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 77

Author: Beers (J.H.) & Co., Chicago, pub
Publication date: 1902
Publisher: Chicago, J.H. Beers & co.
Number of Pages: 1040

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 77

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Judah Frisbie was born Sept. 13, 1744, and spent his entire life as a farmer in Wolcott, where he owned property. On Aug. 12, 1779, he married Hannah Baldwin, who was born on Buck's Hill, Waterbury, a daughter of Israel Baldwin. They had four children: Mary, who was born in 1780, and married Abner Hotchkiss; David, grandfather of our subject ; Hannah, who was born Nov. 10, 1783, and married Orrin Jackson ; and Judah, who died in 1829.

David Frisbie, the grandfather of our subject, was born Jan. 12, 1782, in Wolcott, where he grew to manhood and continued to make his home throughout life, his time and attention being devot- ed to agricultural pursuits. His remains were in- terred in the Woodtick cemetery. In February, 1805, he married Leva Hall, and to them were born the following children : Samira, born Aug. 10, 1806. was married, Ang. 11, 1825, to Joel Johnson, and later moved to California : Hannah V., born Nov. 15. 1810, was married, Oct. 10, 1829, to Carlos R. Byington, of Southington, Conn .. and died Nov. 10, 1870; Almira, born Nov. 17, 1812, was married, Oct. 16, 1830, to David Somers; David Berkley, father of our subject, completes the family.

David B. Frisbie was born July 19, 1814, and after receiving a good district school education, he engaged in teaching when a young man, but later in life followed farming. In politics he was a Re- publican, and he held several local offices, including that of justice of the peace. He continued to make his home in Woodtick throughout life, dying upon his farm Aug. 12. 1850, and his remains were in- terred in Woodtick cemetery. He married Char- lotte Hall, of Cheshire, who after his death wedded Augustus Rose, by whom she had one son, Edwin Rose, of Waterbury. She died Jan. 17, 1855, and was also buried in Woodtick cemetery.

David Lyman Frisbie, our subject, was the only child of the first marriage. He was born on the Frisbie homestead in Wolcott, March 15, 1841, and

was only nine years old at the time of his father's death. He attended the district schools of Cheshire and Waterbury, and at the age of fourteen years began earning his own livelihood by working as a farm hand, being thus employed until after the Civil war broke out. In August, 1861, he responded to his country's call for aid by enlisting at Water- bury in Company C, 14th Conn. V. I., under Capt. Carpenter and Col. Ellis, and participated in the siege of Fredericksburg from Sept. 17 to Dec. 13, 1862; the battles of Chancellorsville, May 2 to 12, 1863: Gettysburg, July 2 and 3, 1863; Falling Water, July 13, 1863: Auburn, Va., Oct. 14, 1863 ; Boston Station, Va., Oct. 15, 1863 ; Centreville, Oct. 15. 1863; Mine Run, Dec. 1, 1863; Morton Ford, Feb. 6, 1864; and several other engagements. He also took part in the Grand Review at Washington, D. C., and was mustered out at Hartford, Conn., with the rank of acting corporal.

After the war Mr. Frisbie lived both in Cheshire and Waterbury for a time. In 1868 he married Miss Anna C. Downs, of Northfield, Litchfield county, Conn., where she was born, a daughter of John and Martha ( Bristol) Downs, representatives of two of the best families of the State. She had two broth- ers who were soldiers of the Civil war. Mr. and Mrs. Frisbie have two children: Frank David, who was born Dec. 30, 1870, and is now in Water- bury; and Berkley Levi, who was born March 8. 1874, and assists in the operation of the home farm. They are young men of exemplary habits, and are quite popular with their associates and many friends.

After his marriage, Mr. Frisbie located on the old homestead in Woodtick, upon which he has since engaged in general farming with good success, and at the same time has followed teaming. He has made many improvements upon his place, and has one of the most desirable farms of its size in the town. Politically he has always been a stanch sup- porter of the Republican party, and he has filled various local offices. He is numbered among the valued citizens of Wolcott who have been devoted to the public welfare, has manifested the same lov- alty in days of peace as in time of war, and all who know him have for him the highest regard. His wife is an active and consistent member of the Con- gregational Church, and shares with her husband the friendship of a large circle of acquaintances.

CAPT. WILLIAM O'KEEFE has been a mem- ber of the police force of New Haven for almost twenty years and commencing at the foot. has earned promotion by meritorious conduct. He has ranked as captain since 1892 and since 1897 has been in charge of Station No. 4. The Captain has lived in the city from boyhood, and his record. both as a citi- zen and as an official, is without reproach.

