USA > Connecticut > Fairfield County > Commemorative Biographical Record of Fairfield County, Connecticut > Part 198
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On May 4, 1847, Mr. Cumming was married in New York City to Miss Susannah Pollock, daughter of John and Isabella Pollock, who both died of cholera in New York in 1832, within two days of each other. Mrs. Cumming passed to the unseen life January 26, 1893. Of the four children born to this union, Thomas, who resides at Sound Beach, married Miss Alida Ford. Mary Ella married Dr. Philip H. Brown, of Stamford. Anna Anderson lives at home with her father. Susannah died January 17, 1854, at the age of five years.
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Fr. Abmming
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COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
The following biographical narrative is from . times, for about five days. Off the banks of New- the pen of our subject : ". The first voyage I . foundland, we saw, at no great distance from made at sea was on board the ship . Harvest.' , us, several very large icebergs. When we made Capt. William Britton, my brothers, John P. I Land's End, Cornwall, England, we found the and Thomas, owning two-thirds of the vessel. wind from the eastward dead ahead, and we We sailed for Liverpool, England, May 1, 1841. . were about two weeks beating through the Eng- On the tenth day out on our voyage we had a
lish Channel, and passed through the Straits of fresh gale from the southeast; toward evening it . Dover in company with about one hundred died away and the ship was lying almost be- . square-rigged vessels bound east. they having calmed, with fore, main and mizzen topsails , been detained in the English Channel by the east- set and also maintop-gallant sail, the sails flap- i erly winds. We arrived in Antwerp. after a very ping against the masts forward. Toward even- . rough passage of fifty-six days from New York. ing a light shower of rain came on, followed While in Antwerp I took the liberty of making an excursion to Brussels and the field of Water- immediately by a furious hurricane from the northwest and struck the ship so suddenly and . loo. After going over the field, and the guide with such force that before the sails could be . having pointed out the position of the different lowered and taken in the ship was thrown on armes, and viewing the chateau Huguenot, where heavy fighting had been done, we walked up the mound built by the English Government, and surmounted by the inevitable British Lion. The view from the mound was very interesting, taking in the whole battlefield and the surround- ing country. The ship being still detained in Antwerp, I took steamer for London, and having visited the Tower, where I saw the Crown jewels. I also paid a visit to Westminster Abbey and St. Paul's Cathedral, and while in London had the pleasure of seeing Queen Victoria.
her beam ends and was lying over at an angle of more than 45°, the water at times standing on deck nearly to her masts. The wind blew so hard that no canvass could stand it. and the ship was hove to under bare poies, with the exception of a tarpaulin lashed to the mizzen rigging to pro- tect the watch on dech. The ship lay in that position nearly all night. As the gale abated in the morning more sail was set to keep the ship from getting into the trough of the sea, and more sail was set as soon as she could carry it. to get her before the wind, and having done so all sail was set and we proceeded on our voyage. not having experienced very serious damage from the rough usage we had undergone through the night. Our captain, having followed the sea for more than forty years, expressed it, as his opin- ion, that if the ship had been loaded with a heavy cargo instead of cotton the hurricane would have carried away our masts, and the ship would no doubt have foundered, and the first chapter in my scafaring life would have been most abruptly ended. We arrived in Liverpool May 31, without further mishap. While at Liverpool, there being but little seamanship to be learned in port, I, with Capt. Britton's permission, made an excursion by steamer to Belfast, Ireland, and to Bangor, the birthplace of my parents. While in Beltast, I was invited by a party, who were making up an excursion to the Giant's Causeway, and which I accepted, and visited the Causeway, also other towns, including Londonderry, from which port I took steamer to Liverpool. We left Liv- erpool June 24, 1841, with passengers, mostly Mormons (Latter Day Saints, they called them- selves), and arrived in New York, August 4. 1841.
"Our passage home from Antwerp to New York was rather uneventful, moderate winds prevailing generally, and we arrived in New York in fifty- four days. My next voyage was to New Orleans. I now considered myself something of a sailor, being able to hand, reef, steer and help the captain to take observations and keep a log of our weather, progress, etc. We left for New Orleans the latter end of October and experi- enced fine weather rounding the Tortugas, and arriving at New Orleans in thirty days. We left New Orleans March 6. When off Cape Hat- teras we experienced very rough weather with thunder and lightning, it being also so dark when reefing topsails that we could not see the man alongside, excepting by the flash of lightning. From Hatteras, it being March, we experienced rough weather until we arrived at New York.
