History of Fairfield County, Connecticut : with illustrations and biographical sketches of its prominent men and pioneers, Part 142

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 142


Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).


Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86 | Part 87 | Part 88 | Part 89 | Part 90 | Part 91 | Part 92 | Part 93 | Part 94 | Part 95 | Part 96 | Part 97 | Part 98 | Part 99 | Part 100 | Part 101 | Part 102 | Part 103 | Part 104 | Part 105 | Part 106 | Part 107 | Part 108 | Part 109 | Part 110 | Part 111 | Part 112 | Part 113 | Part 114 | Part 115 | Part 116 | Part 117 | Part 118 | Part 119 | Part 120 | Part 121 | Part 122 | Part 123 | Part 124 | Part 125 | Part 126 | Part 127 | Part 128 | Part 129 | Part 130 | Part 131 | Part 132 | Part 133 | Part 134 | Part 135 | Part 136 | Part 137 | Part 138 | Part 139 | Part 140 | Part 141 | Part 142 | Part 143 | Part 144 | Part 145 | Part 146 | Part 147 | Part 148 | Part 149 | Part 150 | Part 151 | Part 152 | Part 153 | Part 154 | Part 155 | Part 156 | Part 157 | Part 158 | Part 159 | Part 160 | Part 161 | Part 162 | Part 163 | Part 164 | Part 165 | Part 166 | Part 167 | Part 168 | Part 169 | Part 170 | Part 171 | Part 172 | Part 173 | Part 174 | Part 175 | Part 176 | Part 177 | Part 178 | Part 179 | Part 180 | Part 181 | Part 182 | Part 183 | Part 184 | Part 185 | Part 186 | Part 187 | Part 188 | Part 189 | Part 190 | Part 191 | Part 192 | Part 193 | Part 194 | Part 195 | Part 196 | Part 197 | Part 198 | Part 199 | Part 200 | Part 201 | Part 202 | Part 203 | Part 204 | Part 205 | Part 206 | Part 207 | Part 208 | Part 209 | Part 210 | Part 211 | Part 212 | Part 213


Mr. Samuel Barlow purchased his farm of James Bradley for two thousand five hundred pounds. It consisted of one hundred and seventy aeres, with " buildings thereon," and was bounded on the north by the first eross highway from the rear of the long lots,-without doubt the road leading from Boston through the eentre to Redding Ridge. "This north- ern boundary," says Mr. Hill, "together with the familiar names of the old owners of property on the other side of the farm, and also the names of such familiar localities on the farm as 'the boggs,' and the ' flat ridge,' and the 'up-and-down road,' leading to each from the main road, mark this farm purehased by Samuel Barlow as being unmistakably the present property of Bradley Hill and the heirs of Gershom Hill. There was on it at the time a good substantial dwelling-house of respectable size, creeted by a pre- vious owner, and which stood about four hundred feet west of the present residence of Bradley Hill, on the same side of the street. The house was demolished in 1823. Having purchased this property, Jan. 2, 1749, he undoubtedly loeated his family on it the fol- lowing spring, as in subsequent deeds he is recognized as a resident of the 'Parish of Reading.' It was here that Aaron, Samuel, Joel, and Huldah were born. It was here he lived and died, and from here he was buried in the old cemetery west of the Congregational ehureh in Redding Centre."


Of the children of Samuel Barlow, Daniel and Ru- hamah died early. James settled in Ridgefield, on a farm of one hundred and thirty aeres conveyed to him by his father Mareh 30, 1770. He had four chil- dren : Samuel, who removed to the South, Lewis, Abigail, and James, who settled in Vermont. Jabez, the youngest son by the first wife, settled in Ohio.


Nathaniel Barlow married Jane Bradley, who was born May, 1744. Their children were Gershom, born Oet. 21, 1765, died of consumption, Sept. 24, 1794; Esther, born Sept. 30, 1767 (a deaf-mute), died May 10, 1783; Sarah, born Jan. 16, 1770, died April 11, 1845 ; Jonathan, born April 14, 1772, died Aug. 28, 1775; Betsey, born Aug. 2, 1778, died Sept. 9, 1864; Huldah, born April 3, 1780 (a deaf-mute), died Aug. 29, 1787. Mr. Nathaniel Barlow died Dec. 26, 1782.


