USA > Connecticut > Encyclopedia of Connecticut biography, genealogical-memorial; representative citizens, v. 8 > Part 31
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Dr. Lowe has taken a public-spirited interest in affairs of public concern, and for about eighteen years was active in local matters. He was chairman of the sixth school district for two years, as- sisted in the organization of the borough of Ridgefield, and led in the movement that resulted in the installation of the sewerage system of the town. His political convictions are Republican, but he has taken little part in party affairs. He is a past master of Ark Lodge, No. 39, Free and Accepted Masons, of Wilton, having been honored with that office when twenty-three years of age, one of the youngest men in the State to be made master of a lodge. Dr. Lowe also affil- iates with - Chapter, Royal Arch Masons, Danbury Commandery, Knights Templar, and Pyramid Temple, Ancient Arabic Order Nobles of the Mystic Shrine,
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of Bridgeport. Dr. Lowe entered the medical department of the United States army during the World War and was in service for eighteen months. He was assigned to various hospitals, including those at Camp Oglethorpe and Camp Gordon, and was honorably discharged with the rank of captain.
Dr. Lowe married, in 1891, Maria Louisa Beers, born in Branchville, Fair- field county, Connecticut, daughter of William W. and Louisa (Gilbert) Beers (see Beers V). They are the parents of one son, Gilbert, born July 10, 1893, who was educated in St. Paul's School in Con- cord, New Hampshire, and Columbia University. He had served three years in the medical corps of the United States navy, and had been honorably discharged before the United States entered the World War. Re-enlisting, he was de- tailed for duty at the Naval Hospital in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. He mar- ried Jeannette Merrill, of Cleveland, Ohio, and they have one child, Jane, born May 26, 1918.
(The Ranney Line).
Volume II "Scottish Arms" names the Rany and Renny families. Herbert Ray- ning sat in Parliament for Dumfries, 1572. Robert Rayning was provost, 1578. Symon Renny was bailie of Inverkeithing, 1360. Sir John Rany, of England, is named in 1660. The name is given in va- rious forms in France and Flanders at a very early date. Arms have been borne as follows :
Arms-Gules, two wings in pale argent, each charged with three bars gemels sable.
(I) Thomas Rany, born about 1616, first American ancestor, was in Middle- town, Connecticut, in 1658. Gravestone records say he died June 21, 1713. His will and an inventory of his estate are on file in Hartford. He married, in May,
1659, Mary Hubbard, born January 16, 1641, died December 18, 1721, daughter of George and Elizabeth (Watts) Hub- bard. Children: Thomas, born 1660; John, of whom further; Joseph, born 1663; Mary, born 1665, married John Savage; Elizabeth, born 1668, married Jonathan Warner; Esther, born 1673, married Nathaniel Savage ; Hannah, born 1675, died 1713; Margaret, born 1678-79, married Stephan Clark; Ebenezer, born about 1681 ; Mercy, born 1682; Abigail, married, 1713-14, Walter Harris.
(II) John Ranney, son of Thomas and Mary (Hubbard) Rany, was born Novem- ber 14, 1662. He married, December 28, 1693, Hannah Turner, born March 4, 1678-79, daughter of Edward and Mary (Sanford) Turner. They lived in Mid- dletown, Connecticut, and were original members of the North Society Church in 1714-15. Children: Marce, born 1695, married John Hall; Hannah, born 1699; John, born 1700, died same year; John, born 1703; Richard, of whom further ; Deborah, born 1708; Jeremiah, born 1713; Samuel, born 1715, married Ann Miller.
(III) Richard Ranney, son of John and Hannah (Turner) Ranney, was born Feb- ruary 18, 1705, and died September 16, 1759. A Richard Ranney served, April 19-September 3, 1758, in the Seventh Company, First Regiment. He married, November 7, 1729, in East Middletown, Connecticut, Margery Miller, born Feb- ruary 23, 1706, daughter of John and Marcy (Bevins) Miller. Children: Jere- miah, born 1730; Richard, born 1732; Elijah, of whom further; Stephen, born 1737; Marcy, born 1739; Mary, born 1740; Jabez, born 1742-43, married Penelope Bowers ; Edward, born 1746, served in the French and Indian War; Abner, born 1747; Hannah, born 1750, married Joel Hale; Mary, born 1754.
