Commemorative Biographical Record of Fairfield County, Connecticut, Part 101

Author: H. H. Beers & Co.
Publication date: 1899
Publisher:
Number of Pages: 1795

USA > Connecticut > Fairfield County > Commemorative Biographical Record of Fairfield County, Connecticut > Part 101

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The boyhood of our subject was spent in Brookfield and Danbury, and his education was secured in the public schools of those towns. When about fifteen years old he gave up his studies to learn the hatter's trade, at which he served an apprenticeship of five years. His thorough knowledge of the business, together with his executive ability, secured him a high reputation as a worker, and for twenty-five years he was one of the most valued assistants in the factory of Henry Crofutt & Co., in Danbury, and in 1884-1885 he held the position of superin- tendent. In the meantime he had been taking an active part in the work of the local Demo-

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cratic organization, and in 1889 he was elected assessor. In 1890 he was chosen burgess of Danbury, then a borough, and held the office two years. The city was incorporated in 1891. and in 1892 Mr. Foote was elected a councilman from the Fourth ward for two years, during which he did effective service as a member of the com- mittee on Public Works. At the expiration of his term he returned to his former business, and continued until June, 1896, when he was chosen by the selectmen of the town to his present post.

Among other enterprises that Mr. Foote has carried forward successfully we should mention Wooster Hose Company No. 5, of which he was the organizer and the first foreman, their build- ing being erected under his direction. He is still connected with the company, and he also belongs to the I. O. O. F., Progressive Lodge No. 18; the Foresters of America, and the Knights of the Ancient Essenic Order, Supreme Senate. He and his wife are both members of the Church of the Disciples, of Danbury.

On July 4, 1863, the marriage of Mr. Foote and Miss Ellen M. Wildman was celebrated, and three children bless the union: Georgianna, born December 16, 1866, died February 16, 1867; Emma was married April 29, 1885, to Frederick O. Dauchy, of Danbury; and Ida W. was mar- ried June 6, 1895, to Charles A. Reed, of Bridge- port. Mrs. Foote was born September 20, 1845, at Danbury, and is a member of a well-known family. Her father, David Smith Wildman, was born June 28, 1814, and died September 23, 1854, and her mother, whose maiden name was Eunice Ambler, was born November 20, 1816, and breathed her last on February 12, 1884. At the age of twelve Mrs. Foote began to work at the hatting industry, and for thirty-three years she was employed in the establishment of Henry Crofutt & Co. Possessing a keen brain and a warm heart she was quick to note the needs of women workers, and she took an influential part in the organization, in 1884, of the first union of hat trimmers at Danbury. In 1886 she became its president, and has held the office continu- ously ever since, with general oversight also of of the unions at Newburg, N. Y., and New Mil- ford, Conn. The average number of members is about 1, 800. Mrs. Foote is an able and effective speaker, and during the lockout in Danbury in 1893, when nineteen shops were closed for more than three months, she made addresses daily to appreciative audiences of from 1,200 to 1, 500 people. She is a member of Echo Lodge, Daughters of Rebekah, I. O. O. F., and at pres- ent is Past Noble Grand. Mr. Foote is also a member of Echo Rebekah Lodge.

REV. WILLIAM MORRALL. This well- known clergyman, now the rector of the Protestant Episcopal Church at Bethel, has a high reputation as an efficient and faithful worker in his honored calling, and his present parish, in which there are three hundred and twenty-five communicants, has prospered notably under his care.

Mr. Morrall is a native of England, having been born in 1848, at Wolverhampton, Staffordshire, where his father, Richard Morrall, was engaged in business as an iron manufacturer. After com- ing to America the family resided for short peri- ods at Boston, Mass., and Easton, Penn., finally settling at Danville, Penn. There Richard Mor- rall has continued his former business, and he and his wife, Sarah Allen, who is also a native of England, are highly-esteemed residents of the place. They have had nine children: Samuel, who is a farmer near Danville, Penn .; Thomas, who met a soldier's death in the Civil war; Will- iam, our subject; Richard, a resident of Dan- ville; Joseph, deceased; George and John, both residents of Danville; Sarah and Mary.

