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 49
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Ezra Ray, son of Peter, and grandfather of Eugene H. Ray, of Meriden, was born in Haddam, was a cooper by occupation and a member of the Baptist Church. He was an active member of the Democratic party. His death occurred Aug. 4, 1832, when he was aged fifty-three years. He mar- ried Prualla Bailey, born in Higganum, Conn., daughter of Sagart Reuben and Ruea ( Palmer) Bailey, and their children were: Martha Ann, who married Ebenezer Slocum, had thirteen children, and is now living in Moravia, N. Y., at the age of eighty-eight ; Alason, who died in Haddam : Emery, of Fall River, Mass., who i arried Eliza Congden, and had ten children ; Ebenezer : Eber R. ; Harriet, who married David Buell, of Haddam, and died there; Orrin, who died in Haddam; Samantha, who married David Buell ( first) and ( second) Chauncy Skinner, and is now living in Haddam; Rowena, who married Leonard Buell, had three children, and is now living in Haddam; and Reu- ben, who died young. Mr. and Mrs. Ray both died in Haddam and were interred in that place. They were both valued in the Baptist Church.
Eber R. Ray was born Jan. 7, 1819, in Branford,
Conn., and his younger days were spent in East Haddam, where he followed farming. Later he learned the stone cutting trade, which he followed in Haddam until 1875, when he came to Meriden and obtained the position of watchman at the Meri- den Britannia factory. For twenty-three years he held this responsible position, giving true and re- liable service, but defective hearing caused his resignation, and he is now living retired from ac- tivity. Mr. Ray is in his eighty-fourth year, but still retains his faculties and energy to a remarkable de- gree. He has lived a temperate and exemplary life, and has won the respect of all with whom he has become associated. A Republican in his political opinions, he has never sought any public office. In his earlier days he was third lieutenant of the First Artillery Company of the Sixth Regiment of the old State militia.
On Nov. 25, 1847, Mr. Ray was married to Flora L. Fuller, who was born in East Haddam, a daughter of Truman and Matilda (Lord) Fuller. The children born to Mr. and Mrs. Ray were: (1) Ada M., born Oct. 5, 1848, was educated in Had- dam and Hartford high school and lives at home. (2) Henry A., born Nov. 3, 1850, married March 13, 1885, Helena A. Joyce, in Toronto, Canada. By trade he is a stationary engineer, and fraternally is a member of Landmark Lodge, No. 422, A. F. & A. M., of Chicago, Ill. (3) Charles A., born March 4, 1852, died in East Hartford, March 12, 1900, from the effects of an accident on the electric street railroad in Hartford. By trade he was a carpenter and joiner. Socially he belonged to Pa- cific Lodge, No. 87, I. O. O. F. He left a widow, Mary ( Wood ) Ray, and two children, Esther I. and Carlotta Fuller. (4) Eugene Hamilton, born April 10, 1855, is mentioned below. (5) Flora B., born Jan. 24, 1870, was educated in the district schools and graduated from the Meriden high school and also the State Normal school, and is now a successful teacher at the Church Street school. Mr. and Mrs. Ray celebrated their golden wedding in 1897, and during their fifty years of wedded life the sun never set on their anger. They have been devoted to home and family, the latter justifying their natural pride. They both belong to the First Baptist Church.
EUGENE HAMILTON RAY, son of Eber R., was born in Haddam, where he attended the district school. He started out to make a career for him- self by becoming a clerk in a store in Middletown, where his wages were three dollars a week, and where he spent three years, and then he started in to learn the trade of Britannia making with the Si- mons & Miller Plate Co. After two and one-half years spent there, he came to Meriden, working first with the Wilcox Silver Plate Co., where he re- inained twenty-two years. About this time Mr. Ray began to think of embarking in a business of his own. In company with a Mr. Graham he began work in the evenings and at off times, in the manu-
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facture of notions which were in demand, gaining so much encouragement that in 1892 the Silver City Plate Co. was formed, Mr. Sheldon Beach coming in as a partner. This company was incor- porated under the laws of the State of Connecticut, in 1897, when Mr. Ray was elected president ; Mr. Grahamı, secretary; and Mr. Beach, treasurer. Twenty-five skilled hands are employed, and the business is not only firmly established, but is in a constantly increasing condition.
