USA > Connecticut > Encyclopedia of Connecticut biography, genealogical-memorial; representative citizens, v. 9 > Part 9
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(I) Andrew McIntosh, the American ancestor, and second son, came to Amer- ica in 1715, locating first at Philadel- phia, Pennsylvania, whence he moved to Boston, Massachusetts, and soon after to Stonington, Connecticut. At the age of sixty-four years, in 1754, he married Naomi Dethic, presumably of Scotch blood. In 1777 he went to Willington, Connecticut, where he bought a farm and lived upon it till his death, March 26, 1793, at the age of one hundred and three years. He was in full possession of his faculties to the last moment.
(II) Andrew (2) McIntosh, son of Andrew (1) and Naomi (Dethic) McIn- tosh, was born April 30, 1761, in Stoning- ton. He inherited the farm in Willington and some money, amounting to about one thousand dollars. He continued on the farm eighteen years after the death of his father, and then moved to Steuben, Oneida county, New York, then consid- ered the remote West. There he died, October 19, 1856, over ninety-five years
old. In 1781 he married Hannah Lilli- bridge, who was born December 12, 1765, in Exeter, Rhode Island, daughter of Rev. David and Meriam (Moore) Lillibridge. Her father was a Baptist minister in Willington.
(III) Robert McIntosh, second child and eldest son of Andrew (2) and Hannah (Lillibridge) McIntosh, was born Novem- ber 9, 1783, in Willington, and settled as a farmer in East Windsor, Connecticut, subsequently moving to Long Meadow, Massachusetts, where he purchased land, some one hundred acres, for which he paid $1,650, deed dated August 26, 1815. Later he purchased more land, upon which he opened a quarry. He died at East Long Meadow, February 9, 1879, aged ninety-five years. He married, Sep- tember 17, 1809, Philena Blodgett, born September 17, 1787, in East Windsor, daughter of Phineas and Damherst (Loomis) Blodgett, of that town, the lat- ter a daughter of John Loomis. Philena (Blodgett) McIntosh was a most indus- trious woman, a faithful wife and mother. During the last years of her husband's life he required her fullest care and devotion, because of a paralytic shock. Immedi- ately after his death, she took to her bed and died six days later, February 14, 1879, in her ninety-second year.
(IV) Flavia C. McIntosh, third daugh- ter of Robert and Philena (Blodgett) Mc- Intosh, was born June 8, 1823, in East Long Meadow, and became the wife of Horace B. Wilcox (see Wilcox). Their eldest child, Frederick Wilcox, was en- gaged in business in Waterbury, where he died. The second child, Emeret Eliza- beth, married Deacon Franklin Payne, of Portland, and is now deceased. William Bartlett, the third child, died while a stu- dent at the Sheffield Scientific School in New Haven. Luther, the fourth child, is a farmer on the paternal homestead in
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Portland. The youngest child, Ralph Mc- Intosh Wilcox, is the subject of this sketch.
MEECH, George Thomas, Retired Business Man.
For many years the name of Meech has been identified with Middletown business affairs and has always stood for sound and upright business methods, enterprise and progress. From various worthy an- cestors, Mr. Meech has inherited the pro- pensities which have controlled many of the leading business men of the United States. He is a scion of one of the oldest American families, being descended from Stephen Meech, who is said to have come to New England to escape religious per- secution abroad. The name is probably of French extraction.
(I) Mr. Stephen Meech was a member of the ancient family of Walbridge and his mother's maiden name was Meech. He probably came from Devon, England, and the reason for assuming his mother's family name has never been made ap- parent. The records show that he was known soon after his arrival here as Wal- bridge, alias Meech. He settled in what is now North Stonington, Connecticut, some two miles east of the village of Preston, where he engaged in agriculture. There is no record of his wife, but he is known to have had sons, John and Daniel.
