Commemorative Biographical Record of Fairfield County, Connecticut, Part 56

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 56

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).

On January 1, 1883, Mr. Nichols was married to Miss Elsie E. Beardsley, a daughter of Agur and Elizabeth (Lewis) Beardsley, of Monroe, and granddaughter of Elihu Beardsley; her family is one of the oldest in Monroe, Conn. Agur and Elizabeth Beardsley had three children: Elsie Edwards, William Agur (who is rector of St. Thomas Church, New Haven), and Edward Sher- man. To Mr. and Mrs. Nichols have also been born three children, whose names with dates of birth are as follows: Daniel Alonzo, June 9, 1886; Morris Beardsley, March 30, 1890; and Selina Elizabeth, December 4, 1891. The family at- tend the Congregational Church.

Digitized by Google

269

COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

And it is in this connection that we introduce Dr. Barnes and the institution of which he is the head, and without mention of which no history of Stamford would be complete.

Dr. Barnes is a native of New York State, born at Mohawk, Herkimer county. a son of Charles T. and Flora A. (Johnson) Barnes, the former of whom was one of the corps of Institute Instructors of New York State. There were four children in the family: Margaret E., who lives in Sauquoit, N. Y .; Frank H .; Charles A., of Little Falls, N. Y .; and Harry L., of Sauquoit. The grandfather, Charles L. Barnes, was also a resi- dent of New York State, for a time engaging in the hotel business in Westchester county and later farming at Norwich Corners, in Herkimer county. He married a Miss Ludlow, and they had seven children, four of whom are yet living, viz .: Charles Tapan; and George D., James L. and Richard S., all of whom make their home at Norwich Corners.

Frank H. Barnes spent his childhood at Sauquoit, N. Y., and in his youth attended the public and private schools and the Utica free academy. At Utica he commenced the study of medicine under Dr. Aaron Osborne, with whom he continued for one year, and then for a year was in the employ of the Aetna Insurance Co., at Utica, N. Y. He finished his professional preparation at a New York medical college, from which he was graduated, and he shortly afterward came to the Grey Towers Sanitarium, where he was assistant physician until March, 1897. He then became proprietor.

The Grey Towers Sanitarium was established in 1893 by Dr. J. J. Kindred, and was duly in- corporated by a special Act of the State Legisla- ture of Connecticut as the Darien Home, being really a physician's home for the private care and treatment of patients suffering from mental and nervous diseases. The institution is constructed on the detached-cottage plan, with special de- partments for alcoholic and narcotic habitues, who may here receive the most modern treat- ment in comfortable homelike surroundings; and the number of actual cures of this nature which have been effected is really wonderful. Situated as it is, in Summer street in the suburbs of Stam- ford, on Long Island Sound, within easy reach of New York City, the Home could not be other- wise than popular for those desiring such a re- treat. The rare scenery of the beautiful hill country of this region, the surroundings, health- ful as only rural surroundings with the extra ad- vantage of fresh sea air can be, and yet affording all the modern comforts and conveniences of a city home, make a combination which could not

fail to benefit at least, and at the same time please the senses with the general air of quiet picturesqueness. The site of the Home is the highest elevation in the vicinity, and the central stone building with the several roomy cottages of pleasing architecture are situated in spacious grounds. The buildings are new and modern, equipped with the best system of heating, elec- tric lights, hot and cold water, etc. The rooms are handsome and tastefully furnished, and the general arrangements are made with the view of providing home-like comfort for all. The patients enjoy the greatest degree of freedom consistent with their welfare, and cheerfulness and attractive- ness are everywhere noticeable features. Amuse- ments of all kinds are planned and provided, such as carriage drives, delightful walks, weekly dances, entertainments, billiards, lawn tennis, croquet and other out-of-door exercises; but all are ar- ranged with the utmost regard for the needs of the occupants, of whom there is a general average of fifty, looked after by twenty employes. Dis-

eases such as nervous prostration, chronic dys- pepsia with nervous symptoms, paralysis, spinal cord affections and all nervous maladies receive special attention, every facility being at hand for their proper care and treatment, while all the systems employed are based on experience, with the newest and most improved methods. Patients of moderate or abundant means can be equally well accommodated, a circumstance which adds much to the popularity of the place, and in- creases its benefit to mankind in general.

Dr. Barnes was married in Stamford, Conn.,. to Miss Ella B. Jerman, daughter of Chauncey L. Jerman, one of the former prominent shoe dealers of Stamford, and a descendant of one of the old and highly esteemed families of the. county, a sketch of whom appears elsewhere.

