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 4 > Part 26
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86 | Part 87 | Part 88
Joel Hough received but a common-school edu- cation, and grew up an honest, capable and pro- gressive farmer, following that occupation through life. After buying the homestead he made many im- provements and introduced into the neighborhood much fine stock, becoming one of the most suc- cessful and reliable raisers of stock in the coun- ty. As an upright and honorable man, he is remem- bered through Wallingford, where his influence was felt in the direction of temperance and morality. An old-line Whig, he naturally embraced the principles of the Republican party. His death occurred on his farm, in Wallingford, Oct. 1, 1886. Joel Hough was married, in Meriden, to Mary Rice, who was born March 9, 1809, daughter of Silas and Re- becca (Hubbard) Rice, who died May 21, 1875, be- loved and mourned not only by her immediate fam- ily, but by a large circle of friends. Through life she displayed the traits of a beautiful Christian char- acter, and was a consistent member of the Congrega- tional Church. The children born of this marriage were: Lucy, who died at the age of eighteen; Cornelia, the widow of Edward C. Hall, of Meri- den; Joel Rice; Susan E., who resides at Berlin; Albert P., who farms the old homestead; James, a resident of New Haven, employed in the Winches- ter Arms Co .; Alice L .; and Rose, at home.
Joel Rice Hough grew up on the old homestead in North Farms, and attended the district school, remaining at home until the breaking out of the Civil war, when he determined to become a soldier in defense of his country. On Aug. 6, 1862, he en- listed in Co. K. 15th Conn. V. I., under Col. Wright and Capt. Stiles, of New Haven, and participated in the battles of Fredericksburg and Suffolk, Va. Al- though suffering from chills and fever, Mr. Hough
Quel R. Hough
Lucy & Hough
I28r
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
remained in the service until in July, 1863, when he received his honorable discharge at Newbern, N. C., after which he returned home and resumed farm- ing on the old homestead for the following two years.
In 1866, Mr. Hough bought a tract of land in North Farms, consisting of forty acres, locally known as the Lowery farm, and since that time he has added thirty acres, and is now operating seventy acres of as fine land as can be found in the State of Connecticut. Mr. Hough conducts a successful dairy and is one of the largest stockraisers in the lo- cality. Much hard work, energy and good manage- ment have been required to bring this estate to its present valuable condition, and all the credit is due Mr. Hough, who is conceded to be. not only one of the most worthy citizens of Wallingford, but also one of the best farmers.
In 1868, in Berlin, Conn., Joel R. Hough was married to Mary, a daughter of Edward Edwards. No children were born to this union, and she died in 1874, and was buried in Wallingford cemetery. On May 30, 1877, he married Lucy Bassett, a native of Litchfield, and to this union one child was born, Flora E., a graduate of the Meriden high school. Both Mrs. Hough and her daughter are ladies of culture and high attainments, and are leaders in the social life of Wallingford.
In public life, Mr. Hough has taken much in- terest, and he has been identified with much of the progress of this locality. As an ardent Republican, he was selected by the party as their standard bearer in the State Legislature, in 1895, where he most ef- ficiently served on the committee on Agriculture. On the board of Relief he has done much for his local- ity, and since 1894 he has served on the board of Assessors. Socially, Mr. Hough is a member of Arthur Dutton Post. No. 36, G. A. R., of Walling- ford; is a member of Wallingford Grange, of which he was Master for two years. He is financially in- terested in the . Wallingford Creamery, and is vice- president of the Wallingford Agricultural society. The religious connection of the family is with the Congregational Church, where he is a generous and cheerful giver, to all benevolent and charitable en- terprises.
Albert Pierson Hough, a brother of Joel Rice Hough, was born on the old homestead May 6, 1846. Since his father's death, he has operated the farmn of 125 acres, very successfully. With him reside his sisters, ladies who are of the highest intelligence and social position. Although no office-seeker, Al- bert P. Hough has always supported the Republican party. For many years he has been connected with the Congregational Church, and is a man who en- joys the esteem of the community.
