Encyclopedia of Connecticut biography, genealogical-memorial; representative citizens, v. 11, Part 55

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 55


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A little later Mr. Stewart sold his in- terests and went with the Goucher Elec- tric Purifying Company, manufacturers of an electrical device for pasteurizing milk, a much superior method to the one then and now generally in use. This ven- ture, however, proved unsuccessful be- cause it called for an immense amount of money which was not available. Mr. Stewart became associated with the Crys- tal Lake Ice Company, and for seven years was engaged in business on his own account. Some seasons money was made and other seasons the accumulated profits were lost so that the net results were not so great. During the last two years of that period Mr. Stewart had engaged in the dairy business and this had grown so


that he decided to give it his undivided attention. Few milk dealers have the technical knowledge of the product they handle that Mr. Stewart possesses. When he was selling the pasteurizing device, he traveled all over New England, selling and installing outfits, and then establish- ing a demand for the milk handled by the new process. In the course of his work, he called upon thousands of physicians, and the questions they asked made it necessary for him to be familiar with every technical detail of the chemical structure of milk, how it is effected by various treatments, both with reference to its physical and chemical properties, and as to the effect of its food value. Mr. Stewart was heavily in debt when he started in the milk business for the last time, so much so that he was advised to take advantage of the bankruptcy laws to relieve himself of the burden. That he refused to do, but went manfully to work and has paid off every cent of indebted- ness, working early and late, and he has established a most enviable reputation for sterling honesty. In the spring of 1920 he formed a partnership with Albertson S. Beers, under the firm name of the Nor- walk Dairy Company, and October I, 1921, they bought the milk business of Charles H. Hawxhurst, which was added to their business. They installed a new and modern plant for pasteurizing and handling milk, and have four routes which are served by two autos and two wagons, and in addition they do quite a large wholesale business.


During all these years Mr. Stewart has dealt in real estate as opportunity and limited capital offered. As the tide turned in his favor, he was able to en- large his operations until by the spring of 1920 he was one of the leading real estate operators in Norwalk. In 1920 he purchased a farm in the Cranbury dis-


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trict of Norwalk, of about twenty-one acres, and this he is operating as a small dairy farm, producing specially inspected Jersey milk.


Mr. Stewart married Annie B. Lane, daughter of Timothy Lane, of Brooklyn, New York, and they are the parents of eight children: I. Anna, married Leo Leonard, who is associated with Mr. Stewart in his business, and they have three children : Leo, Marion, and Helen. 2. Marion, wife of Rowland Legg. 3. Julia, wife of Garland Harward. 4. Helen. 5. Samuel J., Jr. 6. Durland, as- sociated with his father. 7. Thomas, who is also connected with the business. 8. Grace.


GREEN, Francis E., Business Man.


For several generations the Green fam- ily has held an esteemed place in the his- tory of Poundridge, State of New York, but a town adjoining New Canaan, Con- necticut. Many of the early families in Poundridge removed there from Fairfield county so that they are among the Co- lonial families of Connecticut.


Thaddeus Keeler Green, grandfather of Francis E. Green, was a resident of Poundridge most of his lifetime. He was the father of Lewis Green, born in Pound- ridge, and lived to be fifty-six years of age. He was accustomed to farm life, and in due time succeeded to the owner- ship of the home farm. Agricultural pur- suits occupied most of his time, and for eighteen years he served in the interests of the town as assessor. Mr. Green mar- ried Clarissa Scofield, daughter of Squire Scofield, of Poundridge, and a descendant from one of the oldest families. Of their children, the following grew up: Leroy, now deceased; Philo, resides in Spring-


dale; Sarah, married William Granger, and resides in New Canaan ; Francis E., of further mention; Minerva, married Edward Zarr, and resides in Worthington, Massachusetts. Mr. Green attended the Methodist Episcopal church, and his wife was a member of the Congregational church.


Francis E. Green was born in Pound- ridge, February 14, 1864. He attended the public schools and also the Eastman's Business College, a famous school of that time. He grew up on the home farm, and after completing his studies at Eastman's came to New Canaan. There he entered the employ of Raymond & Sutton, dry goods merchants, where he remained for six years. About 1895 Mr. Green was attracted to the real estate and insurance business as an occupation, and he resigned from the mercantile work to enter this field. He has been signally successful in his undertaking, and owes much of his success to his sterling traits of character and pleasing personality. Mr. Green has taken an active interest in public matters, as has been customary with the members of his family for many years; he is a Democrat in politics, and is now president of the School Board; he has been a mem- ber of the School Board for almost twenty years. Mr. Green is a corporator of the New Canaan Savings Bank, and is now a director of that institution. He is also a member of the Volunteer Fire Depart- ment, president of the New Canaan Li- brary Association, and president of the New Canaan Cemetery Association.


