USA > Connecticut > New Haven County > Commemorative biographical record of New Haven county, Connecticut, containing biographical sketches of prominent and representative citizens and of many of the early settled families, V. I, Pt 1 > Part 37
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Mr. Woodruff is a man of earnest convictions, both political and religious, and wields a weighty influence in both church and town affairs. In 1879 he was elected representative to the first Legis- lature which met in the new Capitol, and was re- elected in 1880. As a member of these bodies his record is an enviable one, he having manifested an acumen and painstaking desire to serve the public interests which can scarcely be too highly praised. For many years he has served on the town com- mittee, and for more than a quarter of a century as acting grand juror, his term in the latter 'office having been rarely paralleled in New Haven coun- ty. For twenty years he has been clerk and treas- urer of the Orange Congregational Church, in the work of which body his family is also actively interested, his son Watson having long been the church organist. In January, 1900, Mr. Woodruff accepted the office of deacon in this church. to which he had been chosen, he having declined to accept the same appointment on two former oc- casions.
ALBERT TILTON has for more than a third of a century been connected with the Winchester Repeating Arms Co., and since 1892 has been its general superintendent. He is a native of New Hampshire, born at Meredith, Aug. 19, 1839. So11 of Newell and Alice (Clough) Tilton, both natives of Loudon, N. H. Newell Tilton, the father, was a farmer and drover. In politics he was a Whig and Republican, and in religious belief a Congre- gationalist. Of the children born to himself and his wife, eight grew to adult age, as follows: John C., for many years a manufacturer at Manchester, N. H., where he died; Julia; Lavinia; Alice J .; Lucia ; David, proprietor of the Atlantic Screw Co., of Hartford, Conn .; Newell. Jr., who was manager of the Whitney Iron Mills, and died in New Orleans in 1899; and Albert. The mother died in 1861.
When eight years old Albert Tilton removed from Meredith to Manchester, N. H., where he at- tended the public schools, and he was later a student in the preparatory school at New London, N. H. His education completed, Mr. Tilton engaged for a time in the manufacture of cotton bags at Man- chester, N. H., and then began an apprenticeship at the edge tool making trade with the Manchester Edge Tool Works, remaining six months, after which he took up the machinist's trade at Man- chester. He was next employed in the Lowell Fire Arms Works for six months, and in 1861 enlisted for the three-months service in Company K, Ist N. H. V. I. When mustered out he was engaged for a year with the Colts Fire Arms Co., of Hart- ford. Conn., and another year or more at the Star Armory, located in Yonkers. N. Y. He next be- came connected with the Winchester Repeating Arms Co., at Bridgeport, Conn .. and in 1865 went to New Orleans, where for fourteen months he was employed in a machine shop belonging then to the New Orleans & Opelousas Railway. Returning to
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Connecticut, he, in 1867, resumed his connection with the Winchester Repeating Arms Co., and four years later, when the company removed to New Ha- ven, he continued work with them there, and has ever since been in their service. Starting in as a machinist, he became foreman when the New Ha- ven shops were opened, and later a contractor. Since 1892 he has filled the position of superintend- ent.
Mr. Tilton married, May 30, 1860, Zilpha J. Carter, a native of Goffstown, N. H., daughter of Moody Carter. To Mr. and Mrs. Tilton has been born one son, Walter H., who attended Yale Col- lege, taking the Scientific Course, and is now em- ployed by the Winchester Repeating Arms Co. In politics Mr. Tilton is a Republican. He attends the Congregational Church. Socially he is a member of Wooster Lodge, No. 79, A. F. & A. M., and of the Quinnipiac Club, Fishing Club and other clubs of New Haven. He erected a beautiful residence at No. 362 Whitney avenue, New Haven, which was completed in March, 1901.
JOHN A. RICHARDSON (deceased), whose services with the Yale National Bank covered a · period of thirty-eight years, thirty of which he was the efficient cashier, was one of the widely known and highly esteemed citizens of New Haven.
