Commemorative Biographical Record of Fairfield County, Connecticut, Part 3

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

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COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

of president as well as general manager. In this connection should be made some mention of Mr. Wheeler's inventive ability, which, in itself, af- fords a proof of his versatility. Mostly as sole inventor, but in some instances jointly with others, he took out patents for inventions in wood-filling compounds, power-transmitters, polishing the eyes of needles, refrigerators, ventilating railway cars, heating and ventilating buildings, and for a multitude of devices having relation to the con- struction of sewing machines.

In 1856 the works of the Wheeler & Wilson Manufacturing Company were removed from Watertown to Bridgeport, and from that time forth Mr. Wheeler was a resident of the latter city, to the best interests of which he was zeal- ously devoted. His intelligence and activity contributed largely to the success of many im- portant enterprises. He was one of the cor- porators and a trustee of the Peoples Sav- ings Bank; a director in the Bridgeport City Bank, the Bridgeport Hydraulic Company, the Bridgeport Horse Railroad Company, the -Fairfield Rubber Company, the Willimantic Linen Company, and the New York, New Ha- ven & Hartford Railroad Company; one of the founders and the first president of the Seaside Club, and always an active member of the Bridgeport Board of Trade; a member of the Bridgeport board of education from its establish- menl until shortly before his death, and a mem- ber of the building committees of the Bridgeport high school and the Fairfield county court house; while he was also the directing commissioner in the laying out and completion of Seaside Park, of which he was one of the chief donors. He was chiefly .instrumental in putting Mountain Grove cemetery into its present creditable form, and St. John's church received from him its most munificent donations. He was a member and a liberal supporter of the Fairfield County Historical Society, and the Bridgeport Scientific Society. Nor was his interest confined to local affairs, and he was the most active member of the commission for the building of the State Capitol at Hartford, a magnificent structure, which is especially notable for the fact that it was completed without a stain of jobbery and within the appropriation. In politics he was a Democrat. He served a number of years in the common council of the city of Bridgeport; from 1866 to 1872, inclusive, he represented Bridge- port in the House of Representatives, and in 1873-74, he served with distinction as State sena- tor. It should be added that he repeatedly de- clined higher political honors than he ever con- sented to accept.

Mr. Wheeler was blessed with robust health until early in the autumn of 1893, when it began to fail, and after a painful illness he closed a life of intense activity and widespread usefulness, on the last day of that year.

In 1842 Mr. Wheeler took to wife Huldah Bradley, of Watertown, who died in 1857. By this marriage there were four children: Martha, born August 24, 1843, died February 19, 1857. Samuel H., born September 16, 1845, was for many years the head of the Wheeler & Wilson Manufacturing Company's house in Chicago, and is now one of the leading business men of Bridge- port, having been elected president of the Whee- ler & Wilson Manufacturing Company soon after the death of his father; Ellen B., born June 19, 1848, is the wife of Edward Harral, of Fairfield, Conn., and Anna B., born September 6, 1851, died January 26, 1852. On August 3, 1858, Mr. Wheeler married Miss Mary E. Crissy, of New Canaan, who survives him. By this marriage there were four sons: Harry De Forest, born April 6, 1863, died July 10, 1881; Archer Crissy and William Bishop (twins); born September 14, 1864, reside in Bridgeport; and Arthur Penoyer, born October 20, 1875, died July 13, 1877. The beautiful residence on Golden Hill, in which Mr. Wheeler lived for so many years, and where he breathed his last, is now occupied by Mrs. Wheeler and her sons. The artistic taste of Mr. Wheeler is displayed in the interior appointments of the spacious dwelling, and in the treatment of the surrounding grounds. It is hoped that the homestead may long remain as it now is-an ornament to the city he loved so well.

C CHAUNCEY AYRES, M. D., of Stamford, Fairfield county, at this writing nearing his ninetieth birthday, is honored by the distinction rarely given to any man-that of being the oldest living physician of the State in which he resides, and the oldest living graduate of so celebrated an institution of learning as Yale College.

Himself a conspicuous character in New Eng- land through several generations, he has decend- ed from ancestry that were prominent in the days of the Revolution, and from his have come pos- terity that have honored the name in high posi- tions. The original spelling of Ayres was Ayr, Ayres being derived from the name of Ayr, a small river in Scotland that runs westerly and empties into the sea at the town of Ayr. There were three brothers from England that settled in this country some time before the Revolutionary war, bearing the family name of Ayres. One of the brothers settled in Massachusetts, another in

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Connecticut, and the remaining brother in New Jersey. Doctor Ayres, the subject of our sketch, is a descendant of the brother that settled in Connecticut.

