USA > Connecticut > Encyclopedia of Connecticut biography, genealogical-memorial; representative citizens, v. 10 > Part 21
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The Catholic history of New Canaan dates from 1855. Until May, 1896, the parish was visited by priests from Nor- walk, and in the latter year the first resi- dent pastor was appointed, Rev. John T. McMahon. Originally there were only about thirty Catholics in the town, and this number has grown very appreciably since that time. Father Moore is ever devising ways and means to further the best interests of his parishioners, and many of his best ideas are born while he works with his own hands about the grounds of the church and parsonage.
WICKWIRE, Townsend B., Prominent Business Man.
In the few years during which Mr. Wickwire has been a resident of Norwalk, Connecticut, he has achieved a success
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which places him among the foremost business men of his community. He is active in Masonic circles and omits no opportunity of testifying, both in word and deed, to his fidelity to the duties of good citizenship.
The name of Wickwire which, in its original form, is a very ancient one, is a compound of Wick, the designation of a manor which existed before William the Conqueror, and Warre, the name of the family to which it was granted by King John. The family and the manor, also the town and parish, were then called Wick-Warre. Wick signifies a creek, and Warre or Ware, belonging to Ware, a dweller at the wier or dam. It also signi- fies wary, astute, prudent, and is said by some to be allied to the French guerre, and so to mean war. The town is situ- ated in Southern Gloucestershire, Eng- land, and the name has, in comparatively recent years, become Wickwire, after passing, in the course of centuries, through great variations of orthography.
Following is the escutcheon of the Warre family :
Arms-Gules, a lion rampant between eight cross-crosslets argent.
Crest-Out of a ducal coronet or, a griffin's head azure.
Motto-Je trouve bien.
(I) John Wickware, supposed to have been the son of John and Mary Wickware of Wotton-under-Edge, England, was baptized May 18, 1656, and in 1675 settled at New London, Connecticut. He served in King Philip's War, participating in the Great Swamp Fight, and for his services on that occasion received from the Gen- eral Court one hundred and forty acres of land in Voluntown, Connecticut. He was one of the seventy-seven patentees of New London. In 1676 he married Mary, daughter of George and Margery Tonge. The death of John Wickware occurred in Februarv. 1712.
(II) Christopher, son of John and Mary (Tonge) Wickware, was born Jan- uary 8, 1680, in New London, Connecti- cut, and later removed to Salem. He married Elizabeth -, and died in 1746 or 1747.
(III) James, son of Christopher and Elizabeth Wickware, was born in 1725, and served in the French and Indian War. He lived in New Salem, Colchester, East Haddam, and Millington, Connecticut. His wife was Mary Grant, who was born in 1731, and died September 5, 1819, at Millington. Mr. Wickware passed away at the same place, April 19, 1801.
(IV) James (2), son of James (1) and Mary (Grant) Wickware, was born Sep- tember 28, 1759, in Colchester, and re- moved to East Haddom, and afterward to Litchfield. He served in the Revolution- ary War, and in August, 1776, was or- dered to the Brooklyn front. He also saw service at White Plains, crossed the Dela- ware and was present at the battles of Trenton and Princeton. He married, in 1779, Sarah, born in 1759, daughter of Sergeant Enos and Abigail (Luddington) Barnes, the former a soldier of the Revo- lution. James Wickware died September 4, 1822, and his widow passed away July 22, 1848.
(V) Alvin Benjamin Wickwire (as he spelled the name), son of James (2) and Sarah (Barnes) Wickware, was born July 7, 1796, at Litchfield, Connecticut, and lived in Warren, Connecticut, and Sheffield, Massachusetts. He always fol- lowed agricultural pursuits. He was a soldier in the War of 1812, serving as a bugler at Sackett's Harbor, Plattsburgh, and Governor's Island. He has left this testimony written in regard to his ınili- tary career : "I enlisted for five years and served my time out." He married, De- cember 17, 1828, Sarah Miranda, born in 1795, daughter of Bennett Humiston, and a descendant of John Humiston, who mar-
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ried Sarah, daughter of John Tuttle, and granddaughter of William Tuttle, who came from England in 1635 and settled in Massachusetts. Mrs. Wickwire, who was a native of Washington, New York, died July 6, 1866, and her husband passed away in Sheffield, January 14, 1887.
