Commemorative Biographical Record of Fairfield County, Connecticut, Part 136

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 136

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Company, where he spent fifteen years, serving as assistant foreman, and foreman during the latter portion of that time. While working for this company he resided upon a farm three miles from town, making the journey back and forth each day. In 1885 he formed a partnership with D. E. Loewe, Charles Muetschele and Matthias Heinzelmann for the manufacture of hats, and he has since been a member of that successful firm.

Mr. Fuchs has a pleasant home in Danbury, where he and his family are highly respected. On June 13, 1871, he married Mary Dittus, a native of Germany, and a daughter of John Dit- tus, a well-known farmer. Four children were born to this union: John, Fannie, Caroline and Ernest, all of whom are living. Mr. Fuchs and his family are identified with the German Lu- theran Church, and socially he is a member of the Germania, one of the leading German socie- ties of the city. Politically, he has been a Democrat for a number of years, but in 1896 he cast his ballot for sound money and protection.

C M. SCOFIELD is a well-known contractor and builder of Riverside, of whose skill many notable examples are to be seen at various points in that region. Thoroughly reliable in all things, the quality of his work is a convincing test of his own personal worth, and he conscientiously ful- fills his part of every contract.

Our subject is a member of the old Scofield family of Stamford township, Fairfield county, where his grandfather, Phineas Scofield, reared his family and spent his entire life; at his death his remains were interred at Scofieldtown, in the same township. He was twice married, his first wife being Mercy (Finch), by whom he had three children, who reached years of maturity, name- ly: Hiram, Nathaniel and Mary. His second wife bore the maiden name of Mercy Seely. The mother of Mercy (Finch) Scofield, first wife of Phineas Scofield, was Rachael Bishop, the daugh- ter of Benjamin Bishop, the son of Benjamin Bishop, who was the son of the Rev. John Bishop, the first minister in Stamford; he walked from Boston to Stamford with his staff and Bible. Benjamin Bishop's mother was Susanna Pierson, daughter of Rev. Abraham Pierson, Jr., who was one of the founders and the first president of Yale College.

Nathaniel Scofield, our subject's father, was a farmer by occupation. In early manhood he married Polly A. Ferris, a native of Sound Beach, and for a short time they made their home at Wilton, Conn., where our subject was born March 25, 1839. During his childhood

they removed to North Stamford, Fairfield coun- ty, and later to a farm near Stamford. The fa- ther supplied timber for the construction of the New York, New Haven & Hartford railroad, and in delivering the timber used ox-teams. It was always conceded that he kept the best ox-team in this section. He carried on farming in con- nection with the lumber business, and although able to perform much labor, his death is attrib- uted to overwork. He was taken ill very sud- denly while out with his ox-team, and was brought home helpless in the lumber cart. He died at the age of forty-five years, and was buried in the North Field burial plot. In his political affiliations he was a Whig. His widow was left in rather limited circumstances, but she managed to support her family and keep her children to- gether, bringing them up to be excellent citizens. She died in Stamford, in 1889, at the age of eighty-two years, and was laid to rest by the side of her husband. She was a consistent member of the Congregational Church, a highly respected lady and the best of mothers. In the family were six children: Sarah F., who married Capt. William W. Hoyt, and lived in Stamford, but died in New Jersey; Mary E., widow of Alexan- der Weed, of Stamford; Susan E., widow of Holly Scofield, and a resident of Stamford; C. M., subject of this sketch; Harriet, wife of Syl- vester Scofield, of Stamford; and Edwin N., a carpenter of Cos Cob, Fairfield county.

The father of Mrs. Polly (Ferris) Scofield was Asa Ferris. His mother, Mary Lockwood, was the daughter of Gershom Lockwood, who was a son of Lady Ann Millington, Lord Milling- ton's daughter. The story goes that she came from England to find her lover, and being unsuc- cessful in her search she married Gershom Lock- wood, Sr. They settled in what was then Old Greenwich, now Sound Beach. Her friends sent to her a carved chest containing among other things, amber beads, and a quantity of gold guineas; the beads and chest are still in the pos- session of some of the Ferris family.