Mr. Richardson was born June 22, 1832, in North Canaan, Conn., and laid the, foundation of his education in the common schools of his native town. His father, Gilbert H. Richardson, was born in New York, but spent his life in North Canaan, where he was extensively engaged in contracting and building; in this State he built five large churches, and followed the business for many years. He died at the age of seventy. His wife, Caroline Dibble, who died at the age of forty-six, was the mother of four children, of whom John A. was the last survivor. Both Mr. and Mrs. Richardson were members of the Congregational Church.
While yet in his 'teens young Richardson en- tered the employ of Hawley & Merwin, as an assist- ant bookkeeper, in a general store at Lakeville. They were also engaged in the manufacture of pocket cutlery, and were the second firm in the country to enter this business. Mr. Richardson re- mained with them three years, and after four years at New Milford, as a bookkeeper, he came to New Haven, and in 1863 entered the Yale National Bank as a member of the bookkeeping staff. Two years later he was made teller, and in 1871 became cashier. in which position he remained continuously at work for over thirty years. Nearly forty years with the bank is a record seldom equalled, and it speaks vol- umes for him who makes it.
In politics Mr. Richardson was always a Re- publican, and took a prominent part in party affairs. In 1888, and again in 1889, he was elected town and city treasurer of New Haven. From its organiza- tion he served as the treasurer of the Republican League of Connecticut, and was the treasurer of
the Firemen's Benevolent Society and also of the Congregational Club. He was one of the incor- porators and was treasurer and a member of the board of directors from its incorporation, in 1881, of the New Haven Co-operative Savings and Loan Association. Mr. Richardson was also one of the organizers of Grace Hospital, and was treasurer from its organization until his death. For ten years he was treasurer of the Young Men's Institute, was treasurer of the State Bankers' Association, and was also treasurer of the Union League Club. In these various positions of trust and responsibility he ever sustained the high esteem and confidence of his fellow citizens. In the banking circles of New Haven Mr. Richardson commanded regard not only for his extended service but for his high character and accurate judgment. From the time he entered the bank he saw the passing of five presidents, and in point of service was the oldest cashier in the city. On the afternoon of April 12, 1902, Mr. Richardson was stricken with apoplexy in the Hyperion Theater, and passed away at five o'clock.
Mr. Richardson was married, in 1858, to Mary E., daughter of Robert, Irwin, of New Milford, Conn., where he was formerly a merchant. The home of Mr. and Mrs. Richardson was blessed by the birth of one child, Caroline E., who, with his wife, survives him.
BENJAMIN T. CLARK, in his life time an oid and highly respected citizen of the town of Orange, was a native of that locality, born Feb. 11, 1814.
The Clark family, of which our subject was a worthy member, are old settlers of the town of Guilford and are classed among its best citizens. Benjamin Clark, grandfather of Benjamin T., was a native of that town and passed his entire life there as a land owner and farmer. By his wife, Sarah (Rogers), he had children as follows: Ben- jamin ; Mathew, who moved to the central part of Illinois ; and Rebecca, who married Josiah Fowler.
Benjamin Clark, the father of our subject, was born in the town of Milford (which at that time included the town of Orange), and received a com- mon school education. He was reared on his father's farm, and while yet a young man removed to what is now Orange Center, where he bought a tract of land and engaged in stock raising and gen- eral farming the rest of his days. In the town of Orange he married Susan Treat, daughter of Jon- athan Treat, and five children were born to them, viz. : Susan, wife of Dr. Josiah Colburne, of New Haven; Sarah C., deceased wife of Treat Clark ; Benjamin T., our subject: Charlotte, who died young ; and Mary S., widow of Ephraim Baldwin, of Woodbridge, Conn. The father of this family died at the age of ninety-four years. the mother when eighty-seven years old, both devout members of the Congregational Churchi.
