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 29

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

USA > Connecticut > New London County > 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 29

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

The "Novice," built a year later, strictly of o iginal design, a sail boat 27 feet long and 10 fe wide, proved a wonder, easily distancing all cla boats, and taking the prize over all the noted boa and yachts in Southern waters. She was of tl skimming dish type with an overhanging end, and center-board.

The "Jennie," a steam yacht 33 feet long, 8 fe beam, attracted much attention among yachtsme along the Atlantic coast.

The "Gleam," a 24-foot cat boat, but eligible the 20-foot class, was built in 1895, and won thr. of a series of races at Bushby Point, July II, 25, ar 31, 1896.

In March, 1881, Mr. Palmer married Miss Eliz: beth L. Murphy, of Noank, daughter of Charles ar Nancy Murphy. Their only child, Bernard Lei yard, died March 5, 1885, aged two years and eleve months. Like his distinguished father, Robert Pa mer, Jr., has long been an interested participant in tl. political life of his locality, a representative ar influential member of the Republican party. Tl same high standard of citizenship that has so lor characterized the Palmer family at Noank, found in him. In 1886 he represented the town the Connecticut Legislature, serving on the commi tee on Appropriations. He is a prominent memb and liberal supporter of the Baptist Church.

CAPT. LABAN RUSSELL JEWETT, who f. more than half a century was identified with tl business interests of Norwich, and who for mar years commanded vessels bound to all ports of tl globe, was born in the town of Lisbon, New Londc county, April 12, 1833, a descendant of one of th. oldest families in the county.

The Jewett family in Connecticut comes fro: English stock and the first emigrant to the Ne World was a son of Edward Jewett, of Bradfor Yorkshire. In 1604, this Edward married Mar

GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

ghter of William Taylor, also of Bradford, and ebruary, 1615, died there, leaving four children :

in iam, born Sept. 15, 1605 ; Maximilian, Oct. 4, If ar la CC a m W W: ; Joseph, Dec. 31, 1609 ; Sarah, in 1613. Joseph Maximilian came to America in 1639, and the r settled in Rowley, Mass., where he was a dea- in the Church forty-five years, and many times presentative to the General Court. He had ied before leaving England his first wife, Ann, died in Rowley, Nov. 9, 1667, and in 1675 he united with his second wife, Ellinor Boynton. H death occurred in Rowley, Oct. 19, 1684, and he le. seven children.

II) Joseph Jewett married in Bradford, York- she, Oct. 1, 1634, Mary Mallinson, and five years la A th en th

brought his wife and their son, Jeremiah, to "rica ; they, with Maximilian, formed a part of congregation of the Rev. Ezekial Rogers, who irked at Hull, England, in the fall of 1638, on ship "John," and arrived in the spring of 1639, at oston. The whole company settled in Rowley, foning the first Church of that town. Mrs. Mary Je ett passed away April 12, 1652, leaving the fol- ig children: Jeremiah, born in 1637; Sarah, 16 ; Hannah, 1641 ; Nehemiah, 1643; Faith and ence, twins, 1645. In May, 1653, Mr. Jewett maried Mrs. Ann Allen, a widow, and they had one , Joseph, born April 1, 1656, who was in turn a enter, a merchant and a captain, and who mar-

Ruth Wood, and died Oct. 30, 1694, while his died Nov. 29, 1734. The parents, Joseph and

Pa ch ca rie wi AI Jewett, passed away Feb. 25, 1661, and Feb- 7 -, 1661, respectively.

