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 9
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INGERSOLL. The ancestors of the New Haven family bearing this name, and their posterity in turn, have dwelt for two hundred and fifty or more years in New England, and for one hundred and fifty years in New Haven, where they have figured conspicuously in public affairs-Colonial, State and National. They have here been a family of lawyers, men of great eminence in the profession. Such names as Hon. Jared, Judge Jonathan, Hon. Ralph I., Judge Charles A., Gov. Charles R., Hon. Colin M. and son, Hon. George P. Ingersoll, have reflected great honor upon the profession, the State, the Nation and the family name, and constitute within themselves a family galaxy of distinguished lawyers and public men.
Hon. Colin M. and Hon. Charles R. Ingersoll, brothers, still members of the Bar of New Haven, though in advanced life, are in the sixth generation from John Ingersoll, who was at Hartford in 1653 or earlier, then at Northampton and Westfield, Mass., respectively. He died in 1684. His third wife was Mary Hunt, a granddaughter of Gov. Webster. From this John Ingersoll. Colin and Charles R. Ingersoll's line of descent is through Jonathan, Rev. Jonathan, Judge Jonathan and Ralpli I. Ingersoll.
(II) Jonathan Ingersoll. son of Jolin of Hart- ford, born in 1681, married in 1712, widow Miles, who died in 1748, aged sixty-two years. Mr. In- gersoll in 1608 was a resident of Milford, Con- necticut.
(III) Rev. Jonathan Ingersoll, son of Jonathan, born about 1713, in Stratford, Conn., married in 1740, Dorcas, daughter of Rev. Joseph Moss, of
Derby. Mr. Ingersoll was graduated from Yale College in 1736, and entered the ministry, being licensed by the Presbytery of New Jersey, at Eliza- bethtown, Feb. 15, 1738. He lived for a time in Newark, N. J. On Aug. 8, 1739, he was installed pastor of the Ridgefield (Conn.) Congregational Church, succeeding Rev. Thomas Hawley, who died in 1738, and becoming the Society's second pastor. He was a man of fine mind and good heart, and he served the church with great faithfulness until his death, which occurred Oct. 2, 1778, when he was in the sixty-fifth year of his age and the fortieth of his ministry. In 1758 he joined the Colonial troops as chaplain, on Lake Champlain. He is said to have exerted an excellent influence on the army, and to have been highly respected by the soldiers.
(III) Hon. Jared Ingersoll, son of Jonathan, and brother of Rev. Jonathan, born in 1722, in Mil- ford, Conn., married (first) in 1743, Hannah Whit- ing, who died in 1779, and (second) in 1780, he married Hannah Alling. He was graduated from Yale College in 1742, and soon afterward settled in the practice of law in New Haven. In 1757 he went to Great Britain as the agent of the Colony, receiv- ing a special appointment from the General Assem- bly. He went again in 1764, while there was ap- pointed to the office of stamp master, and as such was famous. In 1770 he was appointed by the Crown, Judge of the Vice-Admiralty Court in the Middle district of the Colony, and went to Philadel- phia to reside. The office was abolished at the be- ginning of the Revolutionary war, when he returned to New Haven to live, and where his death occurred in 1781. Judge Ingersoll was one of the ablest lawyers of his time. He was a remarkably eloquent man, and as a lawyer made the cause of his client clear to the jury by his power of explicit statement and his logical method of reasoning. He was of open. frank and engaging manner, and was very successful.
(IV) Judge Jonathan Ingersoll, son of Rev. Jonathan, born in 1747. in Ridgefield, Conn., mar- ried Grace, daughter of Ralph Isaacs, of Branford. He was graduated from Yale College in 1766, and became a lawyer, locating in practice at New Haven, where for many years he pursued his profession with great industry, fidelity and success. Before he had reached middle age, he entered public life by the unsolicited suffrages of his fellow citizens, and became one of the purest statesmen Connecticut has ever had. He was for years a member of the General Assembly. He was once elected to the Congress of the United States, but declined to ac- cept the honor. From 1798 to 1801 he was on the Bench of the Superior Court, and in 1811 he suc- ceeded Gov. Smith as Judge of the Supreme Court of Errors, and as such served until 1816. He soon after re-entered the field of political life. and was one of those who did most to secure the final over- throw of the Federalists. The Toleration party led
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by Judge Ingersoll and Oliver Wolcott carried the State in 1818, and they were elected lieutenant-gov- ernor and governor, respectively. It had been a long struggle of the people against the Legislature, and the people had triumphed. Judge Ingersoll held the office until after the adoption of the pres- ent constitution. He died in New Haven, Jan. 12, 1823.
