USA > Connecticut > Encyclopedia of Connecticut biography, genealogical-memorial; representative citizens, v.2 > Part 40
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(VI) Rev. Charles Augustus Goodrich, son of Rev. Samuel and Elizabeth (Ely) Goodrich, was born August 19, 1790, in Berlin, Connecticut. He was a graduate of Yale College in 1812, and was ordained pastor of the South (Congregational) Church, in Worcester, Massachusetts, in ISIS. After a few years he resigned his charge on account of failing health and removed to Kensington, where he organ- ized and taught a school for boys. After his father's death he engaged mainly in writing books, a number of which en- joyed a high degree of popularity. His "History of the United States" for schools went through many editions; "Bible History of Prayer" was one of his last works. Others of his books were: "Lives of the Signers" and the "Univer- sal Traveler." He was at one time State Senator and always prominent in public affairs. In 1847 he removed to Hartford and continued to reside there until his death. The Rev. Charles A. Goodrich
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was intellectually a gifted man, and was a most accomplished scholar. He was of an unaggressive and unassuming nature, and although ever active in the cause of right was a sensitive man and shrunk from rough contact with the world. He was an exemplary Christian gentleman in every sense of the word. His love for his fellowmen was of a high character, and he was charitable in all the relations of life, in which his single purpose seemed to be the elevating of mankind. He died at Hartford, Connecticut, June 4, 1862. On June 24, 1818, he married Sarah, daughter of Rev. Dr. Benoni Up- son, of Berlin, Connecticut.
(VII) Charles Chauncey Goodrich, son of Rev. Charles Augustus and Sarah (Upson) Goodrich, was born in Berlin, Connecticut. May 14, 1823. He was edu- cated in Berlin Academy, and upon leav- ing that institution went to New York City, where he started his business career in the dry goods commission business. In this he later attained great prominence and for years he was looked up to as a leading authority in his line. He was a member of the firm of Goodrich & Free- man, which was changed to Goodrich, Freeman & Foster, then Goodrich & Fos- ter. He became a partner in W. C. Lang- ley & Company, and later was actively interested in the firm of W. H. Langley & Company. For several years, until about eighteen months prior to the time of his death, he commuted regular be- tween New York and Hartford, where he made his home from the year 1882. Charles Goodrich was very successful in business, and was endowed with splendid mental powers. He was a keen observer of men and things, as every man must be who would succeed against the strong competition of the business world. His business judgment was almost unerring, and he was a man of energy and firm pur-
pose. Ilis character and conduct were in every way exemplary, and his attractive and magnetic personality made for him scores of friends among those with whom he came in contact. He was modest and unassuming and homeloving in his tastes, and when not occupied with business cares found his greatest pleasures within his family circle. Mr. Goodrich took an active interest in the political and public problems of his day, and was a student of conditions, but was never attracted by the lure of public office. He died at Hartford, Connecticut, July 5, 1908. On May 18, 1871, he married, for his second wife, Sarah Meigs, born August 31, 1843. a daughter of George Martin and Eliza (Meigs) Hayward, of New York City. Their children are: 1. Charles Augustus, mentioned below. 2. Elizabeth Ely, born March 19, 1876; married Robert Catlin Buell, secretary and treasurer of Johns- Pratt Company of Hartford, Connecti- cut. 3. Sarah Upson, born June 1. 1879 : married Oliver R. Beckwith, an attorney of Hartford.
(VIII) Charles Augustus Goodrich, son of Charles Chauncey and Sarah Meigs (Hayward) Goodrich, was born in New York City, February 23, 1872. Charles Augustus Goodrich, representa- tive in the eighth generation of the Good- rich family in America, and a direct de- scendant of William Goodrich, whose name appears on the Connecticut Colony records in the year 1648. is a physician and surgeon in the city of Hartford. He received his early education in New York City and in Hartford, Connecticut, and upon the completion of this pursued a course in the Massachusetts Agricultural College at Amherst. He was graduated with the degree of B. S. C. in 1893. He then entered the College of Physicians and Surgeons of New York City. from which he was graduated in 1896. He
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immediately became an interne in the Hospital for Ruptured and Crippled in New York City and subsequently spent some time in the clinics. In 1898 Dr. Goodrich began the practice of his pro- fession in Hartford. Since 1910 he has limited his practice to diseases of chil- dren. He is a member of the City, County and State Medical societies, and of the American Medical Association. Dr. Goodrich is pediatrist of the Hartford Hospital, and one of the corporators and directors of the Hartford Dispensary. He is a member of the University Club.
