USA > Connecticut > Encyclopedia of Connecticut biography, genealogical-memorial; representative citizens, v. 8 > Part 55
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Mr. Bradley is among the most es- teemed citizens of Westport; he has been active in the business and public life of that town throughout his lifetime, and has several times held public office. A Re-
publican in politics, Mr. Bradley served as selectman for eleven years from 1885, in 1896 was elected judge of probate, and was reelected continuously to that office as long as he was eligible. On April 20, 1920, he retired from this office, having reached the age limit fixed by law at which judges may hold office in Connecti- cut. Mr. Bradley was a justice of the peace for about thirty years, until re- tired for the same reason.
He was elected from his district to the State Legislature, in 1921, and is serving on the committee on banking. He has been connected with the Westport Bank and Trust Company since 1887 as a di- rector, and since 1913 has served as its president. He is treasurer and one of the trustees of the Westport Public Library, and a senior member of the board of trus- tees of the Staples High School, president of the Willowbrook Cemetery Associa- tion, and a corporator of the Norwalk Savings Society. Fraternally, Mr. Brad- ley is a member and a trustee of Temple Lodge, Free and Accepted Masons, of Westport; Aspetuck Lodge, Knights of Pythias, of Westport; Westport Country Club and Westport Club. He is a vestry- man of Trinity Episcopal Church.
On December 29, 1875, Mr. Bradley married (first) Sarah A. Coley, daughter of Lamson Coley. They were the parents of two sons and a daughter. One son died in infancy. The second son, Herbert S., was born December II, 1877, and died May 14, 1883. The daughter, Edith, was born October 14, 1883, married, October 31, 1906, Winfred Martin Gaylord, of Easthampton, Massachusetts, and they have the following children: Elizabeth, born December 21, 1908; Ruth Anita, born April 21, 1910; Daniel Bradley, born Oc- tober 20, 1912; and Winfreda, born May 15, 1916. Mrs. Sarah A. Bradley died April 27, 1890. Mr. Bradley married
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(second) in November, 1892, Grace Hunt, daughter of Floyd and Eleanor Hunt, of Ridgefield.
Surrounded by associations and friends of many years, Mr. Bradley makes his home in Westport, his native town, where the history of his life has been written as a record of wholly honorable attainment.
(The Burr Line).
(I) Jehue Burr was born in England about 1600, and died in Fairfield in 1670. He came over in the Winthrop fleet in 1630, and was among those who settled in Roxbury. Two years later he was ad- mitted a freeman, and in 1635 was a member of the church with his wife. Je- hue Burr joined the company headed by William Pynchon, and was among the first settlers of Springfield, Massachu- setts, remaining there for eight years, whence he removed to Fairfield, Connec- ticut. In 1645 and 1646, he was repre- sentative to the General Court from Fair- field.
(II) Jehue (2) Burr, son of Jehue (1) Burr, the immigrant, was born in Eng- land, in 1625, and died in 1692, in Fair- field. He was a captain in King Philip's War. His first wife was Mary Ward, daughter of Andrew Ward.
(III) Daniel Burr, son of Jehue (2) and Mary (Ward) Burr, was born about 1642 ; he was made a freeman in 1668, and in 1690 was commissary of Fairfield county. He married (second) Mary Sherwood.
(IV) Esther Burr, daughter of Daniel Burr, became the wife of Daniel Bradley (see Bradley III).
BRADLEY, Edward Burr, Attorney-at-Law.
From the time of its American founding the family of Bradley has had honorable representation in Connecticut,
its first home, and numerous members of the lines established by Francis Brad- ley there continue their residence. Num- bered among these is Edward Burr Bradley, a legal practitioner of Westport, whose professional activity and reputa- tion have been in keeping with distin- guished and worthy traditions. The history of his family has always interested him, and a valued possession is the origi- nal commission as major issued to his great-great-grandfather, Daniel Bradley.
(VIII) William Henshaw Bradley, son of Daniel Burr Bradley (q. v.), was born in Westport, Connecticut, December 5, 1848. He was educated in the public schools and Green Farms Academy, fin- ishing his schooling with a course in Bryant & Stratton's Business College, Bridgeport. He was well known in the district, served for one term as a justice of the peace, and for a number of years as tax collector. Politically he was a Republican, and in religious faith an Episcopalian, a communicant of Trinity Church. He affiliated with Aspetuck Lodge, Knights of Pythias, of Westport. He married Annie H. Gray, daughter of Eliphalet and Harriet (Coley) Gray, of Westport. Their only child was Edward Burr, of whom further.
