Commemorative Biographical Record of Fairfield County, Connecticut, Part 19

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

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Charles H. Seaman was born February 21, 1819, in New York City, at the family home at the corner of Stanton and Christy streets, and

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obtained his preliminary education in the schools of his native city. He was fast friends with his father, and after the latter's death, which oc- curred when our subject was but little over nine years of age, he became a student in the acade- my at Greenwich, Conn., then conducted by Mr. Sherwood and Rev. Mr. Clark. Here he at- tended for about three years, until called home by the serious illness of his mother, and, as cir- cumstances shaped themselves, he did not re- turn, completing his schooling in New York City. When about sixteen he entered the dry-goods store of John Lloyd & Co., in Pearl street, where he remained four years, in about 1838, coming to Greenwich again. He boarded in Greenwich and in New York City, as business demanded, until 1844, when he and his wife commenced housekeeping on the "Sackett Homestead," living in an old house which stood a short distance east of their present residence, which Mr. Seaman completed in November, 1856, and has since occupied. In addition to this home and the commodious grounds around it he is the owner of twenty acres of valuable residence property in Greenwich, and he has lived retired for a number of years past, engag- ing only in the light labor necessary to keep his grounds in order, and which really is more like exercise than work. From the age of twenty- five Mr. Seaman has been troubled with a slight defect in his hearing, and this has proved no small handicap to him in business life, so that he has led a very quiet existence for the most part. He and his wife share the esteem and ven- eration of all their neighbors and friends in Greenwich, and they are passing their days in peaceful enjoyment of the ample competence which Mr. Seaman acquired in his earlier years.

On August 28, 1840, Mr. Seaman was united in marriage with Miss Mary A. Sackett, who was born May 8, 1820, in Greenwich, daughter of John and Mary (Mead) Sackett, and grand- daughter of Justus Sackett, a Revolutionary soldier. John Sackett came of an excellent family of this locality, and was considered one of the most intelligent representative farmers of his day in Greenwich. His first wife, Mary (Mead), died at the age of thirty-five years, and for his second wife he married Miss Cornelia Olmstead, by whom he had several children. He lived to be over seventy years old. Three children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Charles H. Seaman, namely: (1) Edgar, (2) Mary A., and (3) Ella H., the latter of whom died March 7, 1863. The son was born September 9, 1841, and made his home with his parents until his death, on De- cember 4, 1895; he was engaged in business in

New York, where he was employed during his earlier manhood, later having a partnership in a business house. (2) Mary A. is the widow of Edwin Lyon, and lives in North street; she had two children-Ella H. and Walter S., the last named dying February 12, 1894. Mr. Seaman originally supported the Whig party, becoming a Republican on the formation of the new faction, and until recent years he cast his ballot regu- larly, though he never took any active part in politics or aspired to office of any kind. In re- ligious connection he and his wife are Congrega- tionalists. This devoted couple have already seen fifty-eight years of happy wedded life, and it is the wish of all who know them that they may be spared to many more years of health and happiness.

R OBERT HUBBARD, M. D. (deceased). In the lives of all men who have attained pre-eminence in honor and success there is a fascination to the general public. Human na- ture is attracted irresistibly to those unusual qualities, or to the unusual development of the more ordinary traits, which separate the man of mark from the generality of his fellowmen. There are lessons to be learned and inspirations to be obtained from the details of these bi- ographies. An insight into the career of the late Dr. Robert Hubbard is certainly helpful to the young man who is ambitiously and hopefully starting out in life's journey.

Doctor Hubbard, who in his lifetime was a leading citizen and physician of Bridgeport, late assistant medical director and acting medical director United States Volunteers, and in 1879 president of the Connecticut Medical Society, was born April 27, 1826, in Upper Middletown (now the town of Cromwell), Middlesex Co., Conn. He was a descendant of one of the pioneer and prominent families of Connecticut, the first American Hubbard having emigrated from England to the Connecticut Colony about 1660. Branches of the family are now found in many parts of the Union.

