USA > Connecticut > Encyclopedia of Connecticut biography, genealogical-memorial; representative citizens, v. 10 > Part 10
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and there Mr. Fairbanks had charge of the electrical decorations in the Hotel Astor, when that famous hotel was opened. All of the electrical devices, the display in the palm gardens, time clocks, bells, and so forth, were all under his su- pervision, sufficient warranty of his abil- ity in this line.
His next work was installing the J. H. Williams Drop Forge Company of Brook- lyn with electricity, after which he again returned to Stamford and to the Yale & Towne Manufacturing Company. Mr. Fairbanks had now placed himself in a position where he knew he was capable of entering into business on his own ac- count, the natural ambition of every earn- est business man. In June, 1906, he made his venture, which was successful from the beginning. All the years Mr. Fair- banks worked for others he never slighted the minutest detail, and made it a practice to master each phase of his work. These qualities have been of great value to him in his own business, and account in a measure for his success. In 1917 his business was incorporated as The Fair- banks Electric Company, Incorporated, of which he is president. All kinds of electrical work is done, including the in- stallation of plants and so forth. Mr. Fair- banks is also president of the Fairbanks Storage Battery Company, distributors of the Willard Battery in Fairfield county, Connecticut, and Port Chester, New York.
Despite his many business demands, Mr. Fairbanks finds time to relax from cares through membership in his various fraternal organizations. He is a mem- ber of Union Lodge, No. 5, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons ; Rittenhouse Chap- ter, Royal Arch Masons; Washington Council, Royal and Select Masters ; Rip- powan Lodge, Independent Order of Odd . Fellows; Excelsior Lodge, Knights of
Pythias; and the Benevolent and Protec- tive Order of Elks.
Mr. Fairbanks married Alice Sanderson, a native of Manchester, England, and they are attendants of St. John's Episco- pal Church of Stamford.
HYATT, Joseph Gilbert, Lawyer, Legislator.
There is always a double reason for properly recording the lives of men whose careers have been largely devoted to pub- lic service, and the principal one is that future generations may come within the sphere of their influence through the me- dium of the written word. One of Con- necticut's citizens who is distinguished for his service to the commonwealth and to the republic, and upon whom many public honors have been conferred, is Joseph Gilbert Hyatt, lawyer, of West- port, Connecticut.
Surnames have been variously derived, and one of the most common origins in the early days was from location. It is in this manner that the name of Hyatt was derived. Originally it was Hiatt, and signifies "a dweller at the high gate." It is necessary to refer back to the old English form of the words in order to ap- preciate the derivation. This was Hier- Yate, meaning high gate, which through the natural evolution of the words evolved into Hiatt and Hyatt, the forms now in use.
(I) Gilbert Hyatt, grandfather of Jo- seph Gilbert Hyatt, was a lifelong resi- dent of Norwalk, Connecticut.
(II) James Wiseman Hyatt, son of Gilbert Hyatt, was born in Norwalk, Con- necticut, and died at the age of sixty-six years. When he was a small boy his parents died, and with his brother, Edward Hyatt, he was taken to raise by a Mr. Smith who went South to Mobile, Alabama.
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There James W. Hyatt grew to manhood, and learned the trade of shoemaker. He returned again to the North and located in Westport, Connecticut, where he fol- lowed his trade for the remainder of his life. At the outbreak of the Civil War Mr. Hyatt enlisted but was rejected on account of a physical disability. While in the South he became a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. He married Abigail Couch, daughter of Jo- seph and Abigail Couch, of Norwalk.
(III) Joseph Gilbert Hyatt, only child of James Wiseman and Abigail (Couch) Hyatt, was born in Westport, Connecti- cut, September 19, 1852. He was edu- cated in the public schools and the pri- vate school of Rev. M. Williams, of aca- demic grade. For twenty years Mr. Hyatt was engaged in teaching school, and meanwhile began the study of law under the preceptorship of Judge Frank W. Perry. In 1882 Mr. Hyatt was admit- ted to the bar. The previous year he had been elected tax collector, and soon after that was appointed justice of the peace, which office he has held most of the time since. During the administration of President Harrison, Mr. Hyatt was ap- pointed postmaster, which office he held for nearly five years. In 1896 he was honored by election to the State Legisla- ture and served on the railroad commis- sion. That was during the period when an effort was being made to charter a trolley line through from Southport to Westport, and they were exciting times, much strenuous opposition having to be overcome. In 1897 Mr. Hyatt was elected town clerk and held that office for sixteen years. Again in 1904 he was elected to the Legislature and served on the insur- ance committee. Mr. Hyatt is engaged in the general practice of law, and also does some real estate and insurance business ; during the World War he was chairman
of the local examining board. Fraternally Mr. Hyatt is a member of Our Brothers Lodge, Independent Order of Odd Fel- lows, of which he is past grand ; is a mem- ber of the board of directors of the Inde- pendent Order of Odd Fellows Home, and is past chief patriarch of Kabasa Encamp- ment, of the same order; he is also a member of the Knights of Pythias, of Westport, of which he is past chancellor commander ; member of Temple Lodge, No 65, Ancient Free and Accepted Ma- sons; Washington Chapter, Royal Arch Masons; Clinton Commandery, Knights Templar; Lafayette Consistory, Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite, of Bridgeport ; Pyramid Temple, Ancient Arabic Order Nobles of the Mystic Shrine; and West- port Historical Society.