(II) Daniel Meech, son of Stephen Meech, resided some years in the paternal home in Stonington, whence he removed to Canterbury, Connecticut. He was a loyal subject of the parent country, served as lieutenant in the British army and was killed, in 1759, in the vicinity of Quebec, Canada, leaving a widow and three children. His wife was Amy Wil- cox, a woman of extraordinary beauty and great physical vigor, and her descendants have inherited her desirable qualities.
(III) Thomas Meech, son of Daniel and Amy (Wilcox) Meech, was born February 22, 1749, in Preston, Connecticut, made his home there and died October 21, 1822. He married, October 5, 1768, Lucretia Kimball, who was born in 1750, and died in April, 1834, in Preston, and they were the parents of eleven children.
The Kimball family is an old and hon- ored one in America and most of its male members have been distinguished for large and powerful frames and active and keen brains. The American progenitor was Richard Kimball, who embarked at Ipswich, Suffolk, England, April 10, 1634, in the ship "Elizabeth" and arrived at Boston, Massachusetts, whence he shortly removed to Watertown, and became a prominent and active member of that new settlement. By trade he was a wheel- wright. Soon after being made a free- man, in 1635, he was invited to remove to Ipswich, Massachusetts, which settlement needed a wheelwright. There he spent the remainder of his days and died June 22, 1675. He married Ursula Scott, daughter of Henry Scott, of Rattlesden, in the county of Suffolk, England. Their third son, John Kimball, born in 1631, in Rattlesden, settled at Ipswich, Massachu- setts, where he was a wheelwright and farmer, dealt quite extensively in lands, joined the church, March 8, 1673, and died May 6, 1698. He married, about 1655, Mary Bradstreet, born in 1633. Their third son, John (2) Kimball, was born March 16, 1668, in Ipswich, and lived in Preston, Connecticut, where he was a wheelwright and farmer, and died May 4, 1761. In 1726 he removed from Ipswich to Stonington, Connecticut, and in the same year purchased two hundred acres in Preston for seven hundred pounds, and there settled in the following spring. He married, December 2, 1692, Sarah Good- hue, daughter of Joseph and Sarah (Whip- ple) Goodhue. Their sixth son, Jacob
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Kimball, was born October 12, 1706, in Ipswich, and lived in Preston, Connecti- cut, where he died May 4, 1788. He mar- ried Mary Parke, and probably had a second wife, Anna. His fourth daughter, Lucretia Kimball, born in 1750, died in April, 1834, became the wife of Thomas Meech, as previously noted.
(IV) Shubael Meech, third child of Thomas and Lucretia (Kimball) Meech, was born November 4, 1773, and passed his active life as a farmer in Griswold, Con- necticut, where he died November 4, 1839. He married, November 16, 1798, Sarah Lord, who was born in 1775, daughter of Nathaniel and Abigail (Tyler) Lord, the last-named a daughter of John and Mary (Coit) Tyler. John Tyler was among the Revolutionary heroes, serving as captain of the Second Company from Putnam, Connecticut, in June, 1776. He was sub- sequently promoted lieutenant-colonel and again promoted colonel, August 12, 1776. Later he was brigadier-general of the Third Brigade, Colonial troops.
(V) John Tyler Meech, fifth son of Shubael and Sarah (Lord) Meech, was born July 30, 1814, in Preston, Connecti- cut, passed his early life on the paternal farm and received such educational train- ing as the local schools of his day afforded. He continued upon the paternal farm until he was twenty-eight years old; in the autumn of that year rented a farm in Lis- bon, Connecticut, and was subsequently a tenant on other farms. He lived suc- cessively in the towns of Lisbon, Gris- wold, Lyme, Essex, Brooklyn, Montville, Groton and Ledyard, in Connecticut, and in West Chester, New York, an indus- trious man, who succeeded as a farmer and in time was able to purchase a farm located at Gales Ferry, Connecticut. There he passed his last years in comfort and prosperity, until his death, April 3, 1895, in his eighty-first year. His out-
door life was promotive of physical vigor and he was exceedingly well-preserved in his old age. Of large and commanding presence, he was among the most modest of men and enjoyed the respect of all who were privileged to know him. Mr. Meech was a religious man, long active in the Congregational church in whose choirs he was wont to sing. In the days of that party's prosperity, he was a Whig, and naturally joined its successor, the Repub- lican party. He did not seek any official station, but was earnest and steadfast in sustaining his principles.
