Commemorative Biographical Record of Fairfield County, Connecticut, Part 22

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

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HENRY S. PECK (deceased), youngest child of Henry and Eliza Peck, was born January 6, 1834, and was educated in the public schools and also at the select school at Brookfield. At the close of his school career he entered his father's store as a clerk, and there acquired the rudiments of a business knowledge that afterward developed the man of remarkable business acumen, sound judg- ment, and unimpeachable integrity, the commer- cial men knew and respected. When his father died he assumed the management of the store, and for some years carried it on alone. In 1872 he built the present store, and admitted Alfred Somers as a partner. This firm became one of the largest and most prosperous in the county, and after the death of Mr. Peck on October 2, 1884, Mrs. Peck continued partnership with Mr. Somers under the old firm name of Peck & Somers. Mr. Peck's ability was not allowed to confine itself to one line, but he was called upon to lend his light in assisting corporations outside of Brookfield, being one of the board of directors of the First National Bank of Danbury, and also of the Savings Bank of Bridgeport. The courts frequently appointed him to positions of respon- tability and trust. His best loved interests were those centered in Brookfield, and to the develop- ment and material advancement of his own town he devoted time and means liberally. In 1879 he represented his town in the Legislature, elected on the Republican ticket. He was, above all else, a truly domestic man, and in his own home found his truest happiness. To his aged mother, he was the model son, kind and consid- erate, allowing no day to pass that he did not go to her with words of cheer, dutifully looking after her comfort all his life. In all affairs of the Con-

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gregational Church, which faith he had professed in 1862, he took a lively interest. To its finan- cial needs he was a willing and liberal contribu- tor. On October 4, 1865, Henry S. Peck was united in marriage with Eliza G. Fairchild, daugh- ter of Hiram Fairchild, and this union was blessed with two children: Henry Lyman, born Decem- ber 12, 1870, died December 6, 1890, and Mary Fairchild, born August 21, 1874. This happy family circle was first broken in 1884 when the father passed peacefully away to join that "Choir Invisible, whose music is the gladness of the world;" then in 1890 Death's angel again knocked at the portal, and the widow's son, Henry Lyman, just on the verge of manhood, answered the final summons, leaving the mother and sister to mourn the loss of a devoted son and brother. He had just entered upon his second year at the School of Technology at Boston, and after graduating from there antici- pated taking a special course at Yale. Doubt- less his life would have been both brilliant and successful. He was an earnest student, and to the advancement of science he intended devoting his life. He was the sixth Henry Peck in the direct line, and the last male descendant bearing the name of a family who have for generations been inhabitants of the town strongly identified with all its interest.

The Fairchild family, from which came Mrs. Eliza Fairchild Peck, widow of Henry S. Peck, is directly descended from one Thomas Fairchild (I), who was born in Scotland, and died in Strat- ford, Conn., in 1670. His children were John, Thomas (II), Samuel, Zachariah, Dina, Emma, and Bethia. Thomas Fairchild (II) was born in 1644, and was the father of John, Josiah (III), Priscilla, and Emma. Josiah Fairchild (III) was born in 1664, and was the father of Edward (IV), who was the father of Jonathan, Ebenezer (V), Moses and James. Ebenezer Fairchild (V) mar- ried Sarah Kimberly, and the following children were born to them: Edward,. born May 4, 1752; Peter, March 12, 1756; Huldah. August 30, 1759; Phebe, December 5, 1762; Clement (VI), May 2, 1764; Abiah, October 14, 1766; Tru- man, November 25, 1769, and Abram,

-, 1772. Clement Fairchild (VI) always farmed in Newtown, Conn .; he married Sarah Platt, and by her he had a daughter, Lucinda, who be- came the wife of John Williams; Beman, born April 12, 1792, married Polly Ann Fairchild; Hiram (VII), born January 7, 1796; Lucia, born March 9, 1801, married Asel Beebe; Luzon, who died September 2, 1820, at the age of fourteen years, seven months and twenty-seven days; and Phœbe.

