Commemorative biographical record of Middlesex County, Connecticut : containing biographical sketches of prominent and representative citizens, and of many of the early settled families, Part 71

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 71

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Peter P. Lown, his grandfather, a black- smith by trade, conducted a shop in Albany county, N. Y., near the Schoharie county line. He was a man of stalwart frame and immense strength. He became the father of fourteen children, of whom all but one survived at the writing of this sketch ( 1900). This solitary exception was Peter P., Jr., the father of Daniel A. Lown. His life was uneventful,

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COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

and full of toil. He learned the trade of a smith in the shop of his father, married twice, and had a family of four children by his first wife, and six by his second. This short state- ment presents an epitome of his entire career. His first wife was Katherine Van Amee, and Daniel A. Lown was the eldest of her four sons. The second, William H., a mechanic, died in the city of New York, where he passed the greater part of his adult life. Timothy, the third son, was a painter in Middlefield, where he died. Abner, the youngest child of the first marriage of his father, is a mechanic, and has his home in Albany, N. Y. Peter P. Lown's second marriage was to Rebecca Os- krant, by whom he had four sons and two daughters.

Daniel A. Lown attended the district schools of the town of his birth until he was fourteen years of age, and shortly after the death of his mother he began life's battle for himself. His first employer was Andrew Hal- stead, now a successful lumber dealer of New Haven, then the proprietor of a bus line in Schoharie county. His duties while in the ser- vice of Mr. Halstead were various, among them being the care of horses, driving an om- nibus, and working about the house. He was paid twenty-five dollars a month, a sum which in those days was considered excellent wages. But the work was exceedingly hard, and not infrequently days would pass without his be- ing able to undress for a night's rest. He was young, strong and industrious, however, and he worked faithfully and without complaint. On leaving Mr. Halstead he went to Hart- ford, Conn., where during one winter he worked in the spectacle factory of John Burt. The factory stood near the old "Charter Oak," and Mr. Lown had the opportunity of witness- ing the catastrophe of the fall of that historic tree, in 1856. The following spring he en- tered the employ of the New York, New Ha- ven and Hartford Railway Company, as brakeman, and continued in that company's service for seventeen years, rising in time to the position of fireman, and later to that of en- gineer. He was subsequently an engineer on the Philadelphia and Erie, and afterward, for five years, on the Wabash road. Owing to a strike on the Wabash lines he left that com- pany to take a similar position with the New York Central & Hudson River Company.

There, too, he remained five years, and for seven years thereafter was on the Boston & Fitchburg Railroad. As an engineer he was regarded as an expert, and he spent more than a year in the Grant Locomotive Works, at Paterson, N. J., taking out and testing new engines, delivering them at their destination, and testing them there.

Growing weary at last of the life of an en- gineer Mr. Lown, in 1888, came to Middle- field, Conn., there purchasing the property com- monly known as the "Almon Miller Farm," from his aunt, Mrs. Hannah (Van Amee) Groot. There he has since resided, engaged in general farming, to which, in 1898, he add- ed the making of cider. His long life has been a useful one, and full of activity. Grave trusts, involving both the care of valuable property and the safety of human life, rested upon his shoulders for three decades, but in no relation of life, in which he has been tried, has he been found wanting. He has worked out his own success, without aid from others, and the approval of his own conscience is his highest reward.

In 1859 Mr. Lown was married, at Al- bany, N. Y., to Julia Humeston MacGenness, daughter of James MacGenness, and they have had three children, two daughters and one son, of whom Anna is the only survivor.

Mr. Lown is a member of the Middlefield Grange, as well as of Capitol City Lodge, No. 440, I. O. O. F., of Albany, and Mechanics- ville (Vt.) Lodge, A. O. U. W.

