USA > Connecticut > New London County > Biographical review, containing life sketches of leading citizens of New London County, Connecticut > Part 9
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ANIEL B. HEMPSTED, who is now retired from active business, was a well-known jeweller of New London. Born in New London, July 9, 1822, son of Daniel B. and Grace (Lanpheer) Hemp- sted, he comes of one of the oldest families in the State. His descent is traced back to 1645, when one of his ancestors, Joshua Hempsted, erected a house in this place. His great-grandfather, Captain Nathaniel Hemp- sted, of New London, who was a seafaring man, commanded a privateer during the Rev- olutionary War. When New London was at- tacked, Captain Hempsted happened to be at home, and during the defence of Fort Non- sense, in which he took an active part, was shot through the hip. Though the wound was a serious one, he recovered sufficiently to be able to follow the sea for a number of years after. During the trouble between France and this country he was in the West India trade, and his vessel was chased for several days by a French man-of-war. The fatigue and exposure incident to this trying situation opened his old wound, and eventually caused his death, though then in the prime of a vig- orous manhood. In 1760 he built the stone house in front of the old Hempsted house al- luded to above. The stone house was built at the same time that the Perkins house was
erected by the Huguenot settlers, who came to this country at that period. Captain IIempsted was married in 1727 to Hannah Booth, of Long Island, and reared three daughters and three sons, all of whom had families. Of these Samuel B. Hempsted, who was both the second child and second son, and the grandfather of Daniel B., was born in New London in 1755. IIe was the captain of a vessel for a number of years, and died in 1795. On September 17, 1779, he was united in marriage with Lucretia Goddard. She left two children, namely: Lucretia, who was born in 1782, and died at the age of six- teen; and Daniel B., the father of the subject of this biography. The Captain subsequently married again, and his second wife survived him.
Daniel B. Hempsted, Sr., was born in New London in 1784. He was left an orphan at the age of eleven, with some property; and his uncle, Giles Hempsted, was appointed his guardian. Giles Hempsted accompanied a colony of thirty persons, mostly ship-builders and rope-makers, who went from New London in schooners to Alexandria, Va., and thence across the mountains to Marietta, Ohio. When fairly settled in their new home they engaged in building schooners and freighting produce to New Orleans. The Hempsteds of the Western Reserve are descendants of this Giles. In Marietta his nephew grew to man- hood; but he was not content to stay there, as the malarial climate seriously affected his health. When he was eighteen years of age, he returned to New London; and there he learned the watch-maker's trade with Asa Spencer, in the employment of a Mr. Doug- las. Asa Spencer, who was a remarkable man, invented the engine-turning machine - a contrivance never since improved upon - and a tool for making the indentations in thimbles.
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NELSON MORGAN.
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When Mr. Douglas died, his employees, Hempsted and Spencer, continued the business under the firm name of Spencer & Hempsted, the latter furnishing the capital to purchase the estate, and taking Spencer's experience and mechanical genius in lieu of cash, In 1831 Mr. Hempsted erected the house and store where he lived and managed his busi- ness. It is a solid brick structure, four stories in height, with some thirty feet front- age; and the jewelry store is still there, occu- pied by his son's successor. This site has been occupied by jewelry firms for over a century, and it was here that Mr. Hempsted learned his trade. His death occurred in 1852. He was married May 4, 1806, to Grace Lanpheer, of New London, a daughter of James and Sarah (Mayhew) Lanpheer. Mr. Lanpheer, who was a naval officer, was one of the volunteers who took the "Luren- burg." He was taken prisoner, with all on board of the frigate "Trumbull "- on which he was a lieutenant - captured off the capes of the Delaware. His wife died in 1865. She was the mother of eight children, five of whom attained maturity, namely: Lucretia G., the widow of David Hustace, now in Brooklyn, N. Y .; Caroline L., the widow of Henry O. Ames, in Jersey City; Elizabeth, the widow of Samuel N. Valentine, late of New York City; Daniel B., the subject of this sketch; Augusta S., who was the wife of the Rev. James T. Hyde, and died in Chi- cago in 1890. The youngest child, Helen, died in her eleventh year.
The present Daniel B. Hempsted was edu- cated in New London. He learned the jeweller's trade with his father at the same stand where the latter acquired the knowl- edge. In 1845 he became his father's part- ner; and he was in active business in this place until 1881, when he retired. Mr.
Hempsted has been actively interested in pol- itics for many years, favoring the Republican side; but he has never allowed his name to be used in connection with public office. In the Masonic fraternity he has attained the Mas- ter's degree.