Aaron Barlow settled in Redding, on Umpawaug Hill, on a farm purchased by his father several years before. He was a man of ability, tall and of impos- ing bearing, and served in the eapaeity of a eolonel in the Revolution. He removed to Norfolk, Va., and died there of yellow fever. His children were El- nathan, who died young; Elnathan, died in the war of 1812; Samuel, removed to Ohio ; Stephen, a law- yer in Ohio; Daniel, lived and died in Redding; Aaron, died at sea ; Esther, died at Norfolk, of yellow fever; Joel, died in Redding; Rebeeea, lived and died in Redding; and Thomas, ealled after Thomas Paine by his Unele Joel.


Thomas was educated and adopted by his unele, the poet, and aeeompanied him to Franee as his private secretary. He was also his companion on the fatal journey to Wilna. After the death of his unele Thomas returned to America and established himself as a lawyer in Pittsburgh, Pa., and died there.


Samuel Barlow, the third son by the second wife, was a soldier in the Revolutionary army, and died at Rhinebeek, N. Y., on his return from the expedition against Ticonderoga. A stone to his memory was ereeted in the old cemetery in Redding, near the Con- gregational church, and which is still standing.


Rev. Nathaniel Bartlett, seeond' pastor of the Con- gregational Church in Redding, beeame.a resident in 1753, and so remained until his death, in 1810. He married, June 13, 1753, Mrs. Eunice Russell, of Bran- ford, Conn. Their children were Russell, baptized June 9, 1754; Daniel C., baptized Jan. 16, 1757 ; Anne, Feb. 25, 1759; Eunice, April 26, 1761; Jona- than, Oet. 14, 1764; Lueretia, Mareh 27, 1768. Rus- sell married, Feb. 28, 1776, Rachel Taylor, and had children : Clare, baptized Mareh 30, 1777, and Flora, baptized Aug. 29, 1779. Daniel C. married Esther Read, Jan. 7, 1778, and settled in Amenia, N. Y., where some of his deseendants now reside. Rev. Jonathan married, first, Roda, daughter of Lemuel Sanford; second, Betsey Marvin, of Wilton; and third, Abigail, daughter of Lemuel Sanford. He had no children.


David Bartram removed from Fairfield to Redding' as early as 1733, in which year he appears as sur- veyor of highways. He was a farmer, and settled in Lonetown. He had five sons and three daughters born in Fairfield,-viz., David, Paul, James, Daniel, born Oet. 23, 1745, John, Mabel, Hannah, and Bet- sey. All the sons settled in Redding. David mar- ried, April 30, 1762, Phebe Morehouse, by whom he had Joel, David, John, Jonathan, Hulda, Hepsy, and Phebe. (Family reeord.) Paul married, Sept. 19, 1756, Mary Hawley. Their children were Joseph, born Jan. 28, 1758 (died in infancy); Mary, born May 12, 1760 ; Sarah, born Aug. 6, 1762; Euniee, born Jan. 3, 1765; Eli, born Mareh 30, 1767; Ruth, born Jan. 7, 1769; Ezekiel, born July 9, 1770 (town records); Ezra, baptized May 9, 1773; Joseph, baptized March 10, 1776. (Family reeord mentions a daughter Olive.)


579


REDDING.


Of these children, Mary married Jabez Burr, and re- moved to Clarendon, Vt .; Sarah married Milo Pal- mer, and removed to the same place; Eunice married Daniel Parsons, of Redding ; Eli married Dolly Lyon, of Redding, and about 1804 removed to Delaware Co., N. Y. His children were William, Belinda, Phebe, and Lodema. Ezekiel married Esther, daugh- ter of Jonathan Parsons, of Redding. Their children were Mary, Jared, Milo, Clarissa, Elizabeth, Jehu, Sarah, Elias, Ezra, Phebe, and Noah. 'One of his sons, Jehu, studied law and rose to eminence in the profession; was judge, representative, and senator. Ezekiel moved to Ohio at an early day and settled in Marion, where he resided until his death, March 15, 1845. Ezra was a sailor ; married Elinor, daughter of Chauncey Merchant, of Redding, and, quitting the sea, removed to Delaware Co., N. Y., where he died shortly after, leaving children : Joel M., Ezra, Uriah, and Lucy. Joseph removed first to Vermont, and afterwards to Tioga Co., N. Y. Olive married Justus Stillson, of Redding, and removed to Groton, N. Y.


