Commemorative Biographical Record of Fairfield County, Connecticut, Part 131

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

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Jonathan Waterbury. born about the year 1653 at Stamford, married, about 1676, Eunice , and their issue were: Sarah, born August 15, 1677: Eunice, October 7, 1679; Rose, January 21. 1681; Rachel, August 26, 1684; Jonathan, February 9, 1685; Abigail, July 1, 1688; Joseph, June 26, 1691; and Benjamin, Septem- ber 12, 1694. The father of these was a sur- veyor. He served as selectman of the town in the years 1681-82-88-89-97-99. He died Janu- ary 14, 1702.

Benjamin Waterbury, born September 12, 1694, at Stamford, married, January 12, 1726- 27, Mary Mead, daughter of Jonathan Mead, of

Greenwich, Conn., and the names with dates of birth of their issue are: Rachel, November 10, 1727; Benjamin, February 26, 1729; Josiah, July 31, 1732; James, December 7, 1734; Eben- ezer, February 25, 1736-37; Mary, January 5, 1740-41, and Bertha, May 20, 1744. The father of these was a surveyor, and he served as a tithingman.

Josiah Waterbury, born July 31, 1732; in Stamford, married, November 22, 1759, Sarah Husted, and the names with dates of birth of their issue, are: . Samuel, August 30, 1760; Enos, June 19, 1762; Hannah, July 3, 1763; William, November 24, 1766; Abigail, May 27, 1769; Mary, July 15, 1771; and Jared, November 4, 1788. The name of Josiah Waterbury appears on the muster-roll of David Waterbury's Com- pany in the Lake George campaign of the Colonial war.

Enos Waterbury, born June 19, 1762, mar- ried, May 9, 1781, Sarah Waterbury, who was born August 20, 1763. Their issue was : Han- nah, born May 13, 1784; Nancy, May 27, 1787; Horace, August 29, 1789; Jonathan B., April 19, 1792; Maria, April 19, 1794; Sally Irene, June 9, 1796; Harriet, January 13, 1799; and Eliza, De- cember 17. 1803. By a second marriage of Enos Waterbury, this time on March 23, 1807. to Catherine Warring, there were issue : Mary, December 13. 1807; Catherine, born February 24, 1810, died December 1, 1839. By a third marriage of Mr. Waterbury, this time on May 20, 1811, to Anna Weeks, the issue was : Nancy, born May 13, 1813, died January 12, 1874. Anna (Weeks) Waterbury died August 21, 1818, and for his fourth wife Mr. Waterbury married Amy Buxton, widow of John Buxton. Mr. Water- bury was a patriot of the war of the Revolution. It appears on record in the U. S. Pension Office that Enos Waterbury enlisted at Stamford in June, 1779, as a private soldier, and served nine months in Capt. Sylvanus Brown's company and Colonel Mead's regiment. He again enlisted, this time in March, 1780, and served nine months as a private in Reuben Scofield's company. His third enlistment was in March, 1781, and the term of service nine months in Capt. Charles Smith's company. The records show further that he made application for a pension July 30, 1832. His death occurred March 2, 1846, and his widow subsequently enjoyed a pension.

Horace Waterbury was born August 29, 1789. On December 18, 1812, he was married to Ann Miller, and they had issue: Eliza, born May 13, 1814; Mary Elizabeth, August 13, 1815; Emeline, August 11, 1817; George Henry, May 30, 1819; Ann Maria, February 7, 1821; Charles William,

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January IS, 1829, and Eliza, August 18, 1830. The father of these, too, was a patriot. He or- ganized a volunteer company for the war of 1812. which was stationed at Shippan Point. He was a blacksmith by trade, and rendered service in that line during the war.

Charles William Waterbury, born January 18, 1829. married, January 14, 1850, Caroline Matilda Ferris, who was born June 20. 1831. They had issue: William Ferris, born March 1, ₡851; Charles Pearshall, June 20, 1855, died Sep- tember 28, 1856; Edwin Horace, August 12, #858; Walter Scott, November 5, 1860; Caroline Pearshall, April 27, 1863. The father of these died June 26, 1860. He was occupied through life mainly as an agriculturist, but for a few years carried on a grocery, flour and feed, coal and wood business at Waterside, Stamford, Conn., as a member of the firm of Henley & Waterbury. In the Civil war (as did his ancestors in previous wars) he went forth to battle for his country. Enlisting on September 10. 1862, in Company B, 28th C. V. I., he served until August 28, 1863. He was a member af the Baptist Church, and a highly esteemed citizen.