Our subject is a native of County Cork, Ire- land, born May 22, 1839, son of James and Mary (Ambrose) O'Keefe, who reared a family of nine children : Ann, Ellen, William, Julia, Catherine,

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Nora, Martin, John and Bridget. Four survive, El- len, Catherine, Nora and William. The father passed all his life in Ireland. He was a man of good education, and was engaged as steward or overseer of a large estate. All his ancestors were farmers. Our subject's mother was born in London, of Irish extraction, and died in New Haven.

William O'Keefe spent the earlier part of his life in his native land, receiving his education in the National schools. When fourteen years of age, in 1853, he was brought to the United States by an aunt, and his home has since been in New Haven. For a time he attended the Dudley school, in Wallace street, but he early commenced work with the New Haven Clock Company, with which he remained two years. He then went to sea on a coaster, continuing that life for one year, and he was also in the employ of the Mallory Wheeler Company for a time before serving his apprenticeship to the carriagemaker's trade. While thus engaged the Civil war broke out, and in September, 1861, he enlisted, becoming a member of Company B, 9th Conn. V. I. They were sent to the Gulf and New Orleans, and thence up to Vicksburg, our subject meantime receiving promo- tion to a second lieutenancy for meritorious con- duct. He came home on furlough and re-enlisted, during his second term seeing service in the Shenan- doah Valley with Gen. Sheriden with whom he re- mained throughout that campaign. He received an honorable discharge in October, 1864, and, return- ing to New Haven, resumed work at carriagemaking. In September, 1865, during the Fenian excitement, he went to Ireland with Capt. Lawrence O'Brien. After his return he continued to engage at his trade until 1872, in which year he was elected city registrar, and in December, 1872, he was appointed a patrol- man, serving as such nine years. The next year Mr. O'Keefe was a roundsman, was then promoted to lieutenant in charge of the Grand Avenue Precinct, and in 1892 became captain. He had charge of Sta- tion No. 3 until 1897, when he was transferred to Station No. 4. His efficiency and fidelity to duty have won him the confidence of his superiors and the respect of his fellow officers, and he is held in uni- versal esteem by all who know him, whether in an official or private capacity.

On May 20, 1869, Capt. O'Keefe was married to Miss Mary O'Brien, a sister of Capt. Lawrence O'Brien, Father Hart performing the ceremony. Of the children born to this union six are living, Mary, William, Ellen, Thomas, Catherine and John. The family attend St. Joseph's Catholic Church. The Captain is a Democrat in political faith. Socially he holds membership in the Ancient Order of United Workmen, Royal Arcanum. Union Veteran Union and Admiral Foote Post, G. A. R.

GAILEY. The Gailey Family is of Scot- tish origin. They belonged to the Highland clan, of whom the chieftain was Buchannan. The Buchannans were at feud with a neigh-

boring clan and their decisive battles were fought on a lea field between two hills. A cry was raised by each clan for the decision of the long-existing strife by mortal combat between the chieftains. Buchannan faced his opponent and won the day. In commemoration of the event he ordered the lea to be decorated with gold, silver and flowers and named the spot Gay-Lea, because of the victory. From that day the chieftain of the clan called himself Buchannan of Gay-Lea, which in the course of time was changed to Gaylea and remained se until about eighty years ago, when it was changed to Gailey. The coat of arms of the family, which was discovered in the Island of Bute (their original home), consists of a highlander in full costume ; plumes in his hat, wearing kilt and tartan; under his foot a serpent whose head writhes from under right foot ; in his right hand a sword, partly behind his back, on which he is resting; his left hand in attitude of repose, resting on left thigh ; underneath is the motto, "Vere Fortis."

When the house of Hanover ascended the throne of England the adherents of the house of Stuart were still numerous and influential in Scotland. When the rebellion of 1715, which had for its ob- ject the placing of Prince James, son of James II, on the Scottish throne, broke out, the ancestors of the Gaileys were living in the Island of Bute. Be- ing stanch Presbyterians, and in politics Whigs, they supported the house of Hanover and the protestant succession and opposed the claims of the Stuarts and the schemes of the Jacobites. About the be- ginning of the reign of George II, three brothers .- perhaps owing to the disturbed state of Scotland at the time-removed from the Island of Bute to Ireland. One settled near Letterkenny and the two others in Tyrone-one at Killenure, near Omagh, the other in the parish of Ardstraw. The last named married the daughter of Mr. Brown, of Creevy, and with her received the lands of Cavna- bun. The house in which he lived still stands, slightly modified, and with part of the lands is still in the possession of the family. The estates of the family were confiscated after the rebellion of 1745 and bestowed upon the Duke of Argyll, the Gayleas having supported Prince Charles Edward. At this time Scotland was in such a disturbed state they abandoned their homes and possessions and sought refuge in the North of Ireland, in the Prov- ince of Ulster, where members of the family have since lived and prospered. Many of them emigrated back to Scotland, some to England and many to America, and some of them are Presbyterian mis- sionaries in China.

