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 36
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dren, two of whom are still living: Mary J., who married J. M. Burrall, of Waterbury ; and George E., a resident of Wallingford. On July 1, 1860, Mr. Mills married Miss Margaret Ball, who sur- vives him, and by this union he had two children : Thomas B., mentioned below ; and Albert E., who died in childhood.
Mrs. Margaret ( Ball) Mills still resides at the family homestead, No. 185 North Main street, and is highly respected in the community for her philan- thropie work. For years she has been one of the active members of the Methodist Church of An- sonia, having been in entire sympathy with her husband in his religious work, and for some time she was a teacher in the Sunday-school. She was born in Oldham, England, a daughter of Joseph Ball (2), and granddaughter of Joseph Ball (I), a native of Manchester, England. Her father, who was a mechanic, came to America in 1841, locating in Pennsylvania, and he passed away in Pottsville, that state, at the age of eighty years. Her mother, Margaret ( Hargreaves), a native of Manchester, England, and a devout Methodist, died at the age of thirty-nine, when Mrs. Mills, who is the only survivor of eleven children, was but four weeks old. She was reared in England, and came to America at the age of twenty-five.
Thomas B. Mills, son of Thomas and Margaret ( Ball) Mills, was born June 18, 1861. After secur- ing a common-school education he learned the trade of machinist, and became one of the most valued employes of the firm of Wallace & Sons. His death, which occurred June 20, 1891, cut short a promising career. His high character was recog- nized in the community, and for so young a man he held an influential place in social affairs, and in the Republican organization. For a number of years he served as an active fireman in Eagle Hose Co .. No. 6, and on many occasions he showed marked courage in the discharge of his duties. As a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, he . took a prominent part in the Sunday-school work and Young People's Meetings. Socially he was a member of the Order of Red Men, in which he heid office, and of Naugatuck Lodge, No. 63, I. O. O. F. At the age of twenty-two he had passed all the chairs in the latter organization. being then the youngest noble grand ever elected to that office. On April, 20, 1887, Mr. Mills married Miss Estella J. Hartley, and they had two sons, Paul H. and Albert E. Paul died at the age of seven years and nine months : he was a remarkably bright boy, as may be judged from the fact that his favorite reading was biographies of Garfield. Grant and Franklin.
Mrs. Estella J. Mills, who is widely known as an author. was born May 5. 1864, in Westville, New Haven Co .. Conn. She completed a course in the Hillhouse high school, at New Haven, in the class of 1883, with the intention of teaching. Her tastes and abilities inclined to business life, however, and she took a position as bookkeeper with George W.
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Walker, on Main street, Ansonia, remaining three and one-half years, when she married Thomas B. Mills, as above related. In 1892 she opened a store next door to her residence, and here she carries a supply of dry-goods, fancy goods, notions, school supplies and art materials. She is a gifted artist, and has done notable work in oil and on china, but her literary efforts have met with such success as to indicate that the pen is her best medium for ex- pression. At the close of her last year at high school she wrote the class song, and was chosen class poet. In all she has written over 150 poems. A large volume, "Storm Swept," published by Janies H. Earle, of Boston, has been widely sold. Her sympathy with reforms of all kinds has led her into public life, and in 1893 she was elected to the board of education, being the first woman in the State to be chosen for that office. In 1896 she was re-elected, for another term of three years, and since March, 1804, she has served as school visitor. Mrs. Mills is an active member of the W. C. T. U., the Daughters of Liberty, the Order of the Golden Cross, the Woman's Relief Corps, and she and her mother both belong to the Ells-Wood Rebekah Lodge, No. 9, in which she has held different of- fices, including that of secretary. In religious faith she is a Methodist, and she formerly taught in the Sunday-school. Her family has been identified with New Haven for many years, and her father (William Hartley) and grandfather (Henry Hart- ley) were prominent in business circles in that city.
