USA > Connecticut > Encyclopedia of Connecticut biography, genealogical-memorial; representative citizens, v. 9 > Part 6
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(II) Dr. Thomas Starr, the eldest child
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of Dr. Comfort and Elizabeth Starr, was born about 1615, in Ashford. He lived in Scituate and Charlestown, Massachusetts, and on May 17, 1637, was appointed surgeon to the forces sent against the Pequot Indians. In 1654 he was clerk of the writs at Charlestown, where he died October 26, 1658. His widow, Rachel by name, removed to Hempstead, Long Island.
(III) Comfort Starr, son of Dr. Thomas and Rachel Starr, was the first of the name to locate in Middletown. His resi- dence was at the south corner of the pres- ent High and Cross streets. He was born in Scituate, Massachusetts, where he was baptized June 7, 1646, and died October 18, 1693, in Middletown, Connecticut. He married in Boston, before August, 1667, Marah Weld, baptized August 2, 1646, in Roxbury, daughter of Joseph and Barbara Weld.
(IV) Joseph Starr, son of Comfort and Marah (Weld) Starr, was born September 23, 1676. He was a tailor residing in Mid- dletown, where he served as tax collector in 1705 and as constable in 1711-12, and died July 13, 1758. He married, June 24, 1697, Abigail Baldwin, of Guilford, born December 14, 1678, died August 24, 1745, daughter of Samuel and Abigail (Bald- win) Baldwin, and they were the parents of ten children.
(V) Joseph (2) Starr, eldest child of Joseph (1) and Abigail (Baldwin) Starr, was born September 6, 1698, in Middle- town, where he was a tailor. He served as constable in 1728 and as grand juror in 1745, and died March 23, 1781. He and his first wife were admitted to the church August 22, 1725. He married (second), February 25, 1742, Priscilla Roper, born about 1720, died May 15, 1796, daughter of Ephraim and Sibbel (Moore) Roper of Worcester, Massachusetts.
(VI) Nathan Starr, eighth son of Jo-
seph (2) Starr, and seventh child of his second wife, was born April 14, 1755. On June 20, 1776, he was commissioned by Governor Trumbull as armorer of a regi- ment, commanded by Colonel Comfort Sage, which went to the aid of the Ameri- can army around New York. He was a noted worker in iron and steel and a maker of scythes. Before 1800 he began the manufacture of swords and at that early date had contracts with the United States Government for his productions and was engaged in that business at the time of his death. He held various offices in the town and ecclesiastical society, and died July 29, 1821. He married July 5, 1781, Polly Pomeroy, born September 22, 1761, died May 25, 1825, daughter of Adino and Lois (Strong) Pomeroy. The only son of this marriage to grow to maturity was Nathan (2) Starr, of further mention.
(VII) Nathan (2) Starr, son of Nathan (1) and Polly (Pomeroy) Starr, was born February 20, 1784, in Middletown, and was for a few years a merchant in New York City. In 1813 he returned to his native place, and became engaged with his father in the manufacture of swords. This was discontinued in 1824, and the manu- facture of firearms was begun, principally for the United States Government, and was continued until 1845. During that period it was estimated about seventy thousand arms of various kinds were fur- nished for Federal use. Several valuable swords were made to order by them for distinguished officers of the War of 1812, among them being: one for Commodore Isaac Hull, by order of the State of Con- necticut, valued at one thousand dollars ; one for Colonel Richard Johnson, by order of Congress, valued at twelve hundred dollars ; and one each for General Andrew Jackson and General Edmund P. Gaines, by order of the State of Tennessee, cost-
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ing nine hundred dollars apiece. Nathan (2) Starr represented Middletown in the State Legislature in 1817 and 1818. His death occurred August 31, 1852. He mar- ried, June 25, 1810, Grace Townsend, daughter of Ebenezer and Thankful S. (Barnard) Townsend, of New Haven, who was born August 28, 1789, and died October 16, 1856. Their children were: Mary E., died young; Elihu W. N., of further mention; Mary E .; Eben T .; Henry, died young ; Emily H .; Grace A., died young; Grace A. (2); Henry W .; Frederick B. ; and Edward P.
