History of Fairfield County, Connecticut : with illustrations and biographical sketches of its prominent men and pioneers, Part 193

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 193

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During the first fifty years the locality of Nichols' Farms was known by the general name of Stratford. As the people were taxed by the Presbyterian Society in Stratford, they attended "meeting" there until the year 1730, when a " meeting-house" was built; nearer home. Then the name "Society at Unity" was ap- plied to the locality.

In the year 1744, owing to a division of the people of the society, thus rendering the name " Unity " in-

appropriate, it was changed, and was known as the Society at North Stratford until the incorporation of the town of Trumbull in 1798, when it took the name of the town.

The difficulty arose from the fact of the conversion of their pastor, the Rev. Richardson Minor, to a belief in the doctrines of the Church of England. He resigned his charge over the society, but not before dissensions of so serions a character had arisen that about one-half of the society left the faith. After his resignation he went to England, where he was ordained, but on his return home was taken sick and died at sea.

The name of Nichols' Farms undonbtedly arose from the faet of its being there that the portion owned by Franeis Nichols or his immediate deseeud- ants lay,-not so much, probably, in consequence of the quality or quantity of the land as it was that they were the earliest to convert the wilderness into a farm.

The settlement of the village is not new by any means, for there were clearings made over two hun- dred years ago. Tradition says that the first elearing was made by a man whose name it has failed to transmit, near where the toll-gate at Mishea Hill now is. Here he planted his rye and built a house, but died ere his erop had ripened. There is also a tradi- tion that there was a elearing on the knoll below the house of Charles B. Nichols at a very early period, and, too, that the only way to reach Stratford at that early time was from this spot, by the way of a forest- path leading towards the Ousatonie River, and so eireuitously to Stratford. Others claim that here stood the wigwam of an old Indian named Unele Bill, and that the pile of elam-shells which may yet be seen upon turning the soil are resultant of his appetite for sea food, and that the meadow is still designated as " Unele Bill's lot" from the fact of his having lived there.

Perhaps as late as 1700 nearly the whole region was thickly covered with forest. A tradition has been handed down that a siek stranger was found by Mr. Joseph Niehols and taken to his home to be eared for, that he died, and was buried on a lonely knoll in the woods some distance back of the house. Fifty years ago, when Mr. Ganderson Nichols was digging the well back of his house, he found the bones of a white man, which had been buried about four feet from the surface in a horizontal position, which were undoubtedly the remains of the first white man who died and was buried in the forest then covering the region where now is the beautiful vil- lage of Niehols' Farms.

The Indians have left but few remains of their life here save numerous arrow-heads which are upturned by the plow. Also other relics of the stone age of America have been found in the vicinity. There was found, however, about forty years ago, on the land of the Hon. F. P. Ambler, a never-failing spring

* Contributed by R. C. Ambler, Esq.

The meeting-house was erected at the lower end of the White Plains street, in front of where the barn of John Booth, Esq., now stands.

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HISTORY OF FAIRFIELD COUNTY, CONNECTICUT.

of most excellent water. The spring had evidently existed in the condition in which it was found for a great many years. It was, when uncovered, regu- larly stoned up like a well, having large flat stones laid below, forming a platform over the outlet of sur- plus water. The spring when found was artfully concealed beneath large stones having trees and deposits of ages thereupon. It was discovered by tracing back the stream of ice-cold water running front what seemed a passage under the rocks. It had evidently been hidden in this manner by Indians, who, having concealed it from other tribes or from the whites, never returned to it again. Its existence was not known to descendants of the Golden Hill Indians who still live in the vicinity. The pond lying northwest of the village, bearing the homely name of "Old Saw-Mill Pond," was originally a natural lake. It was near this lake that an old Indian named Mishea lived. Perchance it were-

"Mitche Manito the mighty,

He the dreadful spirit of evil."

It was from Mishea originated " Mishea Hill," the name given to an extensive tract of land lying northwest of the village.

The ancestor of the Nichols family in this country was Francis Nichols. He came from England, and is first heard of in 1637. He was a soap-boiler by occupation and lived in Stratford, about half a mile below the Episcopal church. He died in the year 1650, at which time his estate inventoried at £29 68. He had three sons,-Calib, Isaac, and John.

Calib married, in the year 1645, Annie, daughter of Andrew Ward, of Fairfield. At the settlement of Woodbury in 1672, Calib went with the colony. He had fifteen children, and died in the year 1690. His eighth child, Abraham, was born Jan. 19, 1662. The records do not show that he went to Woodbury to settle with his father, and it is not probable that he did.