Our subject's youth was spent at Danville, Penn., where his education was begun in the public schools. At the age of thirteen he went into his father's establishment to gain a knowl- edge of the iron business, and there he remained three years, during which time he assisted in the first work conducted in the Susquehanna Valley for turning iron into steel. He also mastered the details of brick manufacturing in his father's brickyard, where about twelve million brick were manufactured each year. The practical knowl- edge of life acquired during these experiences has been of inestimable benefit to Mr. Morrall in his later work, and it is to be regretted that all spiritual teachers do not become as thoroughly acquainted with the needs of the people. When he was twenty-one he entered the Episcopal Col- lege at Racine, Wis., graduating from that in- stitution in 1874, after which he took a three- years' course in the General Theological Semi- nary at New York City, and in 1877 he was or- dained a deacon. The following year he entered the priesthood and took charge of the Church at Montoursville, Penn., where he remained until 1879. In February, 1880, he went to Albion, Ill., and two years and a half later removed thence to Vincennes, Ind., to remain until the summer of 1885. He then became connected with a boarding school for boys at Little Wash- ington, Penn., where he spent a year, and in 1886 he took charge of a parish in Elk Rapids, Mich. Two years later he went to Marshall, Mich., after about three years there coming to.

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Bethel, where he was installed as rector in May, 1890. While at Marshall, Mich., Mr. Morrall united with the Masonic Fraternity, and he has attained the Knight Templar degree.

Mr. Morrall was married at Montoursville, Penn., to Miss Maggie Meckley, daughter of M. H. Meckley. a well-known citizen, and their union has been blessed with three children: Charles, Marguerite and Theodore.

H ON. WILLIAM J. FINCH. The ances- tors of this venerable and highly-esteemed resident of Westport came from England in Colonial times, and were among the early settlers in Connecticut. The records of the first genera- tions are meager, but to judge from the character and ability of the descendants the stock was of the true pioneer sort, hardy, industrious and thrifty.

Ichabod Finch, the grandfather of our sub- ject, was born in Fairfield county, and became a farmer by occupation, owning a large tract of land in the town of Wilton, where he ended his days. He married and had six children: John, a farmer, who lived and died in Wilton; Ichabod, also a farmer in Wilton, now deceased; William, our subject's father; Polly, who married a Mr. Selleck and removed to the West; Charlotte, who married Henry Hoyt, a farmer, and another daughter. who married Gersham Smith. The family has been identified with the Episcopal Church from early times, and our subject's grand- parents were leading members of the congrega- tion in Wilton.

William Finch was born in Wilton, and fol- lowed farming there for many years, his death occurring at the homestead. In politics he was a Democrat, but he did not take an active share in party work. His wife, Betsey (Hoyt), was a daughter of Stephen Hoyt, a prominent agricult- urist of Norwalk. Our subject was the eldest of a family of four children born to this worthy couple, the others being Nelson, who is deceased; Alcea, wife of Charles Gregory, a farmer in Wil- ton; and Jane, who married Chauncey Foot, a shoemaker of the same town, who is now de- ceased.

Judge Finch was born December 10, 1820, at the old homestead in the town of Wilton, and his education was obtained chiefly in the common schools of the neighborhood. At the age of seven- teen he left school and began to learn a trade, but as the work was not congenial he gave it up. In 1838 he removed to Westport and engaged in the manufacture of shirts, and later he became interested in farming at his present homestead

near Westport village. During the sixty years of his residence in the town he has wielded great influence in local affairs, and he is justly regarded as one of the leading Democrats of the section. He was town clerk for fifteen years, first select- man for twenty-one years, trial justice for more than thirty years, and also served many terms as assessor and grand juror. In 1856 he repre- sented his town in the General Assembly, then sitting in New Haven, and in 1857 he attended the session at Hartford, his work during both years being of value to his constitutents and the public at large.