On June 7, 1905, Dr. Goodrich married Margaret, daughter of John D. and Ade- laide Cutter, of Brooklyn, New York. Their children are: Dorothy, born March 21, 1906; Charles Chauncey, born July I, 1907.
CURTIS, Howard J., Lawyer, Jurist.
It is a far cry from graduation, even with the imposing Bachelor of Laws, to the Superior Bench, yet in less than a quarter of a century Judge Curtis accom- plished the journey, and for the past ten years has ably administered the duties pertaining to a judgeship upon the bench of the Superior Court of Connecticut. His rise to professional distinction was much more rapid than the fact cited, for when in practice but ten years he was made judge of the Civil Court of Com- mon Pleas for Fairfield county and for fourteen years filled that position. As a lawyer he was painstaking in the prep- aration of cases, forcible and effective in their presentation. As a judge of Common Pleas he evidenced the breadth and depth of his learning, and as the years progressed and his horizon widened his peculiar fitness for the position was recognized by his associates of the bench
and brethren of the bar. As a justice of the Superior Court his learning and abil- ity, reinforced by his years of experience upon the county bench, have enabled him to meet the responsibilities of his high position in a way and manner that classes nim among the eminent jurists who grace the bench of any court in any state.
Judge Curtis is of the ninth generation of a family founded in Stratford, Connec- ticut, by the sons of Elizabeth Curtis, a widow, who came to Stratford in 1639 with her two sons, John and William. It is supposed that Elizabeth Curtis was the widow of John Curtis, a landowner in Wethersfield, Connecticut, in 1639, who died either on the journey or so shortly after the family arrived in Stratford that no record was made. The name of Eliz- abeth Curtis and her sons appears on the earliest records of Stratford, and there she died in June, 1658.
The line of descent to Judge Curtis is through her eldest son, John Curtis, born in England in 1611, whose name appears as one of the original patentees of Strat- ford and on the list of property owners of 1650. He was a soldier of King Philip's War, ranking as sergeant and ensign and was treasurer of the town, elected December 29, 1675. He married Elizabeth Welles, who is believed to have been a sister of Governor Thomas Welles.
Joseph Curtis, the fifth child of Ensign John Curtis, was born in Stratford, Con- necticut, November 12, 1650, and became one of the prominent men of the town. He was town clerk for fifty years, 1678- 1728, member of the Governor's Council from 1698 until 1721, and representative in the House of Assembly for many years. He married Bethia Booth, of Stratford.
He was succeeded by his son, Joseph (2) Curtis, born in Stratford, Connecti-
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cut, November 6, 1687. He married, July 15, 17II, Elizabeth Welles.
He in turn was succeeded by a son, Joseph (3) Welles, born in Stratford, Connecticut, March 28, 1721. He mar- ried Martha Judson, who died in 1796.
Their son, Nehemiah Curtis, born in Stratford, Connecticut, in 1740, died May 13, 1810. He was a soldier of the Revo- lution, serving in the company com- manded by Captain Joseph Birdseye, Colonel Whiting's regiment. Nehemiah Curtis married (second) November 26, 1778, Sarah (Lewis) Booth, daughter of William Lewis and widow of Josiah Booth.
Freeman Curtis, son of Nehemiah Cur- tis, the Revolutionary soldier, and his second wife, Sarah (Lewis-Booth) Cur- tis, was born in Stratford, Connecticut, December 6, 1782, died January 5, 1862. He married (first) August 6, 1802, Anna Peck, who died July 4, 1828, aged forty- two years, daughter of Judson and Mary (Blakeman) Peck, of Stratford. Their tenth child, Freeman L., was born a few months prior to his mother's death.
Freeman L. Curtis, son of Freeman and Anna (Peck) Curtis, was born in Stratford, Connecticut, January 9, 1828, died in August, 1898. He was a farmer of the town, and held many town offices during his life. He married, October 2, 1856, Georgiana Howard, of New York City, who survived him until September, 1913.
Howard J. Curtis, son of Freeman L. and Georgiana (Howard) Curtis, was born in Stratford, Connecticut, June 29, 1857, of the ninth generation of his fam- ily residing in the town and of the sev- enth generation native born. Until the age of seventeen he remained at the home farm, acquiring knowledge in the public schools and assisting in the cultivation of the farm. In 1874 he left home and
spent one year in Pittsfield, Massachu- setts, as clerk in the freight office of the Housatonic Railroad Company. In 1875 he returned to Stratford and entered the preparatory school of which Frederick Sedgwick was principal. In 1877 he en- tered Yale University, whence he was graduated Bachelor of Arts, class of 'S1. He spent the next year in teaching at Chatham, Virginia, and at the same time began the study of law. In the fall of 1882 he entered the senior class of the Yale Law School, whence he was gradu- ated Bachelor of Laws in June, 1883, and that was the fulfillment of an ambition cherished from boyhood.
