Commemorative Biographical Record of Fairfield County, Connecticut, Part 24

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

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Rev. Samuel Nichols, D. D., was born in the town of Fairfield, and grew to manhood on

the old homestead at Greenfield Hill. He com- pleted his education at Yale College, graduating in 1811, and for some time he had charge of an academy at Herkimer, N. Y., where he met and married Miss Susan Warner, daughter of G. J. Warner, and granddaughter of George Warner, a native of England. This family was prominent in Revolutionary times, some of its members be- ing active in the cause of freedom. Soon after his marriage Rev. Samuel Nichols, D. D., re- moved to Bedford, Westchester Co., N. Y., where he remained twenty-three years as rector of St. Mathew's Episcopal Church, but his last .years were spent at the old . home at Greenfield Hill. His wife died in New York State. They had nine children, of whom our subject was the eldest ; Effingham H., formerly a lawyer in New York City, is now living in retirement ; William, who is also retired, was a real-estate dealer in New York City ; Samuel and John are engaged in agriculture in Fairfield county ; Alexander R. T., a resident of Greenfield Hill, is a leading politician of this section, and has served as 'a member of the State Legislature ; Charles is de- ceased ; Maria and Susan are still living, and the latter has gained fame both as an artist and writer.

The venerable subject of these lines was born May 12, 1817, in Fairfield, Herkimer Co., N. Y., and was a child when his parents removed to Bedford. After completing a course in Bed- ford Academy he entered Yale College, where he was graduated in 1835, and he then went to New York City to take a course in the Theo- logical Seminary of the Episcopal Church, on graduation, in 1837, being ordained as a clergy- man. He had charge of various parishes in this State during his active career as a minister, and he retired about twenty years ago, making his permanent home in Norwalk, where he purchased a pleasant residence, calling his home . Walde- grave Cottage," after the Earl of Waldegrave, from whom he is descended. In the course of his life he has made many choice friends, one of the earliest and most intimate being Chief Justice John Jay. He has been married twice, but both wives have passed to the unseen life, leaving no children to brighten his home. A highly cul- tured mind and scholarly - habits enable Mr. Nichols to make his leisure pass pleasantly, and his pen has been used to good. purpose on differ- ent topics. He has published several volumes: "Letters from Waldegrave Cottage; " a volume entitled "Miscellaneous Sermons" (a valuable addition to literature); "Memories of Childhood," and "Fragments from the Study of a Pastor," all of which have added to the reputation of the.

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author as a writer and scholar. His " Letters from Waldegrave Cottage," many of which were originally published in Frank Leslie's "Sunday Magazine," edited by Dr. Talmage, have at- tracted special attention, and at the time of their appearance in book form were warmly welcomed, especially by those who were familiar with the persons and places described, though the book also won many admirers by its high moral tone and the scholarly touches which give it a per- manent value as a work of literature. Mr. Nichols having had the rare pleasure of being a friend of the first chief justice of the United States, his reminiscences of him and other noted persons of his acquaintance, delightfully mingled with historical recollections and interesting de- scriptions and full of admirable moral lessons, lends a peculiar charm to the work, which affords much food for thought to the careful reader.

From an article in The New York Church Press March 6, 1886, we excerpt the following: "The aim of the author has been to afford in- terest and to do good. In this he has succeeded remarkably well. His topics are varied and di- versified, blending personal reminiscences with social questions, ecclesiastical relations and the- ological discussions, whilst the style throughout is simple and ornate, at once captivating and in- structive. The writer enunciates sound views and imparts useful information, and his . Letters from Waldegrave Cottage' will be prized by those who know Mr. Nichols as a gift of friendship, and by those who read them for their own merit as the outpouring of a scholary mind and a gen- erous soul."

The Church Record, published at Southport, Conn., said: "The author's extensive acquain- tance with men and affairs for more than a gen- eration past enables him to weave together facts of the present with reminiscences of the past. Great men in the Church's story, who appear to us of the younger generation to belong to an age long past, are to the writer's mind but a step re- moved from the present. Of them, and of events that now make history, of scenes and customs which in our swiftly changing social life have al- ready become matters of bygone days, he speaks with the power of an eye-witness, and gives an air of reality to his notes and observations. Min- gled with these remarks upon men and events (that belong to the best class of pleasant gossip, which is never improper, and always increases our knowledge of human life) are other letters that deal with deeper and holier themes of the Christian faith, reverently, and yet in the same friendly and conversational manner. Altho- gether this volume belongs to a class of literature

that is too little cultivated to-day, and may be read with pleasure and profit during many a leis- ure hour."

