Genealogical and biographical record of New London County, Connecticut, containing biographical sketches of prominent and representative citizens and genealogical records of many of the early settled families, Part 149

Author:
Publication date: 1905
Publisher: Chicago : J.H. Beers & Co.
Number of Pages: 1568

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(V) Gov. Matthew Griswold, who was borr March 25, 1714, married, Nov. 10, 1743, Ursula daughter of Gov. Roger and Sarah (Drake) Wol cott, of Windsor. With no special educational ad vantages, but by dint of hard work, he became · lawyer, and in 1779 received the degree of LL. D from Yale. He was a member of the Colonial As sembly for many years, and for nearly thirty year was counsellor for the Colony and State. The ver

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GENEALOGICAL AND. BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

efficient Council of Safety formed in 1775 to aid the Governor through the struggles of the Revolution was headed by him from the first. He became a judge in the Superior Court, Chief Justice of the State, Lieutenant Governor and Governor. He was president of the State Convention which met in 1788 to adopt the Constitution of the United States. His wife died April 5, 1788; her father, brother, husband, son and nephew were successive governors of the State of Connecticut. Gov. Matthew Gris- wold made his home at Black Hall, the old family residence, and died April 28, 1799. His children were as follows : (1) John, born Feb. 20, 1752, married Sarah Johnson; (2) Matthew, born April 17, 1760, who graduated from Yale in 1780, and married Lydia Ely, was a member of the Council, and judge of the county court; (3) Gov. Roger, born May 21, 1762, married Fanny Rogers; (4) Ursula, born Nov. 18, 1744, died Feb. 14, 1745 ; (5) Hannah, born May 22, 1746, died Dec. 15, 1755: (6) Marian, born April 17, 1750, married (first) Charles C. Chandler, (second) Ebenezer Lane, and (third) Justin Ely ; and (7) Ursula, born April 13, 1754, married Lynde McCurdy.

(V) Ensign Thomas Griswold, who was born Feb. 15, 1719, and died July 16, 1770, married Susannah, daughter of Nathaniel Lynde, Jr., of Saybrook. Their children were as follows: (1) Lucy, who married Major Richard Wait; (2) Louisa, who married Lee Lay ; (3) Lois, who mar- ied Capt. Samuel Mather, and was the great-grand- nother of the late Richard Sill Griswold, of Old Lyme; (4) James, who married Dorothy C. Chandler: (5) Elijah, who married Lucretia H. Tracy ; and (6) Lucy, who married Dudley Wood- bridge.

(VI) Gov. Roger Griswold, who was born May 'I, 1762, graduated from Yale in 1780, with the de- rrce of LL. D. On Oct. 27, 1788, he married Fanny, daughter of Col. Zabdial and Elizabeth Tracy ) Rogers, of Norwich. He had settled in Nor- ich in 1783. and lived there until he was elected Congress in 1794, when he moved to Black Hall, in yme. He was a member of Congress for ten cars, and in 1801 received the appointment as ceretary of War, an honor which he declined. He as a judge of the Superior Court, and became icuitenant Governor and Governor, of Connecticut. lis death occurred in Norwich Oct. 25, 1812, and · was buried at Black Hall. His wife survived him ntil Dec. 26, 1863, when she died in Lyme. They ere the parents of ten children ; Augustus Henry, harles Chandler, Matthew, Roger Wolcott, Will- m Frederick, Robert Harper, James, Frances Ann, liza W. and Marian.

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Augustus Henry Griswold, eldest child of Gov. ger, was born at Norwich, Oct. 27. 1780. He is a ship-master, and died Dec. 30, 1830. On ig. 12, 1820, he married Elizabeth Lansdale, who ssed away March 12, 1847. Their children were follows: Mary Sophia ; and Roger, born Dec.

13, 1824, who married Jan. 1. 1856, Julia A., daugh- ter of Joshua and Eunice (Crane) Wells, and had three children, Henry Augustus (deceased), and Edward and Lillian, both living in Black Hall.

