Commemorative Biographical Record of Fairfield County, Connecticut, Part 143

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 143

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Nathaniel Sherwood Wordin was born July 12. 1813, in the Wordin homestead. He attended the district school taught by Rev. Asa Bronson, pastor of the Stratford Baptist Church. Another of his early teachers was Rev. Mr. Wilcox. He next attended the Easton Academy, taught by the Rev. Nathaniel Freeman, pastor of the Con- gregational Church. When fifteen years of age he became a clerk in his father's drug store, and at the age of twenty-one became a partner in the same. Some years later the father retired from the business and gave his attention to his

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farm and his Norwalk flouring-mills, leaving the son in full control of the drug business. This drug store was the local point for calls by phy- sicians out of town, and seafaring men needing medicine. He prepared medicine chests, with a i little book giving the name, dose and purpose of 1 each drug, which earned for the druggist quite a reputation and the title "Doctor." About 1850 he retired from active business, leaving the in- terests of the store to his brother. On May 29, 1839, Nathaniel S. Wordin was married to Fanny Augusta, youngest daughter of Dr. Frederick Leavenworth, of Waterbury, Conn., and there were born to them children as follows: Frederick Augustus (deceased in infancy), Helen Caroline, Nathaniel Eugene, Fanny Leavenworth, and Thomas Cook (in the Customs department, New York City).

On his mother's side Dr. Wordin is descended from Thomas Leavenworth, of Southwark, Eng- land, who came to America soon after the res- toration of Charles II. His name appears of record at Woodbury, Conn., in 1664. The line of our subject's descent is through Dr. Thomas, Mark, Jesse L., Frederick and Fanny Augusta. Dr. Thomas Leavenworth was a man of position, influence, energy and wealth, and one of the founders of the first Church at Ripton (now Huntington), Connecticut.

Rev. Mark Leavenworth, son of Dr. Thomas, was born in 1711 at Stratford, Conn .; was grad- uated from Yale College in 1737; was appointed in 1760 chaplain to the 2nd Conn. Regt., and went with it to Canada.

Col. Jesse Leavenworth, son of Rev. Mark, was graduated from Yale College in 1759. He became a lieutenant in the Governor's Foot Guards under the captaincy of Benedict Arnold. When the news from Lexington reached New Haven, the company volunteered and marched by Pomtret, taking .. Old Put " along with them.

Frederick Leavenworth, son of Col. Jesse and the grandfather of Dr. Wordin, was born in 1766, at Waterbury, Conn. He studied medi- cine with Dr. Isaac Baldwin, of that town, and practiced there for several years. He was not fond of the drudgery of practice, and for upwards of twenty years prior to his death held the office of postmaster. Dr. Nathaniel Eugene Wordin, the subject proper of this sketch, received his elementary education in the public schools of his native city, then took the academic course at Wilbraham, Mass. He next entered Yale Col- lege, and was graduated therefrom in 1870. After his graduation he began the study of medi- cine, and after having completed a full course at Jefferson Medical College, Philadelphia, in 1873,

he began the practice of that profession in which he has since continued and been successful. Liberally educated in the sciences and classics, with a natural aptitude from the start for the study of medicine and a love for reading and study. the Doctor is a man of culture and supe- rior attainments. He has kept abreast with the advancement made in the science and practice of medicine, and is to-day master of his profession. He has high standing in the community, both pro- fessionally and socially.

In 1862, then a mere boy, young Wordin, feeling that his country was in need of his serv- ices, enlisted in the United States Army, and was mustered in the service on August 9, of that year, as a member of Company I. 6th Conn. V. 1. The Sixth Regiment was in the Department of the South, and for much of the time during the latter part of his service formed a part of the Tenth Army Corps. On May 20, 1864. it was attached to Col. Howell's brigade, First Division, Tenth Army Corps, and from that time until January. 1865. it continued its operations in southeast Virginia, taking part in several engage- ments before Petersburg and Richmond. It is worth mentioning, for its historic value as well as to the credit of Dr. Wordin, that he entered Richmond the day of its capture, and that it was his hand that drew up Gen. Shepley's order placing that city under martial law. The prin- cipal engagements in which the regiment partici- pated were: Pocotaligo, Florida, October 22, 1862; Morris Island, S. C., July 10, 1863; Fort Wagner, S. C., May 10, 1864; near Bermuda Hundred, Va., from May 10 to June 18, 1864; Deep Run, Va., August 14 to 18, 1864; and Fort Fisher, January 15, 1865. Serving under Generals Birney and Butler, young Wordin bore an honorable and gallant part throughout his. term of service. He was mustered out at City Point, Va., June 3, 1865.