Jeremiah Hubbard, the father of our subject, was one of those hardy New England seamen to whom American shipping of a generation ago was indebted for its remarkable vigor and growth. He was a native of Upper Middletown, and for many years sailed a vessel in the West Indies trade. He was equally at home on land, owning in Middlesex county an average farm, from which he wrested a part of his livelihood. He was a man of simple habits, intelligent, brave, honest, hard-working and God-fearing, a sturdy

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COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

specimen of the old-time "Yankee salt." He married Elizabeth Roberts, a native of Middle- town, and a daughter of Winkham Roberts, a prosperous farmer, whose lands included, in part, the beautiful site of Connecticut Hospital for the Insane. The family of Jeremiah and Elizabeth Hubbard consisted of eight sons and two daughters.

Robert Hubbard, the subject of this sketch, was the eldest of this large family, and upon his young shoulders was placed much of the respon- sibility and labor of conducting the farm in his father's absence. His opportunity for an educa- tion was meagre. He attended the district schools with fair regularity until the exacting cares of the farm made greater demands upon his time. It was not from choice that his daily visits to the little school house became fewer each year, for he possessed a genuine thirst for knowledge. Immediate prospects for obtaining a better education were very shadowy indeed. His father needed his services, and besides he felt it unjust to ask from his father any aid or privilege which could not be extended to his other brothers also. But an opportunity soon presented itself. Mr. (afterward Rev.) Jared O. Knapp, the principal of the academy, offered him his tuition in return for his care of the school- room, and another kind family friend, Mrs. Grid- ley, of Cromwell, offered him board and lodging in compensation for services to be rendered upon her place. The boy's good mother, eager to see his ambition gratified, added her own entreaties to his, and thus secured his freedom from the farm. Emancipation from the monotonous and ill-requited drudgery of the farm was perhaps the first desire of young Hubbard. Aside from his growing taste for study he had no other am- bition than to enter upon a business career. At the academy he found many pupils of both sexes, his juniors in years, and much farther advanced in their studies. By close application he soon placed himself on an equal footing with them. Having finished "Day's Algebra," he acquired some knowledge of chemistry and studied a little Latin; then resolved to obtain a collegiate edu- cation, and the remaining two years of his academic course were directed with that end in view.

The path to the goal of his ambition was steep and difficult. A season's farm labor yielded him fifty dollars in cash, other occasional em- ployments adding slightly to the means at his command. Hard labor and long hours interfered sadly with study, but in 1846, at the age of twenty, he had finished his preparatory course. In that year he was admitted to Yale College.

At the close of his Freshman year he was offered the position of principal at the academy at Dur- ham, Conn. He accepted, expecting to return to Yale and complete his course. But a year later a medical friend, Dr. Benjamin F. Fowler, of Durham, induced him to undertake the study of medicine. His previous training had well fitted him for the task, and he made rapid prog- ress in the preparation for the profession which he had now resolved to adopt as his lifework. When his second year as principal of the academy had expired, he resigned that position and en- tered Dr. Fowler's office as a student. Remain- ing there for a year, he then placed himself un- der the tuition of Dr. Nathan B. Ives, an emi- nent practitioner of New Haven, becoming a member of his family. During the two years spent with Dr. Ives, he regularly attended the Medical School of Yale College. In 1851 he was graduated at this institution with the degree of Doctor of Medicine, and had the additional honor of being valedictorian of his class.

In February, 1851, he removed to Bridge- port, his future home, and with twenty-five dol- lars (borrowed money) in his pocket, and an in- debtedness of two thousand dollars incurred in receiving his education. But the way now seemed clear to the young practitioner, and he entered upon his professional career with a coura- gious heart and high hopes. Modestly opening an office in a drug store on Wall street, and boarding at the " City Hotel," he minimized his expenses and became self-supporting from the start.

By degrees his practice enlarged. Suavity of manner, and conscientious labor, rapidly won for him friends, and he was soon in the posses- sion of a handsome income. In May, 1854, he formed a co-partnership with Dr. David H. Nash, which continued unbroken for seventeen years. In 1861. when the war of the Rebellion broke out, he was a practitioner of a standing so high that, upon the recommendation of the State Medical Society, of which he was an honored member, he was appointed, by Governor Buck- ingham, a member of the board of medical ex- aminers, to investigate the qualifications of all applications for surgeoncy in the regiments then being recruited in Connecticut. In 1862 he him- self took the field as surgeon (with rank of major) of the Seventeenth Regiment Connecticut Vol- unteer Infantry. A few months later he was promoted to brigade-surgeon in General Sigel's corps, and shortly after the battle of Chancellors- ville he was again promoted, this time to the rank of surgeon of division in General Devin's command. In recognition of meritorious service

