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 75
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86 | Part 87 | Part 88 | Part 89 | Part 90 | Part 91
(VII) JOSEPH MORSE, son of Harley and Har- riet ( Moss) Moss, was born Nov. 12, 1827, in Yalesville, town of Wallingford, Conn. Early in the forties he located in Meriden and engaged in the butchering business. Later he began dealing in real estate, and soon gave his entire attention to this business. He bought largely and made many improvements, and, as the years passed, his busi- ness becanie large and his holdings of property great, all of which he managed well and wisely alone. He opened up many streets in the city, among them Willow, Veteran, Columbia, Merriam and Walnut. As stated, he was a good manager, and possessed an excellent judgment, was energetic and industrious, and made money rapidly, becoming one of the largest holders of property in Meriden. He
owned a portion of the State school property and the section of the town known as Morsetown, also owning large tracts on Reservoir avenue, Broad street and Curtis street. In 1896 he owned thirty- two dwellings, seven acres of land and five busi- ness blocks, being either sole or part owner in the latter. It was then estimated that he had about two hundred tenement houses. Mr. Morse was also a large owner of Western lands, holding con- siderable property in Wichita, Kans. For some years he was in the insurance business, associated with his son, George N.
Mr. Morse was a self-made man, beginning life without a dollar, yet possessed of good health and started out in life with a determination to succeed. He was willing, possessing natural tact and ability, which, together with his energy and close applica- tion to business, brought remarkable success, he be- ing worth at one time, probably, a half-million dollars. In all of his business transactions he was regarded as thoroughly honest and most reliable. His integrity and honesty were of the highest or- der. He possessed ability, was shrewd, and in mat- ters pertaining to real-estate transactions his judg- ment was considered very superior. Mr. Morse held the office of town assessor and was also a member of the common council at one time. He was a ves- tryman of St. Andrew's Church, and was the last surviving member of the vestry that directed the parish when the church was on Broad street.
In 1852 Mr. Morse was married to Lucy Hall, a daughter of Casper Hall, and died Oct. 16, 1899. The union was blessed with children as follows : (1) George N., born Oct. 16, 1833, was educated in the common schools and Suffield Institute. He was formerly in the employ of the Whiting Man- ufacturing Co., but is now in the insurance busi- ness. A prominent Democrat, he represented the Meriden District in the State Senate in 1888-1889. On Jan. 31, 1877, he wedded Mary A., daughter of John C. and Anna M. (Ellis) Byxbee, of Meri- den, and has two children : John B., born in Jan- mary, 1880; and Ida L., in March, 1882. (2) Lilla Eva, born Aug. 1, 1857, married (first) Clarence Curtis, and became the mother of two children, Arthur M. and Carlos MI. She then married John F. Townley. (3) Josephine M. married H. T. King, of Meriden. (4) Lucy MI. is now Mrs. Dr. F. L. Lawton, of Hartford. Joseph Morse, the father, entered into rest in 1897.
Mrs. Lucy (Hall) Morse is a descendant of John Hall, who was born in England in 1605. be- came an original proprietor of Wallingford in 1660, and died in 1676, aged seventy-one. He probably came from Coventry, Warwickshire, England. in the ship "Griffin" in company with Rev. Cotton, in 1633. He married Jeanne Wollen, born in England about 1620. and died in Wallingford in 1678.
(II) Samuel Hall, son of John, was born in New Haven, Conn., in 1648, and died at Walling- ford in 1725. He was captain of the train band in
21
322
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
1704. In May, 1668, he married Hannah Walker, who was born Sept. 27, 1646, daughter of John and Grace Walker.
(III) John Hall, son of Samuel, was born Dec. 23, 1670, was assistant in the Upper House, 1722- 1730, and died April 29, 1730. He was married in 1691 to Mary Lyman, who was born in 1667, and died in 1740, a daughter of John and Dorcas (Plumb) Lyman.