(V) Hon. Charles Anthony Ingersoll, son of Judge Jonathan, born Oct. 19, 1798, in New Haven, married in 1839 Miss Henrietta Sidell, of New York City. He studied law under the direction of his older brother, Hon. Ralph I., and attained emi- nence at the Bar, serving as State Attorney from 1849 to 1853. In the latter year he was appointed by President Pierce. Judge of the United States District Court of Connecticut, and continued in that position until his death Jan. 12, 1860.
(V) HON. RALPH ISAACS INGERSOLL, son of Judge Jonathan, and the father of Colin M. and Hon. Charles Roberts Ingersoll, of New Haven. was born Feb. 8, 1789, in New Haven. After his graduation from Yale College in 1808, he read law for two years under Hon. Seth Staples, and then opened an office in New Haven. The period was an interesting one. Pierpont Edwards, able and eloquent, had recently been transferred to the Bench of the District Court of the United States, leaving at the Bar, as its most prominent mem- bers, David Daggett, Nathan Smith and S. P. Staples, each pre-eminent in his way. It is the best evidence of Mr. Ingersoll's energy and talent that he was able, in the presence of these strong men, first to stand erect, then to attain eminence.
While still young, Mr. Ingersoll became inter- ested in politics. Though by birth a Federalist, when the question was presented whether Con- necticut should longer have a State religion, and Congregationalists be a privileged sect. he, with his father and other influential churchmen, took the side of equal rights, and in 1817 became a "Tolerationist." As a member of the new party, he was chosen, two years later, to represent New Haven (previously a strong Federal town) in the Legislature. The session which followed, on ac- count of the new constitution, was an important one. Mr. Ingersoll immediately took a high po- sition among the leaders in debate. He was a working member, faithful to his trust, and prob- ably the ablest man on his side, and was retained there until wanted for a higher place. In 1820 and 1821 he was chairman of the finance commit- tee, and in 1824 he was Speaker of the House. In 1825 he was elected a representative to Con- gress, which election vacated his seat in the Legis- lature, to which he had been again chosen. He was continued in Congress for eight years, sup- porting, the first four, the administration of Presi- dent Adams, and afterward acting with the Na- tional Republicans, led by Henry Clay. He served for four years on the Ways and Means committee,
the most important committee in the House, and during the last two years held the second place on that committee. He was able, industrious and vigilant, and from the start rose rapidly and stead- ily in the estimation of the public. While a men- ber of Congress Mr. Ingersoll served one term as Mayor of New Haven. After the expiration of his Congressional career, in 1833, he returned to New Haven and resumed the practice of law. In 1834 he supported the administration of President Jackson. In 1835 Mr. Ingersoll was selected to fill a vacancy in the United States Senate, but de- clined the great honor. He several times declined nomination for governor when his party was in power, and it is stated that he could have had any office in the gift of the people. While in Congress he became an intimate friend of Mr. Polk, and when that gentleman was elected president of the United States, in 1846, he appointed Mr. Inger- soll minister to Russia, without his knowledge or consent. This honor he accepted, and after an absence of two years at St. Petersburg gladly re- turned to his profession, and for twenty years practiced law with unabated vigor and never with greater success. He loved the law, and with great energy devoted himself to it through a long life. He desired to attain excellence and eminence as a lawyer ; and on that objective point were brought to bear the converged forces of his whole nature. He had noble endowments of intellect, vigorous and well balanced, and obedient to his will, and equipped with all . needful adornment. He was a hard student of both books and human nature.
Mr. Ingersoll was noted for the proportionate and harmonious development of all his powers. That he was an able lawyer, a close thinker, adequate- ly learned, and familiar with the whole field of practice, all admit. His voice, pleasant, almost musical, and of unusual compass, could be heard distinctly in its lowest tones. The ready, fluent speech, graceful delivery, and active but natural gesticulation : the energetic, earnest manner ; and the continence which mirrored every thought, all contributed to his power as an advocate. While his language was select, his argument was clear, logical, compact and complete. Eminently per- suasive, forgetting nothing and digressing rare- ly, he touched lightly on the weaker points, and knew where to place the strain. If the chain broke the fault was not his.
Though speaking well, with little premedita- tion, Mr. Ingersoll was accustomed to prepare his cases thoroughly ; looked at both sides and weighed opposing considerations. Well fortified himself, he was quick to see and expose an unguarded point in the enemy, dexterously driving home his ad- vantage. Though when speaking to the Court. or a deliberate body. he addressed himself wholly to the intellect, using little ornament, when before a jury or popular assembly he gave himself more liberty, was sometimes impetuous, often eloquent.
