Commemorative biographical record of Middlesex County, Connecticut : containing biographical sketches of prominent and representative citizens, and of many of the early settled families, Part 155

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 155

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handsome modern house in which he resides he rendered valuable assistance.

Mr. Sellew is a Republican in politics, and in 1897 was elected to the Lower House of the Legislature, serving as a member of the com- mittee on Forfeited Rights. He also held the office of constable for four or five years. He is a man of generous impulses and genial na- ture, popular and esteemed in the community at large, and beloved by his friends. Fra- ternally he is a member of the Knights of Pythias and of the Order of United American Mechanics, as well as of Mansfield Post, No. 53, G. A. R., of Middletown.

On May 26, 1868; Mr. Sellew was married to Miss Elizabeth. B. Goff who was born Oc- tober 16, 1847, daughter of Gurdon S. and Chloe Maria (Tilden ) Goff. Both Mr. and Mrs. Sellew are members of the Congrega- tional Church and of the East Hampton Grange. Mrs. Sellew also belongs to the Woman's Relief Corps. To their marriage have come two daughters and three sons: Al- mira Elizabeth, born March 17, 1870, is a stenographer and typewriter; Emma Viola, born September 12, 1871, married Clayton F. Carpenter, of Waterbury, on January 19, 1895, and has two children, Howard and Edith; George Henry. born May 1, 1873, is a clerk in the railroad freight office at New Haven; Ralph G., born February 25, 1875, is still at home; Thomas Hamellin, born June 22, 1879, is a carpenter by trade, and has been employed in Florida, and is now engaged in contracting at Moodus.

DAVID HALE, JR. (deceased), of Mid- dletown, Middlesex Co., Conn. The Hales are one of the oldest families in New England. Their first location was in Hartford, whence they removed to Glastonbury, and there have been numerous representatives in this section for many years. David Hale was in his life- time one of the leading business men and citi- zens of Middletown. He had only a humble start in life, but with the help of his estimable wife rose to a position of affluence. For thir- ty years he was one of the city's prosperous business men. From early youth he manifested an industrious and thrifty disposition, and many a bushel of huckleberries died he buy and sell as a youngster.

David Hale was born March 10, 1825, in South Glastonbury, son of David and Sarah

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(Tryon) Hale. He had the benefits of the district school until he left home to work in the quarries at Portland, beginning at day la- bor, which he was willing to do until he could secure a more important position. For sev- eral years he was a time keeper on the rock. In November, 1854, at Durham, Conn., he married Miss Harriet B. Badet, who was born in New London June 23, 1825, daughter of Thomas Shaw and Betsy ( Butler) Badet, and granddaughter of William Butler. Thomas Shaw Badet, her father, a tailor in New Lon- don, was the only child of Pierre Badet, who was born in France and. came to the United States. He married Hannah Prentice, of New London, Conn. Thomas S. Badet by his first marriage, to Betsy Butler, was the father of six children : Thomas P. was a coal and lumber merchant of New London, where he died in August, 1899. Francis, a cooper by trade, died in the west. Edward died in Clay Center, Kansas; he was a cooper by trade. Henry was a successful merchant of New London, Conn. William died at sea. Harriet B. be- came Mrs. Hale. By the second union there were two children.

Betsy Butler was a daughter of William and Sarah ( Hull) Butler. Thomas S. Badet, the father of Mrs. Hale, died in New London, Conn., in 1854.

David Hale continued seventeen years in the employment of the quarry company, and in 1861 he embarked in the mercantile busi- ness with Timothy Parker as his partner, in a gentlemen's furnishing store at No. 280 Main street. Mr. Parker left the firm after some years, selling out to William H. Beebe. Mr. Beebe died, and Mr. Hale continued alone un- til 1890, when his son, Walter T. took the business. Walter T. was the only child of his parents ; he was born in November, 1857, and died in July, 1901. David Hale was a Repub- lican, and at one time served as alderman. He was a member of the Masonic fraternity. Mr. Hale left a good property and a good name. His widow is a highly estimable lady, and a woman of unusual business ability.