Benjamin T. Clark, of whom this sketch more particularly relates, was liberally educated in the
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local schools of his native place, later attending an academy for a time. For several years or until his marriage he taught school, during the summer months operating the home farm along with his father, and then settled on land owned by Dr. Col- burne, a tract of 25 acres, and he later became the owner of 280 acres of land in the town of Orange, being the largest land owner in that town, and 140 in the town of Woodbridge. All his life he was a hard working, industrious man, honest and honor- able in his dealings, and moreover, was always most temperate, never having tasted a drop of strong drink all his life, nor used tobacco in any form.
On Sept. 6, 1839, Benjamin T. Clark was mar- ried in Woodbridge, Conn., to Elizabeth Rogers, who was born in 1816 in Woodbridge, a daughter of Joseph and Rhoda ( Russell) Newton. She died in February, 1895, in Orange Center, after a mar- ried life of fifty-six years. One child came of this union, Joseph Newton, born March 27, 1840, who was educated in the public and select schools,' the latter being in New Haven. He has always been engaged in stock raising and dairying on the home farm and resides at the homestead. Socially he is a member of the A. F. & A. M. Lodge at Ansonia. He married Sarah A. Miles, who was born in the town of Orange, New Haven county, Conn., daugh- ter of Albert F. Miles. Five children have been born to them: Benjamin T., Jr., farming on the home- stead, married Bertha MI. Russell : Joseph Newton. Jr., a dairy farmer, who married Vetzora Turner : Albert Miles and Henry F., at home ; and George, deceased at the age of seven years.
Benjamin T. Clark, our subject, in his political predilections was originally a Whig, but after the organization of the party became an equally stanch Republican. For forty years he was a justice of the peace of the town of Orange; for twenty-eight years was selectman; and assessor four terms. In matters of religion he was liberal and always lived up to the "Golden Rule"-in fact his integrity was above question. His life was an honorable and up- right one, and he justly enjoyed the confidence and csteem of the community at large.
HENRY S. PECK, secretary and treasurer of the Brass City Lumber Co., is one of Waterbury's most prominent residents, and has been identified with her business interests from early manhood. He is a descendant of one of the old and prominent families of New England.
The Connecticut Pecks are descendants of Jo- seph Peck, of Milford, Deacon William Peck and Henry Peck, of New Haven, and Deacon Paul Peck. of Hartford, each of whom became the pro- genitor of a numerous race. Of these, Joseph Peck, who was the ancestor of the Newtown branch of the family. the one to which the subject of this sketch belongs, resided first at New Haven. Conn. His name does not appear on the records until about 1643. although he is generally supposed to have
resided there earlier, and to have been the brother of Henry, who settled there in 1638, with whom he seems to have resided or been associated, and with whom he probably came over to this country. He left New Haven in or about 1649, and settled in Milford, Conn., where he became a member of the church in 1652. He married (first) Mrs. Alice Burwell and ( second) Miss Marie Richards. He died in 1700-OI.
From this Joseph Peck, of Milford, Henry S. Peck, our subject, is a descendant in the eighth gen- eration, his line of descent being through Joseph (2), Ephraim, Henry, Capt. Zalmon, Ezekiel and Zalmon S. Peck.
(II) Joseph Peck (2), son of Joseph, of Mil- ford, baptized in 1653, married in 1678-79 Mary Camp. He settled in Milford, and there died.
(III) Ephraim Peck, son of Joseph (2), bap- tized in 1692, married in 1716 Sarah Ford, of Mil- ford. He removed from Milford to Newtown, Conn., where he died in 1760.
(IV) Henry Peck, son of Ephraim, born in 1719, married (first) in 1755 Ann Smith, and ( sec- ond) in 1765 wedded Hannah Leavenworth. He resided in Newtown.
(V) Capt. Zalmon Peck, son of Henry, born in 1758, married ( first) Zilpha Hard, and (second) Mrs. Sarah Booth. He resided in Newtown, where he died in 1812. He was a soldier in the Revolu- tion.