LEROY ARTEMAS SMITH, M. D. The first American ancestor of Dr. Smith of whom we have record was Stephen Smith, who had brothers, and whose name is found in the early annals of the New Haven Colony. He was lo- cated at West Haven, and moved thence to the town of Haddam, settling in that part now called the Haddam Quarter, in the town of Durham, in the year 1723. He was born in 1685, but whether in this country or abroad is not known. and died February 18, 1768, in the eighty-third year of his age. The name of his wife and date of their marriage are not known, but they had children as follows: (1) Stephen, Jr., married Deborah Spencer, Feb- ruary 24, 1737, and had children-Aaron, born April 16, 1738: Anna, December 20, 1739; Jonathan, December 12, 1741; Abigail, De-

Alice M. Smith

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cember 7, 1743. (2) Samuel, born' in 1726, was married in 1749, and lived at Candlewood Hill. He and his wife Anna had children- Samuel, Jr., born March 12, 1750 (died Feb- ruary 8, 1754) ; Joshua, April 12, 1752; Sar- ah, July 23, 1754 (died December 3, 1755) ; Henry, October 13, 1758; Robert, June 13, 1761 (was married in January, 1788, to Sus- annah Killey, and for his second wife married in November, 1797, Sarah Kelley) ; Phineas February 24, 1763 ; Sarah, February 24, 1765. (3) John, the great-grandfather of Dr. Smith is mentioned below. (4) Nathan, born June 18, 1730, married Mary Thomas March 16, 1758. He lived and died at Candlewood Hill. Their children were: Mary, born January 23, 1759, died October 8, 1840 (she was three times married, in July, 1783, to John Bailey, about 1816 to Ambrose Arnold, and lastly to Charles Brainard) ; Sarah, born December 26, 1760; Israel, born October 12, 1762 (died Feb- ruary 14, 1834) ; Jedidah, born November II, 1765; Anna, born March 8, 1767; Nathan, Jr., baptized in April, 1770; Amos, born in August, 1772; David, born in July, 1774. (5) Sarah was born June 6, 1732. (6) David, born March 2, 1734, married Lydia Coggswell, July 1, 1756, and they had three children- Abigail, born April 28, 1757, who married a Boardman, and died in 1823; David, Jr., born November 15, 1758, who died November 22, 1770 (he lived at Candlewood Hill) ; and Con- currence, born January 25, 1761, who married a Bonfoey. (7) Lucy, born September 23, 1739, married Elijah Bailey, who had his home near where Philo Spencer lived and died.

Capt. John Smith, the Doctor's great- grandfather, was born in 1728, was married September 19, 1751, and died January 30, 1808. His wife, Katherine, died March 12, 1767. They had the following children: ( 1) Lewis, born April 26, 1753, removed to Lewis county, N. Y., where he died May 21, 1841. He had a large family, was a prominent man, and a deacon in his church. (2) John, Jr .. born July 19, 1755, was the grandfather of our subject. (3) Enos was born January 6, 1759. (4) Benjamin was born February 3, 1761. (5) Curtis was born February 19, 1763. (6) Thomas, born August 17, 1765, died Septem- ber 27, 1766. The father followed a seafaring life, and was familiarly spoken of as "Capt." John. He lived at Candlewood Hill.

John Smith, the Doctor's grandfather, was born July 19, 1755, in the town of Haddam, was a blacksmith by trade, and had a shop at Candlewood Hill. During the Revolutionary war he served in the capacity of mechanic, and assisted in forging the links to the chain that was stretched across the Hudson river to keep the British ships back. One of the traditions of the family is that, being a skilled artificer, he had the honor of shoeing Gen. Washing- ton's horse, and was cautioned by the General to shoe his horse in the most careful manner. He died May 8, 1834, at the age of seventy- eight, and his wife, Anna, passed away Au- gust II, 1827, aged seventy-two years. To them were born: Rhoda was married March 4, 1803, to Daniel Merwin, and had three chil- dren, Hezekiah, Benjamin and Daniel: Mrs. Merwin died October 17, 1807. Fannie, Mrs. Elisha Stevens, died at Cromwell. Mary (Polly) married Jehiel Hull, and died April 20, 1876, at Sag Harbor, L. I. ; they had twelve children, Rhoda, Albert Pickett, Conklin Je- hiel, Mary A., Smith E., Emily M., Anna C., John Wells, Melissa B., H. F., Jane and Hen- ry A. Anna married Roswell Brainerd. Hep- zibeth married Amzi Lee, and died January 15, 1864; they had nine children, John Smith, Hepzibeth Ann, Angeline Maria, Mary Louisa, Lydia Burr, John Smith (2), Harriet Ellen, Mary Louisa (2) and Frances Antoinette. Benjamin died in New York State January 21, 1866; on December 17, 1807, he married Lydia Burr, and they had ten children. George B., Roena P., Marinda A., Benjamin W., Linus B., James D., Lucina J., Jonathan E., George B. (2) and Ellen H. John became the father of Dr. LeRoy A.

