Commemorative biographical record of Hartford County, Connecticut : containing biographical sketches of prominent and representative citizens, and of many of the early settled families, Pt 2, Part 169

Author: J.H. Beers & Co
Publication date: 1901
Publisher: Chicago : J.H. Beers & Co.
Number of Pages: 1172

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 2 > Part 169

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 July 20, 1857, Mr. Smith married Miss Lydia Champlin, and they have had four children, of

1524

COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

whom three are living: (1) Carrie Louise, who died March 4, 1899, at the age of forty, married Joseph Alvord, of Bolton, who was engaged in the mercantile business at Manchester for some time. He was prominent in public affairs, serving as rep- resentative from Bolton, but his death at the early age of thirty-five, resulting from a paralytic stroke, prevented the full expression of his powers. He left one son, Raymond Smith. (2) Hattie Lincoln married De Witt C. Hill, master mechanic with the Willimantic Linen Co., and has one daughter, Dor- othy A. (3) Howard Franklin, the third in the family, is a graduate of the Hartford Public High School, the academic department of Yale College, and Yale Medical School. On completing his course at the last named, he spent two years as interne in the Hartford Hospital, and is now a successful practitioner in that city. (4) Daisy Maud was graduated from the high school, later attended the New Britain Normal School, and at present is conducting a private school in Hartford. She is a talented musician, and has a fine contralto voice, and her work as a member of a church choir is much praised.

Mrs. Smith is a member of a family which has been represented in this country for six generations, three brothers of the name of Champlin having crossed the ocean together to make their home in the New World. She was born at Warehouse Point, daughter of Aaron Champlin, a native of Lebanon, Conn., whose active years were mainly spent in Warehouse Point, as a teamster. He died there in 1839, aged forty years. His wife, Betsy (Rock- well), who lived to the age of eighty-six years, was born in Warehouse Point, daughter of John and Irene ( Porter) Rockwell. Mrs. Smith was the youngest of a family of six children, the others being Louisa B., who married the fate Lemuel P. Thrall; Marietta, deceased; William, a pilot, who lost his life near Sandy Hook; John Milton, de- ceased ; and Clarissa, who married Frederick Lin- colu, of Coventry, Conn. The father was an Epis- copalian in religion, and the mother was a devout Methodist.

Mr. Smith is a Republican in politics, and his refusal to accept official positions has deprived his party of an excellent candidate. Mrs. Smith has been a leading worker in the Fourth Congregational Church at Hartford for many years, and all of the children have followed her example. She is a deaconess and almoner, taking upon herself the practical work of looking after the poor, and for thirty years she has taught in the Sunday-school.

LUCIUS L. BARBER, M. D .. deceased. The Barber family is one of the oldest in New England. and the subject of this memoir, formerly a prominent resident of Simsbury, was of the seventh generation in direct descent from Thomas Barber, a prominent settler in the town of Windsor. At all times the members of the family have been found among the foremost citizens of their day and locality, and few

histories in this volume will be of such general in- terest as the following.

(I) Thomas Barber, the pioneer, came to Amer- ica with a company organized by Francis Stiles, starting from London, England, on March 10, 1635, in the ship "Christian." commanded by Capt. White. The ship's register shows that he was twenty-one years old at that time. The party comprised about twenty young men, mostly mechanics and appren- tices, and Thomas Barber belonged to the latter class. This company became the first actual settlers. in Windsor, and in 1645 Thomas Barber was made a freeman of the town. During the Pequot war of 1637 he was one of the thirty soldiers sent from Windsor under the leadership of the brave Mason. On Oct. 7, 1640, he married, his wife's name being Jane, and they had six children: John, baptized July 24, 1642; Thomas, who is mentioned below ; Sarah, baptized July 19, 1646; Samuel, baptized Oct. I, 1648; Mary, baptized Oct. 12, 1651 ; and Josiah, born Feb. 15, 1053.