The Doctor has been secretary of the Con- necticut Medical Society from 1888 to the pres- ent time, and has compiled the reports of the same. In 1892 he issued the Centennial Volume of 1,068 pages, which he compiled and edited throughout. He is a member of the following: The Fairfield County Medical Association; the Bridgeport Medical Association, being secretary thereof several years, and its president from. 1883 to 1885; the staff of Bridgeport Hospital; the American Academy of Medicine since its or- ganization; of the American Public Health Asso- ciation, a Pan-American association embodying the United States, Canada, Mexico, etc .; the board of management of Fairfield County Tem- porary Home; and (since 1890) of the Connect-

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icut State Board of Health. He is physician to the Bridgeport Protestant Orphan Asylum, and visiting surgeon of the Bridgeport Hospital. The Doctor's practice is a general one, though he makes a specialty of the diseases of the eye. Socially, he is a member of the United Order of the Golden Cross; of the Sons of the American Revolution; of the Fairfield County Historical Society; and of the Contemporary Club. In re- ligious faith he and his wife are members of the Congregational Church of Bridgeport.

On December 25, 1879, at Wilmington, Del., Dr. N. E. Wordin was married to Eliza Wood- ruff Barnes, daughter of Julius S. Barnes, M. D., a graduate of Yale College in 1815, and of Yale Medical College in 1817. One child, Laura Barnes, was born to them May 9, 1882.

M TENRY A. BARRETT, a prominent farmer of the town of Wilton, was born in 1832, in the town of Bedford, Westchester Co., N. Y., and there obtained his education in the common schools.

Immediately after leaving school Mr. Barrett engaged in farming, and in the spring of 1859 he removed to Wilton, Conn., where he pur- chased his present farm (which now consists of about 120 acres, though the original purchase was of but 75 acres), which he has since success- fully conducted. During the Civil war he was drafted. but furnished a substitute. In politics he is a strong Republican, and has served as selectman, assessor and as a member of the board of relief for two or three terms. In relig- jous matters he is a member of the Episcopal Church of Wilton, of which he has served as ves- tryman for a number of years. He married Miss Annie M. Raymond, daughter of Alfred and Har- riet (Smith) Raymond, the former of whom is a successful farmer of New Canaan, Conn. She was born June 30, 1831, and died June 1, 1887. By this marriage Mr. Barrett had children whose names, with dates of birth, &c., are as follows: Ella, born February 10, 1858, and died May 5, 1864; Hattie A., February 27, 1860, died May 5, 1864; Maria, April 16, 1864. died May 3, 1864; Georgia A., October 1, 1867, died March 31, 1869; William H., December 12, 1861; Minnie F., July 21, 1865; and Herbert A., February 13, 1870. Of these, William H. Barrett was born in the town of Wilton, and was educated there in the common schools. After leaving school he learned the machinist's trade, and is now an en- gineer in New Canaan. Politically, he is a strong Republican, but has never aspired to pub- lic office. Socially, he is a member of the Im-

proved Order of Red Men. He married Miss Eliza Hoyt, by whom he has two children: Clar- ence M. and Leon H. Minnie F. Barrett was born in the town of Wilton, and was educated there in the common schools. She married Carl Tyler, a prosperous farmer of West Brook- field, and they have two children: Emma B. and Estelle. Herbert A. Barrett was born in the town of Wilton, was educated there in the com- mon schools, and since completing his education has been engaged in farming and dairying. He is a young man of character and ability, indus- trious and enterprising, and is successful in his calling. Politically, he is a Republican, but has never aspired to public office. Socially, he is a member of Our Brothers' Lodge No. 10, I. 0. O. F. His wife, formerly Miss Sarah E. McMa- hon, is a daughter of Joseph McMahon, a car- penter of the town of Wilton. They have one child, Elsie M., born April 25, 1894.

Samuel Barrett, grandfather of our subject, was born in the town of Bedford, N. Y., and was educated there in the common schools. From his early boyhood he was engaged in farming, following that occupation during the greater portion of his life. During the Revolutionary war he was a soldier, and fought bravely for the freedom of his country, and met with many nar- row escapes, his clothing being penetrated by bullets many a time, though he came through the war uninjured. Politically, he was an Old-line Whig, but he never was in any sense an office- seeker. He married and had children as follows: Phineas, Joseph, Frederick, and Jesse, who was lost at sea.

