USA > Connecticut > Genealogical and family history of the state of Connecticut, a record of the achievements of her people in the making of a commonwealth and the founding of a nation, Volume IV > Part 35
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(1) Epaphras, son of Elias (2) Gilman. was born at East Hartford. 1750. died Sep- tember II, ISII. He was a soldier in the revolution. He married Hannah Clark, who died August 31, 1813.
(\T) George Clark, son of Epaphras Gil- nian, was baptized at West Hartland, Con- necticut. (August 3. 1783, died January 2, 1843. He married Sarah Blakeslee, baptized July 26, 1789.
(VII) Samuel Blakeslee, son of George Clark Gilman, was born at West Hartland, Connecticut. October 27, 1821. died in 1367. He married Harriet Theresa Newton, born at West Hartland. Connecticut, March 5, 1829, now living with her daughter. She is a lineal descendant of Roger Newton. the im- migrant ancestor, who married Mary, daugh- ter of Rev. Thomas Hooker, one of the found- ers of Hartford. Children of Samuel B. and Harriet T. Gilman : I. George Lester, a farmer in Dakota, married Emily Gaines, of Geneseo, Illinois: children: George Gaines, Howard, Elias, Raymond Newton, Alice The- resa. 2. Sara. married Warham H. Williams ( see Williams VII). 3. Ida, died in infancy.
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4. Ada Theresa, married Henry Wetmore Beecher, funeral director, of New Haven, Connecticut, partner in the firm of Beecher & Bennett.
DISBROW This name is a prominent one in the records of Westchester county, New York, and the ancient residence of the Disbrow family, erected in 1677, still stands in the town of Mamaroneck. The family originally came from the county of Essex, England, and were related to, if not immediately descended from, General Disbrow. or Disbrough, who married Jane Cromwell, sister of the Protector. They had seven sons, of whom the youngest was Benjamin. A Samuel Disbrough was one of the first settlers of Guilford, Connecticut, in 1650.
The immigrant, Peter Disbrow, was one of the first and principal proprietors of Rye, New York, having come from England about 1660, and in 1665 was a state representative from Stamford. He had a son Jolin who had a son Henry who. in 1988, conveyed halt his land, situated in Mamaroneck, to his son, who also bore the name of Henry. The estate originally consisted of seven hundred acres, including a valuable tract of woodland, called the hickory grove. There is a small ceme- tery in Mamaroneck containing several ine- morials to the Disbrow family. In the pos- session of William Disbrow, of New York, are the family Bible, edited by Basket, of London, 1756. and a silver-headed walking stick inscribed "Henry Disbrow. 1697".
(I) Joseph: Disbrow, horn December 6. 1705. died 1700. married Abigail, daughter of John Mceker. Children: Jclin. born Jan- uary 15. 1732. died May 11, 1732; Jabez. June 23, 1734: Jason. April 30. 1736: Betty, November IN, 1738, died September 13. 1718 : Noah, February 8, 1740: Lois, January 29. 1742: Joseph, February 28, 1,44. mentionel below: Asael, March 28, 174;, died May 2, 1813. moved to A-hland Greene county, New York, in 1700: Thaddeus, May 3, 1749 : Elias, November 20. 1750. died January 12, 1832.
(II) Joseph (2), son of Joseph (1) and Abigail ( Meeker) Disbrow, was born Feb- rmary 28, 1,44, and married Phoebe Hen- drieks, in 1708, They had five children, among them. Joseph, mentioned below.
(III) Joseph (3). son of Joseph (2) and Phoebe ( Hendricks ) Disbrow, married Anna Hodge, and they were the parents of a son, Mecker. mentioned belon.
