USA > Connecticut > Encyclopedia of Connecticut biography, genealogical-memorial; representative citizens, v. 11 > Part 34
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(V) Silas Lounsbury, son of Joshua (2) and Susannah (Smith) Lounsbury, was born January 17, 1771. He was a farmer, and lived for many years in Stan- wich, Connecticut. He was a man of pro- gressive ideas, who thought ahead of his time and built for the future.
(VI) George Lounsbury, son of Silas Lounsbury, was a prominent citizen of Fairfield County, Connecticut. He served in local public offices and as a member of the State Legislature. For many years he was a merchant at Long Ridge, in the town of Stamford, but later returned to the life of the open, which had interested him as a boy, and conducted a farm. He married Louisa Scofield, daughter of Ben- jamin Scofield, and they were the parents of eight children: Mary, who married Seth S. Cook; Sarah, who married James H. Rowland; Susan, who married Philip Clark; Harriet, deceased; George, de- ceased ; Charles Hugh, of whom further ; Jane E., living ; Elizabeth, deceased.
(VII) Charles Hugh Lounsbury, son
of George and Louisa (Scofield) Louns- bury, was born August 19, 1839. He spent his boyhood on the farm at Long Ridge, but as he grew to manhood he felt the restrictions of the life and chose to branch out for himself. He entered into a partnership with Scofield & Cook. Three years later, in 1861, F. B. Scofield retired from the business, which was thereafter carried on under the firm name of Cook & Lounsbury. The manufacture of shoes was becoming an important in- dustry in New England, and this firm held a high standard of excellence in its product. The business grew with the growth of the section and the develop- ment of the country. The partnership continued until 1884, when a period en- sued when general trade changes made reorganization advisable. The first change in the business was that of location, the factory being removed to the more pop- ulous part of the town near the railroad tracks. At this time George H. Soule, a bright, alert young man who had for some time been connected with the sales department, was admitted to membership with the firm, and the senior member, Seth S. Cook, withdrew. This placed Mr. Lounsbury at the head of the firm and the name became Lounsbury & Soule. In 1885 the firm took a long step ahead in assuming possession of the new fac- tory on Broad Street, where the business is still located The factory was equipped with the most modern machinery, and from that day until the present time the policy of the firm has remained the same, up-to-date equipment, the most improved methods, and always quality the first con- sideration.
In 1894 the firm branched out into the retail trade, purchasing a store at No. 26 Atlantic Street. Here they conducted a thriving retail business under the name
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of the Stamford Shoe Company. They met the needs of the retail trade with the same comprehensive attention to all per- tinent details which has always charac- terized their manufacturing business. Later Mr. Lounsbury retired and the company was then incorporated. Late in the year 1904 he became president of the Stamford Savings Bank, and since that time this interest has almost exclu- sively held his attention, his present office being that of president of the board. He still owns the Stamford Shoe Company, which became his personal property when he retired from the firm.
Mr. Lounsbury has always held the keenest interest in the public welfare and civic progress. While never seeking po- litical preferment, and caring nothing for the game for its own sake, he never shirks any part in the public service which ap- peals to him as a duty. His political convictions hold him loyal to the Repub- lican party. He has been a member of the Board of Burgesses and of the City Council, also of the Board of Trade, of which he was president for some years. He is a director of the Stamford Trust Company and of the Stamford Savings Bank, and is secretary and assistant treas- urer of the Stamford Gas and Electric Company, and a director of the Stamford National Bank. He is also a director of the Stamford Hospital. He is a member of Union Lodge, No. 5, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, of Stamford, and also of the Suburban Club.
Mr. Lounsbury married, in Stamford, Anna Perry Samuel, of St. Louis, and they are the parents of three daughters : Alice; Mary; Louise, who was the wife of William P. Hudson, and was the mo- ther of two children, Florence, deceased, and Charles H. L., who was an ensign in the Navy during the European War.
STRANG, James Suydam,
Merchant
In the history of man's struggle for freedom no chapter is more thrilling than that which narrates the flight of the French Protestants from their native land, when in 1685 Louis XIV revoked the Edict of Nantes. Since 1598 they had been in the enjoyment of religious freedom, but now, not only were they de- prived of the privilege to worship God according to the dictates of their con- science, but they were not permitted to emigrate to countries where such priv- ileges were accorded. Most rigid meas- ures were adopted to prevent their leav- ing the country, every avenue of escape being most closely guarded. However, thousands of these sturdy folk to whom adherence to principle was dearer than life itself, made their way to England, some coming thence to America Among the latter was Daniel L'Estrange, the progenitor of the Strang family in this country. No element among our Colon- ial pioneers has contributed more than the French Huguenots to the sturdy char- acter of American manhood, or to the high ideals of American institutions and government. The meager facts now available relating to the descendants of Daniel L'Estrange in the line here under consideration show that in every crisis of the nation's history they have evinced the sturdiest patriotism, while in the less strenuous but not less exacting times of peace, judged by ethical standards, they have by precept and example, in indus- try, frugality, and upright citizenship, in private and public life, contributed to the material and moral advancement of our country.
