Encyclopedia of Connecticut biography, genealogical-memorial; representative citizens, v. 11, Part 10

Author: Hart, Samuel, 1845-1917. ed. cn; American Historical Society. cn
Publication date: 1917
Publisher: Boston, New York [etc.] The American historical society, incorporated
Number of Pages: 720


USA > Connecticut > Encyclopedia of Connecticut biography, genealogical-memorial; representative citizens, v. 11 > Part 10


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(II) John Tuttle, son of William and Elizabeth Tuttle, was born in England in 1631, and died in East Haven, Connecti- cut, November 12, 1683. He had a house and lot in East Haven, which he sold in 1662. The inventory of his estate gives his wealth as being estimated at seventy-


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ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY


nine pounds. He married, November 8, 1653, Catherine or Kattareen Lane, per- haps daughter of John Lane, who was of Milford in 1640. Children: I. Hannah, born November 2, 1655 ; married, Novem- ber 7, 1672, Samuel Clark. 2. John, born September 15, 1657; married, May 29, 1689, Mary Burroughs. 3. Samuel, of whom further. 4. Sarah, born January 22, 1661-62; married, September 10, 1685, John Humiston. 5. Daniel, born April 13, 1664. 6. Mary, twin with Daniel. 7. Elizabeth, born November 19, baptized November 21, 1666; married John Read, Jr., of Norwalk. 8. David, born Novem- ber 14, 1668. 9. Susanna, who died Octo- ber, 1683. 10. James.


(III) Samuel Tuttle, son of John and Catherine (Lane) Tuttle, was born Janu- ary 9, 1659-60, and died between 1731 and 1733. He was a stone mason in calling and joined the church in New Haven in 1692. He married (first) Sarah Newman, daughter of Samuel Newman, who died; (second) Abigail, daughter of John Frost, and widow of Thomas Barnes. Children (of first marriage) : 1. Mary, born Janu- ary 31, 1684; married, October 1, 1704, Ebenezer Frost. 2. Jemima, born De- cember 6, 1686; married, in April, 1707, Thomas Jacobs. 3. Stephen, born in 1688; married Rachel Mansfield. 4. Abigail, born April 4, 1692; married, July 23, 1717, Daniel Atwater. 5. Martha, born March 18, 1694; married, February 15, 1717, John Smith. 6. Josiah, born April 5, 1696; baptized in December, 1697 ; mar- ried, June 11, 1719, Deborah Barnes. 7. Sarah, born January 17, 1698; married John Moulthrop. 8. Daniel, of whom fur- ther.


(IV) Daniel Tuttle, son of Samuel and Sarah (Newman) Tuttle, was born Au- gust 23, 1702, and died about 1772. He married, April 25, 1726, Mary Mansfield,


daughter of Samuel Mansfield. Children : 1. Samuel, born February 12, 1727. 2. Dan- iel, married Christian, daughter of Ebe- nezer Norton. 3. Mary, married January 17, 1755, Jacob Brockett. 4. Eunice, of whom further.


(V) Eunice Tuttle, daughter of Daniel and Mary (Mansfield) Tuttle, was born in 1739. She married Lieutenant Jared Hill (see Hill IV).


(The Fenton Line).


Arms-Argent, a cross between four fleurs-de- lis sable.


Crest-A fleur-de-lis enfiled with a ducal coro- net or.


Schenck, in the valuable history of Fair- field, Connecticut, names Jonathan Fen- ton, or Fanton, as an early settler of that place, while Holmes, in his "Directory of the Ancestral Heads of New England Families, 1620-1700," cites Robert Fenton as having been at Woburn, Massachu- setts, before 1688. The name is not nu- merous in New England, but its position has been at all times one of honor and respect, while alliance through marriage has been made with New England's first families.


(I) Jonathan Fenton married (first) Sarah, daughter of John and Elizabeth (Harvey) Hide, of Fairfield; (second) Sarah, daughter of Humphrey Hide, and widow of Peter Coley. Children : 1. Sarah, baptized November 18, 1694. 2. Ellen, baptized May 17, 1696. 3. Anne, of whom further. 4. Jonathan, baptized September 22, 1700. 5. Mary, baptized May 2, 1703. 6. John, baptized January 5, 1706-07; died young. 7. John, baptized October 10, 1708.


(II) Anne Fenton, daughter of Jona- than Fenton, was baptized August 14, 1698. She married Richard Welton (see Welton III).


Conn. 11-5


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ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY


(The Hickcox Line).


