USA > Connecticut > Biographical encyclopaedia of Connecticut and Rhode Island of the nineteenth century > Part 39
USA > Rhode Island > Biographical encyclopaedia of Connecticut and Rhode Island of the nineteenth century > Part 39
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The fifth child of this Deacon Douglas, named John, was born at Plainfield, Conn., July 28th, 1703, and married Olive, daughter of Benjamin Spaulding of Plain- field. He was Lieutenant-Colonel of the Eighth Connecticut Regiment, the best equipped in the colony, and the participant in a number of engagements. Colonel Douglas was a man of great note in his day. Two of his sons, General John, and
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Colonel William, served with distinction in the Revolutionary War; and a third, Benjamin, who was a graduate of Yale College, would undoubtedly have gained dis- tinetion in the legal profession, but for his untimely death at the age of thirty-six years.
Of the seven children of Colonel John Douglas, William, born January 17, O. S., 1742-3, was the fifth. He was born in Plainfield, and at the early age of sixteen years become an actor in the old French and Indian war. He served as orderly sergeant in the company under Israel Putnam, and in the expedition that cap- tured Quebec, in 1759, and brought the war to an end. After that, he removed to New Haven, engaged in the seafaring business, acquired command of a merchant ship trading between New Haven and the West Indies, and amassed what was then looked upon as a large fortune. When hostilities between the mother coun- try and the colonies began, he abandoned the sea, and with the courage and enthu- siasm of the Douglas at Otterburn and at Hamildoun, raised a military company in New Haven, of which he was commissioned captain, May 16th, 1775. Reporting in the north, with provisions and supplies for the troops under Montgomery, he was requested by that General to take command of the flotilla on Lake Cham- plain. In the position of Commodore of the little fleet he rendered excellent service in the siege and capture of St. John's, on the Richelieu outlet of the lake, and took large quantities of provisions, arms, military stores and eannon. The latter were sent across the country and used in the defence of Boston. In 1776 he raised a regiment of soldiers in the vicinity of New Haven, and was commissioned Colonel thereof by Governor Trumbull, June 20th, 1776. Incorporated with the Con- tinental army under General Washington, he and his eommand shared in the disastrous campaign of Long Island, and in the actions at Harlem Heights, White Plains, Phillips Manor, Croton River, and New York. In the engagement of August 27th on Long Island, his regiment of five hundred effective men suffered a loss of two-fifths of their number; and in the conflict of September 15th, at Har- lem Heights, his clothes were perforated by bullets, and his horse shot under him. Exhausted by inecssant activity, and subsequently exposed to hardships and priva- tions until near the middle of December, Colonel Douglas suffered the loss of his voice, and was obliged, though very reluctant, to relinquish the military service of his country, and to return to his family at Northford, where he had previously purchased a farm, and where he peacefully departed this life, May 28th, 1777, at the carly age of thirty-five years. He contributed generously to the expense of enlisting and equipping his regiment, literally sacrificed life and fortune for his country, was a brave and faithful officer, and also a true patriot and Christian. His brother John also served with great distinction in the patriot army, was eommis-
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sioned Lieutenant-Colonel early in the struggle, then rose to the rank of Colonel, and finally attained the grade of General.
Colonel William Douglas married, July 5th, 1767, Hannah, daughter of Stephen Mansfield of New Haven, and sister of Colonel Jared Mansfield, Superintendent of the U. S. Military Academy at West Point, and subsequently Surveyor-General of the United States. By her he had four children, of whom William, the second, was born February 23d, 1770.
Captain William Douglas was born in New Haven, and, like his brave and partiotie father, early entered into the service of his country. A history of the times records that "while yet a lad of eleven years old, he was sent by his unele, General Douglas, then of Plainfield, to Colonel Ledyard, at Groton, the day before the awful massaere, and defying all the dangers of the way, and compelled to swim his horse across the Thames, near New London, he safely delivered his dispatches. No doubt ' had the War of Independence continued a little longer, this young hero would have performed deeds fitting his name and lineage; but peace being soon after declared, he retired to Northford, and, devoting himself to the occupation of a farmer, died peacefully and respected, September 14th, 1823, at the age of fifty-three years." He also served as captain of militia in the war of 1812. He married, January 28th, 1797, Sarah, daughter of Constant Kirtland of Wallingford. by whom he had eight children, of whom Benjamin Douglas was the youngest.