(IV) Rev. Samuel Hall, son of John and Mary (Lyman) Hall, was born at Wallingford in 1695: was graduated from Yale in 1716, and was the first minister at Cheshire, Conn. He attained the ad- vanced age of eighty-one. In 1727 he married Anna Law, who was born at Milford, Conn., in 1702, a daughter of Gov. Jonathan Law and his wife, Anna Eliot, the latter a daughter of Rev. Joseph and Sarah (Brenton) Eliot, and granddaughter of Rev. John Eliot and Gov. William Brenton, of Rhode Island.
(V) Brenton Hall, son of Rev. Samuel, was born at Cheshire in 1738, and died in 1820 at Meriden, of which town he was one of the founders in 1803, previous to which time he had been a planter in Wallingford. He was a representative from the latter town from 1787 to 1802, and from Meriden in 1806. His first wife was Lamont Collins, his sec- ond Abigail Baldwin, daughter of Noah and Re- becca (Frisbie) Baldwin, of Branford, Connecticut.
(VI) Casper Hall, son of Brenton, was born in 1790, and died in 1869. In 1813 he married La- vinia Booth, daughter of John Booth, a Revolu- tionary soldier and descendant of Sergt. Richard Booth, who was an ancestor of U. S. Grant. Lucy Ann Hall, daughter of Casper, wedded Joseph Morse.
Gov. Jonathan Law, was born in Milford, Aug. 6, 1674, was graduated from Harvard in 1695; studied law and practiced at Milford. Was a mag- istrate for more than thirty years, and chief justice of the State from 1725-1741, and governor at the time of his death in May, 1751.
Gov. William Brenton emigrated to Boston from Hammersmith, England. He held important offices in Massachusetts and Rhode Island, where he was several times lieutenant-governor. He was presi- dent of Rhode Island, 1660-61, and governor, 1666- 1669. He died at Newport in 1674.
Abigail Baldwin, second wife of Brenton Hall (V), was descended from John Baldwin, who came Over in the ship "Martin" in 1638, and later settled in Milford. He died June 21, 1681. His son, George, was born in Milford in 1662, married De- borah Rose, and died Oct. 26, 1728. Noah Bald- win, son of George and Deborah ( Rose), was born in Branford, March 20, 1710, married Rebecca Fris- bie on March 21, 1734, and died Nov. 24, 1799.
BROWN. Francis Brown, of the New Haven Colony in the year 1638, with his descendants and collateral relatives :
Francis Brown was born in the town of Rad- cliffe, Yorkshire, England, about the year 1610. When religious fervor forced the settlement of col- onists in the new world, he and his wife, Mary Edwards, whom he had married in 1636, sailed the succeeding year for Boston in the ship "Hector." Among their fellow voyagers were Theophilus Eaton, an opulent merchant of London, and his wife, with her adult children by a former husband, David Yale, Chancellor to her father, Bishop George Lloyd, of Chester, England, whose Episcopal palace still stands on the main street of that ancient town. David Yale, the eldest of these children, and the father of Elihu Yale, from whom the University is named, returned in a few years to England. Ann Yale, the wife of Edward Hopkins, an early gov- ernor of the Colony of Connecticut, who also founded the Hopkins Grammar Schools, of New Haven, Hartford and Hadley, soon followed in company with her husband, who became a commis- sioner of the English Admiralty, and a member of one of Cromwell's Parliaments. Thomas Yale, the younger son, thus became the only representative of the Yale family in New Haven, and from him are descended, so far as is known, all who bear the name of Yale in America.
The New Haven colonists were at first much in doubt whether to remove from or to remain in Massachusetts, but as the company was the wealth- iest that had come to America, many of them being merchants and traders in the old country, they sought some place for a commercial settlement not included within any charter or patent granted by the English Crown. The war with the Pequots soon brought their hesitancy to an end. In the pur- suit of this flying tribe of warlike Indians the Eng- lish forces passed through Quinnipiac, afterward named New Haven. Though the soil of the place was poor, its position between Boston and New York seemed to the New England soldiers-among whom was Captain Nathaniel Turner, afterward the military leader of New Haven-as eminently fitted for their "Trans Atlantic" home. The favor- able opinion of Gov. Eaton and of Rev. John Daven- port, the two leaders of the company. proved de- cisive. Nine of the first settlers, among whom was Francis Brown, passed the winter of 1637-1638 at Quinnipiac, in making the necessary provision for shelter and for other urgent needs of the coming Colonists, who arrived April 16, 1638. Entering the harbor on Friday, Saturday was devoted to landing their household goods, and conveying them to the temporary huts provided for them by the few Colonists who had preceded them. Their first official act was by uniting the next day in divine worship, held under a huge oak standing near the corner of what is now George and College streets, and listening to a sermon by Rev. John Davenport on "The Temptations of the Wilderness."