A NDREW JACKSON BELL, a leading citi- zen of Stamford, has probably done more than any other one man of late years toward the material development and improvement of that charming little city, and many of its most costly and attractive buildings owe their existence to his enterprise. Although he has now passed the al- lotted limit of three-score and ten years, he is still active and vigorous, his extensive real-es- tate interests receiving his personal attention, and his reminiscences of his long and busy life. are most entertaining and instructive. He was born April 5, 1824, in the town of Five Mile River, Norwalk, Fairfield county, and comes of a long-lived family.

In October, 1640, a company of Wethersfield.

Digitized by Google

270

COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

men, twenty-nine in all, purchased from the New Haven Colony a tract of land in Connecticut, agreeing to remove thereto by the 16th of May, 1641. This was first called Rippowam, but afterward Stamford. Among these early settlers was Francis Bell, who received as his share seven acres, on which he settled, and it is evident from the town records that he was an active man of affairs in the new settlement. At a town meet- ing held October 19, 1641, he and Nathan Mit- .chell were appointed "to lay out the house lots and order the manner of assigning them, rectify what is amiss and consider what allowance is to be made for holes not fit to be measured for land, and to measure these lots for every man at two pence an acre, or three shillings a house lot." .On October 27, 1641, Francis Bell was elected representative from the town to the General .Court-the legislative body of the New Haven Colony-having the honor of being the first to serve in his community, and two years later he was selected by the General Court to form a military company in the town, and received his commission as lieutenant. He was equally promi- nent in religious matters, and in 1644, when a .contention arose between the people and their pastor, he was selected by them to make a pedes- trian journey to Boston, in company with George Slawson, for the purpose of persuading John Bishop to come and minister to them; and the mission was successful. In 1659 he was again appointed as an arbitrator to settle a disagree- ment between the congregation and the Rev. Mr. Bishop, from all of which we may judge that he possessed considerable influence and was deeply respected. In 1670 he was given charge of the work of building a new meeting-house. Besides the service above mentioned, he acted for five years as selectman of his town, beginning with 1666. This Francis Bell was a native of York- shire, England, and came to Massachusetts in 1630 with Rebecca, his wife, forming part of a company led by Sir Richard Saltonstall, some of whom settled at Wethersfield and other towns in the New Haven Colony. A copy of the coat of arms of the Yorkshire family is in the possession of John V. Hecker, of Noroton, Conn., whose wife belongs to the Bell family. Francis Bell died January S, 1689, and his last will and testa- ment, proved March 11, 1690, a curious docu- ment, is on file in the archives of the Fairfield probate court.

Jonathan, son of Francis and Rebecca Bell, was born in September, 1641, and the first white child born in Stamford. He became a promi- nent citizen of the town, of which he was select- man for fourteen years, and in 1670 was sent as

representative to the General Court, serving there with few interruptions for twenty-six years. He was appointed to select a school teacher, and in 1693 was delegated " to treat with Mr. John Daven- port in order to his settlement as a minister of the Gospel." This Mr. Davenport was a man of note in his day, and his descendants for a num- ber of generations were prominent in the history of the town and State. In 1672 Jonathan Bell was appointed lieutenant of the Stamford Mili- tary Company, and in 1698 was commissioned captain. He died March 11, 1699. Jonathan Bell was married twice, and by his first wife, Mercy, daughter of Jasper Crane, of New Haven, he had three children. His second wife was Susannah, daughter of Rev. Abraham Pierson, of Branford, by whom he had eight children-three sons and five daughters.

Jonathan Bell, son of Jonathan and Mercy Bell, was born February 14, 1663-64, and like his ancestors was prominent in the affairs of the town. From 1689 to 1699 he was town clerk; in 1692 he was made lieutenant of the military company, and from 1712 to 1719 he was repre- sentative to the General Court at Hartford. He reached the advanced age of eighty-one years. He was married three times, first to Grace Kitch- ell, of New Jersey, who bore him one child,