Frederick Barrett, father of the subject, was born in 1781, in the town of Bedford, N. Y., and died in 1856. He was educated in the com- mon schools of his native place, and, like bis ancestors, engaged in farming, which occupation he followed most of the active portion of his life. During the war of 1812 he rendered valuable service to his country, and for his bravery in that conflict received a grant of land in one of the Western States. Formerly a Whig, he later be- came a Republican, eschewed public office and was a member of the Presbyterian Church of Bed- ford. He married Miss Polly St. John, daughter of Abijah St. John, of Bedford, which was her native place, and to this marriage there were born the following children: Hiram, who mar- ried Mary A. Knapp; Angeline, who married Ard Reynolds; Delia J., who married Francis E. Chi- chester; Harvey, who married Ann Brown; Abi- gail A., who married Leandor Horton; Loretta S., who married Samuel Dixon; and Henry A., the subject of this sketch.

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Hiram Barrett, eldest brother of the subject, was born in the town of Bedford, N. Y., was . educated there in the common schools, and ever since completing his education engaged in farm- ing. which he followed during life. As a Repub- lican, which he always was, he held several of the minor town offices; but he was never in any sense of the word an office seeker. By his wife, Mary A., he had the following children: Fred- erick St. John, Loretta, Phebe, Clara and Eliza- beth, all bright, intelligent children. . Hiram Barrett died December 14. 1897, preceded to the unseen world by his wife.

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O HARLES H. LOUNSBURY. The subject of this sketch is the senior member of the well-known firm, Lounsbury & Soule, manufact- urers of shoes. He was born in Stamford, Conn., August 19, 1839, son of George and Louisa (Scofield) Lounsbury, and grandson of Silas Lounsbury, who was a farmer of Stanwich. George Lounsbury was a prominent citizen of Fairfield county. He served as a selectman, assessor, and as a member of the State Legisla- ture. He was engaged in mercantile pursuits at Long Ridge, in the town of Stamford, and Jater became a farmer. He married Miss Louisa Scofield, daughter of Benjamin Scofield. Eight children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Lounsbury: Mary, who married Seth S. Cook; Sarah, who married James H. Rowland: Susan, widow of Philip Clark; Harriet (deceased); George, who was master of the Grand Lodge of Masons of the State of Illinois, and who is now deceased; Charles H., subject of this sketch; Jane E .; and Elizabeth, deceased. Mrs. Lounsbury, the moth- er, is still living at the age of ninety-two.

Charles H. Lounsbury spent his boyhood days at Long Ridge, and at the age of nineteen years entered into partnership with Scofield & Cook. Three years later. in 1861, F. B. Sco- field retired, and the business was then continued under the firm name of Cook & Lounsbury, until 1884, when changes in the general trade made a re-organization desirable. The first step was the removal of the business' rural remoteness to the populous end of the town and to the vicinity of the railroad tracks. At the same time George H. Soule, who had been connected with the sales department, was admitted to the firm. and the senior member. Seth S. Cook, withdrew, the firm name becoming Lounsbury & Soule. The fol- lowing year the firm took possession of its new and present factory on Broad street, equipped with the most improved machinery. In 1894 the firm purchased a retail store at No. 26 At-

lantic street, and there, under the name of the Stamford Shoe Company, conducts a retail busi- ness.

Mr. Lounsbury was married in Stamford to Miss Anna Perry Samuel, a native of St. Louis, Mo. They have three children: Alice, Mary and Louise, the latter of whom is Mrs. William P. Hudson, and the mother of two children-Flor- ence and Charles H. L. Mr. Lounsbury is a prominent member of Union Lodge, F. & A. M. In politics he is a Republican. He has been a member of the board of burgesses and of the city council. He is at present president of the Stam- ford Board of Trade, and has been prominently identified in all movements for public improve- ment and benefit. He is a director of the Stam- ford Trust Company and of the Stamford Sav- ings Bank, and is secretary of the Gas and Electric Company.

G EORGE W. HOLMES, one of the leading well-to-do farmers of the town of Stratford. is the owner of one of the best farms in his locality.

A native of Connecticut, Mr. Holmes was born March 25, 1838. in the city of Bridgeport, whence he was brought to Stratford by his par- ents when young. In the latter borough he received a liberal education, attending the old Stratford Academy, after which he worked on farms and in factories, for some six years making his home in Nichols, town of Trumbull, Fairfield county. About 1886 he came to the farm of Benjamin Wheeler, who was his uncle, but on January 7, 1897. Mr. Wheeler died, leaving Mr. Holmes, by will, his present farm. The place comprises some fifty acres of land, and is under a good state of cultivation.