0 ELSON MORGAN, station agent at Poquonnock Bridge, Conn., on the Stonington Division of the Old Colony Railway system, and Town Clerk of Groton, is a native of the village of Noank, in the same town. He was born July 6, 1830, son of Roswell and Jemima (Fish) Morgan. He comes from an old Welsh family, whose history has been traced by N. H. Morgan, author of the Morgan Genealogy, to the year Soo in Wales. The immigrant ancestor was James Morgan.
As early as 1712 the progenitor of this par- ticular branch settled in Noank and became the owner of a large tract of land. His home- stead is now owned by Nelson Morgan of this sketch, having been held by his descendants in the male line for about one hundred and eighty-five years. Roswell Morgan, son of Joshua, was born in Noank in 1790, and died in 1839. He was a mariner, and engaged in the coasting trade. His marriage to Jemima Fish took place September 24, 1814. She was born in Groton in 1787, daughter of Thomas Fish, who served in the Revolutionary War two or three months, November to Janu- ary, under Captain Hungerford. She was a descendant of Moses and Martha (Williams) Fish, who were married in Groton in 1713. Five children, two sons and three daughters, were born to Roswell and Jemima Morgan. One daughter, Harriet, died at the age of seven. Caroline married Frederick A. Will- iams, and died aged twenty-two years. Three
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are still living, namely: R. A. Morgan, of Noank; Amanda, widow of Perry Bennett, re- siding in Springfield, Ill., whither she went in 1855; and Nelson, of this sketch.
Having received a good practical education, when eighteen years of age Nelson Morgan began teaching in common schools; and that occupation he followed about twenty-five years all together, in Rhode Island, Connecticut, Michigan, and Illinois. He first went to Michigan in 1852, and after teaching a few months in Hillsdale County returned to Con- necticut, remaining here until 1837, when he made a second trip to the same place. The year following he went from there to Winches- ter, Ill., as a teacher. In 1862 he enlisted at Jacksonville, Ill., in the One Hundred and First Illinois Infantry, Company B, entering as a private; and during his eighteen months of service he rose to the rank of Second Lieu- tenant. He eventually resigned his commis- sion on account of disability, and returned home. He entered his present position as station agent of Poquonnock Bridge four years ago, and by his faithful performance of all duties has won the respect and confidence of both his superiors in office and the patrons of the road.
On June 28, 1855, Mr. Morgan married Miss Virginia Haley, daughter of Henry Haley, and grand-daughter of Elisha Haley, who was often in the upper and lower houses of the Connecticut legislature as far back as 1810, and who was also twice a Congressman from this district. The Hon. Elisha Haley was a man of means and high mental endow- ment, and though not a church member he was always a ruling spirit for the right. Mr. and Mrs. Morgan had a son, llarry Archie, who died at Groton Centre when sixteen months old. Their living son is John Albert, who was born in Bethel, Morgan County, Ill.,
March 23, 1861, and received his schooling in the common schools of Illinois up to 1875, when he came to Connecticut with his parents. Not long after he entered the employ of Brain- ard & Armstrong, doing errands and sweeping the store, sleeping there nights. He was with them about eight years all together, during five of which he travelled as a salesman in New York. Following that he was a commercial traveller from New York City until 1893,
when the territory of the Cherokee Nation was opened for settlement, and he went thither and lived for six months. He came to his present position as Assistant Town Clerk to his father in 1894. He was married, first, January 4, 1888, to Hattie Rathburn Potter, of Noank, daughter of James Potter. She died January 4, 1892, four years to a day from the date of their marriage, leaving no chil- dren. He married for his second wife, No- vember 7, 1896, Harriett Slocomb Storey, by whom he has one child, Mary Virginia, born October 7, 1897. John Albert Morgan is a member of the New London Historical and Genealogical Society, and during the past three years has done considerable work in the line of genealogical research.
Nelson Morgan has been a Republican from the birth of the party. For ten years he has served on the Board of Education, and has been a Justice of the Peace six years. In 1894 he was elected to the office of Town Clerk, defeating his predecessor, who had held the office for twenty years consecutively. Fraternally, he is a Master Mason and a mem- ber of the G. A. R.
LIVER DENISON CHESEBRO, late an esteemed and influential resi- dent of Stonington, for many years a member of the Board of Burgesses, was born
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in this town in 1820, and here spent the greater part of his long and useful life. His death, which was caused by accident, occurred on January 4, 1895. Mr. Chesebro was the son of Denison and Martha (Denison) Chese- bro, and was named for his maternal grand- father, Oliver Denison. On his father's side he was a descendant of William and Anne (Stevenson) Chesebro, who were married in Boston, Lincolnshire, England, in 1620, came to this country, and in 1650 settled at We- quetequock, establishing the first Puritan home within the present limits of Stonington, Conn. They had four sons, the eldest being Samuel, then twenty-two years of age, and the youngest, Elisha, a lad of twelve.
