarissa (Watrous) Will- 
 iams, all of Colchester. Her grandfather, 
 Daniel Williams, married Asenath Day. Her 
 father, one of eleven children, was born April 
 12, 1799. He married Miss Watrous, who 
 died in 1891, at the age of eighty-one. Mrs. 
 
 Murray comes of a long-lived race. Nearly 
 all her ancestors and their children were octo- 
 genarians. Her parents had five children, 
 one of whom died in early youth. She was a 
 student at Bacon Academy, and taught her 
 first school at the age of fifteen years. At the 
 age of twenty-two she married E. T. Sisson, 
 who died February 7, 1879, aged fifty-six 
 years. Her children by Mr. Sisson were: a 
 son, who died in infancy; Katie, who died at 
 the age of four years; and Millie W., who is 
 the wife of the Rev. Charles A. Purdy, a pas- 
 tor in the Methodist church, and has a daugh- 
 ter, Clara E. Purdy. Gilbert Joseph Murray, 
 the only child of Mr. and Mrs. Murray, was 
 born February 17, 1884. 
 
 Mr. Murray owns a fine farm of one hun- 
 dred and seventy acres, which is kept in the 
 most perfect condition, and shows Mr. Murray 
 to be a thorough farmer. Besides carrying on 
 general farming, he is engaged the year round 
 in making butter, which is of the 'finest qual- 
 ity, and brings the highest market price. 
 His fine estate shows him to be a typical 
 Scotchman, frugal and industrious. He is an 
 adherent of the Republican party, and he puts 
 more faith in deeds than creeds. Mrs. Mur- 
 ray is a member of the Congregational church. 
 
 ^-pVTVASON CRARY HILL, a dealer in 
 1=1^ paints, oils, and similar materials, 
 j4 "^iJ-r \^^ and a jobber in general mer- 
 chandise, was born in the north-western part 
 of Stonington, Conn., January 27, 1817. His 
 foster-father, John Bennett, by whom he was 
 reared, was a farmer in this town. Mr. Ben- 
 nett was also a house and ship carpenter, hav- 
 ing been employed many years by the Leeds, 
 who were early ship-builders in Old Mystic. 
 Mr. Hill was the only son of his mother, 
 Mary Hill, who was born on Block Island 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 in 1798, daughter of Robinson and Lydia 
 (Briggs) Hill and a descendant of the Hills of 
 Massachusetts. The mother was living in her 
 island home during the War of 1812, and 
 afterward well remembered the stirring events 
 of that time. Although Mr. Hill began life 
 in humble circumstances, sadly handicapped 
 in many ways, he has bravely surmounted all 
 obstacles, and won an assured position among 
 the respected and valued citizens of his native 
 town. He had a step-father, a Mr. Mitchell, 
 whom he never knew, his early home having 
 been with Mr. Bennett; but it was his privi- 
 lege and pleasure to tenderly care for his 
 mother in her last years. 
 
 Mason C. Hill began working for his living 
 when a very young boy. At the age of four- 
 teen he used to go on fishing-smacks as cook. 
 On one of his first voyages he came very near 
 being killed by having his head crushed be- 
 tween two vessels, his rescue from death being 
 almost a miracle. At the age of seventeen he 
 left his foster-parents to serve an apprentice- 
 ship of three years at the carpenter's trade 
 with Joseph Frink, on the conditions that he 
 would receive one month's schooling yearly 
 and one hundred dollars and a set of tools 
 when his time would expire. He was not al- 
 lowed to attend school ; and, instead of receiv- 
 ing the tools and money referred to, he bought 
 the last three months of his time from Mr. 
 Frink for sixty dollars. He worked at his 
 trade in West Hoboken, going there after the 
 great fire, previous to 1840. Then he secured 
 a position as carpenter in Groton, his wages 
 being fixed at one dollar per day and board; 
 but, when his employer cut his pay to seventy- 
 five cents a day, he left him. Coming then 
 to Mystic, he worked for a time at boat-build- 
 ing for eighty-four cents a day. He after- 
 ward shipped for New Orleans. Upon his re- 
 turn from that voyage he was offered one 
 
 dollar a day as a ship-carpenter, in the yards 
 of Irons & Grinnell, his pay to continue, rain 
 or shine. He continued working as a ship 
 and house carpenter for some time, carrying 
 on business for eight years for Charles 
 Mallory in Mystic. In 1858 he went to 
 Jersey City, N.J., to superintend the con- 
 struction of a dry dock, remaining there till 
 the fall of i860. In this year he formed a 
 partnership with Amos Grinnell, and for the 
 ensuing fifteen years was engaged in ship- 
 building under the firm name of Hill & Grin- 
 nell, constructing in that time many steam- 
 ships. 
 
 During the war Mr. Hill was employed by 
 the government in Connecticut and New 
 York to superintend the building of war 
 vessels; and for nineteen months in Cincinnati 
 he superintended the construction of ironclad 
 monitors at a salary of four thousand dollars. 
 These ironclads, the "Catawba" and the 
 "Oneoto," built in 1863 and 1864, which 
 were never in action, were subsequently sold 
 to the Peruvian government. Afterward he 
 lost about five thousand dollars by the burning 
 of his ship-yard. In 1891 he embarked in his 
 present mercantile business, in which he is 
 meeting with good success. 
 
 Mr. Hill was married in 1842 to Mary Ann 
 Williams, a woman of rare loveliness of char- 
 acter and personality. She was accidentally 
 drowned July 4, 1853, leaving an adopted 
 daughter. The latter is Phebe, the widow of 
 John Forsyth, who died during the war, leav- 
 ing two little ones. In 1855 Mr. Hill mar- 
 ried Margaret Wheeler, of Stonington, a 
 daughter of Stephen A. Wheeler. Of the 
 eight children born of this union, two are now 
 living — John E. and Herbert Crary. John 
 E. Hill, after graduating from Yale Univer- 
 sity, took a post-graduate course at Clark Uni- 
 versity, and is now serving his second year as 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 299 
 
 professor of mathematics, his favorite science, 
 in Columbia College. He is married, and 
 has one daughter, Herbert Crary, also a 
 graduate of Yale, is a civil engineer by pro- 
 fession. One of Mr. Hill's daughters, Mary 
 Ann, who married Frank H. Sheffield, died 
 leaving two children, one of them an infant. 
 Mr. Hill is a stanch Republican, takes an ac- 
 tive interest in public affairs, and has served 
 for two terms as Selectman of the town. He 
 is a member of the Methodist church, and for 
 more than thirty years has been the secretary 
 of the Board of Trustees. Liberal and active 
 in all religious movements, he has given finan- 
 cial aid toward the erection of three churches. 
 
 -OSHUA HALEY, of the hardware firm 
 of Haley & Chesebro, one of the oldest 
 and most reliable houses in Stoning- 
 ton, was born on the old Haley homestead in 
 this town, September 5, 1822. A son of 
 Joshua and Rebecca (Brown) Haley, his an- 
 cestry is traced through five generations to 
 John Haley and his wife, Mary (Saunders) 
 Haley, who are known to have lived in Centre 
 Groton, Conn., as early as 1738. They were 
 the parents of six children, four sons and two 
 daughters. Of these John, Joshua, and Caleb 
 remained at Centre Groton. John, from whom 
 this branch of the family is descended, came 
 to Stonington, and settled on a large tract of 
 land, much of which was covered with a heavy 
 growth of timber. This place was the family 
 home for four generations. John married 
 Deborah Fanning, and became the father of 
 thirteen children, four sons and nine daugh- 
 ters, all of whom grew up, and all but one 
 married. The sons were named: John, Ed- 
 mund, Joshua, and Belcher. Edmund married 
 Polly Irish; Joshua left no issue; and Belcher 
 married a Miss Barry. One daughter, Abi- 
 
 gail, was married May 10, 1770, to William 
 Miner, and had twelve children; another, 
 whose name is not given, was the wife of 
 John West; Zeruiah married David Smith in 
 1777, and afterward lived in Mystic, Conn.; 
 Hannah married Manassa Miner in 1779, and 
 had seven children; Mary became the wife of 
 Thomas Leeds in 1773; Constance married a 
 Burdick; Lucy married Nathan Burdick in 
 1784; Deborah was the wife of Elisha Han- 
 cock; and Phebe did not marry. The father 
 died in 181 3, at an advanced age, and the 
 mother in 1827. 
 
 John Haley, son of the preceding bearer of 
 the name, was born in Stonington in 1763. 
 During the Revolutionary War he served on 
 the American privateer "Yankee." On Oc- 
 tober 21, 1792, he married Priscilla Fellows, 
 a descendant of an old family here. Three 
 sons were born to them, namely: John, July 
 22, 1793; Joshua, March 15, 1795 ; and 
 Elihu, born May 8, 1797. Joshua, the father 
 of the subject of this sketch, succeeded his 
 father as owner of the old homestead at the 
 Roads. About the year 1832 he moved to the 
 village, and engaged in cabinet-making, a 
 trade he learned in Hebron, Conn. He 
 worked at that and carpentering for some 
 years. Rebecca, his wife, to whom he was 
 married in 1821, was a daughter of David and 
 Lydia (Billings) Brown. Her father was in 
 the Revolutionary War; and her mother, who 
 lived ninety-six years and some months, drew 
 a pension for many years as his widow. Of 
 their twelve children five reached mature life, 
 namely: Joshua, the subject of this sketch; 
 Rebecca, who was the wife of John Brown, of 
 Quiambog, and died in 1894, aged seventy 
 years, leaving four children; Jane, wife of 
 James Norman, a large farmer of Poquetanuck, 
 in Ledyard; John E., who lives in New 
 Britain, Conn. ; and Harriet, who is still single. 
 
300 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 Joshua Haley, the special subject of this 
 biography, attended school at the Roads 
 church until ten years old, when his father re- 
 moved to Stonington village. From the age 
 of seventeen to that of twenty-one he served 
 an apprenticeship as a worker in tin and iron, 
 and in 1847 started in business for himself as 
 a hardware merchant. Beginning on a small 
 scale with a limited stock, he has built up 
 the business so that it now gives employment 
 to from two to four men. He had conducted 
 it alone for nearly twenty years, when, in 
 1866, his present partner, E. S. Chesebro, 
 who had previously been in his employ, be- 
 came a member of the firm. The new firm, 
 Haley & Chesebro, at once removed from the 
 old stand down town to their present commo- 
 dious quarters, where they occupy three floors, 
 and carry a large and varied line of goods. 
 The store is the leading one of its description 
 in Stonington. Mr. Haley is one of the old- 
 est merchants here, fifty years having passed 
 since he established the business. 
 
 On New Year's Day, 1851, Mr. Haley and 
 Miss Matilda Williams were united in mar- 
 riage. She was born at Groton Bank, Conn., 
 and is a daughter of Captain Peter and Amy 
 (Daniels) Williams. In his younger days her 
 father was a sea captain, and later ran the 
 New London ferry-boat, which was drawn by 
 four horses. A son and daughter have been 
 born to Mr. and Mrs. Haley. The daughter, 
 Matilda W. Haley, is a lady of musical abil- 
 ity, and lives at home. George W. Haley, 
 the son, now a newsdealer in Stonington, was 
 a student in the agricultural department of 
 Amherst College, and was at one time em- 
 ployed in the railroad office here. He mar- 
 ried Hope Dyer, of Providence, R.I. Pre- 
 viously a Whig, Joshua Haley has been a 
 Republican since the birth of his party. He 
 has served in various minor offices and as 
 
 Burgess. Under President Lincoln he was 
 appointed United States Weigher, an office 
 that he held until it was abolished, some eight 
 or ten years later. During his term of office 
 in this capacity he weighed four shiploads of 
 railroad iron. He was also Justice of the 
 Peace for ten years. Mr. Haley is affiliated 
 with the Masonic order, being a Knight 
 Templar, and with the Independent Order of 
 Odd Fellows, being the oldest member in this 
 county. He joined the latter fifty years ago, 
 has been through all the chairs, and he was 
 a Representative to the Grand Lodge three 
 times. In the Congregational church he is 
 the senior Deacon and a trustee, and he has 
 been the superintendent of the Sunday-school 
 for a quarter of a century. He has resided at 
 the corner of Main and Church Streets for 
 thirty years. 
 
 ENRY C. JOHNSON, the efficient 
 manager of the William G. Johnson 
 
 - V ' Company dye works at Uncasville, 
 
 in the town of Montville, was born here July 
 10, 1843, son of William G. and Louisa 
 (Matthewson) Johnson. His paternal great- 
 great-great-grandfather emigrated from Scot- 
 land to America. The grandfather, William, 
 was born near Norwich, Conn., in 1765. On 
 June 26, 1799, he married Nancy, daughter of 
 John Leach, a farmer of this town. They 
 had these children: William G., born in New 
 London, April 3, 1800; Robert, born July i, 
 1801; Nicholas, born in February, 1803; 
 Nancy, born May 30, 1807; and Sarah, who 
 is the widow of Erastus Osgood, a brother of 
 the late Dr. Charles Osgood, and resides in 
 Vermont, being still bright and active. The 
 parents of these children have long since 
 passed to the life immortal. 
 
 William G. Johnson, father of Henry C, 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 301 
 
 married Louisa Matthewson, a native of 
 Bozrahville, this county, in 1823. Immedi- 
 ately after iiis marriage he went, accompanied 
 by his wife, to Buenos Ayres, South America, 
 where for twelve years thereafter he was en- 
 gaged in trade. They had five sons and four 
 daughters, eight of whom grew to maturity : 
 iVIary, Caroline, Nicholas W., Louisa, An- 
 drew T., Edwin C, Charles S., Henry C, 
 and Lucy. Mary died in infancy in Buenos 
 Ayres. Caroline married Samuel Townsend, 
 and died in 1863 in Bovina, Miss., leaving 
 four children. Nicholas W. is a banker in 
 Des Moines, Iowa. Louisa, widow of Robert 
 H. Gardner, resides in Norwich. Andrew T., 
 who was Captain of Company A, Thirteenth 
 Connecticut Regiment, met his death in a 
 railroad disaster. He was twenty-eight years 
 of age and unmarried. Edwin C. resides on 
 the old homestead. Charles S. is a resident 
 of Norwich. Lucy married Dr. McLord, and 
 both she and her husband died in Kansas 
 City, Mo. 
 
 Henry C. Johnson, after acquiring his edu- 
 cation, engaged successively in various occu- 
 pations. He subsequently became a live- 
 stock dealer, going South to Texas after 
 cattle, and being one of the first in that enter- 
 prise to drive a herd to Colorado. He re- 
 mained in the West eleven years. He- now 
 owns some of the best blooded horses on the 
 turf, among them being: Bessie Hessell, a 
 very promising colt, by Father Wilkes, able 
 to trot in 2.10; Walter J.; and a valuable 
 mare, Westeria. He became the owner of the 
 dye works five years ago, when it comprised 
 but thirty-four mills. Since then he has re- 
 fitted the plant at an expense of thirty-four 
 thousand dollars. He takes a justifiable pride 
 in the quality and high reputation of his 
 goods. 
 
 On August 15, 1871, Mr. Johnson was mar- 
 
 ried to Rebecca M., daughter of Richard 
 Wells. Her father, a native of Woodbury, 
 N.J., was a cotton broker and dry-goods mer- 
 chant in Natchez, Miss. Her mother, Anna 
 Laycock in maidenhood, was born in Camden, 
 N.J. Mr. and Mrs. Johnson have had seven 
 children, five of whom are living; namely, 
 William G., Richard W. , Sarah, Nancy 
 Leach, and Charles S. William G. was grad- 
 uated at the Norwich Business College, and is 
 now book-keeper in the dye works. Richard 
 W., a young man of twenty-two, is superin- 
 tendent of the William G. Johnson Company. 
 Sarah, who was graduated at McLean's Semi- 
 nary in Simsbury, Conn., is a fine pianist. 
 Nancy, a young lady of seventeen, is now a 
 student in the same seminary. Charles S., 
 who possesses musical talent, plays the snare 
 drum in Johnson's Military Band, which was 
 organized in 1894, and has since won a fine 
 reputation. Mr. Johnson owns the old fiddle 
 which was found in the Niles House in 1812. 
 In politics Mr. Johnson is an independent 
 voter. He is identified with Mohegan Lodge, 
 I. O. O. F., having attained its highest office, 
 and he also belongs to the encampment. 
 
 1:^^; 
 
 ILLIAM J. BROWN, who was a 
 prosperous and well-known farmer 
 of Ledyard, was born in this town, 
 August 31, 1 84 1, son of James J. and Sophia 
 E. (Crandall) Brown. The father was a na- 
 tive of Rhode Island, born near Hopkinton, 
 April 3, 1806. When five years old, as his 
 parents had a large family of children, he left 
 home to live with his uncle, James Wood- 
 bridge, a large land-owner of Ledyard, who had 
 no children. His marriage with Sophia E. 
 Crandall was solemnized in 1840. She was 
 born May 15, 181 1. They became the par- 
 ents of two sons — William J. and Albert Z. 
 
302 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 Albert is a farmer on a portion of the old 
 Woodbridge farm. The mother was nearly 
 eighty-four when she died on March 4, 1895. 
 
 William J. Brown supplemented a district- 
 school education with three terms of study 
 in Dr. Hart's High School at Stonington 
 Point. When nineteen years old he began 
 teaching, which calling he followed in the 
 winter season for several years. The most of 
 his life, however, was spent in agricultural 
 pursuits. He died January 2, 1897, on the 
 farm whereon he had passed his last fourteen 
 years. 
 
 On September 14, 1882, Mr. Brown mar- 
 ried Mrs. Jennie A. Sabin, the widow of 
 Charles Sabin, by whom she had no children. 
 She is a daughter of Henry and Lucy (Smith) 
 Denison, who were natives respectively of 
 Stonington and Groton, Conn. Mr. Denison 
 thirty years ago settled on this farm of one 
 hundred acres, and continued to live here 
 until his death, April 5, 1885. Mrs. Brown 
 then succeeded to the property. Her parents' 
 ten children, three sons and seven daughters, 
 grew to maturity; and eight are living in this 
 section. Her mother died May 23, 1872, in 
 her seventy-fifth year. Mr. Denison lacked 
 but three days of ninety-two years of age at 
 the time of his death. Mr. and Mrs. Brown 
 have one daughter living, Jennie E. , born 
 July 6, 1883, who is an apt scholar in the 
 common branches of study, and possesses con- 
 siderable musical talent. 
 
 Though afflicted with heart-disease for 
 years, Mr. Brown was always a hard worker, 
 and at his death left his wife and daughter in 
 good circumstances. Mr. Brown was always 
 prominent in public affairs, and highly es- 
 teemed in the community as a man of sterling 
 worth. He represented Ledyard in the State 
 legislature for two terms, and served as School 
 Visitor for several years, taking a deep inter- 
 
 est in educational matters. Mrs. Brown and 
 daughter are members of the First Groton 
 Baptist Church. They reside on the farm. 
 
 Tlp^ICHARD WILLIAM CHADWICK, 
 I Sr^ a prosperous farmer of Old Lyme, 
 li^ v ^ owner of the Chadwick farm, which 
 has been in the family from the time of the 
 Revolution, was born here, September 17, 
 1836, son of George H. and Mary (Sparrow) 
 Chadwick. The paternal grandfather, Rich- 
 ard Chadwick, married a Miss Terry, of Long 
 Island, by whom he had one son and one 
 daughter, George and Betsey. The last 
 named became the wife of Grant Chamber- 
 lain, reared a family of four daughters, and 
 died at an advanced age in Litchfield County. 
 George H. Chadwick adopted farming as his 
 life occupation, and was quite successful. 
 Esteemed by his fellow-townsmen, he was 
 elected to various positions of trust and re- 
 sponsibility, including that of Selectman. 
 He saw military service in the War of 1812, 
 and at its close received an honorable dis- 
 charge. In 1833 he married Mary Sparrow, 
 of this town, daughter of Union Sparrow; and 
 by her he had two children — George R. and 
 Richard W. George, who went to sea, lost 
 his life in 1852 when nineteen years old, by 
 falling from the mizzen rigging of a vessel. 
 The father and mother of the subject of this 
 sketch, and also his grandparents, are resting 
 in Old Lyme cemetery. The parents were 
 members of the Congregational church. 
 
 Richard W. Chadwick was educated in the 
 town schools and at Lyme Academy. Like 
 his father, he became a farmer, in which occu- 
 pation he has been successful. Politically, 
 he is an ardent Republican. He takes a 
 warm interest in town affairs, and has been 
 repeatedly elected to public office. Until 
 
RICHARD W. CHADWICK. 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 305 
 
 June, 1895, he was Deputy Sheriff, having 
 held that position for thirty years with the 
 exception of his period of service in the legis- 
 lature and two years under a Democratic ad- 
 ministration. He was instrumental in captur- 
 ing the notorious gang of Bridgeport burglars 
 in 1885, and at that time narrowly escaped 
 death by a pistol shot iired by one of the 
 youthful desperadoes while the Sheriff was 
 placing him under arrest. In 1873 and 1889 
 he was sent by his town to the lower branch 
 of the State legislature, where he served his 
 constituents with the fidelity and ability 
 which have always marked his administration 
 of public office. In April, 1896, he was ap- 
 pointed County Commissioner for a term of 
 three years. A Master Mason, he was for- 
 merly a member of Mount Olive Lodge, and 
 now belongs to Pythagoras Lodge of Lyme. 
 
 At the age of twenty-two years Mr. Chad- 
 wick married Maria Bracey, of this town, 
 who bore him two children (twins) : G. 
 Robert Chadwick; and Maria, now Mrs. 
 Charles Stanton, of Hartford. The mother 
 died while her children were yet infants. 
 Mr. Chadwick married for his second wife, 
 in January, 1886, Miss A. M. Rowland. In 
 religious belief the family are Congregation- 
 alists. 
 
 If- 
 
 M DENISON ROGERS, the 
 known ice' dealer on Laurel 
 Hill in Norwich, was born in 
 Salem, Conn., February 15, 183 1. A son of 
 William Pendleton Rogers, he belongs to the 
 twelfth generation descended from the John 
 Rogers who was burned at the stake in Eng- 
 land in the reign of Queen Mary. This 
 branch of the Rogers family is one of the old 
 and worthy families of the county. Denison 
 Rogers, the grandfather, married Nancy Pen- 
 dleton, and had four sons and three daughters 
 
 — Alfred, Henry, William, James, Charlotte, 
 Lucy, and Emily. Alfred was Captain and 
 James a Colonel in the militia. 
 
 William Pendleton Rogers, who was a 
 teacher for many years, married in 1830 Lucy 
 Caroline Beebe, of East Great Plain. She 
 was born in 1809, daughter of Joab Beebe, 
 who settled here in 1790. After the marriage 
 they rented a farm in Salem. Two years 
 later they removed to the old Beebe farm in 
 Norwich, where they remained during the rest 
 of their long and useful lives. Their children 
 were: William Denison, Joab B., Emily, 
 Mary Elizabeth, Nancy Maria, Jenny L., and 
 J. Frank. Joab B. Rogers is the present 
 jailer at New London. Emily died unmarried 
 in 1873. Mary E. was married in California, 
 and died there, leaving two children. Her 
 twin sister, Nancy M., is unmarried, and re- 
 sides at the old farm. Jenny L. became Mrs. 
 Harris. J. Frank is a farmer and a mail agent 
 of Salem. 
 
 William Denison Rogers remained at home 
 until he reached his majority. He then 
 bought a few acres of land in Great Plain, and 
 built the house to which he took his bride on 
 March 28, 1865. She was Susan Frances, 
 daughter of Gardner and Martha (Bates) Hull. 
 Mr. Rogers has been in the ice trade for 
 thirty-two years, supplying ice both at whole- 
 sale and retail. His ice is obtained from the 
 pure spring water which comes from his own 
 water works on the hill, and which is con- 
 ducted several hundred feet from the three 
 reservoirs built by Mr. Bill. He bought 
 this property on time, going in debt to the ex- 
 tent of five thousand dollars for the first pur- 
 chase, and afterward buying over forty acres 
 for the sum of one thousand dollars. Within 
 five years he had paid up his entire indebted- 
 ness. He is now one of the solid farmers of 
 the county. 
 
3o6 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Rogers have two sons and a 
 daughter. Their first-born, William Gardner, 
 who is at horae on the farm, spent a part of 
 the year 1896 in California. Fanny Bell 
 Rogers and her younger brother, John Deni- 
 son, were educated in the Norwich High 
 School. Miss Rogers is now cashier in the 
 large store of Porteous & Mitchell, where she 
 handles several hundred dollars daily. Mr. 
 Rogers is a Republican voter, as was his 
 father, though his ancestors were adherents of 
 the opposite party. He carries on general 
 farming, and besides three horses he keeps fif- 
 teen cows of the Holstein and Guernsey 
 grades. He has made many improvements on 
 his farm, including the erection of a double 
 ice-house and sundry out-houses. 
 
 |DWARD KEEFE, an enterprising gro- 
 cer doing business at 495 Bank Street, 
 New London, was born in Newfound- 
 land, April 4, 1852, son of Richard and Eliz- 
 abeth (Brown) Keefe. The father, who was 
 born in Ireland in 1824, married Elizabeth 
 Brown, of the same country, and emigrated to 
 Newfoundland. Subsequently he came to 
 New London, where he followed the trade of 
 tailor during the rest of his life. Of his 
 seven children six were reared, namely: Ed- 
 ward, the subject of this sketch; Mary, of this 
 city; James, a resident of Syracuse, N.Y. ; 
 Ellen, the wife of John Callahan; Thomas, 
 who resides at home and is unmarried; and 
 Richard, who also lives with his widowed 
 mother on Bank Street. 
 
 After acquiring a public-school education 
 in this city, Edward Keefe had learned the 
 machinist's trade at the age of seventeen. He 
 was employed for seventeen years thereafter in 
 two concerns, serving the New London & 
 Northern Railroad for fourteen years. In the 
 
 spring of 1885 he established his present gro- 
 cery. He is the owner of his residence at 
 281 Bank Street and of another place on the 
 corner of Bank and Ocean Avenue. On Sep- 
 tember 23, 1875, he was married to Bridget 
 Rowe, of this city. Her parents, James and 
 Elizabeth (Dray) Rowe, came from Ireland in 
 185 I. Her father is dead; but her mother is 
 still living, and has three daughters and one 
 son. Mr. and Mrs. Keefe have six children 
 — ■ Mary, Frank, Fred, Edward, Bessie, and 
 Lucy. Mary was graduated from Williams 
 Memorial High School of this city in June, 
 1895. Frank, who was also a high -school 
 graduate, is now the book-keeper in his 
 father's store. The other children are still 
 attending school. In politics Mr. Keefe is a 
 sound money Democrat. He is a member of 
 Trumble Lodge, No. 47, K. of P. ; of the 
 Ancient Order of Foresters of America; of 
 the Knights of Columbus; and of St. John's 
 Literary Association. In religion both he 
 and Mrs. Keefe are Roman Catholics. 
 
 ILLIAM A. ERASER, book-keeper 
 for the Robert Palmer & Son Com- 
 pany at Noank, in the town of Gro- 
 ton, Conn., was born in Bath, Me., January 
 20, 1856, son of Simon Campbell and Jane 
 (Nicholson) Fraser. 
 
 Simon C. Fraser, now a wharf builder at 
 New London, was born at Kirk Hill, Inver- 
 ness, Scotland, January i, 1825. He was a 
 son of Donald and grandson of Donald, Sr. , a 
 lineal descendant of Simon Levat, a noted 
 Highlander, and at one time a contestant of 
 his estate. 
 
 The family, nicknamed Maconie (from land 
 owned by the family for many generations), 
 immigrated in 1832 to Nova Scotia, where 
 Donald, the father of Simon, died at the age 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 3°7 
 
 of eighty. There were seven children, and 
 five are now living, namely: Simon C. and 
 J. Donald, of New London; Ann Cameron, of 
 New Glasgow, N.S. ; and Margaret Hender- 
 son and Jennie Fraser, of Boston, Mass. 
 
 In 1868 Simon C. Fraser came to New 
 London, and engaged in the ship-building in- 
 dustry; and about twenty years ago he took up 
 wharf building, in which he still continues to 
 do a profitable business. He resides at 115 
 Main Street, New London. Simon C. and 
 his wife, Jane, who died December 21, 1884, 
 had eight children. The three now living 
 are: William A., of Noank; George W. , an 
 engineer and dock builder, engaged with his 
 father in New London; and Jean C., a grad- 
 uate of the class of 1896 in the Ladies' High 
 School in that city. 
 
 William A. Fraser received his education 
 in the common and high schools of New Lon- 
 don. He assumed the duties of his present 
 position with the Palmer Company a little 
 more than eight years ago, in 1889. Five 
 years before, on December 3, 1884, he mar- 
 ried Miss Lena Brown, of Noank, daughter 
 of George and Harriet (Cromwell) Brown. 
 Her father is master of a fishing schooner, of 
 which he is half-owner. She has one brother, 
 Wilfrid Brown. Mr. and Mrs. Fraser have 
 one child, Lloyd Wilfrid. 
 
 Politically, Mr. Fraser is a Prohibitionist 
 from the ranks of the Democratic party. He 
 and his wife are members of the Baptist 
 church, in which he is a Deacon, the clerk, 
 and a teacher in the Sunday-school. The 
 church has been a very active and prosperous 
 one, and a year or two ago Mr. Fraser wrote a 
 comprehensive and interesting history of its 
 work in this community. Mr. Fraser is 
 deeply interested in the welfare of the village. 
 He was the president of the Village Improve- 
 ment Association for a term of years, was one 
 
 of the organizers of the fire department in the 
 village, and for the first two years after organ- 
 ization was its executive head. 
 
 's^^ABEZ S. LATHROP, a veteran teacher, 
 now retired and residing in North 
 Washington Street, Norwich, was born 
 May 28, 1824, in Bozrah, this county, son of 
 Simeon and Phcebe (Peckham) Lathrop. The 
 paternal great-grandfather, who was also 
 named Simeon, lived on the farm on Blue 
 Hill. This estate, comprising one hundred 
 and sixty acres of land, was settled by an 
 earlier ancestor, to whom it was granted by 
 the Colonial authorities, and is now owned by 
 Mrs. Jane Smith, a sister of Jabez S. _Lathrop. 
 The great-grandfather was ninety-eight years 
 of age when he died. His son Andrew, who 
 was born on the Lathrop homestead, there 
 spent his life, principally engaged in farming, 
 and died at the age of seventy-nine years, 
 from injuries inflicted by an enraged ram. 
 The first of Andrew's two marriages was con- 
 tracted with Lucretia Smith, who died in the 
 prime of life. She had two sons and four 
 daughters. The son Azariah, who died in 
 Vernon, Tolland County, in 1891, nearly 
 eighty years of age, married a Miss Hunting- 
 ton. Andrew's second wife was Zerviah 
 Polly Lathrop. 
 
 Simeon Lathrop, the father of Jabez S., 
 lived to be nearly ninety-three years of age, 
 and was in the full possession of his mental 
 powers up to the time of his death in 1886. 
 He was twice married. By the first marriage 
 there was one son, William, who volunteered 
 from Pembroke for service in the late war, 
 and who was mortally wounded while in a 
 skirmish just before the battle of Bull Run. 
 He died during the battle on Sunday, and is 
 buried in an unknown grave. His captain 
 
3o8 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 said that he was a typical soldier, and that no 
 braver one had ever been known. By his 
 marriage with Phoebe Peckham, who died 
 about 1850, at the age of fifty-one, he had five 
 sons and five daughters, all of whom grew to 
 maturity. They were: Andrew, Lucy, Jabez 
 S., Alanson, Peckham, Jane, David A., 
 Lydia, Ann Hasseltine, and Phoebe Calista. 
 Andrew Lathrop, born in 1822, was a carriage 
 builder in Belvidere, 111., and died there at 
 the age of seventy. Lucy is the widow of 
 John Ashcroft, and resides in , Franklin with 
 her sister, Mrs. Lydia Smith. Alanson died 
 in 1867, leaving a widow. Jane is the widow 
 of Lucien H. Smith, and, as above intimated, 
 resides in Franklin. David went to Michi- 
 gan, and is there living in Chase, Lake 
 County. Lydia, the twin sister of David, is 
 the widow of Henry Smith. Ann marri,ed 
 A. F. Park, a brother of the late Judge J. D. 
 Park. She died in 1892, leaving one daugh- 
 ter, Miss Annie Park, a graduate of the Nor- 
 wich Free Academy and a most competent 
 teacher in this town. Phoebe, who lived to 
 be about twenty years of age, was the first of 
 the family to die. 
 
 Jabez S. Lathrop was educated in the com- 
 mon schools under Martin Pomeroy Wells, 
 who was afterward the able vice-president of 
 Marietta College. Mr. Lathrop was subse- 
 quently a student at an academy. When 
 eighteen years of age he began to teach 
 school. This profession he afterward fol- 
 lowed for nearly forty-seven years, meeting 
 with rare success as an instructor. He is 
 now one of the twelve trustees of the State 
 School for Boys, and is the acting chairman of 
 the board. Though not a church member, he 
 is an energetic worker in the First Congrega- 
 tional Church of Norwich, which dates back 
 to 1660; and he has for many years sung in 
 the choir. On coming to Norwich forty 
 
 years ago, he rented the comfortable and 
 pleasant dwelling which is now his home, 
 and shortly afterward bought it. He has 
 served the town as Selectman for five years, 
 and was in the legislature in 1879, 1881, and 
 1884, where he showed himself thoroughly in- 
 formed on all questions of public importance. 
 Besides this he was also County Treasurer for 
 nine years. In politics he is a Republican, 
 and his first Presidential vote was cast for 
 Henry Clay. Not long since a partial stroke 
 of paralysis obliged him to give up teaching. 
 
 On December 4, 1848, Mr. Lathrop was 
 united in marriage with Julia, a daughter of 
 Elijah J. and Joanna R. (Ellis) Backus and a 
 grand-daughter of Asa Backus, who was the 
 third Asa Backus in this town. The fourth 
 Asa is Asa William Backus, of Toledo, Ohio. 
 Besides an infant daughter Mr. and Mrs. 
 Lathrop have lost a son, Joseph Backus La- 
 throp, who left a wife and two daughters — 
 Julia B. and Helen W., both residents of 
 Columbus, Ohio. Four of their children are 
 living. Their daughter Helen M. is a grad- 
 uate of the Norwich P'ree Academy and a 
 highly successful teacher of Norwich. Her 
 sister, Julia L., is the wife of Walter H. 
 Potter and the mother of one daughter, Ruth 
 Lathrop Potter. Alanson P. Lathrop is the 
 secretary and treasurer of the gas company in 
 Columbus, Ohio. He married Ella Farquhar, 
 and has two children— Grayson F. and Ger- 
 trude. Gertrude L., the youngest child of 
 Jabez S. Lathrop, is now the wife of Alonzo 
 M. Luther, of Norwich. 
 
 ON. S. ASHBEL CRANDALL, a 
 prominent Norwich lawyer, was born 
 in Ledyard, October 12, 185 1, son 
 of Stiles and Caroline L. (Greene) Crandall, 
 and grandson of Welles and Sally (Wood- 
 
s, ashi;el ckandall. 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 3" 
 
 bridge) Crandall. Welles Crandall, who was 
 a native of Rhode Island, followed the trade 
 of tanner in Preston. His wife, who was born 
 in Groton, lived to be sixty years of age; and 
 he died in middle life. They are buried in 
 Ledyard. They had a son and three daugh- 
 ters. 
 
 Stiles Crandall, the only son of Welles 
 Crandall, was born in Groton, November 25, 
 1813. He is a highly esteemed and successful 
 farmer of Ledyard, where he and his wife still 
 reside on their farm. Although advanced in 
 years, they are remarkably active. Mrs. 
 Caroline L. Crandall is a daughter of Stephen 
 and Sarah (Bolles) Greene, of Waterford, 
 Conn. Her marriage with Stiles Crandall 
 was performed in 1844. Of their two sons 
 and a daughter, S. Ashbel is the only sur- 
 vivor. Caroline Augusta died at eight years 
 ■of age, and Stiles lived to be but thirteen 
 months old. Beginning soon after attaining 
 his legal majority, the father served the town 
 in different offices until he was seventy years 
 old. He was Assessor for thirty consecutive 
 years. In i860 he was elected to the State 
 legislature by the largest majority ever given 
 in his district. 
 
 S. Ashbel Crandall spent his boyhood on 
 the farm, and his early education was acquired 
 in the district school. When eighteen years 
 old, he engaged in school teaching, and after- 
 ward followed that calling until he was twenty- 
 five. Shortly after, he began to read law in 
 Iowa City, la., at the State University, from 
 which he was graduated in 1878. In the fol- 
 lowing year he was admitted to the bar at 
 Norwich, and immediately engaged in prac- 
 tice. His career as a lawyer has been at- 
 tended with marked and well-deserved success. 
 In 1880, on the Democratic ticket, he was 
 elected as Representative to the lower house 
 of the State legislature from Ledyard. From 
 
 1888 to 1892 he was Mayor of Norwich, and 
 from 1893 to 1895 he was a State Senator and 
 City Attorney. He has also been a member 
 of the Board of Education six years. He- is 
 Judge Advocate and a member of Brigadier- 
 general Haven's staff, with the rank of Major. 
 Fraternally, he is a Master Mason, a Past 
 Grand Conductor in the Grand Lodge of the 
 Independent Order of Odd Fellows, a Knight 
 of Pythias, a member of the Improved Order 
 of Red Men, and a Forester. 
 
 On April 25, 1883, Mr. Crandall was 
 joined in marriage with Miss Jane F. Stod- 
 dard, of Ledyard, a daughter of Sanford B. 
 and Mary Stoddard, both of whom are now 
 deceased. She died June 18, 1885, when 
 thirty-four years of age, leaving two children. 
 The latter are: Mary S. , twelve years old; 
 and Billings F. S., eleven years old. For the 
 past seven years Mr. Crandall has made his 
 home in the Wauregan House. 
 
 RRIN F. HARRIS, M.D., a popu- 
 lar physician of Norwich, is a native 
 and a resident of Preston. He was 
 born May 31, 1843, son of Robert B. and 
 Betsey (Brewster) Harris. The father, who 
 died in 1863, about fifty-six years of age, was 
 a cabinet-maker of Preston and a man of solid 
 worth. His wife, who was the daughter of 
 Erastus Brewster and a sister of Augustus and 
 Frank Brewster, survived until 1895, and at- 
 tained the age of eighty years. Besides 
 Orrin F. she had three other children. 
 Charles R. Harris, the eldest, who died in 
 Hoboken, N.J., in 1896, aged sixty -two years, 
 was a mariner, and, though modest and retir- 
 ing, was a man of merit and of influence. He 
 left a widow and two sons. Lucretia Harris 
 is now Mrs. Elias M. Brewster, of Norwich. 
 George H., now residing in Preston, was for 
 
312 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 years the agent of the Norwich & Worcester 
 Transportation Company in Norwich. 
 
 Orrin F. Harris, the youngest child of his 
 parents, received his elementary education in 
 the common schools. Subsequently he en- 
 tered the medical department of Columbia 
 College. Believing that he could be of ser- 
 vice to his country and at the same time gain 
 valuable experience, he volunteered in 1862 
 in the medical depajtment of the army, and 
 was appointed to the hospital at Alexandria 
 under General Surgeon Edward Bentley, a 
 personal friend. After the war Dr. Harris 
 returned to Columbia to complete his medical 
 studies, and graduated in 1865. He began 
 practice in Norwich, opening his present office 
 in March, 1865. He has well earned his rep- 
 utation of a skilful and conscientious phy- 
 sician. 
 
 The Doctor was married in August, 1890, 
 to Mary A., daughter of Daniel W. and Sarah 
 (Woodward) Tracy, of Preston. The cere- 
 mony was performed in a house that he had 
 previously erected in Preston, and which has 
 since been the family residence. Besides a 
 little son, the Doctor and his wife have been 
 bereft oE twin boys, who lived but a few 
 hours. They have one infant son, Orrin F. ^ 
 who is the object of their tenderest care and 
 affection. Essentially a domestic man, the 
 Doctor is devotedly attached to his home and 
 family. His greatest pleasure in life is to 
 return home after a tiresome day, and enjoy 
 the quiet rest of his own fireside and the com- 
 panionship of his' home circle and family 
 friends. In politics he is a loyal Republican, 
 but he has never cared to hold public office. 
 During the years of the anti-slavery agitation 
 he was an abolitionist. The estate upon 
 which Dr. Harris resides comprises about one 
 hundred and twenty acres of good land. On 
 it is a peach orchard of fifteen hundred trees, 
 
 recently set out, which promises to become 
 one of the finest orchards of the kind in this 
 section of the State. Dr. Harris relies more 
 on nature than on drugs, and is never afraid 
 to prescribe in accordance with this principle. 
 
 fHOMAS O. THOMPSON, a well- 
 known insurance dealer in New Lon- 
 don, was born in New York City, 
 April 14, 1864, son of Francis and Adelaide 
 (Owen) Thompson. Alexander, the paternal 
 grandfather, emigrated from Ballantragh, 
 Londonderry, in the north of Ireland, in 18 10, 
 bringing his wife and children. He was a 
 wealthy retired sea captain, who subsequently 
 engaged as a shipping merchant. His first 
 marriage was contracted with Ann Corscod- 
 den, who died June 12, 1809, leaving two of 
 her four children. In February, 1810, he 
 married Margaret Burney, of New York, who 
 had ten children. She died October 30, 
 1838, leaving eight children. He reared ten 
 of his fourteen children, and three of his 
 daughters are still living. 
 
 Francis Thompson, son of Alexander, was a 
 wholesale hardware merchant of the firm A. R. 
 Van Ness & Co., one of the largest concerns of 
 the city at that time. He married Adelaide 
 Owen in New York City, June i, 1847, and 
 they had six children — Adelaide M., Eliza- 
 beth O., Carrie N., Francis G. A., Thomas 
 O., and Mary N. Adelaide was twice mar- 
 ried, the first time to Lieutenant Commodore 
 Walter Abbott, of the United States navy. 
 She is now the widow of Dr. H. C. Nelson. 
 Elizabeth O. married Captain J. E. Sawyer, 
 of the United States army. Carrie N. is the 
 wife of Edwin Van Hornstein, who is a Major 
 in the German army at Strasburg. Francis 
 G. A. is in Chicago, 111. Mary N. is the 
 wife of Dallas Goodwin, of New York City. 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 313 
 
 The father died January i, 1869, and the 
 mother, at the age of fifty-three, in 1880, hav- 
 ing survived her husband eleven years. She 
 was a daughter of Thomas Owen, of this city. 
 Her grandfather, John Owen, was the first 
 City Clerk in New London, and filled that 
 office from 1784 to 1824, a period of forty 
 years. Previously he was a successful teacher 
 for many years, and was familiarly known as 
 Master Owen. He was married three times, 
 and became the father of eighteen children, 
 of whom Thomas was the youngest. 
 
 Thomas O. Thompson was a student in the 
 schools of Heidelberg and Baden-Baden, Ger- 
 many, from the time he was nine years of age 
 until 1880, when he came to New London. 
 He has served in the militia for fifteen years, 
 being promoted from the rank of private to 
 that of Captain. In politics he affiliates with 
 the Republican party. On March 26, 1888, 
 he married Jeanette Allender in New York 
 City. Her parents, William and Mrs. (Gar- 
 rett) Allender, who married young, subse- 
 quently went to the diamond mines near Cape 
 Town, South Africa, where the father was em- 
 ployed in civil engineering, leaving her and 
 her brother William in New London to be ed- 
 ucated. Mr. and Mrs. Thompson have one 
 son, Thomas O., yet a babe. They reside at 
 I Nathan Hale Street, where Mr. Thompson 
 built his fine house on Post Hill in 1892. 
 Personally, Mr. Thompson is pleasant and re- 
 fined, and stands high in the social and com- 
 mercial circles of New London. 
 
 |DWIN A. ROATH, a highly respected 
 citizen of Norwich, living in retire- 
 ment at 20 Spalding Street, was 
 born on Union Street, this city, November 
 2, 1823. Asa Roath, his father, was born 
 March 3, 1790, on Roath Street, Norwich, in 
 
 the old Roath house, which was erected by a 
 member of the family over two hundred years 
 ago, and which is now the property of the sub- 
 ject of this sketch. Eleazer Roath, the father 
 of Asa and a son of Stephen, was born in the 
 same house in 1747, and died in 1835. He 
 was a farmer, and owned a large and valuable 
 estate, a portion of which is still in the fam- 
 ily. He married Hannah Killam, of Nor- 
 wich, who bore him four sons and four daugh- 
 ters. Of these, three sons and three daughters 
 lived to a good age. Stephen Roath died in 
 1808, at an advanced age, leaving considera- 
 ble property. Robert Roath, a native of 
 England and the first to settle in America, 
 came here about the year 1640, and. estab- 
 lished a home on Plain Hill or Wawacus Hill, 
 Norwich, a portion of a grant of land received 
 from the town proprietors. According to 
 £amily tradition these early ancestors were 
 men of magnificent physique, some of them 
 standing six feet or more in height. 
 
 Asa Roath, who was five feet, eleven and 
 one-half inches tall, and weighed about two 
 hundred and ninety pounds, was a Colonel in 
 the State militia. In the War of 18 12 he 
 served in the defence of New London. In 
 1820 he was married to Miss Elizabeth Allyn, 
 of Groton, now Ledyard, Conn., where her 
 birth occurred in May, ^799- She was a 
 daughter of General Billings Allyn. Nine 
 children were the fruit of their union, as fol- 
 lows: Edwin and Ann, both of whom died in 
 childhood, of scarlet fever, within a very short 
 period; Edwin A. ; Hannah, the widow of 
 Ruphus Leeds Fanning, who died in middle 
 age; Stephen, who resides in Chicago, 111.; 
 Elizabeth, the widow of David M. Randall, 
 now living on Franklin Street, Norwich, and 
 who has one daughter; Louis Phillip, named 
 by his aunt, Mary Allyn Clarke, whose hus- 
 band was the captain of a merchantman, re- 
 
314 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 siding in Norwich; Ann Meach, who was the 
 wife of Henry L. Parker, resided at 431 
 Franklin Street, Norwich, and who died in 
 the fall of 1894, aged fifty-eight years, leav- 
 ing two sons and three daughters; and Hen- 
 rietta Louisa, who died in infancy. The 
 father died March 11, 1846, when fifty-six 
 years of age, and the mother on May 20, 
 1859, aged sixty years. 
 
 Edwin A. Roath was graduated from Nor- 
 wich Academy when eighteen years of age. 
 Soon after he began his business career in the 
 Norwich & Worcester Railroad, covering a 
 period of over fifty years. For twenty-four 
 years of that time he was an engineer and for 
 twenty-one years a station agent. He ran a 
 special train into Boston at the time of the 
 dedication of Bunker Hill Monument. His 
 present home, where he has lived since Janu- 
 ary, 1870, was purchased by him in 1868. 
 He also owns two other places on North Main 
 Street, built in 1839, that were formerly 
 owned by his father; also his grandfather's 
 place on Roath Street, which was built about 
 two centuries ago, a home in which the red 
 man always received kindly treatment, and 
 from which he was never turned away. 
 
 On February 2i, 1849, Mr. Roath was 
 united in marriage with Miss Frances M. 
 Rathbone, of Norwich. They have had two 
 sons, namely: Francis Edwin, who died when 
 but two years old; and Frank Allyn Roath. 
 The latter, who resides on Otis Street, Nor- 
 wich, is the purser of the steamer "City of 
 Worcester," which runs between New London 
 and New York City. On June 28, I894, he 
 was married to Miss Gertrude Hakes, of 
 Worcester, a very capable business woman, 
 who was formerly book-keeper of a large con- 
 cern in her native city. In politics Mr. 
 Roath is a Democrat, while as a rule he de- 
 clines all official honors. 
 
 RS. LYDIA A. KEENEY, of 
 New London, the widow of Sam- 
 uel C. Keeney, was born here, 
 September 25, 1817, daughter of Josiah and 
 Lydia (Lester) Keeney and a grand-daughter 
 of Daniel Keeney. The family are an old 
 and numerous one, who trace back their an- 
 cestry in this section for two hundred years. 
 The early ancestor, John Keeney, occupied 
 the front part of the Alfred Mitchell man- 
 sion, where he reared his family. The house 
 is undoubtedly one hundred and fifty years 
 old. Among the descendants who were born 
 in this house were Mrs. Keeney and her hus- 
 band, and they were second cousins. 
 
 Josiah Keeney, the father of Mrs. Keeney, 
 died in April, 1817, before she was born, 
 leaving a widow, two sons and two daughters. 
 The widow was again married to her hus- 
 band's brother, Richard, by whom she also 
 had two sons and two daughters. After sur- 
 viving her second husband, she died in Ches- 
 terfield, Conn., in August, 1881, in her 
 eighty-ninth year. Two children by the sec- 
 ond marriage still survive, namely: Erastus 
 Keeney, of this city; and the widow Fo.x, of 
 Chesterfield. 
 
 Mrs. Keeney was twice married. Her first 
 husband, to whom she was united in 1836, 
 was Harris Lewis, of this city. He lived but 
 four years thereafter, dying at the age of 
 thirty-one. Mrs. Lewis had one child by 
 him, Harry, who was born after the father's 
 death. He died at the age of three years. 
 In 1843 she was married to Mr. Keeney, by 
 whom she became the mother of seven chil- 
 dren, the youngest of whom died in infancy. 
 The survivors are: Joseph Keeney, of Wash- 
 ington, D.C., who is married; Harriet, who 
 married George H. Johnson, of Brooklyn, 
 N.Y. ; Emma J., the wife of Charles Burdell, 
 of New Haven, Conn. ; Ulyssus, a single 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 315 
 
 gentleman, living at home with his mother; 
 Hiram H., of this city; and Lilian, who mar- 
 ried Charles Tarbox, a blacking manufacturer 
 of this city. Mrs. Keeney has four grand- 
 children. 
 
 Samuel C. Keeney, a former resident of 
 this city, was born here in 1813, son of Giles 
 and Theresa (Chappell) Keeney and grandson 
 of John Keeney, of this place. His father 
 and grandfather were fishermen. His parents 
 had seven children, only two of whom are 
 now living. These are: Captain John, who 
 is eighty -four years of age; and his sister, 
 Caroline, now Mrs. Samuel Lester, who lives 
 on Shelter Island, New York. Samuel C. 
 Keeney shipped on a merchantman in early 
 life, and went to foreign countries. Having 
 begun as a common sailor, he was the captain 
 of a fishing-smack at the age of eighteen. He 
 was also engaged in wrecking off the coast of 
 Florida, making and losing a great deal of 
 money thereby. When he died in 1887, at 
 the age of seventy -four, he left his widow 
 with a comfortable competency. She sold 
 her house on Blinman Street, and built a 
 smaller one, 92 Willetts Avenue, in i: 
 
 Tjrx AVID A. NORRIS, a retired com- 
 1^=1 mercial traveller of Norwich, liv- 
 ^-— li^^y ingat Yantic, was born in Hanover, 
 Morris County, N.J., November 8, 1826, son 
 of David and Joanna (Burnet) Norris. The 
 father, who was born in 1791, was a black- 
 smith, and followed his trade in Whippany 
 until he was sixty-five years of age. Then he 
 removed to Bridgeport, Conn., where he died 
 at the age of seventy -five. A whole-souled, 
 benevolent man, he seldom lost an oppor- 
 tunity to do a kindness for a neighbor or 
 friend. As a workman he was skilled in all 
 parts of his craft, and could match his work 
 
 with that of any other man in the trade. His 
 wife, Joanna, who was a daughter of a Revo- 
 lutionary soldier, born in 1801, died in New 
 Haven, at the age of seventy-five years. 
 
 David A. Norris received a common -school 
 education, and when fourteen years of age 
 began to learn the blacksmith's trade in his 
 father's shop. When eighteen years old he 
 came to Bridgeport, this State, and there re- 
 mained for six years, working as a blacksmith. 
 He then learned to make wagon springs, and 
 followed that trade in Bridgeport for four 
 years. In 1856 he went to Greenville, and 
 entered the employ of the Mowrey Spring 
 and Axle Company. For nearly twenty years 
 he had charge of their shop. At the end of 
 that time the constant confinement of indoor 
 labor had so affected his health that he felt 
 the need of a protracted rest and change. He 
 therefore went to Suffolk, Va., and rusticated 
 on a farm there for a year, from Christmas to 
 Christmas, living as much as possible in the 
 open air, and going about minus hat and 
 shoes. In this way he regained his health, 
 and at the end of the year was able to take a 
 position as travelling agent for enamelled 
 ware. He travelled in the interests of this 
 business, from Portland, Me., to Portland, 
 Ore., and from British Columbia to the Gulf 
 of Mexico, covering forty-six States and Terri- 
 tories. In the course of these journeyings he 
 became familiar with all sorts and conditions 
 of men, and gained a wide experience of hu- 
 man nature. He also gained extensive in- 
 formation on a variety of subjects, and is 
 to-day one of the best informed men a traveller 
 is likely to encounter. In 1895 Mr. Norris 
 retired from active business, having been at- 
 tacked with rheumatism, which at times made 
 it impossible for him to prosecute his work. 
 The value of his services to the firm for which 
 he travelled, and their appreciation of his 
 
3i6 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 worth, may be inferred from the fact that on 
 this occasion they settled on him a comfort- 
 able annuity for the rest of his life. 
 
 In the spring of 1887 Mr. Norris bought 
 the forty-acre farm which is his present home; 
 and he now spends his time in outdoor pur- 
 suits — ^ hunting, fishing, or driving. He has 
 a fine horse and a handsome Gordon setter, 
 which are his companions on many a pleasant 
 excursion. The fishing-rod, in the use of 
 which he is an expert, whiles away many an 
 hour. Mr. Norris is a very genial man and, 
 on account of his wide knowledge, at all 
 times a most interesting and instructive com- 
 panion. He is not a member of any religious 
 organization; but, appreciating the value of 
 Christian benevolence, he delights in making 
 generous contributions to a worthy cause. 
 He voted for John C. Fremont in 1856, and 
 has ever since been a stanch Republican. 
 Since 1873 he has been a Master Mason. He 
 has been twice married. On the first occa- 
 sion, in 1848, he wedded Sarah A. Seeley, of 
 Bridgeport, . Conn. She became the mother 
 of a daughter, Hattie S., who was born in 
 1850. Mrs. Sarah Norris died in 1864, at 
 the age of thirty-one. On May 24, 1865, Mr. 
 Norris entered his second marriage with Mrs. 
 Mary E. Prentice, the widow of Leonard 
 Prentice and a daughter of Harlan Hyde, of 
 the distinguished Hyde family, of which a fine 
 genealogy has been published. There are no 
 children by this marriage. 
 
 M 
 
 AVID C. MANWARING, a retired 
 sea captain of Niantic, Conn., was 
 born in East Lyme, a mile from 
 this village, on the isth of September, 1812, 
 son of Latham and Emily (Manwaring) Man- 
 waring. The family to which he belongs is 
 an old one in this county, Oliver Manwaring 
 
 having settled at New London about 1663. 
 From Mrs. Frances M. Calkins's History we 
 learn that a Thomas Manwaring, thought to 
 have been a nephew of Oliver, married in 1722 
 Esther Christophers, and is the ancestor of the 
 Lyme branch of the Manwarings. 
 
 Captain Manwaring's father followed the 
 sea during the greater part of his active life, 
 and was first mate in a coasting-vessel. His 
 wife was the daughter of an older Latham 
 Manwaring, so that by singular coincidence 
 her husband and father bore the same names. 
 Captain Manwaring's father died in 1842, at 
 the age of sixty years, having been born dur- 
 ing the Revolutionary War. His wife sur- 
 vived him a few years, and died at about the 
 same age. Their children, of whom there were 
 five, married and scattered. Some are dead; 
 and one son, Nehemiah, was buried at sea. 
 The only survivors are Captain Manwaring 
 and his sister Abbie, widow of William Da- 
 vidson. 
 
 During three months of the year David C. 
 Manwaring, until he was twelve years old, 
 attended the district school. At the age of 
 fourteen he went as cook on a fishing-smack 
 alongshore, and at twenty he began to go on 
 deep-sea voyages South as a sailor. At the 
 age of twenty-six he was captain of the sloop 
 " Trojan," in which he sailed for eight years, 
 engaged in fishing for mackerel, sea bass, and 
 halibut alongshore. He then became master 
 of a fishing-sloop. William Chester built 
 her, and sailed in her for seven years. After 
 that he was in the schooner " North Amer- 
 ica " for two years, until the 17th of August, 
 1864, when she was sunk by the privateer 
 " Tallahassee," on Brown's Bank, off the coast 
 of Nova Scotia, with a full load of halibut. 
 She was owned by Messrs. Charles S. PIow- 
 ard, Edwin Howard, Daniel Howard, and 
 Daniel Howard, Jr. The " Tallahassee " ap- 
 
Mr. axii Mrs. DAA'II) C. ftFANWARINC, 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 319 
 
 propriated the papers of the " North Amer- 
 ica," together with her quadrant, charts, fish- 
 ing gear, and so forth, and then sunk her forty 
 miles off shore. The captain and his crew of 
 six men were kept prisoners for seven hours, 
 and were then put on board of a brig. The 
 sloop was valued at four thousand five hundred 
 and seventy dollars, and was paid for some 
 seventeen years later. 
 
 On September 14, 1836, the day before his 
 twenty-fourth anniversary, Captain Manwaring 
 married Frances Sands Clark, who was born 
 on Block Island, November 5, 1816. Their 
 only child, a son, Charles Henry Manwaring, 
 died at the age of two years and a half. Cap- 
 tain and Mrs. Manwaring have lived at their 
 pleasant home at 104 Main Street, Niantic, 
 for the last forty-nine years. When the Cap- 
 tain was away on a voyage, Mrs. Manwaring 
 bought a lot of land, and, before her hus- 
 band's return, had had a house built, and was 
 fairly settled in it. 
 
 In politics the Captain has always been a 
 Democrat. He belongs to no secret order or 
 society; and, when at home between his sea 
 voyages, his time was spent in the companion- 
 ship of his family and by his own fireside. 
 He retired from following the sea some six- 
 teen years ago, and during the last three 
 years has especially devoted himself to caring 
 for his wife, who is in failing health. 
 
 /^HARLES HENRY SCHWANER, 
 I Sf a successful marketman, who has 
 vi£_^ carried on his business in New 
 London for a score of years, was born March 
 3, 1849, in Germany, son of Frederick 
 Schwaner. Having lost his parents while 
 yet very young, his childhood was spent in 
 Brooklyn, N.Y., among strangers. He first 
 came to New London in 1866. After a three 
 
 years' stay he went to Hartford, and there at 
 the age of twenty-one years started in the 
 market business. After conducting it for ten 
 years in that place, he came in 1876 to New 
 London, and engaged in the same line of 
 business, beginning on Bank Street. Two 
 years later he sold out and opened his present 
 market at 46 Main Street, where he has built 
 up a large trade, employs six men, and has 
 one of the finest markets in the city. Al- 
 though he started in life without capital, he 
 now owns valuable property, and is looked 
 upon as one of the most worthy and substan- 
 tial business men of the city. 
 
 In 1872 Mr. Schwaner was united in mar- 
 riage with Miss Carrie Louisa Saunders, a na- 
 tive of Germany, who came to this country 
 with her parents when a child. After her 
 father's death, which occurred a few years 
 later, her mother married Frederick Heine. 
 The latter is now dead, and the widow resides 
 in Hartford. She is the mother of two sons 
 and four daughters. Mr. and Mrs. Schwaner 
 lost a son when he was eighteen months old. 
 They have four sons and a daughter living, 
 namely: Fred, a bright, young man, in busi- 
 ness with his father in the market; May, 
 Harry, Alfred, and Stanley, all of whom, ex- 
 cept May, are still attending school. Mr. 
 Schwaner casts his vote with the Republican 
 party, but does not participate further in poli- 
 tics. He is a member of the Knights Tem- 
 plar, the Odd Fellows, and the Patriarchs 
 Militant. 
 
 7T%APTAIN JOHN L. WARD, of New 
 C jp London, an aged seafarer, who fol- 
 
 ^^ ^ lowed his calling until his eightieth 
 year, was born in New London, Conn., No- 
 vember 27, 1815, son of John and Eliza 
 (Beers) Ward. The father, who was a native 
 
320 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 of Liverpool, England, born in the year 1780, 
 after serving his country as a sailor on a man- 
 of-war, came to New London about 1812. 
 His marriage with Eliza Beers, who was a 
 native of Waterford, New London County, 
 took place in either that year or the next. 
 Three sons and three daughters were born to 
 them, all of whom grew to maturity, namely: 
 Ann Ward, who died about 1866; John L., 
 the subject of this sketch; Abbie, the widow 
 of Alonzo Lewis, now living in New London; 
 William Ward, a sailor and ship officer, who 
 was lost at sea when twenty-four years old ; 
 Captain Joseph Ward, unmarried, who died 
 on shipboard, aged forty-five, and was buried 
 at sea; and Lydia, who married James Perry, 
 and who, together with her husband and chil- 
 dren, is now deceased. The father died in 
 1825, aged forty-five. The mother, who sur- 
 vived him twelve years, passed away in 1837, 
 at the age of fifty-two years. 
 
 John L. Ward, the eldest son and second 
 child of his parents, received only a limited 
 schooling. When seventeen years of age he 
 went to sea with Captain Frank Smith. 
 Climbing step by step from the lowest round 
 of the ladder, he became a captain at twenty- 
 four. His early voyages were made on whal- 
 ing-vessels to the Pacific and Arctic Oceans. 
 His longest voyage, which was undertaken 
 shortly after his marriage, was to the Arctic 
 Ocean, where he spent three years. He has 
 been master and part owner in five different 
 vessels. He made forty voyages to the West 
 Indies. For five years he was captain of a 
 merchantman. In 1849 he went to Califor- 
 nia, taking his wife with him, and was away 
 two years on that trip, during which time he 
 visited the Sandwich Islands. Afterward he 
 made a second trip alone to California, going 
 this time by the Isthmus of Panama. After 
 spending fourteen years in the government 
 
 employ, he lost his position when the Demo- 
 crats came into power. About two years ago 
 he retired from the sea, which he had fol- 
 lowed all together for nearly forty years. It 
 is claimed that he is the oldest seaman in New 
 London, while it is admitted that his old 
 shipmate, Captain Green, is about the same 
 age, and has been a mariner for almost as 
 long a period. 
 
