USA > Connecticut > Encyclopedia of Connecticut biography, genealogical-memorial; representative citizens, v. 5 > Part 40
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Their youngest child, Lieutenant James Fenn, was born May 14, 1672, and died in 1754. He settled in Milford, Connecti- cut, and owned lands in Waterbury in that State. He married Johanna Prud- den, born in May, 1676, granddaughter of the Rev. Peter Prudden, born 1600, in England, who owned a good estate in Edgeton, Yorkshire, from which his heirs received rents for several generations. He came to Boston, Massachusetts, with Rev. John Davenport, was in New Haven in 1638, in Milford the following year, and was the first pastor there. He married, in England, Johanna Boyce, who died in 1654. Their son, Samuel Prudden, born 1644, in Milford, married, December 31, 1669, Grace Judson, born February 19, 1657. She was a granddaughter of Wil- liam Judson, born in Yorkshire, died July 29, 1662, in New Haven, Connecticut. In 1634 he came to New England, settled first in Concord, Massachusetts, removed thence to Hartford, in 1639 to Milford, later to Stratford and New Haven. His wife, Grace, died in 1659. Their son, Jo- seph Judson, born 1619, in England, was ensign and lieutenant during King Philip's War, deputy to the General Court from Stratford in 1655, and died
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October 8, 1690. He married, October 24, 1644, Sarah, daughter of John and Rose Porter, born 1627, died March 16, 1697. They were the parents of Grace Judson, wife of Samuel Prudden, and grand- mother of Johanna Prudden, who mar- ried Lieutenant James Fenn.
Their son, John Fenn, born 1714, died September 4, 1793. He married Susan- nah Gibson, born 1727, died February 13, 1797, daughter of Gamaliel and Susannah Gibson.
Captain Aaron Fenn, son of John and Susannah (Gibson) Fenn, was born De- cember 1, 1746, in Milford, and in 1767 settled in that part of Waterbury, Con- necticut, which was subsequently set off as Watertown, and is now Plymouth, his home being a mile north of the meeting house, on a tract of land willed to him by his grandfather, Lieutenant James Fenn. Part of this homestead is still in posses- sion of his descendants. He married Mary Bradley, of Woodbridge, and their eldest child was Lyman Fenn, born Au- gust 26, 1770. He was undoubtedly the father of Hart Fenn.
Hart Fenn was born about 1800 in Plymouth, was a wheelwright and car- riage builder, and died at the age of thirty-seven years. He married Belinda Blakeslee, born 1806, in Plymouth, died 1876.
They were the parents of Edward Hart Fenn, born about 1830, who married Frances Pitkin Talcott, a descendant of the Worshipful Mr. John Talcott, who was the pioneer of the family in Connec- ticut. The Talcott family is of ancient English origin, and the family is said to have come from Warwickshire to County Essex. The coat-of-arms borne by the family is :
Arms-Argent, on a pale sable, three roses of the field.
Crest-A demi-griffin erased, argent, wings
endorsed collared sable, charged with three roses of the first.
Motto-Virtus Sola Nobilitas.