James Bartram, son of David, settled in Redding ; was a private in the Revolution; married Hannah Morehouse, who became the mother of twenty-one children, ten only of whom survived. These were Isaac, born April 15, 1758; Noah, born 1760; James, born 1770; Aaron, born Feb. 21, 1784; - Lucy, Han- nah, Betsey, Irena, and Anna.


· Of these children, Isaac settled in Redding; mar- ried Molly Hamilton, by whom he had children as follows : Isaae, Harry, David, Willis, Chasie, Lucy, Polly, and Huldah. Aaron also settled in Redding, married Eunice Jenkins, and raised a large family of children.


Daniel, fourth son of David, also settled in Red- ding, was a tanner and currier by trade, and built the first works of the kind in the town, on the ground now occupied by Walter M. Edmonds for the same purpose. He married, Oct. 10, 1768, Ann Merchant, of Redding. Their children were Esther, born April 16, 1770; Gurdon, born Oct. 25, 1771 (died in in- fancy); Anna, born Jan. 23, 1773 (died in infancy) ; Elinor, born March 1, 1774 (died in infancy); Gurdon, born Sept. 21, 1776; Anna, born Aug. 10, 1778 (mar- ried - Mead; settled in Ridgefield); Elinor, born Feb. 4, 1780 (died in infancy); Uriah, born Jan. 9, 1782; Elinor, born Oct. 28, 1783 (married - Nash; settled in Marion); Julilla, born Nov. 12, 1785 (mar- ried - Bangs; settled in Central New York) ; Levi, born Nov. 26, 1787 ; Phebe, born Sept. 19, 1790 (mar- ried - Curtin) ; David, born June 5, 1795.


At the time of Tryon's invasion, with nearly every other man in the town capable of bearing arms, Daniel Bartram joined the militia and marched to the defense of Danbury. Being absent several days, he sent word to his wife that she must get some one to take the hides from the vats or they would spoil. There was not a man to be found; and so the brave woman,


leaving her' four small children to amuse one an- other, caught her horse, hitched him to the bark-mill, ground the bark, took the hides out, turned and re- packed them, and had just seated herself at the dinner-table when her husband rode up, having gained leave of absence for the purpose of attending to the matter.


John Bartram, son of David the first, inarried, Sept. 19, 1756, Charity Bulkley. Family reeord mnen- tions two children,-Sally and Samuel.


Elias Bates was received to church-membership in Redding Jan. 19, 1745; his wife, Sarah, March 4, 1748. There is no hint of his previous residence, and he probably came here direct from England. His children recorded in Redding were Justus, baptized July 26, 1747, and Sarah, baptized Feb. 2, 1752; by a second wife, Tabitha -, Walker, baptized Jan. 6, 1760, Elias, baptized Feb. 16, 1761, died in infancy.


John Bates, probably son of Elias, married Esther Their children were Ezra, baptized March 23, 1760 (died in infancy) ; John, baptized July 25, 1762; Sarah, baptized May 5, 1764; Esther, baptized Aug. 23. 1767; Nathan, baptized March 25, 1770; Aaron, July 1, 1772; Martha and Slawson, Jan. 26, 1778.


Justus Bates, son of Elias, married Hannah Coley, May 23, 1770. They had one child, Elias, baptized Oct. 4, 1772, who married, Nov. 9, 1793, Lydia An- drews, of Redding, and was the father of three chil- dren : Walker, born June 4, 1796; Amazialı, born May 17, 1801 ; Harriet, born May 21, 1804.


