USA > Connecticut > New Haven County > Bethany > Bethany and its hills > Part 1
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org.
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5
F 104 B45 L75
C
١
ON THE RAVINE, NORTH OF LAKE CHAMBERLAIN.
-
-
BETHANY AND ITS HILLS
GLIMPSES OF THE TOWN OF BETHANY AS IT WAS BEFORE THE RAILROADS AND THE FIRE FIEND ROBBED IT OF ITS GLORY
MRS. ELIZA J. LINES NEW HAVEN, CONN.
With Illustrations
NEW HAVEN : THE TUTTLE, MOREHOUSE & TAYLOR COMPANY 1905
F104 .545175
1
CONTENTS.
PAGE.
Introductory,
vii
Bethany and its Hills,
Į
Bethany was incorporated as a town in 1832,
6
Mt. Sanford.
9
Beacon Hill.
II
Beacon Cap.
The Isaac Clark Family,
12 17 19 24
Capt. Ebenezer Dayton Robbery.
27
Rev. Isaac Jones.
29
The Thomas and Tolles Families,
30
The French Family.
Rev. Frederic B. Woodward. M.D.,
The Hotchkiss Family,
Interesting Notes.
The Beecher Family,
Lebanon Ilill.
The Perkins Family.
45 49
Isaac Judd.
Uri Tuttle Family,
50
Leonard Todd Family.
56
The Carrington Family.
56 60
Rev. Edmund Peck.
62
Garry Hoadley Family.
Lambert Wooding.
62
The Sanford Family, 63
31 33 35 37 4I 42
The Sperry Families.
The Hezekiah Thomas Hotel.
LIST OF PORTRAITS AND ILLUSTRATIONS.
--
PORTRAITS.
Mrs. Sarah ( Sperry ) Peck,
16
Theodore Hotchkiss,
17
Mrs. Lucia ( Sperry) Hotchkiss, 18
Elizur H. Sperry.
20
Harry French,
33
Mrs. Jane ( French ) Peck,
34
The Rev. Frederic B. Woodward, opposite
34
William Lounsbury,
40
Archibald Abner Perkins.
16
Mrs. Milly (Judd) Perkins, 47
Rev. Israel P. Warren, D.D., opposite
18
Seymour Tuttle, 53
Miss Jennette Tuttle,
54
Mrs. Leonard Todd-five generations, opposite
56
John Bennett Carrington, opposite
58
ILLUSTRATIONS.
On the Ravine, (Frontispiece)
Christ Episcopal Church,
3
Congregational Church, 5
Episcopal Church and Rectory, 6
Methodist Church, opposite
8
The Old House and Mill of Edson Sperry, opposite
Beacon Cap, West view. IO
Beacon Cap, North view, 12
The Treat Clark House,
15
Judge Clark House, opposite
The Col. Alvan Sperry Homestead, opposite 18
PAGE.
11
ILLUSTRATIONS.
PAGE.
The Oldl Darling Hotel, opposite . 20
The Residence of S. Gilbert Davidson, opposite 12
The Ehhu Sanford Place, opposite 21
The Dr Castle House, opposite 26
The Jesse Atwater House, opposite 28
The Old Hezekiah Thomas Hotel. opposite 28
The Bethany Post Office, opposite 30
The Residence of Samuel R. Woodward. opposite 32
The George Hotelikiss House, opposite 30
The Lysias Beecher House. . 39
The Old Lewis Thomas House, opposite 40
The Old Kimberly House, opposite
42
The Fliakim Smith House, opposite
12
The Allen Thomas Homestead, opposite
The Old Perkins Tavern, opposite
44 10
The Old Uri Tuttle House. South view.
51
The Old Uri Tuttle House. North view.
52
The Chauncey Tuttle House, opposite
54
The William Wooding House.
59
The Hoadley Mills. 60
The Garry Hoadley House, opposite
The Hoadley Mills. 51
The Hoad'ey Mills and Dam. 62
An Old Chestnut Tree near Garry Hoadley's. opposite 62
The Hoadley Mills Dam. 63
The Henry Sanford House, opposite 64
INTRODUCTORY.
