History of Fairfield County, Connecticut : with illustrations and biographical sketches of its prominent men and pioneers, Part 12

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 12

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The doctor is a fluent and graceful writer, as is evi- deuced by the pages of the History of Derby, lately published, of which he was a co-editor and the lead- ing writer, to whom the book is largely indebted for its spiee, vivacity, and local historical interest. The History of Derby will doubtless be regarded through many coming years, by generations yet to come, with affectionate interest as the crowning sheaf in the life- work of a wise counselor, a skilled physician, a kind, affectionate husband and father, a friend of humanity, and an honest man. Judged by his works, it can truthfully be said of him that, while of worse men there are many, yet of better men there are few. As a physician his services were as accessible to the poor as to the rich, the question of probable reward never being considered to deter from or prompt to the most arduous service.

Publie-spirited and upright in his daily walk and conversation, Dr. Beardsley has won for himself an enviable name in the community where nearly half a century ago he pitched his tent, and went forth to en- joy, in the words of Goldsmith, "the luxury of doing good." A Fairfield County boy, he well deserves this place of honor in its history.

If to renown we give the soldier's name Who swings the sword for country or for fame, If he who saves, and not who doth destroy, Before his Maker hath tho best employ, Then should we write our village doctor's name High on the scroll of that undying fame Which crumbles not within the burial-shroud Nor waits the fickle plaudit of the crowd.

With tender hand the fainting one to save, To starve the sexton, and to foil the grave ; To lift the shadow from the palace-door, Or smooth the pillow of the dying poor ; By pleasant word to cheer the heart of woe, Where Beardsley went but few are found to go. What matter, then, if lofty stone or low Shall lift above the ashes of his rest ?

When we no more the kindly face shall know, Its mem'ry still shall fill the grateful breast, And best who knew shall cherish it the best.

Courage, O youth ! Though fortune thee disown, Like Beardsley, snatch the laurel and the crown 4

Of that great manhood which-tho' sometimes wrong- Euds at the last with this triumphant song :

" He fought the fight, aud ever, till he slept, 'Twixt man and man the faith he kept." J. W. S.

EZRA P. BENNETT, M.D., one of the oldest physi- eians in the State, and one of the most widely known in this portion of it, has been in active practice in Danbury nearly fifty-three years. Like many other men who have become eminent in various avocations, his early days, spent on a farm, gave no promise of his future carcer. He was born in Weston, Conn., Aug. 31, 1806, the fourth of a family of seven. His father, Ezra Bennett, was descended from a Seoteh family of the name that settled in Connecticut several generations carlier. The ancestors of his mother, Esther Godfrey, eame from England.

The opportunities for obtaining an education in his native town were very meagre, but such as they were he made diligent use of them. According to the cus- toms of rural communities he attended school in the winter and worked on the farm in summer, and up to his fifteenth year he enjoyed no other educational privileges. Even the newspaper, which has become such a universal medium of instruction, was then hardly circulated outside of the larger towns.

After leaving the publie school young Bennett was able to attend a private school for two winters under the charge of a college graduate, where he succeeded in slightly enlarging his knowledge of the common branches and picking up a smattering of Latin. Thus equipped, at the age of seventeen he taught school in Weston during a winter term and the following sum- mer in Redding. However small the wages for this latter service may have been, he has had reason for congratulation for one of its results, for during that auspicious season he met her who afterwards became his wife, and has been his faithful coadjutor for more than half a century.

When he was fourteen an injury to the knee, sus- tained in wrestling, incapacitated him for efficient work on the farm, and obliged him to seek employ- ment more in accordance with his tastes. He entered the office of Dr. Charles Gorham, of Redding, paying in part for the privilege by making himself useful in doing chores. In 1826 the young student spent eight months in the medical school at Pittsfield, Mass. The next year, after a term of the same length, he was graduated a doctor of medicine.

With a fair education gained under such adverse circumstances and an indomitable spirit lie began at once, in January, 1828, to practice in Bethel, then a part of the town of Danbury, and entered upon a struggle that proved long aud severe. His worldly goods and professional equipmeuts consisted of what books he could conveniently earry under his arm, a pocket-case of surgical instruments, a horse and sad- dle, a meagre wardrobe, and ten dollars in cash. He had thus no abundance of means to support him while lic built up a practice, nor had he influential friends

HISTORY OF FAIRFIELD COUNTY, CONNECTICUT.

to open the way for him, but was entirely dependent on the knowledge and skill which increased with years, and on boldness and energy that have never failed him. During the ten years of his sojourn in Bethel he managed to lay aside about fifty dollars a year. The economy that secured this result was rigid, for in the early part of that period he added to his earthly possessions a wife, a dwelling, and barn. If the helpmeet did not come from his side, like the primeval woman from her husband, the real estate did come from his head and hands, the product of their cunning and industry.