Hickcox-Heacock Arms-Erminois, an elephant azure on a chief of the second a sun between two beehives or.


Crest-A hind sejant reguardant erminois col- lared gules, reposing his dexter foot on a bee- hive or.


This name comes from an old German word, ikiko, contemporary in the tenth century, which is a diminutive form of the old Friesian ig, a point, sharp edge ; i. e., a little sword. This form developed through the English as Heacock and Hic- kock. The name itself is subject to a great variety of forms. These range from Hitchcock, Hickock, down to Hickox, Hicks and Heacock. In this line the pat- ronymic is spelled Hickcox.


William Hickcox appears as "Mr. Hick- cock" in New Haven as early as 1643, but returned to England in 1648. On October 9, 1673, the General Court at Hartford received a petition from twenty-six people for a plantation in a "place called by ye Indians Matitacook" (Mattatuck). Sam- uel and Joseph Hickcox were signers in this petition.


(I) Sergeant Samuel Hickcox and Jo- seph Hickcox were very probably sons of "Mr." William Hickcox, of New Haven, Connecticut, and came to Waterbury when that town was founded. Samuel Hickcox and John Welton held the office of Townsmen or selectmen in 1680, and Samuel was one of the most influential men in the town. He was sergeant in the trainband, and from this time, 1686, he was known as Sergeant Samuel Hick- cox. The inventory of his estate was taken February 28, 1694-95. He married Hannah. Children: I. Samuel, born in 1668; married Elizabeth Plumb. 2. Han- nah, born in 1670; married John Dudd. 3. Sergeant William, of whom further. 4. Thomas, born in 1674; married Mary


Brunson, March 27, 1700; he died June 28, 1728. 5. Joseph, born in 1677. 6. Mary, born in 1680; married John Bronson. 7. Elizabeth, born in 1682; married J. Nor- ton. 8. Stephen, born in 1683. 9. Ben- jamin, born in 1685. 10. Mercy, born in, 1688. II. Ebenezer, born in 1692.


(II) Captain William Hickcox, son of Sergeant Samuel and Hannah Hickcox, was born in Waterbury, Connecticut, in 1673, and died November 4, 1737, and was buried the following day. He was a propri- etor and a man of note, grand juror, sur- veyor, constable, townsman many times, captain in 1727, and deputy in 1728. He was always known as captain. He mar- ried Rebecca Andrews, daughter of Abra- ham and Rebecca Andrews, who was born December 16, 1762. Children : I. William, born February 14, 1699; died April 12, 1713. 2. Captain Samuel, of whom fur- ther. 3. Abraham, born April 5, 1704; died March 16, 1713. 4. John, born May 8, 1706; died April 26, 1713. 5. Rebec- ca, born March 29, 1708; married Caleb Thompson, August 16, 1731. 6. Rachel, born May 16, 1710; married Jonathan Prindle. 7. Hannah, born June 7, 1714; married David Scott.


(III) Captain Samuel Hickcox, son of William and Rebecca (Andrews) Hick- cox, was born May 26, 1702, and died May 13, 1765. He was called Captain Hickcox, and he was the only son of William Hick- cox to survive the great sickness of 1713. He married Mary Hopkins, daughter of John Hopkins, who died August 19, 1768. Children : I. Mary, born October 30, 1721 ; married Richard Seymour. 2. Mehitable, born November 22, 1723 ; married Stephen Seymour. 3. William, born January 14, 1725-26. 4. Abraham, born January II, 1727-28. 5. John, born July 25, 1730. 6. Samuel, born September 8, 1733. 7. Dor- cas, of whom further.


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ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY


(IV) Dorcas Hickcox, daughter of Cap- tain Samuel and Mary (Hopkins) Hick- cox, was born July 11, 1736. She married Captain John Welton (see Welton IV).


(The Porter Line).


Arms-Argent, on a fesse sable between two barrulets or three church bells of the first.


Crest-A portcullis argent chained or. Motto-Vigilantia et virtute.


This name is classified as a surname of office, and Wybert le Portere or Porteri- ous is an early specimen of this name. It is an ancient English family, founded by William de la Grande, who came to Britain with William the Conqueror. Ralph, or Roger, la Grande was Keeper of the Doors, Grant Porteur at the court of Henry I.


