USA > Connecticut > Encyclopedia of Connecticut biography, genealogical-memorial; representative citizens, v. 7 > Part 47
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(III) William (3) Hill, son of William (2) and Elizabeth (Jones) Hill, was prominent publicly all his life, and died in 1728. He married Abigail, daughter of David Osborn, of Eastchester, on October 7, 1691. Their children, born at Fairfield, were: I. Abigail, born January 8, 1694. 2. Joseph, of whom further. 3. William, baptized May 14, 1699, died young. 4. William, baptized June 12, 1702. 5. Da- vid, born April 7, 1706. 6. Catherine, born January 2, 1717.
(IV) Deacon Joseph Hill, son of Wil- liam (3) and Abigail (Osborn) Hill, was born at Fairfield, Connecticut, April I, 1697. He married Abigail Dimon, on March 30, 1731. Their children were: I. Abigail, born March 21, 1732; married David Gould, lived in Fairfield, and died at an advanced age. 2. Sarah, born Au- gust 21, 1733; married William Wake- man ; lived and died in Fairfield. 3. Da- vid, born April 22, 1737. 4. Ebenezer, of whom further. 5. Jabez, born June 17, 1744; settled in Weston, Connecticut; was captain of a company in the Third Regiment of Light Horse, and major in May, 1777; he served in the Danbury Alarm in 1777; married Sarah, daughter of Colonel John Read, of Redding, Con- necticut. 6. Moses, born January II, 1748, died October 3, 1777.
(V) Ebenezer Hill, son of Deacon Jo- seph and Abigail (Dimon) Hill, was born February 26, 1742. He was a cap- tain in the Revolutionary War from the beginning to the end, and was distin- guished for his bravery. He married Ma- bel Sherwood, on January 17, 1765. She was born December 8, 1745, and died Oc- tober 20, 1820. Ebenezer Hill lived in Fairfield for fifty-six years, and was a member of the Congregational church. His children were: I. David, born July 7, 1766, died December 24, 1848. 2. Ebenezer, born February 20, 1768, died May 5, 1842. 3. Seth, of whom further. 4. Dimon, born in October, 1771, died De- cember 8, 1793. 5. Joseph, born May 3, 1774, died April 19, 1816. 6. Mabel, born in September, 1776, died July 8, 1779. 7. Eleanor, born August 29, 1778, died July 22, 1779. 8. Jabez, born June 13, 1780, died August 2, 1807. 9. Esther, born No- vember 26, 1785, died August 27, 1804.
(VI) Seth Hill, son of Ebenezer and Mabel (Sherwood) Hill, was born De- cember 22, 1769, and died in Weston at
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the age of fifty-five years. He settled in Weston, where he married, and lived the remainder of his life. His children were : 1. Polly, born March 5, 1795, died Decem- ber 30, 1824. 2. Joseph, born February 19, 1797, died August 20, 1832, of cholera. 3. Wakeman, of whom further. 4. Ed- ward, born November 10, 1814, died No- vember 15, 1875.
(VII) Wakeman Hill, second son of Seth Hill, was born November 23, 1804, died August 16, 1881. He settled in Eas- ton, Connecticut, where he married Eu- nice Lyon, born 1806, died March 1I, 1870, daughter of William and Elinor (Bradley) Lyon, of that town. He was highly respected and honored among his townsmen, and was noted for his strict integrity. Children : 1. William Bradley, born August 10, 1828, died October 10, 1876. 2. Joseph Wakeman, born June 20, 1832, died November 6, 1864. 3. Seth, of whom further. 4. Lloyd, born February 6, 1841, died May 30, 1884. 5. Helen Mar- shall, born January 23, 1844, married, September 11, 1861, Frederick Riley Scribner.