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On these occasions he would show his power over the common mind, putting himself in contact with those primitive sentiments, convictions and in- stincts which lie at the foundation of human na- ture and which are older than reason. With his hand on the hidden springs of action, he shaped and directed the cerebral movements, awakened emotion or quickened the sense of right, carry- ing his auditors whither he would. Says one of large experience: "He was the best public speak- er I ever saw." In a notable degree he was pos- sessed of that personal magnetism by the aid of which the orator sways and sets on fire the sym- pathetic multitude. At one time he was witty and humorous, at another serious and pathetic, and he could be sarcastic. Oppression of the weak by the strong he would vehemently denounce ; a pre- varicating witness flay, if he could.
Mr. Ingersoll was an experienced and accom- plished writer. Concerning his facts he was con- scientiously scrupulous, and would state nothing which was not wholly and exactly true. No man ever lived a purer or more exemplary life than he. His character was adorned by all the public and private virtues. Honorable, manly and just, it is believed he was never guilty of a deed of mean- ness or conscious wrong.
Mr. Ingersoll was delicately organized, of moderate stature, slender, straight, and of healthy constitution. For his size his head was large, full in the frontal regions and prominent at the angles. He had finely cut features, thin lips, and dark eyes well protected by jutting brows. Till nearly eighty, with unclouded intellect, he continued his practice, and till the last went daily to his office when health permitted. There he would sit, writ- ing and reading, giving a cordial welcome to any friend who might call. His intimate acquaintance with political life and character, taken in connec- tion with his urbanity, kindness and candor and simple dignity, made his conversation extremely interesting. He died, without a known enemy, Aug. 26, 1872. In his last years he was a com- municant of Trinity Church.
On Feb. 10, 1814, Mr. Ingersoll was married to Miss Margaret Van den Heuvel, of Dutch par- entage, of New York, a lady of great energy and discretion.
HON. CHARLES ROBERTS INGERSOLL, son of Hon. Ralph Isaacs Ingersoll, is a native of New Haven, where his birth occurred Sept. 16, 1821. He received his primary education in the private schools of his native city and also attended the Hopkins Grammar School. He then entered Yale College, from which he was graduated in the class of 1840. It was next his privilege to spend two years abroad, as a member of the official family of his uncle, Capt. Voorhes Ingersoll, then com- mander of the U. S. Frigate "Preble." Return- ing to the United States and to his home in New Haven, young Ingersoll spent two years in Yale
Law School, having such instructors as Judge Samuel J. Hitchcock, Chief Justice David Daggett and Hon. Isaac H. Townsend. After his admis- sion to the Bar in New Haven county, in 1845, he settled in practice in his native city, associat- ing himself with his father, with whom he con- tinued more or less for nearly thirty years, and on the death of the father, in 1872, succeeded him, and is still active in the profession. During all this long period Gov. Ingersoll has figured prom- inently in the profession, and has been connected with many of the most important cases in the sec- tion, and he has also been of great usefulness as a citizen, giving invaluable public service to the city and State.
At the very outset of his career young Inger- soll, like his distinguished father and forefathers, became interested in politics, and like them, too, offices and public trusts sought him and not he them. It has been said of him, "He has declined more nominations than he has accepted, and re -. fused more offices than he has filled." In 1856, 1858, 1866 and 1871 he served as a representative from New Haven in the General Assembly, and was accorded influential places on important com- mittees. He declined a nomination for State Sen- ator, at a time when his party was in power and he would have been almost sure of an election. In 1864 he was a member of the National Demo- cratic Convention at Chicago, which nominated Gen. McClellan for president, and served on the committee on Resolutions. Again in 1872 he was a delegate to the National Convention, at Balti- more, which nominated Horace Greeley, and served as chairman of the Connecticut Delegation. In 1873 the Democratic party nominated Mr. Inger- soll for governor, an honor unsought. He was elected, running far ahead of his ticket, gave the State a clean and judicious administration, and so eminently satisfactory were his services that he was re-nominated and re-elected to that high of- fice, receiving a majority of more than seven thou- sand. Again in 1875 his name was presented, and he received the highest number of votes up to that time ever polled for governor. During this term Gov. Ingersoll signed the bill. which had received a two-thirds vote of each House, providing for submitting to the people an amendment to the Con- stitution of the State which made an official term of all State officers and State senators biennial, changed the date of annual election from April to November and terminated his own duties in Jan- uary, 1877. Mr. Ingersoll had the honor of be- ing one of the Centennial Governors of the sev- eral States composing the American Republic in 1776. Gov. Ingersoll was largely instrumental for the creditable representation of Connecticut Man- ufacturers at the Centennial at Philadelphia. On his retiring from the executive chair he had the praise and admiration of both Democrats and Re- publicans. Said one of the Republican papers at
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the time: "Very few men could be named for the .office by that ( Democratic) party in whose suc -- .cess the people of opposing views would so cheer- fully acquiesce." Gov. Ingersoll is a lawyer of great ability, a dignified, scholarly and cultured gentleman, affable and courteous. In 1874 Yale College conferred on him the degree of LL. D. A writer in the University magazine thus referred to the governor :
"Governor Ingersoll's record in public life is ·one which most statesmen can only hope for and envy, and it has received the praise of his bitterest political opponents. His career as a legal practitioner in New Haven is such as to make his snow-white head, his military bearing and his -charming personality a by-word throughout the State."