III) Jeremiah Jewett was about two years old wl

1 brought to Rowley, and there he spent his e life, dying in May, 1714. In May, 1661, he wl m2 ied Sarah Dickinson, who survived her hus- ten years. They were the parents of seven ch Fe wl

ba ren : Jeremiah, born Dec. 30, 1662, deceased 15, 1732, married Jan. 4, 1688, Eliza Kimball, died in August, 1728; Joseph, born in 1665; T1

nas, 1668; Eleazer, 1670; Nehemiah, 1675; aim, 1680; Caleb, 1681.

in he lar of

IV) Eleazer Jewett, born in 1670, was baptized 73, and grew to manhood in Rowley. In 1698 oved to Connecticut, bought a large tract of

in what is now Lisbon, and spent the remainder s life there in agricultural pursuits. There is no the M

cord of his death, but it must have been later 1747. On April 1, 1700, he was married to , widow of E. Lamb, whose death occurred Jai 16, 1715. For his second wife he chose Mary, Se; ag firs yea 173 170 B. bec w of Jonathan Tracy, the marriage occurring 3, 1717. By her death Sept. 18, 1723, he was left a widower. His five children, all by the wife, were : Mary, born in 1700, died the same Sarah, born in July, 1702, married, June 29, Thomas Perkins; Eleazer, born Sept. 22, ; Hannah, born in 1707, married Nov. 5, 1729, night ; Caleb, born June 25, 1710, married Re- Cook, Feb. 3, 1736, had five children, and

went to Sharon, Conn., in 1741, was elected repre- sentative eleven times, and died in 1778.

(V) Eleazer Jewett, born in Norwich, now Lis- bon, married March 17, 1726, Elizabeth Griggs. He died Jan. 5, 1747, and his widow passed away in April, 1781. They were the parents of : Eleazer, born Aug. 31, 1731 ; Mary, 1733 ; Thomas, July 19, 1736; Ichabod, Feb. 5, 1738; Hannah, Aug. 10, 1741 ; Sarah, Aug. 5, 1743 -; Elam, March 5, 1746, married a Miss Richardson and removed to Wey- bridge, Vt., and left numerous descendants.

(VI) Eleazer Jewett, born in Lisbon, settled in Griswold, then Preston, in the borough now called Jewett City in his honor. At first a farmer, he after- ward operated a gristmill and a sawmill, located on the Pachaug river. In 1790 he was joined by John Wilson, his son-in-law, a clothier from Massachu- setts, and, encouraging the latter to set up a fulling mill, a flourishing village began to grow up around these industries. A pioneer in nearly all the busi- ness enterprises of the place, Mr. Jewett lived on there in the place he had really made, to the good old age of eighty-seven. His tombstone in the cem- etery at Jewett City bears the following inscription : "In memory of Mr. Eleazer Jewett, who died De- cember 17, 1817, in the 87th year of his age. In April, 1771, he began the settlement of this village, and from his persevering industry and active benev- olence it has derived its present importance. Its name will perpetuate his memory."

Eleazer Jewett married Olive Chapman, a daughter of Rufus Chapman, and children were born to them as follows: Lydia, born June 1, 1756, who married John Wilson Aug. 1, 1782, and died May 15, 1794 ; Olive, Oct. 23, 1757 ; Elizabeth, April II, 1759, who married Jonas Boardman, June 12, 1788; Eleazer, Jan. II, 1761, deceased in 1776; Joseph, Dec. 12, 1762.

(VII) Joseph Jewett, grandfather of Capt. Laban R. Jewett, spent his life in his native town of Lisbon, engaged in farming and died in 1833. On Oct. 13, 1785, he married Sally Johnson, and after her death, was united to his second wife, Betsey King, March 4, 1790. She died in 1838, the mother of nine children: (1) Betsey, born in 1790, married a Mr. Palmer. (2) Sarah, 1792, married a Mr. Dex- ter. (3) Lydia, 1794, married a Mr. Bottom. (4) Ann, 1796, was the wife of a Mr. Bliss. (5) Eleazer was born Jan. 4, 1799. (6) Henry L., April 2, 1801, married first Harriet Bentley, by whom he had one child, Harriet. By his second wife, Eliza Chapman, there were four children: Joseph H. (of Westerly, R. I.), Eliza, Adelaide and Anna, the last named of whom married John C. Kellogg and resides on Laurel Hill, Norwich. (7) Joseph King, born Dec. 18, 1802, married, in 1831, Abigail Simons, who was born in 1798, and died in 1877, seventeen years after her husband's death. Three children were born to them : Joseph, in 1831 ; Lydia, 1835; Jemima, 1837. (8) Thomas, born Sept. 30, 1804, married Eliza Godfrey, and had three children : Jane, Thomas and