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on the field during the battle, he was raised to the rank of medical inspector, and assigned to the staff of General Howard. At the battle of Gettysburg he served as medical director-in- charge of the Eleventh Corps. When the same corps was ordered to Lookout Mountain, he was again assigned to serve as its medical director, and also as staff surgeon to General Hooker. He participated in the battles of Lookout Mountain, Missionary Ridge and Ringgold, and was con- spicuous for his devotion to the wounded upon those bloody fields. Arduous campaigning and intense mental strain, consequent upon his heavy responsibilities as a medical officer, finally impaired his health to such an extent that he was compelled to leave the field.

Resigning from the army, Doctor Hubbard returned to Bridgeport, and after a brief rest assumed private practice. In the hope of ob- taining relief from a severe attack of sciatica, which probably had its origin while he was in the army, he took a trip to Germany. While abroad he visited many of the principal hospitals and other medical institutions. A second trip to Europe was made in 1883, and a third in 1885.

In 1879, he was elected president of the Con- necticut Medical Society. He was an active member of nearly all the leading medical so- cieties, and contributed several interesting and valuable papers and addresses to the literature of his profession. He was the preceptor of many of the prominent physicians of Bridgeport and other cities to the number of about fifty, among whom are Doctors Godfrey, Garlick, Lauder, Lynch, Wright, Gordon, and others in Bridge- port, and Dr. Dudley, of Chicago. The last five years or so of his life were confined to his office work and consultation. He had thousands of warm and appreciative friends in all parts of the State, not least among whom were the veterans who remembered his services for his country on the battle fields.

In the public affairs of Bridgeport Doctor Hubbard took an active interest from the time of his arrival there. In 1874 he was elected to represent the city in the State Legislature. In 1875 he was nominated for Congress, by the Republicans of the Fourth Congressional Dis- trict of Connecticut, his opponent being the Hon. William H. Barnum. Though defeated he gained rather than lost in personal popularity, and in 1876 he was again elected to the State Legislature. In the following year he was re- nominated for Congress. His opponent, Levi Warner, was elected by a small majority. Urged in 1879 to again become the standard bearer in the Congressional race, he declined, although

Republican victory was clearly foreseen. The exacting requirements of his professional labors induced him to take this course.

Doctor Hubbard was married April 15, 1855, to Miss Cornelia Boardman, youngest daughter of Sherman and Sophia Hartwell, honored res- idents of Bridgeport. Mrs. Hubbard died in 1871. The children of this marriage were as follows: (1) Sherman Hartwell Hubbard (the only son), who was a graduate of Yale Law School, and subsequently enjoyed a large and favorable practice at Bridgeport, with patent laws a specialty, died in 1891; he married Miss Comete Ludeling, eldest daughter of Hon. John Ludeling, former chief justice of Louisiana, and they had one son, John T. Ludeling Hubbard. (2) Sophia Todd Hubbard, wife of Charles M. Everett, vice-president of the Vacuum Oil Com- pany, Rochester, N. Y. (3) Cornelia E. Hub- bard, wife of Courtlandt H. Trowbridge (son of the late Henry Trowbridge, of New Haven), an importer and ship-owner, engaged in the West Indies trade, in New Haven, Conn. They have two children, Virginia and Henry Trowbridge.

On July 18, 1897, Doctor Hubbard, while ascending the steps of his office, lost his balance and fell heavily to the stone sidewalk, causing a fracture of the skull, from the effects of which he died next morning. at the home of his daughter- in-law, Mrs. C. F. Stead, in Bridgeport. No event caused such genuine and universal sorrow in the city of Bridgeport, where the name of Doctor Hubbard is a household word and a synonym of kindness and ability. As a physician of forty- six years experience in peace and war, he oc- cupied the first rank, while his ability as a sur- geon was recognized all over the country by those high in the ranks of that profession. He possessed a natural aptitude for the practice of medicine, and to this he added a faculty for thorough investigation which made him pre-emi- nently successful. As a man he was universally beloved and respected. His services were avail- able alike to rich and poor, and there are hun- dreds of people in the city who will bear him in grateful remembrance.

