Commemorative biographical record of Middlesex County, Connecticut : containing biographical sketches of prominent and representative citizens, and of many of the early settled families, Part 122

Author: Beers (J.H.) & Co., Chicago, pub
Publication date: 1903
Publisher: Chicago : Beers
Number of Pages: 1502

USA > Connecticut > Middlesex County > Commemorative biographical record of Middlesex County, Connecticut : containing biographical sketches of prominent and representative citizens, and of many of the early settled families > Part 122

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COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1818, at $96 per year, which his widow re- ceived after his death until she also passed away. The Sixth Regiment, Connecticut Line, was for the Continental Line equivalent to what is now known as the Regulars, and to continue through the war. It went into camp at Peeks- kill, N. Y., in the summer of 1777, but was frequently detached on expeditions or outpost duty on the line above King's Bridge. It served from August to October, on the Hud- son, in Parsons' Brigade, under Gen. Put- nam, and engaged in all the movements made in consequence of the enemy's move against Fort Montgomery ; wintered 1777-78 at West Point, and assisted in constructing permanent fortifications on Meigs' redoubt; also on re- doubts on the east side of the Hudson river. In the summer of 1778 the regiment encamped with the main army under Gen. Washington at White Plains; wintered 1778-79 at Reading, Conn .; in the operations of 1779 served with the Connecticut Division on the east side of the Hudson, was detached to Meigs' Light Regiment, and was engaged at the storming of Stony Point, July 15, 1779; wintered 1779-80 at Morristown, N. J. Mr. Bonfoey was also at Valley Forge, and endured the privations of that winter; in the movements of 1780 served with the Division on both sides of the Hud- son. Upon the discovery of Benedict Arnold's treason the Sixth Regiment, with other troops was ordered to repair to West Point in antici- pation of the expected advance of the enemy. Benanuel Bonfoey often referred to the suffer- ing of the soldiers at Valley Forge, so re- markable in the annals of that great war. He referred with pride to the fact of Gen. Wash- ington's concern for and care of his men, and that he was like a father to the soldiers, cheer- ing or inspiring them with hope as best he could.

After his honorable discharge from the army Grandfather Bonfoey taught school sev- eral terms, and among his pupils were the children of his old comrades in arms, Capt. Cornelius Higgins, Sergt. William Scovil, Lieut. Elijah Brainerd, and others. Mr. Bon- foey was an exceedingly busy man all his life. After his school teaching had ended he went to New Haven, where he was employed at ship caulking. He built the house on Candle- wood Hill, in which his son, Benanuel (3), spent his long and useful life, dying at the age of ninety-two; this house is still standing, and

in use, serving to illustrate the stability with which the old time houses were constructed. When this Bonfoey homestead was built, the solid chimney was first erected, and then after the chimney was completed the house was built around it. The chimney was erected in 1804 and the house in 1808.

At the present time Eugene Scovil, nephew of Mrs. Hezekiah Scovil, resides in the old house. In the tiny bedroom off the kitchen there died the great-grandmother, Lydia (Cogswell) Smith, aged eighty-eight; the grandmother, Concurrence (Smith) Bonfoey, aged ninety ; the mother, Eliza Bonfoey, aged eighty-three; and the father of Mrs. Hezekiah Scovil, Benanuel Bonfoey, aged ninety-two. The old Revolutionary soldier, Benanuel Bon- foey, who built the house, also died there, but in another room.

In the Connecticut records of the soldiers of the Revolutionary war, Jerathem Bonfoey should be Jerathmel Bonfoey. He served in Pond's Company, attached to the regiment commanded by Gen. James Wadsworth, Con- necticut troops. Jerathmel Bonfoey served three years and was honorably discharged May 4, 1778.

CUSHMAN ALLEN SEARS, M. D., of the town of Portland, Middlesex county, is one of the prominent physicians of the locality where for nearly a third of a century he has practiced the healing art. Of Puritan stock, and descended from a Revolutionary patriot, he is a worthy representative of an old and well-known family.

