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 54
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The great-grandfather of Merwin Hemingway, Samuel Hemingway, married Mehitable Dennison, and lived in New Haven. They had these chil- dren: Mary, born May 13. 1734, married Jacob Pardee; Jacob, born April 19, 1737: Samuel, born in January, 1739: Desire married Zebulon Farrer in 1768; Mehitable, born March 18, 1745, married Daniel Bradley in 1767 : Samuel, born May 0, 1748; Eli, born Sept. 2, 1753: Sarah, born May 18. 1758, married Enos Hemingway, who was born in 1757.
Samuel Hemingway, son of Samuel and Mehit-
able, was a hotel keeper in East Haven in the first house south of the North Haven line. This house was built of brick and is still standing. It is now the property of Dr. Bishop, of New Haven, and was long known as the "Hemingway Tavern." Samuel Hemingway was a slave owner, and by his first marriage came into a large property and built the residence now owned and occupied by E. M. Hemingway, in North Haven. He carried on farm- ing on a large scale, and after an uneventful life died on his farm. In disposition he was quiet and re- tiring. For his first wife he wedded Hannah Mor- ris, who bore him the following children : Stephen, a farmer in East Haven, first married Esther Brad- ley, and later a Miss Andrews; Eleazer, a hotel keeper, married Geziah Bradley, and lived in East Haven ; and Esther, who married Roswell Daven- port. For his second wife Samuel Hemingway wedded widow Sarah Bradley, and their children were: Jacob, who married Sallie Gill, and lived in North Haven; and Augustus.
Augustus Hemingway was born in East Ha- ven in 1788, and was reared as a farmer boy, fol- lowing agriculture all his life, dying in the house now occupied by his son Edward. His life was the quiet, unobtrusive one of the industrious farm- er, and he reared his children carefully in the pre- cepts of the Presbyterian Church, and the Whig party, although he never took any active part in politics. Augustus Hemingway married Juline Blakeslee, of North Haven, a daughter of Amos and Eunice (Cooper) Blakeslee, the former a farm- er there, and their children were: Adeline, who died in young womanhood; Hannah M., who mar- ried Abijah Bradley, of North Haven, and later Solomon Linsley, of Northford, where she died; Willis B .; Eunitia, who married Levi Doolittle, a farmer of Cheshire; Julia, who married Elizer At- water, a successful farmer of Cheshire; Augustus, who married Ann Maria Rogers, lived in Branford as a farmer and died when thirty-five years old; Merwin E., of North Haven; and Edward M., who married Lucy Brockett, a farmer on the home farm in North Haven.
Merwin E. Hemingway was born Oct. 18, 1831, in the house now occupied by Edward M. Hemingway, a brother. His educational advant- ages were limited to the district school and his home was on the paternal farm until the age of twenty-six. When twenty-one years old he estab- lished a milk route in the city of New Haven, which he successfully conducted for twelve years. During the Civil war he furnished the conscript camp, carrying both the first and the last quart of milk on those grounds. In 1857 he erected his late residence, his land then consisting of but a few acres, while now the estate consists of 200 acres, and carried on dairying and market gardening, em- ploying a number of men in the various depart- ments of industry.
In 1885, in connection with his son, Louis R.,
& R. Hemingway
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Mr. Hemingway established a fertilizer business, in a small way, doing his first rendering in a hog kettle, white now the business has extended to such proportions that it requires the assistance of forty men, and the output is sold by brokers to the trade all over the world, the plant being used to render fat and make glue and fertilizers. It is one of the important industries of the city, and is well man- aged by the two sons of Mr. Hemingway.
On June 1, 1856, Merwin E. Hemingway was married to Mary Robinson, a daughter of Medad Robinson, a fariner of East Haven, and to this union were born: Walter M .; who married Lottie Schwenk, and has one child, Charlotte Florence. Minnie A. married Herbert Moss, a coal and ice dealer in Cheshire, and has three children, Walter, Mildred H. and Beatrice G. Harry L. first mar- ried Rose Scholey, who died leaving two children, Merwin and Arthur; his second marriage was to Lena Shepherd, by whom he had two children, Lena and William; he lives at the old home, and conducts a meat market on Lloyd street. The sec- ond marriage of Merwin Hemingway was to Fran- ces Winchell, a daughter of Grove Winchell, a farmer of Huntingdon, Mass., and they had two children : Clinton G., who displayed considerable business ability, but died at the age of twenty- eight (he married Lillian Mack) ; Louis R. is the subject of this sketch. Merwin E. Hemingway was for forty years a member of the First Con- gregational Church, in Fair Haven, with which his widow is also connected. He passed away July 17, 1900.
