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 26
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The Merriman family presents an interesting history which begins with Nathaniel Merriman, who was born in County Kent, England, in 1613, one of three sons of Theophilus and Hannah Merriman, the other two being Caleb and Moses. Nathaniel Merriman settled in New Haven, Conn., in 1663, and was married to Abigail Olney, and subsequently to Jane Lines. He was one of the original settlers of Wallingford, Conn., where he appeared as early as 1670, and became a captain of the troops five years later, and a deputy to the General Court in 1685. When he died in Wallingford he was about eighty years of age, and was the father of the following children: Nathaniel ; John; Hannah, the wife of John Ives; Grace; Abigail, the wife of John Hitch- cock ; Sarah ; Mary, the wife of Thomas Curtis ; John married Hannah Lines : Sanmel married Anna Fields; Caleb, mentioned below, who died July 9. 1703; Moses, who married Judith Beach ; Elizabeth,
who married Ebenezer L'ewis; Anna, who died young.
Caleb Merriman, son of Nathaniel, was born in May, 1665, and on July 9, 1690, married Mary Preston. Their children were as follows: Moses, born in 1601; Elizabeth: Eliasaph; Phoebe, de- ceased in infancy; Phoebe, married to Waitstill Munson ; Lydia ; Lydia; Elizabeth; and Hannah.
Eliasaph Merriman, known as Captain Elia- saph, was born May 20, 1695, and on Dec. 10, 1719, wedded Abigail Hulls, who bore him children as follows: Eunice ; Eunice (2) ; Eunice (3) ; Sarah ; Caleb, mentioned below ; Titus; Amasa; Elizabeth ; Esther ; Elizabeth (2) ; Turhand; Abigail, who was killed by lightning, with her mother, Aug. 4, 1758. The husband and father died fifteen days later.
Caleb Merriman was born Sept. 13, 1725, and married, May 12, 1747, Margaret Robinson. Their children were: Josiah ; Christopher ; Reekab ; Jesse ; Caleb ; Enoch ; Jesse (2) ; and Howell. Caleb Mer- riman died Aug. 6, 1797, at the age of seventy-two years ; his wife in July, 1795, at the age of sixty- SIX.
Jesse Merriman, son of Caleb, married Dolly Ives in 1784, and to their union were born: Joel, born in 1784, died in 1819; Salina, born in 1786, married Lemuel Butler in 1810, and died in 1842; one unnamed; Ira, born Dec. 25, 1789: Ives, born in 1792, died in 1825; Sally, born in 1795, married Lewis Hotchkiss, and died in 1870; Eunice, born in 1798, married John Hubbard in 1816, and died in 1837 ; Howell, born in 1801, married Harriet Yale in 1830, and Mary A. Cowles, in 1843, and died in 1858; Charles, born in 1807, married Susannah Fet- tenhoof in 1832, and died in 1876.
Ira Merriman married Elizabeth Hubbard, and their children were as follows: Two died in early infancy; Susan, born March 12, 1819, died July 31, of the same year ; an unnamed infant died March 28, 1820; Ira Hubbard, born Jan. 31, 1824, married Hannah Baldwin Oct. 22, 1863, and died Dec. 16, 1875; Elizabeth, born May 19, 1830, died March 21. 1833; Eliza Ann, born May 28, 1834, married L. P. Chamberlain, April 5, 1859; Eli Ives, born Jan. 21, 1837, married Mary E. Miller, Jan. 19, 1870, and died April 22, 1900; Jane Elizabeth, born April 12, 1840, married Henry S. Wilcox Dec. 1, 1869; Henry Stiles, born April 21, 1846.
AUGUSTUS MILO BLAKESLEY is an old and prominent citizen and a leading business man of the city of Waterbury, and has been identified with its financial and commercial interests for many years. He was born in Plymouth, Conn., March 4, 1830, where, too, had been born his father and grand- father.