(II) Thomas Barber, born July 14, 1644, was known as Lieut. Thomas, having been connected with the militia for many years. In 1690 he was appointed ensign of the local "train band," his com- mission being now in the possession of the widow of our subject, and in 1698 he was elected lieutenant, then an office of great dignity and importance. In March, 1647. the General Court passed an order that Massawco (the Indian name of Simsbury) be purchased by the county, and that a committee be appointed to dispose of the land to such inhabitants of Windsor as by them shall be deemed best to make improvements. The first grants of this com- mittee were made in 1667, to twenty-two persons, of whom Thomas Barber was one. At an early day he removed with his family to Simsbury, and he speedily became a man of influence and comparative affluence. In the first list of persons against whom taxes were laid, in 1694, the largest were against John Higley, the next largest against Ensign Bar- ber. He was active in building up the town, being the first to erect a gristmill and sawmill, and he also contracted for and built the first meeting-house. Lieut. Barber was for many years an active worker in the Congregational Church in Simsbury, his nante · standing first in the list of members. He died May 10, 1713. aged sixty-nine years. His wife, Mary Phelps, to whom he was married Dec. 13, 166-, was born in Windsor March 3, 1644, the only daugh- ter of William Phelps, who was for many years a leading citizen of the Colony. Six children were born of this union: Thomas, the next in the line of descent ; John, who married Mary Holcomb, daugh- ter of Joshua and Rutli (Sherwood) Holcomb : Ann, who was married Dec. 4, 1701, to Jonathan Higley ; Samuel, who was married Dec. 17, 1712, to Sarah Holcomb. daughter of Nathaniel Holcomb. Sr .. and Mary Bliss: Sarah, who married Andrew Robe Nov. 26, 1701 ; and Joanna, who married Jo- siah Adkins, of Hartford, Jan. 3, 1710.

1525

COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

(III) Thomas Barber, born May 17, 1673. died July 17, 1714. He is frequently mentioned in the Simsbury records, and appears to have been an act- ive and influential citizen. On May 25, 1699, he married Abigail Buell, daughter of Peter Buell, of Simsbury, and they had two children: Thomas, known as Sergt. Thomas; and Abigail, who mar- ried Jacob Case, of Simsbury.

(IV) Sergt. Thomas Barber was born Jan. 19. 1700, and was also prominent in his day and gen- eration. He was much attached to the Bible, and very punctual in holding family prayers night and morning, while no common occurrence prevented him from attending public worship twice on the Sabbath. He held closely to the doctrines of John Calvin, and died June 16, 1775, in that faith. Four of his grandsons carried him to the grave : Zaccheus Case, Jr., Thomas Barber, Jr., Seth Marshall, Jr., and Daniel Barber, Jr. On Jan. 16, 1725, he married Mercy Case, daughter of Samuel Case, of Simsbury. and they had six children, as follows: Sarah, born Jan. 8, 1726, married Seth Marshall, of Farming- ton ; Thomas, born Sept. 5, 1728, died in 1792 ; Abigail, born Feb. 10, 1730, married Zaccheus Case. of Simsbury; Daniel, our subject's grandfather, is mentioned more fully below : Mercy, born June 25. 1735, married Elisha Moses, of Simsbury; and Elisha, born Aug. 21, 1742, married Elizabeth Adams, of Simsbury.

(V) Daniel Barber, the grandfather of our sub- ject, was born Feb. 14, 1732. and died April 18. 1779. He was noted for his fondness for literature, and his intimate friends were all people of piety and elevating conversation. On July 6, 1755, he married Martha Phelps, daughter of Jonathan Phelps, of Westfield, and she survived him many years, her death occurring at Windsor. Vt., Dec. 15. 1821. Of their ten children, all lived to maturity and several to old age, and their descendants are now to be found in all parts of the United States.