(VIII) Dr. Seth (2) Hill, son of Wake- man and Eunice (Lyon) Hill, was born in Easton, Connecticut, on July 16, 1836, died February 5, 1912, and was buried at Easton. The impression left on the com- munity by the death of a public man is calculated, perhaps coldly, in direct pro- portion to his value and usefulness in it. But when the man whom death has taken from the community has deeply graven his image and character on the minds of the people, through altruistic, unselfish service, of lifetime duration, the grief, which otherwise is little more than formal custom, becomes real and manifest. Not only was Dr. Seth Hill an eminent and skilled physician, but in and out of his professional capacity he was "the friend of all the world," practicing the great
ideal of the medical profession, the great leveller service of humanity. Dr. Hill was a gentleman of the old school, serene of nature, courteous, generous, finding no favor or service too great to perform for the friend, enemy or stranger, suffering or in need.
Dr. Hill received his early education in the elementary schools of Easton, the town where he was born. He later at- tended the Easton Academy, preparatory to entering college. After being gradu- ated from that institution, he entered the Medical School of Yale University. Here his work was of an unusually fine quality, and he was graduated with honors, with the class of 1866, the valedictorian. He received the degree of Doctor of Medicine, and immediately started to establish a practice for himself in Bridgeport, Con- necticut. He remained here but a short time, however, removing next to Bethle- hem, and from there to Stepney, where he finally established himself in practice. The value of Dr. Hill's services were such that his reputation was country-wide. He became a leader in his profession, and his practice grew to be one of the largest of the region of Stepney, Easton, Trumbull and the surrounding country. He came to be looked up to not only by the people, but by other medical men of the vicinity, a man to be sought for aid and advice, silent, cool, well of skill and constructive ability. to be trusted in the extreme.
In addition to his extremely active ca- reer in the medical profession, Dr. Hill was keenly interested in the political issues of his day and took an active part in political affairs, becoming the local leader of the Republican party in his vi- cinity. He was a member of the county school board, and as such brought a num- ber of much-needed reforms. In the year ISSo he was elected to the Connecticut State Legislature. Dr. Hill was on the
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staff of the Bridgeport Hospital; presi- dent of the State Medical Society ; a mem- ber of the American Medical Society, and in 1884 president of the Fairfield County Medical Society. In 1901 Dr. Hill became one of the trustees of the Staples Free School of Easton, and did much valuable work in this office.
Dr. Hill married (first) Phebe M. Day- ton, of Towanda, Pennsylvania, who died August 29, 1870. He married (second ) on June 19, 1872, Mary Frances Nichols, of Tashua, Trumbull, Connecticut, the daughter of William and Mary Melissa (Mallett) Nichols. The parents of Mrs. Hill, who survives Dr. Hill, were both members of families well known and long established in Connecticut.
NICHOLS FAMILY,
Ancestral History.
Nichols Arms-Azure a fesse three lions' heads erased or.
Crest-A tiger sejant ermine.
The Nichols family is a very famous one in the State of Connecticut, and has furnished in the two and one-half cen- turies since its founding men who have been prominent in nearly every phase of public life in the State, and whose names are familiar in its history. The family was established in the year 1639 on what was then known as "Nichols' Farms," in the town of Trumbull, Fairfield county, Connecticut. The land on which the set- tlement was made embraced 10,000 acres of land given the progenitor of the Nichols family by Colonial grant.
Mrs. Seth Hill, of Stepney, Connecticut, is a descendant of this famous family. She is the daughter of William and Mary M. (Mallett) Nichols. (See Mallett VI). William Nichols was born in Trumbull, Connecticut, on November 30, 1811, the son of Captain John Nichols. As was
almost hereditary in the family, he became one of the prominent men of the town. He was a well known figure in the Demo- cratic politics of Trumbull, and though not an office seeker in any sense of the word held many public trusts in the town. He was a devoted member of the Protes- tant Episcopal Christ Church of Trumbull, in which he held practically all the offices open to laymen. He was always actively interested in the work of the parish and was its treasurer for many years. Wil- liam Nichols died at about the age of seventy-five years.
He married (first) April 19, 1846, Mary Melissa Mallett, daughter of Aaron and Eunice (Beach ) Mallett. She died on Feb- ruary 27, 1852, at the age of thirty-three years. He married (second) Emeline A. Blakeman, who died on February 13, 1916. The child of the first marriage was Mary Frances Nichols, mentioned below.
