USA > Connecticut > Encyclopedia of Connecticut biography, genealogical-memorial; representative citizens, v. 3 > Part 43
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(V) Nathaniel Sherwood Wordin, son of Thomas Cooke and Ann (Sherwood) Wordin, was born in the Wordin home- stead, Bridgeport, Connecticut, July 12, 1813. He received his early education in the district school conducted by the Rev. Asa Bronson, pastor of the Strat- field Baptist Church, and subsequently studied at the Easton Academy under the instruction of the Rev. Nathaniel Free- man, pastor of the Congregational church. At the age of fifteen he entered his father's business establishment as a clerk, and upon attaining his majority was ad- mitted to partnership, soon afterward suc- ceeding to full control as his father had decided to devote his attention to his Norwalk mills. Conducting the business with uniform success, he enlarged it to meet the increasing demands, and re- mained at its head until about 1850, when he withdrew and his younger brother assumed its direction. A very prominent and public-spirited citizen of Bridgeport, Mr. Wordin was actively identified with its local affairs. He was city treasurer from 1841 to 1845, and assessor from 1859 to 1862 and in 1867-68. He was a director of the Bridgeport Mutual Savings Bank and Building Association and of the Farmers' Bank (now the First National), and was an incorporator of the Bridgeport Savings Bank and the Farmers' and Mer- chants' Savings Bank. Through his efforts the Bridgeport Musical Society was organized, and he served as its secre- tary. In the First Congregational Church he was leader of the choir many years, and for half a century was clerk of the society. "In more than fifty meetings during that time he did not fail of being present to call the assembly to order, while his penmanship in elegance and cor- rectness for that length of time is prob- ably unequalled in the county." Mr. Wordin married, May 29, 1839. Fanny
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Augusta Leavenworth, born in 1812, daughter of Dr. Frederick and Fanny (Johnson) Leavenworth, of Waterbury, Connecticut. Children: 1. Frederick Au- gustus, died in infancy. 2. Helen Caro- lene, residing in Bridgeport. 3. Nathaniel Eugene, the subject of a following narra- tive. 4. Fanny Leavenworth, residing in Bridgeport. 5. Thomas Cooke Wordin, married Frances Cummins (now de- ceased), daughter of Rev. Frederick Pat- terson Cummins. Mr. Wordin died in January, 1889, survived by his widow, who died in 1892, aged eighty years.
(The Leavenworth Line).
Mrs. Wordin was a descendant in the sixth generation of Thomas Leavenworth, who emigrated from England and appar- ently settled in Woodbury, Connecticut.
(I) Thomas Leavenworth, immigrant ancestor, was born in England. The date of his coming to America is not known, but he is known to have been in New Haven as early as 1664. Little is known of him before his immigration to America beside the fact there is on record in the parish of St. Clair, Southwark, England, for the year 1664, the names Edward and Thomas Leavenworth. Whether this Thomas Leavenworth was the immigrant ancestor of the family in America has not yet been proven. There are, however, records of business transactions con- ducted in London by Thomas Leaven- worth. His wife Grace came with him from England, and died in this country in 1715. He died August 3, 1683, at Wood- bury, Connecticut. On August 20, of that year, an inventory of his estate was taken amounting to f225 2s. Id. This appears in the probate records of Fairfield dis- trict ; where also is recorded the fact that he had two sons and one daughter. His occupation was farming, and he probably settled on Good Hill, in the western part
of the present town of Woodbury. His wife Grace survived him and remained at Woodbury. In the State Library at Hart- ford are filed two bonds, executed by her on June 11, 1684. In February, 1686, she probably was still residing at Woodbury, and owned land at Hasky Meadow, about a mile from the village. She deeded lands to her sons Thomas and John on May 26, 1687, and other lands to Henry Deering, of Boston, Massachusetts, on May 28. 1687.