"At this time, the ship being sold, my brothers offered me an interest in the flour-mill- ing business with them, and having seen some- thing of the world and seafaring life, I accepted the offer. Our flouring-mill had a capacity of making five hundred barrels a day, but we could not get a regular supply in New York of first-
My next voyage was in March, bound for Ant- i class wheat. Such being a difficulty to over- werp in the same ship, this time Capt. Welsh. come, we decided to endeavor to make an ar- rangement with responsible parties in the far We experienced very heavy weather the whole passage, being obliged to heave the ship to, at . western country for a regular supply of wheat.
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Accordingly, being the junior partner in the con- waist in water, the pole which I had in my hand resting on the ice over the opening. Keeping my head pretty level, and not making any strug- gle to get out, and thereby breaking the ice and enlarging the opening. I just rested on my stick, and took in the situation. I saw that the ice in the middle of the river had been running about an hour before, as I was told by parties on the other side, that I had stepped on some ice that, in conse- quence of the water running so swiftly, had not had time to freeze as hard as the other more station- ary. I then laid a part of my weight on the stick which I had in my hand, and rested on the ice. Finding that the ice did not show signs of breaking, I added my whole weight to it, and then, raising my left foot on the ice, I placed the other alongside of it, and lest I should break the ice in doing so, I did not make any scramble in hurrying to get on my feet, but slid myself along far enough to get on solid ice to raise myself on my feet. The question was then: Should I go back or go on ? I decided to go on and reach Keokuk, if possible, by looking sharp for and avoiding the thin ice, although it cracked con- siderably, but did not break, and without more trouble I got ashore at Keokuk. The first per- son I met saluted me with the remark: . Well, stranger, I expected as much as anything to see you go through the ice, for the river had been running until about an hour since.' cern, and being fond of traveling, I was elected to leave at once for St. Louis, my objective point being Burlington, lowa, about four hundred miles north of St. Louis, on the Mississippi river, which was said to be about the best wheat country in the West. As this expedition was rather prolific of incidents and accidents, I will state it in brief: I took rail to Buffalo; after visiting Niagara Falls, I took steamer to Cleve- land. From Cleveland I went to Cincinnati by mail coach and railroad. From Cincinnati I took steamer . Swiftsure No. 3,' said to be very fast. On our way down the Ohio, when near Paducah, Ky., in the early morning before the passengers were up, the steamer struck a snag, which knocked a large hole in her bottom, which set her leaking so fast that, to prevent her from sinking in the middle of the river in deep water, the captain ran the steamer ashore, and many of the passengers got on land as soon as they pos- sibly could. I remained on board, knowing that if she was aground she could not sink any deeper. A smaller steamer coming along, I, with many of the passengers, took passage on her for St. Louis, and on arriving I immediately went to the . Plant- er's House,' and at once called on James Woodruff & Co., a branch of E. R. Collins & Co. in New York, and made arrangements with them for buy- ing wheat. Remained in St. Louis to get all the information required for my operations up the "In getting all the information I could in regard to the object of my trip, thus far, I found that it would be likely that the river would re- | main frozen some months before any wheat river. Took steamer for Burlington, and as we approached the city of Quincy on the upper Mississippi, the weather began to grow so much colder, that when we reached Quincy in the i could be got down the river from any place morning the thermometer stood ten degrees be- between Keokuk and Burlington, and that it would probably be the month of June. Such being the case, I concluded to buy 5.000 bushels of wheat at Keokuk as a sample, which I did, and returned to St. Louis. I took a conveyance to carry me to opposite Warsaw, and not reach- ing the place opposite by daylight, I, by looking very sharp for air holes, it being dark, managed to cross the river without any mishap to War- saw, except being obliged to wade through water up to my knees to reach the shore. The next morning ] and two others, who said they had been caught in a bad . snap' by being frozen up the river, chartered a conveyance to take us to St. Louis. After a long but not very tedious journey, viewing the country and enjoy- ing the scenery, including some Mormon houses that had been burned down, we arrived safe and sound at St. Louis, where we found the river frozen with ice so thick in some places that fires were kindled on the ice, and droves of hops were driven over it. Not caring to travel any