(I) Dr. Daniel Porter, who appears early in the colony of Waterbury, Con- necticut, was the first ancestor of this branch of the Porter family in America. He was a physician, licensed to practice physic and chirurgery in 1654 by the Gen- eral Court. He died in 1690. He mar- ried Mary -, and they were the par- ents of seven children : I. Dr. Daniel, of whom further. 2. Mary, born February 5, 1654-55; married Eleazer Knowles, of Woodbury. 3. Nehemiah, born October 24, 1656; married Hannah Lum, of Wood- bury. 4. Richard, born March 24, 1658. 5. Anne, born in 1660-61 ; not married. 6. John, born November 14, 1662; married (first) Rebecca Woodford, and (second) Martha North. 7. Samuel, born October 24, 1665; married Abigail Humphreys, and died March 25, 1736.


(II) Dr. Daniel Porter, son of Dr. Dan- iel and Mary Porter, was born in Water- bury, Connecticut, February 2, 1652-53. He died January 18, 1726-27. He signed the articles in 1674, and was proprietor in Waterbury. He was, as was his father


before him, a doctor; was surveyor in 1699 and 1719; and on the School Com- mittee in 1706. He married Deborah Hol- comb, who died May 4, 1765, aged ninety- three years. Children : 1. Daniel, of whom further. 2. James, born April 20, 1700; died March 20, 1785. 3. Thomas, born April 1, 1702 ; died January, 1797. 4. De- borah, born March 6, 1703-04; married James Baldwin. 5. Ebenezer, born De- cember 24, 1708; married Mary, daughter of John Hull, of New Haven. 6. Ann, born April 28, 1712; married (first) Thomas Judd, and (second) James Nich- ols.


(III) Dr. Daniel Porter, son of Dr. Daniel and Deborah (Holcomb) Porter, was born in Waterbury, Connecticut, March 5, 1699, and died November 14, 1772. He succeeded to his father's busi- ness and skill, and his father conveyed to him a house and lot on East Main and Mill streets. He married (first) Hannah Hopkins, daughter of John Hopkins, June 13, 1728. She died December 31, 1739, and he married (second) Joanna


Children of first marriage: 1. Preserved, born November 23, 1729. 2. Dr. Daniel born March 8, 1731; died, unmarried, of smallpox, at Crownpoint, in 1759. 3. Han- nah, born June 16, 1733 ; married Obadiah Scovill. 4. Dr. Timothy, of whom further. 5. Susanna, born July 7, 1737; married (first) Daniel Killum ; (second) John Cos- set. 6. Anna, born December 6, 1738; married David Bronson.


(IV) Dr. Timothy Porter, son of Dr. Daniel and Hannah (Hopkins) Porter, was born June 19, 1735, and died January 24, 1792. He married Margaret Skinner, daughter of Gideon Skinner. She was born in 1739, and died in 1813. Children : I. Daniel, born September 23, 1768. 2. Sylvia C., born February 24, 1771. 3. Dr. Joseph, born September 3, 1772; married


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Levinia Porter, daughter of Preserved Porter. 4. Olive, born July 26, 1775 ; mar- ried Moses Hall. 5. Anna, of whom fur- ther. 6. Chauncey, born April 24, 1779. 7. Timothy Hopkins, born November 28, 1785.


(V) Anna Porter, daughter of Dr. Tim- othy and Margaret (Skinner) Porter, was born April 5, 1777. She married Richard Fenton Welton (see Welton V).


REFERENCES-Ferguson's "Names," Marshall's "Genealogical Guide," Orcutt's "Stratford," Sav- age's "Genealogical Dictionary," Manwaring's "Hartford (Connecticut) Probate Records," Or- cutt's "Walcott," Hosley's "Dr. William Hill," Hotten's "Emigrants," Hoadley's "New Haven Colonial Records," Grannis Family, New Haven Vital Records, Tuttle "Genealogy," Anderson's "Waterbury, Connecticut," Culver "Genealogy," Holmes' "Ancestral Heads of New England Fami- lies," Bronson's "Waterbury," Schenck's "Fair- field," "American Families," Burke's "General Armory," Matthews' "American Armory," Family data.


GODFREY, Charles Cartlidge, M. D. Physician, Surgeon.