Francis Brown was one of the earliest free- holders of New Haven. At a time when there were
---
323
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
no bridges in New Haven, and all access to Massa- chusetts, Eastern Connecticut and Rhode Island was dependent upon a ferry kept at Red Rock, Mr. Brown was appointed Ferry Master. That he was held in high repute is evident from the various im- portant positions with which he was intrusted. His children were Eleazer, Samuel and Lydia.
(II) Eleazer Brown was baptized Oct. 16, 1642, and died Oct. 23, 1714. He married Sarah Bulkley, daughter of Thomas Bulkley. Their children were : Eleazer, Gershome, Daniel, Thomas and Elizabeth.
(III) Gershome Brown, son of Eleazer and Sarah (Bulkley) Brown, was born Oct. 9, 1665, and married Hannah Mansfield in 1695. He was a mer- chant, and owned several vessels which traded with foreign ports. He was prominent as a Christian, as well as in business. When one of his ships was lost at sea, and the loss was considerable, his neigh- bors and friends, including the minister met at his house to hold prayers and to sympathize with him. When he died he left about five hundred acres of land in different parts of the city. Several slaves belonged to the estate, some of whose names were Mingo, Jack, Phillip, Harry, Robin and Job. The children of Gershome and Hannah (Mansfield) Brown were: Eleazer, born 1696; Hannah, born Jan. II, 1702; and Olive, born Feb. 22, 1706.
(IV) Eleazer Brown, son of Gershome and Hannah (Mansfield) Brown, born in 1696, died Sept. 21, 1768. On Jan. 25, 1725, he married Sarah Rowe, daughter of Matthew Rowe, who bore him three sons and six daughters.
(V) Daniel Brown, son of Eleazer and Sarah (Rowe) Brown, was born Nov. 3, 1743, and died Oct. 9, 1788. On April 24, 1770, he married Hannah English, who was born Nov. 29, 1749, daughter of Benjamin and Sarah (Dayton) English. Benja- min English was killed by the British July 5. 1779, in his own house in New Haven. Daniel Brown was a soldier in the Revolutionary army. On May 8, 1770, he and his wife moved to East Haven from New Haven. They had ten children: Isaac, born Feb. 27, 1771, died April 13, 1850. Hannah, born . Nov. 18, 1772, died May 15. 1797. Daniel, born Sept. II, 1774, died April 19, 1782. Sarah, born April 23, 1776, died Oct. 27, 1852. Roswell, born Oct. 6, 1778. Phila, born Aug. 30. 1780, died Jan. 4, 1849. Clarissa born June 14, 1783, died Feb. 14, 1839. Daniel (2), born Dec. 20, 1784. Aner, born Oct. 13, 1786, died Oct. 3. 1838. Mary, born Dec. 21, 1788, married Nov. 16, 1809, Wyllis Heming- way.
the mother of four children, all now deceased : Merritt, who married Maranda Bradley, and had four children, Sarah, Jane, Adeline and George; Anson, mentioned below; Samuel, who died in in- fancy; and Daniel Hemingway Brown, born July 4, 1813, died Oct. 8, 1892. After the death of his first wife, Isaac Brown married a widow whose maiden name was Zervinah Tuttle. The children of this union were: Almira, who married Ezekial Bradley; and Samuel Miles, who is mentioned farther on. Isaac Brown served in the war of 1812. He was a captain in the local militia, and was a man of much prominence. He was the eldest son of his parents, and according to the custom in those days inherited the largest share of the family prop- erty, thus becoming a very large land owner. He donated the ground for St. James Episcopal Church, as well as the stone used in building the edifice, also the roadway, known as Church Hill, an ex- tension of Grand avenue. There were only nine members of the church at that time, and the family were all very efficient workers for its success.