(IX) Edward Burr Bradley, son of William Henshaw and Annie H. (Gray) Bradley, was born in Westport, Connec- ticut, July 28, 1880. After attending the public schools of his birthplace he entered the law department of the University of New York, whence he was graduated LL. B. in 1903. He was admitted to the New York bar in 1903, and to practice in Connecticut two years later, for three years thereafter being associated with Robert H. Hibbard. Subsequently he established independently in New York City, and after a short time made West- port the scene of his professional work
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Mr. Bradley has confined his practice mainly to corporation and surrogate chan- nels, and has built up a substantial cli- entele in the district and in New York. He is held in esteem for personal and professional qualities, and his place in the community is that of a responsible, pro- gressive citizen. He is a vestryman of Trinity Episcopal Church, and a member of Temple Lodge, Free and Accepted Masons, of Westport. His club is the University of New York City.
Edward Burr Bradley married Eliza- beth Babbitt, of Brooklyn, New York, and they are the parents of one son, Daniel Burr, born March 7, 1918.
GRAY, Walter Thomas,
Business Man.
The name Gray is of local origin, that is, following the name of a place in Bur- gundy, France. In the department of Haute-Saône, there is a town called Gray. The name was originally Croy. A Nor- man chief named Rolf, Rollo, or Raoul, invaded France with his Norwegian fol- lowers and established himself there in the ninth century. A descendant, or at all events a member of the same family, became chamberlain to Robert, Duke of Normandy, and received from him the castle and honor of Croy, from which his family assumed the name of De Croy, which was afterwards changed to De Gray, and at last to Gray without the prefix.
Gray instead of Grey is the orthography in use in this branch of the family, as it is almost universally in the different branches of the country. In England and Ireland, however, in the titled families, Grey still obtains, while in Scotland it is Gray. However, this slight difference makes but a narrow line of demarcation between different branches of a family
all evidently descended from one parent stock and of one origin.
The Grays unquestionably came over to England with William the Conqueror in 1066, for among the names of those in- scribed at Battle Abbey, after the decisive battle of Hastings, as worthy to be re- membered for valiant services there ren- dered, was John de Gray.
The Gray family in America is numer- ous, widespread, and consists of many diverse branches. They were among the Pilgrims of New England, the Quakers of Pennsylvania, and were also early settlers of Virginia and other Southern States. Within the first century-from 1620 to 1720-researches made warrant the esti- mate that at least twenty different families of Grays, or different branches of the same family, had emigrated to this coun- try and made their homes in the New World. As early as 1622, two brothers, Thomas and John Gray, had become pro- prietors of the island of Nantasket in Boston Harbor, by purchase from the Indians. At an early period there were also Grays at Salem, Boston, Plymouth, and Yarmouth, and in the provinces of Connecticut and Maine.
The fact that the Gray family was largely represented among the early set- tlers of Fairfield county, Connecticut, was soon ascertained, but it seemed probable at first that they were among other pio- neers from the Colony of Plymouth and Massachusetts Bay who had pushed on toward the frontiers on the line of west- ward emigration, and so helped to people the sister Colony of Connecticut. And this reasonable inference found ready con- firmation in the discovery that the Grays of Beverly and Yarmouth had representa- tives at an early day in Litchfield county, and in the northern part of Fairfield, and on the adjoining "Oblong." However, further research dispelled that theory and
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disclosed the fact that there was a very early and doubtless direct emigration of Grays to old Fairfield, Connecticut. The records show that there were two broth- ers, John and Henry Gray, among the first settlers in 1643. They had married sis- ters, daughters of William Frost, who with his family had come from Notting- ham, England.
Henry Gray is said to have been a man of consequence, and represented his town at the General Court. He married Lydia Frost, and was in middle life when he migrated to this country. He died about 1658, aged probably fifty years. He left four sons: Jacob, Henry, Levi, and Wil- liam. John Gray, brother of Henry Gray, married Elizabeth Frost, but the names of his children cannot be definitely de- termined. The name of William Gray, of Fairfield, appears on the early records of Westchester county, New York, as having been appointed administrator of the estate of his brother Levi, date of June 3, 1684, who had paid church rates in Eastchester, March 30, 1678. A "home lot" had been granted to William Gray on November 9, 1680. His name again appears on the records of Westchester county as having paid church rates in the town of Eastchester in 1692; and again the real estate records show that "Wil- liam Gray of Fayrefield in Conn., weaver, sold his home lot in Eastchester," date of April 23, 1697. It is not known whether he then returned to Fairfield, but that some of his descendants remained is evi- denced by the fact that the name of William Gray appears on record there in 1775, and on a map of Westchester county, date of 1779, William Gray's place, in the town of Eastchester, is noted. None of the name of Gray have, however, at any recent date, resided in that vicin- ity. Henry and Lydia (Frost) Gray were the parents of Henry, who was the father
of Isaac Gray. Isaac Gray's grave is said to have been the first one in the old North- field burying ground. Isaac Gray had a son, Nathan, of whom further.
