USA > Connecticut > Hartford County > Commemorative biographical record of Hartford County, Connecticut : containing biographical sketches of prominent and representative citizens, and of many of the early settled families, Pt 1 > Part 115
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).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86 | Part 87 | Part 88 | Part 89 | Part 90 | Part 91 | Part 92 | Part 93 | Part 94 | Part 95 | Part 96 | Part 97 | Part 98 | Part 99 | Part 100 | Part 101 | Part 102 | Part 103 | Part 104 | Part 105 | Part 106 | Part 107 | Part 108 | Part 109 | Part 110 | Part 111 | Part 112 | Part 113 | Part 114 | Part 115 | Part 116 | Part 117 | Part 118 | Part 119 | Part 120 | Part 121 | Part 122 | Part 123 | Part 124 | Part 125 | Part 126 | Part 127 | Part 128 | Part 129 | Part 130 | Part 131 | Part 132 | Part 133 | Part 134 | Part 135 | Part 136 | Part 137 | Part 138 | Part 139 | Part 140 | Part 141 | Part 142 | Part 143 | Part 144 | Part 145 | Part 146 | Part 147 | Part 148 | Part 149 | Part 150 | Part 151 | Part 152 | Part 153 | Part 154 | Part 155 | Part 156 | Part 157 | Part 158 | Part 159 | Part 160 | Part 161 | Part 162 | Part 163 | Part 164 | Part 165 | Part 166 | Part 167 | Part 168 | Part 169 | Part 170 | Part 171 | Part 172 | Part 173 | Part 174 | Part 175 | Part 176 | Part 177 | Part 178
502
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
burgh, where they were early and highly-esteemed settlers. Mr. and Mrs. Lowry had twelve children : Samuel, Thomas, Joseph (an inventor of note), William, Martin, Ebenezer, John, David (author and journalist), James (identified with the city government for many years), Mary, Margaret and Jane. To Mr. and Mrs. Mecklem were born six children: Samuel died young; Rachel died in in- fancy; Mary H. died at the age of five years ; Orlando M. and Mary J. are residents of San Jose, Cal .; and Regina E. is the wife of our subject.
JONATHAN M. PECK, a well-known farmer, horticulturist and florist of Bristol, is a native of that town, born Nov. 1, 1829.
Mr. Peck is a lineal descendant of Paul Peck, who is supposed to have been born in the County of Essex, England, in 1608, and to have come to this country in the ship "Defiance" in 1635. In Boston, Mass., or in its vicinity, he remained until 1636, and then removed to Hartford, Conn., with Rev. Thomas Hooker and his friends. His name appears on the list of proprietors of Hartford in 1639, and from the records of the town it appears that he became one of its leading men. His resi- dence is said to have been upon what is now known as Washington street, not far from Trinity College, the site of which is still known among the older in- habitants as the "Peck lot." He was a deacon in the Congregational Church from 1681 until his death, Dec. 23, 1695. His will is to be found upon the Probate Records [B. 5, pp. 217-18-19], dated June 25, 1695, and proved Jan. 15, 1695-96. It is quite lengthy, and is of interest in its details and descriptions of his property, his inventory amount- ing to £536, 5s. He makes bequests to his wife Martha, sons Paul and Joseph, daughters Martha Cornwell, Mary Andrew, Sarah Clark and Elizabeth How, his grandsons Paul and Samuel, and his son- in-law John Shephard. He also names his grand- daughter Ruth Beach, and son-in-law Joseph Bou- ton, to whom Samuel was required to pay legacies. A brief record of his children is as follows :
(1) Paul, born 1639. (2) Martha, born 1641, married John Cornwell, of Middletown, and died March I, 1708-09. (3) Elizabeth, born 1643, mar- ried a Mr. How, of Wallingford. (4) John, born Dec. 22, 1645. (5) Samuel, born 1647, died Jan. 10, 1696. (6) Joseph, born Dec. 22, 1650, died June 26, 1698. (7) Sarah, born in 1653, married Thomas Clark, of Hartford. (8) Hannah, born in 1656, married John Shephard, of Hartford. (9) Mary, born 1662, married John Andrew, of Hart- ford.
The Connecticut Pecks are descendants of Joseph Peck, of Milford, Deacon William and Henry, of New Haven, and Deacon Paul, of Hartford. They were among the early settlers of this country. Each became the ancestor of a numerous race. Their descendants are now scattered throughout most of the States and Territories, mixcd in their settle-
ments with each other and with the Massachusetts Pecks, requiring much labor to separate them. What relationship exists between these ancestors has never been ascertained.
