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 3 > Part 29
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On May 3, 1873, occurred the marriage of Fred- erick A. Granniss and Fannie Charlotte McIntire, of Ottawa, Canada, a daughter of Thomas Mc- Intire, and of Scottish descent. This union has been blessed with one child. Margaret McIntire, who is a musician of marked ability. She has been presented by her grandfather, Alonzo Granniss, with a Steiner violin over 200 years old, which was selected by Prof. Hermann, of New York City. from the collection of Dr. Von Derhor, of Europe. The summer home of Hon. Frederick A. Grannies is at Pine Orchard, Connecticut.
WALTER H. ZINK, M. D. (deceased), one of the oldest and most prominent physicians of Branford, New Haven county, was a man whose intellectual acquirements, professional character and enthusiasm, and open, candid countenance won the confidence and retained the respect of the public. His was a genial spirit, and he was very companion- able, mingling freely in society, and taking an active and helpful interest in local affairs.
Dr. Zink was born in Nuremberg. Germany, March 21, 1841, son of Charles Frederick and Anna Maria (Ernst) Zink, the father a government for- est master in the Province of Nuremberg. He was a son of Philip Zink, also a government forest mias- ter.
Walter Zink was thoroughly educated in his
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
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native country, passing through the preparatory schools with credit, and in 1858 entering the Uni- versity at Wurzburg, from the Medical Department of which he was graduated in 1862, with honor. In the fall of 1863 young Zink came to America, locating in New York, where he took a post-grad- uate course in Columbia College and practiced un- til interested in the Civil war. The cause of the Union aroused his enthusiasm for liberty and prog- ress, and he was almost immediately given the post of surgeon and attached to the 5th Army Corps, then under the command of Gen. Warner, of Vir- ginia. He continued to discharge the trying duties of that position for some two years, gaining a val- uable knowledge of surgery and the practical appli- cation of medicine. During one of the fierce fights, while he was caring for a wounded soldier, a spent bullet struck him in the eye. Dr. Zink did not stop, but continued his work on the patient before him until the leg was properly set, and then dis- covered that for the rest of his life he would be deprived of the sight of one eye. The Doctor was very popular with the soldiers, as might be expected on account of his self-forgetfulness and devotion to his work. When the war was ended Dr. Zink re- turned to peaceful life and settled in New York. where he married, in the fall of 1865, and made his home in Newtown, L. I. After eleven years and seven months he went to Trenton, where he lived one year, and then moved to Branford. For over eleven years of his residence in Newtown he acted as the local health officer. Upon the death of Dr. Hall he came to Branford, in 1878. and until his death, Aug. 26, 1900, at the age of fifty-nine years, was a familiar and beloved presence in the homes of the people, and by the bedside of the sick. A kindly heart and a sympathetic spirit animated all his work, and he brought to the healing of the sick all the resources of his great profession. He en- joyed a patronage highly complimentary to his med- ical skill.
In Branford Dr. Zink was actively interested in public affairs and filled many positions of honor and trust. having been at different times justice of the peace (ten years in all), member of the school board, acting school visitor and health of- ficer. The Doctor belonged to numerous social or- ders in the city, and his funeral was conducted by Widows' Sons' Lodge, F. & A. M. He was an hon- ored member of the I. O. O. F .: of Woodland Lodge, No. 39. K. P., in which he was first com- mander of the castle: and of Mason Rogers Post, G. A. R., in which he held the office of post surgeon from the time of organization ; he was post surgeon of the State for twelve years prior to his decease. Professionally the Doctor held membership with the New Haven Medical So- ciey and the Connecticut State Medical Society. In religion he united with the Lutheran Church. The Doctor's death was caused by a cancer of the stomach, with which he had been afflicted some two
years. The indomitable strength and courage of the man is manifest in the fact that he continued his active practice until about six weeks before his death.