Nathan Gray was born in 1714, and married, in Fairfield, Connecticut, July 24, 1735, Mary Holibert. One of his thir- teen children was Elijah, of whom fur- ther.
Elijah Gray married (first), in Weston, Connecticut, September 10, 1769, Esther Sturges; (second), May 6, 1793, Rhoda (Morehouse) Disbrow, a widow; (third) Lydia Taylor. Elijah Gray died on his eightieth birthday, November 16, 1827.
Walter Thomas Gray, son of Elijah and Esther (Sturges) Gray, was born Decem- ber 15, 1785. He died in Westport, sur- vived by six children. He was a shoe- maker, following that occupation all of his active life.
Henry Gray, son of Walter Thomas Gray, was born in Easton, Connecticut. He learned his father's trade of shoemak- ing, and in that pursuit and farming passed his life. He married Charlotte Brant, and they were the parents of Wal- ter Thomas, of whom further.
Walter Thomas (2) Gray, son of Henry and Charlotte (Brant) Gray, was born in Easton, Connecticut, in 1846, and died in 1895. His early life was spent on the home farm, and in early manhood he was for a few years an itinerant merchant of tinware, a picturesque type of peddler, of which there are few representatives at this time. Modern methods of transporta- tion and distribution have caused their passing, but their wagons, well stocked with household goods of every descrip- tion, were a boom to rural communities and farmers remote from business cen- ters. About 1875, Mr. Gray opened a bottling establishment in South Norwalk, and later purchased a site in East Nor- walk, where he installed his business.
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His product, bottled soda water, found its market in the surrounding territory, and Mr. Gray continued in this line with in- creasing success until his death. Five or six men were employed by him in the manufacture of his beverages, and several wagons distributed his goods throughout the neighboring towns. Mr. Gray was a member of the Knights of Pythias, of South Norwalk, a man widely known and as universally respected.
Walter T. Gray married, in 1879, Mary Arline Bradley, daughter of Eli and So- phia (Smith) Bradley. They were the parents of one child, Walter Henry, who died in infancy. Mrs. Gray was educated in the Western Female Seminary in Ox- ford, Ohio, and upon the death of her husband assumed the direction of his busi- ness. She was totally inexperienced in practical affairs, had never shared the burden of managing the business with her husband, and the intricacies of com- mercial enterprise were entirely unknown to her. Taking over the responsibility of management, she met every emergency that arose with wisdom and foresight, and in a day when women were not so generally active in affairs as now, when they have proved their possibilities in executive positions. She not only re- tained the trade built by her husband, but increased its scope, and conducted the business successfully for about a quarter of a century. Then the high cost of ma- terials caused by the war leaving only a narrow margin of profit, combined with the fact of her advancing years, caused her to close down the plant in 1918. This action at this time was not due to inabil- ity to continue manufacture, but was a decision that proved the same careful judgment and acumen that had guided her throughout the years of her independent administration.
The Bradley family, of which Mrs.
Gray is a member, is of Norman origin, and is given in full in the preceding sketches.
Henry Bradley, grandfather of Mrs. Gray, was known during his life as Cap- tain Harry Bradley, a sea captain, who was lost on one of his voyages. His home was in Greenfield, Connecticut. He mar- ried Roxie Seeley. His son, Eli Bradley, was born in Greenfield, Connecticut, in May, 1819, and died January 4, 1907. He was a member of Temple Lodge, Free and Accepted Masons, of Westport. He married Emily Sophia Smith, daughter of Hezekiah and Eunice (Meeker) Smith, of Saugatuck. They were the parents of the following children: Emma Au- gusta, married Samuel Baker, deceased, of East Norwalk; Mary Arline, married Walter Thomas (2) Gray, aforemen- tioned; Caroline, deceased, married Frank Curtis, of Norwalk; Charlotte, died un- married; Henry Eli, died in infancy ; Harry Burr.
FISHER, Clinton Reed, Banker, Useful Citizen.
The banking interests of a community constitute one of the elements most vital to its prosperity, and it is of the utmost importance that those interests should be committed to the care of men of unques- tioned ability and unimpeachable integ- rity. As treasurer of the Stamford Trust Company, Mr. Fisher fulfills most com- pletely all the exacting demands involved in the tenure of such an office, to the du- ties of which he brought a ripe and com- prehensive experience.
