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 39
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the Venerable Society for the Propagation of the Gospel. He was a scholar thorough, a reasoner cogent, a controversalist able, a preacher persuasive, a pastor untiring, a Christian hero undaunted. He was of all the most effective in laying deep and broad the foundations of the Church in the Colony of Connecticut. From the beginning of his min- istry assailed by bitter intolerance and pursued by malicious plottings, he patiently endured. In the added perils of a cruel war, remaining with the flock, he continued his ministrations at the constant risk of threatened violence and death. Full of years and labors, he entered into rest March xix, A. D., MDCCLXXXII, uttering, shortly before his last breath, 'I have fought a good fight.'"
(IV) John Beach (3), son of the minister noted in the preceding paragraph, was born in 1734, and was married in 1756 to Phoebe (Judson ) Curtis, born in 1737. Unlike his father, the younger Beach had strong sympathy with the cause of liberty. Owning extensive real-estate interests in Newtown, he was prominent in the community, and served as a delegate to the Convention at the time of the adoption of the State constitution. Mr. Beach died in Newtown, in 1791, and his widow in 1815.
(V) John Beach (4), son of John Beach, noted above, was born in 1757, and was married when twenty-two years old to Mabel, a daughter of Dan- iel and Mabel (Booth) Beers. She was born in 1756, and died in 1844. Mr. Beach was a resident of Newtown, and of central Vermont, and died in 1830.
(VI) John Beach (5), son of the above, was born in 1789, in Newtown, where he was married in 1818, to Marcia, a daughter of Abijah Birdsey and Anna ( Glover) Curtis. She was born in 1796 in Newtown. The senior Mr. Beach having gone into Vermont, the son remained in Newtown, and was reared as an adopted son of his uncle and aunt, Daniel and Naomi (Glover) Beers, who had no children of their own. They gave young Beach a liberal education. his studies being completed in New Haven, where he was admitted to the Bar in 1814. In this city he practiced his profession until infirmities and age prevented. He was elected city attorney of New Haven in 1821, and filled that office until 1824. From 1824 for twenty years he was clerk of the Supreme Court of Connecticut, and then served as judge of the city court of New Ha- ven for a number of years. "A man of great firmness of character, instinctive integrity and high ideals. his career as a lawyer. clerk and judge in New Ha- ven for half a century was marked by continued ex- pression of regard and deference, both during and after his years of public service." Judge Beach died April 12, 1869, and his wife passed away Aug. 16, 1861. At a meeting of the New Haven county Bar held the day after his death, generous and highly appreciative resolutions were adopted by a unani- mous vote. These resolutions recited his long and faithful service in public position, and noted that
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though "retired from active business, yet he was universally and deservedly honored and respected as one of the most upright and exemplary of our professional brethren, and for his Christian virtues and private worth as a citizen."
(VII) John Sheldon Beach, LL. D., son of Judge John Beach, was born Aug. 28, 1819, in New Haven. He was a graduate of Yale, and became a teacher very soon after his graduation at Wilming- ton, Del. After a time he came back to New Haven, and graduating from the Law School at Yale, was admitted to the Bar in 1843, and began his pro- fessional career in the city of his birth. Becoming a partner the following year with General Dennis Kimberly, he quickly came to the front, and won an enviable standing in his profession. In 1852 General Kimberly retired, Mr. Beach continuing alone in his business until he was joined by his son. At Vernon Place, Sept. 15, 1847, in Wilmington, Del., Mr. Beach was married to Rebecca, a daugh- ter of William and Rebecca (Donaldson) Gibbons, of that city. Mr. Beach died Sept. 12, .1887, his widow surviving until Sept. 5, 1893.
At the death of Mr. Beach expressions of sym- pathy and of personal loss came from many quar- ters. Formal resolutions were presented from the United States Court, the Circuit Court, and the Su- perior Court of New Haven, as well as from the Vestry of Trinity Episcopal Church, of which Mr. Beach had been a useful member for more than twenty years, and other official bodies. Let- ters from private individuals came thick and fast but none more nearly touched the hearts of the family, says a daughter, than the words of Gov. Charles R. Ingersoll, spoken before the Bar of New Haven county, and following resolutions submitted by Tilton E. Doolittle :
It is not easy to express adequately by formal resolution the sentiments by which we are moved to-day. For more than forty years we have been by his side in the formal practice of our profession, and during that long period in the friendly companionship involved in such relations. It is very hard to rupture such a tie. But my personal associa- tion with him goes back to an earlier date. Born in the same neighborhood in this town, we were companions in schoot and college life; and following him to the Bar, we have ever since been associated in ways not professional. I look back on this long life with which mine has been connected, and it is luminous with the qualities that go into the making of good men and honored citizens. I cannot venture at this time to dwell upon these personal relations. A single allu- sion in this connection I will make, for the incident has given me too much satisfaction to be ignored. But a few weeks ago at a social gathering, the last he ever attended, 1 heard him, in a conversation with a brother lawyer, speak- ing on some of the agreeable characteristics of our pro- fession, say that he had been in practice with me for over forty years, and that this had brought us together on the trial of many cases, and not often upon the same side; but that during this long experience, with it varied occasions for antagonisms of opinion, no serious misunderstanding had ever arisen between us. And that was the literal truth.