John Smith was born November 2. 1797, and died September 25 1889. His brother-in- law, Elisha Stevens, lived in Bristol. Conn .. where he was a blacksmith and from him John learned his trade. remaining with him six years. He followed blacksmithing later at Candlewood Hill, and also engaged in farm- ing extensively. John Smith was married, May 17, 1824. to Barbara Johnson, a native of Little City, town of Haddam, daughter of Didymus and Ruhamah Johnson. By this un- ion he had seven children: (1) Eliza AAın, born April 18, 1825, married Jesse Smith, November 28, 1854, and died August 10, 1857. (2) Henry Dimock, born June 28,

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1827, died December 8, 1879, at Mackford, Wis. (3) Osborn John, born February 17, 1830, died November 20, 1856, at Memphis, Tenn. (4) William Johnson, born June 23, 1832, married June 17, 1858, Mary E. Stev- ens. He died March 17, 1894, and she died March 20, 1898. They had three children -- Ellen Eliza, born August 4, 1859; Mary Ella, born November 12, 1866, who married Rev. A. S. Kavanagh; and Bertha Louisa, born Sep- tember 22, 1877. (5) Lucius Erwin, born December 10, 1835, married Sarah S. Down- ey, November 1, 1860. By this union there were three children-Minnie, who married Charles Dilley ; Ida B., who married Henry Friday ; and Dayton. Lucis Erwin married the second time and had two children, Roy and Grace Pearl. He and his wife lived and died in Wisconsin. (6) Wilbur Fisk, born Au- gust 26, 1840, is mentioned elsewhere. (7) LeRoy Artemas is our subject.

John Smith was married March 5, 1851, for his second wife to Hannah (McNary) Powers, by whom he had no children. For many years Mr. Smith drew a pension from the government in acknowledgment of his father's gallant services. In politics he was a Democrat, although never aspiring to public office, and he was a highly esteemed citizen.

LeRoy A. Smith was born at Candlewood Hill, in a house located a short distance east of the Candlewood Hill school, on Septem- ber 12, 1843. In his childhood he attended this nearby school, working in summer upon the farm, and at the age of twenty was him- self teacher of the school where he in part re- ceived his own learning. So successful was he that the school visitor pronounced it the best school in town that year. Later he went to Middletown, and for a short time engaged in clerking, and then, having always been in- clined toward the medical profession, he be- gan his studies in that line with Dr. John W. Johnson, of Hartford, Conn., a well known practitioner of that city, remaining with him four years, during which period he also at- tended the Eclectic Medical College, of New York City. He was graduated February 18, 1870, after which he returned to Hartford, and began the practice of his profession with his preceptor, Dr. Johnson. This association con- tinued until the death of the latter, in 1873, after which Dr. Smith attended to the practice

alone until 1880, when, by reason of greatly impaired health, he decided to retire from ac- tive practice, and remove to Higganum, Conn., building the place where he now resides. Af- ter the death of Dr. Johnson, Dr. Smith be- came interested, with his brother, William J., in the drug business, in Hartford, the firm be- ing known as W. J. & L. A. Smith. 'When Dr. Smith ceased his practice in Hartford he also disposed of his drug business. After re- moving to Higganum for a time, his health greatly improving, he began the practice of his profession again, and has continued there- in up to the present day.