The steps of descent from (I) Paul Peck, 1608, to (VII) Jonathan M. Peck, our subject, are as follows :
(II) Samuel Peck, Sr., born 1647, resided in West Hartford, where he died Jan. 10, 1696. He married Elizabeth -, and had one child.
(III) Samuel Peck, Jr., born 1672, in West Hartford, settled in Middletown (now Berlin), and married, March 6, 1701, Abigail Collier, daughter of Joseph Collier. He died Dec. 9, 1765, his wife on Oct. 28, 1742. Their children : (1) Samuel, born Jan. 6, 1702, died Aug. 25, 1784; (2) Moses, born April, 1703, died Dec. 30, 1759; (3) Isaac, born Nov. 28, 1706, died Oct. 27, 1748; (4) Abijah, born Dec. 28, 1709, died March 13, 1797; (5) Zeb- ulon, born Sept. 1, 1712, died Jan. 13, 1795; (6) Amos, born March 3, 1715, died April 6, 1802; (7) Abel, born Dec. 28, 1717, died Sept. 19, 1742; (8) Elisha, born March II, 1720, died May 29, 1762; (9) Elijah, born July 23, 1723.
(IV) Zebulon Peck, born Sept. 1, 1712, in Mid- dletown, removed to Bristol in 1743. He married Mary Edwards, daughter of Josiah Edwards, of East Hampton, L. I., July 10, 1735. He died in Bristol Jan. 13, 1795, his wife on May 23, 1790. Their children were as follows: Abigail, born May 20, 1736, died April 21, 1826; Justus, born Nov. 14, 1737; Elizabeth, born Sept. 30, 1739, died Nov. 16, 1741 ; Mary, born Aug. 12, 1741, died Oct. II, 1785 ; Zebulon, born April 15, 1743, died Jan. 23, 1820; Abel, born in 1745, died Jan. 26, 1778, while on his way home from Valley Forge during the Revolutionary war ; David, born May 13, 1749, died Sept. 30, 1821; Lament, born May 8, 1751, died May 5, 1823 ; Elizabeth, born 1753, died March 12, 1816; Josiah, born Jan. 19, 1755, died April 26, 1811.
(V) Lament Peck, born May 8, 1751, in Farm- ington (now Bristol), died May 5, 1823. He served in the Revolutionary war, and held various town and church offices. He married Rachel Tracy, and had children as follows: Sally, born Feb. 7, 1784; Tracy, born April 5, 1785, died Feb. 12, 1862; Richard, born Dec. 15, 1786; Susannah, born Aug. 31, 1788; one that died in infancy ; Epaphroditus, born Oct. 26, 1791, died Nov. 16, 1811, in South Carolina ; Nehemiah, born Sept. 26, 1793; Neuman, born Nov. 25, 1795 ; Rachel, born Dec. 25, 1797 ; and James G., born June 24, 1800.
(VI) Richard Peck, born Dec. 15, 1786, son of (V) Lament Peck, settled in Bristol, and in the earlier years of his life was a shoemaker and tanner, his later years being devoted to agricultural pur- snits. He was active in church work as a member of several committees connected with the Congrega- tional Church. During the war of 1812 he served as sergeant, and afterward, for several years, was
503
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
captain of an artillery company of the State militia. In politics he was a Whig and Republican, and, though no aspirant to political honors, took a deep interest in the affairs of his party, keeping well abreast of the times. He served on the board of assessors, and in various minor offices of the town. He died Jan. 16, 1872.
On June 28, 1815, Richard Peck married Sophia Miller, daughter of Rev. Jonathan Miller, of the Congregational Church, who was the first minister of any denomination in Burlington, Conn., where she was born. To Mr. and Mrs. Peck were born children as follows: (1) Elizabeth Gaylord, born Nov. 14, 1816, died Dec. 8, 1894, unmarried. (2) Abby Mills, born Dec. 12, 1818, died June 28, 1836. (3) Sophia M., born March 24, 1821, married, Dec. 20, 1843. Charles Root, of New Haven, who died in Jamaica ; she died in 1872. (4) Richard Lament (1), born Feb. 19, 1824, died April 13, 1824. (5) Richard Lament (2), born July 13, 1826, died April 29, 1885; he served for nine months in the 25th Conn. V. I., and had his home in Bristol. (6) Jona- than M. is the subject proper of these lines.