The Judge married Miss Jane A. Martin, daughter of David Martin, of New York City, who was of English extraction; she died in June, 1887. Of their three children two are now living: Cornelius, deceased, carried on an extensive busi- ness as a shirt manufacturer in Jamesburg, Dan- bury, this county, and New York City; William J. is a traveling salesman for a New York firm of shirt manufacturers; Jane A. married William T. Wood, of Westport, the owner of a planing- mill and manufacturer of sash, blinds and other building materials. The family is prominent socially. For more than half a century the Judge has been a member of the Masonic Frater- nity, having united with Temple Lodge, F. & A. M., about 1848. He attends the Episcopal Church, and his sympathy can always be relied upon in support of a worthy cause.

J TOHN WALSH, formerly a representative in the State Legislature from the town of Bridgeport, is an enterprising and successful business man, and also holds an influential posi- tion in public life, having frequently been chosen to important offices by his fellow citizens.

Born in Bridgeport August 31, 1856, Mr. Walsh is of Irish descent in both paternal and maternal lines. His grandfather Walsh was a miller in Kings County, Ireland, and Peter Walsh, his father, was born about 1824 and reared in that locality; he came to America in about 1842, settling in Bridgeport, where he was employed for about twenty-five years by the New York, New Haven & Hartford Railway Company, acting as section boss over a gang of men. He laid out many of the railroad tracks in Bridgeport. Peter Walsh died in 1874. His wife, Ann (Malone), who died in 1883, was born in about 1829 in Ireland, and was a daughter of Francis Malone. They had seven children: James, who died at the age of twenty-eight years, was educated for the priesthood in Mt. St. Marys, Md., and in Allegany, N. Y., and

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was formerly a priest in the diocese of Scranton, Penn .: Mary J., now Mrs. James Stapleton, of Bridgeport, was organist at St. Mary's Catholic Church for twenty years, and has been succeeded by her daughter Margaret; John is the subject of these lines; Marcella, deceased, was formerly en- gaged in dressmaking at Bridgeport; Miss Anna is a dressmaker; Peter is a partner in our sub- ject's business; Rose is principal of the Summer- field graded school, in Bridgeport. Peter Walsh was a man well equipped mentally, and gave to each of his children a good education. He was naturally of a quiet, retiring disposition.

Our subject was educated in the public schools of Bridgeport, and at the age of seven- teen began clerking in a grocery store there. Four years in this position gave him practical knowledge of the business. and he opened a grocery and meat market at No. 28 Reilly street, in East Bridgeport, which he conducted success- fully for several years. He then purchased a liquor business, weich he added to his former trade, continuing thus about fifteen years, and in 1888 he bought the " Washington Park Hotel," where he now runs the bar, the other depart- ments of the establishment being in the hands of his father-in-law, John Walsh. Politically he is a Democrat, and his activity in partisan work has made him one of the leaders in the local organ- ization. He has served as a delegate in State and town conventions, and in 1881-82-83 was a member of the city council, during his service in that incumbency acting as chairman of the sewer committee, and also of some of the special com- mittees. In 1889 he was elected alderman from the Sixth ward, for one year, and in 1892 he rep- resented his town in the State Legislature, while there serving on the committee on Cities and Boroughs and also on the committee on Restor- ation of Franchises.

In 1883 Mr. Walsh married Miss Adelia Walsh, daughter of John Walsh, a native of Ireland, and eight children have been born to this union, two of whom are still living, Anna and John. The family is identified with the Catholic Church, and Mr. Walsh is a member of various fraternal organizations, including the Knights of Columbus and the Ancient Order of Hibernians. He has been quite successful in his business, and is one of the pushing, hustling men of the city.