(IV) Meeker, son of Joseph (3) and Anna (Hodge) Disbrow, was born June 8, 1793. died April, 1847. He was a combmaker and
had a factory in Brookfield, where he spent the greater part of his life. fle married, De- cember 12, 1836, Julia Whitlock, and the fol- lowing sons were born to them: Henry Sel- leck, born October 12, 1837 : David Burr, Au- gust 1, 18441; William E., mentioned below. (V) William E., son of Meeker and Julia ( Whitlock ) Disbrow, was born March 15. 1844. in Brookfield, Connecticut, died in Bridgeport, March 2, 1907. Ile was self-ed- ticated, and like most boys who attained to their early manhood in the stirring days of the opening of the civil war experienced mil- itary life instead of a higher education or an early start in business. At eighteen he en- listed in the Second Regiment, Connecticut Volunteers, Heavy Artillery, the date of his enlistment being August 11. 1862. He was soon promoted to the rank of corporal. On June 20, 1864, he was wounded at Peters- burg. Virginia, and he also took part in the engagements at North Anna, Tolopotomy, Cold Harbor. Peter burg, Winchester, Fish- er's Till, Cedar Creek, Sailor Creek, Fort Fisher, Spottsylvania, and Snicker's Gap --- all in Virginia. In July, 1865, he was hon- orably discharged. After the war he settled in Bridgeport, where he was for a time em- ployed as a springmaker, afterward engaging in the fire insurance business and becoming identified with pension interests. In 1896 Governor Coffin appointed him quartermaster- general of the state. Ile filled that position most efficiently, resigning in December, 189 ;. in order to take the oath of deputy collector and customs inspector, offices which he filled up to the time of the brief illness which caused lus death -- a period of nearly ten years, during which he had full charge of the marine department of the customs service. His prominence in the Grand Army of the Republic was widely known and appreciated by reason of the fact that for twenty years he served as quartermaster of Elias Howe Post. No. 3. and for four years held the ni- fice of commander. In 18;6 he was elected department commander of the Grand Army of the Republic in Connecticut, and he also served as secretary and president of the Sec- ond Connecticut Heavy Artillery Association. In local, state and national politics General Disbrow took a steady and active interest. and he was a lifelong and loyal adherent of the Republican party. He was ever an advocate of the most honorable, straightforward and clean methods in politics, and his high prin- ciples and keen interest did much for the growth of political integrity in his city. He was chairman of the Republican town com- mittee and registrar of voters for many years.
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In 1880 he had charge of the taking of the census. He was a member of the Masonic fraternity, the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and Good Templars. During the en- tire period of his residence in Bridgeport he was a member and liberal supporter of the First Baptist Church of that city and served as one of the committee in charge of the building of the present edifice.
A true soldier of many brave deeds, an honorable, patriotic and useful citizen, and a public official of great capability and integrity. General Disbrow made for himself a name
(\') Thomas (2), son of Thomas (I) and widely honored by the many not fortunate . Martha Wilder, was born in 16IS, and set- enough to know him as a personal friend. He was of a kindly, generous and unselfish nature, possessing a warm heart and a cheer- ful disposition. His success in military, civil and business life was due to his great indus- try, unfailing honor and sterling worth as a soldier and a man. tled in Charlestown. Massachusetts, where he was made a freeman in 1640. In 1659 he re- moved with his family to Nashawena. now Lancaster, Massachusetts, where he was a se- lectman and filled many other positions of trust until his death in 166 ;. He married, in 1641. Anna who died June 10, 1692. Children : Mary, born June 30, 1042; Thomas. September 14. 1644. married, 106S, Mary Houghton : John, 1646, mentioned be- low: Elizabeth, 1648: Nathaniel, November 3, 1650, died July, 1704. married Mary Saw- yer.
General Disbrow married, May 22. 1878, Lillie J. Robinson, of La Crosse, Wisconsin. daughter of Charles and Hannah P. ( Wilder ) Robinson (see Wilder XII), and their chil- dren are : Charles R., connected with the Union Metallic Cartridge Company ; Lily E .. stenographer : Helen J., graduate of Smith Institute and a kindergarten teacher.
(The Wilder Line).