William Ferris Waterbury, the subject proper of this sketch, was born March 1, 1851, in the town of Stamford, his boyhood days having been passed on his father's farm on Richmond Hill. Here he remained until sixteen years of age; then entered the hardware store of S. W. Scofield & Co., at Stamford, remaining one year. Follow- ing this he was for one year in the dry-goods store of Hubbard & Holly. Next he passed four years as clerk in the hardware store of C. E. & A. J. Holly. He then went into business for himself, forming a partnership in the clothing business with J. W. Hurlbert, under the firm name of J. W. Hurlbert & Co., two years later the firm be- coming Waterbury & McDonald. For many years Mr. Waterbury has been well and favor- ably known in the public affairs of Stamford and Fairfield county. From 1876 to 1879 he was assistant town clerk, and in 1878-79 he served as a borough tax collector. On July 25, 1891, he was appointed town clerk to fill the unexpired term of Charles E. Holly, and he was elected to the office in October following. He is still in this office. He has been clerk of the Probate Court for ten years past. Socially. he is a mem-

ber of Union Lodge No. 5, F. & A. M., Wash- ington Council No. 6. R. & S. M., and Ritten- house Chapter No. 11. R. A. M., of Stamford; he is a member of Rippowam Lodge No. 24, I. O. O. F .; also a member of Wascusse Encamp- ment No. 14, and was a charter member of Can- ton Thomas Wiley No. 6. Moreover he is a

member of Stamford Council No. 999, Royal Arcanum; also of John M. Simm's Camp No. 49, S. of V .; also president of the Stamford Co-Op- erative Building and Loan Association. Mr. Waterbury is active in the Church and its auxil- iary societies, and has been a member of the Baptist Church of Stamford since twenty-one years of age. He is president of the Stamford Christian Endeavor Union, and is superintendent of the Sunday-school of the Stamford Baptist Church. He is one of the directors of the Y. M. C. A. He is a member of and is registrar of the Society of Connecticut Sons of the Revolution. is also registrar of the Connecticut Society of the Order of Founders and Patriots of America.

On December 20, 1877, at Greenwich, Conn., Mr. Waterbury was married to Miss Harriet L. Kenworthy, daughter of George A. and Harriet (Weed) Kenworthy, and to them have been born the following children: Howard Roger, born at Greenwich, January 7, 1881; and Mildred Adelle, born September 12, 1887, at Stamford.

The FERRIS FAMILY of Fairfield county, into which Charles William Waterbury (of the sixth generation of Waterburys here) married, is of New England's early families. The family orig- inated in Normandy. Henry de Ferris, a Nor- man, obtained from William the Conquerer large grants of land in Staffordshire, Derbyshire and Leicestershire, England. The immigrant to this country, Jeffrey Ferris, located at Watertown, Mass., and, so it appears, was married twice. The name of his first wife is not now known. His second wife, who died at Greenwich, Conn., December 23, 1660, was Susannah -. Jeffrey Ferris must have resided in Boston, Mass., as early as 1635, for in that year it is known that he was made a freeman. He was one of the first settlers of Wethersfield, Conn., thence he removed to Greenwich, and from there, after his first wife's death, to Stamford. His death occurred in 1660; his second wife died December 23, 1660. The issue by the second marriage were: James, Peter, Joseph, Mary and John.

Of these, John Ferris, who was born in 1639. removed to West Chester, Westchester Co., N. Y., in 1654, becoming one of the first Patentees of the town of West Chester. He married (first) Mary -- , and (second) Grace --. He died in 1715, and his second wife in the same year at Flushing, L. I. The issue by the second marriage was: Mary, Samuel, James, Jonathan, John, Peter, Phoebe, Hannah, Martha and Sarah. Of that generation, James Ferris married Annie Sands, of Sands Point, L. I., and the issue was: James, Benjamin, Martha, Marcy, Elizabeth,

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Anne and Mary. Benjamin Ferris married Sarah Palmer, and had issue: Sands, Benjamin, Cor- nell and Ann. Sands Ferris married Susan Pot- ter, and had issue: Benjamin Franklin, Thomas, Elizabeth, Sally Ann and Amelia. The father died May 8, 1840, and the mother passed away June 9, 1819. Benjamin Franklin Ferris mar- ried Caroline M. Pearshall, and had issue: Will- iam Hawkins, who was cashier of the sub-treas- ury at New York for many years; Caroline Ma- tilda, who married Charles W. Waterbury; and Josephine A., who married Walter Coon.

EORGE WASHINGTON BEARDSLEY, of the Beardsley Building Company, was born March 18, 1841, in Monroe township, and is a son of Hiram Beardsley, who was born in the same township.