C ATHARINE STURGES, who departed this life April 5, 1897, in Wilton, was a highly esteemed member of one of the well-known fam- ilies of Fairfield county, Conn. She was born November 29, 1816, and received a good educa- tion, in part at the public schools of her town, in part at Olmstead Academy, in Wilton, under the preceptorship of Hawley Olmstead, L. D. She attended the services of the Episcopal Church at Wilton, in which town she passed all of her long and useful life. She was possessed of a keen and vigorous mind and sound judgment.

Miss Sturges was one of the seventh genera- tion from (I) John Sturges (or Sturge), who mar- ried Deborah Barlow, and died November 24, 1686, aged sixty-two years; they had a son (II) Jonathan, born about 1652, who married Susan- nah Banks, and died November 29, 1711; they had one son (III) Peter, who married Hannah Jennings, and died May 6, 1757, aged seventy- three years; they had a son (IV) Daniel, baptized February 3, 1713, who on November 5, 1741, married Mary Beers, and died January 29, 1773; they had a son (V) Daniel, who was the grand- father of the subject of this memoir.

(V) Daniel Sturges, born October 15, 1745, in the town of Greenfield, Conn., received his education in the public schools of the locality. During most of his lifetime he followed agricul- tural pursuits, and he was remarkable for his great physical strength. In the war of the Rev- olution he was a patriot soldier, and was present at the battle of Valley Forge. He married Miss Naomi Bradley, and their children were as fol- lows: Joseph, who married Amelia Ogden; Sam- uel, who married Mary Hurlbut; (VI) Erastus, father of our subject; and Increase. After the death of his wife, Naomi, he removed to the West, having married a second time, and having children by this marriage also, about whom little is known.

(VI) Erastus Sturges, born in 1779, in the town of Greenfield, Conn., attended the public schools of his neighborhood, then living in his boyhood with a Mr. Finch, of Wilton, the an- cestor of Frank and Henry Finch, of Wilton. In 1833 he left a farm on " Dumpling Hill," near Cannon, having purchased near Wilton Centre what is now known as the Erastus Sturges Home- stead, and there passed the rest of his days, dying January 20, 1846. He was a well-informed man, self-educated and self-made. Politically,

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he was a Whig, and was honored as few men of his day and age were with election to numerous lo- cal offices of trust, such as selectman of his town, justice of the peace, and judge of his county, being well-known in Connecticut at the beginning of or early in the present century. Moreover, he served as a member of the State Legis- lature thirty-three years, being elected consecu- tively for twenty-two years. He was a born leader of men, one of the most influential in his town, and was possessed of undoubted integrity, a trait transmitted to his children. He married Miss Abigail Sturges, who was born February 4, 1788, daughter of Ezekiel and Hannah (More- house) Sturges, of Wilton, the former of whom was one of the largest landholders in the eastern part of the town. By this union there were children as follows: Henrietta, who was born December 22. 1804, and died January 4, 1824; Isaac Morehouse, born July 6, 1807, and died October 30, 1877, and Aaron Bradley, born in September, 1809, neither of whom married; Mary, born April 16, 1812, married George A. Davenport, and died March 1, 1884; Angeline, born November 29, 1816, and died in 1877; and Catharine, the subject of this sketch.

Isaac Sturges, brother of Miss Sturges, was born at Wilton and there educated, attending the school of Hawley Olmstead. Later he studied law in Norwalk, Conn., and was admitted to the Bar in 1837. For some time he practiced his profession at Newtown, later removing to Bridge- port, where he followed his profession some thirty years. He became a very prominent man in his profession, and enjoyed the confidence of all who knew him.

Aaron Sturges, the other brother, was always a farmer. He died suddenly August 7, 1856, at at the age of forty-seven years. Tradition tells of his remarkable memory. Angeline, the twin sister of Catharine Sturges, was a most generous, unselfish woman, possessed of high practical ability, and was much esteemed and beloved by all who knew her best.

W T'ESLEY L. CLARK, secretary and treas- urer of the Derby Silver Company, was born October 24, 1857, and is a son of Joseph M. Clark, whose sketch is embodied herein. In the Derby or East Side public school he received a good academic education, and after leaving school entered the Derby post office as clerk, re- maining there ten years, acting as clerk, how- ever, only during the first year, the other nine years being assistant postmaster. This period of ten years ended September 1, 1882, and he was

then employed as bookkeeper for the Derby Sil- ver Company, which position he retained until he was elected secretary and treasurer of the company, at its annual meeting in 1889, and this position he has filled ever since. Mr. Clark has been successful in whatever he has undertaken, and is one of the prominent younger business men of the town. He is a member of Ousa- tonic Lodge, No. 6, I. O. O. F., of Derby, and of the Derby and Shelton Board of Trade. As a Republican, Mr. Clark has always been interested in the success of the party, and while not a mem- ber of any Church, yet contributes toward the support of and attends the Congregational Church of Shelton. He is secretary and treasurer of the South End Land Company, director in the Shel- ton Savings Bank, and in the Shelton Building and Loan Institution.

