USA > Connecticut > Encyclopedia of Connecticut biography, genealogical-memorial; representative citizens, v. 1 > Part 28
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He found this parish one of the most united and well-ordered of the parishes in New Eng- land. And he has not labored in vain. The forty years and more which he has given to this parish have not been without abundant blessings. The influence of this long and successful pastorate will remain for another generation, as the name of this honored and beloved servant of Christ shall be repeated with love and thankfulness.
I cannot but allude to the tender and touching conclusion of his farewell sermon, in which he anticipates the time when he must yield the first place in the affections of his people to his suc- cessor in office, and to the magnanimous wis- dom with which he charges them beforehand to transfer their confidence and love to another. That he knew that this event would bring some trial to his feelings, bespeaks the largeness of his heart. His people cannot doubt that a heart so true and tender in its affection remembers them still, even in the heavenly temple, and will continue to speak peace to the flock on whom he has expended such constant and warm affec- tion. Let the peace and harmony and elevated Christian living which you will exemplify, be a perpetual testimony to the affection which you cherish for his name.
After his resignation of his pastoral charge he did not desire to renounce the privileges and obligations of fellowship to his brethren and their churches, but formally and affectionately renewed his original covenant of love and hospi- tality with them so long as he should live. His interest in education and his loyal affection for his alma mater made him a zealous and most useful friend of Yale College, of whose corpora- tion he was for more than twenty years an honored member.
The anticipated evening of his earthly life has
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been exchanged for the bright morning dawn of that life which is immortal. The quiet rest and sweet repose of the earthly twilight has given place to the serene and perfected boon of the heavenly rest. The enjoyment of the earthly friends who remain has been exchanged for the society of the just made perfect, among who are numbered many who were known and loved by him on earth. From the home which he had built and had blessed so long he has passed into the building of God-the house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.
In the "Independent" of July 11, 1878, is a tribute to Mrs. Eldridge from Presi- dent Porter, of Yale College, as follows :
Died in Norfolk, Connecticut, June 6, 1878, Sarah Battell, wife of the late Joseph Eldridge, D. D. Mrs. Eldridge was born March 19, 1810. She was the eldest daughter of the late Joseph Battell, of Norfolk. She inherited the striking traits of both father and mother, and from her earliest years entered fully into the active and sympathetic kindness and active influence for which both were distinguished. When by her marriage with Dr. Eldridge, October 12, 1836, she became the wife of the only pastor in town, she had only to broaden the sphere of activity in which she had already been trained in order, in an eminent sense, to become the mistress and mother of the parish, the sympathizing friend and active counsellor of young and old. All the people had known her either from her or their childhood as a generous and faithful friend, abun- dant in sympathy and humor. Her labors were increasing, her sympathy and patience were ex- haustless, and her generosity was unstinted. Her animal spirits never flagged, and her in- terest in everything which concerned the welfare of her family, her parish, her friends far and near, or the Kingdom of God, was always ready, sincere and efficient. Her humor and buoyancy of spirits were literally indomitable and irrepres- sible, and they rendered excellent service to her- self and her friends in the dark hours of life. Her voice was singularly sweet and gentle, and she delighted in sacred songs. From her earliest years her voice had been heard in the service of the Lord's Day in the prayer meeting and her own household.
Her activity in Sunday school work began early in life, being first given to a class of young ladies, but later and for many years to a class of boys, the successive members of which re-
membered her with gratitude as they became young men and continued to share in her coun- sels and sympathy.
It is not often that there goes from any house- hold a mother bearing so genuinely the New Eng- land stamp of another generation, combined with such marked individuality, sense and thought, sympathy and humor, tenderness and strength, charity toward all mankind, and devout rever- ence before God, as she, who, on the Ioth of June, sons and daughters, brothers and sisters, kindred and friends, parishioners and the poor followed to the grave, to lay her by the side of her honored husband, neither of whom will soon be forgotten by any who knew them.
Children: 1. Sarah, died January 10, 1898. 2. Irene, married Edward Y. Swift, attorney, Detroit, Michigan; children : Edward Eldridge; Irene Battell, married Dr. William Moffatt, of Utica; Mary El- dridge, married Frederick M. Alger, of Detroit. 3. Mary. 4. Joseph Battell, died November 19, 1901. 5. Isabella. 6 Alice Bradford, married Henry H. Bridg- man: children: Eldridge Lebaron and Isabella Battell.
