USA > Connecticut > Encyclopedia of Connecticut biography, genealogical-memorial; representative citizens, v. 1 > Part 27
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of writing, March 14, 1755, by James Benedict, of Ridgefield, Connecticut.
Traces of Thomas Benedict are found on the records at Jamaica, December 12, 1662, when he was appointed with others to lay out the south meadow and was voted a home lot. He served on other committees and held various offices. He was appointed magistrate, March 20, 1663, by Peter Stuyvesant, the Dutch governor of New Amsterdam. In the same year he signed the petition for an- nexation to Connecticut. He was lieu- tenant of the military company, Decem- ber 3. 1663; was a grantee of Elizabeth- town, New Jersey. After coming to Con- necticut he was town clerk of Norwalk, 1664-74-77 and later, and often a select- man, serving seventeen years, ending in 1688; was a freeman as early as 1669; representative in the Connecticut General Assembly 1670-75. In 1684 he was ap- pointed by the General Court to plant a town, called Danbury, in 1687. "His good sense and general intelligence, some scientific knowledge and his skill as a penman made him their recourse when papers were to be drafted, lands to be surveyed and apportioned and disputes to be arbitrated. It is evident that very general respect for his judgment pre- vailed and that trust in his integrity was equally general and implicit." He was concerned in establishing the church at Southold and at Huntington and also helped to found the First Presbyterian Church at Jamaica in 1662. He was dea- con of the Norwalk church the last years of his life. His will was dated February 28, 1689-90. Of his household, James Benedict wrote: "They walked in the midst of their house with a perfect heart. They were strict observers of the Lord's Day from even to even." Many of his descendants followed him in the office of deacon of the church. "The savor of his piety as well as his venerable name has
been transmitted through a long line of deacons and other godly descendants to the seventh generation." His son, Lieu- tenant Daniel Benedict, was born in Southold, Long Island, about 1650. He removed to Norwalk with the family ; served in the Swamp fight in King Philip's War, December 19, 1675; had a grant of twelve acres as one who took part in that fight; sold his property at Norwalk, March 25, 1690, and removed to Danbury. His date of death is un- known; he was alive February 15, 1722- 23. He married Mary, daughter of Ma- thew Marvin, of Norwalk. Their son, Daniel Benedict, was born in Norwalk. He married Rebecca, daughter of Thom- as Taylor, an original settler of Danbury. His will was dated March 26, 1762, and proved August 5, 1776, soon after his death. Their son, Captain Daniel Bene- dict, was born in 1705, died November 9, 1773. He married, October, 1728, Sarah Hickok, born 1709, died May 6, 1784. Following is her epitaph: "Here lies buried the body of Mrs. Sarah Benedict the meek, benevolent and virtuous con- sort of Captain Daniel Benedict." His epitaph : "He was for many years Dea- con of this town (Danbury) and by an exemplary life and conversation endorsed the sincerity of his Christian profession." Their son, Aaron Benedict, was born in Danbury, January 17, 1745. In 1770 he removed to Waterbury and settled in what is now Middlebury. He was a soldier in the French and Indian War, a lieutenant in the Revolution, and took part in the Quebec expedition. He was a pensioner of the United States late in life. For some years he was the leading citizen of the town. In 1809-10 he repre- sented his town in the General Assembly of the State and was delegate to the State Constitutional Convention in Au- gust, 1818. He died December 16, 1841. He was a remarkable and very superior
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type of the founders of the Republic, of strong mind, straightforward, earnest, capable and patriotic. He married, De- cember 13, 1769, Esther Trowbridge, born November 6, 1748, died March 16, 1833. Their son Aaron is of further men- tion.
