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 2 > Part 22
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
Dwight Eli Todd received a common-school education. Throughout his active business life he engaged in agricultural pursuits with marked suc- cess, but during his later years, owing to ill health, he discontinued all business, moving to Wood- bridge. Farming was his principal occupation, but he also engaged quite extensively in butchering, in company with his brother Street. He owned 200 acres of land in Bethany, and he was one of the well-to-do and substantial men, as well as one of the highly respected citizens, of his community. In his political affiliations he was a Democrat. For many years he was a member of the Episcopal Church, and gave liberally toward its support. Though an energetic and successful man, he was quiet in his habits and unassuming in his manners.
On Dec. 24, 1877, Mr. Todd married Mrs. Cath- erine Emily Bishop, and they had two children : Leonard E., born May 10, 1880, who is a student at Yale College; and Julia Rosette, born June 24, 1886, who is now a student in the Boardman Train- ing School, New Haven. Mrs. Todd was born Aug. 15, 1842, and first married, June 17, 1868, Henry Bishop, who died March 24, 1876. By that union she also had two children, of whom Charles, born May 7, 1869, died in 1886. Berton F., born Feb. 22, 1874, is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania, and is now a dentist in New Haven; he married Miss Mary Smith Gold.
The Sperry family, to which Mrs. Todd be- iongs, is probably of English origin, and was founded in this country during Colonial days by Richard Sperry, who came from England and was among the first to take up land in Connecticut. From him have undoubtedly sprung all the Sperrys in New Haven county, though there are families in Woodbridge who can trace no connection with others of their name in the same town. The Dick- erman book says that he had ten children and sixty grandchildren ; also that his home and Ralph Lines' were the only houses between West Rock and the Hudson river, except a few at Derby, in 1661. Woodbridge was originally known as Amity, and was renamed in honor of Rev. Benjamin Wood- bridge, for a long time its pastor. Richard Sperry
483
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
was a man of considerable historical note. His name is frequently mentioned in connection with the flight and escape of the Regicides. For some time they found shelter in Woodbridge ( where he located ), and he provided them with food and aided them in eluding their pursuers. He housed them on his own land without the members of his house- holl learning the secret. His son, Ebenezer Sperry, was born in July, 1663, in Woodbridge, and there passed his entire life as a farmer and hunter. He inarried Abigail Dickerman. Following in direct descent came three who bore the name of Isaac, and of the two first very little can be learned.
Isaac Sperry (3) married Polly (Mary) Tut- tle, and from the old cemetery in Bethany we learn that he died Feb. 7, 1844, aged eighty-four years, his wife Oct. 25, 1835, aged seventy-one years. To them were born children as follows: Polly married Joel Hotchkiss and moved to Mosiertown, Pa .; Dolly married Theodore Page and also located in Pennsylvania; Malinda was twice married, her second husband being David Beecher, of Bethany, Conn .; Clara was the wife of Sheldon Hotchkiss, of New Haven; Lucy died unmarried, and was buried in the old Bethany cemetery; Isaac located in Mosiertown, Pa .; Enos was the father of Mrs. Todd; Lewis located near Mosiertown, Pa .; Allen first moved to Pennsylvania and later to Michigan, since which time nothing has been heard of him; Chauncey lived in New Haven; and Gerry made his home in Bethany.
Enos Sperry, Mrs. Todd's father, was born in Bethany in 1801, and died in May, 1880. He was married in his native town to Rosetta Russell, daughter of Daniel and Eunice (Alling) Russell, also natives of Bethany, and to this union came six children, namely: Louisa, born Aug. 5, 1826, mar- ried Royal Nettleton, of New Haven; Julia, born in 1831, married Charles Allen Smith, of New Haven; Celia died Oct. 15, 1853, at the age of twenty years; Isaac served as a cavalryman in the war of the Rebellion, and then went West; Ellen, born in 1838, lives on the old homestead in Beth- any; Catherine Emily, wife of our subject, com- pletes the family. The mother passed away Aug. 9, 1893, aged eighty-seven years.
ALEXANDER HALL, the oldest citizen in the North Farms District, town of Wallingford, and a retired business man of a high character and an unblemished career, was born in North Farms Aug. 24, 1824.
1
Thomas Hall, the first of that name in Walling- ford of whom we have definite record, was born there and spent his life as a farmer and land owner, dying Ang. 27, 1741. Abigail Atwater, his wife, was the daughter of John Atwater, and their union was blessed with the following children : Thomas, born March 10, 1712, married Lydia Cur- tis; Phineas, born April 12. 1715; Abigail, born April 12, 1719; and Joshua, born May 23, 1722.
