Commemorative Biographical Record of Fairfield County, Connecticut, Part 29

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

USA > Connecticut > Fairfield County > Commemorative Biographical Record of Fairfield County, Connecticut > Part 29

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

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married August 26, 1783, Josiah Osborne; Rane, born January 3, 1768, married, November 29, 1789, John Barlow, of Ridgefield; Phoebe, born Jan. 24, 1760; Thaddeus, born September 3, 1775; and Amy, born May 10, 1772. Of these, James, Jeremiah and Gould settled on Scott's Ridge, where they lived and died, leaving many descendants. It appears from the town records that the Scott and Olmsted families took an act- ive part in local affairs. James Scott was one of the committee of safety in Ridgefield during the Revolutionary war.

James Scott (2), the grandfather of Hiram Keeler Scott, was an agriculturist, devoting his life exclusively to that vocation. He possessed a tract of three or four hundred acres of land. His children were: Sally, born March 3, 1783, married David Pulling; David, born March 20, 1785, married Betsey Burr, of Redding (grand- parents of Judge Howard B. Scott); Nathan, born December 12, 1781, married Sally Burr, of Redding; Hazekiah, born December 25, 1789, married (first) Delia Foster, of Redding, and .(second) Laura Odell, of Norwalk; James (3) is mentioned more fully farther on; Smith, born November 1, 1794, married Sally Burr, daughter of Benjamin Burr; Timothy Olmsted, born Janu- ary 12, 1797, married Betsey Seymour, and lived to be ninety-four years of age; Lucretia, born January 15, 1801, married Halsted Hoyt, of South Salem, N. Y., and later of Scotland Dis- trict, Fairfield Co., Conn., and there died; Daniel Gould, born April 13, 1803, married Elizabeth Waterbury, of Stamford. Of these, James, David, Nathan, Hezekiah, Timothy Olm- sted, and Lucretia resided in Scotland District, and there died. James Scott (3) was born April 2, 1792, and learned the trade of a silversmith, which he followed until about 1840, when he turned his attention to farming, owning a little farm of some fifty acres. He was a well-informed man, and made a good citizen in the community. He was a prosperous farmer. He was twice married, first time to Sally Keeler, of Rridgefield, who was a daughter of Benjamin and Eunice (Olmsted) Keeler (though a different Sally Keeler from the one that married Smith Scott), and the children born to them were: Delia. who died when two years of age; and Hiram Keeler, who is mentioned more fully farther on; the mother of these died June 3, 1855, and the father was again married, this time to Joanna Everett, of Brewster, N. Y. (a daughter of Charles Everett), who bore him one son-James Everett-born in 1856, died on a large stock ranch of 800 acres of land which he owned in North Dakota (he left no issue).

Hiram Keeler Scott was born in Scotland Dis-

trict, town of Ridgefield, April 24, 1822, the dis- trict deriving its name from the Scott family. He was educated in the common district school, receiving the benefit it affords until sixteen years of age. At nineteen he began teaching, and fol- lowed the profession three winters. He then went to Ridgefield, and on October 1, 1846, took charge of the village school, which he taught for three years. By applying himself he soon be- came a man of good information, and well educated. In 1849 he was appointed the village postmaster, and held the office one term of four years. In 1868 he was again appointed to the same position, and remained in office until 1886; and again served as such under President Cleve- land, making in all twenty-eight years. In 1850, at the age of twenty-eight years, he was elected to the State Legislature, his colleague being David Hurlburt, and was the youngest member, excepting one, in that body. He was elected as a Whig, and served one term. In 1852, after the close of his first administration as postmaster, he was elected town clerk, and in 1854 he was elected judge of probate court. He held the office of town clerk from 1852 to 1861, and since 1872 he has continued serving the people in that capacity. His re-election to that office on October 5, 1896, made the thirty-fourth time he had been chosen by the ballots of his fellow townsmen. He served the people as probate judge for thirty-three years and nine months, at the close of which poriod he was barred from further service by the seventy-year age limitation. He has, however, ever since served as clerk of that court. In 1857 he began carrying on a general store in Ridgefield, which he continued in until September 1. 1895 (for four years past it has been solely a drug store). So long a period of service in one community is a sufficient guar- antee of Mr. Scott's standing and worth as a man and citizen, as well of his ability. He has most faithfully discharged the various duties left to and trusts imposed in him, in a manner that has re- flected great credit to himself. His records are models of neatness, and reveal the business-like manner of his methodical and systematic life. Justice Scott was the trial justice for most busi- ness in that line during his long official career, and his decisions were characterized by good judgment. He has been a member of Pilgrim Lodge No. 46, I. O. O. F., since 1847. In 1859 he was grand master of the Grand Lodge of the State, and that year attended the Grand Lodge of the United States held in Baltimore, Md., and again when it was held at Nashville, Tenn., in 1860. He has taken great interest and is promi- nent in Masonic circles. He was initiated into