Mr. Meech was married, March 13, 1842, at the home of the bride, in Lyme, Connecticut, to Rebecca Mather Waite, who was born May 30, 1816, in that town, daughter of William and Rebecca (Avery) Waite. She survived him and died at Gales Ferry, December 10, 1908. Her father, William Waite, was a farmer in Lyme, Connecticut. His father, John Waite, was born January 4, 1749, and his wife, Rebecca Mather, December 22, 1748. His brother, Remick Waite, was the grandfather of Chief Justice Waite of the United States Supreme Court.
(VI) George Thomas Meech, only sur- viving son of John Tyler and Rebecca Mather (Waite) Meech, was born Decem- ber 22, 1843, in Lisbon, Connecticut, and educated in the district school of the neighborhood. As a boy he was accus- tomed to perform those labors of which he was capable, in forwarding the inter- ests of farm life. The only son of his parents who grew to adult age, he as- sumed considerable responsibility and was an active and able assistant to his father.
Before completing his nineteenth year, he enlisted, August 14, 1862, as a soldier of the Civil War, and became a member of Company C, Twenty-first Connecticut Volunteer Infantry. This regiment was organized at Norwich, Connecticut, pro-
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ceeded to Washington and was shortly ordered to Antietam, but did not arrive in time to participate in the bloody engage- ment there. It continued as a part of the Army of the Potomac, participating in all its engagements and trying experi- ences. June 3, 1864, while lying in the rifle pits at Cold Harbor, he was taken ill and removed on a stretcher to the field hospital, where he remained several weeks. He was ordered to leave the hos- pital, to rejoin his regiment, then in front of Petersburg, but before marching orders came, he was ordered to report to Surgeon Dwight Satterlee of the Eleventh Con- necticut Volunteers. Here he became clerk to the surgeon in charge of a con- valescing camp at Point of Rocks, Mary- land, and was later made private secre- tary to Surgeon H. B. Fowler in charge of the Point of Rocks hospital. Mr. Meech was discharged at Hampton, Virginia, June 10, 1865, having been sent thither in command of a squad of men in the hos- pital service. During his long service at the front he enjoyed no furlough. At one time a furlough was granted him, but he resigned it for the benefit of a comrade who had a wife and family at home. By his fidelity and careful attention to all matters placed in his charge, Mr. Meech earned the confidence and esteem of his comrades and commanding officers. Re- turning to the paternal home at Gales Ferry, Connecticut, he at once went into the hay-field and began farm labors where he had left off to go to the rescue of his country. He continued through the sum- mer to assist his father on the home farm, and in the fall of 1865, went to New Haven, where he attended a business col- lege for four months.
His entering the army while still a minor had ended his cherished plan of pursuing an education, and he now sought to fit himself for business in order that
he might sustain himself. He borrowed fifty dollars from his uncle, Dwight Meech, to carry him through the business college, and as soon as he had completed the course he joined an acquaintance, N. B. Allyn, in Middletown, Connecticut, where he accepted a position as driver of a delivery wagon for a grocer, receiving four dollars per week and his board as compensation. This establishment was located in the block where the large busi- ness of Meech & Stoddard is now con- ducted, and there Mr. Meech continued in business until his recent retirement. In association with his fellow clerk, he purchased the grocery store, which was conducted in a basement, their capital consisting of one thousand dollars, all of it borrowed. After fourteen months of business under the style of Allyn & Meech, the latter sold out his interest and accepted a position as bookkeeper for L. N. Barlow & Company, grain dealers, on the ground floor of the building. In 1869 he became half owner in the firm, and, in 1871, Orin E. Stoddard purchased the interest of the original proprietor, after which for thirty-two years, the business was conducted by Meech & Stoddard. In 1904 it was incorporated under the same title, and George T. Meech was made president. Besides dealing in grain, the establishment has long conducted 'a mill- ing business and does both wholesale and retail trades throughout the New England territory and in other sections.