Since 1685, Fairfield County, Connecti- cut, has not been without its Godfrey families and since 1688 Greens Farms has been the family seat. There Christopher Godfrey owned land in 1686, and there generation after generation of the ances- tors of Dr. Charles C. Godfrey owned the land and tilled the soil. Christopher God- frey was succeeded by his son, Chris- topher Godfrey, who married Margery Sturgess of Fairfield, and had issue, in- cluding a son, Lieutenant Nathan God- frey, born September 25, 1719, who be- came one of the wealthiest and most in- fluential men of Greens Farms. His homestead was near the summit of Clap- board Hill and in 1779 was burned by British soldiers. During the French and Indian War in 1756 he was a lieutenant and was at the storming of Crown Point and Ticonderoga. His son Benjamin died


while serving in the Continental Army. Lieutenant Nathan Godfrey had by his second wife, Mrs. Sarah (Andrews) Nash, a son Jonathan (1) Godfrey, who was the father of Jonathan (2), father of Rev. Jonathan, and grandfather of Dr. Charles C. Godfrey.


Jonathan (2) Godfrey, of Greens Farms, was born there June 2, 1798, died August 3, 1882. Like his grandfather, Lieutenant Nathan Godfrey, he was a man of wealth and influence in his community, active in church, charity and public life. He was representative from the town of Fairfield for several terms and held many other offices. He married, January 19, 1823, Elizabeth Hubbell, of Southport, daugh- ter of Aaron and Elizabeth Hubbell, of Southport, town of Fairfield. Their adult children were: Rev. Jonathan, mentioned below; Elizabeth, the author of a "His- tory of Fairfield," married Adrian V. S. Schenck, son of Dr. Ferdinand S. Schenck of New Jersey ; Samuel H., married Har- riet A. Godfrey ; Mary Catherine, married Calvin G. Childs, of Norwalk, Connecti- cut.


Rev. Jonathan Godfrey, of the sixth American generation, was born at the village of Southport, town and county of Fairfield, Connecticut, February II, 1820, died January 22, 1865, and is buried at Fairfield. After completing public school study he entered Trinity College, Hart- ford, there pursuing a full course, termin- ating with graduation. He then took a course in divinity, was ordained a priest of the Protestant Episcopal Church and for several years was rector of the Say- brook Church. Prior to 1860 his health failed and he removed to Aiken, South Carolina, but the outbreak of the Civil War in 1861 caused the family's return to Southport, where he died in 1865. He married Mary Cartlidge, born at Lynde


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ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY


Green, in Staffordshire, England, died in Fairfield, in August, 1867, four children surviving their parents: Dr. Charles C., mentioned below ; Jonathan, a resident of Bridgeport; Adrian, died in 1899; and Alice A.


Dr. Charles C. Godfrey was born in Saybrook, Connecticut, February 3, 1855. Soon afterward his family moved to Aiken, South Carolina, for the father's health, but returned in 1861, locating at the family homestead in Southport, where the lad Charles C. attended both public and private schools. He continued his preparatory study in Greenfield, Connect- icut, and at military school in Hartford, after which he entered Sheffield Scientific School, Yale University, where he spec- ialized in chemistry and from whence he was graduated Ph. B. class of '77. De- ciding upon the profession of medicine, he began study under the direction of Dr. Robert Hubbard, of Bridgeport, in 1881, attended lecture courses at the College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia Uni- versity, that institution conferring upon him the degree of M. D. in 1883. He also did post-graduate work at Dartmouth College, receiving an additional Ph. B.


His long and thorough course of prep- aration ended, Dr. Godfrey, on January I, 1884, began the practice of his profes- sion in Bridgeport in association with his former preceptor, Dr. Robert Hub- bard. For thirteen years they practiced together until 1897 when the death of the senior member dissolved the bond. Dr. Godfrey soon afterward admitted Dr. Ed- ward M. Smith as partner and together they have continued until the present.


Dr. Godfrey ranks high as a physician and surgeon, has a large clientele, whose perfect confidence he has won, and has taken an active part in institutional work. He is a member of the surgical staff of


the Bridgeport and St. Vincent hospitals ; is an ex-president of the Fairfield County Medical Society; member and ex-presi- dent of the Bridgeport Scientific Society ; American Medical Association ; Connect- icut State Medical Society; New York Academy of Medicine; and the Associa- tion of Military Surgeons of the United States. From 1890-93 he was surgeon of the Fourth Regiment, Connecticut Na- tional Guard, and in 1903-04, surgeon general of the State of Connecticut with the rank of Colonel, member of the staff of Governor Chamberlain.