 On April 27, 1840, Captain Ward married 
 Miss Anna Fage, a daughter of John Fage, of 
 Norwich, Conn. She died in 1884, aged 
 seventy-two, leaving two daughters. Their 
 third child, a daughter, died in infancy. 
 Since Mrs. Ward's death, Flora Smith Ward 
 has kept house for her father. Sarah, the 
 other daughter, is the wife of Captain James 
 F. Smith, of this city. Captain Ward has 
 been a Master Mason for fifty-one years. 
 While engaged in seafaring he visited lodges 
 of the brethren in England, F"rance, and other 
 countries. He also belongs to the sailors' 
 organization, the Jib-boom Club. His resi- 
 dence is the house, 15 Meridian Street, which 
 he purchased in 1856. 
 
 Lf REDERICK P. LADD, of Salem, 
 P[; born in Franklin, Conn., March 30, 
 1827, is the eldest son of Asa Spalding 
 and Harriet (Carey) Ladd. In the History of 
 Hampshire, England, one William Ladd is 
 mentioned as juryman in 1294, during the 
 reign of Edward I., and the History of Sur- 
 rey has a record of the fact that in 1325 Ed- 
 ward II. bought the manor of Heale from 
 Walter de Heale, of which Walter Ladd was 
 the custodian. The Ladds came to England 
 in the following of William the Conqueror. 
 A grant of some one thousand, three hundred 
 and forty-four acres was made or transferred 
 to Walter Ladd, mentioned above. The name 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 321 
 
 was formerly spelled Lade, and afterward 
 Lad, but was changed to its present form by 
 John Ladd, who was a member of the British 
 Parliament for Southwark in Surrey from 1713 
 to 1722, and was created a baronet in 1740. 
 The first of the family to settle in America 
 was Daniel Ladd, of Haverhill, Mass., who 
 came from County Kent, England, in the 
 prime of his youth, in 1633-4, on the ship 
 "Mary and John." (See the Ladd Gene- 
 alogy,) 
 
 The records of Ipswich, Mass., show that. 
 Daniel Ladd, on the 5th day of February, 
 1637, was granted six acres of land, that he 
 subsequently built a dwelling thereon, and 
 lived in it for eleven years. He is described 
 as "a typical pioneer and frontiersman, labor- 
 ing for sixty years, trusting in God, and fear- 
 ing nothing." Festus Ladd, the grandfather 
 of Frederick P., born in Franklin, February 
 25, 1776, descended in a direct line from 
 Daniel through Jonathan, Daniel, Samuel, 
 Jonathan, Jeremiah, David, and Abner. 
 Festus died in Franklin in 1848, aged 
 seventy-two. His wife. Ruby Ladd, who was 
 born in 1782, daughter of Ezekiel Ladd, was 
 her husband's cousin. She lived many years 
 in widowhood, and died in 1861. She had 
 three sons and six daughters. Asa Spalding 
 Ladd, son of Festus and Ruby Ladd, was a 
 farmer in Franklin, in Norwich, and Salem, 
 and died in the last-named place in 1875, at 
 the age of seventy-two. His widow died in 
 1894, 3t the age of eighty-five. Of their 
 twelve children one died in infancy. Seven 
 married, and four sons and two daughters had 
 children. One of the sons, Austin N., was a 
 volunteer in the Civil War with the First 
 Minnesota Regiment, and was the third man in 
 the regiment to fall at the first Bull Run, hav- 
 ing been shot through the body. He was a 
 fine scholar, and he held a high rank in the 
 
 Masonic order. He was taken from Libby 
 Prison by a brother Mason, Vice-Presi- 
 dent Stephens, and was cared for until his 
 death. 
 
 Frederick P. Ladd left school when four- 
 teen years old. In his sixteenth year he was 
 afflicted with sciatic rheumiatism, which 
 crippled him and kept him in a semi-invalid 
 state for some time. In 1861 he entered 
 the employ of the Luce Brothers, and re- 
 mained with them for eighteen years, making 
 himself generally useful. He was first mar- 
 ried at the age of thirty-six. Having lost his 
 first wife and only child by death, he married 
 again on Thanksgiving Day, in the year 1875, 
 Miss Sarah M. Winchester, of Salem, a 
 daughter of Lodowich Winchester. Her only 
 child by him is also deceased. They have an 
 adopted son, Willie F., a bright boy of seven- 
 teen years. Mr. Ladd is a Democrat in poli- 
 tics. He has been Constable and Tax Collec- 
 tor for the past three years, has served on the 
 Board of Relief several times, is now serving 
 his fourth year as Justice of the Peace, and 
 he represented his district in the legislature 
 for one term. Both he and Mrs. Ladd are 
 Methodists. He has been a trustee of the 
 church for nine years. His present farm of 
 one hundred well-tilled acres was purchased 
 by him some nineteen years ago. Consider- 
 ing the misfortunes of his early life, when he 
 was crippled, in ill health, and poor, he has 
 been remarkably successful in life. 
 
 fOUIS P. ROATH, a well-known rail- 
 road engineer living in retirement in 
 ^^^ Norwich, was born here, December 
 25, 1833, son of Asa and Elizabeth "(Allyn) 
 Roath. The founder of the family came from 
 England about the year 1640, and settled in 
 Norwich on a grant of land received by him 
 
322 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 from the original town proprietors. He 
 owned at one time about six hundred acres. 
 The house in which he lived is still standing, 
 situated about two hundred rods from the 
 home of Louis P. Roath. An antique writ- 
 ing-desk, which is supposed to have been 
 brought by him from England, is in Mr. 
 Roath's possession. 
 
 Eleazer Roath, the father of Asa, who was 
 born here, spent his mature years in farming 
 on the old Roath homestead. After his death 
 his daughters — ^ Betsey, Rebecca, and Eunice 
 — continued to live in the old house. Bet- 
 sey, the last survivor, did not move out until 
 the fall of 1 866. She died December 31, 
 1880, aged one hundred years, three months, 
 and twenty-seven days, retaining to the last 
 full possession of her faculties. Remarkable 
 for industry throughout her long life, her 
 nimble fingers wove many a carpet on the 
 hand carpet loom left there. On her century 
 birthday she sat for the first and only picture 
 ever taken of her. The chair in which she 
 then sat is preserved as an heirloom. Re- 
 becca lived to be seventy-five, and Eunice 
 seventy-three years of age. 
 
 Asa Roath was born March 3, 1790, and 
 died March 11, 1846. In his early years he 
 taught school, and subsequently was engaged 
 in surveying. A Colonel in the State mili- 
 tia, he served among the defenders of New 
 London in the War of 18 12. For several 
 years he was Probate Judge. Although not a 
 college graduate, he was intellectual and ac- 
 complished, a fine penman, and a most suc- 
 cessful instructor. In 1820 he was married 
 to Miss Elizabeth Allyn, who was born in 
 Groton, Conn., July 2, 1799, daughter of 
 General Stephen Billings Allyn. Nine chil- 
 dren, four sons and five daughters, blessed the 
 union. Of these three died in infancy; Han- 
 nah, the widow of Rufus Fanning, died about 
 
 1874, aged forty-seven years, leaving no chil- 
 dren ; and Ann Meach, the youngest child, 
 who was the wife of Henry L. Parker, died in 
 Norwich in 1894, aged fifty-eight, leaving 
 five children. The survivors are: Edwin A. 
 Roath, an esteemed resident of Norwich ; 
 Stephen B., of Chicago, 111., whither he went 
 in 1855, who is an eccentric bachelor, and 
 takes pride in being wealthier than any Roath 
 of whom he has heard; Elizabeth, the widow 
 of Daniel M. Randall, of Norwich ; and Louis 
 P., the subject of this sketch. The father 
 died in 1846, aged fifty-six [years, and the 
 mother in 1859, at the age of sixty years. 
 Both were buried in the Yantic cemetery, 
 while the earlier ancestors rest in the city 
 cemetery. 
 
 His school days having ended when he was 
 fourteen years old, Louis P. Roath at the age 
 of sixteen years was employed on the railroad 
 as a fireman. In September, 1850, fifteen 
 months later, he was given an engine, which 
 he ran until December, 1868. He had fol- 
 lowed engineering for eighteen years on the 
 Norwich & Worcester Railroad, when, in 
 1868, he entered the shops, and was there em- 
 ployed until 1892. In January, 1895, he re- 
 tired from active labor, and has since lived in 
 his modest but pleasant home at 127 Roath 
 Street, built by him in 1869, on a plat of 
 some eight acres, left by his father to him 
 and his brother, Edwin A. Roath. 
 
 On January 21, 1857, Mr. Roath was mar- 
 ried to Miss Laura E. Seagrave, of Worces- 
 ter, Mass. She is an adopted daughter of 
 John D. and Sarah (Earned) Seagrave. The 
 former resides in Worcester, where his wife 
 died in middle age, having had no children. 
 Mrs. Roath was left an orphan when a small 
 child, and was reared and educated by these 
 kind foster-parents. She has borne her hus- 
 band two children — ^ Clarence P. and Walter. 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 323 
 
 Clarence P., who is a conductor on the Nor- 
 wich division of the New England Railroad, 
 married Miss Frances E. Andrews, a daughter 
 of P. St. M. Andrews, of Norwich, and who 
 died August 11, 1896; and Walter, an engi- 
 neer on the Central Division of the New Eng- 
 land Railroad, living in Providence, R. I., 
 married Miss Ella F. Burnham, of Scarboro, 
 Me., and has a daughter, Laura L., now 
 eleven years old. Mr. Roath, Sr., votes with 
 the Democratic party. He is a Master Mason 
 and a member of the Brotherhood of Locomo- 
 tive Engineers. Both he and Mrs. Roath are 
 members of the Trinity Episcopal Church of 
 Norwich. 
 
 tOBERT S. WATROUS,* a well- 
 known retired master mariner of 
 ^^ Mystic, New London County, 
 Conn., was born in the town of Ledyard, this 
 county, January i, 1841, son of Robert Goudy 
 and Lucy Margaret (Cunningham) Watrous. 
 The original name of the family was Water- 
 house. 
 
 Jacob Waterhouse, the earliest progenitor 
 in this country, came from England to Say- 
 brook, Conn., removing from thence to New 
 London, where he was one of the first three 
 men. He and his sons helped build the dam 
 for the old town mill. His son Jacob was the 
 father of John; and John's son Timothy be- 
 came the father of Jabez, the grandfather of 
 the subject of this sketch. He was born in 
 the town of Ledyard, and married Polly 
 Goudy, a native of Poquetanuck, in this 
 county. They had eleven children. Grand- 
 father Watrous died when he was compara- 
 tively young, while the grandmother lived to 
 be ninety years old. Their son Jabez is now 
 living in Groton, being ninety-three years of 
 age and the only surviving member of the 
 family. 
 
 Robert Goudy Watrous, son of Jabez, Sr.., 
 was born at the old homestead in Ledyard in 
 1808; and in after life he well remembered 
 the battle of Stonington. He was twice mar- 
 ried. His first wife, Lucy Margaret Cunning- 
 ham, who was born in Norwalk, Conn., in 
 1822, died at the age of thirty -three, leaving 
 four of her six children, only two of whom 
 are now living — Robert S. and John C. 
 Watrous. John Cunningham, their maternal 
 grandfather, was a soldier in the War of 181 2; 
 and his brother Benjamin served in the Mexi- 
 can War, and was wounded. While he was 
 in the act of shooting, a ball took away his 
 thumb, and came out of his elbow. Robert 
 Watrous married Mrs. Esther Crouch Rogers 
 for his second wife. She survived him, liv- 
 ing to be an octogenarian. 
 
 Robert S. Watrous was reared on the farm, 
 and attended the common school. At the age 
 of seventeen he began a sailor's life, which 
 he continued to follow, with the exception of 
 two and three-fourths years, until 1892, going 
 at first in a fishing-smack to the Southern 
 coast. He was captain of a vessel for twenty 
 years. During the Civil War he enlisted as 
 private in the Second United States Artillery, 
 serving two years and nine months. On the 
 first day of the battle of Gettysburg he fired 
 the first gun, and was wounded in the leg by 
 a minie ball and taken prisoner. His leg was 
 amputated by a rebel surgeon on the field. 
 Being released on parole, he spent three 
 months each in Gettysburg, Philadelphia, 
 and Baltimore Hospitals, returning home in 
 1864. He receives a pension; and he has 
 charge of the drawbridge, but does very little 
 business. 
 
 On March 24, 1869, he married Sarah 
 Melinda Woodmancy, of Groton, daughter of 
 Denison Woodmancy. Her father died when 
 he was fifty-four years of age, while her 
 
324 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 mother is still living at the age of eighty- 
 two. Mr. and Mrs. Watrous have three chil- 
 dren — Euretta, Sadie, and Robert. Euretta 
 married Henry F. Leitz, and lives in Meri- 
 den, Conn. Sadie has studied vocal music 
 in Newf York City, where she now. sings so- 
 prano in one of the leading churches. Robert 
 is a young man at home. Mrs. Watrous has 
 a brother, Edward Woodmancy, living in 
 Noank; and her sister, Mrs. Charles New- 
 bury, resides in Mystic. 
 
 Fraternally, Mr. Watrous is serving his 
 second year as Commander of Williams Post, 
 No. 55, G. A. R. He also belongs to the 
 Odd Fellows Lodge and Encampment, and to 
 the Knights of Pythias. In politics he is a 
 Republican. 
 
 TT^HARLES A. BAILEY, the leading 
 I jp horse dealer in New London County, 
 
 ^^ ^ was born in Groton, February' 20, 
 1845. His parents were Captain Ezra and 
 Emeline (Turner) Bailey; and his paternal 
 grandparents were Ezra Bailey, Sr., and Han- 
 nah Bailey, who lived on a farm in Groton, and 
 who had two sons, namely. Captain Ezra and 
 Captain William Bailey, and one daughter. 
 Captain Ezra Bailey was one of the old-time 
 Connecticut whalemen, and sailed the ship 
 "General Williams." He was drowned in the 
 Sound near Saybrook about 1857, in the prime 
 of life. His wife was left with two sons — 
 Charles A. and Isaac Addison, the last named 
 of whom is now in California, where he went 
 some nineteen years ago. The mother, Mrs. 
 Emeline T. Bailey, lived a widow many years, 
 and died in March, 1885. 
 
 Mr. Charles A. Bailey began the business 
 in which he is now engaged, and in which he 
 has made such a wide reputation, in this city. 
 He has always been very fond of horses, and 
 
 has always had great success in their manage- 
 ment and training. No animal is so balky 
 that he cannot control it, and no defect in the 
 most highly praised horse and no strong point 
 of excellence, can escape his practised eye. 
 The very wide experience he has had in han- 
 dling horses of high and low degree, truck 
 horses and those with pedigree yards long, 
 has made him one of the best judges, probably 
 the best judge, of horse flesh in the State. 
 He has bought and sold thousands of animals, 
 and every month receives a carload from the 
 West. Not only is he a good business man- 
 ager and a ready salesman, but_he has a gen- 
 uine appreciation jof all the artistic details 
 connected with his business, such as matching 
 a fine pair or selecting a handsome saddle 
 horse or a gentle and at the same time grace- 
 ful and handsome carriage horse for a lady. 
 He buys largely in Michigan, and sells in the 
 East. Among horsemen he is widely known, 
 and his judgment is highly respected. In the 
 business community at large he has a reputa- 
 tion for honesty and fair dealing, and men 
 who know him personally or only from com- 
 mon report are never afraid to trust to his 
 long experience and to his well-known skill 
 when they wish to make a purchase of a new 
 horse. He is an unequalled driver, and may 
 often be seen behind a finely matched pair of 
 steeds, handling the ribbons in a manner 
 which shows him absolute master of the situa- 
 tion. 
 
 Mr. Bailey was married when twenty-one 
 years of age to Sarah Rockwell, of Groton, 
 now deceased. Four children were born to 
 them, and two survive, namely: Eugene 
 Bailey, in New London, who has a wife and 
 two sons; and Jennie Bailey. After the death 
 of his first wife Mr. Bailey married Nellie 
 Conway, of Westerly, R.I. In politics he is 
 an Independent. 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 327 
 
 T^HARLES SPALDING, formerly an 
 I \^^ esteemed resident of Norwich, was 
 V >i° ^ born in Norwich Town, January 31, 
 18 12, son of Luther and grandson of Asa 
 Spalding. Asa Spalding, who was born in 
 Canterbury, Conn., in 1757, graduated from 
 Yale College in 1779, studied law with Judge 
 Adams, of Litchfield, and settled for the prac- 
 tice of his profession in Norwich in 1782. 
 His native ability and force of character 
 formed his only capital; but they soon enabled 
 him to secure clients, and ultimately to build 
 up an extensive and lucrative business and 
 acquire a considerable fortune. He held vari- 
 ous offices of public trust and honor, and at 
 his death in 181 1 was one of the most highly 
 esteemed as well as one of the richest men in 
 Eastern Connecticut. He had a brother, 
 Judge Luther Spalding, who was his junior 
 by ten years, and who settled in Norwich for 
 the practice of law in 1797. Another brother 
 was Dr. Rufus Spalding, a graduate of Yale, 
 'who practised medicine first in Nantucket 
 and subsequently in Norwich, to which he 
 came in 1812, and died in 1830. The three 
 brothers were interred in the same burying- 
 ground at Norwich. Luther Spalding, above 
 named, had one other son besides Charles; 
 namely, George, a graduate of Yale College. 
 
 Charles Spalding was first married on June 
 6, 1837, to Juliette Hubbard, a daughter of 
 Russel Hubbard, of Norwich. Mr. Hubbard 
 was a wealthy paper manufacturer. He built 
 the house at 161 Broadway, where Mrs. 
 Spalding is now residing. This was about 
 1825, before any street was laid out; and the 
 most of bis neighbors thought he was doing an 
 unwise thing. The house, which stands on a 
 sandy knoll, is now said to have one of the 
 finest sites in town. Mrs. Juliette Spalding 
 died on April 2, 1865. On June 11, 1874, 
 Mr. Spalding was married to Mrs. Amanda 
 
 M. Haviland, whose maiden name was God- 
 dard. She was born, reared, and educated in 
 Boston. Her first husband was Thomas Havi- 
 land, a worker in plaster and stucco. Mr. and 
 Mrs. Haviland resided in Boston on Chestnut 
 Street until the death of the former on April 
 20, 1873. Mr. Spalding died July 24, 1885. 
 Mrs. Spalding, who survives her husband, 
 is the daughter of William and Sarah (War- 
 ner) Goddard, of Boston. Mr. Goddard was a 
 carpenter and builder. His house was situ- 
 ated where the Boston post-office now stands. 
 Beginning life in humble circumstances, he 
 devoted himself with energy to whatever busi- 
 ness came his way, and in time became a 
 wealthy man. At his death he bequeathed 
 his estate to his family, making certain pro- 
 visions designed for the improvement of the 
 property and its retention by his heirs for 
 a long period, until it should have greatly 
 enhanced in value. Scarcely any of these 
 provisions were carried out, however, owing 
 to the fact that, much of the real estate being 
 situated in the heart of the business district, 
 it was early taken by the city at a compara- 
 tively small rate of compensation, to make way 
 for public improvements. Parts of it were 
 destroyed by fire, and another part was cut into 
 by a railroad. The result was that the heirs 
 received but a small portion of what would 
 otherwise have been theirs had the property 
 been allowed to remain intact and increase in 
 value. William Goddard died on April 14, 
 i860, and is buried in Mount Auburn. Be- 
 side him rests his wife, who, after surviving 
 him three years, died at the age of eighty-two 
 years and seven months. They were the par- 
 ents of nine children, of whom Mrs. Spald- 
 ing was the youngest and the only sur- 
 vivor. Her brother, Thomas Goddard, of the 
 firm of Goddard & Dennis, was for many 
 years a well-known carriage manufacturer of 
 
328 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 Boston. An interesting Memorial of the 
 Spalding Family, written by Samuel J. Spald- 
 ing, was published in Boston by Alfred Mudge 
 & Son in 1872. 
 
 MOS B. TILLOTSON, a prosperous 
 farmer of Salem, was born at Grassy 
 Hill, near his present residence, 
 September 9, 1823, son of William M. and 
 Deborah (Huntley) Tillotson. The paternal 
 grandfather was Dr. George Tillotson, a de- 
 scendant of a wealthy English family. He 
 had three sons and five daughters, all of whom 
 married and lived to an advanced age. He 
 was a botanic physician, and practised very 
 successfully, being especially noted for his 
 skill in cases of poison from snake bites. It 
 was his habit to visit his patients on horse- 
 back, with his saddle-bags hanging on either 
 side. William M. Tillotson was born in 
 Lyme in 1784, and died in 1835. He saw 
 military service in the War of 18 12, and sub- 
 sequently received a pension on account of in- 
 juries received in the war. He married Deb- 
 orah Huntley, daughter of Elihu Huntley, a 
 farmer of Lyme. They had seven children, 
 namely: Ira, who was born about 1809, and 
 died at the age of fifty-seven years, leaving a 
 widow; Joanna, who married Jabez Bogue, 
 and died in early womanhood, leaving two 
 children; Julia, who became the wife of Al- 
 bert Chapell, and died in May, 1894, at the 
 age of eighty-one, and of whose four children 
 three are now living; Harlow, a stage propri- 
 etor, who died in 1849, unmarried; Amos B., 
 the subject of this sketch; Franklin, who 
 married, had one child that died in infancy, 
 and who himself died in Waterford, at the age 
 of twenty-two years; and a son who died in in- 
 fancy. The mother passed away at the home 
 of her son Amos in 1880. 
 
 Amos B. Tillotson, after pursuing his 
 
 school studies for the ordinary period, took up 
 farming, in which occupation he has since 
 continued. He is the owner of a good farm 
 in Salem, containing three hundred and fifty- 
 five acres, which he purchased in April, 1881, 
 and on which he is engaged in mixed husban- 
 dry. The appearance of his estate gives evi- 
 dence of prosperity and comfort. He is inde- 
 pendent in politics, and has neither sought 
 nor held office. December 3, 1865, he mar- 
 ried Frances A. Bailey, daughter of Lyman 
 and Betsey (Irish) Bailey, well-to-do farming 
 people of Preston, both parents, however, 
 being natives of Ledyard. Of Mrs. Tillot- 
 son's four brothers and three sisters, all are 
 living except Albert M. Bailey, formerly a 
 police officer in Providence, R. I., who died at 
 the age of thirty-three years, leaving a wife 
 but no children. 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Tillotson's only child, Bessie, 
 died April 21, 1884, at the age of sixteen 
 years, just as she was blossoming into a per- 
 fect womanhood. She was an affectionate 
 daughter, beautiful and talented, and an earn- 
 est Christian in heart and life, and was ad- 
 mired by all who knew her. Her death was 
 the occasion of some sincere tributes in verse, 
 expressing the estimate in which she was held 
 by her friends. We reprint the following, by 
 S. D. Phelps, which was published in the 
 Christian Secretary : — ■ 
 
 MEMORIAL OF AN ONLY DAUGHTER. 
 
 BY S. D. PHELPS. 
 
 Playful darling, blooming maiden, 
 
 Bessie was our only child, 
 Dearly loved and beauty-laden — 
 Heaven upon our home had smiled. 
 Loving eyes were often glancing 
 On her winning ways entrancing, 
 Toward maturing years advancing. 
 
 Who parental love can measure. 
 Tell its strength, its reaches know 'i 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 329 
 
 Who can estimate the treasure 
 
 Which the heart's affections sliow ? 
 When the tie by death is brolcen, 
 When fades out love's sweetest tolcen, 
 Can the sorrow e'er be spolcen ? 
 
 Lovely Bessie ! fondly cherished, 
 
 How our hearts around thee twined ! 
 
 Brightest hopes in thee have perished, 
 
 All the world seems dumb and blind ! 
 
 Night upon our souls is falling. 
 
 Deep to solemn deep is calling, 
 
 Ah ! the gloom is dread, appalling ! 
 
 Saviour, lift the cloud of sadness. 
 Show us thy dear face divine ; 
 Bring our hearts a ray of gladness. 
 O'er them let thy pity shine. 
 
 Sure, the soul that deeply grieveth. 
 Comfort sweet and calm receiveth. 
 As thy promise it believeth. 
 
 Lingering gently at the border, 
 
 While no fear her spirit vexed, 
 Bessie spoke her love's true order : 
 " Jesus first and parents next." 
 
 Farewells given, forth she ventured. 
 All her hopes in Jesus centred. 
 As within the veil she entered. 
 
 Passing through the heavenly portal. 
 
 Fading from our earthly sight, 
 She has found a home immortal, 
 In the world of life and light : 
 Left forever tears and sighing ; 
 Blessed change, from pain and dying. 
 Endless bliss the soul supplying. 
 
 There, amid celestial splendors, 
 
 Angel hosts and ransomed throngs, 
 Praises to the Lamb she renders. 
 Joining in those glorious songs. 
 There she waits for us to meet her. 
 When with rapture we shall greet her ; 
 Oh, what thought or hope is sweeter ? 
 
 Lord, we trust thee : thou art gracious ; 
 
 Thou didst give the jewel fair ; 
 
 Oh, to us how bright and precious ! 
 
 And to thee what treasure rare ! 
 
 Ours and thine. Lord, thou hast taken ; 
 We're bereaved, but not forsaken ; 
 Her from sleep thy voice shall waken. 
 
 AMES WILSON BIXLER, A.M., 
 B.D., the pastor of the Second Con- 
 gregational Church of New London, 
 was born in Hanover, York County, Pa., Feb- 
 ruary 28, 1861. A son of David D. and Al- 
 mira (Wilson) Bixler, he comes of German 
 and Swiss descent. David Bixler, his grand- 
 father, born in Hanover, Pa., in 1798, was a 
 son of Peter Bixler, of Carroll County, Mary- 
 land. A merchant in trade in Hanover for 
 a number of years, David acquired a com- 
 petency, and left a good estate at his death, 
 which occurred in Hanover in 1873, when he 
 was seventy-five years old. Active in local 
 affairs, he served in a number of public 
 offices. He married Susan Long, of Hanover. 
 She was a daughter of Samuel Long, who was 
 one of the Revolutionary soldiers who experi- 
 enced the hardships of Valley Forge. Mrs. 
 Susan Bjxler lived to be ninety-one years of 
 age, dying in 1891. She rests with her hus- 
 band in the cemetery at Hanover. They were 
 members of the Lutheran church. Of the six 
 children reared by them, three daughters and 
 three sons, four are living to-day. 
 
 David D. Bixler was born in Hanover in 
 1830. After spending some time in business 
 with his father, he became the latter's suc- 
 cessor, and is still conducting a store there. 
 He married Almira Wilson, of York, Pa., a 
 daughter of John A. and Rachel (Mantle) 
 Wilson. The Wilsons are of Scotch-Irish 
 origin. Mrs. Almira Bixler's paternal grand- 
 father, who was a native of the north of Ire- 
 land, was educated for the Presbyterian min- 
 istry, and for a number of years was the 
 pastor of a church in York County, Pennsyl- 
 vania. A close student, gifted with literary 
 talent, he was the author of a number of 
 books. John A. Wilson was also educated for 
 the ministry, but his health was too uncertain 
 to allow of his assuming pastoral duties. He 
 
33° 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 found employment as a scrivener, and was for 
 a number of years clerk of the York County 
 courts. His wife died in February, 1896. 
 She was the mother of four children, namely: 
 James Wilson, the subject of this sketch; 
 Samuel' Lincoln and Charles Saxton, who are 
 in business with their father, the firm name 
 being D. D. Bixler & Sons; and David Her- 
 vey Bixler, who graduated from Amherst Col- 
 lege in the class of 1896, and is now in the 
 employ of the Vermont Marble Company at 
 Proctor, Vt. Samuel L. Bixler has a wife and 
 one son. 
 
 James Wilson Bixler attended school in 
 Williamsport, Pa., and graduated from Am- 
 herst in 1882, an honor man and one of the 
 class officers, with a class of sixty-five. In 
 that college he took several prizes for a 
 scholarship, and received the degree of Master 
 of Arts. He then took a .divinity course at 
 Yale, spending the fourth year in fellowship. 
 From Yale he received the degree of Bache- 
 lor of Divinity. After finishing his college 
 course, he travelled and studied in Germany 
 for a year, and then for a year was assistant 
 to Dr. George L. Walker, the pastor of the 
 First Church in Hartford, Conn. He was or- 
 dained in October, 1889, and installed as pas- 
 tor of the North Congregational Church in 
 Haverhill, Mass. This pastorate he resigned 
 in 1891 to take charge of the Second Congre- 
 gational Church in New London, which so- 
 ciety, formed in 1836, is one of the oldest 
 and wealthiest religious organizations in the 
 city, and has a membership numbering over 
 five hundred. The church edifice is a granite 
 structure, erected in 1870, with richly colored 
 stained glass windows and a fine granite 
 spire. The music is rendered by an accom- 
 plished organist and a cultured quartette. 
 This church requires a scholarly and eloquent 
 pastor, and Mr. Bixler has acceptably filled the 
 
 pulpit for five years. The pastoral residence, 
 which is a very beautiful one, was built and 
 endowed by Mrs. M. S. Harris, in memory of 
 her deceased husband, the Hon. J. N. Harris, 
 who was a Deacon of the church. Church, 
 chapel, and parsonage, together, cost over one 
 hundred and fifty thousand dollars. 
 
 Mr. Bixler was married in Amherst, Au- 
 gust 4, 1 891, to Elizabeth James, a daughter 
 of President Julius H. Seelye, of Amherst 
 College. She was a Smith College student 
 and an accomplished pianist. She died April 
 10, 1894, leaving one son, Julius Seelye 
 Bixler, who was born April 4, 1894. Mr. 
 Bixler is a member of the Psi Upsilon fra- 
 ternity, of Amherst, and is one of the over- 
 seers of the charity fund of that college. He 
 is a trustee of the Smith Memorial Home, 
 which was founded and richly endowed by the 
 late Dr. Seth Smith. In 1897 he was elected 
 a corporate member of the American Board of 
 Commissioners for Foreign Missions. 
 
 RS. HARRIET A. RATHBONE,* 
 a respected resident of Salem, was 
 born in the house in which she 
 now resides, daughter of William A. and 
 Emeline (Morgan) Strickland. Her father 
 was born January 23, 1812, and was a farmer 
 by occupation. By his wife, Emeline, who was 
 born January 17, 1813, he had three children: 
 William N., a farmer, residing in Salem; 
 James Morgan, a resident of Norwich; and 
 Harriet A.. The father died in 1882, at the 
 age of seventy. His wife passed away four 
 years later, and both were laid to rest in the 
 Congregational churchyard at Salem. 
 
 Harriet A. Strickland was educated chiefly 
 at the Sheffield Seminary, and afterward 
 taught the district school for some time. She 
 subsequently married Alban Rathbone, son of 
 
JEPIITHAH C. BILL. 
 
MRS. JEl'HTHAH (',. BILL. 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 335 
 
 Alban and Harriet (Boyers) Rathbone and a 
 pattern-maker and a master mechanic. After 
 tiie breaking out of the war Mr. Rathbone 
 enlisted in Company C, Twenty-fourth Con- 
 necticut Regiment. He was wounded in ac- 
 tion, and confined for some time in a hospital 
 in the South. He died of consumption, Au- 
 gust 7, 1876, at the age of thirty-seven years, 
 as a result of the hardships encountered dur- 
 ing service in the army. He left one son, 
 Henry A., who grew up, married, and has a wife 
 and one son, John, the latter still a baby boy. 
 Except during the short period of her mar- 
 ried life Mrs. Rathbone has always resided 
 at the old home of her parents. Since her 
 father's death she has carried on the farm, 
 and has succeeded by pluck and perseverance 
 in gaining a comfortable livelihood. Few 
 better examples could be presented of the 
 enterprising and self-reliant women of New 
 London County. 
 
 (ffj^EPHTHAH G. BILL, a leading farmer 
 of Griswold, in the north-eastern part 
 of New London County, was born in 
 this town, September 7, 1823, son of Elisha 
 Satterlee and Olivet (Geer) Bill. His pater- 
 nal grandfather was a prosperous farmer of 
 Groton, in the southern part of the county, 
 and had a family of five sons and three daugh- 
 ters. 
 
 His father, Elisha S. Bill, a farmer and 
 shoemaker, and a prominent man in public 
 affairs, was born in 1798, in that part of the 
 old town of Groton that is now Ledyard, and 
 died in Griswold, at the age of sixty-five. He 
 was twice married. His first wife. Olivet, to 
 whom he was united in 1818, was born in 
 Preston in 1800, daughter of Jephthah and 
 Olivet (Herrick) Geer. She died in March, 
 1837, having been the mother of the following 
 children: Sarah Maria, born 1819, now de- 
 
 ceased; James L., born August 16, 1821, now 
 living at Clark's Falls, North Stonington; 
 Jephthah G., born in 1823; Ann Elizabeth, 
 born in 1825; Amos William, born in 1827; 
 Sidney W. ; Elisha, a farmer who died in 
 middle life at North Stonington; and Ezra 
 Gardner, a blind teacher, superintendent in 
 the Blind School at Hartford. Amos W. Bill 
 was a soldier in the Twenty-sixth Connecticut 
 Infantry in the war of the Rebellion, and 
 was detailed as a despatch bearer. He was at 
 Port Hudson. Only three of these children 
 are living to-day; namely, James, Jephthah, 
 and Ezra. The father married for his second 
 wife • Celestina Lucy Ann Walcott Shaw, 
 widow of Charles Barber, who was lost at sea. 
 Six sons and four daughters were born of this 
 union, and three of the family are now living, 
 namely: Hibbard, who is in Massachusetts; 
 Nelson, a mechanic in West Medway; and 
 Nancy Ann Gennett, now Mrs. Richmond, of 
 Greenville. The second Mrs. Bill survived 
 her husband some years, and died at the age of 
 fifty. Benjamin Shaw Bill, one of her sons, 
 was a volunteer soldier from Connecticut in 
 the late war, and died in Andersonville Prison. 
 Mr. Jephthah G. Bill received a good com- 
 mon-school education, and made his home with 
 his father until his marriage, in his twenty- 
 fifth year. Forty-four years ago he settled on 
 the old Benjamin farm of seventy acres, which 
 was owned and occupied in the last century 
 by Ezra Benjamin, his wife's grandfather, a 
 great-uncle, John Benjamin, having bought 
 a large tract of land, which was divided 
 among his heirs. Mr. Bill owns about two 
 hundred and fifty acres, and carries on general 
 farming and dairying, making considerable 
 butter. He has been a Justice of the Peace 
 for many years, and has had charge of settling 
 many estates. In this responsible position he 
 has shown great executive ability and entire 
 
33^ 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 fidelity to the confidence reposed in him, and 
 to-day no man in the community has a fairer 
 reputation for integrity and absolute honor. 
 
 Mr. Bill was married on February 15, 
 1848, to Prudence Powers Benjamin, daughter 
 of Eames and Prudence (Chapman) Benjamin. 
 The family annals furnish a striking instance 
 of longevity, one of Mrs. Bill's great-uncles, 
 Abiel Benjamin, having lived to be nearly one 
 hundred and four years old, and so vigorous on 
 his one hundredth anniversary that he walked 
 the distance of half a mile. The early Benja- 
 mins were Methodists, and Mrs. Bill was a 
 member and active worker in the Methodist 
 church. She died on the last day of June, 
 1896, at the age of seventy-five, after forty- 
 eight years of wedded life. Shortly after re- 
 tiring for the night, apparently as well as 
 ever, she was stricken with heart failure, and 
 expired almost instantly. Mrs. Bill was the 
 mother of three children, of whom the follow- 
 ing is a brief record: Benjamin Jephthah, the 
 eldest, is a physician and surgeon at Genoa 
 Junction, Wis., has a lucrative practice, stands 
 high in his profession, and is active in the 
 social and religious life of the community. 
 He has four sons and two daughters. Harriet 
 Prudence Bill married Ransom H. Young, and 
 is the mother of four children — three sons 
 and a daughter. Ann Isabella Bill died when 
 nearly fourteen years of age. 
 
 Mr. Bill united with the Methodist Episco- 
 pal church at the age of twelve years, and has 
 ever since been an active Christian worker. 
 He has been class leader and steward, and is 
 associated with the work of the Sunday-school, 
 and with all the benevolent and charitable 
 activities of the church. He is a Republican 
 in politics; and in 1870 he represented the 
 town of Griswold in the State legislature, run- 
 ning far ahead of the ticket at the time of his 
 election. 
 
 REDERICK HOWARD DART, 
 M.D. ,* a prominent medical practi- 
 tioner of Niantic, was born across the 
 river, in the town of Waterford, on the 6th of 
 March, i860, and is descended from Richard 
 Dart, who bought land in New London at an 
 early date. Richard's son, William Dart, 
 was born September 21, 1762, in Waterford. 
 William's son Leonard, grandfather of Dr. 
 Dart, was born May 5, 1802, and died in 1882. 
 He was in business in New London for many 
 years, and up to some fifteen or twenty years 
 before his death. He and his brother, Giles 
 Dart, were engaged in the manufacture of 
 coffee-mills, and were also in company with 
 Mr. Wilson in the manufacture of vises, Mr. 
 Wilson being one of the early and prominent 
 manufacturers, in whose employ Grandfather 
 Dart was engaged for a time. Leonard Dart 
 married Harriet Bishop Watrous, born May 
 22, 1806, daughter of Deacon John Watrous, 
 a prominent land-owner at Lake Pond. 
 Leonard, the only child by this marriage, 
 became father of the Doctor. He was en- 
 gaged in mercantile business for some years, 
 and was of the firm of Stewart & Dart. He 
 is now employed in the office of E. B. Pierce, 
 mason and builder. His wife, Josephine 
 Beckwith, to whom he was married in 1854, 
 was born March 31, 1833, in Waterford, 
 daughter of Daniel D. and Miranda Beckwith. 
 Both Mr. and Mrs. Dart are members of the 
 Second Congregational Church. The elder 
 son of this marriage, Leonard Watrous Dart, 
 Jr., born April 16, 1858, resides in New Lon- 
 don, and is book-keeper for Palmer Brothers. 
 He has one daughter, named Dorothy, born 
 in 1892. 
 
 Dr. Dart acquired his early education at 
 Pepper Box Hill and Montville and in the 
 Bulkley High School, New London, and 
 studied medicine in the medical department 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 337 
 
 of Columbia College, New York, graduating 
 in the class of 1884. He opened practice in 
 this town in 1885, being associated with Dr. 
 Hunger for about five years, and since then 
 has had an independent practice. He has 
 earned for himself an excellent reputation as 
 a physician and a man of the strictest probity. 
 His field of practice covers a wide area, and 
 he keeps four horses for use in attending to 
 his professional work. He is connected with 
 the various medical societies of this region, 
 and his skill is recognized by his fellow- 
 physicians as well as by the public at large. 
 He is a member of the State and county medi- 
 cal societies, also of the New London Medi- 
 cal Society, and is president of the New Lon- 
 don Medical Club. He is United States 
 Medical Examiner of Pensions for the dis- 
 trict of New London and examiner for the 
 coroner and for the Board of Health of the 
 town of East Lyme. He is Post Surgeon, 
 and he has been on the Board of School Visi- 
 tors for four years, being now chairman. Fra- 
 ternally, he is a Master Mason. 
 
 Dr. Dart took as his life partner Maria 
 E. Bond, daughter of Norman J. and Jane 
 (Moody) Bond, of East Lyme, originally from 
 Yarmouth, N. S., where Mr. Bond had been 
 a prominent banker. Mrs. Dart's father died 
 in this town in 1884, leaving to his widow 
 and eight children the fine property of Black 
 Point. He was a son of Dr. Bond, of Nova 
 Scotia. Dr. and Mrs. Dart are prominent 
 Episcopalians and members of St. James's 
 Parish, New London. They have one son, 
 Frederick Bond Dart, born February 27, 1896. 
 
 /T^APTAIN WILLIAM H. SISTARE, 
 I jr'^ a retired sea captain of New London, 
 
 V >^ ^ Conn., was born in this city 
 on September 9, 1831, son of William M. 
 
 and Martha (Beebe) Sistare. He is de- 
 scended from a Spanish family. Don Gabriel 
 Sistare (also written Sistere), the earliest 
 known ancestor, was born in Barcelona, Spain, 
 in 1700. He married Marie Mitzavila. 
 Their son, Captain Gabriel Sistare, who was 
 born in Barcelona on May i, 1726, settled in 
 New London, October 14, 1771. He was 
 twice married. His first wife, whose maiden 
 name was Maria Molas, died in Barcelona, 
 leaving one child, also named Gabriel, born 
 in Barcelona in 1754, who came to this city 
 with Captain De Shon in 1772, and subse- 
 quently married Frances Chew. The latter 
 was born in 1759, daughter of Joseph and 
 Frances De Shon Chew. Captain Gabriel's 
 second marriage was made with Elizabeth 
 Beebe, who had one child, Joseph, born April 
 22, 1774. Joseph Sistare married Nancy 
 Wey, who died in New York City on Novem- 
 ber 13, i860. She was a descendant of 
 George Wey, who was born in New London 
 in 1630. Captain Gabriel died February 3, 
 179S; while his widow survived until Septem- 
 ber II, 1798. Gabriel Sistare (third) died 
 on January 11, 1820; and his wife passed 
 away on October 11, 1841. 
 
 William M. Sistare, born in this city on 
 July 2, 1794, was a New London merchant, 
 and served his country as Quartermaster in 
 the War of 18 12. He married Martha Beebe; 
 and they had four children, of whom William 
 H., the subject of this sketch, is the only sur- 
 vivor. The others were: Joseph Allen, who 
 was a master mariner, and died in this city in 
 1 87 1, at the age of forty, leaving four sons; 
 James Morgan Sistare, also a sea captain, who 
 died in January, 1892, at the age of fifty- 
 three, leaving five children; and Mary Ellen, 
 who was the wife of Orrin Beckwith, and died 
 at the age of thirty-one, leaving three children. 
 The father lived to be eighty-seven years of 
 
338 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 age, and the mother attained the age of 
 seventy-five. 
 
 William H. Sistare acquired a good com- 
 mon-school education. He had been a clerk 
 in his father's store for some time, when at 
 the age of sixteen years he went in his own 
 fishing-sloop, the "Harriet," from Cape May 
 to Chatham, Cape Cod, Mass. Thereafter he 
 was engaged in the coasting trade for nearly 
 forty years. He retired in 1886, after a suc- 
 cessful career. In politics he affiliates with 
 the Republican party. 
 
 On June 9, 1859, Captain Sistare was mar- 
 ried to Mary B. Paige, of this city. Her 
 parents, John S. and Harriet Newell (Beebe) 
 Paige, now deceased, were natives respec- 
 tively of North Brookfield, Mass., and New 
 London. Of their twelve children they reared 
 seven, all of whom are living. Frank L. 
 Paige, the only brother of Mrs. Sistare, is 
 a clothier in New York City. Mr. and Mrs. 
 Sistare have had nine children, of whom three 
 died in infancy and Gabriel Carlos in his 
 fifth year. The survivors are: Ellen, John 
 Foster, Mattie Serena, Lyturgus Mackie, and 
 Hattie Breckenridge, all of whom have been 
 educated in New London. Lycurgus is a 
 letter carrier in this city. John Foster, born 
 March 24, 1864, is a member of the well- 
 known firm Palmer & Sistare, of New Lon- 
 don. In religion Mr. Sistare and his family 
 are Congregationalists. They reside at 44 
 Shaw Street, where William M. Sistare built 
 a house in 1842. The adjoining lot has been 
 the property of the Sistare family since 1757. 
 
 IRY E. WEST, of New London, 
 now retired from active business, at 
 one time kept one of the best livery 
 stables in the county. He was born in Leb- 
 anon, this State, June 15, 1821, son of Enos 
 
 and Nancy (Latham) West, both of whom 
 were natives of Connecticut. His grand- 
 father, Joshua West, a farmer of Montville, 
 Conn., residing near Gardner's Lake, had a 
 family of two daughters and two sons, the 
 boys being twins. 
 
 Enos West, the only child of his parents 
 that reached maturity, was born in Montville, 
 March 12, 1781. He, too, was a farmer, and 
 was fairly well-to-do. His death occurred in 
 Colchester, Conn., February 10, 1846. His 
 wife, to whom he was married on November 
 29, 1808, was born in Groton, January 16, 
 1789. She reared two daughters and one 
 son, and died at the home of the latter in 
 New London, January 8, 1880, eight days 
 prior to her ninety- first birthday. The elder 
 daughter, Hannah W., who became the wife 
 of William Smith, of Walpole, Mass., died in 
 VVillimantic, Conn., November 9, 1845, leav- 
 ing one son, Frank Howard Smith. Frank 
 H. Smith lives in New London, and has 
 one son, Herbert Raymond, a young man of 
 twenty-one, attending college at New Haven. 
 The other daughter, Mary Perkins West, 
 married Waldo Bingham, of Windham, Conn., 
 and died in that town, August 27, 1853, leav- 
 ing one daughter, Josephine W., who is now 
 living in Windham. 
 
 Henry E. West, who was the only son of 
 his parents, was reared on a farm, remaining 
 with his father and mother until he was eigh- 
 teen years of age. After the family moved 
 to Colchester, he attended school for a couple 
 of years. He was then employed in Col- 
 chester for one year or more, and in that place 
 first engaged in the livery business. On 
 April 12, 1844, he located in New London; 
 and in February, 1847, his brother-in-law, 
 William Smith, became his partner. To- 
 gether they built up a first-class trade, the 
 firm of West & Smith soon taking place 
 
]OllN J!. SIZEK 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 341 
 
 among the best livery firms of the county. 
 They were in business until 1890. Mr. 
 Smith died November 10, 1894. Mr. West, 
 though now practically retired from business, 
 finds pleasure and occupation -in dispensing 
 a cure for rheumatism that he discovered, and 
 which has become very popular. 
 
 On June 9, 1846, Mr. Smith was married 
 to Abby Ann, daughter of William and Lucy 
 (Bigelow) Gelston. Mr. Gelston, who was a 
 farmer and a native of East Haddam, died in 
 187s, at the age of eighty-eight. His wife, 
 a native of Colchester, Conn., died in June, 
 1880, aged eighty-one years and six months. 
 Four of the six children born to this couple 
 grew to maturity, namely: Abby A., now 
 Mrs. West; Maltby and John Bigelow Gel- 
 ston, who reside in East Haddam; and Lucy, 
 who makes her home with Mr. West. Mr. 
 West has no children. In politics he is in- 
 dependent, usually voting for the Democratic 
 candidate. He has served in the City Coun- 
 cil. His religious belief is not restricted by 
 the lines of creed. Thirty-seven years ago 
 he moved into his pleasant home at 35 Main 
 Street, one of the old Colonial houses of New 
 London; roomy, substantial, and well pre- 
 served in spite of its age. 
 
 -OHN BRUCE SIZER, the steward of 
 the Old Ladies' Home in New London, 
 was born here, July 12, 1839. His 
 father and paternal grandfather, both named 
 Jonathan, were also residents of New London. 
 The Sizers, who are an old and respected fam- 
 ily, originally came from Salem, Mass. The 
 father had the first and the only brass foundry 
 in Connecticut at tliat time. His wife, whose 
 maiden name was Sarah Way, had eight chil- 
 dren, of whom John B. and Rose— who is the 
 wife of George Potter, of this city — are liv- 
 
 ing. Mary married David A. Pollock, and 
 died at the age of thirty-two. By a second 
 marriage, contracted with Thomas H. Brooks, 
 the mother had twins, Henry and Thomas, 
 both now deceased. After Mr. Brooks's death 
 a third marriage united her to Alfred Hemp- 
 stead, who survived her, and left a noble rec- 
 ord besides property. Mr. Hempstead was 
 much sought for in the settlement of estates. 
 Both were kind to the poor, and had a large 
 circle of admiring friends. 
 
 On November 3, 1869, Mr. Sizer was mar- 
 ried to Mrs. Mary Esther Stevens Lyons, a 
 native of this city and a daughter of Captain 
 Daniel and Sophia Rogers (Holt) Stevens. 
 Her grandfather, Giles Holt, was a well- 
 known sea captain of New London. Her 
 father at the age of twenty-six was the com- 
 mander of a line steamer plying between New 
 York and Liverpool. Born in Saco, Me., he 
 was a man of fine physique, measuring six 
 feet, four inches, and weighing two hundred 
 and twenty-five pounds. He died at the age 
 of twenty-six. In her childhood Mrs. Sizer 
 made several voyages abroad. She was first 
 married at the early age of sixteen to Captain 
 Joshua Lyons, and by him had one child, 
 William Edgar Lyons, a fine young man, who 
 died at the age of twenty-one years. Mrs. 
 Sizer has three half-brothers — Jeremiah 
 Slate, Franklin Slate, and Samuel Norris 
 Slate. — ^who are all sea captains and residents 
 of New London. 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Sizer have held their joint 
 positions of honor and responsibility as matron 
 and steward of the Old Ladies' Home for over 
 ten years. This institution, which was estab- 
 lished almost thirteen years ago, occupies a 
 three-story brick structure, with accommoda- 
 tions for thirty inmates. The efficient Board 
 of Directors are: the Hon. Robert Coit (presi- 
 dent), the Hon. Augustus Brandagee, the Hon. 
 
342 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 Thomas Waller, Henry R. Bond, Dr. Bixter, 
 and Dr. Blake. Drs. Bixter and Blake are 
 pastors of Congregational churches. Dr. 
 Braman is the attending physician, and Mrs. 
 Helen Spencer is the head nurse. Mrs. 
 Sizer has conducted her household so harmo- 
 niously that few changes have been necessary. 
 She settles her bills monthly, and is respon- 
 sible to the president, Mr. Coit, alone. 
 
 T^APTAIN JOSEPH WARREN 
 ( V^ HOLMES,* whose home is in the 
 
 V fc^ ^ village of Mystic, Conn., was born 
 here on April i, 1824. His parents were 
 Captain Jeremiah and Ann B. (Denison) 
 Holmes. 
 
 Jeremiah Holmes, Sr. , the father of Cap- 
 tain Jeremiah, was a farmer in Stonington. 
 His wife, whose maiden name was Mary Deni- 
 son, was a descendant of George Denison, 
 one of the early settlers of New London, 
 Conn., who came to this country from Eng- 
 land in 163 1 in the ship "Lion," and lived 
 for some time at Roxbury, Mass. 
 
 Captain Jeremiah Holmes was born in Mill- 
 town, Conn., September 6, 1782. He was 
 but eight years old when his father died. 
 Remaining with his mother until fourteen 
 years of age, he then went to live with his 
 brother-in-law, Thomas Crary, in Norwich, 
 Chenango County, N.Y., where he worked 
 and attended school. In the winter of 1800 
 he went to New York City, walking to Cats- 
 kill on the Hudson, and going from there by 
 a packet boat. Naturally of a restless spirit 
 and possessing a strong desire to see the 
 world, he shipped in the schooner "Four Sis- 
 ters" for Falkland Islands; but the unlawful 
 smuggling scheme of her commander. Cap- 
 tain Peleg Barker, landed them instead in 
 Para, Brazil, in a Portuguese dungeon that 
 
 was hot, dark, and damp. Two months later 
 they were transferred to a frigate, and subse- 
 quently taken to Lisbon on a Portuguese ves- 
 sel, which was one hundred and thirty days on 
 the way, though ordinarily the trip required 
 but fifty. Lacking sufficient food and water, 
 without bread and meat, and suffering for 
 want of clothing and cleanliness, their condi- 
 tion can be better imagined than described. 
 Of their treatment on reaching Lisbon, no de- 
 tails are given; but Jeremiah Holmes eventu- 
 ally reached New York again, and, undaunted 
 by his experience, continued his seafaring 
 life, and rose to the position of captain. 
 One memory of his adventure was always. dear 
 to him, that of his true and generous sailor 
 friend, Hans, of Norway. For his gallant 
 service in the War of 1812, Captain Jeremiah 
 Holmes won the title of Hero of Stoning- 
 ton. He lived to be ninety years of age, and 
 his wife to be ninety-nine. They were the 
 parents of nine children, of whom four sons 
 and two daughters grew to maturity. One 
 son, Isaac D., is now living in Mystic; his 
 sister, Mary Ann, wife of Randall Brown, 
 died in 1894; and Esther C, wife of Captain 
 Latham, died in 1895, leaving one daughter. 
 
 Joseph Warren Holmes attended school 
 here in Mystic until thirteen years old. He 
 then went to sea as cabin boy on the "Ap- 
 palachicola, " commanded by Captain Latham, 
 and was gone nine months. During the next 
 three years he went with his father summers 
 in the packet "Leeds" from New York to 
 Mystic, and in the winter attended school. 
 The summer he was sixteen he was mate of a 
 sloop. The following winter he spent in 
 Suffield, and in the spring shipped on the 
 bark "Leander," under Captain Bailey, with 
 whom he made his first voyage around the 
 world, completing the circuit in twenty-two 
 months. The " Leander" was engaged in 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 343 
 
 whale fishery in the South Atlantic, South 
 Pacific, and Indian Oceans. At twenty-one 
 he became master of the same bark, on which 
 he made three voyages, the second and third 
 of twenty months each; Leaving the "Lean- 
 der" in 1847, he went in the "Coriolanus" on 
 a whaling trip to the Indian Ocean, followed 
 by a voyage to the Arctic Ocean, where the 
 ship was filled in sixty days. He continued 
 to engage in the whale fishery until 1854. 
 
 After leaving the "Coriolanus," Captain 
 Holmes was successively commander of the 
 "Fanning," "Frances," "Haze," "Twilight," 
 and " Seminole " ; and for the past ten years or 
 more he has had charge of the "Charmer," a 
 full-rigged merchantman, which sails from 
 New York to San Francisco and foreign ports. 
 She is of about nineteen hundred tons' 
 burden, and when fully manned has a crew of 
 twenty-eight men, and in the eyes of her cap- 
 tain is as fine a ship as sails from New York 
 Harbor. She is owned by John Rosenfeldt, 
 of San Francisco; and it is between these two 
 ports that most of her trips are made, bring- 
 ing wine, wool, and other products to New 
 York, and taking back Eastern manufactures 
 for the Pacific coast. Occasionally, when the 
 markets are favorable, she crosses the At- 
 lantic with a cargo of grain, etc., for Euro- 
 pean consumption, and returns laden with 
 rare and beautiful as well as useful wares. 
 Many of the furnishings in his home have 
 been gathered from various quarters of the 
 globe, beautiful rugs, china, bric-a-brac, cabi- 
 nets of shells, and other sea treasures making 
 it a storehouse of pleasure to the lover of 
 curios. Several very handsome centre tables 
 deserve special mention. The tops were 
 made by himself, with the aid of a jig-saw, in 
 his hours of leisure when on board ship, and 
 consist of a great variety of woods artisti- 
 cally set together. He was once offered three 
 
 hundred dollars for one of these tables, but 
 they are more to him than their money value. 
 It is doubtful if Captain Holmes's record as 
 a mariner is paralleled by that of any other. 
 For nearly or quite sixty years he has fol- 
 lowed the sea. No vessel under his command 
 has ever been lost or shipwrecked, and not a 
 man of all his crews was ever lost. 
 
 Winds have not always been favorable, how- 
 ever, as the following, quoted from an article 
 published in a Providence paper in October, 
 1896, will show: "Yes," replied the Captain 
 in answer to a question as to his experience, 
 "I have seen some pretty bad blows. Let me 
 see," and he mused a moment with a retro- 
 spective look in his eyes. "About four years 
 ago we ran into a couple of typhoons on our 
 way out from San Francisco to Hong-Kong. 
 It was about off Yokohama when they struck 
 us, one right after the other; and there were 
 lively times aboard the good ship 'Charmer' 
 for a while.. We lost our rudder, and were 
 in a tight place for a spell; but, fortunately, 
 the gales passed on before we were swamped, 
 and we put into port for repairs. On my very 
 last trip from Japan two storms struck us in 
 the Pacific; but we weathered them success- 
 fully, and dropped anchor off quarantine 
 three weeks ago. When I was in the 'Semi- 
 nole' in 1 868, we encountered a white squall 
 six days out of New York, and were dis- 
 masted ; but we put back, and, after making 
 repairs, sailed again, and met with no more 
 mishaps that voyage." In his journeyings 
 Captain Holmes has been three times around 
 the world, has doubled Cape Horn seventy- 
 three times and the Cape of Good Hope six- 
 teen times. 
 
 Captain Holmes was married September 3, 
 1847, to Miss Mary O. Denison, his second 
 cousin. One son was born to them, Edwin 
 Warren Holmes, who for several years sailed 
 
344 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 with his father as mate. He died of pneu- 
 monia in 1883, at the age of twenty-seven, 
 leaving a widow and one son, Edwin Warren, 
 who reside in San Francisco. Mrs. Holmes 
 accompanied her husband on his voyages. 
 She died at their home here in Mystic in 
 1887, aged sixty years. Captain Holmes pur- 
 chased this place in 1865. Many a seafarer 
 has had his home in this village, but no name 
 will be remembered longer or more pleasantly 
 than that of Captain Holmes. 
 
 W' 
 
 ILLIAM PALMER SMITH, a re- 
 tired gentleman of New London, 
 was born October 19, 1823, in a 
 house on Bank Street, a few doors removed 
 from his present home. His parents were 
 Sabin King and Joanna (Beckwith) Smith. 
 Joseph Smith, of Montville, this county, the 
 paternal grandfather, married Sally Smith, a 
 daughter of Paul and a grand-daughter of 
 Nehemiah Smith. By this union there were 
 four sons and three daughters, all of whom 
 became octogenarians. Anson, the last mem- 
 ber of the family, died at the age of ninety-six. 
 Sabin King Smith was a successful mer- 
 chant in New London from his youth to his 
 death. At one time he owned the valuable 
 business property extending from the Cronin 
 Building on State Street around to Hemp- 
 stead's store on Bank Street, with the excep- 
 tion of a single building. One of the moneyed 
 men of the place from 1830 to 1840, he subse- 
 quently met with heavy reverses. He was a 
 Mason of high degree. The maiden name of 
 his first wife was Joanna Beckwith, who made 
 him the father of nine children. She died in 
 1829, leaving four sons and three daughters. 
 Of these the only other survivor besides 
 William Palmer is Sabin, a resident of Chi- 
 cago, who is now nearly eighty years old. 
 
 By Sabin's second marriage there were two 
 children — Joseph Ledyard and Adelaide Jo- 
 anna. Joseph is now deceased. Adelaide is 
 the wife of P. G. Freeman, of Indepen- 
 dence, la. 
 
 Leaving school at the age of fourteen, 
 William Palmer Smith entered his brother's 
 employ as clerk. Six years later he was in 
 business for himself within a few doors of his 
 present store. He continued in trade from 
 1843 to 1850, when he went to California by 
 way of the Isthmus, returning six months 
 thereafter. During the Civil War he was en- 
 gaged in New York City, exporting butter and 
 cheese to England and Germany. In politics 
 he has affiliated with the Democratic party, 
 but he voted for McKinley in 1896. A prom- 
 inent Mason, he belongs to Union Lodge of 
 New London; to the Royal Arch Chapter, of 
 which he has been High Priest; and to Pales- 
 tine Commandery, Knights Templar. 
 
 Mr. Smith has been twice married. On the 
 first occasion he was united to Sarah Fuller, 
 of Norwich, who died in 1853. She left an 
 only child, Clarence, who died in the South 
 in middle age. The second marriage was 
 contracted with Sophia Peck Marsh, a 
 widow, who had three sons by her first mar- 
 riage. The latter are: Daniel S. Marsh, who 
 is a music dealer in New London, and has two 
 children; Frank A. Marsh, of Chicago, a 
 wealthy man and unmarried, who is the pur- 
 chasing agent for the Rock Island Railroad; 
 and Eben J. Marsh, a lumber manufacturer in 
 Georgetown, S.C, who is married and has 
 one daughter. The second Mrs. Smith died 
 in 1893, at the age of seventy-four years. 
 Mr. Smith retired from business over twenty 
 years ago, and resides over his stores at 52, 
 54, and 56 State Street, which have a frontage 
 of forty feet, and were purchased by him in 
 1855. 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 345 
 
 "ON. JOHN D. PARK, ex-Chief Jus- 
 tice of the Supreme Court of the 
 State of Connecticut, died at his 
 home on River Avenue in Norwich, New 
 London County, on the fourth day of August, 
 1896. He was born in the town of Preston, 
 in the same county, on the twenty-sixth day 
 of April, A.D. 1819. He was a direct de- 
 scendant of Sir Robert Parlie, who, with his 
 wife and three sons, came from Preston, Lan- 
 cashire, England, to Massachusetts in 1630, 
 and later removed to New London, Conn. 
 
 He had three sons. In England the gene- 
 alogy of the Parke family has been traced with 
 the line of the late Earl of Wensleydale, who 
 was of the English Parke ancestry. Sir 
 Robert Parke's youngest son was Thomas 
 Parke, who was the father of Robert Parke, 
 who was the father of Hezekiah Parke, who 
 was the father of the Rev. Paul Park (the 
 great-grandfather of the Hon. John D. Park), 
 who was born in Preston, and lived and died 
 in the same town. The family name was 
 spelled with an "e" (Parke) until the Rev. 
 Paul Park dropped that letter. He was a man 
 of large intellect, broad-minded in his views 
 and very influential. He became a preacher, 
 and for over half a century he preached in the 
 parish where he was born, receiving no re- 
 muneration for his labors; and he also was as- 
 sessed for the standing order of the clergy. 
 
 Elisha, son of the Rev. Paul Park, was also 
 born in Preston. He married Miss Margaret 
 Avery, of Groton, Conn., by whom he had two 
 children — Ephraim and Lucy, both of whom 
 grew to maturity and married. For his second 
 wife Elisha Park married Miss Hannah Belton, 
 who lived to be over eighty years old. Their 
 union was blessed by four children — Niles, 
 Margaret, Joseph, and Benjamin Franklin. 
 
 Benjamin Franklin Park, father of John D. , 
 was born January 17, 1782. He was a success- 
 
 ful farmer of Preston; and he also conducted a 
 country store, where he dealt in general mer- 
 chandise. He married Miss Hannah Avery, 
 daughter of Colonel David Avery, a farmer of 
 Preston. Of this marriage eight children 
 were born, all of whom reached adult years; 
 and for many years there was no death in this 
 family of ten persons. Only two of its mem- 
 bers, however, are now living: Albert P'rank- 
 lin, the second child and eldest son, born De- 
 cember II, 1814, and a resident of Norwich; 
 and Hannah Cornelia, wife of James Wood- 
 man, who resides on a part of the old farm, at 
 a place where one of the earliest American 
 progenitors of the family settled about 1630, 
 coming thither from Boston. The mother 
 died January 17, 1855, in her sixty-second 
 year, being the first to pass away. The father 
 survived her some years, dying October 8, 
 1863, in his eighty-second year. 
 