(VI) Manley Horatio, son of Alvin Benjamin and Sarah Miranda (Humis- ton) Wickwire, was born September I, 1834, at Warren, Connecticut, and was about twenty when he removed to Shef- field, Massachusetts, where he became a manufacturer. His boyhood was spent on his father's farm, and for a time he served as clerk in a store. To the close of his life he was extensively engaged in the lumber business in New London county, purchasing standing lumber and owning portable saw-mills. During the greater part of that time he was a resident of Sheffield, Massachusetts, where, in his younger manhood, he served as selectman and held various other offices. He affili- ated with Great Barrington Lodge, An- cient Free and Accepted Masons, attain- ing to thirty-second degree of Scottish Rite Masonry.
When Mr. Wickwire first went to Shef- field, it was to take charge of a school, and it was in that town that he met his first wife, whom he married September 10, 1856. Mrs. Wickwire, who was, be- fore her marriage, Pauline Bartholomew, was born November 20, 1835, in Sheffield, and was a daughter of Andrew and Abi- gail (Savage) Bartholomew, of that town. Mr. and Mrs. Wickwire became the par- ents of the following children: 1. Lillian E., born August 25, 1858, married Dr. Frank L. Smith, of Sheffield. 2. Frances E., born December 13, 1859, married Henry R. Little, who was, for about twen- ty-five years, engaged in the shoe business in Torrington; they are now living near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. 3. Cornelia
Pauline, born April 17, 1865, and now the wife of George H. Robinson, of Newton- ville, Massachusetts. 4. Arthur Manley, born March 19, 1867, now living in New York City ; author of the Wickwire gene- alogy. 5. Townsend B., mentioned be- low. The family were members of the Congregational church. Mrs. Wickwire passed away October 4, 1882, and Mr. Wickwire married (second), Meroa B. Carrier, widow of Lucius Carrier, and daughter of Stephen Brainard. The death of Mr. Wickwire occurred in Octo- ber, 1916.
(VII) Townsend B., son of Manley Horatio and Pauline (Bartholomew) Wickwire, was born March 31, 1869, in Sheffield, Massachusetts, and grew to manhood in his native town. After grad- uating from Eastman's Business College, Poughkeepsie, New York, he was, for about two years, associated with his fa- ther in the lumber business. When about nineteen years of age, Mr. Wickwire re- moved with his father to Colchester, re- maining three years. He then went to Berlin, Connecticut, where, for six or seven years, he was engaged in the coal and grain business. This he eventually abandoned, returning to the lumber busi- ness to which he devoted himself until about 1917. Three years of this period were spent in South Carolina, but during the greater part of the time he was in New England. He dealt largely in rail- road ties and other railroad lumber.
In 1917 Mr. Wickwire settled in Nor- walk and built his storage warehouse, a three-story and basement structure about seventy-two feet front and one hundred and ten feet deep, designed for general storage. He carries on a general trucking business, using auto trucks and teams. The care of this business, as may well be supposed, leaves Mr. Wickwire with lit- tle leisure for other demands. His only
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fraternal affiliation is with St. John's Lodge, No. 6, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons.
Mr. Wickwire married (first) January I, 1893, Elizabeth, daughter of William and Katherine (Carrier) Jones, and they became the parents of one son: Grant, born August 26, 1896. Mr. Wickwire married (second) October 19, 1917, Bessie Louise, daughter of Robert Wellington Keeler, of Welton.
Throughout a somewhat checkered ca- reer Mr. Wickwire has proved himself a man of much initiative and great tenacity of purpose, and the exercise of these qual- ities has brought him, as it almost in- variably does, assured and well-merited success and prosperity.
SULLIVAN, Daniel E., Physician, Hospital Official.
Eight years of successful practice have made Dr. Sullivan's name so thoroughly and favorably familiar to his fellow-citi- zens of South Norwalk as to render any introductory phrases wholly superfluous. Dr. Sullivan is quietly but helpfully in- terested in everything that tends to pro- mote the welfare of his community, and is active in its club circles and its social life
The O'Sullivan family is one of the most ancient in Ireland, tracing descent from Milesius, King of Spain, who, at a remote period, invaded the country, his sons, Heremon and Heber, completing its conquest. The Gaelic form of the name is O'Suileafhain, the word "suil" signi- fying eye, and the meaning has been rendered "light of white eye," or "quick- sighted." The family derives its origin, prior to the time of King Milesius, from Owen Mor (Eoghan Mor), Eugene the Great, a wise and politic prince and a re- nowned warrior. From him descended
Mogh and Modhod, now Maynooth. He married Beara, daughter of Heber, the great King of Castile, Spain, and is eighty-third on the Heber line of Milesian descent. Heber was the eldest of the three sons of King Milesius, and was slain by his brother Heremon, B. C., 1698. The O'Sullivan family traces from Heber and from Cormac, King of Munster, A. D. 483, of the race of Eoghan Mor. The territory of the O'Sullivans was situated in the present counties of Cork, Kerry and Limerick. The chiefs of the sept bore the title of Princes of Feir, Fochita, and Beare and Lord of Dunkerron. In the Cromwellian and Williamite wars the O'Sullivans fought bravely, but eventu- ally were despoiled of their remaining lands. Colonel John O'Sullivan was the military adviser and aide of Prince Charles Edward Stuart in his attempt to recover his throne. In the history of the United States the family name has ac- quired added lustre. In the Revolution- ary War General John J. Sullivan was one of the most distinguished commanders who served under General Washington, and his sons became well known as law- yers, legislators and inventors. Follow- ing is the O'Sullivan escutcheon :
Arms-A dexter hand couped at the wrist, grasping a sword erect.
