Commemorative Biographical Record of Fairfield County, Connecticut, Part 68

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

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In his second term he introduced the Bill | for increasing the stock of the Consolidated Rail- road to $100,000,000. In March, 1893, Mr. Houlihan was chosen, for the un-expired term ending July 1, 1895, to membership in the board of county commissioners, for Fairfield county, which has control of the county court houses, county jails, county home and other property, and has charge of the highways in certain in- stances, and of the laying out of telegraph and telephone routes. His colleagues on this com- mittee were Whitman S. Mead, of Greenwich, and Daniel S. Rowland, of Bridgeport. For three years prior to 1891 he was a member of the State Central Committee of his party, and during the campaign of 1890 he served on the executive committee from Fairfield county. In 1896 he was a delegate to the Chicago convention, and he and William Kennedy, of Naugatuck. were the only members of the delegation who did not "bolt" when the platform was adopted. Mr. Houlihan was a candidate for Congress in the Fourth Con- gressional District of Connecticut in that year, but as the Republicans carried the day throughout the State he failed of election, although his town gave the largest proportionate Democratic vote of any town in New England. Mr. Houlihan's first wife. whose maiden name was Annie M. Slavin, passed to the unseen life June 29. 1894. leaving four children, viz .: Catherine T .. John Grover. loretta and Annie May. On September 8, 1897. our subject married, for his second wife, Miss Katherine Agnes Hourigan, by whom he has one daughter, Mary Virginia, born January 16, 1899. The family is identified with St. Rose's Catholic Church of Newtown. of which Mr. Houlihan is a prominent member, and he also belongs to the Brotherhood of Elks, the Knights of Honor, the Order of Forresters and the Knights of Columbus.

G EORGE LORING PORTER. M. D. This branch of the Porter family is of the Strat- ford (England) stock, one of whose members, Hugh Porter. was appointed July 17, 1550, trus- tee for the six daughters of Robert Arden, who was the father of Mary, the mother of Shakes- peare. [Duyskinck's " Shakespeare." Ed. 1869; Page XXVII.]

The subject of this biography, a leading physi- cian of Bridgeport, Conn., is of the eighth gen- eration, in direct descent, from John Porter, who sailed from England April 25, 1635. on the .. Susan and Ellen," and settled in Hingham, Mass .; and tradition has it that he headed the town's quota

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SEo. L Porter, en,2.

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in King Philip's wars; was deputy to the General Court, 1644: that year he removed to Danvers (then called Salem), Mass., and from time to time purchased much land, " so that, at the time of his death, he was the largest landholder in Salem, his lands lying in what is now Danvers, Salem, Wenham, Topsfield and Beverly." He was well known throughout the Massachusetts Colony, having held many official positions. Dur- ing the Colonial wars, the Revolutionary period, and the war of 1812, many members of the fam- ily took active parts. At the first fire of the British troops at Lexington fell Asahel Porter, of Woburn; the first named upon the monumental tablet of those who were killed at Bunker Hill was an uncle of the Doctor's grandfather. The mother of Israel Putnam was Elizabeth Porter. and the eventful military career of Gen. Moses Porter (for whom Fort Porter at Niagara was named) began at Bunker Hill and ended with his death in Cambridge, 1822, when Boston gave him an official funeral. He was the first colonel of the First United States Artillery, and planned many of the fortifications on the Atlantic coast. Other members have distinguished themselves in literary, professional, mercantile and agricultural pursuits. The immediate line is:

(1) John Porter, of Hingham and Danvers, Mass., 1635-76; (2) Samuel, of Wenham, Mass., 1660; (3) John, of Wenham, Mass., 1658-1753; (4) Benjamin, of Wenham, Mass., 1691-1778; (5) Moses, of Boxford, Mass., 1719-1811; (6) William, of Boxford, Mass., 1744-1822; (7) Isaac Adams, of Dover, N. H .. 1779; (8) George. of Pittsburg, Penn., 1808: (9) George L., of Bridgeport, Conn., 183S.

John Porter, grandson of the English John, in 1692, during the witchcraft delusion, had the courage to publicly oppose the popular madness, and, with his wife Lydia, testified to the good character of Sarah Wildes, who was accused by Goody Bibber of bewitching her. This oppo- sition to the prevailing public frenzy subjected them to personal insult and pecuniary loss.