Dr. Chauncey Ayres was born August 14, 1808, in the town of New Canaan, Fairfield county. He was prepared for college at the New Canaan Academy; then went to Yale Col- lege, and was graduated from the medical de- partment in 1831. His first practice was at Greenwich, Conn., and from there he went to New York City. He was one of the surgeons in the New York Cholera Hospital in 1832. Fol- lowing this for a period, he was the surgeon of the United States Coast Survey. Sixty-four years ago he settled permanently at Stamford, Conn., and through all that period his name has been a household word. He has known every- body that has come to and gone from the hamlet and city during that long span of years, and everybody has known him. None to-day are better known, more favorably known, and more generally respected than the venerable Doctor. He has held the confidence of the profession and of the community for sixty odd years, during which period he has filled various positions of honor and trust. Back in the days of Stamford as a hamlet and borough, he was its clerk and, later, for three years, was its warden. He has figured conspicuously in the State, County and City Medical Societies. In 1831 he was married to Miss Deborah Ann Percival, a daughter of Dr. Warren Percival, of Darien, and to the union came a son, Samuel L. P. (a sketch of whom appears farther on), and three daughters, two of ·whom - Augusta (Mrs. William Wilson) and Annie D. (Mrs. Frank Povie)-are still living. Doctor Ayres' second wife was Mrs. Julia A. Simpson, widow of Montrose Simpson, of Brook- lyn, N. Y., and to this union were born three children, namely: Chauncey Edward, Charles Gordon, and Elizabeth W., all deceased, except Elizabeth W., who resides with her aged father. Doctor Ayres' second wife died April 20, 1897.

Chief Engineer Samuel L. P. Ayres was born July 29, 1835, at Stamford. He was given a liberal education, and on July 21, 1858, was ap- pointed from his native State to the position of third assistant engineer in the United States navy. In 1858-60, he served on the frigate "Roanoke," flagship of the Home squadron; in 1861, on the " Michigan," in the lake service; in 1861-63 on the " Pensacola," in the West Gulf squadron; 1863-65, on the " Nipsic," in the South Atlantic squadron; 1865-67, on the .. Ju- niata," Brazil station; 1870-73, on the "Shen- andoah," European station; 1876, on the

" Brooklyn," in the North Atlantic squadron; 1876-79, on the " Alliance," European station; 1885-89, on the flagship " Brooklyn," as fleet engineer of the Asiatic squadron. His land ser- vice in 1860-61 was confined at the navy yard, New York; 1867-70, duty at the Portsmouth (N. H.) navy yard; 1873-74, was inspector of ma- chinery of the Norfolk (Va.) navy yard; 1885 was inspector of machinery at Chester, Penn .; 1891-95. was chief engineer of the New York navy yard. Chief engineer Ayres has served as a member of the Naval Engineering Examining

Board during the following years: 1874-76, 1880-84, 1889-91, and 1895-97. He was presi- dent of the Board of Engineers for the trials of the cruisers . Baltimore." "Philadelphia " and "Newark," and the battleship "Maine." He was promoted to second engineer January 17, 1861; to first assistant engineer April 25, 1863; to chief engineer March 21, 1870; to relative rank of commander June 30, 1887; and to rela- tive rank of captain July 13, 1894. Chief En- gineer Ayres is a member of the American Society of Naval Architects, and of the military order of the Loyal Legion of the United States. He retired from the service on July 29, 1897. Chief Engineer Ayres married Miss Almira Stonacher, and the union was blessed with chil- dren as follows: Percival C., Samuel, and Car- rie (Mrs. Ellis Jackson).

C HARLES D. CURTIS (deceased) was for many years a prominent resident of Strat- ford, and by his upright life and character he maintained the high standard of citizenship which has been associated with the family name from pioneer times. He was born in Stratford in 1806, and was of the seventh generation in descent from Elizabeth Curtis, a widow, who came to Stratford at an early day with her two sons, John and William.

II. William Curtis married and had a large family, among whom was a son Josiah.

III. Josiah Curtis (1) was born August 30, 1662, and died in 1745.

IV. Josiah Curtis (2), son of Josiah (1), was born in Stratford, January 6, 1702 or 3.

V. Abner Curtis, son of Josiah (2), was born in Stratford. October 11, 1732. He mar- ried a Miss Selby, probably daughter of Thomas Selby, and had several children, among whom was a son Isaac Judson.

