History of Fairfield County, Connecticut : with illustrations and biographical sketches of its prominent men and pioneers, Part 81

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 81

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" The demeanor of all concerned in the administration of the law while the courts were in session was nsually grave, and even reverential. Our ancestors were not without checrfulness, but when they met to de- termine justice, punish the criminal, and proteet the innocent, they were earnest and serious, as befitted the business committed to them.

" Very truly yours,

" J. S. BURR."

The court must have been. highly imposing, with the array of powdered hair, ruffles, long stoekings, etc.

Of the Burrs mentioned so far, they have owned, or were born in, or lived on, the premises in considera- tion (No. 2, "Special").

A few weeks after the burning, Governor Hancock paid his friend a visit, and while they were surveying the ruins he remarked to Mr. Burr that he must re- build, and offered to furnish the glass needed, pro- vided he would build a house precisely like his own in Boston. Mr. Burr accepted the offer, and built a house the exaet counterpart of Mr. Haneock's.t

It was stated not long since to the historian that the frame was sent to Mr. Burr from Boston by Mr. Han- coek as a present, and was unloaded on the green in Fairfield. It was an exact reproduction, described a few pages back, but when Mr. O. W. Jones purchased it, about fifty years ago, he remodeled it, to the regret of all, as he destroyed the dormer-windows and gam- brel roof and modernized it, so that the historie east is gone.

There would be no pardon if others of the Burr family were omitted. Parton used the name of one Burr (Aaron) for the subject of two volumes, and, as his father is a native of Fairfield, what shall we say for several others who have been valuable in State or public service ?

Jehue, the first settler, was one who signed the deeds with the Indians in the colony, and seems from the first to have taken a high rank in Fairfield. He

represented Fairfield at the General Court, and was also commissioner on educational matters and grand juror.

Jehue Burr, Jr., was born in England in 1625, died in Fairfield in 1692. In 1670 he was deputy from Fairfield, having John (his brother) for associate ; he was also lieutenant of the Fairfield train-band, also a member of the "standing council," which is similar to the committee of war of later years. "He was also commissioner for Fairfield, a patron of learning, and one of the originators of the old school system of Connecticut.

Jehue, Jr., had a brother, Col. John Burr, a man of great executive ability and prominent in the affairs of the colony. He was made freeman in 1664. Two years later he was chosen deputy, afterwards a com- missioner. In 1690 he was senator and magistrate of the colony. At this period the witchcraft delusion swept over the State. Col. Burr was captain in the train-band and commissary for Fairfield County in the French-and-Indian War. He was concerned in the origin of the town of Danbury.

Nathaniel Burr had a son, also known as Col. John Burr. The limits of his farm and the site of his house, and the old Council Oak under which he bought his land of the Indians, are yet pointed out. In 1874 a great-granddaughter was living, who re- tained many recollections of him. He was born in 1673, and was commissary of the county in 1704. He had to see that "biskett" was provided for the sol- diers, keep the war aeeounts, and keep a stock of sup- plies on hand. He was next deputy from Fairfield. In 1723 he was Speaker of the House. He was audi- tor, justice of the peace and Quorum, and judge of the County Court, also of Probate Court in place of Joseph Wakeman, deceased, which office he held seventeen consecutive years. He was several times commissioned in the military service of the colony. In 1710 he was major of the forces in the expedition to Nova Scotia. In 1733 he was appointed one of the judges in a court of Chancery. Col. Burr was one of the largest landholders in the State. He was one of the principal founders of the old North Church of Stratfield (now the First Congregational of Bridge- port). He died in 1750, leaving an estate of fifteen thousand two hundred and eighty-eight pounds.

Col. Andrew Burr, son of John and grandson of Maj. John Burr, was a lawyer by profession, an assis- tant and magistrate of the colony, several times Speaker of the House, and wielded great influence in the couneils of the colony, yet his chief distinction was created by his numerous and varied military ser- vices. In 1731 he was lieutenant, then promoted to be captain, then major. In 1745 he took part in the most brilliant of the colonial wars,-the Cape Breton expedition. He was commissioned colonel in 1750. He was deputy for Fairfield, assistant of the Upper House, justice of the peace, judge of the County Court, clerk in the Lower House, Speaker also, and

* High Sheriff Ebenezer Dimon resided where J. J. Jones now does. He was highly educated, and spoke several languages. French was as fluent with him as his native tongue. He had two sons, who were phy- sicians and went West.

¿ See Burr Genealogy.

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sheriff. He also assisted in revising the laws in 1749. His public services were so varied' and numerous that the reader is referred to the Burr Genealogy, by Charles Burr Todd.

Col. Andrew Burr's life was a pleasant one. He married (1), in 1719, Sarah, daughter of Jonathan Sturges ; they had thirteen children. He married (2), Sarah Stanly, of Hartford; they had one daughter. He lies in the old burying-ground. A large moss- covered stone, richly carved, marks his resting-place :

" Here lyes Buried the Body of Colo Andrew Burr, Who departed this lifo Novr ye 9th, A. D. 1783, in yo 68th year of His Age."

His first wife, the mother of thirteen children, is buried near him. The stone contains :

"Here lyes Buried yo Body of Mrs Sarah Burr, Wife to Colo Andrew Burr, who Departed this Life Deeem™ 9, Anno Domi, 1745, Aged 45 years wanting 13 D's."

Rev. Aaron Burr, son of Daniel (2d), grandson of Daniel (1st), and great-grandson of Jehue Burr, was born in 1716 in the northern part of Fairfield. In 1738 he became pastor of the Presbyterian Church in Newark, N. J., and in 1748 the second president of the College of New Jersey (now Princeton), of which he was one of the principal founders. He married Esther, daughter of Jonathan Edwards, who was the third president in the same college. 'Their children were Saralı, who married Judge Tappan Reeve, and Aaron, Jr. His duties were very arduous; his rela- tions as pastor to this one church coutinued twenty years.