Louis R. Hemingway was born in North Ha- ven Dec. 3, 1865, and spent his early life in his native town, where he attended school. Until. the foundation of the business in which he is so promi- nent, he was occupied upon the farm. In 1885 he took an active part in the organization of what developed into the New Haven Glue Co., now L. R. Hemingway & Co., the firm consisting of his brother Walter and himself. The business has been successful and is growing yearly. They are man- ufacturers of glue, soap, fertilizers, etc., and deal- ers in grease, tallow, bones, etc., and are located at No. 241/2 Fair street.
Mr. Hemingway was married to Miss Eliza Areson, of New York, a granddaughter of John Tallman Areson, who at one time was superintend- ent of the Long Island Railroad and the Brooklyn City Railroad, and to this union three children have been born : Paul Areson, Doris Winchell and Helen Tallman. Although Mr. Hemingway is an ardent Republican, he has always refused political preferment. Socially he is a member of Adelphi Lodge, F. & A. M., of Fair Haven.
JOSEPH HENDLEY TOWNSEND, M. D., is a descendant in the eighth generation from Thomas Townsend, who came from London and settled at Lynn, Mass., about 1637, and a descend-
ant in the fifth generation from Jeremiah Townsend, who removed from Boston, Mass., to New Haven in 1739. On his arrival in New Haven Mr. Town- send purchased the house and lot on the northeast corner of Elm and College streets, which property remained in the Townsend family until 1833, when it was sold to the First Methodist Church.
Dr. Townsend, the subject of this sketch, is the son of John Townsend, of New Haven, and Harriet E. Sears, daughter of Elisha Sears, of Middletown, Conn. He was born in New Haven Jan. 18, 1862, and received his early education in the public schools of that city, graduating from the Hillhouse high school in 1881. He then entered Yale College, graduating with the class of 1885, and from Yale Medical School in 1887, receiving the Campbell prize in obstetrics. After spending nearly two years in the City Hospital, he, in 1889, began the practice of medicine in New Haven, where he has since remained. Dr. Townsend belongs to the City, County and State Medical Societies. He is also a meniber of the State Board of Health of Connecti- cut, and is Surgeon of the 2d Regiment, Conn. N. G.
On April 28, 1896, Dr. Townsend was married to Mrs. Bertha (Goodyear) Bradley, daughter of General E. D. S. Goodyear, of North Haven, Con- necticut.
WILLIAM CLIFFORD HOMAN, superin- tendent of the mechanical department of the Ed- ward Miller Co., Meriden, and a noted designer and inventor, was born in Middletown, Conn., Feb. 21, 1852.
The Homan family belonged to the old settlers of Long Island, and it was identified with the in- dustries of that section. Paul Homan, great-grand- father of William C., was a native of Long Island, was a ship-builder by occupation, and made his home in Riverhead, where he died.
Charles Homan, son of Paul, was born also in Long Island, there grew to manhood, and learned the trade of cloth dresser, following this at River- head, Suffolk Co., N. Y., where he built up a good business. He died in 1836. His wife was Esther Fithian, who was a native of Long Island, of English descent, and she died in New Haven in 1890. The children born to Charles and Esther Homan were as follows: George, Louise, William, Huldah, Benjamin, Charles and Esther.
William Homan, son of Charles, and father of William C., was born in Riverhead, Long Island, April 9, 1827, where his boyhood days were spent. At the age of eighteen years he came to Connecti- cut, located in New Haven, and learned the trade of brass molder, and also that of machinist. After completing his apprenticeship, he removed to Mid- dletown, Conn., but a short time after returned to New Haven, embarking at this time in the grocery business. His special talents, however, were evi- dently in the direction of his trade, and after a few
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years of indifferent success in his new line, he gave it up, went to Meriden, and in 1865 entered the factory of the Meriden Britannia Co., where for many years he was master machinist. Mr. Homan died in Meriden, Nov. 3, 1886, and he was buried in Walnut Grove cemetery. In political affiliation he was a Republican and served in the city council for four years, from the First ward. He was a consistent member of St. Andrew's Episcopal Church, was a man who won and held the esteem of all who knew him, and was a leading and public- spirited citizen.