The first Wilder known in history was Nicholas. a military chieftain in the army of the Earl of Richmond, at the battle of Bos- worth, in 1485. The fact that it is a Ger- man name, quite common in some parts of Germany at the present time. would indicate that he was one of those who came with the. Earl from France and landed at Milford Ha- ven. On April 15. 1497, being the twelfth year of the reign of Henry the Seventh, that monarch gave to Nicholas Wilder, as a token of his favor. a landed estate with a coat-of- arms. This estate is still held by his heirs. (II) John, son of Nicholas Wilder, was in possession of the estate in 1525. He married Agnes and they had a son and a daughter: John. mentioned below ; and Agnes, who died in 1580. ·
(II) John (2). son of John ( In) and Ag- nes Wilder, died in 1588. fle married Alice, daughter of Thomas Keats. Children: Jolin. Nicholas. William, Thomas, mentioned be- low: Eleanor, loan. Alice.
(IV) Thomas, son of John (2) and Alice (Keats) Wilder. was of Shiplake. Oxon and proprietor of the Sulham inheritance in Berks county, England. He married Martha -, and their children were: John. of Nunhide, beir-apparent of Thomas, died in
1688; Thomas, mentioned below ; Elizabeth. born 1621, married, in Hingham, Massachu- setts, January 17, 1639, Thomas Ensign, of Scituate, Massachusetts; Edward. 1623. died October 28, 1690, married Elizabeth Ames ; Mary. Thomas Wilder, the father, died in 1634, and in May, 1638, his widow left Ship- lake for the colonies, settling at Hingham. Massachusetts. The town records show grants of land to Edward Wilder and his mo- ther, who remained with him in Hingham un- til her death in 1652.
(\T) John (3), son of Thomas (2) and Anna Wilder, was born in 1646, in Charles- town, Massachusetts, and was a farmer in Lancaster. He married Hannah - and their children were: John. baptized July 12. 1673, mentioned below : Thomas, born 1676. married Susannah Hunt: Hannah. October 31, 1679. died September 26, 1728: James, 1681 : Ebenezer, June 23. 1683. died Decem- ber 25. 1728: Anna. 1690, died 1736, married Joseph Willard.
(VII) John (4). son of John (3) and Hannah Wilder, was baptized July 12. 1673. He was a farmer at Six Nations, afterward South Lancaster, and now the town of Clin- ton. He married Sarah Sawyer, and their chillien were: Jonas, born November 16, 1600. lied 179;, marrie 1 Eunice Beaman : To- siah, January 6. 1,01. married Prudence Keyes: Mary. July 0, 1703. married William Richardson : Hannah, March 4, 1708: Jona- than. October 3. 1710; John, April 13, 1713. married Prudence Wilder: Thankful. April 15, 1715: William, mentioned below.
(\'Ill) William, son of John (4) and Sarah (Sawyer) Wilder, was born September 4. 1717, and was a farmer in that part of Lancaster which is now Bolton. He married. in 1730, Sarah Sawyer. Children : John. horn November 28. 1741, married Rebecca Sawyer and removed to Putney, Vermont : Williamn. October !7. 1743. settled in West- minster : Sarah. April 24, 1750: Prudence.
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April 17, 1757 : Abel, January 16, 1760. died June 6, 1806, married, March 28, 1779, Ilan- nah Green, of Bolton; Daniel, mentioned be- low.
(IX) Daniel, son of William and Sarah (Sawyer) Wilder, was born August 21, 1764, was by trade a carpenter and in early life lived in Orwell. Vermont. He removed to Malone, New York, where he lived many years, and then went with one of his sons to Michigan, where he died in 1851. He married, in Vermont, Polly Gould, and they had twelve children whose names have been preserved, though not in the order of birth: Abel, born 1783. mentioned below; Orra, who married and had a son, Hyman A., who was a graduate of Williams College and a missionary in South Africa, died in 1877. in Hartford, Connecticut ; Joseph, Alvin, Dan- iel, William D., Lucretia, Polly. Sarah Eliza- beth, Melinda. Jerusha.