Henry Hartley, who died in New Haven in 1813, aged forty-seven years, was born in Manches- ter, England, and after coming to America gained a wide reputation for skill as an architect and build- er, and carried on a large business in bridge-build- ing and other branches of engineering. Many of the large buildings and bridges of this section-includ- ing some of the Yale College buildings-were con- structed under his direction, and for building pur- poses he ordered stone from Portland, Conn. William Hartley was born and reared in New Haven, and for three years attended Yale College. He taught school in North Haven, and later became a civil en- gineer of marked ability. In 1850 he published a map of New Haven, and he served some years as deputy surveyor general ; he also made the survey for the first sewer laid in the city of New Haven. During the Civil war he enlisted in the 27th Conn. V. I., which regiment was first assigned to the 2d Army Corps under Gen. Hancock, and for six months he served as topographical engineer of the Engineer Corps. Mr. Hartley was in several battles including Fredericksburg, and at Gettys- burg he was surgcon's assistant in the ambulance corps. He died in New Haven Aug. 16, 1877, at the age of seventy-two, and was buried with Ma- sonic honors, having been a member of the F. & A. M. for years. His widow, who in her maiden- hood was Jane E. Barnett, now resides in Ansonia. She is a native of New Hartford, was reared at
Westville, this county, and was married, first, in 1842, to William L. Bliss, son of the Hon. Abel Bliss, of Wilbraham, Mass. By this marriage she had one child, now deceased. By her marriage with William Hartley she had five children, two sons and one daughter dying in infancy. Estella J. is the widow of Thomas B. Mills. Lillian C., who was two years her senior. married Henry O. Coon, and died June 5, 1900: she is survived by her husband and three children, Glen H., Jeanette E. and William O. William Hartiey first married Rebecca Thorpe, of North Haven, and their son, William H., Jr., made the first survey of Pike's Peak, and the first survey and map of Denver, Colo. He accompanied John Brown in his first encounter with the border ruffians, and fired the first shot in the first engagement, Brown saying "Let Hartley fire first. for he's the best shot among us." A daughter by the first marriage, Mrs. Adelaide ( Hartley) Merz, resides in North Haven.
In her mother's line Mrs. Estella J. Mills is de- scended from Jabez Barnett, an Englishman, who was among the first settlers in New Haven. His son, Jeremiah, great-grandfather of Mrs. Mills, kept a tavern on what is now Armstrong's Wharf. in New Haven, and also followed the cooper's trade. being extensively engaged in manufacturing barrels for the West Indies. Rev. Eli Barnett, grand- father of Mrs. Mills, was, at the age of fifteen years, apprenticed to the shoemaker's trade, but feeling a strong call to the ministry, he educated himself by private study in his evenings and early mornings. During his years of active service he preached the Gospel from Canada to Long Island Sound, the earliest portion of his work being done on the Middletown circuit. He died in New Haven in 1878, at the age of eighty-six. On Jan. 6, 1822. he married for his second wife, Betsey Tabor, of Shelburne Point, Vt., and they had three children, two of whom are living: Mrs. Jane E. Hartley, of Ansonia : and Mrs. Betsey A. Cowap, of Danville. Ill. The third daughter, Miss Ellen C. Barnett, a writer of note, died in 1886. The Tabors are a well-known family in New England, and Mt. Tabor in Vermont was named for them. Betsey Tabor was a daughter of Major John and Jemima (Trowbridge) Tabor, the former of whom was born' in 1766, at Princeton, R. I., and became a pioneer settler at Shelburne, Vt., where he died in 1813. His title of Major was gained by his service in the militia.
AUGUSTUS HALL BARTHOLOMEW, de- ceased. The Bartholomew family, of which Au- gustus Hall Bartholomew, of Wallingford, was a descendant, has a record which is a credit to New England. The first of the name to come to these shores was William Bartholomew, son of William, of Burford, England, who was educated in Bur- ford, was chaplain to King Charles, became sub- dean of Westminster, and upon his marriage with
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COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
Ann Lord came to America in the ship "Griffin," arriving in Boston in 1634. In 1654 he with others was granted the privilege of trading with visiting vessels. He died at Charlestown in 1683.
William Bartholomew (2). son of the emigrant, born in 1646 in Ipswich, married Mary Johnson, a daughter of the Capt. Johnson who had the title of surveyor to the King's armies in America. William was a carpenter, and followed his trade in Rox- bury, later moving to Branford, Conn., where he built a mill. He died in Woodstock.
Andrew Bartholomew, son of William, was born in Roxbury in 1670, and married Hannah Frisbie. of Branford, who died in 1741. As manager of his father's mill in Branford he continued until the death of his father, when, in association with his brother Benjamin, he engaged in farming very ex- tensively, removing in 1727 to Wallingford, where he spent the remainder of his life, dying about 1754.
Joseph Bartholomew, the ninth in the family of Andrew, was born in Branford in 1721, and married Mary Sexton in Wallingford. At the time of his death he owned large tracts of land in the south- eastern part of Wallingford, near the Branford line, and was a lieutenant of militia.
Isaac Bartholomew, son of Joseph, born in 1748 in Wallingford, first married Martha Morse. his second marriage being to Demaris Hall. His death occurred in 1821. Isaac was a large farmer, own- ing the land which now constitutes the homestead in Wallingford. In 1793 there was made a record telling that Harvey and Ruth Stephens, of Walling- ford, deeded to Demaris, wife of Isaac Barthol- omew, for love and affection, a farm in Walling- ford. Their children numbered nine, the sixth of the family being Ira, the father of our subject.
