USA > Connecticut > Encyclopedia of Connecticut biography, genealogical-memorial; representative citizens, v. 1 > Part 5
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ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY
In association with Messrs. Pierpont and Pierson, he founded the collegiate school at Saybrook, was one of its first trustees, and attended the first meeting of the corporation, November 1I, 1701, and after the death of Mr. Pierson, which occurred in March, 1707, he was chosen rector pro tem., and taught the senior class at his house at Milford, the other classes being instructed at Saybrook. The rector exercised somewhat of a general super- vision by means of correspondence, and went annually to act as moderator at the commencement. The Saybrook council was called by the Assembly, urged by Governor Saltonstall, and met at the com- mencement in September, 1708. Mr. An- drew was one of its twelve members, eight more of whom were trustees of the college. They framed, and the Assembly at its next session adopted, the "Say- brook Platform," which at once became the constitution of the Connecticut churches. A gift of books from England in 1714-15 was followed in 1715 by a grant of £500 from the Assembly for a building. Very serious difficulties arose as to location, and which were settled in October, 1716, in favor of New Haven, which offered larger inducements than its rivals. A college building was begun in the fall of 1717 at New Haven, where eight acres had been given, and it was completed and occupied in October, 1718, on ground which is now the college campus. Following after a plan of Gov- ernor Saltonstall, it had three stories and an attic, with a length of about one hun- dred and seventy feet and a depth of twenty-two feet, and contained a library, a chapel and dining hall in one, and twenty-two sets of rooms, which could hold three students each. The first com- mencement at New Haven was held in October, 1717, and five students gradu- ated, and in September, 1718, ten students were graduated. The property at Say-
brook, after several vain efforts to secure it, was removed under much violent oppo- sition and by the aid of the sheriff, with the loss of all the records and some three hundred of the thirteen thousand volumes in the library. Through all these years Mr. Andrew's rectorship had been re- garded as merely temporary, and his care for the college as secondary to his duties as pastor of the church at Milford. Its interests now plainly demanded the elec- tion of a resident rector, and in March, 1719, the place was taken by his son-in- law, Timothy Cutler. Three years later Mr. Andrew again took nominal charge for a brief period. Mr. Andrew married a daughter of George R. Treat, one of the parishioners of the church at Milford.
WILLIAMS, William,
Clergyman, Author.
Rev. William Williams, son of Captain Isaac and Martha (Park) Williams, was born February 2, 1665. He was grandson of Robert Williams, who came from Eng- land, and was made a freeman at Rox- bury, Massachusetts, in 1638, and son of Captain Isaac Williams, who sat in the General Court, and was an officer of militia.
He graduated at Harvard College in 1683, and settled at Hatfield, Massachu- setts, in 1685, as a minister. After a long ministry he died suddenly at an advanced age, about 1746. He published several sermons, one on the ordination of Stephen Williams in 1716; "The Great Salvation Explained in Several Sermons," 1717; "Election Sermon," 1719; a "Sermon on the Ordination of Rev. Warham Wil- liams," 1733; "On the Ordination of Ne- hemiah Bull, of Westfield;" "Convention Sermon," 1729; "The Duty and Interest of a Christian People to be Steadfast ;" "Directions to Obtain a True Conver- sion," 1736; and a sermon on the death of
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his wife, 1745. President Edwards, in de- scribing his character at his funeral, said in part : "He was a person of unnatural common abilities, and distinguished learn- ing, a great divine, of very comprehensive knowledge, and of a solid, accurate judg- ment; judiciousness and wisdom, were eminently his character. He was one of eminent gifts, qualifying himself for all parts of the work of the ministry; and there followed a savor of holiness in the exercise of those gifts in public and pri- vate. In his public ministry, he mainly insisted on the most weighty and impor- tant things in religion. Christ was the great subject of his preaching; and he much insisted on those things, that nearly concern the essence and power of religion. His subject was always weighty, and his manner of teaching peculiarly happy, showing the strength and accuracy of his judgment, and ever breathing forth the spirit of piety, and a deep sense on his heart of the things he delivered. His ser- mons were some of them vain, but were all weighty. His presence and conversa- tion, did peculiarly command awe, and respect, yet it was at the same time hum- ble and condescending."