John Talcott, a descendant of the War- wickshire family, was living in Colches- ter, County Essex, England, before 1558, and died near the close of 1606 in Col- chester, leaving a large estate. His first wife bore the family name of Wells and was the mother of John Talcott, who lived in Braintree, Essex, England, and died early in 1604, before his father's death. He married Ann, daughter of William Skinner, of Braintree, and they were the parents of John Talcott, born there. He embarked for New England. June 22, 1632, in the ship "Lion," and set- tled at Cambridge, where he was admitted a freeman, November 6, 1632, was deputy to the General Court in 1634-35-36, select- man in the latter year, and the fifth larg- est landowner in the town. In 1636 he sold his property and joined Rev. Thomas Hooker's company, becoming one of the founders of Hartford. In the year previ- ous he sent Nicholas Clark, a carpenter, to build a house. This stood on the site of the present North Baptist Church. John Talcott filled many positions of trust and honor in the colony, and was called "the Worshipful John Talcott." He married Dorothy. Mott, daughter of John and Alice (Harrington) Mott, of Wiston, County Suffolk, England, who died in February, 1670. He died early in 1660, having provided as far as possi- ble for an entailed estate according to the English custom. His grandson, Joseph Talcott, was Governor of Connecticut from 1724 to 1741, holding the office longer than it has been held by any other except John Winthrop. His second son, Captain Samuel Talcott, born about 1635, probably in Cambridge, died November II, 1691, in Wethersfield. He graduated
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at Harvard College in 1658, was admitted a freeman in 1662, was commissioner in Wethersfield from 1669 to 1684, deputy to the General Court during the same years, and secretary of the October ses- sion in the last. On May 17, 1676, he was appointed one of a committee to "order such measures as shall be necessary to attend to in the intervals of the General Court." He was appointed lieutenant in the Wethersfield Train-Band in 1679, and captain of the troop of Hartford county, October 16, 1681. He com- manded a company of dragoons sent to Deerfield at the outbreak of King Wil- liam's War in 1670, and from 1683 until his death, except the year 1688, during the Andrus administration, he served as assistant. The inventory of his estate placed its value at two thousand one hun- dred and eighty-one pounds, one shill- ing and six pence. His will was admitted to probate without witnesses, having been written by himself, because his writing was so well-known. He married, Novem- ber 7, 1661, Hannah Holyoke, daughter of Captain Elezur and Hannah (Pyn- cheon) Holyoke, granddaughter of Wil- liam Pyncheon, the founder of Spring- field. She died February 7, 1678, in Weth- ersfield. Their youngest child, Samuel Nathaniel Talcott, born January 28, 1678, in Wethersfield, built a house in Glaston- bury, where his descendants long dwelt. He was deacon of the church, lieutenant of the Glastonbury Train-Band in 1733, captain, 1738, representative, 1735, and died January 30, 1758. He married, March 18, 1703, Elizabeth March, born 1693, died August 26, 1768. Their third son, Joseph Talcott, born 1722, in Glastonbury, lived in that town, where he died June 30, 1788. He married Sarah Kilborn, born January 21, 1725, died December 29, 1748, daugh- ter of Abraham and Mary (Tudor) Kil- born. Their second son, Abraham Tal-
cott, born March 31, 1757, in Glastonbury, married Bathshebah Hale, of that town, born February 10, 1761, daughter of Dan- iel Hale. Their youngest child was Ansel Talcott, born September 8, 1789. He married Emily Robbins. Their youngest child, Frances Pitkin Talcott, born Sep- tember 15, 1830, became the wife of Ed- ward Hart Fenn. They had children : Louis Hart, born 1853, died 1859; Edward Hart, of further mention; Francis Hart, born 1859, died 1886.
Edward Hart Fenn, second son of Ed- ward Hart and Frances Pitkin (Talcott) Fenn, was born in Hartford, Connecti- cut, where his boyhood was passed, and where he passed through the high school. After three years' study at Yale Univer- sity, in the class of 1879, he left school to enter upon newspaper work. For several years he was connected with the Hart- ford "Post," becoming city editor of that sheet, and was subsequently for several years with the Hartford "Courant" until 1909, when he entered upon his legisla- tive career. For many years he was spe- cial writer, reporting the legislative ses- sions, and from 1878 to 1907 was State editor on the "Courant." In 1907 he rep- resented Wethersfield in the Lower House of the State Legislature, and in 1908 was elected to represent the fourth district in the State Senate, receiving a majority of 1926, in the largest vote ever cast in the district. He served in the sessions of 1909 and 19II, and in the latter year was chairman of the committees on fish and game and on labor, and a member of the committee on federal relations. During the two sessions he was chairman of five committees. He was subsequently ap- pointed by Governor Weeks on the State Fish and Game Commission. In 1915 he was again a member of the House of Representatives. His home is in the old historic Silas Deane mansion, built 1776,
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on Main street, Wethersfield, where George Washington stopped in 1776 on his way to take command of the army at Boston. About 1874 this property was purchased by Mrs. Edward Hart Fenn, Sr., and since 1889 Edward Hart Fenn, Jr., has occupied it. Mr. Fenn was long in the service in the National Guard, being a member of Company F, Fifth Regiment, known as the Hartford City Guard, in which he served five years ; he is an ex-major of the Veteran Association of this regiment. He is a member of the Republican Club of Hartford, vice-presi- dent of the Association for the Improve- ment of the Lower Connecticut River, a commissioner of the Wethersfield fire dis- trict, and a director of the State Business Men's Association. He is also connected with several patriotic and social organi- zations; is the secretary of the Connec- ticut Society Sons of the Revolution, a member of the Society of Founders and Patriots, of the Connecticut Historical Society, Wethersfield Grange, Hartford Club, Hartford Yacht Club, and Farm- ington Country Club. Mr. Fenn takes a very deep interest in the progress and prosperity of his native State, and is ever ready to perform any public service which may further those objects.