In April. 1863, Mr. Holmes married Miss Sarah E. Lathrop, who was born in the East, and two children have blessed this union, both sons: William, a clerk in a grocery store at Stratford; and George L., who died in 1897. He was junior partner of the firm of Clinton & Holmes, grocers of Stratford, who have two stores in the place. The mother of these passed from earth November 6, 1892, and June 21, 1894, Mr. Holmes wedded Miss Carrie B. Plumb, a daugh- ter of Orange B. Plumb, of Nichols, this county. On May 15, 1895, a son, Pelton Plumb Holmes, was born, who died August 17, 1895. In religious faith our subject and his wife are Methodists; in politics he is a Democrat.

William Holmes, father of George W., was born in Vermont, and when fourteen years of age he left home to make his own way in the world.

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For several years he drove the mail stage through Connecticut, finally settling in Stratford. where he died. He married Abigail Coley, daughter of Sturgis Coley. of Weston, this county, and seven children were born to them: George W. is our subject; Benjamin is a carpenter and con- tractor in Stratford; John E. is a market gardener in Stratford; Alfred B. is a clerk for Clinton & Holmes, of Stratford; Samantha A. married Harvey E. Atwood, of Watertown, Conn .; Lucy wedded Horace Osborn, of Watertown, Conn .; and Priscilla is single. All are yet living.

N ATHAN BULKLEY CURTISS. This well known business man of Bridgeport, is de- serving of especial notice as an enterprising citi- zen whose influence is always cast upon the side of progress.

Mr. Curtiss comes of good pioneer stock, his ancestors having been among the first settlers of this county, and a more complete account of the early generations of the family is given elsewhere. William Curtiss, the first of the name to come to America, left England in 1632 in the ship " Lion," and made his home in Roxbury. Mass .. where he died late in the year 1634. Our subject traces his descent from this worthy pioneer through William (2), who located at Stratford in 1639; Zachariah who died in June, 1748, aged eighty- nine: Zachariah (2), who died June 12, 1748; Mitchell, who was married February 11, 1753. to Phobe Peet; Daniel Mitchell, who was married June 24, 1779, to Hepsey Burr; Justus Burr, born January 27, 1780, who married Huldah Ed- wards, of Chestnut Hill, this county; and Elliott Plumb Curtiss, the father of our subject. Three of our subject's ancestors served in the war of the Revolution with distinction, each receiving an honorable discharge at its close.

The late Elliott P. Curtiss was born April 22, 1814, at Nichols, this county, where the greater portion of his life was spent. In his youth he became interested in the business of manufactur- ing saddletrees, then a prosperous industry at Nichols, and for one year he worked at his trade in St. Louis, Mo. . When the factory at Nichols was abandoned he engaged in farming, which he continued until his death, on March 10, 1896. He was prominent in local affairs, being a mem- ber of the militia for many years, and he was es- pecially active in religious movements, having been one of the founders and builders of the Methodist Episcopal Church at Nichols. He married Miss Clarissa Bulkley, of Greenfield Hill, and had five children, our subject being the young- est; the others were: Hamilton died in in-

fancy; Lizzie did not live to adult age; Isabel married Horace P. Nichols of Nichols; and Elli- ott Plumb, Jr., deceased, resided for some time at No. 224 Kossuth street. Bridgeport. Connect- icut.

Our subject was born May 14, 1857. at the old homestead in Nichols, and was educated in the schools of that neighborhood. At the age of twenty-one he was employed by Lewis W. Booth, a druggist in Wall street, Bridgeport, with whom he remained three years, and later he spent three years in the grocery business at Shelton. He then formed a partnership with his brother under the firm name of Curtiss Brothers, and for ten years they carried on an extensive business as plumbers and dealers in stoves and furnaces. His health failing, Mr. Curtiss gave up active work for five years, remaining in Nichols during that time and interesting himself in town politics. His popularity made him an enviable candidate for local office, and he served as assessor and school visitor for some time, performing his duties with characteristic faithfulness. In the fall of 1897 he engaged in business at No. 173 East Main street, Bridgeport, in partnership with Abram Wellington, and they conduct an exten- sive trade as plumbers, dealing also in stoves. furnaces and similar goods. On October 20. 1882, Mr. Curtiss was married at Cornwall Bridge, Litchfield Co., Conn., to Miss Mary Ann Gilbert, daughter of Rev. William T. Gilbert, a Methodist clergyman. Four children have blessed this union: Clifford Gilbert; Elizabeth Bulkley; John Burr; and Cornelia, who died in infancy. Mr. Curtiss and his wife are popular socially, and are leading members of the Methodist Episcopal Church at Nichols.