During a brief sojourn in the town of Bethany in the summer of 1893. while exchanging reminiscences with friends, one sug- gested that I should make a note of some things of interest for the benefit of later generations. Knowing there were others more competent to do such a work, I never gave the subject a second thought until the year 1903.
Ten years had elapsed, and in the meantime, having compiled a work of the ancestry of our family. I have had occasion to make inquiries in that line, and have been often referred to some members of the family who had settled in the West and had through great expense and trouble procured the genealogy of their family. In every instance I would get a response so kindly and freely given, with frequently a postscript added. "If you have any additional information of old landmarks, etc., it would be fully appreciated." that, feeling under such great obligations, how could I reciprocate better than by collecting such items as far as able to do so?
In receiving scores of such letters one is reminded of the oft-repeated lines of Scott :
"Breathes there a man with soul so dead. Who never to himself hath said. This is my own, my native land !"
"Land of my sires! what mortal hand Can e'er untie the filial band That knits me to thy rugged strand !"
In making an effort to procure views of some of the old home- steads we found that the homes of the first settlers ( that had not
viii
INTRODUCTION.
been destroyed by fire ) had gone to decay, and nothing was left to mark the site unless occasionally an okl cellar wall, with a remnant of a lilac or rose bush near, or an old well sweep tossing about an old oaken bucket that had hung in the well. Therefore the only alternative seems to be in preserving views of those houses built at a later date, several over a century old, and some of historic interest.
Carlyle said, "History is the essence of innumerable biogra- phies."
It requires nice discrimination to give credit to the original author, as every generation adds material.
We quote from Barber and Rockey. and others, that which has been collected from the earliest records, with additions.
Montaigne said, "I gathered a posie of other men's flowers. and nothing mine own but the thread that binds them."
BETHANY AND ITS HILLS.
GLIMPSES OF THE TOWN OF BETHANY AS IT WAS BEFORE THE RAIL-
ROADS AND THE FIRE FIEND HAD ROBBED IT OF ITS GLORY.
And he led them out as far as to Bethany and he lifted up his hands and blessed them .- St. Luke, chap. 24, 50th verse.
The town of Bethany was originally included within the boundary lines of the New Haven Colony.
"Few places in our country can furnish more interesting materials of its past history than New Haven. Its first settlers were a remarkable body.
Distinguished above most men by high moral principles, and an inflexible attachment to civil and religious liberty, they were indeed, of the best class of the nation from which they emi- grated.
Many of them had moved in superior ranks of life, and some had held offices of great trust and responsibility in their native country.
New Haven is beautifully situated on an extensive plain, at the head of a harbor or bay, which extends inland four miles from Long Island Sound, and is nearly environed on all sides, except in this direction, by an amphitheater of hills."
Barber's Antiquities.
In 1661 Richard Sperry harbored the Regicides at his house three miles west of the center of New Haven, and Ralph Lines lived about a mile west on the hill, which, when that portion of the town of New Haven was separated and called Amity. placed these two families just over the line in Amity. As their families increased, and they were united to other families, they migrated to the "hills," where they were joined by .families from the adjacent towns, Milford. Derby. Cheshire and Hamden.
No one was allowed in those days to hold a religious meet- ing or to give an exhortation in any meetings without con- sent of the proper authorities.
2
2
BETHANY AND ITS IHILLS.
Previous to 1737 the inhabitants of the northwestern part of the town of New Haven were obliged to go ten or twelve miles to church on the Sabbath; at that date an Ecclesiastical Society was formed and it was decided that the dwelling house of Mr. Joseph Wilmot and the dwelling house of Mr. Joseph Perkins should be the places for the meetings for divine service. In 1738 it was decided to build a house for the worship of God. In August, 1740, the first meeting was held in the new meeting house. Rev. Gideon Mills, Mr. Whittlesey, and Nathan Birdsey were candidates for the ministry, but did not settle with them. On May 1, 1742, Rev. Benjamin Woodbridge received a call and was installed on the 3d of November. 1742.
Rules were soon adopted for seating the church ; the dignity of a person was reckoned from the amount of his tax rate for the building of the meeting house.
Mr. Woodbridge held the office as pastor of the first church forty-three years, until his death, December 4. 1785. His long pastorate seemed to have been successful and harmonious.
In 1762 the north part of the parish was set off and consti- tuted the parish of Bethany, and a new ecclesiastical society ordered.