On Dec. 18, 1847, Gov. Ingersoll was married to Virginia, daughter of Rear-Admiral Francis H. Gregory, of New Haven, and the union has been blessed with children as follows: Justine Henri- etta ; Francis G., with the Standard Trust Com- pany, of New York City : Virginia G., who married Harry T. Gause, of Wilmington, Del .; and Eliza- beth Shaw, who married George G. Haven, of New York.
ENOCH H. SOMERS (deceased), in his life- time one of the public spirited and highly esteemed .citizens of West Haven, was born in the town of Orange, June 15, 1827, a son of Enochi and Sarah (Downs) Somers, and died Feb. 2, 1894.
Enoch Somers, his father, was born in the town of Orange, and passed his life there successfully en- gaged in farming. He died at the age of sixty-five, and his remains rest in the old cemetery, West Ha- ven. He was a man of local prominence, a cap- tain of the Orange militia, and possessed large in- fluence. By his wife, Sarah Downs, of Orange, who died in her forty-seventh year, he had two chil- dren. In his religious belief he was a Universalist, while his wife was a Congregationalist.
Enoch H. Somers passed his early boyhood upon the paternal farm, but at the age of fourteen went to the city of New York, where he acquired an ex- cellent common school education. His first practi- cal business experience was acquired as a clerk for the old and well known pawnbroker, William Simp- son, whose name was long a synonym for integrity. After some years he was admitted into partnership with his former employer, and remained a member of the firm for nearly forty years. On his retire- ment, he selected West Haven as his home, and there he purchased the house now occupied by Mrs. Somers, in which he resided until his death, at the age of sixty-five. He was active in public affairs and a man of influence in the community, although persistently declining nomination for office. While not a communicant, he was an attendant upon the Congregational Church, as is also his widow.
On Dec. 3, 1850, Mr. Somers was married to
Eliza A. Durand, born in West Haven, but whose father, Alvah J. Durand, was a native of Milford. Eight children, three of whom died in infancy, were born of this union: Carrie A. is the wife of Dr. F. M. Wilson, of Bridgeport, and has two dangh- ters-Ethel S. and Helen B. Elmer E. was pro- prietor of a factory for the manufacture of decor- ated tin boxes in Brooklyn, N. Y., but is now a broker of that city (he married Helen A. Gage, and has one daughter-Mabel B.). Alvah D. lives at home with his mother, while his twin sister, Addie D., is the wife of Harry D. Sutton, of West Haven, and has one daughter, Gladys A. William V., the youngest living child, is a successful actor, and re- sides in West Haven. Those deceased are Elcie E., Wilfred I. and Charles H. All these children were born in New York City, where the first twenty years of their parents' married life were spent. The fam- ily home has been in West Haven, at the intersec- tion of Elm street and Campbell avenue, some thirty years or more, and the comfortable house has been enlarged and beautified since its early days. Mrs. Somers, who is one of the best known and most uni- versally beloved residents of West Haven, is pass- ing the evening of her life in this beautiful, richly furnished home.
.Mrs. Somers' ancestry is French, and her great- great-grandfather was among the early settlers of Milford, and was a man of distinction and influence. Her grandfather, Lemuel Durand, was born in Mil- ford, and served as a soldier in the war of 1812; he was a farmer and ended his days in Milford, dying in his eightieth year. His wife ( Mrs. Somers' grand- mother), Catherine Smith, was also of Orange, and became the mother of five children, all of whom are dead, and she, herself, entered into rest after round- ing out her eightieth year.
