Commemorative biographical record of Middlesex County, Connecticut : containing biographical sketches of prominent and representative citizens, and of many of the early settled families, Part 20

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 20

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On October 12, 1858, Mr. Lewis married Miss Mary G. Smith, who was born August 29, 1836, in Middletown, daughter of Ansel and Sybil (Skinner ) Smith, and four children came to bless the union, namely : Charles H. is a boot and shoe dealer and also engaged in the men's furnishings business in Middletown. Nellie, Mrs. E. L. Clark, and Minnie, Mrs. Markham, are both residents of Middletown; E. S. Lewis is a mechanic of that city. Mrs. Lewis lives on Hubbard street, in Middletown.

CHARLES ELIHU LYMAN. The Ly- man family has been identified with Middle- field, Middlesex county, since 1741, when John Lyman and his wife, Hope ( Hawley), settled there. John Lyman was fifth in descent from the emigrant ancestor, (I) Richard Lyman, who with his wife, Sarah ( Osborne), and their five children came from England to America in 1631. They sailed from Bristol in August, and landed in Boston in November. Their English home was at High Ongar, in the Coun- ty of Essex, twenty-five miles from London. They first settled at Charlestown, Mass., and became members of the church which was under the pastoral care of Rev. John Eliot, the "Apos- tle to the Indians," that church being located in what is now the town of Roxbury. Richard

Lyman was made a freeman in June. 1635, and four months later, on October 15th of the same year, he and his family joined a party of one hundred persons, who came through the trackless wilderness from Massachusetts to Connecticut with Rev. Thomas Hooker. He became one of the "original settlers" of Hart- ford, and his name is on the monument erected to them in the rear of the Center Church, at that city. Richard Lyman was a land owner and a prominent citizen of Hartford. He died in 1640, and his widow, Sarah, did not long survive him.

(II) Richard Lyman (2), baptized Feb- ruary 24, 1618, the second child and eldest son, of Richard (I), accompanied his parents to Connecticut. He took up his home in Wind- sor. He died in Northampton, Mass., June 3, 1662. He married Hepzibah Ford, the third daughter of Thomas Ford, of Dorchester, Mass., later of Windsor, Conn., who came in the ship "Mary and John," in 1630.

(III) Thomas Lyman, second son of Richard (2), was born at Windsor, probably in 1649. He went with his parents when they removed to Northampton, in 1655. He mar- ried Ruth Baker, widow of Joseph Baker, and daughter of William Holton, who came from Ipswich, England, in the ship "Francis" in 1634. Thomas Lyman removed, in 1708-09, to Durham, Conn., which town was for three or four generations the seat of that branch of the family. He was one of its early settlers, and one of the first deacons of the church. He represented the town in the General Court for several terms, and died in Durham July 15, 1725.

(IV) Ebenezer Lyman, second son of Thomas, was born in Northampton in 1682. He did not accompany his father to Durham, but removed thither several years later, pre- sumably between 1717 and 1719. On Janu- ary 2, 1706, he married Experience Pomeroy, and their eight children were: Moses, born in 1707, died in 1796; Experience, born April 17, 1708, died September 30, following ; Eben- ezer was born September 20, 1709; Stephen, August 14, 17II: Experience (2), December 25, 1712; Mindwell, July 13. 1714 (married Jacob Strong, Jr.) ; John, April 9, 1717 (died in 1763) : and Hannah, baptized June 30, 1723, married Asahel Strong, of Torrington, and died February 19, 1771. On coming to Dur- ham Ebenezer Lyman settled in the northern

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part of the town, on the west or lower side of the road formerly known as "Crooked Lane." In 1737 he and his brother, Noah, purchased land across the town's boundary line, in Mid- dlefield. About 1740 he removed to Torring- ton, Conn., whither his son, Ebenezer, Jr., had preceded him. The younger Ebenezer was the first settler in Torrington, having gone there in 1737, and the father and son were among the founders of the Congregational Church at that place, which was organized October 21, 1741, and of which Ebenezer Lyman, Sr., was chosen a deacon in 1742. While living in Durham, in 1737, he represented that town in the General Court. He died at his home in Torrington in 1762.