Like all historic patronymics, the name Strang has been spelled in various ways.
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The original French form was L'Es- trange; in America it became Streing, then Strange, Strang, and in a few cases was changed to Strong.
The coat-of-arms of the family is :
Arms-Gules, two lions passant, guardant, argent.
Crest-A lion passant, guardant, or.
(I) When the list of the residents of New Rochelle was made in 1698, Daniel D'Estrange's age was given as thirty- seven years. This would make the year of his birth 1661. He was a native of Orleans, France. According to the au- thor of "Colonial Days and Ways," Dan- iel L'Estrange was sent to an academy in Switzerland to study philosophy, and when he entered, July 29, 1672, his name was purposely misspelled as Streing, so that his father's persecutors might not learn where the young man had been sent. However, upon his return to France, he became a member of the Royal Guards and resumed the proper spelling of his name. When he was twenty-two, he entered upon a mercan- tile career, and about that time married Charlotte Hubert, daughter of Francis and Levina Hubert, of Paris. He formed a partnership with his wife's brother, Gabriel Hubert. According to the "Strang manuscript," written nearly a hundred years ago and published in a small book- let, L'Estrange and his partner were com- pelled to flee to London from the fury of their persecutors who confiscated their property. Mr. L'Estrange became a lieu- tenant in the Guards of King James II. The loss of their property placed Mrs. L'Estrange in very trying circumstances, and within a year she determined also to flee the country. The tradition regarding the method of her escape is thrilling ; but the family genealogist questions the ac- curacy of the story, owing to the fact that
in her will, recorded in New York, Mrs. L'Estrange disposes of her wedding gar- ments, which it is hardly probable she was able to take with her when she fled to London. Daniel L'Estrange continued in the King's Guards until about 1688, when he sold his commission, the pro- ceeds enabling him and his wife to join a company of refugees bound for the New World. They landed in New York and soon proceeded to the present town of New Rochelle. There he engaged in farming and grazing, and for many years taught French and the classical languages to boys preparing for Yale or King's Col- lege (now Columbia University)., After a few years he removed to Rye, New York, where he kept a store and tavern, and also engaged in farming. Later he became one of the patentees of the town of White Plains. He died in Rye, 1706-07. He was a devout member of the Episcopal church. His wife was born in France, 1668, and died in Rye. The baptisms of their children are recorded in the church Du Saint Esprit, New York City, and there Mrs. L'Estrange is re- corded as Charlotte Le Mestre, which has given rise to the conjecture that at the time of her marriage to Daniel L'Estrange she was a widow.
(II) Daniel (2) Strang, son of the im- migrants, was born in 1692, and died in 1741. He became a resident of White Plains, settling on a farm acquired by his father as one of the patentees. He was industrious and thrifty, if we may judge by the amount of land of which he became possessed. He married Phebe Purdy, daughter of Joseph and Elizabeth Purdy, of Rye Neck, New York. She died in 1761. Joseph Purdy, according to the records, was under age in 1661. He became a resident of Rye in 1670, and died October 29, 1709. He married Elizabeth
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Ogden, daughter of John and Judith (Budd) Ogden. She died in 1742. He was the son of Francis Purdy (sometimes spelled "Pardee"), who was born in Eng- land in 1610, and came to America in 1635. He died in Fairfield, Connecticut, in 1658. He married Mary Brundage, daughter of John Brundage, of Wethers- field, Connecticut. Joseph Purdy was a leading man in his community ; he served as justice of the peace, 1702; as super- visor of the town, 1707-08; for several terms was representative in the General Assembly. He purchased land at North Castle, where many of his descendants settled. His will is dated October 5, 1709.
(III) Major Joseph Strang, son of Dan- iel (2) and Phebe (Purdy) Strang, was born February 27, 1725, and died August 2, 1794. He served as lieutenant under Captain John Verplanck in the French War of 1757. On October 19, 1775, he was commissioned major of the Third or North Manor of Cortlandt Regiment un- der Colonel Pierre Van Cortlandt. His house, which was being used as a court house at the time, was burned by the British, June 3, 1779. He married for his second wife, Anne Haight, born De- cember 12, 1734, and died June 30, 1796, daughter of Jonathan Haight, of Cort- landt Manor, New York.