As to his relation to the Bar he was notably a lawyer. His element was the atmosphere of courts. His ambition and his delight was to be active where justice is sought. And outside of his home, with its associations most cher- ished by him, his life duty was centered here. There was
never found occasion to reproach him for neglect here. Nº phantom of popular fame ever led him away in its pur- suit. Quietly and unostentatiously, industriously and con- scientiously, for forty-four years he has steadily followed the common routine of Connecticut law, followed it. how- ever, we all know, not as a plodder. He had a broad na- ture, and his way of life was a generous one. There was noticeably in him a freedom from anything warped or cynical in his dealings with men. or his judgment of their conduct or motives. He devoted himself to his career because he loved it. He was a man of purposes, and was firm to them-Justum et tenacem-and I have no doubt he determinded upon this plan of life because he determined that in no other worldly vocation could his intellectual and moral nature procure higher and fuller satisfaction. In the open field of legal controversy, where principles could be expounded and applied, and in the region of pure fact, as in the mechanics of a patent suit, he was always ready and firm. His style of presenting a case reminded one of the old saying. " There is no rubbish in his mind." Sim- ple, clear. without rhetorical or any other display, and apparently to an on-looker without any special effort, his prepared arguments were nevertheless the result of pains- taking care. They commanded the attention, but required the vigilance of him who had to hear and decide. I do not think any lawyer of this Bar ever had a stronger clientage. There were few if any of the representative men of this community during the last thirty years, who were not at some time familiar with his office. . Most of the monied institutions and commercial establishments have availed themselves of his services. What roused their confidence? Not alone the intellectual skill and pro- fessional experience, which I have pointed out. But the primitive bed rock of private virtne and moral strength, without which it is the glory of our profession that the accomplishments of the lawyer avail but little. Let this Bar cherish the memory of him among its jewels I know no richer legacy to leave to that just pressing on than the example of John S. Beach.
In the preamble of the resolutions referred to above, Mr. Beach was referred to as the "honored leader and for many years an eminent practitioner in the courts of Connecticut."
Ex-Gov. Henry B. Harrison, in an obituary of Mr. Beach, said :
John Sheldon Beach was one of the ablest lawyers who ever practiced at the Bar of Connecticut. Differing in noticeable particulars from each of his professional brethren, he was in the total force of his peculiar powers at least the equal of the strongest of them, and easily the superior of all the rest.
Of Mr. Beach his daughter wrote in 1898:
It may be truly said that his grasp of the high-water mark of his calling never relaxed; and we, his children, might almost be pardoned for thinking him devoted to his profession alone, were it not for the occasional swift revela- tion of his deep affection and solicitude for us. Late in life-later than should have been-the Faculty of Yale College conferred on him the degree of LL. D. Innate modesty struggled always with his forensic powers: and rich in values, and complete as were all his arguments, he never rose to address the Court without the moment of stage fright and trembling of the knees which in a less controlled nature would have prevented speech.