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the F. & A. M., in January, 1848; was master of Jerusalem Lodge, No. 49, for fifteen years, and is a member of Crusader Commandery, Knights Templar, of Danbury.

In militia days he was a prominent character in military affairs. In 1843 he was chosen colonel of the 24th Regiment Connecticut Militia, and re- mained in command until the militia of the State was succeeded by the National Guard. In 1862, during the Civil war, he organized a company of National Guard in Ridgefield, was chosen its cap- tain, and as such served five years. In 1867 he was one of several that organized the Ridgefield & New York R. R., of which he is still secretary and treasurer. He has been through a long life, as may be judged from the foregoing, a kind of a "general utility man " in the community, his fel- low-citizens having the greatest confidence in his ability to further to success anything he under- takes, and in his integrity. In short, he has been a successful and a most useful man. He is a member of St. Stephen's Episcopal Church, of which for eight years past he has been treasurer. He is clerk of No. 6, Central District.

Judge Scott has been married three times. By his second wife, Lizzie M. Gorham, daughter of David Gorham, of Westport, Conn., he had five children, viz .: Carrie, who is married to Charles D. W. Taylor, of Ridgefield, now resid- ing in Denver, Colo .; Hiram K., Jr., born in 1869, married to Lottie A. Ellis, and residing in Ridgefield; George G., born in 1871, who mar- ried Faustina Jennings, and resides in Ridgefield; Gertrude Adams, born in 1872, wife of William H. Farrelly, of New Milford, Conn., now living in Bristol, R. I .; and David Francis, born in 1879, deceased in 1882. The mother of these died in 1880. Mr. Scott's present wife was Mary J. Studwell, daughter of John E. Studwell, of Ridgefield.

M ELBERT B. CARY. As lawyer and states- man this gentleman is widely known all over the State of Connecticut, and he is a worthy descendant of one of her oldest families. Deacon Joseph Cary, his direct ancestor, settled in Wind- ham prior to 1694, and it will thus be seen that the Carys have been identified with this Common- wealth for over two centuries. The father of our subject, John W. Cary, went west in early man- hood and settled in Wisconsin, thence moving to Chicago, and at the time of his death he was one of the most prominent lawyers in that city. .

Melbert B. Cary was born in Racine, Wis., July 23, 1852. At nineteen years of age he graduated from Princeton College - the second youngest in a class of over one hundred mem-

bers, standing second in his class during the senior year. After graduating he took up the study of law, and practiced his profession in the West for several years, finally removing to New York City and opening an office there. He made his home, however, in Ridgefield, Conn. In 1891 he relinquished active professional work in order to give his time to literary and business interests, with which he has since been occupied. He was the publisher several years ago of the Cyclopedia of Political Science, Political Economy and United States History, edited by John J. Lalor, which work is a standard authority on such subjects. Mr. Cary is equally active and popular in polit- ical circles. Since 1876, when he first exerted himself in that line, making speeches for Tilden, he has been recognized as a leading man in the Democratic party. He has neither sought nor held office. In 1892 he was chosen to represent the Twelfth Senatorial District on the State Democratic Committee, and the lively campaign which followed and ended in a large Democratic increase for that district was mainly the result of his earnest labors in behalf of his party. He has made a thorough and exhaustive study of consti- tutional reform in Connecticut, of which cause he has been an influential champion, and he is an acknowledged authority on the subject. The prominence he acquired in this connection led many of the Democratic newspapers to urge his. nomination for Governor in 1894, but he would not permit his name to go before the convention. He was afterward nominated candidate for sen- ator from the Twelfth District, and, though he did not wish the nomination, he accepted it, feel- ing that he must respond to his party's call in order to aid the rest of the ticket. The district was a Republican stronghold, and his fearless- ness in leading a forlorn hope in a Republican district, no less than the aggressive and intellec- tual manner in which the campaign was con- ducted. won him the hearty commendation of fellow Democrats throughout Connecticut. He has always been loyal to the foundation princi- ples of his party, and has never swerved from them to take sides with any minor wing or fac- tion. In September, 1898, he was unanimously elected chairman of the Democratic State Cen- tral Committee of Connecticut.

