Commemorative Biographical Record of Fairfield County, Connecticut, Part 34

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

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Mr. Wilson's boyhood was spent in Danbury, and at the age of fourteen he began to learn the business of cabinet making and undertaking with the firin of Goodsell & Starr, of Brookfield, remaining there until he was twenty-one. In 1836 he settled at Bethel, where he at first con- ducted an undertaking business, but after sixteen years he sold out and opened his temperance hotel, which he carried on successfully for about forty years. The temperance cause has always had a strong advocate in Mr. Wilson, and in 1852 he built a temperance hall in Bethel, pro- viding it with pulpit and bell. In 1885 he dis- continued his hotel business, and after spending some time in farming retired to his pleasant home in Bethel, which is the old home of Phin- eas Taylor, the grandfather of P. T. Barnum, and was built over one hundred years ago.

On October 16, 1836, Mr. Wilson was mar- ried to Miss Sarah Lockwood, daughter of Jo- seph Lockwood, of Redding. She was born April 10, 1808, and died May 4, 1844. Mr. Wilson formed a second matrimonial union, this time with Miss Betsey Barnum, who was born May 7, 1815, a daughter of Asel Barnum, and died June 13. 1892. As Mr. Wilson had no chil- dren of his own he adopted a daughter, Helen A., who was born July 22, 1845; she was mar- ried (first) to Arthur C. Durant, and (second) to David B. Cary, of Stamford, Conn., who for thirty years has been agent of the New York, New Haven & Hartford railroad at that town.

As a citizen Mr. Wilson is held in high es- teem, his excellent qualities of character winning him the regard of those whose good opinion is worth having. Since 1844 he has been a member of the Congregational Church at Bethel, and throughout his life he has been a firm friend

to temperance and other reforms. He belongs

G EORGE W. FLINT, managing editor and senior member of the firm of Flint & Smith, proprietors and publishers of the Danbury News, was born at St. Johnsbury, Vt., November 5, 1853. At the age of sixteen he entered the printing office of the St. Johnsbury Times, and two years later drifted to Brattleboro, Vt., where, until 1873, he was employed in the office of the Record and Farmer. He then came to Danbury and began work on the News, filling positions in all the mechanical departments of the paper un- til 1880, when he was placed on the reportorial staff, and shortly after he was made city editor. In 1888 he was promoted to assistant manager, and his business qualifications soon won for him almost the sole management. He gave the paper his conscientious work, and in March, 1893, on the death of Mr. J. M. Bailey, the editor and proprietor of the paper, it was found that he had bequeathed to Mr. Flint an interest in the plant; shortly after, one of the other partners dying, our subject became half owner. The paper is conducted on the side of good morals, and is a first-class journal in all respects. The managing editor is a highly respected citizen, wide awake and progressive, and under his watchful eye the continued success of the Danbury News is as- sured.

'REDERICK JUDD, EsQ., justice of the peace in and for the town of Bethel, is one of the influential citizens of that locality, and worthily represents a family which has been prom- inent in the neighborhood since Colonial times. Although he has now passed the allotted limit of three-score years and ten, he is as active as ever in local affairs, and can illy be spared from his present post of duty.

Thomas Judd, our subject's great-grandfather, was one of the early residents of Bethel. Elihu Judd, our subject's grandfather, was a farmer in the same town, and served as a soldier in the Revolutionary army. Elihu Judd (2), the father of our subject, was born in that town March 10, 1794, and resided there all his life with the ex- ception of seven years in Easton township, this county. In early manhood he learned the shoe- maker's trade, but he did not follow it, his at- tention being given to agricultural pursuits. He served in the war of 1812, and as a citizen was held in high esteem. For some time he was a

