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 32

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 32

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Early professing his love for Christ, Col. Coit ex- hibited through the pleasures of youth, the trials and temptations of army life, and the cares of business, such a sincere, unostentatious, but decided Christian spirit as left no room for question or cavil. His unswerving allegiance to his God controlled all his life, and has, we believe, won for him at the judgment on high the same verdict so heartily given by all who knew him here .- "Well done, good and faithful servant."

CHARLES COIT, born at Norwich, March 28, 1873, since his graduation from Yale College, in the class of 1896, has been almost constantly engaged in rail- roading. His first experience was in the general offices of the New York Central & Hudson River Railroad Company, in New York City. While there he was offered a very promising position in the em- ploy of the Honduras Syndicate, an organization of New York Central capitalists who were building and operating a railroad and other valuable conces- sions in Honduras. Mr. Coit shared the novel ex- perience of railroad builders in the tropics for be- tween one and two years, until the Spanish war so interfered with the business of the company as to bring it to a practical standstill. He returned to this country in the summer of 1898, and after a short stay at his home entered the service of the Great Northern Railway Company, by whom he has since been employed in various capacities, at the general offices at St. Paul, and in the division offices at Everett, Spokane, Grand Forks, and elsewhere.

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GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

AUGUSTUS COIT, born at Norwich April 29, 1876, was graduated in 1897 with high honor from the Sheffield Scientific School of Yale University, be- ing elected to membership in the Sigma XI. He was for a time in the superintendent's office of the Nor- wich & Worcester division of the New York, New Haven & Hartford railroad, at Norwich, and since 1899 has been connected with the Uncas National Bank of Norwich, being now its assistant cashier.

GEORGE DOUGLAS COIT, son of Col. Charles, and brother of Col. Charles Morgan Coit, was born in Norwich, Jan. 2, 1845. He was graduated from the Sheffield Scientific School of Yale College in the class of 1866. Entering the employ of the Norwich Fire Insurance Company, he was made assistant secretary, but on account of ill health was obliged to resign his position early in 1868, and give up all business for more than a year. In the fall of 1869 he was made treasurer of the Dime Savings Bank, just organized, and which was eminently successful under his management until July, 1878, their de- posits being about one million and a quarter. At this time, on the death of his brother, Col. Charles M. Coit, he was chosen to succeed him as treasurer of the Chelsea Savings Bank, which position he still retains.

While public life has been distasteful to Mr. Coit, and he has never held a political office, he has been called to many positions of trust and responsi- bility in financial, church and community affairs. He has been connected as executor and trustee with some of the largest estates which have been settled in this probate district; is a director in several manu- facturing concerns ; and has been treasurer of vari- ous organizations, including the Otis Library, City Missionary Society, Young Men's Christian Asso- ciation, and of the Chapel and other associations at Eastern Point, his summer home. For many years, until obliged by ill health to give up his work, he was very active in church and Sunday school, hav- ing at one time or another filled all the various of- fices of the church, Ecclesiastical Society and Sun- day school of the Second Congregational Church. It is somewhat remarkable that for more than forty- five years the superintendency of this school was held practically continuously by three members of this family. Deacon Charles Coit was elected Aug. 1, 1841, and was succeeded on his death, in 1855, by his brother, Deacon George Coit, who, ob- liged by failing health to retire in 1872, was in turn succeeded by his nephew, George D. Coit, who, ex- cepting for an interval of less than two years, held the office until 1889, when he also was obliged by ill health to decline a re-election.

In 1870 Mr. Coit was married to Frances Hen- rietta, daughter of Prof. James D. Dana, of Yale University. They have had four children : George Grosvenor, born Sept. 29, 1873, died Oct. 4, 1885 ; a son, born Nov. 4, 1875, died Nov. 7, 1875 ; Helen Grosvenor, born Feb. 9, 1879, died Jan. 27, 1880; and James Dana, born Dec. 5, 1880.

JAMES DANA COIT was prepared for college Holbrook's Military Academy, at Sing Sing on t. Hudson, and entered the Sheffield Scientific Scho of Yale University in 1900, but in his second ye was obliged to give up his studies on account of li eyes. He has since resided in Norwich, and is present a clerk in the Merchants' National Bank.

