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 38
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Begat Eggleston, immi- EGGLESTON grant ancestor, was born in England about 1590 or earlier. His name is also spelled Bagget and Beget. He deposed June 5, 1645, that his age was forty-five, but he was called "near one hundred years old" when he died Sep- tember 1, 1674. He came to Dorchester, Mas- sachusetts, in 1630, in the ship "Mary and John," was admitted a freeman in 1631. and was one of the original members of Rev. Mr. Warham's church which came to Windsor, Connecticut, in 1635. His widow contribut- ed in 1676 to the fund for the relief of the poor of the colonies. He married (first) in England, ---- -- , and she died December S. 1657. He married ( second) Mary Talcott, of Hartford. Children: Thomas, born August 26, 1638. at Windsor: James, born about 1640: Samuel, mentioned below : Mary, May 29, 1641; Sarah, March 28. 1643: Rebecca. December 8, 1644: Abigail, June 12, 1648; Joseph. baptized March 30, 1651; Benjamin, December 18, 1653.
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( II ) Samuel, son of Begat Eggleston, was twin of James. Ile beat the drum at the meeting-house in 1651, and was made free- man at Windsor, May. 1658. He moved to Middletown, where he bought a house of William Smith on Meeting House Square. May 18, 1663. and lived there until January 18. 1680, when he sold the place to Rev. Noahdiah Russell. He was admitted to the Wethersfield church on certificate from Wind- sor.
He died February, 1601. His will was dated December 26, 1686, and his estate was inventoried at one hundred and five pounds, fifteen shillings, nine pence. He married Sarah Disbrough, of Wethersfield. daughter of Nicholas Disbrough. She died in 1683. Children : Samuel. born March 6, 1663, men- tioned below : Thomas, June 4, 1667. died August 27. 1667: Joseph, January 24. died January 31. 1668; Sarah, October 26, 1670: Susanna. May 9. 1674; Nicholas. December 23. 1676: Mary, 16,8; Mercy, July 27, 1679: Ebenezer. July 7. 1689.
(III ) Samuel (2). son of Samuel (1) Eg- gleston, was born March 6, 1663. He was one of the original members of the church in East Middleboro. now Portland. Con- necticut. 1721. He died December 24. 1736, and his will was proved February 1. 1737, in which he says: "I. Samuel Egelston of Midd .. being advanced to the age of 73 years. be- queath to wife Patience and son-in-law John Benton, and Abigail his wife, his dwelling- house and half his home-lot. provided that his son-in-law doth comfortably maintain iny wife until her decease or marriage, and my son Joseph during his natural life". He left the remainder of his estate to his daughters: Susanna. Sarah, Patience and Mary, April 13, 1736. He married Patience Paine. July 8. 1703. His widow lived in Guilford. April, 1749, where she deeded property to her broth- er, Job Paine. Children : Susannah, born February 25, 1705: Samuel, January 2. 1706- o7, mentioned below : Abigail, March II. 1708-00: Sarah, February 7. 1710-11 : John. August 15, 1714: Joseph, October 24, 1716: Patience, October 18, 1719: Mary. June 29. 1723.
(IV) Samuel (3), son of Samuel (2) Eg- gleston, was born January 2. 1706-07. He married Abigail Benis ( Bevins or Bibbons ). November 2. 1720. Children, baptized at East Middleboro, now Portland: John, born September 2. 1731 : Martha, August 25. 1733: Abigail, January 23, 1736; Samuel. June 28, 1738. mentioned below: Joseph, October 28. 1740; Benjamin, March 28, 1743: Prudence. August 19, 1745: Nicholas, April 12. 1747:
Benjamin, December 26, 1749: Amos, No- vember 20, 1751.
(V) Samuel (4). son of Samuel (3) Eg- gleston, was born June 28. 1738. Ile mar- ried Hester Buck, March 18, 1701, and lived at North East, Dutchess county, New York. Ile died January 25, 1822, aged eighty-four. She died January 10, 1828, aged ninety. Chil- dren: Phebe. married Joseph Conger : Eliza- beth, married Joseph Sherwood : Hester, mar- ried Samuel Gilbert: Martha, married Aaron Barnes and Treat: Nicholas, born November 8, 1769. mentioned below : David, 1771: Abigail, 1773: Samuel, May 3. 1777; Eunice, May. 1779: Susan, January 8, 1782: Keturah, March 30. 1785.