Tradition says that one Simeon A. Blakeslee is the first of that name of whom there is any record. He was one of the English gentry, and went with King Richard, "Coeur de Lion," in his crusade. Also that Samuel and John Blakeslee, brothers, came
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from England in the early days of the Massachusetts colony, and bought a narrow strip of land called "Boston Neck," where for several years they car- ried on blacksmithing. From this place they re- moved, Samuel locating in New Haven, and John going still farther west.
Public records state that Samuel Blakeslee was a planter in Guilford, Conn., in 1650, and was mar- ried on Dec. 3 of that year to Hannah, daughter of William Potter, of New Haven, to which place he removed, and where he died in 1672. Their chil- dren in the order of birth were John, Mary, Sammuel and Ebenezer.
John Blakeslee, son of Samuel and Hannah (Potter) Blakeslee, was born Oct. 22, 1651, and lived in New Haven. He died in 1713, leaving three children, John, Hannah and Moses.
Moses Blakeslee, son of John, married Sarah Benton, of Hartford, Jan. 1, 1702. He removed to Waterbury about 1739, and settled on land previ- ously "laid out" to him on what is now called "town hill," in the east part of the present town of Ply- mouth. He was appointed a deacon of the church at its organization in 1740, and was an active and influential member. He also took a prominent part in the affairs of the town. His children, as re- corded in New Haven, were, in order, as follows: Moses, Aaron, Abner, Sarah, Dinah, Job, Jesse, Job (2), Aaron (2), Hannah, Phebe, John, Marah, and Moses (2).
John Blakeslee, son of Moses, was born Dec. 15, 1723, and settled in the Northeast Society near his father. He married Olive (born June 3. 1728), daughter of Samuel Curtiss, March 14, 1745. Their children were as follows: John, born March 3, 1746; Amasa, Jan. 15, 1748; Joel, Aug. 19, 1750; Enos, July 12, 1752; Obed, Aug. 29, 1754; Olive, March 29, 1758; Lettis, April 4, 1760; Lettis (2), March 27, 1763; Jared, July 8, 1765; Sallie, Aug. 20, 1768; and Curtiss, Feb. 16, 1770.
Joel Blakeslee, son of John, was married to Sarah, daughter of Samuel Scoville, in 1775, and their children were: Linus, born in 1776; Ranson, born Sept. 10, 1781 ; Betsey ; Erastus ; and Amanda.
Linus Blakeslee was married to Fanny Fenn Nov. 4, 1794. Their children were: Jacob, who moved to Dayton, Ohio, where he died ; Milo, men- tioned below ; and Erastus.
Milo Blakesley, the father of Augustus Milo. was born Nov. 16, 1804. and spent his entire life in Plymouth. He was the first to spell the family name "Blakesley," and he made the change at the suggestion of a writing teacher who thought the let- ter "y" made a better finish to the name. This branch of the family have continued to spell it after the "reformed" method. At the age of twenty, Milo Blakesley entered the employ of Eli Terry, and engaged in the manufacture of clocks. Later in life he was in co-partnership with Mr. Terry, and so continued until the business was closed up, when he moved to his old farm, an extensive dairy place,
and lived there until his death, July 8, 1871. Mr. Blakesley was a devout Congregationalist, and a deacon in the church at Terryville. As an old line Whig he naturally became identified with the Re- publican party, and held some local offices in the princ of his life. The abolition movement found in him an early friend, and he would never admit that human slavery had any possible justification. On Oct. 26, 1826, Mr. Blakesley married Miss Dorcas McKee, a native of Bristol, and a daughter of Samuel McKee, who was a cooper by trade, and probably of Scotch lineage. Her father married Electa Andrews, daughter of Judah Andrews, who was born in 1777. Mr. and Mrs. Blakesley were the parents of five children: (I) Theron, born Dec. II, 1827, died April 24, 1852; (2) Augustus Milo; (3) Fanny, born Jan. 18, 1832, died the same year ; (4) Fanny Jane, born Aug. 23, 1833, died Sept. II, 1885 ; married Burr S. Beach, and lived in Terry- ville, Conn; (5) Linus, born Dec. 16, 1837, was graduated from Yale in 1860, and for twenty-eight years was pastor of the First Congregational Church of Topeka, Kansas. He was a trustee and the secretary of Washburn College for twenty-eight years, and was the first to receive the degree of Doctor of Divinity bestowed by that College, in 1893. Dr. Blakesley was a director of the Kansas Medical College, president of the Topeka Congregational Club, and president of the Topeka school board. He now resides in El Paso, Texas.