Jonathan, born January 15, 1693-94. He was a leading man in the town, and for nine years selectman of Stamford, was ensign in the military company, and in 1736 was appointed school commissioner. He was an active church- man, and was conspicuous in the organization of the "Middlesex Society," a religious body made up of people on the east side of the town (now Da- rien), who, after separation from the Society of Stamford, built a meeting-house of their own. On December 2, 1742, Ensign Bell was appoint- ed to investigate whether a plot of land might be granted to the Episcopalians, who had applied for it, "without injury to the town." It was granted, Ensign Bell laid it out, and it was the site of the first St. John's Church. He also sang in the Church, and at a meeting in 1748 it was "Voted, That Mr. Jonathan Bell shall sing or tune the psalm in times of public worship, and that he may tune it in the old or new way, as suits him best; and also that he shall read the psalms." On January 24, 1716, Ensign Bell married Eunice, daughter of Thomas and Mary (Olmstead) Reed. of Norwalk, and they had eleven children, of whom,

Thaddeus Bell, born March 31, 1728, was the great-grandfather of the gentleman whose name introduces these lines. He lived at Ox Ridge, in the outskirts of Stamford, and was engaged in

Digitized by Google

271

COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

farming. In July, 1775, at the outbreak of the Revolutionary war, he was appointed on a "committee of safety," and on December 1, 1777, on a * committee to care for the families whose husbands had gone into the Continental service." On December 14, 1753, he married Mary, daughter of Cary and Martha (Holly) Leeds, and they had five children.

Their son Thaddeus, born March 18, 1759, in Stamford, served gallantly throughout the Revolution, and rose to the rank of orderly ser- geant. He was taken prisoner and confined in New York. and after being exchanged again en- listed. serving to the end of the war. In 1805 he was chosen representative to the State Legis- lature, and served as such for sixteen consecu- tive years, during which time he played a notable part in the setting off of the eastern part of the town of Stamford. It was proposed to call it Bellville, after the family, but he modestly de- clined the honor, and it was left to him to name the town, as there was a general disagreement among the people. He was on his way back to the Capital without having decided what to call it when he met a friend just returned from the Isthmus of Darien, and on his suggestion the present name was adopted. The next year he was chosen to represent the new town in the Legislature, being the first in Darien as his an- cestor Francis Bell had been the first in Stam- ford. On May 4, 1780, Thaddeus Bell married Elizabeth, daughter of James and Sarah (War- ing) How, and they had six children. The fa- ther lived to the ripe old age of ninety-four years.

Andrew Bell, son of Thaddeus, was born February 12, 1791, and was married September 29. 1813, to Betsy, daughter of Stephen and Mary (Selleck) Raymond. They had children as follows: Mary Elizabeth, born May 3, 1818. married December 24, 1839, Legrand Johnson. Fannie Raymond, born October 12, 1819, mar- ried, January 1, 1843. Alonzo St. John. Maria Antoinette, born March 1, 1822, married, March 4, 1847, Henry L. Weed. Andrew Jackson is mentioned below. Amanda Malvina, born Sep- tember 16, 1827. married. March -, 1845, George C. Wilson. Thaddeus Holly, born October 4. 1832. Andrew Bell was a school teacher in early life. In 1835 he became captain of a sloop called the " Mayflower," plying between Stam- ford and New York. He died at Five Mile River, Fairfield county, Conn., July 17, 1874.

The old Bell Bible, which has been in the family for nearly three centuries, is a rare curi- osity, and was printed many years before the first New England settlers came hither. Only part of the Old Testament remains, but it is very 1

legible and clearly printed, and the book was used at the 200th and 250th anniversary celebra- tions in Stamford. The following record gives the names of its owners and the length of time each one had it in possession:

Francis Bell, before 1640 to 1690; Jonathan Bell, 1690 to 1699; Abraham Bell, 1699 to 1744; Abraham Bell, 1744 to 1795; Mercy Bell, 1795 to 1842; Isaac Bell, 1842 to 1848; Abraham Bell, 1848 to 1891; Georgianna Bell, 1891 . to present. The last named is the wife of John V. Hecker, of Noroton, Connecticut.