(1) Daniel Barber, born Oct. 2, 1756, was for more than thirty years a clergyman of the Epis- copal Church, having been ordained by Bishop Seabury in 1787. For twenty-four years he was rector of the church at Claremont, N. H., but in 1818 he was converted to the Catholic faith. He ob- tained regular dismission from his parish, and front that time (having given his estate to the Catholic Church) he led, as he said, "a kind of a pilgrimage state of life, wandering from place to place, depend- ing entirely upon the hospitality and charity of the pious, the generous and the humane." He died at Washington, D. C., in 1834. His wife, Chloe Owen, was a daughter of Hon. John Owen, of Simsbury, and they had four children : Trueworth, Virgil H .. Laura, and one who died in infancy. Virgil H. Barber was educated in the Episcopal faith, and for several years officiated as priest in that church in Cheshire and Waterbury, Conn. He was a man of profound learning and rich culture, being able to converse in seven languages. He also became a

convert to the Roman Catholic Church, and after spending a year or more at Rome he returned to this country and located at Claremont, N. H., having re- ceived holy orders from the Pope himself. He founded a Catholic Church and seminary there, and through his instrumentality his father, as before stated, and his father's sister, (Mrs. Noah Tyler), a member of the Congregational Church, were in- duced with their families to abjure the faith of their ancestors and their own, and adopt that which he had adopted. The wife and daughters of Virgil H. were, on his conversion, placed in the nunnery at Emmits- burg, Md., and his son Samuel became a professor in a Catholic College at Georgetown, D. C.

(2) Rosetta Barber, born May 15, 1758, mar- ried Capt. Jacob Pettibone, and died April 18, 1810, at our subject's home, after many years of widow- hood.

. (3) Martha Barber, born June 8, 1760, married Ashael Holcomb, of Granby, Conn. She died about 1834, in Simsbury, where she lived many years a widow.

(4) Jared Barber, born Feb. 29, 1764, removed in middle life with his family to Sheldon, N. Y., where he died.

(5) Israel Barber, born May 12, 1765, went to sea at the age of eighteen. He married the daugh- ter of a planter along St. Mary's river, in Georgia, and became a man of wealth, owning a large number of slaves. He visited his boyhood scenes after thirty years' absence, but his death occurred in Georgia.

(6) Russell Barber, born in July, 1767, settled in Middletown, Vt., where he spent a long life of usefulness. He left six children : Jarvis, Russell. Priscilla, Lucilda, Sophronia and Chloe.

(7) Roswell Barber, born in August, 1770, re- moved at an early day with his brother Jared to Sheldon, N. Y., where he died. He was prominent in the Baptist Church of that place.

(8) Calvin Barber, our subject's father, is men- tioned below.

(9) Sarah Barber, born March 31, 1775, mar- ried George Fisher, and settled in Derby, Vt., where she died, leaving five children : Lucius G., Emeline, Amanda, Rosetta and Jane. About 1837 Mr. Fisher with his family removed to Beloit, Wis., where his death occurred. His son Lucius G. was for several years sheriff of Rock county, Wisconsin. (10) Abigail Barber, born Sept. 30, 1778, mar- ried Noah Tyler, and located first in Claremont, N. H. About 1835 Mrs. Tyler and her sons George, Israel and Calvin, removed to Elgin, Ill., where she died in 1849. The three sons named afterward re- moved to Taylorsville, Texas. Another son, Will- iam Tyler, born June 5, 1806, was educated for the Catholic priesthood, and after his ordination, in 1828, was stationed at the Cathedral Church in Boston, being later appointed by the bishop as his vicar-general. In 1843 he was nominated by the council in Baltimore as first bishop of the new

1526

COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

"Episcopal see of Hartford," his diocese comprising Connecticut and Rhode Island. He received the bull of his appointment by the Holy Sce Feb. 14, 1844, and proceeded to Providence, R. I. (the chief city in1 liis diocese ), where he established his Episcopal residence. His licalthi failed him after years of as- siduous work, and he died June 18, 1849.