R EV. T. J. COLEMAN, pastor of St. Thomas' Roman Catholic Church at Fair- field, enjoys an enviable popularity among all classes and creeds, by virtue of his education, his piety and his cheerful sociability.

Father Coleman comes of Irish parentage, is one of eight children, and was born, in 1853, at Brooklyn, N. Y., where he was reared, and where he received his primary education. Later he attended Manhattan College, and was or- dained in June, 1876, at Allegany, N. Y., after taking the full theological course. As a boy he was always studious, and his progress at school was much above the average-in fact his entire education was completed when he was less than twenty-three years of age.

For three months after his ordination he was located at Stamford, Conn., as assistant to the present Rt. Rev. Bishop of Hartford, going thence to Norwich, where he did duty for upward of two years. In January, 1879, he was trans- ferred to the Sacred Heart parish, New Haven, and remained there until his appointment to Fairfield, in 1883, where he has since diligently labored in the Master's vineyard. He is active and zealous in all his undertakings, is fond of out-door healthy exercise, and by his urbanity and liberal-mindedness has surrounded himself with hosts of friends, not alone in his own Church, but among all denominations. A brief review of St. Thomas' Church will be of interest to the reader, and the following is taken from a local paper:

"Previous to 1852 mass was never celebrated in Fairfield; in that year, however, Father Syn- nott began to come out regularly from the city, saying the first mass in the house of John Mc- Kenna. He officiated occasionally in the parlor of Mrs. Sarah M. Jarvis, a notable convert of that generation, who had been received into the Church in 1842. Father Synnott built St. Thomas' church in 1853; this was a frame build- ing, with a seating capacity of 300. For twenty- three years Fairfield was held as a mission of St. James', Bridgeport, or its development, St. Augustine's. The first resident pastor of Fair- field was Rev. Martin Lawlor, who assumed charge in January. 1876, and who remained nine months, meanwhile attending Westport every Sunday. and buying the land on which the church now stands in that town. The next pastor was Rev. John Quinn, whose stay here was inconsiderable, and who was succeeded, in December. 1876, by Rev. Thomas Mullen. Father Mullen died here suddenly of heart dis- ease in July, 1877, and was followed in the pastorate by Rev. William Harty, now of New Britain, who stayed here until March, 1878, meanwhile liquidating the parish debt. In April, 1878, Rev. Philip McCabe took charge, remain- ing until September, 1879, when he was suc- ceeded by Rev. D. J. Cremin. Soon after com-

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ing to Fairfield, Father Cremin moved the church to a new lot quite a distance away, and put a basement under it. He also enlarged and frescoed the church, bought a house that stood beside it, and made this building, after consider- able alterations, a convent and parochial school. In 1882 he brought the Sisters of Mercy and opened the school. He was promoted to the pastorate of the Sacred Heart parish, Bridge- port, November 18, 1883, and was succeeded by the present pastor, Rev. Thomas J. Coleman.

" Immediately after his advent to this parish, Father Coleman built a rectory between the church and his rented residence, and when he had finished it there was no debt. The school established by Father Cremin he kept up to a worthy standard, often at the sacrifice of his own personal resources. St. Thomas' church is a five-bay brick building of the Romanesque order, its facade being well ornamented by three towers, the central one serving as the support of a tall conical spire. The facings and foundations are of brown stone, as are also the cappings that give variety to the buttress work. It is a thor- oughly well-built edifice, both outside and inside.

" St. Thomas Aquinas' Church seats 650 peo- ple, is exceptionally devotional, and for appear- ance would do credit to many a city parish, though its total cost was only $22,000. To-day. with less than 600 souls in the parish, the total debt is below $4,000; and this is a showing which reflects well the energy of the pastor, the generosity of the parishioners, and the unity that binds together the priest and his people."