Oliver Denison, the grandfather above named, whose wife was Martha Williams, was a son of George, Jr., and Jane (Smith) Deni- son, grandson of George and Lucy (Gallup) Denison, and great-grandson of Ben Adam and Esther (Prentice) Gallup. Captain John Gallup, the father of Ben Adam, was a noted Indian fighter.
When about thirty-five years of age Oliver D. Chesebro entered the employ of the Ston- ington Steamboat Company, being intrusted with the full charge of repairs of the wood- work of the steamers on their line. He con- tinued to hold the position, and filled it so ac- ceptably that he was subsequently retained in the enlarged business of the Providence & Stonington Steamboat Company. His ability and integrity won and kept the approval and confidence of his employers, and he was soon charged with the entire supervision of that de- partment of the business. As a citizen of the borough of Stonington, he was held in the highest respect. He was of a retiring dispo- sition, and never sought preferment, which was, however, often most fittingly bestowed upon him, official duties being worthily dis-
charged. As senior member of the Board of Burgesses he was the acting warden during the long absence of Warden Ephraim Will- iams. He was chicf of the fire department for ten years, from 1870 to 1880, and always teok an active interest in its affairs. For sev- eral years he was a director in both the First National Bank and the Savings Bank of Ston- ington, and he was also a stockholder and a director in the Stonington Building Company. He was a member of the First Baptist Church and a most liberal contributor to its support. In Wadawanuck Council, No. 110, American Legion of Honor, he held the high- est office. Of an unusually active and indus- trious temperament, even after the possibility of his retiring on a comfortable competency was assured, he chose rather to continue his interest in his business.
Mr. Chesebro was married March 6, 1847, to Frances H., daughter of Benjamin F. and Eunice (Stevens) Hancox. Her father was born in Stonington, January 22, 18c3 ; and her mother was born in the same place, July 24, 1803. They were married January 30, 1825, and reared two sons and four daughters - Benjamin F., Frances H., George S., Mary Jane, Emeline L., and Alice D. The first of these, Benjamin F. Hancox, born in October, 1825, is now a resident of Cliftondale, Mass. ; Frances H., now Mrs. Chesebro, was born February 8, 1827; George S. Hancox was born March 15, 1830, and died in Stonington, August 1, 1866; Mary Jane was born July 8, 1832, and became the wife of Captain Ben- jamin F. Cutler, of Brooklyn, N. Y .; Emeline L., was born October 29, 1835, and married Erastus Chesebro; Alice D. was born August 10, 1845, and is now the widow of Elias Bab- cock. Two children came to brighten the home of Mr. and Mrs. Oliver D. Chesebro, namely: Mary Ella, who was born June 20,
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1848, and died in April, 1850; and Mary Contest, born August 5, 1852, now the wife of Horace N. Pendleton, of Stonington. Mr. and Mrs. Pendleton have one daughter, Maria Louise, born May 14, 1879, now occupied with the study of the violin in Brooklyn, N.Y.
Mr. Chesebro's death was a sudden one, and came as a shock to his family and the whole community. Leaving his home in the morn- ing, apparently in perfect health and vigor, he went to Westerly, R. I., five miles distant, on a little matter of business, and, falling through an open space from one of the upper stories of a building to the cellar, was at once cut off from the living. His days were many and useful, and his virtuous memory will long be cherished. Mrs. Chesebro still lives in Stonington.
USTIN O. GALLUP, better known as A. O. Gallup, who died at his late home in Salem, New London County, Conn., April 12, 1896, was born in the town of Ledyard, Conn., December 27, 1828. He was the second son of Alfred and Eliza (Hewitt) Gallup, and was a lineal de- scendant of Captain John Gallup, who came from Mosterne Parish, County Dorset, Eng- land, in 1630, sailing in the good ship "Mary and John " from Plymouth on March 20, and arriving at Nantasket, near Hull, May 30 of that year.
John Gallup went first to Dorchester, but soon afterward removed to Boston, where he joined the First Church, January 6, 1634. His wife, Christobel, joined on June 22 of the same year. He was made a freeman, and was one of the earliest grantees of land in the northern part of the town, having a wharf and house in the locality then known as Gallup
Point. Besides these he owned Gallup's Island, where he had a snug farm. also a meadow on Long Island and a sheep pasture on what became known as Nix's Mate. He was a skilled mariner, and made frequent trading expeditions on the coast, one of which is memorable by his encounter with the mur- derers of his friend, John Oldham. His vessel was the only source of communication between the two colonies of Rhode Island and Connecticut ; and at one time, when his vessel had been overdue, and he was at last heard from, Roger Williams wrote to Governor Winthrop, "God be praised, John Gallup has arrived." He died January 11, 1650, at his home in Boston. His wife died there, Sep- tember 27, 1655.