farther low zero, and the river was frozen and closed for navigation. The steamer was also frozen up for the winter; but being bound for Burlington, I took a buggy and started on my way up the river. I think it took me two days to reach Warsaw, and Keokuk being called a good mar- ket for wheat. and about six or eight miles from Warsaw, although on the other side of the river, and it being frozen over with ice, I concluded to attempt to reach it, so having taken a convey- ance, and reached a point opposite to Keokuk, I proposed to cross over on the ice. My driver declined to cross with me, however, saying he would watch me getting across. I prepared to make the attempt, and taking off my overcoat and moccasins. and picking up the branch of a tree about ten feet in length, started to cross the river, and was passing over so far safely, when just as I reached about the middle of the river, the ice without warning broke under me, and I went through with both feet, about up to my
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by land, I remained in St. Louis until the ice began to move out, then took a steamer for Wheeling, going down the river as far as Cairo, and we had the current and broken ice with us. But when we turned into the Ohio river we had the current and ice against us, and were often i obliged to lay by in order to repair our wheels and buckets, they being broken by the ice. We arrived at Wheeling without serious damage. ] "I and three others having purchased cement then took the mail coach for Cumberland to | quarries at Rosendale, N. Y., on January 24. 1861, we organized the New York Cement Com- pany, and built works with a capacity of manu- facturing five hundred barrels of cement per day.
get to the railroad crossing the Alleghany Mount- ains. during the night, and arrived at Cumber- land in the early morning. Before leaving Cumberland I purchased a New York newspaper, : and we were very successful. I was elected and about the first article I read was that our president of the company February 4, 1861, and had the honor of serving in that capacity for six- teen years, and the works being enlarged has now a capacity for manufacturing from one thousand to one thousand five hundred barrels daily flouring-mill was destroyed by fire. Rather tough news after being sunk in the Ohio river, ! and being nearly drowned in the Mississippi, and I not vet twenty-four years of age! My brothers rebuilt the mill, but did nothing more in manu- facturing flour. My father then gave me an interest in two of his contracts.
" In 1876 1 purchased fifty acres of land for raising oranges and lemons, situated in Enter- " In 1846 the Hudson River Railroad Com- pany. being incorporated, gave out contracts for rebuilding the road to Albany. My brothers, John l'. and Thomas, gave in bids for several sections of it, and they were awarded to them. After looking over the work, and having other business which it would in a measure interfere with. they offered me an interest with them for superintending it, which I accepted. The cut- prise, Florida, with a water front on Lake Mon- roe, some two hundred miles south of Jackson- ville. I immediately proceeded to clear the I land for planting orange trees, leaving a few large magnoha and palmettoes. I planted about one thousand orange trees. They grew fast. and commenced to bear in about six years and produced largely very fine oranges until we had a very severe frost in 1895, which injured the ting for the construction of the road in the sec- I trees very much. I hold the property yet, but it will be several years before they produce as well as they did before the freeze of 1895.
tions which they contracted for was mostly through rock, the cut through Fort Washington being very deep. I superintended the work through winter and summer until the work was completed in 1849. I then went into the busi- ness of contracting on my own account in New York, Jersey City and Newark, and being fairly successful was soon capable of ' padding my own canoe.'
"In 1856 and 1857. in connection with another party, I built eleven brown-stone-front houses, situated on 43d and 44th streets, near Broadway, New York, which we sold at fair profit for the investment. I also built three more on 44th street on my own account. In 1800 I took a voyage to Cuba on the steamer ' Quaker City.' Captain Schufeldt of the United States navy, who at one time resided at Stam- ford. and who, after the Civil war, was promoted to be an admiral. I spent a few days in Ha- vana, seeing the sights; visiting Morro Castle and other notable places. Then took a trip to Matanzas, visiting the beautiful Yumuri Valley, with its beautiful palm, cocoanut and other trop- ical fruit trees, the sugar plantations, mills, etc.
The next day I left for Havana (I found that the engineer belonged to Westport, not far from Stamford), but the train went off the track be- fore we arrived at Havana. I left Havana in the ste amer . Rienvelle,' which was afterward taken into the navy and was in the fight at Port Royal. I arrived safely home on Washington's birthday, February 22. 1860.