He married (first) Eliza, daughter of Rev. Dr. Cotton. He married (second) Christian, daughter of Rev. Solomon Stoddard, of Northampton, one of the greatest divines of New England. Chil- dren of first wife: I. Rev. William, of Weston, born May II, 1688. 2. Martha, born October 10, 1690, married Edward Partridge. 3. Rector Elisha, born August 26, 1694. Children of second wife: 4. Rev. Solomon, born June 4, 1701, who was a graduate of Harvard College, and a dis- tinguished clergyman and author. 5. Daughter, born January 1, 1707, married Barnard, of Salem. 6. Colonel Israel, of Hartford, born November 30, 1709. 7. Elizabeth. 8. Dorothy, born
June 20, 1713, married Rev. Jonathan Ashley, of Deerfield.
Rev. Solomon Williams, son of Rev. William and Christian (Stoddard) Wil- liams, was born June 4, 1701. He gradu- ated at Harvard College in 1719. He was ordained December 5, 1722, and was a distinguished minister at Lebanon, Con- necticut. He published "A Sermon at the Ordination of Jacob Elliot at Goshen," in 1730; "A Sermon on the Day of Prayer," on the occasion of the visit of Eunice Williams, daughter of Rev. John Wil- liams, who was carried captive by the In- dians to Canada, preached at Mansfield, August 4, 1741. He also preached an "Election Sermon," which was published ; one "On the Death of Eleazer Williams," in 1743; "Christ, the Living Witness of the Truth," 1744; "A Vindication of the Scripture Doctrine of Justifying Faith," in answer to Andrew Croswell, 1746; "The True State of the Question Con- cerning the Qualifications for Com- munion," in answer to Jonathan Edwards. He died in 1769, or, according to another authority, in 1776. He married Mary Porter.
WILLIAMS, Elisha,
Clergyman, Educator.
The Rev. Elisha Williams was born in Hatfield, Hampshire county, Massachu- setts, August 24, 1694, and died at Weth- ersfield, Connecticut, July 24, 1755. He was a son of William Williams, born 1665, died 1741, pastor at Hatfield from 1685 until his death; grandson of Isaac Williams, born 1638, died 1708, who was the second son of Robert Williams, who came from Norwich to Roxbury, Massa- chusetts, in 1638.
Elisha Williams graduated from Har- vard College in 1711, having previously acquired a practical education in the
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schools of Hatfield. He then turned his attention to the study of law, and later accepted a clerkship in the Connecticut Assembly. In 1716, on the removal of the school from Saybrook to New Haven, he gave his assistance to the tutor who had taken some fourteen malcontent students to Wethersfield, and received the chief credit for their instruction, until 1719. Two years later, in 1721, he was ordained minister of Newington, near Wethers- field and Hartford, and in September, 1725, he became rector, or more properly, president of Yale College, which he "re- formed very much, and advanced useful and polite literature." Further grants were made by the Legislature, a second tutor was added in 1728, and in 1737 the trustees appointed from their own num- ber a standing committee, out of which grew the prudential committee some sixty years later. When he resigned in Octo- ber, 1739, the number of graduates was three hundred and eighty-six, and the col- lege was firmly established and fairly prosperous. Among the graduates during his presidency were a number who be- came divines who were famous in their time, principally Aaron Burr (1735), presi- dent of New Jersey College, and Rev. Chauncey Whittlesey (1738) ; and among the civilians was David Ogden, Supreme Court Judge in New Jersey. After his retirement from Yale, President Williams served frequently in the Assembly, and became a judge of the Superior Court. He published in 1744 a tract on the "Rights and Liberties of Protestants." He was chaplain of Connecticut forces in the expedition which took Louisburg in 1745, and the following year was colonel of a regiment intended to act against Can- ada, but which proceeded no further than New London. In 1749 he went to Eng- land and returned to America in April, 1752.