I20

GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

Arthur. (9) Charles, born Sept. 5, 1807, married May 5, 1830, Lucy Adams Tracy. He died April 3, 1879, leaving a family of eight, viz. : Charles, born in 1831, deceased in 1887; William, 1832; Richard, 1834; Lucy, 1840; John, 1842; Frank, 1844; Sarah Eliza, 1846; William Parker, 1848. The father of these children was Dr. Charles Jewett, for many years State Temperance Lecturer of Massachusetts, and Prof. Jewett, Professor of Chemistry in Ober- lin University, is one of the sons.

(VIII) Eleazer Jewett, born in Lisbon, Jan. 4, 1799, was a manufacturer by occupation, engaged in making nails at Norwich Falls. Later he returned to Lisbon and was occupied in farming till his death in December, 1837, in the very prime of life. His remains were interred in the Lisbon cemetery. He was a well-known and enterprising citizen, and in every way a good man. He was married first in 1820 to Mary Clark, who died in 1824, leaving one son, Eleazer, born Jan. 2, 1821. This son was mar- ried Jan. 2, 1842, to Sarah Sherman, and died March 17, 1895, leaving one son, also named Eleazer, born in 1844, who married Mary Greenhalgh, and has two daughters, Leila and Harriet. For his second wife Mr. Jewett married, in 1829, Mary A. Russell, who was born May 10, 1803, and died Aug. 14, 1883. Their children numbered three. (I) Washington was born in 1830, and died at the age of fifteen. (2) Marshall, born Oct. 23, 1831, married, in 1866, Sarah Burr, and had two children : Edward, born in 1867, who died in Leavenworth, Kan., in 1901; and Henry, born in 1871, died in Leavenworth, 190I. Marshall Jewett, the father, died in Leavenworth in 1900. (3) Laban Russell was the youngest.

(IX) Laban Russell Jewett, born April 12, 1833, was only nine years old when he left Connecticut and was taken to Rye, N. Y., where he attended school and received a good education. When the California gold excitement struck the country in 1849, Capt. Jewett, though only in his teens, was one of those who rushed to the West, but having a liking for the sea, he soon entered upon his sea-far- ing career. Beginning as a sailor he rose rapidly to the command of a vessel of his own, and for thirty years he was an expert navigator, commanding clip- per ships to China from both New York and San Francisco. He was also in charge of vessels in the East India trade, owned in London, Liverpool or New York, plying between London and Calcutta. Capt. Jewett was an officer on the first side-wheel steamer "Washington," owned by an American com- pany, that crossed the Atlantic, and he has com- manded vessels for both American and English owners, and has sailed around the world several times, on many occasions entering the harbor of Manila. He was a commander of unusual force, combined with tact in handling men, while his tech- nical knowledge was fully adequate to every situ- ation.

In 1876 Capt. Jewett gave up the sea, engaged in the coal business in Norwich, and for a quarter of a

century was at the head of an extensive enterp: in that line, but has now retired and is living quie He is one of the prominent men of the city, w known and highly respected, and a conspicuous ure in both social and municipal life ; he is a me ber of the Broadway Congregational Church, longs to both the Norwich and the Arcanum clu while in the political arena he was elected in I( as an Independent Republican to the city coun where he served one term, a member of the Pul Grounds and Police commission.

In 1864 Capt. Jewett was married to Miss Eli beth L. F. Robinson, a lady of culture and refi: ment, whose devotion to her husband and home 1 made their domestic life a most happy one. L: her husband, Mrs. Jewett belongs to the Broadw Church.

HON. ABIEL CONVERSE, a retired law of Putnam, Conn., venerable in years and full honors, comes of an historic family, one ancient the history of this as well as the old world.