A society committee was chosen, consisting of Timothy Peck. John White, Isaac Beecher, Daniel Tolles, and Joel Hotchkiss, "prominent, representative men." Meetings were held in the school-house which the Amity society had built in 1750, about a mile south of the present center. On the 12th of October, 1763, the Rev. Stephen Hawley was ordained its first pastor ; in 1769-1770 a church was built on the hill a half mile south of the present church, and Mr. Hawley continued pastor until his decease-1804, a period of over forty years. His wife, Mary Bellamy, died 1791, leaving three children. In 1793 he married Mehitable, daughter of Deacon Joel Hotchkiss of Beth- any. She removed in 1806 with her three children to New Haven, where she died in 1827. Two of her sons were grad- uates of Yale College.
"Rev. Stephen Hawley. Jr., A.M .. was son of Stephen, son of Samuel, son of Joseph Ist. He was born in 1738, graduated at Yale 1759.
Tradition says his ordination was performed in the open air. near the fork of the roads below the residence of Mrs. Bradley.
3
BETHANY AND ITS HILLS.
The ordination sermon was delivered by that eminent divine. the Rev. Dr. Joseph Bellamy of Bethlehem, Conn., from I Corinthians xi, 2.
The records state that Mr. Hawley was very useful to his people during his ministry and was sincerely beloved by his
CHRIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH.
flock, who, in his visitations, as well as in his ministrations in the sanctuary, beheld his face as it had been the face of an angel, for he was conversant among them with gravity, pru- dence, modesty. humility, candor, wisdom and benevolence." ( Hawley Record. )
There is a stone erected to his memory in the old cemetery in the southern part of the town. After the Episcopal Church
4
BETILANY AND ITS HIILLS.
was built there was a cemetery laid out adjoining, on the east side, and another south of the Congregational Church; also one on the northeast side of the town, near the Carringtons. Todds and Tuttles, and later one adjoining the Methodist Church. There are some monuments and nice headstones in each of them.
In June, 1806, Rev. Isaac Jones, who had been ordained col- league of Mr. Hawley in June, 1804, was deposed, on account of some dissatisfaction in the society, and the result was that two independent societies were organized. Mr. Jones and his followers became Episcopalians. Timothy Peck, Timothy Ball, and Isaac Beecher were appointed committee.
Christ Church ( Protestant Episcopal) was built in 1810, and the first ministers are not recorded. Before 1840 were Rev. Isaac Jones, Rev. A. Cornwall. 1813: Rev. William A. Curtis, 1813: Rev. J. Il. Rouse. 1836; Rev. Oliver Hopson. Since 1840, Rev. Isaac Jones, 1842-6; F. B. Woodward, 1846-8; Dexter Potter, 1848-52: Henry Zell. 1853; John M. Guion, 1854-5: Henry Townsend, 1855: Charles J. Todd, 1856-8; James Adams, 1858-63: F. B. Woodward, 1864-8; H. S. Atwater, 1867-74: Martin Moody. 1875-80: C. W. Colton. 1881-7: Lewis F. Morris, 1887-9: Walter D. Humphrey, 1900 ; Lewis F. Morris, at present date ( 1904).
In 1836 there were one hundred and twenty-six families ; prominent among them were Andrew Beach, Beri E. Beecher, William Burnham, Edward Buckingham, Hezekiah Brown, Dr. Jehiel Castle, Russell Chatfield, Henry A. Carrington, Darius Driver, Jesse A. Doolittle, Charles French, Harry French, Asaph French, Eber Hotchkiss, George Hotchkiss, Harley Hotchkiss, Archibald Perkins, A. A. Perkins, Guy Perkins, Abel Prince, Edwin Pardee, Levi M. Marks, Ezra Sperry, Enos Sperry, Hezekiah Thomas, Seymour Tuttle, Charles S. Tuttle and Ilenry A. Smith.
The church has a supporting fund of $4.500 ; bequeathed by Anson Perkins, $2,000; Dwight E. Todd, $1,000; Leonard Todd, $500; Juliana L. Bradley, $500, and Hannah Beecher, $500.
In 1875 the church was thoroughly repaired, at a cost of $2,000.
In 1885 a pipe organ was purchased, costing $1,000.