Himself a man of high intellectual at- tainments, Dr. Godfrey has ever been the friend of the cause of education and as a member of the Board of Education, and its vice-president, strove to advance the efficiency of the public schools of the city. A Republican in politics, he has repre- sented his city in the State Legislature, and in 1892-93 was a member of the Board of Aldermen. The care of his large prac- tice and the puble service he has rendered has not excluded him from the social life of his city but, on the contrary, he has given that side of his nature full opportunity to develop. He is a member of St. John's Lodge, Free and Accepted Masons ; Jerusalem Chapter, Royal Arch Masons; Jerusalem Council, Royal and Select Masters; Hamilton Commandery Knights Templar; and in Scottish Rite Masonry has attained the thirty-second degree. His clubs are the Brooklawn Country, University, Republican, and Al- gonquin. The current of his life flows smoothly on, professional eminence is his, the regard of his fellow-citizens has been amply attested, and a retrospective view of his more than thirty years of life in Bridgeport can bring him naught but sat- isfaction.


Dr. Godfrey married, April 30, 1885,


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-


ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY


Caroline St. Leon Sumner, born at Great Barrington, Massachusetts, September IO, 1858, daughter of Colonel Samuel B. Sum- ner of Bridgeport. They are the parents of a daughter, Carrie Lucille Godfrey.


CHILD, Chester E., Lumber Dealer, Financier.


Chester E. Child, late of Putnam, Con- necticut, ranks in that city's history as one of its most prominent citizens, he having done much to aid in the city's commercial and financial progress.


Chester E. Child was born on the old Child family homestead at North Wood- stock, Connecticut, August 1, 1872, a son of Ezra Carpenter and Abby E. (Child) Child. The father was a native of Wood- stock, and a descendant of one of Con- necticut's oldest families. His entire life was devoted to farming, although his com- munity interests led him to enter public life at different times when he filled the position of selectman and other offices in his town. He died in Woodstock in 1876. His wife was also a native of Woodstock, but now lives in Putnam.


The son, Chester E. Child, lived on the old farm until he was eleven years of age, when he removed to Putnam. There he completed his education in the city and high schools, after which he took up the profession of teaching. He taught school in Pomfret Center for six weeks, when he was offered a position by the officials of the First National Bank. The offer seemed promising, so in 1889 he resigned his position as teacher and took up that of clerk in the First National Bank, where he remained continuously until his resig- nation, November 1, 1898, at which time he held the position of paying teller. He resigned, however, to enter the lumber business, and later organized the Child more detailed account of the Carpenter


Lumber Corporation, with which com- pany he was actively connected for a number of years and developed many business interests of importance. In fact, from the time when he entered upon this active connection with business interests in Putnam until his death, he occupied a central place in the city's activities, and his interests were ever of a character that contributed to public progress and im- provement as well as to individual suc- cess. In July, 1915, he became president of the Putnam Savings Bank, and re- mained at the head of that institution un- til his demise on May 10, 1917, bending his efforts to executive direction and ad- ministrative control. He recognized the fact that the bank which most carefully safeguards the interests of its depositors is most worthy of public patronage, and he did everything in his power to render the patrons of the bank secure.


Politically Mr. Child was a staunch Re- publican, believing firmly in the principles of the party, but he never cared to accept an office. He held membership in the Second Congregational Church, and his entire life was guided by its teachings. In fact, to know him was to respect and honor him, for his career at all times measured up to the highest standards of manhood and of citizenship, and the same irreproachable rules governed him in his business relations and his home associa- tions.


On November 8, 1895, Mr. Child mar- ried Annie Chandler Carpenter, of Put- nam, Connecticut, who was born, reared and educated in that city, a daughter of John Anthony and Marcia J. (Chandler) Carpenter. Mr. Carpenter has always been spoken of as one of Putnam's lead- ing citizens, and he is also a descendant of one of New England's old families. A


70


Cehert E. Child.


Carpenter


ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY


ancestry follows in this work. Mr. and Mrs. Child became the parents of four children, all born in Putnam: Ruth Car- penter, born December 23, 1899; Bertha Elizabeth, born December 19, 1906; Edith Whitney, born December 12, 1907; Don- ald Ezra, born January 29, 1909.


(The Carpenter Line).


"The noble family of Carpenters, from which the Earl of Tyrconnel is descended, is of great antiquity in the County of Hereford and other parts of England. In 1303 (the twentieth year of the reign of Edward I), John Carpenter appeared. He was a member of Parliament in 1323, for the borough of Leskard, in Cornwall, as two years afterwards was Stephen Car- penter, for Credition, in the County of Devon, in 1325, (the ninth year of the reign of Edward II).


"Henry Carpenter served, in 1418, for the town of Derby in the thirty-fifth year of Henry V." Playfair's British Antiqui- ties.