Mr. Green married Carrie Hodges, daughter of Charles W. Hodges, of New Canaan, and they have two children : Bea- trice, married Edward Lawrence, of New Canaan; Blanche, a student at Drew Seminary, New York. The family attend and support the Congregational church


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Francis E. Green.


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Dr. Bradley


ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY


BRADLEY, Daniel Burr, Financier, Legislator.


It is no uncommon thing to find at the head of affairs in many of the New Eng- land towns and cities men whose ancestry can be traced to the first settlers of those towns. It seems particularly fitting that this should be so. One whose family is old in the history of Fairfield county, and whose career has been one to further honor the name is Daniel Burr Bradley, leading citizen and banker of Westport, Connecticut.


The name of Bradley is of Norman origin, and is a place name derived from Bradley, in Lincolnshire, England. In its old English form it was Brad-Leah and literally signified broad lea or meadow. The earliest Bradley known seems to be Sir Francis Bradley, who probably flour- ished in Yorkshire, and who must have been born about IIIO. The American immigrant ancestor of the family herein described was Francis Bradley. John Bradley, brother of the latter, was of the parish of St. Andrew's, Middlesex, and died in March, 1697-98. He was buried, according to all directions in his will, in the parish church of St. Pancras, on March 30th. His will, dated February 20, 1696, was proved March 31, 1697-98, in the Prerogative Court of Canterbury, and is recorded in the records of that court, 47 Pyne. The original will is pre- served in the files.


The family of the immigrant in Eng- land has been traced to William Bradley, of Sheriff Hutton, County York, and the pedigree is given in Camden's "Visitation of the County of Warwick," in 1619, which is published in Volume XII of the "Publications of the Harleian Society." The arms of the family are there given as : Gules, a chevron argent between three


boars' heads couped or. These arms were not contained in early editions of Burke's General Armory, but in the edition of 1868 he copied it and gave Camden as his au- thority.


This William Bradley had a son, Wil- liam Bradley, of the city of Coventry, County Warwick, England, who married Agnes Margate. Francis Bradley, eldest son of William and Agnes Bradley, mar- ried Francisca Watkins, and their son, Francis Bradley, son and heir, aged twenty-four in 1619, was the founder of the American line. Joseph P. Bradley, author of "Family Notes Respecting the Bradley Family of Fairfield," and one of the chief historians of the family, an- nounced his faith in this descent in the above work.


(I) Francis Bradley, the immigrant, is first mentioned in the New Haven records in 1650; he was a member of the house- hold of Governor Theophilus Eaton, and it is possible that he came over with the latter in 1637, or with his cousin, William, in 1644. Francis Bradley settled in Bran- ford in 1657, and in Fairfield in 1660. He was made a freeman in October, 1664. He married Ruth Barlow, daughter of John Barlow.


(II) Daniel Bradley, fifth child and third son of Francis and Ruth (Barlow) Bradley, was born in 1673, and died in 1714. He married Abigail Jackson, daughter of Joseph Jackson.


(III) Captain Daniel (2) Bradley, son of Daniel (1) and Abigail (Jackson) Bradley, was born in 1704, and died April 23, 1765. Captain Bradley was an es- teemed citizen and a brave soldier; he served at Cape Breton in 1745. In 1724, Captain Bradley married (first) Esther Burr, born January 31, 1702-03, a de- scendant of Jehue Burr, and a sister of Rev. Aaron Burr, the first president of


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Princeton College (see Burr IV). In 1759 Captain Bradley and his family removed to Ridgefield.


(IV) Daniel (3) Bradley, son of Cap- tain Daniel (2) and Esther (Burr) Brad- ley, was baptized May 25, 1729, and died in Greenfield, Connecticut, January 8, 1780. In 1757 his father deeded him a homestead, and later he came in posses- sion of the homestead at the front of Long Lots at Hull's Farms, in the town of Fairfield, and in 1773 he lost his property. Daniel Bradley married, August 8, 1751, Mary Banks, daughter of Joseph and Mary (Sherwood) Banks, born July 19, 1731, died July 28, 1815.