5
BETHANY AND ITS HILLS.
The Congregational society was reorganized 1809. A fund, which had been started in 1673, was later raised. Deacon Isaac Johnson left a legacy. John Thomas was pledged for $700. Elihu Sanford for $250, and other subscribers for smaller amounts, until by subscriptions and bequests, in 1890, it amounted to $8,000.
In 1810 the Rev. Nathan Huntington was installed pastor and continued until 1823. In 1824 the Rev. Abraham AAlling,
E
F
CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH.
followed by Rev. Ephraim Swift ; 1832-1834. Rev. Jarius Wil- cox : 1834-36, John B. Kendall: 1840, Samuel Clark : 1843, D. B. Butts: 1849, F. Harrison: 1855. E. W. Robinson, and subsequently, John Churchill, William N. Belden, Tra Smith, Augustus Smith, C. Bruce, William S. Woodruff and students from the Divinity School of Yale College. A new church was built by this society in 1832-3, under the supervision of the committee, John Thomas, Silas Hotchkiss, Elihu Sanford, Lewis Hine. and Hiram Hotchkiss. It is nearly opposite the Episco- pal church.
6
BETHANY AND ITS HILLS.
In 1866 it was remodeled at a cost of more than $2.500, under the direction of Jason W. Bradley, William O. White and Justus Peck.
About 1820 a society was formed of the Methodist denomi- nation which resulted in the building of a church in the eastern part of the town in 1841. The trustees in 1890 were: Jerome A. Downs, Allen Lounsbury, Thomas H. Brooks, Sherrill Brooks, D. B. Hoadley, William 11. Lounsbury and Benajah
-
EPISCOPAL CHURCH AND RECTORY-CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH.
Tuttle. Among the first Methodists were Joel Andrews, George F. Peck and Philo Sanford.
Bethany was incorporated as a town in 1832. It was pre- viously a parish in the town of Woodbridge. It is upwards of five miles in length and four in breadth.
The first town meeting was held at the Congregational meet- ing house June 11, 1832, and Reuben Judd was the moderator. The officers chosen were -town clerk. Hezekiah Thomas ; selectmen, Reuben Judd, Andrew Beecher, Theophilus Smith, John Russell. Archibald A. Perkins: constables, Burr Perkins,
7
BETHANY AND ITS HILLS.
Leverett Thomas ; grand jurors, Ebenezer Platt, Jesse Beecher, Libbins Dickerman, Abel Prince, Abram Hotchkiss; tything- men, Leonard Todd, Miles Hitchcock, Grant Hitchcock, Joel Andrews, Eli Terrell, Abira Collins, Clark Hotchkiss, Major Lounsbury, Anan Atwater, Lewis Bishop, Leverett Benham, Eden Johnson ; fence viewers, Isaac Hine, Timothy Louns- bury, Lysias Beecher, Abel Prince, Elihu Robinson.
The town clerks succeeding Hezekiah Thomas : in 1844-1845. Edwin Lines: 1846-9, Asa Woodward: 1850-4. Jason W. Bradley : 1855-79, Nathan Clark ; 1880-1904. Edwin N. Clark.
Selectmen during that period were: Andrew Beecher, Harry French, Lewis Lines, Miles French, P. B. Hine. Enos Perkins, Darius Driver, Sidney Sperry, Justus Peck, Marcus W. Bradley, Edwin Buckingham, Henry E. Lounsbury, Samuel G. Davidson, E. O. Pardee, Jason W. Bradley, Theophilus Smith, Edwin Pardee, Horace Tolles, Anthony H. Stoddard. Abel Prince, Leverett Shares, Guy Perkins, Dennis Beecher, Robert Clark, D. N. Clark, Samuel R. Woodward, Charles G. Perkins, David Carrington, Jasper B. Todd.
In 1854 Jason W. Bradley was the first judge of probate : in 1856 Andrew Beecher: in 1863 Nathan Clark, who was also commissioner of the Superior Court.
According to the census of 1830 the population of Bethany was 1,049, Woodbridge 1.000, and New Haven 10.698. In 1900 Bethany was 517, Woodbridge 852, New Haven 108.027.