John Beach, missionary of the Church of England in Redding, was born in Stratford, Conn., Oct. 6, 1700. His father was Isaac Beach, son of the John Beach who came from England in 1643. He graduated from Yale College in 1721. He married, first, Sarah -, who died in 1756, and, second, Abigail Holbrook, who after his death returned to Derby. He had in all nine children. Those who had families were Joseph, born Sept. 26, 1727; Phebe, born 1729 (married Daniel Hill, of Redding; died 1751, leaving a son Abel) ; John, born 1734 (married Phebe Curtis; died in 1791) ; Lazarus, born 1736; had two children,-viz., Lazarus, born 1760, and Isaac, born 1773.


Lazarus inherited his father's land in Redding, at Hopewell, near which he built his house. Lazarus Beach, Jr., was of a literary turn, and edited a paper at Bridgeport, and afterwards at Washington, D. C. On his journey to the latter place he lost his trunk or valise, containing the Beach manuscripts and all his materials gathered for the purpose of writing a memoir of his distinguished grandfather. He built the house now standing near Mr. Godfrey's. Isaac Beach built the house now occupied by Hull B. Bradley. The Rev. John Beach lived about thirty to forty rods south of the church, probably on the site of the old Capt. Munger house, which has long since disappeared ; the well is still used by Mr. E. P. Shaw. Lucy, daughter of the Rev. John Beach,


d


.


e


!


: 1-


te


1-


.


i


d


it n


D e


f


580


HISTORY OF FAIRFIELD COUNTY, CONNECTICUT.


married Rev. Mr. Townsend, and was lost at sea on her passage to Nova Scotia, probably at the time of the great exodus of loyalists after the Revolution. The mother of James Sanford, Sr., was the daughter of Lazarus and granddaughter of Rev. John Beach.


The Benedicts were a Norwalk family, and settled quite largely in Ridgefield. The first of the name found in Redding was Thaddeus Benedict, who was a lawyer and town clerk for a term of years. His house stood in the lot adjoining the Congregational parson- age, near the site of the present residence of Joseph Squire. His law-office was under the great elm in front of his house. He married Deborah Read, July 12, 1775, daughter of Col. John Read, who bore him several children.


Lieut. Stephen Betts, a prominent character in the Revolution, lived on Redding Ridge, in a house that stood on the corner, nearly opposite the former resi- dence of Francis A. Sanford. He was au active Whig, and was taken prisoner by the British on their march to Danbury, in 1777. He had a son Daniel and two or three daughters, of whom there is no record. His son Daniel was a merchant for a while in Red- ding Ridge, and then removed to New Haven, where some of his children are now living.


Among the earliest settlers of Redding were Jeliu, Stephen, and Peter Burr, sons of Daniel Burr, of Fairfield, and brothers of the Rev. Aaron Burr, presi- dent of Princeton College. They all appear at about the same time,-viz., 1730. In October of that year Stephen Burr was elected a member of the First Society committee of the parish. He married Eliza- beth Hull June 8, 1721. Children : Grace, born Dec. 12, 1724; Elizabeth, born Jan. 17, 1728; Hezekiah, born Sept. 1, 1730; Sarah, born Nov. 9, 1732; Martha, born March 24, 1735; Esther, born Feb. 5, 1743; Rebecca. He married, second, Abigail Hall, of New Jersey. He lived in a house that stood where Dr. Gorham later built his residence. His only son, Heze- kiah, died December, 1785, unmarried. Of the daughters, Grace married Daniel Gold, Elizabeth married Reuben Squire, Saralı married Joseph Jack- son, Martha married Zacariah Summers. Esther married Antony Angevine, and Rebecca married Seth Sanford. Deacon Stephen Burr died in 1779. Of him Col. Aaron Burr wrote in his journal in Paris : " My uncle Stephen lived on milk-punch, and at the age of eighty-six mounted by the stirrup a very gay horse and galloped off with me twelve miles without stopping, and was, I thought, less fatigued than I."


Peter Burr first appears in Redding as clerk of a society-meeting held Oct. 11, 1730. His children were Ellen, baptized Sept. 19, 1734; Sarah, baptized Feb. 21, 1736 ; Ezra, baptized Jan. 2, 1737 ; Edmund, baptized Sept. 28, 1761. Peter Burr died in August, 1779 ; his children shortly after removed to Virginia.


