History of Fairfield County, Connecticut : with illustrations and biographical sketches of its prominent men and pioneers, Part 110

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton) comp. cn
Publication date: 1881
Publisher: Philadelphia, J. W. Lewis & co.
Number of Pages: 1572

USA > Connecticut > Fairfield County > History of Fairfield County, Connecticut : with illustrations and biographical sketches of its prominent men and pioneers > Part 110

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Religious services were held at the house of Ezekich Beers and at the school-house, under the charge of Revs. Timberman and Wade, Griswold and Lent, and W. H. Johnson until the year 1844, when, under the latter, the society enjoyed a wouderfnl revival influ- ence, and F. L. Aiken, Lydia B. Aiken, Perry Beers, Sandford Beers, Charles Platt, Michacl Harrison and wife, with many others, united, thins greatly increasing their strength numerically.

In the year 1844, Rev. J. J. Smith assumed the pas- toral charge, and the society procceded to build a church. In the month of August of the same year

* Cont.ibuted by T. L. Dibble.

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HISTORY OF FAIRFIELD COUNTY, CONNECTICUT.

the house was dedicated, the Rev. Zenas Covel offiei- ating, taking for his subjeet, "The prayer of Solomon at the dedieation of the temple."

The first board of trustees was composed of Amos Diekens, F. L. Aiken, William S. Beers.

Rev. Smith was followed in the pastorate by Rev. Witzel and Joshua Hudson, each retaining it for three years,-the time preseribed by diseipline. Their sue- eessors have been Revs. O. C. Diekerson, R. R. Diossy, Crossman, J. H. Painter, E. Jones, P. Weaver, G. B. Wray, N. Britton, M. Staple, J. Holden, I. Brown, T. L. Dibble.

Latterly the ehureh has been less uniform as to the length of time she has retained her pastors, owing largely to the change of boundaries of the work of which she has been a part. She has prospered, though subject to so many changes. The pastor for the longest period was Rev. M. Staples, he being eon- tinued for seven years in sueeession.

A few of her first members yet live; others have passed away. At present her membership numbers forty-six. The present offieers are : Clerk, J. B. Mil- ler ; Trustees, A. P. Beers, Henry Harris, William E. Lane, William Reynolds, F. L. Aiken ; Treasurer, F. L. Aiken ; Pastor, T. L. Dibble.

There is also a Methodist Episcopal Church at Sel- leek's Corners, but we have been unable to obtain any data eoneerning it. Rev. William T. Gilbert was pastor in Mareh, 1879.

EDUCATION .- THE NEW CANAAN ACADEMY.

" Among the early settlers of New Canaan were very few men of liter- ary culture. Neither the tempestuous times which had engrossed their earliest attention nor their slender pecuniary resources had allowed them the advantages of any scholastic training. But the New England fathers (and our pioneers were among them) saw that the only way to establish here and perpetuate a society which could satisfy their hopes would be by means of a careful, thorough, and general education of their children. The fundamental laws of the colony required, under severe penalties, every town to provide means for the carly instruction of their children. The statute reads:

"'The selectmen of every town shall have a vigilant eyc over their brethren and neighbors to see, first, that none of them shall suffer so much barbarism in any of their families as not to endeavor to teach, by themselves or others, their children and apprentices so much learning as may enable them perfectly to read the English tongue and knowledge of the capital laws, upon penalty of twenty shillings for each neglect therein.'

" It was still further provided that 'every town having fifty house- holders in it should forthwith appoint one within the town to teach all such children as shall resort to him to write and read, whose wages shall be paid either by the parents or masters of such children, or by the in- habitants in general.' Among the earliest functions discharged by Ca- naan parish is the appointment of school committees. Where the first school-house was built and when cannot now be ascertained. It was doubtless, like their first meeting-house, exceedingly plain, with no needless room in it, and no useless expensive adorning. At this day we can have no adequate conception of the extreme difficulty attending those early educational measures, but their influence on succeeding generations has heeu incalculable. For a more extended education than that furnished by the common-or, as it is now termed, district-school no provision was made for many years. Rev. Justus Mitchell, who was settled in the ministry here in 1783, kept a select school during a con- siderable time. Eight young men from New Canaan and a large number from other places were fitted for college with him. Eliphalet St. John, Esq., who graduated at Yale College iu 1791, devoted himself to teaching at his residence on Brushy Ridge, and though the school consisted mainly of young men from New York fitting themselves for business,

still some citizens of New Canaan and adjoining towns availed them- selves of the advantages of this school.

