Commemorative biographical record of Middlesex County, Connecticut : containing biographical sketches of prominent and representative citizens, and of many of the early settled families, Part 95

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 95


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(II) Joseph Arnold, son of John of Canı- bridge and Hartford, married Elizabeth, daughter of Samuel Wakeman, of Hartford. He became one of the twenty-eight original proprietors of the town of Haddam, Conn., in 1662, and died October 22, 1691. His chil- dren, and their ages at the time of their father's death, were: John, twenty-nine; Joseph, twenty-six : Samuel, twenty-three ; Josias (Jos- iah twenty-one; Jonathan, twelve; Susan, sixteen ; and Elizabeth, nine.


(III) John Arnold, son of Joseph, born about 1662, married, and his sons were: (I) John, a physician, settled in Middletown. (2) Joshua, also a physician, of Haddam Neck,


married, and his sons were John, Joshua, Jacob, Joseph, Deacon Gideon and Ebenezer. Of these, Deacon Gideon had sons : Daniel; Deacon Gideon (2), of Easthampton, Conn .; Jabez ; and Jacob. Among the sons of Eben- ezer was Col. Arnold, of Durham, Connecticut.


(III) Joseph Arnold, born about 1665, married, and his sons were Joseph and Simon, the latter of whom had a son Joseph.


(III) Samuel Arnold, born about 1668, married and settled in East Haddam, where his portion of his father's estate was located. He had sons: Joseph, who had-Joseph, Eph- raim, and others ; Samuel, a candidate; Enoch; Josiah; and John.


(III) Josias (Josiah) Arnold, born about 1670, married, and his sons were: Samuel, Josiah, David and James. Of these, David had sons-Francis, Seth, Samuel, Josiah and James. -


(III) Jonathan Arnold, born about 1679, married (first) October 5, 1709, Hannah Rob- inson, and (second) in 1715, Sarah Jones, and his sons were: Samuel, who when three years old was lost in the woods west of Turkey Hill; Jonathan, who settled as a minister in the State of New Jersey; Samuel (2), who mar- ried and had sons-Jonathan, Samuel and James.


From the foregoing source came the pater- nal ancestors of Judge Ephraim P. Arnold, of Haddam.


Samuel Arnold, the Judge's great-grandfa- ther, died October 8, 1805, aged fifty-nine ; his wife, Elizabeth, died January II, 1825, aged · seventy-seven. To them were born : Jonathan, Elizabeth, Charles, Hannah, Elijah and Joseph.


Joseph Arnold, the grandfather of our sub- ject, died January 12, 1823 aged forty-nine. He served as justice of the peace in Haddam, where he was engaged as a merchant, and al- though he died at a comparatively early age he had proved himself a man of unusual ability, successfully conducting four stores at one time, in Killingworth, Lyme, Haddam and Middletown. In politics lie was a stanch Democrat, and in his death the community lost one of its best citizens. He married Thankful Clark, a daughter of Joseph and Mira (Dud- ley) Clark, residents of Clark's Creek, in Ty- lerville, town of Haddam. The Dudley family traces its descent directly from Lord Dudley, of English fame. Mrs. Joseph Arnold died August 19, 1849, aged seventy-three. To Mr.


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and Mrs. Arnold came children as follows : (1) Nancy, born August 11, 1797, died Sep- tember 18, 1798. (2) Jonathan, born Nov. 27, 1798, died May 30, 1872. (3) Nancy (2), born July 11, 1800, died January 28, 1884. (4) Joseph, born March 10, 1802, died March II, 1869. (5) George was born September 22, 1803. (6) One son died in infancy. (7) Sam- uel, born June 1, 1806, was a member of Con- gress from 1857 to 1859, from the Second Con- gressional District; he lived in the home now occupied by his nephew, Judge E. P. Arnold. (8) William P., born October 14, 1808, died September 2, 1893. (9) Hannah, born Janu- ary 1, 1810, died January 12, 1823. (10) Sarah Elizabeth, born October 5, 1813, died September 28, 1849. (II) Isaac, born July 6, 1815, died August 26, 1892. (12) Charles, born January 31, 1817, died October 20, 1859.


