USA > Connecticut > Encyclopedia of Connecticut biography, genealogical-memorial; representative citizens, v. 8 > Part 27
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Mr. Treadwell married, October 12, 1880, Millicent Clarissa Booth, daughter of Charles Herd and Millicent (Cross) Booth, and they are the parents of two children: 1. John Prime (3), born Au- gust 16, 1881, now comptroller of the American Bank Note Company of New York City, and resides at Mount Vernon, New York; he married Mabel S. Carter, of Easton, Pennsylvania, and they have two children: John Prime (4), and Car- ter. 2. Henry Resseguie, born December
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3, 1884, now manager of the American Bank Note Company, who also resides in Mt. Vernon, New York; he married Hilda M. Goldsmith, of New York City, and they have two children: Elizabeth Lunt, and Barbara Booth.
(The Prime Line).
Two brothers, James and Mark Prime, were natives of Doncaster, Yorkshire, England. In order to escape the persecu- tions of King Charles I. they came to America. There Mark Prime settled, in Rowley, Massachusetts, and James Prime settled in Milford, Connecticut, in 1644. James Prime died in 1685. He had a son, James (2) Prime.
(II) James (2) Prime was a large land- holder. He was an original proprietor of New Milford, through purchase, in 1702. Tradition claims he lived to the great age of one hundred and three years. His wife's name was Sarah, and she died August 20, 1721. They were the parents of a son, James (3).
(III) Deacon James (3) Prime pur- chased his father's rights in New Milford, and removed there in 1716 with his wife Anna. They lived in what was known as Park Lane. Their eldest son was Wil- liam.
(IV) William Prime was married Oc- tober 31, 1739, to Sarah, daughter of Henry Garlick, and they were the parents of Asa Prime.
(V) Asa Prime was born July 17, 1753. He married, June 25, 1777, Phebe Res- seguie. Their daughter Jane became the wife of Samuel Treadwell. (See Tread- well VI).
(The Lockwood Line).
(I) Robert Lockwood came about 1630 from England and settled at Watertown, Massachusetts. He was made a freeman March 9, 1636-37, and removed in 1646 to Fairfield, Connecticut, where he died
in 1658. On May 20, 1652, he was made a freeman in Fairfield. His wife, whose Christian name was Susannah, died De- cember 23, 1660, in Greenwich, Connecti- cut.
(II) Ephraim Lockwood, son of Rob- ert and Susannah Lockwood, was born December 1, 1641, in Watertown, and re- moved to Connecticut with his father. He married, June 8, 1664, Mercy St. John, daughter of Matthias St. John, of Nor- walk. He was made a freeman in Octo- ber, 1667. They were the parents of a son, Eliphalet Lockwood.
(III) Deacon Eliphalet Lockwood, son of Ephraim and Mercy (St. John) Lock- wood, was born February 27, 1675-76, in Norwalk, Connecticut, and died October 14, 1753. He married, October 11, 1699, Mary Gold, born about 1673, daughter of John Gold. She died March 6, 1761. They were the parents of a son, Peter Lockwood.
(IV) Peter Lockwood, son of Deacon Eliphalet (1) and Mary (Gold) Lock- wood, was born March 16, 1710-II, in Norwalk, Connecticut, and died in 1775, at Danbury, Connecticut. He served as representative from Norwalk in six differ- ent sessions between 1755 and 1764. He married (first) September 8, 1737, Abigail Hawley, daughter of the Rev. Thomas Hawley, of Ridgefield, who died June 6, 1749. They were the parents of Eliphalet (2) Lockwood.
(V) Captain Eliphalet (2) Lockwood, son of Peter and Abigail (Hawley) Lock- wood, was born October 17, 1741, in Nor- walk. He enlisted in the First Company, Colonel Charles Webb's Seventh Con- necticut regiment, July 12, 1775. He rep- resented Norwalk seven times in the Leg- islature. On January 8, 1766, he married Susannah St. John, daughter of Joseph St. John. They were the parents of Buck- ingham St. John Lockwood.