"The New Canaan Academy was established in 1815, and the building erected in 1816. The teachers were, successively, Rev. Ilerman Daggett, Rev. James Il. Linsley, Rev. John Smith, Dr. Samuel W. Belden, Rev. Dr. Milton Badger, Rev. Theophilus Smith, IIon. David L. Seymour, President Julian M. Sturtevant, Rev. Dr. Flavel Bascom, Rev. Dr. Al- fred Newton, Rev. John C. Hart, Rev. William B. Lewis, Prof. Ebenezer A. Johnson.

"This academy about 1834 was converted into a private boarding- school, and was owned and taught successively by Messrs. Silas Daven- port, David S. Rockwell, and Rev. J. L. Gilder. The academy was re- vived in 1859, tauglit by Rev. J. C. Wyckoff for several years, afterwards by Mr. Thomas Pease, and was broken up during the last year of the civil war. Twenty-five persons have graduated at Yale College from this town, a majority of whom would have not enjoyed the privilege of a collegiate education had not the academy enabled them to fit them- selves here. Besides these graduates, a much larger number of young men were fitted for business ; young ladies also enjoyed in the academy the advantages of a thorough course of study. It ranked second only to the churches in elevating the standard of moral and intellectual cul- ture in the town."*

CHAPTER XLIV. NEW CANAAN (Continued).

CIVIL AND MILITARY .- LODGES, ETC.

Organization of Town-The First Town-Meeting-Officers Elected- Selectmen, Representatives, Town Clerks, and Treasurers from Organ- ization of the Town to 1880-Present Town Officials-Harmony Lodge, No. 67, F. and A. M .- Wooster Lodge, No. 37, I. O. of O. F .- Friendship Division, No. 10, S. of T .- First National Bank-New Canaan Savings Bank-Board of Trade-Postmasters from 1818 to the Present Time- Military Record.

THE town of New Canaan was incorporated in 1801, and embraees the same territory formerly within the bounds of "Canaan parish."

THE FIRST TOWN-MEETING.

The first town-meeting in New Canaan was held June 29, 1801, when the following officers were chosen : Samuel St. John, Town Clerk and Treasurer; Isaae Richards, Joseph Silliman, and Josepli Seeley, Seleet- men ; Aaron Comstoek and Samuel Bolt, Constables ; Phineas Smith, Nathan Seeley, Selleek Seofield, Thad- deus Seymour, and Matthew Fiteh Gregory, Listers ; Seth Hiekok, Peter Bishop, and Israel Slawson, Grand Jurors; Nehemiah Loekwood, Seth Kellogg, Fenee- Viewers; John Hiekok, Sealer of Leather; James Loekwood, Sealer of Measures; Nathaniel Fiteh, Sealer of Weights; Aaron Comstoek, Keeper of the Pound; Claus Weed, Jr., Jesse Hiekok, Tything- men.

SELECTMEN FROM 1801 TO 1880.

The following is a list of the seleetmen from the organization of the town to 1881 :

Isaac Richards, 1801-9, 1819-20-22 ; Joseph Seeley, 1801-4; Isaae Bene- dict, 1805-10, 1812-15 ; Jesse Richards, 1805-7; Enos Weed, 1808-10; Nathan Seely, 1811; Samuel Boult, 1811; David Stevens, 1812-15; James T. Ecls, 1814 ; Jonathan B. Benedict, 1815-16, 1819-26, 1832-34; Aaron Comstock, 1817-18; Ebenezer Hanford, 1817-18; Ebenezer Crofut, 1817-18 ; Stephen lloyt, 1819-30; Seth Weed, 1823-30 ; Eliplia-

* The above sketch of the academy was taken from the excellent ad- dress delivered by the late Prof. Samnel St. John, July 4, 1876.

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NEW CANAAN.

let St. John, 1826 ; Holly Sanford, 1827-31; Joseph Silliman, 1832 ; IIezekiah St. John, 1833-38; Ilanford Davenport, 1833-34; Watts Comstock, 1835-38 ; Ilanford Carter, 1835-48; Daniel Bostwick, 1840 -41; Samuel Hoyt, 1842; John Raymond, 1843-44; James Pattison, 1844; Ilexron L. Ayres, 1845-46 ; Charles Raymond, 1845-47, 1857- 58; Alfred Raymond, 1846-55 ; Caleb S. Benedict, 1847; Andrew Bene- dict, 1848-51; Thomas Raymond, 1849 ; Uzal Iusted, 1849; Sylvanus Seely, 1850; John Warren, 1850 ; Burling D. P'nrdy, 1851, 1871-77; Stephen Hoyt, 1851; l'eter Smith, 1852-59; William L. Waring, 1853-79; Samuel C. Silliman, Jr., 1856; Nehemiah E. Weed, 1859-62; David B. Hoyt, 1861; George Lockwood, 1862; Ira P. Davis, 1863; Benjamin Hoyt, 1864-69; Andrew K. Comstock, 1864-66; Samuel K. Lockwood, 1868-74 ; Joseph F. Silliman, 1873; Thomas M. Fairty, 1876-79.