Mr. Hyatt married, April 14, 1874, Mary A. Comstock, daughter of Charles E. and Rhoda (Fillow) Comstock, and granddaughter of William and Sarah Comstock, of Wilton, Connecticut. The Comstock family is an old and honored one in Fairfield county history.
Few men have achieved the distinction in both professional and private life which Mr. Hyatt enjoys; he is among the emi- nently public-spirited citizens of West- port, interested in all that pertains to the welfare of the community.
FULTON, Newton Alfred, Business Educator.
The great variation in surnames is par- ticularly noticeable in the name of Fulton as it is spelled today and as it was in its original form. The first form of the name, which dates back to the earliest period in surnames, about the thirteenth century, was Fugel-Tone. In its next form it is found as Fultone, and eventually this final "e" was dropped and the name became Fulton, the spelling which is in general
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use. It is of the class known as "Place Names," that is, a name derived from the locality. Fugel, signified fowl, and ton, or tun, enclosure, so that the name liter- ally means Fowl Enclosure, and was as- sumed in the early centuries by one who lived near such an enclosure.
The centuries which passed from the time of the first of the name to the time of the immigrants are filled with many records of the members of the Fulton fam- ily. It is a long step to the time in which the grandfather Newton A. Fulton lived, which was the early part of the eight- eenth century.
(I) David Fulton, above referred to, was one of the early pioneers of Fayette county, Pennsylvania. He was a farmer, and was the Methodist minister of the locality in which he lived. A just and up- right man, he held the respect of his fel- low-townsmen, and was often sought for counsel and advice. The Christian name of his wife was Mary.
(II) Wesley Fulton, son of David and Mary Fulton, was born October 10, 1847, in Uniontown, Fayette county, Pennsyl- vania. He was educated in the public schools of Uniontown, and about 1865 his parents removed to Illinois. They lo- cated on a farm of eighty acres that had an orchard on one end of it and a spring of water at the other, strong inducements in an Illinois farm in those days. Wesley Fulton, although but a boy when the Civil War was raging, planned to run away with an older brother to join a regiment, but fortunately peace came about the time they were ready to start. Mr. Fulton remained on the home farm until the time of his marriage, and then for four or five years worked a farm of his own. About 1875 he removed to Chariton, Iowa, and subsequently to Atlantic City, Iowa. He is now (1920) a resident of Waterloo, In- diana, engaged in farming and dairying.
Mr. Fulton is a staunch Republican in politics, and actively interested in all pub- lic matters. He married, in 1869, Susan Elizabeth Dorns, of Carroll county, Illi- nois, daughter of John Dorns, and their children were: Newton Alfred, of further mention ; Cora B., born November 9, 1876; Mary Letitia, born October 24, 1898.
(III) Newton Alfred Fulton, only son of Wesley and Susan Elizabeth (Dorns) Fulton, was born in Fair Haven, Carroll county, Illinois, December 2, 1874. He was educated in the public schools of Iowa and Indiana, and pursued a course of study in Valparaiso University. For five years he was an insructor in the pub- lic schools of Illinois, thence removing to Cedar Rapids, Iowa, where he attended business college for a year. From there Mr. Fulton went to Kingston, New York, as teacher in a private commercial col- lege, remaining a year. The following year he spent in Mount Vernon, New York, in a similar school, and was then in South Norwalk, Connecticut, for a year. Mr. Fulton's services were sought by the Derby High School in their commercial department, and for four years he gave faithful instruction to the students of that school. The eight months following until May, 1914, were spent in Derby, Connec- ticut, in a private school. In the spring of 1914, Mr. Fulton purchased the Mer- rill Business Colleges, located in Port- chester, New York, South Norwalk and Stamford, Connecticut. These three schools have (1919-1920) an enrollment of about two hundred and ninety-five in the day class and four hundred and thirty in the night schools. A teaching force of ten instructors is necessary to maintain the high standard of the schools, and all work done is under the supervision of Mr. Fulton, whose wide experience and teaching ability is of untold value to his
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William # artur
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pupils. Mr. Fulton has the happy faculty of knowing how to interest the young mind in broadening itself and equipping the youth for his way in the world ; he is conscientious and takes a personal inter- est in each student. He is a Mason, a member of King Hiram Lodge, No. 12, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, of Derby, Connecticut, and was demitted to Union Lodge, No. 5, of Stamford; he is also a member of the Royal Arch Chapter in Derby.
