USA > Connecticut > Encyclopedia of Connecticut biography, genealogical-memorial; representative citizens, v.2 > Part 30
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ney and Frances Elizabeth (Eldredge) Waldo. He died January 24, 1914, and his wife died March 18, 1908.
Judge L. P. Waldo Marvin was the only child of his parents, and was prepared for college in the public schools of Hartford, being graduated from Yale in 1892 with the usual Bachelor degree. He then at- tended the Yale Law School, from which he was graduated in 1894, and while there was one of the editors of the "Yale Law Journal." In the year of his graduation, he was admitted to the bar in Hartford county and immediately began the prac- tice of his profession, meeting with suc- cess from the beginning. Possessing a mind trained to careful study, and being conscientious in the preparation of his cases, he had the faculty of making his client's cause his own and his personal characteristics inspired confidence. He has been judge of probate for Hartford since 1907, and while he is a Democrat, has had the honor of being nominated by both parties for his present position. Such a testimonial to a man's personal char- acter and efficiency makes further com- ment superfluous. He has served as chair- man of the Democratic town committee. and was also a member of the high school commission for seven years. At the time of his first election as judge of probate he retired as a member of the street board.
Judge Marvin is a member of many clubs and societies, among which are the Alpha Delti Phi fraternity, the City Club of Hartford, Elihu Club of New Haven, University Club, Hartford Club, Hartford Golf Club, Lafayette Lodge, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons ; Charter Oak Lodge, Independent Order of Odd Fel- lows ; John Hay Lodge, Knights of Pythi- as; Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, and the Foresters of America. He is also president of the Young Men's Christian Association, ex-president of the
City Club of Hartford, president of the Yale Alumni Association of Hartford, and a member of the board of trustees of the Connecticut Training School for the Feeble Minded. For some years he has been president of the Association of Pro- bate Judges of the State of Connecticut, and he is a member of the executive com- mittee of the State Bar Association. He has also been vestryman for a number of years of Trinity Church, Hartford, and a representative of the church to the di- ocesan convention. He is an ex-president of the local assembly of St. Andrew's Brotherhood ; president for some years of the Open Hearth Association, a rescue mission ; ex-president of the Choral Club, and a member of the Hartford Saenger- bund. No man in Hartford takes a greater interest in public affairs than Judge Mar- vin. He is a man of generous impulses and has a strong sense of social responsi- bility. His support has always been ac- corded to those measures and enterprises that help the less fortunate and that promise to enhance the public good.
Judge Marvin married, June 4, 1894, Florence Belle Watrous, born March 26, 1873, daughter of Christopher and Char- lotte (Kendall) Watrous. They have two children: Florence Watrous, born December 2, 1896, and Edwin Waldo, born June 13, 1899.
(The Waldo Line).
Cynthia Paulina (Waldo) Marvin, mother of Judge L. P. Waldo Marvin, was a descendant in the eighth generation of the Waldo family, of English origin, the first member of which, in the line herein followed, to come to the New World was Cornelius Waldo, born about 1624, died at Chelmsford, Massachusetts, January 3, 1700-01. It is probable that he settled first in Ipswich, and was one of the committee appointed to run the line
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between ipswich and Gloucester. His name is first mentioned in the court rec- ords at Salem, July 6, 1647. He owned a share and a half in Plum Island, and was living at Ipswich as late as 1664. He was one of the first settlers of Chelms- ford; in 1673 was on the committee to instruct the selectmen, and in 1678 was chosen selectman, also in 1698, and in 1690 he was licensed to keep a tavern in that town. In various deeds he is called sometimes of Chelmsford and sometimes of Dunstable, probably because his farm lay part in each town. He disposed of his property, which consisted of a large amount of land in Dunstable and Chelms- ford, with a dwelling house and buildings in each town, before his death, and died intestate. He married Hannah Cogswell, born 1624, died December 25, 1704, daugh- ter of John and Elizabeth (Thompson) Cogswell, of Ipswich. They were the parents of eleven children among whom was John, of whom further.
ยท John Waldo, son of Cornelius and Han- nah (Cogswell) Waldo, was born prob- ably at Ipswich, Massachusetts, and died at Windham, Connecticut, April 14, 1700. He resided in Chelmsford, Dunstable, Boston, Massachusetts, and Windham, Connecticut, removing to the latter named town, November 29, 1697, when he pur- chased a grist mill and mill works, dwell- ing house and an acre of land, and in January following purchased an allotment of a thousand acre right. He was ad- mitted an inhabitant of Windham, Janu- ary 30, 1698, and there spent the re- mainder of his days. He married Re- becca Adams, daughter of Captain Samuel and Rebecca (Graves) Adams, of Charles- town. She married (second) Deacon Eliezer Brown, of Canterbury, and she died at Canterbury, September 17, 1727. They were the parents of eight children among whom was Edward, of whom fur- ther.