William P. Arnold, the Judge's father, was born October 14, 1808, died September 2, 1893, in Haddam, and was buried in the Central cemetery of that place. In 1837 he married Elma E. Cole, a native of the town of Chatham, who was born in 1817, and died March 15, 1890. To this union were born thirteen chil- dren, three of whom died in infancy. We have record of twelve: Ephraim P., Daniel .R., Nancy M., Georgiana, Lydia, Elma, Louisa, Samuel, Ella G., Franklin A., William P., Jr., and Harriet A. In early life the father was employed by Hon. Samuel Arnold, his brother, in quarry work, and later was captain of vari- ous vessels, sailing from the quarry with stone to New York. For over twenty years he was in command of sailing craft. In politics he was a stanch Democrat.


Judge Ephraim P. Arnold was born March 26, 1839, in Haddam, Conn., where lie grew up, during his youth attending the public schools, and the Brainerd Academy, ringing the bell and sweeping the rooms of the academy in payment for his tuition. His educational ad- vantages were limited to those afforded by these institutions. At the early age of twelve lie left home to work in the shipyard of Heze- kiah and Chauncey Childs, tat Higganum, Conn., remaining with them six months, which time ran into the fall of the year, when he re- turned home and attended the winter session of the Brainerd Academy. This plan of work- ing in summer, and attending the academy in winter, was followed for some years, until he became sufficiently advanced in his studies to


teach school in the winters, working in the quarries during the summers. He was in the employ of his uncles, Ephraim Pierson and Samuel Arnold. Later he took the entire charge of the farming interests of the late James C. Walkley. During the time that the latter was so largely interested in the erection of the Valley road, Mr. Arnold did the collecting for him, and. in all, was in his employ for thirty years. Mr. Arnold taught school in all three years, first in the Beaver Meadow District, next at Candlewood Hill, and later at the Hig- ganum school; and just twenty-one years later his daughter, Ellen M., began teaching in the same school.


After leaving Mr. Walkley's service, about 1876, Mr. Arnold engaged in the lumber busi- ness, buying wood land, and cutting the timber, his transactions amounting to from $5,000 to $8,000 yearly. So successful was he in this special line that he still continues it, although not so extensively as in former days. A man so manifestly able as Judge Arnold could not easily escape political preferment, and his party-the Democratic-has frequently called upon him to represent its interests. In 1877 and 1879 he represented the town in the Gen- eral Assembly, being a member at the last ses- sion in the old and first session in the new State House at Hartford. In 1873 he was elected first selectman, which office he still holds, and has entire charge of town affairs. When he was first elected the town debt was $64,000, but through the careful management of himself and his associates it has been brought down to $216.65, which amount will be increased, how- ever, by the disbursement of the money that will be required to meet the losses occurring in consequence of the severe flood of August 24, 1901. I11 1882 Mr. Arnold was elected Judge of Probate, and with the exception of two years has been in office ever since. suc- ceeding George W. Arnold.


In his domestic relations Judge Arnold is especially happy, and his pleasant home at Haddam is the abode of hospitality and com- fort. He was married September 28. 1862, to Ellen M. Brainerd, daughter of Harvey E. and llarriet ( Williams) Brainerd. She died June 23, 1863, aged twenty-two years. On August 17. 1864. Judge Arnoldl married Sarah H. Ar- nold, who was born January 26, 1838, daugh- ter of Chauncey and Maria ( Currier ) Arnold, and great-granddaughter of Jabez (son of


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Gideon, son of John). This union has been blessed with four children: Ellen M., born September 28, 1865, married Elwyn T. Clark, of Haddam, who is one of the county commis- sioners of Middlesex county. Philip C., born January 31, 1867, married Mary A., daughter of William H. Russell, of Haddam, and has one daughter, Sarah Russell; they reside in Easthampton, and he is in the employ of the Bevin Brothers Manu- facturing Company. Sarah Elma, born November 21, 1868, married Wilton A. Tay- lor, of Meriden, Conn., and has three children, Ruth Arnold, Cynthia Maria and Lula Rita. Ephraim P., Jr., born October 24, 1874, is with the Farmington River Light & Power Com- pany, of Hartford, Connecticut.