George Porter, the Doctor's father, was born in Danvers, in early manhood settled in Concord, N. H., and there conducted a hardware business as Porter & Rolfe until 1852, when he removed to Pittsburg, Penn., where he. in the firm of Dil- worth, Porter & Co., was engaged in the manu- facture of railroad supplies for many years. He was a public-spirited man, liberal and earnest in his support of religious, charitable and benevo- lent works, a friend to the needy, and at his death in 1882 was, by all who knew him, esteemed, beloved, venerated. His wife, Clar- issa Ayer, a member of a well-known family, was

a daughter of Peter Ayer, of Haverhill, Mass., and a descendant of Syman Ayer, who left Eng- land April 15, 1635. upon the ship " Increase," Robert Lete, master, and settled at Haverhill. Our subject is the eldest in the family of three children born to George and Clarissa Porter, the others being: Henry K., an extensive manu- facturer of locomotives, and prominent in edu- cational and benevolent enterprises, residing in Pittsburg, Penn., and Mary P., wife of William E. Lincoln, of Pittsburg.

Dr. George L. Porter was born April 29. 1838, in Concord, N. H., where he remained until he reached the age of ten years. He then entered the Little Blue Academy at Farmington. Maine, and for two years and a half he pursued his studies there. Later he attended school in Concord, and the academy at Pembroke, N. H. In June, 1855, he was graduated from the Academy at New London, N. H., and in 1859 he received the degree of A. M. from Brown University, Providence, R. I. He read medi- cine with Dr. J. P. Drake at Pittsburg, Penn., 1859-60, and later in the office of Doctors Brin- ton & Da Costa, in Philadelphia, Penn., 1860- 62; attended two general and three special courses of lectures at Jefferson Medical College, Philadelphia. which institution conferred upon him the degree of M. D., in March, 1862. On April 29 following Doctor Porter passed the army medical examination board at Washington, D. C., and was assigned to duty as a * proof candidate" at the general hospital at Strasburg, Va., where he reported for duty to Major-Gen- eral Banks, May 10, 1862. On the 25th of the same month, when the Union forces retreated down the Shenandoah Valley, Doctor Porter volunteered to remain with the sick and wounded, and was captured by Colonel Ashby, of the Vir- ginia cavalry; but Gen. "Stonewall" Jackson at once placed him in charge of the hospital, and requested him to care for the Confederate

wounded also. This was probably the first recognition during the Civil war of the right of medical officers to claim the protection of the modern rules of war governing non-belligerents. For this action he was honorably mentioned in the official reports, and received a compliment- ary letter from the surgeon-general.

When the Confederates were driven up the Valley he was placed at Strasburg in charge of the wounded on both sides, and after the battle of Cross Keys, Va., he established a general hos- pital for the Germans of General Blenker's divis- ion. On the 12th of June he was transferred to the general hospital at Winchester, Va., and on the ist of July was assigned to Best's battery,

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with which he served during the summer of 1862. He was present at the battle of Cedar Mountain, the combats along the Rappa- hannock, the second battle of Bull Run, and the battle of South Mountain, and on July 17, 1862, he was commissioned assistant-surgeon U. S.

Army, with the rank of . first lieutenant.

served in the general hospital at Braddocks Bar- racks, Frederick, Md., from September 17 to No- vember 18, 1862, and was then ordered to join the Army of the Potomac at Falmouth, Va., assigned to the Fifth Cavalry, and served with this regi- ment until May 10, 1864. He was present at the battles of Fredericksburg. Beverly Ford, Gettys- burg, Brandy Station, Todd's Tavern, Flem- ming's Cross Roads, Manassas Gap, Kelly's Ford, Middleton, Upperville, Williamsport, Boons- boro (where he was wounded in the left arm). Funkston, Falling Waters. Beaver Dam. War- renton, Ashby's Gap, Front Royal, Culpeper Court House and Morton's Ford.

By order of the War Department Doctor Por- . continued on duty until the arrival of his succes- ter was relieved from duty April 29, 1864, and | sor. when he crossed the continent on horseback alone, over the Lewis and Clark trail, returning to the Eastern States by the Isthmus route. Since 1 October. 1868, he has been in general practice at Bridgeport, and during that time he has served in the State National Guard for seven years, i four years as surgeon of the Fourth Regiment, ness he remained with the wounded at Freder- I and three as medical director upon the staff of Gen. Thomas L. Watson, the commanding general. ordered to report at Washington: but as the Army of the Potomac had severed its connection with the railroad before the order was received. and for a time had no communication with the : capital. he served with his regiment in the Wilder- . ness campaign. After the battles of the Wilder- icksburg for a few days, and was then sent to Belle Plain in charge of the first train of wound- ed, whence he proceeded with dispatches to Washington.