 John D. Park passed his boyhood on his 
 father's farm. At sixteen he taught his first 
 term of school, and he followed teaching sev- 
 eral winters. In 1845, when twenty-six years 
 of age, he entered the law office of the Hon. 
 Lafayette S. Foster, the lawyer and statesman 
 who held the office of Vice-President after 
 Lincoln's death. Mr. Park pursued the study 
 of law with such diligence that in Febru- 
 ary, 1847, he was admitted to the bar. He at 
 once opened an office in Norwich, and engaged 
 in practice. In 1853 he was nominated as 
 Senator to the General Assembly, and the 
 following year was elected Judge of the 
 County Court, New London County. In 1855 
 he represented the town of Norwich in the 
 State legislature, and served with distinction 
 in the controversy between rival gas com- 
 panies. During this session of the legislat- 
 ure there was a radical change in the courts of 
 the State, the county courts being abolished, 
 and their business transferred to the Superior 
 
346 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 Courts ; and Mr. Park was elected one of the 
 Superior Court Judges. In 1863 he was re- 
 elected Judge of the Superior Court for the 
 regulation term of eight years, and in 1864 
 he was elected Judge of the Supreme Court of 
 Errors, being re-elected to that office in 1872. 
 The same year he was made a Chief Justice of 
 the State. This office he held for fifteen 
 years and seven months, and on his retire- 
 ment from the Supreme Court, having reached 
 the age limit, seventy years, he was appointed 
 State Referee, an office created for him. The 
 degree of Master of Arts was conferred upon 
 him by Yale College in 1861, and that of 
 Doctor of Laws in 1878. His death brought 
 to a close one of the most brilliant legal 
 careers that has ever been wrought out in this 
 State. The high mark attained in his profes- 
 sion was gained by an industry that overcame 
 all obstacles. He was a clear and logical rea- 
 soner, weighing well every detail; and his de- 
 cisions in matters of law will stand as a mon- 
 ument to his ability. 
 
 On July 6, 1864, Judge Park was married 
 to Emma Wainwright Allen, of Middlebury, 
 Vt. Their four children all died in infancy. 
 Mrs. Park died September 17, 1884, at forty- 
 four years of age. In politics Judge Park was 
 first a Whig and later a Republican. In re- 
 ligious views he was an Episcopalian. 
 
 /^HESTER W. BARNES, an enterpris- 
 l jp ing grocer of Preston, was born in 
 
 Vfc^_^ Norwich, March 16, 1841, son of 
 Avery W. and Lucy (Sherman) Barnes. His 
 grandfather, Avery Barnes, who was born in 
 Groton, married in 1804 Abigail Cook, a 
 daughter of Elisha Cook, of Preston. In the 
 following year they settled on their farm. 
 They had eleven children, of whom six are 
 now living. Nabby, the first-born, became 
 
 the wife of Reuben Cook, and died when 
 ninety years of age. Eunice married Albert 
 Holmes, and died in 1887, at the age of 
 eighty. Lucy is an octogenarian, and resides 
 in Preston City. Prudence is the wife of 
 Hiram Browning, of this place. Ruth Ann 
 is the widow of Charles Eaton, and lives in 
 Norwich. Almeda, born in 1824, is the 
 widow of Nehemiah Cook, and lives in 
 Franklin, Conn. Chester M., born June 6, 
 1826, owns a farm adjoining the old home- 
 stead. Mrs. Avery Barnes, after surviving 
 her husband three years, died December 21, 
 1878, in the ninety-fourth year of her age. 
 Some time before a family reunion took place 
 in celebration of the eighty-ninth birthday of 
 Avery Barneg, when he and his wife had then 
 been united in matrimony for sixty-six years, 
 when their first-born was sixty-five years old, 
 and seven of their children, twenty-three of 
 their grandchildren, and fourteen great-grand- 
 children were present, the sum of whose ages, 
 with those of their eleven children, was seven 
 hundred and eighty-nine years. Two inter- 
 esting poems, previously prepared for the pur- 
 pose, were read on this occasion. 
 
 Avery W. Barnes in 1833 married Lucy, 
 daughter of Moses Sherman. She died in 
 1869, at the age of fifty-seven, leaving three 
 children. Their daughter Harriet had died at 
 the age of eighteen. Those now living are 
 Lucy, Chester W. , and George. Lucy is the 
 widow of Harley A. Bromley, and resides in 
 the neighborhood. George has lived for 
 twenty years in the South. The father is now ' 
 in his eighty-ninth year. 
 
 Chester W. Barnes was reared to farm life, 
 living with his grandparents until fifteen years 
 old. When twenty-seven years old he mar- 
 ried Emily Dean Le Noir, the widow of 
 Henry Le Noir, and a daughter of Nathan and 
 Emily Hovey Dean, the ceremony taking 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 347 
 
 place December 15, 1868. They have had six 
 children, as follows: Harriet, who died at the 
 age of five years; Charles, born February 7, 
 1873, who assists his father in his grocery 
 business; Frank, who died in infancy; 
 Eleanor Bell, who is a graduate of the Nor- 
 wich Broadway School; Philo, a youth of six- 
 teen, who is also in his father's store; and 
 Minnie, a bright girl of twelve years. 
 
 Mr. Barnes is a Mason of the thirty-second 
 degree, and he has taken all the degrees in the 
 I. O. O. F. He is a Democrat, as all his 
 forefathers have been. He has served as Con- 
 stable, was First Selectman and Town Treas- 
 urer for one year each, and was re-elected to 
 the latter office, but resigned. He has been 
 a grand juror, and was a Representative in the 
 State legislature in 1882, and in 1883 and 
 1884 was State Senator. Mr. Barnes has 
 been a very successful business man. He has 
 been in the grocery business for thirty-one 
 years in his own name; and he is a large 
 dealer in fish, including oysters and clams. 
 He has his own fishing-smacks and seines, and 
 supplies all the local trade. 
 
 (^Yr'LMARIN T. HALE, the genial and 
 LA popular landlord of the Crocker 
 -^ ^\,_^ House, New London, is a native of 
 Norwich, Conn. Born September i, 1853, 
 he is a son of Almarin R. Hale, who was a 
 native of Glastonbury, Conn., born in the year 
 1822. The mother, who was a native of Nor- 
 wich, had four sons, of whom the subject of 
 this sketch is the eldest. The others are: 
 Henry, William, and Wallace, all residing 
 at Watch Hill, R.I. The father owned the 
 Watch Hill House, a favorite summer resort 
 since 1872, and enlarged it three times. 
 Since his death in May, 1894, his widow and 
 the three younger sons have had charge of it. 
 
 Almarin T. Hale spent his boyhood in Nor- 
 wich and Bridgeport. He was educated in 
 the town schools and at a boarding-school. 
 Since he was twenty-five years of age he has 
 been interested in a number of hostelries, in- 
 cluding the Union House of Green Cove 
 Springs, Fla., the Florida House of St. Au- 
 gustine, and the Sanford House of Sanford, 
 Fla. For many years he was the managing 
 clerk of the Watch Hill House for his father. 
 In 1 88 1 he and his father came to New Lon- 
 don, and purchased the Crocker House, which 
 they conducted together until 1890, when the 
 elder Mr. Hale retired. Of this hostelry a 
 local sheet speaks as follows: "The largest 
 and best hotel in the city, and one of the 
 best in the State of Connecticut, is the es- 
 tablishment known as the Crocker House, of 
 which Mr. A. T. Hale is proprietor. The 
 building is a handsome structure, five stories 
 in height. It is constructed in a thoroughly 
 modern manner, and is as complete in all its 
 appointments as the requirements of the 
 hotel-frequenting public at the present day 
 demand. The Crocker House is most eligibly 
 situated on State Street, the principal busi- 
 ness street of the city, at a convenient dis- 
 tance from the railroad depot and within easy 
 reach of all points of interest to visitors, 
 whether on business or pleasure bent. It is 
 only three minutes' distance from the Union 
 Railroad Station; and electric cars, which 
 provide excellent street transportation service, 
 pass the doors every few minutes. The city 
 post-office is on the ground floor in the hotel 
 building, affording advantages which will 
 readily suggest themselves. The office of the 
 hotel, the bar, and billiard, writing, and smok- 
 ing rooms are also on the ground floor; while 
 the dining-room and parlors are on the second 
 floor. All the public and private rooms are 
 tastefully furnished, and an air of elegance 
 
348 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 and comfort pervades the entire establishment. 
 . . . The establishment has grown steadily 
 in public favor, and it may safely be said that 
 there is no hotel anywhere that possesses a 
 more cheerful or home-like atmosphere. It is 
 the headquarters of the college crews and their 
 admirers during the race season each summer, 
 and is a favorite resort for commercial trav- 
 ellers and business men all the year round." 
 Mr. Hale is also the manager for the owners 
 of the Munnatauket and Mansion Hotels at 
 Fisher's Island and of the Mitchell House of 
 Thomasville, Ga. 
 
 In 1877 Alraarin T. Hale married Hattie 
 A. Wallace, of Bridgeport, Conn., a daughter 
 of A. W. Wallace, of that place. Their only 
 child, a son, died in infancy. In politics Mr. 
 Hale is a Democrat, and has served as chair- 
 man of the Democratic Town Committee. In 
 March, 1894, President Cleveland appointed 
 him Collector of Customs for the New Lon- 
 don port, with jurisdiction extending from 
 Noank to the Connecticut River. He is a 
 Master Mason. In the Odd Fellows he is a 
 member of the encampment. He is connected 
 with the Improved Order of Red Men and a 
 member of the Great Council of the State. 
 For two seasons he was manager of the Ly- 
 ceum Theatre without pay, and he has also 
 been the president of the Thames Club. Ren- 
 dered eligible in more than one line, on his 
 mother's side through Lieutenant Thomas 
 Tracy, who was one of the original proprietors 
 and settlers of Norwich, he is a member of the 
 Sons of the Revolution. 
 
 tHARLES HEBER WALDEN, su- 
 perintendent of the almshouse at New 
 _-- London, was born in Montville, 
 Conn., June 4, 1839. He is a son of the late 
 Rev. Hiram and Rebecca (Bird) Walden, and 
 
 claims among his kindred many who have 
 taken an active part in American history. 
 William Walden, his great-grandfather, who 
 was born in Bristol, England, married on 
 August 5, 1754, Ruamis, daughter of Elenar 
 and Rebecca (Chapman) Simons, and by this 
 union had the following children: Elenar, 
 John, Elizabeth, William, Robert, Simon, 
 Mary, Amy, Edward, and Davi.d. 
 
 William Walden, Jr., the fourth child, was 
 Charles H. Walden's grandfather. He was 
 born in New London, Conn., September 13, 
 1762, and came to this country in childhood. 
 Though only in his teens at the time of the 
 Revolution, he served in the patriot forces, 
 and captured an English soldier, whom he 
 took on horseback to the camp. He died 
 from an injury at the age of thirty-three. 
 His wife, whose maiden name was Elizabeth 
 McFall, was a daughter of William and Deb- 
 orah (Chapman) McFall, and is said to have 
 been partly of Welsh blood. Her father, 
 William McFall, also was a Revolutionary 
 soldier. Mrs. Elizabeth McFall Walden lived 
 to be nearly fourscore. Her children were: 
 Grace, William, Eliza, Hannah, and Hiram, 
 above named. 
 
 The following account of the Rev. Hiram 
 Walden's life was written by his daughter, 
 Mrs. Ellen Walden Darrow. 
 
 Hiram Walden, the youngest child of Will- 
 iam and Elizabeth (McFall) Walden, was born 
 in Montville, May 13, 1804. He was a 
 thoughtful child, learning easily and having 
 a retentive memory. His first teacher said 
 that he learned the whole alphabet during the 
 first day. His boyhood days were spent with 
 his parents in Montville. When but a lad 
 he became an earnest Christian, and united 
 with the Congregational church in that town. 
 Although so young, he asked for baptism by 
 immersion, seldom practised at that time by 
 
CHARLES H. WALOKN. 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 35' 
 
 that denomination; and it was granted. The 
 Rev. Abishai Alden was his faithful pastor 
 and firm friend. With him he studied for 
 a time. His parents not being able to give 
 him a liberal education, the church, through 
 the influence of that kind pastor, offered to 
 pay his expenses in getting the education he 
 craved. While at school in the eastern part 
 of Massachusetts he became acquainted with 
 the Methodist teachings; and, finding them 
 more like his own views, he decided to with- 
 draw from the Congregational church and 
 unite with the Methodist, his earnings shortly 
 enabling him to repay the money so kindly 
 advanced him by the Congregational church. 
 He was a good Greek, Latin, and French 
 scholar, and often taught those languages. 
 
 When about twenty years of age he com- 
 menced preaching the gospel. He was a cir- 
 cuit preacher for about fourteen years, and 
 after that was pastor of different churches, 
 mostly in Massachusetts, the rules of the 
 Methodist church then being that no pastor 
 could remain with a church more than two 
 years. For nearly thirty years Mr. Walden 
 faithfully preached the gospel, then his health 
 failed. The Methodist preachers of his day re- 
 ceived but small salaries; and, his family being 
 large, he helped provide for them by teaching 
 in public and select schools besides perform- 
 ing his duties as pastor. When about fifty 
 years of age, lingering consumption marked 
 him for its victim. He then settled on a 
 farm in his native town, and passed the rest 
 of his days in quiet, ever loving and enjoying 
 his books. He was even then often called to 
 supply a pulpit during the absence of the pas- 
 tor and to conduct funeral services. He took 
 but little part in politics, but his townsmen 
 honored him with the offices of Selectman and 
 Town Registrar. He was also chairman of 
 the Board of Education for years, as long as 
 
 his failing health would permit. He died 
 July 19, 1 87 1, aged sixty-seven years. 
 
 Rev. Hiram Walden was married in Jan- 
 uary, 1827, at Stoughton, Mass., to Rebecca, 
 daughter of Abner and Polly (Gay) Bird. 
 She was born in Stoughton, January 31, 1806. 
 Both of her grandfathers, Private John Bird 
 and Lieutenant Lemuel Gay, rendered val- 
 uable services in the Revolutionary War. 
 Through different branches of her family she 
 was connected with Major-general Humphrey 
 Atherton, who commanded the military forces 
 at Boston in 1654 — a member of the younger 
 branch of the Athertons, of Atherton in Lan- 
 caster, England, whose family records run 
 back to 1 1 12 A.D. ; with the Tupper brothers, 
 "obstinate Lutherans," who in 1522, in con- 
 sequence of persecutions by Charles V., fled 
 from Hesse-Cassel, Saxony, losing their prop- 
 erty; with Captain Roger Clapp, one of the 
 first settlers in Dorchester, Mass., who held 
 several important military and civil offices; 
 with Thomas Mayhew, who preached to the 
 Indians some thirty-three years, and who was 
 Governor of Martha's Vineyard in 1647; with 
 Thomas Wells, Governor of Connecticut in 
 1655 and 1658; with Richard Williams — 
 said to have been a relative of Oliver Crom- 
 well, their grandfathers in the fourth remove 
 being brothers — one of the chief men of Taun- 
 ton, Mass., where he located in 1637, one of the 
 first to purchase land of the Indians, and Rep- 
 resentative from Taunton in the Colonial 
 Court for twelve years, between 1645 and 
 1665; and with Mary Towne, Mrs. Isaac 
 Esty, who was executed as a witch, Septem- 
 ber 22, 1692, and to whose husband some 
 twenty years after her execution twenty 
 pounds' damages were paid by the General 
 Court of Massachusetts. 
 
 Hiram and Rebecca (Bird) Walden had the 
 following children : Elvira, born July 30, 
 
352 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 1828, in Marshfield, Mass., who married 
 Travis P. Douglas, of Waterford, Conn. ; 
 Mary Fletcher, born June 29, 1830, in Som- 
 erset, Mass., now wife of George P. Rogers, 
 of Montville, Conn. ; Edwin Hiram, born 
 August 4, 1832, a physician in practice for 
 some time in Ohio, who married first Kate 
 Sanderson, second Mary Lovejoy; Ellen Re- 
 becca, born September 19, 1834, in Waterford, 
 Conn., now wife of the Rev. Edmund Dar- 
 row, of Waterford; William Bramwell, born 
 January 19, 1837, in Montville, who married 
 first Caroline Rogers, second Adella Gadbois; 
 Charles Heber, the subject of this sketch; 
 Lucinda Jane, born November 6, 1841, in 
 Montville, who died young; Nathan Warren, 
 born November 12, 1844, in Montville, who 
 was married first to Ella Scott, second to 
 Mrs. Laura Oliver, and who died in Decem- 
 ber, 1894; Albert Henry, born March 14, 
 1847, in Montville, Conn., who died young; 
 John Wesley, born May 31, 1850, in Mont- 
 ville, who married Adella Manwaring, of 
 Niantic, Conn. ; and Nelson Bird, born March 
 13) 1853. in Montville, who died young. 
 The mother, Mrs. Rebecca B. Walden, died 
 March 10, 1880. 
 
 Charles H. Walden remained at home with 
 his parents until nineteen years of age, ac- 
 quiring his education in the public schools. 
 He then taught in a district school for a 
 while; and subsequently, during the war, he 
 was employed for two years with John W. 
 Deiter, getting out timber for the government. 
 For eleven years he had charge of Thomas 
 Fitch's stock farm in New London, one of the 
 finest in the State, noted for its blooded 
 horses and cattle, especially Jersey and Al. 
 derney cows. Appointed superintendent of 
 the county almshouse at New London in 1881, 
 he immediately began to develop the resources 
 of the farm connected with the institution. 
 
 This consists of twenty acres of choice land, 
 which under Mr. Walden's supervision is 
 well tilled, and produces bountiful crops. 
 When he was installed as superintendent, the 
 almshouse was a brick building, fifty by one 
 hundred feet in dimension, and had twelve 
 inmates. The number of inmates now ranges 
 from forty to sixty-nine; and the building has 
 been enlarged, being at present fifty by one 
 hundred and fifty feet in dimension and from 
 two to four stories in height. Good order 
 prevails, and the whole place bears evidence 
 of wise and capable management. Politi- 
 cally, Mr. Walden favors the Republican 
 party. 
 
 He was married in 1863 to Emily Hannah, 
 daughter of Daniel and Hannah (Beebe) Mor- 
 gan, of Waterford, Conn. The following 
 children have blessed their union: Augusta 
 E. , wife of Spencer J. Comstock, of Brooklyn, 
 N.Y.; Lillian Bird, wife of Jesse A. Moon, 
 of New London, and mother of two sons; 
 Frank C, of Brooklyn, N.Y., who married 
 Eva v., daughter of William Ferris, of 
 Brooklyn, and has two sons and one daughter; 
 and Nellie R., who lived but eighteen 
 months. 
 
 W': 
 
 LLIAM S. C. PERKINS, M.D., 
 for over a quarter-century has min- 
 istered to the bodily ailments of the 
 residents of Norwich, by whom he is held in 
 the highest esteem. Born in East Lyme, New 
 London County, February i, 1837, son of 
 Austin Freeman Perkins, he comes of 
 French origin. Rufus Perkins, the father of 
 Austin Freeman, and an old-time innkeeper 
 of Groton, Conn., was a son of John and 
 Polly (Freeman) Perkins. Mrs. Rufus Per- 
 kins, who outlived her husband many years, 
 died about the year 1847, at a venerable age. 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 3S3 
 
 She bore her husband two sons and two 
 daughters. 
 
 Austin Freeman Perkins, who was born in 
 Groton about the year 1804, acquired his rudi- 
 mentary education in the common schools. 
 He read medicine with Dr. Minor, and subse- 
 quently attended Berkshire Medical College, 
 which was then in Pittsfield, Mass., graduating 
 therefrom about 1830. On receiving his di- 
 ploma, he set up in practice in that portion of 
 Lyme known as East Lyme and Flanders vil- 
 lage. In the same year he was married to 
 Mary Moore Way, of Lyme, a daughter of 
 Elisha Way, a pensioner, who died at the age 
 of eighty-five years. Five of their eight chil- 
 dren reached adult life, namely: Eunice C, 
 who died at twenty-five; William S. C, the 
 subject of this biography; Thomas A., a suc- 
 cessful Norwich merchant, a member of the 
 city government and a Deacon of the Baptist 
 church; Julia B., the wife of Sylvester G. 
 Jerome, residing in Waterford, Conn. ; and 
 Mary A., the wife of Joseph P. Morgan, liv- 
 ing at Fort Scott, Ark. The mother died in 
 1852, when forty-six years of age. Their 
 father afterward married Miss Louisa Wight- 
 man, who bore him two sons, namely: Austin 
 F., now connected with the Norwich Carpet 
 Lining Company of this city; and George 
 Anson, a box manufacturer here. After the 
 mother's death Dr. Austin Perkins formed a 
 third union with Miss Harriet Moore. He 
 died in 1876, and she in 1890. 
 
 William S. C. Perkins attended the com- 
 mon and select schools of East Lyme, also the 
 Connecticut Literary Institute at Suffield, 
 Conn. He then took up the study of medi- 
 cine under his father's tuition, was subse- 
 quently a student in the medical department 
 of Yale College, and in i860 was graduated 
 from the College of Physicians and Surgeons 
 in New York City. In the same year he 
 
 began the practice of his profession in Mont- 
 ville, this county, remaining there until the 
 fall of i86g, the date of his location here in 
 Norwich, where he has been in active and 
 very successful practice since. He is a mem- 
 ber of the staff of the William W. Backus 
 Hospital. This institution, which is fully 
 equipped and has about seventy beds, was 
 founded by William S. Slater and William 
 W. Backus. 
 
 On May 29, 1861, Dr. Perkins was united 
 in marriage with Miss Amelia J. Jerome, of 
 Montville, Conn., a daughter of George D. 
 and Hannah (Darrow) Jerome. A son and 
 daughter live to bless their union, namely: 
 Florence A., who married Frank W. Brown- 
 ing, of Norwich, and has four children; and 
 Charles H. Perkins, M.D., a graduate of the 
 College of Physicians and Surgeons of New 
 York City in the class of 1891, now prac- 
 tising in Norwich, and a member of the 
 county and State medical societies. Dr. 
 William S. C. Perkins is a Republican in 
 politics. A thirty-second degree Mason, he 
 is a member of Somerset Lodge, No. 34, F. & 
 A. M. ; of Franklin Chapter, No. 4, R. A. M. ; 
 of Columbian Commandery, K. T. ; and of 
 Connecticut Sovereign Consistory, Grand 
 East. Like his son, he is a member of the 
 county and State medical societies, and in the 
 spring of 1896 he was elected president of the 
 former. He resides at 50 Broad Street, in 
 the home that he purchased in 1880, moving 
 there from his former residence, 42 Main 
 Street, in August of that year. 
 
 ENRY BISHOP, a former well-known 
 resident of New London, who died 
 ■^ ^^ . at his home, 4 Jay Street, on Janu- 
 ary 25, 1892, at the age of seventy-one years, 
 was born in Chesterfield, this county, son of 
 
354 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 Charles and Charlotte (Lattimer) Bishop. 
 The following obituary of his father appeared 
 in a local journal: — 
 
 "On the i8th of April, 1866, died in New 
 London, Charles Bishop, Esq., at the vener- 
 able age of eighty-two years. He was a most 
 worthy member of the Huntington Street Bap- 
 tist Church, and his remains were borne to the 
 tomb by seven sons as pall-bearers. On Sab- 
 bath afternoon, December 15, 1867, his 
 widow, Charlotte Bishop, departed this life, 
 aged eighty-four; and her lifeless form was 
 laid to rest beside her husband by the same 
 seven sons, with a commendable filial love and 
 reverence, and tenderly and carefully, as 
 they had their father's one and one-half years 
 ago. These two occasions were most impres- 
 sive, and events full of interest and sugges- 
 tion — reminiscences worth cherishing, which 
 will never fade from the memory of these 
 sons. The one who had borne them, guarded 
 and watched over them from the cradle to 
 manhood, was now being borne by them, ten- 
 derly and tearfully, and laid to rest in that 
 long and dreamless sleep which knows no wak- 
 ing. And what is most significant is that 
 she was the mother of eight children, seven 
 sons and one daughter, and all were there to 
 pay their last tribute. And those standing 
 around the grave of the father represented an 
 aggregate of life of over four hundred years." 
 Further information in regard to the family 
 may be found in the sketch of Charles Bishop, 
 brother of the subject of this sketch, published 
 elsewhere in this volume. 
 
 At the age of fifteen Henry Bishop came to 
 this city, and learned the carpenter's trade 
 with his older brother, John Bishop. After- 
 ward he worked as a journeyman many years. 
 Then, without capital, he started in business 
 with the firm of Bishop Brothers, lumber 
 dealers and builders. The firm comprised 
 
 Charles, Henry, and Gilbert Bishop, until 
 some five years before the death of Henry, 
 when Charles withdrew, leaving the other two 
 to constitute the firm. Mr. Bishop was an 
 honored citizen of New London, and had con- 
 tributed his full share to the prosperity and 
 growth of the city by his industry and busi- 
 ness sagacity. The public press of the city 
 gave words of warmest commendation upon his 
 life and character, speaking of him as one of the 
 leading and honored business men of the town. 
 February 22, 1842, Mr. Bishop married 
 Mary S. Howard, who was born in the town 
 of Waterford, daughter of Daniel and Hannah 
 (Smith) Howard. Her mother, who was born 
 in Niantic, and was married February 22, 
 1822, died when Mary S., the youngest of the 
 children, was only two years and one-half old. 
 The latter was brought up in the family of 
 her uncle. Captain Jonathan Smith, who re- 
 moved to New London when his niece was 
 nine years old. She now lives in the fine 
 large house built by her husband over fifty 
 years ago. She has three children: Jonathan 
 S. Bishop, residing at 2 Jay Street, married, 
 and the father of one child; Henry Bishop, 
 who succeeded his father in the lumber busi- 
 ness; and Mary, the wife of Nathan Wood- 
 worth, of New London, and the mother of 
 three children. 
 
 LVAH MORGAN, a prosperous farmer 
 of Salem and a veteran of the Civil 
 War, was born in the neighborhood 
 of his present home, August 3, 1840, son of 
 Sidney and Harriet (Stoddard) Morgan. His 
 grandfather, Theophilus Morgan, a farmer of 
 Groton, Conn., married Mary Hinckley, 
 daughter of Abel Hinckley, of Stonington, 
 and by her had a large family, of whom but 
 two sons and four daughters lived to maturity. 
 The eldest son, Alvah, born June 7, 1798, be- 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 3S5 
 
 came a resident of Holley, Orleans County, 
 N.Y. He married March 3, 1822, Dolly 
 Stratton, of Glastonbury. In 1832 he settled 
 in Murray, Orleans County, where he died 
 March 11, 1862, at the age of sixty-four years, 
 leaving a wife and an only son, Alvah S. 
 Morgan, who still resides in Holley. 
 
 Sidney Morgan, the father of the subject of 
 this sketch, was born August 30, 1800. He 
 occupied the old Morgan farm, which he sub- 
 sequently sold to Aaron Niles in 1835 for the 
 sum of eighty-five hundred dollars. He then 
 purchased a farm of three hundred acres in 
 Salem, which he sold in 1857 for five thou- 
 sand dollars. With this capital in hand, in 
 company with his four sons, he went West, 
 settling in Loda, Iroquois County, 111., where 
 he bought six hundred and forty acres of land, 
 and where his sons, Theophilus and Enoch, 
 took up one section. With the exception of 
 Theophilus, the entire family returned East 
 in i860. On his return Mr. Morgan pur- 
 chased the farm of two hundred and twenty 
 acres adjoining the original homestead, where 
 he lived until his death, which occurred March 
 21, 1870. He was much in public life, fill- 
 ing various town offices, and representing the 
 town in the legislature three years, the last 
 time in 1866. He was a Master Mason. 
 Though a member of the Episcopal church, he 
 attended and helped to support the Congrega- 
 tional church, and was a practical Christian 
 philanthropist. February 27, 1823, he mar- 
 ried Harriet Stoddard, who was born February 
 28, 1802, daughter of Vine Stoddard. She 
 survived him eleven years, and died April 15, 
 1881, in the eightieth year of her age. Their 
 children were as follows: Theophilus, who 
 was born in 1823, accumulated a comfortable 
 fortune, and retired from business, and is a 
 widower with one son ; John Wesley, who was 
 born in 1821, and has been a merchant in 
 
 New London for the past fifty years ; Enoch 
 Sidney, born in 1828, who is an engineer and 
 machinist, residing in Mystic; and Albert 
 Hinckley, who is a farmer and public-spirited 
 citizen of Redwood County, Minnesota, where 
 he holds the offices of Postmaster and Town 
 Clerk. 
 
 Alvah Morgan was reared upon his father's 
 farm. He accompanied him West, and subse- 
 quently returned with him. In August, 1862, 
 he enlisted in the Twenty-sixth Connecticut 
 Regiment, Company A, Of the twenty-one 
 young men who responded to cheir country's 
 call at that time with Mr. Morgan, five lost 
 their lives and eight were wounded. Mr. 
 Morgan was wounded at Port Hudson, shot 
 just below the knee by a minie ball, which he 
 still carries in the bone. Another bullet 
 marked his forehead. During this engage- 
 ment fourteen of his comrades fell with him, 
 four of whom were killed. He was dis- 
 charged in August, 1863, and is now a pen- 
 sioner. He married December 3, 1865, Sarah 
 E. , daughter of Lyman and Betsey E. (Irish) 
 Bailey. Her father, who was a farmer, died 
 in 1870, at the age of seventy-nine years; and 
 her mother died in the same year, at the age 
 of sixty-nine years. They had eight children, 
 of whom Albert M. died October 10, 1876, at 
 the age of thirty-three years, leaving a widow. 
 The living are as follows: Susan E. , widow 
 of Charles Tiffany; Charles H.; Robert A.; 
 Hattie G. ; Frances A., wife of Amos B. Til- 
 lotson; Sarah E. (Mrs. Morgan); and Ben- 
 jamin P. — all residents of Salem. 
 
 Since their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Morgan 
 have resided on their pleasant farm, which 
 consists of two hundred and twenty acres of 
 good land highly cultivated. Their poultry 
 and butter bring the highest' prices in the 
 market. A Democrat politically, Mr. Mor- 
 gan has taken a prominent part in town affairs. 
 
3S6 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 He served as Town Clerk and Treasurer four 
 years in the seventies, and is now serving the 
 third year on his second term. He has also 
 been First Selectman, Assessor, a member of 
 the Board of Education (for ten years), and 
 was in the legislature in 1891 and again in 
 1895. He and his wife are both members of 
 the Congregational church. 
 
 /pTTo 
 
 EORGE WASHINGTON ROGERS, 
 \J5^ a retired boat-builder of New Lon- 
 don, Conn., the son of William and 
 Polly (Chapman) Rogers, was born in this 
 city, October 21, 1815. He is a lineal de- 
 scendant of James Rogers, who left England 
 in 1635, a young man of twenty, crossed the 
 Atlantic, and settled at first in Stratford, 
 Conn., then in Milford, and at some time 
 between 1656 and 1660 came to New London. 
 Here James Rogers spent the rest of his life, 
 a prosperous merchant engaged in the grain 
 and flour business. He married Elizabeth 
 Polland, and built for their family residence 
 a stone house near the old town mill, upon 
 land that was given him by Governor Win- 
 throp. They had five sons. 
 
 George Rogers, grandfather of the subject 
 of this sketch, was a cooper by trade. He 
 served in the War of 18 12. He was taken 
 sick with billions fever, from which, however, 
 he was recovering, when, the news of peace ar- 
 riving, he was so elated that he went down 
 street and took a cold that resulted in his 
 death. He married February 14, 1755, Mary 
 Tinker, and had four children, one daughter, 
 who died in childhood, and three sons, two of 
 whom, George and Josiah, were fishermen, the 
 third being William, the father above named, 
 who was born in New London, January 16, 
 1792. He was a seafaring man, and served for 
 many years as captain of a fast packet between 
 
 New London and New York. He died Octo- 
 ber 27, 1850, at the age of fifty-eight. His 
 wife, Polly, whom he married December 25, 
 1 8 14, died in 1876, at the age of eighty-four. 
 She was a daughter of James Chapman, whose 
 father, Major James Chapman, was one of the 
 first volunteers in the Revolution, and re- 
 ceived at the time a Captain's commission. 
 Major Chapman was killed at the battle of 
 Harlem Heights, while trying to rally the 
 retreating soldiers. Dying, he bequeathed 
 his sword, with the injunction never to dis- 
 honor it, to his son, James Chapman, who 
 served as drummer-boy in the same battle, 
 and was with him when he fell. Polly Chap- 
 man's mother was a daughter of Daniel Holt, 
 who owned the place known as the Samuel 
 Coit place, and was one of the old settlers. 
 Mr. and Mrs. William Rogers had five chil- 
 dren — George W., Mary Ann, Charlotte, 
 William, and James. Mary Ann (deceased) 
 was the wife of David Coit, and had five chil- 
 dren. Charlotte's first husband was John 
 Hegeman, a merchant of Brooklyn, N.Y. 
 She had three children by this marriage; and 
 by her second husband, John Comstock, also 
 of Brooklyn, she had one child. William 
 Rogers (deceased) married Adeline Haynes, 
 of Niantic, and was the father of five children. 
 James married Nancy H. Beckwith, of East 
 Lyme, and had five children. 
 
 George Washington Rogers, the special 
 subject of this sketch, belongs to the eighth 
 generation of the Rogers family in New Lon- 
 don. He received his education in the public 
 schools, and at the age of seventeen began the 
 trade of boat-building, which he has followed 
 for more than sixty years. He has the repu- 
 tation of being the oldest boat-builder in New 
 London, as well as one of the oldest inhabi- 
 tants of the city. The house where he now 
 lives he built in 1852. 
 
gkor(;e \V, RCJGERS. 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 359 
 
 Mr. Rogers married Susan Geer Ewen, 
 daughter of Captain John and Mary (Wilson) 
 Ewen, who have lived in New London for 
 over eighty years. Mr. and Mrs. Rogers have 
 two children: Mary E. , wife of Philo B. 
 Hovey, of New London; and George W., who 
 is superintendent of supplies for the Metro- 
 politan Life Insurance Company of New York. 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Rogers have belonged to the 
 Baptist church in New London for sixty-four 
 years, and Mr. Rogers has been a Master 
 Mason for more than half a century. Mr. 
 Rogers remembers the "Fulton," the first 
 steamboat that ever came to New London. 
 
 He is a survivor of the wreck of the "At- 
 lantic," which was sunk off Fisher's Island, 
 with such a tremendous loss of life, November 
 27, 1846. Mr. and Mrs. Rogers celebrated 
 their golden wedding the i6th of October, 
 1888. They are still young in spirit, and 
 delight to entertain their many friends with 
 stories of interesting events which happened 
 fifty years or more ago. 
 
 -AMES BULKLEY, a farmer of Salem, 
 son of James and Sarah Ann (Abell) 
 Bulkley, was born December 24, 1838, 
 on his father's farm, now owned and occupied 
 by himself and his brother Enoch. 
 
 The original farm of one hundred acres was 
 settled upon by his great-grandfather Bulkley, 
 whose ancestors came from England. The 
 house, though not the original dwelling on 
 the place, has the old hewn rafters and tim- 
 bers, and is one of the oldest buildings in the 
 country. It is well preserved, and is substan- 
 tia] and somewhat modern in appearance. 
 
 Prentice Bulkley, the grandfather of James 
 Bulkley, fought in the War of 181 2. He was 
 a descendant of Major Charles Bulkley, son of 
 the Rev. John and Patience (Prentice) Bulk- 
 
 ley, the former the first minister at Colches- 
 ter. Prentice Bulkley married Dimis Bolles, 
 of (Goshen Society) Lebanon. He died June 
 4, 1849, 3t the age of seventy-four. She died 
 June 12, 1865, aged seventy-nine years. 
 
 The father, James Bulkley, was born on the 
 homestead, September 20, 1807. He married 
 Sarah A. Abell, who was born in Colchester, 
 June 20, 1807. The ceremony was performed 
 by Dr. Nott in Franklin. James Bulkley, 
 Sr., was a man of sound judgment, strict in- 
 tegrity, tender-hearted, showing always a 
 strong sympathy for the afiflicted. He died 
 much lamented by his family and greatly 
 missed by the community in which he re- 
 sided. His wife was a daughter of Hezekiah 
 Abell and Eunice Bill, a descendant of John 
 and Dorothy Bill, who came from England 
 and settled at Boston about 1632. Mrs. 
 Bulkley was a lady of more than ordinary re- 
 finement, much energy, and decision of charac- 
 ter. Active and diligent herself, she incul- 
 cated the same principles in her children. 
 Although living to a great age, she retained 
 her youthful cheerfulness and mental abilities 
 until the last. 
 
 Of their four sons and two daughters the 
 fourth-born died in infancy in 1845, and two 
 others in mature life. The surviving chil- 
 dren are: Abbie, James, and Enoch. Abbie, 
 widow of George Miller, of Colchester, is now 
 living at Gale's Ferry with her daughter 
 Minnie, who married Frank Hurlbutt, an en- 
 gineer, in 1886. Her other child, a son, 
 George Miller, married Annie Foote, and 
 lives on the homestead at Colchester. Lucy 
 Adelia, wife of Enoch B. Worthington, lived 
 in Colchester, and died October 10, 1890, 
 without issue. Her death was a severe afflic- 
 tion to her relatives and many friends. Will- 
 iam A. died March 13, 1879, ^^ ^^^ ^S^ of 
 twenty-nine, unmarried. He was a student of 
 
360 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 Bacon Academy, and taught a number of terms 
 of school successfully. He was a member of 
 the Salem Baptist Church and an active 
 worker in the Sabbath-school. The father 
 died March 2, 1878, aged seventy years, his 
 widow surviving until February 16, 1894, 
 when she died at the age of eighty-six. They 
 lie beside the paternal grandparents in Lin- 
 wood Cemetery in Colchester. 
 
 The large farm of six hundred acres was 
 inherited by the two brothers, James and 
 Enoch; and both reside on the old place. 
 Each had a district schooling, and was reared 
 to farm life. James Bulkley is a Democrat, 
 and has served the town as Selectman for two 
 terms and as a member of the Relief Board 
 for three terms. The brothers are enterpris- 
 ing and successful farmers. Besides tilling 
 the soil, they get out lumber from the timber 
 land upon the farm, keep a dairy of some fif- 
 teen or twenty cows, Devon stock, and raise 
 cattle, horses, and sheep. They use six yoke 
 of oxen on the place. 
 
 Enoch Bolles Bulkley was born March 3, 
 1841. He married November 15, 1870, Lucy 
 J. Raymond, daughter of William and Eunice 
 B. Raymond, distant cousins. Richard Ray- 
 mond, first of Salem, Mass., was made. a free- 
 man. May 14, 1634, and in 1636 was granted 
 a tract of land, sixty acres in extent, at Jeffer- 
 son Creek, now Manchester. He was a mari- 
 ner, in the coa'st trade with the Dutch on 
 Manhattan Island. He died in 1696. His 
 third son, Joshua, went to New London, 
 where he was a landholder, and was one of a 
 committee to plan the road from Norwich to 
 New London. For his services he received 
 the nucleus of a tract of one thousand acres 
 of land that was owned by his descendants. 
 It is located eight miles from New London, and 
 was known as the New London North Parish. 
 
 He married in 1659 Elizabeth, daughter of 
 
 Nehemiah Smith, and had eight children, one 
 being Joshua, who married Mercy, daughter of 
 James Sands, of Block Island, and died in 
 1704, his wife, Mercy, living till 1743. 
 Their son, the third Joshua, was of Block 
 Island and later of New London. He mar- 
 ried in 1719 Elizabeth, daughter of John and 
 Elizabeth (Mulford) Christophers. She died 
 May 12, 1730; and he died in 1763. John 
 Raymond, one of the six children of Joshua 
 and Elizabeth Raymond, was born in 1725, 
 and married in 1747 Elizabeth, daughter of 
 the Rev. George and Hannah (Lynde) Gris- 
 wold. Their ten children were born in Mont- 
 ville. The eldest, John, second, was Lieu- 
 tenant under Colonel Whitney in the French 
 and Indian War, and was stationed at Fort 
 Griswold. He marched to Boston in 1775, 
 and participated in the battle of Bunker Hill. 
 He died May 7, 1789, at the age of eighty- 
 four years in Montville, where he lies buried. 
 His wife died of small-pox in 1779, at the 
 age of fifty. 
 
 John Raymond, third, son of the second 
 John, and the paternal great-grandfather of 
 Mrs. Bulkley, served as First Lieutenant 
 under General Spencer from 1776 to 1777. 
 He married in Montville, May 26, 1774, 
 Mercy Raymond, a cousin. Their three chil- 
 dren were: William, Nathan, and Mary. 
 William, born May 3, 1778, married June 22, 
 1800, Elizabeth Man waring. He died July 
 29, 1842. His wife died in 1854. Their 
 children were: Mercy, Richard, and William 
 (Mrs. Bulkley's father). He was born April 
 21, 1806. He married July 5, 1829, Eunice 
 Burnham Raymond, and settled on Raymond 
 Hill, where the family had lived for several 
 generations. They had six children, of whom 
 they lost two infant sons. The four daugh- 
 ters were: Elizabeth, Eunice A., Adelaide 
 L., and Lucy J. Elizabeth married Allison 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 361 
 
 B. Ladd, and died childless, April 14, 1872; 
 Eunice Ann married Calvin Allyn, resided in 
 Norwich, and died April 19, 1896; Adelaide 
 L., who married Henry W. Rogers, died 
 in Montville, April 4, 1874, leaving one 
 daughter, Lena A.,. wife of W. C. Hogaboom, 
 of Los Angeles, Cal., an editor, connected 
 with the Associated Press. 
 
 Lucy J. (Mrs. Bulkley), the youngest child, 
 was educated in the best schools of her native 
 town. She taught her first school at the age 
 of sixteen, and continued teaching until her 
 marriage. Mrs. Bulkley has a valuable heir- 
 loom, which has been handed down from Eng- 
 land through the Lynde family. It is a silver 
 mug or tankard which was presented by 
 Queen Elizabeth to a member of the family, 
 and is inscribed "F. M. W. I. E. Francis 
 and Margaret Willoughby and H. R.," the 
 latter initials being those of a great-aunt, 
 Hannah Raymond. This ancient treasure was 
 owned by Sarah Lynde, the second wife of 
 Joshua Raymond, and her sister Hannah, who 
 married the Rev. George Griswold, and was 
 handed down to John Raymond, and from him 
 through Hannah to George Raymond, from 
 whom it pa.ssed to the mother of Mrs. Bulk- 
 ley. She is also in possession of the original 
 manuscript deed given by Mercy Sands Ray- 
 mond, of Block Island, June 24, 1725, to her 
 son Joshua. 
 
 The children of Mr. and Mrs. Enoch B. 
 Bulkley may be briefly mentioned, as follows: 
 James Raymond Bulkley, died April 25, 1876; 
 Sarah Burnham, born March 16, 1879, an 
 undergraduate of the Bacon Academy, a mem- 
 ber of the class of 1899, is a young lady of 
 promise, with fine intellectual endowments and 
 studious habits; Willie Enoch, born June 25, 
 1 88 1, is a brilliant scholar, and will graduate 
 in 1900 from the same school; Arthur Jewett 
 died at the age of sixteen months, July 8, 1887. 
 
 •^ATHAN DENNISON BATES, a re- 
 tired business man and owner of real 
 
 ^ *■ estate in Preston, Conn., was born 
 
 in the adjoining town of Griswold, New Lon- 
 don County, November 13, 1829, son of Ben- 
 jamin and Elizabeth (Hawkins) Bates. He 
 is a descendant of Caleb Bates, of Scituate, 
 Mass., who removed to Kingston, R.I., in 1701, 
 settling in what is now Exeter. The family 
 name was formerly Bate, the present form hav- 
 ing been adopted within the last hundred years. 
 
 Nichols Bates, the grandfather of Mr. 
 Bates of Preston, was born in Exeter about 
 the year 1775, and died in 1845. His wife, 
 Susanna Wethers, who belonged to a family 
 of French Huguenots, and was born in 1777, 
 survived him ten years, and died in 1855. 
 Their children were: Benjamin, Nichols, 
 John, Silas, Daniel, Arnold, and three daugh- 
 ters, all of whom had families. Nichols 
 Bates, Jr., went to Ohio, where many of his 
 descendants now live. 
 
 Benjamin Bates, the father of Nathan D. , 
 was a shoemaker by trade. In 1827 he re- 
 moved from Rhode Island to the town of 
 Griswold. He married Elizabeth Hawkins, 
 of South Kingston, R. I., in 1817. Her 
 ancestor, Captain Thomas Hawkin, settled 
 in Dorchester in 1630. He was a member 
 of the London Artillery Company and of the 
 Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company 
 of Boston, and was in charge of the big guns 
 at Savin Hill, Dorchester. His son, Richard 
 Hawkins, removed from Boston to Ports- 
 mouth, R.I. ; Christopher, the second son, 
 settled in Kingston, R.I.; and Thomas, from 
 whom Mrs. Bates descended, married Ann 
 Torrey, daughter of the Rev. Joseph Torrey, 
 of Tower Hill, R.I. Captain William Tor- 
 rey, who came to New England in 1632 and 
 settled at Weymouth, Mass., was for many 
 years a Representative to the General Court, 
 
362 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 and served as Clerk of the house. Johnson, 
 the historian of Massachusetts, says he was 
 famed for his fine penmanship. His son, 
 the Rev. Samuel Torrey, was invited in 
 1686, it is said, to the presidency of Har- 
 vard College, President Oakes having died 
 in 1681, and his immediate successor, John 
 Rogers, in 1684. This honor Mr. Torrey 
 declined, but he was a fellow of the cor- 
 poration from 1697 to 1705. He was pastor 
 of the church at Weymouth fifty-one years, 
 and preached the election sermon in Boston 
 in 1674, 1683, and 1689. He married Mary 
 Rawson, daughter of Sir Edward Rawson, 
 who was Secretary of the Colony of Massa- 
 chusetts and Clerk of the Probate Court of 
 Suffolk County. Benjamin and Elizabeth 
 (Hawkins) Bates had four children: Henry, a 
 machinist and mechanical engineer, who died 
 in i860, at the age of forty-two years; Nich- 
 ols B., a marine engineer, who died at 
 Ulysses, Neb., in 1887, at the age of sixty- 
 seven; Hannah H., who married Isaac P. 
 Sims, and died at sixty-three years of age; 
 and Nathan D. , who lives in Preston. The 
 mother died in November, 1865; and the 
 father died in June, 1881. The eldest son 
 was a member of the firm of Cranston & Bates, 
 of Norwich, manufacturers of engine boilers 
 and general machinery, also a member of the 
 New London Foundry and Machine Company. 
 He was a fine mechanic, and inventor of and 
 patentee on stem valves and a bomb lance for 
 taking whales, as well as of a new steam gauge. 
 Naturally an investigator, he made and owned 
 one of the largest telescopes in the United 
 States, the instrument in Harvard University 
 Observatory being then the only larger one. 
 
 Nathan D. Bates acquired his elementary 
 education in the little, old brown school- 
 house in his native district, afterward pursu- 
 ing his studies two terms in the village select 
 
 school. At the age of sixteen years he started 
 out for himself on a tin pedler's cart, and six 
 months later he was employed for a short 
 time in running a stationary engine at Wes- 
 terly, R.L He then learned the machinist's 
 trade, and in 1848 took the , position of ma- 
 chinist and engineer with Cranston & Bates, 
 of Norwich, Conn. Four years later he be- 
 came fireman of the steam ferry-boat which 
 carried cars across the Connecticut River; 
 and in 1853 he went as fireman again with 
 his brother Nichols, then the engineer on the 
 "Agawam," plying between Sag Harbor and 
 Greenport. In June of that year he ob- 
 tained a United States license as engineer, 
 and early in 1854 he became his brother's 
 successor on the "Agawam," as master en- 
 gineer. During the summer he went to Prov- 
 idence as engineer of an excursion steamer, 
 the "Blackstone. " After that he was in dif- 
 ferent ways engaged in business until the 
 breaking out of the war, when he was ap- 
 pointed chief engineer of the United States 
 Navy, and served on the steamship "Hetsel," 
 the "Hatteras," the monitor "Nantucket," 
 and the steamship "Dawn." From the latter 
 he was transferred to the prize ship "Princess 
 Royal," which he took from Port Royal to 
 Philadelphia. After a short leave of absence 
 given him on account of his state of health, 
 he was ordered to the Boston navy yard as 
 chief engineer of the "Mercideti," in which 
 he went to the West India Islands. His last 
 period of service was at the Philadelphia navy 
 yard. He left the United States Navy in 
 1864, and was variously occupied in connec- 
 tion with his profession, finally forming a part- 
 nership with Elijah J. Green, under the firm 
 name of Bates & Co. The firm dissolved in 
 1871; and Mr. Bates continued in business 
 alone until the spring of 1878, when he retired. 
 He was elected Sheriff in 1877, and was in 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 3^3 
 
 office from 1878 until 1881, being the second 
 Democratic Sheriff of the county. He was 
 made an elector, April, 1851, and was 
 elected Constable that year. Appointed Jus- 
 tice of the Peace in 1864, he served in that 
 capacity for eighteen years. He has been a 
 Selectman and Trial Justice, and has repre- 
 sented his town at the General Assembly. 
 He was a County Commissioner for three 
 years, 1874-77, ^^'^ '^ 1886 was appointed 
 by Grover Cleveland United States Marshal, 
 which office he ably filled for four years; 
 and has held many other honorable positions 
 in service of State, county, or town. He be- 
 longs to the Sons of the American Revolution, 
 and was Second Lieutenant of the Fourth Rifle 
 Company, Third Regiment, Quarter-master of 
 the Third Regiment, and held the rank of Ma- 
 jor as Aide-de-camp to Major-general James 
 J. McCord. Mr. Bates also served in the fire 
 department for three years. 
 
 It was in the fall of 1854 that he married 
 Sarah Emily Nickerson, daughter of Thomas 
 H. and Susan (Currin) Nickerson, of Sag 
 Harbor, the nuptials taking place November 
 15. They began domestic life at Preston 
 City, and, with the exception of a year at 
 Mystic Bridge, made that city their home 
 until 1871. Mrs. Sarah E. Bates died Au- 
 gust 21, 1893, at the age of fifty-eight. She 
 left two children — -Addison G. and Katherine 
 Browning Bates. Addison G. Bates is fore- 
 man of the sewer department in Providence. 
 He married Minnie H. Hille, of Harvard, la., 
 and has two daughters — Grace I. and Laura 
 Nickerson. Katherine Browning Bates is the 
 wife of John F. Bennett, of Boston, and has 
 one son, Henry Bates Bennett, a bright boy 
 about twelve years old. 
 
 Mr. Bates married second, April 3, 1895, 
 Sophia A. Connell, of Preston, daughter of 
 Joseph and Sophia Bromley Connell. 
 
 LIJAH A. MORGAN, who has been an 
 ice dealer in Old Mystic, Stonington, 
 for thirty-seven years was born in 
 Centre Groton, Conn., August 11, 1836. 
 His father, Elijah B. Morgan, who was born 
 in Groton, near New London, in 1809, in 
 early youth went to sea, serving as ship's boy. 
 Elijah B. rose steadily, and in 1843 held the 
 position of captain in the old ship "Herald" 
 of Stonington. He was concerned wholly 
 with whaling vessels, except during the period 
 between 1849 and 1851, when he was in Cali- 
 fornia, to which he had gone by way of the 
 Straits of Magellan. He was a mate with 
 Captain George Brewster, of Stonington, and 
 a sailor with Captain Billings Burch. His 
 first marriage was contracted with Mary Per- 
 kins, whose only child was Elijah A., and who 
 died in 1841. His second marriage united 
 him to Jane M., daughter of the Rev. John 
 G. Wightman, a prominent and able Baptist 
 minister. She survives him, and is now an 
 active lady. She had five children. She 
 spends portions of her time with three of 
 them, namely: John C. Fremont Morgan, of 
 Elroy, Wis. ; Anna, the wife of Charles 
 Chapman, residing near Centre Groton; and 
 Myron Morgan, of Norwich. Captain Mor- 
 gan, while in command of the ship "Contest" 
 of New Bedford, off the coast of Brazil, died 
 suddenly of heart-disease in 1861. He had 
 been a prosperous man, and left a very com- 
 fortable competency. 
 
 The early boyhood of Elijah A. Morgan 
 was passed in Groton, attending the common 
 school. At the age of fourteen he went with 
 his father on a two years' voyage to Desolation 
 Island, afterward called Berghland's Lands, 
 which was discovered by Captain Cooke. 
 Later he spent a year in the Suffield (Conn.) 
 Literary Institute. Then, for a few months, 
 he was in business at the Fvilton Market, 
 
364 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 New York City. In 1852 he came to Old 
 Mystic to close out a stock of goods. During 
 the next eight years he kept a store. In 
 i860 he started in the ice business, which he 
 has followed since, supplying the Mystic 
 valley people with ice, and putting up about 
 fifteen hundred tons. In 1873 he erected one 
 of the iinest dwellings in Mystic, and it has 
 been a most pleasant home for the family ever 
 since. He has a well-built barn and sheds, 
 and keeps six horses. 
 
 Mr. Morgan is a Master Mason. He has 
 been twice in the State legislature, has been 
 County Commissioner for six years and Se- 
 lectman for seven years. He was First Se- 
 lectman in the first year of the time he has 
 served in the latter capacity. In 1858 he 
 married Mary F., daughter of Daniel and 
 Mary (Heath) Davis, the latter now living in 
 Clinton, Conn. Mrs. Morgan died in 1886, 
 leaving two of her three children. These are: 
 Elijah D. Morgan, of New York City; and 
 Fannie M. , who is the wife of John E. Hart, 
 of Elroy, Wis., and has two children — Jean- 
 ette and Raymond. In 1888 Sarah Lawton, 
 of Newport, R. I., became Mr. Morgan's sec- 
 ond wife. The offspring of this marriage is 
 Earle, a bright boy of seven years. Mr. Mor- 
 gan is a Methodist and an official in the 
 church. In politics he is a Republican. He 
 is one of the leading residents, is agreeable 
 and genial in his business relations as well as 
 in his social life, and he is devoted to his 
 family. 
 
 yLIAS 
 
 LIAS WILLIAMS, a practical and pro- 
 X ^ gressive agriculturist of Stonington, 
 
 Conn., was born January 19, 1830, 
 not far from Mystic village, on the farm 
 where he now resides, which formerly be- 
 longed to his Stanton ancestors. He is of 
 the eighth generation to own this estate, and 
 
 has in his possession a deed dated January 2, 
 1656, given to Thomas Stanton, an early 
 colonist, by a Mr. Beebe, no price or compen- 
 sation for the property being mentioned in 
 the deed, which was written by Thomas Stan- 
 ton. The deed was recorded in the Stoning- 
 ton book of records for land (in folio four), 
 June 22, 1704, Elnathan Miror, recorder. 
 Mr. Williams's grandfather, Elias Williams, 
 first, who was a native of Stonington, was a 
 seafaring m.an, and was a master mariner for 
 some years. He married Thankful Stanton, 
 and died, while yet a young man, in 18 10, in 
 North Carolina, leaving her with four chil- 
 dren, two of them sons; namely, William 
 Stanton Williams and Joseph Stanton Will- 
 iams. The former, who was born in 1800, 
 lived in this locality until 1830, when he fol- 
 lowed the tide of emigration Westward, going 
 as far as the Territory of Michigan. He set- 
 tled there, but did not live many years, his 
 death occurring in 1834. He left a widow 
 and one daughter, both of whom have passed 
 to the life beyond. Mrs. Thankful Stanton 
 Williams, who was the daughter of William 
 and Hannah (Williams) Stanton and grand- 
 daughter of John Williams, of Mystic village, 
 lived a widow for more than half a century, 
 dying during the late Civil War, in her native 
 town, past fourscore years of age. 
 
 Joseph Stanton Williams succeeded to the 
 ownership of the ancestral homestead, where 
 he was born in March, 1802, 'and where he 
 spent his long life of eighty-six years, his 
 death occurring on February 21, 1889. A 
 wise and willing worker, he toiled early and 
 late in clearing the land and placing it in a 
 state of cultivation. He made many substan- 
 tial improvements, among others being the 
 erection in 1830, some six years after his 
 marriage, of the present dwelling-house, which 
 stands on the site of the original residence. 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 36s 
 
 In 1824 he married Miss Julia A. Gallup, of 
 Ledyard, a daughter of Christopher Gallup, 
 whose wife was a Mrs. Prentiss, born Stan- 
 ton. Eight children were born of their 
 union, namely: Joseph Stanton, who died in 
 1834, aged eight years; William, who went to 
 California in 1849, ^^^ fairly successful as a 
 miner during the four years he spent on the 
 Pacific coast, and died in 1857, leaving a 
 widow and one daughter; Elias, the special 
 subject of this brief sketch; Julia, wife of 
 Salmon C. Foote, of Mystic; Joseph Stanton, 
 of Mystic; Charles, who died at Mystic in 
 1865, leaving his widow with two sons and a 
 daughter; Warren, who died in Stonington in 
 1868, unmarried; and Ellen G., who lived but 
 twelve years. The mother died in May, 1883, 
 aged seventy-six years. Both parents were 
 devoted members of the Congregational 
 church. Their bodies were laid to rest in 
 Elm Grove Cemetery, which is beautifully 
 located between the river and highway. 
 (Further ancestral history may be found in 
 connection with the sketch of Joseph S. Will- 
 iams.) 
 
 Elias Williams was reared to man's estate 
 on the home farm, receiving his education in 
 the district school ; and for four or five years 
 thereafter he was engaged in carrying on a 
 meat market. In 1856 he embarked in the 
 lumber business in Canada; but subsequently 
 he went West, locating first in Dubuque, la., 
 and later in St. Louis, Mo., where he re- 
 mained five years out of the fifteen that he 
 was away. During the Rebellion he was em- 
 ployed by the government as wagon master, 
 being in Missouri, Arkansas, and New Mex- 
 ico. After the war he was one of the survey- 
 ing party that accompanied General Palmer 
 through to California. In 1870 Mr. Williams 
 returned to the scenes of his childhood days, 
 and has since carried on general farming with 
 
 most satisfactory pecuniary results, the fine 
 appearance of the homestead property giving 
 evidence of his wise management and thrift. 
 
 On February 26, 1885, Mr. Williams mar- 
 ried Miss Sarah Palmer, daughter of Randall 
 and Mary A. (Holmes) Browne, of Stoning- 
 ton. Mr. and Mrs. Williams are both mem- 
 bers of the Mystic Congregational Church, in 
 which he is Deacon; and both are active 
 workers in the denomination. Mr. Williams 
 is an active Republican in his political affili- 
 ations, and has served as chairman of the 
 Town Republican Committee for twenty years, 
 being also chairman of the Senatorial Com- 
 mittee. He has always been a useful and in- 
 fluential citizen, and has filled various posi- 
 tions of trust. He represented Stonington in 
 the State legislature, and was re-elected in 
 1896. He has also served as Justice of the 
 Peace and as Grand Juror. 
 
 The foresight and generosity of this public- 
 spirited citizen are strikingly evidenced by 
 his recent gift, in November, 1897, of two 
 acres of the ancestral estate covered by the 
 above-mentioned deed of two hundred and 
 forty-two years ago to the Mystic Industrial 
 Company, which was organized with a capital 
 of thirty thousand dollars, to erect a plant, 
 one hundred and sixty-two by one hundred 
 and fifty-one feet, with boiler-room twenty by 
 forty feet, for the manufacturing of textile 
 fabrics, or a velvet mill, the property being 
 leased to the Rossie Brothers, of Germany. 
 A thousand dollars would not have induced 
 Mr. Williams to sell the land for house lots, 
 but to establish a new business and promote 
 the prosperity of his native town he was will- 
 ing to part with it without price. The ad- 
 vantages that the place will derive from the 
 new industry may be inferred from the fact 
 that employment will be given to from five hun- 
 dred to six hundred persons, men and women. 
 
366 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 HOMAS B. ALEXANDER, a well- 
 known contractor of New London, was 
 born in North Groton, Conn., in 1836, 
 son of Thomas Jefferson and Mary Ann 
 (Miner) Alexander. The father, a native of 
 the same town, was a sea captain, making 
 voyages between New York and Appalachi- 
 cola. He died at the last-named place in 
 early manhood of small-pox, leaving a widow, 
 who still lives in Ledyard, Conn., at the ad- 
 vanced age of eighty-six years, and two chil- 
 dren — Thomas B. and Mary. Mary married 
 John Williams, of Ledyard. 
 
 Thomas B. Alexander was reared on the 
 home farm, and acquired his education in the 
 common schools. He subsequently went to 
 Rhode Island, where he worked for some time 
 in a woollen-mill. Still later he came to 
 New London, and engaged in his present 
 business, in which he has been quite success- 
 ful. In politics he affiliates with the Repub- 
 lican party, and has been six times appointed 
 Street Commissioner for terms of one year 
 each. On October 14, 1855, he married 
 Frances A. Hempstead, daughter of Edward 
 and Fannie (Whittlesey) Hempstead. Mrs. 
 Alexander's great - great - grandparents were 
 Joshua and Lydia (Burch) Hempstead, both of 
 whom lived and died in New London. Her 
 great-great-grandfather Joshua was born here 
 in the old historic Hempstead House, which is 
 still occupied by one of the family. Edward 
 Hempstead, the grandfather, was a native of 
 Stonington, Conn. Mrs. Alexander's father 
 was a farmer, who died in middle life. Her 
 mother lived a widow many years, dying at 
 the advanced age of eighty-three. They had 
 ten children, all of whom lived to grow up, 
 marry, and rear families. Seven of the num- 
 ber are still living, namely: Sarah, wife of 
 A. J. Bliven, of Colorado; Eunice Crary, now 
 the wife of William Cranston, of New Lon- 
 
 don; Henry S., of Waterford, Conn.; Hiram, 
 a resident of Ledyard; Mary Anne, wife of 
 William Hancock, of Mystic; Simeon, who 
 resides at Clarke Falls Corner, R.I. ; and 
 Frances A., now Mrs. Alexander. The sub- 
 ject of this sketch has one daughter, Jennie 
 A., who was graduated with honor, at the age 
 of seventeen, at the Young Ladies' High 
 School, before it became the Williams Me- 
 morial. She married Stanley A. Smith, a 
 yard-master of the Central Vermont Railroad. 
 She is a member of the Daughters of the 
 American Revolution, and traces her ancestry 
 back, maternally, to Sir Robert Hempstead, 
 and paternally to John Alden of the " May- 
 flower." In 1888 Mr. Alexander built his 
 present fine residence at 29 North Main 
 Street. 
 