Being the eldest son of his parents, C. M. Scofield, our subject, early began to assist his mother in the support of the family, much to the detriment of his education. In an old-fashioned school house, with slab benches for seats, he pur- sued his studies, his education being only such as the district schools of his day afforded. He was desirous of learning the machinist's trade, but his means would not permit him to take it up. Dur- ing his boyhood he worked for neighbors, and at the age of eighteen, having been able to pur- chase some tools, he went to Port Chester, N. Y., to learn the carpenter's trade; but a few

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months later the shop in which he worked was burned and his property was destroyed. Return- ing to Stamford, he entered the employ of Jona- than Buxton and Charles Bishop, who were building the Congregational church at that place, and with them he remained for twelve years, during which time he also worked on the Methodist and Baptist churches and many of the best residences in Stamford, including about all that were built on Noroton Hill in those days. On leaving that firm he began contracting and building on his own account, his first contract be- ing a store building on the present site of Fitch Hoyt's store in Stamford. He purchased lots, built houses thereon, and then sold the property, carrying on this business quite successfully for many years. On May 31, 1865, Mr. Scofield was married in Southport to Miss Hannah M. Weeks, who was born in Stamford, August 7, 1841, a daughter of James W. and Hannah M. (Guernsey) Weeks. She was reared in her na- tive village, and completed her education at Miss Anna Hoyt's boarding school in New Brunswick, N. J. By her marriage she has become the mother of two children: William W., a carpen- ter of Sound Beach, and Marion V., at home.

During early life Mr. Scofield always lived with his mother on the place left by his father, and he did much to improve it. In 1864 he pur- chased the old home, and continued to live there for a few years after his marriage. The city of Stamford was his next home, but since 1878 he has resided in Riverside. Here he purchased a mill which he conducted for some time, and also built a large ice house and engaged in the ice business quite extensively, selling in New York City and Long Island. In the meantime he was still interested in the planing-mill and lumber business, his brother being at one time his part- ner. Being thrown down a steep embankment and seriously injured, he sold his business, and several months later again turned his attention to building houses on lots which he owned. He has considerable property at Sound Beach and two houses at Riverside. He is a public-spirited, enterprising man, one who has always taken a deep interest in the improvement of his locality and is numbered among his town's most useful and valued citizens. In politics he is a stanch Republican, but he cares nothing for the honors or emoluments of public office. His wife holds membership in the Congregational Church at Stamford.

Mr. Scofield has recently erected a residence on his property at Sound Beach, to which he re- moved with his family early in the present year. His son, William Weeks Scofield, was married

October 9, 1895, to Gussie H. Ferris, of Sound Beach, where they now reside. They have one son, Floyd Millington. In 1897 he purchased the well-known "Greenwich Point House " prop- erty of about eighteen acres, which has been a popular boarding house for years. Mr. Scofield has sold several shore front lots to New York City people; has also erected a new house di- rectly on the shore where there is a fine beach and view of Long Island Sound for miles. He intends to continue its improvement along vari- ous lines.

W ILLIAM E. ACKLEY. A long and use- ful life has won for this well-known resi- dent of Sandy Hook the esteem of a large circle of acquaintances and friends, and in his declining years he is comforted by the consciousness of duty done. For more than thirty years he was a fore- man in the factory of the New York Belting & Packing Company at that place, having charge of about fifty men, and so faithfully did he meet the requirements of the position that his employ- ers and workmen were equally satisfied with bis management.

The Ackley family is of French origin, but became identified at an early date with New York City, where Jonathan Ackley, our subject's grandfather, was born May 20, 1779, and died July 2, 1813, having passed his life there, follow- ing shoemaking as an occupation. He married Miss Mary Smith, and had seven children, viz .: John, our subject's father; Stephen, born January 4, 1801; Hiram, born March 25, 1803; James, born May 12, 1805; Mary, born January 5, 1808, and married, June 14, 1823, Asa Whitaker; Eme- line, born October 15, 1810, and died November 14, 1825; and Angeline, born July 29, 1813, and died January 26, 1814. Mary Smith, our sub- ject's grandmother, was born March 16, 1781, and died December 2, 1834. Her father, Jabez Smith, was born September 21, 1746, and her mother, whose maiden name was Hannah Burch- ard, was born August 28, 1749. Jabez and Han- nah Smith had eleven children as follows: Phoebe, born October 9, 1770; Isaiah, June 18, 1772; Hannah, July 23, 1774; Samuel (1), Feb- ruary 20, 1777; Tamson, March 9, 1779; Mary, our subject's grandmother; Josiah, born Decem- ber 19, 1783; Daniel, April 26, 1786; Andrew, February 26, 1789; Uriah, June 17, 1791; and Samuel (2), July 16, 1793.

John Ackley, the father of our subject, was born in New York City, January 18, 1799, and when only fourteen years old enlisted as a sol- I dier, the war of 1812 being then in progress.

