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 4

Author: J.H. Beers & Co
Publication date: 1901
Publisher: Chicago : J.H. Beers & Co.
Number of Pages: 1336

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 4

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).

An interesting account of the celebration of Mrs. Nancy ( Hooker) Hill's birthday appeared in the Bristol and Hartford papers July 24, 1899 :

An event of unusual interest occurred in Bristol on Monday, July 24. It was the ninetieth anniversary of Mrs. Nancy (Hooker) Hill's birthday, and was celebrated in a wholly informal manner, but very expressive of the high regard in which Mrs. Hill is held by a host of relatives and family friends far and near, and by her own townspeople.

No invitations were sent out, but all who remembered the day were glad to testify of their affection and esteem.

The celebration began on Saturday, with the arrival of letters of congratulation and gifts from distant relatives; on Sunday nearer relatives and friends came in person, with gifts and words of good cheer and gratitude. Monday witnessed the arrival of flowers and bonbons and books, and the coming of many friends in town, a veritable recep- tion day, which closed with messages of congratulation by telephone from certain New England towns.

Mrs. Hill was at her best, and looked younger by twenty years than her age, as she responded most graciously to the greetings and attentions of those who called to see her. She was dressed in a soft gray cloth princess gown, decorated with white lace, the gift of her granddaughter, in which,

with a white shawl thrown over her shoulders, she received her callers, and looked the ideal picture of a lady who had lived a peaceful and beautiful hfe of nine decades.

Born in 1809, in the same year with Gladstone, Bismarck and Pope Leo XIII, she has outlived all but the last, and nearly every one of her own generation in her native town. Yet, in spite of delicate health and slightly impaired senses, she has been a most interested spectator of the changes which have come to her town and country, and to the world at large.

Of the many evidences of affection and regard which came to Mrs. Hill on her birthday, one was especially rare as a mark of homage. It was a box of American Beauty roses which came from Philadelphia by special messenger, who left Philadelphia at midnight Sunday, and arrived at Mrs. Hill's door on Monday morning at 10 o'clock, deliver- ing his message with the directness and dispatch of the man who carried the letter to Garcia.

These birthday gifts and attentions to Mrs. Hilt are the mere symbols of a constant devotion, called forth by the rare qualities of mind and heart of the recipient, who for nearly a century has preserved the ideals of her youth, and has been an inspiration and a joy to all who have come under her influence. Hence it is only a devotion richly deserved, and bestowed in full and overflowing measure.

Mrs. Nancy Hooker Hill had one daughter, Adeline Frances, who married George Ripley Bow- man, of Brooklyn, N. Y., a native of Braintree, Mass. Mr. Bowman died in Brooklyn in 1863. He left one child, Clara Lee Bowman, who since her father's death has lived with her mother in the Hooker homestead, with her grandmother.

BRYAN EDWARD HOOKER, the youngest child and only son of Bryan Hooker, was born in Bristol Jan. 1, 1813. When a lad of twelve years he was sent to the fine school for boys in Farmington, and boarded in the family of Rev. Dr. Porter, the minister of the old town, and father of President Porter, of Yale College. For a year after leaving school he was employed in a store, but early went into the manu- facturing business, as his father had done before him. He won the respect of all in the community by his faithfulness, dignity of manner, kindness and mature judgment. He was active in both town and church matters, and people learned to depend upon him as a wise counselor and friend. In 1840 he was sent to the State Legislature by the town of Bristol, and was the youngest member of that body. Mr. Hooker removed in 1844 to Hartford, and engaged in business with Lawson C. Ives, the firm being Ives, Hooker & Co., wool merchants. In business matters Mr. Hooker was well known for his exactness, punctuality and honesty. He connected himself with the First Congregational Church, and was as faithful in church matters as he was in business. Rev. Dr. Hawes, well known in New England as a leading minister, was pastor of the church at that time. He soon found that the young man from Bristol was one on whom he could depend, and in a few years he was chosen a deacon in the church, that office then being expected to continue through life. Among those at that time deacons in the church were men much older than Mr. Hooker, men, indeed, old enough to have been his father, among them Judge Thomas S. Williams and Gov. Ellsworth. Mr. Hooker remained in office

COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

twenty-two years, when he resigned on account of partial deafness. He was the first to propose that the office of deacon should be temporary, and not for life, and that system was soon established in the church. Mr. Hooker was interested in the Sunday- school, and his classes of young men knew they had a friend whose example, as well as teaching, it was safe to follow. The Sunday-school was then lield at nine o'clock A. M., and for many years, when well and in town, Mr. Hooker never failed to be promptly with his class.

In 1862 Mr. Hooker retired from the firm, with which he had been connected eighteen years, to de- vote himself to the management of the Broad Brook Woolen Manufacturing Co., of which he became secretary and treasurer. When he entered upon this undertaking the situation was most discourag- ing, the company being heavily in debt, and the stockholders despondent. Ilis ability as a man of business is indicated by the success of the com- pany for more than a quarter of a century under his management. A sturdy inflexible integrity was the distinctive quality in Mr. Hooker, best known to the people of Hartford, and his name frequently fell from the lips of men as a synonym for abso- lute honesty. ' All shams and deceit were abhorrent to him. To do his duty was the supreme law of his life. His friends knew him as one who was un- obtrusively thoughtful for the happiness of others, liberal and magnanimous. A difficulty in hearing, which came upon him some years prior to his death, led him to resign from various boards of direction, for he believed that directors should direct. Though during the latter part of his life lie was unable to hear a sentence in church, he was always in his place at public worship. Politically he was a stanchi Republican, and the last time he left his home was to cast his vote for President Harrison. He died Dec. 9, 1888, after five weeks' illness of pneumonia.

Mr. Hooker was twice married, first to Maria Robbins Williams, of Rocky Hill, a descendant of the Robbins and Wolcott families, and also of Thomas Welles, governor of Connecticut in 1655 and 1658. She died in 1860, leaving two daughters: Ellen Frances, who died in 1897; and Mary Williams, who married Joseph G. Woodward in 1879, and clied in 1882, leaving one child, Joseph Hooker Woodward, born March 7, 1882. In 1862 Mr. Hooker married Martha Huntington Williams, of Manchester, who was born in East Hartford, daugh- ter of Solomon and Martha ( Baker ) Williams, for- merly of Lebanon, Connecticut.

Mrs. Hooker's parents were both descended from the early settlers of Massachusetts and Connecti- cut. Her father, Solomon Williams, was born in 1783, in Lebanon, Conn., and early entered Yale College, but remained not quite two years, being unable to continue on account of severe illness. A weakness of the eyes and a cough remained with him throughout life, and as he was obliged to lead an outdoor life he for some years had the care of

the farm that had belonged to his grandfather, the old minister of that historic town. For a few years he was in business with David L. Dodge, afterward of New York, who was engaged in manufacturing in Bozrah, near Lebanon. Later Mr. Williams was in mercantile business, and removed to East Hart- ford, but the last years of his life were spent in Manchester, where (notwithstanding the feeble health which was his lot during most of his life ) he lived to the great age of ninety-two years, dying in 1875. Solomon Williams was a son of Thomas Williams, M. D. (a graduate of Yale), and a grand- son of Rev. Solomon Williams, D. D. (a graduate of Hartford), for fifty years pastor of the church in Lebanon. Gen. William Williams, one of the Signers of the Declaration of Independence, was also a son of Rev. Solomon Williams, who de- rived his Christian name from his maternal grand- father, Rev. Solomon Stoddard, D. D., of North- ampton, Mass., a clergyman of great prominence in his day, and grandfather also of the famous di- vine, Jonathan Edwards. Mr. Stoddard's mother was a daughter of Emannel Downing, who was associated with Gov. Winthrop in the foundation of the Massachusetts Colony. Mr. Stoddard's wife was a daughter of the Rev. John Warham, who came from Exeter, England, to Dorchester, Mass., with his church, and removed to Windsor, Conn., in 1636. Rev. Solomon Williams' father, Rev. William Williams (a graduate of Harvard), was pastor at Hatfield, Mass., for fifty-six years, and he was a grandson of Robert Williams, who came to Roxbury, Mass., from Norwich, England, in 1638. The wife of Rev. Solomon Williams was Mary Porter, a daughter of Judge Samuel Porter, of Hadley, Mass. Rebecca Wells, the wife of Dr. Thomas Williams, was a descendant of Thomas Welles, governor of Connecticut, and through the Ellsworths, her mother's family, she was descended from Elder John White and Elder William Good- win, who came with Rev. Thomas Hooker to Hart- ford in 1636.