Mr. Cary owns and operates a farm of one hundred acres near Ridgefield, and the old- fashioned Colonial house which he has erected thereon, and in which he makes his home, is a well-known landmark in the neighborhood. Per- sonally, he is of medium height and slender in build, and his dark hair is now slightly tinged with gray.

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ON. J. HENRY BEACH, superintendent of the Bridgeport Hospital, and formerly a member of the Connecticut Legislature, is a rep- resentative of one of the oldest and most highly esteemed families, being of the seventh genera- tion of the name in this country. The first an- cestors, of whom we have any definite account, was John Beach, whose name appears in the rec- ord of New Haven for 1843, and who afterward settled at Stratford.

II. Nathaniel Beach, the next in the line of descent, was born in 1662. III. David Beach, born in 1692, married Hannah Sherman, daugh- ter of Matthew Sherman. IV. Jabez Beach, born in 1720, married (first) Mary Bassett and (second) Eunice

V. Jabez Beach, our subject's grandfather, was born in 1760, in Stratford, and made his home in later years in Chestnut Hill District, of the town of Trumbull. He was engaged in business there as a tanner and manufacturer of shoes, and became an extensive real-estate holder. He mar- ried Parthenia Somers, and had five children: Eunice, who married Aaron Mallett; David, our subject's father; Mary, wife of Isaac Hall and mother of Col. O. B. Hall, of Bridgeport; Ste- phen and Rhody.

VI. David Beach, father of our subject, was born January 27, 1785, in Chestnut Hill Dis- trict, of the town of Trumbull, where he resided throughout his life, much of his time being de- voted to the care of his farm. During the winter seasons he often taught school, and his ability and high character caused him to be frequently chosen to the office by his fellow townsmen. For sixteen years he was town clerk, and he has also served many years as justice of peace, while at the time of his death, which occurred September 30, 1847. he held the office of town treasurer. Politically he was a Democrat, and in religious faith he was an Episcopalian, being a leading member of the Church of that denomination at Long Hill, in which he served as warden. By his first wife, Abigail (Fayerweather), he had two children, one of whom, Mrs. Austin, of Suffield, Conn., is now living, and our subject was the only child of his second wife, who was Miss Ruth Bulkley, of Southport.

VII. John Henry Beach, our subject, was born January 5, 1839, at the old home in Chest- nut Hill District, town of Trumbull, and there his youth was spent. In early manhood he engaged in contract work with the W. F. Swords Lum- ber Co., Bridgeport, continuing twenty years, and in 1891 he was appointed to his present posi- tion by the executive committee of the Bridge- port Hospital board. He is a most capable offi-

cial, and every detail of hospital management comes under his personal care except the medical and surgical work. As a citizen he is public- spirited, taking keen interest in political ques- tions, and in 1875 he was elected to the Legis- lature from the town of Trumbull. His wife, whose maiden name was Emma L. Keeler, is a daughter of Giles O. Keeler, a well-known resi- dent of Bridgeport. Their only child, Medora C., is now the wife of Frank W. Bolande, of Bridgeport.

R OBERT SIMEON HAWLEY (deceased). "To live in hearts we leave behind is not to die," and a man could ask no better monu- ment in a community than the ideal of a well- spent life and a manly character associated with his memory. The subject of this brief memoir was a leading agriculturist of Newtown township, and although his quiet disposition made public life distasteful to him, his influence as a citizen was always recognized as a factor in the inter- ests of progress. His family has been prominent in this county from an early date, and his farm near Hawleyville has been held in the family name for several generations.