McNEILL, Edwin,
Railroad Promoter.
Alexander McNeill, of an ancient Scotch family, came from County Antrim, Ulster, Ireland, with his brothers, Archibald and Adam McNeill, and was one of the early settlers in Litchfield, Connecticut, where he died, April 16, 1795, at the age of seventy-two years. He married, October 28, 1747, Deborah Phelps, who died at Litchfield, December 16, 1808, aged eighty-two years. Their son, Roswell McNeill, was born September 21, 1748, died September 11, 1813. He was a farmer in Litchfield. He married, Sep- tember 13, 1769, Elizabeth Marsh, born in 1747, died March 20, 1791. Their son, Isaac McNeill, was born in 1781, died March 21, 1832. He was a lifelong resi- dent of Litchfield. He married Mabel
Conn-1 -- 13
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Clark, born in 1792, died April 28, 1864. She married (second) Joel Bostwick. Child of Isaac McNeill: Edwin, men- tioned below.
Edwin McNeill was born in Litchfield, September 10, 1822, died at West Point, New York, September 13, 1875. He at- tended the public schools and graduated from Norwich University, Connecticut. He taught mathematics in a boys' school at Ellicott's Mills, Maryland, for two years, then engaged in civil engineering for a profession, becoming one of the best known and eminent engineers during the construction of the early railroads of the country. His first work was the con- struction of a viaduct crossing Starrucca Valley, the finest piece of work on the Erie railroad. He was then engaged on the New Jersey Central railroad and the Cayuga and Susquehanna. In 1849 he was made chief engineer of the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western railroad, the northern division from Scranton to Great Bent being first built, then the southern through Delaware Water Gap to Hamp- ton, New Jersey. At the same time he built the Lackawanna and Bloom rail- road, extending from Scranton through the Wyoming coal fields to Northumber- land. These roads being completed, in 1856, he went to Georgia for his health. Here he located the Macon and Bruns- wick railroad, but before its completion, as consulting engineer, he returned north in 1869 and became president of the Lackawanna and Bloom railroad, con- tinuing until 1865, when he left the Wyo- ming Valley, returning to his native town. Here he organized and became president of the First National Bank, a position he held until his death. He also projected the Shepaug Valley railroad and was engaged in every enterprise that would promote the development of his native town.
He married, in 1856, Emily Dottern, born in Reading, Pennsylvania, daughter of Davis H. and Ann Emlen (Warner) Dottern. Her father was an extensive builder of stationary and locomotive en- gines at Reading, Pennsylvania. His an- cestors came from Saxony, Germany. Children of Edwin McNeill: 1. Edwin, born in Macon, Georgia, December 31, 1856, died January 23, 1901 ; graduated at the United States Military Academy at West Point, served on General Han- cock's staff at Governor's Island. In 1880 he resigned from the army, taking the management of the Shepaug Valley rail- road, after which he took the manage- ment of the Hartford and Connecticut Western, St. Joseph and Grand Island, Oregon Rail and Navigation Company division of the Union Pacific, and was vice-president and general manager of the Iowa Central railway. When the Union Pacific went into a receiver's hands he was called back and made sole re- ceiver of the Oregon Rail and Navigation Company, one of the divisions of the Union Pacific. After successfully bring- ing the road out of bankruptcy, he was made president, but resigned his office after a short incumbency. From that time until his death he was not active in the management of railroads, but re- tained his connections with several com- panies. 2. Mabel, born in Kingston, Pennsylvania, January 2, 1859, died Jan- uary 24, 1860. 3. Elmore Bostwick, born at Kingston, Pennsylvania, September 4, 1860, died November 20, 1894; graduated from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, 1881, following his profession as a civil engineer for some time, then engaged in contract work, and it was while construct- ing section 3, Chicago Drainage Canal, that he died. 4. Anne Emlen, born 1862, married Thomas H. Langford, a cotton broker of New York City, now deceased.
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Children : Alexander and Ruth Langford. 5. Alexander, born 1864; graduate of Lafayette College, a broker in Wall street, New York City. He married Eliza, daughter of George M. Woodruff, of Litchfield; children: Mildred, Eliza- beth and Ruth Woodruff. 6. George Scranton, born July 3, 1865 ; graduate of Phillips Academy ; married Grace Web- ber.
CHENEY, Seth W., Artist.