Augustus Milo Blakesley passed his boyhood days at Plymouth, remaining on the farm until he was fifteen years of age. He attended the district school, and prepared himself for an honorable and useful career. The first work he did was in the store of Andrew Terry, where he served as a clerk, and following this, he clerked for Allen Hemingway. In 1849 he came to Waterbury and was employed by J. M. L. and W. H. Scoville, in their mercantile business, remaining with them about three years, and leaving to take the position of teller in the Wat- erbury National Bank in February, 1852. On Nov. 29, 1864, he was appointed cashier of that institu- tion, and is still holding that position. This makes a record of nearly fifty years with the bank. and during that long period he has been associated with the inauguration of a number of the most import- ant commercial enterprises which have found room in Waterbury. The American Pin Co. has found in him a stanch friend and supporter, and on the death of T. I. Driggs he was elected its president, in which office he is still serving. The Waterbury Hospital has made him its treasurer, and he has filled other positions of a similar character. The name of this gentleman appears among the fifty original members who united in the formation of the Second Congregational Church in 1852, and he has been treasurer of the Society and Sunday-school ever since. The musical service was in his hands until 1874, when his son succeeded him as organist and choir master, but he sang in the choir until
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1896. In 1879 he became deacon, and his connec- tion with the Church has been singularly helpful and inspiring.
Mr. Blakesley and Miss Margaret Orr Johnson, of Cadiz, Ohio, were married Sept. 5, 1853. Mrs. Blakesley died July 12, 1885, leaving two children : (1) Albert Jolinson, born April 30, 1858, has been connected with the Waterbury Bank twenty-seven years. He has been twice married ; his first wife, now deceased, was Fannie F. Atwood, daughter of L. J. Atwood. His present wife was Miss Marie D. Mitchell, of New York, a granddaughter of Mrs. Feter Darlington, mother of Dr. James H. Darling- ton, for many years pastor of the Bedford Street Church in Brooklyn; they have one child, Freder- ick Darlington. (2) Jennie Elizabeth, born Aug. 25, 1865, is now the wife of Dr. John M. Benedict, for- merly of Bethel, Conn. ; they have two children, John Blakesley and Ruth. Augustus M. Blakesley has been a Republican since the formation of the party, and a number of years ago was treasurer of the town.
DANA A. BRADLEY (deceased) was born Dec. 15, 1824, on the old Bradley homestead in East Haven (where George C. Bradley nowv lives), and was a son of Dana Bradley, Sr. He was educated in the common schools of his native town and Fair Haven, and reared upon the home farm, remaining with his parents until his marriage.
On April 28, 1857, Mr. Bradley wedded Miss Caroline L. Tuttle, who was born Dec. 6, 1835, in the house at Fair Haven now occupied by William G. Tuttle, and is a daughter of William and Harriet (Andrews) Tuttle, the latter a daughter of Nathan Andrews. William Tuttle was a native of East Ha- ven and son of Frederick Tuttle, who was also born in that town and after his marriage to Polly Frost removed to the farm and built the house where his son William was born. Mrs. Bradley is the oldest in a family of eight children ; Cornelia H., the next in order of birth, is the wife of Henry Landcraft, of Fair Haven; Hester died at the age of nineteen years; Annie died unmarried at the age of thirty- four years; William G. is a resident of Fair Ha- ven; Sadie E. is the wife of George Holt, an oys- ter dealer of New Haven; Edward died at the age of three years ; and Edwin, twin brother of Edward, married Lizzie Bradley, daughter of Warren Brad- ley, and makes his home in New Haven. The father of this family died March 26. 1899, aged eighty-six years, the mother April 10, 1891, aged seventy-nine years. They were highly respected and esteemed by all who knew them.