Dr. Zink was married, Sept. 25, 1864. to Caro- line A. Milling, daughter of Philip and Katherine (daughter of Lord Sminke) Milling, natives of Hessen-Cassel, Germany, and residents of the city of New York. To this union were born five chil- dren, three of whom survive: ( 1) Charles E., who graduated from the University of Vermont, and from the Medical Department of Baltimore Uni- versity, in 1900; (2) Louisa A., who married Ben- jamin F. Hosley, warden of the borough; and (3) Walter R.
HARVEY G. DENNISTON. The family of Denniston is of Scotch-Irish descent. The pro- genitors of the American branch emigrated from Scotland and from County Longford, Ireland.
Abraham Denniston, the grandfather of Harvey G., was a farmer in Orange county, New York, where he was born, as was also his wife. Bathsheba Goldsmith. There they died, and there, too, they reared their three children, Harvey, Lydia and Goldsmith. The eldest son, Harvey, was a farmer, like his father, and passed his life in the county where he was born. Lydia married Aaron P. Johnes, an importer of, and wholesale dealer in, dry goods in New York City.
Goldsmith Denniston, the father of Harvey G., was born at Blooming Grove. Orange Co .. N. Y., in 1801. He was educated at Union and Prince- ton Colleges. After a short time spent at farni- ing, he removed to Newburgh. N. Y., and later to Steuben county, that State. He passed away in 1878, while on a visit to his son, Harvey G. Dennis- ton. He was a man of prominence, and served many years as county judge of Orange county. A stanch Whig, he was active in the affairs of his party, was for a long time chairman of the New York State Central Committee, and was a personal friend of Henry Clay, with whom he was in fre- quent correspondence, as well as with Webster. Cal- honn and other leading statesmen and politicians of the day. About 1825 he married a second cousin. Fanny Denniston. of Orange county, who died in 1865. To their marriage were born three sons, of whom Abraham, the eldest, was a soldier in the Union army, during the war of the Rebellion. and lost his life in the service, in 1863. Aaron, born in Newburgh, N. Y., in 1840. is a farmer and justice of the peace in Steuben county, New York.
Harvey G. Denniston was born at Blooming Grove, Aug. 23, 1829. He passed his youth in Newburgh, N. Y., and received a collegiate educa- tion, graduating from Union College in 1846. The eight years following his graduation he passed in, the employ of the wholesale dry-goods house of Johnes, Otis & Co., of New York City, the head of
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which firm was his uncle. His preference. how- ever, was for a professional life, and in 1854 he commenced the study of law in Hammondsport. Steuben Co., N. Y. He was admitted to the Bar in Poughkeepsie, and began practice at Branch- port, Yates Co., N. Y. The outbreak of the Re- bellion stirred his patriotism to its depths, and his impassioned oratory was constantly brought to bear in scathing and effective denunciation of slavery and secession. In the spring of 1862 he enlisted in Co. H, 107th N. Y. V. I., and was mustered into the service in August following. While serving with this regiment he took part in the battles of South Mountain, Antietam, Fredericksburg. Chancellors- ville, Gettysburg, Falling Waters and Lookout Mountain. In 1864 he resigned his lieutenancy in the 107th, having received a captain's commission in the 188th, which regiment he joined on October 7 of that year. After the first battle, at Hatcher's Run, he was made assistant adjutant general of the Sec- ond Brigade, First Division, 5th Army Corps. Later he was appointed to the same position for the Fifth Corps, and was successively brevetted lieutenant colonel, colonel and brigadier general. He partici- pated in the second engagement at Hatcher's Run and in the raid on the Weldon Railroad ; was under fire at Lewis Farm. Boydton Plank Road, Gravelly Run and Five Forks; and was present at the sur- render of Lee at Appomattox.