Dr. Sears was born September 26, 1840, in Chatham, this county, son of Stephen G. and Emily (Veasey) Sears, and is in the tenth gen- eration on his father's side from Elder Will- iam Brewster, one of the Pilgrim fathers who landed at Plymouth Rock in 1620. The line of his descent is through Patience Brewster, who married Gov. Thomas Prince, Mercy Prince, who married Major John Freeman; Deacon Thomas Freeman, who married Re- becca Sparrow; Mercy Freeman who married Paul Sears ; Joshua Sears, who married Rebec- ca Mayo; Elkanah Sears, who married Ruth White; Willard Sears, who married Betsey (Clark) Strong; and Stephen G. Sears, who married Emily Veasey. Dr. Sears is de- scended from the same ancestor on his moth- er's side, the line being through the same fore-

l. A. Sears M. Q

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COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

fathers for the first five generations, then. through Ebenezer Sears, who married Sarah Hawes; Desire Sears, who married John Markham; Desire Markham, who married Lemuel West; Elizabeth West, who married Eleazer Veasey ; and Emily Veasey, who mar- ried Stephen G. Sears.

Elkanah Sears, the paternal great-grand- father of Dr. Sears, was born in 1734, and be- came one of the wealthiest men of his time in the town of Chatham. A patriot of the Revolu- tion he sent supplies to the army in his own ves- sel, and equipped another which he com- manded while preying on British commence, in which enterprise his boat was captured and he and one of his men were made prisoners. After heroic efforts they made their escape by letting themselves down into the water by means of a rope, and though they were discov- ered and shot at, they succeeded in getting away. In 1757 Elkanah Sears was married to Ruth White, and their children were : Isaac, Willard, Ruth, Ruth (2), Rachel and Benja- min. The father died in 1816, the mother in 1823.

Stephen G. Sears, father of Cushman A., was born in 1803, in Chatham, and was reared and educated in the schools of that locality. He followed the occupations of coopering and farming. He died at the age of seventy-five years, after a life which commended him to the esteem and respect of the community. Mr. Sears married Emily Veasey, daughter of Capt. Eleazer Veasey, who was a well known turnpike owner, having charge of the Colches- ter pike from Portland ferry for a number of miles east of East Hampton. The children of this marriage. were: Mary, who married Francis Gillette, of Prospect, Conn .; Clark O., a very successful merchant at East Hampton. where he died leaving five daughters ; Cushman A .; and Caroline, a resident of Chatham. Mr. Sears was a Whig in his early days, later be- came a Republican, and was a deacon in the Congregational Church.

Cushman A. Sears received his early edu- cation in the district school of his native town, and when sixteen years old entered Dr. Chase's school, at Middletown. Later he took the high school course at East Hampton, going from there to Wilbraham Mass. As a lad he be- camte thoroughly acquainted with the duties of farin life, and worked for a time in the bell

shop of Hiram Veazey, at East Hampton. Upon finishing his school course he decided to adopt the medical profession, and with this in view, entered the office of Dr. Sabin Stocking, of Glastonbury. In 1860 he attended medical lectures at Pittsfield, Mass. In 1861, he went to New York and became a student of Dr. Ab- bott Hodgeman, then physician and surgeon at the city prison, while there acting as assistant to Dr. Hodgeman and gaining experience which he could scarcely have obtained in any other way. During this year Dr. Sears came into contact with 41,963 persons who were committed to the Tombs, in those days every offender upon conviction being sent to the Tombs. A noted prisoner was Capt. Gordon, commander of one of the slave vessels, who was sentenced to be hung. Dr. Sears became well acquainted, by reason of forced associa- tion, with this famous criminal and was pres- ent when he was executed.