VI. Isaac Judson Curtis, our subject's father, was born in Stratford April 12, 1767, and was baptized in June of the same year. He died July 17, 1845, and his wife, Charity

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Booth (daughter of Abel Booth, son of Zacha- riah, son of Joseph, son of Richard Booth), to whom he was married January 1, 1791, died December 16, 1846. They had eleven children, whose names, with dates of birth and death are here given: (1) Polly, April 13, 1792, died Jan- uary 15, 1817, married Joel Jones; (2) Cathe- rine, born August 7, 1794, died June 17, 1855, married Marcus Curtis; (3) Dillissenea S., June 10, 1796, died June 14, 1817; (4) Harriet, November 30, 1799, died February 28, 1856, married Samuel Barnum, of Danbury; (5) Re- becca, December 14, 1801, died November 27, 1835, married Lewis Beers; (6) Isaac, January 6, 1803, died June 2, 1862, married Sarah L. Beers, became a farmer, owning a large tract of land; (7) Charity, May 2, 1805, died August 19, 1805; (8) Charles D., born July 6, 1806, died April 2, 1888; (9) Sidney, June 23, 1808, mar- ried Christianna Demarest, and settled in New York, engaging in mercantile business; (10) Mary C., born September 25, 1811, died August 20, 1852, was married October 15, 1835, to William Brooks, of Milford, Conn .; (11) Lucius, February 22, 1814, died October 18, 1848, be- came a carpenter by trade, and was married March 18, 1839, to Fannie Ufford.

VII. The late Charles D. Curtis attained the advanced age of eighty-two years, and during his active career as a contractor and builder he ac- quired a considerable property, his ability and. skill placing him in the front rank in his chosen calling. While he was not especially active in politics, he took keen interest in public questions, and was a firm adherent of the Democratic party. He and his family were identified with the Epis- copal Church at Stratford, in which he held the office of vestryman for many years, and socially he was connected with St. John's Lodge No. 9, F. & A. M., at Stratford. On November 20, 1830, he married Miss Elizabeth C. Porter, daughter of Capt. Joseph Porter, a well-known citizen of that town. She died November 27. 1859; he then married Julia A. Seeley, a mem- ber of an old Stratford family, who died April 16, 1892, leaving no children. By his first mar- riage he had two daughters; Christianna, who died March 28, 1846, aged two years, and Miss Alma C., a resident of Stratford.

NOLONEL PETER L. CUNNINGHAM was born August 15, 1814, in New York City, and came to Norwalk, then called Old Well (now South Norwalk), Fairfield Co., Conn., in the spring of 1834. He has always been prominently identified with local public affairs, and he took

an active part in the campaign of 1840. That year he was a leader in the organization of a new military company, the First Rifle Company (known throughout the State as the Mohican Rifle Corps), of the Ninth Regiment, Fourth Brig- ade, C. S. S., and he was favorably known as its commander for several years. In 1858 he re- ceived the appointment of colonel on the staff of Gov. William A. Buckingham, and in September, 1861, he was appointed lieutenant-colonel of the Eighth Connecticut Volunteers, resigning the lat- ter office, however, after a service of four months, and receiving an honorable discharge. As a member of the Military Committee of the Legis- lature in special session in 1861, he proposed that the sum of three million dollars be appropriated for the defense of the Union, and the measure was adopted by both branches of the legislative body, little supposing that before the close of the war another three million dollars would be re- quired from the State of Connecticut. As a fac- tor in the city government Colonel Cunningham was senior councilman of the city of South Nor- walk for the terms of 1877-78-79, and was mayor in 1883-84. He has been a director in the Cen- tral National Bank from its organization, has been a director in the First National Bank for several years, and is also a director in the Nor- walk Gas Company.

Fraternally, Colonel Cunningham is widely known as an active member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, to which he was admitted May 11, 1843, uniting with Our Brothers Lodge, No. 10. In January, 1846, he was elected Noble Grand. He is a charter member of Kalosa En- campment, which he joined September 17, 1845. In 1853 and 1854 he was elected Grand Patri- arch of the State of Connecticut; in 1854 and 1855 Grand Representative to the Grand Lodge of the United States, held at Baltimore, Md .; in 1869 and 1870 Grand Master of the State of Connecticut; and in 1870 and 1871 Grand Rep- resentative to the United States Grand Lodge held at Chicago and Baltimore. He was ad- mitted to membership in the Masonic Fraternity April 29, 1847, joining St. John's Lodge, No. 6, Norwalk, Conn., became a member of Clinton Commandery, Norwalk, on February 11, 1853. and is also a Royal Arch Mason and a Knight Templar. [Since the above was written, Col. P. L. Cunningham died suddenly April 22, 1899, at the Norwalk Hospital, where he had gone to view the building then in course of completion. He was seen to fall while going down a decline back of the hospital, and lived only a short time after being picked up. It is believed he was stricken with apoplexy.}

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ANFORD LYON (deceased). Few men, indeed, held so large a place in the busi- ness interests of Bridgeport in his day as did the late Hanford Lyon, who passed away at his home on Golden Hill, December 21, 1879, at the advanced age of eighty-four years and six months. He was one of the city's oldest and most distinguished citizens.