Mary Frances Nichols, daughter of Wil- liam and Mary Melissa (Mallett) Nichols, was born in Tashua, Trumbull, Connecti- cut, on November 5, 1847. She married, on June 19, 1872, Seth Hill, M. D., of Tashua, Trumbull. (See Hill VIII). Mrs. Hill is now a resident of Tashua, Trum- bull, Connecticut.
MALLETT FAMILY,
Ancestral History.
The name Mallett is an ancient and hon- orable one of French origin. The major- ity of the people bearing the name in the Atlantic and New England sections of the United States trace their ancestry to John Mallett, a French Huguenot, who fled from France after the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes by Louis XIV., in 1680.
Arms-Gules, a fesse ermine, between six oval buckles or.
Previous to the religious persecution of the Huguenots by the Catholics in France,
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David Mallet, father of the progenitor of the family in America, was a man of some prominence in France during the reign of Louis XIV., and held a position of high rank in the army, in which five of his sons also served. From very early times the family of Mallet has been very well known in France, Switzerland, and Eng- land, and its members have held high po- sitions in the official life of the communi- ties in which they have resided. Both in France and in Switzerland many of the name have been distinguished in literature and professions, as well as in the army and the navy. Representatives of the family are very scattered, but all trace their ancestry to the Norman tribe or fam- ily of Mallets, or Malets, who invaded France from Scandinavia early in the eighth century, between the years 700 and 750 A. D. According to a letter written from Southampton, England, in Septem- ber, 1882, General the Baron de Mallet Molesworth traces the origin of the name Mallet or Malet to a peculiar and distin- guishing weapon carried by the tribe and used very effectively in combat, "a long hammer, with a point at the other end"- a mallet with one side pointed, which was perhaps a forerunner of a type of battle- axe used later. To-day in France, mem- bers of this family, descendants of the an- cient tribe, are to be found nearly every- where.
The Mallet family was first established in England during the time of the Norman Conquest, when William the Conqueror came to England with his army of Nor- man nobles and soldiers. After the battle of Hastings and the installation of the feudal system of land tenure, England was exclusively in the hands of the Nor- man conquerors. In 1069, one of Wil- liam's followers, William Mallet, was second in command of the castle of York, according to Hume. William Mallet was
killed, with three thousand men, in the assault upon the castle of the Danes. Robert de Mallet, one of the Norman nobles in England, is cited as among those nobles who influenced Robert, Duke of Normandy, to attempt to seize the Eng- lish throne from his brother, Henry I. That the Mallets then in England were large and powerful landholders is certain from the fact that there is mention made in early records of "the great estates of Robert Mallet," which were confiscated and later bestowed upon Stephen, after- wards King of England.
The principal branch of the family in France is the Malet de Graville line. In the year 1530, one of the chiefs of this family, Jacques Mallet, a Huguenot, of Rouen, was compelled to leave France on account of persecution of those who ad- hered to the Protestant belief. He settled in Switzerland, where Protestantism then flourished under the rule of Calvin. In 1752, one of his descendants, Paul Henri Mallet, was called to a professorship of belles-lettres in Copenhagen. Members of the family are still to be found in Geneva.
After the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes, persecution of the Huguenots be- came more terrible than before, due not only to the fear of the growing strength of Protestantism on the part of those high in civil and religious authority, but also to the poisoning of the ignorant public mind by the church and state, which were both in the hands of unscrupulous Catholics. After 1680, thousands of Huguenot fami- lies left France, some going to England, and some to Switzerland and America. Very early in that period. a colony of Huguenots of about one hundred and fifty families settled in New Oxford, Mas- sachusetts; and the early records of the towns of Charlestown, Massachusetts, of Warren, Maine, and of Rhode Island,
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there is frequent reference to the name Mallett.