The domestic training of young Douglas was such as ordinarily falls to the lot of seions of the substantial New England yeomanry. He worked on the farm throughout the months usually devoted to agriculture, and studied in the local schools during the winter. At the age of sixteen he began to learn the trade of a machinist in Middletown, Conn., and in 1836 entered into the employment of Guild & Douglas at that place. His brother William had established the business in 1832. Its specialty was the manufacture of iron pumps. In 1839 Benjamin and his brother purchased the entire interest in the business, formed a eopartnership, and condueted their affairs under the style and title of W. & B. Douglas. Their manufactures for the next three years were those of an ordinary foundry and machine shop. They supplied steam-engines and other fabrications to the neighboring factories. But in 1842 they invented the famous revolving-stand eistern-pump, and coneeived the idea of making pumps their staple artiele of production and commerce. Since the reeep- tion of their first patent, perpetual improvements in structure and style have been effected, and over a hundred additional patents obtained to cover these developments and kindred constructions. In Europe also their rights are protected by similar issues. Old prejudices in favor of ancient instruments they soon discovered could only be overcome by persistent energy ; and Benjamin Douglas went from dealer
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to dealer, with a pump under his arm, explained its superiorities, and demonstrated the propriety of adopting it. Success came slowly, notwithstanding his determined efforts. Not more than three hundred pumps were sold in the first twelve months. After that the demand rose rapidly. Popular appreciation was fairly won, and wide reputation and lucrative sales followed.
In 1858 William Douglas, the senior partner, died, and the entire control of the business devolved upon the survivor. Up to that time William had devoted himself principally to the manufacturing department, in which his genius and experi- once were of great service, while Benjamin, with equal aptitude, had bestowed his forces mainly upon the mercantile branch. In 1859 the entire concern was reorgan- ized, under a charter conferred by special act of the Legislature, as a stock company -which retains the old firm title of W. & B. Douglas-of which Benjamin Douglas is president ; and his sons, John M. Douglas, the secretary and treasurer, and Edward, assistant-secretary. Joseph W., a son of William Douglas, is superintendent of the manufacturing department. Continuous prosperity is, and always has been, a dis- tinguishing characteristic of the company, and is in strict harmony with the mechanical skill and wise provision of general necd that are essential factors of its success. Not less conducive to the confidence universally felt in their work is the conscientious integrity invariably incorporated with it. Pumps, like the men that operate them, have consciences. The difference between the two is that pumps possess the con- sciences of their makers; the users of pumps only possess their own. The little one- storied wooden shop, 60x40 feet, in which the manufacture commenced, and in which also it continues, is in marked contrast with the numerous massive and roomy build- ings that have since been added to it. Forty-cight years of ceaseless industry have raised them from the foundation, and furnished them with every usable mechanical aid. The foundry is the largest in Connecticut, the furnace of the most approved con- struction, and the castings remarkable for their excellence. Twelve hundred, or more, styles and sizes of pumping apparatus attest the hydraulic knowledge of the pro- prietors, and minister to all varieties of civilized wants. Pumps for artesian and for ordinary wells, force-pumps for boilers and for manufacturing necds, chain-pumps, fire- engines, garden-engines, rotary pumps for the clevation of liquor, air pumps, gas pumps, and many other kinds of pumps; pumps made of iron, of brass, of copper, of composite metal, arc supplied in quantities and on briefcst notice. Perhaps the most useful-certainly one of the most useful-of them all, is the improved tube, or drive-well, apparatus. In one hour the tube may be forced into the carth in almost any scction of the country, the pump connected with it, and an ample outflow of water assured. Settlers in the Western States and Territories prize it supremely ; exploring expeditions and marching military detachments find it exceedingly uscful.
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The English army utilized it in the Abyssinian campaign, and puts its virtues to the test in other regions of the globe. Wherever the hydraulic machines of W. & B. Douglas are exhibited they carry off the highest prizes for utility and worth. The first medals were awarded to them at the Paris Exposition in 1867; in 1873 they received the Grand Medal of Progress, the highest honor, at Vienna; in 1876 at Philadelphia, and again in 1878 at Paris they bore off the palm against all com- petitors.
The demand for the Douglas hydraulic machines is coextensive with modern civilization. Not only throughout the United States, but in the British Provinces, in South America, tne Sandwich Islands, Australia, Europe, Asia and Africa do they find a ready market, and hold their pre-eminence as prime favorites.