On Jan. 6, 1849, William Homan was married in Middletown, Conn., to Augusta Savage, born in Middletown, daughter of Orrin and Nancy ( Ames) Savage. She died Feb. 8, 1872, and her remains repose in Walnut Grove cemetery. The children born to William and Augusta Homan were as fol- lows: Clara Augusta, born Feb. 16, 1850, married Alfred W. Curtis; William Clifford, born Feb. 21, 1852; Ellen Louise ( Nellie), born Sept. 24, 1855; Ida and Eva, twins, born June 28, 1857 ( the latter died young) ; Charles Edward, a resident of Meri- den ; Mary Esther, born June 15, 1865, died in New Haven, July 27, 1865; and Augusta May, born Jan. 30, 1872, died July 14, 1872. In 1876 William Homan married ( second) Frances Savage.
William Clifford Homan grew up in his home in New Haven and attended school there until the fam- ily removed to Meriden in 1866. Soon after this change he entered the employ of Parker & Casper, in the silver plating business, but a short time later became attached to the Meriden Britannia Co., and worked in the mechanical department until 1881, becoming all the time more expert and skillful in his line of business. . About this time he accepted a position with the Detrick & Harvey Manufacturing Co., of Baltimore, Md., as superintendent of ma- chinery, remaining one year in that city. Upon his return to Connecticut, he located at. Middle- town, where he was engaged with the Stiles & Park- er Press Co., as draughtsman and superintendent of machinery, continuing with that firm until 1887, when he returned to Meriden and entered the em- ploy of the Edward Miller Co., as draughtsman and master mechanic. For the past fifteen years, Mr. Homan has filled this responsible position with marked ability and efficiency. He has devoted a portion of his time to invention and has completed and patented a number of useful articles, notably an electro plating apparatus, and many articles in brass and allied wares. Perhaps in no way was the last century so remarkable as in the invention and de- velopment of machinery, and Mr. Homan is a con- spicuous example of the genins of the age. He has used his talents in the direction of his own line of business, and has made many inventions and im- provements either in entirely new articles or in the improving of others, by which their efficiency can be greatly increased.
In 1876 Mr. Homan was married, in New Brit-
ain, Conn., to Clarine Olmstead Jones, born in Torrington, Conn., April 21, 1851, daughter of William B. and Aurilla ( Morse) Jones., Mr. Ho- man is socially connected with the Home Club, of Meriden. He is a Republican, but no active poli- tician, his energy a.id time being employed in other directions. However, he served one term in the city council. He, with his wife, belongs to St. Andrew's Episcopal Church, generously supporting all moral and beneficent enterprises and dealing justly with all men. As an inventor he has gained renown, and as a citizen he enjoys the respect and esteem of his fellow-citizens and the confidence of the great business concern with which he has so long been in- timately associated.
CHARLES EDWARD HOMAN, brother of Will- iam C. Homan was born in New Haven Oct. 17, 1862, came to Meriden when but four years old, and there entered the district school. At the age of sixteen years he began work in the Meriden Britannia Co.'s shops, where he learned the trade of machinist under his father, and where he re- mained until May, 1887, when he entered the factory of Edward Miller & Co., as tool and die maker, also having charge of the electrical department. There he is still retained. On Dec. 31, 1891, he married Ellen Eliza Curtis, who was born in Meri- den, daughter of Capt. Alfred and Julia ( Phelps) Curtis, and half sister of Mrs. George Fay, of Meriden. Two children have been born to their union, one that died in infancy, and Esther Curtis. Mr. Homan and his family are members of St. Andrew's Episcopal Church, and socially he holds membership in the Home Club.
