USA > Connecticut > Fairfield County > Bridgeport > A history of the city of Bridgeport, Connecticut > Part 39
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On the 6th of October, 1823, he married Melinda, daughter of Agur Tomlinson of Brookfield, Conn. After several years he united with Isaac and William DeForest in the Boston coasting trade, after that, with Stephen Burroughs in the West India trade, having an interest also in the whaling business.
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He was sheriff during a period of ten years, and while occupy ing this position was invited by Alfred Bishop to engage in the railroad business, then in its infancy. This was about the year 1838. He bought the right of way for a portion of the Housa- tonic railroad, then was engaged on the N. Y. and N. H. rail- road in the same business. He located the line of the Nauga- tuck railroad, bought the right of way, superintended the construction of the road until its completion and in the mean- time was made superintendent of the road, which position he held for seven years, and on resigning received a handsome silver salver and pitcher from the employees of the road in token of their regard. He then took charge of the Madison and Indianapolis railroad and its extension then building to Peru, as Vice-President and Superintendent, but receiving in less than a year a handsome offer. he came to New York and accepted the Vice-Presidency of the Hudson River railroad. remaining a few years until he was offered the presidency of the N. Y. and Harlem railroad. He brought that road and its affairs into a prosperous condition, but at the expense of his own health, and after partially recovering from a severe ill- ness, he resigned his position and went to Florida and the Western States, and the following year to Europe, taking the "grand tour " and spending the winter in Italy. He returned in good health and engaged in a few business enterprises, but for the last twenty or more years of his life he has enjoyed a quiet leisure, often passing his winters in Florida or some other genial clime and his summers in Saratoga Springs and at Bridgeport with his daughter Mrs. J. E. Dunham.
In appearance he was very like his mother, having all the Blackman traits, slender form, active temperament, black hair and eyes. He possessed great energy of character, industry and perseverance. In his late years his loveliness of charac- ter outshone all other traits. He was a superior conversa- tionalist, polite in his manners and a great favorite.
On the 6th of October, 1873, he and Mrs. Hurd celebrated their golden wedding in Bridgeport, gathering together a number of their old friends for the occasion. Mrs. Hurd died on the 3d of October, 1882, having lived with her husband 59 years. In Bridgeport he engaged in many public enter-
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prises; was alderman of the city, recorder for many years, clerk of the Court of Probate; vestryman and treasurer of St. John's Church ; and director of the Connecticut State Prison. He died August 14, 1885, aged 90 years and 20 days. He left three children, twelve grandchildren and three great- grandchildren.
William S. Knowlton .- Prominent among the men who were identified with Bridgeport's growth and pros- perity is the name of William S. Knowlton, who was born September 27th, 1810, at Shrewsbury, Worcester Co., Mass. He early learned the trade of a cutler but did not follow it long, devoting himself to the study of music and graduating at a then famous musical institute. From IS38 to 1842 he composed many pieces of sacred music, a number of which now rank among the most solid and popular of devo- tional compositions, and although without his name in modern reprints, are recognized by many as enduring monuments of his musical taste and remarkable skill in harmony. In 1848 he formed a co-partnership for the prosecution of railroad contract work, and the firm soon had heavy contracts in the construction of the New York and New Haven railroad, which work ultimately led him to this city. On the com pletion of that road he decided to make Bridgeport his home, and continued to reside here till the time of his death. Many of the public works of the city were built by him as con- tractor, the last being the Congress street bridge, after the completion of which he retired from active business life. Mr. Knowlton was widely known and universally respected among the business men of the community and throughout the State. He was a man of sterling integrity, genial, kindly feeling, quick to sympathize in the misfortunes of others and ever ready to do his share in every good work. He was thrice married, and at his death left one son, Colonel Julius W. Knowlton, at present (1886) Postmaster of Bridgeport.