Busy as he is with his professoinal duties, Dr. Smith is deeply interested in the advance- ment of the community, and contributes both time and money to all worthy enterprises. In politics he is a Democrat, and represented the town in the Legislature in 1872 and 1879: during his first term he was on the committee on Agriculture, and during his second on the committee on the Sale of Land. In local af- fairs he has been equally earnest, giving his services as chairman of the board of educa- tion for several terms, and he still holds the office. He was chairman of the building com- mittee of the public school.

Dr. Smith was married November 19, 1867, to Alice M. Hubbard, who was born Au- gust 10, 1845, daughter of Hiram S. and Es- ther (Burr) Hubbard, the former of whom died in March, 1900, aged ninety years. Both Dr. and Mrs. Smith are members of the Meth- odist Episcopal Church at Higganum, in which he has been Sunday-school superinten- dent for the past ten years. He was chair- man of the committee on repairing the church and building the parsonage. Dr. Smith was elected one of the two alternates to the Gen- eral Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church held at Chicago in 1900, being a rep- resentative from New York East Conference. Social by nature and believing heartily in the various fraternal organizations, Dr. Smith is a Mason, being a charter member of Granite Lodge, No. 119, of Haddam; at one time he was a member of the K. of P., in which he took all the degrees and united with the O. U. A. M., at Higganum, Lodge No. 43. He is a member of the State Eclectic Medical So- ciety, of which he has been president, and is now treasurer, having served in that capacity

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for the past twenty or twenty-five years. He is a member of the National, State and Sub- ordinate (No. 124, Higganum) Grange; has been the master, and is the present lecturer, of the local grange, and has been master and lecturer of Sea View Pomona Grange. Of pleasing personality and genial manner, Dr. Smith makes many friends, and he is as popu- lar in his practice as he is among his fellow citizens personally.

Mrs. Smith is descended on the paternal and maternal sides from two of the oldest fam- ilies of New England, on the maternal side from "Mayflower" stock. Her father, Hi- ram S. Hubbard, was a farmer in Haddam. He was a man of a retiring disposition, and held no town offices, but was much interested in the prosperity and welfare of the town and people. He was highly respected for his sterl- ing worth and Christian manhood. Mr. Hub- bard died in his ninety-first year. His wife passed away September 8, 1888, and Mr. Hub- bard spent the remainder of his days with his daughter, Mrs. Smith. Harriet, the elder daughter of Mr. Hubbard, was born Septem- ber 25, 1836, and died September 16, 1890.

WILBUR FISK SMITH, one of the most prominent representatives of the agricul- tural class in the town of Haddam, Middlesex county, located in the Candlewood Hill dis- trict, was born August 26, 1840, in the town of Haddam, in the house now owned and oc- cupied by James H. Spaulding. For ancestral history the reader is referred to the sketch of Dr. LeRoy A. Smith.

Mr. Smith's early education was received in the school of his district, and he early learned the blacksmith's trade with his father, also working on the farm. After he attained maturity, he and his brother William pur- chased a farm near the old homestead, on which, in 1861, Wilbur F. built a substantial home. He is one of the most extensive, if not the most extensive, farmers in the district, and in connection with his farm owns and operates a finely equipped dairy ; for the past ten years he has also been extensively engaged in the lumber business.