Crest-Out of a ducal coronet or, a robin red- breast with a sprig of laurel in its beak.
Motto-Lamb foistenach on nachtar.
Michael Sullivan, father of Daniel E. Sullivan, was born October 26, 1836, in the village of Cahirciveen, County Kerry, Ireland, and in 1865 emigrated to the United States, seeking, as so many of his countrymen have done, to realize in another land the ideals of freedom and democracy of which in their native coun- try the victim of ancient oppression, they had long and vainly dreamed. Unskilled in any trade, Mr. Sullivan found work on
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a railroad, and after a time settled in Hartford, where he remained about two years, being employed on the New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad. He then removed to Willimantic, where he still resides. Thrifty and prudent, he has become the owner of his home and hav- ing, some years ago, retired from regular employment, finds pleasure in the culti- vation of his garden and in similar light occupations. He married, in Lawrence, Massachusetts, Mary Curran, some ac- count of whose family is appended to this biography, and their children were : Mary, Timothy, Annie, Julia, Margaret, Nellie, Michael, John, James and Daniel. To all these children Mr. Sullivan gave the best educational advantages which it was in his power to bestow, being anxious that they should enjoy the opportunities which he in his native land had been denied. Such men and their sons and daughters constitute some of the finest types of American citizens.
Daniel E. Sullivan, son of Michael and Mary (Curran) Sullivan, was born July 25, 1886, in Willimantic, Connecticut, and obtained his elementary education in the parochial schools and at the public high school of his native town. Having de- cided upon a medical career, he entered the Medical School of the University of Maryland, from which he graduated in 1910 with the degree of Doctor of Medi- cine. The following two years were spent at St. Catherine's Hospital, Brooklyn, New York, serving in every capacity from interne to house physician. In the latter part of 1912 Dr. Sullivan removed to South Norwalk, where for the last eight years he has been engaged in general practice. He is a member of the staff of the Norwalk Hospital, and ranks among the leading physicians of Fairfield county.
Among the professional organizations in which Dr. Sullivan is enrolled are the
Norwalk Medical Society and the Amer- ican Medical Association. His fraternal connections are with the Knights of Co- lumbus and the Benevolent and Protec- tive Order of Elks. His clubs are the Catholic and the South Norwalk. He is president of the Norwalk Board of Health. During the World War, when one of the greatest needs of the country was skilled surgeons, Dr. Sullivan gave freely of his services as a member of the Volunteer Medical Service Corps.
Dr. Sullivan married, September 5, 1916, Mary E. King, daughter of John and Mary (Gibney) King, of Brooklyn, New York, and they are the parents of one child : Mary R., born July 27, 1918.
The profession which Dr. Sullivan has chosen for his lifework is one of the no- blest. His career has been one of ability and usefulness, and in the years to come he will continue to furnish, as he has in the past, an exemplification of the highest virtues of his calling.
(The Curran Line).
This numerous and distinguished race traces its origin from Milesius, King of Spain, through the line of his son Here- mon. The founder of the family was Brian, son of Eviha Moy Veagon, King of Ireland, A. D. 350. The ancient name of Curran signifies knight, and the pos- sessions of the family were situated in what is now the County of Clare. From a branch in the County of Leitrim have sprung celebrated bards and historians. Tradition says that the Currans are a branch of the Fitzgerald sept, but history fails to substantiate the claim. Tradition, however, is always entitled to a certain amount of credence and it is not improb- able that a connection exists between the Currans and a family which is one of the greatest in Irish history. The Fitzger- alds are of Italian origin, and are known
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as the Geraldines. One or more members of the family accompanied William the Conqueror to England and a Fitzgerald was sent by Henry IV at the head of a body of troops to quell a rebellion against the King of Leinster. Being successful in the endeavor, he was awarded with land and thus the family became estab- lished in Ireland. The prefix Fitz is de- rived from the French fils, and signifies son.