(IV) Dr. Samuel Strang, son of Major Joseph and Anne (Haight) Strang, was born November 18, 1768, and died Janu- ary I, 1832. He was a physician. On December 31, 1795, he married Catharine White, born May 30, 1773, or 1778, and died December 30, 1832, daughter of Dr. Ebenezer White, who was a surgeon in the New York Militia during the Revolu- tion. He was born in Southampton, Long Island, September 3, 1746, son of Rev. Sylvanus White, who was pastor of the Presbyterian church there for about fifty
years. Dr. White married, March 19, 1772, Helena Barstow, daughter of The- ophilus and Bathsheba (Pell) Barstow. Dr. White died in Yorktown, March 8, 1827.
(V) Joseph White Strang, son of Dr. Samuel and Catharine (White) Strang, was born December 7, 1797, and died in Yonkers, New York, June 4, 1864. He was a lawyer and resided most of his life in Peekskill, New York, where he took an active part in public affairs. He was the first man chosen president of the village. On September 3, 1821, he married Eliz- abeth Morgan Belcher, born October 4, 1801, and died in Yonkers, New York, December 22, 1877, daughter of Dr. Elisha Belcher, a physician. Joseph White and Elizabeth Morgan (Belcher) Strang were the parents of the following children : Samuel A., Matilda, Josephine A., Lydia, Edgar A., mentioned below; William Belcher.
Dr. Elisha Belcher, father of Elizabeth Morgan (Belcher) Strang, was born March 7, 1757, and married Lydia Rey- nolds. His father, Captain William Bel- cher, was born August 29, 1731. He re- sided in Preston, Connecticut, where he died in his seventieth year. He com- manded a company during the Revolu- tion. He married, April 23, 1752, Desire, born February 27, 1736, died May 15, 1801, daughter of Captain Daniel and Elizabeth (Gates) Morgan. Captain Daniel Morgan was born April 16, 1712, and died October 16, 1773. He married, September 24, 1730, Elizabeth Gates, born March 1, 1713, died February II, 1793, daughter of Joseph Gates, of Pres- ton. James Morgan, father of Captain Daniel Morgan, was born about 1680, and died in Preston. His estate was inven- toried November 7, 1721. His father was Captain John Morgan, who was born March 30, 1645; about 1692 he became a
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resident of Preston, where he died. He chased nine acres in Milton. He married was a prominent citizen, and served as Catherine. He died November 25, 1674. Indian commissioner and advisor, and was elected as deputy to the General Court from New London in 1690, and from Preston in 1693-94. He married (first), November 16, 1665, Rachel Dy- mond, daughter of John Dymond. James Morgan, father of Captain John Morgan, and the founder of this branch of the Morgan family, was born in Wales in 1607, and came to America in 1636. He married August 6, 1640, Margery Hill, of Roxbury, Massachusetts, who died in 1685, at the age of seventy-eight years.
William Belcher, father of Captain William Belcher, was born in Milton, Massachusetts, December 20, 1701, and died in Preston, Connecticut, February 7, 1731-32. His father, Deacon Moses Bel- cher, was born August 14, 1672, and died May 4, 1728. He bought a farm in Mil- ton, Massachusetts, and resided there un- til 1720, when he removed to Preston, Connecticut. He was one of the first deacons of the second church in Preston. In 1721 he represented the town in the General Assembly. On December 19, 1694, he married Hannah Lyon, born No- vember 14, 1673, died August 20, 1745, daughter of George and Hannah (Tol- man) Lyon, of Milton. His father, Sam- uel Belcher, was born August 24, 1637, was a resident of Braintree, Massachu- setts, where he died. June 17, 1679. On December 15, 1663, he married Mary Bil- lings, daughter of Roger Billings, of Dor- chester, Massachusetts. His father, Greg- ory Belcher, was born about 1606. He was in New England as early as 1637, and received a grant of fifty-two acres in Mount Wallaston, now part of Quincy, Massachusetts. On May 13, 1640, he was admitted freeman, and was elected select- man in 1646. On July 14, 1664, he pur-
(VI) Edgar A. Strang, son of Joseph White and Elizabeth Morgan (Belcher) Strang, was born December 3, 1833, in New York City, and died February 10, 1909. Edgar A. Strang's opportunities for formal education were few. He was only nine years of age when he went to work in a wholesale grocery store. But he possessed a fine type of mind, with splendid powers of observation and per- ception. He read extensively and pon- dered well all that came within his ken, so that his mind showed a much better development than many minds which have been favored with greatly superior educational advantages. At the time of the Civil War Mr. Strang was suffering from a spinal disease which prevented him from seeking enlistment, but so strongly did he feel it to be the duty of every loyal citizen to serve his country that he paid a man to go for him. At the time of his marriage he was engaged in the banking business in New York City, and continued in it until the condition of his health made it necessary for him to give up all physical activity. He became a resident of Peekskill, about 1901. He and his wife were earnest Christians, identified with the Dutch Reformed church for many years.