He married Rachel, daughter of Daniel Kellogg, Dec. 3, 1684. He was the father of eight children, of whom Joseph was the oldest.

Joseph Nichols was born Sept. 21, 1665, and mar- ried Mary Curtis, Dec. 26, 1704. He was without doubt the first man of the name who lived in Unity. He was a large landowner. His territory lay on the east side of the highway, extending from the corner at Mr. George Peet's as far north as the territory owned by Jabez Curtis, and ran back to the Bear Swamp road.

He was a man of considerable prominence, was a member of the militia in the year 1720. In the year 1726 we find him as lieutenant, and later as captain. He built his house on the east side of the highway, only a few feet north of the residence of Alexander Cook, Esq.

He died in the year 1742, at the age of fifty-seven, and was buried in the cemetery back of the residence of John Booth, Esq.

He had ten children. Andrew, the fourth child, was born in the year 1724, and married Abiah, daughter of Noah Plumb, Dec. 23, 1748. He died in the year 1808, and was buried in the graveyard back of the residence of Samuel Edwards, Esq. He had nine children,-Isaac, Robert, Hezekiah, John, Silas, whose descendants live in "White Plain ;" Martha married Lewis Fairchild; Mary married Nathan Nichols, of Booth's Hill; Abia married Philip Nichols, of Botsford Depot; and Sarah, who married Isaac Booth, of Stratford. The first four remained in the village, and from them have descended families who now reside here bearing the name.

Among the first ones to settle in the vicinity of Nichols' Farm were three men bearing the name of Curtis. As far as research is concerned, they have not been found to be related.

There was one, Hezekiahı Curtis, whose family has become extinct. He was an extensive landowner ; his territory extended from that taken up by Israel Beach, not only south for quite a distance, but north, including the whole of the De Forrest farm, now owned by Horace Lyon, Esq. He lived in a house which stood opposite that of Mr. Lyon. The old well is still there.

He had four children,-Hezekiah, Ezra, Abel, and a daughter, who was the mother of Deacon Ezra De Forrest. His son, Deacon Hezekiah, built a house a little south of where the barn of Mr. William Wake- ley now stands, and here too the well alone marks the locality. His wife's name was Thompson. They left no descendants. Ezra and Abel were bachelors, and left their property to their nephew, Deacon Ezra De Forrest.

The Curtis family living at the lower end of the village descend from Mitchel Curtis. He was born in 1729, and died Aug. 16, 1808. He married Phobe, daugliter of Deacon Thomas Peet, Jan. 10, 1753, and built a house on the ground where now stands the residence of his great-grandson, Lewis Curtis, Esq. He had five children,-viz., Zachariah, Daniel Mitchel, Mary Anne, Phœbc, and Isaac.

His son Zachariah built a house which stood south of Trinity church, where the residence of George H. Houston now stands. He married Verona Edwards Dec. 28, 1775 ; had two children,-James and Elijah. James married Nancy Peet, and left a large family, who were zealous workers in the establishment and maintenance of Trinity parish.

Daniel Mitchel was born Jan. 4, 1755, married, and had ten children,-viz., Burr, Ira, David, Alvin, Eli, Daniel, Hepsie, Mary, Huldah, and Lucy.

The family living at the north end of the village bearing the same name descend from the widow Elizabeth Curtis, who is found in Stratford in the year

This family trace their ancestry through the line descending from her son William.

Jabez Curtis was the first one of this family to set-

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tle in the Society of Unity. He, unlike nearly all others in the settlement, was a zealous member of the Church of England. He belonged to the loyal party and fought in the Revolution under the British flag, for which aet he suffered the indignity of having his property confiscated. It was repurchased by his sons, however. His house stood a few rods north of the junction of the Mishea Hill road and the Huntington turnpike. A house which was torn down a few years ago, and which was at least calculation one hundred and twenty-five years old, was undoubtedly built by him. Andrew, his son, was born, lived, and died in this house. He had three children,-Thomas, who went to Woodbury, Andrew, and Evard. Andrew married Eunice, daughter of Joseph Lake, and had six children,-viz., Joseph, Hull, Elisha, Nathaniel, Moranda, and Sheldon. Evard lived across the street from Andrew, and had three children,-Cherry, Charles, and Anson.

The Fairchilds, who are one of our most prominent families of Trumbull, descend from Mr. Thomas Fair- child, who was one of the original proprietors in the settlement of Stratford. He was a man of consider- able prominence, and was the first magistrate of the town.