MISS ALICE L. HOUGH, the talented principal of the Yalesville High school, was born in the old home in North Farms. ller early education was pursued in the district schools in Wallingford. which was supplemented by private instruction, and
in 1873, she graduated from the Normal school, at New Britain. For the past twenty-five years, she has been one of the most successful educators of the county, and for a number of years has held the im- portant position of Principal of the Yalesville High school, which is one requiring extensive learning as well as capacity for government, both of these at- tributes being possessed by Miss Hough, in the highest degree. Not only does she command the respect of her pupils, but also is dearly beloved by them.
RICE. The Rice family, to which Mrs. Joel Hough belonged, is one of the oldest in Connecticut. The original spelling of the name was Royce, and the founder of the family in America was Robert Royce, who came from England, and was in Staf- ford in 1644. In 1671 Isaac and Nehemiah Royce settled in Wallingford, and later Nathaniel, Samuel, Joseph and Robert Royce, all supposed to be sons of the (I) Robert, settled there.
(II) Deacon Samuel Royce settled in Walling- ford in 1672. He married Sarah Baldwin, and for his second wife, he married, Dec. 12, 1695, Hannah Benedict, who died Jan. 12, 1761. He died May 14, 1757, in Meriden. His children were: Abigail, born Nov. 24, 1677, married Joseph Cole; Prudence was born July 26, 1680; Deborah, born Sept. 8, 1683, married Thomas Mix ; Isaac was born March IO, 1688; Ebenezer was born Sept. 25, 1690; Na- thaniel was born Oct. 21, 1692; John was born April 25, 1694; Mary was born Feb. 17, 1695; Jacob, born April 11, 1697, married Thankful, a daughter of Moses Beach; Hannah, born Feb. 19, 1699, married John Ives; Ezekiel married Anna Merwin ; Samuel married Martha Moss, and settled in Cheshire: Abel was born Jan. 10, 1700; Ben- jamin, born May 23, 1705; Mehitable; and Eben- ezer, who died Oct. 18, 1752, in Meriden.
(III) Benjamin Rice, son of Deacon Samuel, was born May 23, 1705, in Wallingford, was clerk in the mines, and spent his life in that locality, dying Jan. 30, 1758. To his marriage with Mind- well Royce (or Rice), a relative, on April 10, 1729, came two children, Benjamin and Solomon, the latter born Jan. 31. 1740. The mother died May 13, 1776, in her seventy-third year.
(IV) Benjamin Rice, son of Benjamin, was born April 1, 1730, and married Phebe Halsey, of Long Island. She died June 13, 1776, and he passed away in February, 1777. Their children were: Phebe, born Oct. 18, 1757, who died Nov. 25, 1757; Benjamin, born Feb. 2, 1759; Halsey, born Jan. 10, 1761, who died June 13, 1764; Isaac, born Oct. 10, 1762: Halsey (2), born Oct. 29, 1764 ( died in Middletown ) ; Elizabeth, born Oct. 10, 1766 ( mar- ried Nathaniel Stevens, of Norfolk) ; Silas; and Levi, born Oct. 14. 1775. Benjamin Rice served as a private at the Lexington Alarm, under Capt. John Couch.