(V) John Lyman, fourth son of Eben- ezer, Sr., was born at Northampton, April 9, 1717, and came with his parents to Durham. On September 13, 1739, he married Hope Haw- ley, great-granddaughter of Rev. Samuel Stowe, of Middletown, who is said to have owned much land in Middlefield. She was also great-granddaughter of David Atwater, one of the founders of New Haven. This John Ly- man was also a land owner, as appears from the official records of transfers, which show that on March 14. 1741, he bought from Eph- raim Coe, of Middlefield, for £620 ( old tenor ), a tract of thirty-six acres, with a mansion house. In the following month, April 6, 1741, the same grantor conveyed to Hope, the wife of John Lyman, twenty-five acres, in consideration of £200 ( old tenor), this land forming a part of the farm at present owned and occupied by Charles E. Lyman. Other conveyances are re- corded, showing that John Lyman and his wife were the grantees of 165 acres. He died in 1763. He was the father of five sons and three laughters: John, the eldest, born in 1740, lied in childhood. Catherine, baptized Novem- er 8, 1741, became the wife of Lot Benton, of milford. Hannah, the third child and second laughter, born June 19, 1743, married Rev. dr. Williston, of West Haven. Jolin ( 2), bap- ized January 13, 1744-45, died in boyhood. David, born in 1748, died in 1815. Esther, who was born September 17, 1749, married David Beecher, and was the mother of the cele- rated clergyman, Dr. Lyman Beecher, who as the father of Henry Ward Beecher and Harriet Beecher Stowe. Elihu, born in 751, studied and practiced medicine and died

in the South. The youngest child was named Phineas.

(VI) David Lyman, son of John, was born January 6, 1748, and died February 25, 1815. He lived upon the Lyman farm in Mid- dlefield, and in addition to being a farmer was interested in several other business ventures. He was popular, and a man of prominence, serving as selectman, and colonel of the militia. On May 20, 1777, he married Sarah Comstock, of Norwalk, and they had ten children : Polly, Phineas, David, William, Esther, Alanson, Sally, Urania, Andrew and Elihu. Polly, born May 3, 1778, married Aaron Robinson, of Ben- nington, Vt., and died in March, 1852. Phin- eas, born in 1779, died the same year. David, the third child, was born in 1781, married So- phia Park, and died in Woodford, Vt. Will- iam, born in 1783, died in Middlefield in 1869. The fifth child, Esther, born July 31, 1785. married Reuben Brush, of Vergennes, Vt., and died in 1816. Alanson was born in 1787, mar- ried Sina Coe, and died in 1836. Sally, born October 27, 1789, married Abner Miller, and was the mother of the late eminent jurist. Judge H. G. Miller, of Chicago, Ill. Urania. born January 21, 1792, married David Buttolph, a lawyer of Norwich, N. Y. Andrew, born Janu- ary 31, 1794, was a farmer in Woodford. Vt .. removed to Middlefield, and died there: his wife was Ann Hall, of Wallingford, Conn. Elihu, the youngest child, was born in 1797, married Cornelia Van Zant. and died in 1825. without children.

(VII) William Lyman, the fourth child of David, was born August 21. 1783. He was a man of noble physique, and remarkable en- ergy and vitality. His life, which extended over a period of eighty-six years, was useful and active. He was deeply imbued with the Christian faith, and was a deacon in the Con- gregational Church. He was among the lead- ers of the Temperance reform movement, and a strong and early Abolitionist. and was a power in both interests, having an intellect keen and alert, judgment conservative and sound. He owned, and successfully cultivated. the farm in Middlefield. Mr. Lyman married Alina Coe. whose father, Elisha Coe, of Middlefield, was widely known and universally respected. Their children were as follows: Phineas, born Oc- tober 15, 1868, died February 13. 1820. Ade- line, born February o. 1810. died August 6,

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1826. Elizabeth, born in September, 1812, married Rev. Charles Lewis Mills, of Morris- town, N. J., and died July 10, 1851 ; two chil- dren survived her,-Hon. Lyman A. Mills, who was born in Middlefield, February 25, 1841, and Catherine Elizabeth Mills, born June 4, 1844, who married Elias Riggs Forsyth, of Greensburg, Ind. The fourth child of Will-

iam Lyman was David, a brief sketch of whose life is given in a succeeding paragraph. Sarah, born February 8, 1823, was married May 15, 1845, to Rev. James Taylor Dickin- son, who was born October 29, 1806, at Low- ville, N. Y. graduated from Yale College in 1826 and became an ordained minister of the Congregational Church, in Norwich, Conn .; for nine years he was one of the American Board's Missionaries at Singapore, but failing health necessitated his return home, and his last forty years were passed in retirement at Middlefield, his time being chiefly devoted to literary work; he died July 21, 1884. Elihu, William Lyman's sixth child, was born March 2, 1825, and died April 2, 1848. Adeline, born May 17, 1828, died July 5, 1849.