Their son John, born in England, came over in 1633. In 1643 he was married in Boston to Hannah Lake, daughter of John and Margaret Read Lake. Her mother was the daughter of Edmund Read, Esq., of Wick- ford, Essex County, England, sister of Eliza- beth Read, wife of John Winthrop, Jr., Gov- ernor of Connecticut. They had ten children, one of whom was Benadam, who was born in 1655 in Stonington County. He married Esther Prentice, daughter of John and Esther Prentice, of New London, Conn. His wife was born July 20, 1660. Both were members of the Congregational church in Stonington. Hle died August 2, 1727, and she died in 1751, at the age of ninety-two. Lieutenant Benadam, son of the first Benadam and Esther (Prentice) Gallup, was born in 1693 at Gro- ton, and died September 30, 1755. He mar- ried Eunice Cobb, January 11, 1716. Their fifth son, Henry, one of their eleven children, was born October 5, 1725, and married Han- nah Mason, daughter of Nehemiah and Zerviah (Stanton) Mason, October 4, 1750. He died in I811, at the age of eighty-six, having
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outlived his wife three years. She was the great-grand-daughter of Major John Mason, and was born in Stonington, June 10, 1726.
Henry Gallup, Jr., son of Henry and Han- nah (Mason) Gallup and grandfather of Aus- tin O. Gallup, was born October 17, 1758. Ile married November 17, 1792, Desire Stan- ton, by whom he had three children - Alfred, Anna, and Desire. Alfred Gallup married Eliza W. Hewitt, October 19, 1823. He died at Salem, December 24, 1854; and his wife died in New London, February 21, 1876. They had seven children, three sons and four daughters. Five of them lived to a mature age; namely, William A., Austin O., Harriet A., Laura E., and Lewis A. William A., the eldest son, was born June 28, 1827, and died August 31, 1843; Harriet A., the eldest daughter, was born October 1, 1836, in Salem; Laura E., born in Montville, May 28, 1840, is the wife of Sanford W. Haven; and Lewis A. Gallup, the youngest of the five, was born June 30, 1846.
Mr. Austin O. Gallup was brought up on the home farm, and taught his first district school at the age of twenty-one, being thus occupied for five succeeding winters. In 1854 he began the topographical survey of New York, and during the next ten years was en- gaged in his business in New York, Massa- chusetts, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Ken- tucky. He furnished the only topographical survey then made of ninety miles of the Alle- ghany range of mountains, which at one time was really the dividing line between the con- tending armies of the North and South. These plans and surveys were carried by him in person and alone, and delivered to the commanding general of the Union army a few days before the battle of Gettysburg. Upon ' his return he was safely escorted by a guard to a point beyond the contending armies.
He was elected Probate Judge in 1864, and died in office in 1896, having ably filled the position for many years. He represented the town of Salem in the legislature in 1877, serving on the Committee of Finance with the late Hon. David Gallup, of Plainfield, Conn. He was Selectman of Salem for eleven years and chairman of the board nine years of that time. He also served the town as School Visitor and in other minor offices. He was a Master Mason, becoming a member in New London in 1853 of Union Lodge, No. 31. In politics he was a Democrat. He joined the Congregational church in 1876, and was an active worker in early life.
Mr. Gallup married January 22, 1855, Lucy A. Rathbun, who died March 30, 1893, in the sixty-second year of her age. Mr. Gallup was a man of more than ordinary intellectual abil- ity, taking an unusual interest in biographical and genealogical work, in which he had no equal in the county. He was large-hearted and generous, and never amassed great wealth. He left his tine farm and home to Mrs. Doug- las, who so kindly cared for him in his last illness.
J RAYMOND DOUGLASS, a promi- nent farmer of Salem village, was born in the adjacent town of Waterford, New London County, on September 3, 1839, son of John and Ann Elizabeth (Raymond) Douglass. He is descended from William Douglass, a Scotchman, born in 1610, who came to this country in. 1640, bringing his son Robert, then a year old, and in 1660 set- tled in New London. Since that time the Douglass family have been among the influen- tial and respected inhabitants of this region. Both father and son were coopers by trade. The former, who was a Deacon of the Presby, terian church and an earnest Christian, died
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on July 2, 1682. Robert Douglass died on the 15th of January, 1715 or 1716.