Martha Baker, wife of Solomon Williams, of Lebanon, was the daughter of Dr. Joseph Baker, who served in the war of the Revolution as a surgeon, and was at the battle of Fort Griswold. His wife, Lucy Devotion, was of French descent. Dr. Baker was descended from Rev. John Rob- inson, of Leyden, and his wife belonged to a Hu- guenot family, her father, Rev. Ebenezer Devotion, of Scotland Parish, Windham, being a great-grand- son of Edward Devotion, who was born at Rochelle, France, in 1621, and came to Boston in 1645, to escape religious persecution, settling in Brookline, Mass. He left a large portion of his property to establish free schools. Rev. E. Devotion married Martha Lathrop, a daughter of Col. Simon Lathrop. who commanded one of the Connecticut regiments at the taking of Louisbourg in 1745, and rendered distinguished service both in the field and in council. He was a great-grandson of Rev. John Lathrop,

COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

a clergyman who left the Established Church, preached for one year in London, was imprisoned, and after his release came to Boston. He was an independent thinker, and not agreeing with the Boston ministers went to Barnstable, Mass., and gathered a congregation. No one who united with his church was obliged to sign any creed. He simply professed his faith in God, and promised that it should be his constant endeavor to obey his com- mandments, to live a pure life, and to walk in love with his brethren. The wife of Gov. Samuel Hunt- ington, one of the Signers of the Declaration of Independence, and governor of Connecticut from 1786 to 1796, was a daughter of Rev. E. Devotion, and an aunt of Mrs. Hooker's mother.

Bryan E. and Martha Hooker had three sons : Edward Williams Hooker, born Oct. 19, 1865 ; Rob- ert Huntington Hooker, April 21, 1867 (died May 21, 1874) ; and Thomas Williams Hooker, May 10, 1871. Edward Williams Hooker married Nov. 12, 1889, Mary Mather Turner, daughter of Dr. Charles P. Turner, of Philadelphia, and grandchild of Major Roland Mather. of Hartford. Their children are Rosalie, born Sept. 26, 1892; and Roland Mather, born Sept. 10. 1900.

BOARDMAN. The name has been one of prominence in New England from the earliest Co- lonial times, and especially has it been historic in Connecticut. It is the purpose here to treat only of the line of ancestry and descendants of the late William Boardman, for many years a prominent citizen of Wethersfield and Hartford, in which latter city still reside some of his children and grand- children, among them William Francis Joseph and Thomas Jefferson Boardman, long identified with the father in the wholesale tea, coffee and spice house of William Boardman & Sons.

The name is uniformly spelt Boreman in the Colonial Records of Connecticut, and Boreman or Borman in the early records of Wethersfield. The change from Boreman, or Borman, first appears among the family records in that of Lieut. Richard Bordman, of Newington, in 1707, nearly seventy scars after the first appearance of Samuel (I) Boreman in New England, by the addition of the letter "d." The new form was adopted by most of the name in Wethersfield until 1780, in which year the "a" is first added in the record of Elijah Board- man, son of Israel. of Newington, since which time the name has been spelt as above, Boardman. Instances are found where the same person might have his name spelt in all three ways in succession, as in the case of Lieut. Richard, of Newington, above mentioned, whose birth was recorded as a Borman, his marriage as a Bordman, and his death on his gravestone as that of Boardman.