(V) Major Daniel (4) Bradley, son of Daniel (3) and Mary (Banks) Bradley, was born February 13, 1757, and died De- cember 8, 1837. Major Bradley served two months in 1716 in New York, and was in the retreat from New York when the British took possession of it. He was in the battle of Harlem in 1776, in Colonel Lewis' regiment, and received his ensign's commission, January 1, 1777. He was annexed to Captain Hart's company, Colonel Philip Burr Bradley's regiment, of the Connecticut line under the conti- nental establishment without any vaca- tion until November 3, 1783, when he was honorably discharged at West Point, New York. Major Bradley was in the battle of Ridgefield, Connecticut, when the British burned the public stores at Dan- bury ; also in the battle at or near King's Bridge, and in the battles of Monmouth and Germantown. He served on the staff of General Lafayette, who presented him with a sword. Afterwards Major Brad- ley served in the Indian War in the Northwest, and was in General St. Clair's army, but was left as one of a garrison in a small fort before that army was de- feated on November 4, 1791. He was commissioned captain to take rank from


that date, and was in the battle of Mau- mee when the Indians were defeated by General Wayne, August 20, 1794. On March 3, 1797, he was commissioned major of the 4th Regiment of Infantry, and his commission is in the hands of his descendant, Edward B. Bradley, of West- port (q. v.). In 1795 Major Bradley re- turned to Fairfield, stopping en route for a time in Philadelphia. Major Bradley married Elizabeth Stratton, born Decem- ber 1, 1760, died November 5, 1837, daugh- ter of John and Grace (Osborn) Stratton. (VI) Daniel Banks Bradley, son of Major Daniel (4) and Elizabeth (Strat- ton) Bradley, was born November 30, 1795, in Westport, and was engaged in farming there all of his lifetime. He had a strong natural instinct for trading, and at one time or another he owned, it is said, numerous farms in Fairfield. He was an extensive dealer in cattle and made many trips into New York State to pur- chase them.


(VII) Daniel Burr Bradley, son of Daniel Banks Bradley, was born Novem- ber 28, 1823, and died May 11, 1911. His farming was on an extensive scale, keep- ing at times as many as thirty or forty cows. He was thus actively occupied until within a few years before his death. During the War of the Rebellion, Mr. Bradley enlisted, but was refused on ac- count of his teeth, which were not strong enough to bite the cartridges. Frater- nally he was a member of Temple Lodge, Free and Accepted Masons ; Washington Chapter, Royal Arch Masons ; and Clinton Commandery, Knights Templar. Mr. Bradley married, February 6, 1848, Sarah M. Henshaw, daughter of Samuel and Elizabeth (Lockwood) Henshaw. Eliza- beth Lockwood was a daughter of John Lockwood, who was a brother of Luke V. Lockwood, a biography of whoni, to- gether with his genealogy, appears else-


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where in this work. Mr. Bradley and his wife were both graduates of Green Farms Academy, studying under the same teacher, the well known Ebenezer B. Adams. Mr. and Mrs. Bradley were the parents of the following children : William Henshaw, born December 5, 1848 (q. v.); Daniel Burr, of whom further; Emily Amelia, born August 2, 1853, married, April 28, 1874, Robert H. Coley, and has three children : Leila M., born September 3, 1877, married Henry Kelley ; Burr M., born May 3, 1884; Robert H., Jr., born February 28, 1886, married Lezia Talen ; Frances Adella, born June 2, 1858, mar- ried William Nathaniel Cole, of New York City.


(VIII) Daniel Burr (2) Bradley, son of Daniel Burr (1) and Sarah M. (Henshaw) Bradley, was born April 11, 1850, in West- port, where he attended the public schools, and the Green Farms Academy, under the preceptorship of Ebenezer B. Adams, same teacher and school as his father and mother attended, from which he graduated. He then attended a busi- ness college, after which he taught school for seven years. During this time Mr. Bradley read both law and medicine for pleasure. Finally, being compelled to give up teaching on account of his health, he went to Mount Kisco, New York, where he formed a partnership with L. B. Gor- ham, and under the firm name of Gorham & Bradley, they bought a furniture busi- ness which they soon enlarged by the addition of musical instruments and sew- ing machines. After two successful years they sold the business, and Mr. Bradley returned to Westport, where for several years he was engaged in farming.


Mr. Bradley is among the most es- teemed citizens of Westport ; he has been active in the business and public life of that town throughout his lifetime, and has several times held public office. A Re-


publican in politics, Mr. Bradley served as selectman for eleven years from 1885, in 1896 was elected judge of probate, and was reelected continuously to that office as long as he was eligible. On April 20, 1920, he retired from this office, having reached the age limit fixed by law at which judges may hold office in Connecti- cut. Mr. Bradley was a justice of the peace for about thirty years, until re- tired for the same reason.