(X) Abel, son of Daniel and Polly ( Gould) Wilder, was born in 1783, and was a carpen- ter at Malone. New York. He married. in 18OS, Hannah Payne, born in 1784. died in 1842. She was of the Eastham ( Massachu- setts) branch of the family to which belonged Robert Treat Paine, signer of the Declara- tion of Independence. The Paines. or Paynes, are of very ancient stock, tracing back, not- withstanding the difference of orthography, to one ancestral head. Dolly Payne, of this family, was the wife of President Madison. Children of Abel and Hannah ( Payne) Wil- der: 1. Roval Gould, born February. 1809. died in 1815. 2. Thomas P., April 4. 18II, married Polly- 3. James M., June 25, 1813, married Angeline Day : children : Laura, Eliza. Eliner, Alice and 4. Hannah P., November 13. 1814. mentioned below. 5. Roval Gould. born February 28, 1816. mar- ried, March 3. 1846. Eliza J. Smith. He was for many years a missionary at Kolapoor, In- dia, until compelled by ill health to return to the United States, when he settled at Prince- ton, New Jersey: children: Edward Payson. a lawyer in New York. Mary Jane, William Roval, Grace Evelyn and Robert. 6. Polly Maria, born March 4. 1821. died March 17. IS51 : married Henry Austin : one son. Henry. 7. Phoebe Elmira, born July 16. 1824. mar- ried Joseph Lampson; children: Christina. Chester. Augusta and Charles. S. William Clement, born April 24, 1826. married Ada- line Hastings : children : Henry and Adaline. 9. Saralı Charlotte, born February 15, 1830, married Andrew Day : children : Wilham. El- mer, Carrie and Grace. 10. Josiah Prince. born January 9. 1834. died in infancy.
.
(XD) Hannah P .. daughter of Abel and
Hannah ( Payne ) Wilder, was born Novem- ber 13, 1814, in Malone, New York, and mar- ried Charles Robinson, of La Crosse, Wiscon- sin, later of Malone, New York. He was born in Germantown, Pennsylvania, son of Jolin and Mary ( Drescher) Robinson, the former of Scotch and the latter of Dutch de- scent. John Robinson was a soldier in the war of 1812 and died in Cincinnati. Charles Robinson was reared in Philadelphia and learned the trade of cabinet maker. He was a very fine mechanic and was also an inventor of turbine water wheels, which he built. also mills and dams in Malone, Franklin county, New York. Later he went to La Crosse, Wisconsin, where he engaged in the grocery business and was later in Oshkosh for the purpose of taking up water rights there: re- turned to La Crosse and passed the remainder of his life there. dying at the age of seventy- seven. Children of Charles and Hannah P. (Wilder) Robinson: 1. Almira, died young. 2. John W. 3. Martha L., married Mack Kellogg, of La Crosse, Wisconsin. He was born in Canada and was a telegraph operator. He later became connected with the Vers York Herald as a war correspondent and was killed in the Custer massacre. They had two children: Sue Cora, married Elward Cirey. and Mattie Grace, married Frank Stuart Temple. a physician of Boston : they have one son. Franklin Lyman. 4. Lillie J., mentioned below.
(XII) Lillie J .. daughter of Charles and Hannah P. ( Wilder) Robinson, was born June 28, 1845, and married William E. Dis- brow (sce Disbrow V). Mrs. Disbrow is the only survivor of her family. Her mo- ther died at the age of seventy-six. Her par- ents were members of the Baptist church.
Morgan Gardner Bulkeley. BULKELEY president of one of the strongest insurance compa- nies in America, the Aetna Life Insurance Company of Hartford. ex-governor of Con- necticut. former United States Senator. hank- er, politician, orator, philanthropist and pa- triot. veteran soldier and public servant. has had a career of such strong and varied achieve- ment that his life has been lived in the public eve more than almost any other citizen of Connecticut. fle was born in the little village of East Haddam. Middlesex county, Connecti- cut. December 26. 1837.