(I) SAMUEL BOREMAN, the emigrant ancestor of this branch of the Boardman family, was a son of Christopher and Julian ( Carter) Boreman, and was born in Banbury, Oxfordshire, England, and

baptized there August 20, 1615. About 1619 he removed with his parents to Claydon, a village near Banbury, where he spent his early life. From indi- cations contained in the Journal of John Josselyn, Genl., Mr. Boreman, accompanied by his "servant" (and perhaps by his wife ), sailed in the ship "New Supply" from Gravesend, England, for New Eng- land, "April 26, 1638, which anchored in the Bay of Mass., before Boston, July 3d, of the same year." He first appears as a New England settler in Ips- wich, Mass., where, in a list of inhabitants without date, he is called a cooper, and has land recorded to him Aug. 22, 1639. His stay in Ipswich was not a long one, yet during this period he owned three different homesteads. The first of these, which was granted to him by the town, was situated at the west end of High street.

In 1641, or during the previous year, he dis- posed of all his property in Ipswich and removed to Wethersfield, Conn. About this time he mar- ried Mary, daughter of John and Mary Betts, who were living in Claydon in 1627. She afterwards emigrated to New England with the mother, then the "widdoe" Mary Betts, who appears in Hartford soon after the settlement of the town, and received a portion of the first grants of land, being one in the list who had "lotts at the Courtesie of the Town." Her house lot in 1639-40 was situated at the foot of the present Trumbull street on the East side. She was a school teacher and called "Goody Betts, the school dame." She died before July 19, 1647.

The earliest record of Samuel Boreman in Weth- ersfield appears in Vol. I, Town Votes, Page 4, viz. : "The care marke of Sam: Boreman of Wethers- ffielde is the near eare under half-penved, the off eare whole." This ear mark was used by his de- scendants in Wethersfield as late as 1846. Judge Adams, the Wethersfield historian, considers this entry to have been made in 1640. His first purchase of land in Wethersfield, so far as known, was a homestead of three acres, with a barn and cellar, which was recorded April 9. 1645. It was on the east side of Broad street, a little north of Plain Lane and near the great elm now stand- ing there, and is thus entered on the record of the town : "One piece whereon a cellar and a barn standeth, containing three acres more or less. The ends abut against the Broad St. north-west, and the plain south-east, the sides against the house-lot of Mr. Chester north-east and Richard Parke south- west." This lot he sold to John Lattimer before June 22, 1646.

On November 3, 1659, he purchased of Mr. Nathaniel Dickinson a homestead which was sit- uated on the southwest corner of Broad street, ex- tending westward along Fletcher Lane (Garden street ) to Belle Lane (South Main street) and is described as "one house lot with house thereon Con : 2 acres and a half more or less, the end abut- ting on Broad Street East, and the long street West. and on the highway North, and the lands of John

Millicom Boardman.

William F. S. Boardwand

COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

Kilborn South." Here he resided the last four- teen years of his life; the house, at times repaired and enlarged, was the home of five generations of the family. The buildings were subsequently used as a tavern, and destroyed by fire March 17, 1827. Samuel Boreman was an extensive land holder, having purchased no less than fifty-five pieces of land, aggregating 755 acres. This was exclusive of one-eighth part in lands of Robert Rose, who had 312 acres in one tract on the East side of the river, and other lands on both sides. Samuel Boreman was granted, by the town, Jan. 2, 1649-50, thirty acres of upland in Stepney ( Rocky Hill) bounded East on the river, North on what was later re- served for a ship yard, South by a stream known as Fog Brook, extending westerly up the hill which slopes from the river. This was the first grant of land by the town in that section of Wethersfield. In after years this tract became of great commercial importance. It has often been occupied by stores and warehouses, and at the present time the Railroad Station, the Foundry and several ancient residences are located on this site.