Mr. Strang married Anna Suydam, born January 12, 1839, in New York City, died December 21, 1907, in Peekskill, New York, aged sixty-eight years, eleven months, nine days, daughter of Cornelius R. Suydam, born July 31, 1793, near Bed- ford, Long Island, died November 12, 1845, in New York City, aged fifty-two years, three months, twelve days, and his wife, Jane Eliza (Heyer) Suydam, born March 13, 1779, daughter of Cornelius Heyer, born September 30, 1773, died
Conn-8-16
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January 5, 1843; granddaughter of Wil- liam Heyer, born December 14, 1723, died April 1, 1880; great-granddaughter of Walter Heyer, born in 1699, died October 27, 1772. Mr. and Mrs. Strang were the parents of the following children: James Suydam, of further mention ; Clifford H., died August 30, 1903; Jane H., married C. L. Mason, of Peekskill, New York.
their interests to Mr. Bartel, and Mr. Strang became identified with the Blick- ensderfer Manufacturing Company, where he remained until August, 1914. Then the present partnership with W. W. Graves, under the firm name of Graves & Strang, Inc., was formed to engage in the coal and wood business. In the spring of 1919, Mr. Strang and his part- ner with others incorporated The Spring- dale Ice and Coal Company, of which Mr. Strang is secretary. Mr. Strang is a di- rector of the Stamford Morris Plan Com- pany and of the Young Men's Christian Association in that city.
(VII) James Suydam Strang, son of Edgar A. and Anna (Suydam) Strang, was born December 12, 1863, in Yonkers, New York. His education was received in the public schools and at the famous old Peekskill Military Academy and Rut- gers Preparatory School. After working From the time he was made a Master Mason in Union Lodge, No. 5, of Stam- ford, May 3, 1899, Mr. Strang entered actively and zealously into the cause of Free Masonry and has attained the thirty- second degree. He is treasurer of Union Lodge; treasurer of Rittenhouse Chap- ter, No. 11, Royal Arch Masons; treas- urer of Washington Council, No. 6, Royal and Select Masters; member of Clinton Commandery, Knights Templar, of Nor- walk; Lafayette Consistory, Ancient Ac- cepted Scottish Rite; and Pyramid Tem- ple, Ancient Arabic Order Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, of Bridgeport. Mr. Strang thinks Masonry, like religion, is some- thing to be lived in everyday life. Since 1884 Mr. Strang has been a member of Courtland Lodge, No. 6, Independent Or- der of Odd Fellows, of Peekskill, New York. During the time he was associated with the Blickensderfer Manufacturing Company, he had charge of their office in Detroit for sixteen months, and while there he affiliated with Palestine Lodge, No. 357, Free and Accepted Masons, as permanent visiting member. He is also a member of the Kiwanis and Suburban clubs of Stamford. for a time for a firm of wholesale drug- gists, he went into a retail drug store, June 26, 1882, in Verplanck's Point. There he applied himself diligently to the mas- tery of every detail of the art of phar- macy, and passed successfully the exam- ination for a license as pharmacist, No- vember 30, 1886. He later clerked for Charles Dickinson, a New Britain drug- gist, for about eighteen months. Mr. Strang then opened a store of his own in Mount Vernon, New York. Three years more of the exacting life of a druggist, made all the more arduous by his ambi- tion to make his venture highly success- ful, sufficed to cause a breakdown in his health, compelling Mr. Strang to abandon his profession. He sold his business, and later became a clerk for the Union Trans- fer & Storage Company, of New York City. After a year and a half there, he removed to Stamford, Connecticut, in July, 1894, and there entered the office of Doty & Bartel, lumber dealers, as book- keeper. The following year Mr. Doty sold his interest out to Mr. Strang and his brother-in-law, Mr. C. W. Harper, and the business was continued under the name of Bartel & Company. After five On October 8, 1885, Mr. Strang was years Mr. Strang and Mr. Harper sold united in marriage with Grace E. Harper,
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Jos Porosty
ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY
daughter of Rev. J. A. Harper, a clergy- man of the Dutch Reformed church. He was born in the North of Ireland, and came as a young man to Mount Vernon, New York. There Mrs. Strang was born on April 2, 1867. Two children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Strang: Alma E., who graduated from the Stamford High School, and Pratt Institute, Brooklyn, and is now taking the nurses training course at St. Luke's Hospital, New York City; Lorena S., like her sister graduated from the Stamford High School, and Pratt In- stitute, and at the time of writing is em- ployed as assistant dietician, Blooming- dale Hospital, White Plains, New York.