In 1877 Mr. Ray was married to Ella A. Gris- wold, who was born in Meriden, daughter of N. F. Griswold, a well-known citizen of that city. Three children were born to this union, viz: Stanley Gris- wold, a graduate of the high school ; Fayoline Eliza ; and Eber Irving, all at home. Mr. Ray is a Re- publican and has been a member of the city council from the Second ward, serving efficiently for four years on the committees on Health, Lamps and Sewers. He is identified with all enterprises look- ing to the city's advantage and enjoys a large meas- ure of public esteem.
BAILEY. The Bailey family is an old one of Haddam, Middlesex county. Hinman says that the most of the Baileys of Connecticut descended from John Bailey, of Haddam. This John Bailey was one of the original twenty-eight purchasers and set- tlers of Haddam in 1662. These were generally young men who married about the time of settle- ment. Several are known to have come immediately from Hartford. John Bailey was a constable there in 1656. He had sons, Benjamin and John.
(II) Benjamin, son of John the settler, had sons John, Benjamin and Nathaniel.
(II) John (2), son of John, had sons John, Ephraim, Jonathan and David.
(III) Nathaniel, son of Benjamin, had sons Daniel and Ezekiel.
(III) John (3), son of John Bailey (2), had sons John, Nathaniel, Jeremiah, Amos, James and William.
(III) Ephraim, also son of John (2), had sons Ephraim, Jacob, Gideon, Stephen, Jabez, Caleb, Abijah, William, Ephraim and Reuben, and daugh- ter Olive.
(IV) Reuben Bailey was born in the town of Haddam and there married Ruea Palmer, of Hig- ganum, and their daughter Prualla married Ezra Ray. Reuben Bailey served in the Revolutionary war, as a private in the eighth company in Col. Douglass' regiment, under Capt. Cornelius Higgins, and was promoted to the rank of sergeant under Capt. Smith in 1777. He died in Haddam, June 26, 1826, at the age of seventy-two years.
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Thus Mr. Eugene H. Ray is seen to be connected with some of the oldest and most prominent families of New England. However, a man does not need the assistance of an honorable ancestral line to attest his own value, his integrity, energy and public spirit making him one of the leading men of this city. He serves the town when he deems his
assistance required, and he is highly considered in the ranks of his party. For two years he was the chairman of the town committee, taking an active interest in politics, as he also does in Silver City Lodge, of the A. O. U. W. His family are mem- bers of the Universalist Church, and Mr. Ray is generous in his support of the same. Although he is not formally connected with any religious body, his life is fashioned on moral lines, and his stand- ards are high.
FULLER. The Fullers of East Haddam, Conn., descended from Samuel Fuller, one of the passengers on the "Mayflower," 1620. Mr. Fuller was the son of Edward and Ann Fuller, both of whom died soon after they came ashore, and Sam- uel resided at Plymouth with his uncle Samuel, and was at Barnstable, as appears by the church rec- ords, as early as 1641, but it does not appear that he was a resident of the town until after Jan. I, 1644. He was constable at Scituate in 1641, and occasionally served as jurvman. He was a pions man, and retiring in his habits, and he was the only one of the passengers on the "Mayflower" who set- tled in Barnstable. His death occurred Oct. 31, 1683, among the last of those who came to Amer- ica on that noted vessel. His wife was not men- tioned in his will, so it is likely she died before him. Mr. Fuller was married to Jane Lothrop, daughter of Rev. John Lothrop, in Scituate, April 8, 1635, the ceremony being performed by Capt. Miles Standish.