Benjamin Douglas has repeatedly represented his town in the General Assembly of the State; from 1849 to 1855 hc was Mayor of the city of Middletown; in 1860 he was chosen as one of the Presidential electors of Connecticut, and cast his vote for Abraham Lincoln; in 1861-2 he was Lieutenant-Governor of the State. He has been President of the First National Bank of Middletown since 1864, the year of its organization ; he is also President of the Farmers and Mechanics' Savings Bank in Middletown; is also one of the Trustees of the Wesleyan Uni- versity, which is located in his own city. Like all, or nearly all, his American ancestors, he is a member of the Congregational Church, with which he identified himself in early life, and is a generous supporter of the South Church in Middle- town. A model business man, by his intelligence and cnlightened supervision of the concern in all its details and relations, he has expanded its proportions to their present enormous size. Sagacious, experienced and resolute, but gentle withal, and devoid of ostentation, he is admirably qualified for his post, and also for judicious ministration to the welfare of the Company's employees, and to the needs of society, whether local, national, or universal.
Mr. Douglas was married, April 3, 1838, to Mary Adaline, daughter of Elias Parker, of Middletown, and nieee of the late Major-General Joseph K. F. Mans- field, U. S. A., who was slain at the battle of Antietam, while in command of the Eleventh Corps. Of the six children which have been the fruit of their union, three, viz .: John Mansfield, the eldest, Benjamin the fifth, and Edward, the youngest, are connected in important managerial capacities with the W. & B. Douglas Company.
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'YE, ELISHA BOWNE, M.D., of Middletown, Conn. Born November 7, 1812, in ,Sandwich, Mass. His father, Braddock Nye, was a captain in the mercantile marine, and a native of the same town. His mother, née Martha Bowne, was the daughter of Asa Bowne, and a native of the old 4 Bay State.
At the age of five years, young Nye removed with his parents from Sandwich, Mass., to Middletown, Conn., where his father and mother both died. His primary education was received in a private school at Middletown, under the tuition of Elijah Garfield ; his preparation for college was completed at Wilbraham, Mass., under the supervision of Professor William C. Larrabee; his collegiate education was obtained in the Wesleyan University at Middletown, which he entered in 1831, and from which he graduated as A.B., in 1835, electing the healing art for the exercise of his cultured energies. Mr. Nyc then began the study of the theory and practice of medi- cine, at Middletown, in the office of Dr. Thomas Minor; continued it under the tuition, and in the office of Drs. Eli and N. B. Ives at New Haven, and also attended the regular courses of instruction in the Medical Department of Yale University.
Having received his degree of M.D. from the Yale Medical College, in 1837 he commenced the practice of medicine at Moodus, Conn., and remained their until 1851, when he removed to Middletown. Dr. Nye has not only distinguished himself as a medical practitioner, but has also acquired reputation as a contributor to local and professional journals. While a resident of Moodus, a village in the town of East Haddam, Conn., he prepared, and read before the Middlesex County Lyceum, a paper on the "Moodus Noises" :- carthquakes on a minor scalc, which from time immemorial have occurred in that locality. The same paper, slightly modified, and with such additional observations as his residence in Moodus enabled him to make, afterward appeared in a monthly journal, published under the auspices of his Alma Mater. Some years later it was rcpublished in a New York monthly. To the local press he has contributed a paper on "Quackery," read at a meeting of the Middlesex County Medical Society, and published by request of that body. He has also contributed articles to the annual publications of the Connecticut Medical Society, entitled Specifics; A Memoir of Datus Williams, M.D., of East Haddam; A Memoir of Wm. B. Casey, M.D., of Middletown ;- a pamphlet cdition of which was subsequently printed by Dr. Casey's surviving friends ;- and A Memoir of B. D. Maguire, M.D., of Middletown.
When a branch of the Phi Beta Kappa Society was cstablished in Wesleyan University some time after Dr. Nye's graduation, he was honored by elcction into its membership. His interest in public cducation has only kept pace with his
OliverOGorb
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advancing years and knowledge. For ten or more years he served as member of the local Board of Education. Nor has he been unmindful of civic claims, but has served for upwards of five years as one of the Board of Aldermen. He now holds the position of Trustee of the Connecticut Hospital, Trustee of the Middletown Savings Bank, and Director of the Middletown National Bank. He has been a member of the State Medical Society since his graduation ; is a member of the County Medical Society, of which he has filled the Presidential chair, and has also served as Vice-President of the Connecticut Medical Society.