 (s>rLBERT W. PERKINS, the leading 
 t^ dry-goods merchant of Noank, in the 
 -^ '* V_^ town of Groton, was born here, Oc- 
 tober 3, 1835, son of Sevilian and Lucy B. 
 (Potter) Perkins. His paternal grandfather 
 was Phineas, a farmer, who took part in the 
 action at Groton Heights during the Revolu- 
 tionary War. Sevilian Perkins, who was 
 born in Groton in 1808, was a sailor and fish- 
 erman. In 1849 he went with a party to 
 California, where he was engaged in specu- 
 lating for a few years. Returning subse- 
 quently to Connecticut, he bought a fishing 
 sloop, in which he went after cod to George's 
 Banks. His wife, in maidenhood Lucy B. 
 Potter, and a native of Noank, was a descend- 
 ant of one of the oldest families in this 
 county. She became the mother of nine chil- 
 dren, seven sons and two daughters, all of 
 whom grew to mature years, married, and had 
 families, there being at the present time 
 twenty-five living grand-children. The six 
 children now living are widely scattered, some 
 
ALBERT W. PERKINS. 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 369 
 
 of them having homes in the West. The 
 mother died at the age of forty-two years, and 
 the father at seventy-one years. They were 
 interred in Noank cemetery. 
 
 When but ten years old Albert W. Perkins 
 began to accompany his father on his fishing 
 and coasting expeditions, and he subsequently 
 continued in this employment for twenty-four 
 years. On April i, 1870, he began mercan- 
 tile business in his present store. He carries 
 a good assortment of general dry goods and 
 notions, and has been very successful. The 
 busy little village of Noank counts him as 
 one of her most substantial and reliable busi- 
 ness men. 
 
 On January 22, 1858, Mr. Perkins married 
 Miss Julia Avery Burrows, of Groton Bank, 
 and a daughter of Austin and Almira (Hill) 
 Burrows. Her mother is a daughter of Moses 
 Hill, whose father, Samuel B. Hill, was 
 among the slain at the battle of Groton 
 Heights. Austin Burrows died in 1892, 
 aged eighty-one years, leaving a son and two 
 daughters. Six children have been born to 
 Mr. and Mrs. Perkins, namely: Lucy, wife 
 of Charles I. Fitch, of Noank, and the mother 
 of four children; C. C. Perkins, a prominent 
 merchant in New London, Conn. ; Myra, wife 
 of Otto W. Monroe, of Providence, R. I., and 
 the mother of three children; Warren C. Per- 
 kins, who married Flora Stanton, of Stoning- 
 ton, Conn., resides in that place, and has one 
 daughter; Albert W., Jr., sixteen years old, 
 who attends school and assists his father in 
 the store; and Abbie H., two years younger, 
 who also is attending school. 
 
 Mr. Perkins is a loyal supporter of the 
 Republican party, and has served the town in 
 minor offices. He is a Master Mason, and 
 the first charter member of the A. O. U. W. 
 of Noank, now Mystic. He is a member of 
 the historic Baptist church in Noank. About 
 
 the time of his marriage he built a house, but 
 sold it three years later, and moved into his 
 present residence at 58 Main Street, in which 
 he and his wife have spent thirty-seven of the 
 forty years of their married life. 
 
 M 
 
 ANIEL R. LOOSLEY, the oldest 
 newsdealer and stationer of New 
 London, where he began in the 
 business nearly thirty years ago, is a native 
 of England. He was born January 11, 1833, 
 son of William and Ann (Rogers) Loosley. 
 William Loosley died in England, when about 
 forty years of age. His widow was an octo- 
 genarian when she died in 1893. They had 
 twelve children, of whom three sons and eight 
 daughters grew to maturity. 
 
 Daniel R. Loosley left England for Amer- 
 ica in a sailing-vessel when a youth of six- 
 teen or seventeen years. When he landed in 
 Philadelphia, he had only a small amount of 
 cash ; but, having received a good common- 
 school education, he was able to secure a po- 
 sition as clerk, and he followed that occupa- 
 tion some five years. From Philadelphia he 
 drifted to Boston, where in 1855 he enlisted 
 in the regular army. In his twelve years' 
 service he rose in the regular order of promo- 
 tion to the rank of Captain, which he held for 
 three years; and he was a commissioned officer 
 some five years. His first active service was 
 on the North-west coast at Puget Sound. 
 When the "Star of the West" went to Fort 
 Sumter, he was one of the two hundred men 
 aboard, of whom, so far as is known, he is the 
 only survivor. Later he was in the Army of 
 the Potomac, with which he participated in 
 some forty engagements, escaping without in- 
 jury or capture. Before he resigned, in 1867, 
 he was brevetted Major. Soon after he came 
 to New London, and established his present 
 
37° 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 business at no State Street, where he has 
 been in trade for twenty -eight years. In pol- 
 itics he is a stanch Republican. 
 
 In 1864 Mr. Loosley was married in this 
 city to Miss Jeanette Crandall, a daughter of 
 Joshua and Emeline (Tinker) Crandall, both 
 of whom are now deceased. Of his four chil- 
 dren, two sons died in infancy, and Frederick 
 died when eight years of age. The only 
 daughter, Louise, is a graduate of the Young 
 Ladies' High School of this city, and has also 
 received a musical education. Mr. and Mrs. 
 Loosley and their daughter are members of 
 the Episcopal church. They reside at 19 
 Brainard Street, in the house which he built 
 twenty years ago. 
 
 ^AMUEL H. CHESEBRO, a pros- 
 perous grocer of Stonington, was 
 born in his present home on De- 
 cember 8, 1838. His parents, Samuel and 
 Harriet (Pollard) Chesebro, were of English 
 ancestry. The family commenced with Will- 
 iam Chesebrough, who was born in England 
 in 1594. In 1620 he was married in Boston, 
 Lincolnshire, England, to Anna Stevenson. 
 They undoubtedly came hither with the Gov- 
 ernor Winthrop party, as his name is enrolled 
 in the membership of the First Church in Bos- 
 ton, Mass.; while his mother, Sarah Chese- 
 brough, was the seventy-eighth member of 
 the same church. He removed to Mount 
 Wollaston, now Quincy, Mass., where he 
 owned a valuable estate. He served as Con- 
 stable, and was one of sixteen freemen elected 
 under the order of the Court in May, 1632, 
 that "there shall be two of every plantation 
 to confer with the Court about raising a public 
 stock." This measure is recorded by Prince, 
 with the remark, "And this seems to pave the 
 way for a House of Representatives in the 
 General Court." In October, 1640, he was 
 
 the Deputy of Braintree. Later he was Gov- 
 ernor Trumbull's first planter in Stonington, 
 Conn., to which he came from Rehoboth, 
 Mass., in 1649. At that time Stonington 
 was part of New London. He was several 
 times a Deputy to the General Court in Hart- 
 ford. His son, Samuel, first, was baptized in 
 Boston, England, in 1627. Samuel, second, 
 the next in line of descent, born November 
 20, 1660, had a son Joseph, who was baptized 
 April 12, 1703. Joseph's son, Samuel, third, 
 the grandfather of the subject of this biog- 
 raphy, was born March 25, 1743. He married 
 Submit Palmer, of this town; and they had 
 seven sons and six daughters, all of whom 
 grew to maturity. Rhoda died first, at the 
 age of eighteen. The other twelve children 
 all married, and are scattered. Jesse, the eld- 
 est, went to New York State, settling in Man- 
 lius, Onondaga County, in 1788. He mar- 
 ried, became the father of thirteen children, 
 and died June 24, 1830, at the age of sixty- 
 five. Samuel, third, died September 9, 181 1. 
 His widow, who survived him until 1835, 
 reached the advanced age of ninety-one. 
 They were highly respected members of the 
 Baptist church. 
 
 Samuel Chesebro, fourth, the youngest 
 child of the third Samuel, was born in Ston- 
 ington, November 25, 1788. In early life he 
 worked at clock and wagon making in Glas- 
 tonbury and Marlboro, Conn. He was a car- 
 penter and builder for a number of years, and 
 he was also engaged in the grocery business 
 for twenty-one years. In politics he affiliated 
 with the Democratic party. He was officially 
 prominent, serving as Selectman and Repre- 
 sentative, going to the legislature in 1832 
 and 1836. His first wife, whose maiden name 
 was Sally Robinson, was born in July, 1799. 
 They were married December 25, 18 14. She 
 died April 30, 1830, leaving six children, 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 371 
 
 namely: John R. , of this city; Dudley R., 
 who died here in 1879, at the age of sixty- 
 one; Ann E. Ashby, a resident of this city; 
 Frances M., now the widow Dickinson, who 
 resides with her half-brother, Samuel H.; 
 Samuel, who died at the age of five; and 
 Sarah Jane, now the widow Wolfe, of Mystic. 
 On December 5, 1830, a second marriage 
 united the father to Harriet Pollard, who was 
 born in Preston, Conn., on August 3, 1796. 
 She had four children, of whom Samuel H., 
 the subject of this sketch, grew to maturity. 
 She died December 11, 1855. On March 19, 
 1857, Lydia Fellows became the third wife of 
 the fourth Samuel Chesebro. Born March 5, 
 1790, she died in 1881. His death occurred 
 in 1858. 
 
 After acquiring a common-school education, 
 Samuel H. Chesebro began to serve as clerk 
 in his father's grocery store when he was thir- 
 teen years of age. His present place of busi- 
 ness, which was erected by his father in 1836, 
 when the ground about it was a rough pasture, 
 is now in the central part of the business dis- 
 trict. In politics Mr. Chesebro is a Demo- 
 crat. Like his worthy father, he has been a 
 prominent ofifice-holder. In 1871, 1877, and 
 1878 he served the town as Selectman. He 
 was Warden of the borough in 1892 and 1894, 
 after which he declined re-election. In 1874 
 he was a legislative Representative. He has 
 been the president of the Stonington Building 
 Company since its organization in 1892. 
 
 On September 26, 1865, Mr. Chesebro was 
 married to Lucretia Maria Babcock, a daugh- 
 ter of Elias and I-ucretia (Davis) Babcock. 
 Her father, who was a farmer and a merchant, 
 died March 19, 1881, at the age of seventy- 
 five. Her mother, who was born June 22, 
 18 1 8, and is still living, lost an infant daugh- 
 ter and her son, Elias Babcock, Jr., who 
 served in the Civil War, and died in 1888, at 
 
 the age of forty-three. Mrs. Chesebro was a 
 pupil of Mrs. Draper, of Hartford. She sub- 
 sequently studied music at the Music Vale 
 Seminary, and became a proficient teacher. 
 Mr. and Mrs. Chesebro have only one child, 
 Pauline, a young lady who is still under the 
 paternal roof. 
 
 ON. JOHN BREWSTER, now living 
 in retirement at the old Brewster 
 homestead in Ledyard, Conn., was 
 born in the adjoining town of Preston, May 
 13, 1 8 16, son of John and Mary (Morgan) 
 Brewster. He is descended from the distin- 
 guished Pilgrim leader, William Brewster, 
 "the excellent Elder of Plymouth," whose son 
 Jonathan was the first Town Clerk of New 
 London. 
 
 Jabez Brewster, the father of John, Sr. , 
 was a native New London County farmer. 
 He had four sons and one daughter. The 
 latter was the wife of Jeremiah S. Halsey (de- 
 ceased). John Brewster, Sr., born in Pres- 
 ton, December 15, 1782, died November 12, 
 1848, at nearly sixty-six years of age. He 
 had been to the polls only a few days before 
 and voted for President and Vice-President of 
 the United States. In 1820 he bought and 
 settled on this farm, then the Captain Israel 
 Morgan farm. His marriage with Mary Mor- 
 gan was solemnized February 6, 1806. She 
 was born in this house, and was a daughter of 
 Captain Israel and Elizabeth (Brewster) Mor- 
 gan. Her father was a son of William 
 Morgan and a lineal descendant of James 
 Morgan, born in Wales in 1607, who settled 
 in Pequot, now New London, about 1652. 
 Captain Israel Morgan departed this life on 
 June 4, 1816, his death being accidental, 
 caused by choking. John, Sr. , and Mary 
 (Morgan) Brewster had three sons and a 
 daughter, three of whom have passed away. 
 
372 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 The daughter, who married a Crary, left a 
 family. 
 
 John Brewster, the only survivor of the 
 family, grew to manhood on this place, and 
 here brought his bride shortly after their mar- 
 riage. The farm, which is about four miles 
 from Norwich, contains one hundred and forty 
 acres; and he keeps from fourteen to twenty 
 cows, besides horses, sheep, hogs, and other 
 stock. The house is nearly two hundred years 
 old. A new barn was built here twenty-five 
 years ago, but about fifteen years later was 
 struck by lightning, and with its contents was 
 a total loss. The one now standing, which is 
 a fine modern structure, sixty feet long by 
 thirty wide, was built in 1891. 
 
 When eighteen years old, Mr. Brewster en- 
 listed in the Rifle Company, which was made 
 up largely of Groton and Stonington boys; and 
 during his six or seven years' membership he 
 rose by regular promotion to the captaincy. 
 He was subsequently honorably retired, and 
 has ever since been known as Captain Brews- 
 ter. In addition to carrying on his farm, 
 during the past twenty-five years he has been 
 a wool buyer in company with L. W. Cornell; 
 and for the past three years he has been buyer 
 for the Yantic Wool Company. In the capac- 
 ity of appraiser, trustee, or administrator he 
 has also often assisted in settling estates, 
 some of them requiring the handling of large 
 amounts of property and involving knotty and 
 troublesome problems, of which the solution 
 was only reached after years of anxious care. 
 But, even with such difficulties attending his 
 duties in such cases, he has never charged 
 more than a nominal fee for his services. As 
 a man of broad intelligence and sound judg- 
 ment, honest, kind-hearted, and generous to 
 a fault, he commands the esteem and confi- 
 dence of the community. 
 
 On April 2, 1840, Mr. Brewster was mar- 
 
 ried to Miss Mary E. Williams, daughter of 
 Dennison B. Williams, of Stonington. Mrs. 
 Brewster, who is almost seventy-nine years 
 old, was the eldest-born of nine children, 
 eight of whom grew to mature years; but only 
 two are now living, the other being her sister 
 Eunice, wife of Richard Roberts, of Brooklyn, 
 N.Y., twelve years younger. Five children 
 have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Brewster; 
 namely, a daughter who died at the age 
 of eighteen months, John Dennison, Fanny 
 Halsey, Phebe Esther, and Frank William. 
 John Dennison died in 1894, aged fifty years, 
 leaving a son and daughter: Clara Brewster, a 
 young lady of eighteen ; and Arthur Morgan 
 Brewster, two years younger — both of whom 
 live with their mother in Norwich. Fanny, 
 the wife of Thomas H. Geer, of Cleveland, 
 Ohio, has one daughter, Mary Brewster. 
 Phebe Esther is the wife of Benjamin F. 
 Lewis, Jr., in Norwich. Frank W. Brewster 
 has charge of the home farm and a milk route 
 in the villages of Poquetanock and Hallville. 
 He married Mary Brown, daughter of L. R. 
 and Elizabeth Brown, and has two children: 
 Hannah Elizabeth, twelve years old; and 
 Phoebe Esther, nine years old. 
 
 Captain Brewster is a stanch Republican. 
 He has for several years held the office of Se- 
 lectman, First and Second, and has served 
 some years as Judge and Clerk of the Probate 
 Court. In 1S60 and in 1885-86 he was a 
 member of the Connecticut Senate. He had 
 previously served three terms, 1847, 1851, and 
 1878, in the lower house of the legislature. 
 For twelve years he was president of the Mer- 
 chants' National Bank of Norwich ; and he is 
 now vice-president of the Norwich Savings 
 Bank, being the oldest member of its Board of 
 Directors. He was for years president of the 
 Henry Bell Library, but has now resigned that 
 position. 
 
FRKUERICK .S V AI INOTOX. 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 375 
 
 KREDERICK SYMINGTON, the super- 
 intendent of the William W. Backus 
 Hospital at Norwich, is a native 
 of New Bedford, Mass., born August 14, 
 1859. His father, Hugh Symington, born 
 in 1832, was a native of Scotland, whence he 
 came to America at the age of twenty-five 
 years. With the latter came his wife, whose 
 maiden name was Sarah Cluckson, and one 
 son, William. They settled in New York 
 City, where Hugh was successfully engaged 
 in his profession of veterinary surgeon. He 
 died in 1882, and his wife at the age of sixty- 
 two, in 1891. Both lie buried in Woodlawn 
 Cemetery, New York. Of their four sons and 
 four daughters, Eudora, Sarah Ann, and Ida 
 reside in Bridgeport, Conn. 
 
 Frederick Symington was the youngest son 
 and fourth child of his parents. He was edu- 
 cated in the public schools of New York City. 
 At the age of sixteen he became a book-keeper 
 there, and was thus employed for three years. 
 He then went to the Winchester Repeating 
 Arms Company as a mechanic, and learned 
 the gun-making business, in which he became 
 a very proficient workman. In 1888 he ac- 
 cepted a position in the factory of Hopkins & 
 Allen, for whom he worked up to 1893. He 
 left that place to take up the duties of 
 superintendent of the William W. Backus 
 Hospital, in which capacity, as already 
 stated, he is now serving. This hospital is 
 one of the best of its size in this country, and 
 its superintendent takes a personal interest 
 and pride in seeing that everything under his 
 care is properly conducted. 
 
 Mr. Symington has been twice married. 
 His first union was made with Miss Rose 
 Hanson, whose children are: Robert, aged 
 sixteen; and Alice, aged thirteen years. The 
 second marriage, contracted on January 18, 
 1893, with Miss Clara Stanton, of Norwich, 
 
 has been blessed by the birth of one son, 
 Frederick Stanton. Mrs. Symington is a 
 daughter of the Rev. Robert and Harriet 
 (Jones) Stanton. Through her father, who is 
 a retired Congregational pastor, she is a di- 
 rect descendant of Thomas Stanton, of Lon- 
 don, England, who embarked January 2, 1635, 
 on the merchantman " Bonaventura " for Vir- 
 ginia, whence he afterward went to Boston. 
 In 1637 he settled in Hartford, Conn., and 
 was subsequently married to Miss Ann Lord, 
 of that place. He established a trading house 
 in Stonington, Conn., in 1650. The wife of 
 the Rev. Robert Stanton was a daughter of 
 Dr. Timothy Jones, one of five brothers who 
 were educated at Yale College. An ancestor 
 of the Jones family, who are of English ori- 
 gin, Colonel John Jones, was one of the regi- 
 cides who were held responsible for the exe- 
 cution of Charles I., and executed at Charing 
 Cross, London, October 17, 1660. William 
 Jones, son of Colonel John Jones, came to New 
 England in the same ship with the two regi- 
 cides, Whally and Goffe, who were at one 
 time secreted in a cave in New Haven, Conn. 
 Dr. Timothy Jones, born in 1784, graduated 
 from Yale College in 1804. Four years later 
 he settled in Southington. In 18 10 he 
 wedded Miss Rhoda Lewis, a daughter of 
 Seth Lewis. Nine children were born to 
 them, of whom six grew to maturity; and 
 Mrs. Stanton is now the only survivor. Mr. 
 Symington is a loyal Republican in politics. 
 He is a Master Mason, a Knight Templar, 
 and a member of the A. O. U. W. 
 
 LEROY BLAKE, D.D., pastor 
 of the First Church of Christ (Con- 
 gregational), New London, Conn., 
 since March 30, 1887, was born in Cornwall, 
 Vt., December 5, 1834, a son of Myron M. 
 
376 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 and Lucy (Stone) Blake. His first ancestor 
 in this country, it is said, was Joiin Blake, of 
 Maiden, England, who settled in Middletown, 
 Conn., in the seventeenth century, and died 
 there in 1690. 
 
 The descendants of John Blake are numer- 
 ous, and include many distinguished men. 
 Stephen Blake, great-grandfather of Dr. 
 Blake, was born in Middletown, Conn., April 
 27, 1767; and Myron Blake, his grandfather, 
 was born November 5, 1790. The latter mar- 
 ried Laura Hopkins, of Pittsford, Vt., a sec- 
 ond cousin of President Millard Fillmore, and 
 reared one daughter and seven sons. 
 
 Myron M. Blake, son of Myron, was born in 
 Castleton, Rutland County, Vt., April 12, 
 1812, and died in Salisbury, Conn., Septem- 
 ber 20, 1893. The greater part of his life 
 was devoted to the pursuit of agriculture. In 
 March, 1834, he was united in marriage with 
 Lucy Stone, a native of Cornwall, Vt. She 
 was the daughter of Eli and Polly Stone and 
 grand-daughter of Silas Stone, a Revolution- 
 ary soldier, who died on the march from Ben- 
 nington to Troy. Mrs. Lucy S. Blake died 
 April 22, 1894, in VVestfield, Mass., aged 
 eighty-three years, six months, and is buried 
 with her husband in Salisbury, Conn. They 
 were members of the Congregational church. 
 Four children were born to this couple, three 
 of whom are now living: S. Leroy, the sub- 
 ject of this sketch; Lyman H., pastor of the 
 Second Congregational Church of Westfield, 
 Mass. ; and Clarence E. Blake, Ph.D., a suc- 
 cessful teacher. 
 
 S. Leroy Blake fitted for college at Burn & 
 Burton Seminary, Manchester, Vt., and en- 
 tered Middlebury College in the fall of 1855, 
 graduating in 1859. For some time after his 
 graduation he was engaged in teaching: in 
 West Randolph, Vt., in 1859 and i860; at 
 Lancaster, Mass., about a year; and at Pem- 
 
 broke, N. H., in 1861 and 1862. In the 
 spring of 1862 he entered Andover Seminary, 
 from which he graduated in 1864; and on De- 
 cember 7, 1864, he was ordained and installed 
 pastor of the Congregational church in Pep- 
 perell, Mass. His succeeding charges were: 
 the South Church, Concord, N.H., where he 
 began work in January, 1869; the Woodland 
 Avenue Presbyterian Church, Cleveland, 
 Ohio, November, 1877; the Calvinistic Con- 
 gregational Church, Fitchburg, Mass., April, 
 1880; and the church in New London, which 
 is his present charge. He received his degree 
 of Doctor of Divinity in 1883 from Iowa Col- 
 lege. The Rev. Dr. Blake is an able 
 preacher, a zealous worker for the interests of 
 his congregation, and wields a facile and 
 powerful pen. He is the author of the book, 
 "By Whom and When was the Bible Writ- 
 ten?" (published^in Boston in 1886 by the 
 Congregational Publishing Company), and 
 ."After Death, What?" (1890), "The Early 
 History of the First Church, New London, 
 1897," besides -a number of pamphlets and 
 published sermons. 
 
 The church of which he is pastor has an in- 
 teresting history, and the roll of its ministers 
 includes some illustrious names. It was 
 organized in Gloucester, Mass., in May, 1642, 
 by Richard Blinman, who was driven from 
 Cheapstone, England, by Archbishop Laud in 
 1640. The Rev. Richard Blinman settled 
 first in Marshfield, Mass., and went thence to 
 Gloucester. In 1650, and with the majority 
 of his congregation, he moved to New Lon- 
 don, where he was settled on a salary of sixty 
 pounds per year. Eight years later he left 
 this place, and in 1660 he returned to Eng- 
 land. He died in Bristol in 1679 or 1680. 
 His successor was Gershom Bulkeley, a son 
 of Peter Bulkeley, of Concord, Mass. This 
 gentleman settled here in 1661, and, leaving 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 377 
 
 in 1664, was succeeded in 1666 by the Rev. 
 Simon Bradstreet, son of the Governor of the 
 Massachusetts Colony and his wife, Ann 
 Dudley, famous as the first poetess of Amer- 
 ica. The Rev. Mr. Bradstreet died in Au- 
 gust, 1683. His successor, Gurdon Salton- 
 stall, toolc charge, of the church in 1688. He 
 was ordained here in 1691, and was pastor 
 until 1708, when he was chosen Governor of 
 Connecticut; and he occupied the gubernato- 
 rial chair up to the time of his death in 1724. 
 During the pastorates of Bradstreet and Sal- 
 tonstall the church was disturbed by the 
 Rogerine movement, which was confined 
 mostly to this county. 
 
 Mr. Saltonstall's successor, Eliphalet 
 Adams, of Dedham, Mass., was ordained and 
 placed in charge of the church in 1709. In 
 1740, during his ministry, occurred the great 
 revival in New London; and his congregation 
 was decreased by the defection of about one 
 hundred members who followed the lead of Jo- 
 seph Davenport, of Southold, L.I., the inau- 
 gurator of the Separatist movement. These 
 Separatists established a theological seminary 
 in New London. Mr. Adams died in Octo- 
 ber, 1753, closing a pastorate of more than 
 forty years. His successor, the Rev. Mather 
 Byles, of Boston, settled here November i8, 
 1757 and ten years later was made rector of 
 an Episcopal church in Boston. The next in- 
 cumbent was Ephraim Woodbridge, of Groton, 
 Conn. He took charge of the church, 
 October 11, 1769, and- died September 6, 
 1776. 
 
 In 1787 Henry Channing, of Newport, uncle 
 of William Ellery Channing, D.D., was 
 installed as pastor. Mr. Channing, who was 
 a kind and scholarly man, became imbued with 
 Unitarian sentiments, which were distasteful 
 to his congregation; and in May, 1806, he re- 
 signed. In October of the same year the Rev. 
 
 Abel McEwen took charge; and in the fifty- 
 four years of his ministry several changes took 
 place, and the church membership was aug- 
 mented by a series of revivals. In 1835 the 
 Second Congregational Church was colonized; 
 and in June, 1856, the Rev. Thomas P. Field 
 was installed as associate pastor to Dr. Mc- 
 Ewen. Dr. Field resigned in the autumn of 
 1876 to accept a professorship in Amherst 
 College. He was succeeded by Edward W. 
 Bacon, son of Dr. Leonard Bacon, of New 
 Haven, who was active in ministerial work 
 until October, 1886. He resigned on account 
 of ill health, and died in California in June, 
 1887. 
 
 This church began worship in Robert 
 Parks's barn, which, fitted for the purpose, 
 was used until 1655. Then the building 
 known as the Blinman Church was erected; 
 and in 1680 the second house of worship, 
 known as the Bradstreet Church, was first 
 used. All these buildings were on Meeting- 
 house Hill. The first church, sold to James 
 Avery, was moved to Poquonnock Plain, and 
 used as a dwelling-house until July 20, 1894, 
 when it was destroyed by fire. The Brad- 
 street house also was burned, and a new one 
 completed on the same site in 1698 was called 
 the Saltonstall Church. This was in use 
 until 1785, when the fourth house of worship 
 was erected on the site of the present church. 
 The last structure erected, which was finished 
 in 1850, is a large and handsome edifice of 
 solid granite. 
 
 -OHN TYLER BECKWITH, farmer 
 and teamster of Niantic, Conn., is a 
 native of New London, and was born 
 July 10, 1838, his parents being Clement L. 
 and Hannah (Chapel) Beckwith. He comes 
 of a line of brave men whose lives were haz- 
 
378 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 arded in behalf of their native land, his pa- 
 ternal grandfather, Seth Beckwith, having 
 been a soldier of the Revolution, and his 
 father a soldier of the War of 1812. Grand- 
 father Beckwith was born in Waterford, and 
 was a farmer. He married a Miss Esther 
 Leach, who bore him five sons and two daugh- 
 ters. One son died young of lockjaw. 
 Grandmother Beckwith, who survived her hus- 
 band for many years and was a pensioner, died 
 in Montville about 1846, an octogenarian. 
 
 Their son, Clement L. Beckwith, above 
 named, was for forty-seven years a tenant 
 farmer on the estate of Dr. Isaac Thompson, 
 of New London, and paid as high as three 
 hundred and fifty dollars a year for rent. The 
 amicable relations which existed for so long a 
 period between him and his landlord were 
 creditable to the character of both men. Mr. 
 Thompson highly valued his tenant, and when 
 dying said, "Let Beckwith stay as long as he 
 wants to." Clement Beckwith's wife, Han- 
 nah Chapel, whom he married in 1816, was 
 born in Montville in 1796. She survived her 
 husband some eighteen years, and died Decem- 
 ber II, 1 88 1, in her eighty-sixth year. They 
 had a large family of children, as follows: 
 Gilbert Russell, who was accidentally killed 
 when six years of age; Miroch, born in 1819, 
 who died in New London, aged sixty-two; 
 Sarah A., who married Francis D. Beckwith, 
 of New London, and is living on Willets 
 Avenue near the house where Mr. John Tyler 
 Beckwith was born; Allen, deceased at the 
 age of nineteen; Anson, who died in 1890, 
 aged sixty-five years; Mary, who died before 
 reaching twenty years of age; Alfred, who 
 died in 1887; and Maria, the wife of Henry 
 T. Squire, living on Ocean Avenue, New 
 London, Conn. 
 
 John T. Beckwith in his boyhood received 
 a common-school education. His working 
 
 life began at an early age, as he sold milk for 
 his father when he was no higher than a good- 
 sized milk can, and from that time on has 
 been actively employed. He continued to 
 sell milk in New London for some twenty-two 
 years. After marriage he lived on his 
 father's farm for seven years, improving that 
 part of it which his father had bought of Dr. 
 Thompson. He then removed to the White 
 Hall farm in Mystic, in the town of Stoning- 
 ton, and was there for two years, at the end of 
 which time, in March, 1873, he came to the 
 farm of Mrs. Beckwith's father, which he has 
 since purchased. He has been actively en- 
 gaged in farming and in teaming; and, al- 
 though he has but twenty-five acres of land, it 
 is under high cultivation and yields abun- 
 dantly. Three years ago he built his fine 
 large residence in Niantic. 
 
 On the 31st of December, 1863, he married 
 Annie T. Beckwith, a daughter of Horace and 
 Mary (Comstock) Beckwith, of Waterford, 
 near East Lyme, where she was born April 
 14, 1841. Mr. Horace Beckwith was a ship- 
 carpenter at the head of Niantic River. His 
 family consisted of six sons and three daugh- 
 ters. Two of the sons. Turner and Horace, 
 and the three daughters grew to maturity. 
 Turner Beckwith lives in Niantic; but his 
 brother Horace went away, and was never 
 heard from. One daughter is Mrs. Charles 
 Bishop, of New London. Mr. and Mrs. John 
 T. Beckwith have two children: Fred A., who 
 is engaged in the livery business in this 
 place, and is the father of one daughter, 
 Leslie Mott; and Mary H., wife of S. J. 
 Weaver, of Flanders. 
 
 Mr. Beckwith is a Republican, and cast his 
 first vote in i860 for President Lincoln. He 
 is a trustee of the Baptist church, and both he 
 and his wife are devout and active members of 
 that body. 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 379 
 
 ■OHN W. MANWARING, the courte- 
 ous proprietor of the Oswegatchie 
 House in Waterford, New London 
 County, Conn., was born in Lyme, this 
 county, on September 20, 1826, son of 
 Thomas and Mary (Keeney) Manwaring. His 
 paternal grandfather, Thomas, was born near 
 the same place in 175 5- When a young man 
 he served his country in the Revolutionary 
 War. His life occupation was farming, 
 which he carried on at the head of the Con- 
 necticut River. He married Katurah Hurl- 
 but, of this town; and they reared four sons 
 and four daughters. He died in 1832, at the 
 age of seventy-seven ; and his wife, surviving 
 him ten years, lived to be eighty. Thomas 
 Manwaring, the father of John W. , was born 
 in this town, April 17, 1793. He was an 
 able farmer, who owned a good farm of two 
 hundred acres. He also officiated as Justice 
 of the Peace and as Selectman. In 1815 he 
 married Mary Keeney, daughter of William 
 Keeney, her mother's maiden name being 
 Chappell. Her father, William Keeney, was 
 four times married. His first wife, whose 
 maiden name was Gorton, died leaving four 
 sons and one daughter. His second wife left 
 but one child, the mother of the subject of 
 this sketch. By his third and fourth wives he 
 had no children. Thomas and Mary Keeney 
 Manwaring had eight children, but two of 
 whom are living — ^ Mary and John W. Mary 
 is the widow of James R. Moore, of Hartford. 
 She resides with her son, James R., being 
 now eighty years old. The father died June 
 20, 1862, and his widow several years later, 
 at the age of seventy-four. They were highly 
 respected members of the Baptist church. 
 
 John W. Manwaring came to Waterford 
 with his parents at the early age of five years. 
 He acquired a common-school education, and 
 chose farming as an occupation. He began 
 
 life on this farm of over a hundred acres in 
 1849, remaining twenty years. He then re- 
 moved to his present hotel site, only a quarter 
 of a mile distant. At that time the house was 
 small, accommodating only fifteen or twenty 
 guests. The present hotel is situated on the 
 east bank of the Niantic River, overshadowed 
 by the Oswegatchie Hills, and will accommo- 
 date from forty to fifty summer boarders. 
 Besides the hotel and fine barns he has two 
 cottages on the grounds. Three other sum- 
 mer residences have been built by San Fran- 
 cisco gentlemen, the whole forming a select 
 little village. 
 
 In politics, since first exercising the right 
 of suffrage, Mr. Manwaring has belonged to 
 the Democratic party. Officially, he has been 
 prominent in the town, serving as Justice 
 of the Peace thirty-five years and on the 
 Board of Education thirty-three years, during 
 twenty-seven of which he was secretary. 
 
 Mr. Manwaring was first married in No- 
 vember, 1849, to Cordelia Caulkins, who was 
 born in 1831, daughter of J. C. and Adeline 
 (Averill) Caulkins, of this town. She be- 
 came the mother of two sons, one of whom, 
 named Myron, died at the age of two and a 
 half years. The other, Harvey M., is a resi- 
 dent of Bridgeport, Conn. Mrs. Cordelia C. 
 Manwaring died at the age of thirty-four. 
 Mr. Manwaring married for his second wife 
 Mary E. Morgan, a daughter of Philip Mor- 
 gan, who lived on Prospect Hill in this town, 
 and who served officially as Selectman for 
 several years, Judge of Probate, Representa- 
 tive, and State Senator. Her father died in 
 1 86 1, leaving one son and five daughters, of 
 whom the son and three daughters are now 
 living. Mr. and Mrs. Manwaring's only liv- 
 mg child is Selden B., who was graduated 
 from the Friends' School, Providence, R.I., 
 and is now twenty-three years old. Another 
 
38o 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 son died in early manhood. In religion Mr. 
 Manwaring affiliates with the Baptists, having 
 been a church member for fifty-four years. 
 
 KREDERICK LESTER GARDNER, 
 one of Norwich's most successful 
 farmers, is a lifelong citizen of the 
 town, having been born here, March 5, 1832, 
 son of Sidney and Fanny Maria (Fanning) 
 Gardner. His father was born in Bozrah, 
 this county, in 1795, and his mother in Gro- 
 ton, April 12, 1790. His paternal grandpar- 
 ents, Lemuel and Jemimah (Lothrop) Gard- 
 ner, were farming people of Bozrah and later 
 of Norwich, where the former died July 16, 
 1839, ^iid the latter March 16, 1850, at 
 eighty years of age. Sidney Gardner fol- 
 lowed farming throughout his life, which was 
 spent on the old homestead. He died Sep- 
 tember 14, 1840. His wife, Fanny, was a 
 daughter of Thomas and Susanna (Faulkner) 
 Fanning and a grand-daughter of Thomas and 
 Elizabeth (Capron) Fanning. Grandfather 
 Fanning and four of his brothers — there were 
 six in all — served in the Revolutionary War. 
 Charles, who held the office of paymaster, was 
 a close friend and companion of Washington 
 and Lafayette. The other three were: Fred- 
 erick, Elkanah, and Frank, one or more of 
 them being officers. The name of the sixth 
 brother was Walter. The family came origi- 
 nally from England, and were prominent 
 among the early colonists. Sidney Gardner 
 and his wife had three sons and two daugh- 
 ters, of whom Frederick Lester was the fourth 
 child and second son. But one other, 
 Charles H., of Norwich, is now living. Sid- 
 ney, Jr., was engaged in farming on the old 
 homestead prior to his death, June 22, 1847, 
 in his twenty-fourth year. Sarah, who mar- 
 ried Alexander Meech, died February 5, 1871, 
 
 when nearly forty-five years of age. Frances, 
 who became the wife Of David C, Whaley, 
 died in the fortieth year of her age, leaving 
 one son, Chauncey Whaley, now a resident of 
 New London, Conn. 
 
 Frederick Lester Gardner spent his early 
 years on his father's farm, and was educated 
 in the common schools of Norwich. For a 
 year he worked as a clerk in Clinton, Mass. 
 In 1855 he went to Cleveland, Ohio, and en- 
 gaged in the manufacture of agricultural im- 
 plements, but within two years returned East. 
 He was next employed as a book-keeper in 
 Norwich three and one-half years, and subse- 
 quent to that was engaged in the clothing 
 trade for three years. From 1867 to 1890, a 
 period of twenty-three years, he carried on a 
 prosperous grocery business in the city of 
 Norwich, subsequently retiring to his present 
 home, an excellent farm of one hundred and 
 eight acres, which he has since conducted. 
 December 16, 1883, Mr. Gardner was married 
 to Mrs. Joanna W. Ransall, whose maiden 
 name was Loomis. 
 
 7T\HARLES D. WILLIAMS, a pros- 
 V Jl Parous farmer of Groton, residing 
 
 Vjf_^ near Mystic, was born in Ledyard, 
 New London County, June 26, 1844, son of 
 John D. and Jeanette (Williams) Williams. 
 The grandfather, John Williams, who was a 
 farmer in Ledyard, and lived to be over 
 seventy years old, had five sons and two 
 daughters, of whom the survivors are: Peter, 
 an octogenarian, residing near Norwich; and 
 Patty Williams, who lives in Ledyard with her 
 daughter. The father, after having started in 
 life without capital, by enterprising industry 
 became the owner of a farm of one hundred 
 and seventy-five acres. In 1840 he married 
 Jeanette Williams, a daughter of Judge Will- 
 iam Williams; and besides his son Charles he 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 381 
 
 had a daughter, Elizabeth, who became the 
 wife of Nelson Williams, of Groton. He died 
 in 1876, and his wife in 1884, aged sixty-nine. 
 
 When eighteen years of age Charles D. 
 Williams went to sea with Captain B. F. 
 Noyes on the brig "General Bailey," which 
 was afterward burned at the wharf in New 
 York. In 1861 he was on the "Weybosset," 
 a government transport used for conveying 
 troops to Norfolk, Va. , and other places. At 
 the age of twenty-seven he sailed as captain 
 of the schooner "River Queen," which was 
 engaged in the lumber trade, plying between 
 New York and Galveston. Less than a year 
 later he went on the "Cyclone of Boston," a 
 coaster, and about a year afterward took 
 charge of the "Belle of the Bay," of which he 
 had become part owner, and made voyages to 
 Spain, Sicily, and other places, doing a suc- 
 cessful business as a fruit trader. The next 
 vessel that he commanded, which was also his 
 last, was the bark " Silas Fish, " of which he was 
 captain from 1875 to 1884, and which he first 
 took to China. In 1880 he bought the sixty- 
 acre farm lying on the west side of Mystic 
 River, which is now his home, and where he 
 has since built his residence. Besides doing 
 general farming he has a fine orchard of young 
 trees, including apple, pear, and cherry, which 
 he set out and has since carefully tended. 
 His animals include two cows, and a span of 
 horses kept for his personal use. 
 
 On August I, 1882, Mr. Williams married 
 Eliza K. Fish, a daughter of Thomas B. and 
 Isabelle (Cook) Fish. Her father is a farmer 
 in Groton. She has two brothers, Frank and 
 George, who live with their parents. Mr. 
 Fish was a soldier in Company C of the 
 Twenty-first Connecticut Infantry during the 
 Civil War. Mr. and Mrs. Williams took 
 their bridal trip on the "Silas Fish" to Val- 
 paraiso, being gone a year. In politics Mr. 
 
 Williams is a gold Democrat. He is a Mas- 
 ter Mason and a member of Charity and 
 Relief Lodge of IMystic. His initiatory 
 degrees in Masonry were taken in Brook- 
 lyn, N.Y. 
 
 "CjLMER M. CHADWICK, a prosperous 
 JQ' merchant and Postmaster of Salem, 
 was born in this town, April 25, 
 1873, son of Frederick E. and Mary E. 
 (Kelly) Chadwick. The paternal grandfather, 
 Horace M. Chadwick, was also a native of this 
 county, and died at the age of fifty-eight 
 years, leaving a widow and only son. His 
 wife, whose maiden name was Olmstead, sur- 
 vived her husband but a few months. The 
 son, Frederick E. Chadwick, was born Decem- 
 ber 4, 1845, in the house in Salem which was 
 to be his lifelong residence. He became a 
 successful farmer and merchant; but his 
 career of activity and usefulness was prema- 
 turely cut short, August 21, 1888, when he 
 was forty-two years old. While spending a 
 day at the beach, he stepped into treacherous 
 quicksands, which suffocated him before help 
 could arrive. He was highly thought of by 
 his fellow-citizens, and at different times held 
 most of the offices in the gift of the town. 
 He was Judge of Probate, a member of the 
 legislature in 1876, and First Selectman for 
 several years before his death. In politics he 
 voted with the Republican party. He mar- 
 ried Mary E. Kelly, a daughter of Henry M. 
 and Mary A. (Pratt) Kelly, residents of Leb- 
 anon, Conn., the father being a blacksmith 
 by occupation. Mr. Kelly was twice married. 
 His first wife, Mary, died at the age of forty, 
 leaving four children. For his second wife 
 he married Sarah W. Church, a native of 
 Rhode Island, who bore him three children. 
 He died in 1889, at the age of seventy years. 
 In the spring of 1889 Mrs. Chadwick, with 
 
382 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 her son Elmer, moved to Colchester, Conn., 
 where they resided three years, returning to 
 Salem in 1892. She is an Episcopalian in 
 religious belief, as was also her husband. 
 
 Elmer M. Chadwick completed his educa- 
 tion at the Bacon Academy in Colchester; 
 and, after leaving school in 1892, he taught 
 one term. He then entered the mercantile 
 business, conducting for several years a 
 general store, in company with William B. 
 Kingsley, under the firm name of W. B. 
 Kingsley & Co. On July i, 1897, he became 
 sole proprietor of the business, which he is 
 now conducting alone. He was appointed 
 Postmaster at Salem, June 7, 1897. On No- 
 vember 25, 1897, Mr. Chadwick was married 
 to Miss Kathryn M. Merritt, of Chicopee 
 Falls, Mass., but formerly of Salem, Conn., 
 the ceremony taking place at the residence of 
 her mother. 
 
 M 
 
 ENISON J. CHAMPLIN, the Jailer 
 of Norwich, was born in Montville, 
 Conn., April 21, 1841. He is a 
 descendant of Jeffrey Champlin, who was 
 made a freeman in Rhode Island in 1640, and 
 who was at that time granted ten acres of land 
 in Newport. Jeffrey Champlin in 1661 was 
 prominent in Westerly. His death occurred 
 in 1695. His sons were: Jeffrey, William, 
 and Christopher. The second Jeffrey, who 
 was born in 1652, bought six hundred acres 
 of land in Kingston, R.I. He was one of 
 three Assessors in that town, and was in the 
 Assembly from 1696 until the time of his 
 death, in 1715, a period of nineteen years. 
 
 John Champlin, the grandfather of the sub- 
 ject of this sketch, was born August 10, 1771, 
 and died December 29, 1841. He was a tiller 
 of the soil, and owned a farm in Montville. 
 The maiden name of his wife was Sally Will- 
 iams, a daughter of Peter Williams, who was a 
 
 farmer of Ledyard. They had nine children, 
 and reared seven — John, Oliver, Clarissa, 
 Abby, Isaac S., William, and Thomas W. 
 Thomas A. and Mary Ann died in infancy; 
 John was a farmer of Ledyard; Oliver, a 
 farmer and carpenter, was drowned ; Clarissa 
 married Lyman Miner, a carpenter; Abby, 
 who took care of her invalid mother for many 
 years, married late in life Sol C. Vibber; 
 Isaac S. was a farmer of Montville; William 
 was a dry-goods merchant and for a long time 
 a member of a prominent firm in New York 
 City. Thomas W. in 1840 married Eth- 
 elinda, a daughter of Willard Wickwire by his 
 second wife, Theoda (Chapel) Wickwire. 
 Their three children were: Denison J., 
 Charles C, and Albert T. Charles C. kept 
 up the old farm where his father and grand- 
 father had lived and died. He died April 14, 
 1895, at the age of forty-two,' leaving a son 
 and daughter in Montville. Albert T. is un- 
 married, and lives on the old farm with his 
 brother's widow. The father held various 
 town offices, and was the legislative Repre- 
 sentative in 1863. He died May 29, 1880, 
 his wife having died the year before, at the 
 age of sixty years. 
 
 Denison J. Champlin lived at home until 
 he was twenty-two years old. Then he be- 
 came a turnkey at the county jail on Novem- 
 ber 16, 1863. After spending nearly three 
 years in this position, he resigned to learn the 
 carpenter's trade; and he afterward worked as 
 a carpenter and millwright until 1869. He 
 again filled the position of turnkey at the jail 
 for two years, afterward spending four years in 
 Elkhart, Ind., as clerk of the Elkhart Hotel. 
 He returned to the jail in Norwich in 1875 
 and became Deputy Jailer under Sheriff O. N. 
 Raymond. Subsequently, after a period of 
 service as steward in the Connecticut State 
 prison, he in 1884 was made Jailer of the 
 
DhMsoX I. ClIAMl'LIX. 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 38s 
 
 county jail, which position he has most ably 
 filled for the past thirteen years. 
 
 On September 15, 1879, Mr. Champlin 
 married Abbie A. Brown, a daughter of Al- 
 fred F. and A^bigail A. (Mason) Brown, of 
 Jewett City. Her father was the Postmaster 
 of Jewett City for nineteen years. Mrs. 
 Champlin has lost an own sister, and has a 
 half-brother living, Alfred F. Brown, Jr. 
 Mr. Champlin is a Mason of the thirty-second 
 degree. He is a Republican in politics. In 
 appearance he is a typical jailer and turnkey, 
 standing six feet high, and weighing about 
 two hundred and sixty pounds. 
 
 20RENZ0 DOW FAIRBROTHER, 
 Judge of the Town Court of Stoning- 
 _,^ tnn was born in Providence, R.I., 
 November i, 1854, son of Isaac Newton and 
 Emily (Lamb) Fairbrother. His father, who 
 is now in business in Stonington, was born at 
 Sackett's Harbor, N.Y., in the year 1813. 
 After his marriage Isaac N. Fairbrother re- 
 sided in New London for a time; but he sub- 
 sequently went to Providence, where for some 
 years he conducted a bakery business. Still 
 later he spent some time in Phoenix, R.I. 
 During the past twenty-six years he has been 
 engaged in business in Stonington. His 
 wife, Emily Lamb Fairbrother, is a native of 
 Groton; and they were married in Stonington. 
 They are the parents of eleven children, only 
 five of whom reached maturity, namely: 
 Emily, who became the wife of Charles 
 Vaughan, and died at forty years of age, after 
 having lost her only child; James H., a 
 printer and job compositor, who died when 
 forty-five years old, leaving a widow and one 
 daughter; William, who is in business with 
 his father, and has a wife and four children ; 
 Harriet, who married Joseph Cornell, died at 
 
 the age of thirty, and is survived by one of 
 her two children ; and Lorenzo Dow, the sub- 
 ject of this sketch. 
 
 Lorenzo Dow Fairbrother received his edu- 
 cation in the schools of Providence, R.I. 
 When a boy he learned the printing business 
 in that city, and for over twenty years was 
 employed in the office of the Stonington 
 Mirror, being a half-owner of the business ten 
 years of that time, during which it was carried 
 on under the style of Anderson Sc Fairbrother. 
 Besides attending to his official duties, he is 
 a correspondent of the Westerly .S?/«, and occa- 
 sionally assists in editing that paper. 
 
 On April 7, 1886, Judge Fairbrother mar- 
 ried Miss Mary B. Miller, of Brooklyn, N.Y., 
 a daughter of William E. D. and Anna 
 (Chesebro) Miller and great-grand-daughter of 
 Elder Elihu Chesebro. Her father was born 
 in North Hartland, Vt., in 1826, and died in 
 1866. He was a civil engineer, and surveyed 
 the line of the old Vandalia Road from Terre 
 Haute to St. Louis. He also ran the first 
 engine over the road. His wife survived him 
 many years, dying in December, 1892, when 
 sixty-five years old. They had two children 
 — Mary B. and William E. William E. is an 
 engineer, residing in Terre Haute, Ind. Mr. and 
 Mrs. Fairbrother have four children : Anna F., 
 born July 12,1887; James Edward, born Decem- 
 ber 30, 1889; Prudence, born May 11, 1893; 
 and William Dean, born November 25, 1896. 
 
 Judge Fairbrother is a Republican politi- 
 cally. He has served in many public offices, 
 including those of Burgess, Treasurer of the 
 School District, Register of Voters (twelve 
 years), and as a member of the Town Commit- 
 tee (fifteen years) . He belongs to the Royal 
 Arcanum, being a charter member of Pequot 
 Council, No. 442, which was organized seven- 
 teen years ago. He is also a Past Regent, 
 and has been Collector. 
 
386 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 JRIGADIER-GENERAL GEORGE 
 HAVEN, New London's Chief of 
 Police, was born in this city, March 
 27, 1844. He is a son of Urbane and Sarah 
 (Rogers) Haven, both of whom were members 
 of old Connecticut families. The Havens, 
 who are of Welsh extraction, settled in this 
 country some time in the seventeenth century. 
 Jonathan Haven, General Haven's great- 
 grandfather, was a resident of Groton or Ston- 
 ington, at that time a part of New London. 
 His son, Jonathan, Jr., the grandfather, who 
 resided in Groton, and died in the prime of 
 life, about the year 1846, married Catherine 
 Gallup, of Groton, a daughter of Jesse and a 
 grand-daughter of Benadam Gallup. She died 
 about the year 1855, and lies buried with her 
 husband in the old Mystic cemetery, formerly 
 known as Elder Wightman's burial-ground. 
 They reared four sons and eight daughters. 
 All the sons and six of the daughters brought 
 up families, and are now deceased. The sons 
 were named Edmund F. , Urbane, George, and 
 Jonathan. 
 
 Urbane Haven, a native of Groton, born in 
 i8ig, was a skilled mechanic, and was for 
 some time the foreman for the Wilson Manu- 
 facturing Company. Possessing a natural 
 talent for music, he was a skilled performer 
 on several instruments. He died in East 
 New London in 1867. In June, 1843, he was 
 united in marriage with Miss Sarah Rogers, 
 of this city, a daughter of Jonathan Rogers 
 and a descendant of James Rogers, one of the 
 early Quakers. She is still living in the old 
 home in East New London where her hus- 
 band died, and, though over seventy years of 
 age, is active and in possession of her facul- 
 ties. Her children were: George, the subject 
 of this sketch; Elizabeth, the wife of Charles 
 A. Thrall, of Staten Island; Catherine, who 
 was the wife of James L. Eggleston, had two 
 
 daughters and one son, and died in Atchison, 
 Kan., at the age of forty -three; Chester, at 
 Prince's Bay, Staten Island, who has two 
 daughters; and Sarah, a young lady living 
 with her mother in East New London. 
 
 George Haven acquired his early education 
 in the public schools of New London. The 
 war troubles were fermenting while he was 
 applying himself to his books; and on April 
 20, 1 86 1, about a month after his seventeenth 
 birthday, he left school to enlist in Company 
 C, Second Connecticut Regiment, under com- 
 mand of Colonel, afterward General, A. H. 
 Terry. When his term of three months 
 ended, he re-enlisted, being enrolled as a pri- 
 vate, November 21, 1861, in Company C, 
 First Connecticut Cavalry. During his sec- 
 ond term he rose to the rank of Corporal. 
 His regiment was in upward of fifty engage- 
 ments; and, though he participated in every 
 battle, he was neither wounded nor taken pris- 
 oner. After receiving his discharge on No- 
 vember 22, 1864, he returned home, and went 
 to work for the Wilson Manufacturing Com.- 
 pany, with which he was connected some eigh- 
 teen years, at first with his father and after- 
 ward taking his place as foreman. He left 
 the employ of the Wilson Company about 
 1886, and the following year was employed by 
 the Quinnipiac Company. In 1888 he was 
 appointed Chief of Police of New London. 
 While working as a machinist and discharging 
 his duties as Chief of Police, he was active in 
 military matters, and was promoted step by 
 step to the rank which he now holds. On 
 April 14, 1865, he became a member of Com- 
 pany D, Third Regiment of National Guards, 
 and was made First Sergeant eight days later. 
 His succeeding promotions were as follows: 
 Second Lieutenant, July 6, 1865; First Lieu- 
 tenant, December i, 1865; Captain, August 
 10, 1867; Major of the Third Regiment, Sep- 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 387 
 
 tember 3, 1870; Lieutenant Colonel, April 
 20, 1872. After resigning April 21, 1873, 
 he rejoined the Guards, and was made Captain 
 and Adjutant on February 18, 1879; Major, 
 March 20, 1882; Colonel, July 12, 1886; 
 Brigadier-general, commanding the brigade. 
 May 28, 1892; and Adjutant-general of Con- 
 necticut, January 7, 1897. Since his appoint- 
 ment by Governor Cooke to the post of Chief 
 of Police, he has been in office, with the ex- 
 ception of one year. He had charge of the 
 Connecticut State prison for three months in 
 1893, during an investigation. He is a man 
 of soldierly bearing, firm and decided, yet in 
 social intercourse of a modest and retiring 
 manner. He has shown himself to be the 
 right man in the right place, commanding the 
 respect and esteem of his subordinates, and in- 
 spiring criminals with a wholesome awe. 
 
 Brigadier-general Haven was married in 
 October, 1870, to Miss Ella A. Beckwith, 
 who died in 1877. She was the mother of a 
 son and a daughter, who died young. He 
 contracted a second marriage in October, 
 1882, with Miss Mattie A. Comstock, of New 
 London, a daughter of Captain Horace Com- 
 stock. By this union he has one son, Morgan 
 B., born February 4, 1893. General Haven 
 served the city for six years as Alderman and 
 Councilman. An active member of the Grand 
 Army, he was the father of W. W. Perkins 
 Post, No. 47, and has filled its principal 
 offices, serving as Commander for three terras. 
 He is a Master Mason; and he has passed the 
 chairs in Mohegan Lodge, I. O. O. F. 
 
 bTREDERICK H. BREWER, a well- 
 
 P[j known citizen of the town of Groton 
 
 and a Justice of the Peace, was born in 
 
 Norwich, Conn., May 24, 1834, son of Lyman 
 
 and Harriet (Tyler) Brewer. (An account of 
 
 his ancestry may be found in the sketch of 
 Louisa J. Brewer, published elsewhere in this 
 work.) The father was born in Wilbraham, 
 Mass., about 1785, and died in Norwich in 
 June, 1857. His wife was the daughter of the 
 Rev. John Tyler, rector of Christ's Church 
 for fifty-four years. They had eleven chil- 
 dren, of whom the subject of this sketch was 
 the youngest. 
 
 Frederick H. Brewer was educated in the 
 school of Dr. Roswell Park at Pomfret, where 
 he studied for six years. In 1852 he went to 
 Buffalo, where he was engaged for sixteen 
 years in the Cuban shook trade, as a member 
 of the firm of Story & Polhemus. 
 
 In 1869 he returned to Norwich, and settled 
 upon his small farm of twenty acres, near 
 West Mystic station. He has been proprie- 
 tor for seven years of the Nawyang House, on 
 Mystic Island, now called the Mystic Island 
 House, which was built in 1857, and was 
 owned by his brother William. This brother, 
 who was Clerk of the Court in Norwich for 
 many years, died in California. Judge 
 Brewer is a Democrat politically. He has 
 served as Justice of the Peace for twelve 
 years, and has also been Registrar of Voters. 
 He is a Master Mason of Buffalo Lodge. He 
 is a communicant of the Episcopal church, in 
 which he serves as vestryman and clerk of the 
 parish. Judge Brewer was married in Buffalo 
 in 1859 to Rebecca Holmes, daughter of Rob- 
 ert Holmes, of that place. He has five chil- 
 dren, namely: Lyman, a banker in California, 
 who is married and has two sons and two 
 daughters; Harriet L. , who resides with her 
 brother; Julia E., Ellen T. , and Frances 
 Hale, who reside at home with their parents. 
 These children were educated in the high 
 school at Mystic. 
 
 Judge Brewer's home, on the banks of the 
 Sound, commands a fine view of the ocean and 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 neighboring islands to the east and south. 
 With a plenteous supply of bivalves and fish 
 in every variety fresh from the water, with 
 vegetables from the garden and abundant sup- 
 plies from the dairy and poultry yard, they 
 are in no danger of wanting the necessaries 
 or even many of the comforts of life. 
 
 T^TENRY HASKELL GALLUP, a 
 r^i prominent manufacturer of Norwich, 
 
 -i-P \^ was born in the town of Preston, 
 
 this county, June 2, 1846. He traces his 
 ancestry through many generations, in which 
 credit and honor have been associated with the 
 name, to John Gallup, a native of Dorsetshire, 
 England, who sailed from Plymouth, Eng- 
 land, in the ship "Mary and John," and ar- 
 rived at Nantasket on May 30, 1630. This 
 ancestor, who settled in Massachusetts, was a 
 mariner and the captain of a vessel. While 
 not a man of property, he was held in high 
 .esteem. He received Gallup's Island as a 
 present from Governor Winthrop. John 
 Mason was also a close friend of his. In 
 1636 Captain Gallup's name appeared in the 
 town records. The family coat of arms bore 
 the motto, "Be bold, be wise." The gene- 
 alogy of the family, which was published in 
 1893 by John B. Gallup, of Agawam, Mass., 
 contains many interesting facts concerning its 
 early American progenitors. 
 
 Benadam Gallup, the great -great-grand- 
 father of Henry Haskell Gallup, born in Gro- 
 ton. Conn., in 1716, died in 1800. He served 
 in the Revolutionary War as Major in the 
 Second Battalion of Wadsworth's brigade, and 
 was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant Colo- 
 nel, his commission being signed by Governor 
 Jonathan Trumbull, and bearing the date of 
 December 2, 1776. Isaac Gallup, son of 
 Benadam, also won distinction in the struggle 
 
 for independence. He was a Lieutenant in 
 the Sixth Regiment, Tenth Company, under 
 Colonel Samuel H. Parsons, this regiment 
 being one of those raised at the Lexington 
 alarm in April, 1775. Until June 17 the 
 regiment was on duty at New London, and 
 was then ordered by the Governor's Council 
 to Boston. Afterward it was stationed at 
 Roxbury, and formed a part of General Spen- 
 cer's brigade until December 10, 1775, when 
 its term of service expired. By this time 
 Isaac Gallup had been promoted to the rank of 
 Captain. The regiment was reorganized 
 under Colonel Parsons in 1776 for service in 
 the Continental army; and after the siege of 
 Boston it was ordered to New York City, 
 whither it went by way of New London and 
 the Long Island Sound. It was there en- 
 gaged in fortifying the city until the close of 
 the year, participating in the battle of Long 
 Island, August 27, 1776, and in the retreat on 
 August 29. It subsequently took part in the 
 battle of White Plains, after which it was sta- 
 tioned on the Hudson, near Peekskill, under 
 General Heath, until its term of service ex- 
 pired, on December 31, 1776. Captain Isaac 
 Gallup married Anna Smith, a daughter of 
 Nehemiah Smith, of Groton. 
 
 Isaac Gallup, son of Captain Isaac and the 
 grandfather of Henry H., took part in the 
 War of 181 2. By trade he was a carpenter 
 and builder. He also owned and profitably 
 conducted a good farm, which is now owned 
 and occupied by his son. He was a man of 
 influence in town and general affairs. On 
 March 12, 18 12, he was married to Miss Pru- 
 dence Geer, of Ledyard, who, being a daugh- 
 ter of David and Mary (Stanton) Geer, traced 
 her family history to England. Of his five 
 children, a son and four daughters, Isaac 
 Gallup, who was born near Poquetanuck, No- 
 vember 13, 1820, and now resides on the old 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 389 
 
 homestead in Preston, is the only survivor. 
 He married on March 23, 1845, Miss Ma- 
 ria Theresa Davis, a daughter of Thomas and 
 Mary (Shaw) Davis, of Preston, and a grand- 
 daughter of Peter and Lucretia (Pellingham) 
 Shaw, of Westerly, R.I. On March 23, 
 189s, he and his wife celebrated the fiftieth 
 anniversary of their marriage. Although he 
 is now seventy-seven and she is seventy-three 
 years of age, they retain their mental and 
 physical activity remarkably. Three children 
 blessed their union, namely: Henry Haskell, 
 the subject of this biography; Ella Maria, the 
 wife of Avery D. Wheeler, of Cliff Street, 
 Norwich; and Charles Davis, of Norwich, 
 who married Grace Rogers Aldrich, and is 
 associated with his brother in the belt busi- 
 ness. 
 
 After receiving a good education in both 
 common and select schools, Henry Haskell 
 Gallup was engaged in teaching for four 
 winters. At the age of twenty-two he came 
 to Norwich, and went to work as a clerk in a 
 hat store. Soon after he became book-keeper 
 for Rarstow & Palmer, with whom he remained 
 three years. On March i, 1871, he started 
 out for himself in company with George S. 
 Smith, forming the firm of Smith & Gallup, 
 which did a prosperous business in leather and 
 findings. In 1873, together with Frank 
 Ulmer, they purchased the tannery of the late 
 Charles N. Farnam, of the Norwich Belt 
 Manufacturing Company. Mr. Smith retired 
 in 1883, and Mr. Ulmer in 1892, leaving Mr. 
 Gallup the sole owner of the tannery at Green- 
 ville and of the factory in Norwich. He is 
 now doing a very extensive business, employ- 
 ing one hundred and ten men, including seven 
 travelling salesmen, and having a branch 
 house in Chicago, under the management of 
 Roswell Allen Breed, by whom it was estab- 
 lished in 1887. 
 