General Denniston was a soldier of magnificent qualities. Naturally impulsive and of doubtless courage, in action he was cool, determined, resolute and always ready to lead where his command was threatened with danger. In a work published in Hartford, and entitled "The Battle Flag," the fol- lowing description of his conduct in battle is given : "Major H. G. Denniston has a gold badge which was presented to him on the field of battle. At the close of the fight at Five Forks. Va., a short time before the end of the war, Major General Charles Griffin commanded. It was supposed that the contest was over, when the enemy opened a sharp musketry fire on the right. General Griffin turned to Major Denniston, who was then assistant adjutant general of the Second Brigade, and said, 'Stop that little firing.' A detail from the First and Second Brigades was assigned for the duty, and Major Denniston and his command advanced upon the Confederate forces. The conflict was short, but exceedingly sharp. About four hundred Federal soldiers fell. In the end, however, the enemy was driven back and four guns and a nuni- ber of prisoners fell into Major Denniston's hands. On his return he simply reported, with characteris- tic modesty, 'General, we have stopped that little firing.' Instantly the commanding officer unpinned from his breast the red and gold badge of the First Division, and presented it to the brave officer in recognition of his intrepid service. The badge bears the inscription: 'Capt. H. G. Denniston, A. A. General; presented by Major General Charles
Griffin, at Five Forks."" General Denniston also enjoys the distinction of being one of the fifty of- ficers to whom the New York Legislature awarded richly-painted diplomas, in testimonial of gallant, devoted service.
At the end of the war General Denniston re- turned to New York and resumed the practice of law, settling in Steuben county. In 1872 he mar- ried Miss Emogene A. Tuttle, a daughter of Phile- mon Tuttle, of Naugatuck. Thereupon lie removed to that town, and, abandoning the law. for some time devoted his time to civil and electrical engin- eering. He has, however, retired from active pur- suits, and in a serene old age is enjoying a well- earned rest. He is an independent in politics, while his religious affiliation is with the Congregational Church. He is an influential member of the G. A. R., but is connected with no other fraternal organ- ization. Himself intelligent and well educated, he takes a lively interest in educational matters. and has been prominently identified therewith. In pri- vate life he is genial and warm-hearted, courteous and affable.
General and Mrs. Denniston have one son, Franklin T., who was born in 1882.
HOMER HEBER WELTON, one of Water- ville's best-known citizens, is the possessor of a handsome property, and is enabled to spend his de- clining years in the pleasurable enjoyment of his accumulations. The record of his early life is that of an active, enterprising, methodical and saga- cious business man, who bent his energies to the honorable acquirement of a comfortable compe- tence for himself and family.
Mr. Welton was born at the old family home- stead on Bunker Hill, Waterbury, Feb. 22, 1837. The progenitor of this family in America was John Welton, who came to this country from England or Wales about 1667. and was married while crossing the Atlantic to Miss Mary Upson, a native of Eng- land. They located first in Farmington, Hartford Co., Conn., and about 1679 came to Waterbury, New Haven county, where they spent the remainder of their lives, Mr. Welton dying here June 18, 1726, his wife Oct. 18, 1716. Their remains were in- terred in Hartford. In their family were ten chil- dren, namely : Abigail married Cornelius Bron- son ; Mary married John Richards ; Elizabeth mar- ried Thomas Griffin, of Simsbury, Conn .: John married a Miss Buck, of Wethersfield, Conn., a daughter of Ezekiel Buck; Stephen married Mary Gaylord, daughter of Joseph Gaylord: Richard, the next in order of birth, is mentioned below ; Hannah, born April 1, 1683, married Thomas Squires : Thomas, born Feb. 4, 1684, married Han- nah Gaylord, a daughter of Joseph Gaylord : George, born Feb. 3. 1686, married Elizabeth Mallory, of Stratford : and Elsie, born Aug. 16, 1698, married a Mr. Griffin, of Simsbury. The first five were born in Farmington, the others in Waterbury.
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Joseph Leblon .
MRS. MARY S. WELTON.