(VI) Ezekiel Peck, son of Capt. Zalmon, born in 1786, married (first) Sarah A. Johnson, and ( second) in 1818 wedded Mrs. Betsey Briscoe. He was a soldier in the war of 1812. The tombstones of the four generations of Zalmon S. Peck (still living) are in perfect condition in the family burial lot in the cemetery at Newtown, Connecticut.
(VII) Zalmon S. Peck, son of Ezekiel, and father of Henry S. Peck, of Waterbury, was born May 22, 1812, in Newtown, Conn. During the Civil war he served as the enrolling and drafting officer of the town. He was made postmaster of the town under Lincoln's first term, and held the position for twenty-six years, being out for two years (from 1867 to 1869) under the Johnson administration. During his active years Mr. Peck was one of the prominent public men of the town. He is now re- siding in South Center District, Newtown. Time seems to have dealt kindly with him, as he is still quite active and remarkably well preserved. He is an interesting conversationalist. In 1833 he was married to Polly J. Lum, and they had children as follows: Sarah A., born in 1834, is deceased ; Henry S., born Sept. 1, 1838, is mentioned below ; Austin L., born June 3. 1844, is a member of the firm of Andrews & Peck, Hartford: and Mary F. was born June 10, 1854, married Roswell S. Cheves, of Georgia, and now resides in Tennessee.
Henry S. Peck was reared and educated in New- town. He served in the Civil war. and soon after- ward entered the employ of the Waterbury Clock
1
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Co., at Waterbury. He remained with that con- cern over twenty years, a large portion of which period he spent in Chicago, looking after the west- ern trade of the concern. Ile is now secretary and treasurer of the Brass City Lumber Co., and vice- president of the Equitable Finance Co., of Balti- more, Md. Throughout his career Mr. Peck has heid the reputation of a thorough business man, and his genial and sociable disposition, no less than the substantial qualities, has gone far toward winning him the popularity he enjoys.
On Sept. 25, 1865, Mr. Peck married Miss Isa- bell Boughton, of Waterbury, and they have had two children, Burton and Florence. The latter was married in April, 1894, to Charles C. Reed, and they have one daughter, Katherine, born in Febru- ary, 1896.
REV. SYLVANUS P. MARVIN. The first of the Marvin family of whom we have any record is Roger Marvin, born in 1430. From him de- scended, in the sixth generation following him, Reinold Marvin, whose baptism is recorded in the church books as taking place the 7th of June, 1593. The above ceremony took place and the rec- ords are preserved in St. Mary's Church, which stood on the great Bentley Green, in England. He resided in his native parish until shortly before he sailed for New England, as in 1637 his estate is charged with the "ship money tax" which may have been the occasion of his following his younger brother Mathew to America, where we find him in 1638. The imposition of this illegal and tyrannous tax led many of the more prosperous classes, men of "blood and fortune," to emigrate to this country. This Reinold Marvin, the sixth generation from Roger of 1430, was the great-great-great-great- great-grandfather of our subject, and was one of the founders of the Marvin family in America, his brother Mathew being the other. They both first located at Hartford, Conn., but Reinold soon after- ward removed to Farmington and later to Lyme, where he spent the greater part of his life. His son Reinold was a large land holder, and repre- sented the town in the General Court from 1672 to 1676. He was called Lieut. Reinold Marvin. His son was famous as Lyme's Capt. Reinold Marvin, who represented the town in the General Court from 1701 to 1728, twenty-seven years, and must have been an important man in the town. His son Reinold was deacon of the church. The latter was quite an eccentric man, as proof of which his man- ner of courtship may be cited. Going to a neigh- bor's house on horseback, and without alighting, he rapped on the door, when a young lady opened it, and he said to her: "Sally Lee, its the Lord's will that you marry me." After a brief pause she replied : "The Lord's will be done." At one time he had a vision that he must give away all his cows; one poor man was afraid he would not get one, and said to the good old deacon, "The Lord
has sent me to you for a cow." "What cow was it to be," said the deacon, "a new milch cow or a farrow one?" The man replied, "a new milch cow." The deacon answered, "it could not have been from the Lord, as I have just given away the last one."