Among the celebrated members of the Curran family may be mentioned John Philpot Curran, the famous orator and lawyer, who was a native of the County of Cork. His son, Richard Curran, was a man of some eminence in his day. John Oliver Curran was a noted practitioner and a well known writer on medical and scientific subjects, and was a member of the Royal Irish Academy. The family is today numerously represented in Ireland, in the British colonial possessions, and in the United States. The Hon. John J. Curran, of Montreal, and the Hon. M. P. Curran, of Boston, Massachusetts, are among the distinguished bearers of the name.
Mrs. Mary (Curran) Sullivan traces her descent from a long line of teachers, the branch of the family to which she be- longed having ably maintained its tradi- tions of intellect and learning.
HACKETT, Raymond E., Lawyer.
The origin of the surname, Hackett, is veiled in the mists of the past. Lower, an authority on the derivation of sur- names, thinks that the Anglo-Saxon Hacket is a corruption of Harcourt. The name Hacket, without a prefix, appears on the Hundred Rolls of Battle Abbey, 1273, and is frequently met with in Eng- lish annals of an earlier period. A Scot-
tish branch of the family spells the name, Halket, although the pronunciation is sim- ilar; in the enumeration, which Keating, the historian, makes of the prominent fami- lies who crossed into Ireland from England at the time of Henry II, 1175, the Hacket family is found. Many of these became prominent citizens and the town of Hac- kettstown, in County Carlow, was named from some of these early settlers. In 1384 there was a Peter Hacket conse- crated Bishop of Cashel. In 1626, Sir Cuthbert, Hacket was Lord Mayor of London, and in 1687 Sir Thomas Hacket held this office.
The earliest known ancestor of the Hacketts of New England was William Hackett, a mariner, who was early in Sal- isbury, Massachusetts.
A worthy scion of this old and honor- able name is Raymond E. Hackett, born in New Haven, Connecticut, September 7, 1889, son of John E. and Margaret (O'Connor) Hackett.
After completing the courses of the public schools in New Haven, Mr. Hac- kett prepared for college at the New Haven High School, and was graduated in 1911 from the Yale Law School with the degree of LL. B. The following year he was admitted to the bar in New York City and for a year was engaged in prac- tice there. He removed to Stamford and in January, 1914, was admitted to the Fairfield County Bar. Since 1913 he has been associated with the law firm of Cum- mings & Lockwood, as a trial lawyer, and in the few years which have passed since then, has several times brought forth the commendation of his older brethren for the capable manner in which he handled his cases. Mr. Hackett is a young man and the best years of his life are before him; it is safe to assume that within his allotted time he will have succeeded in attaining an honored and well-deserved
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place among the members of the legal profession, and by so doing, he will have done his part in adding more honor to his ancient name.
In politics, Mr. Hackett is a Democrat and is a member of the City Council from the Second Ward. He is a director of the Morris Plan Bank of Stamford, and his social connections are with the Suburban Club, the Stamford Yacht Club, and the Yale Club of New York.
Mr. Hackett married Anna E., daugh- ter of Thomas W. Sova, of Stamford.
OARR, Herbert John, Jr., Iron Founder.
The surname of Orr, as the name was originally spelled, is very ancient, and signifies a border or boundary. It be- longs to the class known as "local or place names," and was first given to a river bordering Scotland, later being assumed by those who lived near this river. Her- bert John Oarr, Jr., of this review, de- scends from an old English family. His ancestors always spelled the family name in its original form, but owing to con- fusion with another of the same name, Mr. Oarr, Sr., substituted the letter "a" in order to differentiate himself.
Thomas Orr, father of Herbert J. Oarr, Sr., was born in 1821, in England, and died in 1894.