There is not much encouragement in writing of a town that is retrograding, but it still has its hills; and if the life of the town has been ebbing towards the cities and manufacturing towns, as the waves of the sea have their daily and nightly ebb and flow, so the tide seems turning in a wave of enthusiasm, reaching out to the hills, "the everlasting hills."
Where the atmosphere So bracing and clear,
will prove a "balm of Gilead" to the overtaxed brain and body, no shriek of a locomotive to tax the nerves, and a voice in every breeze seems to say, "Come unto me all ye that are weary and heavy laden and I will give you rest."
The New Haven Water Company is developing mineral springs, and clearing up the ravines with surprising results.
8
BETHANY AND ITS HILLS.
It is estimated by the tax list that the company owns two thousand acres at least of the town.
The first house over the division line between Woodbridge and Bethany on the turnpike was Enos Sperry's, and east was William Burnham's, the Goodyear house, which was large, with a ball room.
During an interview with the late Mr. Edward Heaton of New Haven, whose mother was Elizabeth Goodyear, daughter of Joel, who was son of Theophilus, of Revolutionary fame, a descendant of Stephen Goodyear, the first Deputy Governor of the New Haven colony, he said that his mother, in her old age, expressed a desire to visit the old homestead in Woodbridge (now Bethany) and purchase it, perhaps. Accordingly they drove out, and, to her great disappointment, found that it had been destroyed by fire, a portion of the cellar filled in and a house of a different style built over the remaining portion. It was then owned by William Burnham, and is now (1904) owned and occupied by his daughter, Mrs. Woodruff.
David Burnham came from England, and settled in East Haven, and later in Bethany. He married Rachel Tuttle ; their children were: James, William and Martha. WillianI, born June 11, 1795, and died July 29, 1882, married Harriet. daughter of Ami Hoadley: their children were: Adeline, David Alonzo, Emeline. Martha, Margaret and Sarah J. Mar- garet married George L. Woodruff, son of Merritt; their children are: Mary S., married Charles E. Ball; Georgiana L., married Ellis Warner.
Following the boundary line to the West Rock ridge over- looking Wintergreen Lake, and continuing north to a crossroad from Bethany to Mt. Carmel, there is fine cultivated land, where the Dickermans and Warners from Hamden, the Gaylords, of Huguenot descent, from Cheshire, and the Doolittles, descend- ants of Abraham ( who was sheriff of New Haven County in 1644), from Wallingford, having high aspirations, made homes for their families.
Jesse and Reuben Doolittle attended the Episcopal Church in Bethany seventy years ago, although it was three or four miles distant, arriving always in time for morning service, and the numerous little Doolittles with sparkling eyes and rosy cheeks, invigorated by the early morning ride over the hills. Allen
X
THE METHODIST CHURCH.
9
BETHANY AND ITS HILLS.
Doolittle resided just over the Hamden line, although his farm extends in Bethany to the ravine, which is owned by the New Haven Water Company. There are orchards of fine fruit. meadows and everything requisite and necessary on a farm.
The old farmhouse, which is large, roomy, and neatly fur- nished, was occupied by ten school teachers from the city during a part of their summer vacation a year ago by invitation from the owner, Mrs. Beardsley, of New Haven, a granddaughter of the late Allen Doolittle. During the past summer several parties have recuperated there, and report in glowing colors the benefit derived from the mountain air, pure water, and berries in abund- ance, free as the air. Everyone cannot summer in Litchfield or the Adirondacks, and why should they, when there are locations so accessible to the city, so elevated and charmingly delightful? The description of one of these mountain homes must suffice, and if anyone is interested they should investigate. and follow the ridge a mile or two, until they reach the summit. where it is said Bethany, Hamden and Cheshire unite. It is called on the United States topographical map Mt. Sanford. and is from 900 to 1.000 feet high.
MIT. SANFORD.
Just before the late Civil War the United States coast sur- veyors who were sent out by the Government were stationed at this point as the highest in the State within the same distance of the coast. General and Mrs. Mckellan were with the party of surveyors, with their attendants and families. They used a theodolite which required from four to six men to operate. Sight could be taken with this instrument a hundred miles or more.