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grand juryman of the town of Bethel, and he was active in religious work as a member of the Methodist Church. On November 24, 1818, he married Miss Aurilla Fairchild, who was born December 25, 1797, and died September 24, 1837. They had nine children: Rev. George S., born August 17, 1819, married Clara A. Benedict May 4, 1841, was a Methodist minister, and had charge of a Church at Bolton, Conn., where he died October 19, 1847; David J., born May 24, 1821, died May 18, 1832; Harriet, born February 15, 1823, died March 12, 1857; Betsey M., born May 18, 1825. died February 28, 1852; Frederick, our subject, is mentioned more fully below; Truman, F., born August 22, 1829, is a resi- dent of Bristol, Conn .; Alonzo, born August 7, 1831, died March 13, 1852; Eliza, born Novem- ber 2, 1833, married Oscar H. Hibbard, and they now reside in Bethel; and Maryett, born October 1, 1835, married Henry Fairchild of Roxbury, Conn. On August 24, 1841, Elihu Judd married for his second wife Nancy Ann Boughton, who died, and on April 21, 1847, he formed a third matrimonial union, this time with Eliza Ann Gregory, by whom he had three chil- dren: Jane E., born August 29, 1848, Charles H., born April 29, 1850; and Julia M., born March 13, 1852, of whom Charles alone grew to ma- turity.

The subject of our sketch was born September 29. 1827, at the old home in Center District, Bethel, and was educated in the schools of Easton, Bethel, Roxbury, and Georgetown. At the age of seventeen he began to learn the hat- ter's trade with Isaac H. Seeley & Son, of Bethel, and until November, 1892, he was almost con- tinuously employed in that business in different shops in Bethel. He has taken an active part in local affairs, and in addition to his duties as justice of the peace he is now serving as assessor. At various times he has been a member of the board of assessors, member of the board of relief, grand juryman, and for twelve years he was selectman, during eight years of that time being first selectman, while he has held the office of assessor for ten years past. In politics he was a Whig in early life, but he has supported Repub- lican principles ever since the organization of that party. He is a leading member of the Con- gregational Church, for many years was a teacher in the Sabbath-school, and he has also been prominent in reform work as a member of the Sons of Temperance and the Good Templars.

On November 28, 1848, Mr. Judd was mar- ried in the town of Bethel to his first wife, Miss Harriet M. Smith, who was born September 7, 1828, and died March 4, 1864, and on May 17,

1866, he married Mrs. Alza A. Barnes, daughter of Benjamin and Almena (Wickwire) Dunning, of Morris township, Litchfield Co., Conn. Mr. Judd is the father of five children, all by the first mar- riage: (1) George S., born December 22, 1849, died October 17, 1863. (2) Esther A., born February 6, 1851, died April 26, 1852. (3) Fred- rick A. born April 14. 1853, is a hatter by trade, and he resides in Danbury, where he holds the position of general superintendent with Rundle & White. He was married in Bethel to Miss Har- riet Mayhew, daughter of Theodore and Betsy Mayhew, and she departed this life, leaving two children-George F. and Theodore H .- both living. On October 26, 1882, he was married again, this time to Louisa W. Sanford, daughter of George A. and Carrie (Banks) Sanford, of Red- ding, and they have one child, Frederick A. Mr. Judd is a member of the Masonic Fraternity. (4) Melville T., born August 14, 1855, died August 14, 1862. (5) William H .. born Janu- ary 11, 1861, married Elizabeth Smith, and died August 21, 1891, leaving a widow and two chil- dren, of whom one, Richard M., still survives.

R OWLAND BRADLEY LACEY (deceased). The passing away on March 31, 1897, of Mr. Lacey ended the life of one of the best known residents of Bridgeport and of Fairfield county, a life of activity and usefulness, and marked the end of a kindly and lovable man.

Mr. Lacey was born April 6, 1818, in Eas- ton, Conn., being the only son of Jesse and Edna (Munson) Lacey, and descended from Edward Lacey, who with his wife Sarah was admitted to the Fairfield (Conn.) Church January 13, 1694. Our subject was of the sixth generation from Ed- ward Lacey, the line of his descent being through John, Edward, Zachariah and Jesse Lacey.