(VIII) Elihu William Nathan Starr, second child and eldest son of Nathan (2) and Grace (Townsend) Starr, was born in New Haven, Connecticut, at the resi- dence of his maternal grandfather, Eben- ezer Townsend, August 10, 1812, and died in Middletown, Connecticut, June 14, 1891. At the time of his birth his father was a resident of New York City, but soon after returned to his former home, Middletown, Connecticut, which became the permanent residence of the subject of this sketch. At the opening of the Mili- tary Academy at Middletown, in August, 1825, he became one of the cadets and continued so until 1828. The winter of 1828-29 he spent in New Haven attending lectures at Yale College. His father was a manufacturer of swords and firearms and about 1830 he became the bookkeeper. In 1837, he became interested with his father, under the firm name of N. Starr & Son, in the manufacture of muskets and rifles, which continued until 1845, when the government ceased giving out con- tracts. Under the name of E. W. N. Starr & Company he was, for a short time, en- gaged in the manufacture of plane irons. He was appointed postmaster of Middle- town by President Van Buren, February 20, 1841, and held the position until Octo- ber 1, 1842. In December, 1850, he was
appointed assistant town clerk, and in October, 1851, was elected town clerk. This, with the office of registrar of births, marriages and deaths, to which he was elected in October, 1854, he held up to the time of his death, except from Octo- ber, 1865, to October, 1866. He was city clerk and treasurer from January, 1856, to January, 1864, and judge of probate for the district of Middletown for one year, from July 4, 1866, and from July, 1868 to July, 1872.
In 1830 he enlisted in the State militia, and on September 14, 1831, was commis- sioned as sergeant-major of the Second Regiment of Light Artillery and later quartermaster and adjutant of the same regiment. In 1836 he organized the "Middletown Cadets" and was elected captain, being commissioned July 12, 1836. The company was officially known as the First Rifle Company in the Sixth Regiment. On July 29, 1839, he was pro- inoted to the lieutenant-colonelcy of this regiment and to the colonelcy, April 19, 1841. This last position he held until his resignation, June 6, 1844. In honor of his friend, Colonel King Fenno Mansfield, of the regular army, he organized, in 1847, the "Mansfield Guards," the Seventh Company of Light Infantry of the Sixth Regiment. He was commissioned cap- tain, September 24, 1847, and held the office until again elected colonel of the Sixth Regiment, August 2, 1853, of which he was in command until July 10, 1860. While captain of the "Guards," he was appointed adjutant general by his fellow cadet and lifelong friend, Governor Thomas H. Seymour, holding office from May 2, 1850, to May 4, 1854. On July 10, 1860, he was given a commission as brig- adier-general of the Second Brigade and held the rank until August 1, 1861, when the militia were disbanded under an act of the State Legislature approved July
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3, 1861. For a few weeks, from Septem- ber 10, 1861, he held the position of divi- sion inspector, but as the law of July, 1861, disbanding the old and creating a new military force was not deemed ef- fective, he resigned his commission. Soon after the breaking out of the Civil War, Governor Buckingham offered him the command of the Third Regiment, Connec- ticut Volunteers. Owing to his delicate health he was obliged to decline, but he was well represented as, during the first year of the war, there were over thirty commissioned officers in the field, all con- sidered proficient men, who owed their knowledge of military tactics to his gra- tuitous instructions. Two companies from Wesleyan University were drilled by him, before leaving town, in the early morning before breakfast and after the close of the office for the day. For some weeks in 1862 he was in command of the Twenty-fourth Regiment, Connecticut Volunteers, which encamped at Middle- town before it left for the seat of war. This was the last military position held by him, ending a service in behalf of his State, extending over thirty years. He was five feet, ten and one-half inches tall, weighing about one hundred and forty pounds, and very erect, making him a marked figure. He was considered a good drillmaster and a very fine horseman.
He married, May 27, 1840, Harriet Wet- more Bush, of Ogdensburg, New York, who survived him, and who was a great help to him in his varied clerical work. She was born April 25, 1815, and died February 20, 1904. There were six chil- dren of this marriage, namely: William E., who is living in Cranford, New Jersey ; Julia W., Robert W. and Henry B., all three deceased, the latter at the time of his death being cashier of the Central Na- tional Bank; Frank F., a sketch of whom follows; and Grace T., residing in Mid- dletown.
STARR, Frank Farnsworth,
Genealogist.