Ira Bartholomew was born on the homestead in 1788, and Oct. 1. 1816, married Eunice Hall, who was born in 1794, a daughter of Augustus and Parmelia Hall. Their children were: (1) Au- gustus Hall was born Sept. 20. 1817. (2) Fred- erick. (3) Sarah E. married Samuel M. Cook, and became the mother of three children-John A. Cook, of Wallingford; Frank, deceased ; and Abba, Mrs. Samuel E. Hopkins, of Naugatuck, Conn. (4) Abby Ann in 1851 married Elisha M. Pomeroy. Mr. Bartholomew received a liberal education, and followed farming all his life on the homestead at East Farms, where he built the house in 1850. Well known and highly respected. he was also noted for his industry, working unceasingly all his life. He owned at the time of his death 125 acres of valuable land. First a Whig. then a Republican, he served in many of the town offices, was a select- man, and a correct and estimable member of the Congregational Church. He passed away at the age of sixty-three years.
Our immediate subject was born on the old homestead Sept. 20. 1817, attended the district school, and was also sent to the best select schools
in Fairhaven and Meriden. Later he engaged in teaching in Durham, Meriden and Wallingford, but returned to the farm and remained the comfort of his parents' declining years. Upon their decease he took charge of the farm, continuing there until 1882, and making many desirable improvements. He became known as a successful farmer and stock raiser, and also was one of the first in the section to make a success of raising tobacco. For the last eighteen years of his life he resided in Wallingford, where he erected a fine, modern brick residence, at a cost of $8,000.
The first marriage of our subject took place Jan. II, 1846, to Mary K. Cook, a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. George Cook : the latter first married Ralph Pomeroy. One child was born to this union, Ed- ward, who passed away in infancy. Mrs. Bar- tholomew died in 1848. In 1850 Mr. Bartholomew was married to Mary E., daughter of Enos Camp. the children of this union being: Elizabeth MI .. born in 1851, married Hiram N. Childs, of Hanover. N. H., by whom she had two children, Bertha and Lena ; her second marriage was to Alexander Ham- ilton. Emma Jane died young. James D. married Anna Chandler, and had two children, Harry and Ethel. William H., born in 1857, married Lillian Andrews, and lives on the homestead. Charles F., born in 1859. married Carrie Crook, and has three children, Augustus, Dale and Delius.
Mr. Bartholomew was formerly an Old-line Whig, but later became an ardent Republican, and he held many offices of the town: was selectman ; served some years on the board of relief ; for eight years was the efficient assessor ; and was a member of the school board. A kind and generous man, he was one of the most highly esteemed men of Wallingford, where his death, on Aug. 25, 1900. was sincerely mourned. A member of the Congre- gational Church, he ever lived according to its teachings, and was a cheerful and liberal supporter of all benevolent and charitable enterprises. Liv- ing up to the Golden Rule, kind to the poor and generous to the unfortunate, setting an example through life of industry and sobriety, Mr. Bar- tholomew lived up to what must be considered the height of good citizenship.
MILES BLACKSTONE (deceased) was in his lifetime a prominent representative of the agricul- tural interests of the town of Branford, where he was born April 1, 1806, and where he made an eminent success of his career. Industry, economy and unswerving integrity marked all his life, and as the years passed his sterling worth and genuine manhood were more and more appreciated.
Miles Blackstone was a son of Timothy and Margaret (Goodrich) Blackstone, and his paternal grandfather was John Blackstone, who was a son of John Blackstone, and a grandson of that John Blackstone who settled in Branford about 1717, and was a son of Rev. William Blackstone. That
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COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
eminent worthy of the early days was a graduate of Emanuel College, at Cambridge, England, and was among the first settlers of Boston, where he was made a freeman in 1671.
Timothy Blackstone, father of Miles, was a leading farmer in Branford, where he died at the advanced age of eighty-eight. To him and his wife were born the following children: Eunice, who married Charles Harrison: James, who married Saralı Beach ; Grace, who married Andrew Hopson : Willis, who married Lucinda Hoadley; Samuel : Nancy ; and Miles.
Miles Blackstone was reared in Branford, and as he grew to manhood became deeply interested in farming, which was his life occupation. He was a hard-working and industrious man, and alive to all new and progressive methods of agriculture. He married Lois Robinson, daughter of Linus and Re- becca ( Hobart) Robinson, and a granddaughter of Mason Hobart, one of the pioneers in the settle- ment of Branford. The Robinsons were also a well- known family there. To this union were born five children : Elizur, who died when two years old : Betsey J. ; Edwin E .. a farmer, who died at the age of 58, unmarried : Grace R., who married William H. Warner ; and Miss Sarah. who died aged thirty- one. Mr. Blackstone was a most unassuming and modest gentleman of the Old School, with a kindly heart, and was greatly honored and respected in the community in which he lived.