Joshua Hall was born on the farm where he spent his life engaged in its cultivation. To him and his wife Hannah were born the following chil- dren: Susannah, born Nov. 16, 1742; Medad, born July 26, 1743; Abigail, born April 5, 1745, died in infancy; Giles and Abigail (twins), born Feb. 24, 1747 ; and Samuel, born Jan. 29, 1767.
Giles Hall, noted in the preceding paragraph, grandfather to Alexander Hall, grew to manhood under his parents' roof, and owned a farm in the North Farms District, which he cultivated and on which he died. Lois Ives, his wife, also died on this farm, and was buried in the Center Street cemetery. To them were born these children : Abel, born Dec. 10, 1778, died in Atwater, Ohio; Sarah, born Aug. 20, 1780; Giles died April 21, 1791 ; Joshua; Lois, who married Andrew An- drews ; Lucy; Hannah; and John.
Joshua Hall, the father of Alexander Hall, was born in North Farms, and was reared to manhood on the home estate, and there he spent his entire life engaged in general farming, reaching the ripe old age of eighty years. He died on his farm, and was buried in Wallingford. In politics he was a Democrat, and in religion a man of broad and lib- era! views. Sophronia Gates, his wife, was born in North Branford, and became the mother of the following family: William Chauncey, born May 5, 1805; Roderick, born Dec. 21, 1806; James M., born March 3, 1809; Delight, born Jan. 24, 1811, died young; Delight (2), born March 29, 1813; Henrietta, born Jan. 24, 1815; Lois, born Feb. 3, 1818; Jenette, Dec. 18, 1821 ; and Alexander, Aug. 24, 1824. Mrs. Joshua Hall died on the farm, and was buried in Wallingford.
Alexander Hall had his education in the district school in North Farms, and worked at home until he reached the age of fifteen years, when he started out in life for himself, working for a time at farm labor, and peddling Yankee notions through the country during the winter months. He was em- ployed for a time in the button shop at East Meri- den, and then at Hanover, near East Meriden. Married in 1846, he settled down to farming, and in 1848 he bought a tract of sixty acres, which for more than half a century has been his home. Here he has been engaged in general farming, and has also done a large business with the railroad in get- ting out ties, spokes, etc. His landed property at the present time amounts to 250 acres. .
Mr. Hall is living a retired life, but is still re- markably active, and looks after every item of his large business. A great loss befel him in the death of his only son Herbert, who died in Angust, 1900, from typhoid fever. In politics he is a Republican. In religious belief he is a Baptist, belonging to the church of that denomination in Wallingford. His standing among those who know him best is that of a good Christian man, kind to the poor and needy, honest in every detail of his life, and a pub- lic-spirited citizen.
484
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
On May 3, 1846, Mr. Hall and Jane A. Potter were married in Northford, in the town of North Branford, Conn. Mrs. Hall was a daughter of Jerard H. and Hannah ( Bartholomew ) Potter, and was the mother of three children : ( I ) Mary Jane, tinmarried, is a dress maker, and resides at home, keeping house for her father. (2) Herbert Mi., who died in August, 1900, married Emma Landers, and was the father of three children : Ralph, who was accidentally shot and killed : Helen ; and Clar- ence. He was a farmer, a Republican, and a mem- ber of the I. O. O. F. (3) Edith L. married, Oct. 23, 1889, William Hart, of Plainville, and is the mother of two children, Ethel M. and Naoma.
Mrs. Jane A. Hall died Aug. 24, 1895. in Wall- ingford, and was buried at the Center Street ceme- tery. She was a member of the Baptist Church, and a lady of high religious spirit. Mr. and Mrs. Hall had lived together for nearly fifty years, and their wedded life was singularly beautiful and harmonious.
CHARLES W. BEARDSLEY, a leading resi- dent of Milford, was born in Stratford, Conn., May 27, 1829, and is a representative of a family that has been prominent since pioneer days. He traces his descent from William Beardsley, one of the first settlers of the town of Stratford, from whom he takes the name of William. William Beardsley came from Stratford-on-Avon ( the birthplace of William Shakespeare), England, in 1635, in the good ship "Planter," commanded by Capt. Travice. He was then only thirty years of age, but had a wife and three children, all of whom accompanied him hither. After his arrival he was made a freeman in Hadley, Mass., but in 1639 settled in the Connecti- cut town to which the family gave the name of Strat- ford, in honor of the English town from which they had emigrated. The town of Avon, N. Y., was also named by descendants of William Beardsley, who settled there, in honor of the old river in England. William Beardsley was a deputy in Stratford in 1645, and for seven years thereafter, and was a man of much prominence in early Colonial times. He died in 1660, at the age of fifty-six, leaving three children. The succession in the line to the subject of this sketch is through Joseph, the youngest son, the generations from Joseph being John, Andrew. Henry, William Henry and Charles, the last named being the father of Charles W.