David Hale, the father of our subject prop- er, was a farmer, and lived near South Glaston- bury. He died on his home farm, and his widow lived four years with her son, David. Jr., in Middletown. They were the parents of the following children : Francis, who died in

Portland; David, Jr .; Joseph, living in Ionia, Mich. ; and Edgar, living at South Farms, Connecticut.

GEORGE THOMAS MEECH. In re- publican America, caste at all times obtrudes itself. Though titles are barred by constitu- tional proscription, the aristocrat still flour- ishes, at odds with the genius of our govern- ment. There is buried in the hearts of human nature a tendency to elation at personal possess- ion, be it wealth, intelligence or family. But there are individuals, who, rich in all these ac- cessories, yet remain true democrats in every fiber of their being, whose lives are unostenta- tious, whose mingling with their fellow men is that of comradeship and sympathy. If in the town of Middletown were sought the name of one of its prominent citizens who fitly exempli- fied this true democracy, that of George Thom- as Meech would probably be given. His ca- reer has been one of ambition. not to excel, but to labor and accomplish. He has been emi- nently successful, but the fact is well concealed. Eligible to membership in various exclusive societies, he has withheld his name; active in. every movement to benefit the town, he has persistently declined honors and offices of re- sponsibility and trust. Creator of a name in the commercial world that stands for large re- sources and unimpeachable integrity, his per- sonality is that of a plain, ordinary man. He is senior partner in the firm of Meech & Stod- (lard, dealers at Middletown in grain, flour, feed and seeds, one of the best known and most extensive firms in that line in Central Connect- icut.

The record of Mr. Meech's ancestry in- cludes many names that are familiar to the stu- dents of Connecticut history, including the Waites, Mathers, Averys, Tylers, Lords, Elder- kins, etc.

Stephen Meech, his emigrant ancestor in the direct paternal line, and the progenitor of the Meeches in New London county and vicin- ity, according to tradition, came to New Eng- land on account of religions persecution. It is also a family tradition that his surname was really Walbridge, and that he assimned his mother's maiden name Meech. Again, it was thought by some of the enlier generations of the family that he was one of the Mecches of Devon, England. He located in what is now

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COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

North Stonington, Conn., on land some two .

miles east of the city of Preston. Stephen Meech married in this country, and his chil- dren were John and Daniel. John, born in 1694, settled on a farm about two miles north of Preston. He died January 13, 1782, aged

eighty-eight years. His wife's name was Sarah. Joshua Meech, probably a son of this couple, married Lucy ,who died Janu- ary 18, 1824, aged ninety-five years. Their son, Jacob Meech, kept a tavern for years in the Meech neighborhood, and both he and his wife Sarah are buried there; he died February 21, 1847, aged eighty-nine years, and she died Feb- ruary 10, 1836, aged seventy-eight years. Ja- ·cob and Sarah Meech had six children, the sons being Appleton, John and Charles.

(II) Daniel Meech, son of Stephen, was twice married, his second wife being Amy Wil- cox, a woman of great vigor, and extraordinary beauty. They resided for years in the old home, and then removed to Canterbury. They had eleven children : Hezekiah, Daniel, Thom- as (the next in the line of descent), Elisha, Hannah, Aaron, Amy, Susan, Esther, Tamar, and one that died in infancy. Of these, Heze- kiah married (first) Sybil Brewster. Daniel was a lieutenant in the British army and was killed in 1759, in the vicinity of Quebec; he left a widow and three children. Elisha re- moved to Vermont, and became one of the rich- est and most influential men in that State, of which one of his sons was governor. Aaron never married.