The name of Lyon has been associated with Fairfield county from Colonial times. One Rich- ard Lyon, says the .. History of Fairfield County." by Elizabeth Schenck, published in 1889, was at Fairfield as early as 1649, that he was made a freeman in 1664, and that in his will, April 12, 1678, he mentions his wife Mar- garet and the following children: Moses, Rich- ard, William, Samuel, Joseph, Hesta (wife of Nathaniel Perry), Betty, Hannah and Abigail. The same authority says the family settled at Pequonnock, Greenfield, Greens Farms, and Westport, and that Thomas Lyon (probably a brother of Richard (1) ) bought property in Fairfield in 1654. which he sold in 1675, and re- moved from Fairfield to Greenwich. His will is dated December 6, 1689. He was a large landholder both in Fairfield and Greenwich. In his will he mentions his wife Mary, and children: John, Thomas, Samuel, Joseph, Mary, Abigail, Elizabeth, Debora and Sarah. Hurd, in his "History of Fairfield County. " published in 1881, says the first settlements of the town of Easton were made in about 1757 by inhabitants of Fairfield, giving among the early settlers- Stephen, Daniel, Abram, Thomas, Josiah and Nehemiah Lyon, who died in 1860, in his 101st year.

Hanford Lyon was the son of Nehemiah Webb and Sarah (Treadwell) Lyon, and was born in the town of Easton, Fairfield county, in 1795. His parents lived and died in Easton. His father and family were noted for longevity, Nathaniel Webb Lyon having lived to be nearly one hundred and one years old. The family cel- ebrated his one hundredth birthday with a pic- nic, in which many of the descendants partici- pated. Nathaniel Webb Lyon was a soldier of the war of the Revolution. His sons were: David (lived to be ninety-six years of age) Sam- uel (lived to be ninety-three), Levi (lived to be ninety), Hanford (lived to be eighty-four), Walker (lived to be eighty-one), and Jarvis (lived to be fifty-six). The daughters were: Huldah, Sarah and Clara.

The early years of Hanford Lyon were spent on the farm. His educational advantages were only such as the common district school afforded. At the proper age he was apprenticed to the late

Elijah Sanford in Danbury to learn the saddler's trade. At the age of nineteen, having learned the trade to his satisfaction, he proposed to his employers to purchase the remaining time of his merit, which he did for the sum of $100. He immediately went to Bridgeport and commenced the manufacture of saddlery at the corner of Main and State streets, up stairs over the old Hamilton drug store. He was afterward in the employ of Smith & Wright for a time. From this time up to 1843, Mr. Lyon was thoroughly identified with the saddlery business, and in it he laid the foundation of his large estate. His history for this period is largely the history of one of the leading manufacturing industries of the country, and which for the time and much longer occupied the place in its relations to Bridgeport which another prominent industry afterward assumed. At that period the northern and middle States afforded a market for riding saddles and bridles, every well-to-do family re- quiring one or more each-ladies' and gentle- men's out-fits. Light carriages had not then been introduced, and the roads were not propi- tious. The country had just emerged from the war of 1812-15, and soon entered upon a per- iod of great prosperity. A very profitable trade with the South developed. The great Southern staple, cotton, was brought into existence. It was raised cheaply and extensively, and made money plenty there. Merchants and dealers could hardly put price enough on their goods and wares. This made a very inviting field, and it soon began to be occupied. The usual method was to fit out single expeditions, vessels were loaded with assorted cargoes, and made one or more trips during the cooler months of the year, the captain or supercargo acting as the merchant, and returning in ballast or loaded with cotton, ship stores and other products of the section. In such expeditions saddlery was found to be a very saleable and profitable commodity, and led to the establishment of small stocks at several points.