Dr. Sears was graduated from the New York University Medical College in 1862, and commenced practice in East Haddam the same year, soon afterward being called to Glaston- bury to take the place of Dr. Stocking, who had joined the Union army as surgeon. In 1865 he moved to Portland, where he has since resided, enjoying a constantly increasing prac- tice, and has been actively identified with the public interests of the town. For twenty-eight years Dr. Sears has been chairman of the school board and acting school visitor. For several years he has been a director in the Free- stone Savings Bank, and for many years he was medical examiner for the town, an office which he still holds. Dr. Sears was one of the organizers of the Village Improvement So- ciety, which had a successful career during the demand for its existence.

On November 11, 1862, Dr. Sears was mar- ried to Miss Evelyn Lay, of Lyme, Coun .. daughter of Judge Oliver 1. and Mary ( Ing- ram) Lay. The following named children have been born of this union : Anna Bell, now Mrs. William H. Selden, of Stambaugh, Mich. ; Walter C., a graduate of Burlington Medical College, now a physician at the State Hospital at Middletown : and Bertha E., a graduate of the Portland high school, subsequently a teach- er at Cromwell, now the wife of Daniel W. Robertson, of New York.

Socially Dr. Sears is a member of Portland

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Lodge, No. 35, I. O. O. F., a charter member of the O. U. A. M., and eligible to the Sons of the American Revolution. He is a member of both the State and County Medical Societies. He and his wife are connected with the Con- gregational Church, and their social position is among the best in the town, where, as a citi- zen, as well as in his profession, Dr. Sears en- joys the esteem of every one. Genial and pleasant, he and his estimable wife dispense a bountiful hospitality, and as a benevolent and charitable man, the Doctor has won the affec- tion of the unfortunate.

STILLMAN JARED TILEY, a highly respected and successful citizen of Essex, Mid- dlesex county, has for many years been con- nected with the manufacture of notions for the trade, his goods being known over the world.

Charles Tiley, the father of Stillman J., was born in 1787, in Essex, and there his life was spent. As a carpenter and shipbuilder he was very successful, becoming a master builder. Later in life, in company with Rich- ard Williams and Capt. West, he built the saw- mill in the Meadow Woods District of Essex, where an immense amount of lumber and tim- ber was sawed, particularly pine, which was floated down the Connecticut river from the northern forests. He was engaged in this bus- iness at the time of his death in 1841. Mr. Tiley was a prominent man, holding many pub- lic offices and was a stanch Whig in politics. While not a member, he was a regular attend- ant and supporter of the Centerbrook Congre- gational Church. Charles Tiley married Me- hitable Dimmock Stillman, of Essex, daughter of Charles and Rebecca ( Clark) Stillman. Great-grandfather Charles Stillman was a na- tive of Portland, Conn. He was drafted for service in the Revolutionary army, but his son Charles, who was then sixteen years old, took his place, and, his youth preventing his carry- ing a gun, he was made a teamster. When but eighteen he was taken prisoner by the English and confined in the famous prison ship in New York bay, at that time holding 500 prisoners ; after fever and smallpox had done their fatal work he was one of the five survivors of the 500. After his discharge from the army he re- turned to Essex, where he successfully en- gaged in farming until the close of his life, at the age of seventy-eight, on his own estate. An incident which Grandfather Stillman en-

joyed relating, occurred while he was serving in the army. One day, while he was endeav- oring to get a whip for his use from a little tree, he did not have a knife, and was trying to break the branch, but was unsuccessful in his efforts. Gen. Washington, who was passing, noticed the lad's efforts, and, reaching in his pocket, he gave the young man his own pock- et-knife, and told him to keep it. This knife re- mained in the possession of the family for many years, but was finally lost.

Children, as follows, were born to the par- ents of our subject : Louise, who is the widow of Selden Post, resides in Redlands, Cal .; Em- ily, who is the widow of David Young, resides in Deep River ; Stillman Jared is mentioned be- low; Ann F. is deceased; Rebecca married Augustus K. Pratt and lived in Essex, where she died in 1900: Susan; one died in infancy.