(II) Dr. Thomas (2) Leavenworth, son of Thomas (1) and Grace Leaven- worth, was born in 1673. whether in Eng- land or in America is not known. He married Mary Jenkins, at Stratford, Con- necticut, in 1698. She was the daughter of David Jenkins, born in 1680, and died at Ripton, in June, 1768. Ripton Parish, now Huntington, was then a part of Strat- ford. He died there on August 4, 1754. and was buried at Ripton Center. There is record of the sale of the house and lands of Thomas Leavenworth in Wood- bury on June 10, 1695, to John Judson, of Woodbury, land inherited probably from his father or uncle. Dr. Leavenworth lived in Woodbury until 1695, when he removed to Stratford, where he resided until 1721. He became a member of the Stratford church in 1697-98, having on January II, of that year, "owned the covenant." He obtained land in Wood- bury from his father's estate and from his uncle and his brother John. On De- cember 16, 1716, he bought land of Ed- ward Burroughs. He sold land to his brother John. March IS, 1717, he re- ceived land near Robert Wheeler's. He signed a petition for a bridge in Ripton on February 25, 1719. In 1721 he sold his home in Ripton. Dr. Thomas Leaven- worth and his wife became original mem- bers of the church at Ripton. He is men- tioned in the records of the church as
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Deacon Thomas, and as one of the so- ciety's committee and collector of rates. He received one and one-half acres of six mile division lands on December 31, 1728. Thomas Leavenworth was educated for the medical profession, and practiced in the vicinity of Woodbury and Stratford for several years ; he was "a man of posi- tion. influence, energy, and wealth." He was interested in a copper mine in Wood- bury, and had business interests in addi- tion to this. In the distribution of his son Ebenezer's estate, in March, 1734-35, he received a bequest. In the same year he also had a controversy in regard to some lands at Ripton. The date of his will was July 6, 1748. It was offered for probate on June 12, 1754, and was proved July 15, 1754. Dr. Leavenworth was a man of wide culture and experience, and deeply interested in the cause of education.
(III) Rev. Mark Leavenworth, son of Dr. Thomas (2) and Mary (Jenkins) Leavenworth, was born in Stratford, Con- necticut, in 1711, and died in Waterbury, Connecticut. August 30, 1797. He was graduated from Yale University in the class of 1737. He studied for the medical profession, but abandoned it to enter the ministry. He was ordained in 1740, and in the same year was called to the pastor- ate of the Waterbury church, continuing in that office until his death, which occurred fifty-seven years later. In 1760 he was chaplain of Colonel Whiting's Second Connecticut Regiment in the Canadian campaign ; during the Revolu- tion was a member of the State committee for raising troops, and the first signer of the oath of fidelity at Waterbury after the Declaration of Independence. His three sons served in the Revolution, and were graduates of Yale University. Rev. Mark Leavenworth married Ruth Peck, daughter of Jeremiah and Rachel (Rich- ards) Peck. She was born in 1719, and died in 1750.
(IV) Colonel Jesse Leavenworth, son of Rev. Mark and Ruth (Peck) Leaven- worth, was born November 22, 1740, in Waterbury, Connecticut, and died there in 1824. He was a lieutenant in the Gov- ernor's Foot Guard, accompanying that organization on the occasion of the Lex- ington Alarm, under Captain Benedict Arnold, in 1775, and later served at Ti- conderoga. He was the father of General Henry Leavenworth, an eminent man in his day. On July 1, 1761, he married Catherine Conkling, born 1751, died 1824, a daughter of John and Katherine (Scaliger) Conkling.
(V) Dr. Frederick Leavenworth, son of Colonel Jesse and Catherine (Conk- ling) Leavenworth, was born in Water- bury, Connecticut, in 1766, and died in 1840. He took up the study of medicine and practiced in Waterbury for several years. He married, May 19, 1796, Fanny Johnson, daughter of Dr. Abner and Lydia (Bunnell) Johnson. She was born in 1776, and died in 1852.
(VI) Fanny Augusta Leavenworth, daughter of Dr. Frederick and Fanny (Johnson) Leavenworth, was born in 1812. She married, May 29, 1839, Na- thaniel Sherwood Wordin. Mrs. Wordin died in 1892, and is survived by her daughters, Fanny L. and Helen C. Leavenworth, who reside at No. 10 State street, Bridgeport, Connecticut. A son, Dr. Nathaniel E. Wordin, is the subject of a narrative which follows this.
WORDIN, Nathaniel Eugene,
Civil War Soldier, Physician, Author.
Dr. Nathaniel Eugene Wordin, son of Nathaniel Sherwood and Fanny Augusta (Leavenworth) Wordin, was born in Bridgeport, Connecticut, May 26, 1844. He received his early education in the schools of that city, and pursued prepara- tory studies at Wilbraham, Massachu-
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setts. On August 9, 1862, when he was but eighteen years old, actuated by a sense of patriotic duty, he enlisted in the Federal service, being mustered as a member of Company I, Sixth Connecticut Volunteer Infantry. He witnessed the finale of the great struggle in the oper- ations before Petersburg and Richmond, entered the Confederate capital on the day of its capture, and General Shepley, chief of staff and military governor of the city, dictated the order which Private Wordin wrote placing the city under martial law. On June 3, 1865, he was honorably mustered out of the service at City Point, Virginia.