As a boy our subject spent much of his time farming, as was the custom of the boys of that time. At the age of sixteen he was graduated from Eli Gilbert's select school in Redding, and then began the teaching of school himself. When eighteen he removed to Bridgeport at the time it was but a borough, and for a period was assist- ant postmaster to Stephen Lounsbury. On the ·opening of the Housatonic railroad in Bridgeport, in 1839, he was appointed the local agent. From that incumbency he resigned in 1844 to accept a position as bookkeeper with the saddlery firm of Harral & Calhoun, and nine years later he be- came manager of the concern, which was then one of the leading manufactories in the State, having agents in both the South and the West. In 1863 the firm name was Lacey, Meeker & Co.

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The Civil war brought heavy losses to the firm, and it consequently closed up business in the early "sixties."

Mr. Lacey's first work in municipal reform was in the fire department. Between the years 1840 and 1850 he was an active member of the volunteer department; from private he was promoted to be foreman and, finally, assistant engineer. In 1848 he drew up and procured the adoption of a city bylaw for the bet- ter organization of the department, which system continued in force till the adoption of the paid system in 1870. He was a member of the com- mon council in 1848, 1852, 1853 and 1854. There was no better bookkeeper in Bridgeport than Mr. Lacey. As a penman he was an ex- pert, and took pride in his copy. In 1870, at the request of Mayor Morford, he visited the large cities of the East and examined their system of financing and bookkeeping. On the strength of his experience he devised and inaugurated the present system of city finances and bookkeeping. The system was partially revised by the late Francis Ives. From 1870 to 1880 Mr. Lacey was the city auditor. He was also connected with the board of Road and Bridge Commission- ers (now the board of Public Works), and he was clerk of the Park Commissioners, which po- sition he held to the time of his death. From 1876 up until his decease he had sole charge of the management of the town Sinking Fund, a position of heavy responsibility. If one were to venture to enumerate the branches of the city government of which Mr. Lacey was an active and influential member, he would have to speak of all. He had much to do with the raising of the standard of the public schools of the city. He organized and prepared the Bridgeport Municipal Register, and was its compiler for ten years. He was one of the pioneers of the Board of Trade, and was its active secretary all through the late David M. Read's administration. Considering his long years of service, and the amount of work performed by him, there was no more active Church worker in Bridgeport. He was always a total abstainer and a man of deep religious views. He became a member of the First Congrega- tional Church in 1837, and was actively identified with same until his death, to which fact records of the Church attest. In 1850 he was elected as one of the deacons, and at the time of his death was a senior deacon. His last service in this respect was as a delegate to personally notify Rev. De Peu of his call to the Church. He was also appointed by the Church to represent them at the consociation that was to authorize and ar- range for the transfer of the present pastor

of Bridgeport. For nearly fifty years he was the society's treasurer, chairman of the socie- ty's committee, Sunday-school teacher, librar- ian, teacher of the Bible class and superin- tendent. His death brought a distinct loss to the Church. He was president of the Fairfield County Historical Society for many years; was much interested in the Sons of the American Revolution, and was one of the charter members of the lodge in Bridgeport.

Mr. Lacey was twice married, first to Jane E., daughter of Deacon Isaac Sherman. She died in 1857, and he subsequently married Eliza- beth Richards Boardman, of Hartford, who died January 5, 1894. The children born to the first marriage were: Mary L., who married (first) Major Ezra Day Dickerman, and (second) Samuel S. Hunter; Edward R., who died when six years of age; Henry R., who died in infancy; and David Sherman. To the second marriage was born one child, Henrietta B.

