USA > Connecticut > New London County > Biographical review, containing life sketches of leading citizens of New London County, Connecticut > Part 13
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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-
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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.
ATIIAN H. AYER, a leading farmer of Preston, was born here, in School District No. 3, on the 10th of April, 1833, son of Nathan and Nancy (Green) Aycr. He is the third Nathan Ayer in the dircct' 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 onc 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 1816, 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 cight children seven reached maturity. Nancy, the eldest, who marricd 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 ycars 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 ycars 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 :
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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.
DWARD E. SPICER, a well-known 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 l'ostmaster 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 I .. 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.
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RS. 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 Hurlbut 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. Frederick 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.
YRON WINSLOW ROBINSON, M.D., the senior physician of Col- 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 1, 1625. In 1606 he became assistant pastor of the Separatist church that was organized about 1602 at Serooby, 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
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MYRON W. ROBINSON.
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and three daughters. One son, Isaac, born in Leyden . in 1610, came to this country in 1631, 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, 1645, 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, 1721, 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 Fort 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
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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 1891. 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.
ONATIIAN 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 1715, 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 II. 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
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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 repcaled, 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 New 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.
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She was the mother of eight children, none of whom are now living. A second marriage, contracted in July, 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.
APTAIN BILLINGS BURCH, a re- tired sea captain of Stonington and a son of Samuel and Mary (Sloan) Burch, of Stonington, was born October 18, 1818. 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 1812, and afterward drew a pension from the govern- nient. At his death, in 1858, he was eighty- two years of age. His wife, Mary, whom he married April 5, 1811, 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 Mary, who was the wife of Captain Brewster, and died in Stonington, which was her native town.
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