Mr. Fenn married (second) June 30, 1902, Mary Bacon Clark, of Old Lyme, Connecticut, daughter of Erastus and Emily (Bacon) Clark. Mrs. Fenn is descended from two signers of the Declar- ation of Independence, John Hancock and Abraham Clark. She is a member of the Daughters of the American Revolu- tion, prominent in Red Cross work, and active in many ways in promoting the social and moral development of modern life. Her ancestor, Abraham Clark, born February 15, 1726, in Elizabethtown, Es- sex county, New Jersey, served in many civil capacities, was sheriff, a delegate to the Continental Congress from June,
1776, to November, 1783, except in 1779, signed the Declaration of Independence in 1776, was a member of the State Legis- lature, and in 1790 was elected to Con- gress, serving until his death, September 15, 1794, at Rahway, New Jersey. In 1743 he married Sarah Hapfield, of Eliz- abethtown. By his first wife Mr. Fenn had three children: Hart Conklin, Fran- cis Talcott, and Isabel Shepard.
FAXON, Walter Collyer,
Insurance Actuary.
Of the ninth American generation of his family, Walter Collyer Faxon is by right of ancestry a member of the Society of Mayflower Descendants in the State of Connecticut, of which society he is an ex-governor, and is also deputy governor general for Connecticut of the General Society of Mayflower Descendants.
His ancestry traces to Governor Wil- liam Bradford, of the "Mayflower" com- pany, through the Adams, Collins, Terry and Olcott families, and to Richard War- ren through the Church and Olcott fami- lies. Through these collateral lines he traces a connection with many New Eng- land notables, namely: Francis Elliott, John Whitman, Edmund Hobart, Rev. Solomon Stoddard, Rev. John Wareham, John Pantry, John Norton, John Stanley, George Stocking, William Sprague, An- thony Eams, Thomas Bunce and Thomas Wells, all being in his ancestral line.
In direct paternal line he traces to Thomas Faxon, born in England, about 1601, who came to Massachusetts prior to 1647, locating at Dedham, later at Braintree, where he died November 23, 1680. He was a man of prominence, inti- mately concerned in the transaction of a vast amount of public business. His wife, Joane Faxon, died between the years 1663 and 1670.
Richard Faxon, son of Thomas and
284
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Eng but G.williams B Br. NY
Halten & faxan /
ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY
Joane Faxon, was born in England, in 1630, was brought to this country by his parents, and his death occurred Decem- ber 20, 1674. His wife, Elizabeth Faxon, born in 1633, died August 9, 1704
Thomas (2) Faxon, son of Richard and Elizabeth Faxon, was born in Braintree, Massachusetts, August 2, 1662, died in the year 1690, and his remains were interred at Weymouth, Massachusetts. He was a prosperous farmer of Braintree. He married Mary Blanchard, born De- cember 1, 1662.