(VII) Jonathan M. Peck received a liberal edu- cation in the common schools of his native town, afterward attending Williston Seminary in East- hampton, Mass. Concluding his studies at the age of eighteen, he then worked for a couple of years on his father's farm. During the succeeding six years he was employed in various clock factories in Bristol ; then removed to Plymouth ( now Thomas- ton), and for eighteen years worked in the move- ment department of the Seth Thomas clock factory. Part of this time he had a contract in the movement department on the calendar clocks (a new feature in clock works), employing a few men. Returning to Bristol in 1874, he has since been engaged in farming, horticulture and floriculture at the old homestead, No. 400 West street.
On Jan. II, 1871, Jonathan M. Peck was mar- ried to Helen Elizabeth Platt, of Thomaston, born Sept. 7, 1846, daughter of Benjamin and Agnes (Welton) Platt. Children as follows have blessed this union: (1) Mary Chilton, born Nov. 7, 1871, lives at home. (2) Arthur Benjamin, born May 24, 1877, is stenographer for Gross, Hyde & Ship- man, lawyers, of Hartford. (3) William Tracy, born Sept. 30, 1879, is at present studying civil en- gineering in Cornell University.
Mr. and Mrs. Peck are members of the Congre- gational Church at Bristol, of which he has been collector and treasurer. A Republican in politics, he has held various offices of trust and responsibil- ity, such as justice of the peace, assessor and con- stable; from 1888 to 1890 he served as assessor of Bristol. He is vice-president of the West Cemetery Association, and has been general superintendent of the cemetery since 1896. Socially he is a mem- ber, and has been overseer, master, treasurer, etc., of Bristol Grange, No. 116. Mr. and Mrs. Peck are highly esteemed by all who know them.
GEORGE LEETE. In 1881 an interesting volume, entitled "The Family of Leete," was pub- lished in London, for private circulation, and was generously sent to fifteen public libraries in this country by Joseph Leete, Esq., of Eversden, South Norwood Park, S. E. Surrey, England, to which is indebted most known of the family history anterior to the emigration of William Leete to this country in 1639. From it is learned the great antiquity of the family name: That Gerard Letie or Lete held lands in Mordon, Cambridgeshire, in 1209, in the reign of King John; that Matthew Lety held lands in 1370; that Bobertusfil Lete was assessed to a subsidy in 1326-27 ; that John Leet, grocer of Lon- don, made a will, proved in 1442; that John Lete, of Cottenham, made a will, proved in 1523; that Henry Lette, of Cottenham, husbandman, made a will, proved in 1527; that Henry Leete, of Comber- ton, made a will, proved in 1541, etc.
From the same source comes the knowledge of the Leete coat of arms, for though used by Governor Leete in this country, as his seal proves. ' all knowledge of its use, and even of its existence, had long been obliterated. It is described as fol- lows: Argent, on a fesse, gules, between two rolls of matches, Sable, fixed proper, a martlet, or. Crest : On a ducal coronet, or, an antique lamp, or, fixed proper. The origin and signification of the arms have not been ascertained.
Governor William Leete, the ancestor of the family in America, was born in Dodington, Hunt- ingdonshire, England, in 1612 or 1613, and was a son of John and Anna (Shute) Leete, and grand- son of Thomas and Maria ( Slacer) Leete, of Ock- ington, Camibridgeshire, England. He was bred to the law, and served for a considerable time as clerk in the Bishop's Court at Cambridge, when, observ- ing the oppressions and cruelties then practiced on the conscientious and virtuous Puritans, he was led to examine more thoroughly their doctrine and practice, and eventually to become a Puritan him- self and to give up his office. He came to America in Rev. Mr. Whitfield's company, was one of the signers of the Plantation Covenant on shipboard, June 1, 1639, and arrived in New Haven about July 10. When they had agreed upon Guilford as a place to settle he was one of the six selected to purchase the land of the native Indians, in trust for the Plantation until their organization. Mr. Leete was called upon to fill many public offices. He was clerk of the Plantation from 1639 to 1642 ; was one of four to whom was entrusted the whole civil power of the Plantation, without limitation, until a church was formed ; June 19, 1643, when the church was formed, he was selected as one of the seven pillars "for the foundation work." In 1643 he was chosen to meet the Court at New Haven, when the combination of the jurisdiction of the New Haven Colony was planned and organized, and Guilford, Milford, Stamford and other Plantations, hitherto independent Colonies, united in one juris-
504
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
diction with New Haven, establishing a General Court for the whole jurisdiction, to sit twice a year at New Haven, and to consist of the governor, dep- uty governor and all the magistrates within the jurisdiction, and two deputies for every Planta- tion.
