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 49

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 49

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Mr. Church next went to work for James Church, and remained with him in the oyster trade until 1850-nearly six years. At the end of that time he. embarked in the oyster trade, wholesale and retail, on his own account in Norwich, renting a place of business on the dock. This business he continued successfully for about twenty-four years. During the war of the Rebellion he was in partner- ship in the oyster business with Charles Phillips, and also for about a year with William Storey.

In 1867 Mr. Church took up farming in Mont- ville, his farm, which he purchased in 1859, border- ing on the Thames river. He built his present resi- dence the same year that he purchased the land, and has lived there since 1860. He has a farm of about sixty acres, and is engaged in general farming.

Mr. Church was married June 15, 1851, to Han- nah A. O'Brien, daughter of George Henry and Hannah (Turner) O'Brien, of Ledyard, Conn. Their children are as follows: (1) Willard, born in Montville, is in charge of the grocery department of The Mohican Company, in New London. He married Jane Church, of Preston, Conn., and has two children, Frederick and Ruth. (2) Ann Eliza, born in Montville, married Capt. Seth Chester Smith, of Montville, and has two children, Florence and Ar- thur. Although not a church member Mr. Church gives liberally to the support of religious work. In

political views he is a Republican, but in own affairs he casts his vote for the man he conflers best fitted for the office.

ROBERT ALEXANDER MANWAING, M. D., one of the most prominent physicians o flew London in his time, represented not only the gh- est type of manhood, but as well that class of ferl- ing citizens a record of whose lives is insep bly a part of the history of the community in wlic they lived.

The Manwaring family, of which Dr. fan- waring was probably the best known descend of his generation in New London county, is no fly one of the ancient ones of this Commonwealthfind New England, but one of great antiquity and om- inence in England for many years, possessing fmy titles and landed estates. Ranulphus is .sul sed to be the ancestor of the Manwarings. The bily can be traced back to the tenth century.

Sir Ranulphus de Mesnilwarin, as the namgras then spelled, was Justice of Chester, in the fogn of Richard I. (1189-1199). Over Peover, Lich was the residence of the family for thirty gora- tions, is one of the estates described in the D [ns- day Survey as belonging to Sir Ranulphus Mail- warin. The baronetcy of Manwaring of rer Peover was created in 1660; it became extin in 1797, but was revived in 1804, the title being graced to Sir Henry Manwaring, whose seat was at her Peover.

Genealogical research in England has revled much data concerning this family, same bei:lin print. However, it is the purpose of this artil to treat briefly only of the lineage and career che late Dr. Manwaring. The Roman characters ithe following indicate each generation treated an. its remoteness from the first American ancestor, (f'er Manwaring, from whom Dr. Manwaring w a descendant in the sixth generation, his lineag be- ing through Richard, Christopher, Robert indl Christopher (2).

(I) Oliver Manwaring appears of record at few London, Conn., in 1664. The name appears, i he unsettled orthography of that day, sometime in its correct form, again as Mannering, Manng. Manwerying. Legal instruments signed by his elf have his seal and initials, O. M. But little is kı øn of Oliver Manwaring, however. He married to one of the very well-to-do families of that pold. his wife being Hannah, daughter of Richard mond, a freeman of Salem, Mass., 1634, wher |he daughter, Hannah, was baptized in 1643.

Richard Raymond was a man of affluence, had first settled in Connecticut at Norwalk, later 1 .t- ing at Saybrook. On Nov. 3, 1664, Joshua y- mond, the son of Richard, purchased, in beha of Oliver Manwaring, the house, house lot and der land in New London belonging to Mr. Wim Thompson, missionary to the Indians near London. Mr. Thompson had gone to Viria

Ellen B. Manwaring

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GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

and ne sale was made by his wife, whom he had dul Ma authorized to dispose of the property. Oliver aring, it seems, at once took charge of the pre the Gec fen‹ 165 had ses. His portion of the purchase comprised iginal grant made by the town in 1650 to e Chappell, who built the house thereon, the land, and sold it to Mr. Thompson in It is not known whether Oliver Manwaring een a resident of New London, or had just join the settlement when this purchase was made ; er, he thereafter made his home there. His how land acre

mus acquired consisted of a house lot of seven another lot of four acres, and a six-acre lot. These lots, being nearly contiguous, sed practically all the land on Manwaring

swa com Hill ow one of the most delightful residence lo- calit in the city.