Mr. Lyon was soon joined by the Messrs. Fair- child, of Trumbull, who in addition to their paper manufacture were also manufacturers of saddle- trees. Under this arrangement the business was removed from Main street to Water street, near the foot of Wall street, and afterward to the old saddle factory near the bridge. The firm was Fairchild, Lyon & Co. This firm established a house in Charleston, S. C., of which the late Lemuel Coleman, of Bridgeport, was the head, and met a stiff opposition from the firm of Smith & Wright, who preceded them both as manu- facturers in Bridgeport and in the Charleston

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market. Mr. Lyon had a fund of incidents, trials and petty annoyances from this service, with which he would sometimes favor the juniors, his successors in the business, but in which his patience and tact generally brought him out all right, and sometimes signally the winner. De- spite the opposition, business prospered, and Mr. Lyon made and sustained a firm position. After a time both firms tired of their strife and a better understanding prevailed, which resulted in the removal of Smith & Wright to Newark, N. J., as their place of manufacture, and an amic- able division of the markets, the Newark house taking Augusta, Ga., and Mobile, Ala., and afterward New Orleans, while the Bridgeport house confined itself to the older and leading Charleston market. In this arrangement the Fairchilds retired, and Mr. Wright retained a nominal interest in Bridgeport, making the firm name Lyon, Wright & Co., and bringing in the late Hon. H. K. Harral as the leading business man of the firm in Charleston. This firm en- joyed uninterrupted prosperity for a series of years, Mr. Lyon all the time standing at his post and attending most assiduously to the minutest details of a large and prosperous business.

About the year 1834 P. C. Calhoun (after- ward president of the Fourth National Bank of New York), who was first an apprentice at the factory in Bridgeport, and then an assistant in the Charleston house, became connected with the factory, and by degrees relieved Mr. Lyon of much of the details of its management. In 1838 the firm became Lyon, Calhoun & Co. The years 1837-38 were memorable for a panic and disaster, which seriously interrupted the business, in common with all others, and al- though there was a partial recovery in 1841-42, yet the outlook was not encouraging, the old markets were not as remunerative as formerly, and a curtailment seemed to be in order. Mr. Harral had become tired of the wear and tear of the details in the business of the South, and pro- posed to purchase the interest of Mr. Lyon, which he did, it taking effect in June, 1843. Mr. Lyon almost, if not quite, reluctantly left the business in which he had grown up and been largely instrumental ·in making a splendid suc- cess, in which he had educated scores and even hundreds of young men, and in which he felt an honest pride. He had the satisfaction, however, of retiring with more than a competency in the prime of life, with health unimpaired, and a repu- tation for business integrity and capacity of the highest order. With such a foundation, by pru- dent and sagacious management of his estate, he had long since become, and afterward continued

to be, the largest individual taxpayer in the com- munity.

Self-educated and thoroughly furnished with a large and active business experience, with a capacity equal to almost any position, Mr. Lyon was yet modest and unassuming, and did not seem to desire public office or political distinc- tion of any kind. He belonged to the old Whig party in its day, and was a stanch Union man and a Republican, but was content to remain in the ranks. He was a member of the common council of Bridgeport, in the year 1837, 1842, 1843, 1844, 1845, 1856 and 1858, a part of the time as alderman. He was for many years a director in the Connecticut National Bank. He participated in the reconstruction of the old Bridgeport Bank after the disaster of 1837-38, and was president of that institution for a short period, when he voluntarily retired, remaining, however, as a director until his presence and influence was more needed in the Pequonnock Bank, of which he remained a director until his death. He participated in the re-organization of the City Savings Bank in 1859, and was its first and only president up to the time of his death. He was one of the original corporators of the Bridgeport Gas Light Company, in 1849. a director until 1854, when he was appointed president in place of H. K. Harral (deceased), and held that office until 1868, when he gave place to Hon. Amos S. Treat, but remained a director until his death. He was also a life director of the Bridgeport Library Association.

Mr. Lyon appreciated talent and enterprise in young men, and rendered valuable pecuniary assistance to quite a number, first when needed to give them a start on the road to a prosperous career. He early began an investment in real estate, and was one of the city's heaviest holders. He donated the sight of the railroad depot for that purpose, and erected that fine building known as the "Atlantic Hotel " about 1863-64, which was afterward enlarged, becoming one of the large and thoroughly appointed hotels of the country. Mr. Lyon's first residence was in what was known as Woolsey Place, on Main street, north of the old Bridgeport National Bank. Later he bought from Alanson Hamlin the old home of Elijah Waterman, on Golden Hill, which he occupied for almost half a century. He was a member of the First Congregational Society from his early manhood, and for many years was one of its most liberal supporters. In church building and other extraordinary oc- casions he was always foremost and cheerful in his contributions. He united with the Church in 1858, and by his constant attendance on the

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Commemorative Biographical Record of Fairfield County, Connecticut, Part 3

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