Herbert J. Oarr, Sr., was only six years of age when his parents came to America, and they located in Gloversville, New York, where he attended public school and grew to manhood. His earliest em- ployment was on a farm, and later he worked in various hotels. Mr. Oarr re- moved to Stamford about 1883, and after working at various employments went to work for the Yale & Towne Manufac- turing Company, where he learned the trade of brass moulder. After a few years
his efficiency caused him to be promoted to the position of foreman of the core- room, and he held this place for twenty years, until about 1909. In the latter year he and his son, Herbert J. Oarr, Jr., bought the iron foundry of R. E. Bu- chanan & Son, at Coscob, in the town of Greenwich. At the time, the plant was small and old-fashioned, and together they began at once to make improvements and to enlarge it. Their vast experience in this line of work, combined with a natural ability, brought them success. Many improvements have been made from time to time, and machinery has sup- planted hand methods as far as possible. They produce gray iron castings, the larger part of which are for marine gaso- line engines for the Palmer Brothers, whose plant adjoins that of Oarr & Son. Finally embodied in the engines, these castings go over the entire world.
Outside of his foundry interests, Mr. Oarr, Sr., finds recreation, profitably, in developing a stock farm of one hundred and eighty acres at Fonda, New York, in connection with his son, Clarence Oarr.
Mr. Oarr married Catherine Brower, daughter of John Brower, of the neigh- borhood of Ephratah, New York, and to them were born six children, four of whom grew to maturity, as follows : Lulu, who married Harry L. Austin, and resides in the Glenbrook section of Stamford ; Herbert John, Jr., of further mention ; Elizabeth, who married William L. Os- borne, of New York City; Clarence, of Fonda, New York. With his family, Mr. Oarr attends and aids in the support of the Congregational church of Sound Beach, Connecticut.
Herbert John Oarr, Jr., was born June 16, 1888, at South Beach, and went to school there. After a few months in the employ of the Yale & Towne Manufac- turing Company, he went to work for
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Palmer Brothers as an apprentice to the trade of machinist and tool-maker. He was there for three years and two months, and then started his present business with his father. In 1918 the business was in- porated under the name of the Square Deal Foundry Corporation, of which his father is president and treasurer, and Her- bert J., Jr., vice-president, secretary and manager.
Herbert J. Oarr, Jr., married Sarah J. Colgrove, daughter of Joseph Lafayette and Sarah (Jessup) Colgrove, and grand- daughter of Livingston Colgrove. The Jessup genealogy will be found in con- nection with the sketch of Mrs. Oarr's cousin, Howard D. Jessup, on another page of this work. Mrs. Oarr is a regu- lar attendant of the Methodist Episcopal church.
BYINGTON, C. Irving, Building Contractor.
Although it has not been absolutely es- tablished, it is very credible that the Byington family of Fairfield county, Con- necticut, is descended from John Boynton, baptized at Newbury, Massachusetts, April 19, 1676. The family is traced in England to the time of the Conquest, 1066. In a sequestered rural neighbor- hood, bordering on the town of Bridling- North sea, in the eastern part of York- shire, England, stands the ancient village of Boynton, which derives importance from its having given name to the family of Boynton, and their principal seat for centuries. The manor house was from a very early period the residence of the Boyntons. The family sent forth branches into the neighboring villages at a very early period, East Heslerton and Win- tringham being the abode for several generations of that branch whose de-
scendants, William and John, came to New England in 1637, and settled at Row- ley, Massachusetts.
John Byington, the great-grandfather .of C. Irving Byington, was born in West- chester county, New York, about 1770, and is supposed to be a son of Solomon or Jonathan Boynton of Branford. He married for his second wife, Mary (Polly) Abbott, and she died in 1831-32.
Harry Byington, son of John and Mary (Polly) (Abbott) Byington, was born in 1810, died March 24, 1856. He was a farmer, and married Betsey E. Weeks, of Wilton.
ton, and not far from the shore of the . to work in Leonard's coal yard and later
Aaron Byington, son of Harry and Bet- sey E. (Weeks) Byington, was born at Bald Hill, town of Wilton, May 4, 1839, and died February 10, 1906. He was brought up on a farm, and also learned the trade of shoemaker, following this latter occupation most of his life. In the early sixties he removed to Vista, New York, and was there but a short time when he enlisted in Company H., 17th Regiment, Connecticut Volunteer Infantry. Mr. By- ington was unfortunate in contracting a disease which incapacitated him, and he was discharged after about three years of service. After the war he returned to Vista for a short time, but soon removed to Nor- walk, Connecticut. It became necessary for him to lead an outdoor life, so he went was at Meeker's yard for a while. An opportunity came about this time to enter the butcher business on his own account, which he did, and was very successful in this undertaking. His last position in the active business world was with the grocery business of Selleck Brothers. Mr. Byington was a member of Buckingham Post, Grand Army of the Republic; St. John's Lodge, No. 6, Free and Accepted Masons; and Our Brothers Lodge, Inde- pendent Order of Odd Fellows.
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