 On September 26, 1871, Mr. Gallup was 
 married to Miss Irena H. Breed, of this city. 
 She is a daughter of Edward and Harriet Lee 
 (Hebard) Breed and a grand-daughter of Ros- 
 well and Sarah (Hancox) Breed. Her ma- 
 ternal grandparents were Gurdon Hebard, 
 born at Windham, Conn., October 31, 1770, 
 and Irena (Frink) Hebard, born May 19, 
 1775. Mr. and Mrs. Edward Breed buried 
 their first-born, Charles E., who was a young 
 man in the navy, and a daughter, Fanny 
 Miner, who died when fifteen years of age. 
 Their son Andrew resides in Norwich; while 
 Roswell, as above intimated, lives in Chicago. 
 Mr. and Mrs. Gallup have lost an infant son 
 and daughter: Fanny Ella, in 1876, when 
 twenty-one months old; and Clarence Breed 
 in 1881, at the age of six months. Their 
 living children are: Walter Henry, born 
 April 13, 1873, now at home, having left the 
 Norwich Free Academy to go into business 
 with his father; and Susie Irena, thirteen 
 years old. 
 
 In politics Mr. Gallup is a Republican. 
 He was the second president of the Board of 
 Trade, in which capacity he served for two 
 years. Since 1888 he has been a director of 
 the Thames Bank, and the president of the 
 Norwich Industrial Building Company since 
 its organization. He is also a director of the 
 Chelsea Savings Bank, the president of the 
 Crescent Fire-arms Company, and the treas- 
 urer of the W. H. Davenport Fire-arms 
 Company. His religious creed is the Epis- 
 copalian, and he is a warden of the Christ 
 Episcopal Church. The family reside at 127 
 Washington Street, in the elegant home that 
 he purchased in 1890. It was built by the 
 late James Lloyd Greene at a considerably 
 large expense, being constructed of brick and 
 finished in a very thorough and attractive 
 manner. It stands well back from three 
 
39° 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 streets, occupying nearly half of a block, with 
 the large lawn sloping to Washington Street, 
 and the garden extending back to Cedar 
 Street. There is, however, no ostentatious 
 display; while refinement, intelligence, and 
 cordiality rule within. 
 
 kRS. ELIZABETH M. HOWARD, 
 an esteemed resident of Old 
 Lyme, was born in 1823, the 
 youngest of the twelve children, seven sons 
 and five daughters, of Robert and Anstice 
 (Manwaring) Hough. Her parents were mar- 
 ried about 1806; and, the mother dying when 
 her daughter Elizabeth was six months old, 
 the latter was brought up in the family of her 
 uncle, Josiah Manwaring, at Niantic. All 
 the members of this family have passed away 
 except Mrs. Howard and her brother, Latham 
 M. Hough, of Springfield, Mass. 
 
 Elizabeth M, Hough was married in 1840, 
 when only seventeen years of age, to Charles 
 S. Howard, son of Daniel and Hannah 
 (Smith) Howard, of Waterford. His father 
 was at different periods of his life a farmer 
 and seafaring man; and the children consisted 
 of four sons and two daughters, of whom two 
 sons and one daughter are now living. 
 Daniel Howard, who was twice married, died 
 in 1867. Charles S. Howard went to sea 
 when he was but fourteen years old; and by 
 application to his duties he gradually rose 
 until he became captain of a vessel and later 
 on part owner of twenty-three fishing-smacks. 
 He also at one time carried on a mercantile 
 business in Niantic. About 1865 he settled 
 on a farm of one hundred and forty acres, 
 which he conducted prosperously for the rest 
 of his life, his death occurring April 24, 
 1890. He was a man of affairs in Niantic, 
 and served as Selectman. In religion his 
 
 opinions led him to afifiliate with the Baptists, 
 and he was a member of the church of that 
 denomination. Politically, he was a Republi- 
 can. Mr. and Mrs. Howard had a family of 
 eleven children, all of whom are living but 
 two. Their names respectively are: Charles 
 R., Mary E., Josiah, Hannah, Mary E. (sec- 
 ond of the name), Daniel, Palmer, Edwin, 
 Franklin J., Lucy E., and Alfred. Charles 
 R. is a merchant in Everett, Mass., and a 
 widower with one child. Mary E. (first) died 
 when she was five years old. Josiah died at 
 the age of fourteen. Hannah is the wife of 
 Frederick Harding, of Lyme, and has one 
 daughter. Mary E. (second) is the wife of 
 Pierce Littlefield, of East Lyme, and has one 
 child. Daniel, a merchant in Hartford, is 
 married and has two children, a son and a 
 daughter. Palmer resides in Lyme, is mar- 
 ried, and has one son. Edwin has a wife and 
 one son. Franklin J. is married, and has two 
 sons and one daughter. Lucy E. is the wife 
 of E. D. Caulkins, a farmer. Alfred, who 
 cares for the old farm, married Lizzie M. 
 Riddle. The last four are all residents of 
 Lyme. 
 
 M 
 
 LYSTED GATES, a member of 
 the firm of Gates Brothers, of Ni- 
 antic, dealers in general merchan- 
 dise, was born in this village, February 22, 
 1857, son of Daniel C. and Lydia M. (Parm- 
 lee) Gates. His grandfather, Behri Gates, 
 who resided in East Haddam and subse- 
 quently in Niantic, was a carpenter by trade. 
 He was born in one of the last years of the 
 eighteenth century, and died in 1877. His 
 wife, a Manwaring, was born in 1800, and 
 died in 1886. They reared a large family of 
 children, of whom three sons and one daughter 
 are now living. Daniel C. Gates was born in 
 East Haddam, Conn. He was a blacksmith 
 
CHARLES S. HOWARlJ. 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 393 
 
 by trade, and came to Niantic from New York 
 City shortly after his marriage, opening here 
 the first blacksmith shop in the town. A nat- 
 ural mechanic, he could mend a watch or pull 
 a tooth with equal skill, and was a master of 
 his trade. He was a devoted member of the 
 Methodist Episcopal church, and an active 
 supporter of its varied benevolent and chari- 
 table enterprises. In 1849 he married Lydia 
 M. Parmlee, of Killingworth, who bore him 
 five sons and two daughters, of whom the sub- 
 ject of this sketch is the fourth son and child. 
 The first son was Walter, who was acciden- 
 tally drowned; the second is Walton, of the 
 firm of Gates Brothers ; Charles, the third 
 child, resides in Niantic; Jacob G. lives in 
 Guilford, Conn.; Eugenia died at the age of 
 twelve; and Pauline, at the age of two years. 
 The mother passed away in June, 1876. The 
 father subsequently married for his second 
 wife a lady from Maine, who survives him. 
 
 D. Lysted Gates was educated in the dis- 
 trict schools. In April, 1881, he began his 
 working life by becoming a clerk for W. P. 
 Beckwith. Two years later he began business 
 for himself under the firm name of Gates & 
 Ray. The firm continued for twenty-six 
 months, when it became Gates Brothers, 
 under which name it has since done a large 
 and growing business, the largest of the kind 
 in Niantic, this result being obtained by fair 
 dealing and courteous treatment of patrons. 
 
 Mr. Gates is a prominent member of the 
 I. O. O. F., and has served in all the offices 
 in the gift of the order. In politics he is a 
 stanch Republican; and in 1887 he was 
 elected to the legislature, in which he served 
 creditably for two terms, reflecting honor 
 upon his constituents. He is interested in 
 the educational affairs of the town, and has 
 been a member of the School Board for six 
 years and its chairman for five years. In all 
 
 public positions he has been faithful to his 
 constituents, and has never used official posi- 
 tion for the furtherance of his personal inter- 
 ests, but has considered himself merely as the 
 servant of the public. On the 22d of Novem- 
 ber, 1896, Mr. Gates was united in marriage 
 with Mrs. Rachie M. Reilly. 
 
 /^STeORGE G. BROMLEY,* a well- 
 VI^^L known farmer and infliiential citizen 
 of Lisbon, Conn., was born about a 
 half-mile distant from his present residence 
 on October 8, 1844, son of Sanford and Re- 
 becca (Rose) Bromley. His grandfather 
 Bromley was a farmer, and came to Lisbon 
 about 1826. He and his wife, whose maiden 
 name was Nancy Y. Errington, had eleven 
 children, all of whom are now deceased. 
 
 Sanford Bromley, above named, was born in 
 1812, probably at Stonington, and died in 
 Lisbon in July, 1870. He was a stone-cutter, 
 and worked at stone and brick masonry. A 
 Democrat in politics, he was active in all 
 public affairs, was a man of prominence and 
 influence, and commanded universal respect. 
 He served as Town Clerk for seventeen years, 
 as Selectman, as School Visitor, and as Rep- 
 resentative to the legislature for two terms. 
 He was married in 1834 to Rebecca, daughter 
 of Captain Russell Rose, of Lisbon. She was 
 born in 1812, and died in 1890, about twenty 
 years after her husband. Sanford and Re- 
 becca (Rose) Bromley had four children. A 
 daughter named Nancy died at the age of 
 seventy-nine years, and a son, Frederick, when 
 an infant. George and Eliza Frances are the 
 living, the latter being the wife of Frank 
 Fitch, of Norwich Falls. 
 
 Mr. George C. Bromley was educated in the 
 common schools, a select school, and a busi- 
 ness college in Hartford. In 1870 he went to 
 
394 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 Arizona as clerk in the quartermaster's de- 
 partment, and was there for nine years. On 
 his way home, he stayed in Los Angeles 
 nearly a year. He studied the conditions 
 of climate and vegetation there, and believed 
 it to be, what has since been so strikingly 
 demonstrated, a section of country containing 
 marvellous agricultural resources, and capable 
 of almost unlimited development in agricult- 
 ural lines. 
 
 In 1870 Mr. Bromley was united in mar- 
 riage with his first wife, Jessie Ross. In 
 December, 1887, he was married to his pres- 
 ent wife, Elvira B., daughter of H. and Mary 
 E. (Boyne) Rogers, of this town. Mr. and 
 Mrs. Bromley have a family of three children, 
 namely: Mabel, aged seven; Ida, aged five; 
 and George Lester, aged three. Mr. Bromley 
 is a Democrat in politics, and is actively in- 
 terested in the public affairs of the town. 
 He has been a member of the Board of Relief, 
 and has served the town as Constable for 
 years, also as Town Clerk, being now on his 
 fourth term in the last-named position. He 
 has been prominently connected with the edu- 
 cational work of the town, and as a member of 
 the School Board has given evidence of his 
 practical and broad ideas in regard to the 
 management of the local schools. Mr. Brom- 
 ley's farm consists of seventy acres. Besides 
 carrying on general farming, he has always 
 done, and still continues to do, considerable 
 
 carpentering. 
 
 W' 
 
 [LLIAM H. CARDWELL,* a 
 well-known grocer of Norwich, was 
 born in Montville, Conn., a son of 
 Samuel Cardwell, his paternal grandfather 
 being William Cardwell, a Revolutionary 
 soldier. After completing his school educa- 
 tion he became clerk in his father's store, and 
 later worked in similar positions for others 
 
 until he had laid by a small capital with 
 which to establish himself in business. This 
 he did in Norwich about forty years ago, and 
 Mr. Ransom is the only one here who has 
 been engaged in trade in this town for a 
 longer period. 
 
 In 1859 Mr. Cardwell married Miss Lucy 
 Leffingwell Morgan, a daughter of Guerdon 
 and Mabel Bushnell Morgan, of Norwich. 
 Mrs. Cardwell traces her ancestry directly to 
 Governor William Bradford and his wife, 
 Alice (Southworth) Bradford. Her paternal 
 great-grandfather was Darius Morgan, of Nor- 
 wich, and her grandparents, Peter and Han- 
 nah (Leach) Morgan, also of Norwich. Her 
 father. Guerdon Morgan, was a farmer, whose 
 farm came down to him by inheritance through 
 seven generations, and is still in possession of 
 the family. Mrs. Cardwell is eligible for 
 membership in the Society of Colonial Dames. 
 Her four children are descendants in the 
 ninth generation of Francis Bushnell, one of 
 the thirty-five proprietors who came from 
 England and settled in Guilford in 1639, 
 where he died in 1646. His son, Richard, 
 born in England in 1620, married October 11, 
 1648, Mary Marvin, of Hartford, Conn., a 
 daughter of Matthew Marvin, who was born in 
 England in 1600. Richard Bushnell, second, 
 the next lineal representative, married Eliza- 
 beth Adgate, daughter of Thomas Adgate. 
 Caleb, the son of Richard and Elizabeth Bush- 
 nell, married Ann Leffingwell, of Norwich; 
 and their son Richard married Lucy Perkins. 
 Caleb, the son of Richard and Lucy Bushnell, 
 married Mabel Pitkin, of Hartford, a descend- 
 ant of William Pitkin, of that place. Their 
 son Richard married Annie Bellows, a mem- 
 ber of the Groton branch of the Bellows fam- 
 ily. Guerdon Morgan, father of Mrs. Card- 
 well, died at thirty-nine years of age. His 
 widow lived to the age of seventy-six. 
 
CEORC.K A. AYER. 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 397 
 
 Mrs. Cardwell was educated in the Norwich 
 schools. She has borne her husband four 
 children, two sons and two daughters; namely, 
 Mabel, George, Harry, and Alice. Mabel, 
 who studied at Waterbury under Professor 
 Russell, is proficient in art and music; 
 George, a graduate of the Norwich Free Acad- 
 emy, is a merchant in Denver; Harry, who 
 was graduated from the Norwich Academy, 
 and afterward spent three years in the Poly- 
 technic School of Worcester, resides with his 
 parents; and Alice, who is a graduate of the 
 Norwich Free Academy, has also distinguished 
 herself as a student, receiving a prize and a 
 free scholarship. The family live in the 
 large brick residence, 313 Main Street, which 
 was built by Mr. Cardwell eighteen years ago. 
 In politics he is a Republican. He and his 
 wife are members of the Episcopal church, in 
 which he is a vestryman. He is a thirty- 
 second degree Mason. 
 
 /pTTo 
 
 EORGE ALBERT AYER, a promi- 
 V f5 I nent farmer of the town of Preston 
 and one of the youngest landed pro- 
 prietors in the county, was born at the Ayer 
 homestead, June 8, 1875, son of George Al- 
 bert, Sr., and Hannah M. (Arnold) Ayer. 
 He owns the farm that has been in the family 
 for nearly two hundred years, and it is one of 
 the most extensive and highly cultivated in 
 this region. It was originally a part of a 
 large tract of land bought of the Indians by 
 John Ayer, the ancestor of this branch of the 
 Ayer family, who was born in England, it is 
 said, in 1680, and died here on February 20, 
 1750. 
 
 John Ayer's wife, Sarah, whose family 
 name is unknown, died in 1760, at the age of 
 sixty-eight years, having been the mother of 
 ten children. John Ayer, Jr., was the fourth 
 
 child and the first son. He was born in 1718. 
 His wife, Abigail, bore him nine children, 
 Jonas, born February 6, 1750, being the sixth 
 child and the second son. Jonas Ayer was a 
 man of extensive possessions and of great in- 
 fluence. He served as a member of the legis- 
 lature for several years. Pie married Abigail 
 Morgan, of Preston, who died at the age of 
 fifty-eight years, leaving the following-named 
 six children: Louise, born March 2, 18 14; 
 Albert G., born October 2, 1815; John, born 
 in April, 1817; James W., born in 1819; 
 Abby Ann, born June 10, 1821 ; and Jonas 
 Morgan, born March 29, 1824. 
 
 Albert G. Ayer, who was the grandfather of 
 Mr. George Albert Ayer, was one of the rep- 
 resentative men of his generation. He mar- 
 ried on September 23, 1845, Jane Pendleton, 
 born June 3, 1823, a daughter of Isaac Pendle- 
 ton, of Oxford, N.Y., and was the father of 
 two children: Abbie J., who was born on July 
 7, 1846, and died on March 5, 1873; and 
 George A., the father of the subject of this 
 sketch. 
 
 George Albert Ayer, Sr., was born on the 
 old homestead, April 22, 1849, '^I'd died on 
 October 22, 1874. He was educated in 
 Suffield and in East Greenwich, and was a 
 man of broad views and well informed on cur- 
 rent topics. He was in the legislature for a 
 number of terms, and up to 1873 was the 
 youngest man who had ever occupied a seat in 
 the house. He was a deeply religious man, 
 and was a member of the Congregational 
 church at Preston City. He was married on 
 Christmas Day, 1873, to Hannah M., daughter 
 of Peleg A. and Hannah W. (Browning) Ar- 
 nold. Mr. Arnold died on October 11, 1894, 
 at the age of fifty-eight years, leaving his 
 widow and three children: Hannah M.; 
 Emily C, wife of Carder H. Tucker, of Wake- 
 field, R.I. ; and Mary Jessie Arnold. 
 
398 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 Mrs. Hannah M. Ayer was married a sec- 
 ond time on December 14, 1881, to Fred S. 
 Brown, son of Shepherd and Martha (Brown- 
 ing) Brown, and is living on the Brown home- 
 stead, which has been in the family for several 
 generations. By this second marriage there 
 are two sons : Shepherd F. Brown, born Feb- 
 ruary 29, 1884, the fourth Shepherd Brown 
 who has lived here; and Arnold P., born July 
 31, 1886. Mr. Brown is a Democrat, and has 
 been Selectman for four years. He owns a 
 fine farm of two hundred acres, and carries on 
 general farming and dairying, having a herd 
 of some twenty-two cows. He also deals 
 quite largely in cattle and poultry, shipping 
 poultry to the Eastern markets. 
 
 George Albert Ayer, only son of the elder 
 George Albert, was born some months after 
 the death of his father; and his education and 
 training was under the competent direction of 
 his mother. The estate of three hundred acres 
 that has come down to him from his grand- 
 father Ayer is a heritage with which any man 
 might be satisfied, and the family associations 
 connected with the place doubly enhance its 
 value to the present owner. A few weeks 
 ago, on January 5, 1898, Mr. Ayer was united 
 in marriage with Miss Mabel E. Tattersall, 
 daughter of John and Eleanor (Handy) Tat- 
 tersall, of Jewett City, Conn. 
 
 'OHN E. McDonald,* of Noank, for 
 more than a quarter-century general 
 foreman of the business now conducted 
 under the name of the Robert I'almer Com- 
 pany, a ship-building and marine railway con- 
 cern, was born March 14, 1844, on I^rince Ed- 
 ward Island, and is a son of John and Chris- 
 tina (Sutherland) McDonald. 
 
 Allan McDonald, his grandfather, was born 
 in the north of Scotland, whence he immi- 
 
 grated to Prince Edward Island in 1780. He 
 was a farmer by vocation, and lived to be 
 eighty-five years old. For his first wife he 
 married a Miss McKinnon, and he was mar- 
 ried twice afterward. John McDonald was 
 born on Prince Edward Island about the year 
 1806, and is still living there. He is a ship- 
 builder. John and Christina McDonald 
 reared nine children, two sons and seven 
 daughters. Both sons now reside in Connect- 
 icut, M. B. in New London, and John E. in 
 the village of Noank. 
 
 John K. McDonald grew to manhood in his 
 native town. He received a common-school 
 education, then learned the ship-builder's 
 trade of his father, beginning his apprentice- 
 ship at the age of sixteen. In 1865 he went 
 to Boston, Mass., and on June i of the follow- 
 ing year came to Noank, where he entered the 
 employ of Robert Palmer in the ship-yard in 
 which he has now been the foreman for over 
 twenty-six years. When the Robert Palmer 
 Company was organized, about four years ago, 
 he became one of the stockholders, so that he 
 has since been doubly interested in its suc- 
 cessful operation, though at all times a faith- 
 ful employee. 
 
 The marriage of Mr. McDonald and Miss 
 Sarah McEachen, of Prince Edward Island, 
 took place in Boston, Mass. They have an 
 interesting family of four children, two sons 
 and two daughters, namely: Annie Christina, 
 in the Meriden Convent of Mercy, where she 
 is known by the name of Sister Mary Rose; 
 John Francis, attending the Holy Cross Col- 
 lege, Worcester, Mass., class of 1897; James 
 Alfred, in the Bulkley High School, of which 
 his brother is a graduate; and Gertie M., 
 thirteen years old, in school in Noank. 
 
 Mr. McDonald is a Democratic voter. He 
 is connected with the American Order of 
 United Workmen. He and his wife are mem- 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 399 
 
 bers of St. Patrick's Church at Mystic. They 
 reside on Church Street, in the house which 
 has been their home since 1882, about fifteen 
 years. 
 
 TTNHARLES ALLYN, who died at his 
 I Ji home in New London, September 6, 
 
 ^^ ^ 1888, aged forty-five, was a worthy 
 representative of an old New London County 
 family, being a lineal descendant of Robert 
 AUyn, the early settler at Allyn's Point. 
 Charles Allyn was born in Wilbraham, Mass., 
 and was a son of the Rev. Robert and Eme- 
 line (Denison) Allyn, the former of whom 
 was a Methodist divine. 
 
 For a number of years the Rev. Robert 
 Allyn was prominent in educational work in 
 Illinois, first as president of McKendrie Col- 
 lege at Lebanon and later of the State Nor- 
 mal School at Carbondale. He was a gradu- 
 ate of Wilbraham Academy and of the 
 Wesleyan University, Middletown, Conn. 
 He was a man of superior mental powers and 
 attainments, and stood very high both as a 
 preacher and teacher. Many able articles 
 were written by him for leading Methodist 
 papers and educational periodicals. His first 
 wife, Emeline Denison, died young, leaving 
 him with an infant son and daughter — 
 Charles and Emeline. He subsequently mar- 
 ried Mary Budington, of Franklin County, 
 Massachusetts, who bore him four children. 
 The Rev. Robert Allyn died at Carbondale, 
 III., January 7, 1894, aged seventy-seven 
 years. He had previously been bereft of his 
 second wife and two of their children. But 
 three of his six children are now living, 
 namely: Emeline, the widow of William 
 Hypes, of Lebanon, 111.; Joseph, a mining 
 engineer in Chicago, 111.; and Ellen S. 
 Allyn, residing in Carbondale. 
 
 Mr. Charles Allyn is survived by his wife, 
 
 whose maiden name was Helen L. Starr. She 
 was born in Brooklyn, N.Y., daughter of 
 William Holt and Freelove Hurlbut (Will- 
 iams) Starr. Her father was a native of Gro- 
 ton, and her mother of Stonington, Conn. 
 Mr. Starr at one time carried on a large manu- 
 facturing business in Brooklyn, and he was 
 also a writer and publisher. He was a man of 
 influence in public affairs, serving two terms 
 in the Connecticut State legislature. He 
 died at his home in New London in 1884, 
 aged seventy-six, in the house that he built in 
 the winter of 1853-54, forty-four years ago, on 
 Front Street, near the historic old mill, it 
 being one of the first residences erected in 
 this part of the town. Mr. and Mrs. Starr 
 had five children; namely, William H., 
 Charles F. , Eliza D., Helen L. , and Sarah J. 
 William H. Starr is a Congregational minis- 
 ter in Providence, R.I.; Charles F. lives on 
 Post Hill; Eliza D. Starr lives with Mrs. 
 Allyn; and Sarah J. is the wife of Henry C. 
 Fuller. 
 
 Charles Allyn and Miss Helen Starr were 
 married on November 18, 1867. The first six 
 years of their wedded life were spent in 
 Brooklyn, N.Y., where he held a position in 
 the custom-house office. In 1873 they left 
 Brooklyn and came to New London ; and a 
 year or two before his death they removed to 
 Mrs. Allyn's old home at 4 Front Street, 
 corner of Crystal Avenue, where she has con- 
 tinued to live. In New London Mr. Allyn 
 engaged in the book trade. He was the pub- 
 lisher of the History of the Battle of Groton 
 Heights, which appears in a fine quarto vol- 
 ume with illustrations; and for several years 
 he published the Daboll Almanac. Four 
 children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Allyn, 
 namely: Charles, who died at sixteen ; Louise, 
 a graduate of the Emerson College of Oratory, 
 Boston, in the class of 1895, ^^d now engaged 
 
400 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 as a teacher of elocution and physical culture; 
 Robert, who is studying in the Massachusetts 
 Institute of Technology; and Harriet May, 
 thirteen years old, who is attending the gram- 
 mar school. 
 
 kRS. MARCIA PALMER STAN- 
 TON, of Stonington, daughter of 
 Oliver and Nancy D. (Noyes) 
 Denison, and widow of the late Paul Burdick 
 Stanton, is a native of this town. Her father, 
 who was born January 2, 1787, and died Sep- 
 tember 8, 1873, was one of the nine children, 
 five sons and four daughters, of Oliver, Sr., 
 and Martha (Williams) Denison. Mrs. Stan- 
 ton's grandfather, Oliver Denison, Sr., was 
 of the fifth generation in descent from Cap- 
 tain George Denison, who was born in Eng- 
 land about 1618, and came to this country in 
 163 1 with his brothers, Daniel and Edward, 
 and their father, William Denison, who set- 
 tled at Roxbury, Mass. Captain George 
 Denison removed with his family from Massa- 
 chusetts to the New London Colony in 165 1, 
 and in 1654 took up his abode in what is now 
 Stonington. He was prominent in civil and 
 military affairs, and has been called "the 
 Miles Standish of the settlement." Of his 
 extensive landed estate less than a hundred 
 acres now remain, but it is still held under 
 its first title deed. 
 
 Oliver Denison, Jr., was twice married. 
 His first wife, Nancy Graves, died young, 
 leaving one daughter, born in 1813, now Mrs. 
 Nathaniel Clift, of Mystic. His second wife 
 was Nancy Dean Noyes, daughter of Nathan 
 Noyes. The date of their marriage was No- 
 vember 24, 1825. They had seven children, 
 namely: Emma J., who married Asa F. Ken- 
 drick; Oliver, who married Harriet A. Wil- 
 cox, and died in 1886; Marcia P., now Mrs. 
 Stanton; Edgar, whose first wife was Mar- 
 
 garet E. Mandeville, and his second, Phebe J. 
 Green; Sarah, who died unmarried; Nathan 
 N., who married Sarah A. Green; Phebe M., 
 who married Reuben Ford, and still lives on 
 the old place where Captain George Denison, 
 the immigrant ancestor, first settled. The 
 mother, Mrs. Nancy D. Denison, died June 
 10, 1870. 
 
 The marriage of Marcia Palmer Denison 
 and Paul Burdick Stanton was solemnized 
 May 25, 1864. Mr. Stanton was born Novem- 
 ber 28, 1824. He was the fourth son of Ben- 
 jamin F. and Maria (Davis) Stanton, both of 
 Stonington, and a lineal descendant of Robert 
 Stanton, who was born in England in 1599, 
 settled in Newport, R.I., in 1638, and died 
 there August 5, 1672. Robert's son, John 
 Stanton, a merchant and a member of the So- 
 ciety of Friends, born in 1645, was married 
 in Quaker meeting to Mary Horndale. John, 
 Jr., born in 1673, the fourth of their seven 
 children, settled in Westerly, R.I., in 1733. 
 ■He had twelve children by his first wife, 
 Elizabeth Clark, and thirteen by his second, 
 Susannah Lamphere, whom he married in 
 1734, when she was nineteen years of age. 
 His son Job, grandfather of Paul B. Stanton, 
 was born at Westerly in 1737. He married 
 first Elizabeth Belcher, who died in 1773; 
 and in June, 1774, he married Mrs. Annie 
 Williams Bell, widow of John Bell and daugh- 
 ter of Nathaniel and Annie (Hewitt) Will- 
 iams. She was a sister of the wife of Colonel 
 Ledyard, who fell at Fort Griswold. Job 
 Stanton had three children by his first wife, 
 and four by the second, Benjamin F., above 
 named, being the youngest. 
 
 Benjamin F. Stanton and his wife, Maria, 
 had nine children — John Davis, Abby J., 
 Emma A., Daniel D., Benjamin F., Maria, 
 Fanny, Paul B., and Mason Manning. His 
 parents, Job and Annie W. B. Stanton, spent 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 401 
 
 their last years on this farm, which he pur- 
 chased. Paul Burdick Stanton brought his 
 bride here, and it has since been her home. 
 Two of his brothers, John and Daniel, lived 
 with him. The other brothers, Benjamin and 
 Mason, neither of whom ever married, lived 
 on the adjoining farm. The entire family of 
 five sons and four daughters have now all 
 passed away. Mr. Paul Burdick Stanton 
 spent his life quietly as a farmer. He died 
 July 8, 1884, in his sixtieth year. Since 
 then Mrs. Stanton has had a good tenant to 
 carry on the place. Their only child, a 
 daughter, died in infancy. Mrs. Stanton is a 
 member of the First Congregational Church, 
 the Road Church. 
 
 JOSEPH D. HERR, A.M., D.D., the 
 pastor of the Central Baptist Church of 
 Norwich and a worthy representative of 
 an old and distinguished family, was born in 
 Sharpsburg, Pa., February 23, 1837. A son 
 of Daniel and Ann (Snively) Herr, he traces 
 his ancestry back to a.d. 1009, and clearly 
 shows that his family is connected with the 
 royal house of Austria. The coat of arms in- 
 dicates that the family is a very ancient one, 
 of royal origin and pure descent, that it pro- 
 duced knights who fought the Saracens in 
 the Crusades, and men of naval prominence, 
 and distinguished philanthropists. Though 
 the male members of the family were remark- 
 able for ability, they had little desire for 
 royal preferment, whether in statecraft or war. 
 Dr. Michael Herr, of Hagenau, Alsatia, who 
 was a contemporary of Martin Luther, was one 
 of the creators of the High German language. 
 His book on the travels of Marco Polo, Co- 
 lumbus's discovery of America, and its de- 
 scription by Amerigo Vespucci, is one of the 
 registered old works in America. The book 
 
 is one of the finest specimens from the first 
 century of the printing art, and is ninety-six 
 years younger than the first print of Guten- 
 berg. There are but three copies in this 
 country; and the best preserved, which was 
 in the possession of Dr. E. F. Leyh, of Balti- 
 more, Md., was purchased by the Tilden- 
 Astor Library of New York. The catalogue 
 of the famous Brown Library in Providence, 
 R.L, gives a full page to the description of 
 this work. 
 
 Hans Herr, Dr. Herr's great-great-great- 
 grandfather, who is described in history as 
 the founder and leader of the Mennonites in 
 Pennsylvania, was a resident of the Pequea 
 Valley in that State and an intimate friend 
 of William Penn. His descendants in this 
 country are very numerous, the minimum 
 estimate being thirty thousand. A number 
 of these descendants, including Dr. Herr, 
 have formed the Hans Herr Memorial Asso- 
 ciation, whose headquarters are at Lancaster, 
 Pa., "with a view to commemorating the 
 exodus of Swiss Mennonites to America 
 nearly two hundred years ago and his leader- 
 ship in the movement by erecting some suit- 
 able permanent hall, school, or monument." 
 In this association, embracing many men and 
 women of ability, all the learned professions 
 are represented. From Hans Herr, Dr. Herr 
 traces his descent through Abraham, Chris- 
 tian, David, and Benjamin, who was born in 
 Lancaster, Pa., in 1766. Benjamin Herr, 
 who was the Doctor's grandfather and one of 
 the earliest merchants of Pittsburg, trans- 
 ported his goods on pack mules over the 
 mountains from Philadelphia. He was thrifty 
 and enterprising, and accumulated quite a 
 fortune. His death occurred in Pittsburg in 
 1846, in his eightieth year. In 1780 he 
 went to Germany for a wife, and brought 
 home a comely /raz/, who was a member of a 
 
40 2 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 wealthy and noble family, and whose name 
 before marriage was Magdalena Lichte. She 
 died at the age of seventy-two; and her re- 
 mains lie beside those of her husband in the 
 Troy Hill Cemetery, near Herr's Island. 
 They reared seven children, three daughters 
 and four sons. Of the sons — Benjamin, 
 Henry, Daniel, and John — John, the young- 
 est, is living near Cleveland, Ohio, nearly 
 ninety years old. He has been engaged in 
 agriculture and banking, and is a man of 
 prominence. 
 
 Daniel Herr, Dr. Herr's father, was born 
 on Herr's Island, in the Alleghany River, 
 just above Pittsburg, in 1808. He was en- 
 gaged in horticulture up to the time of his 
 death, which occurred at the age of thirty- 
 seven. His wife, who was born in Alleghany 
 County, Pennsylvania, about ten miles from 
 Pittsburg, was a daughter of David and Mary 
 Snively. The Snivelys also are an old Penn- 
 sylvania family. David Snively was a promi- 
 nent man. His brother. Christian, served in 
 the Pennsylvania legislature; and Christian's 
 son Whitmer was an eminent physician. 
 Mrs. Ann Herr is now living in Philadelphia 
 with her daughter, and, though eighty-eight 
 years old, is in possession of > her faculties, 
 and still bright and active. At her husband's 
 death she was left with four children, namely: 
 Mary, now the wife of Dr. Jacob Stewart, of 
 Moline, 111. ; Magdalene, who is the widow of 
 the Rev. David Williams and resides in Phil- 
 adelphia; Sarah, who is the wife of the Rev. 
 David Jones, D.D., the rector of the Epis- 
 copal church in Rochester, Pa. ; and Joseph 
 D., the subject of this sketch. 
 
 After receiving a thorough training in the 
 common-school branches, Joseph D. Herr ob- 
 tained employment as a clerk in Sharpsburg, 
 Pa., when fifteen years old, and soon made 
 himself indispensable. At the age of seven- 
 
 teen he was converted, and decided to study 
 for the ministry; and in the year of his ma- 
 jority he graduated from Madison College, 
 Pennsylvania. Before his graduation he 
 began to preach in West Virginia, and about 
 three years later he was installed as pastor 
 of a large church in Pittsburg. Subsequently 
 he had a call to Cincinnati, and about the 
 year 1870 returned to Pittsburg to take charge 
 of another church. In 1875 he became pastor 
 of the Central Baptist Church of New York 
 City. Ill health in his family occasioned 
 his removal to Norwich, Conn., in 1881. In 
 Norwich he had charge of the Central Baptist 
 Church, his present charge, until 1886, when 
 he was called to Milwaukee, Wis. ; and in 
 that place he built the Tabernacle Baptist 
 Church, a handsome brick edifice. After a 
 stay of five years in Milwaukee he received an 
 urgent and enthusiastic call to return to Nor- 
 wich; and in January, 1891, he was again 
 occupying his old pulpit. Since then he has 
 erected the fine brick church, with solid gran- 
 ite foundation, which is one of the handsom- 
 est buildings in the town. The style is 
 Romanesque; and the situation, under the 
 shadow of the rocks of Norwich, is most pleas- 
 ing. Thus five societies have lasting monu- 
 ments of his ability in building and repairing 
 churches. That Dr. Herr's ability has been 
 recognized may be gleaned from the few fol- 
 lowing facts concerning his work; he has 
 served on the Board of Trustees of Adrian 
 College, and in connection with the president 
 thereof, Dr. Mahan, was largely instrumental 
 in raising an endowment for the institution. 
 During his pastorate in New York City, on 
 one memorable Sunday morning, under the in- 
 fluence of his fervent leadership twenty-four 
 thousand dollars was raised in a few moments, 
 toward paying off the mortgage of the church. 
 While pastor there he had the great privilege 
 
JAMES I'KXDLKTOX, 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 405 
 
 of receiving into membership with the church 
 four hundred and forty-five, more than half of 
 whom were added by baptism. While a pas- 
 tor in Wisconsin he occupied a prominent 
 place in the denomination, and exercised a 
 wide influence throughout the State, in the 
 cause of religion and education. Since his 
 return to Connecticut Dr. Herr has occupied 
 many positions of honor and trust. He 
 holds, among others, the position of a member 
 of the]New England Board of Education, also 
 of the Board of the State Baptist Convention. 
 He is well known throughout the State for his 
 zeal in the promotion of religion and educa- 
 tion. He is a popular and vigorous speaker, 
 and has few equals in his ability to present 
 truth and as a vocal interpreter of the Bible. 
 On matters of public welfare he has the cour- 
 age of his convictions, and never hesitates to 
 speak them: that he is interested in the 
 progress of his adopted home is proven by 
 the fact that he is an active member of the 
 local Board of Trade. 
 
 Dr. Herr was married in 1859 in Pittsburg, 
 Pa., to Mary E., daughter of Captain Ben- 
 jamin L. and Anna (Boker) Wood, both of 
 whom are now deceased. Mrs. Mary E. Herr 
 died within eighteen months after her mar- 
 riage, leaving an infant son, now the Rev. 
 Benjamin L. Herr, who was recently the pas- 
 tor of the First Baptist Church at Bingham- 
 ton, N.Y. Dr. Herr contracted a second 
 marriage in 1863 with Miss Annie M. Given, 
 of Huntingdon County, Pennsylvania, daugh- 
 ter of the late Captain John W. and Nancy 
 (Dean) Given. By this union he has had 
 three children, one of whom has passed away. 
 The others are: Mary Lillian and Joseph D., 
 Jr. The former, a graduate of the Female 
 College at Milwaukee and the business col- 
 lege there, is a young lady of considerable 
 literary talent. Under the nom de phtnie of 
 
 Laisdell Mitchell she has written several 
 books; and her "Tony, the Story of a Waif," 
 has passed through a remarkably large edi- 
 tion. "Niram: a Dusky Idyl," is also quite 
 popular. Miss Herr lives with her parents 
 when not travelling. Joseph D. Herr, Jr., 
 graduated from the Free Academy of Norwich 
 in 1895; and he is now in the employ of the 
 Uncas Paper Company of the same place. 
 
 '^AMES PENDLETON, a prosperous mer- 
 chant of Stonington, was born in this 
 borough, July 29, 1854, son of Harris 
 and Sarah (Chester) Pendleton. He comes 
 of an old American family, many members of 
 which have distinguished themselves in the 
 service of the State or in the various civic 
 professions. The first progenitor of the fam- 
 ily in this county was Major Bryan Pendleton, 
 who was born in England in 1599, and who 
 came to this country and settled in Roxbury, 
 Mass., near Boston, as early as 1635. He 
 filled many positions of honor and trust in the 
 infant colony, and became one of its leading 
 men. He was a member of the Governor's 
 Council for five or six years, and was subse- 
 quently Deputy Governor of the Province of 
 Maine. His only son, James, served with the 
 rank of Captain in the war with the Narragan- 
 sett Indians, and distinguished himself by his 
 bravery and other soldierly qualities. Harris 
 Pendleton, father of the subject of this sketch, 
 was a lifelong resident of Stonington. His 
 wife, Sarah, was a daughter of Josiah Chester. 
 They were the parents of eight children, all 
 of whom are living except Virginia, who died 
 in childhood. A sketch of one of their sons, 
 Harris, brother of James, may be found on 
 another page of this volume. 
 
 James Pendleton attended the common 
 schools until about nineteen year3 of age. 
 
4o6 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 He subsequently entered the office of Russell 
 Hinckley, a contractor and builder, for whom 
 he worked two years or more. From 1878 
 to 1880 he conducted a market, which busi- 
 ness, however, he gave up upon his appoint- 
 ment as Postmaster of Stonington, which 
 occurred near the close of President Arthur's 
 administration. This office he held for five 
 years, being removed by President Cleveland. 
 He then remained out of business about a 
 year, during which he erected his present fine 
 residence on Elm Street, and also the Potter 
 Block, where he opened a grocery store and 
 later, in 1894, his bakery. The block, which 
 is three stories high, is sixty by sixty-four 
 feet in ground area, and contains three fine 
 stores with offices above. After conducting 
 the grocery and bakery together for two years, 
 in May, 1896, he sold out his groceries, and 
 divided the large store into a salesroom, 
 office, and storage room, making it a part 
 of his bakery. He has four delivery teams, 
 which deliver goods in "Westerly and Mystic 
 as well as in Stonington. His store is noted 
 for the excellent quality of its bread, cake, 
 and pastry. 
 
 On June 12, 1884, Mr. Pendleton married 
 Miss Sarah E. Potter, daughter of William 
 and Olive B. Potter. Her father, a native of 
 Stonington, and a carpenter and builder by 
 occupation, died in middle life, leaving his 
 widow with two children, of whom Mrs. Pen- 
 dleton was the younger. Her mother was born 
 in Norwich, Conn., and died in Stonington 
 in 1890, aged about sixty-five years. Mr. and 
 Mrs. Pendleton have three sons: Frank Ray- 
 mond, now eleven years old; Carrol Chester, 
 aged nine; and William Clifford, aged seven. 
 
 Mr. Pendleton is a Republican in politics. 
 He has been Selectman four years, served 
 fourteen years on the Board of Burgesses, and 
 is now serving his third term as Warden. In 
 
 1894 he was elected as Representative to the 
 Connecticut legislature, and was re-elected to 
 the same office in 1896. He is a Master 
 Mason and a charter member of the Royal 
 Arcanum. He is also a life member of the 
 Grand Council, R. A., of Connecticut. 
 
 KREDERICK M. TIBBETTS, who re- 
 sides on his large farm, distant about 
 a mile and a half from Salem, was 
 born at Chesterfield, October 19, 1840, 
 son of Benjamin B. and Hannah (Stapeling) 
 Tibbetts. His grandfather, Henry H. Tib- 
 betts, resided in East Greenwich, R.I. , where 
 he carried on a large farm, and reared a family 
 of six sons and six daughters, all of whom 
 married. The only survivor is Henry, resid- 
 ing in East Greenwich, near the old home, 
 who at the age of eighty-five is still an active 
 worker, and able to cut wood and build stone 
 walls. Benjamin B., who was born in East 
 Greenwich about 1797, went to California 
 during the gold fever of 1849, ^^'^ was acci- 
 dentally shot in 185 1. His widow, after sur- 
 viving him many years, died from the effects 
 of a fall at the age of ninety. Of their ten 
 children there are now living three sons and 
 two daughters, namely: John Tibbetts, a 
 farmer in Rhode Island, who served for five 
 years in the Civil War; Samuel W., who re- 
 sides in Newsneck Hill, R.I.; Lucy Ann, 
 who is the wife of Richard Arnold, of Fall 
 River, Mass. ; Dorcas R., who is living in 
 Providence, R.I.; and Frederick M., the sub- 
 ject of this sketch. 
 
 Frederick M. Tibbetts joined the Union 
 army in 1863 from Syracuse, N.Y. He be- 
 longed to the Eleventh New York Cavalry, 
 Company F, served eighteen months, was 
 wounded in the right knee at White Lord, and 
 was discharged for physical disability. A 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 407 
 
 cough, contracted during his period of service, 
 has never left him since. He was formerly a 
 member of the G. A. R. in Providence, R.I. 
 His religious belief is that of the Congrega- 
 tionalist denomination. In 1880 he bought 
 his present farm of one hundred and thirty- 
 five acres, upon which he has erected his 
 house and barn. The home is perched up on 
 the hillside, under the shelter of rocky bluffs 
 on the west side, and commanding a beautiful 
 view of the farms and distant hills to the east- 
 ward. On the farm are a flourishing orchard 
 and garden. The property, at one time 
 known as the Calvin Daniels place, was first 
 settled at an early period. To purchase it, 
 Mr. Tibbetts spent the entire sum of his sav- 
 ings, which were earned by himself, his wife, 
 and children in a factory. It has been 
 largely improved since it came into his pos- 
 session. Besides replacing the old residence 
 with the present modern structure, although 
 constantly suffering from poor health, he has 
 erected a wall about the entire farm, that adds 
 much to its appearance. He has a small 
 dairy, keeps five yoke of oxen constantly at 
 work, owns horses and sheep, and grows pota- 
 toes, corn, and oats for his own use. Though 
 an invalid for years, he has survived many of 
 his neighbors who were stronger men than he. 
 On March 31, 1866, Mr. Tibbetts married 
 Sylvia A. Potter, who was born in West 
 Greenwich. They have reared eight children, 
 including an adopted child, Ambrose B. 
 Tibbetts, a son of Mrs. Tibbetts's sister. 
 Their own children are: Phebe E., the wife 
 of William H. Robison, residing in Franklin, 
 and the mother of one daughter; Elmer G. , a 
 farmer of Salem, and'unmarried; Benjamin B. 
 Tibbetts, who has a wife and two sons, and 
 resides in West Greenwich; William M., who 
 is unmarried and resides in Norwich; Fred- 
 erick A., who lives at home; Richard B., who 
 
 is part owner of his father's farm, now con- 
 sisting of five hundred acres; and Mabel D., a 
 young lady of seventeen, who resides at home. 
 
 fHOMAS FRANKLIN MORGAN, a 
 former wealthy resident of Groton, was 
 born in Newport, R.I., February 28, 
 1848, son of Captain Ebenezer and Ann Eliz- 
 abeth (Price) Morgan. The family are of 
 Welsh extraction. James, the earliest known 
 paternal ancestor, who was born in Wales in 
 1607, in March, 1636, accompanied by his 
 brother, emigrated from Bristol, England, to 
 America, coming to Boston, Mass. Ebenezer 
 Morgan (first), the great-great-grandfather of 
 Thomas F., was born September 21, 1719. 
 His son Nathan was the ne.xt in line of de- 
 scent. Ebenezer (second), son of Nathan and 
 the grandfather of the subject of this sketch, 
 was born August g, 1791. The second Eben- 
 ezer was twice married. By the first cere- 
 mony, which was performed October 28, 18 14, 
 Lavinia Newbury became his wife. She was 
 a native of Groton, Conn., and had two chil- 
 dren — Julia Ann and Ebenezer (third). By 
 his second marriage there were three children. 
 Captain Ebenezer Morgan, the father of 
 Thomas F., was born in Groton, July 22, 
 18 1 7. He began his unusually successful 
 career by shipping as cabin boy on a whaling- 
 vessel. His experience as mariner covered a 
 period of thirty-five years, during which he 
 was captain and part owner of many vessels. 
 Later he abandoned whaling, being one of the 
 first to go to Alaskan waters and engage in 
 seal fishing, in command of the bark "Peru." 
 He made his last sea voyage in 1868. The 
 first of his two marriages was contracted on 
 May 24, 1843, with Ann Elizabeth Price, of 
 Newport, R.I. The children of this union 
 were: Thomas Franklin, the subject of this 
 
4o8 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 sketch; William H., of Groton ; Lavinia, the 
 wife of Frank P. Marsh, of Providence, R. I. ; 
 and a son who died in infancy. The mother 
 died January 29, 1888, at the age of sixty-one 
 years. Mary J. Strong, of Vernon, Conn., 
 became the Captain's second wife. She sur- 
 vives him, and is now a resident of Provi- 
 dence, R.I. The Captain died August 11, 
 1890, leaving an estate worth half a million 
 dollars, of which his son, Thomas Frank- 
 lin, was appointed the executor. 
 
 While his father and mother were at sea, 
 Thomas Franklin Morgan lived with his 
 grandfather Price in Newport, R.I.,. where he 
 received his early education. In 1857 he re- 
 moved with his parents to Groton, where he 
 continued his school life, being further men- 
 tally equipped in New London. The family 
 resided on Coon Hill until 1869, when it 
 moved to its present residence on Monument 
 Street, which fine piece of property belonged 
 to the estate of Mr. Morgan's mother. At 
 the age of sixteen he went before the mast, 
 continuing a sailor's life on his father's vessel 
 until he was made second mate. In politics 
 he was a Republican. Following in the foot- 
 steps of his father, he became a Royal Arch 
 Mason. His later years were spent as a 
 gentleman of wealth and leisure, having no 
 business but the care of his father's estate. 
 He owned a good yacht, in which he enjoyed 
 many a sail and fishing excursion. 
 
 On February 6, 1870, Mr. Morgan was mar- 
 ried to Frances A. Crumb, of Mystic, Conn. 
 Her parents, Albert and Amanda (Davis) 
 Crumb, are now residents of Groton. Her 
 brother, Theodore Crumb, died in early man- 
 hood; and her sister is now Mrs. Charles Fair- 
 banks, of Groton. The only child of Mr. and 
 Mrs. Morgan, Emma L., now the wife of 
 Harry A. La Montagne, resides in New York 
 City. Mr, Morgan died May 24, 1897. He 
 
 was a man of fine physique, and he was much 
 esteemed by the community for his kindness 
 and generosity. 
 
 /^HARLES E. MAINE, the well-known 
 I jp contractor and builder, of Voluntown, 
 
 V«,i£_^^ Conn., now serving as Representa- 
 tive to the State legislature, was born in the 
 town of Ledyard, New London County, on 
 February i, 1827, son of Samuel and Patty 
 (Tift) Maine. 
 
 Samuel Maine, Sr., father of Samuel, above 
 named, is a prosperous farmer of Ledyard. 
 His wife, Sally Chapman, who was a native 
 of Rhode Island, died at the age of eighty; 
 and he, surviving her some five years, died at 
 the age of eighty-five or eighry-six. Their 
 remains rest in the family burial-ground, near 
 the farm in Ledyard. Of their eight chil- 
 dren, six grew to mature years, and two are 
 living. One son, Warren Maine, is a farmer 
 at Ledyard, living near the old homestead; 
 and Sally Ann Maine, his sister, resides in 
 South Stonington. 
 
 Samuel Maine, second, father of Mr. 
 Charles E. Maine, was born in 1803, and died 
 in 1885. His grave is at Milltown. He was 
 a man of prominence and active in town 
 affairs, serving in various ofificial capacities 
 and with rare fidelity and ability. His wife, 
 Patty, who died in 1880, at the age of 
 seventy, was born in South Stonington, and 
 was about his age. They were married in 
 1823, and had a family of three sons and three 
 daughters — Samuel L., Charles E., Eliza, 
 Susan, Orrin, and Orilla. Samuel L., the 
 eldest child, born in 1824, is a farmer resid- 
 ing in North Stonington. Eliza is the widow 
 of Daniel Holderidge. She has a number of 
 children, and is still living in her native 
 town. Susan, who has no children, is the 
 wife of Erastus Park, and resides at North 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 409 
 
 Stonington. The two youngest children were 
 twins, and are now deceased. Orrin died on 
 September i 5, 1889, and his widow is living in 
 this town. Orilla was the wife of John Frink. 
 
 After obtaining a fair education in the 
 public schools, Mr. Charles E. Maine taught 
 school for one winter term in Voluntown. 
 He subsequently made his home in Norwich 
 until 1859, when he bought at auction the 
 residence property at Voluntown where he 
 now makes his home. He has decided me- 
 chanical ability; and for twenty years he has 
 had charge of the mechanical department of 
 the Briggs Manufacturing Company, of Vol- 
 untown, at a good salary. 
 
 When twenty-three years of age Mr. Maine 
 married Sarah Crary, whose father, James 
 Crary, had died when she was very young. 
 Six children were born of this marriage. A 
 daughter, Martha, died at the age of two 
 years; and twin children, Byron and Bertha, 
 died at the age of a year and a half. The 
 three now living are: Mrs. Elizabeth Tyler, 
 who has lost one daughter, and has living a 
 son and a daughter; Charles Edwin Maine, 
 who has a wife and a son, Charles Edwin, 
 Jr. ; and Lucy, who is the wife of Charles 
 Hazard, of Rhode Island, and is residing in 
 Bayonne, N.J. Four of the eight children 
 born to Mr. and Mrs. Hazard are living. Mr. 
 Maine's two eldest children, Elizabeth and 
 Charles, live near him. Their mother died 
 in 1875, at forty-four years of age; and on 
 February 7, 1876, Mr. Maine was united in 
 marriage with Mary E. Colgrove, of Volun- 
 town, daughter of Christopher and Lydia 
 (Rouse) Colgrove. Mrs. Maine comes of an 
 educated and talented family, and was a 
 teacher before her marriage. Her eldest 
 brother, Dr. Charles H. Colgrove, is a suc- 
 cessful and prominent physician of Williman- 
 tic, and has accumulated a handsome fortune. 
 
 Mr. Maine is nominally a Democrat, but 
 was elected to office by many Republican 
 votes when John E. Lewis received one hun- 
 dred and sixty Republican majority. He has 
 been Selectman for many years. Town Clerk 
 for ten years, and for many years he has been 
 on the Board of Relief and a Justice of the 
 Peace. He has made out a large number of 
 legal papers, and has married many couples. 
 He was in the legislature in 1861 and 1874, 
 and is now serving for the term of 1897. 
 
 (sTirUSTIN J. BUSH, lawyer, farmer, and 
 glA miller, now serving his third term as 
 ^ '® V,._^ Probate Judge, was born on April 
 7, 1853, on the farm in East Lyme upon 
 which he now resides, son of Ira A. and Ma- 
 tilda P. (Austin) Bush. The family is of 
 English origin; and its early representatives 
 in America were among the first settlers of 
 Wethersfield, Conn. On the maternal side, 
 it is said, the Judge is of German descent. 
 
 Amaziah Bush, great-grandfather of Judge 
 Bush, married first Miss Lay; for his second 
 wife, a Smith, sister of Captain Simon Smith; 
 and for his third wife, Dorothy Dennison, of 
 Essex, the mother of the Judge's grandfather, 
 Arnasa, who was her only child. Grandfather 
 Amasa Bush, born May 21, 1742, was a 
 farmer and miller, owning the old mill built 
 in 1690, the earliest in the county with the 
 exception of the old mill in New London built 
 in 1650. He died at the age of fifty -six years. 
 His wife was before marriage Lucretia May- 
 nard, of Norwich. She bore him eight chil- 
 dren, namely: Betsey, born in 1804, who 
 went West and is supposed to be still living; 
 Ira A., the Judge's father, who was the sec- 
 ond child; Abbie; Jerry F. ; Nancy, who 
 married Solomon Adams, and went to Michi- 
 
410 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 gan ; Maria; Angeline; and Emmeline. All 
 married, and nearly all had families. Ira and 
 Abbie are now deceased. Ira A. Bush was a 
 farmer, owning one hundred acres with the 
 mill site and pond on Pattagansett Creek, 
 where the dam was built in 1690. He died 
 in 1888, a man universally respected and hav- 
 ing the good will of his townsmen. His wife, 
 who was a devoted member of the Baptist 
 church, was a native of New Bedford, Mass., 
 born April 27, 1814, and married September 
 20, 1832. She died January 28, 1890, and is 
 buried in the churchyard at Niantic. Of her 
 eight children four sons and two daughters 
 grew to maturity. One son, William P. 
 Bush, studied medicine at the Albany Medical 
 School, and was surgeon in the Sixty-first 
 New York Regiment during the Civil War 
 until his death at Georgetown from overwork 
 at the battle of Gettysburg. He was only 
 thirty years of age. He left a wife and one 
 son. The living children of Ira A. and Ma- 
 tilda P. Bush are: Mary L., widow of Francis 
 E. Morgan, residing in Niantic at the old 
 home; Julius M., in Pasadena, Cal. ; and 
 Judge Bush, of East Lyme. 
 
 Austin J. Bush attended the district schools 
 until twelve years of age, when he was sent to 
 the grammar and high schools at New Lon- 
 don. Later he studied for a year in Suffield 
 and for two years at Williston Seminary in 
 Easthampton, Mass. He then read law for a 
 year with Pettis & Davis, of Meadville, Pa., 
 and after returning home read a year with 
 T. C. Coogan at Enfield, Conn. Entering 
 Yale Law School in the fall of 1878, he took 
 the course in one year; and in June, 1879, he 
 was admitted to the practice of his profession 
 in the Connecticut and United States courts. 
 
 On the 30th of December, 1878, Judge 
 Bush was united in marriage to Mary Jo- 
 sephine Stine, of Philadelphia, Pa., daughter 
 
 of Charles Stine. He has lived in different 
 places, having spent some time in Colorado 
 and in Florida. From 1882 to 1887 he was 
 Special Examiner of Pensions in the New 
 England and Middle States, and since 1887 
 he and his family have lived at the old home- 
 stead. They have lost two children, an in- 
 fant son and infant daughter. The living 
 children are: Mary Josephine Bush, who is at 
 home and attending school; and Wait Bush, a 
 maiden of thirteen, who was named for Colo- 
 nel John T. Wait, and is now a pupil in the 
 high school. 
 
 Judge Bush is a Republican. In 1888 he 
 was elected Town Clerk, and in 1892 Judge 
 of Probate. Having been twice re-elected 
 since, he is now serving on his third term. 
 He is interested in agriculture, and carries on 
 considerable farming. He also operates the 
 mill. As a legal adviser he has the confi- 
 dence of a wide circle of clients, and he is one 
 of the most respected and influential citizens 
 of the town. 
 
 siW^RS. LYDIA WILLIAMS NOYES, 
 of Mystic, Conn., whose hus- 
 band. Captain Benjamin Franklin 
 Noyes, died in Savannah, Ga., June 18, 1879, 
 is the daughter of Sanford Avery and Lucy 
 (Stanton) Williams, and comes from old and 
 substantial Colonial stock, one line of her an- 
 cestry reaching back to the "Mayflower" Pil- 
 grims, and several lines including notable 
 Revolutionary patriots. One of her great- 
 great-grandfathers, Elnathan Perkins, perished 
 in the Fort Griswold massacre. He went to 
 the fort with his four sons; and all were killed 
 but one son, who was one of the few rescued. 
 Two of her great-grandfathers, Captain John 
 Williams and Captain Amos Stanton, were 
 also killed the same day. Mrs. Noyes is in 
 possession of the muster-roll of Captain Amos 
 
liENJAMIN F. NOYES. 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 413 
 
 Stanton in the original handwriting, dated 
 November 9, 1777. She takes much interest 
 in tracing bacli and preserving the family 
 history. Her great -grandmother, Eunice 
 Williams, wife of Richard Williams, reared 
 four sons ; namely, Paul, Barnabus, Sanford, 
 Silas; and one daughter, named Prudence, 
 who married a Halsey. Barnabus and Paul 
 Williams settled in Akron, Ohio; Sanford 
 was wounded at Fort Griswold; Silas Will- 
 iams was the grandfather of Mrs. Noyes. Her 
 father, Sanford Avery Williams, was a farmer 
 in Groton. He died in 1871, at the age of 
 sixty-five; and her mother died in 1877, at the 
 age of sixty-six. Of their four daughters, 
 Lydia, Betsey, Prudence, and Mary, the third 
 died at the age of four; Betsey married Amos 
 Giles Stanton, and died at the old home in 
 Groton in September, 1894, in the fifty-ninth 
 year of her age, leaving three sons and two 
 daughters; and Mary Prudence, the youngest, 
 died at the age of twenty-two years. 
 ^ Lydia, the eldest, was married to Benjamin 
 F. Noyes on the thirteenth day of August, 
 1854, at her father's home. Mr. Noyes was 
 born in the town of Stonington. Until six- 
 teen years old he lived on a farm. He then 
 shipped before the mast on a whaling-vessel 
 called the "Coriolanus," of Mystic, Captain 
 Gustavus Appleman, and made a three years' 
 voyage. His next trip was as boat steerer on 
 the bark "United States," Captain Barnum, 
 out for sea elephants, for eighteen months. 
 From this time on he was promoted until he 
 became master and part owner of the vessels 
 in which he sailed. At the time of his death, 
 which occurred at the age of iifty-one, Captain 
 Noyes was in charge of the schooner 
 "Chainer. " He was a Master Mason in Nor- 
 wich and afterward in Mystic. He was a 
 member of the Baptist church. 
 
 Mrs. Noyes accompanied her husband on 
 
 three different voyages, two South, and one 
 across the Atlantic to Bordeaux, France; but 
 all seemed long to her, as she was unable to 
 overcome her seasickness. She lost her eld- 
 est son, Sanford Frank, at the age of two 
 years. She has two living children: Edith 
 May, wife of Christopher Morgan, who has 
 two children; and Charles Williams Noyes, 
 who married Mary T. Foote, of Mystic, and 
 who now owns and manages a greenhouse in 
 Prophetstown, Whiteside County, 111. 
 
 Mrs. Noyes is a communicant of the Epis- 
 copal church. While not in robust health, 
 except for her hearing, which has been im- 
 paired of late, she preserves a good degree of 
 youthful vigor. Her intelligence and loveli- 
 ness of character have endeared her to many 
 friends. Mrs. Noyes and her daughter are 
 both members of the Daughters of the Ameri- 
 can Revolution, and Mrs. Morgan for the 
 past two years has held the office of Regent of 
 the Fanny Ledyard Chapter. These ladies 
 are also numbered among the posterity of two 
 of the most famous of the Pilgrims who 
 landed on Plymouth Rock on Forefathers' 
 Day, 1620 — John Alden and Priscilla Mul- 
 lins — Mrs. Noyes tracing her lineage to the 
 historic pair through her mother, Lucy Stan- 
 ton Williams. Mrs. Morgan is a member of 
 the Society of Mayflower Descendants. 
 
 ILLIAM HERBERT BUSH,* a 
 
 talented musician of New London, 
 Conn., the son of Aaron and Hen- 
 rietta (Parkhurst) Bush, is a native of this 
 city. His grandfather, Anson Bush, was born 
 in Connecticut. He was a boss ship-rigger, 
 and worked for the old established firm of 
 Hovens & Williams. He was a member of 
 the Methodist church in New London, where 
 he died in 1880. 
 
414 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 His son Aaron was born in 1832, and died 
 on Easter Sunday in 1893. He married 
 Henrietta, a daughter of John Parkhurst. 
 Her grandfather Parkhurst was a bearer of 
 despatches in the Revolutionary War. Both 
 Mr. and Mrs. Aaron Bush were Methodists in 
 religious belief, and Mr. Bush was an active 
 worker in the Methodist Episcopal Church of 
 New London. They had eight children, only 
 three of whom attained maturity, namely : 
 William Herbert, the second-born son and the 
 subject of this sketch; Ida M., a graduate of 
 the high school, living in this city; and 
 Charles. 
 
 William Herbert, the elder of the two 
 brothers now living, received a general educa- 
 tion in the public schools, which he attended 
 until he was fifteen years of age, when his 
 musical education began under the direction 
 of Charles B. Jennings, of New London. He 
 afterward took lessons on both organ and 
 piano of Charles S. Elliot, who had been a 
 pupil of the great Guilmant, of Paris; and 
 later he went to New York to study, where his 
 teacher was Samuel P. Warren, for twenty- 
 five years the organist of Trinity Church. 
 He continued under the instruction of Mr. 
 Warren for three years; and at the end of that 
 time he returned to New London, where he 
 has been a successful teacher of both organ 
 and piano ever since. He has been the organ- 
 ist of the Second Congregational Church for 
 eleven years and master of the choir for three 
 years. Mr. Bush has given recitals in his na- 
 tive city and in other places, which have been 
 most successful, his interpretation of the great 
 masters being sympathetic and impressive. 
 He married Julia De Sant, of New London, 
 February 14, 1887. Mrs. Bush is a woman of 
 an artistic temperament and much musical 
 ability. Both Mr. and Mrs. Bush are mem- 
 bers of the Second Congregational Church. 
 