Jehu Burr and wife were admitted to churchi- membership in Redding Dec. 24, 1738. None of his children were recorded in Redding, and none, so far


as known, settled there. He owned property in Fair- field, and probably spent the last years of his life there.


Jabez Burr, son of Joseph Burr, of Fairfield, and his wife Elizabeth appear in Redding as early as 1743. Their children were Elijah, baptized May 15, 1743; Nathan, born Jan. 1, 1745; Jabez --; Eze- kiel, born March 23, 1755; Stephen, born Jan. 16, 1757 ; Joel, born Sept. 9, 1759; Eunice, Huldah, and Hannah. Jabez Burr died in 1770. He is said to have settled in the Saugatuck Valley, near the pres- ent residence of Stephen Burr, and to have built there the first grist-mill in the town. Of his chil- dren, Elijah married Roda Sanford, April 2, 1767, and had children,-Lemuel and Elizabeth,-and by a second wife, Eunice Hawley, married April 27, 1773, Joseph, Roda, John, who died of yellow fever in the West Indies, and Lucy, who married Jonathan Knapp, of Redding. Nathan, the second son, re- moved to Pawlings, Dutchess Co., N. Y., in 1792, and there founded a numerous and wealthy family. Jabez, the third son, married Mary, daughter of Paul Bartram, and removed to Clarendon, Vt., in 1786. He liad one son, Aaron. Ezekiel married Huldah Merchant, of Redding, who bore him three children : Aaron, who lived and died in the house now owned by Capt. Davis ; William, who removed to Kentucky in 1816; and Huldah, who married Daniel Mallory in 1806 and removed to the West. .


A son of William Burr is uow presideut of the St. Louis National Bank. Another son, George, a teller in the same institution, was the companion of Prof. Wise in his late fatal balloon expedition, and shared the fate of the aeronaut. Stephen Burr married Mary Griffin, of Redding. His children were Clara, Mary, Stephen, and Ezekiel. Joel Burr married Elizabeth Gold, and settled in Ballston Springs, N. Y.


William Burritt and wife were admitted members of the church Dec. 9, 1739. No hint of their previous residence is given. Their children recorded at Red- ding were Mary, baptized Dec. 16, 1739; Abijah, Jan. 18, 1741; Roda, Oct. 24, 1742; Sybil, Feb. 19, 1744. Gershom Burritt appears at the same time. His son Solomon was baptized Aug. 5, 1739; Noah, Jan. 31, 1842; Nathaniel, Oct. 17, 1743; Isaac, July 21, 1745.


Benjamin Burton, son of Solomon, was baptized Dec. 19, 1742. Ruth, a daughter, was baptized Oct. 7, 1744. Solomon Burton and his wife were church- members July 5, 1741.


Samuel Chatfield and wife were admitted church- members July 29, 1733. Their children recorded were Samuel, baptized July 29, 1733; Daniel, bap- tized Aug. 31, 1735; Sarah, April 17, 1737 ; Martha, baptized May 20, 1739.


Capt. Samuel Couch, of Fairfield, was one of the largest landholders in Redding at one time, and was largely instrumental in its settlement. He was, how- ever, never resident here. Ebenezer Couch appears


581


REDDING.


here as early as 1739. His children recorded were Daniel, baptized July 29, 1739; Adea, baptized Sept. 19, 1742; Elijah, baptized July 26, 1747 ; Thesde, Jan. 26, 1755.


The following children of Jolin Conch and his wife Elizabeth are recorded : John, baptized March 20, 1748; Stephen, Jan. 21, 1753; Adria, baptized April 20, 1755 ; Elizabeth, baptized July 17, 1757 ; Samuel, baptized Aug. 30, 1758.