In 1751 he married Elizabeth Scott, CONN-Vol I-3
born in 1708, died 1776, the hymn-writer, daughter of the Rev. T. Scott, of Nor- wich. Dr. Doddridge said of President Williams: "He was one of the most valu- able men on earth," and credited him with "solid learning, consummate prudence, great candor and sweetness of temper, and a certain nobleness of soul, capable of conceiving and acting the greatest things, without seeming to be conscious of having done them."
DICKERMAN, Isaac,
Benefactor of Yale College.
Thomas Dickerman, immigrant ances- tor, came over with his wife Ellen, and settled in Dorchester, Massachusetts, as early as 1636. He owned land there in that year, and bought more the following year. He also owned a house and land in Boston Neck in 1652, to which he added in 1656. He was a tailor by trade, and also cultivated a farm. The inventory of his estate was two hundred and thirty- five pounds, eleven shillings, four pence. He died June II, 1657, in Dorchester. His widow married (second) John Bullard, and went to live in Medfield before July 14, 1663. Children: Thomas, 1623, died before 1691 ; Abraham, born about 1634, mentioned below ; Isaac, December, 1637 ; John, baptized October 29, 1644, died young.
Abraham Dickerman, son of Thomas Dickerman, was born about 1634. He married, January 2, 1658-59, Mary Cooper, born about 1636, England, died January 4, 1705-06, daughter of John Cooper. Her father had been with the New Haven colony from the first, and was a planter, freeman and signer of the "fundamental agreement." He was constantly engaged in public affairs, and held many positions of dignity and honor, attorney, appraiser of estates, deputy to the general court, selectman, etc. Soon after his marriage,
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Abraham Dickerman removed to New Haven. and received as his wife's dowry a considerable amount of real estate. April 17, 1668, he bought a house and lot on the corner of Church and Elm streets, and made his home there. April 26, 1669, he was chosen townsman, or selectman, and with the exception of four years was annually chosen to this office for thirty- one years, until 1699. In 1683 he was chosen deputy to the General Court, and was reelected until 1696. In October, 1683, he was confirmed and approved to be lieutenant of the New Haven train band. When the town of Wallingford was settled, he was on a committee of thirteen, including his father-in-law, to lay out the boundaries, which were agreed upon, January 28, 1673-74. In 1669 he was one of a committee of seven, vested with power to manage the affairs of the new settlement. June 19, 1685, he was again on a committee "to procure a patent for the town bounds" of New Haven. June 26, 1671, he "was by vote appointed to keep the ordinary," and continued to do so until 1680. He lived for fifty-three years in New Haven, and devoted most of that time to the public good. He was moderately prosperous, and added to the property given him by his father-in-law. He also shared with the other citizens in the various allotments of land, and re- ceived in this way at least fifty acres. He died November 2, 1711, aged seventy- seven. His will was dated April 20, 1710, and mentions his sons, Abraham and Isaac; daughters, Mary Bassett, Sarah Sperry, Ruth Bradley, Abigail Sperry and Rebecca Foot, and four grandchildren, the children of Hannah, who married Caleb Chidsey. Children: Mary, born about 1659; Sarah, July 25, 1663; Hannah, No- vember 16, 1665 ; Ruth, April 5, 1668; Abi- gail, September 26, 1670; Abraham, Janu- ary 14, 1673-74; Isaac, November 7, 1677; Rebecca, February 27, 1679.