"In the death of Mr. Lacey there passed away one of the striking characters of Bridge- port, and local history will give him a place as one of the distinguished citizens, a man of ex- emplary life and a charitable and kindly charac- ter. He was a man of deep sympathies. It was a pleasure for him to assist the families of his friends in their time of trouble, and perhaps he has written more obituary notices for his friends than any other man in Bridgeport. Perhaps some friendly hand will do the service to his memory which has become a part of the religious and civil history of the town."

C APTAIN CALEB W. MERRITT (deceased). This typical sea captain of years ago lived in the village of Greenwich, where he was born January 18, 1822. He was a rugged and hardy representative of the sea-faring class, and, after a career long and profitable, retired to the com- posure of a farm and fireside among his old ac- quaintances, whom he entertained with many a tale of bygone days. His taste for the sea was most honestly derived, for both his father and grandfather were active and successful command- ers and owners of craft.

Captain Merritt was a descendant of one of the earliest New York families, which over two hundred years ago was founded in this country. The earliest known representative, William Mer- ritt, was mayor of New York City from 1696 to 1698, and died in 1708. Among the children born to him and his wife, Margery, was a son John, called Major. The latter lived in Rye township, Westchester Co., N. Y. He and his

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wife, Mary, had a family of ten children, as fol- lows: Daniel, Caleb, Nathan, Thomas, John, Phoebe, Amy, Ruth, Mary and Hannah. The second son of Caleb was Daniel, who was born August 17, 1742, married Rebecca Sherwood, and died July 15, 1782. His eldest child, Capt. Ebenezer Merritt, was the grandfather of our subject.

Capt. Ebenezer Merritt was born at Hoppen Ridge, near Port Chester, N. Y., March 28, 1746. He was a noted boatman on the Hudson river, prior to the appearance of steam power. On one occasion, when laid up at Sing Sing, awaiting a breeze, he chanced to meet a young lady, Cynthia Willis, a member of a prominent family of that city, and not long after, on Au- gust 17, 1783, they were united in marriage. Mrs. Merritt was born July 29, 1765. Captain Merritt sailed the sloop " George Washington " on the Hudson river. Capt. Caleb Merritt had in his possession a coin which his grandfather, in 1790, accepted as passage money from a Ger- man, going from New York to Albany, en route to Rhinebeck to buy land from the Indians. Later in life Capt. Ebenezer Merritt retired from the sea, retaining his interest in vessel property, however, for years afterward. For many years after abandoning the water he was a leading citi- zen of Greenwich. Both he and his wife were act- ive members of the Congregational Church. He died in 1819 at Albany, and was buried in Sing Sing, his wife surviving him several years.

The nine children of Ebenezer and Cynthia Merritt were as follows: Daniel, father of our subject, born in Sing Sing, N. Y., October 19, 1784; Willis, a sea captain, who was once wrecked on the ocean and rescued from a raft, and subsequently migrated to Ohio, where he bought land in an early day; Henry, once a jus- tice of peace in the City Hall, New York, and a prominent citizen of that metropolis; John, for years a lawyer in New York and later a citizen of Ohio; Wesley, a leading dry-goods merchant on Broadway, N. Y., owning one of the largest stores of his day, who migrated to California during the gold excitement, and who subsequently became a well-known journalist in Illinois, where he died (he was the father of Gen. Wesley Mer- ritt, who graduated from West Point in 1860, and is now so prominent in the military affairs of the nation); Charles, a New York private detec- tive, who made various professional trips to Europe; Cynthia, who married and died in New York; Phobe, who married Gideon Peck, and died in New York; and Ann E., who married 1 James Wood, of Tarrytown, N. Y., and died ! there.

Capt. Daniel Merritt, eldest son of Ebenezer, and father of our subject, was reared a sailor boy. His parents removed to New York when he was but a boy, and at the age of twelve he went as cook for his father. Thus began a seafaring career that lasted for years. He was married May 19, 1807, to Miss Sarah Lyon, who was born March 23, 1786, daughter of James and Susan (Marvin) Lyon, and was reared in New York. Her father died when comparatively young, and her mother subsequently married James Green. Capt. Daniel Merritt owned the vessels "Union" and "Theodore," and sailed them between Greenwich and New York. He retired from the sea at the age of forty-eight years, but retained interests in his vessels. To each of his sons he gave $1,000, and if they de- sired more capital he loaned them the money on interest. Daniel Merritt was a Whig in politics. He removed with his family from New York to Greenwich, where he died April 30, 1849. His wife died July 8, 1848.