(\) Silas Rice, the father of Mrs. Hough, was born Oct. 19, 1770. He was a farmer all his life,
81
1282
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
and in 1796 bought the farm now owned by the family of Benjamin Rice, on Murdock avenue, Mer- iden, and there he died in 1852; he was buried in the East cemetery. Silas Rice was a deacon in the Congregational Church and a member of the Wash- ington Benevolent Society. In his political views he was a stanch Whig. His first marriage, Aug. 4, 1796, was to Ruth Curtis, who was born in Meriden, and was a sister of Alfred Curtis, of Meriden. The children of this union were: Alnura, born May 24, 1797, married Avery Hough; Phebe, born Feb. 3, 1799, died Aug. 13, 1799. The mother died March 31, 1801. On March 8, 1803, in Meriden, Mr. Rice married Rebecca Hubbard, who was born Nov. 25. 1783, a daughter of Isaac and Jane Hubbard, and died in February, 1855. The children of this mar- riage were: Ruth Curtis, born Oct. 14, 1803, mar- ried, on Oct. 25, 1825, Lyman Hough. Jane, born July 1, 1805, died Feb. 13, 1824. Silas born June 29, 1807, died the same day. Mary, born March 9, 1809, married Joel Hough, of Wallingford. Silas Hubbard, born April 5, 1811, married Fanny Brooks, of Chatham county, N. C., and they had three children-Levi Woodley, born July 2, 1837; Mary Ameret, born Sept. 23, 1841 ; and John Willis, born March 8, 1844. Phebe Rebecca, born Sept. 9, 1812, died July 30, 1814. Henry, born Nov. 20, 1814, married Emily Lane. Joseph, born March 29, 1817, died March 30, 1817. Benjamin Halsey, born June 20, 1818, died June 25, 1898; he married Mary Ann Bradley, and, for his second wife, Mrs. Abigail C. Smith, a native of Durham, and a daugh- ter of Asahel Harvey ; she is living with her fam- ily on the farm. Emily Rebecca, born Sept. 16, 1820, married Samuel A. Tuttle, of Cheshire. Hins- dale Silliman, born April 11, 1823, first married Nancy Munson, of Southington, Conn., and second Sarah Gaylord, now a resident of Meriden, and an aunt of Dr. Gaylord of Branford. Elizabeth Jane, born Aug. 31, 1825, died April 13, 1842. Samuel Atwater, born Jan. 26, 1828, married Mary L. Wetherell, of Canaan.
HENRY FORBES ( deceased) was for many years an honored and highly respected citizen of East Haven, New Haven county, and was actively identified with its agricultural interests. He was born in that town on the farm now occupied by Winchester Andrews, in 1803, a son of Isaac Forbes, Jr., and grandson of Isaac Forbes, Sr., also natives of East Haven. Throughout his active business career he engaged in agricultural pursuits and met with well-deserved success in his chosen occupation. When a small boy he accompanied his parents on the removal to the farm now occupied by John Lancey, and upon that place he spent the remainder of his life, dying there April 22, 1875. He was a Republican in politics and was quite a prominent and influential man in his community- one who commanded the respect and confidence of all with whom he came in contact either in busi-
ness or social life. He married Miss Almira Forbes, who died Nov. 9, 1891, at the age of eighty- three years. To them were born two children : Willet B., whose sketch appears on another page of this volume; and Jane E., mentioned below.
On Sept. 23, 1859, Miss Jane E. Forbes was united in marriage with Daniel Bradley, who was born in East Haven, in 1829, and was reared to the occupation of farming, which he made his life work. He was a son of John Bradley. His death occurred in 1873. To Mr. and Mrs. Bradley were born three children: John H. and Daniel, both of whom died in infancy; and Eveline, who mar- ried Lewis Smith and lives with her mother in East Haven; she has one child, Raymond. Since the death of her husband Mrs. Bradley has dis- played excellent business and executive ability in the management of her farm, and in 1892 she erected thereon a beautiful home, whose hospitable doors are ever opened for the reception of her many friends. She is an active member of the Congrega- tional Church, and is held in high regard by all who know her.
GEORGE FELLOWS PETERS. In the re- spect that is accorded to men who have fought their way to success through unfavorable environ- ments we find an unconscious recognition of the intrinsic worth of a character which cannot only endure so rough a test, but gain new strength through the discipline. The following history sets forth briefly the steps by which our subjeet, now one of the substantial agriculturists of Hamden, New Haven county overcame the disadvantages of his early life.