Robert Nichols Hawley, the father of our subject, was a prosperous agriculturist, owning about 250 acres of land near Hawleyville, most of which he had inherited from his father, and at the time of his death his estate was inventoried at $40,000. He was noted for his good judg- ment in public matters as well as in business, and for many years he was active in local affairs, being regarded as one of the representative men of the town. For a long period he held the office of first selectman, and from the organization of the Republican party he took an earnest interest in its success. He was also prominent in relig- ious work as a member of Trinity Episcopal Church, at Newtown, to which he gave liberally of his means and time. He died January 7, 1888, and his wife, whose maiden name was Harriet Blackman, died March 9, 1898. They had three children, our subject being second in the order of birth. Angeline E., the eldest, mar- ried Frederick Beers, city surveyor of Brooklyn, N. Y., and Harriet S. married William F. Hurd, of Bridgdport.

Our subject was born October 24, 1844, at. the old homestead, and was educated in the common schools of the Lands End District, also. in the academies at Newtown and Bethel. He was always fond of reading, and with this prac- tical training in the English branches as a foun- dation he secured a valuable fund of information

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on general topics, keeping well-abreast of the thought of the day. As he was the only son, he remained upon the homestead, and for years was active in its management. His portion of the estate, consisting of two hundred and fifty acres and the homestead, is considered one of the best farms in the township. In politics he was a stanch Republican, and his ability and sagacity made him a valued member of the local or- ganization. In religious faith he was an Epis- copalian, and a member of Trinity Church at Newtown. He died Debember 19, 1886, at the comparatively early age of forty-two, and was sincerely mourned by all classes in the commu- nity where he had spent his life.

On October 20, 1874, Mr. Hawley married Miss Ida E. Stoddard, daughter of Seth Stod- dard, a well-known merchant of Cornwall, Conn. Her family is prominent in business and social life, and Elizabeth Stoddard, an aunt of Mrs. Hawley, was the first wife of C. P. Huntington. Four children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Haw- ley, all of whom survive to comfort the widowed mother: Asa Huntington, born August 8, 1875,

is at home on the farm; Julia Minerva, born Feb- ruary 28, 1879, is attending school in Bridgeport; Robert Norton, born December 23, 1881, and Collis Stoddard, born October 16, 1883, are at home. Of these, Asa Huntington Hawley, May 10, 1898, married Sarah Anna Camp, daughter of Lemuel F. Camp, of Newtown, Conn. He re- sides at the homestead, and follows in the path of his ancestors.

A SA N. HAWLEY (deceased), who in his life- time was one of the substantial citizens of Brookfield, Fairfield Co., Conn., was born March 5, 1827, in the town of Brookfield, descending from William Hawley, born in 1732, in Hawley- ville, town of Newtown. His grandfather, Joseph Hawley, was born May 17, 1762, and his father, John N. Hawley, was born December 29, 1791, in Newtown. John Hawley farmed in Brookfield nearly all of his lifetime. He married Harriet Norton, and their only child was Asa Norton.

Asa N. Hawley in boyhood attended a private school in Brookfield, and in after years, being fond of reading, acquired a good education. He clerked for a time in a store, and later was a merchant in Hawleyville. Next for several years he was bookkeeper in the office of the Bridge- port Iron Foundry & Machine Company. In 1857 he went to Carthage, Ill., where he engaged in business, and for a time was deputy clerk in the office of the clerk of the circuit court. For two years he was county school commissioner of

Hancock county. He was well acquainted with President Lincoln, whose friendship he formed. In 1862 he returned to Brookfield, and was oc- cupied chiefly in farming until his death, which occurred June 17, 1890. He was a notary pub- lic, and executor of a number of estates, was a conscientious man, correct in his dealings, and commanded the respect of the community. He was a member of St. Paul's Episcopal Church at Brookfield Centre, and was affiliated with the F. & A. M., and I. O. O. F., while in his political views he was a Democrat. He was enterprising, public-spirited, and quite successful in his business affairs.

In 1851 Mr. Hawley was married to Julia. M. Stoddard, a daughter of William and Clarissa (Wyllis) Stoddard, and, having no children of their own, adopted Ida E., a daughter of Mrs. Hawley's brother, Seth. The adopted daugh- ter is now the widow of the late Robert S. Hawley.

