Commemorative Biographical Record of Fairfield County, Connecticut, Part 55

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 55


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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built there. He was industrious, and took a deep interest in all matters to improve the community. The four children of Isaac and Susan Williams were as follows: Louise, who resides on the old homestead; Isabelle, who married William J. Bird, and died in Green- wich township, leaving four children - Belle L., Isaac, Margaretta and Charles: John Max- well, our subject; and Anna M., now Mrs. Jacob V. Close. of Darien, Conn., who has five children-Miriam. Gertrude, Jessie, Leland and Clarence.


John Maxwell Williams was born September 4, 1854. and was reared in New York, there at- tending school. He graduated from the gram- mar school, and then took the Junior year in the College of the City of New York. He entered the law department of Columbia College, and completing the course was graduated in 1877. The young lawyer then took charge of the ex- tensive business interests of his father and uncles in New York. He has since practiced his pro- fession in New York City. When his parents removed to Mianus he remained in New York, and had always been a resident of that city until in recent years, when he removed to Mianus. In 188S Mr. Williams married Miss Hannah Gertrude Close, who was born near Round Hill, Greenwich township, and is a daughter of Allen H. Close, a representative of one of Greenwich's oldest families. Two children have been born to John M. and Hannah Will ams-John M., Jr., and Gertrude.


Mr. Williams, while a Democrat in politics, is liberal, and in 1896 voted for Mckinley. He is a prominent member of the Larchmont Yacht Club, Indian Harbor Yacht Club, New York Ath- Jetic Club, and is prominent in the social life of Greenwich and New York City.


W ALTER B. BOSTWICK. There are times in the history of states and munic- ipalities when changes of great moment are made in the organization of the government. These occasions, like the formative periods of history, require that the right man should be in the right place-at the helm of the ship of state. A new law, involving many changes in its official organism, became effective at Bridgeport in the spring of 1893. At that time, as events well proved, the electors of the city made no mistake in choosing their mayor. He was Walter B. Bostwick, trained by an active business life and by an intimate acquaintance with the govern- ment of the city.


Mr. Bostwick is connected with several fam-


ilies prominent in the early history of Connecti- cut. Seven generations back the original American Bostwick left his native home in Cheshire, England, and settled at Stratford, Conn. This was in 1664, and his family were among the earliest pioneers of the wilderness in that vicinity. Later the family ascended the Housatonic river and settled at New Milford, where many descendants yet remain.


The paternal grandfather of our subject was Benjamin Bostwick, a farmer. He married Anna Wells, who was a descendant of Governor Wells, the first governor of Connecticut. The father of our subject, Solomon E. Bostwick, was for thirty years a prominent merchant of New Mil- ford, retiring in 1856. Solomon E. Bostwick married Adeline Booth, daughter of Walter Booth (for whom our subject was named), and granddaughter of Ithemar Canfield, who was in his day one of the prominent citizens of New Mil- ford, and widely known as .Squire" Canfield. Solomon E. Bostwick died in 1882, leaving three children: Henry E., who died in December. 1893: Elizabeth, who married J. Leroy Buck; and Walter B.


The last named was born at New Milford August 26, 1840. He was educated at Alger Institute, which he attended two years, and at G. B. Day's school, at Golden Hill, Bridgeport, which he also attended two years. After leaving school he remained at home six years, and as- sisted his father, who was postmaster during President Buchanan's administration, subsequent- ly engaging as a salesman in New York City. In 1868 Mr. Bostwick embarked with his brother Henry E. in the manufacture of buttons at New Milford. Fire destroyed their plant in June, 1884, and Walter B. purchased his brother's interest and removed the establishment to Bridgeport, three years later selling his large establishment to Wilison Knight & Co., of New York, and retir- ing from the manufacturing business. Meantime he had become interested largely in real estate in the . West End," or State street extension, as it was known, and to him is due a large part of the credit for the development of that portion of the city. He was one of the three . B's," Bar- num. Bostwick & Bassick, who were chiefly re- sponsible for its improvement and appreciation in value.