Mr. Starr, the fourth son of General E. W. N. Starr, whose sketch precedes this, was reared amid cultured sur- roundings, and, naturally, turned his at- tention to literary pursuits. In boyhood he was not robust. He was born Novem- ber II, 1852, in Middletown, Connecti- cut, and began his education in the public and private schools of that city, but was obliged to abandon preparation for college because of the frail state of his health. In the fall of 1869, he paid a visit to an uncle in Rochester, New York, and spent the winter there for the benefit of his health; during this period he pursued a course in bookkeeping at a business col- lege. In 1870 and the winter of 1870-71, he was with the engineers in charge of construction of the Air Line railroad. In the spring of 1871 he entered the town clerk's office, to assist in searching the records, and aided in the preparation of an index to one hundred volumes of the land records. At the age of about sixteen years he became interested in genealog- ical research, and traced the paternal line of his ancestry, also giving considerable attention to other lines, with little worldly profit. In 1871 he became acquainted with Burgis P. Starr, of Hartford, who took up with him the preparation of a complete genealogy of the Starr family. The subject of this sketch also employed much of his leisure in making searches for others, having now gained several clients for that work. On arriving at his majority, in 1873, he was appointed as- sistant town clerk, in which capacity he continued till the spring of 1891. From 1883 to 1890, he spent much time in the employ of James J. Goodwin of Hartford, in preparation of a genealogy of the Good- win family, which went to press in 1890. In 1891 he resigned from his town duties,
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in order to go abroad in the service of Mr. Goodwin to make researches in Eng- land, where he spent the summer and accumulated some very valuable data. Since that time he has done much gen- ealogical work for clients all over the United States, and is recognized as the best authority in Connecticut on the sub- ject. In his outdoor life, he has accumu- lated more than eleven thousand cemetery inscriptions in Middlesex county, a very valuable collection of data for the gen- ealogist.
Mr. Starr is a life member of the New England Historic-Genealogical Society ; of the Connecticut Historical Society, of which he has been a vice-president since 1890; and of the Wisconsin Historical Society. He is among the organizers of the Connecticut Society, Sons of the American Revolution, and is also a mem- ber of the National Society. He has never participated actively in political af- fairs and is independent of party dictation in matters of public policy.
BIRDSEY, Eldon Benjamin, Lawyer, Public Official.
Among the most popular and efficient judges of probate, of whom Middletown, Connecticut, has had several, is the sub- ject of this biography, a descendant of one of the oldest American families, born July 26, 1848, in Hamburg, Connecticut, died December 6, 1917, at his home in Middletown. The history of the Birdsey family has been traced to Reading, Eng- land, at a date prior to 1600. John Bird- sey died there in 1649 and among his sons was John (2) Birdsey, born in 1616. At the age of twenty years he came to Con- necticut. For a short time he lived in Milford, removed in 1641 to Stratford, where some of his descendants continue to reside. He married Philippa Smith,
daughter of Rev. Henry Smith, of Weth- ersfield, Connecticut, and their eldest son, John (3) Birdsey, born March 28, 1641, in Milford, died July 9, 1697, in Stratford. He married, December 11, 1669, Phebe Wilcoxson, of Stratford, born about 1651, died September 20, 1743, daughter of Wil- liam and Margaret Wilcoxson of that town. Their eldest son, Abel Birdsey, born November 30, 1679, died May 14, 1747. He married, June 8, 1704, Comfort Welles, born about 1677, died June I. 1717, daughter of John and Mary (Hol- lister) Welles, granddaughter of John and Elizabeth (Bourne) Welles, great-grand- daughter of Governor Thomas Welles, the distinguished and useful citizen of Weth- ersfield (see Welles). Abel Birdsey served as lieutenant in the French and Indian War. His eldest son, John (4) Birdsey, born September 26, 1712, was the first of the name to locate in that part of Middletown which is now Middlefield. He purchased a great amount of wild land, one tract of which lay in the south- western portion of what is now Middle- field, and the other in the northeastern portion. The greater part of the last- named tract was in the Westfield Parish. This tract included five hundred acres, for which he paid a price equivalent to two dollars per acre. It included a part of Bald's Falls Hill. He settled with his sons in the southwestern tract, and died June 5, 1798. He married (first) Hannah Smith, a widow of Long Island, who was the mother of his children. He had a second wife, Sarah, as shown by the Mid- dletown records. His eldest child, Ben- jamin Birdsey, born about 1732-33 was baptized at Middletown in May, 1734, and died August 28, 1789. He lived near Mid- dlefield Falls. For his second wife, he married, May 12, 1776, Abigail Merri- man, who was baptized November 27, 1748, at the First Church in Middletown,
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daughter of Samuel and Sarah (Wilcher) Merriman, of Wallingford. Benjamin (2) Birdsey, third son of Benjamin (1) and Abigail (Merriman) Birdsey, was born in 1786, died in 1825, at the age of thirty- nine years, in Middlefield. He married Harriett P. Harris, born in 1785, who lived as a widow many years, and died April 16, 1881, at the age of ninety-six years. He purchased lands of his brother, John Birdsey, in Middlefield, on which he made his home.