Our subject spent his boyhood in the town of Norwalk, where he attended school until he reached the age of seventeen. He then removed to Stamford and learned the blacksmith trade with James B. Scofield, receiving, as compensa- tion for each year's work, only thirty dollars. Being too independent and ambitious to remain in a subordinate position, he determined to begin business for himself as soon as he became of age. Having borrowed fifty dollars from his father, he put his resolution into effect, opening a black- smith shop in Stamford, near the bank of the canal on Stage street, and in the rear of the "Stamford House." He prospered from the first, the stage line furnishing him a profitable 1 custom, and at the end of three months he easily repaid the money borrowed. During the first year he cleared five hundred dollars, and having ¡ formed a partnership with Mr. Waterbury, re- moved his business to a shop located on the present site of the postoffice. A year later he purchased his partner's interest, and for twelve years continued the business with uninterrupted success, working from sunrise to sunset the year round. In looking over his old ledger he now finds but six of his former customers living, namely: Isaac Wardwell, Dr. Chauncey Ayres, Charles Gaylor. Joseph D. Warren, Lewis Weed ! and Silas Scofield. His first purchase of real estate in Stamford was a house and lot on Bank street, intended as a residence for himself, and later he bought land on Atlantic street, just north of the railroad, for the sum of $700, which he sold a few weeks afterward for $1,300. His next investment was a lot on Summer street, where he built the house now occupied by Dr. P. P. Van- Vleet. Finding the real-estate business both congenial and profitable, he disposed of his blacksmith shop shortly before the war, and de- voted his attention to this new line of effort. He is now one of the chief property owners of the town, and having laid out some popular sub-di- visions, he opened a street through his property in the center of the city. called Bell street. At one time he owned the old Academy property, at

Digitized by Google

272

COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

the corner of Atlantic and Bank streets, which i control of it. This fine property, located near was in litigation for many years. When the town ! the railroad station in the town of Newtown, now hall was built he was the leading member of the , comprises some seventy acres of highly-improved building committee. Subsequently he erected on | land; and its well-kept appearance denotes the his own account many handsome residences and : care and superior judgment of its owner. business houses, including a block of stores called Bell block. Politically. Mr. Bell is a Democrat, but not a strict partisan so far as local issues are 1 1 concerned. His ability and public spirit are highly appreciated by his fellow-citizens, and for many years he has held office as justice of peace and burgess of the borough of Stamford. He served as chief of police, and also as chief en- gineer of the fire department.

On February 10, 1847. Mr. Sherman was united in marriage with Miss Caroline Beers, a daughter of Lemuel Beers, of Newtown. In re- ligious faith Mr. Sherman is a lifelong adherent of the doctrines of the Episcopal Church; in politics he is a stanch Republican, originally an equally zealous Whig. Affable and courteous to all alike. he possesses the essential qualification to success in any sphere of life, that of making friends readily, and of strengthening the ties of

In 1848 Mr. Bell was married in Stamford to : Miss Maria Louise Miller, daughter of Mr. Seth | all friendships. which in his case are of that last- Miller, a well-known resident of that city. Of ! ing nature that cease only with the final sum- the five children of this union the eldest, Harry, , mons. now cashier of The First National Bank of Stam- ford. married Olive Barber, of Brooklyn, N. Y .. and had-Gertrude, Andrew Jackson and Arthur. (2.) Georgianna is the wife of John V. Hecker, of H ON. JAMES EDMUND MILLER. Few citizens of this section are as well known : throughout its limits as the subject of this sketch, who has been for many years a leading spirit in Noroton, Conn. (3) Frank died in 188c. (4) Edward Morgan (deceased) married Jessie Pol- hamus, of New York City. and had Edward M. (deceased), Jessie H. and Florence. (5) Mary Louise married (first) L. D. Griswold, and (second) Mr. Vincent.

C YRUS BEERS SHERMAN. This venera- ble and highly respected citizen. who has now passed an honorable life of four-score years, and is yet hale and hearty. was born February 24, 1819, in the borough of Newtown, then a mere village. in the same house he now owns and occupies. He is of the seventh generation from Samuel Sherman. the line of his descent being through Samuel (2), Daniel. Samuel, Jo- tham, and Cyrus. [See Sherman genealogy. ]

Cyrus Sherman, father of our subject, also born in Newtown, married Huldah Matilda Booth, and children as follows came to this union: Jo- tham, who was a farmer, is now deceased: Cy- rus B., whose name introduces these lines; and Mary, the widow of Elijah B. Price. The father. who was a lifelong agriculturist, died when our subject was a small boy of some six summers. the mother passing away when he was about twenty-one years old.

Cyrus B. Sherman was reared on the home farm. and his primary education was secured at the district schools of the neighborhood of his home, after which he attended the Newtown Acad- emy for a few years. At the early age of seven- teen he took charge of the home farm, and has ever since had the exclusive management and

i the varied activities of business, political and social life. At present he is serving as county commissioner, and for two terms he represented the town of Redding in the State Legislature. His business interests have been largely con- nected with agriculture and stock raising, and during the summer he resides upon his farm in . Redding, his winters being spent at his residence at Danbury, while he maintains an office in Bridgeport for the transaction of business.