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(VI) Colonel Buckingham St. John Lockwood, son of Captain Eliphalet (2) and Susannah (St. John) Lockwood, was born December 23, 1774, and died February 10, 1850. He married, February 17, 1808, Polly Esther St. John, born March 10, 1783, died October 20, 1850, daughter of William and Mary Esther (Belden) St. John. They were the par- ents of Mary Esther Lockwood.
(VII) Mary Esther Lockwood, daugh- ter of Colonel Buckingham St. John and Polly Esther (St. John) Lockwood, was born September 25, 1815, in Norwalk, Connecticut, and died May II, 1880, in New Milford. She became the wife of John Prime (1) Treadwell. (See Tread- well VII).
JUDD, William Hawley, Man of Enterprise.
The Judd family is one of the oldest in New England, and has been identified with Connecticut since 1636, when the immigrant ancestor of the family came to Hartford with Rev. Thomas Hooker. From that time to the present the family has been prominent in the commercial, industrial, social and political life of the State. In every time of national peril this family has borne its share of the com- mon burden. William H. Judd, of Stam- ford, is a worthy representative of those sturdy, right-thinking, right-living ances- tors who helped to give New England its present and beneficent influence on the life of this country.
The name of Judd is among the oldest of English surnames. We find Henry Judde recorded in the Hundred Rolls. No doubt he was from France, where the name Jude was common. It is derived from Judah, meaning praise, the name given by Jacob to his fourth son, who was the founder of the greatest and most populous of the twelve tribes of Israel.
(I) The founder of this family was Deacon Thomas Judd, born in England in 1608, and who settled in Cambridge, Massachusetts, in 1633-34. He was granted a home lot there in 1634, located in the West End on the Watertown road. He was granted more land in the follow- ing year and on May 25th of that year he was admitted a freeman. In 1636 he re- moved to Hartford, Connecticut, and had two acres for a home lot. This was lo- cated near the famous "Charter Oak." He removed to Farmington from Hartford about 1644, and was one of the first pro- prietors there. He was a prominent man in the town, his home being situated on the main street. He served as deputy to the General Court several times, and was a charter member of the church in Farm- ington, being a second deacon of the church. He lived to be eighty years of age, and died November 12, 1688. The death of his first wife occurred in Farm- ington, and he married (second) Clem- ence, widow of Thomas Mason of North- ampton, and lived in that town the re- mainder of his life. There he was selectman in 1682, and held a prominent place in the social and political life of the town.
(II) Philip Judd, son of Thomas Judd, was born in 1649, and baptized September 2nd of that year. He lived in Farming- ton until a few years before his death, when he removed to Waterbury, Con- necticut, where he died in October, 1689. His wife was Hannah, daughter of Thomas Loomis of Windsor.
(III) Philip (2) Judd. son of Philip (1) and Hannah Judd, was born in 1673, and died between 1760 and 1765. With his wife, Lydia, he was a member of the church in 1760. With his brothers, Philip Judd removed to Danbury previous to 1720, but the records of this town were totally destroyed by the British, and for
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Non Hawley Gold Stamford
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this reason it is very difficult to trace members of the family.
(IV) Samuel Judd, son of Philip and Lydia Judd, lived for some years in Bethel Society. He married Hannah Knapp, and they were the parents of a son, Samuel Judd, Jr. They were mem- bers of the church in 1760.
(V) Samuel Judd, Jr., son of Samuel and Hannah (Knapp) Judd, was born 1743-44, and lived for some years in Corn- wall, where he is believed to have died. He married Lucy Hawley, and they were the parents of Benjamin Judd, mentioned below.
(VI) Benjamin Judd, son of Samuel and Lucy (Hawley) Judd, was born in 1769, and married Zilpha Williams, of Bethel, June 13, 1790, and she died April 15, 1819. He died March 6, 1826. Their son, Hawley Judd, is next in line.