Among his posterity may be found many whose names help to swell the roll-call of soldiers who fought in the Revolution and in the early Indian wars. From Robert the line continues as follows: his son Thomas was born May 15, 1679, and died on March 3, 1723-4; Robert, second, son of Thomas, was born December 28, 1705, and died in Octo- ber, 1786; and his son, Thomas, second, was born August 1, 1734, and died in 1826. A third Robert, son of the second Thomas and the grandfather of the subject of this sketch, was born on January 18, 1774, prob- ably in New London; but his working life was spent chiefly in Waterford, where he was en- gaged in farming on the estate now owned by Mrs. Stanley Morgan. He died October S, 1834. His wife, Abiah Douglass, who was born on May 25, 1775, survived him for many years, and died on the 30th of June, 1851. She was the mother of three daughters and five sons.
John Douglass, one of the five, was born in Waterford, then a part of New London, on February 23, ISII, and died in that town on March 27, 1866. His wife, Anna Elizabeth, the daughter of Josiah Raymond, of Mont- ville, was born in Salem in 1817. They were married on December 3, 1838, and reared a family of four children -- John Raymond, George R., Robert Henry, and Elizabeth H. George Ransom Douglass died on February 6, 1865, at the age of seventeen; Robert Henry Douglass is engaged in the fruit-growing in- dustry in North Pomona, Cal. ; and Elizabeth Douglass since 1896 has been in Pasadena, Cal., with her mother.
John Raymond Douglass, the eldest son, was educated in the district schools and in the . Norwich and Norwich Town select schools. .. Politically, he is a strong Republican, and in
1885 and 1886 was in the legislature from Salem. He has been First Selectman of the town several terms. On December 24, 1864, he was united in marriage with Julia Ray- mond, daughter of Richard and Julia (Gard- ner) Raymond, of Montville. Mr. Richard Raymond died on November 30, 1878, at Montville, which had been the home of his family for many years. His wife survived until May 18, 1896, when she died at the old homestead. Of their family of nine children, four sons and three daughters grew to matu- rity, and all are living but one daughter.
Mrs. Douglass has many rare souvenirs and heirlooms, among them being a fine old solid mahogany secretary and bureau combined, which is known to contain a secret drawer never yet discovered. It is of most beautiful workmanship, and proclaims the mechanics and wood workers of "ye olden days " fully as artistic and skilful as those of our own times. A generous-sized painted punch bowl or tank- ard of glass was formerly the property of Mrs. Douglass's great-great-grandfather, and a beautiful alabaster jewel case was left by Mrs. Sigourney. There is also a china mug over two hundred years old, and Commodore Perry's flint-lock derringer with the accoutre- ments, including moulds and combination flask for powder and balls. Very interesting are two fans, one of which, bearing the date of 1747, belonged to Mrs. Douglass's great- great-grandmother, Elizabeth Griswold. The other is of ivory, and bears the record of the marriage, on May 26, 1774, of Mercy Ray- mond and John Raymond. Other relics are: a piece of sage green brocaded silk, which was part of Elizabeth Griswold's wedding dress; a rare copy of the Bible, dated 1738, and handed down from the fourth generation back : and an exposition and notes on Thessalonians, bound in full vellum, and dated 1627.
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OSEPH STANTON WILLIAMS, a well-known eitizen of Stonington, son of the late Joseph Stanton Williams, Sr., and grandson of Captain Elias and Thank- ful (Stanton) Williams, owns and oeeupies a part of the old Stanton farm, near Mystie, on which he was born. This farm, originally of about two hundred and twenty aeres, was the birthplace of his father and of his paternal grandmother. It was granted by a deed of gift to Thomas Stanton, the noted Indian interpre- ter, by Thomas and Nathaniel Beebe, January 2, 1656, the deed stating that there were two hundred acres, more or less, and eight aeres of meadow. (See sketeh of Elias Williams.)
Mr. Williams is of English ancestry, being a lineal deseendant in the ninth generation of Robert Williams, who was born in Norwich, England, in 1593, and died in Roxbury, Mass., in 1638. Robert's son Isaac lived and died in Roxbury, where his son John, the next in line of deseent, was born. John Williams married Martha, daughter of Isaae Wheeler, and removed to Stonington, where was born his son, Colonel John Williams. The line was continued through the Colonel's son, William Williams, who was born in the same place, May 1, 1716, and died July 27, 1801; and his son, Captain John Williams, born Deeember 23, 1744, to the grandfather above named, Elias Williams, who was born in what is now North Stonington, September 28, 1773, son of Captain John Williams, and died January 31, 1808.
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