(II) John Fuller, called "Little John" to dis- tinguish him from others of the name, son of Sam- ttel the emigrant settler, born about 1655, remained on the parental estate at Scorton until 1689, when he removed with other families to East Haddam, Conn. His wife, Mehitable, was admitted to the Barnstable church in October, 1688, and her sons, Samuel, Thomas and Shubael, were baptized. and on May 19, 1689, her daughter Thankful was bap- tized. Their next son, John, is recorded as born Nov. 10, 1697, at East Haddam. During the inter- val they had Deborah and other children, and the names of children born to John and his wife were: Charity, born Dec. 11, 1729, married Ang. 7, 1760, Silas Lovel; Isaac, born Sept. 9, 1731, married Susan Wadsworth; Seth, born May 29, 1734: Hannah, born April 9, 1736.
Haddam, Conn., was settled in 1662, and East Haddam in 1685. Rev. David D. Field, pastor of the church at Haddam, and who wrote a sketch of that town which was published in 1814, says : "John, Thomas and Shubael Fuller, brothers, from Barnstable, Mass., settled in East Haddam soon after the first settlers on the east side of the river," and he gives the following genealogy of the family :
John had sons John, William and Andrew.
Thomas had sons Jehial, Rev. Daniel ( a min- ister in Mendon, Mass.), Oliver, Nathan, Jabez and Jonathan.
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Shubael had sons Shubael and Jonathan.
William Ward Fuller, grandson of one of these three Fuller brothers who settled in East Haddam, was born Feb. 23, 1760, and died Dec. 27, 1823, in his sixty-fourth year. He married Nov. 8, 1781, Susanna Knowlton, who was born Oct. 21, 1759, and who died Oct. 30, 1820. Their children were: Obadiah, born Aug. 8, 1782, married Achsali Gates, Feb. 12, 1806; Lura, born Feb. 2, 1785, died March 5, 1788; Clara, born May 22, 1786, died Jan. 18, 1787; William Ward, born Feb. 2, 1788, mar- ried, June 14, 1811, Abigail Gates; Susanna, born Feb. 27, 1790, died Oct. 30, 1820; Beulalı, born Sept. 21, 1791, married, Nov. 25, 1813, George B. Chapman; Truman, born Nov. 9, 1793; Stephen, born Feb. 10, 1796, married, Sept. 2, 1821, Eliza Howell, and died in November, 1885; Hiram, born March 18, 1798, died Sept. 15, 1818; and Flora, born Jan. 15, 1801, married Jan. 22, 1828, Chauncy B. Phelps.
Truman Fuller, son of William Ward Fuller, was born in East Haddam, Nov. 9, 1793. He mar- ried (first) Sept. 23, 1819, Matilda Lord, who en- tered into rest Jan. 13, 1848, aged fifty-six years. He married (second) Louisa P. Cook, June 18, 1848. He died April 4, 1875, at the age of eighty- one years. His children were: Stephen, born Oct. 7, 1821, married Laura A. Chapman, had two chil- dren, Edgar and Ida, and died in November, 1885; William Lord, born June 5, 1823, married Emeline Arnold, had children Francis and William, and died Oct. 10, 1882; Eliza K., born Feb. 13, 1826, died Sept. 22, 1897, married David S. Purple (no chil- dren) ; Flora L., born June 21, 1829, married Eber R. Ray; Henry T., who resides in East Haddam, was born Aug. 4, 1831, and married first Mary E. Emmons, and after her death Elizabeth Lewis, who had one child, George Lord.
The LORD Family, from which Mrs. Ray de- scended, was one of those which gained honor and substance in the first settling of New England. The first of the family to come from England and found a family in Connecticut was Thomas Lord, who came hither with his wife in 1635, and died in Hart- ford in 1678, at the age of eighty-seven years. His children were as follows : Ann, William, John, Robert, Irene and Dorothy.