Richard (2) Faxon, son of Thomas (2) and Mary (Blanchard) Faxon, was born in Braintree, Massachusetts, September 4, 1686, and died May 5, 1768. He mar- ried, December 29, 1709, Ann Brackett, born July 18, 1687, and died October 16, 1769.
Thomas (3) Faxon, son of Richard (2) and Ann (Brackett) Faxon, was born in Braintree, Massachusetts, October 29, 1710, and died in the year 1801. He mar- ried (first) September 22, 1746, Elizabeth Hobart, who died April 5, 1752.
Ebenezer Faxon, son of Thomas (3) and Elizabeth (Hobart) Faxon, was born in Braintree, Massachusetts, December 12, 1749, and died in West Hartford, Con- necticut, January 11, 1811. He removed to West Hartford, January 6, 1772, and there engaged in the manufacture of earthenware. He married, February 8, 1776, Eleanor Whitman, born in 1755, and died November 30, 1827.
Elihu Faxon, son of Ebenezer and Eleanor (Whitman) Faxon, was born in West Hartford, Connecticut, November 6, 1779, and died June 30, 1847. He mar- ried, July 8, 1807, Elizabeth Olcott, born April 22, 1784, and died December 21, 1854, daughter of James and Lucy (Terry) Olcott.
Hiram Faxon, son of Elihu and Eliza- beth (Olcott) Faxon, was born in Nas-
sau, New York, August 11, 1817. Later in life he moved to Buffalo, New York, thence to Brooklyn, New York, then to Hartford, Connecticut, where his death occurred, October 30, 1883. He married, March 31, 1842, Margaret Maria Collyer, born October 2, 1822, died January 2, 1860, daughter of William and Margaret (Powers) Collyer, of Marblehead, Massa- chusetts, and granddaughter of Isaac and Sarah (Courlis) Collyer, of Marblehead, the former named a lieutenant in the Rev- olutionary Army.
From such ancestry comes Walter Coll- yer Faxon, son of Hiram and Margaret Maria (Collyer) Faxon. He was born in Hartford, Connecticut, July 18, 1856. He was graduated from the Hartford public high school in April, 1874. His first em- ployment was with the Travelers' Insur- ance Company, where he remained for nearly seventeen years in its accident de- partment. At that time the liability busi- ness was only beginning and the health insurance business untouched. When the Ætna Life Insurance Company opened its accident department, Mr. Faxon was selected to assist in its organization, and on January 1, 1891, he entered the em- ploy of that company. On that same day Accident Policy No. I was issued to Sen- ator Morgan G. Bulkeley. During the first year of the accident department the gross premium receipts were less than $40,000. In its tenth year they exceeded $1,100,000, and have increased rapidly with subsequent years, until in 1917 its accident and health business amounted to nearly $3,500,000, and including its lia- bility business totaled over $15,000,000. During his first years with the Ætna, Mr. Faxon held a clerical position, but in 1895 was chosen to fill the newly created office of assistant secretary of the accident department. All his energy and abil- ity were exerted in behalf of the accident
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department, and the value of his service is best attested by the rapid growth of that department. In 1902 he was chosen to fill the office of secretary, and in 1905 promoted to the office of vice-president of the accident department, which office he most efficiently fills at the present time (1917). In 1908 he became a director of the Ætna Casualty and Surety Company.
Mr. Faxon has been president of the International Association of Accident Underwriters, which later became the International Association of Casualty and Surety Underwriters. In 1915 he was chairman of the Bureau of Personal Acci- dent and Health Underwriters. He is an ex-governor of the Order of Mayflower Descendants in the State of Connecticut ; member of the Society of Colonial Wars ; Sons of the American Revolution, of which he is treasurer; and ex-registrar general of the General Court of the Order of Founders and Patriots of America, of which he is an ex-governor of the Connec- ticut Society ; member of the Order of Colonial Governors, the Connecticut His- torical Society, the Hartford Club and the Hartford Golf Club. Mr. Faxon has proved the worthy twentieth century rep- resentative of those courageous spirits who from the first awful winter at Ply- mouth down through the generations fought the wild foes of the forest, human and animal, endured the privations of the pioneer in many localities, and through great tribulation established the colony upon which was erected the Common- wealth and later the Nation. In all these experiences his ancestors bore a part, and while his part has been to preserve that which was committed to him. he has borne a full share in the commercial de- velopment of his city and in increasing the usefulness of the great financial cor- porations with which he is connected.