The present, 1880, town officers are as follows: B. D. Purdy, Thomas M. Fairty, William L. Waring, Seleetmen ; Junius Benediet, Town Clerk and Regis- trar; Thomas Raymond, Town Treasurer; J. Craw- ford, F. E. Chichester, S. N. Raymond, Assessors ; Lewis K. Hoyt, Solomon Lockwood, Edwin Hoyt, Board of Relief; George S. Johnson, Isaae Lea, Henry O. Taylor, S. Henry Hoyt, Constables; T. Hawley, H. Terrell, William Wardwell, John E. Whitney, Grand Jurors ; Burling D. Purdy, Jr., Rus- sell L. Hall, Registrars of Voters ; Charles Raymond, Samuel N. Raymond, Auditors of Town Accounts; Joseph Greenleaf, William E. Husted (1880), L. M. Monroe, Edwin Hoyt (1881), W. G. Brownson, B. D. Purdy (1882), Board of Education; Thomas Ray- mond, Treasurer of Permanent School Fund; Thos. Raymond, Treasurer Town Deposit Fund; Joseph Lambert, Joseph F. Silliman, Thomas H. Borden, J. L. Raymond, Justices of the Peace.

TOWN CLERKS.

Samuel St. Jolın, 1801-24; Edward Nash, 1826-35; Joseph Silliman, 1835 -39; Samuel C. Silliman, Jr., 1840-41, 1843-47, 1849-52; David S. Rockwell, 1842; Jolin B. Lambert, 1848 ;* Lucius M. Monroe, 1854- 55; Noah W. Hoyt, 1856-58, 1865-73 ;; Selleck Y. St. John, 1859-64, 1873-75; Augustus S. Dann, 1876-77; Junius Benedict, 1878-79.}

TOWN TREASURERS.

Samuel St. John, June, 1801-25; Isaac Richards, 1825; Stophen Hoyt, Jr., 1826-39 ; Charles Raymond, 1840-52;2 William E. Raymond, 1845 ; Benjamin Iloyt, 1853-75 ; Augustus S. Dann, 1876.1

REPRESENTATIVES TO THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY.

1801-06, Joseph Silliman; 1806-07, Isaac Rieliards; 1808, Joseplı Silli- man; 1809, Samuel St. John; 1810, Joseph Silliman; 1810-16,T Samuel St. Jolın; 1817-18, ** Nathan Seely; 1819, Isaac Richards; 1820, Nathan Seely ; 1821, Stephen IJoyt; 1822-28, Samuel Ray- mond; 1829, Watts Comstock; 1830-33, Samuel Raymond; 1834, Edward Nash; 1835, Joseph Silliman; 1836, Stephen Hoyt, Jr .; 1837, Samuel Raymond; 1838-39, Watts Comstock; 1840, Stephen

Iloyt, Jr .; 1841, Samnel Raymond; 1842-45, no choice; 1846-47, Ilanford Carter; 1848, Burling D. Purdy ; 1849, Timothy E. Kay- mond; 1850, Joseph Silliman; 1851, George Gearheart : 1852, Carlisle Lockwood; 1853, Sanmel K. Lock wood; 1854, Benjamin N. Heath ; 1855, Samuel K. Lockwood; 1856, Benjamin Hoyt; 1857-58, Noah W. Iloyt ; 1859, William E. Raymond; 1860-GI, Benjamin N. Heath; 1862, Benjamin Hoyt; 1863, Ebenezer J. Richards; 1864, Stephen II. l'ardee; 1865, Apollos Comstock : 18CG, Caleb S. Benedict; 1867, Charles Raymond; 1868, Ebenezer J. Richards; 1869, Francis L. Aiken; 1870-71, Mark Staples: 1872, Caleb S. Benedict; 1873-74. Burling D. Purdy ; 1875, Justus F. Hoyt; 1876,1+ Burling D. Purdy ; 1877, William E. Ilusted; 1878, S. Y. St. Jolm; 1879, Samuel N. Raymond.