Isaac Dickerman, son of Abraham
Dickerman, was born November 7, 1677. He married (first) June 30, 1709, Mary, born December 31, 1686, daughter of Jon- athan and Ruth (Peck) Atwater. Jona- than was the son of David Atwater. He married (second) Elizabeth Alling, born November, 1691, died April, 1767, widow of John Morris, and daughter of Samuel and Sarah (Chidsey) Alling. Samuel was the son of Roger Alling, the immigrant.
Isaac Dickerman appears to have had unusual aptitude for public affairs, and held many positions of trust and honor. He was appointed constable, October, 1710; in October, 1713, he was ensign of militia, and in 1722, captain. December 15, 1712, he was chosen selectman, and afterward continuously until 1719, then from 1722 till 1725, and from 1730 till 1732. He was deputy to the General Court for fifty-nine terms between 1718 and 1757, and was appointed justice of the peace for New Haven in May, 1735, and every year afterward as long as he lived, for twenty-four years. In church affairs he was as prominent as in civil matters. He was chosen deacon of the First Church in 1727, and held the office until 1754, when he resigned. He then transferred his membership to the White Haven church, and was at the same time chosen a deacon there, and retained the office until his death. December 24, 1716, when Yale College was about to be removed from Saybrook to New Haven, and the latter town had made it a grant of eight acres of land, he was one of a committee to make the transfer, and in 1718 was one of a number of proprietors who made a gift of land for the support of the institu- tion. In that same year he was first sent to the General Assembly, and seems to have been regarded from the first as the special representative of Yale interests. During the religious upheaval which fol- lowed the visit of Rev. George Whitefield to America (1739), and the controversy which took place between the original
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church in New Haven and the Separatists, Isaac Dickerman, as a magistrate and an officer in the church, for many years pre- served a neutral attitude. In 1754, how- ever, he joined the White Haven church and thus united with the Separatists. He showed throughout his life the traits of a good citizen and many qualities of the statesman. He was energetic, of judicial temper, and tirelessly devoted to public interests. He died September 7, 1758. His will was dated May 11, 1756. Before his death he had transferred large por- tions of his real estate to his sons. The estate was appraised at seven hundred and eleven pounds, four shillings, nine pence. Children: Isaac, born March 3, 17II, died young; Samuel, January 12, 1712, died young; Ruth, December 13, 1712; Isaac, January 31, 1714, graduate of Yale College, 1736; Samuel, March 4, 1716; Jonathan, July 4, 1719; Stephen, October 14, 1721; Mary, December 16, 1723 ; Rebekah, July 2, 1726; Abigail, Au- gust 4, 1728.
DAVENPORT, James,
Member of Congress.
James Davenport was born in Stam- ford, Connecticut, October 12, 1758, died there, August 3, 1797. He traced his an- cestry to John Davenport, the celebrated English Non-conformist, who settled in Boston, Massachusetts, in the year 1637.
After completing his preparatory edu- cation, James Davenport entered Yale College, from which institution he was graduated in the class of 1777, after which he enrolled as a soldier in the Revolution- ary army, serving in the commissary de- partment. After the close of hostilities, having decided to follow the legal pro- fession, he pursued a course of study along that line, was admitted to the bar of his native State, and gained renown and a high reputation among his profes- sional brethren. He took an active part
in public affairs, serving as a judge of the Court of Common Pleas, and as repre- sentative in Congress from Connecticut for one year, from 1796 to 1797. He was also a member of the corporation of Yale College from 1793 until his decease.
ADAMS, Andrew,
Legislator, Jurist.
Andrew Adams was born at Stratford, Fairfield county, Connecticut, December II, 1736, son of Samuel and Mary (Fair- child) Adams. He was graduated at Yale College in 1760; adopted the profes- sion of the law, and for a time practiced at Stamford, finally removing to Litch- field in 1774, where he became king's at- torney. He was major of militia at the outbreak of the Revolutionary War, and later, but for a short time only, lieutenant- colonel. He was one of the Governor's assistants ; a member of the Legislature from 1776 to 1781, and several times speaker; a member of the Council of Safety; a delegate from Connecticut to the Continental Congress in 1777-78, 1779-80, and again in 1781-82. In 1789 he was appointed a judge of the Supreme Court of Connecticut, and in 1793 Chief Justice of that court, and held his seat until his death. His judicial career is mentioned as "remarkable" in the "Bio- graphical Congressional Directory." He received from Yale College the degree of Doctor of Laws. Judge Adams died at Litchfield, November 26, 1799.