Edward Waldo, son of join and Ke- becca (Adams) Waldo, was born at Dun- stable, Massachusetts, April 23, 1684, and died at Windham, Connecticut, August 3, 1767. He obtained his education in the schools of Boston, and his first experience in business life was as teacher in a school at Windham, in which capacity he served for a number of years. He then turned his attention to farming and conducted extensive operations in that part of Wind- ham which is now Scotland. He erected a house, about the year 1714, near the coun- ty line, which is still standing and is occupied by a descendant. He was a member of the General Assembly in 1722, 1725, 1730; was lieutenant of militia, and in 1745 was one of the jury which tried Elizabeth Shaw for murder and resulted in the first public execution in Windham county. He was moderator of the first meeting of the Third Society of Wind- ham, or Scotland Parish, in June, 1732, and was on several important committees in the church; in 1734 he was chosen a deacon, and in 1735 he and his wife were transferred from the Windham to the Scotland Parish church. In 1746 he and his family were strong supporters of the Separate Church, but in 1763 he was re- stored to his standing in the First Church. He married (first) June 28, 1706, at Wind- ham, Thankful Dimmock, born March, 1682, at Barnstable, Massachusetts, died at Windham, Connecticut, December 13, 1757, daughter of Deacon Shubael and Joanna (Bursley) Dimmock, of Mans- field, Connecticut. He married (second) Mary Freeman, born February 1, 1695-96, probably daughter of Elisha and Rebecca (Doane) Paine, of Eastham, and widow of Robert Freeman. Edward Waldo and his first wife were the parents of ten chil- dren among whom was Edward, of whom further.
Edward (2) Waldo, son of Edward (1) and Thankful (Dimmock) Waldo, was
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born at Windham, Connecticut, July 27, 1709, and died at Canterbury, Connecti- cut, September 4, 1807. He purchased land at Canterbury, and after his removal joined the Separate or Baptist church there. He may have resided in Nor- wich a short time, but returned to Can- terbury. He was a tythingman in 1765. He married (first) January 25, 1733, at Franklin, Connecticut, Abigail Elderkin, born at Norwich, September 29, 1715, daughter of John and Susannah (Baker) Elderkin. He married (second) Ruth -, who died October 14, 1824, aged ninety-seven years. By his first marriage he was the father of four children, among whom was Zachariah, of whom further.
Zachariah Waldo, son of Edward (2) and Abigail (Elderkin) Waldo, was born February I, 1734-35, and died in Canter- bury, Connecticut, February 8, 1811. He was highway surveyor in 1765, 1781, 1782, 1785; grand juryman, 1771; member of the committee of safety, 1777 ; selectman, 1779; lister, 1780, 1782; member of com- mittee of supplies, 1782. He served in the Revolutionary War, being a member of the Second Company, Eighth Connecti- cut Regiment, from July 18 to December 16, 1775, and in Captain Buell's company, First Connecticut Regiment, from Janu- ary I, 1781, to December 31, 1781, al- though this latter service may have be- longed to his son. He married (first) No- vember 21, 1758, Elizabeth Wight, born July 20, 1738, died September 7, 1800, daughter of Joshua and Elizabeth (Cary) Wight, of Windham. He married (sec- ond) November 18, 1806, at Canterbury, Cynthia Clark. His first wife bore him six children, among whom was Ebenezer, of whom further.
Ebenezer Waldo, son of Zachariah and Elizabeth (Wight) Waldo, was born at Canterbury, Connecticut, April 6, 1771, and died at Tolland, Connecticut, August
27, 1840. He probably resided in Tolland after the removal of his sons there. He took an active interest in public affairs during his residence in Canterbury, and served as highway surveyor, 1798; lister, 1802, 1805, 1807, 1811; grand juryman, 1806; fence viewer, 1810, 1812, 1813, 1814, 1816, 1817; selectman, 1815, 1824. He was admitted to the church at Westmin- ster, March 9, 1806, and was inspector of school district No. 4 in that parish. He married, March 31, 1798, at Canterbury, Cynthia Parish, born February 19, 1770, died February 21, 1837, daughter of Lem- uel and Zerviah (Smith) Parish. They were the parents of four children, among whom was Loren Pinckney, of whom fur- ther.