Mr. Fulton married Hattie May Brown, daughter of George Walter Brown, of Georgetown, Massachusetts, and they are the parents of a daughter, Elizabeth May, who was born October 8, 1918. With his family, Mr. Fulton attends the Baptist church of Stamford, Connecticut, and aids in its support.
ARTHUR, William Henry, Civil Engineer, Contractor.
Men of aggressive spirit and mental power are men of action. In one way or another every man expresses himself in his work. Where that work is of such a nature as to serve the convenience, health or happiness of his fellowmen, then it is a matter of simple justice to spread upon the pages of history the story of his life. When the man's achievements include the really important examples of modern progress, the story is one of fascinating interest. Such a story is that of William Henry Arthur, of Stamford, who has done some of the most remarkable engineering work in this section.
The name of Arthur is of very ancient origin. When King Henry II., of Eng- land, invaded Ireland, A. D., 1172, he granted to Hugh De Lacey the Kingdom of Meath, thus dispossessing the Harts of their patrimony in that kingdom. Thus the family was scattered. Some settled
in England, some in Scotland, France and Germany, others, more tenacious of their family traditions, remained in Ireland. Those who settled in Leinster clung to the name of Hart, or used it in the form of Hort and Hartey; in England the form became Harte; in France, Le Hart; in Germany, Hartl or Hartz. In Scotland the name was Anglicized into Artho and later Arthur. The motto of the family is Fae et opera, meaning "act and work."
Mr. Arthur's grandfather, John Arthur, was a native of Ireland, and one of twelve brothers who went to different parts of the world to carve out their fortunes. John Arthur, coming to America, landed in South Carolina. As was natural he went to different parts of the country, and was at one time proprietor of a large gro- cery store in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Later, he removed to New York City, where he was interested in various busi- ness enterprises. He was an active, ambitious man, never content to idle away his time. His death occurred in New York City as the result of sun-stroke. He was married in Ireland before coming to America ; his second wife was Sarah (Os- trander) Arthur, a member of an old Dutch family.
William Arthur, son of John and Sarah (Ostrander) Arthur, was born in New York City, October 12, 1825. He received a common school education, then learned the trade of shoemaker. Later on he be- came clerk in a shoe store owned by David Wiggins, whose daughter he after- wards married. He remained with Mr. Wiggins for some years and, being a young man of pleasant address and in- dustrious, was very successful in the capacity of salesman. He then removed to Norwalk, Connecticut, where he fol- lowed his trade, establishing himself in a very satisfactory little business by his excellent work and his invariable courtesy
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to his patrons. Later he removed to New Canaan, Connecticut, where he worked in the shoe shops for a number of years. Still later he returned to Norwalk, but did not remain there permanently. He went to Ansonia, New York, and worked for his son, Charles M. Arthur, who had established a thriving business in manu- facturing paper boxes. Charles M. Ar- thur was the original patentee of the folding cardboard box idea, which has developed into an immense industry and is adopted by the manufacturers of an endless variety of products for the pro- tection of their goods. Mr. Arthur re- mained with his son in Ansonia for about four years, then went back to New Canaan, where he resided until within two years of his death ; he was always actively occupied in his own line of work. He then became a resident of Glenbrook, a suburb of Stamford, where he died, Oc- tober 15, 1915. Mr. Arthur, at the time of the Civil War, tried three times to en- list, but was refused, because the exami- ners claimed he had a weak heart. He had the satisfaction of outliving all the people who had passed judgment on his physique. He married Jeannette Wig- gins, daughter of David Wiggins, of Huntington, Long Island, and grand- daughter of Dr. Wiggins, of that place. They had twelve children, of whom seven grew to maturity: Rev. Charles M., a clergyman of the Christian denomination ; Jeanet E., who has been a teacher in the public schools of Waterbury for many years; Mary, who married Charles L. Parmele ; William Henry, of further men- tion ; George, now deceased ; Fanny Etta, of Stamford ; and Harriet, widow of Hal- sey Reynolds, of Omaha. The mother was a member of the Dutch Reformed church. She died in 1907, aged seventy- nine years.