HUNTINGTON, Benjamin,
Lawyer, Jurist.
Benjamin Huntington was born in Nor- wich, Connecticut, April 19, 1736, son of Daniel and Rachel (Wolcott) Hunting- ton, grandson of Deacon Simon and Sarah (Clark) Huntington, and great-grandson of Simon and Margaret (Baret) Hunting- ton, the immigrants and first of the fam-
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ily in America, coming from the vicinity of Norwich, England, in 1632-33. Simon Huntington died of smallpox on the voy- age, 1633, and his widow with her chil- dren arrived at Dorchester, Massachu- setts, where she became the wife of Thomas Stoughton.
Benjamin Huntington was graduated at Yale College in 1761 ; studied law ; was admitted to the bar, and practiced his profession in Norwich, Connecticut. He early attained eminence at the bar, and devoted himself to its duties with an un- usual amount of energy and concentra- tion. In 1779 he was appointed a mem- ber of the convention held at New Haven for the regulation of the army, by the recommendation of General Washington, having previously been made a member of the Committee of Safety appointed to advise with the Governor during a recess of the Legislature. He was a delegate from Connecticut to the Continental Con- gress, 1780-84 and 1787-88; and was mayor of Norwich, 1784-96. He was a representative in the first United States Congress, 1789-91 ; State Senator, 1781- 90 and 1791-93, and judge of the Superior Court of the State, 1793-98. He received the honorary degree of Doctor of Laws from Dartmouth in 1782, and that of Mas- ter of Arts from Yale in 1787.
He was married, May 5, 1765, to Anna, daughter of Colonel Jabez and Sarah (Wetmore) Huntington, and their son, Benjamin, Jr., born 1777, died 1850, mar- ried Faith Trumbull, daughter of Gen- eral Jedediah Huntington. Benjamin Huntington, Sr., died in Rome, New York, October 16, 1800, and the interment was at Norwich, Connecticut.
HOPKINS, Lemuel,
Physician, Author.
Lemuel Hopkins was born in Water- bury, Connecticut, June 19, 1750, grand-
son of Stephen Hopkins, great-grandson of John Hopkins, great-grandson of Ste- phen and Dorcas (Bronson) Hopkins, and great-great-grandson of John Hopkins, of Hartford (1636).
Although a farmer's son, he was liber- ally educated, and after completing the study of medicine at Wallingford in 1776, practiced his profession in Litchfield, Con- necticut, and for a time served as sur- geon in the Revolutionary army. In 1784 he removed to Hartford, where he resided until his death. He gained considerable reputation as a poet, and in association with Trumbull, Alsop, Joel Barlow and Timothy Dwight, the "Hartford wits," prepared the "Anarchiad," a series of essays in verse after the style of the Eng- lish "Rolliad," and which had for an ob- ject the advocacy of an effective federal constitution. The idea of this production was a clever one. It purports to consist of extracts from an ancient English epic poem, somehow deposited in the interior of the American continent, and there dis- covered by some friend of Hopkins. Charles W. Everest, in his "Poets of Con- necticut" (1843) says: "Public curiosity had been awakened by the discovery of ancient Indian fortifications, with their singular relics ; the story of the early emi- gration of a body of Britons and Welsh to this country, and of an existing tribe of their descendants in the interior of the continent, was revived and circulated ; and our writers assumed that in digging among the ruins of one of these fortifica- tions, an ancient heroic poem in the Eng- lish language had been discovered. This was the 'Anarchiad,' and the essays were supposed extracts from it." He was after- ward a coadjutor in writing "The Echo," "The Political Greenhouse," "The Guillo- tine," and other famous satirical papers, especially on political subjects. He was first an infidel and afterward a student of the Bible, writing in defence of Christian
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Oliv. Ellswortho
ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY
theology. Noticeable among these apolo- getic pieces are his famous lines on Gen- eral Ethan Allen. Among his other poems may be mentioned his famous version of the 137th Psalm, beginning: "Along the banks where Babel's current flows ;" his "The Hypocrite's Hope," a clever satire, and an elegy on "The Victims of a Can- cer Quack." No separate collection of his writings has ever appeared, but many of them were included in Elisha Smith's collection, "American Poems" (1793). He received the honorary degree of Master of Arts from Yale in 1784. He died in Hartford, Connecticut, April 14, 1801.