Mr. Clark was married, in 1879, to Ida M. Rockwell, daughter of Lorenzo Rockwell, of Derby, Conn., and has two sons, viz .: Walter R. and Earnest W.

Besides Wesley L., Joseph M. Clark and wife had the following children: Howard E., born August 21, 1859, now a pattern-maker of Mid- dletown, Conn .; Myrtie M., born August 21, 1861, married to Noyes D. Baldwin, a livery- man of Derby, Conn .; Joseph L., born in 1864, now a burnisher in the Derby Silver Company's factory; and Bessie S., born in the year 1875, living at home. Joseph M. Clark was a joiner by trade, and was in the employ of the Derby Lumber Company from the time he learned his trade until July, 1896, a period of forty-five years. While not actively engaged in political affairs, yet he has always sympathized with and aided the Republican party, in his own quiet way. He is an attendant of the Congregational Church, and an excellent citizen in every sense of the word.

Following is a brief ancestral history of the Clark family, which will be found of more than ordinary interest: George Clark, the planter, with his wife, Sarah, and two children, emigrated from England to America in the year 1637, in company with John Davenport and his congrega- tion, from Kent and Surrey, near London, to- gether with several other parties of wealth and respectability, the whole forming a considerable colony of persons, who early in the year 1637 left England to escape persecutions on account of their religious belief, to take up their abode in the New World. They landed at Boston, Mass., where they remained about one year; but for sev- eral reasons Mr. Davenport and his companions decided to leave Boston and to make their perma- nent settlement at New Haven, Conn., then

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known by the Indian name of Quinnipiack. They sailed from Boston March 30, 1638, and reached Quinnipiac in about two weeks.

In the year 1639 a part of Mr. Davenport's congregation, including George Clark (1), re- moved from New Haven and settled at Milford, then known by its Indian name of Wopowage, it being about ten miles westerly from New Haven. George Clark (1) continued to reside at Milford during the remainder of his life. He was a "free planter " and a man of consider- able property and influence. He was many times a deputy or representative from Milford to the general court of New Haven and Con- necticut, the two colonies being separate and distinct until their union May 11, 1665, under the name of Connecticut. He died in 1690 at about eighty years of age, leaving a good estate. His wife, Sarah, died July 19, 1689. They had nine children.

George Clark (2), third son of George Clark (1) the planter, was born at Milford, New Haven county, Conn., the Church records at Milford showing that he was baptized April 30, 1648. He resided in Milford until his death, which occurred in the year 1734. He was much esteemed and respected. His wife was Deborah, daughter of Nathan Gold, and by her he had four children.

George Clark (3), the youngest son of George Clark (2), was born at Milford, Conn., in the year 1686, and was baptized September 26, but the precise date of his birth is not known. He was married to his wife, Mary, probably in the year 1722, continuing to reside at Milford until his death, which occurred in the year 1762. He had six children-three sons and three daughters.

Hezekiah Clark, first son of George Clark (3), was born at Milford, Conn., in the year 1723. He was married about the year 1746 to Mary Peck, of Bethany, New Haven county, Conn., purchased a farm in Bethany, and lived there after his marriage until 1776. In that year he entered the Revolutionary army, and while in the service of his country was attacked by malignant dysentery, of which he died the same year at the age of fifty-three. He had thirteen children. Aaron Clark, third son of Hezekiah Clark, was born at Bethany, Septem- ber 30, 1758. He married Elizabeth Fowler, of Orange, and continued to reside at Bethany until the spring of 1809. when he removed to Orange, in the same county, where he died May 7, 1848. His wife Elizabeth died May 11, 1862, at the advanced age of ninety-seven years. They had six children.

Aaron Clark, Jr., son of Aaron Clark, and

grandson of Hezekiah Clark, was born Novem- ber 10, 1796, at Bethany, Conn. He married Lovisa Merrick early in 1819, and afterward lived at Orange, Conn., where he died in 1886. His wife Lovisa died there January 6, 1873, at the age of seventy-nine. They had eight children. Joseph M. Clark, son of Aaron and Lovisa Clark, was born September 11, 1831. He married Julia Ann Riggs, and now lives in Derby, Conn. A brief account of his life has already been given.