(I) William Fisher, grandfather of Clinton Reed Fisher, was a native of New York City. He was employed as a mas- ter mechanic by the Harlem Railroad Company. He was the inventor of the form of oil boxes now in use on journals
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of railroad trucks. Mr. Fisher married Ann Lowrey, of New York City.
(II) Daniel M. Fisher, son of William and Ann (Lowrey) Fisher, was born Au- gust 21, 1846, in Saybrook, Connecticut. He attended the public schools of New York City. During the greater part of his life he was engaged in the insurance business. He was a veteran of the 7th Regiment, New York National Guard. Mr. Fisher married Emma L. Reed, daughter of Sands Reed, of Norwalk, Con- necticut, and their only child, Clinton Reed, is mentioned below. The death of Mr. Fisher occurred October 12, 1912.
(III) Clinton Reed Fisher, son of Dan- iel M. and Emma L. (Reed) Fisher, was born July 15, 1870, in Darien, Connecti- cut. He received his education in New York public schools. When the time came for him to enter upon the active work of life he entered the service of Henry Clews & Company, well known bankers of the metropolis, with whom he remained seven years, acquiring a thor- ough insight into the methods of banking and laying up a fund of valuable experi- ence. In 1891 the Stamford Trust Com- pany was organized, and Mr. Fisher en- tered their service in the capacity of bookkeeper. As time went on he filled, successively, every position up to his present one of treasurer, becoming assist- ant treasurer on July 1, 1917, and in July, 1918, being elected treasurer. During the many years which have elapsed since he associated himself with the institution he has, by the excellence of his work and the clearsighted wisdom of his words of coun- sel, contributed in no small measure to the maintenance and extension of its strength and prosperity. The well-nigh unceasing demands of duty have left Mr. Fisher little leisure for social enjoyment, and the only club in which he holds mem- bership is the Suburban Club of Stamford.
Of the obligations of citizenship he has always been mindful, and no institution or cause which he deemed worthy of en- couragement has appealed to him in vain.
Mr. Fisher married, October 24, 1895, Janet Sammis, daughter of Frederick H. and Elizabeth (Hatfield) Sammis, of Ore- gon, Illinois, and they are the parents of one son, Edward C., born August 2, 1896; graduated from the New York Law School in 1917, and in December of the following year was admitted to the bar. Mr. and Mrs. Fisher are members of the Methodist Episcopal church.
The record of Mr. Fisher is one of quiet, forceful and effective usefulness in a position involving high trusts and great responsibilities. He is a type of man essential to the upbuilding of large cities and of all communities.
HUBBARD, Frederick Augustus, Lawyer, Public Official.
An able member of the Fairfield county bar, Judge Frederick A. Hubbard, is also a representative of one of the earliest fam- ilies of New England. It is an old tra- dition in the Hubbard family that the name was derived from Hubba (Ubba or Ubbo), the Danish sea king, who in the fall of 866 with an immense fleet and twenty thousand warriors landed on the coast of East-Abglia or Kent to avenge the death of his father, Ragnar Logbrog. The latter had made his name a cause for terror on the shores of the Baltic and the British Isles on account of his invasions. After taking possession of Paris, he planned an invasion of England, and his expedition was wrecked on the coast of Northumbria, but Ragnar, with a band of his followers who reached the shore, be- gan their usual career of depredation in spite of the inferiority of their numbers. When the Northumbrians learned of the
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descent of the Norsemen, they flew to the coast and fought the invaders, and made Ragnar a prisoner. He was put to death immediately and is said to have consoled his last moments with the hope that "the cubs of the boar would avenge his fate."
His son, Hubba, above mentioned, spent the winter in fortifying his camp and equipping his followers. In Febru- ary, 867, despite the desperate battle given by the Northumbrians, the forces of Hubba triumphed. They killed Osbert in battle, but took prisoner Aella, his erst- while rival chieftain, but now compatriot in fighting the common foe. Hubba and his followers now gave themselves the pleasure of torturing to death the men who had thrown King Ragnar Lodbrog into a cage of snakes to be devoured. This victory gave Hubba and his brother, Hingua, undisputed possession of all the country south of the Tyne and north of Nottingham. They continued to increase their dominions by victorious invasions of the surrounding countries, and their exploits form one of the most thrilling chapters in early British history. Hubba was finally slain in his camp with twelve hundred of his followers by Odyn. Scat- tered across Britain and Wales have stood seven historic eminences each known as "Hubba's Hill."