The children born to John Sheldon and Rebecca (Gibbons) Beach were: (1) John Hamilton. born in New Haven, July 5, 1848, died there April 14, 1849. (2) Rebecca Donaldson, born Ang. 9, 1850, in New Haven, is at this writing ( 190[ ) a resident
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of that city, and is the daughter referred to in a preceding paragraph. She is the author of an ex- cellent work, which appeared in 1898, bearing the title, "Rev. John Beach and John Sanford, and their Descendants." (3) William Gibbons, born April 24, 1854, died the day of his birth. (4) John Kimberly, born in New Haven, Oct. 18, 1855, was married April 19, 1890, in New York, to Mary Row- land Sanford, daughter of Judge Charles Frederick and Elizabeth (Loony) Sanford. Mr. Beach was graduated from Yale College in 1877, and two years later from the Law School of the same institution. The same year he was admitted a member of the Bar, and had already entered upon his studies in his father's office. His abilities very shortly ob- tained for him a partnership. Patent law, the spe- cialty of both, became almost their exclusive prac- tice; and although not by any means relaxing the pressure on himself the older lawyer often invited the precedence of his junior, where nothing gave him so much pleasure as to attend court a silent partner. Of late and since the death of his father, he has taken a wider practice in general law; and he is to-day recognized as a fit repre- sentative of the third of his name in the profession. (5) Donaldson, born April 6, 1858, died Dec. 15, 1864. (6) Francis Gibbons, born Feb. 28, 1861, was graduated from Yale in 1883. and from its Law Department two years later, being at once admitted to the Bar. Since that time he has been engaged in the practice of his profession in his na- tive city. He has only recently retired from a term of service as postmaster of New Haven. In that position he acquitted himself creditably in every way, and commanded the confidence and respect of the community to a marked degree. A member of the National Guard of Connecticut, on the break- ing out of the Spanish-American war he promptly entered the United States service and was made Captain of Battery C, Conn. Heavy Artillery, U. S. V., and later captain of Company H, 3rd Conn. Volunteers. He served with his command until it was mustered out in October, 1898. Capt. Beach was married June 1, 1886, in St. Mark's Episcopal Church, at Minneapolis, to Miss Elizabeth Charn- ley Wells, born Nov. 21, 1860, at Quincy, Ill. Her father, Rev. Thomas Wells, was a graduate of Yale College in 1859, and comes of a long Connecticut ancestry. Capt. Beach and his wife became the par- ents of the following: John Francis, born April 12, 1887; Charles Wells, born Dec. 26, 1889, died July 7, 1890; and Rebecca Donaldson, born Feb. 22, 1892, died Sept. 26, 1893. (7) Rodmond Ver- non Beach, born May 18. 1865, graduated from Yale in 1887. A member of the Connecticut Na- tional Guard, at the breaking out of the Spanish- American war he entered the National service, be- came an adjutant in the U. S. Engineers, and died in Ponce, Sept. 28, 1808. He was a young man full of enthusiasm for the military service, and as early as 1891 entered Company F, 2nd Conn. N. G., which was better known as "The New Haven
Grays." In January, 1892, he was made first lieu- tenant ; and paymaster of the regiment, July 22, 1893. In 1897 he became adjutant of the battalion. In the autumn of 1895 he became a Mason and in the spring of 1898 took the 32nd degree. He en- tered Yale College when he was eighteen years old, and was graduated at his majority. He added the studies of the first year of the law course to those of his senior year, so that he could take his degree of LL. B. in 1889. He entered his fathers law office, and his death on the island of Porto Rico cut short a promising career. ,
WILLIAM MASON, master mechanic of the Winchester Repeating Arms Co., at New Haven, whose pleasant and hospitable home is at No. 569 Elm street, in that city, was born in Oswego, N. Y., Jan. 30,- 1837. His great-grandfather, Capt. Ebenezer Mason, of Revolutionary fame, was born March 1, 1723, in Watertown, Mass., and spent his last years in Spencer, Mass., where he died March 26, 1798.
William Mason, grandfather of William Mason, born Nov. 30, 1762, in Spencer, Mass., was a tan- ner, and followed that calling a number of years at Palmer, Mass., where he spent his last years in farming, and died there March 15, 1843. Mr. Mason was a member of the Presbyterian Church. By his first wife, Nancy ( White), the grandmother of our subject, he had ten children. She was born May 25, 1769, and died Feb. 15, 1820.
Ebenezer Mason, father of William, was born Jan. 1, 1797, in Palmer, was reared in his native place, and there mastered the trade of tanner, which he followed for some years in Palmer. A gifted musician, and a master of artistic writing, he was a popular teacher of both music and writing in Springfield, Hartford and New Haven. Later in life he moved to Oswego, N. Y., to take the posi- tion of bookkeeper in a flourmill. Still later he established a tannery at Oswego. He was taken sick with consumption, and, returning to Palmer, died Dec. 11, 1838. Mr. Mason married Electa P. Robinson, who was born in Onondaga, N. Y., March 21, 1802, and died Oct. 9, 1875. They had six children, only one of whom is living. Both parents were members of the Presbyterian Church.