(VII) Hawley Judd, son of Benjamin and Zilpha (Williams) Judd, was born September 13, 1797, married Eleanor Ad- ams of Redding, December 31, 1818. He removed to Pembroke, New York, and from there to Michigan. He was the fa- ther of Grant Judd, of further mention.
(VIII) Grant Judd, son of Hawley and Eleanor (Adams) Judd, was born June, 29, 1821, in Bethel, Connecticut, and in 1843, removed to Stamford, Con- necticut, where he spent the remainder of his life. He became one of the promi- nent men of the place and was identified with the early business there. He was one of the organizers of the Phoenix Car- riage Manufacturing Company of Stam- ford, and was associated with this com- pany until its dissolution. He was a very upright man and of excellent. character. He died January 3, 1892. He married, March 26, 1845, Hannah M. Knapp, born June 26, 1827, daughter of Luther and Hannah (Selleck) Knapp.
(IX) William Hawley Judd, son of Conn-8-13
Grant and Hannah M. (Knapp) Judd, and the subject of this review, was born at Stamford, Connecticut, February 10, 1850, and received his education there in private schools. At the age of eighteen he entered upon his business career with St. John & Hoyt, dealers in lumber. He had been pursuing a course in civil en- gineering, when he was offered a position by Mr. John St. John, to open the books for the new company they were going to organize. He was also to collect out- standing accounts due to the old firm of Fox & St. John. That was in 1868, and Mr. Judd accepted the position, and has been identified with the business to the present time (1920). Originally, the business occupied a small space on Broad street which, in 1873, was removed to its present location, and in 1879 Mr. Judd became a member of the firm of St. John, Hoyt & Company. In 1885, the business was divided, the manufacturing branch being incorporated under the name of The St. John Woodworking Company, of which Mr. Judd became secretary and treasurer and has continued in that office to the present time (1920). When Mr. St. John retired in 1888, his interest was purchased by Charles H. Getman, of Os- wego, New York, and the firm name became Hoyt, Getman & Judd. Upon the death of Mr. Hoyt, the name of the firm was changed to Getman & Judd. In April, 1897, Mr. Frank W. Bogardus was admitted to the firm, and the name again changed to Getman, Judd & Company. Mr. Getman died in 1898 and upon the settlement of his estate, the business was incorporated as The Getman & Judd Company, with Mr. Judd as president, which office he holds at the present time (1920). The business covers about seven acres of land, and they ship to all points in New England and New York, being one of the largest lumber firms in New
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England. Through all the changes in the business Mr. Judd has been the leading spirit in the forward progress of the com- pany. He has other business interests of an exacting nature, but his long associ- ation with this concern has given him the foremost position there. He is secretary and treasurer of the St. John Wood Working Company ; secretary, treasurer and director of the East Branch Dock Corporation; director of The Stamford Trust Company ; vice-president of The Stamford Hospital ; director of the Manu- facturers' Association of Stamford, and of the Woodland Cemetery Association ; di- rector of the Stamford Savings Bank, the Stamford Morris Plan Company, the Pennsylvania Lumber Mutual Fire Insur- ance Company, The Lumber Mutual Fire Insurance Company of Boston ; delegate of the Eastern States Retail Lumber Deal- ers' Association and has served as presi- dent of the Connecticut Lumber Dealers' Association ; is trustee and vice-president of the Stamford Children's Home, and a director of the King School; director of the Young Men's Christian Association of Stamford; vice-president of The Apart- ments Company of Stamford.
Mr. Judd is a Republican in politics, and is deeply interested in civic affairs. While a busy man he is ever at the serv- ice of the public, but seeks no political preferment. He was a burgess of Stam- ford under the borough government. He is a member of the Church Club of Con- necticut, the Suburban Club of Stamford, and the Stamford Yacht Club. Through his maternal ancestry, he holds member- ship in the Sons of the American Revo- lution.