Since 1888 Mr. Meech has been a trus- tee of the Farmers' & Mechanics' Savings Bank, and for thirty years a director. During this time the business of the es- tablishment had increased to six times the original. While it existed, he was a director of the Columbia Trust Company and was elected president, but declined to serve. For several years he was a direc- tor of the W. & B. Douglas Company, a
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large manufacturing establishment of Middletown. At the organization of the Young Men's Christian Association, of Middletown, Mr. Meech was made its president, and continued nine years in that capacity, during which time its hand- some and commodious building was erected, now free from debt. Owing to declining health, he resigned from this position. He was a member of the Busi- nessmen's Association, later called the Board of Trade of Middletown. In 1873 he was affiliated with the South Church of Middletown, and fifteen years later be- came a deacon, which position he still fills, being the senior deacon of the society. During this time, five of his col- leagues on the Board of Deacons have passed away. For twenty years he was a teacher in the Sunday school, and has been for years chairman of the Ecclesi- astical Society. Always a Republican, he has sought to sustain his principles by voice and thought, and though never a seeker of official station, has accepted some offices as a matter of civic duty. He was a member of the Board of Selectmen during the time when the present com- modious municipal building was erected, and was also a member of the City Coun- cil. During the recent World War, he was active in many ways in forwarding those efforts put forward to maintain an effective army in the field. He is a mem- ber of Mansfield Post, No. 53, Grand Army of the Republic, and has been de- partment commander of Connecticut in that order.
Mr. Meech was married, June 11, 1873, at Middletown, to Ella Jean Burr, born August 3, 1849, at the old homestead of her father on Main street, a daughter of Dr. Ellsworth and Maria T. (Haling) Burr. She died May 4, 1913. Mr. and Mrs. Meech were the parents of four children : George Ellsworth, born No-
vember 14, 1874, is now general manager of Meech & Stoddard, Incorporated ; Mabel Burr, born February 15, 1878, re- sides with her father; Harold Marwick, a sketch of whom follows; John Tyler, died when about one year old.
Mrs. Meech is of the eighth generation in descent from Benjamin Burr, one of the original proprietors of Hartford, Connec- ticut. The first evidence of his presence in America appears in the land division in Hartford, in 1639, where he is spoken of as an original proprietor and settler, which would indicate that he was here in 1635. He was probably in Massachusetts before that time, as the settlers of Hart- ford came from the vicinity of Boston, Massachusetts. In the land division of 1639, Benjamin Burr's allotment was six acres, and in 1658, he was admitted free- man. It is apparent that he was a thrifty and well-to-do man, as he owned more than one house lot in Hartford, besides houses and lands at Greenfield and Wind- sor. His name has been given to one of the streets of Hartford, where he died March 31, 1681. His name appears on the monument to original settlers in the First Church cemetery. His son, Sam- uel Burr, born in England, was a freeman of Hartford in May, 1658, and died there September 29, 1682, leaving a good estate, whose inventory value was £541 IOS. IId. He married Mary Baysey, daughter of John and Elizabeth Baysey, her father being one of the early settlers of Hart- ford. Their youngest child, Jonathan Burr, born in 1679, settled, after 1696, at Middletown, Connecticut, where he united with the First Church, and died January I, 1735. He married Abigail Hubbard, born February 16, 1686, in Middletown, Connecticut, daughter of Nathaniel and Mary (Earle) Hubbard, and granddaugh- ter of George Hubbard, founder of a num- erous family in America, and a pioneer of