SAVAGE FAMILY. John Savage, of Middletown, Conn., was made a freeman in 1654. As to his mar- riage there is an uncertainty. He married accord- ing to "Hartford in the Olden Time," Feb. 10. 1652, in Hartford, Elizabeth Dubbin, while in Hart- ford Records, in New England Genealogical Regis- ter 13, page 142, it is stated that on the same date James Wakelt was married to Elizabeth Dubbin.
(II) Capt. John Savage, son of John, also of Middletown, born Dec. 2, 1652, married May 30, 1682, Mary, born in February, 1665, daughter of Thomas and Mary ( Hubbard) Ranney, of Middle- town. Mrs. Savage died Aug. 19, 1734.
(III) Thomas Savage, son of Capt. John, born Ang. 21, 1684, married March 21, 1711, Mary, born Dec. 8, 1685, daughter of William Goodwin, of Hartford (born in 1658 and died in 1733, son of William and grandson of Ozias) and Elizabeth (Shepard) Goodwin, daughter of John Shepard, of Cambridge, Mass. Ozias Goodwin was one of the first settlers of Hartford, Conn. Thomas Savage died Feb. 13, 1755 and his wife, Mary, passed away June 9, 1758.
(IV) Capt. Samuel Savage, son of Thomas, born in 1722, married Oct. 13. 1748. Sarah Kirby. born July 19, 1726. in Middletown "Upper Houses," daughter of John Kirby, granddaughter of Joseph
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
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Kirby, and great-granddaughter of John Kirby, who it is supposed came in the ship "Hopewell" in 1635, as his name was registered as a passenger on that ship, Sept. II, of that year, which was then about to sail from London, England, to New England. John Kirby, then a lad of twelve years, came from Warwickshire, England. On coming to New Eng- land he was for a time at Plymouth, there in 1643, and before 1645 had become a resident of Hartford, Conn. He was in Wethersfield, in 1647, and went to Middletown between 1651 and 1654. Here he remained until his death.
The children born to Samuel and Sarah ( Kirby) Savage were as follows: Sarah, born Oct. 1, 1749, died unmarried Oct. 1, 1789; Hepsibah, born Oct. 17, 1751 ; Sibyl, born March 5, 1754, died unmar- ried Sept. 13, 1787 ; Samuel, born May 9, 1756, died Dec. 17, 1819; Thomas, twin of Samuel, born May 9, 1756; Ozias, born Aug. 1, 1758, died Aug. 6, 1763; Seth, born Nov. 27, 1760, died unmarried before Sept. 13, 1787; John, born Jan. 22, 1763; Hannah, born May 4, 1765, died Aug. 23, 1829, married Capt. Richard Treat, of East Hartford, born in 1762, died Nov. 11, 1823 (they had ten chil- dren ) ; and Ozias, born 1767.
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(V) Samuel Savage, son of Samuel and Sarah, born May 9, 1756, married Dec. 27, 1778, Sara (or Mary Cornwell according to Cromwell Church records ), who was born Feb. 7, 1759, and died Aug. 31, 1827, a daughter of Nathaniel and Mary Corn- well, of Middletown, Conn. Their children were: Mehetable, born 1779, died Oct. 31, 1857; Samuel, born Jan. 2, 1782; Catherine, who married Jonathan Hall; Sally, who married Luther Mildrum, son of John and Lucretia ( Kirby) Mildrum, of Wethers- field and Middletown, respectively ; Hepzibah (twin of Mehetable), who married Seth Hall; Roswell; Rhoda, born 1795; David; Orrin, born Dec. 25, 1803, died 1828; and Seth, born 1790, who married Phebe, died before April 7, 1828, leaving, three chil- dren, Maria, Mary Ann and Seth. Capt. Samuel, father of the above family, was captain of the 6th Regiment of Colonial Militia in 1772, and after- wards a soldier in the Revolutionary war. He died Dec. 17, 1819.
(VI) Orrin Savage, son of Samuel and Sara (Cornwell) Savage, born Dec. 25, 1803, died Nov. 23, 1828. In 1827, he married Nancy Ames, and to this union came one child, Augusta, born April 27, 1828, in Middletown, who married Jan. 6, 1849, William Homan, and died Feb. 8, 1872.