Dan Marvin (2), one of his grandsons, mar- ried the second daughter of Jolin Mather, a relative of Cotton and Increase Mather, Colonial celebrities, whose second son was Deacon John Marvin. the father of our subject. Deacon John Marvin, the father of our subject, married Lydia Hull Pratt, daughter of Capt. Samuel Pratt, a prominent man of Essex, Conn. He was for twenty-five years a teacher in the public schools, and was clerk of the town of Saybrook for nearly twenty years, judge of probate, and at one time member of the State Legislature, a man honored and beloved for his Christian integrity, urbanity and high ideals of life.
Our subject, second son of Deacon John, was born in Lynre March 17, 1822, and at the age of fourteen years removed with the family to Deep River, Conn. 'He early attended Essex Academy, and was graduated from Yale in 1847, and from Yale Theological Seminary in 1850. In recounting some of his school day associates we note the fol- lowing: Henry Hadley, uncle of the president of Yale, valedictorian of his class; Rev. N. A. Hyde, D. D., the nestor of Congregationalism in Indiana and founder of the First Congregational Church in Indianapolis, Ind .; Rev. William T. Reynolds. the beloved pastor of the Congregational Church. North Haven, for some twenty-five years; Rev. James Willard, D. D., for some forty years pastor of the Westville Church, of New Haven ; and H. G. Jes- sup, professor of botany in Dartmouth College: Rev. James B. Cleaveland, who married Miss Eliz- abeth Jocelyn, the poetess, author of "No Sects in Heaven," and E. I. Sanford, Superior Court Judge of Connecticut. While connected with the Theological Seminary he taught three years in the celebrated Gen. William H. Russell's Military School of New Haven.
In 1851 Mr. Marvin received a call and was ordained and installed pastor of the Congregational Church at Jamestown, Chautauqua Co .. N. Y., where he remained six years, doing much to strengthen the Congregational Churches in that sec- tion of the State, and resigned his pastorate much to the regret of the church. After he left James- town he received a unanimous call to the First Congregational Church of Franklin, Delaware Co .. N. Y. He declined the call, but continued to labor with them without installation for some three years. during which time there was an extensive revival in the church and sixty united with the church at one time He was also instrumental in the formna- tion of the Delaware Association of Congregational Churches in that and the adjoining counties. After leaving Franklin he spent between two and three years with the First Congregational Church of Tor-
.
IP, Marvin
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rington, Conn., which he served during the later years of the Civil war as an emergency charge, the congregation thinking that without a leader (there being no little dissension among them) they could not hold together .*
In 1865 Mr. Marvin received a unanimous call and was installed over the Woodbridge Congrega- tional Church, of which he is still pastor, being in the thirty-sixth year of his pastorate, and one of the oldest pastors in the State. Many improvements have been made in the church property during Mr. Marvin's pastorate. The house of worship is sur- rounded by beautiful grounds, which were orig- inally some five acres in extent, and on the Sunday preceding the first election that took place after he entered upon the duties of his charge our subject requested that each man plant a tree on the church green before casting his ballot. As a result some ninety trees were brought, and handsome trees now adorn the grounds which he had already caused to be enclosed with a neat fence. To the church itself a lecture room and ladies' parlor have been added. at a cost of some two thousand dollars, and a pipe organ, the gift of Mrs. Mary Clark Treat, has been put in. Mr. Marvin was a member of the school board and superintendent of schools for some ten or fifteen years, securing a library and a John- son's Cyclopedia for each district.