Mr. Bostwick has been a lifelong ardent Dem- ocrat. He was elected alderman from the Sec- ond ward in 1888, 1889 and 1890, and during the latter two years was president of the board of aldermen. Under Mayor DeForest he was for three years chairman of the finance committee, served also on various other committees, and for


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a considerable portion of the time was acting mayor. In April, 1893, Mr. Bostwick was elected mayor of Bridgeport, being the first elected to that incumbency for the term of two years, under the new law. One of the most important changes occurring during his term of office was the trans- fer from the people to a board of finance of the power of appropriation. Mayor Bostwick's ad- ministration was progressive and aggressive as well. He instituted many needed reforms and gave the people of Bridgeport one of the best ad- ministrations in its history, applying as he did to the public service the same rare combination of qualities which made his business one of crown- ing success. He is one of the prominent citizens, whose opinion in matters referring to the material prosperity of the community in which he lives is made trebly valuable by his natural aptitude for large affairs, his wide experience and success in individual business and the wider grasp given him through the happy and important adminis- tration of the city government.


Mr. Bostwick is an active member of the Ma- sonic Fraternity. During the early stages of the war he was one of the thirty recruiting officers appointed by Governor Buckingham, but before he was mustered into service sickness compelled him to resign his commission. Mr. Bostwick was a close friend of P. T. Barnum, and during the Jatter's lifetime was intimately associated with him in a number of large and important enter- prises. His business interests at present are largely in the " West End."


Mr. Bostwick has one daughter, Lesbia, and he had one son, Wilford W., who died at the age of three months.


ZRA J. HALL, a leading business man of Sandy Hook, is a citizen whose influence is felt as a power for good in all the various pro- gressive movements of his locality, and he worthily represents a family which has long been held in high esteem for sterling qualities of char- acter.


Mr. Hall's ancestors came from England at an early date. His grandfather, Eli W. Hall, was a native of Newtown, and during the greater portion of his life was a tailor in North Center District. He married Miss Polly Booth, and they had the following children: Ira, who moved to Poughkeepsie, N. Y .; Philo B., who made his home in Jackson, Mich .; Joseph B., a cattle dealer, who resided in Chicago; Ezra B., who is mentioned below; Polly Ann, who married Ira Squires, of Bridgewater, Conn .; Sarah, who did not marry: Booth, a merchant at Southville,


Conn., who died at the age of twenty-eight, and William, our subject's father. Ezra B. Hall, mentioned above, was a carpenter by trade and did the first work in his line on the Housatonic railroad. He afterward went to Michigan and thence to Geneseo, Ill., later settling in Carth- age, Mo., where, with the exception of a short residence in Texas, he spent his remaining days.


William Hall, the father of our subject, was born in Newtown in 1816, and became a tailor by occupation, learning the trade in Brooklyn, N. Y. After working for a few years as a journey- man, he in about 1836 established a business of his own at Bristol, Conn., and a year or so later he removed to Bridgewater, opening a shop over the store then occupied by Dunning Babbitt. There he carried on a successful trade until about 1856, when he settled at Sandy Hook and en- gaged in business, his shop being located first in his own residence and later in the building which is now used as a jewelry store. His business prospered, and in addition to its management he held the office of postmaster at Sandy Hook for many years previous to his death, which occurred in 1865, his appointment being made early in the administration of President Lincoln. Mr. Hall was one of the early members of the Republican party. In religious work he was active as a member of the Methodist Church, in which he served as class-leader both in Southville and Sandy Hook. Through private study he became well- informed upon many subjects of interest, and he was especially fond of reading the Bible. His wife, whose maiden name was Susan Luckey, was born in 1821, the daughter of John R. Luckey, of Brooklyn, N. Y., and she is still liv- ing. They had six children, of whom our sub- ject is the youngest; Cornelius Booth, born Jan- uary 13, 1839, was formerly a resident of Brook- lyn, N. Y .; William L., born May 7, 1840, is a blacksmith in Danbury; Edward H., born Octo- ber 22, 1841, is a boot and shoe merchant in Springfield, Mo .; Cornelia, born October 1, 1843, married (first) George J. Tucker, and (sec- ond) John R. Smith, formerly of Cornwall, Conn., and now of Bridgeport, this county; Joseph, born January 1, 1847, resides in Spring- field, Mo., and is the vice-president and treasurer of the National Loan & Investment Company.