Returning to Bridgeport, he decided to complete his education, and accordingly entered Yale College, where he was graduated in 1870. He then took the full course of Jefferson Medical College at Philadelphia, and received his degree of Doctor of Medicine in 1873. Dr. Wordin has since been continuously engaged in practice in Bridgeport, and is known for ability, accomplishment, and success in his profession. For a period of seventeen years, from 1888 to 1905, he was secretary of the Connecticut State Medical Society, and in 1905 served as its president. He compiled and edited the centennial vol- ume of that society in 1892, a work of more than a thousand pages. His con- nections with other professional organiza- tions include the Fairfield County Med- ical Association, the Bridgeport Medical Association, of which he was secretary several years and president from 1883 to 1885, being one of three men in the forty years of its existence to serve more than one year ; the Connecticut State Board of Health from 1890 to 1899, during which time he travelled extensively; the Amer- ican Academy of Medicine, and the Amer- ican Public Health Association. He de- voted considerable of his professional
work to various institutions, among them being the Bridgeport Hospital, the Fair- field County Temporary Home, and the Bridgeport Protestant Orphan Asylum, having been the attending physician of these for many years. He was a member of the Sons of the American Revolution, occupied the office of historian in the Gen- eral Silliman branch, and was a member of the United Order of the Golden Cross, of the Fairfield County Historical So- ciety, and also of the Contemporary Club.
Dr. Wordin travelled extensively dur- ing much of his life, visiting all parts of the United States, Canada and Mexico. During these trips he was a close ob- server of the customs prevailing and the people who inhabit the countries he vis- ited, and upon his return delivered a number of lectures which were illiis- trated from views taken during the trips. Among these are interesting ones upon Yellowstone Park, Mexico, Que- bec, Ottawa and Montreal, and also one entitled: "My Recollections of the Civil War." These were delivered in the Public Library course which is given each year under the auspices of the Public Li- brary Association for the benefit of the public. In addition, Dr. Wordin lectured to the nurses at the hospital, and read many papers before scientific and medical societies. He also delivered the annual address as president of the Connecticut State Medical Society in 1905, and in 1909-10 gave a number of public talks upon the anti-tuberculosis question. Dr. Wordin also wrote largely on historical questions. Among his articles, which have been published, may be mentioned the following: "The Medical History," published in 1897 in the four volume work entitled "The New England States ;" "The Medical History of Fairfield Coun- ty," published in 1889 in the "Fairfield County History ;" a number of articles on
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sanitary subjects before the American Public Health Association, and which were published in their proceedings; a number of papers which were published in the proceedings of the Connecticut Medical Society, among which may be mentioned: "Diphtheria, a Filthy Dis- ease," "The Ophthalmoscope as a Means of Diagnosis," "The Germ Theory of Dis- ease," "Nephrotomy," and several others. In religion Dr. Wordin was a Congrega- tionalist. and served as deacon in the First Congregational Church of Bridge- port.
Dr. Wordin married, December 25, 1879, at Wilmington, Delaware, Eliza Woodruff Barnes, daughter of Julius S. Barnes, M. D., a graduate of Yale Col- lege, 1815, and of Yale Medical School, 1817. Dr. and Mrs. Wordin had one child, Laura Barnes.
Dr. Wordin died in Bridgeport, May 10, 1915.
BULL, Thomas Marcus, M. D., Dermatologist, Hospital Official.
Beyond doubt one of the most remark- able and characteristic changes wrought in this epoch of change and progress has been that which has occurred in the gen- eral attitude of the learned professions towards their own subject matters and scientific knowledge generally. In the past they were considered the conserva- tors of old knowledge, and those who have been their most authoritive spokes- men have multiplied proofs indefinitely that new theories and even new facts, however well substantiated, were unwel- come and need expect no recognition by the learned confraternities. The hard- ships and persecutions of the pioneers in the realm of thought and knowledge in days gone by, bear ample witness to this intolerance, an intolerance so universally
associated with formal learning as to have often called down upon it no little popular ridicule and to have converted such a word as pedant into a term of reproach. But at the present time all this is changed, and it might even be urged that in some quarters there is even a too ready accep- tance of hypotheses unconfirmed, and statements of what may prove to be pseudo facts. But this is only in certain irresponsible quarters, and the profes- sions in general now occupy a most praiseworthy attitude towards knowledge, new or old, subjecting both to the search- ing scrutiny of modern scientific methods, and retaining or rejecting each impar- tially as it endures this test. Take, for example, the profession of medicine, and note the leaders and recognized authori- ties therein. They are in nine cases out of ten the very pioneers who might have suffered for their progressive views if the old intolerance had remained. It may with truth be said that in two senses evo- lution has had to do with this great change. In the first sense, it has played the same role in the development of scientific thought as it does with all liv- ing, growing things, bringing it into closer correspondence with its environ- ment ; and in the second sense, the doc- trine of evolution has made a direct alter- ation in our attitude towards all knowl- edge, destroying the old notion that it was a thing that has been revealed once and for all from a supernatural source, and supplying the more rational idea that it is something that we achieve for our- selves with painstaking effort, and thus making us the more willing to accept discoveries and innovations. Although there are doubtless members of the medi- cal profession that still incline to the old standpoint, yet their voice is drowned in that of the great majority of their fellows, for there are but few in these ranks who
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do not accept the doctrine of evolution and all that this revolutionary belief in- volves. A good example of the type of physician now dominant in the profession may be found in Dr. Thomas Marcus Bull, of Waterbury, Connecticut, a man at the head of his profession, and a recog- nized authority on all dermatological questions throughout the State.