(VI) Nicholas, son of Samuel (4) Eg- gleston, was born November 8. 1769. at Windsor, Connecticut. He settled in North East, New York, and followed farming there. He married Mary Stewart Stuard, Sharon records ). Children: John, Ambrose, Albert, Truman, Hamilton, Stewart, Benjamin, Mar- tha. Benjamin, mentioned below.
(VII ) Benjamin, son of Nicholas Eggles- ton, was born May 27. 1815. in the town of North East. New York, died in Sharon. Con- neeticut. August 13. 158 ;. He attended the public schools, and for several years was a teacher in the public schools. He was a well- to-do farmer and a useful citizen, and heid the office of justice of the peace. He mar- ried, March 21, 1838, Elizabeth Mills, born at Norfolk. Connecticut, April 22, 1820, died August 20, 1890, daughter of John and Emma ( Parot) Mills, descendant of Simon Mills, of Windsor. Connecticut. Children : Edward H., born July 5. 1839. died October 19, ISSI ; George M., May 6, 1841 : Mary E., October 1, 1843, married Lawrence Van Al- styne, of Sharon. Connecticut: Hamilton Jay, April 12. 1847: Ellen. June 25, 1849. died February 20, 1855: Dwight Nicholas, mentioned below : Stewart E .. March 21, 1855. died May 26, 18;9: Theron B., Decem- ber 30, 1857: Frederick W .. April 20, 1860. married Minnie Miller, 1885.
(VIII) Dwight Nicholas, son of Benja- min Eggleston, was born in the town of An- cram. Columbia county. New York, May 24. 1851. He was educated in the district schools of the town of North East, New York, and in the select schools of Sharon, Connecticut. IIe learned the carpenter's trade in Sharon and worked as a journeyman from 1868 to 1874. when he engaged in business for himself in that town as a builder and contractor, and has continued to the present time with marked success. In moor he formed a partnership with Robert J. Livingstone, and since then
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the business has been conducted under the firm name of Eggleston & Livingstone, archi- tects and builders. Since typy the firm has - conducted a coal business also at Sharon. Mr. Eggleston was a director of the Sharon Tele- phone Company and is at present a director of the Sharon Electric Light Company and the Sharon Water Company. In politics hie is a Republican and in 1909 represented the town in the general assembly of the state. serving with credit on the committee on in- surance. He has been on the Sharon school board a number of years. He is a prominent member and the treasurer of the Congrega- tional church for the past fifteen years. He married, October 1. 1873. Amelia J. Ilamlin. of Sharon. daughter of Benjamin and Sarah (Hatch) Hamlin. Children, born at Sharon : Minnie K. (adopted ), born January 29. 1877. married Franklin Gillette. (deceased) : they had a son Merideth: Harriet Florence, No- vember 20, 18So: Clarence II., January 25. 1883, druggist. Sharon : Amie [ .. October 14. 1888; Gerald D., July 25. 1895.
The Beers family originated. it
BEERS appears, at Westcliff. county Kent. England, at what was called Bere's Court. William DeBere of Bere's court was bailiff of Dover about 1275. Nicholas De Bere held the Manor of Bere's Court in the twentieth year of the reign of Henry III. The ancestry of the American family of Beer- has been traced to Martin De Bere, of Rochester, county Kent. Eng- land, who was living in 1486: married a daughter of Thomas Nyssell. of Wrotham. England. From them in the fifth generation was Captain Richard Bere, born 160;, son of John and Mary ( Selby ) Bere. His father was of Gravesend, his mother of Yorkshire. Captain Pere ( Beer or Beers) came to Amer- ica in 1635 and settled in Watertown. Mas- sachusetts, representing that town in the gen- eral court for thirteen years: was captain of his company in King Philip's war, and was killed at Westfield, September 4, 1675. in an Indian fight.
(I) James Beers. or Bere, was also of the fifth generation from Nicholas de Bere. He resided at Gravesend. England. and died there before 1635. His widow Hester. however. was living in 1635, the same year in which her two sons Anthony and Jaimes came with their uncle. Richard Beers. to America.