After graduation Mr. Curtis located in Bridgeport, was for a time in the office of Amos L. Treat, but in 1883 began prac- tice in partnership with George W. Wheeler. The young men practiced as Wheeler & Curtis for ten years, until 1893, when the association was broken by the election of Mr. Curtis as judge of the Civil Court of Common Pleas and Mr. Wheeler was appointed associate judge of the Superior Court of the State. For fourteen years Judge Curtis sat upon the county bench, then in January, 1907, the men whose professional lives had begun as partners again became associates by the appointment of Judge Curtis by Gov- ernor Woodruff as an associate judge of the Superior Court of Connecticut, which position he now ably fills. In political faith Judge Curtis is a Democrat, but conservative in his opinions. The law has been to him a "jealous mistress." and he has no business affiliations. He has made Stratford his home all his life and has served the Stratford Board of Edu- cation as a member for many years, and has likewise served the Public Library of Stratford, and is now president of the Stratford Library Association. He is a member of the First Ecclesiastical Society
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of Stratford (Congregational), serves on the society's committee, and takes a deep interest in all that concerns his native town. His clubs now are the Weatogue Country Club of Stratford, the Univer- sity of Bridgeport and the University of New York City. He is a member of the American, Connecticut and Bridgeport Bar associations, and of other societies devoted to matters in which he is inter- ested.
Judge Curtis married, June 5, 1888, Ellen V. Talbot. They are the parents of Howard Wheeler, John Talbot and Violette Curtis.
WALDO, George Curtis, Journalist.
When a half century ago, April I, 1867, George C. Waldo came to Bridge- port as local reporter and city editor of the "Standard," he began an association with that paper and with Connecticut journalism which has never been broken. His previous efforts in law and business had not proved to his liking, his tastes and talents from youth having been lit- erary and his efforts in other directions did not prove satisfactory. His mother, a writer and poetess, encouraged the lit- erary tastes of her son and under her direction he absorbed the best in English literature, his reading of the poets being very extensive. When he finally em- barked upon the sea of journalism he had found his proper element, his search had terminated, and as editor-in-chief he is still in command of the bark upon which he began his voyage. During this half century he has taken a part in every movement for the upbuilding of Bridge- port, either personally or with his pen, and in church, scientific society, histori- cal society and club has advanced the particular object for which each was
organized. While he has made the politi- cal fortunes of others and ardently sup- ported the principles of the Republican party, he has asked nothing important for himself and kept comparatively free from the entanglements of political office.
He traces his ancestry through seven generations to Cornelius Waldo, born about 1624, in England, it is supposed, died in Chelmsford, Massachusetts, Jan- uary 3, 1700-OI. Cornelius Waldo claimed descent from John, brother of Peter Waldo, founder of the Waldenses in France, 1170. Cornelius Waldo is first of record at Salem, Massachusetts, July 6, 1647. The line of descent from Cor- nelius Waldo, the founder, is through his son, John Waldo, a soldier of King Philip's war, a deputy to the General Court from Dunstable, Massachusetts, in 1689; later a settler in Windham, Con- necticut. He married Rebecca Adams, daughter of Captain Samuel and Rebecca (Graves) Adams, who survived him. The line continues through Edward Waldo, third son of John Waldo, a teach- er, farmer, lieutenant of militia and As- semblyman of Windham, and his first wife, Thankful (Dimmock) Waldo; their son, Shubael Waldo, and his wife, Mary (Allen) Waldo; their son, Daniel Waldo, of Chesterfield, New Hampshire, a sol- dier of the Revolution, and his wife, Han- nah (Carlton) Waldo; their son, Shubael (2) Waldo, of Chesterfield, New Hamp- shire, and his first wife, Rebekah (Cros- by) Waldo; their son, Josiah Crosby Waldo, and his first wife, Elmira Ruth (Ballou) Waldo. they the parents of George Curtis Waldo, of Bridgeport.