Edward Riggs, the head of the Riggs family in this country, came from England and settled at Roxbury, Mass., early in the summer of 1633. He had a wife and two sons and four daughters, his son, Edward, being about twenty years of age. Within three years of his arrival he buried his wife, his son John, and two daughters. Ed- - ward Riggs (2), son of Edward (1), married Elizabeth Roosa in 1635. In 1637 he was a sergeant in the Pequot war, and greatly dis- tinguished himself in rescuing his commander and twelve of his companions from an am- buscade. and was afterward known as "Ser- geant Riggs." Nothing further is known of him until 1646, when he settled at Milford, Conn. In 1654 he, with Edward Wooster and perhaps one or two other families, settled at Paugasuck (afterward Derby)-Wooster by the side of the river where Derby village was established, and Riggs on the hill a mile east, where his descend- ants have until recently resided and held pro- perty. The house of Edward Riggs stood by the rock a few rods west of the present house, a Mr. Finney being the present owner. This first house was the one where Whalley and Goff, the judges of Charles I, took refuge in 1661, as recorded by President Ezra Stiles in his history of those celebrated and honored men. In being the protectors of those refugees the Riggs family will bear lasting honors by true lovers of consti- tutional liberty.

Edward Riggs being one of the company which purchased the claims of Mr. Goodyear to Paugasuck lands in 1653, made his choice of a farm before any division of the lands was made, and secured a beautiful location and good land. Here he remained until 1666, when he became one of the planters of Newark, N. J. His wife Elizabeth was the only woman there the first summer. His children, except Samuel, removed with him. Samuel Riggs, son of Edward Riggs, married (first) Sarah, daughter of Richard Bald- win, of Milford, June 14, 1667, and settled on his father's homestead, which he probably inherited. He married (second) Mrs. Sarah Washburn, May 6, 1713. He was a man of great ability and business capacity, and was honored to the end

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of his life. He was a representative for several years, made justice of the peace and served in many other offices. He built the first house in Seymour, and gave to his son at that place 200 acres of land with houses and other comforts, in 1708. He was made ensign in the train band in 1790, and always thereafter bore that title. He had nine children.

Capt. John Riggs, son of Samuel Riggs, mar- ried Elizabeth Tomlinson, February 23, 1700, and lived on his father's homestead, which the father had deeded to him at the time of his death, September 24, 1755, when he was seventy-eight years of age. He was a man of solid worth, hon- ored in many offices, and was commissioned cap- tain in 1722; was appointed by the State one of the commissioners to divide Woodbury into two societies in 1723; was appointed on a committee of seven for the State to investigate the question of the " western lands," made a report in May, 1731, according to which five towns were laid out-Colbrook, Hartland; Winchester, Barkham- sted; Torrington, New Hartford and Harring- ton. He had five children. Lieut. Joseph Riggs, son of Capt. John Riggs, married Mabel Johnson, February 20, 1740.

The next in line was Joseph Riggs, born July 20, 1746, and died May 15, 1822. He married Elizabeth Johnson, who was born March 14, 1753, a daughter of Joseph Johnson. His sec- ond son, Ranford Riggs, was born in 1783, and died April 10, 1832. He married Deborah Bald- win, who was born in 1782, and died in 1868. She was a daughter of Dr. Silas Baldwin, of the Revolutionary army. His son, John S. Riggs, born in 1805, died in 1870. He married Maria Pardee, who was born in 1812, and died April 3, 1850. Their daughter, Julia Riggs, born Decem- ber 18, 1832, married Joseph Clark, born Sep- tember 9, 1831.

EWIS FAMILY. Edmund Lewis and his

L wife Mary, the former aged, at the time, thirty-three years, the latter aged thirty-two years, with their two children embarked April 10, 1634, on the good ship "Elizabeth " (Capt. William Andrews), at Ipswich, England, and ar- rived in Boston some time during the following June. Rev. John Sherman was a passenger on the same vessel. Edmund Lewis and his wife first located at Watertown, Mass., whence they removed, in 1643, to Lynn, in the same State. Edmund was admitted a freeman at Watertown. May 24, 1636, and was one of the selectmen of the place, 1638. He died at Lynn, January, 1651; Mary, his wife, died September 7, 1658.