Frederick Birdsey, son of Benjamin (2) and Harriett P. (Harris) Birdsey, was born in 1820, was a blacksmith by trade, and for some time was associated with his brother in conducting a shop at Hamburg, Connecticut. About 1849 he removed to Middletown, where he continued to work at his trade, and in his later years was long in the service of the W. & B. Doug- las Company, leading manufacturers of that town. He was a regular attendant of the Methodist Episcopal church, and was politically a Democrat.
Mr. Birdsey married Laura Miller, who was born in 1820, and died in 1865, daugh- ter of Valentine and Deborah (Sterling) Miller. Valentine Miller was born in 1775, and his wife, Deborah (Sterling) Miller, was born October 3, 1778, in Lyme, Connecticut, daughter of Jacob and Edey (Tucker) Sterling. The founder of the family of Sterling was William Sterling, whose son, Captain Daniel Sterling, was born September 19, 1673, in Haverhill, Massachusetts, and became a very prom- inent citizen of Lyme, Connecticut, where he filled many local offices and was an extensive landholder. He married, June 6, 1699, Mary, widow of Richard Ely and daughter of Lieutenant Reinold and Sarah Marvin. John Sterling, second son of Daniel, was born October 28, 1704, in Lyme, was a farmer in the locality still known as Sterling City, where he built a
large house in 1740. This was occupied in 1907 by his great-great-grandson. He died October 8, 1790. He married (sec- ond), December 30, 1731, Jane Ransom, and the fifth son of this marriage, Jacob Sterling, born March 3, 1744, was a Rev- olutionary soldier, taken prisoner at the battle of Long Island, August 27, 1776, and kept a prisoner for some time at Milford, where he fortunately escaped the disease that destroyed so many of that unfortunate band of prisoners. He died October 9, 1818, in Lyme. He married, October 14, 1765, Edey Tucker, born in 1740, died February 11, 1834. Their sixth daughter, Deborah Sterling, became the wife of Valentine Miller and the mother of Laura Miller, wife of Frederick Bird- sey, as above stated.
Eldon Benjamin Birdsey, only surviv- ing child of Frederick and Laura (Miller) Birdsey, received his education in Mid- dletown, Connecticut, and prepared for college at Daniel H. Chase's famous school of that town. Subsequently, he entered Wesleyan University, from which he was graduated in 1871, and a year later was graduated from the Albany Law School at Albany, New York, and was at once admitted to the Middlesex county bar. He began practice in his native town, where he achieved a gratifying success and became popular with citizens and the courts. In 1882 he was elected probate judge and continued to fill that office for a period of twelve years, at the end of which time he retired. Judge Birdsey was especially fitted for the office of judge of probate by his kind and sym- pathetic nature and his sound sense of justice and fairness. For twenty-five years he was attorney for the Middletown Savings Bank, of which he was a director. On the establishment of the City Court in 1879 he became prosecuting attorney and continued in that position four years un-
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til his election to the probate judgeship.
About 1909 Judge Birdsey retired from practice and lived a somewhat secluded life because of a weakness of the heart which prohibited his participation in many events and movements with which he was in hearty sympathy. He was very fond of reading, was very hospitable, and delighted to entertain his friends. He had a beautiful home on High street, wherein was a valuable and comprehensive library and where he indulged his tastes for domestic life. He was a lover of nature and delighted in his garden. While not affiliated with any religious organization, he was a regular attendant of the Meth- odist Episcopal church and lived a most exemplary life. One of Judge Birdsey's greatest joys was in helping others, and many have reason to remember with grat- itude the kindly word or act which en- couraged and aided in the battle of life.
Judge Birdsey was married, October 23, 1873, in Middletown, to Jeremine Eliz- abeth Chase, daughter of Daniel H. Chase, the noted educator of Middletown, who receives extended mention in the follow- ing sketch. The only child of this mar- riage, Laura Chase Birdsey. became the wife of Raemer R. Renshaw, a native of California, who is now a member of the staff of the Harvard Medical School in Boston, Massachusetts. They have two children : Birdsey and Reine Renshaw.
CHASE, Daniel Henry, LL. D., Educator.
Most of the men in active life in Mid- dletown, Connecticut, to-day, were pre- pared for college by this famous educator, and many of his students have become distinguished in life in widely separated localities of the United States. Mr. Chase was descended from several of the oldest New England families and exemplified in
great measure the salient qualities of character which have distinguished the off-shoots of such blood.