June 24, 1829, he was married to Sarah Maria, daughter of Billy Comstock, Esq., of Redding.

Dr. Bennett's career in Bethel was as successful as its narrow sphere rendered possible, but when, in 1838, an opening encouraged him to remove to Danbury, he gladly improved the opportunity of entering on broader usefulness. He purchased the place on Deer Hill which has since been his home. Here his practice steadily increased, giving him all he could attend to even in ordinary circumstances. From the first he has been especially interested in surgery, and there he has won his fairest laurels. Beginning with the simple task of trephining he has performed operations worthy of the most eminent men in the profession. He was the pioneer in Connecticut in operating for ovarian tumor, vesico-vaginal fistula, and club-foot. He has per- formed lithotomy by the lateral method nine times successfully, save one, which was undertaken against overwhelming chances. Seven of his nine cases of ovariotomy have succeeded perfectly. His other capi- tal operations have been numerous. He has tied the subclavian artery once and the femoral artery four times. The boldness and skill of his operations have given him a deserved place of honor in the minds of those who have been familiar with them, both in and out of the profession.

The necessity of rapid manipulation was a prere- quisite to success before the discovery of anæsthetics, and the rapidity with which Dr. Bennett worked was perfectly wonderful. He once amputated a thigh in thirty seconds, according to the testimony of bystand- ers, who timed him accurately, his celerity in op- erating being due, doubtless, in a measure, to the fact that he is ambidextrous. In 1850 he made a trip to England, with his two boys, to consult Dr. Marshall Hall respecting the health of one of them. He was absent, however, but a few months.

In a sketch of this kind, necessarily brief, it is im- possible to do justice to the personal and professional characteristics of a man like Dr. Bennett. Moulded largely by the circumstances of his early-life struggles, which developed boldness, independence, and obsti- nate determination, he has made firm friends, and by his intelligence and skill has won respect even from enemies. A man that has his own way to make in the world, and makes it successfully, naturally feels some degree of self-complacency, and cannot be

blamed for reviewing his career with considerable satisfaction. Dr. Bennett has done what he under- took, and done it well. How many have done less ! In the course of his professional career he has met in consultation some of the most eminent physicians in the country, and they have invariably admired his talents and respected his opinions. He has always been remarkably quick and sure in his diagnosis, seeming at times to have an almost intuitive percep- tion of disease, and his hand is still as steady in oper- ating as it was fifty years ago, nor has he lost the zest of early ambition in his favorite department of sur- gery.

He has kept abreast the age in his profession, and his library, of a few books carried under the arm, has grown to contain all the works of authors of stand- ing, and occupies two sides of a long room from floor to ceiling. June 24, 1879, the doctor celebrated his golden wedding. It was an enjoyable, impromptu affair, arranged during a ride the doctor was induced to take, at which many of the friends were present, and not the least pleasant feature of which was the presentation to him of a gold watch and chain, in a happy speech by Deacon E. T. Hoyt. The watch was inscribed as follows: "Dr. E. P. Bennett from his friends, in recognition of the faithfulness and skill with which, as surgeou and physician, he has long served them and honored his profession."

In 1875, Dr. Bennett was appointed one of the trustees of the State Lunatic Hospital for four years, and reappointed in 1879.

The doctor's children have been three: William Comstock and Andrew Comstock, twins, and Sarah L. One of the twins, Andrew, in the interest of whose health the trip to England was made, died on the re- turn voyage. The surviving son, William, attended school at New Haven and Northampton, Mass., en- tered Yale College, and was graduated with the class of 1858. He received the degree of M.D. from the College of Physicians and Surgeons, New York City, in March, 1860; practiced medicine with his father until July, 1861, when he entered the army as assist- ant surgeon Fifth Connecticut Volunteers ; afterwards surgeon of the regiment. Resigning this position, he received an appointment from the United States as surgeon of volunteers; was assigned to the Twentieth Army Corps as medical inspector, serving ou the staffs of Slocum, Hooker, and Williams, successively. He was in the Army of the Shenandoah, Potomac, Cumberland, and Georgia, accompanying Sherman in his march to the sea. March, 1865, he was mus- tered out of service and returned to Danbury, where he has since practiced in company with his father.