William Henry Arthur, the engineering
contractor of Stamford, was born in Nor- walk, Connecticut, February 22, 1866, a son of William and Jeannette (Wiggins) Arthur. He attended the public schools in the different towns where his parents resided, learning much of value in the ex- perience of changing from one town to another. He was a lad of keen interests, active and full of life and vim, and was always fond of machinery or anything of a mechanical nature. He learned the machinists trade in New Haven, and fol- lowed it for thirteen years, most of the time as master mechanic, or chief engi- neer. To gain wider experience he spent some time in each of a number of im- portant cities, among them Waterbury, Connecticut, and Binghamton, New York, also spent much time in New York City, everywhere having charge of large man- ufacturing interests. In 1894 he removed to Stamford and took charge of the city's power station, which position he held for nearly five years, then in 1899 was ap- pointed superintendent of public mines at Stamford, which position he held for nine years. On November 9, 1908, he re- signed this position to go into business for himself. This had been his ambition for some time, the end toward which he had been working. He has developed one of the really important business enter- prises of the city of Stamford. He han- dles large contracts, such as the building of sea walls, roads, stone bridges and piers, trolley roads, sewers, etc. The pub- lic, to whom these undertakings are little more than an inconvenience in the build- ing, and a matter of course, once com- pleted, in the daily use, gives little thought to their significance. By such effort is civilization built. The man who constructs anything in line with civic or industrial progress is a benefactor of his kind, both in the achievement and in the means of livelihood which it places within
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THE HOMESTEAD OF WILLIAM H. ARTHUR GLENBROOK, CONNECTICUT
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reach of so many of his fellows. Mr. Arthur employs constantly a large corps of civil engineers, and from one hundred to five hundred laborers, the number vary- ing greatly according to the nature of his contracts, and the possibility of securing men. One of the best known examples of his work in the vicinity of Stamford is Halloween Park, and he has built many miles of road in different parts of the country, and extensive sewer systems in various cities. During 1919 Mr. Arthur built the State road from Norwalk to Winnepau; the Barnum avenue road, from Bridgeport to Stratford ; the Pequot avenue road, at Southport; widened At- lantic street, the principal street of Stam- ford, and there is scarcely a city in the State in which he has not done road work. He is reconstructing the Boston Post- road from the State line at Greenwich to Norwalk, and this is probably the best piece of road in New England. In addi- tion to his large operations in this line, Mr. Arthur has established a coal and wood yard at Glenbrook, conducted under his direction.
Mr. Arthur recently became the owner of a most attractive residence at Glen- brook, set in grounds ten acres in extent, which are ornamented with beautiful trees and shrubbery, the whole being one of the finest properties of the locality. Mr. Arthur is a man of cordial, friendly dis- position, and of character as sound and wholesome as the work which he does, a man whom it is a pleasure to meet and a privilege to know. He has not failed to respond to every demand of the public when they needed men in positions of trust. He is a director of the Citizens' Savings Bank, the Morris Plan Company, and the Woodland Cemetery Association. Socially, he is connected with the promi- nent orders, being a member of Union Lodge, No. 5, Ancient Free and Accepted
Masons; Clinton Commandery, Knights Templar, of Norwalk; Lafayette Consis- tory, of Bridgeport; Pyramid Temple, Ancient Arabic Order, Nobles of the Mys- tic Shrine, of Bridgeport; Rippowan Lodge, Independent Order of Odd Fel- lows, of Stamford; Wascussee Encamp- ment ; Excelsior Lodge, Knights of Pyth- ias; Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, of Stamford ; and is also a popular member of the Suburban Club. In poli- tics Mr. Arthur is a Republican, and while he has no time nor inclination to follow the political game, he is not the man to shirk or neglect his political duty.
Mr. Arthur married Annie Louise Whitney, daughter of Samuel Whitney, of New Canaan, of the old Whitney fam- ily of Wilton, Connecticut. Of the chil- dren four are now living : George Dudley, born July 23, 1893, educated at Stamford High School and the New York Univer- sity, and is now a member of the civil engineering force of his father's business; Robert Alan, born August 24, 1901, now a medical student in Columbia Univer- sity ; Homer Cummings, born January 4, 1903; and Remington Jessup, born April 2, 1906, now in high school.