Stillman J. Tiley was born October 17, 1830, in the house in which he resides, in Es- sex. His education was obtained in the district schools and at the famous Hills Academy,. where so many of the prominent and success- ful citizens of Essex were thoroughly ground- ed in every branch then taught in the schools. The well-remembered teacher, Lucius Lyons, whose name was a guarantee for excellence in teaching, was at the head of the school at this time. At the age of sixteen Mr. Tiley went to Deep River, where he spent two years in learning the trade of carpenter, in the establish- ment of Dennison & Kelsey. Returning home, his eighteenth year was spent attending Hills Academy, and the succeeding two or three years in work at his trade. Removing to Deep River he purchased a general store, and conducted this establishment for some seven years, dis- posing of it finally and erecting the well-known "Wauginnicht Hotel," at Deep River, of which for a number of years he was owner and pro- prietor. Disposing of the hotel Mr. Tiley be- gan his successful career on the water, be- coming pilot on the steamer "L. Boardman," which ran between Hartford and Sag Harbor, L. I., carrying both passengers and freight, and stopping at all the principal towns along the Connecticut river from Hartford to the ter- minus. This vessel and its successors made three round trips a week, and did a large and profitable business. It was finally sold to the government, to be used as a transport during the Civil war. The next boat which the com- pany built, the "Mary Benton," was also sold

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to the Government for the same purpose, as was the third one, the "S. B. Carey." The last vessel the company owned, Mr. Tiley being one of the owners, was the "Sunshine," which was used over a quarter of a century. The captain of the above named vessels was G. W. Bates, Mr. Tiley's brother-in-law. The building of the Valley railroad from Saybrook to Hartford made the business of the boats unprofitable, and in 1891 Mr. Tiley disposed of his interests in the business and devoted his entire attention, to the business of Tiley & Pratt, which he first organized in 1875, in conjunction with his brother-in-law, Augustus K. Pratt, to engage in the manufacture of notions. The factory is located in Essex. This firm later became Tiley, Pratt & Co., which name is known to the trade throughout the United States and Canada. Un- til 1900 Mr. Tiley was actively engaged in the business, at that time disposing of it to his sons, Richard B. and Charles B., who still carry it on, Mr. Pratt having also retired in 1900. The output of the factory is bone and steel goods in great variety, for the notion trade, includ- ing crochet hooks, bone hooks, binders and standard folders, paper knives, etc. In 1898 the company began the manufacture of bicy- cle spokes and nipples, which has proved to be an important branch of the business.

Mr. Tiley married Ophelia Bates, of East Haddam, a daughter of Anson and Sabria (Ely) Bates, and the children of this union were as follows: (1) Emily B .; (2) Georgia B .; (3) Charles S., who is deceased ; (4) Rich- ard B., who is one of the owners of the factory ; (he married Hilda Anderson, and has three children, Charles A., Thelma A. and Aline A.) ; (5) Charles B., a successful dentist in Derby, Conn., who is also one of the owners of the factory ; ( he married Lillian Morton, and has two children, Hazel M. and Charles M.) ; (6) Curtis B., a dentist, living in New Haven, who married Isabel E. Goslee : (7) Stillman B., an employe in the factory, who married Effie Swan, and has one child. Albert V. : (8) Fred- die B., deceased; and (9) Hettie L. B., who married Dr. Martin Linderoth, of Brooklyn, New York.

In his political opinions Mr. Tiley has al- ways been a Republican; he has served his town as first selectman for several years, So- cially he is connected with Mt. Olive Lodge. F. & A. M., of Essex. In 1865 he connected himself with the Congregational Church of

Essex, and has been a deacon in the same for a number of years. In social and family life Mr. Tiley is noted for his pleasant personality, is highly esteemed in business circles, and is one of the substantial and representative men of his locality.

CHARLES JENNINGS, one of the best known and most popular vocalists and vocal teachers in Middlesex county, and a man whose entire life is an example to the rising genera- tion, was born May 2, 1817, in Weston (now Easton), Conn., son of Stephen and Sally (Russell) Jennings.