(III ) Thomas Meech, born February 22, 1749, in Preston, died there October 21, 1822. On October 5, 1768, he married Lucretia Kim- ball, who was born April 19, 1750, and died April 9, 1834, at Preston. They had a family of eleven children, namely: (I) Stephen W., born May 20, 1769, married Lucy Billings. (2) Gurdon, born March 29, 1771, married Lucy Swan, and died in February, 1854. (3) Shubael, the grandfather of George T., is men- tioned below. (4) Rev. Asa, born April 20, 1775, married a Miss De Witt. He died in Feb- ruary, 1849, at which time he was located at Hull, Canada. (5) Cynthia, born October 4, 1777, married Samuel Gager, and died in Janu- ary, 1864. (6) Esther, born February 26, 1780, married Alexander Rogers, and died April 23, 1864. (7) Charles married, on March 1, 1804, Cynthia Crary. (8) Thomas Miner, born February 17, 1785, married Ruth Tyler, and | in Griswold, Conn.

died November 23, 1823. (9) Lucretia, born October 27, 1787, died June 5, 1792. (10) Mary Park, born August 22, 1792, married Joseph Yerrington. ( II) Lucretia (2), born April 30, 1796, married John Abell.

(IV) Shubael Meech, the grandfather of our subject, was born November 4, 1773, and November 16, 1798, married Sarah Lord, who was born in 1775, daughter of Nathaniel and Abigal (Tyler) Lord, and granddaughter of John and Mary (Coit) Tyler. John Tyler was prominent in the Revolutionary war, act- ing as captain of the Second Company, from Preston. Conn., in June, 1776. On August 12, 1776, he was promoted from lieutenant- colonel to colonel, and served subsequently as brigadier general of the Third Brigade, Colon- ial troops. From the Otis Library, Norwich, Conn., "Connecticut in the Revolution" (page 430), "Record of State of Connecticut," 1776- 78 (pages 29, 262 and others) and "Colonial Records," of Connecticut (Volume XX), we have the following information concerning him : John Tyler, Preston, colonel Tenth Regiment, Continental Army, '76; appointed brigadier general, Third Brigade of Militia, succeeding Saltonstall, June, '77; served in Rhode Island and on State Alarms through the war. "This Assembly do appoint John Tyler, Esq., to be colonel of the Eighth Regiment of Militia in this State, instead of Samuel Coit, Esq., resigned." "This Assembly do appoint Col. John Tyler to be Brigadier General of the Third Brigade of Militia in this state in the room of Brig. Gen. Saltonstall, resigned."

Shubael Meech was a farmer and lifelong resident of Griswold, Conn. He died Novem- ber 4, 1839, and his wife outlived him twenty- four days, dying November 28, of the same year. The children of Shubael and Sarah (Lord) Meech were as follows: (I) Sarah, born September 4, 1799, married Silas Reade, of Lisbon, Conn., and died December 24, 1835. (2) Hezekiah L., born April 9, 1801, died sud- denly May 8, 1884, in a bank at New Haven, while transacting some business. He had been a teacher early in his life, was released from business some years before his death, and was living in New Haven. He had resided in Griswold, Conn., for many years. He married Mary Copp. (3) Lydia, born October 14, 1802, married Aaron Stevens, and resided in Norwich, Conn. She died August II, 1840,

Mr. Stevens died in 1873.

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Their son, Dwight, took part in John Brown's raid, at Harper's Ferry, Va., and was hanged March 16, 1860. (4) Henry, born April 24, 1804, married Maria Burton. He and his wife were struck by a train at a railroad crossing near Canterbury, Conn., and were killed June II, 1859. (5) Mary Ann, born November 10, 1805, died unmarried October 23, 1842. (6) Susan, born September 25, 1807, died un- married September 20, 1837. (7) Shubael, born February 21, 1809, died January 27, 1901, at the advanced age of nearly ninety-three years, in Lebanon, Conn., where he resided. He was a surveyor, teacher and farmer. He married Eliza Copp. (8) Adeline, born May 2, 18IT, became the second wife of Aaron Stevens, and died in Norwich, Conn., March 23, 1887. (9) Edwin Butler, born December 12, 1812, died November 4, 1883, at Griswold, Conn., where he made his home. He was a

blacksmith. He married Sarah Geer. (10) John Tyler, the father of our subject, is fully mentioned below. (II) Dwight Lester, born March 12, 1816, died unmarried May 4, 1884, in Griswold, Conn. By occupation he was a farmer.