William Henry Beardsley, our subject's grand- father, was born in 1767. and died July 26, 1841. aged seventy-three. He married Sarah Beach, a native of the town of Huntington, Fairfield Co .. Conn., and a daughter of Israel Beach (2), a de- scendant of John Beach, of Stratford. She died April 25. 1827, the mother of the following children : . Wilson, born April 15, 1796, was a farmer in Strat- ford and died May 18, 1865: Henry, born in 1797, was a tinsmith in Bridgeport, and died April 20, 1880; Lucretia, born in 1800, married a Mr. Crofut, 1
a farmer in Norwalk, Conn. : Charles, our subject's. father : Stephen, born in 1804, was a carpenter and died in Stratford; Sarah, born July 10, 1810, mar- ried Benjamin Califf, of Bridgeport, and died at the age of eighty-two years and five months; and Mirah died Oct. 11, 1839, aged twenty-four years.
Charles Beardsley was born in 1806, and was reared in Stratford upon the old farm. He learned the shoemaker's trade which he followed many years in connection with farming. He died in 1853, at the age of forty-seven years. His wife, Sarah Bald- win, who died in 1889, was a daughter of Hezekiah Baldwin, of Milford, a descendant of Joseph Bald- win, one of the first settlers of the town. To Charles and Sarah ( Baldwin) Beardsley were born eigl :: children, of whom Charles W. is the eldest. The following is the record of the others, all of whom are living and residents of Milford, unless therein stated : Abigail, born May 9, 1832, married Charles R. Baldwin, of Milford ; Alvira, born June 4, 1834; Hezekiah, born April 30, 1836, is an extensive con- tractor and builder of Milford: George, born Jan. 20, 1838, has charge of the cabinet work in the schools of New Haven, where he now resides ; Theo- dore, born Feb. 23. 1840, is a prominent builder of Springfield, Mass. : Sarah J., born Jan. 25, 1842, mar- ried Edward Clark, of Milford ; and Frederick, born Oct. 22, 1843, has for twenty-two years been em- ployed by the N. Y. & N. H. Railway Company.
Charles W. Beardsley was educated in the com- mon and select schools of his.native town, and com- menced learning the shoe business at the age of fifteen, following same for eighteen years. He learned his trade in Milford, having accompanied his parents to that town in 1844. His health par- tially failing by close confinement in his work, he engaged in the stock and produce business, import- ing from Montreal, Canada, and continued success- fully in this business for twelve years. He has had some of the finest Jersey cattle that have appeared in America, for which he has obtained large prices. He then bought one of the best farms in Milford. and is engaged in the seed business for Peter Hen- derson & Co., of New York City. He has been iden- tified with some of the most important enterprises of the town, and has served as a director of the Mil- ford Savings Bank, and of the Steam Power Manu- facturing Company.
Mr. Beardsley has held an important place in public affairs. He has held the offices of selectman for twelve years in succession, member of the board of education, member of the fire department for twenty-two years, and was a member of the Sec- ond Company, Governor's Foot Guards (organized 1775), under Gov. Buckingham, and he was one of the incorporators of the Taylor Library, of Milford. In 1889 he was elected a member of the House of Representatives of Connecticut, for two years, and served on the railroad committee, and was com- missioner of the Washington bridge. He gave a full history of the old bridge, and when the bill
Charles Ir Beardsley
.
1
485
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
came before the House to have the structure made a free bridge, supported by New Haven and Fair- field counties, he made a strong argument in favor of the free bridge system, and the bill was passed. Three other free bridges, the Birmingham, Zoar and Bennett, now cross the Housatonic river, making a well defined line between the two counties. He was re-elected a member of the House of Repre- sentatives for the years 1891-92, and was again a member of the railroad committee. Gov. Bulkeley appointed him shell-fish commissioner, and in 1893 Gov. Morris reappointed him to the same office.
On May 28, 1850, Mr. Beardsley was united in marriage with Sarah Baldwin, who was born Jan. 4, 1827, daughter of Elnathan Baldwin, of Mil- ford, and their union has been blessed with three children : De Witt Clinton, born May 18, 1852, a prominent contractor and builder, who married Mar- tha P. Avery, of Stratford, and has four children : Medorah H., Maud C., Stanley A. and Ida Frances ; Sarah Etta, born Feb. 10, 1855, married Charles Clark, contractor and builder. of West Haven, and had two children: George W. and Elwood R .; Charles Frederick, born June 16, 1866, resides at home, and is engaged in the seed business with his father. Mr. Beardsley united with the First Con- gregational Church of Milford in 1850, and is es- teemed in his native town and in the town where he resides and wherever known, as an honorable and upright citizen. Socially he belongs to the I. O. O. F., of Milford. The Beardsley family is quite a numerous one in Connecticut, and in all its branches has maintained the honorable reputation transmitted through succeeding generations from William Beardsley, the venerated ancestor.