His ancestors were among those men of spirit and stability who came from England in early times to live the life of independence and justice which their education and instinct taught them to crave. The name Bulkcley
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was in remote times Buclough, first known as the name of a range of mountains in the county Palatine, Chester, England, where Baron Robert Buclough was lord of the Man- or Buclough in the time of King John. In 1634 the Rev. Peter Bulkeley, fellow of St. John's College, Cambridge, silenced for non- conformity, after a ministry of twenty-one years, emigrated to America with a band of adherents and settled in Concord, Massachu- setts. His son, the Rev. Gershom Bulkeley. was graduated from Harvard College in 1655 and married the daughter of President Charles Chauncey. of Harvard. Gershom Bulkeley was a renowned scholar and divine as well as a skillful surgeon, a brave soldier, a leading politician and a forceful contro- versialist, linguist and writer. His son, John, was the first clergyman to have a church in Colchester, Connecticut.
In his early boyhood, which was spent in the village of luis birth. Morgan G. Bulkeley was vigorous, industrious and zealous in the development of both mental and physical strength. When he was nine years old the family located in Hartford where he attended the public schools until he was fourteen years old. Then, in 1851. he entered the employ of the Actna Life Insurance Company as office sweeper, with wages of one dollar a week. Two years later his father became president of that company, of which he, too, was to be the head in his mature life. After a short experience at this humble occupation the lad went to Brooklyn, where he acted as bundle clerk in a mercantile house, known as H. P. Morgan and Company, in which he became a partner seven years later. In 1861, in an- swer to the call for volunteers at the out- break .of the civil war, young Bulkeley enlist- ed in the Thirteenth Regiment, New York Volunteer Infantry, and served with credit during the Peninsular campaign. After the war he took a keen interest in politics and was a member of the Republican general commit- tee of Kings county.
After the death of his father in 1872, Mor- gan G. Bulkeley came to Hartford, which has ever since been his home and the center of his many business and political interests. Soon after his return to Hartford he organ- ized the United States Bank in that eity and was its first president, holding that office from 1872 to 1879. The well-known solidity of that institution is greatly due to his sound jug- ment and capable financiering. In 1879, upon the retirement of Thomas O. Enders, Mr. Bulkeley became president of the Aetna Life Insurance Company, established and man- aged by his father along such strong lines and
destined to become under Morgan G. Bulke- ley's great organizing skill, firm principle and rare managerial genius an institution sur- passed by none of its kind for progress, suc- cess and sound standing. Its headship de- mands far-sighted sagacity, unswerving in- tegrity, keen knowledge of men and thorough intimacy with all branches of finance as well as great executive ability. All these essentials are combined in a marked degree in President Bulkeley as well as personal magnetism and the tact and good fellowship that make him the friend of his employees and his policy holders. Although the Aetna has been his chief business interest he has had many other strong business ties and has been a director in the Aetna National Bank. the Aetna Fire In- surance Company, the United States Bank, all of Hartford, and in the Willimantic Linen Company.
A political career equally long and strong has been achieved by Morgan G. Bulkeley. In 1875 he became a councilman in Hartford and the following year he was elected alderman. From 1880 to 1888 he was mayor of the city of Hartford, a position for which his con- scientious study of municipal politics and rare executive powers made him well fitted. In the office of mayor he proved himself wise in his vigilance over the city's money, true to his principles irrespective of partisan feelings and thoroughly the servant and benefactor of the people. Each year he spent many times his salary in fresh air work of a most practical nature and in many other movements for ameliorating the lot of the poorer classes of Hartford. Loving the Connecticut river near which he was born. he brought its heanties to the notice of the public by free excursions up and down its course and by making various improvements along its course which were forerunners of his later great work along this line and in securing the new bridge.