(V) John Tyler Meech, the father of our subject, was born in Preston, Conn., July 30, 1814. He was reared on the farm, receiving the rudiments of educa- tion common in the days of his youth. There was plenty of work in the fields, and he knew little of idleness or sport. He remained on the farm until his marriage, March 13, 1842. at the home of his bride, in Lyme, to Miss Re- becca Mather Waite, who was born in that town May 30, 1816, daughter of William and Rebecca ( Avery) Waite. Rebecca Avery, her mother, was born in Groton, Conn., October 4. 1774, daughter of Nathan Avery, who was born in 1744, and who offered the first prayer at the Gales Ferry school house, which was the place of worship until the church was built in that town. He married Rebecca Elderkin, sister of Col. Dyer Elderkin, of Revolutionary fame.

William Waite, the maternal grandfather of our subject, was born November 23. 1773. son of John and Rebecca ( Mather ) Waite. John Waite was born January 1. 1749. and Rebecca, his wife, on December 22, 1718. John Waite had a brother, Remick, whose son, Henry, was the father of Chief Justice Waite.

of the United States Supreme Court. William Waite was a farmer of Lyme, Conn. To him and his wife Rebecca Avery came the follow- ing children: (1) Mercy H., born October 2, 1806, married Silas B. Beebe. They re- moved to Michigan, where she died September 31, 1869. (2) Nathan A., born May 8, 1808, married Cordelia Beebe, and died at Lyme, Conn., September 2. 1838. He was a ship carpenter. (3) William M., born November 6, 1809, died December 7, 1830, at Cincinnati, Ohio, to which city he had removed when a young man. (4) Prentiss A., born December 3, 1812, died April 19, 1879, in New London, Conn. He was a mechanic. (5) John E., born July 8, 1814, lived past the age of seventy, and died at Lyme. Conn., June 29. 1894. (6) Rebecca, born May 30, 1816, married John Tyler Meech. William Waite. the father of these children, lived to the age of sixty-seven. His wife survived him one year, dying at the same age. He was a highly respected citizen. and reared a good family. His wife was a devout member of the Baptist Church, and an earnest Christian woman.

In the fall of 1842 John Tyler Meech set- tled on a rented farm in Lisbon, Conn. Ho resided there one or two years, and later occu- pied leased farms in other towns. During his active life he lived on farms in the following towns : Lisbon, Griswold, Lyme. Essex, Brooklyn, Montville, Groton and Ledyard, and in Central and West Chester, N. Y. Ile was a hardworking industrions man, and in later life bought a home at Gales Ferry, where dir- ing the latter years of his life he lived in com- fort, and where his death occurred April 3. 1805. Tle was well preserved for a man whose life had been one of unremitting toil until well past middle life, and physically he was large and well built. In disposition he was extremely modest and noassuming-a man who was re- spected by all who knew him. He was promi nent in religions affairs in the Congregational Church. For many years he sang in the choir of that religions laly. Politically he was originally a Whig, later a Republican, and he took an active interest in his party's success, but never aspire to hold office. His death oc curred after a happy married hie of over lifts three years. His widow, a well preserved old lady, recipies the home a portion of the time. residing occasionally with her son and daugh

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ter. She is a Christian woman, and for many years has been a member of the Congregational Church.

To John Tyler and Rebecca Mather (Waite) Meech were born three children: ( I) George Thomas is our subject. (2) John died at the age of four years and nine months. (3) Susan married Charles Avery Satterlee ; they live at Gales Ferry, and have three children, Charles, Alice and Elmer. Of these, Charles entered the United States Revenue Cutter ser- vice after passing a most excellent examina- tion and is now stationed on the Pacific coast.