The first record of the Baldwin family, with which Mr. Beardsley is connected in the maternal line, is in England, A. D. 1672. but the line is some- what broken from then until 1515 when occurred the birth of Richard Baldwin in Bucks county, England. and since then the descent is as follows: John, son of Richard, born about 1540. and his son Richard, born about 1580: Joseph, son of Richard, born about 1600. and with his two brothers Timothy and Nathaniel left their home in Stratford-on-Avon, and came to America in the ship "Planter" in 1635. Joseph Baldwin, who located in Milford in 1639, married three times, first Hannah, second, Isabel Northam, widow of James Northam. and third. Elizabeth Hitchcock, widow of William Warriner, of Spring- field. He was the father of the following children : Joseph, Benjamin, Hannah, Mary. Elizabeth, Mar- tha, Jonathan, David and Sarah. Jonathan Baldwin was born Feb. 15, 16.19, in New Haven, and mar- ried Hannah Ward, daughter of John Ward. and became the father of six children: Jonathan, John. Joseph, Hannah, Daniel and Joshua. Of these chil- dren, Joshua is in the direct line. and he was born Jan. 24, 1601, and by his marriage became the father of four children: Hannah, Joshua, Elizabeth and Sybil. Joshua Baldwin (2), our subject's great-
1
grandfather, was born in Milford, Conn., Dec. 14, 1726, and reared the following children: Hezekiah, father of our subject's mother; Mary: Abigail; Elizabeth : Sarah; and Elijah, born in 1789, was graduated from Yale University, and became a preacher of note, and died without children.
Hezekiah Baldwin was born in Milford in 1775, and married Mary Ann Hine. His children were as follows: ( 1) Mary Ann married Joseph Beard, of Milford, and had one child, Joseph T., a farmer. (2) Abigail married Louis Smith, of Milford, and had four children, Miles, Elizabeth, Mary and Mar- tha. (3) Hezekiah married Harriet Stowe and had two children, Susan and Mary. (4) Sarah or Sally, our subject's mother, was the next. (5) Betsey married William Stowe, and had one son, Clark. (6) Martha married Rogers Beard, of Milford, and had seven children, Seymour, Miles, Alice, Eliza- beth, Charles, Pennington and Gideon. (7) Charles J. married Eunice Baldwin and had three children, Charles W., Henry E. and Edwin. (8) Elijah mar- ried Julia Wilson, and had four children, Abigail, Mary E., Eliott and Julia. (9) Susan C. married Nathan C. Tomlinson, and had six children. Susan, Mary, Ann, Charles. Celia and Julia. ( 10) Anna Maria married Addison Beard, of Milford, and had five children, George H., William, Herbert, Ann M. and Elliott.
SAMUEL R. DEAN, late one of the pros- perous merchants of Seymour, and a popular, pub- iic-spirited citizen, was a native of New York State. born Feb. 13, 1832, in Caroline, Tompkins county, of Scottish descent.
Samuel H. Dean, his father, set out for this country from the North of Ireland in 1812, but the vessel on which he was making the voyage was captured by the British and conveyed to Halifax, Nova Scotia. From there he succeeded in making his escape. and traveled afoot to Delaware county, N. Y .. where he located. In that vicinity he mar- ried Jane Douglass, and by her had twelve chil- dren : John, Alice, John C., James A., William D., Mary A .. Sarah, Maria H .. Jane A., Samuel R., Cornelia C. and one that died in infancy. After the death of the mother of these children Mr. Dean married Mary Thomas, of Dutchess county, N. Y., and two children were born of that union.
From the early age of ten years Samuel R. Dean may be said to have earned his own living. In 1867 he came to Seymour and embarked in mer- cantile business with a Mr. McEwen, but after four and a half years the partnership was dis- solved, and in 1872 Mr. Dean became a member of the firm of Wooster, Dean & Buckingham. doing business in the store he occupied up to the time of his death. The firm continued until the spring of 1880, after which it was Wooster & Dean until June, 1881, when Mr. Dean bought out his partner, and he carried on the business alone from that time.