Deacon Aaron Benedict was born in that part of Waterbury which is now Middlebury, August 9, 1785, in a house that is still standing. He attended the public schools and entered Yale College, but ill-health caused him to leave in the middle of his sophomore year. At the age of nineteen he became a partner of Joseph Burton in a mercantile business. In 1812 he began at Waterbury in a small way to manufacture bone and ivory but- tons and thus laid the real foundation of the present Benedict & Burnham Manu- facturing Company. This business, after several years, proved unsatisfactory and Mr. Benedict began to manufacture gilt buttons under the name of A. Benedict, associated with Bennet Bronson, of Waterbury, and Nathan Smith, William Bristol and David C. De Forest, of New Haven. Mr. Benedict was the general partner and had exclusive management of the concern, which began with a capi- tal of $6,500. The prosperity of Water- bury as a manufacturing center may be dated from the formation of this com- pany, although the gilt button business had been carried on for some years be- fore that. The enterprise met with many discouragements, but the energy, enter- prise and industry of Mr. Benedict finally won success. Skillful artisans were brought from England and the factory produced an excellent grade of goods. During the year 1824 the sales amounted to $5,000. Soon afterward Benjamin De Forest, of Watertown, and Alfred Platt were admitted to the firm, and Mr. De Forest, who bought out his brother, proved an excellent salesman and greatly
increased the volume of business. In 1827 the partnership was renewed and the capital increased to $13,000. The firm name was changed February 2, 1829, to Benedict & Coe and the capital raised to $20,000. Mr. Benedict's partners were Israel Coe, Bennet Bronson, Benjamin De Forest, Alfred Platt and James Croft. The plant was enlarged and a rolling mill added. The name was changed again February 10, 1834, to Benedict & Burn- ham and the capital raised to $40,000. The partners were Mr. Benedict, Gordon W. Burnham, Bennet Bronson, Alfred Platt, Henry Bronson, Samuel S. De Forest and John De Forest. The first two were general partners and agents of the concern. The copartnership was re- newed March 16, 1838, and the capital fixed at $71,000, and again, March II, 1840, at $100,000. The business was in- corporated, January 14, 1843, under the title of Benedict & Burnham Manufactur- ing Company, the first joint stock corpo- ration in Waterbury, with a capital of $100,000, increased in 1848 to twice that amount, and in 1856 to $400,000. From time to time the plant was enlarged, and now the buildings cover several acres. The business has grown constantly. The company manufactures copper and all the alloys of copper, brass, gilding metal and German silver in sheets, in wire of all sizes, brazed and seamless tubing of brass and copper, brass and German silver beadings, drop-handles and knobs for furniture. also safety pins, rivets, bars, butt hinges, roller bushings, printers' rules and galleys, lamp burners and trim- mings, insulated electric wire and hard- drawn copper for telegraph purposes. The Benedict & Burnham Company has from time to time become the founder of new corporations for conducting branches of the business. In 1846 the American Pin Company was established and the pin business transferred to it; in 1849
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the Waterbury Button Company was formed; in 1852 the Benedict & Scoville Company, a mercantile corporation ; and in 1857 the Waterbury Clock Company. The Waterbury Watch Company also was formed largely by the owners of the parent corporation. Aaron Benedict was succeeded in 1873, after being president of the company thirty years, by Charles Benedict. Mr. Benedict was also treas- urer from 1843 to 1854.
He continued at the head of the great business that he founded to the time of his death. He was a director in the Waterbury Bank from its organization until his death. He represented the town in the legislature in 1826 and 1841 and was State Senator in 1858 and 1859. He was an active member of the First Con- gregational Church and in 1823 was chosen deacon, an office he filled faith- fully for fifty years. He contributed gen- erously to many charitable, benevolent and religious causes and institutions and was one of the principal benefactors of the State Industrial School for Girls. He gave ten thousand dollars toward the fund for Divinity Hall in New Haven, a like amount to endow the Benedict Pro- fessorship of Latin in Iowa College, and thirty thousand dollars to the building fund of the First Congregational Church.
He married, September 17, 1808, Char- lotte Porter, born October 29, 1789, at Middletown, Connecticut, daughter of Abel and Hannah (Eliot) Porter. The sixtieth anniversary of their wedding was celebrated most happily. Mrs. Benedict died May 9, 1870; he died February 9, 1873. He left the largest estate that had up to that time passed through the pro- bate court. He was naturally quiet, re- served and deliberate. Events proved that his wisdom was remarkable, his judgment most sound. He was faithful, punctual and conscientious. He was cer- tainly the most important figure in the
history of the city during his life, though by no means the most conspicuous. Shortly after his death a volume entitled "Aaron Benedict; a Memorial," was pub- lished. It contained the address given at his funeral, resolutions passed by vari- ous corporations of which he had been an officer, obituary notices from various newspapers, and a full account of the wedding anniversary. Children, born at Waterbury: Charlotte Ann, March 27, 1810, married, May 18, 1838, Scoville M. Buckingham, of Waterbury; Frances Jeannette, November 22, 1812, died Feb- ruary 13, 1830; George William, Novem- ber 26, 1814; Charles, September 23, 1817 ; Mary Lyman, September 24, 1819, mar- ried, July 3, 1838, John S. Mitchell.
TOTTEN, Silas,
President of Trinity College.