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He learned the shoemaker's trade in Philadel- phia, and for many years worked as a journey- man for Andrew Smith. During the greater portion of his life he made his home in the town of Lloyd, opposite Poughkeepsie, N. Y., and, as he was a superior workman, he was kept con- stantly employed by customers up and down the river. His mental abilities were of a high order, and through private reading he secured a wide range of information on the topics of his day. In politics he was a devoted follower of Andrew Jackson, and in religious faith he was a Univer- salist. He died August 14, 1857. In 1821 he married Phobe Morgan, who was born March 9, 1800 (a daughter of William Morgan, of New York), and died September 6, 1896; for many years she drew a pension on account of her hus- band's patriotic services as a soldier. Both were held in the highest esteem by all who knew them, and Mrs. Ackley was a model woman, worthy to be emulated by the mothers of to-day. They had the following children: Catherine A. (1), born January 22, 1822, died in infancy; Mary A., born January 22, 1824, married D. W. Van- Rapper, and about twenty years ago removed to Georgia, where they now reside; James H., born September 27, 1826, became a sailor and died in New York City May 3, 1867; William E., our subject, is mentioned more fully below; Charles H., born April 9, 1831, was a butcher in Jersey City, where he died July 15, 1872 (he was a sol- dier in the 7ist New York State Militia, and fought in the Civil war); Catherine A. (2), born October 28, 1833, married (first) Simon Rose, and (second) Henry C. Chamberlain, and her death occurred December 25, 1877; Emeline, born December 10, 1835, died April 17, 1858; John Morgan, born February 17, 1841, who was a soldier in the 7th New York State Militia, and fought in the Civil war, died October 6, 1865; and George Washington, born March 17, 1844, died January 11, 1845.

Mr. Ackley, our subject, was born January 28, 1829, in New York City, but from the age of five years his boyhood was spent in the town of Marlboro, Ulster Co., N. Y., in the village of Milton, where he received his education. About 1845 he engaged in business as a butcher, later learning the art of manufacturing rubber goods, especially combs. After two years spent in New York City he went to Marlboro to work for Sweet & Tibble, with whom he remained about four years, his time being devoted to comb making. In 1851 he removed to Sandy Hook, where for two years he was employed in the same line of work for Martin Reed. The next two years he spent in Williamsburg, N. Y.,

and one year in Brookfield, this county; then in October, 1856, he entered the employ of the New York Belting & Packing Company. In the following year he was made foreman of the ma- chine belting department, and this position he held continuously for thirty-two years, resigning in 1889 in order to enjoy in peace the rewards of his years of toil. As he has always been fond of reading he keeps well informed upon the issues of the time, and his opinions are regarded with deference by his associates. Politically, he is a Republican, but he has never aspired to official honors. Socially, he and his wife are popular, and they are leading members of St. John's Episcopal Church at Sandy Hook, in which he has served as warden and vestryman. He is also an active and faithful worker in the Masonic Fraternity, belonging to Hiram Lodge No. 18, F. & A. M., at Newtown.

On June 4, 1854, Mr. Ackley married Miss Martha Ann Roberts. No children have blessed the union. Mrs. Ackley was born September 21, 1834, a daughter of James and Maria Roberts, formerly of Huddersfield, Yorkshire, England. Her father, who was a manufacturer of woolen goods, came to this country and located first at Poughkeepsie, N. Y., later at Bridgeport, this county, where his death occurred in 1847. He had six children, as follows: Mary, born January 30, 1825, died in October, 1896; Abram, born November 24, 1826, died in May, 1855; James, born January 17, 1829, is now a resident of Woodbury, Conn. ; Martha Ann (Mrs. Ackley) was fourth in the order of birth; Sarah Jane, born March 27, 1837, died November 22, 1858; Charles Henry, born May 20, 1839, met a soldier's death at Gettysburg, July 3, 1863.

EDWIN SHORT, a prominent representative citizen and hat manufacturer of Bethel, Fair- field county, progressive and public spirited, is a native of Connecticut, born in the town of New- town January 30, 1838.

Charles Short, grandfather of our subject, was born in Derby, Conn., where he followed the trade of blacksmith. He married Elizabeth Dan- iels, and they had four children, as follows: Nan- cy, deceased; Amelia (Mrs. Riggs), of Fairhaven, Conn .; Ephraim, deceased; and Charles.