William Lord, son of Thomas, married Tabitha (surname not given), and their son, Ezekiel Lord, was born in 1755, in Colchester, Conn., removing in 1815 to Hamilton, Madison Co., N. Y., where he died in 1839. He married Anna Hungerford, Nov. 8, 1783, and she died July 4, 1849. Their children were : Lydia, born June 23, 1789, married Uriah Church, and died Sept. 22, 1862; Rhoda, born Aug. 23: 1791, married Frank Comstock, and died April 17, 1854; Lucinda and Matilda, twins, born April I, 1797, the former married Hiram Hamilton. and the latter Truman Fuller, and died in August, 1858; Daniel, born April 4, 1787, married Amanda Chapman; William, born May 2, 1785, married
(first ) Cressa Brainard, and ( second ) Lucy Brain- ard, and died Nov. 6, 1855 (he was in the war of 1812, and in 1838 was a member of the New York Legislature for the town of Hamilton).
EDWIN J. ALLING. Among the leading farmers of Oxford there is probably none more energetic or thorough-going than the gentleman whose name opens this sketch. He was born in that town March 18, 1834, a son of Eli and Maria ( Bald- win) Alling, and is one of a family of eight chil- dren, four sons and four daughters, namely : Nancy; Bennett, deceased; Grace; Mary Ann; Burr, deceased ; Burr (2) ; Edwin J .; and Oliva N. Eli Alling was a native of Woodbridge, this county, and was a farmer by occupation. He was called out for army service in 1812.
Our subject was reared on a farm, and remained at home until nineteen years of age, when he went to New Haven, and there worked at the gilder's trade for four years. At the end of that time Mr. Alling returned to Oxford, remaining here until his enlistment in June, 1862. He became a private in Company B, 20th Conn. V. I., which was mustered into tlie United States service at New Haven, and first ordered to Washington, D. C. He participated in the battles of Chancellorsville and Gettysburg, and was then in Sherman's campaign, taking part in the battles of Lookout Mountain, Resaca, Buz- zard's Roost, Allatoona, Peach Tree Creek, and the operations before Atlanta. During the last named engagement he was wounded by an explosive ball which struck him in the back, two pieces passing upward and three pieces taking a downward course. While going to the rear he was again wounded, by a buck shot, in the back of the head. It passed through the skull and has never been taken out. After spending some time in the field hospital, Mr. Alling was sent to the hospital at Chattanooga, Tenn., and later to one in Nashville, being confined in these three months. At the end of that time he was granted a furlough and returned home. Though he rejoined his regiment in October, he was physi- cally unable to engage in active duty, and again re-^ turned home on a furlough. Later he went to Washington, D. C., where he was honorably dis- charged Jan. 13, 1865. Since then he has made his home in Oxford with the exception of two years, and in 1884 located on the farm where he now re- sides. Here he has eiglity-eight acres under a high state of cultivation, improved with good and sub- stantial buildings, and he also has another fine farm of sixty-five acres elsewhere. He carries on general farming principally, and as a thorough and skillful agriculturist is meeting with most excellent success in his labors. He has given considerable attention to fruit culture, having some eighteen acres in apples. peaches, plums, and strawberries and rasp- berries, his market being Naugatuck. In 1900 he had 1,000 bushels of hand-picked apples, and 150 bushels of strawberries.