DEACON GEORGE COIT, who passed away at h home in Norwich May 6, 1879, aged sixty-eig. years, was throughout his exemplary life one of tl most esteemed citizens of that community. Mr. Cc was born April 29, 1811, at Griswold, Conn., son ( Nathaniel and Betsey (Morgan) Coit, who had family of ten children. The father owned a larg farm, where George passed his boyhood, meantin receiving the advantages the local schools afforder and finishing at Plainfield Academy, a well-know institution of learning. His school days over M. Coit came to Norwich, and there passed the remair der of what proved to be an eminently useful caree He entered business life as a clerk in the store ( his brother, Col. Charles Coit, and was afterward i partnership with him. For some time he was er gaged in the steamboat business with Capt. William W. Coit, and subsequently, for many years, carrie on å lumber business on Central Wharf, leavin same in 1862, at which time he took an interest i the rolling-mill of Messrs. Mitchell Bros. & Co. I 1874 he retired from all active business, because c. a nervous affection of the right hand-the beginnin. of the infirmity which caused his death, and whic toward the last caused him much suffering.

As a business man, as a patriotic citizen, in re ligious and social circles, everywhere, in fact, tha his name was known, Mr. Coit commanded the high est respect. He was scrupulously honest, prompt i the settlement of every obligation, and invariabl: courteous to his associates in whatever walk of life And, as he prospered, he gave others the benefits o his industry and good management, giving liberall. and gladly to those less fortunate than himself, an making no display in the distribution of his charities He was the champion of every good cause, and wa one of the early advocates of temperance and th anti-slavery movements, at a time when such alle. giance called forth ridicule and scorn. However, i was his high Christian character and activity in re ligious circles that made Mr. Coit best known and beloved. He lived up to the tenets of his faith il his daily walk through life. "He was singularly pure and upright in all his walk and conversation his sympathies ever ready to be enlisted in every good cause, while the refinement and geniality of hi: nature always awakened confidence and affection ir return."

In 1831 Mr. Coit joined the Second Congrega- tional Church of Norwich, in which he retained membership to the time of his decease, active in al the work of the congregation, and holding various official positions. In 1858 he was elected deacon and continued to hold that office until 1876, wher

Gunge D. Cort

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GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

failing health made it necessary for him to decline re-election. But his special interest was in the Sun- day school, for he was a lover of little children. In 1855, on the death of his brother Charles, he suc- ceeded him as superintendent of the Sunday school, and was actively engaged as such for a period of seventeen years, until 1872, when the state of his health obliged him to relinquish the work. But he was annually honored with re-election until his death, an assistant relieving him of the responsibil- ity. He always tried to keep in close touch with the Sunday school pupils, making himself personally acquainted with each and every one, looking after the sick and needy, and endeavoring by his own life to teach the beauty and truth of the religion he pro- fessed.

On April 23, 1835, Mr. Coit married (first) Elizabeth Bull, who died the following year. On Aug. 27, 1838, he married (second) Mary Bull, sister of his first wife, who, although for many years n delicate health, lived until May 1, 1858. On Dec. 20, 1860, he was married (third) to Mary H. Belden, who survived him fourteen years, dying May 17, 1893, at her house in Norwich, aged seventy. While nodest and unassuming to a marked degree, Mrs. Coit's life was one of constant usefulness and help o others. Through the church and Sunday school, o which both she and her husband were devotedly attached, the United Workers, the City Charitable Organization, of which she was an officer and faith- ul worker, and in the more personal ministries of her private life, she served the Master whose name he professed with a charity so generous, a sym- athy so tender, and a friendship so strong and true, hat to an unusual extent the community at large uni- ed with the smaller circles of her intimate relatives nd friends to mourn her death as a public loss and o call her memory blessed.

BREWER. The Brewers have long been prom- ient and influential at Norwich. Reference is made ) the late Lyman Brewer, his children and grand- hildren. Members of this family have been allied y marriage to the first families, both as to time and osition, of the ancient and historic Norwich. It is ere the purpose to refer briefly to the posterity and neage of the Lyman Brewer family and especially Lyman Brewer, his son, Charles, and the latter's n, Arthur H. Brewer, men prominent in the social, ligious, financial and mercantile life of the city for early a century, and the latter at this time one of le city's most prominent and influential citizens.

From Daniel Brewer, the immigrant New Eng- nd ancestor of the family under consideration, the leage of Arthur H. Brewer is through Daniel (2); ev. Daniel, Isaac, Lieut. Isaac, Lyman and Charles rewe1.

(I) Daniel Brewer, husbandman, came from ngland to Boston, in the ship "Lion," in 1632, and ttled at Roxbury. He was made a freeman May 1, 1634. His wife was Joanna, and their children

(as mentioned in his will) were: Daniel, Nathaniel, Ann, Joanna and Sarah. The father died March 28, 1646, and his widow, Joanna, died Feb. 7, 1688, aged eighty-seven years.