Loren Pinckney Waldo, son of Eben- ezer and Cynthia (Parish) Waldo, was born at Canterbury, Connecticut, Febru- ruary 2, 1802, and died at Hartford, Con- necticut, September 8, 1881. After com- pleting his studies in the schools of the community, he secured a position as teacher and for seven winters was en- gaged in that work, devoting his time dur- ing the summer months to agricultural pursuits. During this period of time he also applied himself to study and mastered the higher branches of mathematics and also obtained a good knowledge of Latin. At the age of twenty-one he entered the law office of his uncle, John Parish, at Tolland, and under his able preceptorship pursued a course of study of law, and was admitted to the bar of Tolland county in September, 1825, and began the practice of law at Somers, Connecticut. He re- turned to Tolland in 1830 and resided there until 1863, when he removed to Hartford and there spent the remainder of his days. During his residence in Somers he served as postmaster for two years, also as superintendent of schools. He was a member of the General Assem-
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bly from Tolland in 1832-33-34, 1839, 1847-48; he was clerk of the House of Representatives, 1833; was a member of the board of visitors of schools in Tol- land, of the board of commissioners of common schools of Connecticut, and chairman of the committee of education in the House ; he was attorney for the State for Tolland county from 1837 to 1849; judge of probate for Tolland district in 1842- 43; was unanimously chosen by the Leg- islature as a member of the committee to revise the statutes, 1847, and was again appointed on a similar committee in 1864; was a member of the Thirty-first Con- gress of the United States in 1849, and was chairman of the committee on Revo- lutionary pensions ; was commissioner of the school fund of Connecticut; commis- sioner of pensions in Washington dur- ing the administration of President Pierce, and continued in that office until elected judge of the Superior Court of Connec- ticut for a term of eight years. At the expiration of this term, about 1863, he removed to Hartford and engaged in the general practice of his profession, at first with his son-in-law, Alvan Pinney Hyde, and later in the firm of Waldo, Hubbard & Hyde. He was the author of the "His- tory of Tolland," and gathered consider- able of the material for the genealogy of the Waldo family. In politics he was a Democrat. He was a member of the Westminster church, but later rejected some of the tenets of the orthodox faith, and both he and his brother, Obadiah Parish Waldo, were excommunicated in 1826. He became a conservative Unita- rian, and after removing to Hartford was a constant and devout attendant at the South Congregational Church.
Mr. Waldo married, at Tolland, No- vember 2, 1825, Frances Elizabeth El- dredge, born at New London, Connec- ticut, December 10, 1806, and died March
29, 1874, daughter of William and Eliza- beth (Avery) Eldredge, of Tolland, and granddaughter of Charles Eldredge, who was severely wounded in the massacre of Fort Griswold, September 6, 1781, and of Captain Elijah Avery, who was killed in the same massacre. Children, born at Tolland: Ebenezer Elderkin, born March 9, 1827, died March 19, 1833; Frances Elizabeth, born March 21, 1831, married, September 12, 1849, Hon. Alvan Pinney Hyde; Loren Pinckney, Jr., born March 24, 1834, died September 28, 1865; Cyn- thia Paulina, born October 25, 1836, mar- ried. December 24, 1866, Edwin Eliphalet Marvin (see Marvin).
CALHOUN, Joseph Gilbert, Lawyer, Public Official.
Joseph Gilbert Calhoun, former prose- cuting attorney of Hartford, is a repre- sentative of a family which, for two gen- erations, has been prominent in the legal circles of that city, having been distin- guished in the annals of Connecticut since the Colonial period of her history. Mr. Calhoun has taken an active part in the political life of his city and county and has filled most creditably more than one office of honor and responsibility.
The name of Calhoun has been traced back to about the year 1200, the time when surnames were first adopted, ap- pearing then in history as the ancient Colquehouns, Lairds of Luss. The home of the clan was on the western shore of Loch Lomond, and it is interesting to note that the name "Colquehoun" signifies " a seacoasting common or point." These lands were granted to the progenitor of the family in the reign of Alexander the Second. Some of the branches in Scot- land, England and Ireland still retain the ancient spelling, despite the fact that the name is pronounced "Cohoun."