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(IV) Elijah Ranney, son of Richard and Margery (Miller) Ranney, was born October 6, 1735, in Middletown, Connec- ticut, died 1789, and his estate was dis- tributed, October 7, 1789. In 1756 he purchased land in Granville, and in 1773 removed to Blanford, Massachusetts. He married, March 2, 1763, in Granville, Massachusetts, Mary Cook, born 1744, died April 1, 1832. Children : Mary, born 1763, married Jonathan Norton; Sybil, born 1765, married a Mr. Crane; Jere- miah, born May 5, 1769; Elijah, removed to Watervliet, New York; Ebenezer, of whom further; Rufus, born 1780; Rox- ana, married John Loyd; Eunice, married Darius Stephens.
(V) Ebenezer Ranney, son of Elijah and Mary (Cook) Ranney, was born May 25, 1776, and died April 12, 1860. In 1797 he removed to Waterville, New York, and from there to Augusta, New York. In 1832 he removed to Valley Mills, where he erected a saw mill and a woolen mill. He was a Baptist, organ- ized a society in Augusta, New York, and at his own expense rebuilt the mission church in Valley Mills, and preached in it many years. He is said to have served at Sacketts Harbor in the War of 1812. He married, February 23, 1800, Almeda Bartholomew, born July 26, 1781, in Goshen, Connecticut, died June 19, 1868, daughter of Oliver and Ann (Lacy) Bar- tholomew. Children: Ores, born 1801 ; Dorcas, born 1803, married Zacharias Lewis; Hiram, born 1805; Ebenezer, born 1809, married Betsey Calkins; Anson L., born 1811; Oliver Russell, of whom fur- ther; Almeda Pamelia, born 1820, mar- ried William W. Bingham.
(VI) Oliver Russell Ranney, son of Ebenezer and Almeda (Bartholomew) Ranney, was born in Augusta, New York, in January, 1816, and died June 24, 1897.
He was engaged in the jewelry business, and was a member of the Baptist church. He married, in Stockbridge, New York, November 22, 1835, Elizabeth Franklin Carpenter, born May 5, 1814, died Decem- ber 13, 1877, daughter of Ezekiel and Dorcas (Gardner) Carpenter, of Rhode Island. Children : Agnes Elizabeth, born 1839, died 1854; Elvira Ann, born 1842, died 1849; Abbie De Etta, of whom fur- ther; Mary Josephine, born 1850, died 1862.
(VII) Abbie De Etta Ranney, daughter of Oliver Russell and Elizabeth Frank- lin (Carpenter) Ranney, born February 5, 1847, in Stockbridge, New York, mar- ried, August 9, 1866, in Oneida, New York, Walter Robert Lowe (see Lowe II).
(The Beers Line).
England is the fatherland of the Beers family. Genealogical records trace its ancestry to the feudal age under the name Beare, which was afterwards written Bears. Coat-of-arms :
Arms-Argent, a bear rampant, sable, canton gules.
Crest-On a garb lying fesseways or, a raven sable.
Motto-Bear and forbear.
(I) John Beers, founder of the family in America, was in Stratford, Connecti- cut, in 1678. He came to America with his wife Mary. His sons were: Barna- bas, married Elizabeth Wilcoxson, in 1688; Samuel, married, 1706, Sarah Sher- man ; Josiah, married, 1717, Elizabeth Uf- ford; Joseph, of whom further; Abiel, married, 1722, Elizabeth Cammel.
(II) Joseph Beers, son of John and Mary Beers, married, in 1720, Sarah Clark. Children: Ephraim, born 1722; Mary, born 1723; Joseph and John (twins), born 1727; Andrew, born 1729;
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Abel, born 1732; Sarah, born 1734; Mat- thew, of whom further.