Homer H. Hilton Mrs N. A. Welton
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Richard Welton, son of John, was born in Waterbury Sept. 27, 1679, the first male child of European parentage born in Waterbury, and there spent his entire life, engaged in farming, dying in 1755. He married, Mary Upson, who was born March 5, 1683, a daughter of Stephen and Mary (Lee) Upson, and granddaughter of John Lee, of Farmington. Nine children came to this union : Richard, born Jan. 5, 1701 (married Anna, daugh- ter of Jonathan Fenton ) ; John, born July 13, 1703 ; Stephen, born March 12, 1706: Mary. born June I, 1708 (married Ebenezer Warner) ; Thomas, born Oct. 25, 1710; Keziah, born Dec. 1, 1713 (married A. Warner) ; Eliakim, born Jan 21, 1715 (men- tioned below) ; Tabitha, born Feb. 17, 1721 (mar- ried Edward Neal) ; and Ede, born April 24, 1729 (married a Mr. Lewis).
Eliakim Welton, son of Richard, spent his entire life in Waterbury, and owned and operated a large tract of land on Bucks Hill, making farming his principal occupation. He died Nov. 20, 1794, and was buried on Bucks Hill. He married Eunice. daughter of Moses and Jane ( Wiah) Bronson, and to this union came the following children : Eliakim. born Sept. 22, 1736, married Amy Baldwin ; Eunice, born Oct. 19, 1738, married David Roberts : Avis, born Aug .. 13, 1740, married Thaddeus Barnes ; Richard, born Oct. 10, 1743, is mentioned below ; Eli, born Oct. 10, 1746, married Ann Baldwin ; Moses was born June 25, 1749; Aaron, born Feb. 19, 1752, married Zerah Bronson; Benoni died unmarried; and Benjamin Lewis, born Feb. 18, 1756, died in infancy.
Richard Welton, son of Eliakim, was a life- long resident of Waterbury, where he died Feb. 26, 1820. He was married April 27, 1766, to Margaret Warner, and they had two children : Noah, born Feb. 15, 1767; and Richard Warner, born Oct. 10, 1768, who died Dec. 14, 1768. The wife and mother died Oct. 19, 1768, and subse- quently Richard Welton married Hannah Davis, who died Dec. 11, 1839, aged ninety-four years. By the second union there were seven children, whose names and dates of birth were as follows: Richard, May 10, 1770 (married Sarah Sunn) : Mar- garet, July 2, 1772 ( wife of Daniel Steel ) ; Thomas, Dec. 8, 1774: Lydia, April 1, 1777 (married David Roberts and died Aug. 31, 1828) ; Hannah, Oct. 10, 1779 (wife of David Warner) ; Joseph Davis, April 15, 1783 : Bela, Sept. 9, 1787.
Joseph Davis Welton, the grandfather of our subject, was born in Waterbury, was ordained a deacon Dec. 18, 1802, and priest of the Episcopal Church Dec. 23, 1810. He had charge of churches in Woodbury and Easton, but in 1819, on account of ill health, was obliged to give up the work of the ministry. He then returned to Waterbury and located upon his father-in-law's farm, which was formerly the Zara Warden place, where he spent the remainder of his life, conducting a private school, where he fitted many young men for college.
He died Jan. 16, 1825, and in St. John's Episcopal church, Waterbury, there has been erected to his memory a baptismal font of carved marble, pre- sented by Hobert V. Welton. He married Eunice Tomlinson, a daughter of Victory Tomlinson. She was born April 27, 1788, and died Feb. 20, 1832.
Joseph Welton, father of our subject, was born May 15, 1814, and was the third in order of birth in a family of four children. He received an excel- lent education, and at the age of fourteen years, while still in school, made a careful survey and pre- pared an outline map of the Green, in Waterbury Center, which is still preserved, and has furnished useful information for the history of Waterbury. He spent his entire life in that town, where he owned a large tract of land. After residing at his birthplace on the Wolcott road until 1836, he re- moved to the west side of the Naugatuck River, to Bunker Hill, where he made his home throughout the remainder of his life, devoting his time to agri- cultural pursuits. As a business venture he and Leonard Platt imported a large number of Norway spruce trees, some of which are still growing upon his farm. Politically he was first a Whig and later a Republican, and religiously he was a member of the Episcopal Church. He died May 1, 1894, hon- ored and respected by all who knew him, and was laid to rest in Riverside cemetery. He was mar- ried Jan. 20, 1836, to Miss Mary S. Pierpont, a daughter of Seabury Pierpont, a well-known and highly-respected citizen of Waterbury. Of the three children born of this union our subject is the eldest ; Eunice C., born Oct. 7, 1839, married Orrin Scott, and for her second husband, Lewis Garrigus : Lucy A., born Nov. 14, 1841, married A. B. Pier- pont.