In 1859 Dana A. Bradley removed to the farm in East Haven where his widow now resides, and throughout the remainder of his life successfully engaged in dairying and farming there. Two chil- dren came to brighten the home: (1) Frederick W., a dairy farmer, living with his mother, com- pleted his education in the Hopkins grammar school.
He has taken a prominent part in local affairs as al member of the Republican party, was a member of the New Haven council in 1890, and served on the Building Committee. He is a member of the Con- necticut Grange, lias served as assistant secretary of the State Grange, and is a member of the I. O. O. F. (2) Henry Dana, who was graduated from Yale College in 1893, is now a civil engineer, sur- veyor and real estate dealer of New York City. Mr. Bradley was killed by a train at a railroad cross- ing at Fair Haven, Nov. 21, 1890, and his death was deeply mourned by the entire community, for he was well and favorably known, and had a host of warm friends in East Haven and the surrounding towns. He was a member of the Episcopal Church of Fair Haven, to which his widow also belongs, and his upright, honorable life gained for him the confi- dence and respect of all with whom he came in con- tact. In politics he was first a Whig, and later a Republican.
JOHN KAHL was born Jan. 30, 1839, in Prus- sia, a son of Nicholas Kahl, a native-born Prussian, who was engaged in buying and shipping coal to France in ante-railroad days. As the proprietor of a large farm, Nicholas Kahl was a man of con- siderable prominence in his community ; he belonged to the Lutheran Church, and was much devoted to his home. His wife, Louisa Aultmeyer, of Prussia, was a daughter of Cornelius Aultmeyer, and she died in May, 1898, having long survived her hus- band, who passed away in 1850, at the age of sixty- one. They were the parents of the following chil- dren: George, who came to the United States, and died in New York City; Henry, who died in Ger- many ; Louise, who died in the city of New York; Kate, who died in Germany ; and John.
John Kahl attended the Prussian schools up to the age of thirteen years, when he became an ap- prentice at the locksmith trade in Sanet-Johann, Prussia, where he worked for two years. In 1854 he left his old home and came to the United States, arriving in New York via Havre. For about four months he was engaged in Simms & Blund's gun factory, and for several years afterward was em- ployed in the Dr. Andrews' Bank Lock Factory at Perth Amboy, N. J. Mr. Kahl then went to New Britain, Conn., where he worked in the Stanley Hinge Factory for a long period, and was employed for a year and a half with Russell & Erwin. He was with the Stanley Level & Rule Company for a time, and in 1859 removed to Yalesville, where he was working in Sanford's Auger Factory at the breaking out of the Rebellion. True to his adopted country, he enlisted, in 1861, becoming a member of Company C., 2nd N. Y. Harris Light Cavalry, and was mustered out June 5, 1865, in the city of New York. He received a flesh wound in his left leg in the skirmish at Liberty Mills, Va., where he was taken prisoner, and incarcerated in Libby Prison, where he remained four weeks, was then
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removed to Belle Island, where he was kept five months before he was exchanged. When he was captured he weighed 169 pounds, and when released only 90 pounds.
After receiving his honorable discharge he re- turned to resume his work in the auger factory. In 1867 he began work as a tool maker with R. Wal- lace & Sons, becoming foreman of the department two years later, and he holds this position at the present time, now having about twenty men under his direction.
Mr. Kahl is a member of Accanant Lodge, I. O. O. F., and of Arthur H. Dutton Post, No. 36, G. A. R. With his family he belongs to the Episcopal Church. He is a Republican, but has never been an office-seeker.