Mr. Judd married, November 11, 1873, in New York City, Anna Moores, born April 3, 1851, daughter of Charles W. and Susan (Mallory) Moores. They are members of St. Andrew's Protestant
Episcopal Church of Stamford, of which Mr. Judd has been vestryman and senior warden for many years.
Personally, Mr. Judd is a genial, whole- souled gentleman, a man who meets busi- ness problems with the full power of a keen mind and who goes out to his relax- ation with the same zest and spirit. He is one of those men who make Stamford a city of homes as well as a prosperous business center.
RITCH, Silas Davis, Public Official.
It seems particularly fitting to find a representative of one of the early Colonial families occupying a position of public trust and responsibility. Silas Davis Ritch, tax collector of the town of Green- wich, Connecticut, is the scion of one of the oldest families of Fairfield county. Mr. Ritch was born April II, 1859, in Greenwich, son of William M. and Sarah (Hamilton) Ritch, and is a direct de- scendant of Henry Ritch.
(I) As early as 1681 there is record found of Henry Ritch, at which time he bought land in Sanford, Connecticut, of one Caleb Webb. He sold this land in 1685 and removed to Greenwich, Connec- ticut. There on May 19, 1686, he was granted three acres of land, and there he died about 1710. He married (first) Oc- tober 21, 1680, Martha Penoyer, daugh- ter of Robert Penoyer. He married (sec- ond) -
(II) Thomas Ritch, son of Henry and Martha (Penoyer) Ritch, was born about 1682. He married Ruth ", and they were the parents of John, of whom further.
(III) John Ritch, son of Thomas and Ruth Ritch, was born May 4, 1718. He married, February 17, 1741, Jemima
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Holmes, and they were the parents of James, of whom further.
(IV) James Ritch, son of John and Jemima (Holmes) Ritch, was born June 8, 1763. He married (first) Mary Ann Lockwood, born April 15, 1763, and (sec- ond) Mary Whelpley, born October 18, 1774.
(V) Ralph Ritch, son of James Ritch, was born March 9, 1798, and died De- cember 28, 1846. He married, December 5, 1819, Clemence Mead, born December 25, 1797, died March 27, 1867, daughter of Matthew and Mercy (Hobby) Mead.
(VI) William M. Ritch, son of Ralph and Clemence (Mead) Ritch, was born June 1, 1820, and died in 1909. He re- ceived a common school education, and at the age of seventeen years learned the trade of carpenter. It was not many years after completing his apprenticeship that he was able to enter into business on his own account, which proves that he was possessed of more than the ordinary ability. He was a shrewd business man and realized the possibilities in the trans- portation trade between New York and Greenwich. He purchased a schooner, called the "Mariner," and engaged in the business of carrying stone between New York and Greenwich. Not satisfied with attaining this business, he sought a higher goal and purchased a quarry, eventually employing three schooners to carry the stone. Mr. Ritch was very successful in his business, and was able to retire from active duties many years before his death. He was one of the leading citizens of his community and held in high respect. He married Sarah Hamilton, a native of Ire- land, and she died August 7, 1888. They were the parents of five children : George deceased; Esta; Willis; Elizabeth, de- ceased; and Silas Davis, who receives extended mention below. Mr. Ritch was originally a Democrat, but in 1862 be-
came a Republican. He served as a mem- ber of the Board of Relief and also as assessor. For many years he attended the Presbyterian church.