(I) David Mallett, hereinbefore men- tioned, fled from France, in 1687, after the death, by torture on the wheel, of his brother and brother-in-law. He took refuge in England and there established himself as a physician in Yorkshire. He had five sons, one of whom went to Ger- many. His third son, John, was the pro- genitor of the family in America.
(II) John Mallett, son of David Mal- lett, was born in France, went to Eng- land in 1687 with his father and a brother, who also became a physician in Yorkshire. After the death of his father in England in 1691. John Mallett re- turned to France, secured some money and sailed with his wife and children in a company of Huguenots bound for South Carolina. His vessel landed at Santee ; two other ships which made the same voy- age discharged their passengers at Beau- fort. His wife and children died, and he later returned to Europe, going to his brother in Germany, where for two years he served in the army. He again set sail for America, coming by way of New York to Santee. He finally located in the Hu- guenot town of New Rochelle, New York, about 1695. There are contradictory opin- ions as to the status and occupation of John Mallett, the immigrant ancestor. One is that he was a man of wealth, and succeeded in bringing some of his prop- erty with him to America. The other is that he was a ship carpenter, and that he escaped from France, probably Lyons, with only his broad-axe and his Bible. A further version of the second theory tells of his being secreted in a carpenter's chest by his young wife and thus carried on board ship, and that his Bible was hidden in a block of wood shaped like a foot- stool. The former theory is substantiated by the position of John Mallett in Amer-
ica and his various extensive land pur- chases, which would seem to indicate that he was a man of means. There is no proof of that latter theory. The branch of the family herein dealt with uphold the former. According to a letter written by General Peter Mallet, of Wilmington and Fayetteville, North Carolina, a grandson of John Mallett, John Mallett purchased lands on the Santee river, in South Caro- lina, and settled his nephew Peter, who came to America on the first voyage, there; he also bought land in Boston, Massachusetts, and settled his brother in that place. For himself he bought land at New Rochelle, New York, but soon changed it for other land at Fairfield, Connecticut, where he was residing as early as 1710.
He married, in 1695, Johanna Lyon, born in France in 1663, and died at the age of one hundred and one years, Sep- tember 16, 1764. She was a woman of great physical strength and endurance. Her will is dated March 18, 1763, and be- queaths to her sons John and David. On the west side of Division street (or Mut- ton lane), now known as Park avenue in Bridgeport, but at that time the dividing line between Bridgeport and Fairfield, and even earlier the line between Stratford and Fairfield, there stood until 1893 a plain frame dwelling, known for many years a's the Mallett homestead. This house originally stood on a tract of land of forty acres, originally the property of John Mallett, as is evidenced in several deeds and in the land records of the towns of Fairfield and Stratford. This land is now occupied by many of the fine resi- dences and by a portion of the park at Seaside, Bridgeport. The farm, bounded on the north by the highway, south by the sound, east and west by the lands of Timothy Wheeler and Isaac Hall, was deeded to John Mallett's sons on March
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20, 1710, by Lewis Lyon, a merchant of Milford, Connecticut, and brother of Jo- hanna lyon, wife of John Mallett. The deed was given to David, John, and Lewis Mallett, in consideration of two hundred pounds paid to Lewis Lyon by their father, John Mallett : it contained also the proviso that Jane (or Johanna Mallett) their mother, "shall have the full use of ye above said farin and 'building' during her natural life." On September 10, 1736, Lewis Mallett, of Milford, leased the homestead to his father and mother, John and Jane Mallett, in consideration of one bushel of apples yearly, also a quit-claim of same date. In addition to this prop- erty just mentioned, John Mallett bought of Agur Tomlinson, on May 5. 1710, thirty-two acres of land at Tawtashua Hill, for thirty-two pounds. In 1739 and 1740, deeds are recorded showing gifts from John Mallett to his sons David and John of two hundred and thirty acres of land at Tashua, and a gift to his daughter, "Joanna Angevine," of land in Stratford, which is thought to have been situated on the north side of the King's Highway (now North avenue), near its intersection with Park avenue. These lands at Tashua are still in possession of the descendants of John Mallett in the direct line, mostly, however, in the line of David Mallett, the eldest son, of further mention. John Mal- lett died on September 23, 1745, and is buried beside his wife in the old Stratfield Cemetery. The inventory of his estate amounted to £2,039. He had disposed of the greater portion of his landed prop- erty before his death.