Charles Short, father of our subject, was born at Derby, Conn., in 1813, and died at New- town, same State, in 1879. He attended the public schools of his native place and New Haven, and at Newtown learned the trade of carpenter, which he followed the greater part of his life, as a contractor and builder in a small way, putting

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up many houses in Bethel. He was a member of the M. E. Church at Stepney, Conn., and in politics was first a Whig, later a Republican. In 1837, at Newtown, Conn., he married Julia Par- malee, daughter of Levi Parmalee, and a descend- ant of one of the early settled families of New- town. To this union were born children as fol- lows: Edwin; Mary E., a resident of Bethel; Ru- fus, who died at the age of fifty years (he served in the United States navy during the Civil war, on the cruiser "Harriet Lane "); Loesa (de- ceased), who was the wife of Robert Brown; Al- fred, a resident of Brooklyn, N. Y., with the Boynton Furnace Company; Emily (Mrs. Robert Dauchy), a resident of Bethel; Levi, a resident of Bethel; Arletta, living at Meriden, Conn., the wife of George Welch; and Charles, a resident of Bethel.

Edwin Short received a liberal education at the schools of Newtown, Conn., and his father having given him the choice of going to New- town Academy or entering a wool hat factory at Sandy Hook, he chose the latter, remaining there three months. He then clerked in a store at Hattertown. Newtown, for a year, after which he worked at carpentry with his father for two years, and in 1856 he moved to Bethel, entering Orrin Benedict's hat factory, where he remained for some two and one-half years. He next pro- ceeded to Orange, N. J., and there found employ- ment in Porter & Crofut's factory for nearly a year, or until he was twenty-one years old, at which time he went to Ridgefield and became a a partner of Mr. Borden, the style of the firm being Borden & Short, manufacturers of hats. This arrangement continued some twelve months, at the end of which period he came to Bethel, where he commenced in the hatmaking industry for his own account in company with Charles Shepard, under the firm name of Shepard & Short. The factory was located on the spot whereon the town hall now stands. Four months later Mr. Short gave up active work, on account of ill health, and returned to Newtown for three months. He then took charge of the trimming department in James H. Prentice's factory at Brooklyn, N. Y., some eighteen months, when, returning to Bethel, he worked there three months as a journeyman hatter, after which he took charge of the trimming department for Orrin Benedict & Co., remaining there until 1878. In that year Mr. Short and George Lane formed a partnership as hat jobbers, furnishing stock to other hatters, and also making and selling hats for eight months, when they started a factory known as the " Willows." In the spring of 1880 Mr. Lane retired, and our subject ran the factory

one month alone, then receiving his brother Levi into partnership, this arrangement continuing for five years, Levi at the end of that time selling his interest to William Ohler, who remained with Mr. Short a year, after which the latter carried on the factory alone some four years. In the fall of 1890 Mr. Short bought the Orrin Benedict fac- tory, which he has since carried on, manufactur- ing stiff hats, and giving employment to from 150 to 175 hands.

On May 19. 1858, Edwin Short was married, at Bethel, to Harriet A. Blackman, daughter of Abel B. Blackman, and three children were born to them: William Seymour, Lucy and Grace Edna. Rev. William Seymour Short is rector of Grace Church, Astoria, Oregon; he married Lot- tie Wheeler, daughter of Thomas B. Wheeler, of Bethel, and has four children: Carrie Eliza- beth, Edwin Thomas, Seabury Tuttle and Fred- erick William. Our subject and the entire family at home are members of St. Thomas Episcopal Church at Bethel. In politics Mr. Short has always been a Republican. Socially, he is a member of the F. & A. M., Eureka Lodge No. 83, Bethel, and of Eureka Chapter and Crusader Commandery, at Danbury.

FRANKLIN M. GREELEY. This prominent resident of Bridgeport, who for many years has held a responsible position with the Wheel- er & Wilson Manufacturing Company, is a repre- sentative of an old and honored family, the name having been prominently associated with the his- tory of the country from early Colonial times. Different ancestors served with gallantry in the wars of their respective times, and while in busi- ness and professional life the members of the family have displayed marked ability. Horace Greeley, the famous editor of the New York Tribune, and candidate for President of the United States in 1872, was a second cousin to our subject, and letters now in the possession of the latter show the cordial friendship which ex- isted between them.

The first ancestor of whom a definite record has been preserved was Andrew Greeley, one of the three brothers who came from England about 1600. He settled at Salisbury, Mass. Joseph Greeley, son of Andrew, and the next in the line of descent to our subject, was born in 1652. Benjamin Greeley, son of Joseph, was born in 1700. He married Ruth Whitter, and had three children, among whom was a son, Ezekiel.

Ezekiel Greeley, our subject's great-grand- father, was born October 21, 1725, and became a farmer by occupation. He served from July 30,

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1745, to August 27, 1745, as a member of a scout- ing party between Merrimac and Connecticut rivers, under the command of John Coffee. He married Ester Senter, and had twelve children.