The Converse family of America dates back ht dreds of years to Normandy, France, where it he a distinguished place among the Norman nobles the day in the possession of large estates around t Chateau Coignir. Roger De Coigniries accompani William the Conqueror in his invasion of Engla in 1066, was one of his trusted captains, and w distinguished at the battle of Hastings, his name } ing entered upon the Roll of Honor in the record Battle Abbey. The name after the conquest w changed to Coniers or Conyers, and was transmitt with vast estates by lords and barons and nobles ff more than five hundred years as the records sho In that line was born in 1590 Edward Conyers, w came to America in the fleet with Winthrop in 163 his wife, Sarah, accompanying him. Mr. Conye Convers or Converse, as the name is various spelled, settled first in Charlestown, where he w made a freeman in 1631, served as selectman 1635-40, was one of the founders of the church the (First Church, Boston) in 1630, and was dismiss in 1632 to form the First Church of Charlestow He became one of the first settlers of Wobur Mass., and one of the founders of the church the being chosen one of the first deacons and continuir in office until his death in 1662. He was long selectman of Woburn, from 1644 until his death.

From this emigrant settler Abiel Converse's li eage is through Samuel, Samuel (2), Ensign E ward, Jonathan, Elijah and Riel Converse.

(II) Samuel Converse, born in Charlestov (baptized March 12, 1637), married in 1660 Judit daughter of Rev. Thomas Carter. He settled in W burn, and was there made a freeman in 1666.

(III) Sergt. Samuel Converse (2) was bo April 4, 1662. In 1710 he located in Thomps parish, in Killingly, Connecticut.

(IV) Ensign Edward Converse, born Sept. 2 1696, in Woburn, Mass., came to Thompson wi

burg Truly Лыев валине

121

GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

parents when fourteen years old. On Aug. 6, I|7, he married Elizabeth, daughter of John and E :abeth Cooper. She died Feb. 19, 1774, and he d 1 July 9, 1784.

(V) Jonathan Converse, born in Thompson, bap- tid April 28, 1723, married June 19, 1743, Keziah ghes, daughter of Jonathan Hughes.

(VI) Elijah Converse, born June 20, 1745, died J1 2 14, 1820. In 1790 he built a house in Wilson- vi, where Albert Converse, his grandson, now re les. He was a soldier in the Revolutionary war. Jan. 25,- 1770, he married Experience Hibbard, W was born Sept. 5, 1746, daughter of Jonathan a1 Experience Hibbard. Their children were : Sinh, born April 26, 1772, married Daniel Barrett ; was born March 4, 1775; Elijah, born April IC 1777, died April 22, 1846; Riel was born Feb. 24 :782.

VII) Riel Converse married (first) Ada Barnes of )udley, and for his second wife married Alice Biby, daughter of Jacob and Eunice (Leavens) Bijny. His third wife was Sarah Pierce. By trade M Converse was a house carpenter and joiner, wl h he followed throughout life in connection with fa: ing. He was a well known and well liked citi- ze: doing what he thought right in every relation of wą e, and his death, which occurred Oct. 26, 1874, deeply mourned ; he is buried in Wilsonville cei tery. He was, by his second wife, the father of tw children, Abiel and Albert, who now reside on the ld homestead. Mr. Converse was a Democrat in ilitics.

VIII) Abiel Converse, son of Riel, born Dec. 13. 815, in Thompson, Conn., married Nov. 17, 18. Matilda Sly, daughter of Nathan and Cynthia bin) Sly, of Dudley, Mass., and to their mar-

(C came two children, as follows: Mary Ellen, ria

bo July 17, 1847, died Nov. 19, 1884. Martha , born Oct. 28, 1848, married Dec. 26, 1871,

An Ma r Charles C. McConnell, U. S. A. ; she died at rt Adams, Newport, R. I., Jan. 9, 1874.