In his religious relations he was strongly at- tached to the Episcopal Church, where he habitual- ly attended and to which he contributed liberally. In politics he was an intelligent and broad-minded Republican, much devoted to the good of the com- munity, and anxious to promote by his vote the prosperity of his country. He died March 29, 1875.
GEORGE HOADLEY, who is now living re- tired in Branford, belongs to an old and distin- guished family of Connecticut, whose members in different generations have been conspicuous in the varions fields of action in which they have been engaged.
The record of this branch of the Hoadley fam- ily begins with William Hoadley, who was born in England about 1630, and was a resident of Say- brook, Conn., as early as 1663. In 1666 he bought property in Branford, and engaged in mercantile business. His name first appears in the Branford Covenant in 1667. and he was made a freeman of the Colony in 1669. He was one of the deputies from Branford at nine sessions of the Assembly between 1678 and 1685: was one of the patentees of the town in 1685: between 1673 and 1690 was one of the selectmen for the town ; in 1683 was ap- pointed to keep the ordinary in Branford : was one of the grand jurors at the court held in New Ha- ven in June, 1688; and was one of a committee ap- pointed in 1686 to make application to the General Court at Hartford for liberty for the town to forni itself into a church estate. He was a slaveholder,
and owned at his death a mulatto maid and an In- dian boy. His estate was valued at more than five thousand dollars. William Hoadley died in 1709.
Abraham Hoadley, son of William, died in Branford July 14, 1748. at an advanced age. He was made a freeman of Branford in 1702, and was a farmer. Elizabeth ( Maltby), his wife, was the daughter of Capt. William Maltby.
Abel Hoadley, son of Abraham and Elizabeth ( Maltby) Hoadley, was born in Branford, Dec. 24, 1705, and died in August. 1734. His wife's name was Martha. He was a farmer in the Damascus District.
Isaac Hoadley, son of Abel and Martha Hoadley, was born in Branford in December, 172S, and died Jan. 21, 1812. Elizabeth ( Blackstone), his wife, daughter of Capt. John and Elizabeth ( Foote ) Blackstone, was noted among the women of her time for her. domestic skill. Isaac Hoadley was a carpenter by trade, inherited his father's farm, and became a very prosperous resident of the Damascus District. He was a prominent member of Trinity Episcopal Church.
Abel Hoadley, son of Isaac and Elizabeth Hoad- ley, was born in Branford Oct. 1, 1764, and died March 29. 1845. He married Lucinda Bradley, daughter of Timothy and Sarah ( Goodsell) Brad- ley, of Branford, and they had children: Martha, who married Deming Hoadley; Isaac; Samuel ; Ralph ; Sally S., who married James Harrison ; Lu- cinda, who married Wyllys Blackstone; Harvey; Harriet, who married John Gordon; and Ammi. Abel Hoadley was a farmer in the Damascus Dis- trict, and was selectman and constable for many years.
Isaac Hoadley, father of our subject, married Laura' Tyler, daughter of Solomon and Dorcas ( Fisk) Tyler, the former a farmer of Branford. Isaac Hoadley was a sailor in early life, and then engaged in farming. He died on the farm now occupied by his son George, Oct. 10, 1825, at the early age of thirty-five years. His children were George, Anna Tyler and Charles E. The last named married Elizabeth Gunn. a native of Georgia, and a daughter of James and Elizabeth Gunn, and they had four children: Laura, who is the wife of R. T. Humphrey : Susan D., who married J. Edwin Towner, and died in March, 1897 (she had three children. Anna P., who died July 27. 1899, Merle E. and Laura E.) ; M. Georgia, who died Jan. 21, 1884: and Edna J. Charles E. Hoadley was a merchant in Fredonia, Ala., where his children were all born. He returned East in 1866, and his wife died Oct. 11. 1867. He died Oct. 22, 1878.
George Hoadley, whose name introduces this article, was born Feb. 14, 1814. in the house he now ocenpies, and was reared on the old homestead- where he yet resides. The house in which he lives is over one hundred years old. In the sitting-room is one of the old "grandfather's" clocks, made in England, probably more than two hundred years old, and which still keeps good time. Mr. Hoadley
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George Hoadley
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
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worked at the carpenter's trade from the time he was seventeen years old until he was forty-one. when he engaged in farming. At the present time his health is practically as good as it was twenty years ago. For his age, eighty-seven, he is one of the most vigorous and satisfactory specimens of manhood to be found anywhere, hale and hearty, and able to "hustle" in a fashion which many younger men might envy. Mr. Hoadley attends the Congregational Church, and politically is a Demo- crat. He has never married.