Homer Heber Welton, the subject proper of this review, was educated in the district schools of Wa- terbury, and also attended the Waterbury Academy and high school. While very young he was in the field with his father one day. When he started for home he lost his way in the woods, and kept travel- ing all night. When his parents discovered the loss the church bells of Waterbury were rung as an alarm, and many searching parties were sent out. He was finally found, early the next morning, near Oakville, by Charles D. Kingsbury, father of Fred- erick J. Kingsbury, of Waterbury. He was at that time only four years old, and although he never saw his rescuer again for thirty-two years he remem- bered liim at once as the man who had found him in the woods, Mr. Kingsbury being very tall. Dur- ing his minority Mr. Welton aided his father in the work of the farm, and also taught school dur- ing the winter months at Bunker Hill, and East Side, Watertown. He worked in Wheeler & Wil- son's sewing machine factory one and a half years. At the age of twenty-four he went to Hartford, where he worked in the Sharps rifle factory during the Civil war, and later was employed in the pin factory at Oakville for one year. He then canie to
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Waterville, where he embarked in the cutlery busi- ness in partnership with Messrs. Sprague and Boy- den, continuing thus for ten years, and when he re- tired from the firm, in 1876, he became a contractor for a portion of their work and was so engaged for sixteen years. He is now practically living a re- tired life, though managing his father's estate on Bunker Hill and other property. Mr. Welton learned no trade, but worked as a machinist, tool- maker, and clock and watch repairer from boy- hood. He spent his evenings at taxidermy ( being the 'only one in the town engaged in that work), though he has never seen anyone else stuff a bird or other animal. In his collection are three scarlet tanagers that he shot on Lincoln's fast day ; a night heron shot in front of the residence of Harriet Beecher Stowe, in Hartford, while it was in process of erection ; a pair of the first pine grosbeaks seen in Waterbury ; and the first mealy redpole on rec- ord in the State. He has made his greatest success doing his work in an original way, accomplishing more and better work with less outlay.
In 1868, in New York, Mr. Welton was united in marriage with Miss Ellen Jennette Garrigus, a native of Morristown, N. J., and a daughter of Isaac and Sarah (Sheppard) Garrigus. To this union have been born three children: ( 1) Julia A. is now the wife of Walter Warner, a minister of the Adventist Church of Portland, Oregon, and they have three children, Ethel M., Harold and Millard. (2) Joseph Dennison is a resident of Wa- terville, and a member of Goodwill Lodge, K. of P. He married Martha Leapean, and they have two children, Clifford and Edith. (3) Edith J., the youngest child of our subject, died at the age of eight years.
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Mr. Welton is a member of Mad River Grange, the Sons of Temperance, and St. John's Episcopal Church. His estimable wife holds membership in the Methodist Episcopal Church of Waterbury. They are people of prominence in the community where they reside, and are held in high regard by all who know them. In political sentiment MIr. Welton is a Republican.
ELLIS BENJAMIN BAKER, general super- intendent of the Southern New England Telephone Co., now residing in New Haven, has taken promi- nent place among the business men of that city. He is a representative man of Connecticut. des- cended from two of the most respected families in the State, and was born Sept. 24, 1854, at Winsted. son of John F. and Clarissa ( Benjamin) Baker.