Hiram Beardsley originally learned the tan- ner's trade, which he followed during the earlier part of his life, but later he became a farmer in a small way in the township of Monroe. During the war of the Rebellion he was engaged in mak- ing saddletrees. In his younger days he was a Whig and in later life a Republican, was a man of positive opinions, and especially active in political affairs. He was scarcely less active in religious matters, being a member of the Con- gregational Church at Monroe Center, and was always a member of the choir. He married El- mina Nichols, daughter of Silas Nichols, of Trumbull township, and had the following chil- dren: Henry N., a member of the Beardsley Building Company; Sarah, born in August, 1837, who married James Marsh, now deceased; George Washington, the subject of this sketch; Harriet, now deceased; Mary, who married Albert Wheeler, who died in 1895; Charles E., who is associated with the Beardsley Building Company (he has been twice married, first to Belinda Gunn, and second to Anna E. Curr). Hiram Beardsley died in the year 18-, his wife in 1854.

George W. Beardsley was educated in the public schools of Monroe township, and at private schools in Monroe Centre, attending until he was about sixteen years of age. He began learning the carpenter and joiner trade with William A. Lum, and served an apprenticeship of four years, finishing his apprenticeship when twenty- one years of age. During the following four or five years he was a journeyman carpenter in Birm- ingham, and then formed a partnership with C. T. Beardsley, the firm name being C. T. & G. W. Beardsley, of Derby, Conn., and engaged in contracting and building. This partnership con- tinued three years, at the end of which time the

brother, Henry N., was admitted to partnership, and in 1892 Charles E. Beardsley entered the firm, taking the interest of C. T. Beardsley, the headquarters of the company remaining in Derby until about this time. In 1871, about two years after Henry N. Beardsley had been admitted, another partnership was formed, with E. W. Downs, and the manufacture of sash, doors and blinds was taken up. This partnership continued for about two years, in a factory at Shelton. At length Mr. Downs withdrew from the company, but the name continued to be used, the Beards- ley Building Company including the partnership with C. T. Beardsley and Mr. Downs, C. T. Beardsley retiring in 1892. The company has for its field of operations Ansonia, Derby and Shelton, and has done the greater part of the building in Shelton. This firm is one of the largest in its section of the State, and has been unusually successful. Politically, George W. Beardsley has always been a Republican, and has been a burgess for several years. He is a mem- ber of Ousatonic Lodge, I. O. O. F., and has been an unusually active member of the order. He is a director in both the Derby Savings Bank and the Mercantile Co-operative Bank. He is a member and a trustee of the Methodist Episcopal Church of Shelton, and has always been a public- spirited citizen and loyal to his town.

Mr. Beardsley married Susan Hine, daughter of Harvey Hine, of Orange, and has children as follows: Bertha, who married Edmond Wilkin- son, now deceased, and who is now living at her parental home; Arthur, connected with the business of his father; Ruth, who died at the age of fifteen, and Harry, who is living at home.

NIMOTHY O'BRIEN, senior member of the firm of Obrien & Schindler, leading con- tractors and builders of Bridgeport, is a man whose skill and enterprise have won for him a high reputation in his chosen calling, and his suc- cess in life is the more worthy of note because of the fact that he has made his own way unaided by inherited capital. He was born in Conan, Parish of Killmackabeir, County Cork, Ireland, and is the third of the name in direct line. His grandfather, Timothy O'Brien, who was a farm- er by occupation, was a native of Queenstown.

Timothy O'Brien (2), our subject's father, was born at the old home in County Cork and passed his life in that locality. He married Margaret Cockley, a native of the same county, and had eight children as follows: Daniel, a farmer in Ireland; Catherine, who married Pat- rick McCarty, and resides in Ireland; Mary, de-

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ceased; Timothy, our subject; Ellen, deceased; James, a farmer in Ireland; Dennis, a bookkeeper in Jersey City; and Margaret, wife of Terrence Loughlen, of Brooklyn, New York.

As a boy at home our subject began to dis- play the industry and thrift which have marked his career, and before coming to America at the age of sixteen he had already gained some prac- tical knowledge of the mason's trade. He com- pleted his apprenticeship in Bridgeport, where he has since made his home with the exception of one year in Springfield, Mass. By nature he was too independent to long remain in a subord- inate place, and for some years he has been en- gaged in business on his own account as a gen- eral contractor. For three years he was in part- nership with John J. Green, under the firm name of Green & O'Brien, and at present he is associated with John Schindler. Politically, he is an ardent Democrat, and in religious faith he is a Roman Catholic, being a prominent member of the Church of The Sacred Heart. Socially, he and his family are popular, and he belongs to various fraternal organizations, including the Foresters of America, the Knights of Columbus and the Royal Arcanum. He married (first) Miss Mar- garet Ivers, a native of Ireland, who died June 21, 1883. On June 3, 1885, he married Miss Jane O'Connor, a native of County Kerry, Ire- land, a daughter of John O'Connor, who passed his entire life in that county. By his first mar- riage Mr. O'Brien had four children: Joseph, Timothy R. and John, who are living, and Ellen, deceased. By the second union there are three children: Henry T., Ernest V. and Jeanette F., all at home.