The Doctor often performed important surgi- cal operations on the field and under heavy fire, and in referring to his services with the Fifth U. S. Cavalry Capt. Julius Mason, U. S. A., addressed the board of officers on staff brevets as follows: "During this time the regiment was en- gaged in many battles, losing heavily in sick and wounded. Assistant-Surgeon Porter's faithful- ness to the sick and wounded is gratefully re- membered by the officers and men, and his conspicuous gallantry during the battles of Up- perville, Aldie, Gettysburg, Williamsburg, Funks- town and Brandy Station. where he took the dead and wounded almost from the hands of the | Connecticut; of the Oquosoc Angling Association; enemy, entitles him to the greatest praise and : of the Metabetchonan, the Bostonnais and the consideration. He was under my command dur- ing all the above named battles, and, for his gal- lant conduct and faithful and intelligent services, he is justly entitled to a brevet captaincy and a brevet majority."

Doctor Porter was post surgeon at Washington Arsenal from May, 1864. to May, 1867; was the only commissioned officer present when the body ; was president of the Bridgeport Library Associa-

of John Wilkes Booth was secreted; had medical charge of the conspirators against President Lin- coln, imprisoned at the old penitentiary building; was present at the hanging of four of them, and accompanied the others to Tortugas. He was brevetted captain and major March 13, 1865, for faithful, gallant and meritorious service in the field during the war of the Rebellion. In May, 1867. he was ordered to report at St. Paul, Minn., and was assigned to duty at Camp Cook, Montana, where he reported on the 27th of August following. During the spring of 1868 he served with an expedition to the mouth of the Musselshell river, and during April and May, in addition to his medical duties. he did volunteer service as "officer of the day," to relieve the line officers, who were greatly overworked by the constant presence of hostile Indians under the command of Sitting Bull. Doctor Porter ten- dered his resignation. to take effect July 18, 1868; but as no medical officer had then reported he

Doctor Porter is a member of the Bridgeport Medical Association, president in 1867-77; of the Fairfield Medical Association, president in 1882: of the Connecticut Medical Society, presi- dent in 1888-89; of the American Medical As- sociation, member of the judicial council 1891-94; of the American Academy of Medicine: of the Ninth International Medical Congress, vice-presi- dent of the section on military surgery, 1887; president of the board of health of Bridgeport, 1882-83; director and consulting physician of the Bridgeport Hospital; member of the military order of the Royal Legion; of the thirty-third degree of the Masonic Fraternity; of the Grand Army of the Republic; of the Army and Navy Club of

Island Brook fishing and game clubs; of the Young Men's Christian Association; of the Sea Side Club: of the Algonquin and Eclectic Clubs; : and of the Bridgeport Scientific Society; also of the Army and Navy Club of New York, and of the : New York Athletic Club. He has been visiting : physician of the Hartford Retreat since 1880;

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tion in 1879, and is medical examiner for many life insurance companies and benefit organiza- tions. In 1882 Doctor Porter published in the "New England Medical Monthly" a " Report of a Case of Xanthic Oxide Calculus," the only specimen ever recognized in this country, and the eighth on record; half of the specimen has been deposited in the Army Medical Museum at Washington, and the remainder in the Pathologi- cal Museum of Jefferson Medical College. He is also the author of papers on "A New Danger in Surgery," in 1884; " Tubal Pregnancy," 1883; "The Cost of Sickness to the Individual and to the State, " president's address Connecticut Medi- cal Society, 1889; "The Medical Practice Act in Connecticut," an address to the Connecticut Legislature, April, 1893; "The Recognition of Death," 1875; and " The Wave Theory, its Ap- plication in Sickness," 1876. He began the dis- cussion on suspended animation which resulted in the passage of the present Medical Examiners law of Connecticut in 1882, and delivered the inaugural address at the dedication of the Surgi- cal building of the Bridgeport Hospital.

In 1862 Doctor Porter married Miss Catherine Marie Chaffee, daughter of Edwin M. Chaffee. of Providence, R. I., the inventor of the Chaffee Cylinder for vulcanizing rubber. Twelve chil- dren have brightened their home. viz .: Clara Elizabeth, George, James Benton, Ethel, Lind- say, May, Alice, Aaron, Hugh, Grace, Anna and Clarissa.

C S. MEAD, M. D., a prominent physician of Port Chester, N. Y .. is a member of one of the oldest and most highly esteemed families of this county, and his biography is appropriately inserted in this volume.