Both Judge and Mrs. Arnold are active members of the First Congregational Church of Haddam, of which, in 1899, he was elected a deacon. Socially he is a Mason, formerly a member of Columbia Lodge, No. 26, of East Haddam, and now a member of Granite Lodge, No. 119, at Haddam, of which he is a charter member, and has been the treasurer since its organization, in 1877. Judge Arnold is es- sentially a public man, and has much to do with the settlement of estates. He has the en- tire confidence of the public, as shown by his repeated election to places of trust, is learned as a judge, and is an honorable, straightfor- ward capable business man, of very high char- acter. The family has high social standing, and fitly represents and perpetuates the promi- nence and high character which has been its portion in previous generations.


CLARK GRIFFITH SOUTHMAYD is one of the older citizens of Portland, and a member of one of the oldest families in Mid- dlesex county. He is a son of Jonathan B. and Emily (Griffith ) Southmayd.


The name Southmeade was recorded in the County of Kent, England, for six genera- tions prior to 1620. The first of the name in America was William Southmeade, who was born in England in 1615. Tradition says he was the son of John Southmayd, of Wrey, Devonshire, and according to one authority, which is supposed to be reliable, he was a son of Sir William Southmayd of Devonshire. All the Southmayds in this country, so far as known, are the descendants of William, the emigrant, who came to these shores and set-


tled at Cape Ann, Gloucester, Mass. The family had high standing in Colonial days, and intermarried with many of the best houses of old New England. At Gloucester, Mass., No- vember 28, 1642, William Southmayd mar- ried Millicent Addez, eldest daughter of Will- iam Addez, of that town. William South- mayd was a sea captain, and was in command of vessels plying between Portland, Maine, Salem, Boston, and New London, Conn. He moved after some years to Salem, Mass., where his two sons were born, and the dates of their birth are a matter of town record. He spent his last years in Boston, where he owned a home, in which he died in 1646. He left two sons, John and William. The former, born in Salem October 26, 1643, was a sea captain, and died at sea, unmarried; he was, in 1648, granted a portion of his fa- ther's estate. William was born in Salem September 17, 1645.


Millicent A. Southmayd married for her second husband, in 1651, Deacon Thomas Beebe, and they at once removed to New Lon- don, Conn., where she died in 1699. She had four children by her second marriage: Thomas, Hannah, Millicent and Rebeka. Thomas died unmarried. Hannah married John Hawks, and Millicent became the wife of Nicholas Darrow. Rebeka married Na- thaniel Holt, from whom is descended the well-known Holt family of New London.


(II) William Southmayd, Jr., was a cap- tain in the West Indies trade. He was the first of the family to come to Middletown. It is a family tradition that he came in 1655, but his name does not appear on the town rec- ords until 1667. On June 16, 1675, he pur- chased of William Cheney a house and a lot of four acres in Middletown, the location being the square now between Court and Center streets, from Main street to the Connecticut. river. Capt. Southmayd afterward made an extensive purchase of land at the corner of Main and Church streets, and five acres of this tract descended to his son Giles. He died in 1701. On October 16, 1673, he married for his first wife Esther Hamlin, who was born December 15, 1655, in Middletown, daughter of Capt. Giles and Esther Hamlin, and died November II, 1682, leaving five children : William, born July 24, 1674, died in infancy. John, born August 23, 1676, graduated from