POST-OFFICE.

The New Canaan post-office was established Jan. 19, 1818, and Samuel St. John was appointed post- master. The following is a list of incumbents of the office from its establishment to the present time :

Samuel St. John, appointed Jan. 19, 1818. Edward Nash, appointed Jan. 25, 1825. Erastus Secly, appointed March 8, 1833.

Thomas S. Husted, appointed Nov. 23. 1833.

Charles Raymond, appointed March 26, 1839.

Thomas S. ITusted, appointed July 3, 1841.

Charles Raymond, appointed Sept. 4, 1844. Benjamin Iloyt, appointed Dec. 12, 1849.

Samuel C. Silliman, Jr., appointed June 23, 1853. Henry B. Hoyt, appointed Sept. 3, 1853. Noalı W. Hoyt, appointed April 26, 1861. Stephen II. Pardee, ## appointed Ang. 24, 186G. Noalı W. Hoyt, appointed March 22, 1869. Noah W. Hoyt, reappointed ?? Dec. 11, 1872.

HARMONY LODGE, NO. 67, F. AND A. M.

This lodge was instituted May 30, 1825. The fol- lowing were the eliarter members, those marked with an asterisk (*) being deceased: Horatio Weed,* James Stevens,* Samuel Carter, Jr., * Eliphalet Weed,* Daniel Bostwiek,* Darius St. John, Ebenezer Carter, Jr.,* Henry Chambers," Rufus Richards,* Hanford Carter," Timothy E. Raymond, Jacob Reed,* John J. Brown,* Stephen Betts,* Samuel Carter,* Joseph Watson," Samuel Raymond, * Richard Fayerweather," Caleb Benediet,* Anson D. Pennoyer,* John Seeley,* Thaddeus M. Keeler," Isaae Lockwood,* Hiram Tal- madge,* Caleb S. Benediet, Enos H. Weed,* John F. Raymond, Leander Slawson .* The first officers were as follows : Samuel Carter, Jr., M .; John Seeley, S. W .; Eliphalet Weed, J. W .; Caleb Benedict, Treas .; Horatio Weed, See .; James Stevens, S. D .; Rufus Richards, J. D .; Darius St. John, S. Stew. ; Caleb S. Benedict, J. Stew.

During the Anti-Masonic excitement the charter was surrendered to the Grand Lodge, and at that time Mr. Caleb S. Benediet was Master. It was restored in May, 1860, and Mr. Caleb S. Benediet was Master. Present Master, Samuel H. Raymond. Present members, eighty-eiglit. The officers for 1880 are as follows : Samuel H. Raymond, W. M .; Justus K. Raymond, S. W .; Henry G. Benedict, J. W .; Noah WV. Hoyt, Treas .; Theodore W. Benediet, Sec .; John

* Resigned iu February, 1849, and Samuel G, Silliman, Jr., appointed in his place.

¡ Resigned March 4, 1873, and S. Y. St. Jolin appointed.

# Present (1880) incumbent.

¿ Except the year 1845.

| Present (1880) incumbent.

[ A special session was called by the Governor, John Cotton Smith, on the fourth Wednesday of January, 1815, to consider a memorial from Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Vermont, and Rhode Island to protect the petitioners against improper legislation by Congress. Delegate to the convention, Samuel St. John.

** A Constitutional Convention was held in 1818, which discontinued the October session of the General Assembly. Delegato to thio conven- tion, Nathan Seely.

ff Constitution amended making January session.

# Mr. Pardeo was appointed postmaster by President Johnson, but novor entered upon tho duties of the office.

22 Present incumbeut.

446

HISTORY OF FAIRFIELD COUNTY, CONNECTICUT.

Edward Richards, died. De Witt C. Ruscoe, must. out. Lewis Randle, died. Chauncey Raymond, disch. for disability. Floyd S. Ruscoe, must. out. Justus M. Silliman, must, out. Charles E. Seeley, must. out. James A. Smallhorn, must. out. George H. Wood, died. Francis Weinberg, must. out. William Wilson, must. ont. Martin Wassing, disch. for disability. Squire A. Waterbury, disch. for disability. George E. Waterbury, trans. to Vet. Res. Corps. Harry Waterbury, must. out.

George W. Weed, must. out. Charles L. Bartow, must. out. John Birdsall, died.

