Commemorative Biographical Record of Fairfield County, Connecticut, Part 20

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

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L UTHER PRESCOTT HUBBARD, in whom was worthily represented the eighth genera- tion of a family that has reflected honor to citi- zenship and credit to the name for nearly three centuries in New England, died at Greenwich, Fairfield Co., Conn., September 18, 1894.

The Hubbard family is an old and numerous one in New England, where the progenitors in this country first located. It comes from excel- lent English stock, and is one whose members have filled honorable positions in England, have occupied important political positions, and main- tained throughout high rank as merchants, bank- ers and professional men. For a long time a Hubbard was governor of the Bank of England; some have occupied seats in Parliament; others have been distinguished as philanthropists and for acts of benevolence. The American branch of the family descends from three brothers who came from England during the early part of the seventeenth century and settled in Connecticut, Massachusetts and New Hampshire. Their de-

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Luther Prescott Hubbard

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COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

scendants are scattered over the entire United States, and among them are found men who have filled many positions of honor, trust and responsibility - such as judges, governors of States, and members of Congress. For many years, Hon. Samuel Hubbard, of Boston, was chairman of the Prudential Committee of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions.

Luther Prescott Hubbard, the subject proper of this biographical notice, descended from as follows:

(I) George Hubbard (one of the three broth- ers above referred to) was born about the year 1600 in Somersetshire, England, and on coming to America settled in the portion of Wethers- field, Conn., now called Glastonbury. Lands were assigned to him, which have ever since been occupied by the family. He was a man of considerable note in the colony, and at its com- mencement he made a deposition respecting the purchasing from the Indians of the lands of Wethersfield by the General Court, which de- position was ordered to be printed. He was a member of the first General Court, in 1638, and of several subsequent courts. In 1644 he re- moved to Milford; from there, in 1648, to Guil- ford. By his wife, Mary, he had four sons and five daughters, of whom:

(II) John resided for a time in Hadley, Mass., whence he in 1660 removed to Hartford, Conn. He died in 1705, the father of two children, the youngest of whom was

(III) Jonathan, born January 3, 1659, settled in Concord, Mass., in 1680. He married Han- nah Merriam, of that locality, a member of a noted old family in Colonial days, and there he died in 1728, the father of eleven children-seven sons and four daughters-of whom

(IV) Thomas, the ninth child and sixth son, was born August 27, 1696. By his wife Mary he had an only son,

(V) Nathan, born February 23, 1723-24, at Concord, Mass. He married Mary Patterson April 2, 1745, and by her had a family of twelve children-three sons and nine daughters. He was a farmer by occupation, and made his home in Groton, Mass., was kind, benevolent and hospitable, a man of irreproachable character, and lived to an advanced age.

(VI) Thomas, the eldest child of the above, was born December 28, 1745, and died May 25, 1807. He was twice married, first time to a Miss Conant, of Townsend (who bore him one son, Thomas), and on October 1, 1777, he wed- ded Miss Lois White, of Lancaster, Mass., of one of the first families of the town. She was

born April 30, 1747, and died March 26, 1834, the mother of the following children: (1) John, born October 3, 1778, died November 8, 1845; he was a successful farmer. (2) Abel, born Octo- ber 5, 1779, died November 3, 1852, in Boston, Mass .; he was a prominent builder, and erected in Boston some of the best dwellings of his time. (3) Nathan, born March 12, 1781, died in Port- land, Maine, in 1826. (4) Luther, the next in order of birth, will be more fully spoken of farther on. (5) Amos and (6) Jonas (twins), born December 13, 1783. Amos was a farmer by occupation, a great Bible student, and a man of unusual general information; he died at Am- hert, N. H., January 30, 1858. Jonas married, settled in Providence, R. I., and died about 1825, childless. (7) Hannah, born August 28, 1785, died June 23, 1786. (8) Anna was born January 5, 1787. (9) Phineas, born March 8, 1789, died January 23, 1852; he was a mason by trade, and also followed agricultural pursuits in Hopkinton, Mass. (10) Lucy, born March 20, 1791, died February 10, 1832, unmarried.