In 1888 Mayor Bulkeley was nominated by acclamation for the office of governor, and in January. 1889, he entered on an administra- tion notable for its strength and effectualness. In 1890 there arose under the new ballot law the trying deadlock situation, when the ques- tion of succession to the office of governor could not be settled and it was Governor Bulkeley's duty to remain in office, though legislation was in abevance. In this difficult situation he acquitted himself with great tact and judgment and won admiration from op- ponents as well as friends. When the legisla- ture failed to make needed appropriations he and the Aetna Life Insurance Company ad- vanced funds necessary for the maintenance of state institutions until proper provision was
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made. Then as always the governor's re- sourcefulness and decision saved the day. Vit- er his term as governor expired in 1893 he was nominated tor United States senator, and two years later he withdrew and worked for the election of General Hawley. Meanwhile other honors were his, for he was a delegate to the Republican national conventions in 1888 and 1890, and in 1889 he was granted the honorary degree of Master of Arts by Yale University. In January. 1905, Ex-Gov- ernor Bulkeley was elected United States sen- ator to succeed General Hawley and his ca- reer in the National Capitol, terminating in I911, was one of note and distinction. giving still further cvidence of his great public spirit, his grasp of political conditions, his hostility to corporate abuses and his unusual executive ability.
Since the burning of the old bridge at Hart- ford in 1895. Senator Bulkeley has had at heart the vision of the great piece of engineer- ing which should connect the two shores and make for the convenience and growth of both sides of the Connecticut. Since 189; he has been president of the board of commission- ers of the Connecticut river, bridge and high- way district, and in that capacity has given the best efforts of his mind and heart toward securing the wonderful structure that now spans the Connecticut at its most important point, the great world-unrivaled bridge that was completed in 1908, and that reached its perfect completion chiefly through the inspira- tion and efforts of Morgan G. Bulkeley. On the occasion of the completion of the bridge in October, 1958. Hartford enjoyed three days of festive and triumphant celebration consist- ing of historical pageants, patriotic jubilees and many other suitable forms of celebration. This great and significant occasion was first conceived in the mind of Morgan G. Bulke- ley, and the many details of his elaborate plans were carried out under his loving super- vision and made possible by his generosity. The celebration was the bringing together of Hartford's present. past and future, her his- tory and her hopes were embodied in the fea- tures of the jubilee. The event was one of the greatest and most significant in the his- tory of the city and state. not only becanse of the perfect completion of one of the most wonderful, useful and enduring of man-made structures, but also because of the new chap- ter in municipal and state progress thereby propitiously opened. It was both fitting and natural that Morgan G. Bulkeley, always the public's leader and benefactor, should be the moving spirit in this great undertaking and its achievement. On December 3, 1908, there
was held in Parsons' Theatre. Hartford, a unique and memorable gathering of the peo- ple for the express purpose of doing homage to Morgan G. Bulkeley for this his great serv- ice to his fellow men. The occasion was one of New England dignity and simplicity, the hearty enthusiasm being manifested in a truly American and democratic manner. A mag- nificent silver service of one hundred and fifty-six pieces was presented to Senator Bulkeley on that occasion. More recently, in the spring of 1911, he was given a silver lov- ing cup to mark the appreciation due him for further successful efforts in improving land- ings on the Connecticut river. In all this work he has builded for the future, the splen- did bridge, the broad boulevard, the park land on the East Side, are all for the genera- tions to come.
In the following patriotic organizations Morgan G. Bulkeley is a member and has been president : The Connecticut Sons of the Revolution, the Society of Foreign Wars and the Society of the War of 1812. He is also a member of the Mayflower Society, the So- ciety of Colonial Wars, the Grand Army of the Republic and the Massachusetts Com- mandery of the Loyal Legion. He is a hered- itary member of the Society of the Cincinnati, and a Free Mason. He is a member of the Congregational church, and of various local social clubs. He is especially interested in the Hartford Club, and contributed gener- ously towards its present spacious building.
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