biel Converse spent his early life and received his ducation among the primitive people, amid prin tive scenes and in the most primitive schools. Frc childhood to manhood, in keeping with the con tions about him, and the circumstances of the tim he was subjected to exacting labor upon a rug d New England farm. The vigor of such a life owever, was not without its good side, for it. stre ;thened his constitution and made it possible to 1 : these nearly four-score years and ten in the pos ision of good health and unimpaired faculties. iring his later youth Mr. Converse was accus- tom to teach school through the winter months, but ontinued his work upon the farm during the rest

¿ the year. At about nineteen years of age he ente d the Wesleyan Academy, at Wilbraham, Ma where he was prepared for college. He next mat

the

ulated at Wesleyan University, Middletown, Con from which institution he was graduated with ass of 1839. At intervals during his college

course he taught school to aid in defraying his ex- penses. He commenced the study of law upon his graduation, in the office of and under the direction of Hon. Peter C. Bacon, of Worcester, Mass., pur- suing his studies with this gentleman for some two years, after which he became a student of Hon. L. F. S. Foster, of Norwich, Conn. In February, 1842, he was admitted to the Bar in New London county, Conn., and began the practice of law at Danielson, Conn. There he remained until 1854, in which year he located in New London, continuing some twenty years in active practice, when he retired and moved to the town of Thompson, his birthplace. There he lived, in the enjoyment of the fruits of a well-spent life, until 1904, when he changed his residence to Putnam, Connecticut.

Mr. Converse was born and bred a Democrat of the Old School, and has been a party worker and leader through much of his active career. Of stu- dious and industrious habits, he possessed the neces- sary ability and qualifications for useful citizenship, all of which made him a valued member of the com- munity. A man of integrity and honor, he won and held the confidence of his fellow citizens. In 1844 he received the appointment of the court as attorney for the State and for Windham county, and by appointment held the office for a number of years. In 1845 he represented the town of Killingly in the General Assembly. He was appointed in 1848, and again in 1849, by the General Assembly, as judge of probate for the Killingly district, and after his re- moval to New London was clerk of the court of probate for that district, judge of the city police court and also of the city civil court. He was also city attorney for several years. Directly after the Civil war Mr. Converse was his party's candidate for Congress in his district, and though not elected polled the full party vote. Mr. Converse has also been active and ever deeply interested in educational matters, and has served on school boards in all of the places in which his lot has been cast. He is still quite active in public affairs, and is in full posses- sion of his faculties, now, in his ninetieth year, en- joying good health.

HEZEKIAH LORD READE, who passed away at noon, Jan. 28, 1903, at the Owaneco home- stead in the town of Lisbon, New London county, was one of the most able and prominent citizens of eastern Connecticut. Seldom has there lived so many-sided a man. Equally successful in manu- facturing, financial and literary enterprises, he was eminently fitted for the leadership of men, and he bent his marvelous energy and executive ability to the reforms that best further the higher moral de- velopment of the race.

The ancestry of the Reade family is traced back to the early days of the New England colonies, the early emigrants coming from England to Ipswich, Mass., but subsequently moving to Norwich, Conn., where was purchased of Owaneco, half-brother of

I22

GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

Uncas, the famous Mohegan chief, a tract of land one mile long by one-half mile wide, a portion of which is still in the possession of the family, as is also the original deed bearing the date 1686.

Hezekiah Lord Reade is in the seventh gener- ation from John Read, who came to this country from England in 1630, and the name of John Read is five times repeated in the direct line of descent from the first-named ancestor. On Mr. Reade's ma- ternal side tradition traces the line back to a Col. Wal- bridge, of the Scottish army, who, for his heroic deeds and because a price was put upon his head, was obliged to flee and came to this country. He is said to have landed at Newport, R. I., and to have married a daughter of King Philip, chief of the Narragansetts.