(VI) Col. Calvin Barber, our subject's father, was born Sept. 15, 1772, and died March 14, 1846. As he was left fatherless at the early age of seven years his youth was filled with hardships, which were bravely surmounted. His widowed mother was reduced to poverty from a state of comparative affluence, the depreciation of Continental money being one of the causes, and soon after his father's deatlı lie was "bound out" to his brother-in-law, Capt. Jacob Pettibone, to learn the trade of mason and stone-cutter. His anguish when he was forced to leave his early home can only be imagined, and he implored his mother to allow him to remain with her, offering to "cut all her wood," which was as great a promise as a child could make. But stern necessity required that the child should go, as his mother could not yield to his entreaties and promises, although her tears mingled with his. He found time to so far educate himself, in the midst of his duties and labors, that he became a successful teacher in the common schools. At the age of twenty he was married to Miss Rowena Humphrey, of Simsbury, daugliter of Major Elihu Humphrey, who lost his life in the Revolutionary war. So poor was the bridegroom that he borrowed money for his wedding clothes, and the dowry of his wife was not much greater, but both had health, together with habits of industry and economy, and that indomitable spirit of perseverance, which in combination are sure to command success. In 1802, while yet a young man, Col. Barber contracted with the State of Connecticut to build the walls and other structures of the old State prison, called "New Gate," at the Simsbury copper mines. In this he was successful. The walls were of solid masonry ten or twelve feet high, enclosing workshops, guardhouses, offices and other buildings, covering a large space of ground. Upon completion a grand jollification was held, in which all who took part in the construction, including a number of prisoners, were allowed to participate, and the toasts offered and songs sung have often been repeated in history. By his industry and prompt attention to business Col. Barber soon gained the confidence of the community in which he lived, and by his urbanity and affability the friendship and esteem of a large circle of acquaintances. He took an active interest in all public affairs, and filled many important offices, civil and military, with credit to himself and satisfaction to the public. In the mil- itary department he rose rapidly, and speedily at- tained the rank of colonel, by which title he was known through life. For many years he was all active magistrate, in which capacity he was a terror

to evil-doers, but whenever possible he acted the part of a peacemaker.

As a Christian, Col. Barber's virtues shone out conspicuously. He was a lover of good order, and strove to promote and maintain it. His hope of happiness hereafter rested not on his own merits, but solely on the merits of Jesus Christ. For over thirty years he was a consistent and exemplary member of the Congregational Church at Simsbury. Our subject's mother, who died May 18, 1842, was a member of one of the best families of Simsbury, and her father, Major Elihu Humphrey, was highly honored for his ability and courage. He fought in the French and Indian war, was at Havana as the adjutant of Col. Lyman, and served in the Revolu- tionary army until he was wounded and captured at the battle of Long Island ; he was confined in the old Sugar House, where he was so barbarously treated that he died soon after his return to his old home. Of the twelve children born to Col. Calvin Barber and his wife all lived to adult age : (1) Row- ena, born Jan. 15, 1794, died Nov. 17, 1875, un- married. (2) Lura, born March 27, 1796, died July 25, 1870. Slie married James Lewis, a merchant of Granby, and had one child, Lura M., who died when eight years old. (3) Abigail Lenora, born Dec. II, 1798, was married Oct. 19, 1829, to Alan- son Spencer, of New Hartford, and had one son, Calvin S., who died at the age of eight years. She died Jan. 6, 1867. (4) Calvin Nelson, born Oct. 10, 1800, was married Oct. 9, 1833, to Lucy Pitkin, and died Jan. 5, 1844. Their only child, Julia, died when eighteen years old. (5) Achsah Delight, boris Feb. 16, 1803, died May 25. 1870. From the age of fourteen years she never heard a sound, her deafness being caused by spotted fever. (6) Virgil Bushrod, born Jan. 3, 1805, was married March II, 1830, to Cornelia Case, and had one child, Harriet, who died at the age of eight years. He made his home in Lockport, Ill., where he died Sept. 22, 1835. (7) Lucius Israel, our subject, is mentioned more fully below. (8) Emeline, born April 19, 1809, was married April 9, 1835, to Allen M. McLean, a son of Rev. Allen McLean, of Simsbury. They had three sons, Allen, Calvin B. and Thomas N. Allen McLean graduated at Yale College in 1860, and after preaching in East Orange, N. J., for a time, became pastor of the Congregational Church at Litchfield, Conn. He was an earnest worker, and as his health failed he went to Florida to recuperate, and died there. Calvin B. McLean is a Congrega- tional minister at New Fairfield, Conn. Thomas N. McLean graduated from the Medical School of Yale in 1871, and is now a leading practitioner of Elizabeth. N. J. (9) Julia, born Oct. 8, 1811, was married May 19, 1842, to Jarvis Humphrey, of Sims- bury, and after several years' residence in that towit they removed in 1847 to Findlay, Ohio, where they died. Their family consisted of six children : Chancey D., Marion, Ellen, Justine, Jarvis S. and