Rowland Bradley Lacey, only son of Jesse and Edna (Munson) Lacey, was born at Easton, Conn., April 6, 1818. His early years were spent on his father's farm. After the manner of the period, at proper age, his time was divided
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between farm work and attendance upon the common district school. Later he had the advantages of Mr. Eli Gilbert's select school in Redding and of the Easton academy. Before he reached the age of sixteen years he commenced teaching school, which work he pursued for several terms in his native town and in Redding, " boarding around," as was the custom. Mr. Henry Sanford, of this city, and his brother Aaron, long a resident of Newtown, and Henry B. Fanton, of Danbury, Conn., were among his pupils. In April, 1836, at the age of eighteen years, he took up his residence in Bridgeport, occu- pying the position of assistant postinaster with Stephen Lounsbury and his immediate successor, Smith Tweedy, for nearly four years. Bridgeport was then a borough with less than three thousand inhabitants, and everything, including the mail service, was in marked contrast with the present. It was incorporated as a city in 1836. Mr. Lacey having been a continuous resident from that period and closely identified with its various interests, is specially conversant with its entire municipal history.
Upon the opening of the Housatonic railroad in Decem- ber, 1839, he secured the position of agent at Bridgeport, which involved a large share of the responsibility of operating the road. For several years during the winter season this was the only steam line between New York and Albany, and hence the traffic was very heavy, taxing to the utmost the resources of the road. In March, 1844, he resigned this posi- tion with the railroad, not without the remonstrances of Alfred Bishop and other leading men connected with the road, to accept a position offered him by Messrs. Harral and Calhoun as book-keeper in their saddle manufactory. This was at the time one of the leading manufactories in the State of Connecticut, doing a large southern trade, having a ware- house in New York and branch establishments in Charleston, S. C., and Saint Louis, Mo. Mr. Lacey soon became assistant manager of the manufactory, and in 1853 became a member of the firm of Harral, Calhoun and Company. In 1858, after the death of Mr. Harral, the firm was reorganized under the name of Calhoun, Lacey and Company, and in 1863 the title was changed to Lacey, Meeker and Company. The market
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of the saddlery business being chiefly in the south, the late war involved heavy losses to them and caused this firm, with others, to withdraw and close up the business.
Between the years 1840 and 1850 Mr. Lacey was con- nected with the old volunteer fire department as private member, as foreman of Company No. I, and as assistant engineer. In 1848 he drew and procured the adoption of a city by-law for a better organization of the fire department, which continued in force until the adoption of the paid system in 1870.
He was a member of the common council in 1848, 1852, 1853, and 1864. In 1870 he was requested by Mayor Morford and others to visit neighboring cities and ascertain their methods of keeping public accounts, and he then drew the plan of the present financial system, which, upon some revis- ion by Francis Ives, Esq., was adopted by the common coun- cil February 20, 1871. At the same time he was appointed city auditor for three years, and to this office he was reelected in 1874, 1877, and 1880. He was also connected almost con- stantly during the above period with the street and sewer departments, as the clerk of the board of road and bridge commissioners and secretary of the park commissioners, and in the adjustment of damages and benefits for street and sewer improvements. He introduced system into the accounts of the town of Bridgeport and since 1876 has had the sole charge and management of the Town Sinking Fund-involving a heavy responsibility.
The Bridgeport Annual " Municipal Register " originated with him in 1873, and for ten successive years he prepared and supervised its publication. It was fully appreciated from the first and is regarded as an invaluable work of reference.
His services have been much sought for on important committees, and as trustee, executor or administrator on numerous estates.
One of the earliest fields of usefulness aside from his regular employment was in the public schools of Bridgeport, which he found at a very low ebb. His efforts resulted in marked improvement of the central school. Other pressing engagements withdrew him from that field and the only part
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taken by him in the more recent measures was in the adjust- ment of the intricate financial questions and interests between the town and the former school districts in connection with consolidation.
He has always been interested in local history, and this, in fact, might be styled his hobby, or his field of recreation, since in the house and by the way he lightens every work and enterprise with inquiry and anecdote of history.