Charles Crofoot, must. out. William S. Fitch, must. out. Patrick Innis, must. out. Charles Vitenheimer, must. out. William Wright.

TWENTY-EIGHTH REGIMENT.

Joseph C. Cronk, must. out. Joseplı Thomson, must. out. Joseph Adams, must. out. Danicl Wakeman, disch. for disability.

Nelson R. Copes, must. out. George W. Thomson, must. out. William Jefferson, must. out. Perry Williams, must. out.

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.

PROFESSOR SAMUEL ST. JOHN.

Professor Samuel St. John was born in New Ca- naan, March 29, 1813, and was in his sixty-third year at the time of his death. He graduated at Yale Col- lege in the class of 1834. In 1838 he accepted an ap- pointment as professor of chemistry, mineralogy, and geology in the Western Reserve College, at Hudson, Ohio, in which office he remained until 1851. He was principal of the Cleveland Seminary for young ladies from 1852 to 1856, and during this time was professor of chemistry and medical jurisprudence in the Cleveland Medical College. In 1856 he was ap- pointed professor of chemistry and medical jurispru- dence in the College of Physicians and Surgeons in New York City. This position he held until his deatlı.

When appointed to the New York college he made his home in his native village, and continued to take an active interest in all enterprises undertaken for the benefit of the place. He was one of the first and best friends of the New Canaan Railroad. He became president of the company, and to him is greatly due the success of the enterprisc. One of his last con- spicuous public services was the writing of a " His- tory of New Canaan," which he read at the celebra- tion of the Centennial Fourth of July, and which is an enduring memorial of his interest in New Canaan and its people, as well as of his literary skill.

Professor St. John married, in 1840, Amelia P. C. Curtis, who died December, 1856, in Cleveland, Ohio. Their children were Walter, died in infancy ; Eliza C .; Samuel B .; George, died in infancy. Samuel B. was born in 1845. He graduated at Yale College in 1866, at the College of Physicians and Surgeons, New York, in 1870. He was house surgeon of the Belle- vuc Hospital and Manhattan Eye and Ear Hospital, New York; surgeon of the New York Dispensary, Northwestern Dispensary, New York, and to the Eye and Ear Infirmary, New York ; attended the hospi- tals in Edinburglı, London, Berlin, Vienna, and Paris in 1872 and 1873. He is a member of the New York Ophthalmological and American Ophthalmological Societies (whose rules prohibit the announcement in print of any specialty).

In 1835, Dr. St. John visited Europe in company with Dr. Parker. He went to Europe a second time, and once more in 1873 he visited the Vienna Exposi- tion in company with his son and daughter. He died Sept. 6, 1876.

We cannot, here, give anything like a comprehen- sive analysis, or pay adequate tribute to the char- acter of one who, for his profound learning, useful life, labors, and noble example of unselfishness and integrity, was an honor not only to New Canaan, but to Connecticut, which has lost many better-known citizens, but none of more solid attainments or more real worth. Very rarely does the loss of a citi- zen occasion such a deep and heartfelt sorrow, such wide-spread and universal sense of bereavement in any community, as did the death of Professor Samuel St. John in the town of New Canaan. It is another proof that real goodness, real nobility of character, will compel recognition in every class of society, and when such a one is taken away there is no exception to the general sorrow, and the humble, the proud, the poor, the rich, the vulgar, the refined, the reckless, and the thoughtful, all unite, for a time at least, in one common bond of mutual grief. Well is it for those on whom the lesson makes a permanent im- pression, who are able to grasp the full meaning of such a life, and who resolve to make it a model for their own.

Dr. St. John was loved in New Canaan as few men are loved in any community. A native of the vil- lage, he ever regarded New Canaan as his home, no matter how far away circumstances led him in the active labors of his life. New Canaan was the scene of his childhood and youthful memories, and in his riper years, when circumstances permitted, New Ca- naan was his chosen and permanent home. He was known and beloved by everybody in the town, young and old alike. He was a warm friend of every pro- ject having for its object the good of the town, and devoted his time, talents, and means to promote its interests. He was a true patriot, loving his country and her institutions with loyal affection, but his scholarly and philosophical mind, his broad culture

Samuel Se Soluo.

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NEW CANAAN.

"rich with the spoils of time," and with the results of his own observation, and original research in the domain of science and learning, made him more than willing to keep aloof from active connection with the management of partisan struggles.