Hezekiah Lord Reade was born Oct. 1, 1827, only child of Silas and Sarah (Meech) Reade, was educated in the common schools of Lisbon, and later attended the select schools of Jewett City and Plain- field Academy. During his early manhood he worked on the old farm, spending his evenings in study by an open fire, with the aid of a tallow candle. For sixteen winters he taught school, five of these acting as principal of the graded school at Jewett City. In 1864 he added to his farm work and other occupations that of manufacturing paper. He bought out a paper mill, which under his good man- agement was highly prosperous, and the business eventually grew into the Reade Paper Company, which owned and operated three mills. Five years later, being called to take charge of the Agricul- tural Department of the Hearth & Home, a leading New York illustrated journal, edited by Donald G. Mitchell, Mr. Reade sold out his interest in the paper-mills, and from that time until his last sick- ness devoted much of his time to literary work, for which he developed a fondness and ability far be- yond the ordinary.

Mr. Reade was an able writer. Among the books from his pen are: "Money and how to Make It and Use It," "Boys' and Girls' Temperance Books," "Reade's Business Reader," "Story of a Heathen and His Transformation," "The Way Out," and others which have been widely read. He first became interested in temperance and Sunday school work in 1849, and in evangelistic work in 1875. He was the originator of the system of compulsory tem- perance teaching in public schools, and introduced a bill into the Connecticut Legislature to that end in 1881, the first ever submitted to a legislative body for consideration and adoption. Mr. Reade traveled ex- tensively in furtherance of this system, speaking before legislative committees, and publishing leaf- lets on the subject which have been widely quoted. The work was afterward taken up by the Woman's Christian Temperance Union. He commenced writ- ing for the newspapers at the age of twenty-two, had been a constant contributor to the religious and secular press, and had editorial connection with Connecticut journalism for a quarter of a century.

All this time he had been active in church and e gelistic work, and it 'may be said that every g - cause had his sympathy, and, so far as he could it, his substantial help. He was a director of Missionary Society of Connecticut, and had o represented a wide constituency in the meeting the Congregational churches of his State and country.

In spite of the time taken by his journalistic evangelistic work Mr. Reade was never content 1 one form of activity. In 1873 he conceived the of founding a Savings Bank in Jewett City, upon its organization was chosen president, ser in that capacity continuously until his death. I ing and after the Civil war he served as asses while in 1848-1850 he was deputy sheriff, and fvet number of years, until a short time before his de he served as treasurer and a member of the bol of education of his town. His politics were publican.

In 1867 Mr. Reade was united in marriage fr Faith Bingham Partridge, who survives him. I; had no children, but have educated in the sch js of this country Mary Ella Butler (Reade) and get a university education (both in America and ( many) to Riechiro Saikii, a Christian Japanese. former was for many years a missionary in Jar she suffered from poor health, and while 011 a 1- age in the vicinity of Martinique the vessel she. aboard took fire during the eruption of Mont Pe and she received burns from which she died a hours later, May 8, 1902. Her remains 1. brought home and deposited in the cemetery it Jewett City. Riechira Saikii is a prominent ofi in the Japanese navy, a writer of books, membe the faculty of the Japanese University at Kioto, a most influential Christian leader in the empire

Mr. Reade had been in ill health about years before his death. He was much beloved, many expressions of affection and many eulogies peared in print at the time of his death. His mains rest in the cemetery at Jewett City. In ev walk in life he proved himself a man whose la heart pulsed in sympathy with the ills of mank yet whose sunny nature kept him cheerful 1 happy, and all who came within the radiance of s hopeful Christian nature felt the inspiration of's presence.

GEORGE ELI HEWITT, one of the ol t and most substantial, as well as highly respec , citizens of Lebanon, is descended from one of early settled families of New England.

(I) Thomas Hewitt is referred to and it known of in Stonington, in the diary of Tho 5 Miner, Sr., who speaks of him as in command offs vessel in Mystic river in 1656; he was receiving : surplus products of the early planters there, in . change for Boston goods. He married April , 1659, Hannah, daughter of Walter Palmer. I. chasing land on the east side of Mystic river e

123

GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

there uilt a dwelling-house, pending which he con- tinud the 1 his coasting trade, extending his business to ›st Indies. He is supposed to have been lost at se n 1662.

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

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 29

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