" In 1856 1 purchased the property where I now reside, the southern boundary of the city of Stamford, called . Cumming's Point,' and being from my early days fond of being on the water, and having built a yacht, and also belonging to the Atlantic Yacht Club of Brooklyn, N. Y., I was induced to purchase some oyster ground for my own use. Buying more ground from time to time, and planting seed on it, I soon found it necessary to build a sloop, and so purchased an- other to market my crop. As business in that line increased, I built a steamer that could carry 1, 100 bushels of oysters to market at one trip. I now retain my oyster business by plant- ing seed on my oyster ground, of which I have 545 acres, and when the oysters are large enough for market, I sell them at wholesale as they lie on the beds. In my contract business of forty- four years, I have done some millions of dollars of work in New York, Jersey City and Newark, New Jersey, in railroad constructing, and other business that I have entered into from time to time. I retired from the contracting business in
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1891, and am now in the enjoyment of moder- ately good health in the eighty-first year of my age."-William A. Cumming.
A MOS W. AVERY. There is no better known citizen in Greenwich township, and none who stands higher in the estimation of his fellow men, whether in business, social, Church or public circles, than Mr. Avery, who is probably best identified in Fairfield county as a member of the firm of Avery & Wilson, of Greenwich. He is the oldest merchant in business in that town, and commands the most extensive patron- age in his line.
Mr. Avery's ancestors have lived in Green- wich township for over a century, and his grand- father, Peter Avery, who was a farmer, owned and cultivated a place above Greenwich for many vears. His father, Evert D. Avery, was born July 3. 1809. in Greenwich township, attended for a time the common schools of his day, and learned the trade of shipbuilder, which he fol- lowed for many years during his active life. In 1833 he was married in Greenwich to Miss Cath- erine P. Morrell, who was born May 2, 1817, and was the daughter of Daniel Morrell. They com- menced their married life in New York City, but subsequently returned and settled in Greenwich, where they reared their family of nine children, who were born as follows: Thirza M., October 8, 1835; Sarah E., May 30, 1837; Mary J., Sep- tember 28, 1839; Kate L., November 21, 1841; Mary L., May 2, 1844; Amos E., May 27, 1846; Emily A., August 8, 1848; Martha W., October 12, 1850; Amos W., October 12, 1853. Thirza M. and Mary J. died of scarlet fever November 6. 1842. Sarah became the wife of George S. Ray. of Greenwich. Kate married J. H. Ray, of Greenwich. Amos died July 5. 1848. Emily died of scarlet fever December 20, 1857. Mar- tha W. is the wife of O. P. Knapp, of Greenwich. Mr. and Mrs. Avery celebrated their golden wed- ding in 1883, and led a happy married life of fifty-six years, well preserved and active to the last. Mr. Avery practically retired from labor in 1860, and passed away August 24, 1891, in his eighty-third years, followed to the grave by his wife, who died March 10, 1895. They were laid to rest in Putnam cemetery. He was a stanch supporter of the Whig party in his early man- hood, and later joined the Republicans: he took no active part in politics, however, beyond cast- ing his vote regularly.
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Amos W. Avery was the youngest child in the family, and the only one of the sons to grow to manhood. He received his education in the
common schools, which he attended until he was about fifteen years of age, having for his first teacher Charles Wright. After leaving school he entered the store of Brush & Wright as clerk, and two years later, having determined to learn a trade, he began an apprenticeship with Stephen A. Stoothoff, a carpenter, of Greenwich. He spent six years in all at this business, and then returned to mercantile life in the employ of Wright & Brush, for whom he clerked five years. In 1880, Mr. Avery and a partner bought them out, the firm becoming Webb & Avery, and in 1883 changing to Avery & Wilson, who contin- ued the business until January, 1898, when Mr. Wilson retired and A. W. Avery continued. He carries a large line of groceries, flour, feed, hay and straw, and has the most substantial and extensive business in Greenwich, won by years of courteous attention to the wants of his cus- tomers, obliging disposition and honorable methods, coupled with good management and the use of sound business principles.
Mr. Avery has necessarily given a large share of his attention to his store, but he has divided his time among different interests, and has had no small share in the work of promoting the commercial welfare of this region. He holds stock certificate No. I of the Greenwich Trust. Loan and Deposit Company, in whose organiza- tion he took a most active part, canvassing per- sonally for half of the stock, and was also ore of the organizers of the Greenwich Board of Trade, of which he is the present treasurer. As a worker for the civic interests of Greenwich he is counted among the most valuable men in the town, for he is always ready with his means and influence to support any project which he be- lieves is for the general good of the community. Politically he is a leader in the local ranks of the Republican party, and one of its most valuable members in his township, being a sincere worker for the success of the party, and not one who seeks merely to promote his own interests and popularity. For years he has served as treasurer of the Republican township committee, of which he is now secretary, and his continuance in ofice speaks for the efficiency of his service. There is no warmer friend of educational interests in the county.