OHN SCHINDLER. This enterprising resi- dent of Bridgeport is a member of a well- known firm of O'Brien & Schindler, masons, who 'have an extensive business as contractors and builders, their yards being located on Garden street, Bridgeport. They are the only contract- ors there who build large ovens for bakeries, and at present they have on hand several contracts in that line with local establishments. Mr. Schind- ler is a selfmade man, his energy and thrift re- flecting great credit upon him, and the following brief review of his life is well worthy of preserva- tion.

Born December 20, 1857, in New York City, Mr. Schindler is a son of John and Elizabeth (Oberst) Schindler. His father was a native of a part of France that is now in Germany, where he learned the mason's trade. At the age of thirty he came to this country, and for some time

was employed in a furniture shop in New York. He died when our subject was about two days old, and his wife, who was born in Bavaria, died in 1890. Of their two children, the elder, George, is now a mason in Bridgeport.

Our subject's youth was spent mainly in Poughkeepsie, N. Y., where he received a public- school education and, later, served an appren- ticeship to the mason's trade. In 1880 he went to his native city, where he was employed at his trade one year, and in 1881 he settled in Bridge- port, engaging in the same line of business. He and his partner, Timothy O'Brien, have a gen- eral trade, undertaking work of any kind and with most satisfactory results. Politically, Mr. Schindler is a Democrat, but he is not especially active in public affairs. He and his family are highly respected socially, and are identified with the German Catholic Church at Bridgeport, while he is also a leading member of the St. Joseph's Society. On October 5, 1887, he mar- ried Miss Louisa Volz, a native of Bridgeport, and a daughter of William Volz, who was born in Germany. They reside at No. 135 Sher- wood avenue, and their home is brightened by three attractive children: Louisa, Emma and John William.

ENRY FRANCIS WANNING, president and general manager of the Birmingham Iron Foundry, of Derby, Conn., was born in Massachusetts, March 30, 1846. After receiv- ing his earlier education in the public schools of his native town, he entered the high school of Taunton, Mass., where he graduated in 1862.

Soon after laying aside his text books Mr. Wanning began work in the office of the woolen- mills of Samuel Slater's Sons at Webster, Mass., but after a time he removed to New York City, where he entered the employ of the New York City Steel Works, and while there became ac- quainted with the proprietors of the Birmingham Iron Foundry, of Derby, Conn. Subsequently he was induced by that company to accept the position of bookkeeper for their establishment, and ever since 1865 he has been identified with that firm in different capacities. In 1879 he was elected their secretary; in 1888 he became treas- urer; and in 1891, having acquired a larger in- terest in the corporation, he succeeded Royal M. Bassett as its president and general manager. He has served as a director of the Birmingham National Bank since 1888.

In 1870 Mr. Wanning was married to Miss Harriet Wallace, eldest daughter of the late Nel- son H. Downs, of Shelton, Conn., a lady of

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marked refinement and charming personality. Since his marriage Mr. Wanning has resided in Shelton, having previously, from 1865, made his home in Derby. He and his wife have three liv- ing children: Grace Elizabeth, born in 1871, who was married in 1896 to Julius G. Day; Francis Downs, secretary of the Birmingham Iron Foun- dry, born in 1873; and Harriet Downs, born in 1879. Though not a member, Mr. Wanning is interested in the Second Congregational Church of Derby, of which he has been a regular attend- ant and cheerful supporter since settling at his present locality.

W ILBUR F. TOMLINSON. Among the well-known names on the pages of Con- necticut history is found engraved, high up in the " Temple of Fame," the name of Tomlinson. In 1630 a grant of territory was made to the Earl of Warwick, which grant was the beginning of the history of Connecticut. In 1643 Con- necticut was admitted to the Union of New Eng- land. At such an early period the colony was in a very unsettled state, and the citizens were composed of that hardy pioneer stock that has been the glory of America. In 1652, there came from England one Henry Tomlinson, baptized at Derby, England, in 1606. Tradition says he was a weaver by trade. He settled at Milford. Conn., and his talents soon made him a promi- nent factor in the town, and for a long time he occupied the responsible position of keeper of the ordinary court records. His death occurred at Stratford in 1681.