One of this land thus purchased by Oliver Manaring, in addition to the beautiful elevation whe; the residence of the late Dr. Manwaring

stand has never been alienated, and is now owned

by t Doctor's only son, Wolcott Barber Manwar- ing. Man

brook ran through the house lot of Oliver ring into that of William Chapman, then cross ; the highway flowed through the land of Robe Hempstead into the cove. A lane by the

side it is now the lower end of Hempstead street.

C June 5, 1706, Oliver Manwaring divided his real € ate between his two sons, by deeds of entail- ment the eldest son for three generations, which

was a that the laws of the Colony allowed. Thus

:o th on Richard and his posterity he entailed the 1011SE ot of eleven acres, the Denison house lot of es, which he had purchased, and the half- :en a icre 1

lied

tse lot near the landing place of Bream Cove. H nah Manwaring, wife of Oliver, became a nemb of Mr. Bradstreet's church in 1671. She c. 18, 1717, and her husband passed away Nov. I723, aged nearly ninety years. Their ·hildr were: Hannah married John Harris ; Eliz- ibeth married Peter Harris; Prudence married ohn Richa icd S eckwith; Love married John Richards ; was baptized July 13, 1673; Judith mar- on Ray, of Block Island; Oliver, baptized Feb. 678-79, married March 15, 1704-05, Han- ah H gh; Bathsheba was baptized May 9, 1680; inne arried Jeremiah Wilson, of Rhode Island ;

lercy arried Jonathan Palmer, of Stonington, on cc. I

1717.

porn J

(I] Richard Manwaring, son of Oliver, was ' 13, 1673. With his inheritances and sub- quen purchase of land he became one of the ex- nsivel nd owners of the town. It is said he built, out Nev `2, the second gristmill erected in the town London, and was located at "the falls of rdan Brook where it falls into the Cove." He

arried May 10, 1710, Elinor, daughter of Richard d El beth (Reynolds) Jennings, both of whom me f'n the Barbadoes. The family of Richard d Elor was as follows: (I) Richard lost his e in e expedition against Cuba in 1741, sent

there by the British government. (2) Asa served in the same expedition against Cuba. He returned to New London, where he afterward lived. On March 20, 1779, he died from effects of smallpox. He never married, and always lived at home with his parents. He had inherited the property of his brothers Richard and Henry, who died without heirs, as well as a liberal portion of his father's es- tate, much of which he lost through mismanagement and lack of economy. (3) Henry perished in one of the expeditions of New Englanders against Can- ada, and according to traditions died on the field of battle. (4) Hannah married (first) Charles Acourt July 31, 1737. Their two children died in infancy. After a few years Mr. Acourt went to England, and all trace of him was lost. Many years passed and no word from him, and his supposed widow mar- ried James Chapman. The first husband subse- quently returned, but upon learning of his wife's marriage at once left, never to return, and nothing further was known of him. She died in August, 1806. (5) Christopher was born Sept. 1, 1722. (6) Love married Roger Gibson, July 22, 1754, and died Sept. 19, 1787. Richard, the father of these children, died in 1763, aged ninety.

(III) Christopher Manwaring was born Sept. I, 1722. He was a farmer in the North Parish of New London, now Montville. The entailed land that he received from his brother Asa was loaded with encumbrances, but he added other lands and accumulated a considerable estate. His homestead farm, near Oxoboxo Pond, was bought of James Otis in 1750. The homestead at New London, in- cluding the swamp lot and the Douglass lot, he gave over to his oldest son, Robert, who was in the line of the entailment, receiving from him what he considered a just compensation.

Christopher Manwaring married Jan. 31, 1745, Deborah Denison, born Dec. 9, 1722, the daughter of Robert and Deborah Griswold, and granddaugh- ter of Capt. Robert Denison, the first of the name to settle in what is now Montville. The grandfather of Capt. Robert Denison was Capt. George Denison, one of the first settlers of Stonington. The chil- dren of Christopher and Deborah (Denison) Man- waring were as follows: (I) Robert, born Dec. 15, 1745, is mentioned below. (2) Deborah, born Dec. 3, 1747, died May 27, 1832, unmarried. (3) Hannah, born Oct. 3, 1749, died unmarried Aug. 4, 1806, of smallpox in a hospital at Winthrop Neck. (4) Eleanor, born Sept. 12, 1751, died Nov. 10, 1781. (5) Anna, born Sept. II, 1752, died young. (6) Elizabeth, born Sept. 26, 1754, married Aug. 25, 1779, Nathaniel Hempstead, of New London and died in Brooklyn, N. Y., in 1838. (7) Asa, born Nov. 28, 1756, married Abigail, daughter of Na- thaniel Thompson, and died in January, 1795, his widow and three children, Henry, Clarissa B. and Charles D., removing to western New York. (8) Roger, a farmer, born Aug. 27, 1758, married July 6, 1797, Ruth, daughter of Amon Caulkins, and