Silas Totten was born in Schoharie county, New York, March 26, 1804, and died in Lexington, Kentucky, October 7, 1873. He was of New England ancestry. He was graduated from Union College in 1830; was tutor in mathematics at Union, 1831-33; appointed professor of mathe- matics and natural philosophy in Wash- ington (Trinity) College in April, 1833.
Having studied theology under Profes- sor Alonzo Potter (afterward bishop of Pennsylvania) he was ordained deacon in St. Paul's Church, Wallingford, Connec- ticut, 1833, by Bishop Brownell, by whom he was also advanced to the priesthood in June, 1836. He was president of Wash- ington (Trinity) College, and Hobart professor of belles lettres and oratory, from May 4, 1837, to August 3, 1848, and during his incumbency of office the name of the college was changed to Trinity, Brownell Hall was added; the House of Convocation, a graduate organization, was established, and also the Phi Beta Kappa Society, of which he served as first
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president ; the scholarship fund was in- creased, and a library fund was estab- lished. He was professor of rhetoric and mental philosophy in the College of Wil- liam and Mary, Virginia, 1849-59; was a rector of Trinity parish, Iowa City, Iowa, November 12, 1859-July 1, 1860, on which latter date he entered upon his duties as president of the University of Iowa, which position he resigned, August 23, 1862. During the winter of 1862-63 he was engaged in raising funds to dis- charge the indebtedness of Griswold Col- lege, Iowa. In 1863 he became rector of St. John's Church, Decatur, Illinois, where he established a school for young ladies, and in 1866 removed to Lexing- ton, Kentucky, where, with his three daughters, he founded Christ Church Seminary. In addition to his educational duties he was also missionary-at-large for the diocese of Kentucky. He re- ceived the honorary degree of D. D. from Union College, 1838, and LL. D. from William and Mary College, 1860. Dr. Totten published: "A New Introduction to the Science of Algebra" (1836) ; "The Analogy of Truth" (1848), and also "A Letter about Jubilee College." He was married, August 24, 1833, to Mary Isham.
JACKSON, Abner, Educator.
Abner Jackson, eighth president of Trinity College, Hartford, was born near Washington, Pennsylvania, November 4, 18II, son of David and Sarah (Brown- lee) Jackson.
He entered Washington and Jefferson College at Washington, Pennsylvania, in 1832, leaving at the close of the freshman year to enter Washington (Trinity) Col- lege, Hartford, Connecticut, where he was graduated in 1837, at the head of his class. He served as a tutor at Trinity, 1837-38; librarian in the college, 1837-
49; adjunct professor of ancient lan- guages, 1838-40; instructor in chemistry, 1839-52, and was the first to occupy the chair of ethics and metaphysics, 1840-58. He was ordained to the Protestant Epis- copal ministry by Bishop Brownell, Sep- tember 2, 1838. In 1858 he was elected president of Hobart College, New York, and professor of Evidences of Christi- anity in that institution in the same year, serving until 1867, in which year he re- signed to accept the presidency of Trin- ity College, which office he held, together with his former chair of ethics and meta- physics, until his death. In 1872 the col- lege grounds were sold to the State, as a site for a new capitol, the college reserv- ing the right to use the land, Jarvis and Seabury Halls, and a part of Brownell Hall (if possible) for five or six years longer. President Jackson spent the summers of 1872-73 in Europe, studying architecture and preparing plans for the proposed new college buildings. In 1873 a new site for the college was purchased, about eighty acres in extent and situated about a mile south of the old location. President Jackson, in addition to his col- lege work, officiated for a time as rector
of the Episcopal church at West Hart- ford. He received the degree of S. T. D. from Trinity College in 1858, and from Hobart College in 1859, and that of LL. D. from Columbia College in 1866. A posthumous volume of sermons appeared in 1875. President Jackson married (first) Emily, daughter of Governor William W. Ellsworth, and (second) Mary Wray Cobb, of Schenectady, New York. He died at Hartford, Connecticut, April 19, 1874.
FERRY, Orris Sanford,
Soldier, Senator.