(III) Matthew Beers, son of Joseph and Sarah (Clark) Beers, was born De- cember 19, 1736. He married Sarah Cur- tis, of Stratford. Children: Curtis, Silas, Menzis, Otis, Lewis, of whom further; Lucinda.
(IV) Lewis Beers, son of Matthew and Sarah (Curtis) Beers, married Rhoda Gregory, daughter of Samuel and Rhoda Gregory. Among their children was Wil- liaın W., of whom further.
(V) William W. Beers, son of Lewis and Rhoda (Gregory) Beers, was born in Ridgefield, Connecticut, September II, 1821, and died August 20, 1879, in Branchville, Connecticut. He enjoyed the best educational advantages the coun- try afforded, and at the age of seventeen years began teaching in Ridgefield. In 1851 he started his career as merchant in Branchville, where he continued to re- side until his death. He began in a small way, at first selling lumber, later coal, and then all kinds of hardware and crock- ery. He was the first postmaster in Branchville, and first station agent there on the Norwalk & Danbury Railroad. His death cast a gloom over the commu- nity of which he was a shining member. Strictly upright in all his dealings, rigidly honorable, he was at the same time kindly, benevolent and always ready to help the poor and needy. In matters re- lating to church he was not active, but contributed liberally of his means. He married (first), Paulina M. Edmonds ; (second), Louisa Gilbert, daughter of Benjamin and Charlotte (Birchard) Gil- bert. Children by first wife: Carrie G., married Lewis L. Valden ; Mary E., mar- ried Ebenezer Hoyt; children by second wife: Louis G .; Maria Louisa, who mar- ried Dr. Russell Walter Lowe (see Lowe III).
WARDWELL, Frederick Schuyler, Man of Varied Activities.
Two decades constitute the period that Frederick Schuyler Wardwell passed in the Stamford community, during which he performed most of the work upon which his professional reputation rests and formed the ties that made his death a universal loss. The engineering works that he accomplished during that time will remain as monuments to him for many years, while in the friendships he formed, the impression of his purposeful, productive life upon his associates, his memory will endure far beyond his time. There is placed this record of his career among those of the people who knew him best, as a tribute and memorial to an adopted son of Connecticut whose activi- ties reflect great credit upon the common- wealth.
Frederick S. Wardwell was a son of Emery Schuyler Wardwell, whose father was a native of Penobscot, Maine, where he followed the calling of farmer, at one time owning a tract of land one mile square. Emery Schuyler Wardwell was born about 1841, in Penobscot, and served an apprenticeship to the carpenter's trade. During the Civil War he enlisted as lieu- tenant in Company K, First Regiment, Maine Heavy Artillery, and was subse- quently transferred to the Eighteenth Regiment, Volunteer Infantry. He served with his regiment until it took up a posi- tion before Petersburg, when he was prostrated by typhoid pneumonia, which disabled him for a period of fourteen months. At the end of that time he be- came an instructor in schools, for a time serving as superintendent. He was a well educated man for his day, his wife's edu- cation being even superior to his. For some time he was trial justice in Penob- scot. Just before the Civil War, Mr.
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Wardwell moved to Bucksport, where he purchased a large farm, known as the "Stover place," and engaged in dairying. His health, however, was not equal to the demands of agricultural pursuits and he returned to Bangor, where he spent his few remaining years. He belonged to the Grand Army of the Republic in Bucks- port.
Mr. Wardwell married Roxanna Hatch, daughter of Elisha Hatch, of North Pe- nobscot. Mr. liatch, who was a farmer, was a native of Castine, Maine, where his father had taken up land. One branch of the family had long been resident there, old records showing that Frederick Hatch was one of the early settlers of the town. Of the seven children born to Mr. and Mrs. Wardwell, the following reached maturity : Frederick Schuyler, of whom further ; Melville H., of Cleveland, Ohio; Victor P., of Stamford, Connecticut ; Frances, of Portland, Maine; Parris E., of Asbury Park, New Jersey; and Geor- gia. At the time of his death, Mr. Ward- well was about fifty-four years of age.