(VII) Luther, commonly known as " Major Hubbard," was born August 13, 1782, and died iu Manchester, N. H., March 2, 1857. For many years he was an extensive monument dealer in Hollis, N. H., doing a large business, was widely known and respected, and it is said of him that "he probably never had an enemy." On December 18, 1806, he was married to Han- nah Russell, who was born July 9, 1781, and died at Manchester, N. H., December 12, 1870, the mother of the following named children, all born at Hollis, N. H .: (1) Luther Prescott, the eldest, will be more fully spoken of farther on. (2) Mary A. was born December 25, 1808. (3) Hannah, born November 9, 1811, died at Hollis, N. H., May 18, 1834. (4) Thomas, born No- vember 20, 1813, died July 21, 1815. (5) Thomas Russell, born October 15, 1817, was a typical self-made man, having risen from a farm hand to a merchant in Nashua, N. H .; for a time he was in business at Fall River, Mass., thence moved to Manchester, N. H., where he purchased a a sash, door and blind factory, with a lumber business in connection, and was eminently suc- cessful; he built for himself a magnificent home in Manchester, and owned also a cottage at Rye Beach, where the family spent the summers. His aged parents died at his home. He served as an alderman of Manchester, and for two con- secutive terms represented that city in the State Legislature. (6) William, born November 3, 1821, died at Fall River, Mass., in 1848. (7) Sarah C., born October 30, 1824, was the youngest.

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(VIII) Luther Prescott Hubbard, born June 30, 1808, at Hollis, N. H., attended the district schools of his native place, after which he was for a short time a pupil at the Pinkerton Acad- emy. He was twice married, first time Novem- ber 28, 1832, to Miss Sarah Ogden Johnson, born September 11, 1812, in Elizabeth, N. J., a daughter of Jonathan W. and Mary A. (Wood- ruff) Johnson, and children as follows came to this union, all born in New York City: Theodore Frelinghuysen, born March 16, 1834, died De- cember 27, 1840; John Cleveland, born .April 20, 1836, died January 22, 1841; and Luther Prescott, Jr., born January 20, 1840, now treas- urer of the Pillsbury-Washburn Flour Mills Company. The mother of this family died December 29, 1840. She was a woman of ex- cellent social qualities and rare personal beauty. On November 29, 1848, Luther P. Hubbard married Miss Mary Cummings Tenney, who was born in Hollis, N. H., November 19, 1819, a daughter of Hon. Ralph E. and Phoebe Colburn (Smith) Tenney. A brief record of the children by this marriage is as follows: (1) Frederick A. is the eldest; (2) Miss Mary Tenney was born in Hollis, N. H., October 12, 1855; (3) John Theodore, born in Brooklyn, N. Y., October 2, 1857, died February 2, 1882 (he was engaged in the insurance business in Minneapolis, Minn.); (4) William Norris, born November 2, 1860, at Greenwich, Conn., is a physician in New York City; (5) Benjamin Farley, born at Greenwich, Conn., January 20, 1863, died in 1884, at Greenwich. He was a very brilliant young man, and when he was but twenty-one years old his writings appeared prominently in the New York Observer, The Christian Union, and other re- ligious papers.

In his early manhood Luther Prescott Hub- bard was a stone cutter, working on the Bunker Hill monument, "Tremont House," Quincy Market, and other buildings in Boston, and, later, was a contractor for stone work in New York City. But more than sixty years of his life was devoted to the interests of the sailors, being connected with the Bible Society, and the New York Port Society. At the time of his death he had been for thirty-four years the finan- cial agent of the American Seamen's Friend So- ciety. He had also been for forty years the honored secretary of the New England Society in the City of New York. James C. Carter, in eulogizing their late secretary, said to the So- ciety: " His unostentatious life, free from all selfish ambitions, filled with industry, with de- ·votion, with usefulness, in which every duty to God and man was faithfully performed-these

eighty-six years without a stain-this constitutes of itself an achievement, a noble accomplish- ment, of which his family, his children, and we, his associates and friends, may well be proud."

Mr. Hubbard was for several terms warden of the borough of Greenwich, and he was a member of the standing committee and for a number of years clerk and treasurer of the Sec- ond Congregational Church. But he never sought office or position. He enjoyed his books and his friends, the latter easily made and never abandoned, and they could always depend upon him. His recollection of faces, names and dates was remarkable. While strong in his opinions, he was courteous and charitable toward those with whom he disagreed, and his voice was often heard in debate, in town, school and Church meetings, but no one ever saw him lose his tem- per. He possessed considerable literary ability, and for many years was a regular contributor to the " Sailors Magazine," the New York Ob- server, and other periodicals and papers. In 1872 he published a volume entitled "Descend- ants of George Hubbard from 1600." He also published in the year 1872 a circular entitled " How a Smoker got a Home," editions of which have appeared annually, and have been spread broadcast throughout this and foreign countries, and since his death have been circulated by the W. C. T. U. Therein Mr. Hubbard gives his own experience with tobacco as both a chewer and smoker. He says he began the use of to- baccco at the early age of twelve years, chewing first, then smoking, and continued a slave to the habit several years, or until he united with the Church, when he soon afterward abandoned both indulgences, and, to use his own words, "was emancipated from a slavery worse than Egyptian bondage." He now saved up the money that he would otherwise have spent in tobacco, and in course of time purchased, with the accumulated savings, a beautiful property in Greenwich, commanding a fine. view of Long Island Sound. Some interesting statistics are also given by him in the "Circular," from which we glean the following: "My smoking was moderate compared with that of many, only six cigars a day at six and one-quarter cents each, equal to $136.50 per annum, which at seven per cent. interest for sixty-one years, amounts to the small fortune of $118.924.26." Continuing, Mr. Hubbard, says: "Great as this saving has been, it is not to be compared with improved health, a clear head and steady hand, at the age of over eighty-five years, and entire freedom from desire for tobacco in any form."