At an carly day nearly the entire district of Couch's Hill was purchased by Mr. Simon Couch, of Fairfield, who gave his name to the district purchased. His wife was Abigail Hall, a member of a notable Fair- field family. His will, dated March 2, 1712-13, is still in the possession of Mr. Nash Couch, of Couch's Hill, who is a lineal descendant. In this will he gives liis "Negro man Jack" and "negro maid Jinne" to his wife, in addition to other bequests. His children mentioned in the will were Simon, Jr., Thomas, Abi- gail, Hannah, Sarah, Isabel, and Deborah. Thomas was lost at sea while on a voyage to England. Simon settled on his father's estate in Redding ; married, Jan. 27, 1753, Rebecca, daughter of Capt. Thomas Nash, of .Fairfield. Their children, as given in the genealogy of the Nash family, were Abigail, bap- tized Feb. 10, 1754 (died young) ; Simon, born May 18, 1755 (settled at Green's Farms) ; Thomas Nash, born April 18, 1758 (settled at Redding); Rebecca, born Jan. 31, 1761; Abigail, baptized Jan. 27, 1765; Lydia, born Oet. 20, 1767. Deacon Simon Couch died April 25, 1809.


Thomas Couch, of Fairfield, removed to Redding prior to the Revolution, and settled on Umpawang Hill. He married, April 2, 1772, Sarah, daughter of Jonathan Nash, of Fairfield. Their children were Sarah, born Aug. 9, 1773 (died young) ; Thomas, born Sept. 23, 1774; Jonathan, born Feb. 13, 1777 (father of Maj .- Gen. Couch, distinguished in the war of the Rebellion) ; Sarah, born Sept. 18, 1779; Nathan, born Sept. 25, 1781; Esther, born Dec. 14, 1783; Moses, born Oct. 2, 1786; Edward, born March 7, 1789; Hezekiah, born March 14, 1791; Mary, born April 21, 1793; John, born July 28, 1795. Mr. Thomas Couch died in Redding in 1817.


At the outbreak of the Revolution, Thomas Couch enlisted in the patriot army, and was one of the band of heroes who were present with Montgomery at the siege of Quebec. He left his wife with their young children in Fairfield. When Tryon moved on that town, Mrs. Couch had what furniture and grain she could gather put into an ox-cart, drawn by two yoke of oxen, and started for Redding, where she owned land in her own right. She followed on horseback, carrying her two children in her arms, At the elose of the war Thomas joined his wife in Redding, where they continued to reside until death.


Simon Couch, brother of Thomas, settled in Red- ding, on Umpawaug Hill, about the same time. He married, Jan. 7, 1776, Eleanor, daughter of Jonathan


Nash, of Fairfield. Their children were Elizabeth, born Oct. 9, 1776; Jessup, born Aug. 3, 1778; Seth, born Ang. 31, 1780; Eleanor, born Aug. 26, 1782; Simon, born Dec. 1, 1784 ; Nash, born April 23, 1787 ; Priscilla, born June 27, 1790; Edward, born July 14, 1792; Simon A., born Dee. 6, 1794; Caroline, born June 23, 1801. Simon Couch died April 16, 1829. Of the children, Simon and Jessup graduated at Yale College. Jessup graduated in 1802, and in 1804 re- moved to Chillicothe, Ohio, where he practiced law until his appointment as judge of the Superior Court of Ohio in 1815 ; this office he continued to hold until his death, in 1821. In the war of 1812 he was also aide-de-camp to Governor Meigs, of Ohio, and bearer of dispatches to Gen. Hull.


Simon Couch, his brother, settled at Marion, Ohio, where he practiced medicine until his death, in 1826.


Eunice Darling, daughter of Joseph Darling, was baptized Jan. 25, 1736; Benjamin was baptized April 13, 1738; Martha, Jan. 11, 1741; Joseph, November, 1743.


Thomas Fairchild removed to Redding from Nor- walk in 1733 ; was one of the original members of the church. His wife, Mary, was admitted Jan. 29, 1738. Their children recorded were Timothy and William, baptized Oct. 22, 1738; Sarah, April 12, 1741; Abi- jah, May 27, 1744; Mary, Oct. 27, 1745.