GRISWOLD, William Loomis, Physician, Enterprising Citizen.
There is no name more eminent in the annals of the State of Connecticut than that of Griswold. Descendants of the immigrants who bore this name have scattered over a large area, but wherever they are found there also are found the upright and useful citizens.
Griswold is an ancient English sur- name, derived from the name of a place, like a large proportion of patronymics. It literally is formed of Gris, meaning gray, and wold, meaning wood. The ancient seat of the family was at Solihull, War-
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wickshire, prior to the year 1400. The he removed with his younger children. ancient coat-of-arms is :
Arms-Argent, a fesse gules between two grey- hounds, courant sable.
John Griswold, about the middle of the fourteenth century came from Kenilworth and married a daughter and heiress of Henry Hughford, of Huddersley Hall, Solihull, and the family has been known as the Griswolds of Kenilworth and Soli- hull. Solihull is on the northwest border of Warwickshire and Yardley in Worces- tershire, on the south and west. It is but eight miles from Kenilworth to the west- ward, and twelve miles northwest of Stratford-on-Avon, and was a place of importance before the Norman Conquest. The two American immigrants, Edward and Matthew Griswold, came to America from Kenilworth.
(I) Edward Griswold, the ancestor of the family herein under consideration, was born in Warwickshire, England, about 1607. He came to Connecticut at the time of the second visit of George Fenwick when many other settlers came. He was attorney for a Mr. St. Nicholas, of Warwickshire, who had a house built for him in Windsor, and a tract of land impaled, as had also Sir Richard Salton- stall. There were many other prominent Puritans in Warwickshire who intended to settle in the colonies when a change in the political conditions in England caused them to remain there. Edward Griswold had a grant of land at Poquonock, to which he removed in 1649, when his house was on the outpost of the colony. He was active in public affairs. He assisted in building the fort in Springfield in 1650 for William Pynchon, and was deputy to the General Court in 1656 from Windsor and subsequently every session but one until the new charter was granted. He was a prominent settler of Hommonosett or West Saybrook, whither about 1663
The settlement was organized as a town in 1667, and received the name of his English birthplace, Kenilworth, which became strangely perverted in the spell- ing to Killingworth and is now Clinton, Connecticut. He was the first deputy from the town, magistrate and deputy from 1662 to 1688-90. The Colonial rec- ords show him to have been an active and influential member of the Legislature, who accomplished much good. At ses- sions he had the pleasure of meeting his own son, Francis, and brother, Matthew, in office, and there has hardly been a time since, when the family has not been rep- resented in the Legislature of the Prov- ince and State. In 1678 he was on the committee to establish a Latin school in New London, and he was deacon of the Killingworth church. He died there in 1691, aged eighty-four years. He married (first) in England, Margaret -, who died August 23, 1670, and her grave-stone is the oldest in the burial ground in Clinton.
(II) George Griswold, eldest son and second child of Edward and Margaret Griswold, was born in England in 1633, and died in Windsor, Connecticut, Sep- tember 3, 1704. He remained in Windsor with his brother Joseph on their father's lands when the latter went to Killing- worth. He was also an extensive owner of lands purchased from the Indians ; was admitted freeman in 1654. He married, October 3, 1655, Mary Holcomb, daugh- ter of Thomas Holcomb, and she died in April, 1708.
(III) Daniel Griswold, eldest son of George and Mary (Holcomb) Griswold, was born October 1, 1656, in Windsor, Connecticut. He married there, February 3, 1680, Mindwell Bissell, daughter of Na- thaniel Bissell, who died December 31, 1728.
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(IV) Daniel (2) Griswold, son of Dan- iel (1) and Mindwell (Bissell) Griswold, was born February 14, 1684. He mar- ried September 6, 1716, Sarah White, and removed to Bolton, Connecticut, where his wife died February 1, 1738.
(V) Seth Griswold, ninth child of Dan- iel (2) and Sarah (White) Griswold, was born in Bolton, Connecticut, April 27, 1732, and died in Colebrook, Connecticut, about 1810. He married (first ) Susannah Shurtleff, in 1751. He married (second) in New Hartford, Connecticut, December 31, 1778, Mrs. Huldah (Priest) Loomis, widow of Simeon Loomis. They settled on the Loomis estate, remaining until 1801, and in the latter year removed to Colebrook.
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