Mr. Leete was a deputy from Guilford to this Court till 1650, and from 1651 to 1658 was the magistrate of the town. In 1658 he was chosen deputy governor of the Colony, and continued in that office until 1661, when he was elected governor, which office he held until the union with Connecti- cut, in 1664. After the union he was an assistant until 1669, when he was elected deputy governor of the Connecticut Colony, holding this office until 1676, when he was chosen governor, which position he retained by continuous re-election until his death, in 1683. Upon being elected governor he removed to Hartford, and being continued in office he re- mained there until his death, and is buried there. His tombstone was discovered about 1830, in the ancient burial ground in the rear of the First church of Hartford, where it had long been hidden by an accumulation of earth. His descendants have since erected a plain granite monument to his memory. Governor Leete married, about 1638, Anne Payne, daughter of Rev. John Payne, of Southoe, Eng- land. The line of descent from this illustrious American ancestor to George Leete, our subject, of the eighth generation, is as follows :
(2) John Leete, son of Governor William and Anne (Payne) Leete, was born in Guilford, Conn., in 1639, and is said to have been the first white child born in that town. He married, Oct. 4, 1670, Mary, daughter of William and Joanna (Sheafer) Chittenden, of Guilford ; he died Nov. 25, 1692, and his wife March 9, 1712.
(3) Deacon Peletialı Leete, son of John and Mary (Chittenden) Leete, was born in Guilford March 26, 1681, and July 1, 1705, married Abigail, daughter of Abraham and Elizabeth (Bartlett) Fowler, of Guilford. He soon after removed to Leete's Island, where he spent the remainder of his life. He was a large land owner and a successful farmer. He was a deacon in the Fourth Church of Guilford, and although chiefly engaged in private affairs was often elected to represent the town in the "General Court." He died Oct. 13, 1768, his wife on Oct. 22, 1769.
(4) Deacon Daniel Leete was born on Leete's Island Oct. 14, 1709, a son of Deacon Peletiali and Abigail (Fowler) Leete. He married, June 14, 1738, Rhoda, daughter of Caleb and Sarah ( Meigs) Stone, of Guilford. He resided at Leete's Island, was a deacon in the Fourth Congregational Church of Guilford, and died Oct. 1, 1772. His wife died Dec. 23. 1769.
(5) Daniel Leete, son of Deacon Daniel and Rhoda (Stone) Leete, was born April 17, 1742, and married, Dec. 10, 1766, Chiarity, daughter of Daniel and Sarah ( Bradley) Norton, of Guilford. They
lived on Leete's Island. He died May 3, 1825, his wife on Feb. 13, 1824.
(6) Edmund Leete, son of Daniel and Charity (Norton) Leete, was born May 10, 1775, and mar- ried, Feb. 26, 1801, Fanny, daughter of John and Mary (Case) Goldsmith, of Guilford, and resided at Leete's Island. He died May 28, 1825, his wife on Dec. 5, 1864.
(7) Henry William Leete, son of Edmund and Fanny (Gildsmith) Leete, was born Dec. 1, 1801, and in September, 1824, married Nancy A., daugh- ter of Giles and Amelia (Thomas) Doolittle, of Wallingford. They resided in Wallingford, where he died Oct. 10, 1844. He was a shoemaker by trade. Mr. and Mrs. Leete had a family of seven children: Sarah (Mrs. John Powers), Henry E., George, Elizabeth F. (Mrs. William Smith), Mari- etta C. (Mrs. A. K. Conklin), Rachel I., and Fanny A. (Mrs. John Anderson).
(8) George Leete, the subject of this sketch, was born in Wallingford, Conn., April 6, 1830, a son of Henry William and Nancy A. (Doolittle) Leete. He was reared to manhood in his native town, where he received a limited education. He began life as a farm hand, but since 1849, a period of over fifty years, he has been engaged in railroad work, six months with the New England Railway Co., and since with the New York, New Haven & Hartford Railway Co. as section foreman, with resi- dence at Thompsonville. During all the period of fifty years he has never been compelled to remain at home a day on account of sickness. In 1856 he married Mary Coughlan, of Thompsonville, and they have six children: Eva A. (Mrs. James Davidson), George, Arthur, William, Joseph and Edward. Mr. Leete is a well-known and respected citizen of Thompsonville. Politically he is a Dem- ocrat.