Mr. Fairchild had two wives; the first was a daugh- ter of Robert Seabrook, Esq., and died during the early days of the colony. She bore him several ehildren.

In the year 1662, and about three years after the death of his wife, he returned to England and married Catharine Craige, of London.

It is through the descendants of this second mar- riage that we trace the Trumbull line of ancestry. Daniel Fairchild was the first one of the family who lived in the society of Unity. He was born in 1720, and married Hepsibah Lewis, of Old Mill, Dec. 6, 1743, by whom he had nine children. His second wife was of the Middlebrook family of Long Hill.

He built a house nearly on the site where now stands the house of Miss Mariah Nichols. It was here that his children were born, who were Timothy, Lewis, Daniel, Nehemiah, Sarah, Mehitable, Benja- min, Abel, and Sarah. He died in 1807, aged eighty- seven years. Of his nine children, threc-viz., Timo- thy, Lewis, and Daniel-settled in the vicinity.

Timothy Fairchild was born July 30, 1744. He married Johannah, daughter of Samuel Ufford, June 26, 1766. He built on the site where now stands the house of John B. Nichols, Esq. He had six chil- dren,-viz., Nehemiah, David, Eli, Aaron, Johannah, and Hepsie. Hepsie married Eli, son of Daniel Mitchel Curtis.

Lewis Fairchild was born March 14, 1746, and mar- ried Mary, daughter of Samuel Ufford, Sept. 22, 1768. He built a house at Mishea Hill, a short distance be- low the saw-mill now owned by David Plumb. They had five children,-viz., Lewis, Polly, Reuben, Eben, and Isaac. His oldest son, Coll. Lewis, who married

Pattie, daughter of Andrew Nichols, July 10, 1774, was the father of Daniel and Plumb Fairchild, the proprietors of the extensive paper-mills at Lakeville, and Reuben was the father of Charles N. Fairchild, Esq., of the Farms.

The ancestor of the Plumb family was from Eng- land, and settled in Milford in 1639. His name was Robert. The records do not place him on the list of " free planters," not being in church fellowship, which was a requisite qualification in the view of the colonists before a person could be admitted a " free planter."

Noah Plumb came to Unity Society about 1700, and married, Oct. 2, 1714, Abigal Curtis. He built a house on the west side of the highway, below where the house of David Plumb stands. This house was without doubt the finest and most substan- tial built in the settlement. It had gable roofs. In the front of the house were antique window-frames. The sashes were of lead, which framed in diamond- shaped panes, and the whole was quite English in its appearance. The records do not show that he had more than one child. This one he named Noalı, who, with his wife Abiah, lived in his father's house and had five children,-viz., Abiah, Phebe, Susannah, David, and Joseph. David married Mary Beach, Dec. 29, 1770, from whom descended the late Beach Plumb and the Hon. D. W. Plumb, of Shelton. He built a house which has long since been torn down. It stood a short distance below the house of Ezera W. Plumb. Joseph Plumb married Sibil Ed- wards, May 29, 1777. He lived below his father's residence. He had three children, - Elliott, who was father of Oliver E. Plumb, Eli, the father of Birsey B., and Almon Plumb, of Trumbull Centre. The third child was Pixley.

The Peets are one of the oldest families. They de- scend from Deacon Thomas Peet, who was admitted into the Society at Unity in 1731. Abijah Peet mar- ried Bethiah, daughter of Samuel Ufford, in June. 1771. His home stood at the foot of the garden of Mr. George Peet (grandson). The names of four of his children were, 1st, Hepsie, who married Sheldon Peirson (children were William and Sheldon) ; 20, Nancy, married James Curtis (children Elbert, Ellen, Maria, Harriett) ; 3d, Johannah, married Robert Nichols ; 4th, Isaiah (children George, Susan, and Charles).

Samuel Ufford lived in the village with his wife, Anne, in the year 1739, when their first child was born. He had seven children,-viz., 1st, Daniel, mar- ried Mary Berse ; 2d, John, married Anon Nichols ; 3d, Mary, married Lewis Fairchild ; 4th, Bethiah, married Abijahı Peet ; 5th, Jane, married Richard Salmons; 6th, Ebenezer (Judge Eben), married Nancy Peet ; 7th, Johannah, married Timothy Fair- child.