ELLSWORTH, Oliver, Distinguished Jurist.
The surname Ellsworth is derived from that of a small village a few miles from Cambridge, England. The village is on a small stream once remarkable for its eels, hence the name of the village place of eels. The name is spelled in various ways - Elswort, Elesworth, Elsworth, Elles- worth and Aylesworth.
(I) Sergeant Josias Ellsworth, the im- migrant ancestor, was the son of John Ellsworth, and said to have been a de- scendant of Sir John Ellsworth, in the time of Edward III., who resided in Cam- bridgeshire, England. This conjecture is derived from "Mr. John Ellsworth, who was a respectable merchant in London, early in the nineteenth century, who stated that it was a tradition in his fam- ily which had long resided in Yorkshire, that a member of it had formerly removed to foreign parts ; that he was a young man when he left, and never returned." He was born in 1629. He was in Connecti- cut as early as 1646. In 1654 he bought a house and lot in Windsor south of the Rivulet, near the old mill, on what was afterwards known as the Gillett place. In 1655 he bought the property after-
wards known as the Chief Justice Ells- worth place. He was a juror in 1664; ad- mitted a freeman May 21, 1657. His wife was admitted to the church in Windsor about 1663, and he contributed three shil- lings to the Connecticut relief fund for the poor of other colonies. He died Au- gust 20, 1689, leaving an estate valued at six hundred and fifty-five pounds. He married, November 16, 1654, Elizabeth Holcomb, who died September 18, 1712. Children : Josias, born December 5, 1655 ; Elizabeth, November 11, 1657; Mary, May 7, 1660; Martha, December 7, 1662; Sergeant Thomas, September 2, 1665; Jonathan, June 28. 1669, mentioned be- low; Lieutenant John, October 7, 1671 ; Captain Job, April 13, 1674; Benjamin, January 16, 1676, died April 14, 1690.
(II) Captain Jonathan Ellsworth, son of Sergeant Josias Ellsworth, was born in Windsor, June 28, 1669, according to the family record. He resided in Windsor. where he kept a tavern and a small store of West India goods, and was engaged in many small business ventures. He was a man of sterling good sense, but was of such wit and humor that he went by the name of "Hector Ellsworth." He was tall and strong. His death was caused by his being thrown from a horse, September 13, 1749, when he was eighty-one years old. He married, October 26, 1693, Sarah, born September 19, 1675, died November 9, 1755, daughter of Tahan Grant. Chil- dren : Jonathan, born March II. 1695-96; Sarah, January 8, 1698; John, 1701 ; Giles, August 6, 1703; Mary, March 1, 1706; Esther, March 9, 1708; David, August 3, 1709, mentioned below ; Hannah, Septem- ber 10, 1713; Jonathan, August 22, 1716; Ann, August 12, 1719.
(III) Captain David Ellsworth, son of Captain Jonathan Ellsworth, was born in Windsor, August 3 (June 17, according to the family Bible), 1709. He inherited from his father a hundred pounds, and
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