The family are members of the Pres- byterian church in which Mr. Strang has served some years as elder. In outward demeanor he is most unassuming. His ideas of man's duty to man are firmly es- tablished, however, and he adheres rig- idly to those ideals of right living that have ever been the bulwark of American family and national life. His sympathies are broad, and his interest is ever keen in what concerns the welfare of his fel- lowman. These qualities have won for him a host of loyal friends.
CROSBY, Joseph Porter, Builder, Public Official.
A residence of thirty-five years in Greenwich, during which time he has es- tablished himself as one of the leading business men of his community, has made Mr. Crosby's name so familiar and so highly respected that its appearance is sure to be greeted with instant and cor- dial recognition. In public life Mr. Crosby is even better known than in the world of business, having served most creditably as a member of the Legislature and having filled, most honorably to him- self and most satisfactorily to his constit-
uents, more than one local office of trust and responsibility.
The name of Crosby signifies Town of the Cross and is the designation of eight places in Great Britain. Its earliest men- tion as a family name occurs in records of 1204.
Simon Crosby, founder of the American branch of the family, came from England in 1635 and settled in Cambridge, Mas- sachusetts. His descendants established themselves on Cape Cod which has thus become the permanent home of the larg- est branch of this numerous family.
(I) Lemuel Crosby, the progenitor of the line herein followed, married and among his children was Theophilus, of whom further.
(II) Captain Theophilus Crosby, son of Lemuel Crosby, married Anna Brown, daughter of Benjamin Brown, and his death occurred November 14, 1831.
(III) Captain Ansel Crosby, son of Captain Theophilus and Anna (Brown) Crosby, was born June II, 1786, in Nova Scotia, whither his father had migrated from Cape Cod. He married Tabitha Dennis, daughter of Ambrose Dennis. Captain Crosby died July 17, 1865.
(IV) Captain Ansel (2) Crosby, son of Captain Ansel (1) and Tabitha (Dennis) Crosby, was born in 1825, in Yarmouth, Nova Scotia, and there grew to manhood. In youth he began to follow the sea, be- coming captain at an early age and mak- ing deep-sea voyages for the most part between New York City and different Eu- ropean ports. After some years he retired from the sea, and in 1873 engaged in business as a ship chandler in Boston, Massachusetts. About five years later he went to New York City and opened a shipping office which he continued to con- duct as long as he lived. Mr. Crosby married Elizabeth Porter, born 1822, whose ancestral record is appended to
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this biography, and their children were: Alice, of Brooklyn, New York; Charles W., also of Brooklyn, New York; Joseph Porter, of whom further; and Harry A., a resident of Brooklyn. Mr. Crosby died November 24, 1902. He and his wife were members of the Baptist church.
(V) Joseph Porter Crosby, son of Cap- tain Ansel (2) and Elizabeth (Porter) Crosby, was born April 4, 1855, in Yar- mouth, Nova Scotia. He received his ed- ucation in the public schools of his home town. He learned the carpenter's trade, and in connection with his trade he learned draughting, studying the theory as well as mastering the practical art of building, and after finishing his appren- ticeship he went into business for him- self in Yarmouth. In 1880 he removed to Newton, Massachusetts, and served for five years as superintendent for a con- tractor and builder. In 1885 he removed to Greenwich, Connecticut, and went into business for himself, his specialty being fine country houses. Among those which he has erected may be mentioned the resi- dences of James Mccutcheon, A. W. Johnson, N. Wetherell, the Hon. R. J. Walsh and many others, all these being in Greenwich. He constructed the interior finish in the Greenwich Trust Company's building, and since 1887 has operated a wood-working mill, thus getting out nearly all his own finish.
In politics Mr. Crosby is a Republican, and has long taken an active part in pub- lic affairs. After serving a term as a member of the Board of Burgesses he was elected, in 1915, to the Legislature, where he served on the committee on cities and boroughs. The same year he was elected warden of the borough of Greenwich, an office which he has ever since continu- ously retained. Among the results ac- complished during his administration are the building of permanent roads and the
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