210

GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

widow of David Crocker, and he died in March, 1836, his widow passing away June 17, 1854. (9) Sybil, born June 14, 1760, died when young, unmarried. (10) Sarah, born April 1, 1762, became the second wife of Andrew Griswold Huntington, and died childless, Dec. 27, 1851, her husband dying June 3, 1844. (II) John, born March 27, 1763, married, March 21, 1790, Eleanor Raymond, born Nov. 9, 1765. Mr. Manwaring was accidentally killed in April, 1811, by falling from a loaded cart, the wheel of which passed over him. His family of seven children all went west excepting a son John, born in September, 1795, who married in February, 1825, Eliza Church, and they were the parents of James H. Manwaring, of Montville, a sketch of whom ap- pears elsewhere in this work. Eleanor, the widow of John Manwaring, removed, to the West in Octo- ber, 1819, and died Aug. 20, 1820, at Prairieton, Ind. (12) Lois, born Aug. 16, 1767, married Dec. I, 1796, Andrew G. Huntington. She died in 1802. Her husband afterward married her elder sister Sarah. He was from Colebrook, New Hampshire.

(IV) Deacon Robert Manwaring was born Dec. 15, 1745, and for many years occupied the home- stead at New London which, after the death of his uncle Asa, without children, came to Robert by terms of the entailment. On April 19, 1799, he leased his life right in the homestead to his son Christopher, by whom it was afterward possessed ; it included the house, tanyard and eleven acres on Manwaring Hill, with other property in that vicinity.

Deacon Robert Manwaring in 1799 removed to Montville, and the year following he removed to Norwich, where he took a prominent part in public affairs. In 1804 he was a member of the common council of that city. He was a supporter of Jeffer- sonian principles, and bore a conspicuous part in po- litical meetings. He was selected to read the Decla- ration of Independence at a great celebration held in that city July 4, 1805. He possessed great force of character, and was included among the influential citizens of Norwich, where he passed away March 29, 1807 ; he is buried in the old cemetery at Nor- wich Town.

He was three times married, first Oct. 8, 1772, to Elizabeth Rogers, daughter of James and Grace (Harris) Rogers. She died in New London. He later married Mrs. Elizabeth (Baker) Raymond, the widow of Josiah, and daughter of Joshua and Abigail (Bliss) Baker. Elizabeth Baker was born April 21, 1763, in Montville, and died Feb. 13, 1802. The third wife of Robert Manwaring was Susan- nah (Hubbard) Bushnell, daughter of Russell Hub- bard. She died at Windham, Conn., April 19, 1814. By his first wife Deacon Robert had children as fol- lows: Christopher, born Dec. 13, 1774, is men- tioned below. Frances, born Nov. 6, 1776, married Joshua Caulkins, and they were the parents of Frances Manwaring Caulkins, the talented literary writer and poetess, and distinguished author of the

Histories of New London and Norwich. Ikabut born June 22, 1778, married William H mo Eleanor, born Dec. 22, 1780, died young. born Oct. 28, 1783, married Henry Nevins. born March 18, 1786, died young. By h cret hoe seco York Tilliain wife : Caleb Baker, born Jan. 21, 1802, n fied 1827 Lydia Wickwire, settled in western N: and had one child. By his third wife: Hubbard, born Nov. 27, 1803, died young.

(V) Christopher Manwaring was born cc. 13 1774, in New London, Conn. The following sketch of his life, discovered in recent years, is Im the storian pen of Frances Manwaring Caulkins, the and poetess and a niece of Christopher Ma faring. "His school education was limited to readi writ- ing and arithmetic, and several years of 1 youth were occupied in learning a mechanical tr c, tan thirst ning and finishing leather. He had an ard for knowledge and his memory, naturally afte and retentive, aided him in his acquisitions. Is dis- position was social and communicative nd his workshop became the source and center o muse- ment and information to his fellow occup 's and others who resorted there. Among the ciens he talked well and fluently on political or 11 sub- jects ; in his family he spouted orations hd re- argued Jonder. Ssonant