James Smiley Gailey descends from one of the three brothers who went from the Island of Bute, Scotland, and settled in the North of Ireland the early part of the eighteenth century. His grand- father was born in the Province of Ulster, County Donegal or Tyrone, Ireland, in 1766. came to this country about 1775, and with his brothers, Joseph,

Lauren & Bailey

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Andrew and John, settled in Orange county, N. Y. In 1801 the names of Joseph and William, and in 1812 those of Andrew and Margaret ( Hadden) Gailey, appeared on the church roll of the old Cov- enanter Church, of Coldenham. William Gailey married Margaret Hadden, of Organe county, N. Y., in 1805. They had five children born in Orange county-Mary A., Andrew,. Robert, Isabel and Eliza-and three born in Sterling, N. Y .- John, William and Margaret-all of whom are dead. William Gailey was a farmer all his life, living on a farm in Orange county with his family until 1814 when he moved with his wife and children to Sterl- ing. N. Y., then styled the backwoods, and there set about making for himself a home in the wilder- ness. The last ten or twelve years of his life he spent with his son, Andrew, dying Oct. 18, 1848.

Mrs. Margaret (Hadden) Gailey was born in the Province of Ulster, County Monaghan, Ireland, in 1777, and came to this country in 1701 with her parents, John and Mary (Johnston) Hadden, and four brothers and sisters. William, Robert, Eliza- beth and Mary. John Hadden was born May 8, 1744, and died Oct. 24, 1842. Mrs. Mary (John- ston) Hadden was born in 1743 and died Jan. 20, 1830; the remains of both are buried in the Colden- ham churchyard, Orange county. They were linen workers and brought several spinning wheels to this country. Their ancestors were of the Presby- terian faith, English, and of Puritan stock, and went into Ireland with Oliver Cromwell, who landed in Dublin Aug. 18, 1640. The earliest record found of the Haddens was of one De Hadden, who came to England with William the Conqueror as one of his staff.

· Andrew Gailey, father of James S., was born in Orange county, N. Y., in April, 1809, and died in Southfield, Oakland Co., Mich., March 12, 1871. He lived with his parents, William and Margaret (Hadden) Gailey, on a farm in Orange county, N. Y .. until 1814, when he accompanied them to Sterling, where he remained, except for a few years spent in Coldenham. N. Y., until his marriage, May 28, 1839, to Margaret Jane Smiley. They had four children, all born in Sterling, N. Y .: Mary A., born Aug. 12, 1840; Elizabeth, born Dec. 6. 1842, who died in 1847; James S., born Jan. 15, 1845; and Margaret Jane, born Nov. II, 1846, who died in 1848. After his first wife's death Andrew Gailey was married, Jan. 10. 1850, to Margaret Burns, by whom he had two children: John Knox, born in Sterling, N. Y., Oct. 28, 1850; and Agnes Annette, born in same place Feb. 12, 1854, who died Jan. 15, 1898. Andrew Gailey lived on his farm until 1865, when he removed to Southfield, Mich., there settling on a farm near the church he so loved and in which for many years he had been deacon. There he lived until his death. All of the family were members of the Covenanter Church. Mr. Gailey never entered politics but was a strong advo- cate of temperance, even in his youth, when it was

not popular. When a boy he visited his mother's old home in Orange county where, after attending the old Coldenham Covenanter Church, his uncle asked him to walk out to the tavern to get a drink, as all the other men were doing. This he refused to do, telling his uncle that when he left home his mother told him that as he was going to Coldenham, she hoped he would profit by the good example set before him, but if this was the kind of example he was to have set he was going back to the woods. The old church still stands, and is open for wor- ship, but the tavern, while still there, is closed. He had a kind heart for all who were in want or suffer- ing and his word was as good as his note.

Mrs. Margaret Jane ( Smiley) Gailey was born in Ireland March 4, 1818, and died in Sterling, N. Y., March 7, 1847. Her father, James Smiley, was born Jan. 3, 1786, and died Jan. 3, 1878. Her mother, Mary (Brown) Smiley, was born Jan. 5, 1785, and died in 1877. Mrs. Gailey was brought to this country by her parents when six months old, from Strabane, parish of Cams, County Tyrone, Ireland. They first settled near Goshen, in Orange county, but soon moved to Sterling, where they lived and died. They had four daugh- ters and one son : Margaret, born March 4, 1818, died March 7, 1847; Lattishia, born Oct. 29, 1820, is still living; Mary A., born Oct. 29, 1822, died some time ago; Robert, born April 3, 1825, is still living; and Elizabeth, born Nov. 20, 1828, is de- ceased. Two years after Mr. and Mrs. Smiley came to America her parents, William and Lattishia (Al- len) Brown followed their daughter to this coun- try and died the same year. They were buried in Orange county, near Goshen, but their remains have since been removed to Tarrytown, New York.