Hiram Fairchild (VII) was educated in New- town, where he afterward engaged in the manu- facture of combs, later going to Brookfield. He engaged in the mercantile business in Brookfield Center, where for a time he was a partner of Henry L. Peck. He finally sold out his interest to Mr. Peck and engaged in farming. Mr. Fair- child was twice married, his first wife being Sarah Northrup, to whom he was wedded Janu- ary 20, 1824. By this union there was one son, Clement, born May 20, 1827. The wife died December 20, 1830, followed by the little son, November 28, 1832. For his second wife he wed- ded, December 27, 1831, Betsey Gelston, daughter of Rev. Maltby Gelston, of Sherman, Conn. This union was blessed with three children: Sidney Hawley, born November 3, 1835, died Septem- ber 18, 1892; Sarah Lucia, born August 18, 1837, and Eliza (Gelston) Peck, born February 11, 1839. Hiram Fairchild was a member of the Congregational Church, and in politics was an ardent Republican. His dignified bearing and courteous manners marked the typical gentleman of the old school. He passed to his eternal rest in 1888, and on February 9, 1894, at the age of ninety-two, his widow, Betsey (Gelston) Fair- child, went forth rejoicing to a happy reunion on that silent shore.

TOHN S. JONES, the proprietor and able ed- itor of The Westporter-Herald, a semi-week- ly newspaper of Westport, Fairfield county, is one of the most widely known men of the county and most useful citizens in his locality.

Born May 10, 1835, in Westport, Mr. Jones is the great-grandson of John Jones, a farmer of the town of Ridgefield, where his birth occurred, and of whom it is said that he was the first man of the locality to offer his service to the Colonial Government at the inception of the war of the Revolution, in which he enlisted and served vali- antly, becoming a lieutenant. He was of Scotch origin on his father's side. Daniel Jones, the grandfather of our subject, was born in the town of Ridgefield, and he, too, followed agricultural pursuits. He married Elizabeth Pardee, and had the following named children: Isaac, Alva, John, Elizabeth, Philo W., Sally and Phoebe. Of these, Philo W. (our subject's father) was born May 27, 1802, in Ridgefield town, and with all of the other children was there reared on a farm. He came to Westport in 1828, and fol- lowed his trade, that of a harness maker. He was a warden of Christ (Episcopal) Church; was a Whig in politics; was influential in local affairs, and served as sheriff of Fairfield county. He

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married Rebecca Lobdell, a daughter of Josiah Lobdell, of English extraction.

John S. Jones in boyhood attended the dis- trict school of his neighborhood, where he re- ceived his entire education. He learned the plumber's and tinman's trade, which he followed for nine years, and at his next move, in a busi- ness sense, he engaged in the house-furnishing business, conducting same some eight years. He was appointed postmaster of Westport during President Johnson's administration, and per- formed the duties of the office in a business-like manner, making a good official. In 1867 he commenced the publication of The Westport Ad- vertiser, a weekly paper, which was in existence until 1874. The next year he issued The West- porter-Herald, which he has since continued to publish, and which has had a successful career. The paper has ever been a newsy sheet, ably edited and successfully managed. Mr. Jones has just retired from the presidency of the Connecticut Press Association. In his political views he is a Democrat. Back in the "sixties" Mr. Jones was for five years assistant town clerk, and for a period of thirty years he was clerk of the Pro- bate Court, holding the office under four judges. He has served as president of the Board of Trade. He was one of the organizers, in 1884. of the Connecticut State Firemen's Association, and the only secretary it has ever had, and he was also one of the organizers of the Westport Fire Department, and the only Chief Engineer the department has ever had, having performed the duties of a fireman for upward of forty years. For thirty-one consecutive years Mr. Jones has been clerk of the Church of the Holy Trinity. and for ten years he has been junior warden of the parish. Socially, too, Mr. Jones has shown great fidelity to duty, and has linked his name with societies and orders through which it will be recalled long after he himself has passed from earth. He is the oldest member and was the first secretary of Temple Lodge No. 65, F. & A. M., of Westport, and has held all of the offices in the same excepting master and senior warden. He is now, and has been, marshal of the lodge for a decade, and is secretary of the Masonic Re- lief Association. He is an officer in the Sons of the Revolution. He was one of the members appointed to represent the State at the National Exposition held at Atlanta in 1895, and was sec- retary of the Connecticut Board. He was one of the organizers of the Westport Water & Elec- tric Light Company. He is also secretary of the Saugatuck Historical Society, and president of the Westport Board of Trade.

On November 25, 1857, Mr. Jones was mar-

ried to Mary Elwood, a daughter of Capt. Shel- ton Elwood, of the town of Westport, and the union has been blessed with two children: Mary L., now Mrs. Robert K. Gault, of Westport; and Willis S., who is assisting his father in the office of The Westporter-Herald, as local editor.