The founder of the Chase family in Southeastern Massachusetts was William Chase, among the pioneer settlers of Cape Cod (mentioned elsewhere at length in this work). Most of his descendants are the offspring of his son, William (2), whose children were associated with the Quakers and thus find very little space in the Puritan records. The Quaker rec- ords of Sandwich and Dartmouth give account of many of the descendants, but it has been impossible to identify one of these, John Chase, who was in Newport, Rhode Island, as early as September 20, 1713, on which date he married Anne Arnold, of that town, who was born in Newport, a descendant of William Arnold, one of the earliest residents of the Provi- dence plantation.
The ancestry of this Arnold family has been traced to the middle of the twelfth century, when Ynir, who was a descend- ant of Cadwaladr, last King of the Brit- ons, was King of Gwentland. The name is derived from "arn," an eagle, and "holt," a grove. Gradual modification in phrasing has made it Arnold. Richard Arnold, a descendant of Ynir, was born in Somersetshire, England, and became lord of a manor at Bagbere, in Dorset- shire. His name appears in the rolls of County Dorset, in 1549, and his manor house stood there until 1870. His son, Thomas Arnold, removed to Cheselbourne and married Alice Gully, daughter of John Gully, baptized September 29, 1553. Their third son, William Arnold, founder of the family in America, was born June 24. 1587, in Cheselbourne, and sailed from Dartmouth, England, May 1, 1635, arriv- ing in New England, on June 24 follow- ing. For a short time he resided at Hing- ham, Massachusetts, and removed to
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Providence, Rhode Island, April 20, 1636, residing in what is now Pawtucket. He had grants of land in Providence and Pawtuxet, Rhode Island, and removed, November 19, 1656, to Newport, where he died in 1676. He was a member of the Baptist church in 1639 and filled various important offices in the colony. His eld- est son, Governor Benedict Arnold, born in December, 1615, in England, was an early settler in Newport, and succeeded Roger Williams as president of Rhode Island. He was the first governor named in the royal charter, serving in 1663-66, and was four times subsequently reelected. During his administration, friendly rela- tions were established with the Provi- dence plantation. Governor Arnold mar- ried. December 17. 1640, Damaris West- cott, daughter of Stukely Westcott, of Salem, Massachusetts, long a prominent figure in Rhode Island. She was born in 1592 and died in 1679. He died June 20, 1678. His second son, Benedict (2) Ar- nold, born February 10, 1642, died July 4, 1727. Benedict (2) Arnold married (second) Sarah Mumford, born in 1668, died October 14, 1746, daughter of Thomas and Sarah (Sherman) Mumford. of Rhode Island. Their second daugh- ter, Anne Arnold, became the wife of John Chase, of Newport, as above related.
John (2) Chase, son of John (1) and Anne (Arnold) Chase, was born Novem- ber 1, 1726, in Newport, Rhode Island. He was a miller by occupation and lived for many years at Nine Partners, New York. There he married, about 1750, Deborah Wing, who died in 1783, daugh- ter of Jedediah and Eliza Wing, repre- sentatives of old Quaker families. About 1770 he removed to the town of Hoosick, New York, where he taught school and was employed as a miller, and in time owned a mill. He died about 1817.
John Wing, founder of the Wing fam-
ily in America, came from England and lived at Saugus or Lynn, in Massachu- setts, whence he removed to Sandwich, in 1637. He married Deborah Batchelder, who was born in 1592, daughter of Rev- erend Stephen Batchelder, born in 1561, who came to America in 1632, and settled first at Lynn, removing later to points further north on the coast. Daniel Wing, eldest son of John and Deborah (Batch- elder) Wing, came from England and settled at Sandwich, where he purchased land June 28, 1640. In 1654 he was a member of the church there. In 1658 he was fined six pounds for entertaining Quakers and refusing to take the oath of allegiance. This fine was repeated in three successive years. The first monthly meeting of Quakers was established in America about 1660 and he was among its members. He died about 1664. He married, September 5, 1641, Hannah Swift, daughter of John Swift. She died December 1, 1664. Their youngest son, Daniel (2) Wing, was born November 28, 1664, and was a townsman in Sand- wich in 1691. He was a cooper by trade and lived on the outlet of the upper pond, where it enters the lower pond, where he was a landowner, and died in May, 1740. He married, in 1686, Deborah Dil- lingham, daughter of Henry Dillingham, of another very old Quaker family of the Cape. Their eldest child, Edward Wing, born July 10, 1687, in Sandwich, settled in Dartmouth, where he was constable in 1725-26. In 1698 he received deeds to one hundred acres of land in Dartmouth, from his father, and his descendants later re- ceived other deeds of land there. He married (second), in June, 1714, Sarah Tucker, daughter of Abraham and Han- nah Tucker, and they were the parents of Jedediah Wing, who was a resident of the Oblong in 1735, and owned consider- able property there. His wife's name was
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