It was at his suggestion that his father-in-law, Deacon Isaac Sherman, wrote a valuable series of articles, embody- ing his own early recollections together with many facts handed down from the first settlers. These sketches, revised and corrected by Mr. Lacey, are published in this work, much to the honor of the early settlers of the locality. He has also written, at the expense of much time, research and labor, many papers, articles and obituary notices, which have been published in various forms-in the " Municipal Regis- ter " and public journals of the city, and read before the His- torical Society, which have added very greatly to the remem- brance of the early inhabitants of the place, and to the pleas- ure and satisfaction of the present generation. A very busy man with present, living issues, he has yet found time to rescue the graves of the fathers and mothers of the early set- tlement from disgraceful neglect. Those who have ancestors or friends buried in the ancient Stratfield burial ground owe him a lasting debt of gratitude for his liberal expenditure of time, labor and money for the accomplishment of this end.
In the whirl, excitement and cares of an intensely busy life, he never lost sight of his moral and religious obligations.
He began life a total abstainer from intoxicants and man- fully adhered to the principle through many temptations. Very soon after he took up his residence here he identified himself with the First Congregational Church, then under the pastoral care of Rev. John Blatchford and entered the choir and Sabbath school. In July, 1837, he became a mem- ber of that church by the removal of his relations from the Congregational Church in Redding, Conn. How thoroughly he has been identified with the First Church all these years since, few now on the stage can know or appreciate. The records of the Sabbath school, the Church and Ecclesiastical
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Society best reveal it. He was elected deacon of the church August 30, 1850, and has served continuously since-also a number of years as clerk and treasurer. For nearly fifty years he has served in one or more of the following capacities : society's treasurer, chairman of the society's committee, Sun- day school teacher, librarian, teacher of the Bible class and superintendent.
Rev. Peter Lockwood, son of Lambert and Elizabeth Lockwood, was born in Bridgeport, Conn., February 8, 1798, and was the third of a family of five children, one of whom was Roe Lockwood, a well known book seller in New York. He was descended from Puritan ancestry, who stoutly resisted the encroachments of the Romanists in the days of Charles I. He often related the story told by his mother of the escape from Ireland in 1641 of one of her ancestors by the name of John Roe. "This John Roe and his brother, in endeavoring to reach the sea shore as they fled from persecution, took refuge in the house of a wealthy lady whom they knew, and while receiving refreshment were alarmed by the arrival of officers in search of them. The good housewife hastily hid them in a closet filled with soiled clothes. The officers demanded, and she delivered her bunch of keys to them, having previously removed the key of the closet where the men were hidden, but when the officers had searched the house they asked if she had delivered all her keys to them. She replied . There is the key of the closet where I keep my dirty clothes, if you want to look in there,' at which they were so disconcerted that they took their departure."
Peter Lockwood's youth was passed in his native place learning the art of printing and book-binding.
In 1813, at the age of fifteen years, he entered Yale Col- lege, where, in the midst of a successful scholarship, " he, with many others, publicly professed Christ in the college chapel, on April 2, 1815, and where he graduated in his college course in 1817." He at once entered the theological seminary at Andover, where he was graduated in 1820; and in 1821 was ordained an evangelist, which work he pursued three years in New York city, Richmond, Va., and in New England.
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On the second day of October, 1822, he married Matilda, the daughter of the Hon. John Davenport, of Stamford, Conn. In 1824 he was settled as pastor at Peekskill, on the Hudson, where he labored two years, after which, for a time, he pur- sued his evangelistic labors in Western New York.
On Sunday, August 5, 1827, he preached his first sermon in the first Presbyterian church of Binghamton, N. Y., where he became pastor and labored as such with great success six years. From 1834 he continued a classical school in Binghamton for two or three years. From October, 1837, he served as pastor of the Presbyterian church at Cortland, N. Y., for five years. From this place he removed, in 1842, to Berkshire, Tioga county, where he labored as pastor another five years, after which he made his residence in Binghamton until his decease, which occurred November 16, 1882, in the 85th year of his age.
The Rev. J. P. Gulliver, D.D., one of the successors of Mr. Lockwood in the Binghamton church, wrote of him : " I have always regarded Mr. Lockwood, since I knew him, as a very remarkable man. His force of character seemed to press up into view on all occasions and in all directions, as if from an inexhaustible fountain. His simplicity and artless- ness were even more remarkable, as it seemed to me. Happy shall we be if we can leave such a record.