hearsed poems, and with his work-fellows } and declaimed to their great delight and He had but a. dull ear for music and a . voice, but after having been dismissed for is dis- cords from various singing schools, with resolution he hired a private teacher and invincible perseverance became a tolerable popular songs and devotional hymns. numerical calculations with great facility nd his handwriting was good enough for a teach of the art. He had a fondness for books and his ft earn- ings were expended in purchases of this kin A lot of ragged literature at an auction was sur to find a bidder in him, and his leisure hours W spen indin early in his workshop exploring, repairing and his purchases. He was industrious, risi and working late, beguiling even the hours of labor with excellent books, a volume or two always ing on his work bench or writing desk, and he w ld fre quently get a sentence or a page well gro ded in his mind while busily engaged in work. Ibe wa an especial favorite and he could repeat n ly th whole 'Essay on Man.' The writings Wat and Doddridge, sermons, treatises, poetry and i fact most of the writings of the Augusta age o of hi England, were as familiar to him as the to trade. He was especially fond of reading Boling broke's Letters on History and Exile. Or olitica subjects he was a strong Jeffersonian. Ang h- most intimate friends was the editor of : pirite seler to t Democratic newspaper, and he belonged to club who maintained a vehement oppositi administration of John Adams and man sted triumphant joy at the election of Jeffer p. ( this party he was a popular toastmaker, I plic o

ogged hrough ger of made

The Manwaring Homestead, "Manwaring Hill," New London

2II

GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

gar pra and maz nd Fourth of July orator. His orations were d at the time as dealing more in common sense ractical principles than in the pompous decla- 1 that characterized many effusions of that clay

lis business prospered, he pulled down his old hou and barn and built new ones. He planted tree he cultivated land. His strawberry beds and his mer erry trees were the admiration of his towns- .Iso his beds of sage, and large square plats of pinl over which in the fine days of summer flocks of 1 nming birds, black-winged yellow birds and

othe of the winged creatures were perpetually hov ng."

3 first affliction was the loss of his wife, hav- arried Nov. 5, 1797, Miss Sarah Bradley, :er of John Bradley. She died Oct. 30, 1805,

ing dau: havi borne three children: Sally, born Oct. 25, 1798 lied Nov. 2, following ; Christopher C., born Deca 4, 1799, married Catharine J. Hinsdale ; Lu- creti born Oct. 16, 1803, married March 23, 1834, Nati 1 Colver. She died May 18, 1859.

(istopher Manwaring married for his second wife on Jan. 21, 1807, Miss Mary Wolcott, the daus er of Dr. Simon and Lucy (Rogers) Wol- cott.

Mary Wolcott was a granddaughter of Dr. Alex der and Mary (Richards) Wolcott. Dr. Alex der Wolcott was a brother of Oliver Wol- cott, the s the

member of the Continental Congress, one of hers of the Declaration of Independence and ticles of Confederation, Major-General in Revo tionary war, and Governor of Connecticut. Rogo Wolcott, the father of Dr. Alexander, was a Colo: 1 Governor of Connecticut. 6

iry Wolcott was a very lovely and amiable wom Her voice was low, her manners sweet and aectionate and her whole character meek and gentl is that of a saint.

Chris ristopher Manwaring and his wife were both n professors, constant at public worship, frequ t at prayer-meetings, charitable to the poor. The 1 ary of Christopher Manwaring increased to flowing abundance, and he was in the habit ng daily various passages aloud to his family sts. It was a pleasure to hear him, for he

an ov of rea and select with taste and judgment and was a fine reade

"I vas a singular fact that such a devourer of would never have read a novel. He never one and was so destitute of taste for this of composition that he often asserted he had lished the only novel he ever attempted to lich was the 'Vicar of Wakefield.' Others asually taken up, but always found them so hat he never could advance beyond two or ges.

books owned pecie lever ead, le ha nsipic hree "I1 he lateri

he war of 1812 he was an ardent friend of ernment, spending his influence and his resources freely in the cause. The chap- in o one of the forts was invited to become a tembe of his family, his fireside was the resort of

soldiers and patriots, and the gravel walk on the roof of his house was the lookout port to which friends and acquaintances often mounted with their spy-glasses to watch the movements of the block- ading squadron, which lay so long before the harbor.

"In 1818 he was a prominent member of the Toleration party, as it was called, being connected with the clubs, caucuses, conventions of town, county and State which preceded the adoption of the Constitution of Connecticut in that year. He was a representative from New London in the Leg- islature for five sessions between 1815 and 1821 inclusive, and in 1822 was chosen into the State Senate. For many years he was in the commission of the peace. He was the author of a volume of essays on general and political subjects." In politi- cal matters he opposed at times Noyes Barber (whose daughter Ellen became the wife of Mr. Man- waring's son, Dr. Robert A.), the leader of the op- position party.