Mr. Faxon married. May 23, 1877, Nel-
lie A. White, born in Somers, Connecti- cut, June 25, 1857, daughter of Josiah and Hannah (Pease) White (see White). Her lines of Revolutionary ancestors entitle her to eight bars upon her emblem worn as a Daughter of the American Rev- olution, an order in which she is very active. She was one of the earliest mem- bers of the Ruth Wyllys Chapter, of that order, was a member of its board of man- agers for many years, and was a delegate to its convention held in Washington, D. C. She is an ex-president of the Connec- ticut Society of Daughters of Founders and Patriots, and has been a prominent member of the Civic Club of Hartford. In the spring of 1917 Mrs. Faxon was appointed chairman of the comforts com- mittee of the Admiral Bunce Section at Hartford of the Navy League of the United States. She at once began to organize relief work for the navy and soon had over five hundred women knit- ting to add comfort to the boys of the navy. Many thousand articles, helmets, mufflers, wristlets and sleeveless jackets, are the result of their labor. These articles have gone to those serving in our navy. Mrs. Faxon gave all of her time to the management of this work at the Hart- ford headquarters. Mr. and Mrs. Faxon are members of the Asylum Hill Congre- gational Church.
(The White Line).
Mrs. Nellie A. Faxon is a lineal de- scendant of Robert White. who was a yeoman, appears to have lived in Shal- ford, Essex, from the time of his mar- riage, June 24, 1585, to Bridget, daugh- ter of William Allgar. He was a wealthy man. The death of Robert White occurred in the year 1617. Elder John White, youngest child of Robert and Bridget (Allgar) White, was a passen- ger in the ship "Lyon" which left Eng-
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land about June 22, 1632, and arrived at Boston, Massachusetts, September 16, 1632. The following spring he was ad- mitted a freeman, and in 1635 he was chosen selectman in the town of Cam- bridge. In June, 1636, Mr. White was a member of Rev. Thomas Hooker's com- pany that founded the city of Hartford, Connecticut. On the Hartford records his name appears as one of the original proprietors. On the east side of what is now Governor street was located his home lot. He was again chosen as select- man in 1642, 1646, 1651 and 1656. After the death of the Rev. Mr. Hooker in 1647, there arose arguments between the Rev. Mr. Stone and Elder Goodwin regarding the requirements for participation in church privileges as taught by Mr. Hooker. The discussion grew until Elder Goodwin's followers decided to remove elsewhere. On May 18, 1659, the agreement was signed by sixty persons and the name of John White appears fifth in order, proving that he was a leader in the movement. They removed to Hadley, Massachusetts, and laid the foundation of that town. A part of his home lot there is now occupied by one of his descend- ants, never having been out of the pos- session of the family. Mr. White was active in the public life of the town. He again served as selectman in 1662, 1663 and 1665, and also served as representa- tive to the Legislature of Massachusetts in Boston. About the year 1670 Mr. White returned to Hartford, and was chosen to fill the office of elder in the South Church, organized February 12, 1670. From that time on he was exempt from civil offices, but his name appears often in connection with church matters. The name of his wife is not certain, but believed to be Mary Leavit. They were married in England about two years before coming to America. He died dur-
ing the winter of 1683-84, after a long and useful life, the last twelve years of which were spent as elder of the church, an important office in those days, and which called for a strong, reliable man such as John White proved to be.