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W TILLIAM D. B. FERRIS (deceased). The future historian will have in this volume a veritable "treasure trove," preserving as it does in substantial form the histories of the men and women who have been and are prominent in various lines of progress. In the following sketch mention is made of the Ferris and Black- man families, whose names are held in the highest esteem in this section, having always been associated with the sterling qualities that constitute good citizenship.

The late William David Baldwin Ferris, who was for many years a leading agriculturist of Newtown, was a great-grandson of Squire Zach- ariah Ferris, a prominent pioneer of that locality. The Ferris homestead, a fine estate near New- town village, has been occupied successively by five generations in a direct line, as follows: (1) Zachariah Ferris (great-grandfather of our sub- ject); (2) Abel Ferris (the grandfather), who died May 21, 1824, aged seventy-two years, five months, eleven days, and Abiah, his wife, who died September 10, 1842, aged seventy-nine years; (3) Gideon Baldwin Ferris (the father of our subject); (4) William D. B. Ferris; and (5) George B. (now deceased), son of the last named. The line of descent is traced through Jeffrey Ferris, a pioneer of Greenwich, to England and France. The members of the Ferris family have always been connected with agricultural pur- suits, and as substantial and progressive citizens have taken an active part in local affairs, being especially interested in religious work and in the support of the Episcopal faith. Besides the record in Newtown cemetery of Abel and Abiah Ferris, above given, are found the following: John Ferris died 1758. Abraham Ferris died 1789, aged sixty-eight years; Mrs. Betsy Ferris, his wife, died August 28, 1759, aged thirty-six years. Johnathan Ferris died September 21, 1850, aged sixty years.

Gideon Baldwin Ferris, the father of our sub- ject, was born in 1793, and died September 7, 1849. His wife, Charlotte, who died in the spring of 1868, was a daughter of William Nor- throp, and granddaughter of David Northrop, the owner of a large tract of land in Hope- well District, town of Newtown. Gideon Bald- win and Charlotte Ferris had three children: Harriet, born probably in 1815, who married Starr Skidmore, son of Wheeler Skidmore; Will- iam David Baldwin, our subject; and Jared Beers, who died April 5, 1832, aged three years, one month and nine days.

William D. B. Ferris was born February 14, 1823, at the old homestead near Newtown, in the "Head of the Meadow" District. He received

a good English education in the Newtown Acad- emy and in a private school at Taunton conducted by Mr. Peck, in which institution he continued his studies until he reached the age of twenty years, and as he was always fond of reading he became more than ordinarily well-informed. He inherited a portion of the estate of his parents, and later purchased the interest of his sister. About 1864 he bought the Capt. Hart Shepard farm of 100 acres, to which he soon added some sixty acres, making in all nearly three hundred acres owned by him. In 1869 he removed to the last mentioned farm, where he made his home until his death on July 12, 1885. He was a man of excellent judgment, and while by disposition he was retiring and modest he was enterprising as a business man and progressive as a citizen. Politically, he affiliated with the Republican party, but official honors had no charms for him. For many years he was a leading member of Trinity Episcopal Church at Newtown, with which his family is still identified.

On November 25, 1857, Mr. Ferris was mar- ried, by Rev. Mr. Early, to Miss Maria Louise Blackman. Three children were born to this union: (1) George Blackman, born June 16, 1864, was married January 8, 1890, to Miss Bertha E. Clark, daughter of Albert Clark, of Trumbull, this county, and five children were born to them, their names with dates of birth being as follows: Elsie Clark, February 10, 1891; Herbert Curtis, April 20, 1892; George Mallett, September 25, 1893; Arthur Judson, April 14, 1895; and Charles Blackman, August 17, 1897. The father of these died January 31, 1899, of pneumonia, the result of a severe cold, and the sympathy of the entire community went out in unstinted measure to the widowed mother in her affliction. He was an industrious, successful farmer, and an honest straightforward citizen. (2) Charles David, born January 12, 1867, now occupies the Shepard homestead. (3) Hattie Louise, born October 14, 1875, resides at home with her mother.