George Thomas Meech was born Decem- ber 22, 1843. As a boy he attended the dis- trict schools but the chief experience of his youth was as a laborer on the farms. As the only son who grew to adult age, he was of great assistance, and found an abundance of work. He was less than nineteen years of age when he enlisted, August 14, 1862, in Company C, Twenty-first United States Volunteer In- fantry. The regiment was organized at Nor- wich, Conn., and breaking camp there proceed- ed to Washington. It was ordered to Antie- tam but did not arrive until after the engage- ment there. Mr. Meech remained with his company and regiment, participating in all its engagements, until June 3, 1864. On that date, while lying in the rifle pits at Cold Harbor, he was taken ill, and was removed on a stretch- er to the field hospital, from which he was not discharged for several weeks. When he left the hospital and was ordered to rejoin his regi- ment, which was then in front of Petersburg, and just before marching orders came, he was ordered to report to Surgeon Dwight Satterlee, of the Eleventh Connecticut Volunteer Infan- try. He was then assigned to duty, and was so attentive and efficient that promotions fol- lowed until he became private secretary to H. B. Fowler, surgeon in charge of Point of Rocks (Va.) Hospital. In that capacity, and in the discharge of other exacting duties, he served until discharged, June 10, 1865, at Hampton, Va., whither he had gone in command of a squad of men in the hospital service. During his entire service of nearly three years he had never returned home. Once procuring a fur- lough, he gave it to a comrade who had a wife and family at home.

When finally discharged Mr. Meech re- turned to Connecticut, and at once began work at Ledyard, on his father's farm, in the hay

field, taking up the exact labor which three years before he had abandoned in answer to his country's call for men. Confident of his abil- ity to succeed, and having no inclination for the farm, he completed a four-months course in the United States College of Business and Finance at New Haven. A former acquaint- ance, N. B. Allyn, at that time was employed as a clerk at Middletown, and without influen- tial friends of his own to secure for him a start in business life our subject learned of a modest opening there. Accordingly, in May, 1866, he left New London on the steamer "Sun- shine," which at that season of the year made occasional trips to Hartford, and on landing at Middletown accepted a position as driver of a delivery wagon for William A. Hedge, a gro- cer there, for $4 per week and his board. It

was the opportunity to begin a career that the young soldier sought. His prompt and indus- trious service, and his excellent care of his horse and wagon, were noticed by his employ- er, and within a few months Mr. Meech was placed in the store as a clerk. There, too, he quickly established his mastery of the work, and when shortly after Mr. Hedges wished, on ac- count of failing health, to dispose of the gro- cery part of his business, retaining only the crockery department, Mr. Meech and Mr. Al- lyn became the purchasers, the father of our subject, having confidence in the ability of his son to succeed, procuring and loaning him the funds necessary to make the purchase. His father's finances at this time were such that the amount of $500 was a large sum, comparatively speaking. In the basement under what is now A. M. Bidwell's grocery store, the two young men thus launched into business. Their quar- ters were dingy, but the first day's sales reached $90, and the venture proved a decided success. The same intelligent energy the young propri- etors had given their former employer brought prosperity to themselves. But scarcely more than a year had passed when their health was affected by the basement location. A proposi- tion to buy or sell was made to Mr. Meech, and he sold. He at once accepted a position as bookkeeper, at a salary of $600 per year, with the flour and feed firm of L. N. Barlow & Co. The business prospered greatly, and Mr. Meech grew in favor with his employers. In 1869 he acquired a half interest in the firm, the name of which remained the same until March, 1871, when, by the purchase of Mr. Barlow's inter-

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COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

est by O. E. Stoddard, the firm became Meech & Stoddard, which continues to this day, and is synonymous with unquestioned integrity, re- liability and financial strength. In 1874 the firm of Meech & Stoddard built the mill on North Main street, and they have operated same ever since.