Conn-2-14
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David Calhoun, founder of the Ameri- can branch of the family, was born about 1690, in Scotland. His father's family were Nonconformists, and by reason of the religious persecution then rife in their native country were forced to flee, with many others of the clan, to the North of Ireland, where they found a home in Lon- donderry. Even here, however, persecu- tion followed them, and in 1714 David Cal- houn, with his two brothers, James and John, emigrated to the American colonies. They landed in New York, where they separated, David coming to Connecticut and settling in Stratford. In 1732 he re- moved to Washington, Connecticut, where he passed the remainder of his life. He married, in Stratford, Mrs. Fairchild, a widow whose maiden name had been Catherine Coe, and his death occurred in 1769.
George Calhoun, son of David and Catherine (Coe-Fairchild) Calhoun, was born April 6, 1744, and married, March 30, 1780, Judith Taylor, a widow, daugh- ter of Deacon Abel Comstock, of Warren. Connecticut.
Rev. George Albion Calhoun, son of George and Judith (Comstock-Taylor) Calhoun, was born October II, 1788, in Washington, Connecticut. He received but a meagre education, the facilities which the neighborhood afforded for mental culture being extremely limited, and his services moreover being greatly needed on the home farm. Being excep- tionally strong he was able to do more work than most boys of his age, and his religious training which he received at home, was of the most thorough character including the Assembly's Catechism. He is said to have been fearless and athletic, a leader among his fellows, and in the following sentence he has described him- self at this period of his life : "At eighteen I became a man for business." A year
later he began to feel his lack of educa- tion and resolved that upon coming of age he would supply the deficiencies of his early mental equipment. Accordingly, at twenty-one, he placed himself at school at Wolcott and began the study of arith- metic and English grammar. After four or five months he became a law student in the office of the Hon. Nathan Strong, but soon saw that his limited education would not allow him to study law profit- ably. He therefore returned to school and at the age of twenty-two began to study Latin. In 1812 he entered the junior class at Williams College, but at the close of his second term went to Hamilton Col- lege, which had just been established at Clinton, New York. Mr. Calhoun and one other student constituted the first junior and senior classes of that college and in August, 1814, were graduated with- out commencement exercises. By invita- tion of Williams College, Mr. Calhoun took his degree with the class of which he had been a member. In September, 1814, he united with the church in Salis- bury, Connecticut, and matriculated in Andover Theological Seminary, graduat- ing with the class of 1817.
While at Hamilton College, Mr. Cal- houn had aided in founding a Young People's Missionary Society for Western New York, and under the patronage of that society he spent his first year after graduating from the seminary as a mis- sionary in the vicinity of Geneva, New York. He received invitations from churches in that region, but declined them, it being his intention, after supply- ing for a season some destitute churches in New England, to go as a missionary to the Southwestern States. At the close of his first year he went to Connecticut and preached for the first time on November 1, 1818, at North Coventry, most accept- ably, as appears from the fact that there,
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on March 10, 1819, he was ordained and installed. In 1830 he resigned his pastor- ate on account of failing health and traveled in Maine in behalf of the Ameri- can Education Society, visiting one hun- dred congregations and pleading the cause of home missions. This paved the way for the Domestic Missionary Society of Connecticut to become the auxiliary of the American Home Missionary So- ciety. At the close of this period of labor Mr. Calhoun returned to his church at North Coventry but, his health again failing, he made a trip to Europe, return- ing in November, 1831, much invigorated. He also spent a year collecting funds for the endowment of the theological insti- tute at East Windsor. In 1849 Mr. Cal- houn was elected a member of the corpo- ration of Yale College, and in 1852 Hamil- ton College conferred upon him the de- gree of Doctor of Divinity. He served several times as delegate from the General Association of Connecticut to foreign ecclesiastical bodies. In March, 1860, he sent a communication to the Ecclesiasti- cal Society, relinquishing all claim for salary and resigning his active work as pastor, but still retaining his pastoral office. From September, 1861, to May. 1863, he supplied the pulpit of the First Church of Coventry, but growing infirm- ities admonished him to cease from stated preaching. Dr. Calhoun married, Novem- ber 16, 1819, Betsey Scoville, whose ances- tral record is appended to this biography, and among their children was David Sam- uel, mentioned below. Mrs. Calhoun passed away April 14, 1857, and the death of Dr. Calhoun occurred June 7, 1867.