Seth Wells Cheney, one of the most accomplished artists of his day, was born at South Manchester, Connecticut, No- vember 28, 1810, son of George and Electa (Woodbridge) Cheney. In both parental lines he was descended from English fam- ilies which had been established in New England for a century previous to his birth. He was one of eight brothers, all men of unusual intellectual power, but he and his brother, John Cheney, were the only ones who developed artistic talent.
Unlike his brothers, Seth Wells Cheney was delicate from his earliest childhood. Gentle and retiring in company, he was devotedly attached to his relatives; he was ardently fond of nature, and pos- sessed mechanical as well as artistic gifts. He was brought up on his father's farm, first attending the village school and later studying at an advanced school, where he learned Latin and French. When he was nineteen years old his father died and he left school and went to Boston, where he joined his brother John, an engraver, and began to study that profession. There he remained after his brother left to study in England, and subsequently he worked for a year for a publishing house in Brat- tleboro, Vermont. In 1833 he and his brother went to Paris, and there studied under Isabey, De la Roche and other
artists, supporting themselves by making engravings, both worked laboriously with but a scanty income. Seth thought that fasting enabled him to do better work, and he would often work all day after eat- ing only a light breakfast. This priva- tion, however, impaired his health, and after remaining at Fontainebleau for some weeks, he returned home in May, 1834. The voyage in a sailing vessel restored his health to some degree, and he subse- quently passed several months in domes- tic and farm labors at the family home- stead. During their stay in Paris, he and his brother had sent home some engrav- ings without their individual names and which were published as by Cheney, but it was soon ascertained that the best of the work had been executed by the younger artist, Seth. Mr. Crossman wrote of this part of his work: "All his engrav- ings, like his drawings, whether portraits or landscapes in crayons, have a charm- ing sweetness and beauty of expression very rarely met with even in the best productions of the best artists. The effect of his work is to produce the same pleasurable thrill, or something nearly akin to it, we experience in the best ex- amples of Grecian art-an emanation of beauty, which almost entrances the be- holder, that makes 'the senses ache'." Seth W. Cheney's engravings were few in number, the subjects usually simple genre pictures. In 1835 he accompanied his brother Charles to Ohio, settling near the home of Alice and Phoebe Cary, where they engaged in farming, growing mulberry trees and rearing silk worms. Others of the brothers afterwards joined in the business of growing mulberry trees, which became a remunerative industry. In 1837 Seth and his brother Frank went to Europe to purchase mulberry trees for the firm, and Seth resumed his artistic studies in France, Italy and Germany.
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While thus engaged, he learned that the mulberry enterprise at home had failed, and his brothers took up silk manufac- ture, in which they retrieved their for- tunes, but Seth never returned to busi- ness life. In 1840 he went to Manches- ter, Connecticut, and there began to pro- duce crayon portraits, which afterwards became the most celebrated of all his artistic work. In 1841 he opened a studio in Boston, and there, as the work became known, he was gradually relieved from all pecuniary difficulties. In 1841 and 1842 he drew over one hundred and fifty portraits in crayons, among them heads of many of the leading families in Boston, such as Lowell, Jackson, Gray, Putnam, Appleton, Bowditch, Winthrop, Goddard, Higginson, etc. At the same time he be- came deeply interested in transcenden- talism, and it has been said that his pic- tures at that time, especially his heads of women, seemed to express the very spirit of this epoch. In 1843 he again visited Europe, traveling and studying in Eng- land, Germany, Switzerland and Italy. In Rome he studied anatomical drawing under Ferrero, and while there he drew his celebrated head of an old beggarman. In 1844 he returned to America, and re- sumed his artistic work at intervals, as his now feeble health permitted. In 1847 he again opened a studio in Boston, and that year married a Miss Pitkin, who died three years later. Mr. Cheney was dan- gerously ill for some time after her death, but recovering he once more returned to his work in Boston. In 1854, having married again, he made a last visit to Europe. In France he visited the ateliers of the Sheffers and of Millet, and his was a familiar face to the American artists of Paris. While abroad he suffered more and more from ill health, and this finally necessitated his return home, where he spent the few remaining months of his
life. Mr. Cheney's great talent was in the expression of character in individual heads. He left a few paintings and some few attempts at sculpture. His best known works are the crayon heads, "A Roman Girl," "Rosalie," and portraits of Theodore Parker, Mrs. Parker, W. C. Bryant and Ephraim Peabody.