Orris Sanford Ferry was born in Bethel, Fairfield county, Connecticut,
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August 15, 1823, died in Norwalk, Con- necticut, November 21, 1875. His father was a hat manufacturer, and intended his son to succeed to the business, and ac- cordingly he began an apprenticeship at the trade of hat making, but a trial proved this course inexpedient, and he was prepared for college and was gradu- ated from Yale in 1844. He pursued the study of law under eminent members of the profession in his native county, and was admitted to the bar in 1846, immedi- ately beginning the practice of his pro- fession in Norwalk, and at an early age had made a name for himself among his professional brethren. He was made lieu- tenant-colonel in the State militia in 1847 ; a judge of probate in 1849, which position he held until 1856; he was elected by the party then known as American a State Senator in 1855 and 1856, and his talents gave him a con- spicuous position among its leaders. He was district attorney for Fairfield county, 1857-59; an unsuccessful candidate for representative in the Thirty-fifth and Thirty-seventh Congresses, a representa- tive in the Thirty-sixth Congress, and a member of the committee of thirty-three on the relations of the seceding states. He entered the volunteer army as colo- nel of the Fifth Connecticut Regiment, served with General Banks in Maryland, and on March 17, 1862, was commis- sioned brigadier-general in Shields' di- vision, and afterward in Peck's, and served throughout the Civil War. In 1866 he was elected to the Senate of the United States, and was reëlected in 1872 by a coalition of the Democrats and liberal Republicans. His speeches in the Senate were marked with great clearness of expression and force of. argument, and always demanded attention. He voted against the civil rights bill, for the im- peachment of President Johnson, May 16, 1868, and supported General Grant for
the presidency in 1872. He had great influence both as a public man and soci- ally, and in the church of which he was a devoted member he taught a Bible class, and delivered lectures in behalf of Christianity.
ELDRIDGE, Joseph, Eminent Clergyman.
William Eldridge, immigrant ancestor, was born in England. His surname is also spelled Eldredge and Eldred, and is of Saxon origin. Eldred was the name of several Saxon kings in the eighth and ninth centuries. Eldred was king of Chester in 1051. At the time of the Domesday survey (A. D. 1085) the name was in common use in Wilts, Dorset, Somerset, Devon, Gloucester, Shropshire, York, and other counties in England. John Eldred, of Great Saxham, County Suffolk, descended from an ancient family claiming Saxon origin. Tradition says that he purchased the Great Saxham estate because of his belief that his an- cestors in remote ages as Saxon kings had held Saxham as their seat. He was born in 1552 and died in 1632; he was a great traveler, and his ships and mer- chandise went to all parts of the world of commerce ; was a founder of Virginia, and from 1609 to 1624 a member of His Majesty's Council for the Virginia Com- pany of London. Settlers of this sur- name were relatives of this John Eldred, it is believed.
William Eldridge had brothers, Robert, of Yarmouth and Monomoy, Massachu- setts, and Samuel, of Cambridge, Massa- chusetts, and Stonington, Connecticut. William Eldridge was appointed con- stable of Yarmouth, Massachusetts, in 1657-62-74-75-77; was also surveyor of highways in that town. As the records of the town were destroyed by fire it is difficult to trace the family. He married
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Anne, daughter of William and Tamesin Lumpkin, of Yarmouth. William Lump- kin came over in 1637; was deputy to the General Court and held many town of- fices; bequeathes in his will to Elisha and Bethia Eldred and others. Anne Eldridge was buried November 1, 1676. Their son, Samuel Eldridge, was born at Yarmouth, about 1655. He married Ke- ziah Taylor. Their son, Jehosaphat El- dridge, was born at Yarmouth, October 12, 1683, died in 1732. He married Eliza- beth Their son, Barnabas El- dridge, was born at Chatham or Yar- mouth, about 1715. He married Mary Their son, Barnabas Eldridge, was born at Yarmouth, October 7, 1743. He married Patience - . Their son, Captain Joseph Eldridge, was born at Yarmouth, September 10 (or 20), 1775. He was a sea captain and lived and died in Yarmouth. He married, in 1802, De- borah Hamlin, of Yarmouth, born Octo- ber II, 1778. Among their children was Joseph, of this review.
Rev. Joseph Eldridge was born in Yar- mouth, July 8, 1804, died in Norfolk, Con- necticut, March 21, 1875. An admirable account of his life and character was given by President Noah Porter, of Yale College, May 25, 1875, at the request of the North Association of Litchfield coun- ty, and from this the following is taken :
His father was a sea captain in easy circum- stances, who provided generously for the com- fort and culture of his family, without sacrificing the simplicity of their tastes or the claims of duty and of God. His mother was a superior woman of ardent piety, of large intelligence, and an enterprising spirit. By the nature of her husband's occupation she was forced to assume the chief responsibility of training her children and ordering the household. Of these four chil- dren our friend was the eldest, and all of the family have brought honor upon their parents and their name.