MRS. HENRY P. (NICHOLS) WIRTH, for many years one of Ansonia's social leaders, was a member of an old and honored family of that sec- tion, her ancestors having been pioneers of Oxford. Francis Nichols, her great-great-grandfather, pur- chased land there in 1743, the title passing to him from a Quaker who had bought it from the Indians, and his remaining years were spent there.
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Sergt. Isaac Nichols, the next in the line of de- scent, was born and reared on the old homestead in military title was gained by service in the militia and his sword was prized by Mrs. Wirth as a relic of the early times. In 1769 he married Abigail Lyman, daughter of Rev. Jonathan Lyman, the first Congregational minister at Oxford, and their family consisted of four children. Sergt. Isaac died March 5, 1805. aged fifty-seven years, while his wife lived to the age of eighty-four.
Russell F. Nichols, Mrs. Wirth's grandfather, was born in 1772 at the homestead, where he spent his life engaged in farming, and his death occurred there in 1849. For many years he was a prominent worker in the Episcopal Church. He married Nabby Riggs, a native of Oxford, and a daughter of John Riggs, and they had four children, among whom was a son Benjamin.
Benjamin Nichols, father of Mrs. Wirth, was born in Oxford, and grew to manhood on the old farm, receiving a common-school education, which he supplemented by a generous course of reading in later years. For a time he conducted the home- stead, which contained 280 acres, but in 1882 he removed to Ansonia and built a home near Mrs. Wirth's late residence. Subsequently he purchased the site of her home, but he did little active busi- ness in his later years except probate work. his sound judgment, uprightness and ripe experience causing him to be frequently called upon to settle estates. For some time he was a director in the Birmingham National Bank. He enjoyed in a marked degree the confidence of the people, and was prominent in political life as a member of the Democratic party. He was first selectman of Ox- ford during the Civil war, and had control of the funds for hiring substitutes. In 186-, 1872 and 1875 he served as representative, and in 1876 he was chosen State senator, being one of very few men who were elected to that office from the town
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of Oxford. In 1864 he united with Morning Star Lodge, F. & A. M., at Seymour. and later he be- came a charter member of Union Chapter, R. A. M., at Ansonia. He hield $2,000 insurance in the Ma- sonic Benefit Association, and in his will left $1,000 to the Masons' Home at Wallingford. He also left $3.000 to the Episcopal Church at Quaker Farms, the interest to be used for the proper care of the two cemeteries, for the insurance of the church, and, if any remained, for other purposes of the church. Mr. Nichols married Minerva Tomlinson, who was born at Volney, near Castleton, Vt .. and was one of a family of eight children. Her father, Truman Tomlinson. was a native of Oxford, and passed many years in that locality as a farmer and black- smith, dying there. Her mother, Nancy Perry, was the daughter of Telverton and Patience Perry, and died aged seventy-eight years.
Oxford, and became a farmer by occupation. His : A. Tomlinson, a native of Oxford, son of George
Mrs. Wirth, who was the only child of Benjamin and Minerva Nichols, was born in Oxford, and re- maincd at the homestead until she reached the age of nineteen. In October, 1862. she married George Tomlinson, who was born at Quaker Farms. His grandfather, David Tomlinson, a native of Wood- bury, was a farmer and merchant of Quaker Farms, where he died in 1822. In 1818 he was elected State senator. George Tomlinson, the father of George A., passed his entire life in Oxford. and died in 1859. aged fifty-nine. He married Eliza Judson, daughter of Wells Judson, a leading resi- dent of Quaker Farms, and his wife Ruth ( Wil- cox ), who was born in Southbury, and died at Quaker Farms, at the age of forty years. George | A. Tomlinson was one of a family of three chil- dren; his sister. Marietta A., wife of Smith B. Glover, now resides in Newtown. As a boy George A. Tomlinson became familiar with farm work, but finding it uncongenial he studied dentistry in Hartford. Deciding finally to engage in mercantile business, he located at Ansonia in 1870, and opened a news and toy store, which he conducted success- fully for a few years. He was highly respected in the community. In 1891 he built the handsome residence at No. 301 Wakelee avenue, Ansonia, oc- cupied by Mrs. Wirth until her death, and he died that year, at the age of fifty-nine. He was a man of literary tastes. For a number of years he served as secretary of George Washington Lodge, F. & A. M.
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