The Doctor is of the eighth generation in direct descent from John Mead [other authorities say William], the noted pioneer of Fairfield county, the line of descent being traced as fol- lows: Through John, a son of the pioneer, Ebenezer (1), Ebenezer (2), Deliverance, Ephraim, and Isaac Howe Mead, our subject's father. The name has always been associated with a high order of citizenship, and at various times members of the family have intermarried with other prominent clans, including the Howes and Waterburys, descendants of early settlers in Stamford and Greenwich. The Mead family furnished many gallant soldiers to the cause of freedom during the trying period of the Revolu- tionary war, and the Howes were represented in the same struggle by Capt. Isaac Howe, who was born January 9, 1711, and served under

Washington as captain of the 13th Company, 9th Regiment, of the Connecticut troops. An- other of our subject's ancestors, Lieut. David Waterbury, was an officer in the Colonial army during King Philip's war.

Doctor Mead was born February 19, 1859, at Indian Field, in the town of Greenwich, upon the homestead which had been in the possession of his ancestors for several generations. His par- ents, Isaac Howe and Mary E. Mead, reared a family of six sons, of whom our subject was the third in order of birth, and all are now occupy- ing honorable positions in life. Ephraim is a resident of Greenwich; Willard H. conducts a ranch in Wyoming; Spencer P. is in the em- ploy of the Standard Oil Company in New York City; Thomas M. is engaged in farming in the town of Greenwich; and Amos H. is in business in Greenwich village. As more complete ac- counts of the family are given elsewhere in this book, we will pass on to the personal history of our subject.

During his youth Dr. Mead enjoyed the ad- vantages of a country life, and he was thor- oughly initiated into the mysteries of farm man- agement while working on the homestead under his father's direction. His education was begun in the schools of Cos Cob District, with Miss Quintard as his first teacher, and after com- pleting the course of study offered there he at- tended Greenwich Academy, pursuing the higher branches under Professor Shepherd, in prepara- tion for a collegiate course. In 1878 he entered Columbia College, New York City, and on gradu- ating from the literary department in 1882 he took the medical course offered in that institu- tion, receiving the degree of M. D. in the class of '85. For two years longer he continued his studies in the metropolis, the greater portion of the time being spent in Roosevelt Hospital, where for eighteen months-from December 1, 1885, to June 1, 1887-he was on the house staff, and for six months he was house physician In the summer of 1887 he returned to his native town. While looking about for a suitable location for his professional work, he was encouraged by fre- quent calls from the people of Greenwich, and later in the same year he located permanently at Port Chester. He met with success from the start, in the face of competition which would have filled a less competent practitioner with dismay, and he now has a large and lucrative business, with every prospect of further advance. He is and has been for several years one of the attending physicians of the Ladies Hospital of Port Chester. In politics the Doctor is a stanch Republican, and he is a leading member of the

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Congregational Church at Port Chester. So far he has not donned the matrimonial voke, but he is popular socially, and is identified with various fraternal orders, including the Royal Arcanum, the Foresters, and the Improved Order of Red Men, all of Port Chester.

C HARLES D. BURNES. Official honors come to the few in early life; the majority attain them in their riper years. The lives of Americans who have won lasting fame in states- manship and in professional honors abound in these instances of early recognition, and it is therefore rather in the direction of prophetic pre- monition that similar occurrences point. To Charles D. Burnes, judge of the borough court at Greenwich, has come the honor of being the youngest incumbent of that office Greenwich has ever had.

Judge Burnes comes from a sturdy Scotch- Irish ancestry, his great-grandfather having been an emigrant from the North of Ireland. The grandfather, James Burnes, was a successful merchant. The father, Rev. Harvey E. Burnes, is a Methodist Episcopal clergyman, now sta- tioned at Bridgeport. Conn. To Rev. Harvey E. and Grace (Andrew) Burnes were born four children, three of whom are now living. Of these our subject is the eldest; Everett A. is in the ministry; the youngest, Grace E., is at home | with her parents.

Charles D. Burnes was born at Kensington, Conn., August 4. 1871, and was graduated from the Hackettstown, N. J., Institute in 1888. He then for two years attended Wesleyan University at Middletown, Conn. He entered Yale Law School, from which he was graduated in 1893. The young lawyer immediately began the prac- tice of his profession at South Norwalk, Conn., where he remained until July, 1894, when he be- came an associate of Hon. R. Jay Walsh at ·Greenwich, and later. in July, 1898, opened an office in that place. The same year he came to Greenwich he was elected deputy registrar of voters, and later clerk of the borough court, and in 1897, at the age of twenty-six years, he was elected judge of the borough court. This judicial position he has filled with signal ability. and he has thoroughly demonstrated his unusual legal attainments.

the Amogerone Fire Company at Greenwich. He was married in 1895 to Miss Elizabeth May Raymond, daughter of Thomas I. Raymond, of South Norwalk, Conn. To Mr. and Mrs. Burnes has come one child. Dudley Raymond, born in November, 1895. In that year Judge Burnes built on Putnam avenue the cozy home which he now occupies.