The children of Capt. Daniel and Sarah Mer- ritt were as follows: George W., born February 12, 1808, sailed the "Ann Amelia " and died of cholera at the age of twenty-four; Willis, born February 16, 1810, sailed the packet "Mary Willis." from Norwalk, Conn., and died in that city; Lewis A., born April 22, 1812, who was a vessel captain and subsequently a farmer, died in Greenwich township; Susan Ann Eliza, born February 6, 1814, married Edward Mead, and died in Cos Cob, August 26, 1884; Daniel B., born January 8, 1816, who was a clothing mer- chant at New York City, died of cholera July 12, 1854; Cynthia W., born January 2, 1818, died February 19, 1827; Joseph G., born in 1819, died May 1, 1885; Caleb W., is the subject of this sketch; Theodore, born November 15, 1823, was a boatman for some years, and died at Mid- dletown, Conn., February 11, 1892; Sarah L., born April 12, 1826, is the widow of Elnathan Husted, of Greenwich; Cynthia W. (2), born November 21, 1829, married Rufus Putney, a Methodist minister, and died at Milford, Conn., March 24, 1891.

Capt. Caleb W. Merritt, our subject, was reared in Greenwich. His early education was not neglected, for besides attending the common schools he was a pupil one winter at the academy when Mr. Bigsby, the lawyer, was principal. But his father, as was his custom with his sons, took Caleb as cook on a vessel when he was thirteen years of age. After a short time the boy took charge of one-half of the sloop "Theodore" for his father, his brother Lewis A. .! owning the other half. When eighteen Caleb

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became captain of the "Theodore," which was one of the fastest on the Sound, and many are the times when her eighty-foot pennant was hoisted to the discomfiture of those who tried to beat her, the pennant being symbolic of victory. Our subject was at one time the youngest of fifty captains on market boats going through Hell Gate. He ran the "Theodore " for many years, and when business increased he bought the sloop "Mary Willis" from his brother Willis, and commanded her. In 1859 he bought from Han- ford Mead the " Josiah Mead Farm" at a cost of $15.000, in the fall of the same year removing to the place, where he afterward lived. His late home was built in 1727, and the old frame was entirely used in the remodeling.

Captain Merritt was married at Greenwich January 27, 1845, by Rev. Mr. Yarrington, to Miss Phoebe A. Husted, who was born January 23, 1822, in Greenwich, daughter of William and Mary Husted. The great-grandfather of Mrs. Phoebe Merritt was David Husted. Her grandfather, Abraham Husted, was a lieutenant in the Revolutionary war; he was a farmer by occupation. Lieutenant Husted had two sons, one of whom, William Husted, was the father of Mrs. Merritt. He was born in Greenwich, Conn., in 1783, married Mary Lyon, and they had six children: Benjamin W .; Israel; Han- nah, who married Husted Hobby; Phoebe A., wife of our subject; David; and William H. Mrs. Merritt is also a descendant of a branch of the Merritt family who were early residents of St. John's, N. F., and Hamilton, Ontario. The latter city was named after Hamilton Merritt, and an estate of ninety million dollars in Canada, in which the Merritt heirs are now interested, is in question.