William Stoddard was a manufacturer of woolen cloth at Cornwall, Conn. His children were: Hammon (deceased); Sarah M. (deceased wife of Mr. Safford, of Buffalo, N. Y.); Harriet and Jane (deceased); Minerva, wife of Horace H. Seaton, of Newark, N. J. (she is living at the ripe age of 83 years, in good health and with mind strong and active, attending to all of her business, which is enough for any active man of 45; she also takes a trip south every year, and comes to Hawleyville, Conn., three or four times a year); Seth (deceased), married Mary N. Brush, of Woodbury, Conn. (she resides with her daughter, Mrs. Gus. Honshell, of Hunting- ton, W. Va., at the age of 82 years); Elizabeth (deceased), married Collis P. Huntington, of New York: Clarissa was the wife of Edwin Prentice; Hannah married (first) Daniel Ham- mon, of New York, and (second) John Haviland. of California; William Moses (the third son) is living at the age of 70 years, and is the father and grandfather of a large family (he has for many years lived in California); Mary J. married Delos W. Emmons, of Oneonta, N. Y., now of Huntington, W. Va .; and Julia M. (Mrs. Asa N. Hawley) is living at the homestead, in Haw- leyville.

H TON. ROBERT JAY WALSH. Men of marked ability, forceful character and cult- ure, leave their impress upon the world. written in such indelible characters that time is powerless to obliterate their memory or sweep it from the minds of men. Their commendable acts live long after they have passed from the scene of their earthly careers. In the subject of this sketch we

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find one of the most distinguished members of the Fairfield County Bar; twice State Senator representing the Twelfth district; member of the commission of 1888 to revise the statutes; since 1889 Secretary of State of Connecticut, and now judge of the Criminal Court of Common Pleas. His is a familiar figure in the streets of Green- wich, and his fine presence and dignified manner would attract attention anywhere, while, to those who have the pleasure of his personal ac- quaintance, his well-stored mind and conversa- tional powers are a source of perpetual enjoy- ment.

Born August 1, 1854, at Lewisboro, West- chester Co., N. Y., Judge Walsh is a son of James F. and Annie E. Walsh. In 1864 the family removed across the boundary line into Connecticut, settling in the town of Ridgefield, and here our subject, already advanced in his elementary studies, continued them in the local public schools. At the age of twelve years he left the common school, becoming a student in the High Ridge Institute at Ridgefield, where he had the advantage of instruction under the ac- complished Prof. William O. Seymour, then principal of the institution, but at present rail- road commissioner of Connecticut. Brilliancy of scholarship did not characterize his school life so much as careful, painstaking effort, coupled with a willing observance of the rules of the school; and here we find an apt illustration of the aphorism: "The boy is father to the man." Indeed, at that time, and during the few succeed- ing years he remained in Ridgefield, the youth presaged the man-a natural leader of men. By his companions he came to be a recognized lead- er, a captain in their games, "The observed of all observers, " and the one looked up to in all local circles and social gatherings.

After devoting two years to acquiring a knowledge of the higher branches, he felt that the time had now come for him to enter the arena of practical life, and take his stand among those who have to bear the "white man's bur- den." A sturdy lad, descended from sturdy an- cestors, he chose the ancient and honorable trade of a blacksmith, even thus early recogniz- ing the fact that the possession of a useful handi- craft was a certain means of rising to a state of financial independence. During the years of his apprenticeship, like his prototype, Elihu Burritt, "The Learned Blacksmith," he made good use of his spare hours for the improvement of his mind by study and useful reading, at every op- portunity refreshing his mental caliber at the "Pierian spring," which proved to him a strong motor in his after acquirements.

When about seventeen years of age, having already mastered his trade and prepared to do manly work, he became conscious of the inner promptings for something higher and better. Seeking the advice and assistance of Dr. William S. Todd, then (and now) a practitioner of medi- cine in Ridgefield, with him he reviewed his English studies preparatory to teaching. He taught one year, and then, in order to perfect himself in his profession, entered the State Nor- mal School, but did not complete the full course of instruction because of an advantageous posi- tion offered him in Port Chester, N. Y. His career as a teacher was characterized by the same qualities that have been his rule and guide in every station, and from first to last, he more than fulfilled the expectations of his warmest friends. His first school was a success from the start, and wherever he taught he left but one re- cord, a record crystalized in the words: "The best teacher we ever had." But this profession, successful with him as it was, did not satisfy his ambition. It was a habit of his while filling one position to be looking forward to and preparing for some other.

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Commemorative Biographical Record of Fairfield County, Connecticut, Part 29

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