Stephen Jennings was born in Fairfield county, Conn., and died at the age of sixty- two, in 1832. His marriage, which occurred near Derby, was to Sally, daughter of Timo- thy Russell, a member of one of the old fami- lies of Fairfield county. Mr. Jennings was an extensive farmer, became very prominent in his locality, and served as constable for about twenty years, and as first selectman for a num- ber of years, being placed in office by the Whig party, of which he was a stanch mem- ber. He was an active member of the Bap- tist Church, believing in works as well as faith, and at his death the com- munity mourned the departure of a good citizen. His wife survived hins until 1840. and was also aged sixty-two at the time of her death. She, too, was a consistent member of the Baptist Church. To this good couple were born : Polly, Mrs. John Edwards: Russell. who married Marcia Bancroft : Isaac, who mar- ried Esther French: Stephen, who married Miriam Bates; Sarah; Maria, who married (first) James L. Chapell, and (second) Sid- ney Staples ; and Charles.

Charles Jennings received his early educa- tion in the district schools, and later attended the academy in Easton, Conn., being at that time about twenty-one years of age. His father died when he was fifteen, and he worked. on the farm during the summer and attend- ed school in the winter, remaining with his mother on the home farin until her death, which occurred when he was twenty three years of age. A year later he married, and contimed farming until the year 1850, when he moved to Deep River, and worked at the business of making augers and bits. He was engaged thus for four years, and then, owing to an impairment of his health, due to the close

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COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

work and confinentent, he returned to Easton, and shortly afterward invented and patented a sulky rake. He successfully manufactured this rake in Easton eighteen years, putting on the market about three hundred rakes a year, selling entirely through agents, and at whole- sale. William B. Johnson, of New! Haven, disposed of over one hundred each year. In 1874 Mr. Jennings gave up manufacturing and removed to Deep River, and has continued to make his residence there since that year.

Mr. Jennings began to teach music when he was a young man, and continued in that line for over thirty years, being well known throughout Fairfield and Middlesex counties. His record as a teacher is a remarkable one, he having taught at 184 schools, and in sixty different communities, and still, in his eighty- fifth year, has a fine, clear and sweet voice, that puts to shame many much younger ones. During his long and honorable musical ca- reer Mr. Jennings gave many concerts and recitals, and was always assured overflowing houses wherever he went, and his work was greatly appreciated by the music lovers of his day. For a number of years after Mr. Jen- nings came to Deep River he taught through- out Middlesex county, and sang upon many oc- casions, but within the past few years he has not been as active in his profession, having ac- cumulated a sufficiency which enables him to now enjoy the good things of life.

On June 6, 1840, Mr. Jennings was mar- ried, in Oxford, New Haven Co., Conn., to Betsey P. Hinman, a daughter of Simeon and Phebe (Sudlow) Hinman of New: Milford, Conn., and a granddaughter of Ebenezer and Betsey Hinman. Mr. and Mrs. Jennings had one son, Simeon H., born May 7, 1841, who died June 13, 1899, aged fifty-eight. He was married July, 1866, to Harriet E. Seeley. who died December 21, 1866, and he married for his second wife, October 26, 1868, Mary E. Lewis, daughter of E. Barton and Cynthia M. (Church) Lewis, of New Britain, Conn. They had one son, Arthur, born in Deep River, September 29, 1875, who lives with his mother in Philadelphia, and is connected with the P. B. Sturtevant Company, of that city. Simeon H. Jennings (deceased) was president of the Russell Jennings Manufactur- ing Company, and was one of the leading men of Deep River, and a leader in all move- ments tending toward the advancement of the

community. A review of his life appears else- where in this work.

Although never aspiring to office, Mr. Jen- nings takes an interest in politics, and his sym- pathies are with the Republican party. Both he and Mrs. Jennings are deeply interested in the W. C. T. U., and the Baptist Church, being members of both, and are very estima- ble people, beloved for their many excellent qualities, and their kindness to those in trou- ble or less fortunate than themselves.