Mr. Peters was born in Highmarket, Lewis Co., N. Y., March 23, 1848, a son of John and Margaret (Legal) Peters, natives of Germany, who came to this country when young, sailing from Havre, and were married in the United States. In their family were six children : George F. ; John, of Lewis coun- ty, N. Y .; Louise, Mrs. Christopher Warren, of New York: Jacob, of Booneville, N. Y. ; James. of Burlington, Kans. ; and William, of Lowville, New York: Mr. Peters was born Sept. 12, 1820, died May 2, 1885, at Locust Grove, Lewis Co., N. Y. Mrs. Peters was born March 16, 1816, and died April 11. 1877, at Locust Grove. He was a farmer, and also worked at the joiner's trade.
Our subject acquired his education in the com- mon schools of his native State. He was twenty- one years of age on coming to Hamden, where he found employment on the farm of Perry Rock- well, and later he worked on the farm of Robert Diekerman, in the same town, spending almost six years in these places. At the end of that time he bought a milk route and engaged in the retail milk business in New Haven for sixteen years, since which time he has carried on dairy farming and sold hismilk at wholesale. He is one of the most prominent and successful dairy farmers of Ham-
1283
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
den, where he owns over ninety-two acres of land in different tracts. In June, 1875. Mr. Peters bought the old Johnson place, on Circular avenue, and has lived there ever since. He built the ex- cellent homie thereon-which was completed in February, 1876,-and has made about all the other improvements ; the place is one of the best improved and most desirable farms of its size in the neigh- borhood. His holdings of farm land comprise sev- eral tracts in Hamden and some real estate in New Haven.
In Westville, Conn., Nov. 17, 1875, Mr. Peters married Miss Dency Harriet Dickerman, who was born Nov. 8, 1845, in Bethany, Conn., daugliter of Lebbeus and Amanda ( Doolittle) Dickerman, she being their youngest daughter and fourth child. She was almost eight years old when her parents removed to Hamden, where she has lived ever since except a few years spent in Westville, where she was residing at the time of her marriage. Mrs. Peters' grandparents were Enos and Mary ( Todd) Dickerman, the former born Jan. 15, 1775, son of Enos Dickerman. The family has been identified with the history of New Haven county from the ' earliest period. Mr. and Mrs. Peters have one child, Henry Dickerman, born Oct. 4, 1885, who is the only representative of the Dickerman family descended from his grandfather Lebbeus Dicker- man.
Mr. Peters casts his ballot with the Republi- can party and is now filling the office of school trustee. Religiously he is a member of the Meth- odist Episcopal Church, to which his wife also be- longs. For the success that he has achieved in life he deserves great credit, and his course has been such as to command the respect and confi- dence of all with whom he has come in contact.
EMORY SABINE COGGINS, superintendent for the Bradley & Hubbard Manufacturing Co., and a well-known citizen of Meriden, was born in Lubec, Washington Co., Maine, Sept. 8, 1857, the twelfth child of John and Lucinda (Guptill ) Coggins. The Coggins family is of Scotch de- scent; but the grandfather of the subject of our sketch came from Briar Island, Canada, to Lubec, in Maine, where he located, reared his children, and remained tintil gathered to his fathers.
traveling salesman, and with whom Mrs. Watt now makes her home. (2) Lottie is the wife of George Christopher, of Eastport, Maine. (3 Ezra died young. (4) Emerson died at the age of fourteen. (5) John, now deceased, lived till man- hood. (6) Daniel, a contractor for the Bradley & Hubbard Company, married Emma Reynolds. (7) Sanford, a resident of Meriden, married first, Nellie Harriman, and second, Annie Tryon. (8) Horace died young. (9) Barbara married Jared Lewis, and now resides in Meriden. (10) Ches- ter is now a resident of New Haven. (II) Emma died the wife of Edward Lee. (12) Emory Sa- bine is our subject. The father of this round dozen of children came to Connecticut with his family in 1869 and took employment with the New Haven Car Co., in the city of New Haven, where he con- tinned until his death in October, 1870. His re- mains were taken for interment to his native town of Lubec. In his faith he was a member of the Christian Church; and his political creed was Den- ocratic. His widow still lives in Lubec at the ripe age of eighty-eight years, a member of the Chris- tian Church there, a good woman, well known and highly respected.