SAMUEL ALLYN MOORE. The names of the brave men who represented Connecticut on the field of battle during the "struggle between the States" are written in the roll of honor of the Na- tion, and high among them will remain that of the subject of this sketch, now a prominent resident of New Britain.
Entering the service at the age of twenty-nine as a "raw recruit," Mr. Moore rapidly rose through meritorious conduct to the rank of lieutenant-col- onel, and as such was in command in nearly every engagement of his regiment, the 14th Connecticut, from Gettysburg to the close of the war, while dur- ing a portion of the time he was in command of his brigade. Two wounds bore testimony to his personal bravery, and his regiment, led by him, held a place in the fighting line in many a hotly- contested battle, meeting with heavy losses. En- listing July 16, 1862, as a recruit for the 7th Conn. V. I., he was appointed to raise a company, after- ward mustered in as Company F. 14th Conn. V. I., of which he was made first lieutenant. On Sept.
Samuel &Moor
505
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
17, 1862, he was promoted at Antietam to the rank of captain, and Sept. 12, 1863, he was commissioned major. On Oct. 3, 1863, he was made lieutenant- colonel, all his commissions being signed by Gov. William A. Buckingham. With this rank he was mustered out June 6, 1865. In July, 1864, he had command of a provisional regiment in Washing- ton, D. C., when Early made a raid on that city, and he established the first infantry picket line from Fort Stevens to Bladensburg. His service was largely under Gen. Hancock in the Second Army Corps, Army of the Potomac, and among the most important engagements in which he participated were the battles of Antietam, Chancellorsville, Get- tysburg, Falling Waters, Auburn, Bristow Station, Blackburn Ford, Mine Run, Morton's Ford, Wilder- ness, Laurel Hill, Spottsylvania ( where he was wounded May 12, 1864), Petersburg, Deep Bot- tom, Ream's Station, Boydton Plank Road, Hatch- er's Run and Farmville, near High Bridge (where he was wounded April 6, 1865).
Col. Moore was born Nov. 26, 1832, in the town of New Hartford, Litchfield Co., Conn., and be- longs to a well-known family. Abijah Moore, his grandfather, was a Revolutionary soldier. He was born in Windsor, Conn., in 1749, moved to South Windsor, and became a farmer. In 1792 he went to New Hartford, Litchfield Co., Conn., where he died April 26, 1826. He married Abigail Drake, and they had eleven children, all of whom were born in South Windsor except Nancy: Abigail, June 5, 1773; Abijah, Jan. 26, 1775; Orrin, Oct. 5, 1777; Sarah, Feb. 7, 1779; Triphenia, Feb. 13, 1781; Almira, July 30, 1783 ; Allyn, Oct. 23, 1787 ; Lucretia, May 20, 1788; Perriclese or Perry, April 23, 1791; Anna, not known; Nancy, Oct. 4, 1793.
Perriclese (or Perry) Moore, our subject's fa- ther, was born April 23, 1791, in South Windsor, and died Feb. 12, 1885, in New Hartford, Conn. For some years he followed farming in his native town, but in 1837 he removed to New Britain and engaged in business as a butcher, being one of the first in that city, then a small village. He con- tinued thus until 1861, meeting with good success, and was regarded as one of the substantial citizens of the town. For many years he was a member of the South Congregational Church. He did not take an active part in local movements of any kind, but his patriotism was shown by service in the army during the war of 1812, as a substitute for his brother Allyn. He married Lovisa Seymour, who was born May 23, 1794, daughter of Chauncey and Isabel (Sedgwick) Seymour, of New Hartford, and died in New Britain April 5, 1872. They had nine children : Eliza, born July 25, 1816, married Charles N. Stanley, and died Aug. 22, 1851 ; James P., born Jan. 24, 1819, married Lucy Eliza Clark ; Fannie L., born March 9, 1821, married Gad Stan- ley, and died Nov. 28, 1889; William S., born Nov. 24, 1822, died March 7, 1844; Martha A., born Oct. 8, 1824, married John S. Baker ; Sarah M.,
born Nov. 11, 1826, died Sept. 8, 1847, unmarried ; Henry W., born Feb. 25, 1830, married Alice M. Baker, and died Oct. 13, 1886; Samuel A. was eighth in the order of birth; and Mary J., born Feb. 27, 1835, married Andrew Corbin.