1527

COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

Mary. (10) Mary Ann, born Oct. 7, 1813, died Nov. 10, 1852, unmarried. (II) Decius Scott, born Feb. 15, 1816, died Oct. 15, 1833. (12) Lucia Jeanette, born July 9, 1818, died March 29, 1858, unmarried. (VII) Dr. Lucius Israel Barber was born Oct. 7, 1806, in the same house in which he resided dur- ing the greater portion of his life, and where his death occurred Feb. 16, 1889. It was built in 1762 by Rev. Benajah Roots, and in 1773 our subject's maternal grandfather, Major Elihu Humphrey, bought it; afterward Oliver Bronson, the composer, resided there for some years, before it came into the possession of Col. Calvin Barber. Our subject attended the local schools, and also studied under Rev. Allen McLean, of Simsbury, proving himself an apt student, and later he attended Amherst Acad- emy and Amherst College, where he graduated in 1826. He then read medicine in New York, and took a course in the Medical Department of Penn- sylvania University, graduating in 1833. Going to Wisconsin, then a territory, he located in Mil- waukee when the place contained but a few thousand people, but after practicing a few years in that city he settled at Jefferson, Wis. He took a prominent part in politics, and in 1839 he was elected from Milwaukee to the Wisconsin Legislature, where he was chosen Speaker, thus gaining the honor of being the first Speaker of the First Legislature of Wisconsin. In 1841 he was elected to the Legis- lature to represent the counties of Dane, Green, Dodge, Jefferson and Sauk, and in 1842 and 1843 he was a member of the legislative council from the same counties. From 1840 to 1845 he was clerk of the United States district court of Jefferson coun- ty, Wis. On March 1, 1843, Dr. Barber married Marion P. Brown, of Jefferson county, who died Feb. 18, 1845, leaving an infant daughter, Lucia Jeanette, who died Feb. 27, 1845. These afflictions turned his thoughts toward his old home, and in 1846, after the death of his father, he returned to Simsbury, where he resided during his remaining years. In 1850 he was elected to the Legislature of Connecticut, and in 1858 he was elected judge of probate, which office he held for ten consecutive years.

Although Dr. Barber practiced for a few years in Wisconsin he preferred politics, and gave up his profession, as he claimed that a physician should not have any other business to occupy his time. In returning to Connecticut he no doubt abandoned a bright future, as he was one of the prominent ment of Wisconsin, and a political leader. While he left a most comfortable competence Dr. Barber was not a man who lived to accumulate wealth, and he gave liberally to deserving causes. He had large real-es- tate holdings in Wisconsin, which he retained until the later years of his life, selling off as his business judgment dictated. He made frequent trips to Wisconsin, and maintained a personal acquaintance with many of the most prominent men there. His last years were given to enjoying life, by his jovial