(I) Thomas Bull, the American pro- genitor of the Bull family of Connecticut, was born in Great Britain, in the year 1610. He sailed from London, England, for America, on September II, 1635, in the ship, "Hopewell," Thomas Babb, master. It is asserted by some that he came from the parish of Southwark, in the city of London ; by others from Wales. (The compiler of these papers regards the question as an open one). He landed in Boston, Massachusetts, and remained either in that city or in Cambridge until the following spring, when he was en- rolled in a company of volunteers sent by the Massachusetts Colony to aid the in- fant settlements in Connecticut in their defense against the warlike tribes of Pequots, and as second in command under Captain John Mason, was con- spicuous for his bravery in the memora- ble taking of their fort at Mystic, Con- necticut, in 1637. He was known at this period of his life as Lieutenant and later as Captain Thomas Bull. His name is recorded as juror, December 6, 1649, and frequently afterwards. In July, 1675, he was selected by the Colonial government to command the forces sent to resist the demand of the Duke of York for the sur- render of Saybrook, as one among others of "the most important posts" in New England. Major Sir Edmund Andros was intrusted with the command of the expedition to enforce this demand against the Colonies. His fleet arrived off the mouth of the Connecticut river (Say-
brook) in the early part of July, 1675. Here he was met by Captain Bull and Gershom Buckeley, whose adroit manage- ment and inflexible firmness not only frustrated the designs of the Duke, but drew from his representative, Sir Ed- mund Andros, the compliment which has passed into history.
The family name of the wife of Captain Thomas Bull is not known, nor whether they were married before or after his arrival in Connecticut. Her Christian name was Susannah. A brown stone slab in the ancient burying ground adjoining the Central Congregational Church in Hartford marks the place of her sepul- ture. On it is the following inscription : "Here lyeth the Body of Susannah Bull, wife of Captain Thomas Bull, deceased the 12th of August, 1680, aged 70 years." Adjoining this is another stone bearing this inscription: "Here lyeth the Body of Captain Thomas Bull, who died Octo- ber, 1684. He was one of the first settlers of Hartford, a Lieutenant in the great and decisive battle with the Pequots, at Mys- tic, May 26. 1637, and commander of the Fort of Saybrook in July, 1675, when its surrender was demanded by Major An- dross." There is also in the same ground an imposing brownstone monument "Erected by the Ancient Burying Ground Association of Hartford in memory of the first settlers of Hartford." One hundred and one names are inscribed on this monument, one of which is that of Thomas Bull. His name is also men- tioned among the "Proprietors of the un- divided lands of the Town of Hartford" in 1639. On the second day of March, 1651-52, he received a grant of two hun- dred acres of land at Niantick, from the Colony, as a reward for or in recognition of his military services in the Pequot War. At a later period he received an additional grant of two hundred acres "on
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the east side of the Great River, near the Cedar Swamp." The land is mentioned in his will as "the land I received from the country." As above stated, he died in October, 1684 (more correctly, however, between August 20th and October 24th, 1684), leaving his estate by will to his children. The will is dated August 20, 1684, and recorded in the probate records of Hartford county, in volume 4, page 196. An inventory of his estate, entered on the records, page 197, was taken Octo- ber 24, 1684, which values the same at fourteen hundred and twenty-two pounds. The children of Captain Thomas and Sus- annah Bull were as follows: Thomas, known as Deacon Thomas, of whom fur- ther ; David, Ruth, Susannah, Abigail, Jonathan, Joseph.