(VII) Silas Davis Ritch, son of Wil- liam M. and Sarah (Hamilton) Ritch, was born April II, 1859, in Greenwich, Con- necticut. He was educated in the public schools, the Chappaqua school, a Quaker boarding school, and at Professor Smith's private school in Portchester, New York. Mr. Ritch then took up the study of medicine under the preceptorship of of Dr. Stanton. Hall, of Portchester, and then matriculated in the New York Homœopathic Medical College. Not find- ing the practice of medicine congenial, Mr. Ritch was sensible enough to discon- tinue it, realizing that to make a success in any chosen trade or profession there must first be the desire to follow such a business. Mr. Ritch accordingly be- came associated with his father in the stone quarrying business. In 1895, when the latter desired to retire from business, Silas D. Ritch, in company with his brother, Willis Ritch, purchased the busi- ness from their father and formed a part- nership under the firm name of Ritch Brothers. In 1912, they also retired from this occupation and sold their interests in 1918 to the town of Greenwich and the spot will be used for park purposes. In politics, Mr. Ritch is a Republican, and for ten years ably served as selectman of Greenwich, 1900 to 1910. In the latter year he was elected tax collector, which office he holds at the present time (1920). Fraternally, Mr. Ritch is a member of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, in Portchester, and of the Woodmen of the World, of East Portchester.
Mr. Ritch married, December 2, 1885, Ida F. Mead, born June 12, 1860, daugh- ter of Lyman and Rebecca Mead, and a direct descendant of William Mead, one
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of the early settlers of Fairfield county. Their children are : Norman S., born Jan- uary 21, 1891, married Lillian Lyon ; Esther, born June 27, 1894, the wife of George S. Noyes. The mother of these children died March 13, 1901.
RITCH, Thomas Gardiner, Lawyer, Honored Citizen.
Not one of Mr. Ritch's surviving fel- low-citizens needs to be informed that the name which stands at the head of this article is that of one who for many years was numbered among the leading resi- dents of beautiful Stamford.
His father, Timothy Wells Rossiter Ritch, son of Thomas and Rachel (Wal- lace) Ritch, was born February 19, 1807, in North Salem, Westchester county, New York, and attended the North Salem Academy. When only fourteen, the boy started to earn his living in New York. He had only his stage fare, and a Spanish dollar on which he cut the words, "My mother," and which is still in possession of his family. He found a place in the wholesale grocery house of Lockwood & Foshay. Such a position was different in those days from the present time. He was required to open the store at six in the morning, wait on people all day, close the store about ten at night, and then sleep in the building. Wages at first were board and clothing. A counterfeit bill of five dollars, taken in one day, had to be made good. He began at once to make a study of counterfeit money, and soon be- came an expert in detecting it. At twen- ty-one, he was received as partner in the firm under the name of Lockwood, Ritch & Company. The store was at No. 61 Vesey street, and the house in which he lived No. 281 Washington street. In 1831 he married Sarah Ann Barnum, of North Salem. In 1835 his health failed, and he
moved to Stamford, Connecticut, buying the stone house on Main street, once owned by George A. Hoyt. His father- in-law came to Stamford at the same time, building on Atlantic street a house which remained in possession of the family until 1910.
In 1854 Mr. Ritch represented his town in the State Legislature, with John Clason, and again in 1861, with I. S. Jones. His strong common sense, quick- ness of intellect, and practical knowledge, made him a valuable member of the com- mittees on which he served. In 1855 he was elected first selectman and served for thirteen years. In 1862 he was elected town treasurer, and reelected, except one year, until 1877. During the war, he was untiring in his efforts to fill the quota of soldiers assigned to the town. He visited Bridgeport almost daily and secured every man who offered at a moderate sum, so that the quota would be filled or nearly so when an order for a draft came, thus saving the town thousands of dollars. His quiet foresight and energy gave to Stamford a name for loyalty sec- ond to none in the State. No face was more familiar in the houses of the sol- diers' widows and orphans than his. In their troubles they came to him and re- ceived counsel and aid. When Thanks- giving came, year after year, it was the old First Selectman of Stamford who carried them their Thanksgiving dinners.