JONES FAMILY. The Jones family of which Mrs. Homan is a descendant is one of the old and honored ones of New Haven county. William Jones, the first of that name in New Haven, was a native of England and according to the historian Savage, was supposed to be a son of Col. John Jones, of England, whose second wife was a sister of Oliver Cromwell. William Jones resided in Boston in 1660, and then came to New Haven and was governor of the Colony. He died in 1706 at
the age of eighty-two years, and was the father of fourteen children.
Samuel Jones, grandson of Gov. William and son of Samuel, settled in Wallingford, where he married Sarah, who died Nov. 9, 1760. Their chil- dren were: Mary; William; Diadate, who died in early manhood; Hester ; John and Daniel. He mar- ried ( second ) Esther Pratt, April 12, 1762.
Diadate Pratt, son of Samuel and Esther ( Pratt) Jones was born in Wallingford, June 16, 1766, and in 1789, in Colchester, Conn., he married Polly Smith, of East Haddam, Conn., and after her death, Hannah Wickwire, of Middlesex county. He en- listed in the Revolutionary war, was a pensioner under the Act of Congress, 1818; he was sergeant of the Millington South Co. militia, in 1816, and later captain. His death occurred in 1847, in East Had- dam, when he had reached the age of eighty-one years. The children of Sergeant Diadate Jones were: Diadate, born in 1790, died in East Had- dam; Asa, born in 1792, died at White Haven, Pa .; Eliphalet, born in 1794, died at East Haddam ; Wil- son, born in 1796, died at East Haddam; Erastus, born 1798, died at East Haddam; Henry, born 1800, was a lumber dealer in Hartford; Warren, born in 1802, died at Norwich, Conn. (he was a minister in the Congregational Church and preached in Hart- ford, Glastonbury, and New London county) ; William Bradley, born in 1804; Hannah, born in 1806, married John Stark, of East Haddam; Mary Ann, born in 1808, married Lewis Hillard, and died in East Haddam; and Sarah, born in 1810 and died in 1854.
William Bradley Jones, father of Mrs. Homan, was born in East Haddam, Nov. 23, 1804, and was a brass worker in Torrington. He was one of the first makers of brass kettles in that place, later re- moving to New Britain, where he engaged in con- tract work and spent the remainder of his life. He died Aug. 1, 1874, and was buried in the ceme- tery at New Britain. He voted with the Republican party, and was a consistent member of the Con- gregational Church.
The first marriage of William B. Jones was to Caroline Stark, who died in 1836, leaving two chil- dren, namely: William Albert, A. M., who was a prominent educator in Terre Haute, Ind., was presi- dent of the Indiana State Normal School, and has recently resigned the superintendency of the Blind institution at Nebraska City, Nebraska, now resid- ing on a farm near Hastings, that State; and Mary, who married John Morse. The second marriage of William B. Jones, was in 1839, to Aurilla Morse, who was born in Pennsylvania, daughter of Deacon Levi and Thalia ( Sanford) Morse, and the widow of Lewis Perkins, of Litchfield, Conn. The children born to this marriage were as follows: Devereaux Dutton, deceased, who was a major in the Civil war, married Mary O'Brien, daughter of a Confederate general, and a well-known teacher in Nebraska; Aurilla Morse, married Albert Camp, of Roxbury,
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Conn .; Edgar Bradley, a soldier in the Civil war; and Clarine Olmstead, who married William Clif- ford Homan. Mrs. Jones had two children by her first marriage, namely: Russell L. Perkins, who served as a soldier during the Civil war, and died in New Britain, Conn., an expert engineer; and Sanford, who was lieutenant-colonel of the 14th Conn. V. I., in the Civil war, and who died in Middletown, Conn., in 1874. Mrs. Jones died in New Britain, Nov. 15, 1878, and was interred in the cemetery in this place. She was a devoted mem- ber of the Congregational Church.
MORSE FAMILY. John Moss ( Morse), born in England in 1604, probably came to New England with Hopkins, Eaton and Davenport, in 1637. He was one of the planters of New Haven, signing the Social Compact, 1639-40, and remained in New Haven about thirty years, then removed to Walling- ford on the settlement of that town in 1670. He died in 1707, aged one hundred and three years, and was buried in Wallingford, Connecticut.
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(II) John Morse, son of the settler, born Oct. 12, 1650, married Dec. 12, 1677, Martha Lathrop, and resided in New Haven and Wallingford, probably removing to the latter town with his father in 1670. He died March 31, 1717, and his wife passed away in 1677.