The daughter, Sarah L., was married July 19, 1871, to Rev. John H. Lockwood, of Troy, N. Y., a de- scendant of several of the old families of Danbury. He was for two years after their marriage pastor of the Reformed Church of Canastota, N. Y. In 1873 he assumed the pastorate of the New England Con-

MILITARY HISTORY.

gregational Church of Brooklyn, where he remained six years; went thenee to Westfield, Mass., as pastor of the First Congregational Church,-a position he still oeeupies. They have one child, William An- drew.

AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY.

The Fairfield County Agricultural Society pur- chased the grounds and held their fair on the present location in Norwalk, 1867, with the following offieers: Jonathan Camp, President; Charles E. Plumb, See- retary.

The following is a list of the presidents and seere- taries from 1868 to the present time :

1868-71 .- Jonathan Camp, President; Charles E. Plumb, Seeretary.

1872-73 .- Dudley P. Ely, President; Charles E. Plumb, Seeretary.

1874 .- Dudley P. Ely, President; W. D. Gregory, Secretary.

1875-76 .- John P. Beatty, President ; W. D. Gregory, Secretary.

1877-80 .- J. E. Wheeler, President; W. D. Gregory, Secretary.

In 1875 the society was reorganized under a eharter from the Legislature as a joint-stock company, with a capital stoek of thirty thousand dollars, divided into fifteen hundred shares .of twenty dollars eaeh.

The grounds of the society are beautifully loeated on the line of the Danbury and Norwalk Railroad, and contain about thirty aeres, a good half-mile traek, and a fine building containing about fifteen thou- sand square feet of floor-surface, capable of holding and affording perfect protection to all artieles of- fered for competition or exhibition; also a large number of suitable stalls and yards for stoek. The commodious permanent buildings ereeted on the grounds afford protection and provide unexeelled facilities for the proper classifieation of all artieles sent for exhibition and competition.

CHAPTER IV.

MILITARY HISTORY.

First Regiment -The Third Regiment-The Fifth Regiment-The Sixth Regiment-The Seventh Regiment-The Eighth Regiment- The Ninth Regiment-The Tenth Regiment-The Twelfth Regiment -The Thirteenth Regiment-The Fourteenth Regiment-The Twenty- third Regiment-The Twenty-eighth Regiment-The Second Light Battery-The First Cavalry-The Seventeenth Regiment.

THE lightning had seareely flashed the intelligence to the expeetant North that Maj. Anderson and his gallant band had surrendered as prisoners of war to the Southern Confederaey ere the patriotie sons of Fairfield were rallying to the support of their im- periled country. Men and money were promptly raised, and the record of the county during the whole

struggle is one of which her citizens may justly feel a patriotic pride.

THE FIRST REGIMENT.

The first regiment which was raised in the State of Conneetieut for the service of the United States in the late Rebellion was known as the First Connecticut Volunteer Infantry, and was recruited mainly from the volunteer militia, to serve three months. Com- pany E was reeruited from Danbury, and Company K. from Bridgeport. Rifle Company B also had a num- ber of men from Bridgeport.

The field- and staff-officers were as follows : Colonel, Daniel Tyler; lieutenant - colonel, George S. Burn- ham; major, John L. Chatfield; quartermaster, Justin Hodge; adjutant, Theodore C. Baeon; surgeon, Henry P. Stearns ; surgeon's mate, F. L. Dibble; chaplain, George N. Webber; sergeant-major, John L. Spal- ding; quartermaster-sergeant, I. V. B. Williams ; drum-major, William J. Skinner; hospital steward, Joseph Colton.

The officers of Company E, the Danbury company, were as follows : Captain, Eliakim E. Wildman ; first lieutenant, Jesse D. Stevens ; seeond lieutenant, John W. Bussing.

Company K, the Bridgeport company, was offieered as follows : Captain, Richard Fitzgibbons; first lieu- tenant, Henry M. Hoyt; seeond lieutenant, William A. Lee.

The regiment was mustered into the service, seven hundred and eighty strong, April 24, 1861, and on the 9th of the following May left New Haven for the seat of war. It was armed with Sharp's rifles and Springfield muskets. It was the first regiment which aseended the Potomac. Upon arriving at the frout it went into eamp at Falls Church, where it remained nntil July 21st, when it was ordered to Bull Run, and participated in that disastrous and memorable struggle. Col. Tyler having been promoted to be a brigadier- general, the regiment, in this its baptism of fire, was commanded by Col. Burnham. During this contest, which resulted so disastrously to the Union forees, the regiment marehed and countermarehed until four o'eloek P.M., being mueh of the time under severe fire. The First retreated to Centreville, having lost only eight wounded and nine captured. After a brief halt at Centreville it returned to eamp, where it remained several days, and was then, its term of ser- viee having expired, sent North and mustered out at New Haven, July 3, 1861.