Our subject was born October 17, 1851, in Bridgewater, Conn., and was educated chiefly in the common schools of Sandy Hook, although he attended school for two winters at Long Hill. His opportunities for study ended when he at- tained the age of sixteen, and he then began to work as a farm hand for Miles Beardsley, of Long Hill. When about seventeen years old he went


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to Sandy Hook to learn the turner's trade with Henry L. Wheeler, and after two years there he was sent to Westville, Conn., to manage a store belonging to Mr. Wheeler. Later this business was purchased by Charles M. Platt, with whom Mr. Hall remained for seven years, at the end of that time returning to Sandy Hook and re- entering the employ of Mr. Wheeler for about eight years. After spending eighteen years in this manner he decided to purchase the business, which has now been established for more than forty years, and since July 14, 1886, he has con- ducted it at the old stand with marked success. At present Mr. Hall is also a director in the Sandy Hook branch of the Mercantile Co-operative Bank of New York.


In 1879 our subject married Miss Anna J. Taylor, daughter of Rev. James Taylor, a native of England, who is now a resident of Sandy Hook. No children have blessed this union. Mr. Hall is an active worker in the Methodist Church of Sandy Hook, in which he holds the office of trustee, and his fine voice is used to good advan- tage in the choir. In politics he is a Republican, but he has never been an aspirant for official honors.


H ¡ON. WILMOT C. WHEELER, formerly a representative from the town of Trumbull in the State Legislature, is one of the most highly es- teemed citizens and, although now less active in political and social life than of old, he continues to wield his influence in a quiet way on the side of progress.


His family, of which a more complete account is given elsewhere, ranks among the oldest and wealthiest in this section, and he is one of the eighth generation in descent from Sergeant Eph- raim Wheeler, who came from England prior to 1639. The line of descent is traced through Deac- on Isaac Wheeler, son of Sergeant Ephraim; Isaac; Ebenezer, who married Abigail Edwards; John, who married Esther Mallett; John M., who married Ann Walker; and Ebenezer, our subject's father, who was born and reared in the town of Trum- bull, receiving his education in the local schools, and later engaging in farming in the same locality. He was married February 20, 1840, to Cordelia Mallett. This worthy couple had two sons, of whom our subject is the younger. Hon. Hobart R. Wheeler, the elder of the two, was born November 30, 1840, and is now a prominent resident of this county, his home being in Trum- bull in the summer, and in the city of Bridgeport in the winter. The father was much interested in the church at Long Hill, to which he gave


generously when it was built, and of which he was junior warden for some years, as has also been his son Wilmot, since the death of his father.


Our subject was born March 11, 1848, at the old home in the town of Trumbull, and his ele- mentary education was secured in the neighbor- ing schools. On completing the course of study offered there, he pursued higher branches at Cheshire Academy near New Haven, and later he attended an advanced school in Bridgeport. He has a beautiful home in Trumbull, where he spends the summer months, while in the winter he resides in Bridgeport. The care of his estate has occupied much of his time since early man- hood, but at present he is living in retirement. On June 3, 1873, he was married in Stratford to Miss Sarah Curtiss. daughter of Peter P. and Mary (Fitch) Curtiss, and they have two children, Lillian C. and Wilmot F.


H TENRY F. GUTHRIE (deceased). Among the people who come to us from other lands there are many whose thrift, industry and intelli- gence make them welcome as citizens, but our English-born residents seem as a rule to possess a keener understanding of our national spirit than others, and to appreciate more fully the es- sential purpose of our institutions. This might be expected when we consider the relations which we as a . nation sustain to the "Mother country." but it is none the less gratifying to find the facts exemplifying the theory so thoroughly.


The subject of this sketch, who in his life- time was a well-known resident of Norwalk, was born in London, England, August 18, 1828, and his ancestors in both paternal and maternal lines were of English blood. Alexander Guthrie, his grandfather, spent his entire life in the old coun- try, where he was successfully engaged in business as a merchant tailor. He reared a large family of children, among whom was a son, Robert, our subject's father, who was born in London, De- cember 13, 1802, and is still living at the advanced age of ninety-six, being one of the most highly esteemed citizens of Norwalk. This venerable gentleman passed his youth in his native land, and was married there to Miss Elizabeth Ann Walls, of Cornwall, England, who was a true helpmeet to him in all his enterprises. At one time when he was principal of a private school for boys in London, she conducted a similar in- stitution for girls in the same city. Her death, which occurred in Norwalk, April 8, 1887, was deeply mourned by a large circle of friends and acquaintances. In his early life Robert Guthrie learned the tailor's trade, and for some time