Charles Chandler Griswold, second child of Gov. Roger, born Feb. 8, 1791, graduated from Yale in 1808, and became a lawyer. He married, Nov. 14, 1820, Ellen Elizabeth Perkins, who was born May 25, 1799, daughter of Judge Elias and Lucretia Shaw ( Woodbridge) Perkins. The following children were born to this union: (1) Fanny Rog- ers, born March 5, 1822, married (first) Sept. I, 1842, Shubal F. Bartlett, who died in California in 1850. Their three children were as follows: Ellen, born March 6, 1844, died in June of the same year ; Adeline married H. S. Allen, and became the mother of Lucy Eleanor, and Jane Perkins (the latter married June 8. 1897. Herbert C. Wells, and has two children, Eleanor Adelaide and Louisa Gris- wold) : Charles G., was born Dec. 25, 1848. Fanny Rogers Griswold married (second) Daniel Bartlett, brother of Shubal F., by whom she had three chil- dren, as follows: Kate Elizabeth : Joseph, born Feb. 20. 1862, died July 16. 1862; and Robert H., born Nov. 24, 1864. (2) Ellen Lucretia. (3) Oliver Perkins. (4) James. (5) William. (6) Joseph Perkins. (7) Charles Henry. (8) John was a captain of volunteers in the late Civil war, and was killed in the battle of Antietam.

Matthew Griswold, the third child of Gov. Roger, was born Sept. 13, 1792, at Norwich. He studied medicine in his native town, but after his father's death he came to Lyme. and settled on the homestead at Black Hall. On July 5. 1827. he married his fourth cousin. Phebe Hubbard Ely, who was born at Lyme, July 17, 1804, second daughter of Col. Seth and Lydia ( Marvin) Ely and died Nov. 26, 1904. He died Ang. 17. 18;9. His children were: (1) Phebe Hubbard, died in infancy. ( 2) Catherine, born Sept. 22, 1820. died Jan. 8. 1889. (3) Lydia Maria, married Feb. 28, 1855. John C. Selden, a merchant of Erie, Pas, by whom she had two children. Marian Griswold ( who died in child- hood), and Grace Card ( who married. Jan. 12. 1893, Lieut. Commander Frederic Lincoln Chapin. by whom she has two children, Lydia Selden and Sellen ). (4) Matthew, born June 6, 1833. married ( first ) Sarah Lucy Olmstead, by whom he had two children. Matthew (who married Jessie G. Black, and has four children, Matthew, Wilham Black. Roger Wolcott and a daughter ) and Marym Ehhn ( who married Leila Lee, and has a son. 1.ce ). Hc married (second) Anna Schenck, by whom he has five children. William Edward Schenck. Roger Wol- cott. Eks. Dwight Torres and Jeme Whitemore. Matthew Griswold is a resident of Frie. l'a., where he is a manufacturer. He was a member of the Connecticut Legislature for two terms, and was a member of the 53d and 55th Congresses from the 20th District of Pennsylvania. (5) Marian (6) l'hebe Marvin. (7) Ellen Elizabeth. (8) Elizabeth.

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(9) Fanny Rogers, married Horace T. Ely, of New York City. a prominent real estate dealer, and had these children : Fanny Griswold, Horace G., Marian, Wolcott G. and Matthew G.

WILLIAM WARREN PALMER, residing at Chestnut Hill, in the town of Lebanon. is one of the most enterprising and successful citizens of the locality. The Palmer family is an old one in Rhode Island, the grandfather of our subject, Ziba Palmer, having been a resident of Middletown, that State, in early life, becoming the owner of a farm and a grist mill, the latter conducted by his sons. Later in life he removed to Newport where he made his home until his death, which was caused by the improper treatment of a sore upon his finger. He married Hannah Eldredge, who survived him and died at the home of her daughter, Mrs. Allen, of Colchester, Conn. The children of their family were: Harry married Sarah Packham, was a farmer, and died in Narragansett, R. I .: Warren William is mentioned below : John C. married Lou- isa Brown, resided in early life in different places in Rhode Island and later located in Norwich. Conn., where he was engaged in the wholesale business for a number of years, and upon settling in Paxton, Neb .. he became a large ranchman and established a bank there. becoming the wealthiest man in the place, where he died and left numerous descendants : Elvira married Rowland Allen, and died in Col- chester.