,
486
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
In January, 1862, Samuel R. Dean was united in marriage with Miss Anna C. Fairchild, of Ox- ford, Conn., a daughter of Nathan B. and Augusta (Sherman) Fairchild. Five children were born to them : Cornelia A., deceased; William F .; Benja- min T., deceased; Robert K .; and Clara A. Will- iam F. was educated partly at Cornell College, where he studied two years, finishing at Lehigh University, Bethlehem, Pa. He visited Jamaica twice in the interest of the Thompson-Houston Electric Co., and for the past five years has been superintendent of the Canadian General Electric Co., at Montreal, Canada. Clara A. and Robert K. are both living at home.
In politics Mr. Dean was a Republican, and in 1886-87 represented the town of Seymour in the State Legislature, the first year being a member of the committee on Incorporations, and the second year of the committee of Finance. In municipal matters he served as chairman of the board of re- lief for seven years. Socially he was affiliated with the F. & A. M., Morning Star Lodge, No. 47; with Mt. Vernon Chapter, No. 35; with the Coun- cil; and with the New Haven Commandery, No. 2, K. T .; and was also a member of the I. O. R. M., Nonnawank Lodge, No. 9. In religious faith he was a Baptist, but attended the Congregational Church. His death, which occurred March 25, 1900, was mourned by many friends. ›
DANIEL HAND is a name that deserves to be forever luminous in the annals of American philan- thropy. His large donations to the relief of the suffering and the unfortunate victims of evil con- ditions and inherited privations are in part a mat- ter of historical record. In part they can only be surmised. Enough is known to warrant the in- clusion of this name on the roll of the great and permanent benefactors of the race-men who have acquired large fortunes, and have considered them a trust to be wisely administered for the welfare of their brothers and sisters who have lacked precious privileges of wealth and faith.
Daniel Hand belonged to an old and established family of New England, whose many representa- tives in former generations have been distinguished alike for their ability, business energy and high moral character.
. The first American ancestor of the family was John Hand, who emigrated about 1635 from Kent, England, and located first at Lynn, but presently found a home at the east end of Long Island. He was one of the original patentees of East Hamp- ton, and took a leading part in the affairs of the small settlement. He died in 1660. Alice Stan- borough, his wife, was a woman of character and force, and two of their sons remained in East , Hampton, where their descendants still reside. Two or three other sons removed to New Jersey, and their progeny may be found in that State and
in Pennsylvania. A daughter married and re- turned to England.
Joseph Hand about the time of his father's death removed to Guilford, Conn., where he mar- ried Jane Wright, and settled in what is now Madison. This Joseph Hand took an active part in town affairs, and his name frequently appears in the old records. The Hand family was represented in the American Revolution, Capt. Daniel Hand leading a company of East Guilforders to the as- sistance of General Washington and proving one of the able and valiant soldiers of that war.
The maternal ancestors of Daniel Hand were also linked in with the affairs of the Colonists of those far-away days, Vincent Meigs being a con- temporary of the first John Hand.
Daniel Hand was born July 14, 1801, in East Guilford, and had such intellectual and moral train- ing as might be expected for a scion of an old and prosperous Puritan household in New England, which has been somewhat toned and softened by contact with the outer world. In 1818 he went to Augusta, Ga., in charge of his uncle, Daniel Meigs, an old and prosperous merchant of that place and of Savannah. Here in process of time he suc- ceeded to his uncle's business, up to within a few years preceding the outbreak of the Civil war, still keeping up close relations with his old home in Connecticut, where his sisters were married and settled, and where he spent nearly every summer during his long Southern residence. Some fifteen years previous to the war Mr. Hand had estab- lished a partnership at Augusta with George W. Williams, a native of the South, and a man of much ability and high character. Shortly after the establishment of the partnership Mr. Williams opened a branch of the firm's business at Charles- ton, S. C., and the branch soon became the princi- pal place of business. The Augusta business was. put in charge of D. H. Wilcox, a junior partner, and Mr. Hand made his headquarters in New York temporarily, where he attended to the purchasing and financial interests of the business. By this change of the firm's interests practically all of Mr. Hand's large fortune was concentrated at Charles- ton, and there it was at the breaking out of hos- tilities.
At a time when the war was about to begin Mr. Williams urged Mr. Hand to come South, not knowing what disasters to their business might occur if the two proprietors were on different sides. of the line. Mr. Hand immediately departed for the scene of their mutual interests, and the business' interests of the firm carried him to New Orleans, where the Mayor had him arrested on account of a telegram which charged him with being a "Lin- coln spy." When brought before that august per- sonage he found Mr. Hand a very different man from what he had expected, and set him free on his- parole to report to the authorities at Richmond.
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.