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followed it in London, but in 1842 he came to America, and settled in Norwalk, where he has since lived in retirement. Of a family of eleven children, the greater number were born in Eng- land, several dying and being buried there. Rob- ert B., born December 22, 1826, died in 1834; Henry F., our subject, is mentioned more fully below; Claude, born September 16, 1830, is a resident of the town of Norwalk, and has been engaged in business there as a turner, farmer and blacksmith, but now follows the latter occupa- tion exclusively; Margaret J., born March 4, 1833, died in 1835; Alexander, born March 24, 1835, served during the Civil war in the 17th Connecti- cut Volunteer Infantry, and for some years pre- vious to his death, which occurred in 1875, he was engaged in business as a turner at Silver- mine, in the town of Norwalk; Elizabeth A., born December 14. 1836, died March 4, 1838; Eliza- beth A. (2), born October 16, 1839, died in 1839; Sidney, born August 16, 1841, was a soldier in the 10th Connecticut Volunteer Infantry, and is now a resident of Silvermine; St. Clair, born March 21, 1844, is a farmer in Kansas; Joseph, born February 2, 1846, died June 22, 1867; Ed- mond A., born August 13, 1849, died in 1890.


Henry F. Guthrie's education was obtained chiefly in the private school in London of which his father was the head, and at the age of thir- teen he began clerking in the establishment of William Buckmaster, a regimental tailor, with whom he remained about eighteen months. He then took a trip to the coast of Africa in a ship which was sent for a cargo of guano, and on his return set sail for America, his first employment after landing being as a farm hand in New Jersey, where he spent one season. In 1846 he came to Norwalk; on June 10, 1850, he engaged in busi- ness on his own account at Silvermine, and ever after conducted a lumber mill and turning shop there, his extensive trade keeping his mill runn- ing night and day most of the time, and giving employment to a large number of hands. Dur- ing the fifty years which he spent in this busi- ness Mr. Guthrie won the esteem and confidence of financiers, and he was a valued adviser in various enterprises. For many years he was a director in the Central National Bank of Nor- walk, also in the Fairfield County Savings Bank, and for a long time he was a director in the Fairfield County Agricultural Society, which is now a thing of the past.


On January 30, 1854. Mr. Guthrie mar- red Miss Hannah Buttery, who was born May 20, 1834, in Norwalk, this county. Her father was Silas Buttery, a highly esteemed citizen, and her family is well known in this locality. Mr.


Guthrie was identified helpfully with all forms of philanthropic work in his community, and contributed liberally to the advancement of religious enterprises. He took a keen interest in. the questions of the day, and on October 20, 1852, became a naturalized citizen of the United States. Politically he was a steadfast Repub- lican, but he neither sought or held office-in fact he refused nominations when tendered to him. He died April 28, 1898.


D AVID A. NICHOLS makes his home in the town of Monroe, Fairfield county, and is one of the most popular men in that section. He was born there May 19, 1856, about two miles east. of Monroe Center, on what is known as Barn Hill, and belongs to a family identified with Con- necticut history from the earliest days, the first ancestor in this country having been Sergeant Francis Nichols, who lived in Stratford in 1639, and was one of the first settlers and original pro- prietors of that town.


Sergeant Francis Nichols was a native of England, and was doubtless closely related to. Col. Richard Nicolls, the first English governor of New York State. He had been a military man in his native country, and there is some evi- dence that he belonged to the famous regiment of Horse Guards, of London, some of whom are. known to have come to Boston about the time of his emigration. Francis Nichols was twice mar- ried, his second wife being Anne Wines, daughter of Barnabas Wines, of Southold, L. I. From his- second son, Caleb, who was born in England, our subject traces his descent through Abraham, born January 19, 1662; Joseph, born September. 21, 1685; and Lieut. Nathan, born December 1, 1709. Nathan, Jr., son of Lieut. Nathan and Patience Nichols, was baptized May 24, 1778. His son Daniel was a native of the town of Hunt- ington (formerly Stratford), Fairfield county, where he owned considerable land and carried on farming. He married Hannah Bennett, and they reared three sons, all of whom have long since passed the four-score mark, viz .: George L., Nathan B. and Daniel A., the last two liv- ing in Huntington. The father was of a very retiring disposition, and passed his life quietly, dying at the ripe old age of eighty-seven years.