Warren William Palmer, father of William Warren Palmer, was born in Middletown, R. I., and his early life was spent there. He received only a common-school education and was brought up on the farm, remaining there until 1855, when he came to Lebanon, Conn., and purchased the Bliss place in Exeter Society. The farm was a small one, but contained considerable woodland. He improved the land and got out firewood, and burned consider- able charcoal. For about twenty years he made his home there and then traded this farm for an- other in the town, on which he resided for a year. He then sold it and bought of Peleg Congdon the stone gristmill at Chestnut Hill. he being the third owner from Capt. Stowell, who built it in 1829. Mr. Palmer was engaged in farming and gristmill- ing there for a number of years, when he was suc- ceeded by his son. and he went to Paxton, Neb .. investing in property. intending to make that place his home: but he met with financial reverses and returned to Lebanon. Soon thereafter he failed in health, and he died Jan. 6, 1892, when he was seven- ty-seven years of age. At Liberty Hill his remains were tenderly interred. In politics he was a stanch Democrat. While still living in Rhode Island he united with the Congregational Church, and trans- ferred his membership to the church of that denomi- nation in Exeter. In Lebanon, Conn., he married Esther R. Miller. a native of Lebanon, and daugh- ter of Caleb Miller, of that place, a prominent

farmer. Mrs. Palmer passed away in 1869. the mother of two children: Josephine A., who married Abner Brown and resides in the State of Washing- ton ; and William Warren. The father subsequently married Mrs. Celia A. Wood, who survives him, and she bore him one child, Nettie W., who died in infancy.

William W. Palmer was born Feb. 15. 1859, in Lebanon, and was educated in the district schools, which he attended until eighteen years of age. As a boy he assisted his father in the mill and upon the farm. When he became a young man he worked as a farm laborer until his marriage, when he began housekeeping in the house opposite the one he now occupies. He took charge of the mill and operated it as rented property for a time, and later came into possession of the mill and a farm of thirty-nine acres, by purchase, and has since conducted both very successfully. In addition he handles coal. and has built up a good business in all these lines by his honesty, straightforwardness and pleasant manner. His present barn and storehouse were built by him, and he remodeled the house, so that he now has excellent buildings.

Mr. Palmer first married Cora H. Storrs, the adopted daughter of Mrs. Lydia H. Storrs, of Mansfield, Conn., and she died Dec. 7. 1895. aged thirty years, leaving two children: Helena Inez graduated from the Willimantic high school in the class of 1902. and for one year taught school : she is now the wife of Gurdon T. Chappell, of Chestnut Hill. Wallace Warren resides at home. For - his second wife Mr. Palmer married Sophia J. Thomp- son. of Columbia. Conn., daughter of Addison F. Thompson, and they have one child, Robert Ad- dison.

Mr. Palmer was a Democrat until 1896, when he became a Republican. although in local affairs he believes in voting for the best man. He has never aspired to official position. and has declined many offers of nomination, although he has held a few of the minor town offices. Fraternally he is a mem- ber of Lebanon Lodge, No. 23, A. O. U. W., and the American Order of Fraternal Helpers. Mr. Palmer, his wife and daughter and eldest son are consistent members of the Baptist Church, and he is one of the trustees. Being a hardworking man, Mr. Palmer is very much occupied with business affairs, and is highly respected as a good citizen, kind neighbor and friend, and a self-made man in the full sense of the word.