RENAJAH GILBERT, (deceased), who in his lifetime was a prosperous farmer of the town of Wilton, was born in South Salem, West- chester Co., N. Y., June 25, 1815.

After obtaining his early education in the common schools, Mr. Gilbert attended a select school in which he studied the classics, and later he attended Prof. Hawley Olmstead's academy in Wilton. For a few years afterward he taught

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school, and then turned his attention to farm- ing. From 1843 to 1849 he was a resident of Virginia, and in 1849-1850 was in the coal and timber business in Ulster county, N. Y., in the latter year going to Wilton, Conn., and purchas- ing a farm. He after that was engaged in agri- culture. During training days he was a mem- ber of a militia company, was always a strong Republican in politics, and held several of the minor offices of his town, having been treasurer thereof for seven years, and filled other places of honor and trust. Early in his life he united with the Presbyterian Church, and while he lived in Virginia he was elder of the Church of which he was a member. At the time of his death he was a member of the Congregational Church at Wilton, and was a deacon of same. In 1843 he married Fannie M. Keeler, daughter of Isaiah and Lucy Keeler, the former of whom was a farmer of Wilton. She was born November 20, 1813, and had the following children: Josiah, born July 15, 1845, in Virginia; George K., born December 19, 1846; and Charles B., born March 9, 1855. Benajah Gilbert, the father, passed from earth September 21, 1897.

Josiah Gilbert, eldest son of the subject, was educated in the district schools of Wilton, and also at Prof. Edward Olmstead's academy at Wilton, Conn. Since then he has followed farming. As a Republican he has held the posi- tion of selectman of his town for the past six years. He married Elizabeth Olmstead, by whom he has three children: Edward O., Thomas J. and George H. George K. Gilbert, second son of the subject, after completing his education became engaged in mercantile business, and is now in the custom house in New York. He married Miss Elizabeth Marvin, by whom he has two children: Earnest M. and Walter M. Charles B. Gilbert, youngest son of the subject, after finishing his early education in the district schools, and Prof. E. Olmstead's Wilton Acad- emy, attended Williams College, and graduated at that institute in the year 1876. He has been principal of the high schools in Minnesota and Wisconsin, and is now superintendent of the pub- lic schools of Newark, N. J. He has also been superintendent of schools in the West. He mar- ried Miss Jennie Weed, and has no children.

As to the ancestry of the Gilbert family the following running genealogy may be of interest : Josiah and Elizabeth Gilbert were the early American ancestors of the family. They lived in Wethersfield in 1651. Their son Josiah was born in 1659 ; his son John, in 1679, and his son Josiah, March 24, 1697. He had a son, Benajah, born May 10, 1743, who married

Eunice -, born in 1746, and they became the grandparents of our subject ; Benajah was en- gaged in farming and running a sawmill. Their children were as follows : Hannah (1), born August 5, 1770, died in 1775 ; Lois ; John, born in 1778, died young ; Eunice ; Hannah (2) ; Rhoda ; Eliza ; Mary and Josiah.

Josiah, the youngest child, was the father of our subject. He was born in the town of South Salem, N. Y., and was there educated in the dis- trict schools. He was engaged in farming most of his life, and he also ran a sawmill for some years. Politically, he was a strong Republican, and held several minor town offices. He was a member of the Presbyterian Church, of South Salem, and was an elder in same. He married Miss Sallie Hoyt, daughter of David and Rebecca Hoyt, of South Salem, N. Y., and by her had the following children : Lucy, who married Rich- ard Hoe; Benajah, who married Fannie M. Keeler ; John, who married Miss Sarah C. Ball ; Joseph, who married Martha J. Crosby ; and Thomas, who married Mary L. Lawrence.

C HARLES A. HAWLEY is best known to the citizens of Stamford and Fairfield county, Conn., as the president of the Stamford National Bank, with which he has been identified for over thirty years, and which he has served in his pres- ent capacity for twenty years. He is a native of that thriving city, having been born there Novem- ber 5, 1821, and comes from a good old family of Fairfield county, where the Hawleys have lived for several generations. Mr. Hawley's great- grandfather, Milton Hawley, lived and died in the town of Huntington, this county, where the grandfather, Cyrus Hawley, was born. His son, Charles Hawley, father of Charles A., was also born in the town of Huntington, in that part now known as Monroe.