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Daniel A. Nichols was born March 4, 1814, in the town of Huntington, where he spent his- youth and early manhood. In about 1854 he removed to Monroe, where he purchased a 180- acre tract at what was known as Barn Hill, which was considered one of the best, if not the. best, farms in the town, and here he carried on


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agricultural pursuits until his retirement from active life. He has also been extensively inter- ested in cattle droving and dealing, bringing stock to the Eastern markets, and combined his two principal branches of business very success- fully, acquiring a comfortable competence for his declining years. As an example of a typical self-made man he stands foremost among the well-to-do citizens of his town and county, for he began life with no money, no brilliant pros- pects, and no capital but his own good charac- ter, industry, thrift and sobriety. His first wages were fifty cents per day, but as the years went by he rose from one degree of prosperity to another, and finally found himself the possessor of a fine property. In about 1889 he sold his Barn Hill farm, and has since led a compara- tively retired life, taking the ease which he well deserves, and enjoying the universal respect and esteem of his neighbors and friends.


Mr. Nichols was first married October 12, 1837, to Nancy Tomlinson, who became the mother of one son, which died in childhood, and his second wife was Selina Treadwell (daughter of Ebenezer Treadwell, and granddaughter of Ebenezer Treadwell, Sr.), to whom he was mar- ried February 23, 1853. To this union also came one son, David A. In 1877 he wedded Mrs. Elizabeth (Lewis) Clarke, widow of William .Clarke. Mr. Nichols is a member of the Con- gregational Church of Monroe, and in his polit- ical predilections he is a stanch Republican, taking a deep interest in the welfare of his party. He is no politician in the sense of being an office-seeker, however, although he has served his town creditably as selectman and member of the board of relief.


David A. Nichols commenced his educational training in the schools of Monroe, and later at- tended, for six months, the private school at Riverside, kept by R. S. Hinmans (who is now (1897) assistant Secretary of the State of Con- necticut), finishing with a course at the Eastman Business College, Poughkeepsie, N. Y., from which institution he was graduated February 9, 1875. Returning home, he took up farming, RANK H. BARNES, M. D., is, in his labors as a physician in charge and the proprietor of Grey Towers Sanitarium, located at Stam- ford, Fairfield Co., Conn., carrying on a work which is daily becoming more and more appre- ciated. The physician's life is always considered an especially interesting and useful one, filled with opportunities for noble and charitable deeds, but in these days, when the fields of science are so broad that no one man can thoroughly explore them all, it is the specialists who, from a strictly which he followed until he was twenty-three years old, when, in the fall of 1879, he was first elected to the office which he has so ably filled ever since-that of town clerk. He has been re-elected every year up to the present, and for the past twelve years without opposition-a rec- ord which speaks more highly for his ability, trustworthiness and fitness than could any words. In 1896 his fellow citizens further honored him with election to the State Legislature, on the Republican ticket, though on that occasion, also, ! professional standpoint, do the most direct good.


he had no opposition, and was again elected to the General Assembly in the fall of 1898. In the session of 1897 he was on the committee of Finance and Judicial Nominations, and was a member of the Special States Prison investigating committee. In the session of 1899 he was a member of the committee on Cities and Bor- oughs. Mr. Nichols has never sought office in any way, and his continued popularity is ample evidence that he has not disappointed his con- stituents in the estimation of either his personal qualities or practical talents. For a number of years he has carried on a fine insurance business, representing six of the best companies in the State, and he has a large agency which extends all over Fairfield county, and brings him a sub- stantial income, this, like all his other affairs, being managed with unusual success.


In 1884 or 1885 he became interested in the raising of fancy chickens, principally black cochins and black cochin bantams, and he still continues this business with profit and pleasure. He has been a leader in the American Poultry Associa- tion, of which, without solicitation on his part, he was elected president for one year January 1, 1897. As may be judged, he is enthusiastic in any cause to which he gives his time or atten- tion, progressive, public-spirited and faithful in his civic life and well liked everywhere.




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