The Indian Chief Turramuggas ( Son of Sachen Sowheag) gave to Mr. Samuel Boreman and Thom- as Edwards jointly, Jan. 26, 1673, out of "respect for them" a tract of land containing 400 acres at Assawasick, in what is now East Glastonbury. This is the earliest deed, next after one grant of land at Beckley quarter, made by the Indians to private in- dividuals in the township.

Samuel Boreman's name is often found in the records of Wethersfield. He was chosen townsman (Selectman) in 1656-57-58-60-61-62-65-66-69-72 and 1673, assessor for two years, rate maker, sur- veyor of highways and constable. He was often appointed to lay out highways, town bounds and in- dividual grants of lands. In church affairs as well, he took a prominent part, serving on committees to "procure a minister." "seat the meeting house," erect a parsonage, to settle differences, etc. He last appears in the Wethersfield Town Records, March 26, 1673, where he is the first named of five towns- men to procure a house for the use of the Rev. Mr. Bulkley. His inventory was taken May 2, 1673. We learn from the Records of the Particular Court or Court of Magistrates that Mr. Boreman was a Juror as early as 1646 and filled that office for fif- teen years, in 1660 and 1662 being one of the Grand Jury.

In the Colonial Records, we find that Samuel Boreman first represented the town of Wethersfield as Deputy to the General Court Oct. I, 1657, that he was elected in all eighteen terms and reported present at thirty-four sessions. On Oct. 9, 1662, when Connecticut's famous charter, procured in Eng- land from Charles II by Governor Winthrop, was "first publiquely read in audience of ye Freeman and declaired to belong to them and their successors," "Mr. Samuel Boreman was present as one of the Dep- uties and he and Sergt. Nott were appointed to notify 2

those in Wethersfield indebted to the country in be- half of Mr. Cullick to provide and prepare payment to enable the country to discharge such sums as should be charged by Governor Winthrop for pro- curing the Charter for the Colony." He was appoint- ed by the General Court in 1649 Town Sealer of weights and measures, and in 1659 Customs Master of Wethersfield, being the first to hold that office, was selected by the General Court to serve on com- mittees to settle church differences, to lay out the new town of Haddam, including its purchase from the Indians, to lay out the bounds of Middletown and settle its differences with the Indians, to settle estates and to lay out the bounds of the proprietors at Naubuck. "Mr." Samuel Boreman's last appear- ance as Deputy from Wethersfield on record was Oct. 12, 1071, the beginning of a term of the court which expired in April, 1672. He died in April, 1673. Ilis widow Mary died in August, 1684, aged about sixty-one years. Children : Isaac, Mary, Samuel, Joseph, John, Sarah, Daniel, Jonathan, Nathaniel and Martha. Joseph, born March 12, 1650, and John, born June 12, 1653, died in 1676, 111- married; their inventories were both taken Feb. 27, 1676-7. In the list of accounts due to John appears "[12-os-od, due from the country," which, with the manuscript of Hon. David Sherman Boardman that they "died unmarried in the Army," lead to the belief that they perished in the King Philip war-proba- bly in the Swamp fight, Dec. 19, 1676. The other children lived to marry.

"Few of the first settlers of Connecticut came here with a better reputation or sustained it more uniformly through life than Mr. Boreman" [Hin- man page 263| "Samuel Boreman was a leading man in the Colony for nearly thirty years" [ Hol- lister Vol. 1, P. 464].

(II) SAMUEL BOREMAN, son of Samuel and Mary (Betts) Boreman, was born in Wethersfield, Oct. 28, 1648. He married Feb. 8, 1682-3, Sarah Steele, baptized at Farmington, Dec. 29, 1656, daughter of Lieut. Samuel and Mary ( Boosey) Steele of Weth- ersfield and earlier of Farmington. Mr. Boreman was by occupation a cooper and farmer, and one of the principal land owners of the town, having add- ed largely to the share which he received from his father's estate by the purchase of other tracts of land in the South Field, the Great Plain, the West Field and elsewhere.