CHARLES B. FRISBIE belongs to an old and honored New England family and is the son of a man who was, in his time, one of the most noted figures in the business world of this. part of the State.

RUSSEL FRISBIE, the father of Charles B., was born in the town of Branford, January 8, 1822, and his ancestors were represented in that town as early as 1638. His mother in her maidenhood was Betsey Beach, and his. father was a sea-faring man. Russel left. home when a lad of nine years of age to live with Captain Dowd, a farmer in the town of Clinton, where he remained for seven years. While still a boy his inventive genius and me- chanical ingenuity made themselves manifest,. particularly in the construction of a corn sheller that met the hearty approval of his neighbors. When sixteen years old Russel Frisbie went to Chester, Conn., for the purpose- of learning the carpenter's trade under Potter & Wheaton, but the unexpected dissolution of the firm after about eighteen months threw' him out of business, and he came to Middle- town to take a place in the pattern maker's de- partment of the factory of W. & B. Douglas. Here he made rapid progress, as he was handy with tools and could quickly catch the idea of his instructor. He remained in the shop for twenty-six years, and in that time had accum- ulated a very substantial sum of money. While thene he invented several articles of small hard- ware, which were manufactured and sold by the Stevens Hardware Company on a royalty. In 1866 Mr. Frisbie accepted a most generous offer from the Stevens company, and took charge of their works, securing a quarter in- terest in the establishment, as well as a liberal salary. Under his administration the business of the company greatly increased, and a great variety of toys and hardware novelties were produced by him, which found a ready sale ..

Russel Frisbie

Cheav. J. Friebier

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COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

He was also assistant treasurer of the Com- pany.

In 1876 Mr. Frisbie was elected to the State Legislature on the Republican ticket by a majority of fifty-two votes. This was his only venture in political activities, his business exactions being too severe to admit of any of- fice holding. He was president of the Crom- well Plate Company, a director in the Crom- well Savings' Bank, in the Middletown Bank- ing Company, in the Power Hardware Com- pany, and in the Meriden & Cromwell Railroad Company. For many years Mr. Frisbie was an active member of the I. O. O. F., being connected with Central Lodge, No. 12, Mid- dletown.

Mr. Frisbie's very substantial success was largely owing to his unflinching courage and steady perseverance by which he dared and overcame all obstacles. He had a great faith in man, and was ever ready to help the de- serving and the ambitious, not only with money, but with sound advice and genial good fellowship. There is scarcely a well-estab- lished public enterprise in Cromwell that has not been aided by him at some critical in0- ment. Modest and unassuming in his de- meanor, he enjoys the comforts of life without ostentatious display.

In 1844, Mr. Frisbie was married to Mary Ann, a daughter of Samuel C. Brown, and by her he became the father of four chil- dren: (1) Henry R., born in 1844; (2) Ag- nes Melville, born in 1847, died in December, 1901; (3) Charles B., born in 1849; and (4) Carrie Elizabeth, born in 1854, who died April 11, 1861. Henry R., the oldest child. inherits his father's ability and independent character and resides in Belleville, N. J. Ag- nes M. was married in 1870 to I. B. Pryor. Charles B. was married in 1873, to Emma, a daughter of Abner Roberts. Among the fam- ily treasures is preserved an okl manuscript that tells the story of the Revolutionary ad- ventures of Josiah Frisbie, a gallant soldier and an carnest patriot.

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Commemorative biographical record of Middlesex County, Connecticut : containing biographical sketches of prominent and representative citizens, and of many of the early settled families, Part 122

Author: Beers (J.H.) & Co., Chicago, pub Publication date: 1903 Publisher: Chicago : Beers Number of Pages: 1502

Author: Beers (J.H.) & Co., Chicago, pub
Publication date: 1903
Publisher: Chicago : Beers
Number of Pages: 1502