DR. DAVID PALMER FRANCIS, one of the foremost physicians of Connecticut, was born Jan- uary 22, 1823, at Griswold. Conn .. and died April 4. 1883. His paternal ancestry is traced to Richard Francis, who settled in Cambridge, Mass .. in 1636. and from him through an unbroken succession of Johns. On his mother's side Dr. Francis was a lineal descendant of Walter Palmer, who came to this country in 1629, from Nottinghamshire. Eng-

William H. Palmer

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GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

land, and with ten others founded the colony at Charlestown, Mass .; he removed to Rehoboth, Mass .. in 1643, and in 1653 was one of the founders of Stonington, Connecticut.

While still a boy Dr. Francis discovered that his fortune and reputation must be won by his own efforts, as his father, John Francis, though a leading man in his section, was too heavily burdened by the needs of a large family to help him beyond the ad- vantages of a common school education. The family was of French extraction, and the Doctor had in- herited the hopefulness of his race, mingled with enough of the Puritan element to make his determi- nation firm and unyielding. He resolved to follow the profession of medicine, and, to accumulate the means that would enable him to study properly, began teaching school at the age of sixteen. His first professional studies were carried on in the office of Dr. Joseph Palmer, of Canterbury, Conn., and having there obtained a good foundation for his later studies, he entered the Berkshire Medical College at Pittsfield, Mass., in 1842, graduating in 1845. He was forced to teach school during vaca- tions to obtain the means to carry on his college course, and after graduating, settled in New Lon- don, with no capital save a few books he had been able to purchase, his professional knowledge, and the sum of fifty cents.

Dr. Francis made New London his home for the balance of his life, built up an enviable reputa- tion for his skill as a practitioner and amassed a fortune. Dr. Francis was a thorough student, feel- ing that to keep abreast of his profession he must have a catholicity of thought that would allow hin to examine and use all beneficial discoveries, By his skill and energy he became a leading member of the medical fraternity.

In June, 1852, Dr. Francis married Miss Nancy W. Pinkham, daughter of Capt. Nathaniel Pink- ham, of Boothboy, Maine. She died in September. 1855, and after her death the Doctor determined to visit Europe and there obtain a broader knowledge of the calling he had chosen. He studied in London and Paris, frequenting the hospitals and attending in London the lectures of Profs. Fergusson, Ericson and Bowman, and in Paris those of Profs. Netalon and Velpeau. Returning with increased knowledge and skill, his ability and thoroughness were soou widely known and acknowledged, and were re- warded by a position that plainly indicated his use- fulness. Generous in the matter of his services, as prompt to answer the call of those from whom no pecuniary reward could come as that of the wealth- iest man, keeping thoroughly informed regarding all matters pertaining to his profession, and calling to his aid its most advanced thought, his career was an eminently successful one, and he demon strated what determination and study can do, and filled an honored and representative position.

In November, 1864. Dr. Francis was married to his second wife, Miss Carrie C. Unll, of New York

City, who survives him. No children were born to them.

Dr. Francis was one of the charter members of the celebrated Putnam Phalanx, of Hartford, and several years ago that organization honored the Doctor by visiting the city of New London. His early religious training made him cling to the Con- gregational Church, though his mind was too broad to be warped or hampered by the ruling of any creed. In politics he was a Democrat of the old, honest and stable Jacksonian type. As his liberal thought had made him adjure the sway of creeds, so had it kept him from being bound by such medical theories, as to him seemed stultifying and void of help : he therefore made use of all truths and scien- tific discoveries bearing on his profession, his prac- tice being broad in the use of theories and ideas. and fully in accord with the advance and learning of the century.

ERNEST ERASTUS CARRIER, one of the prominent agriculturists of Colchester, residing on his fine farm of 150 acres near North Westchester. belongs through honorable descent to one of the old established families of his section. Members of the family have been for generations quiet, industrious and thrifty people. In religious affairs they have ever been active, this being true of the present gen- eration as much as of those gone before.