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Harvard College, and for forty years was min- ister of the Congregational Church at Water- bury, Conn., where he died November 14, 1755. William (2), born March 6, 1679, died when a young man. Giles, born January 17, 1680, died May 27, 1728. Esther, born Octo- ber 28, 1682, died December 29, same year. Capt. Southmayd's second wife was Margaret Allyn, third daughter of Col. John Allyn, of Hartford, who was secretary of the Colony for thirty-four years, and acting governor two years, during the absence of Gov. Winthrop in England. She was a great-granddaughter of William Pynchon, the founder of Spring- field, Mass. To this union came children as follows : (I) Allyn, born February 7, 1685, in Hartford, died in St. John, Newfoundland, at an advanced age; was unmarried, and left a large property which reverted to the English crown. (2) Daniel, born September 16, 1687, died November 23, 1705. (3) Margaret, born August 11, 1691, died June 1I, 1773. On February 9, 1720, she married, for her first hus- band, Samuel Gaylord, the wedding taking place in Windsor, where they resided; the house in which she lived, standing on Wash- ington street in Middletown, is now the oldest house in the city. Mr. Gaylord was engaged in the West Indies trade with his father-in-law. He died May 17, 1729, and his widow married for her second hus- band, Seth Wetmore, Sr., of Middletown, September 30, 1730. (4) Joseph, born May 15, 1695, is more fully spoken of later. (5) William, born January 9, 1699, died October 15, 1747. He was a man of some. resources, and bought a lot in Middletown, on which he was building a house for a home, but died be- fore it was completed. He married Mchitable Dwight, daughter of Rev. Joseph and Mary (Partridge) Dwight, March 26, 1729. (6) Millicent, born January 3, 1700, died December 12, 1717.


(III) Joseph Southmayd was a farmer, shipmaster, and shipbuilder. He settled on the home lot purchased by his father from William Cheney. In 1728 he was captain of the town company of militia, or trainband, as it was then called ; represented his native town in the Colonial Assembly from 1750 to 1756; and from 1756 until his death was a justice of the quorum. He served with Jabez Hamlin and Jolin Gaines as a committee to determine


the site of the new North Church in Middle- town, which stood where the Episcopal Church is now located. Through his mother, Mar- garet Allyn, he received an inheritance of 150 acres of land in Durham, which was once owned by Col. Allyn. He married Abbiah Douglass, daughter of Richard Douglass of New London, who was a sea captain, and also captain of the first trainband of New London. Joseph Southmayd died in 1772, the father of the following children: Margaret, born No- vember 9, 1731, was married July 21, 1752, to Shadrach Hibbard, of Windsor, Conn., and died January 28, 1755 ; her husband died Jan- uary 20, 1755. Joseph, born October 2, 1733, died at sea, when a young man. Abiah, born October 17, 1735, married Ebenezer Sage, a brother of Gen. Comfort Sage. Jonathan, born February 22, 1737, died June 7, 1797 ; he was a farmer and shipbuilder, and occupied the homestead of his father: on November 25, 1762, he married Martha Sage, daughter of Ebenezer Sage. Daniel, born November II, 1738, died February 5. 1828. John died early in his career.


(IV) Daniel Southmayd settled in Middie- town, and had a large farm west of High street, his home being near the present location of the "Secor house." He married December 4, 1760, Hannah, daughter of William and Sarah Goodrich, wealthy people, and in 1800 moved to Durham. He was a sergeant's mate in the Revolutionary war, and a man of much reputation in the old days. Their children were: Abiah, born in 1761, died November 14, 1781. Daniel, Jr., August 8, 1763. was a sea captain, and served in the Revolutionary army at the age of sixteen; on December 1, 1796, he married for his first wife, Patience Sellew, a native of Upper Houses, now Crom- well, and his second wife was Eunice Bates, who died March 25, 1802; on March 31, 1803. he married for his third wife Olive Fairchild, who died April 17, 1821, and he died in Dur- ham June 6, 1838. Hannah, born October 14. 1765, married Samuel Bates; they removed from Durham to Hartland, Vt. Joseph was born in Middletown March 2. 1768, and died September 2, 1824. Sarah, born August 28, 1770, married Richard Hubbard, of Durham. Anna, born January 28, 1773, married Isaac Newton, of Durham. Elizabeth, born June 11, 1775, died October 20, 1776. John, born