Laura C. Alla
Edwin
ing
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On Nov. 30, 1854, Mr. Alling was united in marriage with Miss Laura Bigelow, who was born in 1833, daughter of Aaron and Elizabeth ( Porter) Bigelow, farming people of Colchester, and grand- daughter of Joel Bigelow, who was a soldier in the Revolutionary war. To Mr. and Mrs. Alling have been born seven children: Edwin B., born Aug. 18, 1855, lived in Branford, and died Jan. 23, 1891 ; he married Mrs. Jennie Abbott, and they had three children, Edwin N., Jennie E., and Frederick N., the last named deceased. Wilbur S., born March 7, 1859, is a merchant, manufacturer and traveling man, and resides in Norwich, Conn .; he married May Tiffany, and they have three children, Edna F., Ward and Sidney B. Noyes E., born March 6, 1863, is a wholesale and retail dealer in rubber goods in Bridgeport; he married Emma Squares and has three children, Edna S., Madeline and Ruth B. Lizzie M. is deceased. Clarence E., born Aug. 5, 1870, resides at Waterbury; he married Susan Rider. Arthur E., born Sept. 19, 1873, is engaged in a rubber establishment in New Haven; he mar- ried Florence Wheaton. Franklin B. married Jen- nie L. Lum, and they have one child, Doratha. The mother of this family is a member of the Episcopal Church.
Fraternally Mr. Alling affiliates with Upson Post, No. 40, G. A. R., of Seymour, and politically is identified with the Republican party. He has served his town as assessor, road inspector, con- stable and grand juror, and his duties of citizen- ship are always most conscientiously and faithfully performed. A man of strong individuality and in- dubitable probity, one who has attained to a due measure of success in the affairs of life, and whose influence is always found on the side of right, this honored veteran of the Civil war assuredly demands representation in this volume.
.GEORGE MORGAN is a well-known and re- spected citizen of New Haven county, whose ex- perience through the Civil war is one to be remem- bered to his honor. He is a representative in the third generation of his name in the United States. Isaac Morgan, the grandfather of our subject, and his three brothers came from Wales when young men, Isaac locating in West Haven, Conn., William in the State of New York, George in the State of Vermont, while the other brother settled in the South and became the father of the famous guer- rilla raider, Gen. John Morgan.
Isaac Morgan married Sarah Downes, of Or- ange, Conn., and they became the parents of the fol- lowing children: George W., the father of our subject ; Martha, who married Allen Northrop, and died in New Haven ; Jane, who married a Mr. Har- mont, of New Haven ; Julia, who married Wales Buckingham, a farmer of North Haven: one that died young : and Mary and Frances, both of New Haven. Isaac Morgan and his wife died in Orange and were buried there.
George W. Morgan was born in Orange, Conn., and after a meager education learned the trade of shoemaker, under Alva J. Durant, and followed that line almost all his life. Soon after marriage he removed to Oxford, where he continued many years, until he began to feel the confinement of a sedentary life and changed to a more vigorous one, engaging in the express business, and for a long time drove an express and mail wagon between Zoarbridge and New Haven, delivering many hun- dreds of papers weekly along this route. While living in Oxford he filled many of the local offices, among them that of road surveyor, and was a life- long Democrat. In 1857 Mr. Morgan removed to North Haven and located on the Sharon Bassett farm, and there spent his declining years. After settling down on the farm he resumed his old trade for a time, making custom shoes, but later devoted all his time to his farm until his death, which took place in December, 1896, when he was sincerely mourned by a large circle of friends. During his residence in North Haven he was one of the most valued members of the Congregational Church. He married Louisa Platt, a native of Orange, and a daughter of Nathan Platt, a farmer, and her death occurred in March, 1887. Our subject is the sur- vivor of the two children born to his parents; the other, Ann, died young.