THE THIRD REGIMENT.

The Third Regiment was raised in Norwalk, Bridge- port, New Haven, Danbury, New Fairfield, Hartford, Meriden, Norwich, and Stanford. It embraced five rifle and four infantry companies, and was mustered into the service, seven hundred and fifty strong, May 14, 1861, for three months, with the following fiebl- and staff-officers : Colonel, John Arnold ; lieutenant- colonel, Allen G. Brady; major, Alexauder Warner;

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HISTORY OF FAIRFIELD COUNTY, CONNECTICUT.

adjutant, Frederick J. Peek ; quartermaster, Richard E. Holeomb; surgeon, John McGregor; assistant surgeon, Mathew C. Newton; sergeant-major, Wil- liam E. Brady ; quartermaster-sergeant, J. H. Alex- ander; drum-major, L. B. Farren; fife-major, Wil- liam R. Miller; chaplain, Junius M. Willey (enlisted June 14th).

The line-officers were as follows :

Company A .- Captain, Douglass Fowler; first lieu- tenant, Gilbert Bogart; second lieutenant, Stephen D. Byxbee.

Company B .- Captain, Daniel Klein ; first lieuten- ant, William K. Schmitt; seeond lieutenant, Charles Rose.

Company C .- Captain, James E. Moore; first lieu- tenant, Samuel G. Bailey ; second lieutenant, Charles H. Hoyt.

Company D .- Captain, Frederick Frye; first lieu- tenant, S. H. Gray; second lieutenant, Elliot M. Curtis.

Rifle Company A .- Captain, George N. Lewis ; first lieutenant, John Brennan ; seeond lieutenant, L. S. Bolles.

Rifle Company B .- Captain, Jared R. Cook; first lieutenant, -; second lieutenant, A. S. Cowdry.

Rifle Company C .- Captain, S. J. Root; first lieu- tenant, L. C. Allen; second lieutenant, J. S. A. Baker.

Rifle Company D .- Captain, Edward Harland; first lieutenant, C. W. Spalding; second lieutenant, Wil- liam W. Barnes.

Rifle Company E .- Captain, J. A. Nelson; first lieutenant, Henry Finnegus; second lieutenant, Wil- liam Wright.

Rifle Company F .- Captain, Albert Stevens; first lieutenant, Wells Allis; second lieutenant, Isaae L. Hoyt.

Col. Arnold resigned before leaving the rendezvous

. in Hartford in consequence of ill health, and the eom- mand was given to John L. Chatfield, who enlisted May 31st, and became very popular with the regi- ment.

The Third left Hartford for the front May 19, 1861. Upon its arrival at Washington it went into eamp at Camp Douglass, where it was put under vigorous drill until June 23d, when it was ordered to Camp Tyler, or Falls Church, where for several days it held this exposed position.

The regiment was first brigaded with the First and Second Connectieut and Eleventh Maine, July 15th, and placed under the command of Col. E. D. Keyes. On the following day Keyes' command moved for- ward, the Third in the advanee. At Blackburn Ford they encountered Longstreet's division, and during two days the brigade held this advanee post.

The Third partieipated in the memorable battle of Bull Run, Jan. 21, 1861, and their conduct in that disastrous field justly merited the many encomiums of praise bestowed by the commanding cffieers. Gen.

Keyes, in his official report, says, "The gallantry with which the Second Regiment of Maine and the Third of Connecticut Volunteers charged up the hill upon the enemy's artillery and infantry was never, in my opinion, surpassed." The Third was the last to leave the field, and it left it, not like the great mass of the Union army, in a rout, but in good order, pro- teeting the retreating army from the vietorious enemy.

Gen. Tyler said that it was these sons of Conneeti- eut who "saved us not only a large amount of publie property, but the mortification of having our standing eamps fall into the hands of the enemy." In this battle Sergt. McGregor was captured, but released. The regiment had four killed, thirteen wounded, eighteen captured, and six missing. The muster out was at Hartford, Aug. 12, 1861.

THE FIFTH REGIMENT

was organized in the summer of 1861, and entered the service with Orris S. Ferry, of Norwalk, as colonel. He was subsequently United States senator. This regiment was originally recruited in Hartford as the First Connectieut Revolving Rifle Regiment, with Samuel Colt as colonel, but, some misunderstanding having oeeurred, Col. Colt's commission was revoked, and the regiment was reorganized as above.