The Hawley family descend from the Joseph Haw- ley who was one of the original settlers in Stratford,

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where we find them as early as 1649. The first one of the family which we find in Unity was Robert Hawley. His wife's name was Annie Beach, to whom he was married March 15, 1750. He built a house opposite the residence of Lewis Curtis, just below an old barn that is still standing. He had eight children, of whom Robert, Elikim, and Josiah settled in the village. Josiah lived in the old home. Elikim built the house now standing below the resi- dence of Elliot Curtis, Esq. This house is without doubt the oldest house in the village. His descend- ants went to "White Plains." Robert Hawley built an old house which stood where the residence of Shel- don P. Peirson now stands. His children were Abi- jah, Beach, Anna, and Elam.

One of the first houses in Nichols' Farms was built by Ephraim Booth. It stood upon the site now occu- pied by the house of Samuel Edwards, Esq. He was a deacon in the Society of Unity. He had a son, also named Ephraim, who married Sarah Fairchild, Dec. 18, 1739. By this wife he had three children,-viz., Charity, Rachel, and Ann. His wife Sarah died, and he married again, Nov. 14, 1751, Phoebe Fairchild. He was admitted to the Society at Unity, Aug. 26, 1753. By his wife Phoebe he had three children. These were Sarah, Phoebe, and Hannah. Soon after the death of Mr. Ephraim Booth, Jr., the homestead was sold to Mr. Eli Edwards. Mr. Eli Edwards came from Chestnut Hill. He built the house owned by the late Charles Curtis, and was a man of considera- ble property and prominence. His son Samuel is still living, and is held very high in the respect of all who know him. His only child is the wife of Horace Fairchild, Esq.

John Beardsley lived in the settlement before the Revolution. He was a chairmaker, as well were his two sons, James and Andrew. He lived in a house which stood in the lot opposite the house of Mrs. Shelton Nichols. His son James built on the prop- erty known as the Peck place, since bought by the late James D. Alvord, Esq. The Rev. Jolin L. Peck lived for several years in the house now stand- ing on the old site. In the same house the late Dr. Starkweather, a learned and highly-respected physi- cian, lived and practiced medicine for several years.

Andrew Beardsley married Mary, daughter of Daniel Mitchel Curtis, and had the following chil- dren : Nelson, Curtis, Amelia (who married Abija M. Nichols), and Mary. Curtis is still living in the vil- lage. He is a carpenter, and built most of the houses now standing in the village.

Previous to the war of the Revolution we find that Chauncy Beardsley, with his wife, Huldah Hawley, lived on the "cross-road" just above the "Red House" belonging to Charles Fairchild, Esq. The well which belonged to the house is there yet, and is over forty feet deep.

Chauncy Beardsley was a Tory, and engaged with the British in the Revolution. He left at home his

wife with eight young children, who led a struggling existence during the war.

Aunt Huldah, as every one called her, was a woman of wonderful nerve and constitution. She survived her husband for many years, as well did she all the acquaintances of her middle life, and died at the advanced age of one hundred and two years.

She took pleasure in talking of the exciting times of the Revolution, and related the event of two com- panies of French soldiers encamping a whole winter during the war on what is known as "Mountain Hill," a high rocky bluff in the central part of the village, which commands a view of about seventy miles of the Sound and island. She would relate with fire in her eye of how the " hired rebels" would com- pel her to cook and sometimes furnish provisions for them, through fear that they would kill her if she did not comply with their requests.

The mammoth oak which is still standing on the brow of the hill is said to have been cut off where it now branches ont at that time. French coins have since been found near the site of their camp.

Their son Lewis married Laura Gillett. The widow and two daughters alone represent this family of Beardsley in the village.

Israel Beach when quite a young man came from Stratford, where his ancestors settled, and cleared up the Bear Swamp farm. He built a house in what is well known as the "old house-lot," about six rods from the present street fence, and near the southern fence of the lot. In the year 1731 he married Han- nah Burritt, of Stratford, and had six children,- viz., Phebe, Nathaniel, Mary, Israel, Hannah, and Eben. He was a soldier in the French war in Canada. A powder-horn carried by him through the French war is still in the possession of his descend- ants. He dicd at the advanced age of eighty-six, and was buried in the old Congregational burying-ground in Stratford.

His three sons each built houses near by. Na- thaniel built about quarter of a mile above. During the Revolution, when Stratford was threatened to be burned, quite a number of the Whig friends of Mr. Beach brought their household goods and valuables from Stratford in the night-time, and for safe keeping stored them in this house, which, by the way, is still standing.

One day, while the present subject of our writing was at work on his farm, his little dog found a bear, and by furious barking drew his attention to the fact. Mr. Beach went home, procured his gun, and return- ing to the spot shot him. He proved to be a fine spe- cimen of black bear, and was the last killed in the vicinity. From the above-narrated occurrence the farm and locality has since been called "Bear Swamp.". Mr. Nathaniel Beach was killed by a load of wood which was turned over upon him.