(II) Anthony, son of James Beers, was born in England, and came to this country from county Kent. He settled first at Wa- tertown, Massachusetts, where five of his seven children were born. In mso he came
to Fairfield, Connecticut. He was a mariner and was lost at sea in 1676. Children : Eliza- beth, married Henry Goodwin; Bethia, mar- ried David Mettup; Mary, married John Smith; Samuel, born May 9, 1647, died young; Ephraim, July 5. 1648; John, Janu- ary 28, 1652; Esther, October 16, 1654; Sanı- uel, May 2, 1657, died young ; Barnabas, mentioned below.
(III ) Barnabas, son of Anthony Beers, was born in Watertown, September 6, 1658. Ile married. April 4, 1688, Elizabeth Willcox- son, who died October 11, 1604. Children, born at Fairfield: Mary, December 27, 1689; Nathan, mentioned below.
(IV) Nathan, son of Barnabas Beers, was born at Fairfield. December !. 1691. He lived in Middletown in 1722. He had sons Abner, Nathan, mentioned below.
(V) Nathan ( 2), son of Nathan (1) Beer-, was born about 1720. He married, January 27, 1741-42. Hannah Nichols. Children, born at Stratford: Isaac, November 28, 1742: Sarah. October 18, 1744; Elias. November 19, 1746: Ilannah, December 19. 1748: jo- sialı, mentioned below.
(VI) Josiah, son of Nathan (2) Beers, was born May IS. 1;51. He marired, February 22 1777, Gloriana Fairchild. Children : Eliz- abeth, born August 22, 1778: Sarah, October 14, 1780: Gloriana Catharine, June 24. 1783: Fanny, November 26, 1785, died 1786; Isaac, mentioned below : Mary Ann, June 35. 17.05. (VII) Isaac, son of Josiah Beers, was hoorn August 15. 1787. Hle lived at Easton, Con- necticut. Ile married and was the father of a son Andrew.
(VIII) Andrew, son of Isaac Beers. was born at Easton, died there aged seventy-five vears. He attended the district schools. He learned the trade of edge-tool maker. and built a large factery at Easton driven by three water wheels and manufactured axes, hoes, etc. After the fashion of the day, Mr. Beers solil the products of his factory after they were made. taking them to the market in wag- ons or selling at retail on the road. He pat- ented some valuable inventions, and was in- dustrious and enterprising. He suffered in later years from asthma, supposed to have been caused by exposure while making his trips to sell goods, and during the last ten years of his life he was unable to work on ac- count of ill health. In politics he was a stead- fast Republican: he never sought political honors and lived a quiet. theful life, devoting himself carrestly to his business, his home ani the Methodist church. He had a farm at Es- ton. He married Mary Wheeler, born in the town of Monroe, died in Bridgeport at the
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advanced age of eighty-nine years, and was buried at Easton by the side of her husband. Children: George W., mentioned below : Marietta. married ( first) - -- Booth : (sec- ond ) Nathan R. Sherman; Sarah, married Sherman E. Lewis, of Bridgeport; Charles W., died in childhood : Charles Andrew, men- tioned below.
(IX) George W., son of Andrew Beers. was born in Easton, May 1. 1829, died at Bridgeport, July 26. 1892. He had a most honorable and successful career. His school- ing was limited, but he seems to have inher- ited the mechanical and inventive ability of his father. As a mere boy he was employed to alter old flint-lock guns to use percussion caps. At the age of twenty-one he went to Bridgeport to work in the brass factory of his uncle, George Wheeler Beers. As soon as his savings were sufficient he engaged in manufacturing on his own account and met with success from the start. He became a factor in various industries in Bridgeport, among them being a spring for a curtain rol- ler, and for nearly thirty years was in charge of the brass-working department of the Spring Perch Company of Bridgeport. Dur- ing the civil war he was employed by Jerusa- lem Shaw to travel through the country to buy old gold and silver. and in this work as in other lines he was successful to a marked degree.
He was the inventor of the Beers pat- ent curtain roller and the Beers concealed hinge, both for use in coaches, and as a re- sult of his inventions and industry he accu- mulated a handsome fortune. At times he suffered reverses on account of fire hut he never allowed disasters to dishearten him. He was a skillful marksman and fond of hunt- ing and other sports. He was a Republican, but never active in public life. He never married.