Mr. Meech has been identified also with various other business interests of Middletown, and has extensive and valuable real-estate hold- ings. He was an incorporator of the Columbia Trust Company, of Middletown, and was elect- ed first president, but declined to serve, though he has ever since filled the office of director. He is a director of the Farmers & Mechanics Savings Bank of Middletown, also of the Co- operative Savings Society of Hartford, and of the W. & B. Douglas Company, of Middletown.

In politics Mr. Meech is a stanch Republi- can, and, while, in no sense shirking his duty as a member of his party, nor as a citizen, he is not a politician. He served two years in the city council, and for a like period as selectman : and was a member of the Municipal Building committee when that structure was erected.

Mr. Meech was married June 11, 1873, at Middletown, to Miss Ella Burr, who was born August 3, 1849, in the old homestead of her father on Main street, Middletown, daughter of Hon. Dr. Ellsworth and Maria T. ( Haling) Burr. She is of the eighth generation from Benjamin Burr, one of the original proprietors of Hartford, and a member of one of the old- est families of New England. In her girlhood Mrs. Meech attended Miss Maria Payne's school for young ladies. Middletown, and then graduated from a musical seminary at Salem. Conn., one of the noted schools of its day. patronized by the best families of the State. To Mr. and Mrs. Meech have been born four children : ( 1) George Ellsworth, born No- vember 14, 1874, has, since he left the high school, been in the office of Meech & Stoddard. and is one of the substantial young men of the city. (2) Mabel Burr, born February 15. 1878, is a graduate of Forest Glen Ladies Col lege, in Maryland. (3) Harold Marwick, born September 18, 1882, graduated from the Mid dletown high school in the class of 1900, and then entered Yale University, class of 1001. (4) John Tyler, born September 27. 1885, died September 18, 1886.

Both Mr. and Mrs. Meech are prominent and active members of the South Congrega

tional Church. Our subject is now a deacon of the church, and a member of the Society's committee. For twenty years he has been a teacher in the Sabbath-school, and from his early manhood has been a generous contributor to the church. For nine years he was presi- dent of the Y. M. C. A., of Middletown, and acted as chairman of the building committee when the Y. M. C. A. building was erected in that city. He is a member of Mansfield Post, G. A. R., at Middletown. Both he and his wife are eligible to various Colonial societies, but have never joined.

HENRY H. FRANCIS. The story of Mr. Francis' life is full alike of interest and in- struction, being a tale of the achievements of an earnest purpose and resolute will, aided by indomitable energy and inflexible integrity. He was born in October. 1847, in Wethersfield. Conn., of which town his ancestors in both lines, those of Francis and of Harris, were old and highly esteemed residents, and his parents were born there. His father. John N. Francis, was a sea captain, and died of yellow fever about 1866, while on a voyage in the Southern seas. His widow, who is yet living. has reached the age of seventy-five years.

Henry H. Francis was yet a child when his parents removed from Wethersfield to New Haven, and the rather limited educational ad- vantages which he enjoyed in boyhood were obtained in the schools of the last named city. which at that time afforded facilities vastly in- ferior to those of the admirable institutions for the imparting of elementary education which New Haven boasts today. His school days were completed before he had fairly entered upon his "teens" and then-perhaps through a beyish quest of adventure and a desire to visit strange lands and feast his eyes upon new sights -he accompanied his father upon a voyage to the West Indies, Barbados and other localities in the tropics. A single experience of this character cured him of an incipient desire for a sailor's life, and at the age of fifteen he en- terel the employ of Messis Ezra Clark & Con ci Hartford, dealers in iran and steel. He began in the humble capacity of "boy." but Ir fidelity. a sidoin and application worked hinner up, step by step, to the petition of bookkeeper, and afterward legge heel dek He renamed with that concern for sale Phit- teen and a bali vens, when he leon the cancer

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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 155

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