In 1856 Mr. Kalil was married to Miss Christ- iana Schropp, of Bavaria, Germany, who died in Yalesville in 1866, leaving the following children : Alfred, employed with his father, married Louisa Wetzel, of Wallingford, and is the father of one child, Fred; Edmund, employed with his father, married Miss Annie Gibbons, of Wallingford, and is the father of five children : Christina, Bertha, John, Edmund and Roger ; George, employed witli R. Wallace & Sons as a silversmith, married Miss Lydia Broedlin, of New York, and is the father of Oscar and Alesia.
In 1867 Mr. Kahl married Fredericka Roselaus, of Hartford, and this union has been blessed with the following children : Louisa married John Broedlin, of Wallingford, and is the mother of Caroline, George and Rudolph; and Louis, employed with his father, married Esther Lawrence, and has three chil- dren: Louis, Jr., Walter and Ernest.
ELSWORTH ALBERT BRADLEY, a leading dairyman and general farmer was born Dec. 29, 1838, on the Bradley homestead in Centreville, Hamden, where he still resides, and he belongs to an old and highly respected family of that part of the county. His grandfather, Lyman Bradley, the son of a Revolutionary soldier, was born in the wes- tern part of the town of Hamden, where he was reared upon a farm, but when about sixty years old he came to Centreville, and purchased the farm now owned and occupied by our subject. He made many improvements upon the place, and continued to en- gage in its cultivation throughout the remainder of his life. He was a supporter of the Whig party, a consistent member of the Congregational Church, and was well-known and highly respected. He mar- ried Miss Betsey Ives, who also belonged to one of the oldest and most esteemed families of Hamden, and both died on the farm in Centreville, their re- mains being interred in the Centreville cemetery. She, too, was a member of the Congregational Church, and was a most estimable lady. Their chil- dren were Harriett; Lyman A .: William : E. Ives, father of our subject; and Betsey, wife of Merwin Foote.
E. Ives Bradley was born March 15, ISII, in the old homestead in the western part of the town. When twenty-five years old he came to Centreville with his father and there spent the remainder of his life successfully engaged in farming, dairying and stock raising. His political support was given first the Whig and later the Republican parties, and as one of the prominent and influential men of his community he was called upon to fill several local offices. He was a public-spirited citizen, and was an active and consistent member of the Congrega- tional Church. He married Miss Charlotte B. Gil- bert, a native of Hamden, and a daughter of Daniel Gilbert. By this union two children were born: Mary Jane, who died at the age of five years; and Elsworth A., our subject. The father died Jan. II, 1893, aged eighty-two years, the mother Feb. 7, 1899, aged eighty-two years, and both were laid to rest in the family burying ground in Centreville.
During his boyhood and youth Elsworth A. Bradley attended the district schools and the acad- emy of Hamden, and upon the home farm became familiar with all the duties which fall to the lot of the agriculturist. He now owns the old homestead, consisting of seventy-five acres under a high state of cultivation and improved with good buildings, and is devoting his time principally to general farin- ing and dairying with good success. The Republi- can party finds in him a stanch supporter of its principles, and he is now efficiently serving as a member of the school board. He is well known and highly respected in the community where he has so long made his home.
JOHN LEWIS DISBROW, who in his lifetime was one of the highly esteemed business men and honored citizens of New Haven, was born in that city March 28, 1839, a son of John Lewis Disbrow, Sr., the veteran hat manufacturer.
John Lewis Disbrow, Sr., was born in Norwalk, Conn., in 1816, a son of John and Priscilla (Mall- orv) Disbrow, the former a native of Saugatuck, this State. At the age of fourteen Mr. Disbrow learned the hatter's trade, and coming to New Ha- ven followed same as a journeyman until about 1835, when he started in business on his own ac- count, and for some years was the only hat manu- facturer who conducted a store for himself. He con- tinued thus for thirty years, his death, in 1864, cut- ting short a prosperous business career. He mar- ried Mary R. Miller, who was born in Norwalk, daughter of a sea captain in the West Indies trade ; his vessel and crew were all lost at sea. When, a few years after Mrs. Disbrow's birth, her home was broken up, she was given a home with friends, and became the adopted child of Capt. Shipman, of New Haven. Of the children born to Mr. and Mrs. Dis- brow, but one, John Lewis, Jr., grew to maturity. The mother died in the faith of the Congregational Church, in 1878, at the age of sixty-four years.