Dr. Nye was married on the 25th of November, 1837, to Caroline, daughter of Captain Daniel Hubbard, of Middletown, who was in the mercantile marine, trading to the West Indies, and who died while on his passage to those islands, in May, 1831. Mrs. Nye died August 24th, 1877, having borne her husband six children, of whom two survive their mother.
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OYT, OLIVER, of Stamford, Conn. Born in Stamford, August 23d, 1823. His father, Joseph Hoyt, was a farmer by occupation, and a native of Fairfield County, in the same State :- as was also his grandfather, Joseph Hoyt. His mother's maiden name was Maria Blachley Wced, daughter of Eliphalet, and Martha (Hoyt) Weed, of Connecticut. The home of the family was at Stamford, on Noroton Hill, where his mother died on the 22d of Septem- ber, 1854, at the age of 64; and where his father also passed away on the 25th of December following, aged 68 years.
In the Genealogical History of the Hoyt, Haight, and Hight Families is found a full and admirable record of all that is positively known concerning the ancestry of Mr. Hoyt, and of the hundreds and even thousands of American citizens who bear the same patronymic. It is a laborious and invaluable compilation, and, in common with multitudes of volumes of the same character, sheds unusual light on the great questions of heredity and the relation of moral conduct to material prosperity. The future biologist is sure to regard them with profound respect. In the absence of accurate genealogical registers, it becomes a mere matter of conjecture from what European nation or family any individual has sprung. An antique crest, disinterred from the mouldy vaults of the Heralds' College in London, may afford a guiding
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clue. When George Hoyte, of Dublin, Ireland, entered upon his official career as High Sheriff of Dublin County, he caused the records of the Heralds' College to be searched for the knowledge of his progenitors and their armorial bearings, and obtained the following return :- " The surname of Hoyte or Hoite, an antient and respectable Family descended from Germany, bear for Arms: Field Azure a Lion Rampant Or, Between three Fleur de lis Argent. Crest on Helmet and Wreath of its colour a Lion Passant Gule, holding in his Dexter Paw a Fleur de lis Argent. Motto, 'Vincit qui Patitur'"-He conquers who perseveres. The Rev. William Hoyte, son of High Sheriff Hoyte, and former Rector of Ballymaglassin, Batterstown, Ireland, regards this return as indicative of descent from the Von Hoytes of Germany, and derives the name of Hoyt, or Hoyte, from the German word " Heute"-to-day :- an etymon significant of alertness and promptitude in those on whom it was first conferred. He also thinks-as does the Rev. F. J. Hoyte of England, that the ancestors of the American Hoyts were of that branch of the original stock which was planted in Somersetshire, England, and of which physical vigor has always been a very prominent characteristic. Traditions still linger among the old people of Curry Rivel in that county, about the love of the Hoytes for ball-playing, cudgel-playing, boxing, wrestling, and all athletic sports; and stories of their strength and endurance are yet current in the parish. The force and enter- prise nurtured by these physical exercises doubtless prepared the way for the emi- gration of some of their descendants to the New Atlantis. Among these may have been John Hoyt, one the original settlers of Salisbury, Mass., and Simon Hoyt, of Charlestown, Mass., who probably sailed in the same vessel, the Abigail, with Governor John Endicott, from England, in 1628-arriving at Salem, September 6th, of the same year. Other descendants of the Somerset Hoytes are scattered over the world, and spell their family name, as in the United States, in from thirty to forty different ways. Hoyte is the form almost universally employed in Great Britain, and Hoyt in America.
Simon Hoyte, who with the Spragues and others settled Mishawurn or Charles- town, on the north bank of the Charles River, Mass., in 1628 or 1629, is the fore- father of the Stamford family, and consequently of Oliver Hoyt. He removed to Dorchester in 1630, and from thence to Scituate, Mass., in 1634 or 1635. There " Symcon Hayte" and his wife joined the church, on April 19th, 1635. The clerk who inscribed his name on the register may have been the same careless orthog- rapher who recorded that "Goodman Haite's" house was built in that town some time prior to October, 1836. Simon Hoyt seems to have been as variable in his local attachments as in the spelling of his surname; for in 1639 he migrated from Scituate, Mass., to Windsor, Conn. Stiles, in his History of Windsor, says that he was probably
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"in the first, or one of the first companies" of settlers. His name appears in 1640 in the first book of land records, as the owner of 160 acres, situated at some distance from the other settlers. Owing to his location he and his family were " freed from watch and ward" in 1640; inasmuch as they had enough to do to protect them- selves against the Indians, without partaking in the guard of those who lived in the village. Buying and selling, farming and fighting, like his heroic associates, Simon Hoyt continued in Windsor until 1646, when he sold his real estate, and removed to Fairfield, from whence, in or about 1649, he effected his final earthly migration to Stamford, where, according to the town records, he died September Ist, 1657.