In conformity with recommendations of the Presi- dent's proclamation, that some suitable history be written of each town in the United States during the Centennial year, supplemented by an urgent invita- tion of a committee of his townsmeu, and upon the positive assurance that he would be interfering with. the prerogative of no one, he consented to write the "History of New Canaan," which he delivered on the Centennial Fourth of July, as before stated. From this address the historian of this work has largely drawn for material for the history of that town, for which due credit has elsewhere been given. The closing words of Professor St. John's historical ad- dress are significant, and we cannot do better, per- haps, than to reproduce them here: "We who are now assembled here, gathering up the influences of this occasion, must soon be numbered with the con- gregations of other days. The time of our departure is at hand, to make room for our successors in the the- atre of life. It may be that our posterity will assemble here to review their past. Shall it be amid joy or sorrow ? The answer is in part left to us. May he who, at the distance of another century, shall stand here to celebrate this day, still look around upon a free, happy, and virtuous people; and may the God of our fathers give us grace to so administer the trust committed to us that onr record shall enable the his- torian to rank us with them as having been faithful to the principles which they established !"

SELLECK Y. ST. JOHN.

Selleck Y. St. John, the oldest child of Zadock and Mary W. St. John, was born at South Salem, Westchester Co., and State of New York, on the 10th day of February, 1819. His father was the third son of Samuel St. John, of Ridgebury, Conn., where he was born in 1793, and died at Lewisboro' (formerly South Salem), Westchester Co., N. Y., in 1865.

His mother was the oldest child of Ebenezer Sel- leck, of Lewisboro', where she was born in 1801, and where she died in 1876. His parents were married Jan. 8, 1818; they lived together forty-seven years, and had four sons. The father's death was the first in the family.

Until thirteen years of age the subject of onr sketch had only the ordinary advantages of a common school ; then for the best part of two years lie was favored with the advantages of an excellent practical academy, conducted by his cousin, Samuel S. St. Jolin, Esq., at Ridgefield, Conn.

At sixteen years of age lie entered as a clerk the store of Seymour Comstock, Esq., of New Canaan,

who was at that time one of the leading merchants of this place and vicinity, and continued in the mercan- tile business as a clerk and for himself for about eighteen years. He has often been elected by the people of New Canaan to various offices of trust and responsibility,-town clerk for nine years; fifteen years continuously elected a magistrate, whether the town went Democratic or Republican, and was finally obliged to refuse to qualify to get rid of it, because of its interference with his other duties; was among the very first magistrates, if not the very first, in the State to try a case under the "Maine Law," so called, passed in 1854; was elected to the Legislature in 1878, and served in the session of 1879, the first that met in the new State-House, at Hartford.

In 1859 the New Canaan Savings Bank was char- tered, and npon being organized he was chosen its treasurer, in which capacity he served seventeen consecutive years, and then was chosen its president for two years, but resigned before the expiration of the second year.

In 1865 the First National Bank of New Canaan was established, and he was chosen its cashier, in which capacity he has served until the present time.

In 1868 the New Canaan Railroad was organized, and in the following year he was chosen one of its directors, and served continuously until, in 1876, he was chosen to fill the vacancy made by the death of Professor Samuel St. John (who had been president from its organization), and continues in that capacity to the present time.

The New Canaan Cemetery Association was organ- ized in 1867, of which he was chosen one of its direc- tors, in which he has served continuously to the pres- ent; and npon the death of Capt. Stephen Hoyt, its first and only president until his death, which oc- curred in February, 1878, Mr. St. John was chosen his successor, and still acts in that capacity.

In December, 1840, Mr. St. Jolm was married to Mary A., daughter of Holly Seymour, of New Ca- naan, who died in 1833, leaving a widow and five children. His widow died in 1849, leaving the two youngest children, a son and daughter. It was the mother's dying request that Mr. St. John and wife should give up their own home and come back to the old homestead, which had been in the family from the earliest settlement of the town, where her children had been born and reared, and make a home for the young brother and sister. The promise was made and saeredly kept, and from that time until the present, a period of over thirty years, there has scarcely been a time, however short, but that they have had this brother and sister or their children, as well as other nieces and nephews of himself and wife, as members of their family, and in which they have always been treated with love and kindness, as if their own.

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History of Fairfield County, Connecticut : with illustrations and biographical sketches of its prominent men and pioneers, Part 110

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton) comp. cn Publication date: 1881 Publisher: Philadelphia, J. W. Lewis & co. Number of Pages: 1572

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton) comp. cn
Publication date: 1881
Publisher: Philadelphia, J. W. Lewis & co.
Number of Pages: 1572