The Tyrconnel branch is descended from William Carpenter, of Homme, who resided in the parish of Dilwyne, in Here- fordshire. He died in 1520. He had a son, James Carpenter, who died in 1537. This James Carpenter had a son, John Carpenter, who died in 1540 and left a son, William Carpenter, the most prominent ancestor of the Tyrconnel Carpenters, who died in 1550. From this William Carpenter our family also claims descent. The family remained country gentlemen for six generations, until the birth of Thomas Carpenter, who bequeathed his estate on his death in 1773 to a second cousin, George Carpenter, who became the first Lord Carpenter. In 1761, the Earldom of Tryconnel in Ireland was given to a third George Carpenter. This branch finally became extinct in 1853. See


Davis & Owne's New Peerage, also Burke's Peerage and Baronetage. The coat-of-arms of the Carpenter family is as follows :


Arms-Argent, a greyhound passant, and chief sable.


Crest-A greyhound's head erased, per fesse sable and argent.


From the meagre materials at hand it is impossible for us to establish, with that degree of precision we should like, the connection between the English Carpen- ters and William Carpenter, the ancestor of the family in America, who came to Weymouth, Massachusetts, in 1638, in the ship "Bevis." But we think we have in- formation enough to show beyond a rea- sonable doubt that the break of a hundred years or so between John Carpenter, Sr. (a brother of John Carpenter, the town clerk of London), and William Carpenter, who is acknowledged to be the ancestor of the American family, can be satisfac- torily filled. This granted, we can trace the family back to John Carpenter, of 1303, the head of the ancient line in Here- fordshire in the parish of Dilwyne, to whom the Irish Tyrconnels trace their descent. This Hereford family of Car- penters was very prominent in affairs, and took an active part in all matters relating to the interests of the Crown; probably no family in England stood higher for good deeds or received more favors. Among the most famous of these Carpen- ters was John, town clerk of London, who died in 1442. But the English line from John Carpenter, 1303, became ex- tinct in 1853, and it is in America that the continuation of the family must be looked for.


It would not be inappropriate here to insert the following extract from the "History of the City of London School,"


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ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY


concerning John Carpenter, town clerk of London :


The corporation of London, who have good rea- son to exult in the eminent position which the City of London School has attained under their foster- ing care, have, in spirit of just gratitude, honored the memory of John Carpenter by causing a statue of him to be placed in a conspicuous part of the building, with an inscription which presents a faith- ful outline of his character and good deeds, and will form an appropriate conclusion to the present narrative. It occupies five sides of an octagonal pedestal and is as follows:


To the memory of John Carpenter, an eminent citizen of London and member of the Company of Mercers, who lived during the reigns of Henry V and Henry VI and who bequeathed to the corpo- ration of this city certain lands and tenements for the purpose of maintaining and educating four boys and sending them to the Universities; from which bequest resulted the foundation and endow- ment of The City of London School under the authority of an Act of Parliament A. D. MCCCC- XXXIV. He was distinguished by his general attainments and learning; his knowledge of the laws, customs and privileges of this city; his integrity of character, and universal benevolence. From his earliest youth he was devoted to the service of his fellow-citizens, and throughout the course of his life proved himself a ready defender of their rights and a zealous promoter of their interests. He was elected common clerk or town clerk of London, A. D. MCCCCXVII, and held that office for twenty-one years, during which period he compiled that valuable treatise still extant under the title of "Liber Albus." He likewise represented the city in Parliament, A. D. MCCCC- XXXVI and MCCCCXXXIX. As one of the executors of Sir Richard Whittington, he con- ferred essential benefits on the city by promoting various public works, especially the erection of conduits, the rebuilding of Newgate, the enlarge- ment of the Hospital of Saint Bartholomew, the completion of the Guildhall, and the formation of a library attached thereto, to which he subsequently bequeathed sundry rare books for the benefit of students resorting to the same. In token of his eminent services, he was honored both by his sov- ereign and fellow-citizens with peculiar immunities and privileges. He left munificent bequests to the Charterhouse and the Fraternity of Sixty Priests in London, of which brotherhood he was a mem- ber, as well as to many other religious establish- ments and persons; also to the hospitals of Saint Mary within Cripplegate, Saint Mary without Bishopsgate, Saint Bartholomew in Smithfield, Saint Katherine near the Tower, and Saint Thomas in Southwark; to the houses for poor lepers at Holborn, Locks and Hackney, and for poor mad- men at Bethlem; to the prisoners in Newgate, Ludgate, the Fleet, Marshalsea and King's Bench,




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