He prepared for college at Phillips Academy in Andover, and in September, 1825, became a
member of Yale College, in the freshman year, at the age of twenty-one years. He graduated with second honors of his class, and immediately entered upon his professional studies in the Theological Seminary of Yale College.
On April 25, 1832, he was ordained as a Chris- tian minister and installed pastor of the Norfolk Church, and here continued to discharge the duties of his office till, having resigned his charge, he preached his farewell sermon, No- vember 1, 1874. At the time of his resignation he was the oldest of pastors in active service in the State of Connecticut. He had hoped and expected to spend many years of tranquility and love among them and the neighboring churches. He died March 31, 1875.
Dr. Eldridge was a member of Yale Corpora- tion from 1847 until his death. He had a strong and solid intellect. He looked every subject and question squarely in the face, and his judgments were sagacious and penetrating. His mind was eminently comprehensive. In biography and the higher order of fiction he found constant delight and inspiration, and everything which he read in either department left a strong and delightful impression upon his mind and mem- ory. He was a constant and absorbed reader, and his range of reading was very wide. But whatever he wrote or spoke came from himself, and bore the unmistakable stamp of his own being, in thought, in diction, in illustration, and preëminently in an indescribable manner which he borrowed from no other man, and which no man could borrow from him.
In a similar way did he apply his mind to the public relations of neighboring parishes and churches, and subsequently to the more general interests of the kingdom of Christ. On many occasions of greater or less importance on which he was called to think and to decide, he uni- formly approved himself a wise and safe coun- sellor who was patient in hearing, comprehensive and fair-minded in deliberation, and independent and fixed in his conclusions. His statesmanlike and judicial intellect became more manifest as it was disciplined and developed by the opportuni- ties of later years.
He was a truly generous man. He was espe- cially generous and enterprising in the cause of education. There are not a few young men now in the ministry and other professions, whom he has assisted by his counsel and sympathy and contributions to begin and persevere in a course of study. This has been his favorite department of Christian benevolence in which he has labored
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abundantly himself, and into which he has incited others to enter and to continue with generous sympathy and ample liberality.
His Christian faith and earnestness were in harmony with his intellectual and emotional habits. I should rather say that a consistent and earnest Christian faith, working upon a strong and generous nature, can alone explain, as it could alone produce such a character and such a life. His religious life was not eminently emo- tional-it could not be in consistency with the constitution of the man. Obedience to the will of the Heavenly Father, trust in His wisdom, confidence in His goodness, the honest confes- sion of sin and short-comings, loving trust in Christ as the only Redeemer, and a practical sympathy with His life and spirit in all the char- acteristically Christian virtues-above all, con- stant fidelity to the spirit and aims of his profes- sion as a Christian pastor-these were the mani- festations and fruits of the inner life by which he was controlled and cheered. As life went on and its varied experiences taught each its lesson, he became more mature in his faith, more ele- vated in his feelings, more ardent in his prayers, more sympathizing and effective in his ministra- tions, and more spiritual in his desires and hopes.
His own health, which had been so uniform and vigorous, began to fail. Sharp attacks of suffering made him feel his dependence, and many deaths among his kindred and relations, brought the other world very near and made the present world seem very uncertain. His re- turn to his pulpit and parish work was welcomed with a thankful heart, and he preached and labored with unwonted solemnity and earnest- ness. His retirement from the ministry, in the anticipation and realization, connected as it was with the death of the honored head and coun- sellor of his own kindred, foreshadowed in some sort the winding up of his life. Each of these events made him look more distinctly upon the things which are not seen, and caused him to apprehend these as the only things which cannot be moved. They brought him nearer to God, elevating his faith, kindling his hopes.
What Dr. Eldridge was to his people, they do not need to be told. What he had desired and labored to do for them, he has left on record in his farewell sermon-a sermon to which, for simplicity and truthfulness and transparent ten- derness, it were difficult to find the superior among the many which are to be found in the annals of the churches of England. Though nothing was farther from the writer's intent, yet
the reader cannot fail to interpose between the lines this appeal to the people: "Ye are wit- nesses, and God also, how holily and justly and unblamably we behaved ourselves among you who believe, as you know how we exhorted, and comforted, and charged every one of you, as a father does his children, that you would walk worthy of God, who hath called you unto His kingdom and glory." He did say, and say truly, with all the simplicity of his heart: "I am con- fident that I have not an enemy nor an ill-wisher in the church, in the parish, or in the town, nor in the region-indeed, not in all the world; and I know that I am an enemy to no human being, and that this church, this society, the people of this town, and many in this region, have a warm and permanent place in my heart."
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