 /^TeORGE E. fellows,* of Nor- 
 V f5 I wich. Superintendent of Streets, was 
 born in New London, August 9, 
 1853, his parents being Joshua E. and Eunice 
 H. (Hempstead) Fellows. His grandfather, 
 Robert Fellows, was Sheriff of New London 
 County, and ran the old grist-mill in New 
 London. Robert was a man of magnificent 
 physique, standing six feet, two inches, and 
 with a body perfectly proportioned. He died 
 about 1859. His wife, whose name in 
 maidenhood was Hannah Williams, died at an 
 advanced age; and both are buried in Cedar 
 Grove Cemetery in New London. They had a 
 family of eight sons and one daughter, most of 
 whom grew to maturity. Joshua E. Fellows 
 was born in Stonington in 1825, and came to 
 this town about 1888. He was a mason and 
 contractor, and built several brick churches 
 and other edifices in New London and Nor- 
 wich, among them the Broadway Congrega- 
 tional Church, with its steeple two hundred 
 feet high, the Catholic school-house, and the 
 annex to the Broadway school-house. He 
 was a non-commissioned officer in the Volun- 
 teer Infantry during the Civil War, and 
 served for a year. He died February 2, 1885. 
 His wife, Eunice, whom he married about 
 1845, was a descendant of one of the first fam- 
 ilies of this section. She is now residing 
 with her two daughters in Norwich. Of her 
 family of six children three are living, 
 namely: Anna E., who has been for several 
 years a teacher in Norwich; George E., whose 
 name appears at the head of this sketch; and 
 Elizabeth Hannah, a stenographer and type- 
 writer, now filling an important position with 
 the Norwich Bleachery Company. Joshua 
 Fellows was a Methodist in religious faith, 
 and his wife and daughters are members of the 
 Methodist Episcopal church. 
 
 George E. Fellows learned the mason's 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 41S 
 
 trade in his youth, and subsequently worked 
 with his father. After the death of the latter 
 he carried on the business until 1894, when 
 he was appointed to the responsible position 
 he now holds. He has some forty miles of 
 street under his charge, and employs from 
 thirty-nine to one hundred men and from five 
 to ten double teams. Mr. Fellows is a 
 Mason, and has advanced as far as the Coun- 
 cil. In politics he is a Republican, but has 
 never sought office nor held it until being 
 Commissioner. 
 
 On November 25, 1875, Mr. Fellows was 
 united in marriage with Lila E. Harvey, of 
 Preston, daughter of Henry Harvey, now de- 
 ceased. Mrs. Fellows has one sister and two 
 brothers, namely: Isabella, wife of John E. 
 Sherman, of Norwich; Frederick A., living in 
 Preston; and Clinton A., of Norwich. Mr. 
 and Mrs. Fellows have lost a daughter, Alice, 
 who died at the age of four years. They have 
 three living children: Edith A., who is now 
 pursuing a course in stenography and type- 
 writing; Lillie Louise, residing at home and 
 attending school; and George Robert, a lad of 
 nine years. Mr. and Mrs. Fellows reside in 
 the large frame house at 343 Franklin Street, 
 the erection of which was begun by Mr. 
 Joshua Fellows. 
 
 -r^VTVAJOR EUGENE A. BANCROFT,* 
 1= I =/ of New London, formerly of the 
 iX ajjs ^^^^ Fourth Artillery Corps of the 
 United States Army, was born in Boston, 
 Mass., June 17, 1825, the son of Thomas and 
 Betsey (Tileston) Bancroft. His great-grand- 
 father was Thomas Bancroft, and his grand- 
 father, Aaron Bancroft, of Boston. At least 
 one member of the family fought in the Revo- 
 lutionary War, Captain Bancroft, who partici- 
 pated in the battle of Bunker Hill. 
 
 Thomas Bancroft, the Major's father, was 
 born in Boston in 1798, and died there in 
 1886. His first wife, Betsey Tileston, died 
 in her twenty-second year in 1828, leaving 
 two children — Eugene and an infant daugh- 
 ter. The daughter died in early married life. 
 Mr. Bancroft and his second wife, Eliza Os- 
 born, reared two sons and two daughters. Of 
 this family three are living, namely: the two 
 daughters; and a son, Thomas }., who is an 
 Assessor in Boston. 
 
 Major Eugene A. Bancroft was given good 
 educational advantages, finishing his course of 
 study at the Chauncy Hall School, Boston. 
 From 1849 to 1856 he was in the employ of 
 the Adams Express Company in California, 
 going via New Orleans and Texas, the jour- 
 ney consuming six months; and in 1861 he 
 began his military career, enlisting in the 
 Sturgis Rifles in Chicago. On October 24 of 
 that year he was commissioned Second Lieu- 
 tenant in the regular army; on June 25, 1862, 
 he was brevetted First Lieutenant for gallan- 
 try near Fair Oaks, Va. ; on December 13, 
 1862, he was commissioned First Lieutenant; 
 and on July 3, 1863, brevet was conferred 
 upon him for bravery at Gettysburg. Though 
 not a physically strong man, Major Bancroft 
 has the resolute will, the nerve and fire, that 
 characterize leaders of men ; and, whenever 
 danger was to be faced, he was found in the 
 thickest of the fray. The rank of Captain of 
 the Fifteenth Infantry was offered him Janu- 
 ary 22, 1867; but he declined it, accepting, 
 however, the Captaincy of the Fourth Artil- 
 lery, April 26, 1873. He was in active ser- 
 vice against the Indians in the West and at 
 Clear Water, Idaho, was severely wounded by a 
 gunshot in the left arm, left lung, and thorax. 
 For gallant conduct at this time he received 
 his major's brevet. He went to Europe on a 
 pleasure trip in 1873, but within a few 
 
4i6 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 months was recalled, and ordered to join the 
 army in the West. Stationed for some time 
 in California, he was two years in Sitka and 
 different parts of Alaska, spending nine years 
 in all in the Far West. On June 17, 1889, 
 his sixty-fourth birthday, he was honorably 
 discharged, having attained the age limit for 
 active military service. Though not a con- 
 firmed invalid. Major Bancroft suffers from 
 physical disability to some extent, caused by 
 the hardships and exposure of army life, and 
 his hearing is impaired by climatic causes; 
 but he is constitutionally cheerful, keen, and 
 witty, and enjoys heartily a good joke or 
 story. In all things he is a typical Yankee 
 soldier. 
 
 Major Bancroft was married June 19, 1861, 
 to Miss Eleanor Croes, a native of St. 
 Charles, 111., daughter of Ralph V. M. and 
 Anna N. (Blanchard) Croes. Mr. Croes died 
 in Chicago in 1855. His widow is yet living. 
 Ten children have been given to Major Ban- 
 croft and his wife, and nine of them are liv- 
 ing: Anna B., wife of William D. Coit, pros- 
 ecuting attorney of New London ; Thomas 
 Eugene, in New York City, unmarried; 
 Eleanor, a graduate of the New London High 
 School; Henry Edward, Mary Edith, Bessie 
 Tileston, Charlotte J., Helen McDowell, and 
 George Croes, ten years of age, all with their 
 parents. In politics the Major favors the Re- 
 publican side. He is a Master Mason. 
 
 (sttLLElSi TIFFANY,* a 
 
 f-A trade, now engaged in 
 
 ^ '^ V^.^ ing, was born at his 
 
 carpenter by 
 general farm- 
 lis present home 
 in Salem, New London County, Conn., Au- 
 gust 25, 1843. His parents were William S. 
 and Maria (De Wolf) Tiffany. His paternal 
 grandfather was Eleazer Tiffany, a farmer of 
 this place, who died in 185 1, past eighty 
 
 years of age. He had five sons and three 
 daughters, all of whom lived to an old age. 
 The last of the family was Mrs. Palmer, of 
 Stonington, a widow, now deceased. 
 
 William S. Tiffany married first a Miss 
 Atwater. She died leaving one daughter. 
 By his second wife, who was a sister of Ed- 
 ward De Wolf, he had five children, namely: 
 Allen and his sister, Ellen E. , who became 
 the wife of Joshua Enos; Martha M., wife of 
 George Priest; John F. , who is a widower, 
 and makes his home with his brother Allen; 
 and Joseph F., who died in 1870, at the age of 
 twenty-one. The mother died February 15, 
 1885, in her seventy-sixth year, and the father 
 died in September, 1891, after leading the 
 life of an invalid for twenty years. In relig- 
 ious belief and affiliation both parents were 
 Congregationalists. 
 
 Allen Tiffany received a common-school ed- 
 ucation, and remained at home until twenty- 
 one years of age. He worked at carpentering 
 under his father, who was also a wheelwright; 
 and he afterward was engaged for fourteen 
 years in constructing the wood-work of steam 
 printing presses in Norwich. He returned to 
 the home farm in December of the year 1884; 
 and since his father's death he has carried on 
 the farm, which was his inheritance, keeping 
 the place up in good style, the new buildings 
 being of his own erection. 
 
 He married on Thanksgiving Day, 1871, 
 Ann E. Stanton, of Ledyard, 'daughter of 
 Henry W. and Lydia E. Chesebro, of Ston- 
 ington. Four children have been born to Mr. 
 and Mrs. Tiffany, as follows: Nellie M., of 
 New London; Jennie M., who is still at home 
 and is her mother's right hand helper; George 
 F. A., who, though but sixteen years old, is 
 six feet in stature, like his father; and Mattie 
 E., the youngest, a bright child of seven 
 years. In politics Mr. Tiffany is a Republican. 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 419 
 
 HOMAS DRUMMOND, a well-known 
 steam boiler manufacturer of New 
 London, who resides at 10 Pearl 
 Street, was born in Ireland, September 16, 
 1833, son of Joseph and Catherine (Caffrey) 
 Drummond. The parents, who were in hum- 
 ble circumstances, came to America practi- 
 cally without means, bringing with them two 
 of their seven children, five of whom were 
 sons; namely, Thomas, Joseph, James, Will- 
 iam, and George. Settling in Rhode Island, 
 Joseph Drummond turned his attention to 
 farming, which occupation he followed for 
 twenty years. He died in 1885, at the age of 
 eighty-three, surviving his wife, who lived to 
 be seventy-five, three years. Of his five sons 
 Joseph has been a resident of San Francisco 
 since 1856; James is a house carpenter in 
 Providence, R.I. ; William is also a resident 
 of that city; and George is a farmer in Ash- 
 ford, Conn. 
 
 Thomas Drummond attended the public 
 schools, and at the age of thirteen began to 
 learn the boiler-making trade with Thurston, 
 Greene & Co., of Providence, R.I. After 
 working there for some years and acquiring a 
 good knowledge of the trade, he came to New 
 London, and for ten years was foreman of the 
 Albertson & Douglas firm in this city, later 
 serving two years in a similar capacity for the 
 Burden Iron Works, where he had the super- 
 vision of nearly one hundred men. He was 
 one of the skilled mechanics employed on the 
 East River Bridge in 1856. In 1872 he 
 began business on his own account in Nor- 
 wich, Conn., where he remained some years, 
 returning to New London in December, 1885. 
 For the past twelve years he has conducted 
 business at 53 Water Street, where he em- 
 ploys from ten to fifty men according to the 
 times. He is also a director of the Connecti- 
 cut Loom Company. In politics he is a Re- 
 
 publican, having been previous to the Civil 
 War a radical abolitionist. He has served as 
 State Boiler Inspector for eleven years. He 
 belongs to the Masonic order, being a member 
 of the Chapter, R. A. M. 
 
 Mr. Drummond married Mary A. Kneff, of 
 Eastport, Me., and she became the mother of 
 eight children, five of whom are living, 
 namely: Rebecca Frances; Sarah Charlotte, 
 now Mrs. Andrew Welton, of Springfield, 
 Mass. ; Mary A., a trained nurse; Emma W., 
 an employee in the R. H. White store, Bos- 
 ton; and Joseph Johnson Drummond, who is a 
 resident of Stockton, Cal. Two children died 
 in infancy; and Thomas R., who was unmar- 
 ried, was drowned when twenty-eight years 
 old at Fort Townsend, Wash., in 1888. 
 The mother died in Somerville, Mass., in 
 1 87 1. In May, 1884, Mr. Drummond mar- 
 ried for his second wife Mrs. Charlotte A. 
 (Beckwith) Collins, of this city. 
 
 •AMES HOWLAND STIVERS,* one 
 of the leading merchants of Stonington 
 borough, was born in the town of Ston- 
 ington, Conn., May 22, 1861, and is a son of 
 the late Captain John Randall Stivers. The 
 family is of German origin, and its represent- 
 atives in this country have been possessed of 
 many of the solid and enduring qualities for 
 which the German race is so widely known. 
 
 Daniel Stivers, grandfather of Captain 
 Stivers, lived in New Jersey. His son Jacob, 
 born at Newark, N.J., was a pioneer settler 
 in one of the Middle Western States, John 
 Randall Stivers, father of James Howland, 
 was born near Utica, N.Y., on January 8, 
 1825, and died April i, 1893. When he 
 was but a small child, his parents removed 
 to the West; and they remained there until 
 the death of the father a few years later. The 
 
420 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 widow then returned with her young children 
 to New York State; and John, being the eld- 
 est, helped to support the family until his 
 mother married again. This was in 1843; 
 and the youth, then nearly eighteen years of 
 age, decided to strike out for himself. He 
 went to New York City, and shipped for a 
 whaling voyage, and at that time met Mr. 
 Horace Trumbull, who was in New York on 
 business for his father. Young Stivers came 
 to Stonington to join his vessel, which was 
 the old "United States," then being fitted out 
 for a cruise by the firm of Stanton & Trum- 
 bull. 
 
 He continued in the whaling business for 
 nearly forty years, until 1S80, in the employ 
 of Stanton & Trumbull or of Tabor, Gordon & 
 Co., of New Bedford, occupying the position 
 of either chief or first officer on nearly every 
 voyage. Captain Stivers had many exciting 
 and hazardous experiences, being at one time 
 caught and shut up in one of the ice floes 
 in the Arctic Ocean. He was on the bark 
 "Henry Tabor," of New Bedford, and was a 
 very popular captain. In the year 1880 he 
 retired from the whaling business, and went 
 to New Britain, where his family had lived 
 for som.e time. A few months afterward he 
 came to the borough, and engaged in the 
 grocery business. In this he was remarkably 
 successful, and in a few years managed, by 
 fair dealing and courteous manners, aided by 
 his amiable and genial personality, to build 
 up a large and paying business. Captain 
 Stivers was not a member of any social order 
 or fraternity, but was a vestryman of Calvary 
 Episcopal Church. His death was a severe 
 loss to the church as well as to the com- 
 munity. 
 
 One of Captain Stivers's brothers, Edwin J. 
 Stivers, now in New York City, was a volun- 
 teer soldier in the Civil War, having previ- 
 
 ously been a locomotive engineer. He went 
 to the front in the early part of the war, and 
 rose from the rank of private to that of First 
 Lieutenant. He remained in the regular 
 army for several years after the close of the 
 war, receiving a Captain's commission, and 
 was stationed at Fort Snelling. He was re- 
 tired about 1888. 
 
 Mr. James Howland Stivers is the second 
 of the three sons of Captain Stivers. The 
 eldest-born, John Orrin Stivers, is engaged in 
 mining in Denver, Col., and is married, and 
 has a family. The youngest is Francis 
 Edwin, of West Haven, Conn., who is in the 
 auditor's department of the railroad. James 
 attended the common schools here for some 
 years and later the New Britain High School, 
 from which he was graduated. He then en- 
 tered the grocery of his father, and has been 
 engaged in the business to the present time, 
 taking full charge since the death of his 
 father. 
 
 On the 2d of June, 1893, Mr. Stivers mar- 
 ried Lucy Annie, daughter of John F. and 
 Eliza A. (Sherman) Sherman, her father and 
 mother having the same name, but belong- 
 ing to different families. Both were born in 
 the township of Kingston, R.I. They were 
 married there in 1864, and settled at James- 
 town, R.I., on Conanticut Island, where Mr. 
 Sherman became owner of a large farm. He 
 was a soldier in the Civil War, enlisting for 
 nine months in the Twelfth Regiment of 
 Rhode Island Volunteer Infantry, Company 
 K, and serving for thirteen months. He was 
 in the battle of Fredericksburg, and, though 
 receiving shot in his clothing and being 
 stunned by flying sods, he was personally un- 
 injured. His health was impaired, however, 
 by exposure and hardship; and he is now a 
 pensioner. 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Sherman have three children: 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 421 
 
 John F., Jr., in Lebanon, Conn. ; Mrs. 
 Stivers; and Isaac Sherman, now in Westerly, 
 R.I. On her mother's side Mrs. Stivers is 
 descended, it is said, from General Nathaniel 
 Greene and Governor Benedict Arnold, of 
 Rhode Island. Two of her direct ancestors 
 were commissioned officers of the Revolution- 
 ary War. She is thus eligible for member- 
 ship in the Society of the Daughters of the 
 Revolution. 
 
 7~AHARLES N. CHAMPLIN,* a promi- 
 I jp nent citizen of Norwich, Conn., re- 
 
 ^^ ^ siding near Thamesville, is a native 
 of this city, and was born in 1849, ^is 
 parents being Joseph and Louise (Dewey) 
 Champlin. The Champlin family came to 
 this part of the country from the State of 
 Rhode Island in 1784. Nathan Champlin 
 was brought here when four years old by his 
 parents, Rowland and Anna (Babcock) 
 Champlin, who settled at Greenville, and kept 
 a large boarding-house. 
 
 Nathan married Lydia Woodward, of ^Can- 
 terbury, Conn., and began life in a humble 
 and primitive way in his new and unfinished 
 house on West Main Street. He was a car- 
 penter, and became a prosperous contractor 
 and builder. His family consisted of seven 
 sons and five daughters. One son is living, 
 and resides at 255 West Main Street, on the 
 land where his father settled. 
 
 Joseph Champlin, father of Mr. Charles N., 
 was born in Norwich about 1822, and died in 
 185 1. His wife was left a widow with three 
 children, and never remarried. She died in 
 1877, at the age of forty-eight. The children 
 were : Maria, who married Thomas Potter, and 
 died in 1870, at the age of twenty-three years; 
 Charles N., the subject of this sketch; and 
 Lydia, who died at the age of nineteen. 
 
 Charles Champlin attended the common 
 
 schools, but received only a limited education, 
 as at the age of ten years he was obliged to 
 work during the summer; and when fifteen 
 years of age he left school altogether, and was 
 obliged to become self-supporting. When he 
 was ten years old he went to live in the fam- 
 ily of Ira Gifford, a farmer of this town, and 
 remained with him seven years. He began 
 the business in which he is at present en- 
 gaged twenty-six years ago, driving a bone 
 wagon for his wife's father, and some sixteen 
 years since succeeded to the management of 
 the business. The factory on his farm has 
 five kettles. He runs some three or four 
 wagons, and keeps ten horses in use. Mr. 
 Champlin has enlarged and improved both the 
 house and the barn on his estate, and has now 
 a most pleasant and comfortable home. His 
 farm consists of seventy acres, and is mostly 
 in grass and pasture land. Mr. Champlin is 
 known as one of the progressive and thrifty 
 citizens of this town, and enjoys unusual es- 
 teem. In politics he is a Republican. 
 
 On September 16, 1874, Mr. Champlin was 
 united in marriage with Nellie F., daughter 
 of E. A. and Elizabeth (Howard) Dudley. 
 Mr. and Mrs. Champlin have one child, Addie 
 L. , a rosy-cheeked young lady of fourteen 
 years and a student in the Norwich Free 
 School. 
 
 APTAIN GEORGE W. BECK- 
 WTTH,* keeper of the light -house 
 on Stonington Breakwater, was born 
 April I, 1845, in Salem, Conn., a son of Ezra 
 P. Beckwith. His grandfather, William 
 Beckwith, was a lifelong farmer in Waterbury, 
 this State. 
 
 Ezra P. Beckwith was born in New London, 
 Conn., in 1817, and died at Willimantic, 
 Conn., in 1884. He was a stone-cutter by 
 trade, expert in the use of tools, and worked 
 
42 2 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 at his chosen occupation in Norwich and 
 Westerly. In 1842 he married Harriet De 
 Wolfe, of Hadlyme, in the town of Lyme, 
 New London County, Conn., a daughter of 
 William De Wolfe, a quarryman. Her father 
 was one of a family of seven children born to 
 his mother, who attained the venerable age of 
 ninety-six years, and was full of life and vigor 
 to the close of her days. Her maiden name 
 was Betsey Woods. William De Wolfe mar- 
 ried Hannah Bailey, and had four children, 
 all of whom are living, namely: William De 
 Wolfe, of Salem, Conn., now seventy-four 
 years old; Albert, also a farmer iq the same 
 town, seventy-two years of age; Harriet, for- 
 merly Mrs. Beckwith, now Mrs. Hibbard, 
 nearly seventy years old; and Mrs. Sarah 
 Minor, the youngest of the family. Ezra P. 
 and Harriet (De Wolfe) Beckwith reared three 
 children, namely: Dr. Beckwith, a practising 
 physician, who died in 1886, aged thirty-five 
 years, leaving four orphan children, his wife 
 having died previously; George W., the 
 special subject of this brief biography; and 
 Hattie, wife of Thomas Turner, of Oakdale, 
 Mass. The mother, after living a widow for 
 some time, married for her second husband 
 John Hibbard, who died in 1885, after five 
 years of acute suffering from rheumatism. 
 He was a son of Andrew Hibbard, of Nor- 
 wich, Conn. John Hibbard was a mechanical 
 engineer, and during and after the Civil War 
 was an engineer in the United States navy. 
 His widow now draws a pension. 
 
 George W. Beckwith was educated in the 
 common schools of Salem, and at the age of 
 twenty-one shipped in the cabin as steward of 
 a vessel, a capacity in which he served twenty 
 years. Previous to this time, however, he 
 served nine months as a private in Company 
 G, Twenty-seventh Connecticut Volunteer In- 
 fantry, having enlisted in October, 1862. 
 
 He was an active participant in two battles, 
 but was neither wounded nor captured. 
 While a steward Mr. Beckwith visited every 
 clime and zone, going twice, in 1874 and 
 1876, to Greenland, where he spent sixteen 
 inonths among the Esquimaux for his health. 
 For the past nine years he has been in the 
 government service, at first as keeper of the 
 Penfield Light -house and in recent years 
 keeper of the Stonington Breakwater Light- 
 house, where he is discharging the duties of 
 his responsible position with conscientious 
 fidelity and ability. Captain Beckwith is a 
 member of Sedgwick Post, No. i, G. A. R., 
 and is a pensioner of the government. 
 
 B 
 
 ANIEL ERASER, a retired black- 
 smith of New London, Conn., is a 
 native of Scotland. He was born 
 in Dunkeld, Perthshire, June 23, 1S24, and is 
 descended from a line of men sturdy and 
 strong, his ancestors for twelve generations 
 having been blacksmiths. His parents were 
 Alexander Eraser and Betsey Newton Lang- 
 lands Eraser. The family genealogy traces 
 back to the Eraser who fought on the field of 
 Bannockburn in 13 14. 
 
 Donald Eraser, great-grandfather of the sub- 
 ject of this biographical sketch, took an ac- 
 tive part in the rebellion of 1745, and lost 
 his life in the prime of manhood by being 
 drowned in Loch Ness in a gallant attempt 
 to carry provisions to Prince Charles Stuart. 
 Grandfather Eraser was his son, Donald, Jr., 
 a blacksmith, who had a family of seven sons 
 and four daughters. It is said that the Mayor 
 of Perth caused the bells of the city to be rung 
 one evening in honor of Donald and his seven 
 stalwart sons, who were walking together after 
 supper, all fine-looking men — a sight worth 
 seeing. Grandfather Eraser lived to be 
 
WIN FIELD S. IJkWoLF 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 425 
 
 ninety-six years old. His grave is in Perth, 
 in Gray Friars' Churciiyard. Alexander 
 Fraser, above named, one of his seven sons, 
 died in 1845, at the age of fifty-two, having 
 contracted the cholera. His wife was the 
 daughter of Andrew Langlands, from the bor- 
 ders of England. 
 
 Daniel Fraser left school when only twelve 
 years old, and at that age began to learn his 
 trade, serving a regular apprenticeship of 
 seven years in a large shop in Dundee, receiv- 
 ing the first year sixty-two and one-half cents 
 per week, and the last year two dollars and fifty 
 cents per week. In 1842, when but nineteen 
 years old, he married, his bride being but 
 seventeen. In 1850 they came to America, 
 sailing on the ship "Hudson" from Glasgow 
 to New York City, and being ten weeks and 
 two days on the passage. Mr. Fraser settled 
 in East New London on Winthrop Point, 
 where he bought some land, on which he has 
 now three buildings. For thirty-two years he 
 worked in one shop, for Albertson & Douglass, 
 and at one forge. Some ten years ago he 
 built his shop on his own land. 
 
 Mr. Fraser's wife was before marriage Isa- 
 bella Procter. Her parents were John Procter, 
 a farmer of Dundee, Scotland, and his wife, 
 Mary Ann Baker. Peter Baker, Mrs. Fraser's 
 maternal grandfather, was an officer in the 
 battle of Waterloo. Mr. Procter died at the 
 age of forty-eight, leaving his widow with 
 three children — Mrs. Fraser and her two 
 brothers — James Procter living in New Lon- 
 don, and Alexander in Peck Street, Norwich. 
 The children of Mr. and Mrs. Fraser are: 
 Donald, a farmer and blacksmith, and father 
 of three children; Isabella, living near her 
 parents, widow of James Hutchinson and 
 mother of one son and two daughters ; Jane, 
 wife of Alexander Waite, of East New Lon- 
 don; Alexander, a blacksmith in this place. 
 
 unmarried; Margaret, wife of Andrew Mc- 
 Laughlin, of this city, and mother of four 
 children; James, living at home, unmarried; 
 Elizabeth, now Mrs. William Geer, of New 
 London, and mother of three children; and 
 Almira, living at home. Donald Fraser was 
 a volunteer soldier in the late war, enlisting 
 for nine months and serving a year. He was 
 wounded three times at Port Hudson — in the 
 mouth, losing eleven teeth and a part of his 
 jaw, and in the shoulder and knee. He is 
 married to Almira Maynard, and has three 
 children now living, namely: Daniel; Ida, 
 now Mrs. Havens, of Niantic; and Almira, 
 who is at home with her parents. Their 
 daughter Anna Isabel, wife of Elmer Beck- 
 with, of Niantic, died at the age of twenty- 
 nine, leaving two children. Mr. and Mrs. 
 Daniel Fraser have fifteen grandchildren and 
 four great-grandchildren. 
 
 Fraternally, Mr. Fraser is a Master Mason. 
 He is an independent voter, and has been 
 prominently connected with the public affairs 
 of the city. He was Alderman for eight 
 years, Selectman for four years. Common 
 Councilman for two years, and Grand Juror 
 three terms. During the small-pox scare he 
 was on the Board of Health, and took active 
 measures for the securing of proper sanitary 
 conditions. In religious belief Mr. Fraser is 
 a Presbyterian, while his wife is an Episco- 
 palian. 
 
 W^' 
 
 INFIELD SCOTT DE WOLF, a 
 well-known dairy farmer of Preston, 
 was born in Montville, on the west 
 side of the river which divides New London 
 County, on January 8, 1862. His parents 
 were Orrin R. and Mary (Latimer) De Wolf, 
 and his paternal grandparents, Ephraim and 
 Elizabeth De Wolf. His father, Orrin R. De 
 Wolf, who was born in Montville in 1828, was 
 
 *»ttwai&(H(»«ti^„, 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 a farmer living near Chesterfield, in the 
 south-west part of the town, and doing busi- 
 ness on a large scale. He owned two farms, 
 comprising over four hundred acres of land, 
 and kept from forty to fifty cattle, about four 
 hundred sheep, and from seven to twelve horses 
 of good breed. He died in March, 1895, and 
 is buried in Willimantic. His wife, Mary, who 
 died in 1868, at the age of forty, is buried at 
 Chesterfield. The children of their marriage 
 numbered twelve, five sons and seven daugh- 
 ters. A son named Wellington died at seven 
 years as the result of a scalding accident. 
 The five daughters and two sons now living 
 maybe briefly mentioned as follows: Alfred 
 is in Tolland County; Mary, the wife of Ben- 
 jamin A. Fox, resides in East Lyme; Emma, 
 the wife of Charles W. Worthington, resides 
 in Preston; Ellen is the wife of George Bach- 
 elder, of Norwich; Frances is the wife of 
 Herbert Wheelock, of Willimantic; Winfield 
 Scott is the special subject of this biography; 
 and Susan is Mrs. Charles Prentiss, of New 
 London. Ellen's sister Eleanor, who was the 
 wife of Charles Smith, of Willimantic, died in 
 the prime of life, leaving one son. 
 
 Winfield S. De Wolf lived on the home 
 farm until fourteen years of age, his eldest 
 sister, Elizabeth, keeping house and taking 
 charge of the family after the death of the 
 mother. He subsequently went to live with 
 his father's sisters, Emily De Wolf, a maiden 
 lady, Lucretia, widow of Jeremiah Harris, and 
 Betsey De Wolf, with whom he remained 
 three years. When seventeen years of age he 
 began to work out by the month at farm labor, 
 continuing this from 1879 to 1889. He re- 
 ceived at first ten dollars per month for seven 
 months, and he then worked for his board with 
 the privilege of attending school. During 
 the latter years of his experience as a farm 
 hand he received as high as three hundred 
 
 dollars a year wages. On April i, 1889, he 
 bought two farms of two hundred acres for five 
 thousand, five hundred dollars, going heavily 
 in debt. A year later he sold a hundred acres 
 to Dr. Harris, and has now a hundred acres in 
 his own farm. On this he has built a pleas- 
 ant and comfortable dwelling and a fine set of 
 outbuildings. 
 
 In 1889 Mr. De Wolf was united in mar- 
 riage with Miss Mary Jane Story, daughter of 
 Ebenezer and Mary Esther (Avery) Story. 
 Mr. Story died in 1875, at the age of sixty- 
 four years; and Mrs. Story died May 14, 1894, 
 at the age of sixty-eight, leaving one son 
 and four daughters, one of these Mrs. De 
 Wolf, all living in this town. Mr. and Mrs. 
 De Wolf have two children: Elsie May, born 
 May 21, 1890, now in her eighth year; and 
 Ebenezer Story De Wolf, born May 18, 1896, 
 a beautiful and intelligent little child. In 
 politics Mr. De Wolf is a Republican; but he 
 has never cared to be an office seeker or 
 holder, the details of his personal affairs hav- 
 ing absorbed his attention. He keeps twenty- 
 five head of cattle, including fifteen cows, and 
 sells milk to families in Norwich, keeping 
 three horses and delivering the milk himself. 
 
 WILLIAM I 
 known in 
 
 E. PENDLETON, well 
 New London, Conn., as a 
 skilful florist, is a native of Mystic, 
 in the same county. He was born September 
 3, 1854, son of William Dennis and Mary 
 (Thurston) Pendleton. His ancestors came 
 from England, and were among the leading 
 Colonial families. William Pendleton, his 
 great-grandfather, was a tavern-keeper and 
 farmer in good circumstances. William Pen- 
 dleton, Jr., the youngest son of William, was 
 born in Rhode Island about 1790. He mar- 
 ried a Miss Lamphere, by whom he had eight 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 427 
 
 children, five sons and three daughters. He 
 died in 1850, and was survived about twenty- 
 five years by his widow, who lived to be be- 
 tween seventy and eighty years of age. 
 
 William Dennis Pendleton was born in 
 Mystic, Conn., and for several years carried 
 on mercantile business in Old Mystic. Fol- 
 lowing that he went to California, journeying 
 by way of the Isthmus, and during a two 
 years' stay successfully engaged in mining. 
 He died in 1855, when but thirty-three years 
 of age. Mary Thurston Pendleton, his wife, 
 was born in Westerly, R. I., daughter of John 
 C. and Mary (Miller) Thurston. She was a 
 grand-daughter of John and Martha (Clark) 
 Thurston. Her grandfather was one of four 
 brothers who came from England. He was an 
 innkeeper in Westerly for many years, and 
 retired with a competency. Mr. and Mrs. 
 William D. Pendleton had two children, a 
 son and daughter: William E. ; and Ida, the 
 wife of John Newbury at Bay Shore, L.I. In 
 1861 their mother married a second time, be- 
 coming the wife of H. Pascal Beckwith, of 
 Waterford, Conn. For the past fourteen 
 years Mr. and Mrs. Beckwith have resided in 
 New London. They lost an infant son, and 
 have one son living, Daniel P. Beckwith, a 
 young man of fine mechanical and business 
 ability, employed in New York City as superin- 
 tendent of an incandescent arc light company. 
 
 William E. Pendleton obtained his educa- 
 tion in the common schools of Waterford. 
 His early boyhood was spent on a farm; and 
 when but sixteen he shipped before the mast 
 on a fishing-smack that sailed from Noank, 
 Conn., and was gone six years. Later on he 
 became a government employee on board the 
 revenue cutter " Active " of New Bedford. 
 Returning to a land life, he engaged in farm- 
 ing until 1892 as manager of the Red House 
 stock farm, then established himself in busi- 
 
 ness as a florist in New London, beginning 
 with but two greenhouses, and gradually in- 
 creasing the number to ten, and employing 
 from three to six men, making a specialty of 
 cut flowers and ornamental plants for borders 
 and other decorative purposes. 
 
 At twenty-one years of age, February 16, 
 1876, Mr. Pendleton was married to Miss 
 Amelia E. Braman (known to her friends by 
 the familiar name of "Millie''), a daughter of 
 John Braman, of Waterford, Conn. Their 
 only daughter, Agnes, died at two years. 
 They have two sons living: John B. , a young 
 man of twenty, engaged in the greenhouse 
 business; and Frank, aged fifteen. 
 
 Mr. Pendleton is a member of the National 
 Guard, Third Connecticut Infantry. From a 
 private he has risen by regular promotion to 
 the rank of Captain of Company D, which he 
 has held for two years, and is now Captain 
 and Aide-de-camp on the Brigade Staff. He 
 is a member of the Improved Order of Red 
 Men, also of the American Order of United 
 Workmen. 
 
 (We have recently learned that, owing to 
 the business depression, Mr. Pendleton, a few 
 months ago, gave up the florist's business for 
 a time at least, and has since gone to Alaska.) 
 
 ENRY W. BRANCHE,* manager of 
 the Boston and Norwich Clothing 
 Company of Norwich, Conn., was 
 born in Lisbon, Conn., August 9, i860. His 
 father, Levi J. Branche, was born in Lisbon, 
 August 19, 1 8 19; and his mother, Sarah L. 
 Williams Branche, was a native of Canter- 
 bury, Conn. Elisha Branche, father of Levi 
 ]., was a son of Stephen, who was born in 
 Preston, Conn. The first ancestor in Con- 
 necticut was Peter Branch, who came to Pres- 
 ton from Scituate, Mass., or near Brant Rock. 
 
428 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 Peter Branch, of Kent, England, sailed 
 from his native land in the ship "Castle" 
 between the years 1620 and 1640, but did not 
 live to see the new world for which he had set 
 out. His son John was bound out at ten 
 years of age for the remainder of his minority. 
 Branch Island, near Brant Rock, referred to 
 above, was named for him; and his will shows 
 him to have been a man of property. During 
 the Indian War one of his sons was killed at 
 Rehoboth, and is buried there. 
 
 Stephen Branch, the great-grandfather of 
 Henry W., of this sketch, was a non-commis- 
 sioned officer in a company of militia that re- 
 sponded to the Lexington alarm in April, 
 1775. His brother, Captain Moses Branch, 
 was in command of a company at Groton 
 Heights. Elisha Branche, the grandfather of 
 Henry W., was the father of three sons — 
 Elisha P.; Levi J.; and William, who mar- 
 ried a Miss Atwood, and went to Utah to live 
 — and three daughters. 
 
 Levi J. Branche engaged in farming in his 
 younger days, then became a paper manufact- 
 urer, being one of the organizers of the Reed 
 Paper Company. , He was one of the incorpo- 
 rators of the Jewett City Savings Bank. Two 
 years, 1882-84, he was a member of the State 
 legislature. He was active and influential in 
 the town affairs of Sprague, to which place he 
 removed at the close of the war. In i860 
 Mr. Branche was married to Miss Sarah 
 L. Williams, daughter of Merritt Williams, 
 of Canterbury, Conn. Four children were 
 the fruit of this union, namely: Henry W. ; 
 Ida, wife of a Mr. Blanding, of Providence, 
 R.I. ; Herbert R., a yard-master in Provi- 
 dence for the New England Railroad; and 
 Leone L., a salesman in a clothing store in 
 Providence. Their mother died in November, 
 1875, at thirty-seven years of age. Their 
 father subsequently married a second wife, by 
 
 whom he had two children. His third and 
 last wife was a Miss Bromley, who survives 
 him, and is living in Sterling, Conn. He 
 died in March, 1886. 
 
 Henry W. Branche, after attending the 
 common schools and a boarding-school at 
 Providence, began his business career at six- 
 teen, as a clerk in a clothing store in Win- 
 chendon, and afterward went to school for 
 another year. He tried working in a woollen- 
 mill and at other employments until 1883, 
 when he entered the New York Clothing 
 House in Norwich as a clerk, remaining there 
 until the sprang of 1887, when he started in 
 business for himself at 90 Main Street, in 
 company with a Mr. Reeves, firm of Reeves & 
 Branche. After carrying on the business to- 
 gether for seven years, they dissolved partner- 
 ship; and Mr. Branche became manager of the 
 Boston and Norwich Clothing Company. 
 
 In December, 1886, Mr. Branche was 
 joined in marriage with Miss Fannie Bottom- 
 ley, of this city, a daughter of Joseph Bot- 
 tomley. They have three children — Harry, 
 Herbert, and Fannie. 
 
 As was his father before him, Mr. Branche 
 is a Republican. Fraternally, he is a mem- 
 ber of the Knights of Pythias, the Improved 
 Order of Red Men, and Sons of the American 
 Revolution. Mrs. Branche is an Episco- 
 palian. The family reside on Laurel Hill, in 
 the house which Mr. Branche purchased in 
 the fall of 1895. 
 
 T^HARLES H. COTTRELL,* a well- 
 V 4 known lumberman of Mystic, Conn., 
 
 ^1.. ^ successor to the business established 
 
 by his late father, Joseph Cottrell, was born 
 in the house which he now occupies, January 
 27, 1843. 
 
 The Cottrells are of English origin. Sir 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 429 
 
 Charles Cottrell, born iii^iSiS, son of Sir 
 Clement Cottrell, of Lincolnshire, lived at 
 Westminster, and was prominent at the court 
 ceremonies in the reign of Charles II. The 
 emigrant ancestor was Nicholas Cottrell, who 
 was living at Newport, R.I., as early as 1639, 
 and later at Westerly. 
 
 Joseph Cottrell, born in Mystic, July 7, 
 1777, was the only son of Charles and Esther 
 (Denison) Cottrell. He was a man of great 
 enterprise and business tact, establishing 
 more than seventy-five years ago the first and 
 only lumber yard and planing-mill in Mystic. 
 By means of industrious thrift and wise man- 
 agement he accumulated a competency, leav- 
 ing his seven children then living a goodly es- 
 tate to be divided among them, making no 
 will, but depending upon their honor and fra- 
 ternal affection to settle affairs harmoniously, 
 which they surely did. He was not a poli- 
 tician, but was a radical Republican, and at 
 one time was a Representative to the State 
 legislature. 
 
 On October 3, 1826, he married Fanny 
 Stanton, daughter of Jabez and Fanny (Potter) 
 Stanton, who on her mother's side was de- 
 scended from the Potter family of Rhode 
 Island. They became the parents of twelve 
 children, all but one of whom were born in 
 the house erected by the father soon after his 
 marriage, probably seventy years ago. Two 
 sons and five daughters grew to mature years, 
 and the following are now living: Mary Ann, 
 who is now abroad with her husband, Charles 
 H. Denison, visiting the principal cities of 
 the Old World, having recently been in 
 Japan ; Harriet Shaw, widow of George Har- 
 ris, of Providence, R.I. ; Fanny, wife of 
 Joseph Griswold, a cotton manufacturer in 
 Greenfield, Mass. ; and Charles Henry, the 
 subject of this sketch. One son, Joseph 
 Oscar, who spent most of his life in Mystic, 
 
 died January 2, 1890, in Providence, leaving 
 one daughter by his first wife, and four sons 
 and one daughter of his second marriage. 
 Neither of the parents is living, the ' father 
 having died April 19, 1865, and the mother 
 just three months later, July 19, 1865. Both 
 were members of the Congregational church, 
 and their family pew is now occupied every 
 Sunday by their son Charles and his wife. 
 
 Charles H. Cottrell was educated in board- 
 ing-schools at Providence, R.I., and Middle- 
 boro, Mass. When a young man he entered 
 in business with his father, and he is now ex- 
 tensively and profitably engaged as a lumber 
 manufacturer and dealer. He is highly es- 
 teemed as a man of sterling integrity. He is 
 a Republican in politics, and, though not an 
 office-seeker, has served as Selectman of the 
 town. Fraternally, he is a Master Mason. 
 
 Mr. Cottrell was married November 16, 
 1865, to Miss Georgia A. Crary, who was born 
 in Groton, this county, a daughter of George 
 B. and Catherine (Latham) Crary and a sister 
 of Captain Jesse Dayton Crary, who for many 
 years ran a freight and passenger packet be- 
 tween Mystic and New York City. Mrs. Cot- 
 trell is said to be a lineal descendant of 
 Charlemagne, tracing her ancestry through 
 Peter Crary, who was born in Scotland in 
 1635. Peter Crary emigrated from Scotland 
 to America when a young man, coming to 
 Groton, Conn., where he married in Decem- 
 ber, 1677, Christobel Gallup. On March 17, 
 1679, ^^ ^^^ his wife joined the church, of 
 which James Noyes was pastor. Peter Crary 
 died in 1708. His wife's father. Captain 
 John Gallup, Jr., was a son of Captain John 
 Gallup, Sr., of Boston, Mass.; and both 
 father and son were noted Indian fighters, the 
 son losing his life in the famous swamp fight. 
 Mrs. Cottrell's grandfather Crary married 
 Catherine Burrows, a descendant of Robert 
 
43° 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 Burrows, who was given the first grant to 
 cross the Mystic River.- His son, John Bur- 
 rows, born in 1642, is buried under a slab in 
 the VVightman burial-ground. George B. 
 Crary and his wife are the parents of six chil- 
 dren, of whom three are living, namely: Jesse 
 Dayton, a merchant in New York City; 
 Nellie Crosby Crary, at home with her par- 
 ents; and Georgia A., now Mrs. Cottrell. 
 Mrs. Cottrell's maternal great-grandmother, 
 Catherine Haley, was descended from John 
 Haley, who was born in Devonshire, England, 
 and was buried on Fisher's Island. 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Cottrell have lost three chil- 
 dren, two sons and a daughter having died in 
 infancy. They have one child living; 
 namely, Fanny Stanton, wife of John L. 
 Dodge, Jr., of Groton. Mrs. Dodge has three 
 children, two sons and a daughter, the latter 
 being of the fifth generation to bear the name 
 of Fanny Stanton. Mr. Cottrell has many 
 valuable relics, one that attracts universal at- 
 tention being an old-fashioned solid mahogany 
 writing-desk, formerly owned by his great- 
 grandmother. 
 
 kiss RUTH ELIZABETH ALLEN, 
 a well-known resident of the town 
 of Sprague, Conn., living on the 
 Allen farm, near the village of Hanover, is 
 the only daughter of the late John and Ruth 
 Waldo (Bingham) Allen. The family to 
 which she belongs is an old and honored one 
 in New England, and has produced men and 
 women of influence and of solid worth and 
 Christian character. 
 
 Among the different emigrants bearing this 
 surname that came over in the first half of the 
 seventeenth century was Samuel Allen, who 
 settled at Braintree, Mass., near Boston. 
 From him the line of descent to John, father 
 
 of Miss Ruth E. Allen, is as follows: Sam- 
 uel, second, born about 1632; Samuel, third, 
 born in 1660; Joseph, born in 1701; Asahel, 
 born in 1742 or 1743, who married Desire 
 Eames, and was the father of Enoch and 
 grandfather of John Allen. 
 
 Enoch Allen, Miss Allen's grandfather, 
 who was born in the eastern part of Windham, 
 now Scotland, Conn., in 1768, was a farmer 
 and stone-mason and a man universally es- 
 teemed. He died in 1840. His wife, for- 
 merly Betsey Witter, of Canterbury, long sur- 
 viving him, lived to be eighty-five years of 
 age. Their only daughter died in infancy; 
 but their four sons — Asa W., John, Martin, 
 and David — grew to maturity and married, 
 and all lived to be very advanced in years. 
 Asa W., the eldest, in his youth was a mem- 
 ber of a militia company, and was called out 
 at the time of the attack on Stonington Point 
 in the War of 18 12. In 18 19, shortly after 
 his marriage, he removed to Ohio. In his 
 later years he devoted himself with character- 
 istic "unyielding perseverance" to study of 
 the history of his ancestors, and compiled a 
 brief but valuable genealogy of the Allen and 
 Witter families, which was published in 
 Salem, Ohio, in 1872. Martin Allen re- 
 moved to Ohio in 1829; and David, the 
 youngest brother, settled at Salem, Ohio, in 
 1864. Miss Allen's uncles were all teachers, 
 church members, and devoted Christian 
 workers. 
 
 Her father, John Allen, was born in 1797, 
 and was educated in the district school. He 
 was married March 9, 1835, to Ruth Waldo 
 Bingham, daughter of Captain John and 
 Talitha (Waldo) Bingham, both lifelong resi- 
 dents of Connecticut. Mr. Allen, having in- 
 herited some property, had previously bought 
 a farm, and had finished building the house 
 which has now come down to his daughter, 
 
Ub/U^l 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 433 
 
 the site having been chosen because of the 
 abundance of pure spring water. By his own 
 industry and business ability he added to his 
 possessions, so that at his death, which oc- 
 curred on February 22, 1875, he left an estate 
 estimated at thirty thousand dollars. His 
 wife, Ruth, was a teacher before her marriage, 
 and was a woman of cultivation and refinement. 
 She was born in 1800, and died July 12, 
 1882. Both Mr. and Mrs. Allen were Con- 
 gregationalists in religion. 
 
 Miss Allen is the only child of her parents. 
 She was educated in Dr. Webster's School at 
 Norwich, and was brought up from childhood 
 with the most loving and thoughtful care. 
 She has always clung with attachment to her 
 home, and prefers a quiet and domestic life 
 here to any other. She is deeply interested 
 in all the affairs of her native town, and is 
 always ready to lend her influence for the 
 furtherance of any movement looking to the 
 general good or to assist in any worthy 
 scheme of benevolence. She is a member of 
 the Hanover Congregational Church, and be- 
 longs also to the Woman's Christian Temper- 
 ance Union. 
 
 T^APTAIN REUBEN LORD,* a farmer 
 ( Jf and retired ship-master of Salem, 
 
 \sll__^ Conn,, was born in Lyme, at Ham- 
 burg, April 20, 1812, son of Joseph and 
 Phebe (Burnham) Lord. Thomas Lord, the 
 first ancestor of this branch of the family in 
 America, was born in 1585, and, with his 
 wife Dorothy, came from England in 1635, 
 settling in Newtowne, as Cambridge, Mass., 
 was then called, and going to Hartford, 
 Conn., in 1636 or 1637. His son William, 
 born about 1623, settled at Saybrook, and died 
 in 1678. William's son, Thomas, was born 
 in 1645. He married Mary Lee, and died 
 
 in 1730. Their son Joseph, born in 1697, 
 settled at Lyme, married Abigail Comstock, 
 and died in 1736. Their son Joseph also 
 lived in Lyme. He married Sarah Wade, 
 son of Joseph and Sarah Lord, settled in 
 Lyme, married Elizabeth Selden, and died 
 in 1804. Joseph, their son, the Captain's 
 father, born in 1781, died in 1836. He had 
 five sons and six daughters, a brief record 
 of some of them being as follows : the Rev. 
 Joseph Lord, a Congregational minister in 
 Michigan, is now ninety years of age, and at- 
 tends divine service every Sunday of his life; 
 Judah resides in Hamburg, Lyme, at the age 
 of seventy-nine. Elizabeth, widow of Jede- 
 diah Brockway, is in Hamburg; another sister 
 married Captain James A. Bill; Rebecca Lord 
 lives in Colchester. The father held some of 
 the minor town offices. His wife survived 
 him twenty-five years. 
 
 Captain Lord was brought up on his father's 
 farm, and attended the Bacon Academy and 
 Bristol School. He remained at home until 
 his marriage to Sarah Weaver, of New York 
 State, which occurred when he was twenty- 
 three years of age. He was for ten years 
 captain of his vessel. He has been a mer- 
 chant in La Porte, Ohio; and at one time he 
 kept a hotel there, and also engaged in the 
 manufacture of potash and pearlash. He is 
 a Democrat, and has been Justice of the 
 Peace. He served as Assessor fifteen years 
 and on the Board of Relief thirteen years. 
 He was in the legislature in 1878. He has 
 been a member of the Congregational church 
 at Hamburg for half a century. He has lived 
 at his present home in Salem since 1881, 
 having then bought his farm of sixty-five acres. 
 
 Captain Lord's first wife, who was a daugh- 
 ter of Thomas Weaver, died November 18, 
 1876, aged sixty-nine. She had been the 
 mother of seven children, of whom two, who 
 
434 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 were twins, a son and daughter, died young, 
 in Ohio. The survivors are: Joseph, living 
 in Tampa, Fla. ; Elizabeth, who married Mr. 
 Moon, and accompanied him South, where he 
 and one daughter died of yellow fever; Henry, 
 who is an orange-grower near the city of 
 Tampa, Fla. ; Reuben, Jr., a lawyer in New 
 London; and Walter A., a farmer in Ham- 
 burg. Captain Lord has five grandchildren. 
 He was again married, in 1878, to Mrs. 
 Matilda S. Wheeler, of Hartford, Conn., 
 daughter of Hugh Chambers, and the widow 
 of Hiram Wheeler. Her only daughter, Net- 
 tie E., is the wife of Joseph Lord, and has 
 a daughter, Edith May Lord, aged eleven. 
 
 Mrs. Matilda S. Lord was born in Dover, 
 England. Her father's family came from 
 Dundee, Scotland. He was a surgeon in the 
 British army; and his wife, Elizabeth Shaw 
 Chambers, always accompanied him. Their 
 eighteen children were born in different parts 
 of the world, — one, for instance, in the West 
 Indies, one in the East Indies, one on the 
 Cape of Good Hope, one on the Island of St. 
 Helena, one in Dover Castle, and one on the 
 ocean. Mrs. Lord has two brothers in Aus- 
 tralia, whither they emigrated from Califor- 
 nia. Another brother, the Rev. Adam Cham- 
 bers, a Baptist minister, is settled over one of 
 the best churches in Philadelphia. He has 
 an illustrated lecture on " Pilgrim's Progress, " 
 which he has delivered twenty-six hundred 
 times in various countries. Another brother 
 is in business in New York City, and has 
 a summer home in Salem. Her sister, the 
 wife of Ralph Hughes, who belongs to the 
 famous Hughes family, is in Buffalo. Hugh 
 Chambers died in England in 1840, at the age 
 of fifty-four. His wife died at the home of 
 her son in Philadelphia, about 1867, at sixty- 
 three years of age. Mrs. Lord was educated 
 in New York City and at the Quaker Boarding 
 
 School in Springport. She has taught school, 
 and was for twenty-five years the superin- 
 tendent of mission schools in New York City, 
 and in Hartford was the city missionary of 
 Warburton Chapel, a position which she held 
 for ten years, at a salary of one thousand 
 dollars. 
 
 Before her second marriage Mrs. Lord spent 
 five months abroad, visiting London, Roches- 
 ter, and Dover, England; Glasgow and Edin- 
 burgh in Scotland; Belfast, Ireland; Boulogne, 
 France; and Brussels, Belgium. She went 
 in the interests and under the auspices of the 
 New York City Female Bible Readers' So- 
 ciety, whose president at that time was Mrs. 
 Lorimer Graham. During her tour she at- 
 tended the World's Congress of Deaconesses, 
 of which order she is a member. Her mis- 
 sion was to obtain up-to-date methods of mis- 
 sionary work, and she gave lectures on this 
 subject in Belfast. She was the guest of Mr. 
 Spurgeon, and saw the darkest and brightest 
 phases of London life before returning to her 
 work in Hartford. Her life has been full of 
 activity and usefulness. 
 
 (5 I HOI 
 
 HOMAS PENDLETON WILCOX,* of 
 (^1 Quiambaug, Stonington, Conn., a son 
 of Thomas, Jr., and Lavinia (Fish) 
 Wilcox, was born April 5, 1844. His grand- 
 father, Thomas Wilcox, Sr. , was a seafaring 
 man, and was engaged in many whaling expe- 
 ditions. He married Abbie Pendleton, who 
 bore him seven children, four sons and three 
 daughters, all of whom are now dead. 
 
 His son Thomas, Jr., who was born in 
 1806, was the master of a whaler for a number 
 of years, making many expeditions. He 
 bought twenty acres of land in Stonington, 
 at the head of Quiambaug Cove, where he 
 built the house in which his son now lives. 
 
^'>' 
 
 
 \ 
 
 CHARLES 1'. IIKWITT. 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 437 
 
 He was married in 1836, and died while on 
 a voyage, in 1854, and was buried at sea. 
 His wife, Lavinia Fisli, daughter of John 
 Fish, of Noank, survived him but four years. 
 They had two sons. The elder, George W. , 
 was by occupation a sailor. In 1861 he en- 
 listed in Company G of the Fifth Connecticut 
 Infantry, and was appointed Sergeant. Hav- 
 ing served his full term, he enlisted again, 
 and was killed at the battle of Atlanta in 
 1864. 
 
 Thomas Pendleton Wilcox, the younger son, 
 came to his present home with his parents 
 when about two and a half years old. He 
 attended the district schools for a time in his 
 boyhood, but very early began to follow the 
 sea. Now he does a good business, catching 
 lobsters, also fishing with hand lines dur- 
 ing the summer, and in winter taking oysters, 
 large and of excellent quality, from his fine 
 oyster beds, where he plants from four hun- 
 dred to five hundred bushels every spring. 
 He has served on the School Committee, and 
 has been a trustee of the free chapel near his 
 home. He is a member of the Baptist church 
 and in politics a Democrat. 
 
 December 17, 1863, he married Angelina 
 R. Champlain, a daughter of Benadam and 
 Rebecca Champlain. Seven children have 
 been born to Mr. and Mrs. Wilcox, and six 
 of them are living, namely: George R., who 
 is married, and has a daughter and a son ; 
 William C, who is married, and has two 
 daughters; Thomas P., Jr., living at home; 
 Henry M., also living at home, and in busi- 
 ness with his father; Frank G., a boy of fif- 
 teen; and Lavinia, a child of seven. 
 
 Although Mr. Wilcox is not strong physi- 
 cally, always having been a sufferer from 
 asthma, he is a man of great patience and 
 perseverance, and has accomplished much in 
 a quiet, unobtrusive way. 
 
 HARLES PALMER HEWITT,* one 
 of the most industrious and enterpris- 
 ing farmers of Preston, was born in 
 his present abode, March 8, 1853, son of 
 Stanton and Harriet (Roy) Hewitt. His 
 grandfather, Charles Hewitt, owned a farm in 
 this vicinity; and the house which he built is 
 still standing. Stanton Hewitt was born in 
 181 7, and spent his life on the farm. He 
 married in 1850 Flarriet Roy, of Lisbon, 
 who was born in 1830. They had three chil- 
 dren : Stanton, a farmer residing in this 
 vicinity; Charles Palmer; and Hattie Eggles- 
 ton, wife of Oliver Eggleston. The mother 
 died in 1873, at the age of forty-three, her 
 husband having passed away eleven years pre- 
 viously. He was a Democrat politically, be- 
 sides serving the town as Selectman many 
 years. He was also elected at different 
 times to both houses of the legislature. 
 
 Charles P. Hewitt was brought up on the 
 farm, where he remained until twenty-one 
 years of age. He then went to Hartford, 
 where he was employed as an assistant book- ' 
 keeper for some years. He also pursued a 
 course of study at Greenwich Academy. Re- 
 turning subsequently to the farm, he was 
 married January 8, 1870, to Addie H. An- 
 drews, of Preston, daughter of Gustavus D. 
 and Sarah (Millard) Andrews, the mother, 
 previous to her marriage to Mr. Andrews, 
 having been the widow of a Mr. Hakes. Mr. 
 and Mrs. Hewitt lost their only son, Millard 
 H,, who died when eighteen months old. 
 Mr. Hewitt, who is a Democrat politically, 
 represented his district in 1882. He is the 
 owner of one hundred and forty-nine acres of 
 land, which was purchased by his mother, and 
 on which he has paid the mortgage. His 
 fine old house, which has been standing for 
 a hundred years, has been reroofed and other- 
 wise improved by him; and in 1896 he erected 
 
438 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 a large horse barn. Besides general farming, 
 Mr. Hewitt keeps from twelve to fifteen cows, 
 the milk from which he sells personally in 
 Norwich. Besides making his daily round, 
 he carries on his farm almost without assist- 
 ance. He enjoys the best of health, and is 
 one of the most wide-awake farmers in the 
 town. 
 
 "ERMAN ATWOOD,* Postmaster of 
 Stonington, Conn., was born in 
 Brooklyn, Windham County, this 
 State, June 12, 1S62, son of L. S. and Elvira 
 (Cooley) Atwood. His father was born in 
 Mansfield, Conn., July 22, 1812. He died 
 on October 10, 1888, in Brooklyn, where for 
 a number of years he kept a grocery. He was 
 twice married, his first wife being Elvira 
 Cooley, of Brooklyn. She died in 1862, 
 leaving three children : Juliet, wife of Frank 
 L. Martin, of Providence, R. I. ; Arvilla, who 
 married Charles G. Williams, of Providence; 
 and Herman, who was only six weeks old at 
 the time of her death. The second partner of 
 the father's joys and sorrows was Margaret 
 Fuller, by whom he had one son — Oscar F. 
 Atwood, of Brooklyn, Conn. 
 
 Herman Atwood, the elder of the two sons 
 of L. S. Atwood, was reared in his native 
 town, and there acquired a common-school 
 education. At the age of nineteen he learned 
 the machinist's trade, which he followed 
 twelve years in this place, being employed by 
 the Atwood Machine Company, whose leading 
 members are cousins of his father. In poli- 
 tics he is a sound-money Democrat, like his 
 father before him. He was appointed Post- 
 master by President Grover Cleveland on Jan- 
 uary 21, 1895, and has since continued to dis- 
 charge efficiently the duties of his position. 
 He has many warm friends. 
 
 On December 24, 1891, Mr. Atwood was 
 
 united in marriage with Clara Belle Pendle- 
 ton, an accomplished pianist and music teacher 
 of this place. Her parents are B. F. and 
 Mary Jane (Oliver) Pendleton, of Stonington, 
 Conn. They have seven children, including 
 five sons, who are in New York City, and 
 another daughter, who resides in Stonington. 
 Mrs. Atwood has a large music class, with 
 whom she is very successful and popular. Mr. 
 and Mrs. Atwood are highly respected mem- 
 bers of the First Baptist Church. 
 
 m 
 
 ILLIAM A. HOLT,* a well-known 
 grocer of New London, was born in 
 this city February 23, 1829, son of 
 Nathaniel and Esther (Morrison) Holt. He 
 belongs to an old Connecticut family, the first 
 representative of which, William Holt, an 
 Englishman, was a member of the New Haven 
 Colony in 1643, and was one of the first pro- 
 prietors to whom a lot was apportioned. Will- 
 iam Holt was a dish-turner by trade — that is, 
 a maker of pewter plates and dishes. In his 
 old age he removed with a son to Walling- 
 ford. Conn. ; and he was the first white man 
 buried in that place. His grave is to be seen 
 to-day, marked by a rude, unpolished field 
 stone, bearing the inscription, " William 
 Holt, 1683." 
 
 Nathaniel, his second son, settled in New 
 London in 1673. He was in the swamp 
 fight with King Philip, acting as Sergeant of 
 a company, and, being seriously wounded 
 December 19, 1675, received the small com- 
 pensation of twenty-five dollars, all that the 
 colony was able to pay. In 1689 he removed 
 to Newport, R.I. In April, 1680, he was 
 married to Rebecca, daughter of Thomas 
 Beebe. The Beebes were remarkable men, 
 strong, wealthy, and influential. Two sons of 
 Nathaniel and Rebecca (Beebe) Holt inher- 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 439 
 
 ited from their maternal grandfather and their 
 uncle a fine property in New London. 
 
 James Holt, grandfather of William A., 
 was a calker by trade, and was for a number 
 of years in business in New London with 
 Samuel Coit. He died of cholera in 1824, 
 aged forty-seven years. His wife, formerly 
 Mrs. Jerusha Caffrey, a widow, whom he mar- 
 ried in 1797, also died of cholera. Six chil- 
 dren were born to this couple, three of whom 
 — namely, the son Nathaniel and two daugh- 
 ters — married. 
 
 Nathaniel, William A. Holt's father, was 
 born in New London in 1804. He was en- 
 gaged in the whaling industry for a number of 
 years, and had risen to the rank of mate when 
 he left the sea. In 1832, when he was 
 twenty-eight years old, he was stricken down 
 by cholera, the dread disease which carried off 
 five of his family, and died in a short time. 
 He was married about 1826, to Esther Morri- 
 son, of Waterford, Conn., daughter of Joseph 
 Morrison, a Scotchman. Two children were 
 born of this union — William A. and a son 
 who died in infancy. The widow of Nathaniel 
 Holt married Jefferson Avery. She died in 
 i860, in her fifty-first year, leaving one child 
 by her second husband — a daughter, Adelaide, 
 now the wife of J. G. Caverly, of New London. 
 