Mr. Miller was born July 28, 1848, in the town of North Castle, Westchester Co., N. Y., and comes of excellent ancestry. Albert Miller, our subject's grandfather, was a farmer in West- chester county, where he died in 1821, at a com- paratively early age.

Peter H. Miller, our subject's father, was born December 23, 1817, in the town of Bed- ford, Westchester county, and as he was left fatherless when only three or four years old he was obliged to make his own way in the world from boyhood. He was reared to farm work, but as a boy he served an apprenticeship with a carriage maker in South Salem, N. Y., and this business he followed successfully for some years in North Castle. In 1853 he removed to the town of Redding, this county, and engaged in farming and stock raising, his death occurring there August 2, 1879. He married Miss Mary Ann Jones, a native of Ridgefield, whose ances- tors came from England at an early day. Her father, Timothy Jones, who was a well-to-do farmer in Ridgefield, was a nephew of Lieutenant

Digitized by Google

..:

Sherman

Digitized by Google

P 1

€

Digitized by

Google

278

COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

Jones, of Revolutionary fame. She is still living, and of the three children of the marriage all oc- cupy honorable positions in life. (1) Rev. El- bert L. Miller graduated from the University of Michigan, and entered the Methodist ministry about thirty years ago, joining the lowa Confer- ence, and is now a presiding elder, with head- quarters at Davenport. He married Miss Char- lotte I. Hill, of Norwalk, this county, sister of Hon. E. J. Hill, a member of Congress from that district. (2) Jennie O. married John F. Sanford, a farmer in Redding, and a brother of ex-Sheriff Sanford of this county, and of Henry Sanford, of Bridgeport, ex-president of the Adams Express Company.

Our subject, who is the youngest of this trio, spent much of his boyhood at the old farm in Redding. For some time he attended the local schools, and later he took a course in the Greens Farms Academy at Westport, graduat- ing at the age of sixteen. The next four years were devoted to helping his father in the busi- ness of stock raising, and at twenty years of age he went west on a prospecting tour, spending about a year in lowa. The more he saw of other places the more he appreciated the advantages of this section. and in the spring of 1869 he returned to Redding to resume the business of stock raising. In the fall of 1872 he went to Bridgeport. and entered the employ of the Adams Express Com- pany, but, his health failing he, in the spring of 1874. removed to New Britain and engaged in business as a dealer in hats, caps, and gents' fur- nishing goods, as a member of the firm of Broth- erton & Miller. In 1875 he sold his interest to his partner and returned to Redding, where he remained until his marriage, October 25, 1876, to Miss Frances W. Coley, of Danbury. He and his bride visited the Centennial Exposition, and then went to lowa for the winter, and in the spring they made a trip to Texas, where Mr. Miller wished to make personal observations in the cattle business. Leaving his wife at Gaines- ville, Texas, he went through the Pan Handle region with two friends, his experiences while "roughing it" being very interesting. Buffalo and other game were plentiful on the plains, and their journeys through the hills were sometimes broken by deep falls of snow. The cowboys whom they met treated them royally, and Mr. Miller speaks of them in the highest terms. On the way back to Connecticut he and his wife vis- ited some Southern States, and for one year after their return they resided in Danbury, but in the spring of 1879 Mr. Miller purchased a homestead in Redding, while in 1883 and 1889 he was elected to the Legislature. In 1895 he

was nominated on the first ballot by the Repub- licans of Fairfield county for the office of county commissioner, he being considered one of the ablest workers in his party. On September 12, 1898. he was elected chairman of the State Cen- tral Committee for the Fifteenth Senatorial Dis- trict; on January 23, 1899, he was elected county commissioner for a second term.

Mr. Miller and his wife have three children: Howard C., now (1899) a lad of eighteen; Ed- mund J. and Francis B. Mrs. Miller is popular in Danbury, where her youth was spent. Her father, Wakeman Coley, who died when she was two years old, was a resident of Weston, this county, and her mother, whose maiden name was Anna Augusta Sanford, was a member of a lead- ing family in Redding. Mrs. Miller is a direct descendant of Joel Barlow, poet, statesman and diplomat, and also a direct descendant of Col. Aaron Barlow, of Revolutionary fame.

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

Commemorative Biographical Record of Fairfield County, Connecticut, Part 56

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