H TON. LYMAN DENNISON BREWSTER comes from an old New England family, the first representative of which landed at Ply- mouth Rock from the "Mayflower" in 1620. His grandfather removed from Preston, Conn., to Salisbury, Conn. Daniel Brewster, the father, was by occupation a farmer. The Judge was born at Salisbury, July 31, 1832. He prepared for college at the Williams Academy at Stock- bridge, Mass., and also at the Salisbury schools; in 1855 he graduated from Yale College. Al- though he was unable to give himself a thorough preparation, his career was marked by fair scholar- ship, and he stood among the oration men of the class and was class poet. In 1857 he spent the season in Europe, traveling in England, Switzer -. land, Germany and other countries.

Judge Brewster's legal studies were pursued; in the office of his uncle, Hon. Roger Averill, and he was admitted to the Bar June 21, 1858. On January 1, 1859, he formed a partnership with E. R. Fry, and this lasted one year. From 1860. to 1870 he was in partnership with Mr. Averill, his old preceptor. In 1870 he was appointed the first judge of the Court of Common Pleas of Fair- field County, and served for four years. Mr. Brewster has also been associated with Samuel Tweedy, Esq., in the practice of law for eight years. The partnership of Brewster, Tweedy & Scott, which followed, was dissolved in 1892, since when he has occupied the old office over the Savings Bank, where he has been located since 1870. In 1894 he admitted Samuel A. Davis as a partner. In 1870, 1878 and 1879, Mr. Brew -. ster was a member of the Connecticut House of Representatives from Danbury. In 1880 and 1881, he was State Senator and chairman of the Judiciary committee. In 1878 he was appointed by Governor Hubbard a member of the commit- tee to simplify legal procedure in the State. He was on the commission that made the new code of the State of Connecticut in, 1879. Since his judicial and legislative terms, the most noticeable thing of his professional history has been his con- nection with the Tilden will case, in which, as one of the counsel for the heirs, he spent a good share of four years in making out briefs and look- ing up the case.

Mr. Brewster is a member of the American

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Lyman D. Brewsta

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Bar Association, and for several years has been chairman of the committee on Uniform State Laws, and is one of the State Commissioners on Uniformity. In August, 1896, he was elected president of the Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws, and re-elected to that office in 1897 and 1898. At Danbury he has been in- terested in public matters to a marked degree, and for sixteen years served as acting school visi- tor. He has been chairman of the book commit- tee in the Danbury Library since it started, about 1869. In 1868 he was united in marriage to Miss Amelia Ives, daughter. of . George W. Ives, of Danbury. Mr. Brewster, in public life, has displayed the qualities of an honest and pub- lic-spirited citizen. He, is one of the best-known members of the Bar in the State, serving often op important committees.

E W. HARRAL, president of the Fairfield Rubber Company, has for many years been regarded as one of the ablest business men of this section. While he has been prominently identified with other enterprises, the business of which he is now the head may be said to repre- sent best his energy, skill and judgment as a manager, for he has been associated with it al- most from the beginning, and to his efforts its present prosperous condition is mainly due.

Mr. Harral comes of excellent ancestry, being descended in the paternal line from an old South- ern family whose members for several generations have been influential citizens of Charleston, S. C. Dr. George Harral, our subject's grandfa- ther, was a successful physician of that city and Savannah, and Henry K. Harral, his father, was born and reared in Savannah, acquiring the edu- cation common to youths of good family. He owned two plantations in South Carolina, but much of his time was spent in Bridgeport, Conn., where he was extensively engaged in the manu- facture of saddles and harness. As a citizen he `was much esteemed, and for seven years he served as mayor of Bridgeport. He died May 10, 18-, in Augusta, Ga. On the maternal side Mr. Harral traces his descent from the Peet family, of England, and his ancestors in this line were among the early settlers of Stratford, Fair- field Co., Conn. Its members took an active part in the early wars, and by reason of his re- lationship to them, Mr. Harral enjoys the right of membership in the various societies open only to descendants of Colonial families. An extensive genealogy of the Peet family has recently been completed. Mr. Harral's mother, whose maiden name was Sarah A. Peet, was born in Bridge-

port, the daughter of William Peet, and her death occurred in New York City, December 17, 1867. Our subject was one of six children-five sons and one daughter-and among his brothers were. Maj. W. W. Harral, of Gen. Butler's staff, and Henry K: Harral, of Folkstone, England.