Frederick Schuyler Wardwell, son of Emery Schuyler and Roxanna (Hatch) Wardwell, was born January 10, 1863, in Bucksport, Maine. He received his education in the public schools of his na- tive town and at the East Maine Confer- ence Seminary. After a time spent in filling clerkships he went, in 1882, to Minnesota, where he attended lectures at the State University in St. Paul. In those days Minnesota was a frontier State, In- dians and game being plentiful, and when Mr. Wardwell' joined the engineering corps of the Northern Pacific Railroad he slept out-of-doors throughout an entire winter. He was employed by the railroad company about two years, and then en- tered the service of the Twin Cities Rapid Transit Company, that company being among the pioneers in the electric railway
business. He was sent by this company to represent them at Duluth and there built the famous incline which is still in operation. He also constructed the street railway of Duluth, and rebuilt it when the change was made to electric power, a piece of work which occupied him about four years. He then returned to the East for the purpose of building the Edge- wood Avenue Railroad of New Haven, afterward constructing the Danbury and Bethel Street Railway System. Next came the Torresdale and Bristol Street Railway, near Philadelphia, and the erec- tion of a foundry and machine shop for the Norwalk Iron Works completing the . list of his work of this period.
He came to Stamford, Connecticut, about 1900 to undertake the work of widening the east branch of the harbor and to construct docks. Here he made the headquarters for a business that steadily increased, and to which he gave the technical skill, energy and enthusiasm for which he became noted. He con- cluded to make a specialty of water-front construction, and gradually acquired an equipment that enabled him to perform work for which comparatively few were prepared to contract. One of his accom- plishments, which attracted wide atten- tion, was the laying of a pipe in Newport harbor at a depth of about ninety feet to carry water from the mainland to Dutch Island, a military post, about a mile and a half from the shore. This work was done in mid-winter. He constructed an outfall sewer with forty-two inch pipe at Coney Island. His work in Stamford included the construction of docks for the Stoll- werck Company, a bulkhead for the Petroleum Heat and Power Company, docks for the Yale & Towne Manufactur- ing Company, the Getman & Jugg Com- pany, the Masons' Supply Company, and the Luders Marine Construction Com-
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pany. A difficult commission performed by him shortly prior to his death was the cleaning of a flume used by the rail- way power plant at Coscob, this being ac- complished without interruption of the flow of water pipes to condensers. He was engaged in numerous contracts for dredging and construction along the Sound, these including the building of foundations for various bridges.
Shortly after coming to Stamford, Mr. Wardwell began assembling a fleet of vessels to be employed in his work. Starting in a modest way, and making use of crude contrivances, he gradually extended this equipment, which now comprises the dredge "Urban," derrick- boat "Orland," pile-drivers "Castine" and "Interurban," towboat "Addie V.," two large and two small scows and a motor- boat. He employed a considerable force of men, with whom his relations as an employer were always agreeable. His determination to make his home in Stam- ford was formed soon after he took his first contract there. He was attracted to the city, and took a lively and intelligent interest in public affairs. As a member of a committee serving without compensa- tion he furnished valuable information and advice regarding sanitation, and made practical suggestion for the abate- ment of what has long been described as the mill-pond nuisance.
He was elected a member of the Com- mon Council in the Fourth Ward in 1918 and reëlected in 1920; he served as chair- man of the Sanitation Committee, and performed service of high value to the city. His investigations disclosed condi- tions that convinced both the Common Council and the Board of Finance of the desirability of appointing a full-time food inspector, to give proper supervision of the slaughter of cattle and of meat sold for food purposes, as well as to see to
the strict enforcement of ordinances re- lating to milk. In his work for the city he displayed the same desire to secure accurate information, and to carry for- ward desirable public improvements, as was exhibited in his own business, and his death was felt by his associates as a seri- ous loss to the municipality. Mr. Ward- well was retained at various times by corporations to make investigations of public service plants throughout the coun- try, and his reports were relied upon for accuracy, expertness and penetrating in- sight into fundamental facts.