 William A. Holt, having acquired his edu- 
 cation in the common schools, began to work 
 at the early age of twelve years in a grocery 
 store, and, before he attained his majority, 
 was familiar with the ways and methods of 
 trade. In 1850 be went to California, sailing 
 around Cape Horn in the schooner " Cyno- 
 sure," starting in March and arriving in Sep- 
 tember; and for eight years he was engaged 
 in trade in Calaveras County, being employed 
 as a salaried agent to sell miners' supplies. 
 He returned by way of the Isthmus of Panama 
 in 1858, and established his present business 
 
 as a dealer in groceries with Jefferson Avery 
 as partner, under the firm name of Holt & 
 Avery. They were located at first at 16 Main 
 Street, and about twenty-two years ago moved 
 to the present stand, 50 Main Street. Mr. 
 Avery died in 1884, and Mr. Holt has since 
 been without a business associate. He has 
 been very successful, and has the respect and 
 confidence of the community. 
 
 In 1858, soon after his return from Califor- 
 nia, he was married to Sarah Skinner, of 
 Massachusetts, daughter of Deacon Joseph 
 Skinner and his wife, who was formerly a 
 Miss Searles, of Groton, Conn. Deacon 
 Skinner was in the truck business for a num- 
 ber of years, retiring a few years prior to his 
 death, which occurred when he was seventy- 
 eight years old. His wife died at New Lon- 
 don in i860, aged about fifty. Of their chil- 
 dren, one besides Mrs. Holt is living — Mrs. 
 Laura A. Mead, of New London. Six chil- 
 dren have blessed the union of Mr. and Mrs. 
 Holt. A son died in infancy, and a daughter 
 at the tender age of three years. The others 
 are: Edward, his father's assistant in the 
 store; Emma L., residing with her parents; 
 Nellie M., wife of Frank McGammon, in 
 Boston; and William A., of Harvard, 1897. 
 
 Mr. Holt, who has long been identified with 
 the Democratic party, has been a member of 
 the city government for twenty-two years, and 
 is at present a member of the Board of Alder- 
 men. He is a Master Mason. His residence 
 at 42 Main Street, where he has lived some 
 twenty-two years, is one of the historic houses 
 of the city. It was built about one hundred 
 and thirty-five years ago, and the walls are 
 lined with brick. Erected by direction of the 
 authorities of the Church of England in old 
 London, it was the home of the first Episcopal 
 bishop in America, Samuel Seabury, and is an 
 object of great interest to Episcopalians. 
 
440 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 RS. EMELINE FORD HAM 
 DAWES* is the widow of Henry 
 C. Dawes, who died October 29, 
 1888, in his fifty-ninth year. He was born 
 on a sea voyage, when his parents, William 
 and Sarah (Lansdal) Dawes, were coming 
 from England to this country. His paternal 
 grandfather came over to America later, with 
 Roger Griswold's father. William Dawes, 
 the father of Mrs. Dawes's husband, came to 
 New London by vessel, and settled with the 
 Griswold family. In the spring they went 
 West to Ohio, where other members of the 
 Dawes family had located themselves. He 
 remained there several years, and followed the 
 occupation of farming. Afterward he re- 
 turned to Clinton, Conn., and subsequently 
 removed to Lyme. After the death of his 
 first wife he again went to Ohio, and married 
 a widow lady, a Mrs. Powers, who owned 
 farming land in both Iowa and Ohio. He 
 then settled in New Hampton, la., where he 
 carried on farming. Mrs. Dawes's husband 
 was the third of four children — William, 
 Mary, Henry C, and Louise Robins. The 
 first of these, William Dawes, is now a resi- 
 dent of Saybrook, Conn. Mary is the widow 
 of Samuel Warner Frisbie, and lives in West 
 Cleveland, Ohio. Louise Robins is not liv- 
 ing. 
 
 Henry C. Dawes shipped as a cook on a 
 fishing-smack when a mere boy, and he was 
 a seafaring man the greater part of his life. 
 He made voyages to England, South America, 
 Cuba, and California, the latter trip being 
 made on a merchantman. He was one of the 
 "forty-niners" to California, and became 
 captain and part owner of three vessels, one 
 of which he sold in that State. The 
 "Scotia" was a fast schooner for halibut 
 fishing, and was built at Noank. The " Kate 
 Church " was another craft in which he sailed 
 
 for some years, and he also owned a stanch 
 boat by the name of the " Susan Eldridge. " 
 
 Mr. Dawes was married December 3, 1854, 
 to Emeline, the daughter of Charles and 
 Mahala (Beckwith) Tinker, the latter being 
 a daughter of Joseph Beckwith and his wife, 
 Esther Wait, who was of the same family as 
 Chief Justice Morrison R. Waite. Mrs. 
 Dawes's grandfather, Benjamin Tinker, mar- 
 ried Lucy Beckwith, and had three sons and 
 two daughters. Mrs. Dawes and her brother 
 Horace, a resident of Mystic, Conn., are all 
 that are left of a family of five children, she 
 being next to the youngest. Her brother 
 Charles was lost at sea when a young man. 
 Mr. and Mrs. Dawes lived in New London for 
 a time after their marriage, and in the spring 
 of 1865 they came to the place where she still 
 makes her home. It is an excellent farm of 
 about thirty acres, with a fine dwelling-house 
 and two large barns, all kept in the best of 
 order, and an abundance of all kinds of fruit 
 suited to the climate and soil. Mrs. Dawes 
 has one daughter, Louise Marian, who, since 
 completing her education at New London, has 
 resided at home. 
 
 ENRY BISHOP DOWNER,* a re- 
 ired railroad conductor, residing in 
 New London, Conn., was born at 
 Bozrahville, this county, November 18, 1818, 
 son of John and Lovisa (Bishop) Downer. 
 His paternal grandfather, also named John, 
 was a farmer. He married, and reared a fam- 
 ily of sons and daughters. 
 
 John Downer, the father of Henry B., was 
 born on the home farm in 1796. He married 
 Lovisa Bishop, who was born in Griswold, 
 Conn. They had seven children: Mary; 
 Lucinda; Harriet; Rev. John Camden 
 Downer; Olive; Henry B. ; and Edmund, 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 441 
 
 who died at the early age of four years. The 
 parents were in humble circumstances, and 
 bravely struggled to bring up their family. 
 The mother died at the age of sixty-five; 
 while the father, who died in 1871, lived to 
 be seventy-five. 
 
 Henry Bishop Downer began active life 
 with but limited educational advantages, 
 being obliged to work at the age of twelve 
 years. He was at first employed on a farm 
 for four dollars a month. Six years later it 
 was decided that farm labor was too hard for 
 him, and he became a wool-sorter in the fac- 
 tory. He subsequently went to Norwich, 
 Conn., where he served as hotel clerk for Mr. 
 Kinney. In 1839 he went to Colchester, and 
 established a hotel, the principal one in the 
 place, which he managed successfully for six 
 years. He then returned to Norwich, becom- 
 ing clerk in the old Merchants' Hotel for Mr. 
 Cottrell. Later on he bought out Henry L. 
 Clark, and for six years thereafter he was 
 proprietor of the American House. Mr. 
 Downer then assumed the management of the 
 Union House in New London ; but at the 
 expiration of three years he was burned out, 
 having only a light insurance. The next 
 month he began serving as express messenger 
 for Mr. Turner. In April, 1856, he was ap- 
 pointed conductor of a passenger train on the 
 New London & Norwich Railroad. This po- 
 sition he faithfully filled for thirty-seven 
 years, retiring in 1893. 
 
 Upon attaining his majority in 1839, Mr. 
 Downer was married in Montville, this 
 county, to Matilda Chamberlain, a native of 
 Killingly. Mrs. Downer died November 3, 
 1893. For twelve years they had resided at 
 8 Granite Street, in this city, where they set- 
 tled in 1881. In politics Mr. Downer is a 
 Democrat. In religion he affiliates with the 
 Congregationalists, having joined the First 
 
 Congregational Church of New London fifteen 
 or more years ago. His estimable wife was 
 also a highly respected member ot the same 
 church. 
 
 '^-A MES HAMILTON LANG- 
 WORTHY,* an enterprising farmer of 
 Stonington, Conn., son of the late 
 Henry Davis and Maria Fierce (Clark) Lang- 
 worthy, was born June 16, 1847, on his 
 father's farm, the greater part-of which he now 
 owns and occupies. He traces his lineage 
 back to Samuel Langworthy, his great-grand- 
 father, who came from England. 
 
 The immigrant's son, Samuel, was born in 
 Hopkinton, R. I., September 11, 1771, and 
 about 1820 settled in Stonington, where he 
 owned a farm of three hundred acres, upon 
 which he spent the rest of his life. He was 
 a Baptist Deacon. His wife, whose maiden 
 name was Ethelinda Davis, was born in Wes- 
 terly, R.I., in 1767, and died here November 
 20, 1835. They had three sons — Samuel, 
 George F., and Henry Davis. 
 
 Their third son, Henry Davis Langworthy, 
 was born in August, 1809. He married Sep- 
 tember 29, 1839, Maria Pierce Clark, and by 
 this union was the father of four children, 
 namely: Irving Newton, who died at the age 
 of seventeen; Ethelinda, who died November 
 II, 1867, at the age of twenty-seven; Flenry 
 Courtland Langworthy, of Mystic; and James 
 Hamilton, of Stonington. The father died 
 March 8, 1884, leaving a farm of one hundred 
 and seventy acres. His wife, who was born 
 April 18, 1821, died April 18, 1892. 
 
 James H. Langworthy acquired an excellent 
 education, attending public schools in Ston- 
 ington and the Polytechnic Institute at Troy, 
 N.Y. , making a specialty of civil engineering. 
 In politics he affiliates with the Democratic 
 party; and he has officiated as an Assessor 
 
442 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 thiee years and as member of the Board of 
 Relief for two terms. Fraternally, he be- 
 longs to Knights of Pythias Lodge and the 
 American Order of United Workmen. 
 
 Mr. Langworthy was first married on Jan- 
 uary II, iS8i, to Hannah Bell Briggs, of 
 Ouonochontaug, R.I. She died June 23, 
 1887, at the age of twenty-three, leaving one 
 daughter, Maria Pierce, now a bright little 
 girl of ten years. On May 7, 1896, he was 
 married to his second wife, whose maiden 
 name was Matilda Clark Stanton. Her par- 
 ents were Samuel M. and Lucretia (Chesebro) 
 Stanton, of Poquetanuck, Conn. Mrs. Lang- 
 worthy has one brother, Lewis Sager Stan- 
 ton. Her mother died in December, 1895. 
 
 In 1891 Mr. Langworthy sold to Charles 
 P. Williams, of Brooklyn, N.Y., thirty acres 
 of his ancestral farm, and to Samuel Doughty, 
 of the same city, five acres, with the old house 
 and barn which his father built. In 1895 he 
 erected a new house and modern barn. He is 
 still investing time and money in improve- 
 ments, burying bowlders, and making solid 
 driveways that will defy the ravages of time. 
 The place commands a most extensive view of 
 the surrounding country, including, also, the 
 waters of the Atlantic on the south and of 
 Long Island Sound on the west. 
 
 M 
 
 ANIEL CALKINS, M.D., the ven- 
 erable and honored physician of 
 East Lyme, Conn., was born Au- 
 gust 23, 1825, in the house in which he now 
 resides, in the village of Flanders, the house 
 now about two hundred years old, in which 
 his father, Elisha Cadwallader Colden Cal- 
 kins, was born, and in which his grandfather. 
 Dr. Daniel, first, lived and died. He has the 
 old-fashioned journal kept by his grandfather 
 from 1776 to 1779, which contains many inter- 
 
 esting entries, and is a valuable relic. 
 Grandfather Calkins owned over three hundred 
 acres of land here, and had a valuable farm. 
 His death, when only forty-five years old, was 
 caused by a kick by a horse. He was born in 
 New London, and was twice married. By his 
 first wife, Mary Chappell, he had one child, 
 Esther, who married John Wood. By his sec- 
 ond wife, Elizabeth Smith, his children were: 
 Daniel; William S. ; Amos; Betsey; Etha- 
 linda, wife of Thomas Griswold; Elisha 
 C. C. ; and Sally. Elisha C. C. Calkins, the 
 Doctor's father, was a farmer, and lived at 
 the old homestead. He married March 6, 
 18 16, Abbie Chapman, who was born Novem- 
 ber 23, 1794, and was a daughter of the Hon. 
 Isaac Chapman, of East Haddam, Conn. 
 Seven children were the fruit of this union, 
 namely: Elizabeth Abbie Calkins, born Sep- 
 tember 19, 1817, is the wife of Benjamin F. 
 Smith, M.D. ; Epaphras Chapman Calkins, 
 for a number of years a sailor and master 
 mariner, died in Boston at the early age of 
 thirty-five years, leaving considerable prop- 
 erty; Juliet G. Calkins, born February 23, 
 1820, died at the age of six or eight years; 
 Sarah Louisa, born February 22, 1828, is the 
 wife of Nathaniel S. Lee, of Lyme, Conn., 
 and mother of one daughter; Caroline Smith 
 Calkins, born October 8, 1830, married Fran- 
 cis J. Calkins, August 11, 1850; and Frances 
 Anna is the wife of William Storrs Lee, of 
 Hanover, whom she married April 4, i860. 
 
 Daniel, the younger son, obtained his gen- 
 eral education in the public schools of Lyme 
 and at Bacon Academy at Colchester. When 
 about fifteen years of age he was persuaded by 
 a romantic friend to ship before the mast on 
 board the whaling-vessel "Avis," Captain 
 Gilbert Pendleton. The craft was beached on 
 the coast of Two People's Bay, New Holland; 
 and the young adventurer was left destitute, 
 
/ 
 
 DAxNIEL CALKINS. 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 445 
 
 without friends and without money. He 
 shipped again to Hobart Town, Tasmania, and 
 at that place was taken in charge by the 
 American Consul. After staying there about 
 four years he shipped in the company of Two 
 People's Bay whalers. He was in Honolulu 
 for a time, and was absent from home about 
 five years in all. After his return he studied 
 medicine at the College of Physicians and 
 Surgeons, New York City. Dr. Calkins has 
 been engaged in the practice of medicine in 
 this town since 1850, and in that time has 
 probably visited nearly every family in the 
 town; and by most of the inhabitants he is 
 looked upon as a personal friend. Early in 
 his practice he showed himself not only well 
 trained for his profession, but as having the 
 personal qualities which would be sure to win 
 for him the confidence of his patients and ulti- 
 mate success in his chosen line of effort. 
 
 In October, 1850, he married Elizabeth M. 
 Calkins, daughter of Nehemiah and grand- 
 daughter of Jonathan Calkins. Three sons 
 were born of this union, two of whom died in 
 infancy. The remaining son is Arthur B. 
 Calkins, an attorney, and at present serving 
 his second term as a member of the lower 
 branch of the State legislature, where he is 
 chairman of the Committee on Judiciary. 
 He was one of the few Democrats elected in 
 1896. He is a prominent Knight Templar 
 and a member of the order of the Mystic 
 Shrine. Dr. Calkins became a Mason in 
 1853, and has been a Knight Templar for 
 forty years, one of the first in this encamp- 
 ment. He has taken thirty-two degrees in 
 Masonry, and is Past Grand Commander of 
 the Grand Commandery of Connecticut. In 
 1892 he went to the Grand Encampment in 
 Colorado, and he has attended several other 
 encampments in various parts of the United 
 States. The Doctor was a Republican until 
 
 the third time of Grant's candidacy. He has 
 been Town Clerk for fifteen years, and is still 
 holding that position; has been Justice of the 
 Peace for eighteen years, also Judge of Pro- 
 bate for seven years ; and at present is Notary 
 Public of Flanders, Conn. He has also 
 been on the School Committee several years. 
 
 /STTo 
 
 EORGE G. YOUNG,* who resides on 
 V f^T" a farm in Lisbon, near Jewett City, 
 was born in Killingly, Conn., Sep- 
 tember 6, 1840, son of Stephen Graves and 
 Mary (Hill) Young. The father was a ma- 
 chinist, employed successively at Moosup and 
 Killingly, and was in good financial circum- 
 stances. He was born in Sterling, December 
 20, 1810, and died in November, 1885. His 
 wife, Mary, to whom he was married in 1834, 
 was born in Sterling on May 14, 18 10, and 
 died May 19, 1895, at the age of eighty-five 
 years. Their two children were: George G. 
 and Henry Allen Young, the latter residing in 
 Plainfield on the farm on which his parents died. 
 George G. Young attended school when six- 
 teen years of age. He then began to learn 
 the machinist's trade with his father, who was 
 then engaged in making repairs in a cotton- 
 mill. He worked at his trade until 1876, 
 when he bought a farm at Black Hill, Plain- 
 field, which he cultivated for two years, but 
 subsequently exchanged for property on Plain- 
 field Street. He then returned to the mill for 
 five years. In 1884 he came to Lisbon, and 
 bought the old Tracy farm of one hundred and 
 twenty acres. In politics a Democrat, Mr. 
 Young has served the town as Selectman and 
 in 1889 as its Representative to the legislat- 
 ure. He is an official member of the Meth- 
 odist Episcopal church, of which his wife and 
 daughter are members. For eight years he 
 suffered much with asthma. 
 
446 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 On September 3, 1872, he was united in 
 marriage with Eliza Jane Weaver, who was 
 born November 18, 1848, daughter of Eben- 
 ezer and Emmarilla (Lewis) Weaver. Eben- 
 ezer Weaver was born in Griswold, August 9, 
 1810, and died in 1884. He lost his father 
 early, and was bound out at seven years of 
 age. He was "a self-made man," and when 
 twenty-one years of age was making a good 
 living and supporting a wife and child by run- 
 ning a small cotton-mill in Canterbury on his 
 own account. Although he had little school- 
 ing, he was a fine mathematician. He was 
 both a reader and thinker, and was besides 
 a man of the strictest integrity. His wife, 
 Emmarilla, who was born in Canterbury, Au- 
 gust 21, 1810, lived to be fifty-nine years of 
 age. They reared seven of their eight chil- 
 dren. Cordelia died in childhood. John 
 died at the age of sixteen years. Maria and 
 Sarah are both living. Lewis and George are 
 deceased. 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Young have been the parents 
 of four children, namely: Frederick Arthur, 
 who died in infancy in 1873; Grace E., who 
 was born in 1876, and died at the age of eight 
 years; Alice M., who resides at home with 
 her parents, is a graduate of Norwich Acad- 
 emy, and a fine pianist; and Henry S., who 
 was born in 1886, and died the same year. 
 
 ^APTAIN GEORGE W. HOWARD,* 
 formerly a master mariner, sailing 
 from Niantic, where he is now en- 
 gaged in carpentering, was born in this village, 
 July 13, 1838, being the eldest son of Daniel 
 and Cordelia (Dowset) Howard. His paternal 
 grandfather, Daniel Howard, Sr., was a 
 farmer of Waterford. He married a Miss 
 Smith, of that town, and had a family of four 
 sons and three daughters, all of whom are now 
 
 deceased excepting Edwin, who is a retired 
 farmer and fisherman of Niantic. 
 
 The Howard brothers — namely: Daniel, 
 Jr.; Charles; Jonathan; and Edwin — ^ were 
 the founders of Niantic, starting here about 
 fifty-two years ago, or in 1845, in the busi- 
 ness of catching lobsters and mackerel. As 
 fast as they accumulated money, they invested 
 it in fishing-vessels, which were built here 
 and at New London ; and eventually they 
 owned most of the fleet of over twenty vessels 
 that sailed from Niantic. Daniel Howard, 
 Jr., who was born in Waterford, this county, 
 in 1814, fished for halibut and cod on .George's 
 Banks, and was very successful both as a fish- 
 erman and as a business man. He retired 
 when about fifty years of age, and at his death 
 in 1892 left a substantial property. His 
 wife, Cordelia, a daughter of Joseph Dowset, 
 was born at East Lyme, and is living, at the 
 age of eighty-five years, with her son, George 
 W. , at Niantic. She is the mother of five 
 children, four sons and one daughter, namely: 
 George W. , of Niantic; Emma, who married 
 William E. Clarke, and died in middle life, 
 leaving no children; John C, who lives in 
 Niantic; Daniel, who died in early childhood; 
 and James, who is now at Millstone Point, 
 managing a store. 
 
 At eleven years of age George Howard 
 went on the water occasionally ■ during the 
 summer. When fourteen years old he began 
 to go regularly, and at twenty-one he was 
 captain. Although always successful as a 
 mariner, he left going to the Banks for fishing 
 in 1878, and since that time has been a car- 
 penter in Niantic. He still retains his fond- 
 ness for the water, and owns a sloop, in which 
 he carries out fishing parties during the sum- 
 mer. There are many who remember with 
 lasting pleasure a day's sail in the Sound 
 and a good catch of fish secured under the 
 
WILLIAM L. 1;K(.)U(;HT0N. 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 449 
 
 skilful pilotage of Captain Howard. In poli- 
 tics he is a Republican. He is also a mem- 
 ber of the fraternal order known as American 
 Mechanics. 
 
 On November ig, 1867, Captain Howard 
 was united in marriage with Mary D. Beebe, 
 of East Lyme, daughter of William and Maria 
 (Harding) Beebe, both of whom are now de- 
 ceased. Mrs. Howard is one of a family of 
 nine children, two boys and seven girls, born 
 to her parents. She has five sisters and one 
 brother living. Captain and Mrs. Howard 
 settled in their pleasant home soon after their 
 marriage. They have two sons: William D., 
 a stone-cutter; and George Avery, who keeps 
 the Niantic Hotel and livery stable. Both 
 are young men of merit, and well known here. 
 Captain Howard has one little grand-daughter, 
 the child of Mr. William D. Howard. 
 
 kRS. MARIA E. WARREN,* a 
 resident of the town of Lyme, is a 
 daughter of Ezra M. and Eunice 
 (Clark) Peck. Her father, who was a farmer 
 of Old Lyme, had five sons and one daughter. 
 The only members of this family now living 
 are: Charles Clark, now in his eighty-seventh 
 year, a retired merchant, formerly of New Or- 
 leans, but now residing in New York City; 
 Eleazer, eighty-one years old, who lives on 
 the old farm, near Nile Creek in Old Lyme; 
 and Maria E. (Mrs. Warren). 
 
 Maria E. Peck in her girlhood received all 
 the advantages to be derived from a careful, 
 old-fashioned New England training, which 
 fitted her for the practical every-day duties of 
 life. On November 2, 1841, she was married 
 to Dr. William W. J. Warren, a son of 
 Joshua R. and Harriet (Way) Warren and a 
 descendant of Captain Moses Warren, the line 
 of descent being: Captain Moses, Moses (sec- 
 
 ond), Joshua R., William W. H. The Doc- 
 tor's father was a farmer and merchant of 
 Flanders; and that he was well thought of by 
 his fellow-townsmen may be inferred from the 
 fact that he was elected by them to the office 
 of Town Clerk, and also as Representative to 
 the legislature. Soon after his marriage Dr. 
 Warren purchased the sixty-acre farm where 
 his widow now resides, and built the present 
 comfortable and substantial house. He be- 
 longed to the old school of medicine, and en- 
 joyed a good practice; but his career of useful- 
 ness was prematurely cut short, his death 
 occurring in 1858, at the age of thirty-nine 
 years. He and his wife had five children; 
 namely, Walter S., William Dudley, Maria 
 Elizabeth, Joshua Raymond, and Jeanie Ellen. 
 
 Walter S. and William D. are in business 
 together, being members of the firm of Stew- 
 art, Warren & Co., manufacturing stationers. 
 Maria Elizabeth, who is a twin sister of Will- 
 iam D., is a successful school teacher, and is 
 unmarried. Joshua Raymond is a hotel stew- 
 ard and caterer. He was employed at Long 
 Branch for ten years, and has also followed 
 his calling in New London and other places. 
 He married Carrie Royce, and makes his home 
 in Lyme when not called elsewhere by busi- 
 ness engagements. Jeanie Ellen is the wife 
 of Dr. Raymond Morgan, of Providence, R.I. 
 
 Mrs. Warren is a member of the Congrega- 
 tional church. With her daughter Maria she 
 lives quiet and retired in her pleasant home 
 in the hamlet of Pleasant Valley, where she is 
 much respected. 
 
 Wi 
 
 LLIAM F. BROUGHTON, the 
 leading meat merchant of Stoning- 
 ton, was born in Providence, R.I., 
 
 April ig, 1857, son of James Broughton. 
 
 The father, who was born in Manchester, 
 
45° 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 England, December lo, 1833, came to this 
 country in 1856, and sent for his wife six 
 months later. She arrived in Providence, 
 R.I., on April 16, 1857, three days before 
 giving birth to William F. Of her five chil- 
 dren four were born in this country, and three 
 are living. The first, James, died in infancy 
 in England. The others are: William F., 
 the subject of this biography; Walter M., 
 who is now deceased ; Charles W., a machinist 
 in Worcester, Mass. ; and George E., a butcher 
 in Brooklyn, N.Y. James Broughton, the 
 father, is a master mechanic in Hope Valley, 
 R.I., and has the enviable record of having: 
 been with one firm, the Nichols & Langworthy 
 Machine Company, for thirty-two years, en- 
 tering their employ in August, 1866. 
 
 William F. Broughton was educated in Hope 
 Valley and in a Bryant & Stratton business 
 college of Providence. Afterward he entered 
 the meat business, in which he has since pros- 
 perously continued.- His residence and place 
 of business are 61 to 6j Water Street, a valu- 
 able piece of property, with a frontage of some 
 eighty feet, embracing his market and a drug 
 store, which he rents. The market is well 
 arranged, and has a perfect cold-storage house 
 of large capacity and perfect ventilation. By 
 the compressed ammonia method of reducing 
 temperature Mr. Broughton is able to keep 
 beef sweet for sixteen months. In 1884 he 
 started in the fish business with a partner, 
 under the name of Broughton & Lawlor. 
 Three months later he bought his partner's in- 
 terest, and continued for two years with his 
 fish market in the Old Sail Loft. Then he 
 removed to his present location in 1886, pur- 
 chasing it July 3, 1888, and going in debt for 
 the larger part of it. It is needless to say 
 that this debt has been long since cancelled. 
 
 Mr. Broughton is a Mason, a member of 
 Palestine Commandery, No. 6, K. T., and 
 
 the Master of the Asylum Lodge, No. 57, 
 at Stonington. In politics he is a Demo- 
 crat. He has held the position of Constable 
 for three years, is a Burgess of the borough, 
 and also Deputy Sheriff. At the age of 
 twenty he was married to Frances T. James, 
 daughter of Peleg W. and Sally (Lewis) 
 James, both of whom are now deceased. 
 Mrs. Broughton has three brothers and one 
 sister. Three children have blessed her 
 union, namely: Maud I., now a young lady 
 of seventeen years and an accomplished per- 
 former on the piano; Mabel Gertrude, fif- 
 teen years of age, who is also musical; and 
 William F., Jr., now thirteen years of age, a 
 violinist of more than ordinary ability. Mr. 
 and Mrs. Broughton do not regret their early 
 start in life, and they are to be congratulated 
 for their bright and most interesting trio of 
 children. 
 
 RS. JULIA ANN HEMPSTEAD,* 
 widow of Orlando Hallera Hemp- 
 stead, who died at their farm- 
 house in North Waterford, New London 
 County, Conn., April 19, 1874, was born in 
 June, 1809, over eighty-eight years ago, a 
 daughter of Jonathan and Sarah (Rogers) 
 Rogers, who were second cousins. 
 
 The founder of the Rogers family came here 
 in the seventeenth century. Of the original 
 large estate, which was settled over two hun- 
 dred years ago, only the twenty-acre farm be- 
 longing to Mrs. Hempstead remains. Her 
 paternal grandfather, who was a Tory, was a 
 wealthy man for those days; and it is probable 
 that he served in office. Julia Ann Rogers 
 and Orlando Hallem Hempstead were married 
 on New Year's Day, 1832. He was a son of 
 George and grandson of Robert Hempstead. 
 The family is of English origin, and it has 
 been identified with the history of Connecti- 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 451 
 
 cut since the early Colonial days. Robert, 
 who was a farmer, also followed the trade of a 
 shoemaker to some extent. Orlando H. and 
 his brother Alfred came to New London when 
 young men, and established a blacksmith shop 
 on the Neck, where they carried on a success- 
 ful business in general blacksmithing and the 
 ironing of vessels. Of the children born to 
 Julia Ann and Orlando Hempstead, two sons 
 died in infancy, and seven sons and a daughter 
 lived to mature years. Four of the number 
 still survive; namely, Elizabeth, George, An- 
 drew Jackson, and Ezra J. Elizabeth is the 
 wife of Stephen C. Comstock. George 
 Hempstead resides at 124 Main Street, New 
 London. Andrew Jackson Hempstead, who 
 is unmarried, lives on the old home farm. A 
 biographical sketch of Ezra J. Hempstead, 
 the seventh son, may be found elsewhere in 
 this volume. Francis Alexander Hempstead 
 died at twenty-six years of age. 
 
 During the latter years o£ his life Mr. Or- 
 lando H. Hempstead supported the Republi- 
 can party, but was formerly a Democrat. He 
 served in many of the town offices. The 
 house in which Mrs. Hempstead resides was 
 built by him over half a century ago. She is 
 the oldest living member of the Second Con- 
 gregational Church, which she joined in 1836, 
 sixty years ago. Many members of the 
 Rogers family were Quakers, and this part of 
 the town has been locally known as Quaker 
 Hill. 
 
 'EREMIAH DAVIS,* a boat-builder of 
 wide reputation residing in Noank, 
 New London County, was born on 
 Long Island, June 5, 183 1, son of Gilbert 
 and Nancy (Petitt) Davis. 
 
 Jeremiah Davis, father of Gilbert, was a 
 shoemaker by trade, and followed it all his 
 life, the last years of which were spent 
 
 on Long Island. He had four sons and a 
 daughter. One son is living, Salem Davis, a 
 house and ship painter, residing in Greenport, 
 L.I. Gilbert Davis was born in New York 
 City about the year 1818, and died in 1893 
 at his home on Long Island, to which he 
 came in his early years. He was a ship-car- 
 penter and mariner. Nancy Petitt Davis, his 
 wife, also died in 1893, a short time before 
 his death. They were the parents of twelve 
 children, and three sons and four daughters 
 grew to manhood and womanhood. Those 
 now living are : Sarah, wife of Joshua Perry, 
 residing on Long Island; Jeremiah; Nancy 
 Melvina Davis, in Brooklyn, N.Y. ; Mary, 
 wife of Austin Hempstead, of Brooklyn ; and 
 Maria, wife of Mr. Ketchell, of Rockaway, 
 N.J. 
 
 Jeremiah Davis received a fair schooling in 
 his native place on Long Island. When nine- 
 teen years old he began learning the shoe- 
 maker's trade; and later on he served an ap- 
 prenticeship to his father at ship-carpentry, 
 following that occupation up to 1861, when he 
 took up his present employment of a boat- 
 builder, in which he has met with marked suc- 
 cess. He came to Noank in 1859. For a 
 few years he worked in the Palmer ship-yard, 
 and then engaged in business for himself. 
 He has built several hundred boats of me- 
 dium size, principally row-boats and yachts, 
 some of them prize winners. The "Nellie," 
 built for Colonel Tyler, of New London, was 
 one of the fastest sail-boats in this section. 
 He carries on his business the year round, and 
 in busy times employs three or four men. In 
 addition to this he does a commission busi- 
 ness in buying and selling boats, having five 
 or six on hand at a time. Some of those he 
 builds are shipped to Pensacola, Fla., some 
 also to New Orleans, and other distant places. 
 
 In June, 1859, Mr, Davis was married to 
 
452 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 Julia A. Wilbur, daughter of Calvin Wilbur, 
 of Noank. They lost two children in infancy, 
 and have one daughter living, Hattie, wife of 
 Arthur Cox, of this place. 
 
 Mr. Davis is a Republican in politics, but 
 has always declined official honors. He and 
 his wife and daughter are members of the 
 Noank Baptist Church, which has had a re- 
 markable history, being noted for its piety 
 and revivals. Mr. Davis is a member of the 
 Prudential Committee. 
 
 M 
 
 ANIEL I. LAY,* Judge of Probate, 
 a prominent citizen of Old Lyme, 
 New London County, Conn., the 
 son of Oliver L and Mary (Whittlesey) Lay, 
 was born in 1840, in the house where he now 
 lives. The Lay family came originally from 
 England. Eight generations have lived in 
 Lyme. John Lay, the first ancestor of whom 
 there is record, settled at Old Lyme as early 
 as 1648, and died here in January, 1674-5. 
 He was twice married, and by each wife had a 
 son named John. John Lay, Jr., born in 1654, 
 married, and lived in Old Lyme until his 
 death. His son John was born in 1696, and 
 died in 1788. He also had a son John, who 
 was born in 171 2, and who became a very 
 prominent man in the town, being the owner 
 of several thousand acres of land, and taking a 
 leading part in public affairs. He served as 
 Town Clerk for forty-five years, and was also 
 a member of the General Court and Justice of 
 the Peace. By his wife, Hannah, whose 
 maiden name was Lee, he had fifteen children, 
 seven sons and eight daughters. His son 
 John, born in 1737, served in the Revolution- 
 ary War, and, being taken by the British, was 
 for some time confined on the prison ship 
 "Jersey." 
 David Lay, son of the last-named John and 
 
 grandfather of the subject of this sketch, was 
 born on Meeting-house Hill, Old Lyme, 
 April 28, 1769. His wife, Lucy Ingraham, 
 was also a native of Old Lyme. They had 
 four children, namely: Oliver L, father of 
 Judge Lay; Laura, who married and died 
 without issue; Lucy, living in Old Lyme, 
 widow of the artist, William J. Banning; and 
 George, a banker in New York City. The 
 father died in 1843. The mother lived to the 
 age of eighty-nine. 
 
 Oliver L Lay was born in the neighborhood 
 of Lyme in 1799. He became a wool manu- 
 facturer, and erected the solid stone factory 
 at the dam of Spring Brook, which was built 
 by Edward De Wolf in 1701. A capable 
 business man, he also took part in public life, 
 serving as Justice of the Peace, Judge of Pro- 
 bate, and as a member of the legislature. He 
 died in 1876. His wife, in maidenhood Mary 
 Whittlesey, was of English descent. She 
 died in 1874. Mr. and Mrs. Oliver L Lay 
 had seven children, namely: one son, Daniel 
 I., subject of this sketch; and six daughters. 
 The five daughters now living are: Sarah, 
 wife of Samuel H. Selden, a civil engineer of 
 Escanaba, Mich.; Adeline, widow of Walter 
 Chadwick, a ship-master who was lost at sea; 
 Marietta, who resides at the old home with 
 her brother and two sisters; Evelyn H., wife 
 of Dr. Cushman A. Sears, of Portland, Conn. ; 
 and Aurelia, who is at the parental home. 
 
 Daniel I. Lay completed his education at 
 Williston Seminary. He went West with a 
 surveying party at the age of twenty-three, 
 and spent about twenty years in Michigan, 
 being employed for some time in the United 
 States land office at Marquette and for three 
 years in prospecting for iron ore. Returning 
 to Lyme in 1889, he was engaged three years 
 in the milling business. He has also been 
 largely interested in fire insurance. He has 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 453 
 
 served as Selectman of the town, and in i; 
 he was elected Judge of Probate. He is a 
 Master Mason and in politics a stanch Repub- 
 lican. Judge Lay makes his home with his 
 sisters in the house which their father built in 
 1830. Few residents of Old Lyme are better 
 known or more respected. 
 
 T^HARLES H. COWAN,* superintend- 
 C jp ent of the Atwood Silk Machinery 
 > >>? ^ Works in Stonington, Conn., was 
 born in December, 1850, in Bangor, Me. 
 His paternal grandfather was Thomas Cowan, 
 of Hampden, Me. He was a farmer, and was 
 blessed with a family of three sons and one 
 daughter, two of whom, William and John, 
 are now residing in Hampden. The other 
 son, Thomas, the father of Mr. Charles H. 
 Cowan, was engaged in the manufacture of 
 wagons and carriages. By his first wife, 
 Charlotte Folsom, of Dixmont, Me., he had 
 three daughters and this one son, Charles H., 
 the youngest-born. 
 
 The mother dying when he was an infant 
 one day old, he was tenderly reared by his 
 grandmother Folsom until her death, and after 
 that by his uncle, with whom he went to 
 live when a lad of twelve years. He received 
 the ordinary education afforded by the district 
 school of the county, and at the age of eigh- 
 teen went into the Muzzy Iron Works in Ban- 
 gor, Me., to learn the trade of machinist. 
 This apprenticeship occupied three years. 
 He then remained there another year, and 
 still later was with the same company at 
 Lewiston, Me., for three years. He entered 
 the employ of the Atwood firm in Williman- 
 tic. Conn., in 1874, beginning at the bench 
 as a common workman. His taste and genius 
 for invention made him extremely useful, and 
 advanced him rapidly to the foremost place, 
 
 that of superintendent. For the past ten or 
 fifteen years his entire time and energy have 
 been given to the care of this large establish- 
 ment. 
 
 In 1877, on September 6, Mr. Cowan was 
 married to Lucy Burdick, of Ashaway, R.I., 
 the daughter of the late William and Aurilla 
 Burdick. Mrs. Cowan has four brothers and 
 two sisters. She has had three children, one 
 of whom died when eighteen months old. The 
 others are: Grace, a young lady now finishing 
 her education in the high school, and also 
 studying music; and Charles H., Jr., a youth 
 of fifteen years, also in school. Mr. Cowan 
 belongs to no fraternal order and no church, 
 and has subscribed to no creed. 
 
 ATHAN SANDS FISH,* a well- 
 known and highly esteemed citizen of 
 - V,__^ Groton, residing on his farm near 
 Poquonnock Bridge, was born in this town, 
 April II, 1828, son of Simeon and Eliza 
 (Randall) Fish. 
 
 Sands Fish, father of Simeon and son of 
 Nathan, was born at the old Fish homestead, a 
 mile above Mystic. A portion of the farm 
 owned by Nathan Fish is still held by some of 
 his lineal descendants. The pioneer ancestor 
 of the Fish family of Groton was passing 
 through this section prospecting, and at 
 Mystic village called on a settler named Bur- 
 rows, and the owner of a large tract of land. 
 The call resulted in Mr. Fish receiving the 
 offer of a portion of it, provided he would 
 settle upon it. He did so, and the farm men- 
 tioned above is part of that grant. Nathan 
 Fish, who spent his life thereon, attained the 
 venerable age of ninety-six years. Sands 
 Fish married Bridget Gallup, daughter of 
 Deacon Benadam Gallup and grand-daughter 
 of Colonel _Benadam Gallup, whoge wife w^s 
 
454 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 an Avery. Her mother's name was Palmer. 
 Sands and Bridget Fish had nine children, as 
 follows: Hannah, who was born about 1790, 
 and died in young womanhood; I.avina, wife 
 of Isaac Denison; Asa Fish, who held the po- 
 sition of Probate Judge some thirty years, or 
 until disqualified by age; Simeon, father of 
 Nathan S. ; Sands, Jr., who died in young 
 manhood, unmarried; Charles, whose son 
 William was a Colonel in the Civil War; 
 Nathan G., a ship-builder; Alden, an octo- 
 genarian living on the old farm; and Bridget, 
 wife of William Clift. Sands Fish died in 
 the thirties, at about seventy-five years of age, 
 and his wife several years later. They rest 
 in the Fish Cemetery on Pequot Hill, which 
 was dedicated to the family by Roswell Fish. 
 Sands Fish was a Deacon of the first Baptist 
 church in Connecticut. The house of worship, 
 located about one mile east of Centre Groton, 
 is still standing, but is not occupied by the 
 society. 
 
 Simeon Fish was a merchant in Mystic 
 some forty years. He was a man of good 
 business ability and sterling integrity. In 
 earlier days he was a Whig and later a Re- 
 publican, one of those who voted for Abraham 
 Lincoln. His wife, Eliza Randall before 
 marriage, was born about 1803 at North Ston- 
 ington, or Mill Town, but spent her girlhood 
 in Mystic. Simeon and Eliza Fish were the 
 parents of three children : William Randall 
 Fish, who died in 1889, leaving a widow and 
 three children, a son and two daughters; Na- 
 than Sands, of whom more is given below; 
 and Jedediah Randall, a retired merchant liv- 
 ing in New London, Conn. 
 
 Nathan Sands Fish supplemented a good 
 district schooling by two terms of study at 
 a school in Suffield, Conn. When hardly 
 seventeen years old he entered his father's 
 store as clerk. He was subsequently received 
 
 into partnership, and finally succeeded his 
 father in the business. For two years he 
 owned and operated a glass furnace in New 
 London, and in 1872 ran a hotel in Madison, 
 Ga. It is now twenty-eight years since he 
 settled on his farm of over one hundred acres 
 on the west side of Poquonnock Plains. 
 
 Mr. Fish was married on April 22, 1850, to 
 Jennett Morgan, daughter of Elisha and Caro- 
 line Morgan, of Salem. They have two chil- 
 dren living: E. Bertha, living at Poquonnock, 
 wife of Charles L. Burrows and mother of one 
 son; and Donald M. Fish, unmarried, who 
 lives on the farm with his father. One 
 daughter died in infancy; and Frank, who 
 was born in 1852, died in 1889, leaving a 
 widow and four children. 
 
 In political views and afifiliation Mr. Fish 
 is a stanch Republican. He has served as 
 Grand Juror, Selectman, Assessor, Town 
 Clerk, and as Justice of the Peace about eight 
 years. While living in New London, he was 
 a member of the Common Council. He has 
 been a member of the State Board of Equaliza- 
 tion, the Board of Relief, and the Board of 
 Health. Since 1880 he has been one of the 
 Executive Committee in charge of the Groton 
 monument, and he had charge of the letting 
 of the contracts for the repairs of 1881 and 
 1893. 
 
 /p5Yc 
 
 FORGE WASHINGTON HEMP- 
 \^J^ STEAD,* of New London, a mason 
 by trade and a pensioned veteran of 
 the Civil War, was born May 12, 1837. His 
 father, Orlando Hempstead, died in Water- 
 ford, aged sixty-five; and his mother, Julia A. 
 Rogers Hempstead, who is now eighty-eight 
 years old, is well preserved both in mind and 
 body. She has been bereft of four sons, and 
 has three sons living and a daughter, Alma 
 
liKXJAMIN H. LEE. 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 457 
 
 Elizabeth, who is the wife of Stephen C. 
 Comstock, a farmer near by. 
 
 At the age of twenty-one George W. 
 Hempstead began his business career as a 
 butcher, and worked at that trade until Octo- 
 ber, i86r, when he enlisted in the Twelfth 
 Connecticut Volunteer Infantry, Company B, 
 and served for two years, being honorably dis- 
 charged in 1863 at New Orleans, after six 
 months' illness. Upon his recovery he re- 
 turned to New Orleans with his brother Or- 
 lando, with whom he was in the saw-mill 
 business for a year. Returning to New Lon- 
 don in 1865, he took up masonry, which he 
 began to learn when he was twenty years old, 
 and followed his trade until he gave up regu- 
 lar work. He still does now and then a job 
 for his old customers, but undertakes no new 
 business. He is a pensioner on account of 
 his army service. 
 
 On New Year's Day, 1866, Mr. Hempstead 
 married Julia E. Reed, of New London. His 
 present wife, to whom he was married in 
 May, 1889, was Mrs. Mary E. Tefft, daughter 
 of Peter and Mary (Lasrue) Libbie. Her 
 father died when she was a small child. She 
 was married at nineteen to Mr. Tefft, by 
 whom she has three children : Dwight H. 
 Tefft, a railroad man, who is married and lives 
 in New London; Delia, wife of Leonard Gib- 
 son, Jr., of this city, who has three children; 
 and Minnie Tefft, living with her mother. 
 Mr. Tefft died two years before her marriage 
 to Mr. Hempstead. The house at 122 Main 
 Street, which is the home of Mr. and Mrs. 
 Hempstead, he built in 1890. His tenement 
 house, 124 Main Street, is the old Rogers 
 dwelling, erected in 1795 by an own cousin of 
 Mr. Hempstead's mother, and stands on land 
 that has been handed down from generation to 
 generation. Though through early influences 
 Mr. Hempstead was for a time a Jacksonian 
 
 Democrat, he has for many years been a 
 
 stanch Republican. Fraternally, he is a 
 
 Master Mason, and in religious belief a 
 Methodist. 
 
 'ON. BENJAMIN HEMPSTEAD 
 LEE,* a well-known citizen of New 
 London, was born in his present 
 residence on Ocean Avenue, December 7, 
 1852, son of Daniel and Harriet (Hempstead) 
 Lee. His paternal grandfather, Peter Lee, 
 was a native of New London, born December 
 13) 1773- -A carpenter by trade, he met his 
 death September 16, 1841, as the result of a 
 fall which he sustained some three months 
 before the birth of his second child. 
 
 Daniel Lee was born in Waterford, May 9, 
 1808. He was a member for more than forty 
 years of the old and leading grocery firm of 
 Treadway 8c Lee. Beginning the active work 
 of life without either cash capital or influen- 
 tial friends, by foresight and industry he ac- 
 cumulated a considerable property. A Re- 
 publican in politics, he served the town many 
 years as Selectman, and at various times held 
 other offices in the gift of his fellow-towns- 
 men. He was a Master Mason, and in his re- 
 ligious affiliations a member of the Baptist 
 church. His death occurred October 25, 
 1885. February 21, 1831, he married Al- 
 mira Beckwith, who was born June 6, 181 1, 
 and died February 25, 1851. Of their six 
 children five lived to maturity, and those now 
 living are: Augusta, wife of Samuel P. 
 Swoncie, of Meriden, Conn. ; Daniel Morti- 
 mer Lee, who was one of the first volunteers 
 in the late Civil War, rose to a Lieutenancy 
 in the regular army, and now resides in Bos- 
 ton, retired from active service; and Sarah, 
 who married Edward T. Brown, secretary and 
 treasurer of the Cotton Gin Company. The 
 father married for his second wife, February 
 
4S8 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 29, 1852, Miss Harriet Hempstead, of New 
 London, daughter of Henry and Nancy 
 (Baber) Hempstead. The first American pro- 
 genitor of the Hempstead family was Sir 
 Robert, who came from England to this coun- 
 try with Governor Winthrop in 1645. He mar- 
 ried Joanna Willie, settled in Pequot, Conn., 
 and died in 1655. His son Joshua, born June 
 16, 1649, had a son Joshua, who was born in 
 1678, and died in December, 1758. Nathan- 
 iel, son of the second Joshua, was born in 
 1700, had a son Joshua, who was born prob- 
 ably about 1724, and died in 1806. This 
 third Joshua was the father of thirteen chil- 
 dren, eight sons and five daughters. Ben- 
 jamin Hempstead, born in 1753, and the next 
 in the line of descent, married Lydia Burch, 
 and died of yellow fever in 1798, at the age of 
 forty-five years. Henry, son of Benjamin 
 and father of Harriet, the second wife of 
 Daniel Lee, was born April 26, 1788, and 
 died February 5, 1883. His wife, Nancy, 
 died January 13, 1873, at the age of eighty- 
 three, after more than sixty years of wedded 
 life. Their children, nine of whom attained 
 maturity, were: Henry P., born July 3, 1809; 
 Nancy, August 3, i8ii; Benjamin, August 
 29, 1813; John P., October 21, 1815; Denni- 
 son, October 3, 1817; Harriet, January 19, 
 1820; Elias, December i, 1823; Caius, 
 March 20, 1827; Wolcott, June 10, 1832; 
 George W., January 5, 1835. Mrs. Lee is 
 now the only surviving member of the family. 
 Daniel Lee died October 24, 1885, at the age 
 of seventy-seven years. By his wife, Harriet, 
 he had one son, Benjamin Hempstead, the 
 subject of this sketch. 
 
 Benjamin H. Lee attended the public 
 schools of New London, and at the age of six- 
 teen years was graduated at the Bartlett High 
 School with the class of 1869. He began his 
 business experience as a clerk in the store of 
 
 Harris & Rowe. Two years later he went to 
 Milwaukee, Wis., where he was employed in 
 the hardware house of Honey & Co. for two 
 years. During his first summer in that city 
 he was stroke oarsman of the Tyson Club 
 crew in a match with the Mitchell Club. 
 Returning to New London in 1873, he entered 
 the office of the Brown Cotton Gin Company 
 as book-keeper, and remained there for three 
 years. Since then he has been engaged in 
 mercantile life, with the exception of five 
 years spent in the railway mail service be- 
 tween New York and Boston. 
 
 June 16, 1874, Mr. Lee was united in mar- 
 riage with Miss Emma Mower, daughter of 
 General Joseph A. and Betsey (Bailey) 
 Mower. Her father, who was a native of 
 Vermont and began active life as a ship-car- 
 penter, subsequently gained distinction as an 
 ofificer, both in the Mexican and the Civil 
 War. General Sherman in his Memoirs 
 mentions him in terms of highest praise. He 
 died in January, 1870, at the age of " forty-four 
 years. He was the father of four daughters 
 and one son. His widow resides in Washing- 
 ton, D.C. Four of their five children are liv- 
 ing, namely: Josephine; Emma; Edward, 
 who holds a government position in the Post- 
 office Department at Washington; and Kate. 
 Maud, the other child, died in infancy. Mr. 
 and Mrs. Lee have two children: Harry 
 Mower, a graduate of the College of Physi- 
 cians and Surgeons in New York City; and 
 Rowena Mossette, who was graduated at the 
 high school in New London, and is an accom- 
 plished musician. 
 
 Mr. Lee is a thirty-second degree Mason. 
 He is a Republican politically, and has taken 
 an active part in politics during the last ten 
 years. He served as a member of the Com- 
 mon Council between the years 1888 and 
 1891, and in the latter year was elected an 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 459 
 
 Alderman. The year following he was a 
 candidate for Representative, but was defeated 
 with most of the candidates of his party that 
 year. In 1894 he was elected to the Connect- 
 icut Senate, being the first Republican Sen- 
 ator to be elected from this district within the 
 twelve years previous to that time. Two 
 years later he was re-elected to the Senate, 
 and both terms he served his constituents 
 faithfully and well. He was chairman of the 
 Appropriation Committee, his report being re- 
 ceived most favorably by Governor Cook, who 
 indorsed in the strongest terms the action of 
 the committee. He was also chairman of the 
 Military Committee, and served on the Com- 
 mittee on New Towns and Probate Districts. 
 With respect to the former, his experience as 
 a member of the National Guard for many 
 years made him particularly eligible. His 
 services while in the Senate were highly ap- 
 preciated, and received honorable mention in 
 the Hartford and Norwich press. Mr. Lee 
 inherited from his father the pleasant house 
 and grounds where the elder Lee settled more 
 than fifty years before. The small dwellings 
 which the latter purchased with three or four 
 acres of land on the commons, and which was 
 the first house erected in this part of the town, 
 is still standing, and forms part of Mr. Lee's 
 present home. 
 
 ^HESTER S. MAINE* is a farmer of 
 North Stonington, Conn., where he 
 was bor]i on December 16, i860. 
 His paternal grandfather was John Maine, 
 whose wife was a Brown. They had a family 
 of four sons and four daughters, the only one 
 now living being a daughter, Elizabeth, 
 widow of John Clark, of Stonington. 
 
 John S. Maine, one of the four sons, father 
 of Chester S., was born in Stonington in 
 1832. He was engaged for some years as a 
 
 dealer in live stock. Later on he was a gen- 
 eral farmer. He married Frances Wheeler. 
 They had four children, and brought up three, 
 as follows: Chester S. Maine; Fannie, wife 
 of George D. Coats, of Stonington; and 
 Annie M. Maine, living with her mother in 
 the same town. The father died March 25, 
 1880, on the farm where he had settled in 
 1879. 
 
 Chester S. had a good common-school edu- 
 cation, supplemented by a term at Ashaway 
 Academy. Since his father's death he has re- 
 mained at home and managed the farm, which 
 contains three hundred acres. He keeps a 
 dairy of fifteen to twenty-five grade Jersey 
 cows, and has a milk route in Westerly, R. I. 
 His barn is commodious and convenient, hav- 
 ing a splendid capacity for a large stock of 
 cattle, horses, and hay. The old farm-house 
 was erected at least a century ago. 
 
 Mr. Maine was married July 7, 1886, to 
 Abigail Newton, of Hartford, daughter of 
 William Newton. She was educated in Hart- 
 ford and in the State Normal School at New 
 Britain, Conn. ; and she taught school a few 
 terms before her marriage. Mr. and Mrs. 
 Maine have one child, Carrol Chester, a prom- 
 ising lad of eight years. Mrs. Maine is one 
 of the three ladies who compose the School 
 Board of the town. She is a member of the 
 Baptist church. Mr. Maine has been a Dem- 
 ocrat in politics, and some years ago was a 
 Selectman, but in general has neither sought 
 nor filled any office. 
 
 iCjLISI- 
 
 LISHA STARR CHESTER* is a well- 
 Jpl known resident of the town of Water- 
 ford, and was born on his present 
 farm, which lies about three and a half miles 
 west of New London, October 3, 1843, being 
 a son of Thomas Chester. Mr. Chester is 
 recognized as an energetic and skilful agri- 
 
460 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 culturist and one of the substantial and reli- 
 able citizens of his town. He traces his 
 ancestry to Samuel Chester, who came to Con- 
 necticut with Governor John Winthrop, and 
 was one of the original settlers of New Lon- 
 don, taking up land at Groton Bank. He 
 owned a large tract which now forms part of 
 the site of Groton village, that part on which 
 the monument and Fort Griswold stand. His 
 residence was on Fisher's Island with Gov- 
 ernor Winthrop. Of his family of sons and 
 daughters, the one next in line of descent to 
 the subject of this sketch was John, who re- 
 sided in Groton, where he built what was 
 known as the "Square House," which re- 
 mained in possession of the family for many 
 years. John had eight children, of whom 
 Thomas was the great-grandfather of Elisha 
 Starr Chester. Thomas resided at Eastern 
 Point, in Groton, where he built a house that 
 is still occupied by his descendants, and is the 
 place where the annual family gatherings 
 occur. His son Elisha was born at Eastern 
 Point about 1764, and was followed in the line 
 of descent by his son Thomas, who was born at 
 the same place in 1801, and was the father of 
 Elisha S. Mr. Chester can thus take pride in 
 a long line of sturdy New England ancestry, 
 men who have done their share in their walk of 
 life in developing the resources of this section, 
 and whose record is one of which their de- 
 scendants need not be ashamed. 
 
 -ONATHAN W. THAYER,* an es- 
 teemed citizen of Stonington, Conn., 
 for many years a railroad employee, was 
 born on October 27, 1822, in Braintree, Mass. 
 His father, William Thayer, born in Marsh- 
 field, Mass., about 1792, was a shoemaker by 
 trade, and carried on the business as a manu- 
 facturer before the days of shoe factories and 
 
 machine-made shoes. He died in 185 1. His 
 wife, Deborah Wilde, of Braintree, whom he 
 married in 1813, was a remarkable woman of 
 very strong character. Some years after her 
 husband's death she went to live with her 
 daughter in Cleveland, Ohio, where she died 
 in 1879. Mr. and Mrs. William Thayer had 
 seven children, all of whom married and had 
 families. One son is Lyman W. Thayer, who 
 died in 1893, in Detroit, Mich., at the age of 
 fifty-two, leaving a widow and three children. 
 The six survivors of the parental household 
 are: William Frank, living in Cohasset, who 
 has had twelve children, of whom five died; 
 Ezra W., living in Arizona, and now over 
 eighty years of age; Frances, a widow living 
 in Cleveland, Ohio; Jonathan W., of whom 
 we shall speak more fully; Ann, widow of 
 a Mr. Lowd, living in Cleveland; and Justin 
 Edward, also living in Cleveland, Ohio. 
 
 Jonathan W. Thayer, subject of this sketch, 
 was named for his uncle, Jonathan Wilde, for 
 many years a skille^d physician of Braintree, 
 Mass. He grew to maturity in his native 
 town, receiving but meagre schooling, as dur- 
 ing his youth he spent most of his time work- 
 ing at the shoemaking bench with his father. 
 In 1840 he left home for Stonington, where 
 he and his brother Ezra opened a small boot 
 and shoe store. The town then was not much 
 more than a sailing port, but the two young 
 men made their business a success. Jonathan 
 eventually bought his brother out, and con- 
 ducted the business by himself, employing 
 men and doing custom work until the breaking 
 out of the Civil War, during which for three 
 years or more he was a clerk with a division 
 sutler. After that for twenty-seven years he 
 was employed as a switchman by the Stoning- 
 ton Railroad. The length of his service 
 shows that he was faithful and efScient, always 
 alert and at his post. When the railroad 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 461 
 
 company began to make use of the telegraph 
 in running their trains, Mr. Thayer, consider- 
 ing himself too old to learn the new method, 
 resigned his position. Mr. Thayer was at one 
 time Burgess of Stonington. In politics he 
 has always been a strong Republican. 
 
 On February 22, 1843, he married Cather- 
 ine E. Stanton, of Stonington, a daughter of 
 James and Desire (Palmer) Stanton, both 
 members of old families, descended, the one 
 from Walter Palmer, and the other from the 
 Stantons of the Revolution, of Fort Griswold 
 fame. Mr. and Mrs. Thayer have four chil- 
 dren, namely: John Henry, an engineer on 
 the water, who has a wife and two children ; 
 Kate E., who lives at home; Edward D., an 
 accountant and paymaster in the railroad 
 machine-shops at Stonington, who has a wife 
 and one daughter; and Maria Louise, who 
 lives at home with her parents. Mr. and 
 Mrs. Thayer live very happily in their com- 
 modious brick dwelling, which Mr. Thayer 
 bought about nineteen years ago. Mr. Thayer 
 has an honorable record, and both he and his 
 wife are much respected in Stonington. 
 
 kRS. ELLEN B. MANWARING,* 
 of New London, is the widow of 
 Dr. Robert Alexander Manwar- 
 ing, whose death, September i, 1890, at the 
 age of seventy-nine, removed from this city 
 one of her most beloved and honored citizens. 
 Mrs. Manwaring is a daughter of the Hon. 
 Noyes and Mary (Chester) Barber. Her 
 father, who was a member of Congress four- 
 teen years, had many close friends among the 
 leading men of his times; and of those enter- 
 tained in his home the daughter remembers 
 Governors Ellsworth, Peters, and Trumbull, 
 and others. The Hon. Noyes Barber was 
 twice married. His first wife died young, 
 
 leaving a son and two daughters, all now de- 
 ceased. Four children were born of his sec- 
 ond union, namely: Noyes, who died in early 
 life; John Starr; Mary E. , who became the 
 wife of a Rev. Mr. Whitman, and died, leav- 
 ing two children ; and Ellen, Mrs. Manwar- 
 ing. The Hon. Noyes Barber died in 1843, 
 aged sixty-two, and Mrs. Barber three years 
 later. Ellen Barber completed her studies at 
 a boarding-school in New Haven. She was 
 married to Dr. Manwaring, on May 15, 1845, 
 who was born August 1 1, 181 1, son of Christo- 
 pher and Mary (Wolcott) Manwaring. 
 
 The Manwaring family in England have 
 had titles and landed estates. Sir Ranulphus 
 Manwaring (or Mesnilwarin) held the office 
 of Justice of Chester in the reign of Richard 
 I. Oliver Manwaring, the founder of the 
 Connecticut branch, settled in New London in 
 1664. The representatives of the six succeed- 
 ing generations are Richard, Christopher, 
 Robert, Christopher, Robert Alexander, and 
 Wolcott, the last named the only son and 
 child of Dr. and Mrs. Manwaring. 
 
 Christopher, the father of Dr. Manwaring, 
 was prominent in New London, both in busi- 
 ness and political affairs. He was a Democrat 
 of the Jefferson-Jackson school, and held many 
 important public offices. Mary Wolcott Man- 
 waring, his wife, was a grand-daughter of 
 Oliver Wolcott, who was a member of the 
 Continental Congress, one of the signers of 
 the Declaration of Independence and the 
 Articles of Confederation, a Major-general in 
 the Revolutionary War, and Governor of Con- 
 necticut. His father, Roger Wolcott, was a 
 Colonial Governor of Connecticut. We are 
 told that Mary Wolcott was celebrated for her 
 beauty and rare qualities of mind and temper; 
 and her only son, the late Doctor, inherited, 
 it is said, in a marked degree his mother's 
 patience, gentleness, and absolute inability to 
 
462 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 cherish malice. The house in which Dr. 
 Manwaring died was built by his father about 
 ninety years ago, and the land on which it 
 was built is a part of the farm once owned by 
 William Thompson, the first missionary to 
 the Indians in this section; but only the lot 
 of two acres where the dwelling stands re- 
 mains in the family, the rest having been sold 
 off for building lots for other homes. The 
 farm was the original grant from the town to 
 George Chappell in 1650. Eight years later 
 he sold to Mr. Thompson. In 1664 it was 
 sold to Joshua Raymond for his brother-in- 
 law, Oliver Manwaring, the first of that fam- 
 ily to come from England. This two-acre lot 
 has ever since been owned by a descendant, 
 and is now the property of Mrs. Manwaring 
 and her son, Wolcott Barber Manwaring. 
 
 Robert Alexander Manwaring did not enjoy 
 the advantages of a college training; but 
 'breadth of mind, combined with indefatigable 
 toil, compensated in large measure. At the 
 medical school he was a classmate of Oliver 
 Wendell Holmes, and a warm friendship al- 
 ways existed between them. Upon the Auto- 
 crat's eightieth birthday he was the recipient 
 of one of the poet's inimitable letters. To 
 quote from an article that appeared in a local 
 sheet after his death: "At a very early age 
 he entered upon the practice of his chosen 
 profession. Hard as is a doctor's life, it is 
 absolutely easy compared to that of the physi- 
 cian of nearly sixty years ago, who could 
 scarcely count on forty winks or a meal undis- 
 turbed by a summons. The late Doctor was 
 the leading one of Eastern Connecticut, and 
 responded invariably to all calls, no matter 
 how far off or wearisome. It was no uncom- 
 mon occurrence for him to return from an all- 
 night task, and at once begin a round of visits 
 that occupied all day. He was devoted to his 
 profession, in which he held a just pre-emi- 
 
 nence. . . . Notwithstanding his laborious 
 life, he was uncommonly vigorous in mind and 
 body, and had looked forward for many years 
 of happy contentment in his ancestral home 
 upon Manwaring Hill, to which he had lately 
 returned, and whence the angel of the Lord 
 summoned him to his reward, after a brief 
 warning, Monday morning. 
 