Our subject was born December 12, 1845, in the city of. Bridgeport, and after completing a course of study in the local schools he attended Marlborough Churchill's Military School at Sing Sing, then the leading institution of the kind in the United States. When the Civil war broke out he promptly displayed his sympathy with the Union cause by enlisting in the 14th Conn. V. 1., but, owing to his youth, he was rejected. For ten years he was associated with Lacey, Meeker & Co. in the manufacture of harness and saddles, and for four years he was general agent for the Wheeler & Wilson Manufacturing Com- pany, of Bridgeport, his duties requiring him to travel over the Southern States and the Pacific slope. In 1880 he retired from that position, and soon afterward he became connected with the Fairfield Rubber Company, then in its in- fancy. Since - 1881 he has : made his home at Fairfield, and he and his family are prominent in the best social circles of that city. He is a pub- lic-spirited man, helping generously in any wor- thy movement, and he takes an active part in re- ligious work . as a . member of the Episcopal Church at Fairfield, in which he holds the office of senior warden. Political honors have no at- traction for him, and while his sympathies are mainly with the Democratic party, he votes in- dependently, his ballot having been cast for Mc- Kinley in 1896. His first wife, formerly Miss Julia Crissy, of New Canaan, this county, died. leaving one son, Crissey De. F., now a resident of Bridgeport .. By his second marriage, with Miss Ellen . B .: Wheeler, daughter of Nathaniel and Huldah (Bradley) Wheeler, of Bridgeport, Mr. Harral has one daughter, Mary W.

DEX L. PALMER, who is now living retired .in Greenwich township, is a worthy repre- sentative of one of the old and. honored families of Fairfield county. He was born February 17, 1820, in a house which was built in 1756 and oc- cupied the site of his present residence. His fa- ther, Abel Palmer, was born in the same house, June 1, 1773, a son of John and Hannah (Smith) Palmer, the former of whom died when Abel was quite young, leaving a family of six children, namely: Sons-Abel, Zabed, Smith and Ishael. Daughters-Mrs. Naomi Knapp and Mrs: Bailey. Of the sons, Zabed and Smith were soldiers in

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the Revolutionary war, in which struggle Zabed was killed.

Throughout the greater part of his life Abel Palmer engaged in agricultural pursuits, but for a time taught school through the winter months, while in the summer season he still continued to follow farming. He well remembered Gen. Washington, for he was standing on the bridge when the General passed through North Mianus when traveling on the turnpike between New York and Boston. Mr. Palmer was then only a small boy, and the great man laid his hand upon the lad's head and made some remark to him. Abel Palmer married Sarah Davis, a native of Greenwich, and a daughter of John Davis, and to them were born the following children: Han- nah, who married Walter June, and died in Illi- nois; John R., a stone mason, who died in Green- wich; Caroline, who married Horace Dann, and died in Troy, N. Y .; Julia, who married John Liney, and died in the same city; Lloyd, who died in West Fornes, N. Y .; Clara, who married George Hopperton, and lives in Newark, N. J .; Jane, who married Darius Clark, and died in Cos Cob, Fairfield Co., Conn .; Catharine, who married Dean Werden, and lives in Mianus; Susan, widow of Horace Dann; and Rex L. This is a family noted for longevity. all living to be over eighty years of age, and Mrs. Clara Hopper- ton is now ninety-four years of age. The fa- ther died in 1860 in his eighty-eighth year, the mother passing away in 1874, aged ninety-two, and both were laid to rest in Sound Beach ceme- tery. He was a large, erect and powerful man, very polite and refined, and was highly respected by all who knew him.

During his boyhood and youth Rex L. Pal- mer pursued his studies in the Steep Hollow school, and among his teachers were William Grigg and a Mr. Hamilton. Our subject was reared a farmer boy, and throughout life has mainly followed that pursuit. In 1849 and 1850, however, he traveled with Van Amburg & Co.'s show, as a keeper of animals, and for several years was engaged in the stove business at Port Deposit, Md., keeping several wagons on the road selling stoves. He inherited the old home farm in Greenwich township, Fairfield Co., Conn., and in connection with its operation he engaged in cider making for many years, estab- lishing the business in 1870, and it is still carried on by his son Frank T.