After Henry Tomlinson comes the Lieutenant, Agur Tomlinson, his son, who was born at Strat- ford, November 1, 1658. He was a physician, and his son Zachariah, who was born at Strat- ford, Conn., October 31, 1693, became a large real-estate owner, and left a family of children. Capt. Beach Tomlinson, a son of Zachariah, was born December 3 or 7, 1726, at Stratford, and followed farming as an occupation; he owned a great deal of property which he rented. He was appointed an ensign in the trained band, and afterward became its captain. In his family were fourteen children, among whom was Agur, born December 1, 1756, at Huntington, Conn. Agur Tomlinson was one of the patriots of the Revolution, and at the close of the war, like Cincinnatus of ancient fame, went home to his farming, his life work; he died November 28, 1847, aged ninety-one.

Charles Tomlinson, the son of Agur, and grandfather of Wilbur F. Tomlinson, whose name opens this review, was born at White Hills,

in the town of Huntington, Fairfield county, on February 20, 1788. He, too, followed farming as an occupation all his life. His wife in her maidenhood was Anna Pearce, a twin sister of Aaron Pearce, and she became the mother of five children, all of whom are yet living: Nelson, a . farmer living on the old homestead; William, mentioned more fully below; Ann, the wife of John Hull, of Oxford, Conn .; Caroline, the wife of John Sherman, of Newtown; and Mary Emily. the wife of Legrand Stone, of Smith county, Kans. The parents of these children lived far beyond the allotted three-score and ten years, the father dying May 10, 1879, aged ninety-one years, and the mother at the age of ninety-three.

William Tomlinson passed his entire life as a farmer, to which occupation he was well fitted by his early training under his father. For several terms during the winter he taught school, winning a good reputation both as an instructor and as a disciplinarian. On June 7, 1846, he married Miss Ruth Drew, who was born Febru- ary 15, 1829, in the town of Southeast, Putnam Co., N. Y., a daughter of Deacon Ferris Drew. The Drews were of French extraction, and the father of Mrs. Tomlinson, though a native of New York State (where his father, Isaac Drew, was a farmer), died in Connecticut. After his marriage William Tomlinson took his young bride to Illinois, and settled in Nora, Jo Daviess county, where he engaged in farming. For nine years they made their home in the Prairie State, at the end of which time they returned to Con- necticut, locating at Woodbridge, where they still reside. A Republican in politics, Mr. Tom- linson has served as justice of the peace, etc., though in no sense could he be regarded as an office-seeker, the offices he has accepted coming to him without any effort on his part. A family of five children were born to William Tomlinson and his wife, of whom the following is the record: Warren E., born February 25, 1850, is a car- penter in the town of Huntington; Frank E., born April 24, 1854, went, in 1883, to South Dakota, where he is engaged in farming; Wilbur F., the subject proper of this review, comes next; Royal D., born December 28, 1860, is the foreman of a machine shop at Rondout, N. Y .; and Her- bert H., born April 25, 1869, is at home. The entire family adhere to the faith of the Congrega- tional Church.

Wilbur F. Tomlinson, a worthy representa- tive of this ancient family, now known and hon- ored as one of the substantial business men of Danbury, was born at Nora, Jo Daviess Co., Ill., May 16, 1856. His life, until the age of twenty years, was passed upon a farm, but not

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having any decided taste for agricultural pursuits, he decided to go out into the world and fight his own battles. He accordingly went to Stepney, Conn., and was employed for about four years as a clerk in the country store of Hawley Brothers. For two years then he stayed on the farm at home, when he went to Bridgeport, and for three years was engaged in the meat and grocery business. In 1885 he came to Danbury, where he carried on an ice business; in 1890 he formed a co-partnership with A. W. Parmelee in the un- dertaking business, under the firm name of Parmelee & Tomlinson. They are pleasantly located at No. 46 White street, in the Union Hall building, Danbury, and have given the best satisfaction in their business.

On December 6, 1882, Wilbur F. Tomlinson was married to Antoinette, a daughter of Perkins French, of Easton, this county, and one son has been born to them-Carl, born June 6, 1886.

Politically, our subject affiliates with the Re- publican party, and is one of the leaders in his town. For two years he represented the Second ward on the board of alderman, giving satisfac- tion to his constituents, and gaining the good will of the citizens in general. He is a member of the I. O. O. F. and the American Mechanics.

As a representative of such an old family, Mr. Tomlinson has proven himself worthy of the name he bears, his sterling integrity and his courtesy winning the regard and respect of his fellow citi- zens.

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Commemorative Biographical Record of Fairfield County, Connecticut, Part 131

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