(VIII) DAVID LYMAN the father of Charles F., was born in the town of Middlefield (then a part of Middletown), Conn., October 19, 1820, and died in Middlefield January 24, 1871, at the age of fifty years and three months. From the numerous biographical notices which appeared in the journals of New Haven, Hart- ford, Middletown, and other places, we select and abridge the following, published in The Free Press of Bennington, Vt., February 4. 1871 :

"From his parents, persons of uncommon physical vigor, of more than ordinary intel- lectual capacity, and of the strongest moral and religious convictions, Mr. Lyman inherited as a permanent capital in the business of living a good life that sound physical, mental and moral constitution which has stood him in so good stead through his eminently useful career. He received in his youth what was then consid- ered a good common-school education, supple- mented by a little academical instruction. At the age of nineteen he was sent by the Messrs. Trowbridge, of New Haven, to Kentucky, to purchase mules for the West India market, and by them and the house of Alsop & Chauncey, of New York, was kept at this work for some years. For a short time he followed it, too, on his own account. At twenty-seven he was ap-

pointed to the trusteeship of a large estate, and by the conditions of the will of the testator was not required to give the bonds usual in such cases. In the management of this trust, which he held up to the time of his death, his great capacity for business was constantly in requisi- tion. Not long after his acceptance of the trust, a legal controversy arose concerning cer- tain dispositions of the will. This controversy ran through the highest courts of Connecticut and New York and the United States Circuit Court for the district of Connecticut. At the end of ten years of expensive litigation, in which some of the most distinguished lawyers of the land had been employed on one side or the other, Judge Nelson, of the United States Su- preme Court, in giving a decision in the case at New Haven, said of him, 'His conduct pre- sents a conspicuous instance of great capacity, fidelity, and success, in the discharge of the difficult and responsible duties confided in him by the deceased under the will, and calls for the commendation of this court. We have rarely known an instance of such faithful, conscien- tious and accurate performance of the duties of a trustee, and in view of the fact that trust estates are so often, through incompetency or unfaithfulness, wasted, we feel it our duty to give the conduct of this trustee the marked ap- proval of this court.' Mr. Lyman's chief busi- ness from which he received, for ten years previous to his death, a large annual income, was the manufacture of clothes-wringers, by a manufacturing company in which he held a con- trolling interest. For the last four years, how- ever, he had had little to do with its active man- agement, his whole time having been complete- ly absorbed-so completely as to have shortened his days-by his interest in the new line of rail- road from New Haven to Middletown, and thence to Willimantic, the aim of which was, by connecting: the two points of New Haven and Willimantic, to form a shorter line between New York and Boston. To build a railroad is not usually difficult when the money is at hand, but financial matters in this case were not the chief difficulties to be encountered. The Con- necticut river was to be bridged at Middle- town, and to this the most powerful interests in the State were opposed. The river towns above the proposed bridge; the competing lines of railroad already in existence; and more than all the city of Hartford, the city par excellence of judicious care for

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its own interests, were the parties the new railroad would have to contend with, and which twenty years before had defeated the very pro- ject Mr. Lyman proposed to accomplish. A man of less pluck, less ability, and less enthusi- asm and hope would have stopped even before he had began. For two years he worked before the Connecticut Legislature for a charter for the bridge and failed. The interests against him were too powerful for any one man or cor- poration. But nothing daunted, he went to Congress and obtained the right to bridge the river, and the work was commenced. How; he has labored since then, through doubt and dis- couragement, through evil and good report, through the lukewarmness of friends, and the open attacks of enemies, can not be narrated here. All admit, friends and foes, that no- body else could have built the road at this time, or during the present generation. The two cit- ies of New Haven and Middletown know and appreciate his labors. As a slight tribute to his memory their corporate authorities passed each a series of resolutions, and attended his funeral at Middlefield. One of the New Ha- iven resolutions was as follows :

"'Resolved, That in the death of David Lyman, the public at large are called upon to deplore the loss of a true man, eminently faith- ful in the discharge of every duty, attending to every trust committed to his care; genial, earn- est, full of hope, inspiring others with his en- thusiasm; who carried to substantial comple- tion that great enterprise, the Air Line Rail- road, a work of inestimable value to this city. and which will ever endure as a monument to him, illustrative of his sagacity, perseverance and indomitable energies.'