Hon. James C. Loomis was born in Windsor, Conn., April 24, 1807. He prepared for college at the grammar school in Hartford, entered Yale College in 1824, at the age of seventeen, and graduated with honor in the class of 1828. Among his classmates were the Rev. P. T. Holly, for a time of this city. ex-Governor Hoppin, of Rhode Island, Judge William Strong, of the United States Supreme Court.
Mr. Loomis read law first at Charlotteville, Va., and finished his law studies with Judge Clark Bissell, of Norwalk. He was admitted to the bar of Fairfield county in 1832, and settled in his profession with the Hon. Samuel B. Sherwood, at Saugatuck, now Westport. He took from the first a very respectable stand as a lawyer, but regarding Bridgeport as a more promising field for his profession, he removed thither in 1840, and soon became actively interested in public matters.
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In 1848 he formed a law partnership with George W. Warner, which continued several years. He was city attorney for a number of years, and mayor of the city in 1843. He twice represented this town in the lower house of the State Legis- lature, and once or twice the tenth district as State Senator, and by virtue of this position became a member of the corpo- ration of Yale College.
He married Miss Eliza Mitchell in 1833, who, with her young son, departed this life in IS41, which was a very afflic- tive occurrence to him.
In 1844 he married Mary B., daughter of Ira Sherman, Esq., and immediately settled in his beautiful home on Golden Hill. His two children deceased while he was living, the daughter in early childhood, his son, of great promise, when a member of the senior class in Yale College.
Mr. Loomis was successful in business and financial en- terprises, and was a public spirited citizen. Upon the con- solidation of the city schools he was made the first president of the board and had a very active part in the organization of the schools. He was one of the first projectors of the Seaside Park, and as one of the commissioners of it was very active and influential in its early improvement. He was president of the stockholders' association for the erection of the present edifice of the first Congregational society from 1849 until about 1860. At his decease, September 16, 1877, he was president of the following boards and associations : Bar Asso- ciation of Fairfield County, the Board of Education, the Mountain Grove Cemetery Association, the Bridgeport Li- brary Association. He was also an active director in the City National Bank and trustee of the People's Savings Bank.
Henry R. Parrott was born January 4, 1829. At that time his parents, Frederick W. and Lucelia (Remer) Parrott, resided on the corner of Main and Wall streets. Mr. H. R. Parrott's education was obtained in the private schools of Ebenezer French and Warren W. Selleck of Bridgeport, and three years' course at the Danbury Academy under the instruction of Rev. John W. Irwin. His business life began in the dry goods store of Beers and Oviatt, where he remained until they closed their business. After that he was in the
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employ of James W. Beach for a few years, and then for about eight years in the store of E. Birdsey and Company. In 1855, he entered as agent the service of the Adams Express Company, which had just been organized. He left that com- pany in 1869 and organized the present Parrott Varnish Com- pany, the products of which have now a world-wide reputa- tion, Mr. Parrott being the manufacturer and general man- ager.
While not having any desire for political office, he has nevertheless strong, pronounced views, and is a thorough Republican, and as such during the late war by his fearless expressions and activity did much service in the cause. In recognition of his loyalty and business ability, the Adams Express Company in 1861, after the battle of Bull Run, selected him to reorganize and place upon a proper footing their extensive business in Washington, D. C.
In his own city he has been a member of the Board of Aldermen, twice a member of the Common Council, and six years a member of the Board of Police Commissioners. In 1873 he was elected a director of the New York and Eastern Railroad Company, the first organization looking to the build- ing of a parallel road from New York to New Haven. For thirteen years he has steadily advocated the project, and the present favorable condition of the New York and Connecti- cut Air Line Railway Company, of which he is the president, is largely due to his labors in that direction.
Henry Seymour Sanford, only son of David C. San- ford, Judge of the Supreme Court of Connecticut, was born in 1832, graduated with honor at Yale College in 1852, admitted to the bar in 1854, practiced at New Milford until 1864, when he removed to Bridgeport where he has since resided.