During his boyhood Samuel A. Moore attended the public schools of New Britain, and spent two terms at the old academy under the tuition of a Mr. Roberts, but his schooling ended when he was about thirteen years old. His keen and observant mind has gathered much information, however, and he has read extensively, especially upon history and similar subjects. On leaving school he be- came a clerk in a grocery located on the corner of South Main and Park streets, where John Boyle's store now stands. He remained three years with G. & T. Stanley and Stanley & Hall, and then went to Gloucester, Mass., and engaged in cod-fishing for a season. For a year he worked in a lock shop for Squire, Parson & Co., of Branford, Conn., but having decided to learn the carpenter's trade, he began an apprenticeship with Bailey & West, of New Britain. The firm dissolved partnership be- fore his term was completed, and after working for a short time for Mr. Bailey he went to Hartford and finished his apprenticeship with Deacon Erastus Phelps. In 1853 he began work as a journeyman, spending three years in Oshkosh, Wis., and Minne- apolis and Belle Plaine, Minn. In 1858 he returned to New Britain and took charge of his father's business in partnership with his brother Henry, continuing until his enlistment in the army. After the war closed he spent some time in the South, and on his return to New Britain he was engaged in the manufacture of soda and sarsaparilla for three years. About this time he became interested in local improvements, and his executive ability and high reputation as a manager of large bodies of men soon brought him into prominence in the develop- ment of the town. In 1871 he was elected warden of the borough, and on its incorporation as a city he may be said to have been the first mayor, as he held over for a time. For four years, from 1871 to 1874, he was first selectman of the town, and for two terms, from March I, 1872, to March I, 1874, he was street commissioner in New Britain. He was chief engineer of the city fire department from 1876 to 1881, when he went to Arizona and spent a year in mining for the Arion Gold and Silver Mining Co. After returning to New Britain from Arizona he was foreman for different con- tractors for several years, excavating and putting in foundations for many of the large factories, pub- lic buildings and private residences. In 1887 he went to Asbury Park, N. J., to build the first electric railroad there. For several years he has been foreman on the public works in New Britain. He is a member of Stanley Post, No. II, G. A. R .; the Army and Navy Club ; the Society of the Army of the Potomac; Putnam Phalanx; Harmony Lodge, No. 20, F. & A. M .; Doric Council, No.
506
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
24, R. & S. M .; Giddings Chapter, No. 25, R. A. M .; and Washington Commandery, No. I, K. T., of Hartford, Conn., which he joined in 1867 ; he is also an honorary member of the O. U. A. M.
In 1867 Col. Moore married Miss Jennie King Pember, and they have one daughter, Miss Roberta E., an accomplished young lady, and a successful teacher. Mrs. Moore is a member of an old Con- necticut family, and her father, Elisha Pember, was a well-known resident of Vernon, Conn. Her mother, whose maiden name was Persis Strong King, was a daughter of Lemuel and Jane ( Bron- son) King, of Vernon, Conn. Lemuel King was born Sept. 20, 1765, in Bolton, Conn., and al- though but a boy when the Revolutionary war be- gan became a soldier in a Connecticut regiment at the age of fifteen, taking part in the battle of Horse Neck, near Greenwich, Conn., Dec. 10, 1780. An attack was made upon the post by a Tory party of light-horse, at which time Corpl. King received seven sabre wounds and was left for dead on the field. Dr. Asa Hamilton, of Somers, Conn., was sent to attend his wounds. For these wounds, which left him a cripple, he received a pension from the Federal Government. He died in Vernon, Conn., Nov. 17, 1827.
GILES A. SISSON, a retired agriculturist re- siding at Canton Center, is one of the best-known citizens of his town, and for many years has been a leader in the local Democratic organization.
Mr. Sisson was born in Simsbury Center Nov. 5, 1832, and comes of good pioneer ancestry, the family having been identified with the towns of Can- ton and Simsbury from an early date. The Sissons are of Scottish and French descent. and all bearing the name in this section are descended from three brothers who came to America during the Colonial period, settling in Rhode Island. Nathan Sisson, our subject's great-grandfather, served in the French and Indian wars, and in the Revolutionary war.
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.