Simon Hoyt was doubtless born before A.D. 1600, perhaps in 1595. If so, he must have been thirty or thirty-five years old at the epoch of his immigration, and from sixty to sixty-five at the time of his death. The old Teutonic spirit was ever restless and daring in the hardy and courageous pioneer, and gladly shared in the sufferings of the English colonists, who, in peril of pestilence and famine, were com- pelled to live on " clams, and muscles, and fish ;" and who, " all hands, of men, women, and children, wrought at digging and building," until a fort was completed for their defence against the hostile and conspiring Indians. His militant and soldierly aptitude were transmitted to his descendants, of whom many have won enviable reputations in wars with the Indians, British, and Secessionists. He was the father of ten chil- dren, of whom the sixth, Samuel, was born about A.D. 1643. Samuel Hoyt first married Hannah, daughter of John Holly, November 16th, 1671. The Stamford records of 1667 show that in that year he " gave offence to the stern Puritans by wrestling, or throwing stones into the swamp outside the meeting-house on Sunday." Afterward he grew into favor with God and man, and was a " deputy for Stamford in the General Assembly, in 1689, '90, '92, '93, '97, '99, 1703, '4, and 1716." In " the eleven sessions when his name was recorded as a deputy, in the first four it was given Hoyte, the next one Hoit, and the last six Hoyt." He was also Ensign of " the train-band in the town of Stamford," and one of the Justices of the Peace for Fairfield County. As early as 1702 he was called Deacon, and his name ap- peared as Hait, in which form it is appended to his last will and testament in " the beginning of the year 1714."
Samuel Hoyt was the father of eight children, of whom Samuel, the eldest, was born July 27th, 1673. Samuel Hoyt, Jr., married Mercy Holmes, the widow of John Holmes, and the daughter of Captain Jonathan Bell, on July 13th, 1704. He lived in Stamford, and died December 9th, 1711, leaving property on Noroton Hill and elsewhere to his four children, of whom Samuel was the third.
Samuel Hoyt, or, as he was called Sergeant Samuel Hait, was born March 17th, 1709, and married Mary, daughter of Samuel Blachley of Stamford, May 29th, 1735.
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He lived in Stamford, was an excellent citizen and member of the church, and died about 1784. He was the father of seven children, of whom Joseph, the third, was born December 12th, 1739, and married Sarah Weed, of Middlesex, now Darien, June 24th, 1773. He resided on Noroton Hill, and died very suddenly, of apoplexy, December 24th or 25th, 1799, leaving four children, of whom Joseph, the youngest, was born February 19th, 1787. He married Maria B. Weed on the 31st of January, 1813, and became the father of ten children, of whom Oliver is the sixth.
The early literary education of Mr. Hoyt was received in the excellent public schools of Stamford, his native town. At the age of sixteen, he connected himself with the Methodist Episcopal Church and was soon distinguished as a zealous working member. Apprenticed to Nathaniel Bouton, of Darien, he carried into his new business relations all the characteristic energy of his family, and thoroughly mastered the art of tanning leather. Choosing the pursuits of the merchant rather than those of the manufacturer, in 1844 he established himself in the wholesale leather trade in Frankfort Street, New York, and prosecuted the business alone until 1846, when he entered into copartnership with his brother William, under the style and title of W. & O. Hoyt. The warehouse of the new firm was located at No. 17 Ferry Street, and continued there until 1849. A new firm was then organized, under the name of Hoyt Bros., and the business was removed to Spruce Street, where it remained until 1870, when it was again removed to No. 72 Gold Street, in which place it still continues. In point of commercial success, honorable reputation, and strict integrity the Hoyt Bros. have no superior. Their business is one of the most extensive of the kind in the metropolis, and gives employment to about one thou- sand men, as clerks, operatives, teamsters, etc., in connection with the tanneries con- trolled by the firm in New York, Pennsylvania, and other States. Hemlock-tanned sole leather is the specialty in which they deal.
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