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Middletown. Nathaniel Burr, third son of Jonathan and Abigail (Hubbard) Burr, was born March 23, 1717, in Middletown, settled in Haddam, Connecticut, where he was a farmer and built a house on the present site of the Methodist Episcopal church, and died September 12, 1802. He married (second), August 19, 1743, Sarah Porter, born October 28, 1724, died May 21, 1797. Their fourth son, Jonathan Burr, born April 11, 1756, in Haddam, joined the Continental army, at the age of twenty-one years, and became corporal in the company of Captain Martin Kirt- land, in Colonel Erastus Wolcott's Regi- ment. After returning from the army he engaged in farming, was captain of the local militia company and died February 10, 1804. He married Lydia Bailey and their third son, Stephen Burr, was born February 7, 1786 and died January 13, 1837. Stephen Burr married Cynthia Hubbard, born March 31, 1786, died March 14, 1854, daughter of Moses and Mabel (Hopkins) Hubbard. Their sec- ond son, Dr. Ellsworth Burr, born De- cember 1, 1813, was a man of great mental capacity, began the practice of medicine in Middletown, in 1838, and was subse- quently a professor of the Worcester Medical College. He was a representa- tive in the State Legislature during sev- eral sessions, and held other important official stations. He married Maria T. Haling, of Chatham, Connecticut, born November 27, 1818. Their third daugh- ter, Ella Jean Burr, born August 3, 1849, became the wife of George T. Meech, as already noted.
MEECH, Harold Marwick, Business Man, Legislator.
A deserving successor of worthy sires, Harold Marwick Meech is busily engaged in Middletown business interests which
have long been established there. He is the second son of George T. and Ella Jean (Burr) Meech (q. v.), and was born Sep- tember 18, 1882, in Middletown, Connec- ticut, with which city he has since been identified. After passing through the grammar and high schools of his native city, he entered Yale University, from which he was graduated, Bachelor of Arts, in 1904. Immediately after leaving college he became associated with the business of Meech & Stoddard, which is now incorporated. Growing with the growth of the establishment, Mr. Meech is now secretary and treasurer of the cor- poration. While he is rated as a conserva- tive business man, he is also bright and aggressive and is contributing his share toward the prosperity of the establish- ment and of his home city.
Mr. Meech has taken some interest in public affairs, and already commands some influence in the councils of the Re- publican party. He was elected council- man in 1910 and 1912, alderman in 1914, mayor of Middletown in 1916, and served during that year and the following. In November, 1918, he was elected a repre- sentative of the town in the State Legis- lature, as colleague of William W. Wil- cox, who is elsewhere mentioned in this work. He participates in the social life of the community, and is a member of the Middletown Yacht Club, Highland Country Club and University Club, of Middletown, and the Yale Alumni Asso- ciation of Hartford. With his family, he is affiliated with the South Congregational Church of Middletown.
Mr. Meech was married, at Hartford, Connecticut, January 8, 1916, to Lucy Anderson Harbison, born February 0, 1889, in Hartford, daughter of Hugh and Annie (Phelps) Harbison of that city. They are the parents of a daughter, Eliza- beth Harbison Meech, born April 16, 1918.
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Harold In. Beech-
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DAVIS, Lewis Olcott,
Head of Important Business.
For many years identified with Middle- town and a contributor to its growth and development, Mr. Davis is enjoying in partial retirement the fruits of a life of industry. As a patronymic, Davis is of Welsh origin, and signifies David's son. From David's it easily became Davy's and then Davis. The characteristics of their Welsh ancestors are strongly marked in the family herein described.
(I) Among the most active and useful of the founders of New England was Dolor Davis, who came from England and was settled at Cambridge, Massachusetts as early as August 4, 1634, when he received a grant of land. He was a carpenter and master builder, and moved about con- siderably as demand arose for his skill. He received grants of land, June 4, 1635, and subsequently, but before August 5, 1639, removed to Duxbury, where he was made freeman on that date and received a grant of lands the next year. In 1643 he was living in Barnstable, was made a freeman there June 2, 1646, and held various offices in that town. With his wife he was admitted to the church, Au- gust 27, 1648, by dismissal from the church at Duxbury. In 1656 he returned to the Massachusetts Bay Colony and purchased 150 acres of land in Concord. Ten years later he returned to Barnstable, where he died in June, 1673. He married, in County Kent, England, March 29, 1624, Margery Willard, daughter of Rich- ard Willard, of Horsmonden, Kent, bap- tized there November 7, 1602, and died before 1667.