Mrs. Margaret (Burns) Gailey was born in Hamilton, Scotland, Jan. 8, 1812, died in Michigan in 1895.

Mary A. Gailey, daughter of Andrew, was born in Sterling, N. Y., Aug. 12, 1840, and moved to Michigan with her father. On March 10, 1868, she married Samuel Greer and has become the mother of four children: Clement Arthur, born Jan. 30, 1869; Joseph Andrew, Jan. 12, 1871 ; May Margaret, Oct. 7, 1872; and Isabel Torrens, May 2, 1875. Mrs. Greer and all the children now live in Connecticut.

John Knox Gailey, son of Andrew, went to Michigan with his father. He spent a few years on a farm, but not wishing to be a farmer entered the Agricultural College at Lansing, Mich., where he graduated. He taught school during the win- ters and studied during the summers. Then he studied medicine and entered the University of Michigan, at Ann Arbor. where he spent one year, thence going to the New York University, where he graduated. After practicing two years among the copper mines in Isle Royal, Mich., he went to Germany and spent one year at Vienna. On his return he went to Detroit, Mich., and entered Har-

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per's Hospital, where he remained five years, since which time he has practiced medicine in Detroit and stands high in his profession. He is surgeon at Harper's Hospital and the Children's Free Hospital, and is also physician to the Home of the Friendless and the Old Ladies Home, all of Detroit. On June 6, 1893, Dr. Gailey married Florence Louese Bul- lcck, daughter of Silas W. and Henrietta S. (Sprague) Bullock, natives of Michigan and Ver- mont, respectively. They have one son, John Knox Gailey, Jr., born March 3, 1895.

JAMES SMILEY GAILEY lived with his parents on a farm in Sterling, N. Y., until he was nineteen years old, worked on same, and attended the com- mon school until he was sixteen. He then spent two years at Red Creek Academy, in Wayne county, N. Y., and taught school two winters, after which he left home, going to Poughkeepsie, to H. G. Eastman's Business College. After taking a busi- ness course he started out to do what he could in business life in New York. He secured a place as bookkeeper and clerked in Brooklyn, where he re- mained nearly two years, when the sickness of his father called him home. After moving with his father to Southfield, Mich., he settled once more on a farm. There, on May 2, 1866, he married Sarah E. Barrett. He and his wife tired of the farm after a year and started for the city, going to Detroit, Mich., where Mr. Gailey was soon established as receiving clerk of Farrend, Sheeley & Co., whole- sale druggists. While living in Detroit there was born, Aug. 24, 1869, their only child, a daughter, who died Sept. 7, 1869. After spending five years in Detroit Mr. Gailey and his wife moved to the pine woods north of Bay City, Mich., to a place af- terward called Standish, where he took charge of the lumbering operations of J. D. Standish, of De- troit. After spending about four years there Mr. Standish disposed of his interest, and with Mr. Gailey, under the name of Standish & Co., opened a wholesale and retail lumber yard in Michigan, but after two years they sold out and Mr. Gailey then started out to sell lumber on the road for Henry Stephens, a large lumberman in central Michigan. After being on the road two years he again longed for home and bought a farm at Grass Lake, Mich., where he and his wife set up farming. After a six months' trial of farm life his health gave out and he was induced to return to the road as lum- ber salesman for Mr. Stephens. After spending in all about five years traveling in the Eastern and Western States he finally, July 1, 1881, settled down in Waterbury as secretary of the Waterbury Lum- ber & Coal Co., which office he held until January, 1898, when he was elected president of the same company, and he is still serving as such. He was never active in politics, and to some extent inde- pendent, yet he calls himself a Republican and usu- ally votes with that party.

Brought up and nurtured in the faith of his forefathers, Mr. Gailey joined the Covenanter, or

Reformed Presbyterian, Church, of Sterling, N. \', when seventeen years old, transferring his mem- bership to the same church when he went to Brook- lyn and again on his removal to Southfield. Mich. After their removal to Detroit, however, he and his wife joined the First Presbyterian Church of that city, from there transferring to the Congre- gational Church, of Grass Lake, and again to the Second Congregational Church, of Waterbury, where they are still members. Until the last four or five years Mr. Gailey has been active in church and Sunday-school work, and also a great supporter of the work of the Y. M. C. A.