He was twice married, in 1847, to his cousin, Emily Pitkin, and, in 1853, to Ed- nah Dow Littlehale. He left one daugh- ter, Margaret Swan Cheney. He died in Boston, Massachusetts, September 10, I856.
HUBBARD, Joseph S., Astronomer.
Joseph Stiles Hubbard was born in New Haven, Connecticut, September 7, 1823, son of Ezra Stiles and Eliza (Church) Hubbard, and ninth in descent from Wil- liam Hubbard, of Ipswich, Massachu- setts, who emigrated to Massachusetts in 1635. President Stiles, of Yale College, was a great-uncle, and he had ancestors of note in Rev. William Hubbard, of Ips- wich, one of New England's historians, and Governor Leverett, of Massachusetts.
As a child he began to take an interest in mechanics, and at the age of eight made a clock, and while fitting for col- lege he made a telescope. About this time he accidentally met Professor Eben- ezer P. Mason, of Yale College, an en- thusiastic astronomer, who aided him in his experiments. He was graduated from Yale College at the age of twenty, and for a time taught in a classical school. For several months of the next year he as- sisted Walker, the astronomer, in Phila- delphia. In the same year he was offered by Lieutenant Fremont a position in Washington as computer of the observa- tions for latitude and longitude made dur- ing that explorer's western expeditions ;
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and in 1845, through the influence of the same officer, was appointed a professor of mathematics in the navy, and was as- signed to duty at the Naval Observatory in Washington City, of which he con- tinued an officer during his life. Pro- fessor Walker became convinced that Neptune was identical with one of the stars observed by Lalande on May 10, 1795, and on February 4, 1847, the two confirmed the prediction, the discovery being made almost simultaneously by Petersen in Altona. At the Naval Ob- servatory Hubbard was first occupied with the transit instrument, with which he made nearly nine hundred observa- tions; and next with the meridian circle, with which he made nearly one thousand observations in the year 1846. Early that year a system of zone observations was begun by Professor J. W. C. Coffin and Professor Hubbard, and which were con- tinued until 1851 and even later. Two- thirds of the good work done was ascribed to Professor Hubbard by his biographer, Benjamin A. Gould. His most valuable observations were made with the prime vertical transit instrument, beginning in 1846, the year he was assigned to the charge of that instrument. They were continued at intervals during his lifetime, and an especially cherished problem was the attainment of some definite result concerning the long-mooted annual paral- lax of Alpha Lyra. The observations were continued after his death by Pro- fessors Harkness and Newcomb.
Professor Hubbard's first extended com- putations were in determining the zodiacs of all the known asteroids, except the four previously published in Germany. In November, 1848, he presented to the Smithsonian Institution the zodiacs of Vesta, Astrea, Hebe, Flora and Metis, and in the first volume of the "Astro- nomical Journal" he contributed those of
Hygeia, Parthenope and Clio, making the list complete up to that time. That of Egeria followed, and he intended to pre- pare the zodiac for each successively dis- covered asteroid. In December, 1849, he published in the "Astronomical Journal," of which Professor Gould was editor, the first paper in a discussion of the orbit of the great comet of 1843, and which he continued in eight papers, the last ap- pearing in 1852. "It seems to me safe to say," said Professor Gould, "that the orbit of no comet of long period has been more thoroughly and exhaustively treated." Three quarto volumes, containing the actual numerical computations, in most beautiful penmanship, are preserved in the library of Yale College. Professor Hubbard next undertook an equally thor- ough investigation of Biela's comet, which had attracted his attention in 1846 and was to return in 1852, to insure its dis- covery at as early a date as possible. He obtained an orbit superior to Santini's, the best existing at that time; but the discovery of the comet rendered unneces- sary the publication of his calculations. He published three memoirs on this sub- ject : "On the Orbit of Biela's Comet in 1845-46" (1853); "Results of Additional Investigation, Respecting the Two Nuclei of Biela's Comet" (1854) ; and "On Biela's Comet" (1860), the last comprising all then known of this comet, and an elab- orate discussion of the observations and orbit for every recorded appearance. In addition, briefer communications on spe- cial points were issued. He made another exhaustive investigation on the fourth comet of 1825, and which was printed in 1859. One of his latest investigations was of the magnetism of iron vessels and its effect upon the compass. His contri- butions to the "Astronomical Journal," of which he was one of the founders, were more than two hundred in number. His
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accuracy and conscientiousness are ex- hibited in his tables appended to several volumes of the "Washington Observa- tions," while unpublished treatises on re- ligious and theological subjects show the same earnestness in research that char- acterized his scientific labors. Professor Hubbard was of a sympathetic nature that often found expression in ministra- tions to the sick and afflicted, as well as in efforts to direct the studies and encour- age the investigations of younger scien- tists. He was a member of the National Institution of Washington, of the Con- necticut Academy of Arts and Sciences, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in Boston, and of the American Philosophical Society of Philadelphia.