Mr. Wardwell was a member of the American Society of Civil Engineers, and the Connecticut and Fairfield County Engineers associations. His clubs were the Kiwanis and the Congregational Men's, and he fraternized with the Ma- sonic order, having joined Ionic Lodge, No. 17, Free and Accepted Masons, of Duluth, Minnesota, and holding the sev- enteenth degree. He also was a member of the Royal Arcanum and the National Grange. His descent in the line of eldest son of General Bank entitled him to mem- bership in the Society of the Cincinnati, a much coveted honor.
Frederick Schuyler Wardwell married, June 5, 1886, Linda Belle Free, daughter of John W. and Hannah Ann (Wait) Free, of Richmond, Indiana, and they were the parents of one son, Virgil Em- ery, born September 20, 1892, and edu- cated in Stamford public schools and at the Massachusetts Institute of Technol- ogy, formerly associated with his father in business; he married Gladys Darling, daughter of David Darling, of Rye, New York, and they have three children, Fred- erick Schuyler (2), Katherine, and Virgil Emery, Jr.
Frederick Schuyler Wardwell died Jan- uary 16, 1921. From the great number of written and spoken tributes to Stamford's
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well-loved citizen two are here given place, one from the men who daily fol- lowed his leadership, the other quoted from the funeral address by Rev. Alfred Grant Walton :
To create, to build, to perfect, constitute the consecration of a life in Christian effort.
We, the employees of F. S. Wardwell, who in the past few hours have felt the loss of this respected leader, feel that his life has been de- voted to these principles.
The memories of him that will endure vary according as he was known. Those who knew him in the intimacy of his own home, others who knew him in his social community life, and still others associated with him in the service of civic government, will remember him as he lived among them, but we, who have toiled with him in his profession for years past, shall remember him as we knew him best-a counselor, guide and friend. Our hopes and ambitions he made his, our welfare he placed before his own. In times of indecision we sought his counsel; in times of need, his aid. At the noonday meal, where he habitually took his place among us as one of us, there will re- main in our memory a vacant chair.
To his family, his relatives and friends, who have felt this sudden loss, we express our sin- cerest sympathy and that they may feel the depth of our sympathy, may we reverently add that he, too, was "one of us."
We have stopped momentarily in the pursuit of our daily tasks to pay tribute of respect to a good citizen and friend who has been called to the realm of the Unseen. At such an hour, there is no need for encomium or panegyric, for the life which has been lived for twenty years amongst us speaks more eloquently than any words which one might utter.
Mr. Wardwell was a man of simplicity, without show or ostentation, and these obsequies should be in harmony with his simple ways. Yet it is the privilege of all who knew him that some one should speak for all of the good will felt toward him, and the honor in which his memory will be held.
Mr. Wardwell was an utterly sincere and hon- est man. There was no sham about him, no exter- nal self that concealed a different inner self; he was genuine through and through. It is always refreshing to meet such a person. It deepens our confidence in humanity; it makes easier a faith in immortality; it increases our trust in God.
Far more important than following the rubrics or giving intellectual assent to various formuli of religious belief is the living of a good, clean, upright, noble life. We attest our appreciation of a man who in every personal and business rela- tion revealed such a life. We might say of him what Hallock said on the death of Joseph Rod- man Drake: "None knew him but to love him, nor named him but to praise."
WARDWELL, Linda Bell (Mrs. F. S.), Noted Musician, Authoress.
Musical circles throughout the country have known Mrs. Wardwell for many years in concert and church work, and es- pecially in the popularizing of musical study. She has written extensively on musical subjects in the outlining of courses of study as well as a work on American composers, and all of her vol- umes have had large sale and wide dis- tribution. This she has accomplished, gaining a national reputation in the doing, while active in civic and social life, and while presiding over the home of her hus- band and son, a circumstance receiving more than passing notice even in an age when woman's sphere of activity is con- stantly broadening. Mrs. Wardwell is a musician of talent, with a gift of impart- ing her knowledge and ability, both by the spoken and written word, that amounts to genius.