(1X) Charles Andrew. son of Andrew Beers, was born at Easton. November 4. 1838. at the homestead, and he was educated in the district schools of his native town. Hall Beardsley was his first teacher and Legrand Beers, of Long Hill, was for a time a teacher in the school when he was a pupil. He was for a time a student at Easton Academy. He was a faithful pupil and possessed a tenacious memory.
He remained at home until he was nine- teen years old when he went to Bridge- port to work at the trade of silver-plating for the Spring Perch Company in which his brother George Wheeler Beers was interested. At first he earned but fifty cents a day, but he advanced steadily. At the time his brother
George W. secured control of the Spring Perch Company brass department, Mr. Beers became associated with him in the factory at Bridgeport. After his brother died Mr. Beers had charge of his affairs, but in IS98 he sold out and retired from business. He traveled extensively in the United States for some time, and during the last years of his life de- voted considerable attention to the real estate business. From his savings he purchased a house at 1258 Park avenue, corner of Vine street, in 1891, where he spent the remainder of his life, enjoying a well-earned period of rest and leisure. He was a Republican in pol- ities and always took an intelligent interest in public affairs, though not active in politics. He died May 2, 1908.
He married, in 1872, Anna Amelia Gould, born in 1844. died August 25, 1908. Both are buried in Mountain Grove cemetery, Bridgeport. She was daughter of Morris and Paulina ( Wheeler ) Gould. Her father was a farmer in Fairfield. member of one of the leading families. Mr. Beers and his wife were members of the Methodist church of Bridgeport, and both were prominent in church and social life. Children: 1. Morris Andrew, born May 11, 1873, at Bridgeport; married, January 4. 1800. Alice A. Nelson ; living on the homestead at Fairfield. 2. George Gould. born May 8, 18;6, at. Bridge- port. married Emma Edith Wheeler and has a daughter Gladys Gould. 3. Ellen Amelia. born December 30, 1878. 4. Charles Wheeler, born October 30, 1881: married Sadie Hol- royd: children: Charles Elliot and Merrill D. 5. Mary Louise, born August 10. 1883: married Ernest Harry Milligan ( see below ). 6. Chester Henry, born 1887, died in Bridge- port, aged six months.
Ernest H. Milligan was born at Bridge- port. Connecticut. September 25, 1883, a son of William and Eliza ( Lee ) Milligan.
Mr. Milligan attended the public school, the Bridgeport high school, and at about the age of fifteen years went to work for his uncles. John and Charles Lee, proprietors of a large furniture company in Bridgeport. He rose from one position to another until to08, when he was appointed to the position of manager of their New York store on 125th street. Mr. Milligan has been prominent in church work. and was for a number of years connected with the choir of St. John's Episcopal Church of Bridgeport.
He was married. October II, 1905, to Mary Louise Beers ( see Beers). They have one son. Roswell Beers, born May 15, 1907. Mr. Milligan is devoted to his family and all his time from business is spent with them.
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BEERS ( II) James (2), son of James (1) Beers (q. v.), was born at Grave-end, England. He came with his uncle, Richard Beers, and his brother Anthony to Watertown. In 1657 he and his brother settled at Fairfield, Connecticut, and two years later he purchased a house there. He was for a time at Sasquag, now Southport. He had eight acres of land given him by the Indians, on the present site of the Congrega- tional church. in 1009. Eighteen acres were also confirmed to him on the west side of the river. He was admitted a freeman in 1664. He died in 1004. His will is dated Novem- ber 14. 1694. He married Abigail -. Children: Joseph. mentioned below ; Martha, married Joseph Bulkeley: Deborah, married Samuel Hull: Elizabeth, married John Dar- ling : James.
( III ) Joseph. son of James (2) Beers, was born about 1060 and died in 1697. He mar- ried Abigail He left a good estate. Children, born at Fairfield: Joseph, March 3. 1688. mentioned below : Abigail, April 24, 1692: Jamies: Probably other children.