(II) Daniel Brewer (2), born in 1624, married Nov. 5, 1652, Hannah Morrill, daughter of Isaac, and lived at Roxbury. He died in 1708. His widow, Hannah died in 1717. His children were: Hannah, born July 5, 1665 ; Daniel, born Feb. 7, 1669 ; and perhaps others.

(III) Rev. Daniel Brewer, born Feb. 7, 1669, in Roxbury, Mass., married Catherine Chauncey, daughter of Rev. Nathaniel Chauncey, and their children were: Catherine, Eunice, Isaac and prob- ably others. Mr. Brewer was graduated from Har- vard College in 1687. On May 16, 1694, he was or- dained a minister, and settled at Springfield, Mass. He died Nov. 5, 1733.

(IV) Isaac Brewer, born in November, 1713, in Springfield, Mass., settled in Wilbraham, Mass. He married (first) in April, 1736, Mary Bliss, born March 14, 1716, daughter of Ebenezer Bliss, of Wil- braham. She died in 1759, and he married (sec- ond) in that same year, Widow Stebbens. Mr. Brewer was a farmer in Wilbraham, where he died in May, 1788.

(V) Lieut. Isaac Brewer, born in August, 1742, in Wilbraham, married in 1769, Sybil Miller, of Ludlow, Mass., and lived in the latter town where he died in July, 1788. He was a large land holder in Ludlow. His wife died in July, 1834. Their chil- dren were: Daniel; Catherine; Betsey ; Chauncey ; Abigail ; Isaac, born Sept. 5, 1784 ; and Lyman, born in 1786.

(VI) Lyman Brewer, born in 1786, married Harriet Tyler, daughter of Rev. John and Hannah (Tracy) Tyler, of Norwich. Eleven children were born of this marriage. Mr. Brewer settled in Nor- wich, Conn., where in early life he was engaged in mercantile business for a few years, and when the Thames National Bank was organized, in 1825, he became its first cashier, and served for over thirty years, until his death, which occurred June 19, 1857. He was one of the founders of that bank, and also one of the founders of the Norwich Savings So- ciety. He left behind him a name for honesty and benevolence. His residence, what is known as the "old Brewer house," at No. 92 Washington street, is now occupied by his daughter, Miss Louisa J. Brewer, the only survivor in Norwich of his eleven children. This house, now over a hundred years old, has been occupied by members of the family for about ninety-three years. Harriet (Tyler), his widow, died Nov. 3, 1880, aged ninety years and eleven months. The famliy went forth into the country, and everywhere they settled be- came excellent citizens.

(VII) Charles H. Brewer, born Aug. 9, 1824, in Norwich, Conn., married in 1847, Martha L. Wit- ter, born in 1828. She died Dec. 9, 1873; Mr. Brewer died Jan. 10, 1891. Their children were:

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GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

Arthur H., born in 1848; Frank C., born in 1856, is comptroller of Provident Institute for Savings, of Boston, Mass., an institution with deposits of over $44,000,000; Annie Louise, born in 1858, is the wife of Walter Wellington, a wholesale dry goods merchant of Brooklyn, N. Y .; and Kate Tyler, born in 1860, is the wife of Robert DuBois, who is also engaged in the wholesale dry goods business, and resides in Brooklyn, New York.

Charles H. Brewer passed little of his career in his native city. For about a dozen years he lived at San Mateo, Cal., where he was associated with his brother, Rev. Alfred L. Brewer, D. D., in conduct- ing a military school. In November, 1890, he left his home in Norwich for California to look after some real estate there. He was attacked with heart failure, dying suddenly in San Francisco, Jan. 10, 1891. His remains were brought to Norwich, and interred in the Yantic cemetery. He was a man of high character and spotless integrity, always agree- able and kind.

ARTHUR H. BREWER, son of Charles H., was born May 17, 1848, in Norwich, and received his education in Boston, where he remained until enter- ing the employ of the late Edward Chappell, some years later acquiring a one-third interest in the busi- ness (the other was held by Enoch F. Chapman). Upon the decease of Mr. Chappell, the business re- verted to the remaining partners, and after the death of Mr. Chapman in January, 1898, Mr. Brewer, be- came the sole owner. Since 1898, the firm has been The Edward Chappell Company. The concern handles coal and lumber, and is one of the largest, and, perhaps, the oldest, in its line in eastern Con- necticut. It is one of the best mercantile establish- ments in the city. Mr. Brewer is a stanch Republi- can, but never would accept office and has declined many. He was a delegate-at-large from Connecti- cut to the Republican convention in 1896, which placed the late President Mckinley in nomination. To enumerate all the institutions, Mr. Brewer is, and has been, connected with, would require con- siderable space; a few, however, are given. He is president of the Hopkins & Allen Arms Company ; president of the Falls Company; president of the Ashland Cotton Co., at Jewett City ; one of the vice- presidents of the Norwich Savings Society ; director in the Thames National Bank; ex-president of the Board of Trade; secretary and treasurer of the Uncas Hall Company ; and vice-president of the Norwich Club. Mr. Brewer is a member of the Arcanum Club, and was one of the prime movers in its reorganization. He is trustee of the Norwich Free Academy ; Mr. Brewer is a member of the Society of Colonial Wars in Connecticut ; was vice- president of the Ponemah Mills Company, for sev- eral years, and when Mr. William A. Slater, the president, made his trip around the world, Mr. Brewer was the acting president. He is a director of the Eliza Huntington Memorial Home, of the Norwich Gas & Electric Company, the Crescent Fire