There was only one company from Fairfield County in the regiment,-Company A,-commanded by Henry B. Stone, of Danbury, with James A. Betts as first lieutenant and William A. Daniels second lieu- tenant. William C. Bennett, M.D., of Danbury, was the first assistant surgeon.

The regiment participated in the following engage- ments : Winchester and Cedar Mountain, Chaneel- lorsville, Gettysburg, Resaea, Dallas, Marietta, Peach- Tree Creek, Atlanta, Chesterfield Court-House, and Silver Run. Casualties : Killed, 93; died of wounds, 29; died of disease, 81. Several died in Anderson- ville prison. The regiment was mustered out July 19, 1865.

THE SIXTH REGIMENT.

The Sixth Regiment was organized in August, 1861, and in the following month was mustered into the United States service with the following field- and staff-offieers : Colonel, John L. Chatfield ; lieutenant- colonel, William G. Ely ; major, John Speidel; adju- tant, Redfield Duryee; quartermaster, I. V. B. Wil- liams ; surgeon, F. L. Dibble; first assistant surgeon, Edward Bulkley, Jr. ; seeond assistant surgeon, R. E. Ensign ; chaplain, Curtis T. Woodruff.

Fairfield County was represented in this regiment by two companies,-D, recruited in Stamford and Greenwich, and I, principally from Bridgeport, al- though other portions of the county were represented.

The officers of Company D were: Captain, Lo- renzo Meeker; first lieutenant, Charles H. Nichols; second lieutenant, John Stottlar.

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MILITARY HISTORY.

Thomas Boudren; first lieutenant, Daniel J. West ; second lieutenant, Stephen S. Stevens.

The regiment left New Haven September 17th, one thousand and eight strong, for the front. They re- mained in Washington until October 5th, when they went to Annapolis, from whence, October 25th, they embarked for South Carolina, having been assigned to the Department of the South. After the suc- cessful naval engagement of November 7th, when Forts Walker and Beauregard were captured, the honor was assigned to the Sixth and Seventh Con- necticut Regiments of first landing on the enemy's soil.

In March, 1862, the regiment was sent over to Daw- fuskie Island to assist in the capture of Fort Pulaski, and the following June found them in the battle of James' Island. They returned to Hilton Head, where they remained until October 21st, when the regiment joined the expedition to break up railroad communi- cation between Charleston and Savannah, and on the following day participated in the sharp engagement at Pocotaligo, where both Col. Chatfield and Lieut .- Col. Speidel were severely wounded.

. During the winter of 1862-63, the regiment re- mained in camp at Beaufort and Hilton Head, and March, 1863, found it in Florida, but soon returned to Hilton Head. It was soon transferred to Folly Island, and participated in the operations against Charleston and in the assault on Morris Island in July. In the second assault on Fort Wagner its gallant colonel, Chatfield, was wounded, and died in the following month. It was a gallant and well- directed assault, but the decimated ranks of the various regiments at the close of the contest told only too well of the severity of the charge.

"In the spring of 1864 the regiment went to For- tress Monroe, and May 6th proceeded into the interior, where it was engaged in reconnoissances, destruction of the enemy's railroads, and harassing their forces generally. The regiment was engaged in the charge upon and capture of the enemy's rifle-pits near Ches- ter Station on the 20th, and in the various operations lost one hundred and fifty-seven men during the months of May and June. From this time until January, 1865, the regiment was in various operations in Southern Virginia, and took part in the several engagements before Petersburg and Richmond. It was then ordered to North Carolina, and had its last fighting at the capture of Fort Fisher. In August the regiment was mustered out at New Haven."

The regiment participated in the following engage- ments : James' Island, Seeession ville, Pocotaligo, Jack- sonville, Morris Island, Fort Wagner, Chester Station, Drury's Bluff, Deep Bottom, Bermuda Hundred, Deep Run, Deep Bottom, siege of Petersburg, Chapman's Farm, New Richmond, Newmarket Road, Darbytown Road, Charles City, Fort Fisher, and Northeast Branch of Cape Fear River.

The casualties were as follows : Killed, 42; died of

wounds, 46; died of disease, 119; missing, 23. The rolls of the regiment bore the names of 1813 inen. In December, 1863, 205 re-enlisted as veterans. The regiment saw some service, and it is an honor to say, "I belonged to the Sixth Connecticut !"

THE SEVENTH REGIMENT

was organized in the fall of 1861, and was composed mainly of three months' men who had returned from the field during the summer. It went to the front with Alfred H. Terry as colonel and Joseph R. Haw- ley as lieutenant-colonel.

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History of Fairfield County, Connecticut : with illustrations and biographical sketches of its prominent men and pioneers, Part 12

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