(VII) Anson Brown, son of Isaac and Sarah ( Hemingway) Brown, was a sea captain, sailing from New York and Perth Amboy. He resided in New Jersey in 1832, but later came to New Ha- ven and engaged in the oyster business, which he continued until the time of his death. He was drowned from his boat July 5. 1869. Anson Brown married April 27, 1832, Rosetta Sheppard, daughter of Stephen Sheppard, and became the father of : Honora Melissa, born Oct. 16, 1833, married George Brown, of Chicago; Sarah Annette, born Nov. 2, 1835, now deceased; Maria Salina, born April 24. 1837, deceased : Isaac Enos, born March 10, 1840, deceased : Stephen Freeman, born Sept. 6, 1842, died Sept. 17, 1842: Anson Kearney. born Nov. 23. 1843, deceased; William Sheppard, born Sept. 29, 1846, lives in Hartford; Merritt R., born June 10, 1849, deceased; Rosetta Althea, born June 6, 1851, deceased; Frederick Freeman, born March 26, 1853.
(VIII) William Sheppard Brown, son of An- son, married Lilla Wrisley, and has two children, Charles Alonzo and Hazel Wrisley.
(VIII) FREDERICK FREEMAN BROWN, son of Anson. was born in Fair Haven. Conn., March 26, 1853, and Nov. 27, 1879, married Dora A. Jones, of Branford. They have had the following children : Herbert Isaac, born March 21, 1880; Florence Jones, who died aged five and a half years ; and Frederick Freeman, Jr., born Dec. 30, 1885. Mr. Brown has been engaged in the oyster business, and has been inspector of the State dumping ground, to see that oyster shells were dumped in proper places. For sixteen years he served in the Horse Guards. on the staff of Major Horace H. Strong.
(VI) Isaac Brown, eldest son of Daniel and . Hannah ( English ) Brown, married Sarah Heming- way, born Sept. 17, 1780 (sister of Wyllis Heming- way, who had married Mary Brown), daughter of Enos and Sarah (Hemingway) Hemingway. Enos was a soldier in the Revolutionary army and a rep- (VIII) Isaac Enos Brown, son of Anson, was born at Perth Amboy, N. J., March 10, 1840, and in 1848 came with his parents to Fair Haven, where resentative in the Legislature from the town of East Haven for over twenty terms in succession. Mrs. Sarah ( Hemingway ) Brown died July 5, 1813. | his early school days were spent. He early engaged
-
324
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
in the oyster business, and eventually became cap- tain of oyster boats. By his first marriage, to Nancy Ennis, he had one daughter, Myrtie, now deceased. He married for his second wife Emogene Hotel- kiss, daughter of John Hotchkiss, and the children of this marriage were : Allie Edward, of New Haven, who married Mamie Lieberman; Frank Enos, born June 12, 1875 ; Mabel Lois, born in 1877, who married Homer Cluett, of New Haven; and Henry Lewis, born in New Haven in July, 1881. The mother died Jan. 18, 1882. Mr. Brown was a member of Adelphi Lodge; No. 65; Pulaski Chap- ter; Crawford Council, F. & A. M .; and the R. A. M. Capt. Brown was on the board of selectmen for four years, and was always interested in public af- fairs. He was a Democrat in national politics. Professionally he was a member of the American Pilots Association. He died June 24, 1901, while on a business trip to Stratford, Conn. In religious connection he belonged to the Second Congrega- tional Church, of New Haven.
(IX) Frank E. Brown, son of Isaac Enos, spent his early school days in New Haven. For the past seven years he has taken an active part in the oyster business, and is a member of the American Pilots Association. Fraternally he belongs to Adelphi Lodge, No. 65; Pulaski Chapter; Crawford Coun- cil; New Haven Commandery, No. 2; and Pyramid Temple, Mystic Shrine.