Emory S. Coggins attended the district schools of Lubec until his twelfth year, when he went to Eastport, Maine, and began work at the trade of carpenter and joiner. After a year of this he con- cluded that something else would suit him better, and in 1870 he came to Meriden and went to work for the Bradley & Hubbard Manufacturing Co., where he is today, but in a somewhat different ca- pacity. Then his duties were sweeping the floors, "polishing up the handle of the big front door," and the like, for the magnificent salary of three dollars and fifty cents a week .. After a year of these labors he was put at assembling or putting together kerosene chandeliers, at which he contin- tied for six years. Thereafter he was brought into the office, and given the work of figuring the cost of goods, and more of similar character and im- portance. Later he was appointed assistant super- intendent to Mr. C. F. Linsley, whom, in 1891, he succeeded in the position which he now holds, and fills through his ability with signal credit to him- self and satisfaction to all concerned, winning the respect and esteem of employers and subordinates alike.
John Coggins, father of Emory, was born in Lubec, as indicated, went to school there, and there Mr. Coggins is a member of Alfred H. Hall Council, No. 1423. Royal Arcanum; and of Myrtle Lodge, No. 4. K. of P., of which he is Past Chan- cellor. He is known as a general all around "good fellow." His politics are Republican, and his re- ligion the Golden Rule. learned and followed his trade of carpenter and joiner. He married Lucinda, daughter of Robert (a farmer and fisherman of Lubec) and Ann (Small) Guptill, who bore him twelve children. These were as follows, the order being that of birth : (1) Esther Ann is now the widow of Robert Watt, Mr. Coggins has been twice married. His first wife, who died in 1880, was Lavinia Schleiter, a daughter of Capt. Henry L. and Adelia ( Potter) Schleiter. Of this union were born twins, both of whom died in mfancy. On May 17, 1882, Mr. a native of Nova Scotia, who died in September, 1892. Mrs. Watt bore her husband three children : Robert died in infancy; Mande Minola, who mar- ried Albert Morris, and has one child, Myra: Myra Malilman, who married Arthur F. Glaessner, a , Coggins was united in marriage with Edna Snow,
1284
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
who was born in Norwich, New London county, daughter of Augustus and Hannah ( Pierce ) Snow. One child, Vera Irene, has blessed their home. Mrs. Coggins is a member of Susan Carrington Clark Chapter, D. A. R. She was educated in Willimantic, and acquired her musical education under Miss Black, of New London, later studying under Prof. F. H. Rolleston, and she was gradu- ated from the New England Conservatory of Mu- sic, Boston, in 1880. For some time she taught music in Willimantic, where, also, she was organist in the M. E. Church.
LETSOME TERRELL WOOSTER. One of the most influential men of the Naugatuck Valley is Letsome Terrell Wooster, whose face is familiar in business, church and educational circles through- out the State. Mr. Wooster was born in Water- bury. He is the seventh in descent from Edward Wooster, who came across the water from England in 1630 and founded the family home in the green hills of Connecticut, whence this branch of the fam- ily has not migrated for over two and one-half cen- turies.
The Colonial hero, a man of great courage, deep piety and abiding patriotism, uprooted him- self for religion's sake from the haunts of his ancestors and, with a handful of brave compatriots of like convictions, established the first traces of Anglo-Saxon civilization along the shores of the Housatonic, the two towns which are glad to do him honor being Milford and Derby. It is not sur- prising that the descendants of Edward Wooster were early drawn into the Revolutionary movement and that we find them everywhere connected with the wars of that period. Thus it is that the sub- ject of this sketch points to an ancestry of six il- lustrious Revolutionary commissioned officers, among them Gen. David Wooster and the great lieutenant of French and Indian war fame, Gideon Hotchkiss.