Willian Mason, whose name introduces this article, spent his earlier years with his uncle, Will- iam Mason, Jr., in Palmer, Mass., where he at- tended public school until he was ten years old. At that time he went to Thorndike, where he spent two years with his mother, who had become the wife of Shuball Chapman. Until he was fourteen he worked on a farm, which place has in recent vears been converted into a summer resort. and is known as Forest Lake. In 1851 he went to Mon- son, where he began the trade of a cabinetmaker. He spent three years acquiring proficiency in that line, and then went to Jenksville, town of Lud- low, Mass., to make patterns and designs for ma- chinery for W. G. Fay & Co. In 1854 he re-
Eng Lu E & Williams & Bro MY
William Mason Mason
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moved with W. G. Fay & Co. to West Warren, Mass., where he was engaged on designs and pat- terns for machinery for the Warren Cotton Mill, long since closed down. He also assisted in the designing and construction of the celebrated Knowles steam pump and Knowles fancy looms, and was engaged in a similar capacity for L. E. Truesdell, on his iron bridge. In 1861 lie left West Warren to take a position in Colt's factory, at Hartford, which he held for a year, working on steel gauges, fixtures and tools (and designing same) for making Springfield rifles. At the end .of that time hie entered the employ of the Reming- ton Arms Co., at Ilion, N. Y., and was engaged in designing and superintending the building of gimn- stock machinery and other gunmaking machinery. After a time he took a contract to make thirteen parts of the gun, and worked thus four years, during the last year of the service holding the position of master mechanic. At the end of that "time he was called to Colt's factory, to take charge -of the armory. This position he held for sixteen years, giving it up to take the place of master mechanic with the Winchester Repeating Arms .Co., of New Haven, May 1, 1882. The most deli- cate and difficult operations come under his direc- tion, and he has taken out many valuable patents, "both with the Colts and the Winchester Co. on firearms and machinery. During the fifty years -and over in which he has been engaged in the me- chanical business he has seen it radically trans- formed, and with all the changes he has kept abreast of the times. His higli standing has been "attained solely by merit, for he has had no special aids of fortune or influence to smooth his path- way to success, and he began life at an early age with only his own resources to rely upon. How- -ever, these were not so inconsiderable, consisting as they did of unusual mechanical skill and inge- nuity, but it is the energy and ambition, the per- severance and patience, by which these gifts have been brought to their highest use, which have brought Mr. Mason to his eminent position in the mechanical world. In addition to accumulating a comfortable competence he has gained what is of far greater value, the highest respect of all who know him. Throughout his life he has worked hard, but nevertheless he is well preserved.
Mr. Mason is a Republican, and cast his first vote for Gen. Fremont. He has refused all po- litical honors, and turned a deaf ear to the solicita- tion of friends who would have him run for of- fice. However, he has done efficient work in the Young Men's Republican Club and the Union
League. In Masonry he has taken much interest. He first joined Quaboag Lodge, F. & A. M., at Warren, Mass., in 1862, and thence transferred to Ilion Lodge, F. & A. M., at Ilion, N. Y., of which he was a charter member. He has during his resi- dence in different cities been affiliated with various Masonic bodies. While in Ilion he joined Oneida Chapter, No. 57, and Utica Commandery, No. 3, K. T., both of Utica, N. Y. He now holds mem- bership in Lafayette Lodge, No. 100, F. & A. M., of Hartford. Mr. Mason also belongs to Pioneer Council, No. 1, O. U. A. M. In religious con- nection he is a member of Calvary Baptist Church. Mrs. Mason is a member of the United Congre- gational Church.
HON. HENRY BALDWIN HARRISON, a prominent lawyer of New Haven, is truly a product of the "City of Elms," which is proud to claim him, for here he passed his boyhood, and here, too, have come the triumphs of long and active life.
Gov. Harrison was born Sept. 11, 1821, in New Haven, a son of Ammi Harrison, Jr., a member of the New Haven Bar. Henry Baldwin Harrison at- tended the famous Lancasterian school, taught by John E. Lovell, an Englishman, whom he assisted in teaching at a later period. He entered Yale Col- lege in 1842 and was graduated in 1846, taking the honor of valedictorian of the class. Immediately beginning the study of law he was admitted to the Bar in 1848, and began its practice in company with Lucius G. Peck. Quickly gaining a large clientage, in a short time he was ranked high in the profession. He continued actively engaged in his professional labors until about 1880, when he practically retired, especially from court cases, though he continued to give advice and counsel. "His legal reputation is second to none in the State. He is conscientious in his methods, clear in his statement of facts and tireless in clearing away the rubbish which rhetoric and cunning may have piled up to conceal fact."