David Samuel Calhoun, son of Rev. George Albion and Betsey (Scoville) Cal- houn, was born November II, 1827, in Coventry, Tolland county, Connecticut, and was reared in a rural environment where he acquired habits of industry,
thrift and frugality, being, moreover, thor- oughly drilled in the religious tenets of his time. He prepared for college under the private instruction of the Rev. Wil- liam Ely, of Coventry, and later attended Williston Seminary. In 1848 he gradu- ated from Yale College. Among his class- mates were the late Judge Dwight Foster, of Massachusetts ; Judge Nathaniel Ship- man. Major Theodore Winthrop, Arthur D. Osborn, who became president of the Second National Bank of New Haven, and the distinguished constitutional lawyer. the Hon. Henry Hitchcock, of St. Louis. After graduating Mr. Calhoun went to Ravenna, Ohio, where in Septem- ber. 1848, he opened a boys' school. Find- ing that the climate of Ohio was not suited to him, he returned in the follow- ing spring to Coventry, where he taught in the academy until March, 1850. At that time, having made choice of the law as a profession. he entered the office of the late Chief Justice O. S. Seymour, of Litchfield, and on December 17, 1851, was admitted in that city to the Connec- ticut bar. In February of the following year Mr. Calhoun opened an office in North Manchester, where he practiced until November, 1869, when he removed to Hartford. There he formed a partner- ship with Mahlon R. West which con- tinued for seven years.
While in Manchester Mr. Calhoun served for twelve years as judge of pro- bate and also figured prominently in poli- tics. In 1856 he occupied a seat in the State Senate, and in 1862 was again chosen by his fellow citizens to represent them in that body. In his first term he served on the committee on education, officiating as chairman. This committee revised the school laws of the State, in consequence of which, among other im- portant changes, school societies were abolished and the supervision of the dis-
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trict schools was transferred to the towns. In 1862 Mr. Calhoun was chairman of the military committee and ex officio member of the Corporation of Yale College.
In 1876 Judge Calhoun suffered a seri- ous illness as a result of over-work and was obliged to take a year's complete rest. During his convalescence he was elected judge of the Court of Common Pleas of Hartford county. Regard for his health induced him to accept the office which he retained for twenty years until automatically retired by the legal age limit. During his period of service he heard and decided about two thousand cases only five of which were over-ruled by the Supreme Court of Errors and in two of these the court was divided. For some years Judge Calhoun figured promi- nently in the trial of criminal cases, win- ning an enviable reputation, but later he confined his practice to the civil courts. He was an indefatigable worker, neglect- ing no detail in the preparation of a case, and he was also a keen observer of men and things, a logical reasoner and a force- ful and able trial lawyer.
In public affairs Judge Calhoun always took an active interest, aiding to the utmost of his power those measures and movements that promised to advance the general welfare. He was a member of the Connecticut Historical Society and the Sons of the Revolution, and for many years attended the Farmington Avenue Congregational Church, also teaching in the Sunday School.
Judge Calhoun married (first) Novem- ber 7, 1852, Harriet A. Gilbert, of Cov- entry, and they became the parents of the following children: Mary Scoville, mar- ried Edward G. Hart; Joseph Gilbert, mentioned below; Elizabeth Hale, de- ceased ; John, also deceased ; Fanny Rose, married Ralph Clarkson, an artist of Chi- cago; Theodore Winthrop; David; and
Jasper. The three last are deceased. Mrs. Calhoun died August 1, 1868, and Judge Calhoun married (second) February 16, 1870, Eliza, daughter of Dr. William Scott, of Manchester.
The death of Judge Calhoun occurred November 7, 1912. He was a man of pleasing personality, possessing in an emi- nent degree the qualities which win and hold friends. In his earlier professional life, as an able member of the bar, and later, during his many years of distin- guished service on the bench, he furnished an example of unwavering adherence to lofty ethical ideals. His name is inscribed with honor in the legal annals of New England.
Joseph Gilbert Calhoun, son of David Samuel and Harriet A. (Gilbert) Calhoun, was born July 20, 1856, in Manchester, Connecticut. In 1874 he graduated from the Hartford High School. He then en- tered the Sheffield Scientific School of Yale University, graduating with the class of 1877 with the degree of Bachelor of Philosophy. After reading law under the preceptorship of his father he was ad- mitted in May, 1880, to the bar of his native State. Since that time Mr. Cal- houn has been continuously engaged in the general practice of his profession in Hartford. For some years he has been attorney of the Riverside Trust Company, also occupying a seat on the board of di- rectors. From 1896 to 1906 he served as prosecuting attorney of Hartford, filling the office with an acumen, an energy and a singleness of purpose which commended him to his professional brethren and his fellow citizens at large.
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