On the night of January 19. 1892, a fire broke out in the church and, within an hour, church, convent, and parochial residence, the well-earned fruition of years of labor, were burned to the ground. Five days had not passed, however, before a hall was built and ready for Church services; and this hall is now used for entertainments. Immediately after the fire, the excitement attending which had seriously im- paired his health, Father Coleman went to live in the old rented house, and in 1893 he built the present handsome rectory, which was ready for occupancy at the end of that year. He broke ground for a new church in June, 1894. The corner-stone was laid by Bishop Tierney on the 4th of July of that year, and the dedication took place on the following Thanksgiving Day, No- vember 27. Thus, in an incredibly short time, the parochial property of St. Thomas' parish was more beautiful than ever. Moreover, Father Coleman had, before rebuilding, added quite a piece to the cemetery at an expense of twelve hundred dollars.

W ILLIAM MEACHEN. JR., proprietor of a well-kept, productive market garden in the town of Stratford, is a native of Paterson, N. J., born October 10, 1851, a son of William Meachen, a sketch of whom appears elsewhere.

Up to the age of nine years our subject re- mained in his native State, attending school there for some time. In 1861 he accompanied the family to Stratford, Conn., where he took a three-years' course at Strong's Commercial Mili- tary Institute, at the end of that time embarking in his present business on his nine-acre farm, and has met with well-merited success in his enter- prise.

On June 26, 1875, Mr. Meachen was married to Miss Nellie Jelliff, who was born in Bridge- port, Conn., a daughter of Burr Jelliff, a carpen- ter by trade, and one child, Emma A., brightens the home.

In addition to his market-garden interests. Mr. Meachen is agent for the National Fertilizer Company. In politics he is a Republican, and in religious faith he and his amiable wife are Methodists. They rank among the progressive. enterprising and public-spirited citizens of the community, and those who know them best are numbered among their warmest friends.

A LBERT EAMES (deceased) was for thirty years a leading citizen of Bridgeport, and his name is permanently associated with the de- velopment and improvement of that charming city. As a business man his integrity and hon- esty were proverbial, while his kindly heart manifested itself in spite of a somewhat abrupt manner and won for him universal esteem, his circle of friends embracing all the prominent people of the locality. During his long resi- dence in Bridgeport he took special interest in the improvement of the parks to which he was a constant visitor, and for more than twenty years he served as park commissioner. Sea Side Park, next to which he built his home, was his pride and delight, and at the time of his death Beards- ley Park, in the northern part of the city, had been nearly completed under his observation. His ideal citizenship included a wise participa- tion in local affairs, and he was regarded as one of the valued counselors of the Republican or- ganization in his section. At various times he served the city as councilman, alderman, select- man, also as member of the street, bridge and park commission, and in all of these positions be displayed rare sagacity and judgment, ripe expe- rience and unswerving faithfulness to public in- terests.

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Mr. Eames inherited his sterling qualities of character from an excellent ancestry, being de- scended from good Colonial stock. The first ancestor of whom we have a definite account was Thomas Eames, who was born about 1618, probably in England, and came to America as early as 1634. In 1637 he was in Dedhamn, Mass., and in 1640 he was in Medford, Mass .. where he owned a large tract of land, obtained from the Indians. He served as a soldier in the Pequot war, and in 1675. during King Philip's war, his house was burned and his wife and nine children killed by the Indians while he was in Boston purchasing ammunition.

Nathaniel Eames (1), born December 30, 166S. at Framingham, Mass., was captured by the In- dians at the time of the massacre referred to, but his life was spared. He died January 1, 1746, and his wife Ann died March 12, 1743. . They had seven children: Lydia, Rebecca, Sarah, Na- thaniel. Ann, William and Daniel.

Nathaniel Eames (2), our subject's great-grand- father. was born at Framingham, April 18, 1703, and although he was past three-score and ten at the breaking out of the Revolutionary war he served as " minute man", at Concord and Lex- ington. He died May 13. 1796; his wife, Rachel (Lovell). of Medfield, Mass .. was born Septem- ber 2, 1710. and died October 19, 178S. Their children were: Benjamin, Nathaniel. William, Ann, Nathaniel, Alex, Benjamin and Rachel.