On October 16, 1855, Mr. Palmer wedded Miss Mary M. Thomas, who was born in Kent county, Md., September 2, 1826, a daughter of William and Eliza (Pierce) Thomas. She is the fourth child and second daughter in a family of

twelve children, consisting of five sons and seven daughters. Her father was a wealthy planter, owning 300 acres of land and twenty negroes. He had been educated in two colleges, and prac- ticed law for a time, but abandoned that calling because, as he said, "He had to lie to be suc- cessful." Mr. and Mrs. Palmer have two sons: Frank T., who owns and operates a cider-mill in North Mianus; and Ray L., who is connected with the Mianus Electric Company.

Mr. Palmer uses his right of franchise in the support of the Democracy, and held the offices of assessor and justice of the peace until old age debarred him. He also served on the grand jury, and was prominently identified with the public affairs of his township. He is the oldest male representative of the family, but still pos- sesses a good memory and is well preserved for one of his years. His wife is a member of the Methodist Church, and both are held in high re- gard by the entire community.

J AMES H. REDMAN, who made his home in Riverside, Fairfield Co., Conn., from 1892 until his death on November 26, 1898, in his seventieth year, was one of the many citizens living retired in that beautiful place who have helped to make it what it is, one of the most popular residence towns along Long Island Sound. There is probably no place of the same size in this region where refinement and wealth, with all its accompaniments of luxurious and pleasant surroundings and yet nothing of ostentatious dis- play, are so generally evident, and Mr. Redman found a charming home in this ideal spot, where, amid congenial social conditions, he passed his days in the quiet enjoyment of the ample means which he had acquired.

The Redman family is of English origin, and their location in America dates back to 1680, in which year our subject's first American ancestor, coming from Yorkshire, England, settled on land now embraced in the city of Philadelphia, in . which city and also in Trenton, N. J., many of his descendants are yet living. His son, Thomas Redman, was born in 1684 in Philadelphia, and was married in 1706. From ancient records are gleaned the following: In 1721 the Assembly passed the law regulating party walls in Phila- delphia, which is in force to-day, and Thomas Redman was one of four to be the first regulators. On May 1, 1729, the House took into considera- tion the necessity of a house for the Assembly of the Province to meet in; appropriated £2,000; on October 15, 1730, purchase of grounds was made; 1732 ground was broken and the work

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divided to the different trades. John Parsons and Thomas Redman were the stone masons and cellar diggers, and some of the bricklaying was done by this firm. This building, at first called the " State House," has been known for years as " Independence Hall."

Mr. Redman's father, Charles H. Redman, was born in 1798 in Trenton, N. J., the eldest of the two children of Samuel and Susanna Red- man, viz .: Charles H. and Wolloston. He was reared in Trenton and there received his educa- tion, which was gained in a six-months' attend- ance at the public schools. The success which came to him in his business career would be un- usual for anyone whose sole capital to commence with was only a stock of energy and ambition, but when the lack of schooling is also to be taken into consideration it is nothing short of phenomenal, and the extraordinary business capacity which he displayed in all his transactions as well as the determination to advance in spite of heavy odds against him can scarcely be realized or appre- ciated by this generation. His father dying when he was but thirteen years old the family were left in anything but comfortable circum- stances, and the boy was still in his "teens" when he went to New York City and commenced work as an apprentice in the shop of his uncle, Jesse Redman, who was a cedar cooper by occu- pation and the pioneer in his line in that metrop- olis. He picked up the business so rapidly and showed such rare interest in it that it was not many years before the uncle retired and he suc- ceeded him, working hard early and late to keep up with the patronage which had come to him, and keep his affairs on a solid financial basis. During the time he was learning his trade, and even after he entered the business for himself truckmen and drays were not so numerous in New York City as now, and he often carried the finished product from his shop to market on his own shoulders, using the same means of trans- portation to bring the raw material in the shape of large cedar timbers to the shop. At first he was able to fill all his orders himself, but as his trade widened he took other help until he gave employment to a large force of work- men, and his market, from being a merely local one, was extended as far south as the Carolinas.

Mr. Redman continued in the manufacturing business until shortly after his wife's death, when, in the spring of 1844, he retired, and hav- ing had little opportunity for seeing much of this country during his active years he spent much of his time in travel. He could not be con- tented, however, with a life of mere leisure, and he continued to attend personally to the numer-

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Commemorative Biographical Record of Fairfield County, Connecticut, Part 22

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