John Lewis Disbrow our subject, was reared in
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his native city and was educated in the Lancasterian School. In his youth he learned the hatter's trade with his father, and engaged in business with him continuously until the father's death, with the excep- tion of four years, when, under appointment by President Buchanan, he served as railway mail clerk from New Haven to Bellows Falls, Vt. In 1864 he assumed control of the business, and so continued until his own death, Jan. 17, 1897. He erected the building in State street, which he oc- cupied for many years, and for many years con- ducted another store, in the same line, in Church street.
Mr. Disbrow was a very public-spirited man. For thirty-five years he was a member of the fire department, acting as assistant chief under Chief Hendricks, and for twenty-six years was secretary and treasurer of the Firemen's Benevolent Asso- ciation. When he retired the department passed a set of resolutions and presented him with a hand- some pedestal. In his political faith he was a Demo- crat, as was his father before him, and he at one time represented the Third Ward in the city coun- cil. Fraternally he was a Mason, identified with Wooster Lodge; and in his religious views he was a Congregationalist. As a man his integrity was unassailable, his reputation was untarnished, and he was justly beloved by all who knew him for his many gifts of head and heart.
On June 29, 1859, Mr. Disbrow was united in marriage with Mary Russell, who was born in New Haven, a daughter of Calvin Russell, and a great- great-granddaughter of Samuel Russell, in whose house Yale University was incorporated. Of the five children born to this marriage, three are now living: (1) Nellie, who is Mrs. Treat, of No. 12 Gill street, has two children, Disbrow and Marion. (2) Mrs. William Foskett, whose husband is a mem- ber of the firm of Foskett & Bishop, has one child, Mildred. (3) James R., who, under his mother's supervision, is running his father's store, is one of the prominent young men in New Haven. He ranks high in fraternal orders, being a thirty-second-de- gree Mason, member of the Modern Woodmen, the Naval Reserves and the Governor's Foot Guards. Henry and John L. are deceased. For twenty-five years Mr. Disbrow lived on Howard avenue and in 1896 he completed the excellent home at No. 248 Sherman avenue, where his death occurred, and where his widow resides.
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Mrs. Disbrow is a lady of unusual executive ability and good business judgment, and was her husband's confidant and adviser at all times. She is broad-minded, and charitable to the faults of others, and endeavors at all times to live up to the faith she professes-that of the Congregational Church.
Calvin Russell, father of Mrs. Disbrow, was reared in New Haven, and here learned the black- smith's trade, which he followed for a few years. However, his ambition sought a wider field. He embarked in the wholesale confectionery business in
Water street, New Haven, for some years, and was successful. Later he founded the wholesale butter and cheese business now conducted by his son Cal- vin. He accumulated a large property, retired from business when about fifty-four years old, and lived to the age of nearly eighty-six. Mr. Russell mar- ried Mary Smith, a daughter of John Smith, a pen- sioner of the war of 1812. and twelve children blessed this union, all of whom reached maturity. The mother died in 1876.
JOSEPH DOOLITTLE PAYNE. For gener- ations the Paynes have been residents of the town of Prospect, Conn., and of the territory out of which that town was formed, Waterbury and Cheshire. The name is of record frequently in the towns of Prospect, Waterbury and Naugatuck, in the latter of which was born, July 6, 1829. and reared the late Joseph D. Payne, who for many years was a prom- inent business man of New Haven. The family is of English origin. Our subject was a grand- son of Joseph D. Payne, who was born in Cheshire. and a son of Stephen H. Payne, .of that town, and later of Prospect, who was a manufacturer of but- tons and matches, and conducted a general mer- cantile business. Stephen H. Payne's wife, Abigail, was a daughter of Joseph I. Doolittle, a man uni- versally beloved and respected.
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