It is common knowledge that there was great confusion in spelling names during several centuries following the adoption of family surnames, and that of Hubbard was no exception to the rule, more than fifty different spellings of what is appar- ently the same name being found on record. Even in America, the forms, Hubbard, Hubbert, Hubard, Hubert, Ho- bart and Hobert are common. Several branches of the family in England have borne coats-of-arms.
(I) George Hubbard, the ancestor of
the family, is distinguished from other immigrants of the name, by the reference, "George Hubbard of Guilford." He is believed to have been in Watertown, Mas- sachusetts, in 1633; in October, 1635, he removed to Wethersfield, Connecticut, in that part which is now called Wethers- field. There he resided for three years, and later settled in Milford, where he was admitted to the church, January 15, 1644. Four years later, September 22, 1648, he purchased land in Guilford, whence he re- moved, and was admitted to the church there, October 6, 1650. He was a sur- veyor. In each community he interested himself in public matters, and was several times honored with public office. In 1639 he served as representative; for eight terms he served as deputy magistrate, and in 1666-67 was a member of the General Assembly. He died in Guilford, in Jan- uary, 1683. George Hubbard married Mary Bishop, daughter of John and Anne Bishop, and she died in Guilford, Sep- tember 14, 1675.
(II) John Hubbard, son of George and Mary (Bishop) Hubbard, was born in England, in 1633, and died in 1705. He was brought to America by his parents, and in 1650 was a resident of Wethers- field, Connecticut. On March 26, 1661, he was admitted a freeman in Wethers- field. A few years before his death John Hubbard removed to Hatfield, Massachu- setts. About 1648 he married Mary Mer- riman, of Concord, Massachusetts.
(III) Jonathan Hubbard, son of John and Mary (Merriman) Hubbard, was born January 3, 1658-59, in Wethersfield, Connecticut, and died in Concord, Massa- chusetts, January 17, 1728. He had re- moved to the latter town in 1680, and there married, January 15, 1681, Hannah Rice, who was born in 1658, and died April 9, 1747, in Concord; she was a
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daughter of Samuel and Elizabeth (King) Rice, of Sudbury and Marlboro, Massa- chusetts.
(IV) Thomas Hubbard, son of Jona- than and Hannah (Rice) Hubbard, was born August 27, 1696, in Concord, Massa- chusetts. He married Mary Fletcher, of that town.
(V) Nathan Hubbard, son of Thomas and Mary (Fletcher) Hubbard, was born January 23, 1723, in Concord, Massachu- setts. Subsequently, he lived in Groton, Massachusetts. He married, April 2, 1745, Mary Patterson.
(VI) Thomas (2) Hubbard, son of Nathan and Mary (Patterson) Hubbard, was born December 28, 1745, and died May 25, 1807. His second wife was Lois White, who was born April 30, 1747, and died March 26, 1834, of Lancaster, Massa- chusetts. They were married October I, 1777.
(VII) Luther Hubbard, son of Thomas (2) and Lois (White) Hubbard, was born August 13, 1782, and died March 2, 1857, in Manchester, New Hampshire. He was a stone cutter and maker of tomb stones for surrounding counties. He was known as Major Hubbard, but there is no record of his having performed military service. Luther Hubbard married, December 18, 1806, Hannah Russell, born July 9, 1781, in Westford, Massachusetts, died in Man- chester, New Hampshire, December 12, 1870.
(VIII) Luther Prescott Hubbard, son of Luther and Hannah (Russell) Hub- bard, was born June 30, 1808, in Hollis, New Hampshire, and died in Greenwich, Connecticut, September 18, 1894. The public schools of his native town afforded his early education, and these courses were supplemented by a term in the Pin- kerton Academy in Derry, New Hamp- shire. In 1824 Mr. Hubbard learned the trade of stone cutter, which his father had
long followed. In Quincy, Massachu- setts, Mr. Hubbard worked at his trade and was one of the men employed in shap- ing the stones of the Bunker Hill Monu- ment. In 1827 he came to New York, where he had charge of much important work. Subsequently he accepted a posi- tion as confidential clerk in the office of Ira Morris & Company, granite dealers of New York City.
Mr. Hubbard was always interested in his fellowmen, and it was this desire to be of assistance which led to his later em- ployment as secretary of the American Seamen's Friend Society. He was one of the first to distribute Bibles in New York for the Marine Bible Society in 1833. In 1863 he became financial agent of the former society. Mr. Hubbard removed with his family to Greenwich, Connecti- cut, in 1859, and there was warden of the borough. Mr. Hubbard published a small genealogy bearing on his family history in 1872. He was secretary of the New England Society in the City of New York for forty consecutive years.
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