Arms Company, the Norwich Water Power Con pany, the Uncas Paper Company, the Bard Unic Company, and sundry other corporations. He one of the most prominent members of the M: sonic fraternity in the State, a member of Some set Lodge, No. 34, A. F. & A. M .; Franklin Chap ter, No. 4, R. A. M .; Franklin Council, No. 3, F & S. M .; Columbia Commandery, No. 4, Knight Templar; and Sphinx Temple, Mystic Shrine, { Hartford. In Scottish Rite Masonry he has bee equally as proficient : Member of King Solomo Grand Lodge of Perfection, of which he is one c the trustees ; Van Rensselaer Council, of Princes c Jerusalem; Norwich Sovereign Chapter of Ros Croix, Connecticut Sovereign Consistory. On Sep 14, 1886, he was made a member of the Suprem Council of Sovereign Grand Inspectors, General o the Thirty-third and Last Degree for the Norther Masonic Jurisdiction. In the Council of Delibera tion he is Grand Master of Ceremonies. He i president of the Masonic Temple Corporation, an holds honorary membership in St. James Lodge, th only Mason holding membership in both lodges.

On Aug. 4, 1873, Mr. Brewer was united i: marriage to Miss Mary P. Young, born Oct. 26 1847, a native of Norwich, daughter of Caius C. an Mary G. (Phipps) Young. Their children are (I) Martha W., born Dec. 7, 1876, was married Nov. 2, 1898, to William A. Norton, who is secre tary of the Edward Chappell Company. Their chil dren are Arthur Brewer (born June 9, 1899), Elea nor Plant (June 4, 1900), and Louise Tyler (July 6, 1902). (2) Annie H., born Oct. 10, 1878, wa: married Nov. 26, 1901, to Willis Austin, of Nor wich, and has one child, Willis Phipps, born Oct 21, 1903. (3) Mary Goffe, born April 12, 1882 was married to Lucius Briggs, of Norwich, and they have one son, Lucius Goffe. Mrs. Brewer diec quite suddenly Feb. 22, 1903. She was a woman of fine personal qualities, a devoted, loving, and kind wife and mother, and was greatly admired and re- spected for her generous hospitality and extensive charities. She was a member of Christ Episcopa. Church. A memorial has recently been placed ir the chancel of the church.

WITTER. Mr. Arthur H. Brewer's maternal, lineage from his first American ancestor, Ebenezer Witter, follows :

(I) Deacon Ebenezer Witter, born in 1668, in Scotland, came to America, and settled in Preston, Conn. He died in 1712, aged forty-four years. His widow, Dorothy, died in 1750, aged eighty-four years. Their children were Joseph, Ebenezer, Will- iam and four daughters.

(II) Ebenezer Witter (2), born in 1699, mar- ried in 1729, Elizabeth Brown, born in 1708, and resided in Preston. Six of their fifteen children were sons, namely : Nathan, Jacob, Jonah, Josiah, John and Asa.

(III) Nathan Witter, born in 1731, married Keziah Branch, of Boston, and settled in Brooklyn,

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GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

Co1. Their children were thirteen in number, the SO being: Jacob, Josiah and Ebenezer.

IV) Jacob Witter resided in Brooklyn, Conn. children were: Sophia, John, Amos, Eunice, Lana, Lucas, Fanny and Iris.

As V) John Witter, born in 1785, married Eliza Butley, and resided in Plainfield, Conn. He was a 'ssor at Yale University, and later principal of pr the academy at Plainfield. Their children were :

M . A., born in 1821; Martha L., born in 1828; Henry M., born in 1830.

an VI) Martha L. Witter married Charles H. Brer.