He was an incorporator of the First National Bank of Stamford, and a director until his death, and for two years its act- ing president. He was an incorporator of the Citizens' Savings Bank in 1869, and its president until death ; also an in- corporator and director of the Woodland Cemetery Association, and president of the Gas Company from 1875 until death. As to his church relations, while in New York, he and his family attended the old
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I
DAS Riets
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Brick Church, Presbyterian, of which Dr. Gardiner Spring was pastor. Coming to Stamford, he was active in the Congrega- tional church until 1853, when the Pres- byterian church was organized. He was clerk and treasurer from the beginning, and a member of the building committee. He served as trustee, deacon, and elder, being ruling elder at the time of his death. He became a teacher in the Sunday school the day it was organized and continued until his last illness. He died April 25, 1887.
The Revolutionary ancestors of Thomas Gardiner Ritch were: John (or Lewis) and Mary (Hyatt) Ritch, of Norwalk; Samuel and Rachel (Morehouse) Wal- lace, of North Salem and Ridgefield ; Dr. Samuel and Martha (Schofield) Barnum, of North Salem; Ananias and Sally (Brown) Weed, of North Stamford, all helping to win the war.
John Ritch was living in Norwalk when war broke out. His house was burned by the British. He took part in the battle on Long Island, was taken prisoner, and died in a sugar house in New York. Sam- uel Wallace took part in the battle at Ridgefield. Dr. Samuel Barnum served as volunteer surgeon in the same battle. Ananias Weed left his wife and baby in their new house, "Sky Meadows," North Stamford, and served in Canada through the war, being the first man to enter the gates of Montreal, and he carried a bullet in his breast the remainder of his life. His wife, Sally (Brown) Weed, with her gun and dog, resisted successfully a raid of the cow boys. Thomas Barnum, grandfather of Dr. Samuel Barnum, served in King Philip's War, and received for bravery a grant of land in Norwalk.
Such were some of the fighting ances- tors of Thomas Gardiner Ritch. He was born September 18, 1833, in North Salem, Westchester county, New York, and was
prepared for college under the tutorship of his uncle, the Rev. Samuel W. Bar- num. In 1854 he graduated from Yale Uni- versity with the degree of Bachelor of Arts, and then entered Yale Law School. After graduating he was admitted to the bar of New York. For many years Mr. Ritch practiced with notable and, without exaggeration, splendid success in New York, always, however, retaining his resi- dence in Stamford. At the time of his death he was the oldest commuter be- tween Stamford and New York.
When the clouds of the Civil War darkened the sky, and the call to arms rang through the length and breadth of the land, Mr. Ritch, with the patriotic ardor characteristic of his family, offered himself for enlistment, but was rejected on account of defective vision. This, however, while directing his efforts into another channel did not in the least di- minish their energy, and throughout the four years of the conflict he gave to the Union cause all the aid and encourage- ment which, as a private citizen, he was able to render. All his life he was earn- est in promoting the welfare of his com- munity. He was an active member of the First Presbyterian Church and served as elder until his death ; also for years as su- perintendent of the Sunday school.
Mr. Ritch married, April 14, 1859, Maria E. Pratt, daughter of Hiram and Maria (Fowle) Pratt, of Buffalo, New York. Mr. Pratt was born June 28, 1800, in Westminster, Vermont, whence he re- moved to Buffalo. At the age of thirty- five he was elected mayor of that city, being the third man chosen to fill the office. He died in 1840. Mr. and Mrs. Ritch were the parents of the following children: Mary Rossiter, of Stamford; Alice Maria, died July 13, 1893; Charles Gardiner, died in infancy ; Helen Weed, of Stamford ; John Woodford, died in in-
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fancy ; Louise Hopkins, died November 14, 1894; and Edith Prime, died June 26, 1892. Mrs. Ritch passed away April 10, 1897.
The death of Mr. Ritch, which occurred October 16, 1907, deprived the legal pro- fession of one of its most honored mem- bers and took from Stamford one of her most public-spirited citizens. Many heart-felt tributes were offered to his character and work. Eminent at the bar, and honored aand beloved in private life, Thomas Gardiner Ritch has left a record worthy of preservation and a memory which will linger long in the hearts of those privileged to know him.
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