Mr. Gailey is a member of the Waterbury Club. He joined Mattatuck Council, No. 713, Royal Ar- canum, of Waterbury, March 9, 1885 ; the Improved Order of Heptasophs, Dec. 1, 1894; Nosahogan Lodge, No. 21, I. O. O. F., of Waterbury, Nov. 3, 1885; Ansantawae Encampment, No. 20, I. O. O. F., of Waterbury, in 1886; Winona Rebekah Lodge, I. O. O. F., of Waterbury, Sept. 25, 1895: was made a Mason Jan. II, 1888; initiated into Conti- nental Lodge, No. 76. A. F. &. A. M., May 14, 1888; exalted ruler in Eureka Chapter, No. 22, Waterbury, Nov. 25. 1891; Clark Commandery, No. 7. Knights Templar. Jan. 1, 1892; Naomi Chap- ter, No. 23, Eastern Star, Waterbury, April 13, 1900. He was made a thirty-second degree Mason April, 1901.

Mrs. Sarah E. (Barrett) Gailey, wife of J. S. Gailey, was born in Poughkeepsie. N. Y., June I, 1840, daughter of Abraham Barrett, who was born in Ulster, N. Y., and died in same place in 1862. Her mother, Catherine Rose, daughter of William Rose, also born in Ulster county. N. Y., died Jan. 21, 1855. Her ancestors are of Holland-Dutch de- scent, and at one time were large land owners on the Hudson. Mrs. Gailey has inherited their sterl- ing character. Those who know her well know her to be the truest of friends. She has made it a life rule, when unable to speak well of anyone, to hold her peace.

JOSEPH E. HUBINGER. The record of a busy life, a successful life, must ever prove fecund in interest and profit as scanned by the student who would learn of the intrinsic essence of individu- ality; who would attempt an analysis of character, and trace back to the fountain head the widely diverging channels which mark the onward flow of such individuality. All human achievement. all hu- man weal or woe, in short, all things within the mental ken, are but mirrored back from the com- posite individuality of those who have lived. "The proper study of mankind is man," says Pope, and aside from this, in its broader sense, what basis of study or information have we? The rapid de- velopment of all material resources during the years leading up to the advent of the glorious twentieth century has brought business enterprises up from the days of small things to gigantic pro-

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portions, where millions of dollars take the place of hundreds, and where men are required to handle such millions as coolly and carefully and as success- fully as their grandfathers handled the hundreds. The entire history of the world shows that to grap- ple with all new conditions, to fill breaches in all great crises, men have been developed and have stood ready to assume new and great responsibil- ities, and have discharged the duties involved with ability and profit. It is ever the enterprise and character of the citizen that enrich and ennoble the commonwealth. From individual enterprise has been evolved all the splendor and importance of our great industrial communities. America is a self-made country, and here is found the highest type of the self-made man. No influence of birth or fortune has favored the architects of her glory. Among those who have achieved prominence as men of marked ability and substantial worth are the Hubinger brothers, of New Haven, who now control an industry of magnificent scope and im- portance, which they have developed from the most modest inception, gaining standing among the in- fluential men of the industrial world. For all they have accomplished in the face of seemingly in- superable obstacles and against odds that would have baffled the courage and determination of the average man, they merit the maximum of credit and praise, while their course in all the relations of life has been such as to retain for them the utmost confidence and esteem. They have wrought along the lines of the greatest good, have observed the most strenuous ethics of business life, and have gained an unassailable reputation in the great field of manufacturing enterprise, their products and name being familiarly known in all sections of the Union. The history of mankind is replete with il- lustrations of the fact that it is only under the pressure of adversity and the stimulus of opposi- tion that the best and strongest potentials of the individual are brought out, making the life prolific in fullest measure. It is a far cry from peddling the product of a modest little factory about the streets of a city from a handcart to the manipulation of an enterprise involving the transaction of mil- lions of dollars' worth of business annually, and yet this is what the course of a few years, com- paratively, has brought about in the careers of the Hubinger brothers. If anything can inspire the youth of our country to persistent, honest and laud- able effort it should be such life records as the one which we are now permitted to touch.

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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 77

Author: Beers (J.H.) & Co., Chicago, pub Publication date: 1902 Publisher: Chicago, J.H. Beers & co. Number of Pages: 1040

Author: Beers (J.H.) & Co., Chicago, pub
Publication date: 1902
Publisher: Chicago, J.H. Beers & co.
Number of Pages: 1040