In 1677, Samuel Boreman, with three others, re- ceived from the town a grant of land in 'Piper Stave Swamp in the present town of Newington with sufficient Pondings and 20 acres of land to each of them forever, for the purpose of erecting a sa;v- mill, allwise provided the said party, make no sale of bord or timber to any other town, without the consent of Wethersfield townsmen, and to sell bords at home, at five shillings per hundred and at the mill at four shillings per hundred. The mill is to be up and fit for work at or before the last of Septem- ber next ensuing the date hereof' [Wethersfield

COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

Town Votes]. This was the first sawmill built in Wethersfield. "Clark Samuel Boreman" had a share in the second division of land on the West side of the river, a 52-acre lot in Newington, and lands elsewhere.

Although not a prominent office holder we find that Mr. Boreman was chosen surveyor of high- ways in 1679. "Sergt. Samuel Boreman" was one of the town collectors for 1683, constable in 1682, one of the Committee to lay out a highway to Fear- ful Swamp in 1687, Lister in 1693 and 1702, and Surveyor in 1694. He occupied his father's home- stead, corner of Broad Street and Fletcher Lane. He died Dec. 23, 1720, "aged 72 y. 2 mo., wanting two days," and his widow, Sarah, died Jan. 23, 1732-3. Their children were Mary, Sarah, Hannah. David. Joseph and Josiah. Sarah, Hannah and Josiah died young. Sarah ( Steele) Boreman was a descendant of the third generation from John Steele, one of the original proprietors of Hartford, who was born in Essex County, England, and mar- ried at Fairstead, near Braintree, in the above coun- ty, Rachel, sister of John Talcott of Hartford. He emigrated to New England about 1632, and set- tled in Newtown (Cambridge), where he was made a freeman in 1634. He was chosen Deputy to the General Court of Massachusetts in March, 1634, and May and September, 1635, and was appointed by that body March 3, 1635-6 one of the Commis- sioners "to govern the people of Connecticut for the space of one year coming." He removed to Hartford in 1635-6, and his homestead was on the east side of Main Street, a little north of the site now occupied by the Atheneum. Mr. Steele was actively interested in the affairs of his town and colony. He was Secretary of the Colony from 1636 to 1639, was often chosen Deputy to the Gen- eral Court between 1637 and 1657, and held the office of Town Clerk of Hartford until his removal to Farmington about 1645. where his wife Rachel died in 1653. He died in Farmington, November 25, 1665. Sarah Steele's line of descent was Lieut. Samuel (II). John (I).

(III) JOSEPHI BORDMAN, son of Samuel and Sarah ( Steele) Boreman, was born in Wethersfield April 6. 1695, married Feb. 17, 1726, Mary, daughter of Joseph Belden, born April 23. 1704, and lived at the extreme south end of Broad Street, on the west side, in the house erected by his father Samuel (II), and given him by the latter's will in 1720. He was a farmer by occupation, and in local matters a man of substance and prominent in the affairs of Weth- ersfield. He was commissioned Quarter-master of Captain Josiah Griswold's Troop of Horse, in the Sixth Regiment, May II, 1749, and Cornet in the same regiment in October, 1751, by the General Court. He was one of the selectmen of the town in 1755, who had charge of the French prisoners quartered there at that time. "It is probable that he (lid his share of duty in the French campaign dur- ing his term of military service."

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 Hartford County, Connecticut : containing biographical sketches of prominent and representative citizens, and of many of the early settled families, Pt 1, Part 4

Author: J.H. Beers & Co Publication date: 1901 Publisher: Chicago : J.H. Beers & Co. Number of Pages: 1336

Author: J.H. Beers & Co
Publication date: 1901
Publisher: Chicago : J.H. Beers & Co.
Number of Pages: 1336