Mrs. Maria L. Ferris was born April 26, 1835, in the State of New York, a daughter of Donald Blackman and a granddaughter of Jo- seph Blackman, a prominent resident of New- town, who owned an extensive tract of land in what was known as "The Rackets ". Donald Blackman was born September 15, 1804, in the house now occupied by Albert Turner, and died in Trumbull township, this county, March 7, 1866, in his sixty-second year. He inherited a portion of his father's homestead, and later ac- quired by purchase the interest of his sister, Mrs. Peck Blakeslee. For some time after his mar-

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riage, with the exception of two or three years spent at Carmel, Putnam Co., N. Y., he made his home there, but in 1840 he bought a farm of about eighty acres in Trumbull township. this county, where he resided for more than thirty years. He was a thorough-going, energetic busi- ness man, meeting with success in his various en- terprises, and accumulated a handsome property. In politics he was a Democrat, taking, however, no active part in public affairs, yet his interest in local advancement was shown in many ways, and during his life he did much for the cause of religion, being especially identified with the work of the Episcopal Church. On February 10, 1833, he was married, by Rev. S. Stratton, to Miss Louisa Platt, daughter of Eli and Betsey (Underhill) Platt. She passed to the unseen life August 6, 1896, having survived her husband many years. They had four daughters, viz. : (1) Maria Louise (Mrs. Ferris); Harriett Brown, born November1, 1839, was married January 10, 1861, to David Curtis, of Newtown, and died July 30, 1869, aged twenty-nine years and nine months; they had two children-one that died in infancy, and Lottie A., born in 1866, who died in 1868. (3) Sarah Elizabeth, born June 22, 1845, be- came the second wife of David Curtis; they had one child, Hattie Louise, born in 1873, who died in 1891. (4) Charlotte Augusta, born Novem- ber 22, 1846, died June 16, 1866.

F FREDERICK A. HUBBARD is a native of Hollis, Hillsboro Co., N. H. born No- vember 17, 1851. Since the age of seven years, however, he has resided in Green- wich. He was educated in the public schools and in the local academy, of which latter institu- tion Prof. Frank Shepard was then the princi- pal. After graduating from school, he entered upon the study of law with the firm of Evarts, Southmayd & Choate, in the City of New York, two years later entering the Law School of the University of the City of New York ; graduating in the class of 1875 with the degree of LL.B.

Mr. Hubbard was admitted to practice in the the State of New York in 1875, and, later in the same year in Connecticut, whereupon he opened an office in Greenwich, where he has since been active and successful in the practice of his pro- fession. Mr. Hubbard, though often importuned to accept, has never held any public office. In National matters a Republican, in local matters the ties of party rest lightly on his shoulders. Being by nature a methodical man, and having inherited from his New Hampshire stock a thor- ough dislike for waste, his criticisms upon the

methods of public officials are often outspoken and sometimes expressed with vigor ; but the re- sult to the body politic has been admirable. He is a man of means, and this, with the natural in- dependence of his character, has made him a power for good in governmental matters.

In business he is strict, accurate and industri- ous, carefully guarding the interests of clients; preferring an office practice to the vexations of the Court room, he yet controls a large propor- tion of Greenwich litigation. Notwithstanding he is so engrossed in business, he has always de- voted a considerable time to literary pursuits ; from a young man he has been a contributor to periodicals and newspapers, and his friends feel that he would have made his mark in literature if he had not devoted himself so closely to his profession. His home surroundings indicate the man-a well-selected library of standard works with choice bric-a-brac and curios.

On August 1, 1883, Mr. Hubbard was mar- ried to Agnes Helena Waterbury, daughter of George P. and Ellen F. (June) Waterbury. Mrs. Hubbard is a musician of merit, and her grace and housewifely qualities serve to make their domestic life bright and cultured. Two sons-Carleton Waterbury, born April 25, 1884, and Drexel Tenney, born August 22, 1886- give promise of being men worthy of the family traditions. Both Mr. and Mrs. Hubbard are active members of the Second Congregational Church.

Mr. Hubbard belongs to the Masonic Fratern- ity, and for more than twenty years has been a member of the local Masonic Lodge, Acacia No. 85. He is also a life member of the New Eng- land Society of the City of New York. In the borough, and everything pertaining to its progress- iveness and welfare, he takes keen interest. He has been interested in real estate in Greenwich, and is one of the largest tax-payers in the borough. He is a trustee in the Greenwich Savings Bank, and for several years has been its counsel.