He married in Washington, D. C., April 27, 1848, Sarah E. L. Handy, who died a few years before him. Professor Hub- bard died in New Haven, Connecticut, August 16, 1863.
HILLHOUSE, James A., Poet.
James Abraham Hillhouse, once a well known poet, was born in New Haven, Connecticut, September 26, 1789, son of James Hillhouse, a member of Congress. From his early youth he was noted for mental ability and proficiency in athletic exercises. In his fifteenth year he was matriculated at Yale College. During his entire course he distinguished himself especially in English composition, in which he took high honors at his gradu- ation in 1808. Upon receiving the mas- ter's degree three years later, he delivered an oration on "The Education of a Poet," which was so favorably received as to bring him an invitation to prepare a poem for the Phi Beta Kappa meeting the fol- lowing year. He complied by producing his impressive composition, "The Judg-
ment," a highly successful attempt to deal with the most solemn of subjects, and which has been ranked among the Ameri- can classics.
After leaving college Hillhouse passed three years in Boston, engaged in com- mercial pursuits, but the business in which he was engaged was interrupted by the war with Great Britain, and he devoted himself thenceforward to literary work. He afterward removed to New York City, and in 1819 visited England, where he made the acquaintance of many persons prominent in the world of letters, among them being Zachary Macaulay, father of the famous historian, who spoke of him as the "most accomplished young man with whom I am acquainted." Soon after his marriage in 1822, he retired to his fine country residence, "Sachem's Wood," near New Haven, Connecticut, where he passed the remainder of his life, engaged in literary work. The most im- portant of his productions are dramatic compositions, all of which are character- ized by depth of feeling, strength of imagination, and elegance of expression. He was a laborious editor, bringing each piece of his work to the greatest possible perfection ; and by his painstaking indus- try has left some of the most polished and effective passages in dialogue and description in English literature. The most memorable of his efforts is "Hadad," a tragedy recounting the courtship of Tamar, daughter of Absalom, by Hadad, a fallen angel, and her final escape by divine grace. Duyckinck well says, speaking of the dialogues between the Hebrew maiden and the assailant: "In these passages Hillhouse has displayed some of his finest graces. Perfection in such a literary undertaking would have taxed the powers of a Goethe. As a poetical and dramatic sketch of force and beauty the author has not failed." Al-
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though Hillhouse has not in later years received the honor due, he commanded the highest encomiums of his contempo- raries. Halleck writes of him :
Hillhouse, whose music, like his themes, Lifts earth to heaven-whose poet dreams Are pure and holy as the hymn Echoed from harps of seraphim, By bards that drank at Zion's fountains When glory, peace and hope were hers, And beautiful upon her mountains The feet of angel messengers.
His works, published in two volumes, under the title "Dramas, Discourses, and Other Pieces" (1839), include : "The Edu- cation of a Poet" (18II); "The Judg- ment" (1812); "Percy's Masque" (1820) ; "Hadad" (1825); "Demetria" (1839) ; "Sachem's Wood" and other poems, be- sides discourses on "Some Considerations Which Should Influence an Epic or a Tragic Writer in the Choice of an Era" (1826); and the "Relations of Literature to a Republican Government" (1836).
Mr. Hillhouse was married, in 1822, to Cornelia, eldest daughter of Isaac Law- rence, of New York City. He died in New Haven, Connecticut, January 4, 1841.
LINSLEY, James H., Clergyman, Naturalist.
James Harvey Linsley was born May 5, 1787, at Northfield, New Haven county, Connecticut, where his early education was obtained in the village school. In order to improve his health he journeyed to Maine in 1811, and reached Guilford, where for a time he taught in the local academy, meantime preparing himself for college. He entered Yale College in Sep- tember, 1813, and during his collegiate course maintained himself by teaching at Guilford, Bedford and at the New Town- ship Academy in New Haven, keeping up
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