Mrs. Wardwell is a daughter of John W. and Hannah Ann (Wait) Free. John W. Free was born in Akron, Ohio, about 1830, and died in Providence, Rhode Is- land, in 1919. He was the inventor of a threshing machine, and dealt extensively in many States, including New Hamp- shire, where he engaged in lengthy litiga- tion to recover his possessions of the Dixville Notch, Colbrook. For a time he was resident of Richmond, Indiana, moving thence to Chicago, Illinois. He was twice married, his first wife's death
Conn-8-15
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occurring about 1860, and their three children all dying young. He married (second) in La Porte, Indiana, Hannah Ann Wait, who died in St. Paul, Minne- sota, in 1886, and their only child was Mrs. Wardwell.
Maternally Mrs. Wardwell is de- scended from an ancient and distin- guished English family, that of Wait. When surnames were generally intro- duced into England in the eleventh cen- tury, those who held an office in most cases added its designation to their Chris- tian names, thus: Richard, the minstrel- watchman, who was known as Richard le (the) Wayte, afterward contracted to Richard Wayte. The name has since been spelled Wayte, Wayt, Wayght, Waight, Wait, Waitt, Wate, Weight, Waiet, etc. In A. D. 1075, William the Conqueror gave the earldom, city and castle of Norwich in England to "Ralf de Waiet" (son of "Ralf," an Englishman, by a Welsh woman ), who married Emma, sister to Roger, Earl of Hereford, cousin of the Conqueror, etc. The records show that Ricardus le Wayte, of County War- wick, in 1315 was Escheator of the coun- ties of Wilts, Oxford, Berkshire, Bedford, and Bucks. Like many of the ancient families of Britain, this one had its coat- of-arms down to the middle of the sev- enteenth century.
Arms-Argent, a chevron between three bugle horns, stringed, sable, garnished or.
Crest-A bugle horn stringed, garnished or.
Motto-Pro aris et focis. (For our homes and our altars).
When Charles II. ascended the throne in 1660, those who were instrumental in putting his father to death were brought to the scaffold (except John Dixwell, Wil- liam Goffe and Edward Whalley, who fled to America), and Thomas Wayte being one of that number.
English records mention these Waits
of distinction : Thomas Waite, M. P., for Rutlandshire, one of the judges who sat upon the trial of and passed sentence upon the unfortunate Charles I .; Sir Nicholas Waite, Knight of Chertsey in Surrey ; and Sir Thomas Wait. Receiver- General in the reign of King James I.
The American founders of the family were Richard, John, and Thomas Wait, early settlers in New England, and heads of numerous lines. Mrs. Wardwell is a granddaughter of Josiah Wait, born in Alstead, New Hampshire, January 13, 1786, and Martha Ann (Graham) Wait, born March 2, 1790. Josiah Wait was a son of Thomas Wait, and was a native of Alstead, New Hampshire, early in life moving to Ovid, New York, thence to York, New York, and subsequently to Perry, Lake county, Ohio, probably the birthplace of Hannah Ann Wait. Issue of Josiah and Martha Ann (Graham) Wait: I. Jonathan, born November 22, 1811, died in 1893; spent most of his life in Sturgis, Michigan; in 1850 was elected to the State Legislature, and in 1860 to the State Senate, being reelected and serving for six years. 2. Ann Lakin, born February 24, 1814, died August 30, 1839. 3. Arthur Graham, born April 4, 1816, died October 13, 1817. 4. Alonzo Davis, born June 8, 1818, died December 17, 1819. 5. Oneon Anson, born March 14, 1821. 6. Harriet Stebbins, born June 17, 1823. 7. William Washington, born Oc- tober 14, 1825; settled in Excelsior, Min- nesota, on Lake Minnetonka. 8. Hugh Graham, born November 3, 1828. 9. Hannah Ann, born July 9, 1832, died in 1886; married John W. Free.
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