The Carrier family is of Welsh origin, tracing its lineage back to one Thomas Carrier, who was born in Wales about the year 1629, possibly a few years carlier. He was a man of unusual height- tradition says he stood seven feet. four inches, with other physical proportions correspondingly developed and belonged to the bodyguard of King Charles I. of England, who it is said appointed him royal executioner. In 1077 he brought his family to America, landing on these shores Dec. 4th, of that year. The following is taken from a written rec- ord collected by the late Titus Carrier, of Norwich :

"The first settlers of the town of Colchester were much annoyed by Owanens and Joshua, the Mohe- gan chiefs, the sons of the great Warrior Lucas, and from the Masons and many others, who claummed large tracts of land within the grant by virtue of titles and grants obtained from the heirs of the Great Mohegan Sachem Uncas. Whereupon the general court holden at Hartford Det, 13. Hos. upon a petition of divers of the inhabitants of the city of, Hartford, granted liberty for a plantation at or near the place called Jeremiah Farm, upon the New London Road, and a committee were appointed to las out the township, beginning at the north bound of Twenty Mile river southward to a river called Deep river and eastward from the bands of Hlad- dam seven iles. The general court at subsequenth times confirmed this layout. The general court of assembly holden at Hartford Oct 1. 1. in the behalf of the new plantation called it tokhester and should belong to county of New London The

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affairs of the township were in an unsettled condi- tion until 1702 as will appear from record kept by Ephraim Little, second Congregational minister of that place. From that date settlers came in and took up land; among the number was Thomas Carrier and his two sons Richard and Andrew from An- dover, Mass. Thomas Carrier was called the Tall Man, being seven feet, four inches and by tradition the oldest inhabitants speak of him as such to this date (1874). He was a Welchman by birth. Of his early life we have no knowledge. At sixty-six years of age [by Historical record of Massachusetts] we find him and his wife Martha (Allen) at Andover, Mass., where she was executed as a witch in 1692, as by said Record [page 163]. He and his two sons, Richard and Andrew, moved to Colchester, Conn., about 1702. He was notorious for fleetness of foot, even after he was more than one hundred years old. He had belonged to the bodyguard of King Charles I of Great Britain. It is said he killed the King of England. If so, he must have been the executioner of King Charles I in 1649, at which time he was about twenty-three years of age. Settled first in Billerica, Mass., and afterwards moved to Andover, Mass."

The oath of fidelity was administered to Thomas Carrier at Billerica in 1679. [See History of Bil- lerica, pp. 191 and 193.] About this time there was great excitement on account of witchcraft, and Martha (Allen), wife of Thomas Carrier, was ar- rested for being accessory to the delusion, and tried by law for bewitching certain persons, and sen- tenced to be hung, which sentence was carried out in 1692, at Salem, Mass. Thomas and Martha ( Al- len) Carrier had three sons, Thomas, Andrew and Richard, and during the period between 1679 and 1702 the father and three sons moved to Andover, Mass., as the record shows them at Andover, March 8, 1702. [Abbot's History of Andover, page 202.] Between that date and Jan. 21, 1703, they moved with their families to Colchester, Conn., as the records show. There Thomas Carrier, the father, died after rounding out 109 years.

Andrew Carrier, second son of Thomas and Martha (Allen) Carrier, was born in 1676, and was married to Mary Adams in 1704. They had five children. He died July 23, 1749. She died Nov. 16, 1734. - Their eldest son,

Andrew Carrier, Jr., was married to Ruth Adams, and had one son. After her death he mar- ried Rebecca Bidwell, and they had five children. Their third child, Samuel, was born Jan. 6, 1739. ‘

Samuel Carrier, son of Andrew, Jr., was married Dec. 16, 1765, to Rebecca Sears, of Haddam, Conn. He died April 29, 1811. She died April 6, 1814. They had eight children. It is believed that Samuel Carrier was quartermaster general in the Revolu- tionary army. At one time he went to Massachu- setts on horseback with pay in silver for the soldiers, and carried it in his saddle-bags. Being obliged to stop one night at a tavern to avoid suspicion he

threw his saddlebags and saddle into the woodshed, on the wood pile. In the morning he proceeded on his way unmolested. At another time he with a company of soldiers went to Marlboro, Conn., and routed a company of guerrillas who were located in a cave in what is known as Dark Hollow, and were terrorizing the inhabitants by their actions, stealing whatever they could find.