Israel, Jr., built a short distance south of the house of his brother Nathaniel, and Eben built in the

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same, with and nearly in front of where his father's house stood. The family have become separated, and the descendants of Nathaniel alone remain, whose son and grandson, each bearing the same name, have since tilled part of the land cleared by their ancestor.

Some few years before the Revolution three brothers by the name of Blagg arrived in Stratford from Eng- land. They had quite a sum of money between them, which for safe keeping was intrusted to one of the three, who in turn absconded, leaving the others des- titute. The town through pity gave them all the land lying on the cast side of the Bear Swamp and Hun- tington road inclosed between the Beaver Dam Brook and the one now known as Hurd's Brook. For draw- ing the deed one of them, who was a shoemaker, made a pair of shoes as compensation to the magis- tratc. Samuel and Elisha were the names of the two brothers left. Samuel built a house where the house of William Wakeley now stands, and Elisha built just above and about opposite of the road to Isin- glass. Only one of them had issue, and, they being daughters, the name became extinct.

The Hon. Franklin P. Ambler was a descendant of Richard Ambler, who was born in Somersetshire, England, in the year 1611. He came to this country in 1639, landing at Weymouth, Mass., and in 1666 hc came to Stamford, Conn. Here, with his son Abra- ham and several others, he united in the purchase of the town of Bedford from the Indians. He died in the year 1699, aged eighty-eight years.

Franklin P. Ambler was born in Danbury, June 3, 1797, and was of good colonial blood on both sides of the house. His father, 'Squire Ambler, was the sec- ond child of John Ambler and Huldah Fairchild. His mother was Elizabeth, daughter of Ebenezer Piekett and Elizabeth Abbott. 'Squire Ambler was born and spent his early boyhood in those times dur- ing which the wrongs imposed by England grew more and more oppressive, and at the age of fourteen, instead of learning a trade of peace, he learned a trade of war. At that early age lie enlisted in the Conti- nental army at Danbury, under Capt. Osborn, as an artifieer. During that terrible winter at Valley Forge his exceptional fortitude and unswerving fidelity did not escape the observing eye of Washington, who in the spring of 1778 promoted him to his special guard. Thus this hardy and patriotic man served not only through those dark days at Valley Forge, and at the stormy crossing of the Delaware, but until the end of the war, when he was still with his commander at Yorktown, at the surrender of Cornwallis. His sword, which he carried through the whole war, is a heavy blade encased in an iron sheath. It was forged by N. Starr, who was a country blacksmith in Danbury. It is still in the possession of his descendants.

The early life of Franklin P. Ambler was one of poverty and hardship, through which he struggled with undaunted courage. At the age of fourteen he

was bound out to a Mr. Hull, in Danbury, as an ap- prentice in the saddle-tree trade, where he remained until his time was out, when he went to New York as an employee in the tree-factory of Benjamin Stiles. Later, he came to Derby, Com., where he was em- ployed in the factory of Mr. Chatfield. Here he met Eliza, daughter of Jerrod Bartholem (now Bartholo- mew ) and Mary Wooster, whom he married, March 15, 1819, and in Derby his oldest child, Charles, was born.

In the year 1822 he came to Trumbull, where he was employed as general superintendent in the fac- tories of Messrs. Reuben and Eben Fairchild. He lived in a house owned by Eli Edwards, which is still standing back of the residence of Sheldon Curtis.

In the year 1825 he entered into the business with R. and E. Fairchild and Mr. Isaiah Pest, under the name of Fairchild, Peet & Co. In the year 1844 he bought out the concern and conducted business in partnership with his three sons, under the firm-name of F. P. Ambler & Sons. He bought land lying about and north of what is known as "Mountain Hill," and built the present factories, having since enlarged them as the business increased. He pur- chased of Philo Lord the house now owned and occu- pied by his grandson, Richard C. Ambler. This house he enlarged and remodeled, and here he made his home. To him home was a sacred spot. His wife, who was a person endowed with the very embodi- ment of nobleness of character, was fully capable of making it so. His children married and had houses of their own,-all within a stone's throw; but still home was yet at the father's, and his greatest joy was to gather them around his board. His faithful com- panion passed away March 20, 1853. He married again, Emily S. Ambler, widow of Joel Ambler, of Danbury, a woman of most excellent qualities and well suited to fill the vacant place. She still survives him.

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History of Fairfield County, Connecticut : with illustrations and biographical sketches of its prominent men and pioneers, Part 193

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