(VII) Samuel Miles Brown, son of Isaac and Zervinah (Tuttle) Brown, was born in Fair Ha- ven, Conn., March 7, 1820, and died April 2, 1901. He was married at Bath, N. Y., Dec. 22, 1861, to Mary J. Warner, daughter of Horatio Warner, and became the father of three children: Grace, wife of Thurber Salisbury, of Salisbury Bros., druggists in Fair Haven: Samuel Miles, who died in in- fancy; and Frederick Miles. Samuel Miles Brown was prepared for college in East Haven, and was graduated from Yale in 1844, with the degree of B. A. The degree of M. A. was conferred upon him by Trinity College. He taught school near Fort Edward, N. Y., and in Fair Haven, Conn. For forty years he was engaged in mercantile busi- ness, for years being located in a building at the corner of Grand and Quinnipiac avenues. In pol- itics he was a Democrat, and served as postmaster of Fair Haven under President Taylor ; was notary public under Gov. Waller; and was assessor in the town of East Haven. He was active in church work, and was a lifelong member of St. James Episcopal Church, but during his latter years united with Grace Church. He retired from active work in 1891. Mrs. Brown died Nov. 15, 1900, and his death soon followed.
(VIII) Frederick Miles Brown, son of Samuel Miles, was born at his present home Sept. 26, 1868. His early school days were passed in New Haven. For six years he was connected with Cowles & Co., and for a like period he has been connected with a New York house. For a time he was employed
in the office of the New York, New Haven & Hart- ford Railway Co. He married Annie Spittler, of New Haven.
(VII) Daniel Hemingway Brown, fourth son of Isaac and Sarah ( Hemingway) Brown, whose death occurred in New Haven Oct. 8. 1892, was long a substantial resident and citizen of that com- munity. He was born July 4, 1813, and on April 16, 1837, married Grace Amoret Thompson, who was born Dec. 28, 1817, a daughter of James and Sarah (Dayton) Thompson, and a lineal descend- ant of Thomas Yale, brother of David Yale ( who was the father of Elihu Yale), both original set- tlers of New Haven Colony, also of Ann Yale, who was the wife of Gov. Eaton and daughter of George Lloyd, Bishop of Chester, England. Daniel Brown and his wife lived together over fifty years, and his widow is now ( 1902) living in New Haven. She is a woman of many virtues and much beloved. They were both members of St. James Episcopal Church of Fair Haven. Mr. Brown was engaged for years in quarrying stone. From the stone-quar- rying business he engaged in the oyster trade and from 1865 until the time of his death he was a member of the committee whose business it was to stake out oyster grounds. Mr. Brown was a man of good judgment. He was much beloved for his generosity and kindly nature. He held the con- fidence and esteem of his fellow citizens, and served them in many public official capacities. He served as constable in both New Haven and East Haven. In 1869 and 1890 he served as assessor in the town of New Haven, and in 1885 was councilman from the Twelfth ward of New Haven. Mr. Brown was active in a number of fraternal organizations. He was a member of Adelphi Lodge, F. & A. M .; Pulaski Chapter, R. A. M .; and New Haven Com- mandery. At the time of his death he was the oldest Knight Templar in the State. He was also a member of the Grand Lodge, Knights of Pythias, and became a member of the I. O. O. F. in 1869.
On April 16, 1837, in the old original M. E. Church in Fair Haven, Mr. Brown was married, by the Rev. John Pease, to Grace Amoret Thompson, and on April 16, 1887, this couple celebrated their golden wedding, Rev. William E. Vibbert of- ficiating, the event taking place in the same house in which the bride lived with her parents when she was married. Many were the congratulations and "God Speeds" given to them on that day. The children born to this union were: Harriet Newell, born Nov. 3, 1840, and died June 1, 1841 ; Grace Imogene, born March 10, 1842; Charles Phelps, born Feb. 16, 1844; An Elizabeth, born Nov. 16, 1848, died Jan. 12, 1852 ; and Frank Daniel Brown, born Oct. 13, 1859.
(VIII) Charles Phelps Brown, son of Daniel Hemingway and Grace Amoret (Thompson) Brown, married, Dec. 29, 1870, Frances Barton. daughter of Robert and Jane (Spink) Barton, of Taberg, N. Y. They have had three children :
-----
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
325
Clarence, who died in infancy ; Roscoe Phelps, born Oct. 28, 1878; and Imogene Elizabeth Brown, born April 1, 1884.