Josiah Crosby Waldo was born Decem- ber 5, 1803, at Chesterfield, New Hamp- shire, died August 28, 1890, at New Lon- don, Connecticut. He studied under the Rev. Hosea Ballou, of Boston, became a minister of the Universalist church and
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gave his life to the propagation of that faith. His work was widespread in his early years, covering the large cities and towns of Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana and part of Virginia and Tennessee. He was a pastor of the First Universalist Church of Lynn, Massachusetts, 1835 to 1839. and pastor of the First Universal- ist Society in West Cambridge, Massa- chusetts, 1841-47, and from 1849 to 1854 labored in Troy. New York, and after- ward for several years in New London. He published over one hundred contro- versial sermons, took part in many public debates, organized several church soci- eties and is credited with first generally introducing the Universalist faith in the west. He established and for many years published a weekly paper in Cincinnati, Ohio, "The Sentinel and Star in the West," and until his death was active in the work of his church. He married (first) October 26, 1831, at Boston, El- mina Ruth Ballou, daughter of the Rev. Hosea and Ruth (Washburn) Ballou, she a cousin of Eliza Ballou, mother of President James A. Garfield. Mrs. Waldo, born April 3, 1810, at Ports- mouth, New Hampshire, died at New London, Connecticut, June 29. 1856 ; she was a woman of fine intellectuality, a writer of verse, the periodicals of her day welcoming her poems. Mr. and Mrs. Josiah Crosby Waldo were the parents of Ella Fiducia Oliver, who died at the age of thirteen years; George Curtis, of fur- ther mention ; Clemintina Grace ; Fran- ces Rebecca, and Maturin Ballou Waldo.
George Curtis Waldo, son of the Rev. Josiah Crosby Waldo and his first wife, Elmina Ruth (Ballou) Waldo, was born in Lynn, Massachusetts, March 20, 1837. He completed public school courses at West Cambridge, Massachusetts, pre- pared for college at Troy Academy, then entered Tuft's College, whence he was
graduated Bachelor of Arts, class of 1860. Later he was awarded Master of Arts in course and in 1900 his alma mater con- ferred upon him the honorary degree of Litt. D. After graduation from Tuft's he began the study of law in the offices of .\. C. Lippit, of New London, but his study was interrupted by his enlistment in Company E. Second Regiment Con- necticut Volunteer Infantry, Colonel /1. H. Terry, under whom he served as cor- poral during the campaign of 1861. He was ready, but impaired health prevented his reenlistment and he retired from the service at the expiration of his term, three months.
After his return from the army he re- sumed the study of law, then for a time also read medicine in New London, then engaged in business for several years, finally in 1867 locating in Bridgeport, there finding his true sphere. He began his journalist career as local reporter and city editor of the Bridgeport "Standard," two years later became associate editor under the Hon. John D. Candee, and upon Mr. Candee's death in 1888, suc- ceeded him as editor-in-chief and presi- dent of the Standard Association, the owning corporation. The "Standard" be- came one of the important dailies of New England, and now occupies a high rank among the journals of the country. As president of the corporation he conserved the material interests of the paper and as a business proposition it has not disap- pointed the owners. In politics the paper and its editor agree (which is not always the case) and both are loyal supporters of the Republican party. For twenty-six years Dr. Waldo was a member of the Connecticut Board of Shell Fish Com- missioners and for twenty of those years president of the board : he was also for twelve years one of the trustees of the Insane Hospital at Norwich. Connecticut.
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In civic affairs he has pursued the same dignified course and has served his city as a member of the Board of Education. That service continued for five years and when the new high school building was erected on Congress street he was one of the committee in charge, representing town and school board. He was for four- teen years a director in the Bridgeport Public Library. He was one of the founders of the Bridgeport Scientific So- ciety, was for five years its secretary, and at the time the Historical Society merged with the Scientific Society he was vice- president of the former. He was the first president of the old Electric Club ; is an ex-president of the Seaside and Press clubs ; has for several years been an offi- cial of the Republican Club ; was for sev- eral years a director of the Young Men's Christian Association, and since 1876 has been a vestryman of Christ Episcopal Church, serving five years as junior warden. He retains his membership and interest in that fast disappearing body of gallant men, the Grand Army of the Re- public, and is a member of the Army and Navy Club of Connecticut. His fraterni- ties are Phi Beta Kappa and Leta Psi, and he holds membership in many other organizations, fraternal, literary and pro- fessional.
Dr. Waldo married, in 1874, in New Orleans, Louisiana, Annie Frye, daugh- ter of Major Frederick and Matilda (Brooks) Frye, formerly residents of Bridgeport, and a great-granddaughter of Colonel James Frye, of Andover, Massa- chusetts, who commanded a regiment at Bunker Hill. Mr. and Mrs. Waldo are the parents of four children: Selden C., deceased ; Rosalie Hillman, married Ro- land H. Mallory; Maturin Ballou; and George Curtis (2).