Joseph Greeley, our subject's grandfather, was born May 14, 1756, in Hudson, N. H., where he made his permanent home, engaging in agri- cultural pursuits. During the Revolutionary war he took an active part on the side of freedom, and was wounded at the battle of Bunker Hill. He died May 13, 1840, and his wife, whose maiden name was Sarah Greeley, died in 1834. They had five sons: Joseph and Ezekiel, who were merchants in Nashua, N. H .; Samuel, a farmer by occupation; Alfred, a merchant at Nashua; and Seneca, our subject's father.

Seneca Greeley was born May 29, 1794, at Hudson, N. H., where he followed agriculture for many years, and he died at Nashua, N. H., November 26, 1886, aged ninety-two years. His wife, Priscilla (Fields), who also lived to the age of ninety-two years, was born January 25; 1793, at Merrimack, N. H., a daughter of Marston Fields, also a native of Merrimack, N. H. This worthy couple had ten children : Elizabeth, de- ceased; Alfred H., a farmer at Antrim, N. H .; Sarah P. and Adeline M., both now deceased; Emily F., widow of Hiram D. Preston, formerly a government surveyor, who died in the West while surveying Indian lands; Samuel F., de- ceased; Gen. Edwin S., vice-president of the Yale National Bank at New Haven, Conn .; Franklin M., our subject; and Emily H., and Elbridge O., both deceased.

Franklin M. Greeley was born at Nashua, N. H., January 7, 1835, and his education was se- cured in the schools of that locality. At the age of twenty-one he went to New Haven, where he was employed three years by the New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad Company, and on June 24, 1859, he located at Bridgeport. Since that date he has been in the employ of the Wheeler & Wilson Manufacturing Company, and since. March, 1868, he has been inspector in their extensive establishment, his long term of service speaking volumes for his efficient work. Polit- ically Mr. Greeley is a Republican, and for many years he has been active in religious work as a member of the Park Street Congregational Church at Bridgeport. He and his family are much esteemed socially, and among the organ- izations with which he is connected mention may be made of the Connecticut Society of Sons of the American Revolution.

In 1858 Mr. Greeley married Miss Inez By- ington, and three children have blessed the union : Susie E., George F., and Freddie, de-

ceased. Mrs. Greeley was born in Bristol, Conn., a daughter of Dr. Charles Byington, of New Haven, and granddaughter of Noah Byington, a leading farmer at Bristol in his day. The late Rev. Swift Byington, Mrs. Greeley's brother, was a clergyman at Exeter, N. H. Her mother, whose maiden name was Evelyn Barnes, was a daughter of Thomas Barnes, a prominent resident of Bristol.

A BSALOM E. BOUNTY commands an ex- tensive trade in Fairfield county, and in this section of Connecticut as a dealer in marble and granite work, also in lime and cement, and is a resident of Stamford, this county, where he came when a young man to learn his trade.

Mr. Bounty was born November 7, 1852, at Quaker Ridge, Westchester Co., N. Y., where his father, Joseph Bounty, was engaged in farm- ing. The father was a native of Canada, but he lived in the United States from boyhood, and was a lifelong farmer, following that calling in Westchester county, N. Y., and Stamford, Fair- field Co., Conn. He married Celestia Peck, of Quaker Ridge, and they became the parents of four children: Kate, who is the wife of Joseph Mammell, of Riversville, N. Y .; Absalom E .; Jabez P., deceased; and Charles E., who is a grocer in Stamford. Mr. and Mrs. Bounty died in Stamford. He was originally a Whig in poli- tics, but he changed his sentiments in later years, becoming an adherent of the Democratic party.

Absalom E. Bounty received his rudimentary training in Stanwich, Conn., and later attended the district schools of Stamford. He learned his trade with George W. Dean, of that place, com- mencing to work for him when nineteen years of age, and remaining in his employ nine years, un- til, in 1881, he and his partner established the business which has since occupied his attention. The firm of Reilly & Bounty started in a small way at the corner of Atlantic street and Cottage Place, dealing at first only in monumental and blue stone; but as their custom increased they added masons' and builders' material to their stock, and also took contracts for grading and laying tar walks. Mr. Reilly dying in April, 1892, Mr. Bounty bought his share in the con- cern from the heirs, and has since continued the business alone, about one year ago removing from his old location to his present commodious quar- ters. He has a constantly increasing patronage, and does a very profitable business, which he has built up by honorable dealing and an earnest de- sire to please his customers, small or great.

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Commemorative Biographical Record of Fairfield County, Connecticut, Part 136

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