(Il) Deacon Thomas (2) Bull, of Farmington, eldest son and child of Cap- tain Thomas and Susannah Bull, was born in Hartford, Connecticut, the date not known. He married (first) probably in April, 1668, Esther Cowles. He mar- ried (second) Widow Mary Lewis, daughter of the famous schoolmaster, Ezekiel Cheever. They were married, January 3, 1692. She died January 10, 1728, aged eighty-seven or eighty-eight years. It is believed that eight children were born of the first marriage, namely : John, Thomas, Esther, Samuel, Susannah, Jonathan, Sarah, David, of whom further. The will of Deacon Thomas Bull is dated May 7, 1703, and recorded in volume 7, pages 193 to 196. The inventory of his estate amounted to seven hundred and forty-five pounds, twelve shillings and one pence.
(III) David Bull, of Farmington, youngest son of Deacon Thomas (2) and Esther (Cowles) Bull, was born in Farm- ington, Connecticut, in 1687. He married Sarah Ashley, who bore him nine chil- dren, namely: Jonathan, Sarah, David,
Jr., Noah, Thomas, of whom further; Thankful, Abigail, Esther, Mary. His will is dated May 5, 1760, and recorded in the probate records of Hartford in volume 19, page 39.
(IV) Major Thomas (3) Bull. fourth son and fifth child of David and Sarah (Ashley ) Bull, was born in 1728, and died in 1804. He was adopted by his uncle, Deacon Samuel Bull, of Woodbury. He was a major in the Revolutionary War. He married (first) October 10, 1754, Eliz- abeth Curtiss, born in Southbury, then Woodbury, and died of consumption, April 30, 1770, aged thirty-two years. He married (second) Amarylis Prindle, who died December 10, 1800. Children : Esther, Samuel David, of whom further ; Nathan.
(V) Samuel David Bull, eldest son and second child of Major Thomas (3) and Elizabeth (Curtiss) Bull, was born in Woodbury, Litchfield county, Connecti- cut, March 30, 1763, and died there, Oc- tober 17, 1810, aged forty-seven years. He married, in Southbury, Connecticut, January 18, 1801, Elizabeth Mitchell, born in Southbury, May 28, 1778, died in Woodbury, May 2, 1843, daughter of Jonathan and Elizabeth (Borland) Mitch- ell, of Southbury. Children: Thomas, of whom further ; and David Samuel.
(VI) Thomas (4) Bull, eldest son and child of Samuel David and Elizabeth (Mitchell) Bull, was born in Woodbury, Connecticut, December 9, 1801. He mar- ried, in Woodbury, January 19, 1824, Susan Sherman, born in Woodbury, May 15, 1798, daughter of Aaron and Anna (Curtiss) Sherman, of Woodbury. Chil- dren: Ann Elizabeth, David Samuel, of whom further ; Julia Emily, Susan Jane.
(VII) David Samuel Bull, only son and second child of Thomas (4) and Susan (Sherman) Bull, was born in Woodbury, Connecticut, March 12, 1826.
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He was a prominent and successful mer- chant during his early years, and throughout his business life was asso- ciated with the Woodbury Bank in an official capacity. He was a man of talent and capability, and was highly regarded by his neighbors. He married, in Wood- bury, March 12, 1860 (his thirty-fourth birthday) Lucy Ann DeForest, born in Woodbury, January 13, 1832, daughter of Marcus and Laura Colton (Perkins) De- Forest. Children : Laura Elizabeth, born November 9, 1861; Thomas Marcus, of whom further ; and Lucy Emily, born Au- gust 10, 1865, died November 28, 1871.
(VIII) Dr. Thomas Marcus Bull, only son and second child of David Samuel and Lucy Ann (DeForest) Bull, was born in Woodbury, Connecticut, August 27, 1863. He spent the first twenty-one years of his life in his native town, and in the local schools thereof gained the preparatory portion of his education. In early life he selected the profession of medicine for his active career, and all his energy was directed in that channel. After his graduation from the Woodbury High School in 1881, he entered the Medi- cal School of Columbia University, New York City, from which institution he graduated with the class of 1887, of which he was secretary. He then spent a year as interne at the Skin and Cancer Hos- pital in New York City. For three years thereafter he engaged in practice in that city, and then returned to his native State and settled at Naugatuck, where he has since conducted a most successful and growing practice, extending over a period of more than a quarter of a century. From the outset Dr. Bull has specialized in dermatology and is regarded as having been extremely successful in his treat- ment of troubles of the skin, and at the present time (1916) holds the post of dermatologist in the Waterbury Hospital.
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