BLAKEMAN OR BLACKMAN FAMILY has been identified with this section from pio- neer times, its head, Rev. Adam Blakeman, hay- ing located at Stratford in the spring of 1639. It has been stated that there were settlers at that point as early as 1638, but according to the best authority Rev. Adam Blakeman, with his wife Jane and their six children, constituted one of the first seventeen families to locate there, the little colony numbering sixty-five persons in all. This worthy pioneer was born in 1598, in Staf- fordshire, England, and on May 28, 1617, in his nineteenth year, entered Christ's College, where he pursued a course of study. For some time he preached in the counties of Leicester and Derby and about 1638 he came to America. His death occurred in September. 1665, when he was sixty- seven years of age, and his widow died in 1674.

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aged seventy-four years. They had one daugh- ter. Mary, and five sons, John, James, Samuel, Deliverance and Benjamin.

Of the second generation, (1) Mary was born in 1636, and in 1651, when only fifteen years old, married Joshua Atwater. of New Haven. who seems to have purchased considerable property at Stratford and to have resided there for some time, but later he removed to Boston, where he died in 1676, leaving several children. The widow afterward married Rev. John Higginson, then of Salem, Mass., but formerly assistant to Rev. Henry Whitfield in England and in Guil- ford, Conn .; his first wife was a daughter of Mr. Whitfield. Mr. Higginson was an interpreter of the Indian language while in Connecticut, and prepared a valuable paper in the settlement of the claims of Stratford territory in 1639, in which year he removed to Salem. He died in 1708 and his widow died March 9, 1709. Her character is effectively described as an example of the noble women of that day in a paper entitled " Thoughts on the Sleep of Death," by Cotton Mather, D. D., in 1712. (2) John and (3) James will be men- tioned more fully below, as this sketch deals chiefly with their descendants. (4) Samuel was marned in November, 1660, to Elizabeth, daugh- ter of Moses Wheeler, and died in 1668. His widow was married in 1670 to Jacob Walker, a lawyer, who was a son of Robert Walker, of Boston, and a brother of Rev. Zachariah Walker, pastor of the Second Congregational Church of Stratford. Jater of Woodbury. Samuel Blake- man had four children: a son, born in 1661. died unnamed; Abigail, born December 11, 1663. married Hezekiah Dickenson in 1697, and later Thomas Ingersoll, of Springfield, Mass., and died in 1719; Adam, born September 14, 1665, and Johannah, born December 4. 1667. (5) Deliverance was a heedless youth, causing his mother and others much trouble, but afterward corrected his ways. About 1685 he married Hannah Bonfield, and made his home in Stoning- ton; his death occurred in April, 1702. He had three children-(1) Adam, baptised in May, 1687; (2) Hannah, baptised in March, 1693-94, and (3) James. baptized in 1696, who married Abi- gail, daughter of Daniel and Deborah Beardsley. and in 1731 both were members of the Stratford Church. (1) Adam resided in Stratford in 1708, but later removed to Newark, N. J. He was married, June 9. 1719, to Ruth Beecher, by whom he had the following children-Samuel, born March 4. 1720; Jacob, born January 24, 1721- 22 (was married May 22, 1746, to Jemima Nich- ols, who died in Huntington in 1800, aged eight- ty-four, and they had one child, Phoebe, Mrs.

Joseph Pulford, baptized July 6, 1747): Joshua, born February 14, 1723-24; Samuel, born in 1728; Ruth, baptized in June, 1729; Hannah and Miriam (twins). baptized in May. 1790. in New Jersey: Ephraim, baptized in September, 1734; Dinah, baptized in August. 1732, died in Ripton, in 1806; Jeremiah, baptized in August,. 1732, is probably the one mentioned in the rec- ords of Ripton for 1781 as having died in Virginia in the army at the age of forty-nine. (6). Rev. Benjamin Blakeman, youngest son of Rev. Adam Blakeman, sought an education after his. father's death, in accordance with the wishes of the latter, and in 1663 was graduated from Har -. vard College. After teaching at Stratford for a. few years he entered the ministry. In 1674 be removed to Malden, Mass , where he preached until 1678, and afterward he preached at Scar- borough, Saco and Boston. He owned a large: tract of land at Saco, and represented that town in the General Court of Massachusetts. He died! before 1698. On April 11, 1675, he married Rebecca, daughter of Joshua Scotton, a mer- chant of Boston. and her death occurred in 1715. at the age of sixty. Their two children were baptized at the Third Church, Boston, the Old South Church: Benjamin, baptized September 13. 1685, died in childhood, and Rebecca, bap- tized April 14. 1689. was married in June, $715, to Thomas Goodwill, a shipwright of Boston.

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Commemorative Biographical Record of Fairfield County, Connecticut, Part 143

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