(I) Anthony Baker, the first of his paternal an- cestors of whom we have record, was born about 1740. He was a Tory, and he and three of his sons -Jesse, Simon and Anthony, Jr .- fought in the Revolution on the British side. After the close of the war many Tories were given grants of land in the British possessions, and it is said that Anthony and his family, with the exception of Scott, who
ran away and settled in Bridgeport. left the States and went to Nova Scotia. Anthony Baker had eight children : Jesse, Simeon, Anthony, Jr., Scott, Samuel, Lizzie, Sarah and Hannalı.
(II) Scott Baker, born in 1768, died Sept. 19, 1852. He was a tanner and shoemaker by occupa- tion. In 1790 he married Sarah Loveland, who was born in Glastonbury, Conn., and they had two children : Asa, born in 1791 ; and Jesse. born Sept. 18, 1794. Mrs. Baker's father, also a native of Glastonbury, was a soldier in the Revolutionary war, and died while in the army, at Roxbury, Mass., Oct. 24, 1775. For his second wife Mr. Baker mar- ried Mary Beush (or Beach). About 1810 Scott Baker and his family moved to Bakersville, Conn., where he died.
(III) Asa Baker followed farming. He was married, at South Salem, N. Y., Oct. 14. 1813, to Deborah Keeler, who was born in December, 178:). and died in New Hartford, Conn., Dec. 24, 1871. He died in Granville, Mass., Sept. 30. 1833. Their children were: William Swayze, born Nov. 28, 1814; Sarah, in September, 1816; John Fletcher, in October, 1817; Scott, March 2, 1819 ; Charles Linus. July 4, 1824 ; and Emily.
(IV) John F. Baker, born in Hartford, passed the greater part of his life in Winsted. He was married, in Salisbury, Conn., April 18, 1847, to Clarissa Benjamin, who was born in Sheffield. Mass., July 29, 1824. She died at New Haven. Conn., Oct. 16, 1890, and he died at Bristol, Conn .. March 11, 1895. Three children blessed their union : Emerson John, born Feb. 18. 1848, who died Oct. 8. 1849; Emma Clarissa, born Sept. 25, 1850, who died Sept. 8, 1851 ; and Ellis Benjamin, born Sept. 24, 1854.
Through his mother Ellis B. Baker is de- scended from the ancient family of Benjamin, whose pedigree is traced back to the time of William the Conqueror. (1) John Benjamin, the first of the name in America, born in 1598, came over from England to Boston in the ship "Lion," Capt. Mason, on Sept. 16, 1632, with his wife, Abigail Eddy, two children and his brother Richard. Richard. in 1663, moved to Southold. Long Island, with his wife and daughter Ann, who was born Sept. I. 1643. He was made a Connecticut freeman in 1664, and his descendants are influential in Queens county (N. Y.) politics at the present time. John and his wife, Abigail, and their children, John and Abigail, soon moved to Cambridge, where they owned considerable real estate. John was made a freeman Nov. 6, 1632, and was appointed constable by the General Court on May 20. 1633. Of him the history of Stratford, Conn., says: "John Ben- jamin, Esquire, Gentleman, was the first of that name who came to America. His ancestors were Welsh, and were among the first of the landed gentry of England. He came in company with Gov. Winthrop to the Massachusetts Colony and settled in Watertown, adjoining the present Can-
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bridge, where he died in 1645. His house, acci- dentally destroyed by fire, was unsurpassed in ele- gance and comfort by any in the vicinity. It was a mansion of intelligence, refinement, religion and hospitality, visited by the clergy of all denomina- tions from far and near." In 1637 he removed to Watertown, where he died June 14, 1645, it is sup- posed at an advanced age, as lie was excused from military duty eleven years before. His will is ab- stracted in the Geneal. Register III, 177. Abigail, his wife, died May 20, 1687. at the age of eighty- seven. Children: John, born about 1620, died Dec. 22, 1706; Abigail was born about 1624; Sam- uel, born about 1628, died in 1669; Mary died April 10, 1646; Joseph was born Sept. 16, 1633; Joshua, born about 1642, died in 1684; Abel.
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