Four children were born to Capt. Caleb and Phoebe A. Merritt, as follows: Sarah H., born March 28, 1847, now Mrs. John Lyon, of Weaver Street, Greenwich township; Edward M., born November 5, 1848, still at home; Will- iam H., born December 22, 1851, a farmer of Greenwich; and Caleb W., born November 29, 1854, still at home. Captain Merritt owned and occupied one of the largest and best farms in the township, and was one of its best known and substantial citizens. In politics he was a Demo- crat, but not partisan. He frequently served as selectman, assessor, member of the board of relief and in other public capacities. Frater- nally he was a member of Acacia Lodge, F. & A. M. For many years he was prominently connected with the Episcopal Church, and filled many of its offices, including that of vestryman. He died February 23, 1899.

R EUBEN W. LINSLEY. The Linsley fam- ily is well known in the State, its members having been prominent in various lines of effort from early Colonial times. The first American ancestor, John Lindley (for so the name was originally. but for the past one hundred years or more it has been spelled Linsley), came from Lindley, England, in 1640, and settled at Bran- ford, New Haven county, in 1644, where his de- scendants are still to be found. [It is supposed there were three generations between this John Lindley and Daniel Linsley mentioned in next paragraph, but a record of them is not now ob- tainable. ]

Daniel Linsley, the great-grandfather of the esteemed citizen whose name opens this sketch, was probably born in Branford, in the portion of said town, called North Branford, set off in 1831, and he became a leading citizen of that locality, being engaged in business as a farmer, miller, millwright and carpenter. He died there in No- vember, 1799, in his eighty-fourth year.

Dr. Reuben Linsley, our subject's grandfa- ther, was born at Branford, in the parish of North Branford, and was for many years a lead- ing physician there. He married Tryphena Baldwin, a native of North Branford, and had six children: Chauncey and Jesse (both now deceased), who followed farming at Branford; Willis, our subject's father; Sarah; Marian; and Polly.

Willis Linsley was born at North Branford, in 1791, and, having been reared to farm work, he engaged in agricultural pursuits. He was an active worker in the Democratic party in his sec- tion, and was chosen to various offices, was ap- pointed a county surveyor of New Haven coun- ty, which position he held for more than fifty years. In religious faith he was an Episcopa- lian, and the family has for generations been identified with that denomination. His death occurred September 25, 1867, and his wife, whose maiden name was Betsey Hurd, died March 31, 1862. She was a native of the town of Huntington, but her grandfather, Gideon Hurd, and father, Wolcott Hurd, who married Rachel Plumb, were both born in what is now the town of Stratford. Our subject was one of a family of three children, the others being Eli- jah, who died at the age of three years; and Seth, who was born in 1824, and became a farm- er at North Branford, where he died August 4, 1896.

Reuben W. Linsley was born October 24, 1820, at the old home in North Branford, and after spending the first sixteen years of his life upon the farm he went to North Haven, this

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State, to learn the cabinetmaker's trade. Later he clerked for a time in stores at Middletown and Killingworth, and he then engaged in business in the latter place in partnership with Horace Red- field, conducting a hotel, general store, post of- fice and mail route. After twelve years engaged in these lines of enterprise, he removed, in Sep- tember, 1856, to Huntington Center, and opened a general store, which he still conducts success- fully. He has been prominent in local affairs, being an adherent to the principles of Jeffersonian Democracy, and has been especially active in ed- ucational matters, serving as school visitor and member of the school board. In all he has held the office of postmaster about sixteen years, his first term, under appointment of President Bu- chanan, lasting six years and continuing during a part of Lincoln's administration. In 1887 he was re-appointed by Grover Cleveland, and he held the position until August 1, 1897. For many years he has been an active member of the Episcopal Church, having been a vestryman for thirty years, and, after a quarter of a century as treasurer of the parish, he has been serving ten years as clerk. He married Miss Emeline E. Foot, of Killingworth, and they have three sons: Silas R. is a general merchant at Chattanooga, Tenn .; John C., an Episcopal minister, is rector of Trinity Church, Torrington, Conn .; and Seth W. is a student in the Theological Seminary in New York City.

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Commemorative Biographical Record of Fairfield County, Connecticut, Part 34

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