"The magnetism of the man was something remarkable. He inspired all with whom he came in contact with his own enthusiasm, and with interest and confidence in himself. He had that hopeful, buoyant temper, that cheer- fulness and hopefulness, which are reported to belong to the real Lyman stock, and to which Henry Ward Beecher, himself a Lyman n part, alluded in a characteristic letter to he Lyman gathering at Northampton in 1869. Too soon has the grave closed over im. In the prime of life, in the midst of isefulness, with the most promising future before him, he is cut down, a sacri- ice to the work he had undertaken. Less han a week before his death, he left his home,

against the wishes of his family, to attend to important railroad business. He returned to it never to leave it alive. His disease was ty- phoid fever, which progressed favorably until congestion of the lungs set in, which proved fatal. Of his own knowledge he was soon conscious of approaching dissolution, and, as was said by an eye-witness of the scene, 'He set about the business of dying as about a rail- road or any other business that had to be done.' He was completely self-possessed to the last. his mind clear and composed to an unwonted degree. During the last few hours he was un- able to articulate, but continued to communi- cate his thoughts and wishes by writing. He was in no pain, as he frequently signified by words or signs. He retained something of his great physical strength to the end, the grasp of the hand, only a few minutes before his death, seeming as powerful as ever, while his smile was quite the same that had won so many hearts. He breathed his last, with pencil in hand, endeavoring to complete a few more cheering words to surviving friends. Fare- well, kind friend, dutiful son, loving husband, affectionate father, faithful citizen, public bene- factor, too soon farewell."

On January 30, 1849, David Lyman was married to Catherine Elizabeth Hart, who was born at Guilford, May 9, 1826. Her father was William Hart, and her mother's maiden name was Catherine Starr. She died May 9, 1894. Mrs. Lyman was of English descent. and traced her lineage back to England, as fol- lows : (VI) William, 1788-1862; (V) Thomas, 1762-1829; (IV) Thomas. 1723- 1813; (III) Jolin, 1682-1731; (II) Thomas; (1) Stephen Hart. Mrs. Lyman also traced her line to Dr. Comfort Starr, who came from Ashford, in Kent, England, and settled in Cam- bridge, Mass., in 1633, thus: (VIII ) Cather- ine. (VII) Deacon William. (VI) William. (V) Jehosaphat, (IV) Comfort, (III) Com- fort, ( II) Dr. Thomas, (1) Dr. Comfort Starr. To David Lyman and his wife were born six sons and three daughters: ( 1) Mary Eliza- beth was born December 2. 1850. ( 2) Harriet Augusta was born September 9, 1852. (3) Will- iam was born May 3, 1854. and was well known as the inventor of the Lyman Gun Sights, and and of the Lyman Bow-facing Rowing Gear ; he died December 20, 1896, unmarried. (4) Hen- ry, born March 3. 1856, was graduated at the Massachusetts Agricultural College, Amherst,

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in 1874, and was a judicious and enthusiastic farmer on the homestead in Middlefield, until his death, January 19, 1879. (5) Charles Elihu was born November 3, 1857. (6) John, born September 1, 1860, died before completing his Junior year at Sheffield Scientific School, Yale University, February 21, 1882. (7) James, born September 1, 1862, was graduated from the Scientific School of Yale University in 1883, and later took the degree of M. M. E. from Cornell University. He is now assistant engineer of the Western District of the General Electric Company, and a member of the fol- lowing societies : The American Society of Mechanical Engineers ; the American Institute of Electrical Engineers ; the American Society for the Advancement of Science; the American Electro-chemical Society. On June 6, 1891, he married Anna Bridgeman, and has one son, Oliver Bridgeman, born August 23, 1892. (8) Adeline, daughter of David and Catherine Lyman, was born September 24, 1864, and died February 28, 1882. (9) David, born April 5, 1867, married June 26, 1901, Mary Cook Larned, of Woonsocket, Rhode Island.

Charles Elihu Lyman was born in Middle- field, November 3. 1857. He was graduated at the Massachusetts Agricultural College at Amherst, Mass., in 1887, and is a practical farmer. He now owns the Lyman farm, of more than 600 acres, one of the largest and best farms in Middlesex county, nearly all of which is under cultivation. In addition to gen- eral farming he is interested in fruit culture, and the fattening of lambs. Mr. Lyman is an active member of the Congregational Church, and at present holds the office of church treas- urer.