On May 27, 1851, Mr. Marvin married Miss Sylvina Buell, daughter of Miles and Lucinda (Plum) Buell, of Clinton, Conn. Two sons were born of this union: ( 1) John Miles is senior part- ner and general manager of the Globe Silk Works, New Haven. He married Adella M. Smith, daugh- ter of Isaac T. and Lucretia (Sperry) Smith, of New Haven, and they have one daughter, Grace Edna. He is deacon of the Dwight Place Con- gregational Church of New Haven. (2) Edward Reynold, the younger son, died when ten years of age.
On May 27, 1901, Mr. and Mrs. Marvin cele- brated the golden anniversary of their wedding at the parsonage. There were many guests from the surrounding towns, from New Haven, New York City and Springfield, as well as the parishioners ; and many handsome gifts, besides between three and four hundred dollars in gold, testified to the love and esteem in which the pastor and his wife are held by his parishioners and other friends. A poetical tribute from one of their old Franklin parishioners, Mrs. Whitney, and also one from Mrs. E. Jocelyn Cleaveland, added to the interest of the occasion, which was also enlivened with excellent music by a string band from New Haven. Mr. Marvin has a fine gold-headed cane, presented by the young men of the church on the twenty-fifth anniversary of the beginning of his pastorate. There was also a great gathering on his seventy- sixth birthday. when a beautiful crayon portrait of him, presented by the young ladies society, was hung in the lecture room of the church, and on
numerous other occasions the members of the parish have shown high appreciation of his services and a personal esteem warm and genuine for their pastor and his wife.
The family have always adhered to Republican ideas. On attaining his majority Mr. Marvin be- came a Whig, and at the birth of the Republican party he joined its ranks. He takes great interest in gathering historical data, and from time to time has delivered interesting papers and published articles on the progress of events in church and State. He has published, by request, a memorial sermon delivered before the Redshaw Post of the. Grand Army, Ansonia, Conn., twenty-fifth anni- versary of his settlement in Woodbridge, 150th an- niversary of the church, funeral sermon of Rev. J. L. Willard, D. D., of New. Haven, and of Rev. W. T. Reynolds, of North Haven, lecture before the New Haven Historical Society, published in Vol. VI, of their papers. He is widely known and highly respected, not only by the people of his own congregation, but by those of New Haven and the surrounding towns.
WILLIAM BROWN COMSTOCK, superin- tendent of the machinery department of the Brad- ley & Hubbard Manufacturing Co., and a well- known citizen of Meriden, was born July 20, 1837, in the city of Springfield, Mass. He is a descend- ant of one of the old and substantial families of Connecticut. His paternal great-grandfather. Jacob Comstock, married a Miss Bennett. of Ludlow, Mass., and to them were born two children, Jacob and William. The latter had three children, namely : William, Sheppard and Matilda.
Jacob Comstock was twice married, first to Me- netabel Olds, of Belchertown, Mass., and second to Abbie Smith, of Brimfield. Mass. Two children were born of the first marriage, Cromwell B. and Catherine. The only child of the second marriage was named Mehetabel.
Cromwell B. Comstock was born in Ludlow, Mass., where he grew to manhood, and learned the trade of stone and brick mason. He removed to Springfield, and. later, to Chicopee, where he died at the age of thirty-two years, and was buried in Chicopee Falls Cemetery. He was a member of the M. E. Church. He married ( first) Caroline San- derson, of Smithfield. R. I., who bore him two chil- dren, Abbie and Henry, of whom the former mar- ried Harvey Woodburn, of Springfield. After the deatlı of the mother of these children, MIr. Com- stock married Lucinda Wyman (a widow), a daughter of John S. Edwards. Two children were born of this union, William B. and Daniel E., a resident of Kensington, Conn. Mrs. Lucinda Com- stock died at the home of her son William, in Meri- den in 1876, and her remains repose in a cemetery at Springfield, Mass. She was a member of the Universalist Church, and an exemplary wife and mother.
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