manner and genial disposition always keeping him- self and others happy. His store of anecdotes seemed inexhaustible, and his ability as a conversa- tionalist was appreciated by a host of friends. He was one of Simsbury's best known men, and his in- terest in local history was second to none, his won- derful memory fitting him for the task of collecting data and writing history, and his efforts along this line were superior to those of any other man in his town. He had spent years of patient research for data intending to publish a history of Simsbury, but the task was not completed at his death, and his valuable manuscript, representing years of labor and much expense, was left among his effects. He took great interest in anything historical, and ad- vocated a building for the preservation of relics and curios, his own collection being a notable one. To Dr. Barber, more than to any other man, does Simsbury owe the preservation of the town's carly history, and his labor will find a reward in the ap- preciation of posterity. He was a frequent con- tributor to the local papers on matters connected with Simsbury, and was the author of the Simsbury his- tory in the "History of Hartford County." In the later years of his life he wrote extensively for the Milwaukee Sentinel, and his articles on pioneer days in Wisconsin, when he was one of its leading men, were very interesting. His faculty for giving even the most minute detail of events happening forty years previously was remarkable. He was a kind- hearted man, and was known and respected by everybody in the town, children as well as adults. In person he was tall, slender and stately, with long gray hair, and his presence always attracted atten- tion. For nearly twenty-two years he was a mem- ber of the Congregational Church at Simsbury, but although he served on the society's committee he declined the office of deacon.

On June 10, 1874, Dr. Barber was married in Simsbury to Mrs. Abbie (Sexton) Case, who sur- vives him, and is one of the social leaders of the lo- cality. She is active in church work, being a men- ber of the Home and Foreign Missionary Societies, and also belongs to Abigail Phelps Chapter, D. A. R. Mrs. Barber was born Jan. 19, 1846, in the Bushy Hill District of Simsbury, the only child of Marvin Sexton, and her family has been prominent in New England from an early day. In the pater- nal line she traces her descent from Joseph Sexton, who was born in Westfield, Mass., Oct. 13, 1694, and died March 23, 1790. Deacon Joseph Sexton, son of Joseph (I), was born July 18, 1724, and died Jan. 10, 1819. His son Joseph, Mrs. Barber's great- grandfather, was born Aug. 25, 1753. Timothy Sexton, grandfather of Mrs. Barber, was born Sept. 22, 1773, in Somers, Conn., and was the first of the family to settle in the Bushy Hill District of Simsbury, where he died in 1859. He was a devout Methodist, and generally walked to Simsbury to church on the Sabbath, never permitting any or- dinary reason to prevent his attendance. He mar-

1528

COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

ried Elizabeth Griswold, a member of a pioneer fam- ily of Windsor, and they had the following children : Edson, born Sept. 3, 1800, in Windsor, died at Great Barrington, Mass., March 27, 1894; Eunice, born March 17, 1802, married Richard Morgan, and died in Simsbury, May 27, 1836; Marvin, father of Mrs. Barber, was third in the order of birth ; Henry, born July 19, 1807, died in Stratford, Conn., Dec. 7. 1880 ; Charlotte, born July 3, 1809. married Rev. Davis Stocking, and died in Sing Sing, N. Y., April 6, 1863 : Sydney, born June 2, 1812, in Granville, Mass., resided in Simsbury for some years, and then re- moved to Odell, Ill., where he died : Alonzo, born Dec. 18, 1816, at Stockbridge, Mass., never mar- ried. went south for his health, and died at Natchez, in 1840.

Marvin Sexton, Mrs. Barber's father, was born in Windsor, April 23, 1804, and, although, mainly self-educated, became a man of culture and wide reading. At one time he was a schoolmate of Cyrus W. Field. As a young man he taught school for a time, and later he followed civil engineering in New York State, while his last years were spent in farming in Simsbury, where he died May 18, 1881. Politically he was a stanch Republican, but lie did not aspire to official honors. Before coming to Simsbury he resided for a number of years in Stockbridge, Mass., and his first wife, a Miss Sedg- wick, was a native of that place. His second wife, Mrs. Barber's mother, was Miss Abigail Holcomb. was born at Simsbury. Conn., Oct. 20, 1808, daugh- ter of Samuel and Lucinda Holcomb. She died in 1846, her remains being interred at Simsbury. In 1849 he married Miss Harriet Bradley, of Stock- bridge, who died in 1868.

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 2, Part 169

Author: J.H. Beers & Co Publication date: 1901 Publisher: Chicago : J.H. Beers & Co. Number of Pages: 1172

Author: J.H. Beers & Co
Publication date: 1901
Publisher: Chicago : J.H. Beers & Co.
Number of Pages: 1172