Christopher Manwaring died May 26, 1832, in his fifty-eighth year. His wife survived him but a few months, dying Dec. 4, 1832. Their bodies now lie in Cedar Grove cemetery, in the family burial plat of Dr. Robert Alexander Manwaring. By his second wife he was the father of the following three children : Mary W., born Dec. 4, 1807, married Edwin Colver ; Simon, born Sept. 3, 1809, married Sarah Banta, and died March 2, 1872 ; Robert Alex- ander was born Aug. 2, 18II.

(VI) Robert Alexander Manwaring was born Aug. 2, 18II, at the homestead on Manwaring Hill, New London. In 1829, at the age of eighteen, he began the study of medicine in the office of Dr. Archibald Mercer, of New London. He attended the medical school of Harvard University in 1831 and 1832, and subsequently received his degree of M. D. from Yale.

Dr. Manwaring was but twenty-one years old when he first began the practice of his profession at Gales Ferry, Conn., and that same year, 1832, be- came a member of the New London County Medi- cal Association. At that period of his life Dr. Man- waring was a young man who had for some time been dependent upon his own resources, and his later affluence was quite in contrast with his pe- cuniary strength during the earlier part of his pro- fessional career. He was ambitious and energetic and in love with his profession, which he always endeavored to honor. He soon built up a large practice for that locality, and frequently was called to Norwich in his professional duties. In 1841 he located in the portion of that city then known as Greeneville, where he was engaged in practice until 1850, when he removed to his native city of New London. Here Dr. Manwaring lived and worked continuously for forty-one years. During nearly sixty years that he practiced medicine he passed through a period marking greater progress and ad- vancement in that profession than had taken place

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GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

during the two centuries preceding. Dr. Manwar- ing kept abreast of that progress, necessitating radi- cal changes in methods and administration. The following is an extract from an article prepared by a brother physician, shortly subsequent to the death of Dr. Manwaring, and is a part of the records of the New London County Medical Society: "He saw and learned many new things, the specific char- acter of diphtheria and the fuller investigation of spotted fever of infections, spinal meningitis, the separation of typhoid fever from typhus, the estab- lishment of the operation of ovariotomy, the great development of physical diagnosis, the discovery of ether and chloroform and of the alkaloids of the barks and gums, with their easier dispensing, the plague of homeopathy, the hue and cry against the mercurials, and the reasonable reaction in their fa- vor; and in these things he took some part, not ostentatiously, but reasonably progressive and rea- sonably conservative." Noted for his carefulness, he trusted much to the natural tendency towards re- covery. For many years he enjoyed the largest practice of any physician in the city of New Lon- don and had he so desired he could have chose from but the very best of families a clientele that would have been the envy of the most exclusive physicians. He was for the sick and suffering of all humanity, and a most splendid example of the uncalculating devotion to duty and to conscience that character- izes so many of the medical profession. He was a busy man, early and late about town among the rich and poor, with equal readiness and acceptance. In- clined to corpulence, he kept it down by the exer- cise of walking, and no man has ever been more pleasantly known among all classes, for he had a just and proper mixture of wit and humor, so that his words were always fresh and effective and not too many. He had a large obstetrical practice, and his good nature and hopefulness added greatly to his popularity and continued it to the last. He often told a good story in a few well-chosen words. His understanding of general and professional subjects was wide. He was of the speculative and reflective type, turning over things in his own mind, not es- pecially seeking originality, but a safe conclusion by the way of sound common sense.

Dr. Manwaring's most noticeable characteris- tics of mind were probably his extraordinary quick- ness of perception, his readiness in analysis, his strong memory and sound judgment. As a general practitioner of medicine he wielded an influence in his community more widely felt by his contempor- aries, lay and professional alike, than that exercised by any of his associates. He was the very personi- fication of the complete physician. There was nothing censorious in his nature. To do deeds of kindness unobtrusively was his religion. He helped first and questioned afterward. For such a long and busy life he was exceptionally well preserved. At a meeting of the New London Medical Club, in 1890, he gave a most interesting account of a local

epidemic of suicide from melancholia occuring in his practice many years ago. His speech o Juch occasion was brief and to the point. On the Ight- ieth birthday of Oliver Wendell Holmes, Dr Lan- waring wrote an appropriate letter of cong fula- tion to that distinguished writer, and incid [ally referred to their acquaintance, which datecom Jiate by their college days at Harvard. The appre reply of that distinguished man is highly pri Dr. Manwaring's only son, Wolcott Barber. The latter years of his life Dr. Manwaring lived the Fiere

Manwaring homestead on Manwaring Hill, he was born.

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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 49

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