(III) John Morse (3), son of John (2), born Nov. 10, 1682, married Feb. 25, 1768, Elizabeth Hall, and resided in Wallingford. He died May 14, 1755, and she died Jan. 17, 1754.
(IV) Levi Morse, son of John (3), born Dec. 31, 1722, married Jan. 19, 1743-4, Martha Fenn, and resided in Wallingford.
(V) Levi Morse (2), son of Levi, born Nov. 16, 1746, married June 14, 1773, Martha Sherman, of Newtown, and resided in Litchfield, Conn. Their children were: John Sherman, born Feb. 10, 1774; Levi; born Sept. 19, 1775; Margery, born May 19, 1778; Aurilla, born Jan. 15, 1781; Stephan, born Nov. 26, 1782; Martha, born March 24, 1785 ; Polly, born Dec. I, 1787; Olive, born Aug. 24, 1789; and Laura, born Oct. 15, 1791. The father of above family was a sergeant in the Revolutionary war. His wife, Martha, began drawing a pension Oct. 10, 1836, at which time she was eighty-six years old. She died in 1842.
(VI) Levi Morse, son of Levi and Martha Sher- man, married Oct. 26, 1796, Thalia Sanford. Their children were: Barthena, born Sept. 16, 1797; Har- riot, March 17, 1800; Philena, Oct. 13, 1803; Au- rilla, Oct. 19, 1806; Thalia Ann, June 19, 1811; Levi Andrew, July 14, 1814; Polly, Nov. 25, 1817; and Levi, March 14, 1822.
JOHN E. WUSTERBARTH, senior partner of the well-known firm of Wusterbarth Bros., lo- cated at No. 106 Miller street, Meriden, manu- facturers of "Yankee," "Improved" and "Boss" eaves-trough hangers, light mantel goods, high- grade bicycles, etc., was born in Beacon Falls, New
Haven Co., Conn., Jan. 11, 1875, a son of Albert and Augusta ( Ross) Wusterbarth.
Albert Wusterbarth was a native of the northern part of Germany, and there learned the trade of weaver. When a young man he came to America, and located in Meriden, Conn., where lie engaged at his trade, later finding a better situation at Beacon Falls, Conn. In the latter city he married Miss Angusta Ross, who was also a native of Germany. In 1880 he returned to Meriden and entered the employ of Rogers & Bros., where he continued until the time of his death, in 1897, at the age of fifty-four years. His life had been an industrious and useful one, and he was sincerely mourned by his many friends. Thirteen children were born of his marriage with Augusta Ross, as follows: John F. (the eldest of the family), Adolph (partner with his elder brother in busi- ness), William, Edward, Robert, Henry,. Bertha, Hattie, Harold, Albert, Elsie, Emil and Flora, all of whom with their beloved mother reside in Meriden. .
John E. Wusterbarth was a pupil in the public schools until he was eleven years of age, but be- ing the eldest in a large family he at that age ac- cepted a position as cash boy in the mercantile house of Ives, Upham & Rand, receiving for his services five dollars per week. He continued with this firm for three years, in the meantime attend- ing night school. The next business situation he accepted was in the casting department of C. Rogers & Bros., where he remained one year, and he then spent four years in the packing department of the Meriden Bronze Co., receiving at first one, dollar per day, which was later increased by fifty cents. In his next position, which was with the Charles Parker Co., he was able to obtain ten dol- lars per week, and later entered the employ of the firm of Proudman Bros., in the bicycle business. Here he continued six years, and became a trusted foreman, and in 1898 he accepted a position with the Eclipse Bicycle Co., of Elmira, N. Y., as man- ager of their business in London, England, ac- ceptably filling this important position for a period of two years. Mr. Wusterbarth had, however, no idea of making an Englishman of himself, and resigned the position in order to return to America, which he did in August, 1900. In the following September, in connection with his brother Adolph, he bought out the business interests of the Proud- man Bros., and formed the firm of Wusterbarth Bros., engaging in the manufacture of high-grade bicycles and hardware supplies, in which they have been unusually successful, as the wide experience of our subject enables him to manage the business most advantageously.
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