Abraham Fairchild, probably brother of above, came from Norwalk in 1746, and built the first full- ing-mill in the town, near the site later occupied by Deacon Foster's woolen-mnill. His wife was Sarah Scribner, of Norwalk. Their children were Abra- ham, born Jan. 1, 1745 (died aged seventeen) ; Ezekiel, born Oct. 26, 1746; Daniel, born Dec. 26, 1748; Isaac, born March 4, 1751 ; David, born June 5, 1753 ; Sam- ucl, born July 9, 1755; Stephen, born March 7, 1758; Rachel, born Feb. 2, 1761; Jolin, born March 15, 1764; Ellen, born Oet. 16, 1767. Six of these brothers were in the Revolutionary army at one time. David was captured by the British, and confined in Trinity church, New York. The smallpox was communicated to the prisoners,-it is said with design,-and he with many others died of the disease. Stephen was wounded at Ridgefield, but recovered ; married Lizzie Fitch, of Wilton. Their children were Daniel, Kicr, Isaac, Ellen, and Stephen. Ezekiel married Ennice Andrews and had four children,-Abraham, Sarah, Abigail, and Burr; Daniel married Betsey Mcad, and removed to the West; Isaae married Rachel Banks, and removed to Liberty, N. Y. ; Samuel married Nab- bic Platt, of Redding, and had two children,-Aaron and Betsey ; John married Abigail Wakeman, of Weston, and had children : Eli, David, Raeliel, Moses, Henry, and Eliza ; David married Charlotte Guyer, of Weston, and had children : Eli, William, David, Mary, and John. Rachel married Seth Andrews, of Redding; Ellen married Minott Thomas, a Baptist elergyman.


Stephen, Samuel, and Jolin built a grist-mill at an


1


3 S -


d


P-


he


582


HISTORY OF FAIRFIELD COUNTY, CONNECTICUT.


early day on the site of the one later known as Tread- well's mill. It was carried off by the great freshet of 1807, and the large stock of grain it contained was scattered over the meadows below. They also owned a saw-mill just below, and sawed plank for the sol- diers' huts in the Revolution.


Reginald Foster, the founder of the family in America, came to this country in 1638 with his five sons,-Abraham, Reginald, William, Isaac, and Ja- cob,-and settled at Ipswich, Essex Co., Mass. Jacob Foster was the ancestor of the Redding family. Jo- nah Foster settled in Redding about 1775; married Hannah Benedict, of Ridgefield, and shortly after re- moved to that town, and there resided until his death, in 1815. His son, Joel Foster, was born in Redding Nov. 8, 1780, and lived in Ridgefield with his parents until his marriage with Esther Seymour, in 1802. In 1803 he removed to Redding, and bought of Moses Fox a small place on which was a fulling-mill and other conveniences for cheapening cloths. This mill stood a little below the present bridge over Nobb's Crook Brook, and the ruins of its dam are still to be seen. In 1804, Mr. Foster built an addition to his fulling-mill building, which was leased to Zalmon Toucey, of Newtown, and in which Toucey erected a carding-machine, paying a yearly rent of twenty dol- lars.


How long Mr. Toucey's lease continued is not known, but he probably soon relinquished it to Joel Foster, as the latter continued the business until about the time of the opening of the war of 1812, when a company was formed, styled Comstock, Foster & Co., who built a woolen-factory a few rods below the old fulling-mill, and continued the manufacture of woolen goods during the entire period of the war, being very successful. The company, a few years after the war, was bought out by Jocl Foster, who continued the business until the burning of his faetory, in 1843 or 1844, when he retired. Mr. Foster died in 1854, aged seventy-four years. He had four children, all born in Redding : Daniel, Betsey, Eliza, and Charles F.


Daniel, Samuel, and Stepheu Gold (uow written Gould), brothers, members of a Fairfield family that had been prominent in Church and State for several generations, were among the early settlers of the town, though none of their deseendants are now found among us. Daniel appears first ; he married Grace, daughter of Deacon Stephen Burr, and lives where James Lord now lives. His children, as named in the will of Deaeon Burr, were Abigail, who married Richard Niehols; Esther, who married Nathaniel Northrop; Sarah, who married David Turney ; Mary, who mar- ried Seth Price ; and Elizabeth.




Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.