On February 20, 1862, Mr. Smith mar- ried Cynthia L. Stevens, who died December 8, 1892, aged forty-nine, the mother of three children : Annie E., born April 26, 1863, mar-

ried Albertie Neff, of Haddam, and has two children, Gaston L. and Barbara L .; Jennie M., born October 15, 1867, was married April 21, 1897, to August B. Carlson, and had one daughter, Mabel Josephine, now deceased; Gracic Edna, born July 27, 1873, died the following year. On November 16, 1898, Mr. Smith married his present charming and ac- complished wife, whose maiden name was Mary E. Dolph. Mrs. Smith comes of Revo- lutionary stock, and the Dolph family is of English descent. Her great-grandfather, Charles Dolph, served in the Revolutionary war, and was shot in battle; the bullet that killed him is in the possession of Mrs. Smith's mother, who lives. in Branford. Charles Dolph, son of Charles, came from Saybrook to Guil- ford, and lived and died there. He was a hat- ter by trade. He married Harmony Chitten- den, who was born in Guilford, and their children were: James ( father of Mrs. Smith), John, Charles, Susan, Eliza, Eunice and Ro- sanna. James Dolph was born December 29, 1820, in Guilford, and died January 16, 1892, in Branford. He was a farmer all his life. He married Juliette Stevens.

In political matters Mr. Smith is a very stanch Democrat, and has most acceptably served as collector five years ; selectman four years ; represented the town in 1899-1900, serv- ing on the Finance committee in the Legisla- ture, and is at present assessor. Mr. and Mrs. Smith are active members of the Higganum M. E. Church, of which Mr. Smith is steward and trustee. Socially he is a Mason, being connected with Granite Lodge, No. 119, and the Order of the Eastern Star; is a member of Lodge No. 43, O. U. A. M., Higganum, and of the Grange, and has held office in all these organizations. Upright in all his dealings, kind-hearted toward all, Mr. Smith shows forth in his life the teachings of the Master he so devoutly follows. In his present home, sur- rounded by his interesting family, he is enjoy- ing the fruits of a well-earned harvest.

CAPT. HORACE LEONARD, of Mid- dletown, Middlesex county, had conferred upon him in February, 1895. the rare honor of the bestowal of the honorable veteran's jewel, a distinction given only to those who have been members of the same Odd Fellows lodge for fifty consecutive years. He was the

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first one in the State of Connecticut to become entitled to the distinction.

Capt. Leonard was born September 23, 1819, at Middletown, son of Spicer and Lu- cena (Hotchkiss) Leonard. His mother died when he was a child, and he was taken to Mer- iden, living in the home of his aunt until he grew to manhood. In 1851 the schooner "S. S. Buckingham" was built for him, and he re- mained in command of her for five years; she was in the Middlesex quarries trade. In 1856 Henry G. Hubbard, at that time president of the Middletown Ferry Company, induced him to take command of the boat on that route, and he remained in command of that boat un- til 1867, when he built the "Nellie," continu- ing in command of her until failing health and advancing years necessitated his retire- ment from the water, some twenty years ago. Capt. Leonard was tax collector of the city from 1877 to 1888, and served in the common council for a number of years. As a reminder of his former activity it is noted that the greater part of the stone in the Hartford depot was brought on boat by Capt. Leonard.

Capt. Leonard joined Central Lodge, I. O. O. F., January 20, 1845, and has retained his membership continuously ever since. When the lodge was organized he was on the water, otherwise he would have been connected with it from its inception. Three others united with the lodge the same time as he did, Dr. William B. Casey, Capt. Hilliard and George Francis, all of whom have been dead these many years. Captain Leonard was a regular and enthusi- astic attendant of all lodge meetings, and was a hearty worker for the good of the order. He was elected warden of the lodge term after term, and has passed through all the chairs.

Capt. Leonard and his wife celebrated their golden wedding May 4, 1894. Her name was Lucy A. Harding, and she was born No- vember 11, 1823, at Middletown. Their union was blessed with the following children: Hor- ace died in infancy. Edward C. lives at Mid- dletown, and is assistant agent for the H. & N. Y. Transportation Company. Nellie H. married Eldridge S. Ferree, and died in April, 1898, in Middletown, leaving a family. Mary I. is the wife of Fred E. Gibbons, whose sketch appears elsewhere in this volume. Hor- ace S., of Saybrook, Conn., is a conductor on

the Valley Division of the New York, New Haven & Hartford railway.