(II) Samuel Davis, third son of Dolor and Margery (Willard) Davis, was born in America, lived in Concord. He mar- ried, January 11, 1665, at Lynn, Mary Meads (or Meadows), probably a daugh-
ter of Philip and Elizabeth (Igglesden) Meads, of Roxbury. She died October 30, 1710.
(III) Daniel Davis, the second son of this marriage, was born March 26, 1677, in Concord, lived in the northeastern part of that town in what is now Bedford, where he died February 10, 1741. He married, April 27, 1699, Mary Hubbard, of Concord, born June 3, 1682, daughter of Jonathan and Hannah (Rice) Hubbard. She was descended from George Hubbard, born 1604. He was in Watertown, Mas- sachusetts, in 1633, removed in 1635 to Wethersfield, Connecticut, where he lived on the west side of High street. He was representative in 1639. He married, in 1636-37, in Windsor, Tare Cooper, who was then aged twenty-eight years, eldest child of John Cooper, who removed to Hadley in 1666 and was later a resident of Hartford, where he died before March, 1706. George Hubbard's wife, Mary (Merriam) Hubbard, of Concord, Massa- chusetts, survived him. Their second son, Jonathan Hubbard, born January 3, 1659, settled in Concord and died in 1728. He was the father of Mary Hubbard, wife of Daniel Davis.
(IV) Nathaniel Davis, sixth son of Daniel and Mary (Hubbard) Davis, was born November 3, 1715, in what is now Bedford. He is recorded in the records of both Concord and Bedford, and was among the pioneer settlers of Rocking- ham, Vermont. According to family tra- dition, he came from Ware, Massachu- setts, to Rockingham, but must have been located there only a short time. The records of Ware have been lost. It is probable that he married there. He died in the latter town, October 28, 1802. His second wife, Mary, born in 1717, died July 30, 1795. She was the mother of his chil- dren.
(V) Nathaniel (2) Davis, son
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Nathaniel (1) and Mary Davis, was born in 1754, died June 10, 1835. He was a farmer by occupation. He married Lydia Harwood, born in 1761, died March 10, 1838. Lydia Harwood was a descendant of David Pulsifer, who was a member of Captain John Marcy's company, Colonel James Reed's regiment, which marched April 21, 1775, following the "Lexington Alarm," and participated in the battle of Bunker Hill. He did not return, and his fate is unknown. His second daugh- ter, Mary, married John Harwood, who was also a Revolutionary soldier, from Rockingham, under Captain William Simonds and Colonel Bradley, of that town. John Harwood's eldest child, Lydia, became the wife of Nathaniel (2) Davis, as previously noted.
(VI) Charles E. Davis, son of Nathan- iel (2) and Lydia (Harwood) Davis, was born March 30, 1807, in the town of Rock- ingham, where he made his home and en- gaged in agriculture until April, 1874, when he moved to Westminster, Vermont. He was gifted with musical ability and for many years sang in the choir of the old church in Rockingham. He died May 21, 1890, in Westminster, at the age of eighty-three years. He married, in Octo- ber, 1828, Marcia Albee, who was born April 17, 1811, daughter of Eleazer and Hepzibah (Bancroft) Albee. She died, October 22, 1880, after a married life of fifty-two years. Their golden wedding was celebrated in 1878. Eleazer Albee was descended from Benjamin Albee, who was in Braintree, Massachusetts, in 1641, a freeman in 1642, and removed to Med- field in 1649. In 1664 he was a proprietor of Mendon and lived in that town, where he erected a grain mill on Mill river. In addition to the original site of one acre, he was granted fifty acres of land in that town. He was also a surveyor and laid out the highways. He was one of the
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