The children of John and Johanna (Lyon) Mallett, all born in Stratfield, Connecticut, were: I. David, of whom further. 2. Captain John, Jr., born Octo- ber 16, 1703; married Sarah, daughter of Samuel French ; died December 5, 1742. 3. Lewis, born August 14, 1706; married
Eunice, daughter of Ezekiel Newton; died September 7, 1790. 4. Johannah, born March 10, 1710; married Zachariah Angevine. 5. Peter, born March 31, 1712; married Mary Booth (?); died January 10, 1760.
(111) David (2) Mallett, son of John and Johanna (Lyon) Mallett, was born in Stratfield, Connecticut, on January 10, 1701, and resided at Tashua, Connecticut, where he was an extensive landholder. He died there August 22, 1777. He mar- ried Esther Angevine, a Frenchwoman, of New Rochelle, where she was born in 1711. She died on January 16, 1787, at Tashua. David Mallett's will is dated March 15, 1775, and mentioned his wife, his daughter, Esther Wheeler, and his three sons, John, David. and Joseph, but does not mention his daughter, Hannah Porter. His children were: 1. John, born October 28, 1731 ; married Rebecca Por- ter, September 25, 1753; died May 25, 1784. 2. Hannah, born September 10, 1733; married Seth Porter, December 27, 1750. 3. David (3), of whom further. 4. Joseph, born March 25, 1740; married, February 4. 1768, Mrs. Jerusha Middle- brook, died September 15. 1818. 5. Esther, born January 1, 1745; married (first) No- vember 26, 1761, John Wheeler: mar- ried (second) David Summers; died May 9, 1818.
(IV) David (3) Mallett, son of David (2) and Esther (Angevine) Mallett, was born November 15, 1735, at Tashua, Con- necticut, and after a lifelong residence in that place died there on July 16, 1822. David (3) Mallett kept an inn at the old Landlord House, north of Chubb Brook on Tashua street. His family were some- times called the Nepucket Malletts, ac- cording to Anna S. Mallett in her gene- alogy of the Mallett family. This was in allusion to a story connecting him with the Indians. An Indian squaw lived on
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the west side of Tashua street, between Chubb Brook and the place now owned by George A. Mallett's heirs. Upon one oc- casion, before going to "The Salts," as the shore of Long Island Sound was then called, she turned her spotted pig, "Ne- pucket," into the woods nearby to feed upon the nuts while she was away. Her absence was so prolonged that David Mal- lett, thinking that she must be dead, caught and killed the pig. Some time afterward the squaw returned and brought suit against him for the pig, "Nepucket," of whom there remained only a piece of pork.
He married (first) Rhode French, the daughter of Gamakill French, born in 1740, and died March 5, 1777. He mar- ried (second) Bethia Bennett, born in 1749, and died November 14, 1788, daugh- ter of Gideon Bennett. He married (third) Polly Youngs, who was born in 1747, and died March 13, 1835. The chil- dren of David (3) Mallett were: I. Philo, baptized May 22, 1762; married Eunice Wheeler, July 6, 1780; resided in Canajo- harie, New York, where he died April 2, 1820. 2. Benjamin, baptized December 18, 1763; married Olive French, January 6, 1785; died November 6, 1798. 3. Han- nah, baptized June 28, 1761 ; married Isaac Edwards, February 3, 1777; died before 1848 in Waterville, New York, where she resided. 4. Zachariah, married May 18, 1790, Abigail Osborne; resided in Paris, Oneida county, New York. 5. Aaron, of whom further. 6. Rhoda, born May 12, 1765; married Sanford, and re- moved to Illinois, where she died before 1848. 7. Bethiah, baptized September 30, 1781; married (first) in 1801, Jonathan Nichols; married (second) James Hall. 8. Huldah, baptized January 19, 1783; married, in 1807, Amos Hawley Wheeler ; died February 23, 1834. 9. David, bap- tized August 15. 1784; died unmarried,
June 3, 1848. 10. Charity, born Septem- ber 20, 1788; married, December 25, 1811, Stephen Beach, son of Nehemiah Beach; died February 8, 1835.