Mr. Sanford is noted for great energy and activity under a very great misfortune. In 1861, in consequence of an acci- dental injury he was rendered totally unable to walk or even to stand, by paralysis, which also seriously affected his arms and hands. But with constant effort he has exercised his strength to recover from this misfortune ; and since 1864, has followed his profession, both in the courts and in his office
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steadily, and has now a practice as extensive as any lawyer in his county.
In 1863, while temporarily living in New York, he wit- nessed an instance of gross cruelty to a horse, which led him to write a letter to the New York " Daily Times," proposing the formation of a society for the prevention of cruelty to ani- mals. This letter was conspicuously published in that paper, and is believed to have been the first suggestion for such a society published in New York or the United States. This letter attracted much attention : the suggestion was adopted, and as is well known, successfully carried out by Mr. Bergh. H. B. Claflin, an uncle of Mr. Sanford's wife, bequeathed $25,000 to this New York society, and like societies have been organized throughout the country.19
Mr. Sanford spends considerable time in the summers at New Milford, and in the spring of 1871 he proposed the scheme and drew the papers for the "Village Improvement Society," of that place, which has had very decided success, and become quite celebrated throughout the country, through lectures by the Rev. B. G. Northrop on this subject, in which, taking for his text the New Milford Society, he was influen- tial in forming more than three hundred similar societies.
19 JANUARY 4, 1864, NEW YORK DAILY TIMES.
After describing the exposure and terrible suffering of the horse so cruelly abandoned by its owner and left uncared for by the authorities of the city, Mr. Sanford concludes his letter as follows :
"Where the fault lies in the neglect of this terrible case, I do not know, but in the name of humanity I beg that it may be ascertained and an effective remedy applied. The country has but lately rung with eloquent denunciation of the brutality of a prize fight perpetrated by lawless men, contrary to law, but in some measure palliated by public opinion. This brutality was perpetrated by officers of the law, according to law, though outraging every type of public opinion.
"Such instances of brutality to the helpless animals who serve us are becom- ing very common. They should be stopped. If the law is defective, amend it. If the police are remiss, punish them. Good men should interest themselves in this matter. In Great Britain there is a rich and powerful society for the preven- tion of cruelty to animals. There is need enough, heaven knows, for such an agency here. Let us all remember
"' He prayeth best who loveth best All things both great and small, For the dear God who loveth us He made and loveth all.'
"H. S. S."
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Judge Lucius Myron Slade, son of Joel and Clarissa (French) Slade, was born in the town of Hartland, Hartford county, Conn., June 19, 1828. His ancestors in both lines were of the good old New England type and character. Abner Slade, his grandfather, served through the seven years' war of the Revolution. Joel Slade, the father, married Clarissa, daughter of William French, and spent the early part of his married life in Hartland. Having improved the advantages of the district school, Lucius M. Slade entered upon an academic course and was fitted for college. He then engaged as a teacher, and for ten years pursued this work in private and public schools.
He entered the law office of Hon. Hiram Goodwin of Riverton, and completed his legal course with the late F. A. Palmer of Stonington, and was admitted to the New London county bar, September 13, 1860. The first three years of his professional life were spent in Mystic. Having attained to a successful professional standing, he looked about for a more advantageous location, and as such fixed upon Bridgeport. Here he established his law office in 1863, and soon after was elected Chief Judge of the City Court; and in 1866 was elected to the office of Judge of the Probate Court for the district of Bridgeport, which office he held for six consecu- tive years, with great acceptance to the public. Declining a reëlection, he resumed the practice of his profession, which he has continued since that time. In 1885, he was elected to the Legislature, where he distinguished himself as a success- ful worker and debater, and was one of the leaders of the House. He was appointed on the Judiciary Committee, and also chairman of the committee on "Revision of Rules." He did considerable towards shaping the action of that body, especially in the line of advanced legislation. One of these items was the adoption of the " Homestead Bill," by which a certain amount of property as a homestead was exempted from execution. Another item was the bill which was passed effecting important changes in the Municipal Charter of the city of Bridgeport, securing particularly the division of the Common Council into two bodies, the alder- men and the councilmen, and establishing a board of public works. To this he gave special attention and effort.
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