Their children were: John and Thomas, both born in Ipswich, England, the former in 1631, the latter in 1633; James, b. in Watertown, Mass., January 15, 1635-36; Nathaniel, b. in Watertown, August 25, 1639; an infant (un- named), b. in Watertown, October 27, 1642, buried November 6, 1642; and two b. in Lynn, Mass. (unnamed), in 1645 and 1648, respectively.

WILL OF EDMUND LEWIS, OF LYNN, MASS.

Lini the 13th of the 11th mo. 1650. Memorandum that I, Edmund Lewis, beinge sick and weake but of perfect re- membrance, doe make and confirm this my last will and testament as followeth:

First, my will is that my land at Watertown shall be soald and that my eldest son John Lewis shall have a double portyon, and the rest of my children namely the five young- est to have every one of them a licke portyon of my Estate. Secondly, my deare and loveing wife to have the third of all my whole Estate. Thirdly, I desire that my wife may have a cow over and above towards bringinge upe of my youngest children. Fourthly, my desire, my wife to be my whole ex- ecutor to dispose of my body and goods according to my will. Fifthly, My request to my son John is to give his Mother a Cow to help her towards the bringinge upe of my Youngest children. Sixthly, my request to my Son Thomas Lewis is to give his Mother halfe of his Sheepe to help her as afore- said. Seventhly, My desire and meaninge is that the Cow I ask for of John and the Sheepe I ask of Thomas is of them that they now have in their possession. Also my request is to Thomas Hastines to be my supervisor to assist my love- inge wife. (Signed) EDMUND LEWIS.

(Signed) JOHN DEAKIN, EDWARD BURCHAM.

This will was brought into Court the 25th 12th Mo. 1650-1, and Edward Burcham Sworne to the truth of it, and the Court ordered that the children shall have their several porcyons paid them at the age of twentie and one years." [Lewisiana, November, 1895, Page 72.]

Benjamin Lewis, the settler at Stratford, Conn., is supposed to be the child born in Lynn, Mass., 1648, of Edmund Lewis (and his wife Mary), the settler at Lynn, Mass. In 1669 Ben- jamin Lewis was one on a list of forty persons to help to establish a village at Wallingford, Conn. By the New Haven Colony. [" Lewisiana," Feb- ruary, 1897, Page 115-(By Helen Perry Maxwell, New York City). "On the records at New Haven, Conn., there is no mention of Benjamin Lewis, in the County Court Records, and but one in the Colonial. This made March 17, 1686-87, commencing . The lands of Benjamin Lewis sometime planter and inhabitant of Wall- ingford as they are recorded to him-'. Evi- dently a man of wealth as there were nine parcels of land, and the records cover a whole page in the book."]

Benjamin Lewis was a surveyor in 1673 in Wallingford, and came to Stratford about 1677. The following year the Congregationalists com- menced building a new church, which was com-

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pleted in 1681. Benjamin asked to be employed thereon, as he was a carpenter. They asked for his recommend, and he, taking off one of his buckskin gloves, placed it upon one of the tim- bers that were scattered around, and holding a stick of wood on the glove made with a broad- axe a wooden pin without in the least cutting the glove. Benjamin Lewis married Hannah, daugh- ter of Sergeant John Curtis and Elizabeth Welles, in 1671.

James Lewis received his commission as captain, October, 1717, copy of which follows: BY HIS HONOUR'S COMMAND.

Gurdon Saltonstall, Esq: Governor and Commander- in-Chief of His Majestie's Colony of Connecticut, in New Eng- land. To James Lewiss, Gent. Greeting.

You, being by the General Assembly of this Colony, ac- cepted to be Captain of the Second Company or Train-band in the town of Stratford. Reposing Special Trust and Con- fidence in your Loyalty, Courage and good Conduct. I do by Virtue of the Letters, Patents from the Crown of Eng- land to this Corporation, me thereunto Enabling, Appoint and Impower you to take the Said Train-band into your Care and Charge, as their Captain-Carefully and Dili- gently to Discharge that Trust, Exercising your Inferior Officers and Soldiers in the use of their Arms, and Com- manding them to Obey you as their Captain-for His Majes- tie's Service. And you are to observe all Such Orders and Directions as from Time to Time you Shall receive either from Me or from other, your Superior Officer, pursuant to the Trust hereby Reposed in you. Given under my Hand and the Seal of this Colony in New Haven --- the 26th Day of October --- In the fourth Year of the Reign of our Soveraign Lord George, King of Great Britain, &c. Annoque Dom- inni, 1717. (Signed) G. SALTONSTALL.

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Commemorative Biographical Record of Fairfield County, Connecticut, Part 24

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