Mr. Avery married Miss Hattie M. Stoothoff. of Greenwich, who was born September 10. 1859, daughter of Stephen A. and Susan Stoot- hoff, and one child blessed their union, Mabel R., born July 26, 1880, who is now an accom- plished young lady, and has had unusual facili- ties for a finished education. The family have a comfortable, pleasant home, and are respected
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anos W avery
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and liked by neighbors and friends for their and was there married to Miss Mary Curtis (daughter of Gould Curtis). who died October 8, 1866. To this union were born one son, Charles 1 G. Beers, and two daughters, Mary C. (Mrs. O. C. Foster) and Rissa J. (Mrs. Augustus Warner). sociability and the Christian kindliness which marks their intercourse with all. The old stock of the Avery family belonged to the Congrega- tional Church, but our subject and his wife are I devout members of and prominent workers in i Mr. beers died February 25. 1878, of pneu- the Methodist Society at Greenwich, in which he moma. He was a man of excellent habits and serves as trustee. He is one of the most earnest , good business qualities, and surrounded himself workers in the congregation, and religious affairs , with a large circle of friends. He was a gentle- receive a large share of his care and attention.
man of hine presence and stalwart frame. being Mr. Avery's life is a fine example of Christian , over six feet in height, and up to the day of his citizenship, characterized as it has been by ster- ' last illness enjoyed excellent health. In early ling integrity, uprightness and nobility of con- days he took considerable interest in politics as an Old-time Whig, and at one tune he served as duct toward all with whom he has come in con- tact, either in pubhe or private hfe. He has . alderman of the First ward in Chicago. He was scores of friends all over The county. Fraternally
he unites with Acacia Lodge, No. 85. F. & A. M., I Chicago volunteer fire department; and was a
of which he has been treasurer for years.
C YRENIU'S BEERS. one of the pioneer resi- dents of Chicago, Ill., was a native of Fait- field county, Conn., having been born on a farm at Newtown, June 1. 1813
a member of the " Fire Kings " (No. 1) of the member of the Chicago Board of Trade at the time of its first organization in 1848; in 1857 he was president of the Mercantile Mutual Insur- ance Company, which was organized in 1855. In religious faith he was a member and liberal sup- potter of the Episcopal Church, and was one of the founders of Trinity Church, Chicago, which many years ago stood on Madison street. between
1 After securing what education the academy in the village afforded at that time, Mr. Beers : Clark and LaSalle, where the " Brevoort House"
taught district school one year; but, his health failing. he returned to the home farm. Becoming : tired, however, of agricultural pursuits, he told ! now stands. In 1855 be deeded two lots for the benefit of the Bishop's Church. These lots were deeded to the Church, the consideration his mother that if he was to farm at all, it would ' being that the Bishop was to build a church or have to be "where the soil was blacker than it ' the lots to revert to the donor; but the church was around there " About this time he joined a . was never built, and Mr. Beers gave $6,000 to the Bishop to clear the title so he could sell
party that was just starting for the West, and, as he was not as strong as most of the others, he ' the same.
was given to ride the only horse they had. At this time the only public carriers were the steam and canal boats, and there conveyed the party only a small portion of the way. Before the journey was over, Mr. Beers had gained so much strength that he seldom had occasion to ride his horse. From Michigan City. Ind., he crossed Lake Michigan to Chicago in a sailing vessel, and upon arriving at the latter city he soon embarked in the hardware business with Jabez K. Bots- ford (who was also from Newtown, Conn. ). the firm name being Botsford & Beers, and their place of business on the corner of Lake and Dearborn streets. In the business they contin- ved many years, and Mr. Beers subsequently en- Kaged in stock raising on a large scale, on a farm located near the present site of the stock yards, Chicago. He was successful in his business en- terprises, but lost heavily by the panic of 1857 and the great fire of 15;1. Shortly before his death he contemplated moving to Kansas to engage in stock raising.
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