( IV) Josephi (2), son of John ( 1) Beers, was born March 3, 1688. He removed to Stratford about 1722 and bought of Nathan Beers, of Middletown, August 4. 1722, a house, shop and lot of land there. He mar- ried, March 6. 1,20, Saralı, daughter of James Clarke, of Stratford. Children, born at Stratiord: 1. Ephraim, June 22, 1722. 2. Mary. November 20, 1723. 3. Daniel. Octo- ber 17, 1725. remove i to Woodbury. 4. and 5. Joseph and John. twins, born October 13. 1727. John. mentioned below. 6. Andrew. February 3. 1720-30. 7. Abel, September 27. 1732. 8. Sarah. February 18. 1734-35. 9. Mathew, Desember 10. 1736, died young. 10. Mathew, February 12. 1738-39.
(V) John, son of Joseph (2) Beers, was born at Stratford, October 13, 1727. He mar- ried. April. 1754. Susannah, daughter of Je- hiel Foote. Children, born at Stratford: Si- las. January 16, 1,55: John, mentionel be- low : probably others.
(VT) John (2). son of John ( 1) Beers, was born in Stratford. May 2. 1757, and died in Derby, April 22, 1847. He was a tailor and followed his trade at Derby. Connecticut. He was a soldier in the revolution from Strat- ford, 1777-81. He was private, corporal and sergeant, in Captain Elisha Hopkins' com- pany, of Hartford. He was made corporal. January 1. 1781. and sergeant. July 12, 1781 (P. 332, "Connecticut Revolutionary Rolls"). Late in life he received a pension. He mar- ried Betsey Ann Clinton, who was born in Derby in 1766, died there January 6, 1841.
Children: John Clinton, born December 12. 1800: Alphes, twin of Myra, mentioned be- low : Myra, born October 1, 1804. married Joseph Canfield: Charles Clinton, born in Derby, June 24, 1812, a tailor by trade and later a doctor in Boston.
(VII) Alpheus, son of John Beer-, was born at Derby, October 1, 1804. He was ed- ueated in the Derby public schools and re- moved thence to Cornwall, Connecticut, where he followed the trade of tailor for a number of years. Afterward he lived in Ter- ryville and Stratford, following his trade there. After the death of his wife, he made his home with his daughter. He died Jant- ary 0. 1891. He married, September 14. 1826. Tabitha Clark Lewis, born at Cornwall. March 1, ISO7, and died in Stratford. April 29. 1874. She was a daughter of William Clark Lewis, born at Cornwall in 1774. pru- prietor of the old Eagle Hotel in New Haven. a celebrated hostelry in its day, and sister of Hon. John C. Lewis, born December 12. 1800, and died in New Haven, November 21. 1849, aged forty-nine years. Iler mother. Saralı A. Clark, was born at Washington. Connecticut, in 1781. Children of Mr. and Mr. William Clark Lewis, all deceased : William, who had a large lumber business in New Haven : Miles, was captain of a steam- boat, plying between New York City and New Haven, Connecticut : Henry (called Harry ), once mayor of New Haven, and a maniac- turer of wheels in that city; Sarah, a mis-ion- ary in the west : Tabitha, married Alpheus Beers, mentioned above.
Children of Alpheus and Tabitha ( Lewis) Beurs: I. Betsey, born July, 1827. died young. 2. John W. H., April 7, 1829. fore- inan of a factory at Caryville and afterward went west where he had charge of a large concern : died there of apoplexy. 3. James Henry, March 12, 1831 : was a carriage maker by trade and afterward a collector for many years for the New York Journal of Com- merce, a daily newspaper : went south, joined the confederate army in the civil war and was killed at Chancellorsville. 4. Ann Eliza- beth, horn at Cornwall, Iune 7. 1833: mar- ried Chester Russell, who for many years was proprietor of the old "City Bakery" in Bridgeport, where he died. 5. Philo Miles. July 23. 1835: mentioned below. 6. Martha H .. June 20. 1837 ( deceased ) : married Sam- nel Golden, of Bridgeport. 7. Charles Ed- wards. born in Terryville. May 27, 1839: died March 21, 1841. 8. Charles Edwards. June 28. 1842, now deceased, was a needle maker by trade and emploved by his brother, Philo MT. 6. Roderick S .. September 29. 1843 : was a
1:
Thilo All. Beers
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machinist employed by his brother, Philo.M., afterwards a conductor on the railroad ; served during the civil war for three years in the Sixth Connecticut Regiment and later was employed as a machinist by his brother Philo M. Beers ; married, December 12, 1867, Georgiana Banks. 10. Oscar, born at Strat- ford, June 22, 1847; married, March 17, 1870, Nellie Hinckley. 11. Frances Augusta, May 31, 1850: died January 7. 1860.