Capt. Horace Leonard died June 4, 1898, and is buried in Indian Hill cemetery. He was a stanch Republican politically, and in religion was a pillar of the Universalist Church, of which he was a trustee and a strong and faith- ful worker for many years. The Captain had a wide circle of acquaintances, and was uni- versally respected by all who knew him. He reared a fine family, and left a good estate. His widow passed away December 16, 1901.

THE HUBBARD FAMILY of Middle- town, Conn., are descendants of George Hub- bard, who was born in 1601 in the eastern or southeastern part of the island of Great Brit- ain, where large numbers of persons bearing the family name were located. The name in America first appeared in Hartford in 1639 in a list of settlers who came overland from the vicinity of Boston, Mass., in 1635 and 1636, and located the towns of Windsor, Hartford and Wethersfield, Conn., and also Springfield, Mass. Conspicuous among these settlers was George Hubbard, who resided in Hartford un- til 1650 or 1651, when, having disposed of his property, he removed, in company with about fifteen other families, to the township of Mat- tabessett, as it was called until the middle of the seventeenth century, when it became Mid- dletown and embraced what are now Middle- town, Portland, Chatham, Cromwell and Mid- dlefield.

George Hubbard bore with him from Hartford a commission from the Colonial gov- ernment as "Indian agent and trader for the Mattabessett district." It was recorded of him that he was highly respected and of marked integrity and fairness, which he must have been to be selected by the colony as its Indian trader, for promiscuous trading was forbidden, and the possession by the Indians of firearms and fire water would produce dire- ful results ; so the trading was confined to one man of discretion and judgment. In 1654 George Hubbard was made a "freeman" and settled on the east side of Main street. He owned large tracts of land on both sides of the river, and was the keeper of the first meeting house in Middletown. In 1640 he married Elizabeth, daughter of Richard and Elizabeth

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Watts, and this marriage resulted in the birth of eight children, viz .: (1) Mary, born in Hartford in January, 1641 or 1642, was mar- ried in May, 1659, to Thomas Ranney, who was born in Scotland in 1616; he was a wealthy man and the only one of his family to come to America. His death took place June 25, 1713, and that of Mary, his wife, December 18, 1721. (2) Joseph, born December 10, 1643, in Hart- ford, married Mary Porter, December 29, 1670, and died in Middletown December 26, 1686. (3) Daniel, born in Hartford Decem- ber 7, 1645, first married Mary Clark Febru- ary 24, 1669-70 ; she died December 24, 1673, and Daniel next married, October 16, 1675, Sarah Cornwell, and died in Haddam, Conn., November 9, 1704. (4) Samuel, born in Hartford in 1648, died there November 4, 1732; he married Sarah Kirby, who was born in Hartford January 16, 1653. (5) George, born December 15, 1650, in Hartford, died unmarried in Middletown in 1675. (6) Nathaniel, born in Middletown December 10, 1652, was married May 29, 1682 to Mary Earle, who was born in 1663, and died April 6, 1732, while Nathaniel died at his residence at the cross-roads, Long Hill, Middletown, May 20, 1738. (7) Rich- ard, born in Middletown in July, 1655, married, March 31, 1692, Martha Cornwell, who was born August 30, 1669. Richard had received from his father the house and lot in Middletown in consideration of his promise to care for his mother the remainder of her life. His death took place July 30, 1732. (8) Elizabeth Hubbard, the youngest of the chil- dren, was born in Middletown January 15, 1659, and was married to Thomas Wetmore February 20, 1684; she died December 6, 1725. Thomas Wetmore was born October 19, 1652, and died February 1, 1689. George Hubbard, the father of the above family, lived to be over eighty years of age, and an inven- tory of his property at his death showed him to be worth £243, 10s. His widow died in 1702, and their remains were buried in River- side cemetery, near the old log church in Mid- dletown, and within a stone's throw of their residence.

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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 71

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