He was elected from his district to the State Legislature, in 1921, and is serving on the committee on banking. He has been connected with the Westport Bank and Trust Company since 1887 as a di- rector, and since 1913 has served as its president. He is treasurer and one of the trustees of the Westport Public Library, and a senior member of the board of trus- tees of the Staples High School, president of the Willowbrook Cemetery Associa- tion, and a corporator of the Norwalk Savings Society. Fraternally, Mr. Brad- ley is a member and a trustee of Temple Lodge, Free and Accepted Masons, of Westport; Aspetuck Lodge, Knights of Pythias, of Westport; Westport Country Club and Westport Club. He is a vestry- man of Trinity Episcopal Church.


On December 29, 1875, Mr. Bradley married (first) Sarah A. Coley, daughter of Lamson Coley. They were the parents of two sons and a daughter. One son died in infancy. The second son, Herbert S., was born December II, 1877, and died May 14, 1883. The daughter, Edith, was born October 14, 1883, married, October 31, 1906, Winfred Martin Gaylord, of Easthampton, Massachusetts, and they have the following children : Elizabeth, born December 21, 1908; Ruth Anita, born April 21, 1910; Daniel Bradley, born Oc- tober 20, 1912; and Winfreda, born May 15, 1916. Mrs. Sarah A. Bradley died April 27, 1890. Mr. Bradley married


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(second) in November, 1892, Grace Hunt, daughter of Floyd and Eleanor Hunt, of Ridgefield.


Surrounded by associations and friends of many years, Mr. Bradley makes his home in Westport, his native town, where the history of his life has been written as a record of wholly honorable attainment.


(The Burr Line).


(I) Jehue Burr was born in England about 1600, and died in Fairfield in .1670. He came over in the Winthrop fleet in 1630, and was among those who settled in Roxbury. Two years later he was ad- mitted a freeman, and in 1635 was a member of the church with his wife. Je- hue Burr joined the company headed by William Pynchon, and was among the first settlers of Springfield, Massachu- setts, remaining there for eight years, whence he removed to Fairfield, Connec- ticut. In 1645 and 1646, he was repre- sentative to the General Court from Fair- field.


(II) Jehue (2) Burr, son of Jehue (1) Burr, the immigrant, was born in Eng- land, in 1625, and died in 1692, in Fair- field. He was a captain in King Philip's War. His first wife was Mary Ward, daughter of Andrew Ward.


(III) Daniel Burr, son of Jehue (2) and Mary (Ward) Burr, was born about 1642; he was made a freeman in 1668, and in 1690 was commissary of Fairfield county. He married (second) Mary Sherwood.


(IV) Esther Burr, daughter of Daniel Burr, became the wife of Daniel Bradley (see Bradley III).


BRADLEY, Edward Burr, Attorney-at-Law.


From the time of its American founding the family of Bradley has had honorable representation in Connecticut,


its first home, and numerous members of the lines established by Francis Brad- ley there continue their residence. Num- bered among these is Edward Burr Bradley, a legal practitioner of Westport, whose professional activity and reputa- tion have been in keeping with distin- guished and worthy traditions. The history of his family has always interested him, and a valued possession is the origi- nal commission as major issued to his great-great-grandfather, Daniel Bradley. (VIII) William Henshaw Bradley, son of Daniel Burr Bradley (q. v.), was born in Westport, Connecticut, December 5, 1848. He was educated in the public schools and Green Farms Academy, fin- ishing his schooling with a course in Bryant & Stratton's Business College, Bridgeport. He was well known in the district, served for one term as a justice of the peace, and for a number of years as tax collector. Politically he was a Republican, and in religious faith an Episcopalian, a communicant of Trinity Church. He affiliated with Aspetuck Lodge, Knights of Pythias, of Westport. He married Annie H. Gray, daughter of Eliphalet and Harriet (Coley) Gray, of Westport. Their only child was Edward Burr, of whom further.