. (VIII) Philo Miles, son of Alpheus Beers, was born in Cornwall, Connecticut. July 23, 1835. He began his education in the public schools of Terryville, continuing in the schools of Stratford, whither he came when twelve years old, and worked on a farm. earn- ing his own living. He spent a year at Nich- ols learning the carriage maker's trade and then went to Terryville to work for his broth- er in the lock shop and continued in that busi- ness until he was of age. He then went to Indiana, but in a short time returned to Con- necticut. In 1858 he entered the employ of the Wheeler & Wilson Sewing Machine Com- pany at Bridgeport. Three years later, when the civil war came, he enlisted in Company H. First Connectieut Regiment of Volunteers and served his term of enlistment. three months. during which he took part in the battle of Bull Run. He returned to Bridgeport. When he began in the sewing machine factory he worked as a day hand, but his skill and use- fulness attracted the attention of the late Na- thaniel M. Wheeler, the head of the concern, and he was given part of the contract with Mr. Kingman, the head of the needle depart- ment, to make needles. In the course of time he was given the whole contract for the nee- dles, and eventually furnished his material as well as the labor necessary. He applied him- self to the task of improving the machinery then in use for making needles and gradu- ally his inventions took the place of the old machines. His perfection of the sewing ma- chine needle and the art of making it, has had much to do with developing the sewing machine's usefulness and bringing it to its present state of perfcetion. The inventive genius of Mr. Beers has done much toward supplying cheap. well-tempered and perfectly constructed needle-, which are vital to the efficiency and output of a sewing machine both for domestic and manufacturing pur- poses. The present output of the department under Mr. Beers is about a hundred thou- sand needles a day, which are taken by the Singer Manufacturing Company, though the Beers needles are known to the trade throughout the world. When Mr. Beers be- gan at the time of the civil war the needles
were made by hand and the best output was about eight thousand needles a day. Mr. Beers saw his business develop to mammoth proportions. The sewing machine concern grew from a modest concern employing two hundred men to one of three thousand and he had two hundred hands constantly em- ployed in making needles alone. In 1908 the Wheeler and Wilson Company was purchased by the Singer Manufacturing Company, and he accepted a handsome offer made by this company to buy his machinery including the rights to all his inventions with the stipula- tion that he should continue at the head of the business. In 1910 he completed a period of fifty-two years as employee and contractor of the Wheeler and Wilson concern and with but one exception is the oldest in point of service in the company. Few men in this country can equal his record, not only in re- speet to the usefulness of his inventions to mankind, but to the length of time he has been connected with a single industry. He has seen the sewing machine develop from a toy to one of the most perfect and useful of human inventions and has had an important part in the history of the machine. He has witnessed the growth of Bridgeport from a place of fifteen thousand inhabitants to a city of one hundred thousand. East Bridgeport where Mr. Beers owns a tract of land and has erected several houses was for many years after he came to Bridgeport only a farmiing section.
He has taken an active part in public af- fairs. He served two years in the common council. He is well known in the Masonic fraternity, having attained the thirty-second degree in Scottish Rite masonry. He is a member of Corinthian Lodge; of Jerusalem Chapter, Royal Arch Masons; of Jerusalem Council. Royal and Select Masters : of Han- ilton Commandery. Knights Templar, and of Pyramid Temple. Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, and all Scottish Rite bodies up to and including the thirty-second degree. He joined the Elias Howe Post, No. 3. Grand Army of the Republic. in 1867. the first year of its ex- istence and is still a member. He was also a member of the Roof-Tree and Seaside Chil, the Mill Hill Golf Club and the Pequonic Lodge of Odd Fellows. Ile is a member of the Park Street Congregational Church of which his wife was also a member, and he has served on the church committee and held other offices in the church and society. ' In polities he is a Republican.
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