On June 8, 1886. Mr. Lyman married Emma Hall, who was born May 17, 1865, in Wallingford, Conn., daughter of Hezekiah and Harriet (Coe) Hall. both now deceased ; her father was a farmer. Her lineage is traced back to England, as follows : (VII) Heze- kiah, (VI) Nathan, (V) Hezekiah, (IV) Eliakim, (III) John, (II) Samuel, (I) John Hall, of New Haven. Also from the emigrant ancestor, Robert Coe, 1634, thus : ( VIII) Harriet, (VII) Calvin, (VI) Joseph, (V) Joseph, (IV) Joseph, (III) John, (II) Robert, (I) Robert Coe. Also to the emigrant ances- tors Joseph Hawley, Edward Birdsey, Thomas Robinson, John Kirby, and William Cornwell.

Mrs. Lyman passed away December 25, 1901. Charles E. and Emma H. Lyman had six children: Henry Hall, born May 4, 1888; Alma, September 5, 1889; Esther, Febru- ary 9, 1892 ; Charles Elihu, Jr., April 9, 1894; John, December 24,, 1895 ; and Sarah Dickin- son, April 24, 1897.

E. BOUND CHAFFEE, deceased. There is in every person a something that is insepara- ble,-the suggestive power of character,-and he knows neither himself nor mankind who be- lieves that he can analyze the deeds and actions of men without taking into account this con- stantly recurring principle. Thus the study of genealogy becomes extremely interesting, for the intermingling of dominating characteristics of a family line with those of each individual shows not only the influence of heredity, but also the individual potential. Nearly a century has fallen into the abyss of time since the Chaffee family became identified with the an- nals of Middletown, Conn., and while this fact is in itself significant, there is one of still great- er interest involved in the honorable and use- ful lives of those who have borne the name, each generation contributing to the personnel of the noble army of the world's workers. There is no family which has been continuously more prominent and more honored in the community than that of which the subject of this review is a worthy representative.

The lineage of the Chaffee family is traced back to two brothers of the name who were Huguenots, and who, during the days of perse- cution incident to the revocation of the Edict of Nantes, fled from France to Wales, and thence emigrated to America and located in New England. This was in the early Colonial period. The first representative of the name in Middlesex county was Reuben Chaffee, who, as a young man, in the early years of the nine- teenth century, came to Middletown. He was the youngest of the five children of Jonathan and Lucy (Allen) Chaffee, whose marriage was solemnized May 1, 1776. Of their chil- dren we have the following record: James, born May 21, 1777, died May 14th of the fol- lowing year ; Molly was born February 25, 1779: Jonathan, November 26, 1780; Persis, July 29, 1782; and Reuben, the Middlesex county pioneer, was born in Ashford, Conn., March 5, 1784. Jonathan Chaffee, brother of

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Reuben, migrated to the State of New York, where may still be found many of his de- scendants.

When Reuben Chaffee made his advent in Middletown his equipment for the battle of life was summed up in an alert mentality, a vigor- ous physique, a spirit of indomitable persever- ance, and a marked mechanical skill,-and that these proved adequate to meet all exigencies is evident in noting the salient points in his ca-

reer. He secured employment in the North pistol factory, at Staddle Hill, and being com- petent, industrious and frugal, he duly hus- banded his resources. The business with which he became thus associated had intervals of inactivity, when employment became some- what desultory in that line, and during one of these periods the young man decided to em- bark in business on his own responsibilty. With the funds which he had scrupulously saved he established a modest grocery of the old-time order in Middletown. His first location was in Main street, on the first lot south of the present "Kilbourn hotel" property, and there. by close application to business and that rare pragmatic discrimination which has been typi- cal of the family, he prospered in his business, which increased steadily, each year signalizing an improvement in his financial condition. Finally larger quarters were demanded and he removed to Court street, a short distance east of Main street, and on the south side of the court. About the year 1839 he removed to the east side of Main street, a short distance below Court street, where is now located the grocery of S. T. Camp, the property passing at the time into the ownership of Mr. Chaffee. There it was that the business was ever afterward conducted until his death. In the later years of his life he admitted his eldest son, Benjamin F .. to partnership in the enterprise, under the irm name of Reuben Chaffee & Son, the busi- less being then the principal one of the sort in he town.

On November 30, 1819, Reuben Chaffee vas united in marriage to Miss Martha W. Bound, who was born in Norwich, Conn., April 6, 1799, daughter of Ephraim and Sally Francis) Bound, the former of whom was jorn in the city of Boston, January 14, 1773. while the latter was born in Medford, same State, September 9, 1769; their marriage was olemnized in the city of Boston, May 20, 1792. The mother of Ephraim Bound bore the maiden

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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 20

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