(V) Aaron Mallett, son of David (3) Mallett, was baptized June 30, 1771. He was a resident of Tashua all his life, and died there on December 31, 1855. He married, February 24, 1805, Eunice Beach. She was born July 1, 1783, and died in Tashua, November 27, 1860. Their chil- dren were: 1. Mary Eliza, born July 3, 1806, died June 3, 1817. 2. George Al- bert, born January 24, 1808; married, De- cember 24, 1833, Charity Nichols; died March 19, 1893. 3. David Beach, born June 14, 1810, died unmarried, September 13, 1846. 4. Stephen Summers, born May I, 1812; married Flora M. Sherman daughter of Nathaniel Sherman, May 17, 1843. 5. Rhoda Clarissa, born August 16, 1814; married, December 24, 1849, Eben- ezer T. Sanford. 6. Aaron Benjamin, born December 1I, 1816; married (first) November 1, 1843, Jane Elizabeth Haw- ley, who died May 25, 1851 ; married (sec- ond) December 22, 1851, Lydia A. Sher- man, who died April 24, 1884. 7. Mary Melissa, of whom further. 8. William Alanson, born May 25, 1821; married, September 28, 1851, Sarah Augusta Wake- ley, who died January 23, 1861 ; married (second) June 18, 1862, Hannah Elizabeth Walker. 9. Parthenia Eliza, born April 27, 1824; married, May 11, 1864. William W. Wheeler.
(VI) Mary Melissa Mallett, daughter of Aaron and Eunice (Beach) Mallett, was born in Tashua, Connecticut, March 8, 1819, and died there February 27, 1852. She married, April 19, 1846, William Nichols, son of Captain John Nichols, of Trumbull, Connecticut, who was born No- vember 30, 1811, and died January 10, 1887. Their children were : I. Mary Frances Nichols, born November 5, 1847;
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married June 19, 1872, Seth Hill, M. D., Fiftieth Regiment, New York Volunteers ; of Tashua. 2. Child, unnamed, who was born and died on February 27, 1852. (For further reference see Hill family).
The part of the Mallett family in the wars of our country is an honorable and distinguished one. They gave their sons and their money freely. Descendants in the direct and collateral lines of the pro- genitor, David Mallett, who served in the Revolutionary War, were: Captain Lewis Mallett, Corporal Lewis Mallett, Private Miles Mallett, Private John Mallett, Gen- eral Peter Mallett, Corporal Philip Mal- lett, Commissary Daniel Mallett, Cor- poral John P. Mallett, David Baldwin and Lewis Baldwin (died in a prison ship). Against this array of staunch supporters of the cause of Independence are placed the names of Matthew Mallett and Ste- phen Mallett, Tories, the former of whom lost his life in the English army : Stephen Mallett had his property confiscated "be- cause he had joined the enemy of the United States."
During the War of 1812, William Mal- lett served under Commander Philip Walker at Bridgeport in 1814: David Mal- lett, under Commander Walker, from September 30 to October 3; under Com- mander Charles Parks, Jesse Mallett, from July 12 to September 17. Isaac Mallett enlisted in 1812 from Catharine, New York, became ill and died in the service near Buffalo. The following is the roll of members of the family who served in the Union army in the Civil War: In Com- pany G. Fiftieth Engineers, New York ; Sergeant Sylvester T. Malette, Ephraim Malette. Henry Wisner Malette, William Smith Malette, John Fiddler Malette : Huson W. Malette, died in prison at Sal- isbury, North Carolina ; George Able Mal- lette, Connecticut Volunteers; William Averill, Myron Couch, Joel Guild, Charles Bacon, all killed; Eli Plumb Beardsley,
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