Letsome T. Wooster is likewise sixth in descent from Rev. John Bower, a graduate of Harvard Col- lege in the class of 1649 who became, in 1652, the first instructor in the classics in the school which eventually grew into Yale University, and who later, in 1672, became the first minister in Derby, where he performed the multifarious duties which fell to the lot of such a Colonial dignitary until his death, in 1688.
The two and one-half centuries which have inter- vened since the stirring Colonial days have served but to transfer, as through a single generation, the sterling characteristics of these early heroes to their lineal descendant, Letsome Terrell Wooster. The sympathy and interest in the welfare of the com- munity that Mr. Wooster feels and substantially shows in his many benevolences are the outcome of generations of patriotic forbears who have devoted themselves to the cause of church and State in this locality since 1630. He has been from early man- | 4. 1702, settled in Wallingford, and died in 1772.
hood closely identified with educational matters and is at the present time a trustee of Wesleyan Univer- sity. His interest in the cause of religion is one of the strong traits of his character and he has al- ways given munificently to churches throughout the Valley.
Mr. Wooster is the oldest and best known brass manufacturer in the United States. He is the founder and principal stockholder of the Seymour Manufacturing Company, a prosperous concern brought to its present degree of success by Mr. Wooster's executive ability, inventive genius and rare knowledge of metals. He is a metallurgist of admitted power, using many of his own secret formulas, notably one for German silver, which make the product from his manufactory especially in demand by concerns requiring delicacy and pli- ability, as well as strength and durability, in their metals. His molds for casting brass have revolu- tionized that feature of this great manufacturing in- dustry, and innumerable devices of his own invention for saving time and labor have made the Seymour Manufacturing Company a model of modern meth- ods in its unsurpassed capacity for business.
Mr. Wooster's pre-eminence in the business af- fairs of the Naugatuck Valley is recognized. Early in life he was prevailed upon by the president of the Waterbury Brass Company to abandon his chosen career of mechanical engineer and engage in the manufacture of brass. This was in 1852. He sub- sequently went to Torrington with Hon. Lyman W. Coe, and with him organized the Coe Brass Com- pany, remaining as manager for eight years. For the last twenty years he has been associated with his brother in Seymour, and is officially connected with the following concerns in that town: The Seymour Manufacturing Company, the Seymour Electric Light Company, the H. A. Mathews Com- pany and the Rimmon Manufacturing Company.
EDWARD A. TODD was born in New Haven, Conn., his present home, July 17, 1856, a worthy descendant of a most honorable family. His an- cestral line is traced from Christopher Todd, an early settler.
Christopher Todd was born in England, and being one of the original settlers of New Haven he was, without doubt, a member of the Rev. John Davenport's company, which arrived at Boston, Mass., July 21, 1637. By occupation he was farm- er, miller and baker, and after a most useful life he died April 23, 1686.
Capt. Samuel Todd, son of Christopher, was born April 20. 1645, followed his father's trade of miller, and died in 1714.
Samuel Todd, son of Capt. Samuel, was born July 1. 1672, and died in 1741. He had several sons, one of whom was Deacon Samuel Todd, of Northbury, new Plymouth.
Stephen Todd. son of Samuel, was born Dec.
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
1285
Jonah Todd, son of Stephen, settled in Bethany, Conn., where he had a sawmill, and died in 1803. Charles Todd, son of Jonah, was born Aug. 28, 1752.
Albert Todd, son of Charles, was the grandfa- ther of the subject of this sketch, and he was born May 2, 1783, and died July 24, 1843. He mar- ried Hannah Foote, and he settled on a farm in Northford, Conn. They reared a family of four children, namely: Charles; Alfred, the father of our subject ; Lydia; and Ambrose.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.