George Morgan was born July 4, 1835, in Or- ange, Conn., where he received excellent educa- tional advantages, and upon the family's removal to Oxford entered a private school, later attending the high school of that place. Upon locating in North Haven, he was undecided as to his occupation, and spent some time at mason work, also becoming slightly interested in dentistry and in the daguerreo- type business in New Haven, but found more con- genial employment on the farm, and was working with his father at the opening of the Civil war. On Aug. 11, 1862, he enlisted in Co. D, 15th Conn. V. I., under the brave Capt. Samuel Hubbard, and later under Capt. William Burgess." Before leav- ing New Haven he was detached to serve in the commissary department, and accompanied the regi- ment in the brigade commissary department when it was sent to Arlington Heights. During the siege of Suffolk Mr. Morgan was on duty, being later detached to assist in the building of the slaughter- house at Newport News and to help in the killing of from fifty to seventy-five head of cattle daily. At one time his department was required to supply food for 30,000 men. During the last year of serv- ice he was made military conductor of the railroad between Newbern and Morehead City, N. C., but at the battle of Kinston, in the same State, March 8, 1865. his usefulness was suddenly brought to an end by his capture by the enemy, and for eighteen days he knew what it was to be a prisoner of war. Sixteen were spent in marching, and two days in Libby prison, an exchange of prisoners being made ! then, and he received his parole on the day of Lee's
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surrender, and was mustered out in 1865. After his return he assisted his father on the farm, taking entire charge of it after the death of his parents. This is a very valuable ] roperty, consisting of sev- enty-five acres, and our subject has been very suc- cessfull in general farming.
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Mr. Morgan was married to Bessie A. Bassett, of Haniden, her father, Henry Bassett, being a farmer of the vicinity. Mr. Morgan is a stanch Re- publican and takes a deep and intelligent interest in public affairs. Fraternally he is connected with Admiral Foote Post, No. 17, G. A. R., of New Ha- ven. Among his friends and neighbors Mr. Mor- gan is highly esteemed, and is considered a miost valued citizen.
JOHN B. McQUEEN. The McQueen name is an old and honorable one in the State of Connecti- cut, where it is borne by members who are promin- ent in business and professional life. The founder of this family, Capt. William B. McQueen, came from Scotland and settled in Branford, Conn., prior to the Revolutionary war, in which he took an active part and commanded a sloop in the interests of the colonists. Capt. McQueen was lost at sea.
James McQueen, son of Capt. William, and grandfather of John B., of New Haven, was born in Branford, Conn., and there lived an agricultural life. His son, Samuel, was born also in Branford, March 1, 1822, and died in New Haven, in 1879. In Essex, Conn., he learned the carpenter trade, to which he was apprenticed, and when about twen- ty years of age, came to New Haven. Here he en- gaged in building and contracting, accumulated means, was a leading Democrat, and a consistent member of the Congregational Church.
Father Samuel McQueen married Susan E. Barnes, who was born in North Haven, a daughter of Jared and Sarah ( Hemingway) Barnes. of East Haven, and two children were born to them,-Al- mira T., who married Andrew G. Smith, a merchant in New Haven ; and John B.
John B. McQueen was reared to young manhood in New Haven, and enjoyed educational advantages both in the graded schools of this city and an ex- cellent private school. After completing his edu- cation, Mr. McQueen entered the dry goods store of Smith, Kimberly & Co., serving for a short time as an errand boy, but then entered upon a course of practical work, under his father, in the carpenter trade. In 1878 he had perfected himself sufficiently to begin the business of contracting and building, and with his brother-in-law, and a strong firm was formed, Mr. McQueen attending to the practical part, and Mr. Smith the financial part.
S. McQueen graduated from the Yale Medical school with the class: of 1901, and is now in the practice of his profession in this city.
In politics, Mr. McQueen has been a life-long Democrat, while socially he is connected with the order A. O. U. W. For a period he was sergeant of the New Haven Grays, and when the Governor's Foot Guards was re-organized, in 1893, he entered this order and holds the position of sergeant. The religious connection of the family is with the United Church.
EDWARD BEECHER (deceased). In every community there are citizens whose lives are an in- spiration to their fellow men, who by the force of example inculcate the practice of those sterling virtues, that make so much for good citizenship. Edward Beecher was one of the most successful farmers in Bethany township. Orphaned at four years of age he came, at the age of thirteen years, to the farm which he subsequently owned, and ! which for a period of thirty-six years was his home. Though summoned by death when yet a comparatively young man, he had fought a good fight and had won that commendation and admira- tion from his fellows which keeps sacred his mem- ory and perpetuates the force and worthiness of his career.
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