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in January, 1782, died March 3, following. (V) Joseph Southmayd was born in Mid- dletown, but passed nearly all his life in Dur- ham, extensively engaged in farming, and was a prosperous and generous man. He was a member of the Congregational Church, be- longing first at Durham, then in Haddam, and again at Durham. He died September 2, 1824. He married Cynthia Freeman, who was born September 29, 1769, in East Hampton, and died July 14, 1850. To this union came the following children: ( 1) John Bailey, born June II, 1794, married Elizabeth Perkins, of Bath, England, who was born November 28, 1815, and died November 12, 1851. They had eight children, Joseph, Sarah B., Mary A., George M. (who married Caroline Neal, and is living in Durham), Emily G., Grace P. (wife of Rev. Philotus Dean, a Congregational min- ister, and for the last sixteen years of his life professor of natural sciences and principal of the high school at Pittsburg), Ogden and Cor- nelia. Daisy G. Dean, a daughter of Grace P., married E. J. Pearson, of Hartford. (2) Jonathan B. was born March 2, 1797. (3) Freeman B., born May 26, 1801, died October 24, 1826, on the eve of his marriage to a young lady of his native town.


(VI) Jonathan Brooks Southmayd was born in Durham, Conn., March 2, 1797, and his wife, Emily Griffith, was born April 21, 1795, at Chatham. They were married in Middle Haddam November 23, 1816. She was a daughter of Stephen and Zilpah (Clark) Griffith, who had a family of eleven children. The father was born in 1762, and died Febru- ary 6, 1838; her mother was born February 3, 1765, and died March 17, 1829. The young married couple went to housekeeping in Dur- ham. Jonathan B. Southmayd began life a poor boy, and made his own way in the world. He remained at Durham until about 1825, and then moved to Haddam, where he followed farming until 1840. He then came to Port- land, and lived in what was known as the "Miles house," on Main street. He followed farming during his later life, but kept his home in Portland after it was once established here. Politically he was a Whig, and later a Republican.


Jonathan B. and Emily Southmayd had the following named children: Cynthia, born at Durham, in 1817, married Nathaniel B. Hall,


of Portland, October 12, 1841, and died in Portland March 9, 1867. Clark G. is the sub- ject of this article. Adeliza T., born April 12, 1821, married Martin Coats, of New London, and died November 3, 1845. Elizabeth P., born January 1I, 1826, married Gilbert Stan- cliff, and resides in Portland. Jonathan B. Southmayd died April 17, 1885, at Portland, where his wife died March 22, 1872. They were buried in the Episcopal cemetery.


(VII) Clark G. Southmayd was born Au- gust 1, 1819, in Durham, and was about four years old when his parents moved to Chatham. He was the only son in the family, and, as his father was a farmer, when about twelve years old went with the latter into the woods to look after the team. When he was fourteen his school days ceased except for a short at- tendance during the winter months. His fa- ther left farming when Clark was eighteen years old, and the latter went to work in a casting shop at East Hampton. After a few months the father entered the employment of E. & S. Brainerd, as master of teams in their extensive quarry, and there Clark also found employment, entering as a driver, and in about ten years being made foreman on the rock. He held this position some ten years or more. Then he and his father bought the farm known as the "Cooper property," which is now the home of our subject. It was sold to Capt. John McCleave, and then bought back, and Clark G. has made his home upon it since 1860.


Mr. Southmayd and Miss Juliette Hurd, who was born in Chatham May 23, 1821, daughter of Samuel and Fanny (Stocking) Hurd, were married in Chatham. Mrs. South- mayd was reared there. To this union have come the following children: (I) Adeliza, born November 24, 1845, was a highly suc- cessful school teacher, and taught several years in Hartford. She married May 2, 1883, Robert Morgan, a native of Scotland, who was brought to this country by his parents when he was only two years old. He is now a re- tired plumber of New Haven. (2) Carrie A., born December 1, 1850, was a successful teacher, and was employed several years in high grade private schools. On April 28, 1870, she married S. A. Hamlin, and they have two sons, Alfred S. and Gilbert S. The latter is married, and has two sons, Robert M. and Gilbert S. (3) Frederick C., born