YLER. Through his grandmother, Harriet (1 er) Brewer, and great-grandmother, Hannah (T cy) Tyler, Mr. Arthur H. Brewer descends

frc Rev. John Tyler (Yale, 1765), the first rector of hrist Episcopal Church, Norwich, which he ser d for fifty-four years, and from Lieut. Thomas Try, of Tewksbury, England, and America, whose lindge is traced back to several of the Anglo-Saxon kir ; of England, to Egbert, the first Saxon King of || England, who was eleventh in descent from Celc, the Saxon who founded the West Saxon dom of the heptarchy at the commencement of the ixth Century. Mr. Brewer also descends from

Co Thomas Leffingwell, one of the original settlers of orwich, Conn., who was a large land owner of t section.

LIAS HILLARD BECKWITH (deceased) wa: or many years one of the most highly respected citi is of Norwich, where a long and useful life wa. spent. Mr. Beckwith was born in Norwich, Jul 23, 1822, a son of Israel and Eunice (Hillard) Bec vith. His early life was passed in Chesterfield and Colchester, and his education acquired in the dist 't schools and at the famous Bacon Academy at (Ilchester, which was the Alma Mater of many of 1: leading citizens of that section of the State. In 1 ing manhood he became a book canvasser, and trav ed by team all through New York and Ohio, gail g much experience of men and things, and at the me time making a success of his business. Thr gh life he possessed the same pleasant, en- gag ; manner, which served him so well when dis- posil: of his literary wares at the beginning of his busi ss career. Upon his return to Connecticut he beca

e associated with his father in a factory store at E t Lyme, and was located there for a number of

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then removing to Colchester, where he mar- yea1 ried He located at Norwich, in 1863, at which time ered upon his duties as jailor at the Norwich This appointment came from Sheriff Richard heeler, with whom he remained until the ex- n of Mr. Wheeler's term of office. When a : of sheriffs took place, and Sheriff Orlando jailor, but when Mr. Bates succeeded Mr. Rayond entered into office, Nathan Bates was ma Ray

ond as sheriff, he appointed Mr. Beckwith as lor, although they were of different political

parties. This position Mr. Beckwith most efficiently filled continuously until 1884, when he resigned, after having been jailor of Norwich jail for a period of twenty years. He left the office without a stain upon his record, having been under all trying circumstances an official of uncorruptible integrity.

In the intervening time between his two terms of office, Mr. Beckwith had engaged in a successful grocery business, being associated with Thomas L. Reynolds, under the firm name of Beckwith & Rey- nolds. After resigning from the arduous duties at the jail, he embarked in the real estate business in partnership with Charles F. Setchell, and the firm was known as Beckwith & Setchell, a business as- sociation which lasted until Mr. Setchell removed to Colorado, where he is now located. Mr. Beckwith continued in the real estate business during the re- mainder of his life, in which line he was remarkably successful. He possessed that keen, business ability and foresight which enabled him to judge accurately the safety of investments and their earning power. He became a heavy owner of land on West Thames street, and laid out Cahoon street, Kinney avenue and Newcomb street, and there he displayed great public spirit in making the locality attractive, and much is due to his enterprise in that direction. In 1896 he erected his own handsome residence at No. IIO West Thames street, which is yet the home of his widow.

Mr. Beckwith was one of the best known men in the county, and few of the old residents were strangers to him. He handled in a business way many of the farms of New London county, and he was regarded as such an excellent authority on values that his advice was often sought by both buyers and sellers. He possessed an infinite amount of information on all subjects, and was a most enter- taining talker. Had Mr. Beckwith been given the advantages which are offered the young men of to- day, he had the natural ability to have become prom- inent in the professions. His personal appearance also commanded attention, he being of large frame and well-proportioned, while his friendly manner made it a pleasure to know him. After being in declining health for several years, he passed away at his home in Norwich, Dec. 20, 1898, leaving a bereaved widow and one son, together with a very wide circle of friends.

In his political views, Mr. Beckwith was a Re- publican, but he never sought rewards at the hands of his party. For many years he was a member of Somerset Lodge, No. 34, F. & A. M., and of Frank- lin Chapter, R. A. M. He was an active member of Central Baptist Church, and when the present building was erected he served on the building com- mittee, and was a most liberal contributor to relig- ious purposes.

On June 4, 1862, Mr. Beckwith was united in marriage with Miss Margaret J. Davis, born in Preston, Conn., daughter of Joseph and Watie (Crandall) Davis, mention of whom will be found

his

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GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

elsewhere. The one son born to this union, Will- iam W., born June 23, 1863, was given an excellent business education, and married Lillian W. Sears, by whom he has one son, Myron Hillard. William W. Beckwith is engaged in business as a traveling salesman, but his home is located in Norwich.

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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 32

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