(IX) Edward Burr Bradley, son of William Henshaw and Annie H. (Gray) Bradley, was born in Westport, Connec- ticut, July 28, 1880. After attending the public schools of his birthplace he entered the law department of the University of New York, whence he was graduated LL. B. in 1903. He was admitted to the New York bar in 1903, and to practice in Connecticut two years later, for three years thereafter being associated with Robert H. Hibbard. Subsequently he established independently in New York City, and after a short time made West- port the scene of his professional work


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Mr. Bradley has confined his practice mainly to corporation and surrogate chan- nels, and has built up a substantial cli- entele in the district and in New York. He is held in esteem for personal and professional qualities, and his place in the community is that of a responsible, pro- gressive citizen. He is a vestryman of Trinity Episcopal Church, and a member of Temple Lodge, Free and Accepted Masons, of Westport. His club is the University of New York City.


Edward Burr Bradley married Eliza- beth Babbitt, of Brooklyn, New York, and they are the parents of one son, Daniel Burr, born March 7, 1918.


GRAY, Walter Thomas, Business Man.


The name Gray is of local origin, that is, following the name of a place in Bur- gundy; France. In the department of Haute-Saône, there is a town called Gray. The name was originally Croy. A Nor- man chief named Rolf, Rollo, or Raoul, invaded France with his Norwegian fol- lowers and established himself there in the ninth century. A descendant, or at all events a member of the same family, became chamberlain to Robert, Duke of Normandy, and received from him the castle and honor of Croy, from which his family assumed the name of De Croy, which was afterwards changed to De Gray, and at last to Gray without the prefix.


Gray instead of Grey is the orthography in use in this branch of the family, as it is almost universally in the different branches of the country. In England and Ireland, however, in the titled families, Grey still obtains, while in Scotland it is Gray. However, this slight difference makes but a narrow line of demarcation between different branches of a family


all evidently descended from one parent stock and of one origin.


The Grays unquestionably came over to England with William the Conqueror in 1066, for among the names of those in- scribed at Battle Abbey, after the decisive battle of Hastings, as worthy to be re- membered for valiant services there ren- dered, was John de Gray.


The Gray family in America is numer- ous, widespread, and consists of many diverse branches. They were among the Pilgrims of New England, the Quakers of Pennsylvania, and were also early settlers of Virginia and other Southern States. Within the first century-from 1620 to 1720-researches made warrant the esti- mate that at least twenty different families of Grays, or different branches of the same family, had emigrated to this coun- try and made their homes in the New World. As early as 1622, two brothers, Thomas and John Gray, had become pro- prietors of the island of Nantasket in Boston Harbor, by purchase from the Indians. At an early period there were also Grays at Salem, Boston, Plymouth, and Yarmouth, and in the provinces of Connecticut and Maine.


The fact that the Gray family was largely represented among the early set- tlers of Fairfield county, Connecticut, was soon ascertained, but it seemed probable at first that they were among other pio- neers from the Colony of Plymouth and Massachusetts Bay who had pushed on toward the frontiers on the line of west- ward emigration, and so helped to people the sister Colony of Connecticut. And this reasonable inference found ready con- firmation in the discovery that the Grays of Beverly and Yarmouth had representa- tives at an early day in Litchfield county, and in the northern part of Fairfield, and on the adjoining "Oblong." However, further research dispelled that theory and


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disclosed the fact that there was a very early and doubtless direct emigration of Grays to old Fairfield, Connecticut. The records show that there were two broth- ers, John and Henry Gray, among the first settlers in 1643. They had married sis- ters, daughters of William Frost, who with his family had come from Notting- ham, England.


Henry Gray is said to have been a man of consequence, and represented his town at the General Court. He married Lydia Frost, and was in middle life when he migrated to this country. He died about 1658, aged probably fifty years. He left four sons: Jacob, Henry, Levi, and Wil- liam. John Gray, brother of Henry Gray, married Elizabeth Frost, but the names of his children cannot be definitely de- termined. The name of William Gray, of Fairfield, appears on the early records of Westchester county, New York, as having been appointed administrator of the estate of his brother Levi, date of June 3, 1684, who had paid church rates in Eastchester, March 30, 1678. A "home lot" had been granted to William Gray on November 9, 1680. His name again appears on the records of Westchester county as having paid church rates in the town of Eastchester in 1692; and again the real estate records show that "Wil- liam Gray of Fayrefield in Conn., weaver, sold his home lot in Eastchester," date of April 23, 1697. It is not known whether he then returned to Fairfield, but that some of his descendants remained is evi- denced by the fact that the name of William Gray appears on record there in 1775, and on a map of Westchester county, date of 1779, William Gray's place, in the town of Eastchester, is noted. None of the name of Gray have, however, at any recent date, resided in that vicin- ity. Henry and Lydia (Frost) Gray were the parents of Henry, who was the father




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