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March 31, 1857, married October 25, 1876, Miss Mary Alice Johnson, of Glastonbury, who was born October 4, 1857, daughter of Giles M. and Emily ( Allyn) Johnson. They have one son, Irving E., who is a drug clerk in New Haven. Frederick C. Southmayd lives on the home farm with his parents, and is one of the well known citizens of Portland. He was elected tax collector in 1897, and has been deputy sheriff of Middlesex county since 1889. Politically he is a Republican. He is eligible to the Mayflower Society, and the Sons of the American Revolution. He belongs to the Warren Lodge, No. 51, A. F. & A. M., at Portland, and is a charter member of the local lodge of the O. U. A. M. and the Temple of Honor.


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Mr. and Mrs. Clark G. Southmayd are members of the Episcopal Church. He voted for William Henry Harrison for President, and has supported every Whig and Republican candidate since that time. He was made an Odd Fellow when that order was first started in Portland. He is a good man, a kind friend and a faithful citizen. Mrs. Southmayd is a noble-hearted wife and mother, and has hosts of friends throughout the community. Though long since passed their fiftieth year of married life, they are in full possession of all their faculties.


STEPHEN A. SEWARD. This well- known citizen of Durham Center, Middlesex county, is a descendant of the first white settler in Durham, and he and his son are the only descendants living in the town. The family has been prominent in its history during the past two centuries, and our subject, int his long and honorable career in the locality that has thus been made dear to him by the lives of his forefathers, has most estimably exempli- fied those sterling traits of character which are the heritage of an achieving ancestry.


William Seward, the emigrant, came from England, and, it is supposed, settled in Guilford, or New Haven. Caleb Seward, his son, born March 14, 1662-63, was the first in- habitant of Durham. He was the umele of John, and brother of Joseph, both of whom came for a residence to Durham: John is sup- posed to have been the ancestor of Secretary of State William H. Seward. Caleb Seward married Lydia Bushnell, July 14, 1686. He


seems to have spent the winter of 1698-99, or- a portion of it, in Durham, and he and his wife settled there May 4, 1699. They then had five children, Daniel, Lydia, Caleb, Thomas and Noadiah, and after the remov- al to Durham, two others were born, Ephraim and Ebenezer. Ephraim, born August 6, 1700, was the first white child born in Durham, and. Ebenezer, born June 7, 1703, was the second white child born there. Caleb Seward was the first town clerk, and a man in whom confidence was universally reposed. He was representative of the town in the Legislature for fifteen sessions; was one of the original proprietors of the town; and was one of the signers in the petition for a town plat, ad- dressed to the General Court sitting in Hart- ford in 1699. He settled in the south end of Durham, and died August 1, 1728. His wife- died in August, 1753.


Moses Seward, the great-grandfather of Stephen A., and a descendant of Caleb. was born January II, 1764. He married Sarah Fowler May 5 1791.


Harvey Seward, the grandfather of Ste- phen A., was born August 18, 1792, in Durham, in the house that stood in the forks of the road opposite the home now occupied by the heirs of the late Samuel Stevens. Harvey Seward was a wagonmaker, his shop standing in Dur- ham, near the house above mentioned, and he followed wagonmaking there for several years. Later, when he inherited $2,000 from his father's estate, he went to Pompey, N. Y., with his wife and three children. They made the journey in wagons, and were a long time en route. Mr. Seward established a wagon- making business at Pompey, where he lived nearly two years, employed other men in the business, and bid fair to become successful. He was killed February 15 or 16, 1819. while felling a tree, which struck him, breaking his back, and is buried at Pompey. He lived for about two hours after the accident. In 1811 he married Sally (or Sarah ) Howd, daughter of a Revolutionary hero, whose widow lived in Durham and drew a pension. The four children of Harvey and Sally Seward were as follows: ( 1) Mary married AAsahel Andrews. a painter, and lived in Wallingford. They left three sons, prominent men of Walling- ford, among them Andrew and AAsahel Ant- drews, of that borough. (2) Moses learned




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