Alvah J. Durand, the father of Mrs. Somers, was born in 1800, and was a farmer by occupation. He removed from Milford to Orange in early life, becoming a man of substance and influence, and passed away after reaching the age of four score years. He married Sarah A. Platt, born in Orange, a daughter of, and one of eleven children born to, Nathaniel and Catherine ( Merrick ) Platt. She died in 1875 at the age of seventy-one. Mr. Durand and. his wife were the parents of four children, two of whom are living: Mrs. Somers; and Charlotte, the elder, who is the widow of Thomas D. Cousins, whom she married in New York: Mr. Cousins was killed in an accident on the N. H. & H. R. R., and his widow resides in Virginia. Both Mr. and Mrs. Alvah J. Durand were prominent and consistent members of the Congregational Church of West Haven.
ALDEN H. HILL. Honored and respected by all, there is no man in North Branford who oc- cupies a more enviable position in business circles than Alden H. Hill, not alone on account of the wonderful success that he has achieved, but also
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on account of the honorable, straightforward busi- ness policy lie has ever followed. He possesses untiring energy, is quick of perception, forms his plans readily and is determined in their execution ; and his close application to business and his excel- lent management have brought to him the pros- perity which is to-day his.
Mr. Hill was born Sept. 4, 1831, in Killing- worth, Middlesex Co., Conn., of which place his parents, Arden and Flora ( Davis) Hill, were also natives, and the latter was a daughter of Leonard Davis. Throughout life the father of our subject engaged in farming, and died at the age of sixty- four years. In his family were nine children, two sons and seven daughters, all of whom are now de- ceased, with the exception of our subject. The others were Marilla, wife of Hiram Thompson ; Betsey, wife of James L. Chatfield, of Killing- worth ; Rachel, wife of Henry Francis, of the same place ; Diantha, wife of William J. Hall, of North- ampton, Mass .; Mabel, wife of Mathias G. Frank- lin, of Killingworth; Maria, who first married Charles Franklin, of Killingworth, who died in Libby prison during the Civil war, and second married Joseph Davey, of Big Rapids, Mich .; Sarah, who remained unmarried; and a son, who died in infancy.
His parents being in limited circumstances, Mr. Hill's educational advantages were limited to three months' attendance at the district schools in the winter, and at the age of fifteen years he began to assist in the support of the family. His first employment away from home was farnı laborer, at which he made $70, but as a wealthy neighbor held his father's note for that amount, he asked for the same and in return handed over his first earnings to pay his father's debt, as it was more than the latter could do to provide for his large family. At the age of seventeen years Alden H. Hill began shop work, and on attaining his majority came to North Branford, where he secured employment in a saw and feed mill. In 1865 he embarked in business on his own account. He purchased land and lumber, and engaged in ship building for fifteen years, and also became an extensive ship owner. In the years that have since passed he has lost $23,000 in floating property from storms, etc., having seven vessels lost at sea. He has continued to purchase stock in different ves- sels since 1876. He now operates a sawmill on his property in North Branford and manufactures various kinds of lumber, which his ships carry as far south as Galveston, Texas, while others are engaged in the coasting trade between New Haven, Norfolk, Charleston and Mexican and South American ports. His landed possessions in North Branford consist of 300 acres of farm and timber land.
' On Nov. 18, 1879, Mr. Hill was united in mar- riage with Miss Sarah E. Page, who received a thorough education and successfully engaged in
teaching school in her native town for a number of years. Her father, Judson Page, one of the leading men of his time in North Branford, was born in 1816, and died Feb. 5, 1862. He engaged ir. farming and also taught school for many years. Politically he was a stanch Democrat, and was. called upon to fill the offices of school visitor, as- sessor, and selectman for many years. He was also an active and prominent member of the Con- gregational Church, and a member of the So- ciety's committee. Judson Page married Mariette Thompson, who was born April 14, 1817, and died in August, 1851. Her parents were Anson and Sally ( Barnes) Thompson, the former born Jan. 25, 1792, the latter, Dec. 1, 1791, and they were married May 1, 1816; their other children were George W., born Dec. 29, 1819; Daniel B., May 18, 1824; and Merwin S., Dec. 21, 1828. Mrs. Hill's brother, Herbert O. Page, a resident of North Branford, was married Oct. 23, 1876, to. Betsey R. Baldwin, and has two children, a son. and daughter. Mr. Hill and his wife have two children : Raymond T., born Jan. 11, 1883; and Alden J., born Aug. 12, 1886. The elder son is now a student at Yale, where he entered in 1900, and the younger is at Morgan's School at Clinton, Connecticut.
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