Nathaniel Eames (3). the grandfather of our subject. was born at Framingham, September 11, 1747. and died September 8, 1820. He served by the side of his aged father at Concord and Lexington in the battles which have made those places sacred in American history. He married Catherine Rice, who was born at Fram- ingham, September 5, 1751, the daugher of Jona- than Rice, and died May 30. 1833. They had ten children: Anna, Alex. Zedekiah, Abel, Rachel. Stephen. Lovell, Zedekiah, Patty and Jonathan.

Lovell Eames. our subject's father, was born February 7. 1785, at Framingham, where he ! made his permanent home, his death occurring there December 4, 1865. He was a man of means, and for some years he conducted a black- smith shop in the village. On April 5, 1810, he married Lucy Eames, who was born March 16. 1789, and died July 11, 1870. She was also a descendant of Thomas Eames, the pioneer. the line of descent being traced through John (a son of Thomas), Henry (1). Henry (2), and Henry (3), her father. who was a " minute man " at Lexing- ton and Concord, and served throughout the Revolutionary war. To Lovell and Lucy Eames six children were born, of whom our subject was

the eldest. Horace, born February 25, 1813. died May 17. 1878; Susan, born February 25. 1817. died December 24. 1870; Ann M., born February 20. 1820, Elizabeth S., born June 30. 1822, and. Olivia A., born June 19, 1824, are all living in South Framingham, Massachusetts.

Albert Eames was born March 9, 1811, at the old home in South Framingham, and at the age of twenty-one he was apprenticed to Silas. Allen, the gunmaker at Springfield, Mass., whose shop was the nucleus from which sprang the present Springfield Armory. After learning his. trade he traveled through the South and West,. working in the government mints both at Savan- nah and New Orleans, making the trip between those cities with a horse and buggy which he purchased, and sold after arriving at his destina- tion. Later he went up the Mississippi river as far as the present site of St. Paul, traveling in the boats which carried up provisions and return- ing with lumber, and were propelled in a primi- tive fashion by poling along the shallows. Among his early acquaintances were many whose names have since become famous in the manu- facture of firearms, and after his decease auto- graph letters were found among his effects from Colonel Colt. the Remingtons, Horace Smith and the Wessons. One of these men, who after- ward became a millionaire, says in a letter that "he has a good job this winter and is getting $2.00 a day and roast beef." In 1846 he went to Ilion, N. Y., with the Remington Bros., and assisted in filling a contract with the government for breech-loading carbines for the navy. In the manufacture of this arm the system of finishing the parts to gauge and afterwards assembling them by different workmen was employed under his direction; this was probably the beginning of that system, which has now become almost uni- versal. On returning to Springfield he organized the American Machine Works, and engaged in the manufacture of cotton presses and heavy machinery, but this business was destroyed by the Civil war. their assets being mostly in the South. In 1856 he went to Bridgeport to do some work for the Wheeler & Wilson Manufactur- ing Co., manufacturers of sewing machines, with whom he remained thirty years, first as a maker of machinery and tools and afterward as a con- tractor. At his death, which occurred December 14, 1889, he was president of the Bridgeport Horse Railroad Co. He never took an active part in any Bridgeport society, but was a charter member of Hampden Lodge, I. O. O. F., of Springfield, and retained his affiliation with that lodge until his death. In 1844 he married Miss Harriett Avery Ferre, by whom he had the fol-

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Commemorative Biographical Record of Fairfield County, Connecticut, Part 101

Author: H. H. Beers & Co. Publication date: 1899 Publisher: Number of Pages: 1795

Author: H. H. Beers & Co.
Publication date: 1899
Publisher:
Number of Pages: 1795