Captain Nathaniel White, son of Elder John White, was born in England, about 1629. When his father removed to Hart- ford, Connecticut, he was about seven years old. Between the years 1650 and 1651 he went to Middletown, Connecti- cut, and was one of the original proprie- tors of that town. His home lot was located where what is now the town of Cromwell. Like his father, he was very active in civil life, holding various town offices, and was a representative to the Legislature repeatedly. When last chosen he was eighty-one years of age. In all he was elected eighty-five times. In 1669 he was appointed by the Legislature a magistrate and commissioner for Mid- dletown, and in 1684 for Middletown, Had- dam and the district of Meriden. In mili- tary life he rose to the rank of captain. He married Elizabeth -. He died August 27, 1711, and was buried in Mid- dletown, and his wife died in 1690.
Deacon Nathaniel (2) White, son of Captain Nathaniel (1) and Elizabeth White, was born at Middletown, Connec- ticut, July 7, 1652. At the time of his marriage he removed to Hadley, Massa- chusetts, and settled upon the orig- inal home lot of his grandfather, Elder John White. He was elected constable in 1687, and between the years 1684 and 1715 was nine or ten times chosen to serve as selectman. Even after he was seventy-five years of age, he held the office of tythingman and continued to hold it for a number of years. He mar- ried, March 28, 1678, Elizabeth Savage, born June 3, 1655, died January 30, 1742, daughter of John and Elizabeth Savage.
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Deacon White died at Hadley, February March 16, 1851. She was born March 7, 15, 1742.
Ebenezer White, son of Deacon Na- thaniel (2) and Elizabeth (Savage) White, was born in Hadley, April 9, 1701, and died March 23, 1733, when nearly thirty-two years old. He remained with his father during his entire lifetime. He married, October 28, 1730, Ruth Atherton, and after the death of her husband she continued to reside with his parents, and cared for them in their old age. In return her father-in-law gave her a portion of the home lot and it is still in possession of her descendants. She never remarried, and she died April 29, 1785, aged eighty- five years.
Ebenezer (2) White, son of Ebenezer (I) and Ruth (Atherton) White, was born in Hadley about 1733. He lived on the White farm and died there, October II, 1817. He married Sarah Church, born August 17, 1736, died about 1802, daugh- ter of Samuel Church, of Amherst.
Elijah White, son of Ebenezer (2) and Sarah (Church) White, was born in Had- ley, June 28, 1778. He married, Decem- ber 24, 1799, Lucy Pierce, daughter of Josiah Pierce, Jr. and Lucy (Fairfield) Pierce. She was born April 26, 1778. He went to New London to defend the port in 1812, and died November 24, 1856, at the age of seventy-eight.
Josiah White, son of Elijah and Lucy (Pierce) White, was born August 1, 1800, and died in Owosso, Michigan, June 5, 1882. He married Hannah Cushing, of Chesterfield, Massachusetts, born Febru- ary 6, 1798. She died in Carson Valley, Nevada, while on a horseback trip with her daughter and grandson in 1863.
1830, and died April 22, 1896.
Nellie A. White, daughter of Josiah (2) and Hannah C. (Pease) White, was born June 25, 1857, and married, May 23, 1877, Walter Collyer Faxon. They re- side in Hartford, Connecticut.
CHENEY, Frank,
Pioneer Silk Manufacturer.
Originally of French extraction, the Cheney family has received notice in English records since some time after the year 1066, although the patronymic has at different times and by different generations and branches been vari- ously rendered, Cheney, Chine, Cheyney, Cheyne, Chenney, Cheyner, and other spellings. Sir Nicholas Chenney acquired the Manor of Up-Ottery, in Devonshire in the reign of Henry III. (1207-72). Thomas Cheyney, mercer, died in Lon- don, in 1361, a man of wealth and varied interests. Henry Cheyney made his will, August 18, 1361. John Cheyney was archdeacon of Exeter, in 1379, and dur- ing the sixteenth and seventeenth centur- ies branches of the family were recorded as resident in many midland and southern counties of England. John Cheney immi- grant ancestor, was born in England, and of him John Eliot, the famous Indian Apostle, minister of Roxbury, wrote :
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