Andrew Carrier, third child of Samuel and grandfather of Ernest E., was born Dec. 8, 1769, in the town of Colchester, and, with the exception of a few years' residence at Millington, in the town of East Haddam, spent his life in his native town. Upon his return from Millington, in 1820, he set- tled on the farm now occupied by Ernest E. Carrier, and in 1835 erected the stone house now standing, the stone being quarried on his own farm. As a farmer he was very successful, and as a man he was highly respected. His death took place Feb. 15, 1847, and he was buried in the cemetery at North Westchester. He was a regular attendant at the Westchester Congregational Church, and was liberal in his support of the same. In politics he was a Whig.

Andrew Carrier was married (first) Feb. 24, 1792, to Phebe Wickwire, who died leaving one child, Minerva, born Sept. II, 1803, who died un- married at the age of forty-nine years. Andrew Carrier married for his second wife Anna Gillet, born in Colchester, April 5, 1781, daughter of Aaron and.' Anna ( Pratt ) Gillet, and the children of this union - were: Phebe Ann, born March 5, 1815, was mar- ried Jan. 22, 1837, to Leander Holdredge, and re- sided in Waterford, Conn., where she died Jan. 16, 1890. Andrew Ely, born July 2, 1816, was mar- ried May II, 1842, to Mary A. Marks, was a farmer and resided on a part of his father's original farm and died May 9, 1884. Erastus and Electa, twins, were born May 2, 1818 ; the former was the father of our subject and the latter was married Feb. 9, 18.40, to Austin Haling, and resided in South Manchester, Conn., where she died Feb. 25, 1901. Mary, born March 25, 1820, is unmarried and resides at Col- chester. Mercy, born June 26, 1822, is unmarried, and resides with her sister Mary. Samuel, borr Dec. 6, 1824, died at the age of two years. The mother of these, children, after the death of Mr Carrier, married Elijah Gillet, a relative, whom she survived a number of years, and she was still active and well preserved at the time of decease, June 14 1872, in her ninety-second year. Early in life sh had united with the Colchester Congregationa Church, and after her marriage transferred to th Westchester Church, of which she was a membe for more than fifty years.

Erastus Carrier was born at Millington, in th town of East Haddam, and was about two years ol when his parents removed to Westchester, to th farm now known as "Pine Brook farm," where h spent the rest of his life. His education had bee the best the local schools afforded, he and a neigl

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bor who went with crutches walking four miles to attend the famous Bacon Academy. For several winters he taught school, and he also worked in the stone quarries near the Connecticut river, as did many of the young men of that time and locality. He assisted in the conduct of the home farm when not otherwise employed until 1838, when he went to Summerville, Jefferson Co., Pa., making the entire journey on foot, a distance of about 500 miles. Two years later he purchased a horse, built himself a sleigh and drove home over the path he had pre- viously walked, taking two more days to make the journey back than the trip out had required. After his return home he and his brother Andrew assumed the management of the farm, which after the death of his parents was divided, Erastus retaining the portion on which the house was located. It neces- sitated his going heavily into debt, but he paid it off, cleared the farm of rocks and bushes, and built many stone walls. He was a successful farmer. A very hard-working man, he was particularly interested in his agricultural operations until the effects of age caused him to give up active labor. Until about the last year of his life, when his eyesight failed on account of a cataract, he was in as good health as any one of his age could expect to be. His death occurred Sept. 4, 1903, as the result of a paralytic shock, and he was buried in the cemetery at North Westchester.

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Genealogical and biographical record of New London County, Connecticut, containing biographical sketches of prominent and representative citizens and genealogical records of many of the early settled families, Part 149

Author: Publication date: 1905 Publisher: Chicago : J.H. Beers & Co. Number of Pages: 1568

Author:
Publication date: 1905
Publisher: Chicago : J.H. Beers & Co.
Number of Pages: 1568