 " Dr. Manwaring possessed a profound and 
 many-sided intellect. His mind was a veri- 
 table storehouse of knowledge. He was a cap- 
 ital companion, an entertaining raconteur, 
 humorous and philosophical in a rare combina- 
 tion, and keenly appreciative of a good thing. 
 Taken all in all, he was one whose like we 
 seldom see, a perfectly upright character, 
 scorning deceit, loving right for Christ Jesus' 
 sake, harboring no resentmejTt, profoundly re- 
 ligious in feeling, yet loving all Christians, 
 shaping every thought and deed by the Golden 
 Rule, seeking only to be the servant of God. 
 Well hath he served Him who has ere this said 
 to him, ' Well done, thou good and faithful 
 servant!'" He had labored as a physician 
 more than half a century. 
 
 Mrs. Manwaring and her son, Wolcott Bar- 
 ber Manwaring, now occupy the homestead, 
 the son having charge of the estate left by 
 Dr. Manwaring. For fifteen years he was 
 engaged in the oil region, putting down wells. 
 Mrs. Manwaring is a member of the Second 
 Congregational Church. 
 
 TEPHEN P. STERLING,* a farmer 
 of Lyme, was born October 15, 
 1842, on the old homestead where, 
 also, his father Stephen and grandfather 
 Stephen first saw the light. The house was 
 built by his great - great - grandfather, John 
 Sterling, who was a son of Daniel, who was 
 a son of William, the first settler of Lyme, 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 463 
 
 coming from Massachusetts about 1700. The 
 family is said to be of Scotch origin, and 
 descended from David, who came to this coun- 
 try in 1650. Daniel Sterling married Mary 
 Ely, by whom he had the following children : 
 Elizabeth, born in 1699; Daniel; John, born 
 in 1703; Joseph; Abigail; and Mary. 
 John, son of Daniel and Mary Sterling, in 
 1727 married Abigail Pratt, by whom he had 
 two daughters — Elizabeth and Abigail. He 
 married for his second wife, December 30, 
 1731, Jane Ransom, and by her had twelve 
 children: John, born 1732; Nathan, born 
 1736; Stephen, from whom Stephen P. is 
 descended, born 1738; Daniel, born 1740; 
 Abigail, born 1742; Jacob, born 1744; Jane, 
 born 1746; Simon, born 1749; Esther, born 
 175 1 ; Lucy, born 1753; Miriam, born 1755; 
 and Mary, born 1757. Stephen, the great- 
 grandfather, married May 11, 1766, Elizabeth 
 H. Tucker, by whom he had five children : 
 Stephen, born March 22, 1767; Marshfield, 
 born March 13, 1769; Isaac, who died in 
 infancy; Esther, born September 16, 1773; 
 and Elizabeth, born in March, 1777. The 
 father died in 1776, at thirty-nine years of 
 age. His son Stephen married Polly Brown, 
 September 24, 1798, by whom he had: 
 Stephen, born May 5, 1801 ; and John, born 
 October 16, 1803, who died an infant. The 
 father of these children died in 1845, at the 
 age of seventy-eight years; and their mother 
 attained the age of seventy. Their son, 
 Stephen Sterling, father of the subject of this 
 sketch, married December 9, 1824, Sarah M. 
 Marvin, who was born in Lyme in 1799, 
 daughter of Asahel A. and Azubah (Sill) 
 Marvin. They had four children: Asahel M., 
 born December 27, 1825, who died here April 
 20, 1868; Mary E., born February i, 1828; 
 Sarah E. , born April 27, 1838; and Stephen 
 P. The two daughters have been successful 
 
 teachers, and now reside at the homestead. 
 The father died in 1867, six years after his 
 wife's death. 
 
 Stephen P. Sterling is a prominent citizen 
 of his native town. He has served as Grand 
 Juror, and was in the legislature of 1891, dur- 
 ing the memorable deadlock serving on' the 
 Committee of Forfeited Rights. He mar- 
 ried October 15, 1868, Annie Warner, of 
 Lyme, a daughter of Jefferson and Sarah 
 (Lay) Warner; and they have one daughter, 
 Sarah W. Sterling, born November 19, 1870. 
 
 (sTVLFRED C. GUILE,* the well-known 
 f^A wagon-maker of Preston, was born 
 -^ '* V.^- here November 30, 1836, son of 
 Henry and Ellen (Lewis) Guile. His parents 
 were the foster-children of two brothers by the 
 name of Brown. Henry Guile was born in 
 Preston, or Gfiswold, about 1805, and died in 
 Preston in 1880. He was a farmer, and also 
 made a business of cutting ship timber. He 
 married Ellen Lewis in 1825, and had thir- 
 teen children, of whom eight lived to matu- 
 rity, their record being in part as follows: 
 William S., who was a wheelwright and 
 wagon-maker, died May 2, 1879, his mother's 
 death occurring the same year. Daniel, a 
 farmer and miller, died in July, 1896, at the 
 age of sixty-four years. May Ellen married 
 James H. P'itch, of Preston. Ezra is a farmer 
 of Preston, and was formerly proprietor of the 
 saw-mill. Ada married Ira Kinney, and re- 
 sides in Griswold. Jane, the youngest mem- 
 ber of the family, became the wife of Albert 
 Button, and died in Griswold, in the prime 
 of life, leaving four children. 
 
 Alfred C. Guile was brought up on his 
 father's farm, and received but a limited 
 schooling, being obliged to assist his father 
 in the mill also. At the age of twenty-one 
 
4^4 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 he began to make wagons with his brother 
 William. In 1861 he bought his brother's 
 share in the business, and continued the latter 
 in East Preston till 1887, when he removed to 
 his present location in Preston village. Mr. 
 Guile has been a man of great strength and 
 endurance, which qualities he has fostered by 
 continued industry, taking the timber from the 
 stump, and making every part of a vehicle. 
 Pie has often forty or fifty wagons on hand at 
 one time; and, though the grip and rheuma- 
 tism have seriously affected his health, he is 
 still at the bench. 
 
 At the age of twenty-four Mr. Guile mar- 
 ried Sarah Loncom, of Voluntown, Conn. 
 They have lost their first-born, Hattie, who 
 died in 1889, in the twenty-ninth year of her 
 age. Their second child, Albert, who lives 
 in Rhode Island, has been twice married, and 
 has three children. Dora, the youngest, is 
 the wife of George Barber, a farmer of Gris- 
 wold. Mr. Guile is a Democrat politically, 
 and served as Representative to the legislat- 
 ure in 1872 and again in 1876. He is now 
 a Grand Juror of the town. 
 
 T^APTAIN EDMUND R. EWEN,* 
 I jp ship-master, of New London, Conn., 
 V^iL_^ was born in Norwich, this State, on 
 February 27, 1827, son of Captain David 
 Ewen and Prudence Carew Ewen. His father 
 was born December 15, 1788, and was mar- 
 ried by the Rev. John Starring, on August 
 26, 1 810, to Miss Carew, who was born April 
 26, 1791. He spent most of his life upon the 
 water, was a sailor and a mechanic, and was 
 a boat-builder and cabinet-maker in Norwich 
 when not upon the seas. He died November 
 13, 1864; and his wife died July 22, 1873. 
 
 Mr. Ewen is the eighth of eleven children 
 born to his parents, and is now the last sur- 
 
 vivor of the family. He was reared to a 
 sailor's life, and when but a lad served as 
 cook upon his father's vessel. He left home 
 at sixteen years of age, and shipped before the 
 mast on board a full-rigged ship, the " India, " 
 Captain Albert Miller. They were gone 
 thirty-two months on a whaling voyage, and 
 brought back forty-four hundred barrels of oil 
 and a large amount of whalebone, of which he 
 was given a share. His next experience was 
 a seven months' coasting cruise on a ship 
 owned by his brother, Henry C. Ewen. After 
 a year or two more of voyaging and coasting he 
 shipped on board the " Charles Carroll," Cap- 
 tain Frank Smith, for San F'rancisco; but, 
 after rounding the Cape, he and five other 
 volunteers left the ship, for the captain's 
 pleasure boat, the "Chelsea Smith," under 
 the first mate. Reaching San Francisco in 
 sixty-five days, he shortly went to work in the 
 mines, at eight dollars a day and board. He 
 spent some years in California, experiencing 
 the ups and downs of that adventurous country 
 and time. 
 
 Mr. Ewen married April 14, 1858, Frances 
 
 B. Walden, who was born September 15, 
 1832, daughter of George and Mary Walden, 
 and a distant connection of his family. Their 
 home was in Norwich until 1875, when they 
 built their present dwelling on the Point. No 
 children have been born to them; but they 
 have an adopted daughter, in whom they take 
 pride and comfort, Carrie Welde, who was 
 orphaned at the age of five years. She was 
 graduated from the Young Ladies' High 
 School with honors, is quite musical, and per- 
 forms well upon the pianoforte. 
 
 Captain Ewen was on the steamer " City of 
 New London" for six years, four years as 
 wheelman and two years as pilot, with Captain 
 
 C. H. Luphere. He was on board when she 
 was burned near Norwich, November 22, 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 465 
 
 1871, and seventeen men were drowned. He 
 was first captain of the steamer " Lillie " 
 from New London to New York, in the Cen- 
 tral Point Line, for several years. His next 
 command was their steamer " Doris, " which 
 he left in December, 1895. He has not per- 
 manently retired from the sea, but is taking 
 a much needed rest. The Captain is a Repub- 
 lican voter. He has long been a member of 
 the First Baptist Church, to which his father 
 belonged. One of his most cherished posses- 
 sions is his father's old Bible, thumbed and 
 worn. This cherished volume was given to 
 his father by the Rev. Ezra Chappell nearly 
 fifty years ago. 
 
 (^AMES BINGHAM,* a retired manu- 
 facturer residing at Pleasant Valley, in 
 North Lyme, was born in Scotland, 
 ten miles from Edinburgh, April 16, 181 5, 
 son of Thomas and Main (Ketcbem) Bingham. 
 His parents came to this country in 1825. 
 They had a family of four daughters and one son. 
 James Bingham at the age of ten years 
 began to learn the paper-maker's trade, which 
 had been followed by his father and by his 
 maternal grandfather. He worked for sixteen 
 years in the mills at Pennycuick, in Scotland, 
 making the finest of hand-made paper for bank 
 notes and other special purposes. He learned 
 all parts of the business thoroughly, becoming 
 a most skilled workman. In 1845 he came to 
 America, bringing with him his wife and two 
 children. For two years he lived in Pater- 
 son, N.J., but subsequently removed to Water- 
 ford, Conn., in company with his two brothers- 
 in-law, the Robertsons, and started a paper- 
 mill for the manufacture of thin manilla 
 paper, which was carried on most successfully 
 under the name of Robertson & Bingham, Mr. 
 Bingham being the practical man of the busi- 
 ness. During the eighteen years of his stay 
 
 in Waterford they built up a plant worth 
 some thirty thousand dollars to forty thousand 
 dollars. Mr. Bingham also helped in the 
 financial department and with the books. 
 The firm made fine tissue papers for patterns, 
 which was sold as high as thirty cents per 
 pound during the war. In prosperous times 
 the receipts were over one hundred thousand 
 dollars a year. At the end of eighteen years 
 Mr. Bingham sold out his interest in Water- 
 ford, and in 1862 built a mill at Oakdale. 
 This did not prove a very successful venture; 
 and he afterward gave it up, and started a 
 mill in North Lyme. He came to his present 
 home from Montville seventeen years ago. 
 Mr. Bingham's first wife, Margaret Robert- 
 son, died in Waterford at the age of sixty 
 years. Their son Thomas died when about 
 twenty-two and one-half years old. The liv- 
 ing children of this first union are: Joanna, 
 wife of James Cochran, and mother of five 
 children, living in Tampa, Fla. ; Catherine, 
 who keeps house for her brother James; and 
 Edward, who lives in Waterford, and superin- 
 tends the two paper-mills for the Robertsons. 
 The last-named is married, and the father of 
 two sons and a daughter. Mr. Bingham mar- 
 ried for his second wife Cynthia Ann Scho- 
 field, who was born in Waterford in 1819, not 
 far from the paper-mills. Her father was a 
 manufacturer of woollen cloths. In 1812, 
 when about twenty-one years old, he invented 
 a loom, and in it made the first satinet, a 
 suit of which, made by Mr. Schofield, was 
 worn by President Monroe, on his inaugura- 
 tion. Mr. Schofield died February 14, 1892, 
 nearly one hundred and two years old. His 
 father, John Schofield, came to this country 
 from England with his wife and six children. 
 He was a man of large business interests, 
 started his first factory near Boston, about 
 1793, and later owned four — in Westerly, 
 
466 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 Stillmanville, Montville, and Waterford. 
 Mrs. Bingham is the only survivor of three 
 children. During several years past Mr. 
 Bingham has been partially deprived of the 
 use of his lower limbs, and can only walk with 
 the aid of canes. 
 
 HARLES P. WILLIAMS,* of New 
 York and of Stonington, his native 
 town, is the only son of the late 
 Charles Phelps Williams, of Stonington, and 
 his wife, Georgia Babcock Williams, now 
 living in New York City. 
 
 Ephraim Williams, the father of Charles 
 Phelps, was born in Stonington, May 31, 
 1756, and died in July, 1804, on his farm 
 three miles from the village. On December 
 
 23, 1787, he married Hepsibeth Phelps, 
 daughter of Dr. Charles and Hannah (Deni- 
 son) Phelps. They had two sons and a daugh- 
 ter; namely, Ephraim, Charles Phelps, and 
 Sarah Potter. The daughter died July 24, 
 1824, at twenty-three. Ephraim Williams, 
 Sr., was a son of William and Martha 
 (Wheeler) Williams, both natives of Stoning- 
 ton. William Williams was born May i, 
 1 7 16; and his wife, to whom he was married 
 February 15, 1738, was born in 171 7. She 
 died in 1784, and he in 1801. He followed 
 ship-building. William Williams, his father, 
 was a son of Colonel John Williams, who was 
 born in 1692, and in 171 1 or 1712 married 
 Desire Denison, whose birth occurred in 1693. 
 She died in 1737, and he in 1761. John 
 Williams, the father of Colonel John, and the 
 first of the family to settle in Stonington, was 
 born in Massachusetts in 1667. On January 
 
 24, 1687, he married Martha A. Wheeler. 
 She was born in 1669, and died in 1745. 
 Isaac Williams, the father of John, was born 
 in Roxbury, in 1638, and died at what is now 
 Newton, Mass., in 1707. He was married 
 
 in 1660 to Martha Park, of Roxbury, his first 
 wife. The father of Isaac Williams was Rob- 
 ert, who came to this country from England 
 in 1637, and settled in Roxbury, Mass., where 
 he was made a freeman in 1638. He died 
 September 15, 1693, at the age of eighty-five. 
 His wife, Elizabeth, died July 28, 1674, aged 
 eighty years. 
 
 Charles Phelps Williams, the youngest 
 child of Ephraim Williams, was born June 
 II, 1804, at Wequetequock, in the town of 
 Stonington, and on both sides was connected 
 with the oldest families here. His mother 
 was a daughter of Dr. Charles Phelps, a physi- 
 cian of great influence. Ephraim Williams 
 died shortly after his son's birth ; and the 
 family removed soon after to Stonington bor- 
 ough, a place even then much interested in 
 foreign commerce. Charles Phelps Williams 
 passed his boyhood days here, and early devel- 
 oped marked business capacity. In 1821, 
 before he was seventeen, he sailed in the 
 capacity of supercargo to Bilboa, Spain; and, 
 after he had sailed again to the same port, and 
 before he was twenty, he made a voyage to the 
 African coast as master of what was then a 
 large vessel. The seal fisheries next attracted 
 his attention. Establishing himself perma- 
 nently in the village of Stonington, he em- 
 barked in that enterprise, and, before he 
 abandoned it, had laid the foundation of his 
 large fortune. He next tried whaling, and 
 was one of the largest individual ship-owners 
 engaged in that pursuit during its highest 
 development After that business began to 
 fall off, he withdrew from active commercial 
 life. 
 
 He was one of the incorporators of the 
 Ocean Bank of Stonington, and, being chosen 
 president, remained in office, administering 
 its affairs till his resignation in 1856, when 
 he went to Europe with his family. On his 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 467 
 
 return he was elected first director, a position 
 which he retained after the reorganization of 
 the bank as the First National. He took an . 
 active part in the building of the Providence 
 & Stonington Railroad, and was president of 
 the corporation for many years. The manage- 
 ment of his accumulated property required 
 most of his attention in later years. He was 
 well known in business circles throughout the 
 country, and his success gave value to his 
 judgment and opinion on all financial matters. 
 He was one who avoided public life, and was 
 averse to all ostentation. The date of his 
 death was October 28, 1879. 
 
 Charles Phelps Williams was twice married. 
 His first wife, whose maiden name was Smith, 
 left one daughter. On June 11, 1861, he 
 married Georgia P. Babcock, daughter of 
 Courtland and Elizabeth C. Babcock, of Phil- 
 adelphia. JTer father was born March 25, 
 1806, and died here February 10, 1853. Her 
 parents were married August 3, 1834. They 
 had five children. Courtland Babcock, one of 
 their two sons, died in Stonington in April, 
 1896, leaving a widow and four children. 
 One daughter, Louise Babcock, is the wife of 
 a Mr. Tillinghast, of New York. Her sis- 
 ters, Amelia C. Babcock and Elizabeth (Mrs. 
 Williams), also live in that city. A son and 
 daughter were born to Charles Phelps and 
 Georgia P. Williams, namely: Georgia, wife 
 of George Henry Warren, residing in New 
 York City, and having two children — Con- 
 stance and George; and Charles P., the special 
 subject of this sketch. 
 
 Charles P. Williams completed his educa- 
 tion abroad. The beautiful place where he 
 lives, containing one hundred and forty acres, 
 is a part of his father's large estate. About 
 five miles from here he has a large stock farm 
 known as Highland Farm, where he keeps a 
 dairy of one hundred cow's. He also owns 
 
 from twenty to thirty horses. In the past he 
 has done a large retail business in live stock, 
 and he purposes going into the wholesale 
 trade and shipping to Providence. 
 
 Mr. Williams was married in 1889, in New 
 York City, to Miss Elizabeth P. Brooks, of 
 Minneapolis, Minn. Her father, William F. 
 Brooks, was a merchant in that city; and her 
 widowed mother, Annie Oakley Brooks, still 
 lives there. Mr. and Mrs. Williams have two 
 children: Elizabeth, six years old; and 
 Georgia, aged three. 
 
 Mr. Williams is a member of Union and 
 Calumet Clubs, of New York City, the first 
 named the oldest in the country. He was 
 also at one time a member of the Metropoli- 
 tan Club. "Stone Ridge," Mr. Williams's 
 beautiful residence, stands upon an eminence, 
 and may be seen miles away. It affords a fine 
 view of the Sound from two sides; and on the 
 other two long rows of hills tower, one above 
 the other, losing themselves in the horizon. 
 The approaches are by two beautiful gateways, 
 the first from the highway as one comes from 
 Stonington, from which a lengthy, circular 
 drive leads to the front entrance of the man- 
 sion, the other, at some distance below, lead- 
 ing to the fine large barns and carriage-house. 
 The massive stone pillars of these broad gate- 
 ways are noteworthy for their architectural 
 design. 
 
 iW^o 
 
 EORGE W. FENGAR,* a retired mer- 
 \J5| chant, residing at 10 Williams Street, 
 New London, Conn., was born in 
 this city in 1826. His parents were George 
 W. and Fannie (Boulton) Fengar. His pa- 
 ternal grandfather was an Englishman by 
 birth. He came to Connecticut at the time 
 of the Revolutionary War, and settled in 
 Waterford. At his death he left three sons 
 and three daughters. All of these children 
 
468 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 lived to be married and have families, and 
 some survived to old age. 
 
 The senior George W. Fengar was a native 
 of Waterford. He married Fannie Boulton, 
 who was born in New London in 1809. 
 Three children were the fruit of their union, 
 namely: George W. , subject of this sketch; 
 Oliver Fengar, who died here in 1873, at the 
 age of forty-four, leaving three children; and 
 Frances, widow of Peter Bromley, also of this 
 city. George W. Fengar, the father, died in 
 1831; and the mother, who was left a widow 
 at the age of twenty-two, lived to the age of 
 sixty-seven, dying in 1876. The children 
 were all very young when they were left 
 fatherless. 
 
 George W. , the elder of the two sons, had 
 limited educational advantages in his child- 
 hood, attending school but one term. At the 
 age of nine years, being obliged to begin 
 work, he went into the livery stable of the old 
 City Hotel; and from that time on he earned 
 his own living. When he was eighteen years 
 old, he entered the employ of Hobron & Den- 
 nis in the meat business; and after twelve 
 years' experience with them he began driving 
 a meat wagon for himself. For twenty-five 
 years he was located at 14 Main Street, being 
 for eighteen years a member of the firm of 
 John Dennis & Co., later known under the 
 style of G. W. Fengar & Co., and for seven 
 years with Roswell W. Tinker. During the 
 war he furnished meat to a garrison, having as 
 many as fifteen hundred to feed at one time. 
 After he had made a contract to furnish meat 
 at twelve and a half cents a pound, prices 
 advanced, causing him to lose money. In 
 1878 he retired from business. In politics 
 he votes independently. He has had a good 
 political record, but he has never held office. 
 
 On October 24, 1854, Mr. Fengar was 
 united in marriage with Mary Rixford, who 
 
 was born here June 14, 1830. Her father, 
 Elijah Rixford, was a stone-mason, and died 
 in this city at the age of sixt)' years; and her 
 mother, Mary Dart Rixford, died January i, 
 i88g, at the age of eighty-nine years. Mr. 
 and Mrs. Rixford had reared but two of their 
 four children: Harriet, who became the wife 
 of Charles Bentley, and died in 1883, at the 
 age of fifty-nine, without children; and Mrs. 
 Fengar, who is now almost entirely bereft of 
 relatives, having but three cousins living. 
 During the forty-two years of her wedded life 
 she has moved but once, when her husband 
 purchased their pleasant house, thirty-eight 
 years ago, on the corner of Williams and 
 Chappell Streets. Mr. and Mrs. Fengar 
 joined the Hunting Street Baptist Church 
 forty-seven years ago, and are now the oldest 
 living members. For thirty years they have 
 officiated on various committees. 
 
 AMES E. DeWOLF,* of Norwich, was 
 born in Salem, Conn., December 5, 
 1842, son of Edward and Sophia Jane 
 (Latimer) DeWolf, and on the paternal side 
 is of French descent. His grandparents, 
 Ephraim and Elizabeth E. (Wood) DeWolf, 
 were both of Lyme, Conn. His father, Ed- 
 ward DeWolf, was born in Salem, where he 
 died in April, 1893, in the eighty-third year 
 of his age. He married in 1836 Sophia 
 Jane Latimer, of Chesterfield, by whom he 
 had six sons and one daughter ^ — Thomas E., 
 John, George P., Frank, Henry P., Evelyn. 
 Upon the breaking out of the Civil War the 
 four elder sons enlisted as defenders of the 
 Union with the free consent of their father, 
 who said that he might as well lose his sons 
 as his country. Thomas lost his life in 1864, 
 at the age of twenty-four. He was mortally 
 wounded in the battle of Winchester, was 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 469 
 
 taken prisoner with Lieutenant John T. Ma- 
 ginnis, and was exchanged from Libby Prison. 
 John F. participated in General Sheridan's 
 raid, and, while at Petersburg, fell sick and 
 died. He fills an unknown grave. George 
 served with his brother John in the first Con- 
 necticut Cavalry. He was afterward a paint 
 dealer in Spencer, Mass. Frank is a farmer, 
 and lives upon the homestead in Salem. 
 Henry P. is a farmer in Norwich. Evelyn 
 married Frank Rogers. 
 
 James E., the second son of his parents and 
 the special subject of this sketch, was under 
 General Banks at Port Hudson, and saw fif- 
 teen months of service in the Union army. 
 Upon his return from the war he became a 
 patrolman on the Norwich police force. Dur- 
 ing the two years in which he held the position 
 he made some important arrests, and he after- 
 ward served on the special police force for 
 several years. In July, 1869, he became en- 
 gaged in the business of undertaking, in part- 
 nership with Henry Allen, Sr. After the 
 death of Mr. Allen, his son Amos took his 
 place in the firm, and with Mr. DeWolf con- 
 tinued to carry on the business a number of 
 years. In 1894 Amos Allen went to Califor- 
 nia, and from that time till May, 1897, when 
 Mr. DeWolf retired to his farm, a third part- 
 ner was associated with him. Mr. DeWolf's 
 place is situated just outside the town limits, 
 on the Thomasville road, at the famous old 
 Trading Cove. 
 
 Mr. DeWolf married his second wife, for- 
 merly Lizzie H. Lucas, in May, 1877. She 
 was born and reared on this farm, being the 
 daughter of Joseph Lucas, who was a steam- 
 boat engineer employed on the Connecticut 
 River. Mrs. DeWolf was one of a family 
 comprising eight daughters and one son, of 
 whom six daughters and the son are living. 
 Their mother died at the age of eighty. The 
 
 father survived until he reached his ninety- 
 second year. Mr. DeWolf has been a lifelong 
 student of natural history, and is a great lover 
 of dogs and horses, being one of those favored 
 persons to whom the sagacious animals are in- 
 stinctively attracted, and whom they love and 
 obey. He takes the greatest care of his ani- 
 mals, and keeps them always in excellent con- 
 dition. Mr. DeWolf is one of a plucky and 
 persevering family who have always shown a 
 public spirit and a strong sense of the respon- 
 sibility of life. 
 
 LIVER WOLCOTT SISSON,* of 
 Colchester, a retired contractor and 
 builder, was born in Ellington, Tol- 
 land County, Conn., December 9, 1820, son 
 of Oliver and Lucretia (Tiffany) Sisson. He 
 belongs to the Rhode Island Sissons, an old 
 Colonial family. 
 
 Mr. Sisson's grandfather, Jonathan Sisson, 
 born in 1750, came to Lyme in the year 1800 
 with his brother Thomas, and died in that 
 town about 1832. Thomas Sisson went to 
 Hartford, where his son Thomas is to-day a 
 druggist. Grandfather Sisson owned a farm 
 of one hundred acres or more two miles from 
 Pleasant Valley on Eight Mile River, on 
 which he had a grist-mill and a saw-mill. 
 His wife was a Bliven, and bore him eleven 
 children, five sons and six daughters. They, 
 together with the Ransoms and Loomises, had 
 thirty children, all told. Grandmother Sisson 
 lived to be about eighty years old, and was 
 the beloved and delightful friend of all her 
 grandchildren, of whom there was a large 
 number. She had sparkling black eyes and a 
 vivacious and always cheerful nature. Two of 
 her sons, Oliver and Nathan, were sailors; and 
 Nathan was lost at sea, going down, it was 
 supposed, with his vessel and all on board, as 
 nothing was ever heard from any of the crew, 
 
470 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 Oliver, father of the subject of this sketch, 
 was born at Hopkinton, R.I. In his youth 
 and early manhood he went across the Atlan- 
 tic to Liverpool several times, when it took 
 at least three months to make the round trip. 
 He left the water when he married, in 1817, 
 and began as a farmer on rented land in 
 Ellington, where his first three children were 
 born. His wife was Lucretia Tiffany, of 
 Salem, daughter of Ebenezer Tiffany. She 
 died in 1881, at the advanced age of nearly 
 ninety-one years. She was a noble-hearted 
 woman and a model mother. The Rev. Mr. 
 Willard said the last ten years of her life 
 were a perpetual Sabbath. Her children 
 were: Allen, born 181 7; William, born 1818; 
 Oliver, born 1820; Ebenezer, born in Salem; 
 and Catherine Tiffany, born in Lyme in 1825, 
 now the widow of William Patten, to whom 
 she was married February 22, 1853. Mr. 
 Patten died in Colchester, September, 1877, 
 at the age of sixty-four years. He began 
 business with but little capital, but by energy 
 and good management accumulated a comfort- 
 able property, and at his death left a pleasant 
 home and thirty acres of land in the borough 
 of Colchester to his widow. 
 
 Oliver Wolcott Sisson, when eight years 
 old, went to Northern Vermont with his great- 
 uncle, John Corning, a noted horse jockey 
 and dealer, who had a large trade in Boston, 
 Hartford, and New Haven. Riding horses 
 and making himself generally useful, Mr. 
 Sisson remained in Vermont six years. In 
 1834, a youth of fourteen, he went to Stoning- 
 ton, where he served five years as an appren- 
 tice to learn the carpenter's trade, and had a 
 hard time of it, his needs as to food and cloth- 
 ing being but scantily supplied. In 1849 Mr. 
 Sisson caught the "gold fever," and in No- 
 vember he started from New York to go via 
 the Isthmus of Panama to San Francisco. 
 
 Upon the evening of his arrival, in February, 
 1850, he went ashore; and the next morning 
 he began work at his trade at fourteen dollars 
 a day. During the whole of the time he was 
 in California he never worked for less than 
 twelve dollars a day, and sometimes he made 
 as high as twenty dollars by working over 
 time. In 1851 he came home to Connecticut 
 via the Isthmus, the journey occupying about 
 twenty days. 
 
 In 1853 he was married to Mary Ann, 
 daughter of John A. Niles, of Salem. She 
 died six years later, leaving one son, John 
 Sisson, who resides in Wallingford. He is 
 employed by the Silver Plate Manufactory as 
 a travelling agent, and has been all over 
 America and Europe. He married Janette 
 Watrous, of Essex. She died in the summer 
 of 1895 in San Francisco, where she had gone 
 with her son for her health. The son, Elli- 
 son Cooper Sisson, is in the West in Oregon. 
 
 Mr. Oliver W. Sisson has been a con- 
 tractor and builder in Norwich, Hartford, 
 and Salem, and has built many large and im- 
 portant structures in this section of the State. 
 As a politician he has always voted in the 
 ranks of the Democratic party. For the last 
 ten years he has made his home with his 
 sister. 
 
 YgTENRY AUGUSTUS BROWN,* of 
 r^rj the well-known Brown Paint Com- 
 
 J- V , pany, of New London, Conn., was 
 
 born in the adjoining town of Waterford 
 on December 28, 1830. His parents were 
 Henry and Lucretia (Smith) Brown. Charles 
 Brown, his paternal grandfather, also a native 
 of this county, was a mariner in early life, 
 attaining the position of mate on a deep sea 
 merchantman. Later he was for many years 
 engaged in farming on Jordan Cone. He 
 married, and he and his wife reared four sons 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 471 
 
 and three daughters. With the exception of 
 one daughter, they all married and had fam- 
 ilies. All have now passed away. Grand- 
 father Brown died in middle life; while his 
 wife lived to be an old lady, dying in 1836. 
 
 Their son Henry was born at the homestead 
 in 1799, and became a prosperous farmer, ac- 
 quiring a good estate. He was twice mar- 
 ried. His first wife, Lucy Prentiss, died in 
 the prime of life, leaving five children, three 
 of whom are now living, namely: Charles A., 
 who resides on Town Hill; J. P., who is a 
 Baptist preacher in this city, and Frances, 
 who also live on Town Hill. Lucretia 
 Smith, who became his second wife, had four 
 sons and three daughters, four of whom are 
 now living: Ellen C, Mrs. Perkins, of this 
 city, a widow; Henry Augustus; John N., 
 of this city; and Phcebe, wife of Albert G. 
 Langham, of Waterford. The father died 
 about 1876, and the mother in 1884, at the 
 age of eighty years. They were both highly 
 respected members of the Waterford Baptist 
 Church. 
 
 Henry A. Brown was educated in the com- 
 mon school, and worked on his father's farm 
 until he was seventeen years of age, when he 
 began to learn the sail-maker's trade with 
 Thomas Holstrom, with whom he remained 
 four years. He went into business for him- 
 self in New London in 1853, and was prosper- 
 ously engaged in sail-making till 1868, when 
 he sold out, and then turned his attention to 
 ship-chandlery. The firm of H. A. Brown 
 & Co. also engaged in canning fruit and vege- 
 tables, running the plant until 1883, when 
 they sold out to Gorton Brothers. For three 
 years thereafter Mr. Brown was a commercial 
 traveller for Nichols & Harris, introducing a 
 specialty in New York, Pennsylvania, and 
 New England. He is now manager of a stock 
 company organized to carry on the wholesale 
 
 and retail paint business. Their plant, at the 
 corner of State and Bradley, has been a paint 
 store for a quarter of a century, Mr. Brown 
 having bought George E. Damon's interest. 
 
 In October, 1853, at the age of twenty- 
 three, he married Susan C, daughter of Alvin 
 B. Chappell. Her father was captain of a 
 coasting-vessel. He died in 1884, at the age 
 of seventy-five, having long survived his wife, 
 who died at the age of forty-six, leaving one 
 child, Mrs. Brown. The pleasant home of 
 Mr. and Mrs. Brown is at 17 Franklin Street. 
 Their only child, a son named Elmer Brown, 
 died at the age of two and a half years. Mr. 
 Brown is a highly respected member of the 
 Second Baptist Church, in which he officiates 
 as chairman of the Society and Church Com- 
 mittee. In politics he is an independent 
 voter. 
 
 OSEPH A. DOANE,* Postmaster of 
 Preston City, was born here, August 
 23, 1820. He is a descendant in the 
 ninth generation from John Doane, who came 
 from England a few years after the "May- 
 flower" Pilgrims, was living at Plymouth in 
 1630 and 1633, and was afterward one of the 
 founders of Eastham, Mass., where he died in 
 1686. The family coat of arms is still pre- 
 served. The lineage is traced from the immi- 
 grant ancestor through John, Jr., born 1634, 
 who died in 1708; John, third; Elisha; Jo- 
 seph; Joseph, Jr.; Captain John and Joseph 
 H. Doane to Joseph A. The grandfather, 
 Captain John Doane, son of Joseph, Jr., a 
 prominent resident of Cape Cod, was born 
 July 23, 1773, and removed to Norwich, 
 Conn., in 1805. He married Eunice, daugh- 
 ter of Joseph Howes, of Chatham, Mass., a 
 member of a well-known Cape Cod family. 
 Captain Doane was a seafaring man, and 
 sailed to foreign ports. His ship was sunk 
 
472 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 off Charleston by the British. He was at one 
 time a man of wealth, and built the first 
 steamboat of Norwich; but he met with heavy 
 reverses, and left only a moderate fortune at 
 his decease. He died in New York City, 
 April 13, 1 81 8. Mrs. Doane died in Massa- 
 chusetts, August 9, 1855, in the seventy- 
 ninth year of her age. Both rest in the old 
 Norwich Town cemetery. They had nine 
 children, as follows: Marrinet, born in 
 Chatham, October 2, 1794; Joseph H., born 
 March 31, 1797, father of the subject of this 
 sketch; Eunice, born in 1803; John G., born 
 in 1805; Elisha, born in Norwich, December 
 29, 1807; Elizabeth, born in 1810; Emily, 
 born in 18 13; an infant daughter, who died in 
 1800; and Harriet, who died in infancy in 1817. 
 Joseph H. Doane, the second son, started 
 in life as a clerk in the store of James Treat, 
 and became a prominent merchant and manu- 
 facturer, the firm name of Treat & Doane, 
 afterward Doane & Treat, being long well 
 known in this section. He married Frances 
 Treat, born in Preston City, January 13, 1799, 
 daughter of James and Polly (Stanton) Treat. 
 She was descended from Richard Treat, born, 
 it is said, in Pitminster, Somerset County, 
 England, in 1584, who died soon after his ar- 
 rival in Wethersfield, Conn., October 11, 
 1669. He left three sons: Richard, Jr.; 
 Robert Treat, who became the Governor of 
 Connecticut; and James Treat, whose son, the 
 Rev. Salmon, was the father of the Rev. Sam- 
 uel Treat, the grandfather of Mrs, Doane. 
 The eight children of Mr. and Mrs. Joseph H. 
 Doane were: Joseph, James, John, Emily, 
 William, Eunice, Henry, Juliet. The only 
 members of the family now living are: Will- 
 iam, who resides in Cincinnati; Juliet, who 
 is in Cincinnati with her brother; Henry, who 
 resides in Brooklyn, and is in business in 
 New York City; and Joseph A., the subject 
 
 of this sketch. The father died October 22, 
 1854; and the mother died April 15, 1881, in 
 the eighty-third year of her age. 
 
 Joseph A. Doane, the eldest son of his par- 
 ents, received a common-school education, 
 with the additional advantage of six months' 
 study at the Plainfield Academy. Entering 
 his father's store at the age of sixteen, for 
 many years he led an active mercantile life. 
 When the war broke out, he went to the front 
 as sutler in the Sixteenth Connecticut Regi- 
 ment. He was captured by the Confederates 
 at Plymouth, N.C., April 20, 1863. The 
 garrison was marched to Tarboro, N.C., and 
 thence went by rail to Atlanta Prison. From 
 that place he was taken to Savannah, and then 
 to Charleston, and from that city to the race 
 course and the stockade. He was held a 
 prisoner five months. 
 
 Mr. Doane married December 8, 1886, Mrs. 
 Lucy L. Elliot, widow of Calvin P. Elliot, 
 and daughter of Robert P. and Polly C. Chase, 
 natives of the State of Maine. Mrs. Elliot 
 lost her first husband, December 30, 1872, 
 and was left with two children — Mary Ella 
 and Arthur C. Mary Ella ma'rried Frank G. 
 Pope, and has one daughter, Mabel Alice, 
 wife of Burt Smith. The Popes reside in 
 Somerville, Mass. Arthur C. Elliot is a resi- 
 dent of Brooklyn and Montclair. He married 
 Emily E. Ponderhoof, and has two children — 
 Mildred and Arthur C, Jr. Mrs. Doane had 
 three brothers, who were all officers in the 
 Civil War, namely : Alonzo Chase, who was shot 
 on the field; Henry H., who was wounded at 
 Baton Rouge, and died in New Orleans; and 
 Leonard Chase, who had three horses killed 
 under him, and who died in Kentucky, where 
 he was a band leader. Their father was a ship- 
 builder and a teacher of band music. 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Doane are both members of 
 the Baptist church. Mr. Doane is a Republi- 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 473 
 
 can, and, as mentioned above, is Postmaster of 
 the town. He has served several terms in 
 the State legislature. He now lives retired 
 on the farm which his father settled in 1825. 
 It was here that the Rev. Samuel Treat, his 
 ancestor, was ordained in 1698. Preston City 
 is not only one of the smallest cities in the 
 world, but is a place of historic interest. 
 Here was the home of Edward Mott, one of 
 the prime movers in the taking of Fort Ticon- 
 deroga; and the house in which he lived is 
 still standing, now one hundred and fifty 
 years old. The house in which George Wash- 
 ington was entertained by Samuel Mott, of 
 Bunker Hill renown, was torn down about fif- 
 teen years ago. Some of the legal lights of 
 the State here read law with Judge Peters and 
 with John M. Niles, and many other promi- 
 nent names are connected with the town. 
 
 (^Tr-LFRED FANNING BROWN,* of 
 t^ Jewett City, dealer in newspapers, 
 ^ '* V._^ periodicals, notions, and jewelry, 
 was born in the town of Lisbon, February 17, 
 1822, his parents being John H. and Emme- 
 line (Freeman) Brown. His paternal grand- 
 father, who was a sea captain born in Eng- 
 land, died in middle life, leaving two sons — 
 John H. and Abijah — and two daughters. 
 John H. Brown was born in Warwick, R.I., 
 in 1800, and died in Jewett City in 1859. 
 He came to this place in 1828, moving into a 
 new house he had built, and in which he lived 
 up to the time of his death. This house is 
 now owned by Alfred F. Brown, who has re- 
 built and repaired it, and leases it to tenants. 
 John H. Brown was a shoemaker by trade, and 
 was known as conscientious and faithful in 
 the performance of all life's duties. His 
 wife, Emmeline, who survived him eighteen 
 years, dying in 1878, was the daughter of a 
 
 French gentleman who came to America with 
 General Lafayette, and fought for American 
 independence. He married a lady of Ameri- 
 can birth. John and Emmeline Brown, who 
 were within three months of the same age, 
 were married young, and reared a family of 
 eleven children. The eldest, John H. Brown, 
 Jr., born in August, 1820, was eighteen 
 months older than Alfred F. All of this fam- 
 ily are now deceased except Alfred F., 
 Charles W. (the third child), and Mary, who 
 is the wife of Washington Smith, of Canter- 
 bury, Conn. 
 
 Alfred F. Brown received his elementary 
 education in the public schools, and subse- 
 quently attended a select school for two 
 terms. He taught during three winters, be- 
 ginning when only fifteen years old. At ten 
 years of age he began to work out by the 
 month, receiving three dollars per month for 
 seven months, and bringing home twenty-one 
 dollars. He continued working out summers 
 for nine years, receiving five dollars per month 
 the second season, seven dollars the third, and 
 for the last two seasons twelve dollars per 
 month. At twenty years of age, in 1842, he 
 entered the employ of the Slater Mill Com- 
 pany as overseer and loom fixer. Ten years 
 later he caught the "gold fever," and went to 
 California, sailing round the Horn in the new 
 clipper ship "North America," with five hun- 
 dred passengers, and being five months on the 
 passage from New York to San Francisco. In 
 1855 he returned home, but in four months 
 went back to California, where he remained 
 seven years longer. During the ten years of 
 his residence there, he mined for gold on his 
 own account in all kinds of diggings. He 
 made no big strikes, but came home with 
 more than he had when he went away. He 
 has been engaged in business at his present 
 stand for thirty years. 
 
474 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 At the age of twenty years Mr. Brown was 
 united in marriage with Abigail Mason, of 
 Jewett City, who bore him two children — 
 Abby E. and Mary B. Abby is the wife of 
 Denison J. Champlin, the jailer of Norwich. 
 Mary died in middle life, the wife of Alonzo 
 Allen. Mr. Brown married for his second 
 wife, in 1865, Betsey E. Brown; and by this 
 union there is one son, Alfred Fanning 
 Brown, Jr. For nineteen years Mr. Brown 
 served his fellow-townsmen as Postmaster, the 
 only public position he has held, as, although 
 a royal Republican and actively interested in 
 town affairs, he has not generally cared to be a 
 candidate. 
 
 Tt^EV. CHARLES J. HILL, "■ pastor of 
 I Sr^ the Congregational church in Ston- 
 -1-^ v ^ ^ ington. Conn., was born in Port- 
 land, Me., February 2, 1830. His parents, 
 George and Priscilla (Griffin) Hill, were both 
 of English descent. George Hill, his father, 
 was born in Portsmouth in 1786. When a 
 young man, he was the Captain of an artillery 
 company, and was ready with his associates to 
 receive the British in 1814. He was a mer- 
 chant in Portland and afterward in Philadel- 
 phia, where he carried on business until his 
 death, January 11, 1857. He had nine 
 children, seven sons and two daughters, of 
 whom four sons and one daughter are still 
 living. 
 
 Charles J. was the sixth-born son. He 
 was fitted for college at the high school in 
 Philadelphia, and then spent a year in the 
 office of the city gas company, where he gained 
 a most valuable experience. He was gradu- 
 ated at Williams College in the class of 1852, 
 and studied for the ministry the next two 
 years at the Union Theological Seminary in 
 New York and during the two years following 
 
 at the Andover Theological Seminary. He 
 was ordained a Congregational minister, Janu- 
 ary 28, 1857. His first pastorate was in 
 Nashua, N.H., where he remained from 1857 
 to 1864. While in that city he met with a 
 slight accident, on account of which he gave 
 up his charge, and for six months devoted 
 himself to the study of medicine in the Berk- 
 shire School, where he was visiting. The 
 knowledge that he gained during those few 
 months has since been of the greatest service 
 to him. Once he was wrecked on Lake Erie 
 with a number of others; and, as he was the 
 only one in the party who had any knowledge 
 of medicine, he was able to render valuable 
 assistance. His second settlement was in 
 1865 at Gloversville, N.Y. , where he stayed 
 three years. In 1868 he accepted a call to the 
 Presbyterian church in Whitehall, N.Y. He 
 stayed there four years, then moved to An- 
 sonia, in Derby township, where he became 
 the pastor of the Congregational church. In 
 187s he went abroad, making a short trip on 
 the continent ; and on his return he accepted 
 a call to Middleton, Conn., where he stayed 
 eight years. In 1885 he went abroad again, 
 this time to visit England and Scotland. 
 When he came back, he was settled over the 
 Congregational church in Stonington, where 
 he has been ever since. 
 
 He married March 11, 1857, Martha O. , a 
 daughter of the late Rev. John Todd, D.D., 
 for thirty years pastor of the First Congrega- 
 tional Church of Pittsfield, Mass. Mr. and 
 Mrs. Hill have three children: Annie W., 
 the wife of William W. Harper, of Orleans, 
 Va. ; John Todd, a sculptor of New York; and 
 Miriam, a young girl living at home. Mr. 
 and Mrs. Hill were among the forwarders of 
 the Stonington Liberals, and Mr. Hill has 
 been president and is now treasurer of the 
 organization. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL. 
 
 Alexander, Charles P. . 
 
 76 
 
 Alexander, 'I'homas B. 
 
 366 
 
 Allen, Mary E. . 
 
 269 
 
 Allen, Ruth E 
 
 430 
 
 Allyn, Calvin . 
 
 225 
 
 Allyn, Charles . . . . 
 
 399 
 
 Allyn, Gurdon F. 
 
 2S4 
 
 Allyn, James 
 
 134 
 
 Allyn, John T 
 
 116 
 
 Atwood, Herman . . 
 
 438 
 
 Avery, Christopher L. . . 
 
 285 
 
 Ayer, George A. . . . . 
 
 397 
 
 Ayer, Nathan H. . 
 
 138 
 
 B. 
 
 Babcock, Charles H. . . 241 
 
 Backus, Asa 27 
 
 Bacon, Morris W. ... 56 
 
 Bacon, Nelson A 37 
 
 Bailey, Benjamin F. . . -77 
 
 Bailey, Charles A 324 
 
 Bancroft; Eugene A. . 415 
 
 Barber, Oscar M 253 
 
 Barnes, Chester W 346 
 
 Bartlett, Charles G 165 
 
 Bates, Nathan D. ... 361 
 
 Beckwith, Cyrus G i8 
 
 Beckwith, George W 421 
 
 Beckwith, John T 377 
 
 Beebe, Charles G. . . . 69 
 
 Beebe, Lorenzo D. . . 190 
 
 Benham, William H. . . . 194 
 
 Bentley, WilHam H 220 
 
 Bigelow, Asa R. 
 Bill, Jephthah G. . . 
 Bill, Palmer . 
 Billings, Sanford N. 
 Bindloss, T. Palmer 
 Bindloss, William P. 
 Bingham, James . . 
 Bishop, Charles . 
 Bishop, Henry 
 Bixler, James W. 
 Blake, S. Leroy . . 
 Bowen, John A. . 
 Braman, Francis N. . 
 Branche, Henry W. . 
 Brand, Dudley A. . 
 Brayton, Charles E. . 
 Brewer, Edward P. . 
 Brewer, Frederick H. 
 Brewer, Louisa J. 
 Brewster, John . . 
 Brockway, Joshua E. 
 Bromley, George G. 
 Broughton, William F. 
 Brown, Alfred F. 
 Brown, Henry A. 
 Brown, Israel F. . . 
 Brown, James A. . 
 Brown, Lucius D. 
 Brown, Theophilus 
 Brown, William J. 
 Bugbee, James F. 
 Bulkley, James 
 Burch, Billings 
 Burch, Horace O. 
 Burdick, William H. 
 Bush, Austin J. . 
 Bush, William H. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 53 
 
 335 
 
 63 
 
 16 
 
 38 
 
 193 
 
 465 
 
 263 
 
 353 
 
 329 
 
 375 
 
 104 
 
 30 
 427 
 286 
 
 51 
 
 2l8 
 
 387 
 
 78 
 
 371 
 
 291 
 
 393 
 449 
 473 
 470 
 72 
 
 154 
 208 
 184 
 301 
 173 
 359 
 146 
 283 
 
 133 
 409 
 
 413 
 
 Calkins, Daniel . . 
 Campbell, David R. . 
 Cardwell, William H. 
 Caulkins, Herbert M. 
 Chadwick, Elmer M. 
 Chadwick, Richard W. 
 Champion, Ann R. . 
 Champion, Roger B. 
 Champion, Wallace R. 
 Champlin, Charles N. 
 ChampHn, Denison J. 
 Chesebro, Frederick D 
 Chesebro, Oliver D. 
 Chesebro, Samuel H. 
 Chester, Daniel W. . 
 Chester, Elisha S. 
 Clark, Matthew S. . 
 Coit, Robert . . . 
 Congdon, Robert R. 
 Cottrell, Charles H. . 
 Cowan, Charles H. . 
 Crandall, S. Ashbel . 
 Crandall, Stiles . . 
 Crane, Stephen . . 
 Crocker, Edward N. 
 
 Darrow, Edmund 
 Dart, Frederick H. 
 Davis, Jeremiah . 
 Dawes, Emeline F. 
 Dawley, A. J. . 
 Dawley, H. F. . . 
 De Wolf, James E. 
 
 442 
 126 
 
 394 
 82 
 381 
 302 
 140 
 289 
 
 159 
 421 
 382 
 266 
 98 
 
 370 
 171 
 
 459 
 178 
 276 
 
 157 
 
 428 
 
 453 
 308 
 284 
 233 
 
 273 
 336 
 
 451 
 440 
 227 
 227 
 
476 
 
 INDEX 
 
 DeWolf, Winfield S. 
 Doane, Joseph A. 
 Douglass, J. Raymond 
 Downer, Henry B. . 
 Drummond, Thomas 
 
 E. 
 
 Eldredge, George 
 Ewen, Edmund R. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 425 
 471 
 
 lOI 
 
 440 
 419 
 
 121 
 
 464 
 
 F. 
 
 Fairbrother, Lorenzo D. . . 385 
 
 Farnsworth, Frederick .... 35 
 
 Fellows, George E 414 
 
 Fengar, George W 467 
 
 Fish, Nathan S. . . . . 453 
 
 Fish, Walter ... ... 174 
 
 Fitch, Mary E. . .... 11 
 
 Fitch, William 10 
 
 Fitzmaurice, Walter 87 
 
 Forsyth, George ... . 60 
 
 Forsyth, Julia A. Latham . . 60 
 
 Eraser, Daniel 422 
 
 Fraser, William A 306 
 
 Freeman, Victor 277 
 
 Fuller, Joseph J 274 
 
 Gallup, Austin 100 
 
 Gallup, Henry H. . . . 388 
 
 Gardner, Frederick L. . . 380 
 
 Gates, D. Lysted .... 390 
 
 Gavin, James C. . . . . 229 
 
 Gillet, Louisa B 132 
 
 Gillette, Isaac .... . 211 
 
 Greene, William P 22 
 
 Griffin, Oliver C . 65 
 
 Griswold, George L 186 
 
 Griswold, Richard S 36 
 
 Guile, Alfred C 463 
 
 Gulliver, Daniel F 146 
 
 H. 
 
 Hale, Almarin T 347 
 
 Haley, Joshua 299 
 
 Hall, Joseph 244 
 
 Hall, Stephen H 169 
 
 Harris, Alonzo H. . . . 241 
 
 Harris, George R 92 
 
 Harris, Jonathan N 144 
 
 Harris, Nathaniel 85 
 
 Harris, Orrin F 311 
 
 Harvey, Elijah B 71 
 
 Haven, George . . . . 386 
 
 Hazen, Curtis L . 226 
 
 Hempstead, Ezra J. . . . . 265 
 
 Hempstead, George W. . . . 454 
 
 Hempstead, Julia A 450 
 
 Hempsted, Daniel B. . . 94 
 
 Herr, Joseph D. . . . 401 
 
 Hewitt, Charles P 437 
 
 Hill, Charles J 474 
 
 Hill, Mason C 297 
 
 Hilliar, Bindloss H. . . . 151 
 
 Hinckley, Abel H 159 
 
 Hinckley, Elias B 114 
 
 Hobron, Daniel N. ... 113 
 
 Holmes, Joseph W 342 
 
 Holt, William A 438 
 
 Hough, Jabez B 52 
 
 Howard, Elizabeth M. . . . 390 
 
 Howard, George W. . . . 446 
 
 Hubbard, Harriet . . . . 178 
 
 Hull, Latham 238 
 
 J. 
 
 Jackson, George 183 
 
 Jenkins, Benjamin W 166 
 
 Johnson, Henry C 300 
 
 K. 
 
 Keefe, Edward 306 
 
 Keeney, John M 81 
 
 Keeney, John W 248 
 
 Keeney, Nathan 148 
 
 Keeney, Lydia A. . ... 314 
 
 Kegwin, Erastus C 235 
 
 Kidder, Albert A 205 
 
 Ladd, Frederick P. 
 Ladd, William 
 
 320 
 214 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Langworthy, James H 441 
 
 Lathrop, Jabez S 307 
 
 Lathrop, John M. N 75 
 
 Lawson, Otto 112 
 
 Lay, Daniel 1 452 
 
 Lee, Benjamin H 457 
 
 Lee, William S 282 
 
 Leffingwell, Joshua C 28 
 
 Lennen, James ... . . 107 
 Leonard, Joseph E. . . .119 
 
 Lewis, Ira F . . 92 
 
 Loosley, Daniel R. . . . . 369 
 
 Lord, Reuben 433 
 
 Luce, James V 250 
 
 M. 
 
 Maine, Charles E. 
 Maine, Charles O. 
 Maine, Chester S. 
 Mansfield, William 
 Manwaring, David C 
 Manwaring, Ellen B 
 Manwaring, John W 
 Martin, Ira J. . . 
 McDonald, John E. 
 Merritt, Francis E. 
 Miner, Orrin E. . 
 Miner, Richard K. 
 Miner, Sidney . . 
 Minor, George M. 
 Mitchell, John . . 
 Moore, Egbert N. 
 Moran, John . . 
 Morgan, Alvah 
 Morgan, Elijah A. 
 Morgan, Mary E. 
 Morgan, Nelson . 
 Morgan, Sarah M. 
 Morgan, Thomas F. 
 Moss, William D. 
 Midler, August . 
 Murray, Thomas . 
 
 H. 
 
 47 
 459 
 278 
 316 
 461 
 
 379 
 169 
 
 398 
 
 42 
 
 189 
 
 198 
 
 9 
 
 264 
 
 12 
 
 n 
 120 
 
 354 
 
 363 
 
 43 
 
 97 
 
 257 
 407 
 
 59 
 202 
 296 
 
 N. 
 
 Niantic Manufacturing Company, 1 26 
 
 Norris, David A 315 
 
 Noyes, Eliza P 108 
 
 Noyes, Lydia W 410 
 
INDEX 
 
 477 
 
 Noyes, Nathan D. 
 Noyes, Nathaniel P. 
 
 259 
 258 
 
 Packer, Daniel F. . 
 
 33 
 
 Packer, Thomas E. . . . 
 
 206 
 
 Palmer, Henry C. . . 
 
 64 
 
 Palmer, HoUis H. . 
 
 249 
 
 Palmer, Jonathan J. . 
 
 ISI 
 
 Palmer, Robert, Jr. . . . 
 
 237 
 
 Palmer, Robert, Sr. . 
 
 €36 
 
 Park, Angus 
 
 126 
 
 Park, John D 
 
 345 
 
 Park, William 
 
 126 
 
 Payne, John L 
 
 66 
 
 Pendleton, Harris .... 
 
 I. -53 
 
 Pendleton, James 
 
 405 
 
 Pendleton, William E. . 
 
 . 426 
 
 Perkins, Albert W. . . 
 
 • 366 
 
 Perkins, Charles C. . . . 
 
 . 230 
 
 Perkins, William S. C. . . . 
 
 3';2 
 
 Post, Elisha . . 
 
 125 
 
 Powers, Theodore F. 
 
 • 243 
 
 Pratt, Lewellyn 
 
 . 212 
 
 Prest, Edward .... 
 
 217 
 
 Prest, George . 
 
 292 
 
 R. 
 
 Randall, Elias P. . . . . . 196 
 
 Rathbone, Harriet A 330 
 
 Roath, Edwin A 313 
 
 Roath, Louis P 321 
 
 Robinson, Myron W. . . . 140 
 
 Rogers, George W. 
 Rogers, William D. 
 Rowland, James A. 
 Rudd, Arnold . . 
 
 Schwaner, Charles H. 
 Scott, Thomas A. 
 Sisson, Oliver W. 
 Sistare, William H. . 
 Sizer, John B. . 
 Slate, Charles J. 
 Smith, James F. 
 Smith, Norman 
 Smith, William P. . 
 Spalding, Charles 
 Spalding, Daniel R. . 
 Spicer, Edward E. . 
 Stanton, IVIarcia P. . 
 Steffensen, Peter 
 Sterling, Stephen P. 
 Stivers, James H. 
 Symington, Frederick 
 
 Tanner, Abel P. . . 
 Tanner, Asahel . . 
 Thayer, Jonathan W. 
 Thompson, Thomas O. 
 Tibbetts, Frederick M. 
 Tiffany, Allen . 
 Tillotson, Amos B. . 
 Tinker, Horace W. . 
 
 PAGE 
 356 
 305 
 
 153 
 
 319 
 
 HI 
 
 469 
 
 337 
 341 
 201 
 180 
 
 29 
 344 
 327 
 
 21 
 
 139 
 400 
 295 
 462 
 419 
 375 
 
 55 
 290 
 460 
 312 
 406 
 416 
 328 
 160 
 
 Vaughn, Alfred H. 
 Viets, Carl J. . . 
 
 w. 
 
 207 
 
 15 
 
 Wait, John T. 
 
 ... 128 
 
 Walden, Charles H. 
 
 . 348 
 
 Ward, John L. . . 
 
 • 319 
 
 Warren, Maria E. 
 
 ... 449 
 
 Watrous, Robert S. . 
 
 • • 323 
 
 Way, Willard J. . . 
 
 . 270 
 
 West, Henry E. . . 
 
 ■ ■ 338 
 
 Wheeler, J. 0. 
 
 122 
 
 Wheeler, Silas B. . 
 
 . 172 
 
 Wheeler, Thomas W. 
 
 . . . 122 
 
 Whiton, David E. . 
 
 . 268 
 
 Wilbur, Robert P. . 
 
 ■ • • 43 
 
 Wilcox, Elias F. . 
 
 . . 281 
 
 Wilcox, Fanny A. 
 
 . 185 
 
 Wilcox, Tliomas P. 
 
 • 434 
 
 Williams, Benjamin F. 
 
 179 
 
 WiUiams, Charles D. 
 
 • . 380 
 
 Williams, Charles P. 
 
 ... 466 
 
 Williams, Elias . . 
 
 ... 364 
 
 Williams, Hezekiah U. 
 
 . 88 
 
 Williams, James S. . 
 
 ... 127 
 
 Williams, Joseph S. . 
 
 . 103 
 
 York, Horace F. . 
 Young, George G. 
 
 445 
 
PORTRAITS. 
 
 Allen, Ruth E. (steel) . . 
 
 ■ 431 
 
 AUyn, Mr. and Mrs. Calvin, 
 
 222, 223 
 
 Allyn, Gurdon F. 
 
 255 
 
 AUyn, James . . 
 
 13s 
 
 Allyn, John T. . 
 
 "7 
 
 Ayer, George A. 
 
 396 
 
 Backus, Asa ... 
 
 . 26 
 
 Bacon, Morris W. 
 
 57 
 
 Beckwith, Cyrus G. . 
 
 19 
 
 Beebe, Charles G. 
 
 68 
 
 Bill, Mr. and Mrs.Jephthah G. 
 
 ,332,333 
 
 Bill, Palmer 
 
 . 62 
 
 Bindloss, T. Palmer (steel) 
 
 39 
 
 Bindloss, William . . . 
 
 . 191 
 
 Bindloss, William P. 
 
 . 192 
 
 Bishop, Charles . . 
 
 262 
 
 Bowen, John A. . . . 
 
 . los 
 
 Braman, Francis N. . 
 
 31 
 
 Brand, Dudley A. 
 
 287 
 
 Brayton, Charles E. . . 
 
 50 
 
 Brewer, Lyman 
 
 • 79 
 
 Broughton, William F. . . 
 
 • 448 
 
 Brown, James A 
 
 155 
 
 Brown, Lucius D. 
 
 209 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Calkins, Daniel 44^ 
 
 Chadwick, Richard W 303 
 
 Champlin, Denison J. . 383 
 
 Crandall, S. Ashbel . 309 
 
 De Wolf, Winiield S. . . 424 
 
 Fish, Walter .... . . 175 
 
 Griswold, George L. .187 
 
 Griswold, Richard S. . . facing 36 
 Hall, Joseph . . .... 245 
 
 Hall, Stephen H 16S 
 
 Harris, Nathaniel O. ... 84 
 
 Hewitt, Charles P. . 436 
 
 Howard, Charles S. . . . 391 
 
 Hull, Latham .... . 239 
 
 Keeney, Nathan . 149 
 
 Ladd, William . . . 215 
 
 Lathrop, John M. N. . -74 
 
 Lee, Benjamin H. . . . 456 
 
 Luce, James V .251 
 
 Maine, Charles O. . 46 
 
 Mansfield, William H 279 
 
 Manwaring, Mr. and Mrs 
 
 David C • • 317 
 
 Miner, Richard K. . 199 
 
 Miner, Sidney (steel) 
 Mitchell, John . . 
 Morgan, Nelson 
 Miiller, August . 
 Noyes, Benjamin F. . 
 Pendleton, James 
 Perkins, Albert W. . 
 Perkins, Charles C. 
 Robinson, Myron W. 
 Rogers, George W. . 
 Scott, Thomas A. . . 
 Sizer, John B. . . . 
 Smith, James F. . 
 Steffensen, Peter . . 
 Symington, Frederick . 
 Tinker, Mr. and Mrs. 
 
 W 
 
 Wait, John T. 
 Walden, Charles H. . 
 Way, WiUard J. . . 
 Wheeler, Thomas W. 
 Williams, Hezekiah U. 
 
 13 
 
 . 96 
 
 • 203 
 
 . 411 
 
 404 
 
 367 
 231 
 141 
 
 357 
 
 . . no 
 
 ... 340 
 
 181 
 . . 294 
 
 • • 374 
 Horace 
 
 162, 163 
 . 129 
 
 ■ 349 
 271 
 123