One of the most noted cases with which the name of Mr. Harrison has been connected was that of Willard Clark, at New Haven, under indictment for murder. Associated with Mr. Harrison for the defense in this case was Charles H. Chapman, of Hartford. Says a critical writer : "No one had sus-
Mr. Mason was married, April 18. 1863, to , pected before that Clark was insane within the or- Mary E. Ward, who was born in Middletown, and died Sept. 12, 1896, in New Haven. Mr. Mason married. for his second wife, Jan. 11. 1898. Mary E. Hastings, who was born in Pelham, Mass .. April 2, 1848, daughter of Chester S. and Mary A. (Whipple) Hastings.
dinary meaning of the word. As junior counsel in the case he went into the preparation of the defense with marked thoroughness and ability. The young woman was about seventeen years old and Clark in the neighborhood of thirty years. He had courted her with assiduity, and she had repulsed his atten- tions with disdain. Clark, however, insisted that she was deeply in love with him, and that in her marriage with Wight she was dumbly pleading with him for release from a hateful alliance. At that time the defense of insanity upon a monomania had not received the favor with the jury it has since
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acquired. The eloquence of his counsel and the careful preparation of his defense, convinced the jury that Clark was not legally responsible for the crime he had committed. So that he was acquitted on the ground of insanity."
When a young man Mr. Harrison was actively engaged in politics in connection with the Whig party. In 1854 he was elected to the State Senate for the Fourth District. In that body he was asso- ciated with some men who afterward rose to na- tional prominence. James Dixon was afterward United States Senator ; William T. Minor became Governor of Connecticut : David C. Sanford be- came of a Judge of the Supreme Court of Errors. Mr. Harrison was made chairman of the Joint Com- mittees on Incorporations and Temperance. The pro- hibitory law, sometimes known as the "Maine Law," was reported and adopted through his active and in- cessant labor. It was so carefully drawn that it stood all tests before the court of last resort in the State. Mr. Harrison was also the author of the Personal Liberty Bill, which was designed to pro- tect colored men from illegal attempts to deprive them of their liberty under the Fugitive Slave Law. Thus fairly embarked upon the political seas, Mr. Harrison shaped his course fearlessly. Uniting with the Free-Soil party, he remained with it until it was merged in the Republican party, which he was instrumental in organizing in Connecticut. Attend- ing the first mass convention held for the purpose of organizing in this State. at Hartford. in Feb- ruary, 1856, the following spring he was the nomi- nee of the Republicans for Lieutenant Governor of the State, the Hon. Gideon Wells being nominated for Governor. The voice of Mr. Harrison, aided by his pen, was potent for the cause of freedom, and during the Civil war he was an ardent supporter of the administration at Washington. In 1865, to- gether with Eleazur K. Foster. he was elected from New Haven to the General Assembly. He declined to be a candidate for Speaker and requested the nomination of Mr. Foster. He became the leader of the party on the floor, where he displayed such admirable qualities that the party all over the State sought to make him its next candidate for Governor, and only his own act prevented it. A great friend of the soldier, he would not consent to the presen- tation of his name, and insisted on the nomination of General Hawley, whose war record deserved recognition on the part of his own State. In 1873 Mr. Harrison was again a member of the Lower House from New Haven, and was appointed on the Judiciary committee, and also on the committee on the Constitutional Convention, reporting the bill which called that body together. This bill was de- feated, but was supported by Mr. Harrison with an elaborate and eloquent argument. Mr. Harrison advocated measures in the Legislature to regulate the railway rates, and the giving of the ballot to colored men. In 1874 he was nominated by accla- mation for Governor but was overwhelmed by the
tidal wave of reaction that submerged the country and gave many old and reliable Republican States to the Democrats. In 1883 Mr. Harrison was again and for the third time elected to the General As- sembly. He was elected Speaker of the House in obedience to the very general sentiment of the party. In 1884 Mr. Harrison was again nominated for Governor, against Hon. Thomas MI. Waller, then the incumbent of the chair, and who was elected in 1882 by a large majority. Mr. Harrison threw hin- self into the campaign for Blaine with characteristic zeal and indomitable persistence, making many elo- quent and impressive addresses. The Burchard in- cident undoubtedly prevented the Republicans from carrying the State by a positive majority, and the election of Governor was thrown into the General Assembly, which body elected Mr. Harrison as Gov- ernor in January, 1885.
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