Parties of equestrians and pedestrians were attracted thither during their encampment. The view with the naked eye is magnificently grand on the east, overlooking the beautiful vale of Cheshire with its gentle undulation, dotted here and there with farm houses, and the church spires locate the centre. The purple, blue and gray in the perspective, crowned with the "Hanging Hills" of Meriden, is worth a long journey to see. Owing to a queer freak of nature there is a deep cut through
10
BETHANY AND ITS HILLS.
the mountain at this point sufficiently wide for a road, which. in descending from Bethany, is exceedingly romantic and pic- turesque. In some places there is barely room for two teams to pass each other, when one suddenly emerges from the wilderness of the dark ravine to view a broad panorama of landscape spread out before them, and in spring and autumn can be heard the weird music of a cataract which, in leaping from the mountain's crest over precipitous ledges, dashing, rush- ing, foaming down through rock and glen, is called "Roaring Brook," a place where poets and artists linger in their senti- mental reveries.
To return to the road's level from Cheshire to Bethany. Amasa Brooks, with sons Sherrill and Amasa, resided, and on the corner where the roads cross was Isaac Brooks, whose son Richard married Laura Baldwin, whose sons were the enter- prising hat. cap and fur dealers in Chapel Street. New llaven. Isaac Brooks married a sister of AAndrew Smith of Prospect. Their children, Mary, Sarah. Elizabeth, and Cynthia, all found homes in other towns and are all deceased.
On the road leading north was Benoni and Jesse Perkins. whose descendants removed to Waterbury. Turning the corner at the Stephen Bradley house was Ransom Jerakl's, who mar- ried Alma ( daughter of Isaac Judd, called the old schoolmaster ). Their children settled in Wallingford and were quite prominent. Bennett died recently, aged 86.
Near by was the commodious residence of Joseph Bradley. who married Nancy Ballwin of Woodbridge, and it is said that of their ten children not a descendant is remaining in town. The house passed into other hands, and later was burned to the ground. Continuing on was the house of "Johnny Gid" San- ford, son of Gideon. His sister Patty was a spinster. and a spinner by vocation, being engaged by families several weeks at a time, where from early morn to dewy eve her lithe figure tripped lightly to and fro. deftly handling the airy rolls white as snow with one hand, while the other kept the wheel in motion. Her voice was something remarkable. It was like an echo, and if it had been cultivated it might have astonished the world.
Near the boundary line was a tract of land called the Yale Field, being owned by Yale College, where the students were Wont to assemble on holidays for athletic sports, etc.
A
N.4
THE OLD HOME AND MILL OF EDSON SPERRY.
1 1
BETHANY AND ITS HILLS.
As the road meets the turnpike there is the old house and mill, nestled in the shadow of the Beacon. It was built by Isaac Hine and owned later by Edson Sperry, who conducted the carding of wool and dyeing and dressing of cloth in a very satisfactory manner. It is now owned by Mr. Twitchell.
BEACON HILL.
About fourteen miles from New Haven the main road to Waterbury passes by Beacon mountain, a rude ridge of almost
BEACON CAP. WEST VIEW.
naked rock stretching southwest ; at this place is "Collins tavern." long known as an excellent public house, and the "Straitsville P. O." About half a mile south of Mr. Collins. the road passes through a narrow defile, formed by a gap in the mountain, and is barely sufficient in width for a road and a small but sprightly brook, which winds through the nar- row passage. On both sides the cliffs are lofty, particularly
1 2
BETHANY AAND ITS HIIL.L.S.
on the west on the east, at a little distance from the road. they overhang in a threatening manner .- "The ridges of the Beacon mountain present fine geological and picturesque features, and are much more abrupt and grand than most of the mica slate regions of Connecticut .- Barber's Hist. Col.
Beacon Cap is a huge boukler on the highest point of the ridge on the mountain which divides Bethany from Naugatuck. It is about forty feet in circumference and twenty in height. and can be seen for many miles distant. It probably floated there
BEACON CAP. NORTH VIEW.
during the glacial period, and must have struck with great force to have broken off a portion. The view from the top is so fine that the church spires from several towns can be seen with the naked eye.
It was a place of rendezvous for pienie parties, formerly more than of late years, especially on holidays. The young men and maidens would have a merry time in ascending. sometimes shouting. "Oh, for a Pegasus to take us to the heights of Parnassus!"
13
BETHANY AND ITS HILLS.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.