N TELSON BUSH MEAD. Among the most attractive dwellings to be found in this re- gion, favored as it is by a class of residents who have added to nature's charms the most pleasing conception of modern architectural skill, is the home of the subject of this sketch, a well-known resident of Belle Haven, in the town of Green- wich. Its location is unsurpassed for beauty, and while the house is modern in construction and convenience it possesses a unique charm be- cause it is built of huge boulders, natural size, which had previously been used for several gen- erations for fencing upon the farm, and had been first taken from their resting places by our sub- ject's ancestors. They have been most ingen- iously placed in the structure, the smaller stones being assigned to the uses for which they were best adapted, and the result is thoroughly satis- factory from an artistic standpoint.

Mr. Mead was born March 25, 1860, and is of the eighth generation in direct descent from John Mead [other authorities say William]. who came from England in 1642 [others authorities say 1635]. and in October, 1660, located at Sound Beach in the town of Green- wich, the first settlement made in that sec- tion. The two sons of the pioneer, John and Joseph, accompanied him to Greenwich, and the former was the progenitor of the various | branches now residing there. Ebenezer Mead (1), son of John, son of the pioneer, made his home at Indian Field in the town of Greenwich, and his son Ebenezer (2), the next in the line of descent. was born there in 1692. Ebenezer (2) had eleven sons and one daughter; the youngest of his large family was Abraham Mead, who served as a captain in the Revolutionary war, taking part in the battle of White Plains. He had previously been a captain in the Colonial forces, under King George III, and his commis- sion, dating from May, 1774. is now in the pos- session of our subject, who is the eldest living

In politics Judge Burnes is a Republican, and he is regarded as one of the vital forces of the | descendant. Capt. Abraham Mead was born party at Greenwich. He is an active and inde- | December 14, 1742, and for many years was en- fatigable worker in its ranks, and is growing | paged in the business as a potter. About 1790 steadily in the esteem of the community. He is | he settled at the present site of Field Point or a member of Indian Harbor Yacht Club, and of i Belle Haven, where he purchased a large tract

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of land which he divided into two farms for his sons, Isaac and Zophar, the latter of whom mar- ried and had a family, but none of his children left descendants. Of the Captain's daughters only one was married, and she left no descend- ants. Captain Mead was a man of influence, be- ing greatly respected wherever he was known. His death occurred December 24, 1827, and his remains now rest in the Congregational cemetery at Greenwich.

1 --

Isaac Mead, our subject's grandfather, was born December 8, 1770, and died January 31, 1849. He was one of the leading citizens of Greenwich in his day. In build he was smaller than ordinary, but he possessed firmness and ex- ecutive ability, and his farm at Field Point was kept in an excellent state of cultivation. He mar- ried Clarinda Mead, a member of the same fam- ily, who was in the fifth generation in descent from John, the pioneer. She died March 20, 1856. and the remains of both were first interred in the Congregational cemetery in Greenwich, but have since been removed to New Putnam cemetery.

Hon. Augustus Mead, our subject's father, was born January 1, 1805, at the present site of Field Point, in a house which is still standing. As the only child of his parents, he inherited the homestead and other property, its management occupying much of his time throughout his life. Although he had but limited opportunities for study in his youth in the district schools of that time, he became a well informed man, and his sound judgment and intelligence gave him marked influence. While he was firm in his convictions, he was not obstinate, being ready to concede a point if found in error. For many years he was a leader in the Democratic party in this county, and while he held various township offices, includ- ing that of treasurer, he was more widely known through his long service as member of the State Assembly. It was mainly through his influence that Greenwich was separated from the Stamford jurisdiction, and he was the first probate judge of the new district. He held that office for many years, and was still serving at the time of his death, which occurred April 22, 1864. He was short in stature but of heavy build, weighing about two hundred pounds, and his death was caused by what is now known as pneumonia, then com- monly called lung fever. He was married Sep- tember 12, 1832, to his first wife, Sarah M. Hosted, who died in October, 1857, leaving no children. On March 23, 1859, he married Miss Elizabeth Lyon Mead, who was born October 27, 1826, at Indian Field, Greenwich, daughter of Ephraim and Azubah Mead. She was a des- cendant of John Mead the pioneer, her father

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Commemorative Biographical Record of Fairfield County, Connecticut, Part 68

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