Charles Hawley was in his day one of the bright lights of the legal profession in Fairfield county, and was well known and respected throughout the State of Connecticut. His boy- hood was spent in Monroe, where he received his early education, attending boarding school, and he afterward entered Yale University, whence he graduated in 1816. For the three succeeding years he devoted himself to preparation for the profession he had decided to adopt, attending the then famous Litchfield Law School, and in 1819 he began practice, settling in Stamford. His native intellectual gifts, cultivated in the best schools of the day and vitalized by an uncommon industry and capacity for work, soon won for him a foremost position at the Bar of Fairfield county,

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and one of the largest and most lucrative prac- tices of his time and place. His best talents were devoted to his professional work, and his eminence as a lawyer and jurist best filled the measure of his ambition and won for him his greatest successes-those which brought to him the highest gratification as well as more sub- stantial rewards. The wide scope of his informa- tion, both as a student of general literature and as a learned lawyer, his shrewd judgment in regard to men and things, the clearness, force and origi- nality of his style as a pleader at the Bar-these and many other characteristics gave him a marked pre-eminence among the leading members of a profession which, in his time, included several who for learning, eloquence and general intel- lectual equipment will bear no unfavorable com- parison with the foremost men of the legal pro- fession in the present day. Ability of such high order, however, could not go unrecognized by the community in general, and in 1821 Mr. Haw- ley was elected to the State Assembly as repre- sentative from the town of Stamford. In this capacity he served seven sessions up to 1829, and in 1830 he was elected to the office of State sena- tor from the Twelfth district. In the spring of 1838 his name was placed on the State ticket for lieutenant governor, his election followed, and he distinguished himself in this, as in other walks of life; but he never forsook his profession for the political arena, devoting himself to it exclusively for many years, retiring eventually on account of advancing age. He passed away January 23, 1866, at his home in Stamford, living to see the beginning and triumphal end of the great Civil war, in which his country was engaged for the preservation of the Union, and his death was widely mourned, especially in the town of his adoption. Mr. Hawley was married, in Stam- ford, to Mary S. Holly, daughter of David Holly, and their family consisted of eight children, viz. : Charles A .; Martha C., who is in Europe; Jane D. F., living in Stamford; Marianna (deceased); Emeline, of Stamford; Elizabeth K., in Europe; Maria A. (deceased); and Francis M.

Charles A. Hawley was reared in Stamford, and here received his elementary training, attend- ing private schools in this town and a boarding school in the town of Monroe. For some time he studied in the office of William T. Minor, subsequently entering his father's office, and at- tending to his private business. In 1866 he be- came connected with the Stamford National Bank, and in 1878, upon the death of John W. Leeds, he was chosen president of that concern, an office which he has filled continuously to the present time. The Stamford National Bank is

the successor of the old Stamford Bank, which was chartered by the State in 1834, and the building, which stands on a triangle lot at the junction of Main and Bank streets, is one of the architectural features of the business part of the town of Stamford. The interior finish is admir- able, the woodwork being of cherry, the floors tiled, and all the appointments tasteful and hand- some. The main floor is used jointly by the Stamford National Bank, the Stamford Savings Bank and the Stamford Safe Deposit Company, and Mr. Hawley is a director in the last named organization and vice-president of the Stamford Savings Bank. He is also connected with other Stamford corporations, and is in the foremost rank of the successful business men of the place, his ability, keen judgment, high principles and long experience in financial affairs giving his opinion a value in commercial circles wherever he is known. His enterprise and unusual quali- fications in his line have brought to him the measure of success in business life which his father attained in the legal world, and he is in- deed a worthy representative of one of Fairfield county's best families, and a citizen of whom Stamford may well be proud.

Mr. Hawley was united in marriage, Novem- ber 12, 1866, in Stamford, to Miss Alice E. Holly, daughter of William Wells Holly. They have no children. They attend St. John's Church, in which Mr. Hawley is a vestryman. Fraternally, he is a member of Union Lodge, F. & A. M., of Stamford.

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Commemorative Biographical Record of Fairfield County, Connecticut, Part 19

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