The foregoing outlines the principal in- cidents of a useful life now well in its
evening. It has been spent largely in the service of others and that service has been steadfast and continuous. His per- sonal efforts and his editorial strength have been freely and potently used in the upbuilding of his city, and he has steadily labored for all that was good and en- nobling.
PHELPS, Jeffery Orson,
Business Man, State Cattle Commissioner.
The Hon. Jeffery Orson Phelps, of Simsbury, Connecticut, president of the Blodgett & Clapp Company, of Hartford (dealers in iron and steel), judge of pro- bate for Simsbury, ex-legislator, and at present one of the State commissioners, has worthily held in its customary place a family name which has been prominent in New England, and Connecticut, since very early Colonial days. Jeffery Orson Phelps is of the tenth generation from that of his American ancestor, Wil- liam Phelps, who disembarked from the ship "Mary and Jane" at Nantasket, Massachusetts, May 30, 1630, although the genealogy extends far back into the preceding centuries, in its relation to the Phelps family of England, and the Guelphs of the House of Hanover. Since 1636, the Phelps family has been identi- fied with the development of the State of Connecticut, the annals of which contain records of the actions of many valiant and patriotic scions of that house.
The name Phelps is the English equiv- alent of Guelphs, which in turn is the German form of Welf, the name by which an illustrious Italian family of princely rank was identified. In Germany, the Guelf family attained great prominence and political power, notable of its lines being that of the House of Hanover, whence came Queen Victoria of England, whose patronymic was Guelph, the gene-
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alogy of the royal house tracing back to a Welf family of Padua, in Lombardy. It cannot be now determined with cer- tainty at what period the migrations to Germany, and thence to England, took place, but the Rev. Stuart Dodge, who devoted much time to research in relation thereto, says "They went from North Italy in the eleventh century to Germany, then writing, or spelling, their name 'Guelphs' or 'Gulphs.' In the sixteenth century, they crossed to England, where the name after taking various forms of writing became 'Phelps'."
The family early became established in Gloucestershire, and the different branches bore various coats-of-arms. That borne by the branch of the family with which this article is chiefly con- cerned is as follows: Argent, a lion ram- pant, sable, between six crosses, cross- lets. fitchy gules. Motto: Veritas sine Timore, i. e., "Truth without Fear."
James Phelps, grandfather of the pro- genitor of the American branches of the Phelps family, was born in Tewkesbury, Gloucestershire, about 1520. He married Joan -, and died prior to May 10, 1588, on which date his widow was com- missioned to administer the estate of her deceased husband.
Their son, William Phelps, was bap- tized on August 4, 1560, in Tewkesbury Abbey Church. His wife Dorothy sur- vived him two years, his decease occur- ring in 1611.
Their son, William Phelps, the pro- genitor of the family in America, was bap- tized on August 19, 1599. It was not long after the birth of his first child, in 1619, that he removed the family abode to one of the southern counties of England, to Dorsetshire, or to Somerset. On March 20, 1630, William Phelps, accompanied by wife and their six children, and also by his brother, George, embarked on the
ship "Mary and John," at Plymouth, England, sailing thence to the colony of New England, which, favored by good winds, they reached on May 30, of that year, disembarking at Nantasket, Massa- chusetts. The company of which he was a member embraced those who ultimately became the first settlers and founders of Dorchester, Massachusetts, organizing thereat the first town government in the Massachusetts Colony. William Phelps took the freeman's oath during the first six months of his residence there, and early became one of the prominent citi- zens of the town. He was a member of the first jury empanelled in the New Eng- land Colony. On November 9, 1630, they found Walter Palmer not guilty of man- slaughter. William Phelps was chosen constable on September 27, 1631, and in the spring of the following year he was selected as one of sixteen commissioned to effect the raising of a public stock. On March 4, 1634, he was one of a com- mittee of three deputed to survey and determine the boundaries between Bos- ton and Roxbury. In the same year he was nominated a delegate to the General Court, and sat as such, serving on impor- tant committees. In 1635 he was re- elected to the General Court. His wife died during that year, and in the follow- ing spring William Phelps removed his family to what is now Windsor, Connec- ticut, and there joined a party of sixty. who had migrated to that locality with the Rev. Mr. Warham, in the autumn of the previous year. William Phelps was honored by election to a commission of seven persons, empowered to govern the new colony of Connecticut, which was then understood to be under the jurisdic- tion of the Massachusetts Company. On May 1. 1637, he presided at a court which ordered "that there shall be an offensive war against the Pequots." The functions
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