(VIII) Frank Daniel Brown, son of Daniel Hemingway and Grace Amoret (Thompson) Brown, married, Oct. 13, 1885, Florence M. Smith, of New Haven, Conn. They had one child, Ruth May, born May 2, 1891, died the same day.
(VIII) Grace Imogene Brown, daughter of Daniel Hemingway and Grace Amoret ( Thompson ) Brown, married, Oct. 3, 1861, Philo Sherman Bet- nett, of Newtown, Conn. One child blessed this union, Blanche Imogene, born May 15, 1867, died June 6, 1887, beloved by all her acquaintances. She was educated at St. Margarets School, Waterbury, Conn., and became an accomplished musician and an artist of great promise. To her memory is erected in the Chapel of the Union cemetery, Fair Haven, a beautiful memorial window, representing St. Cecelia seated at an organ, while two angels with glistening robes, and wings which have caught the hues of a brilliant rainbow, stand ap- parently entranced with the music to which they are listening. St. Cecilia's face is a likeness of the features of her in whose memory this memorial is given.
PHILO SHERMAN BENNETT, born in Newtown, Conn., Jan. 15, 1842, descended from Caleb Ben- nett, who was among the most conspicuous settlers in that section. When it became a town he was one of the most influential of its citizens. He was one of the committee who petitioned the General Assembly for an incorporation as a town. He be- came a magistrate and held several municipal of- fices, and was very prominent both in Church and State. He married Esther Beers (born May I, 1761, died 1796), daughter of Daniel and Mabel ( Booth) Beers, and a descendant of Anthony Beers, who founded that family in America. Their chil- dren were Abel, James and Sarah.
(II) James Bennett, son of Caleb, married Lucretia Gage, of Vermont, and made their home in Newtown, Conn. Their children were Delia, who died Feb. 18, 1840, aged twenty-five years : Austin, father of Philo S. Bennett; Sarah Ann, who mar- ried Philo Sherman, and lived in Bristol, Conn .; and Vail Bennett.
(III) Austin Bennett, son of James, was born Jan. 1, 1814, and died Aug. 10. 1844. He married Nancy Maria Jones, who was born in New Haven June 5, 1816, and died in Waterville, N. Y .. Nov. 9, 1897. They were the parents of the following children : (1) Julia Elizabeth, born April 4, 1837, died Jan. 1. 1862: she married John Bussing, and had one child, Carlton, who died in infancy. (2) Delia Ann, born Jan. 15, 1839, married for her first husband, Franklin Porter Cook, of New Ha- ven ; they had one child. Blanche Clayton Cook, who wedded De Witt Conger, of Waterville. N. Y. They have one child, Daniel Bennett Conger, born June 15, 1896. Delia Ann ( Bennett) Cook married for
1
her second husband Melancthon Worthington Big- elow, of Waterville, N. Y. (3) Philo Sherman Bennett is mentioned below. (4) Mary Augusta, born Oct. 17, 1844, died May 27, 1882; she mar- ried Charles B. Mason, of Danbury, Conn. Their children are: Charles Edward; John Holmes, born October, 1867, died Feb. 26, 1892; Bennett Hawley, who died at the age of eighteen years, and was buried in Danbury, Connecticut.
From the settler, Caleb Bennett, Philo Sherman Bennett was descended in the fourth generation. Losing his father at the age of two years, he eight years later went to Sharon, Conn., and lived for six years on the farin of Lemuel Peck. At the age of sixteen he came to New Haven and was em- ployed by Porter Cook, a merchant of Fair Haven ; subsequently he returned to New Haven, where he represented the firm of A. H. Kellam & Co. In a short time he and his partner, Alfred P. Sloan, bought out that firm and carried on a wholesale grocery business for a number of years under the name of Bennett & Sloan. Seeing a broader open- ing for business in the city of New York, they re- moved there and now have business representatives in every State of the Union. The firm is now one of the largest and most successful in the country in their line of business. Mr. Bennett was a mem- ber of the New Haven board of education for sev- eral years, and was also a leading member of the committee appointed by the Legislature to investi- gate State expenses in Connecticut. For the presi- dential elections in 1896 and in 1900 he ran as an elector-at-large on the Democratic ticket.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.