Take him all in all, Mr. Hubbard shows, in his every-day walk of life, many of the traits of his sturdy New England ancestry, modified by the more active life and bustle of the closing days of the Nineteenth Century.

F PROFESSOR BENEDICT STARR, of Dan- bury. The Starr family is one of the oldest in this section, and the distinguished educator whose name opens this sketch is of the sixth gen- eration in direct descent from Capt. Josiah Starr, one of the founders of the town of Danbury, and of the eighth generation from Dr. Comfort Starr

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who came from Ashford, England, about the middle of the seventeenth century, and died in Boston, Mass., January 2, 1659.

It is not known how long the Starr family had their home at Ashford, and the earliest record in existence connected with the name is that of the baptism of Margaret Starr, January 5, 1583. Ash- ford, once called the " Manor of Esshetford," is a small town forty-five miles southeast of Lon- don, in the county of Kent, a locality famous from the earliest period of English history as the battle-ground between the sons of the soil and hordes of invaders of various nationalities. The most conspicuous building in the little town, and one of especial interest to us, is the grey old parish church, known as "St. Mary's." It is a large structure, with three aisles, three chancels, a transept and a beautiful stone tower, and the date of its erection is now only to be surmised. Among its ancient tombs are some bearing the dates of 1490, 1564, and 1591, and these must have seemed to Dr. Comfort Starr as old and re- mote as are our Colonial relics to us, when he worshiped within the stately building. He was evidently a man of standing, as in 1631 he was warden of St. Mary's Church. At a vestry meet- ing held in 1634 it was voted that "Comfort should lend to Jno. Langford the sum of 412 on the security of his 'house, it being copyhold." In 1634, only a short time before he came to Amer- ica, he was one of the committee to make repairs upon the old edifice. Dr. Comfort Starr was a "chirurgeon " (or surgeon as the word is now spelled'and pronounced), and seems to have been a man of wealth, as he owned an estate at Ash- ford, which he retained until his death. When he came to the New World he brought three servants, which a man 'of small means could hardly have afforded in those days. His wife, Elizabeth, died June 25, 1658, aged sixty-three, and, as has been noted, he passed away in the fol- lowing year. They had eight children. all born in England: Thomas, born 16 -; Elizabeth, born 1621; Comfort, born 1624; Mary, born 16 -; John, born 16 -; Samuel, baptized March 2, 1628, buried April 16, 1633, in Ashford, England; Hannah, baptized July 22, 1632; Lydia, baptized March 22, 1634.

II. Thomas Starr, the eldest son of Comfort, evidently lived in Duxbury, Scituate, Yarmouth, and in Charlestown, Mass., where in 1654 he was clerk of the Writs, and he died there October 26, 1658. He was a householder, with small in- come. Of his wife it is only known that her name was Rachel, and it is probable that she went, after his death, with her younger children to Hempstead, L. I. Their children were:

Samuel, born 1640; Comfort, born 1644; Eliza- beth, born 1646; Benjamin, born February 6, 1647-48; Jehosaphat, born January 12, 1649-50; Constant, born 1652, died October 5, 1654, at Charlestown; William, born March 18, 1654-55, died December 13, 1659, at Charlestown; and Josiah, who was the founder of the Danbury branch.

III. Capt. Josiah Starr, the youngest son of Dr. Thomas, was born September 1, 1657, in Charlestown, Mass., and was an infant when his father died. He was one of the seven patentees named in 1702 when town privileges were granted to Danbury, and was elected the first town clerk, the second justice of the peace, and was after- ward surveyor. In 1710 he was commissioned lieutenant, in 1713 captain of the first company or "train band," and for three years he was justice of Fairfield county. In 1702 he was elected deputy to the "General Court," a posi- tion of great honor and distinction, to which he was annually chosen as long as he lived. He died January 14, 1715-16, and was interred in the ancient burial place in the rear of the present jail. His wife Rebekah died July 15, 1739, aged seventy-four years, and was buried beside her husband. Their children were: Thomas, born 16 -; Benjamin, born 1683; John, born 1684; Hannah, who married a Mr. Dibble and had two sons; Rachel, born in 1690, and married Capt. John Benedict; Josiah, born 1693; Samuel, the great-great-grandfather of our subject; and Com- fort, born October 20, 1706, and died May 11, 1763, leaving £800 by will to the city of Dan- bury for the perpetual maintenance of a school there, the instructor to be capable of teaching Latin and Greek as well as the "three R's."

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Commemorative Biographical Record of Fairfield County, Connecticut, Part 20

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