In 1757 he made a trip to Stockbridge, and returned home exhausted. College and publie duties were so importunate that he did not pay sufficient attention to malaria, which was threatening to prostrate him, but persisted in attending to his duties. He never recovered from this attack, the malaria running into a fever, so that he expired in 1757. Few men have been more sincerely mourned than this one of Fair- field's sons. The magnates of the land were at his funeral. Governor Livingston, of New Jersey, pro- nounced a glowing eulogium, and the press and the pulpit vied in honoring his virtues, talents, and benef- icence.

In 1752 he published a Latin grammar, used in the college long after his death. He also published sev- cral sermons aud a work,-"The Supreme Deity of our Lord Jesus Christ maintained." He was more noted as a teacher than as a writer.

His son, Aaron Burr, was one of the most notorious men of the United States, in war, politics, and law.

In the Presidential election he and Thomas Jefferson had a tie. After seven days' arguing, voting, and in- vestigating, it was decided that Jefferson should have the Presidency and Burr should be Vice-President. There is so much to say of him it is difficult to sum him up in a line or so. His duel with Hamilton, the new government schemes in the Southwest, and his family are familiar to most people. He was truly " the Napoleon of America."

Seth Burr, son of Daniel and Ann Silliman, was born in 1761, served through the war of 1776, and was present at the surrender of Lord Cornwallis at Yorktown. A few years after, being in India, he was pressed into the British service, and served under this same Lord Cornwallis.

The Burrs have always been of public service, fur- nishing judges, clerks, captains, colonels, legislators, and teachers. Three town clerks are of this family, -Peter (built the Smith house, opposite B. Betts), who served with Nathan Gold from 1706 to 1724; Thaddeus, from 1726 to 1755; David, from 1755 to 1759.

Samuel, son of Maj. John and grandson of Jehue Burr, graduated at Harvard College in 1697, and was one of the most famous teachers of his time. For twelve years he was master of the grammar-school in Charlestown, a preparatory school for Harvard, which had a reputation in the colonies similar to that of Eton and Rugby in England. His body was laid among the illustrious. This is his inscription :

" Here lyes the Body of Mr Samuel Burr, Master of Arts. Was born in this town of Fairfield April 2nd, in ye Year 1679; was educated at Harvard College, in Cambridge, under ye Famous Mr Wm Brattle, and Thare IIe was graduated ye first time in ye Year 1697, ye second time in ye Year 1700, ut Moris est, Who after he had Sarved his generation by yo will of God in ye Useful Station of a Grammar School Master, at Charles- town, about Twelve Years, upon a Visit to this His Native Place, De- parted this Life August 7th, in ye year 1719, aged 40 Years, 4 months, & 5 Days."

Catharine, daughter of Silas and Charity (Banks) Burr, married Morris Ketchum, a banker of New York. He (Mr. Ketchum) died 1880 .*

Henry, son of Ephraim and Eunice (Sherwood) Burr, who married Mary F. Slabae, was a merchant in San Francisco, Cal., where lie died iu 1871. His body was brought on and interred in Fairfield. Mr. Ephraim Burr is eighty-six, hale aud licarty.

Capt. David, son of Eben and Hannah (Osborne) Burr, married Ellen Magdalen, of Marseilles, France. He was a master-mariner, and was lost with the ill- fated steamer, "Evening Star," off Cape Hatteras, in October, 1866. Capt. William Knapp, whose widow and four daughters reside in Fairfield in a house that has been standing ninety-six years, was also on board.

A tombstone to his memory contaius this (the Ma- sons' emblem is above the inscription) :

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326

HISTORY OF FAIRFIELD COUNTY, CONNECTICUT.

" Capt.

William Knapp, son of John and Estlier

Knapp, Born in Fairfield, Feb. 21, 1825. Lost at sea Oct. 3, 1866,* In the Steamship 'Evening Star,' Which foundered on her passage from New York to New Orleans.

" His last words when bidding adieu to the officers of the ship were, 'If you survive, and I do not, tell them at home I died doing my duty.'

"'Twas the first time I mourned the dead ; It was my heaviest, my worst.

My husband, and was thine the first ?"

Samuel Burr, brother of David, was lost from the barque "Palermo" in 1857. Of this family, Angeline married Deacon Samuel Morehouse (see "Colonial," No. 11); Sarah and Eliza married brothers, James and Benjamin Bulkeley (see "Colonials," 1, 2, 11, 15); Cornelia married Andrew P. Wakeman,; Mary mar- ried John Henry Jennings, of prominence in Green's Farms; and William married Catharine Sherwood. Emma and Francis reside in the paternal mansion.

In 1878, Fairfield was represented in the Legisla- ture by Oliver Burr, of Greenfield, and Ebenezer Burr, Jr., of Mill Plain (Fairfield), who is a promis- ing lawyer and elerk of the County Court.

The Burrs have married into about every old family in Fairfield through several generations, and, as they have never been dispersed mueh, there is scarcely a family but has a Burr origin.

3. The Congregational Parsonage .- This was built for Hon. Roger Minott Sherman, born at Woburn, Mass., May 22, 1773. He was the youngest of six chil- dren of Rev. Josiah Shermau, the Congregational minister of that plaee. His father was descended by four removes from Capt. John Slicrman, of Dedham, England, who came to Watertown, Mass., in 1635. Hon. Roger M. Sherman was a nephew of the Hon. Roger Sherman, one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence. His (Roger M.'s) mother was Mar- tha, daughter of the Hon. James Minott, of Concord, Mass., who was four removes in deseent from George Minott, one of the first English settlers in Dorchester, Mass., where he was a ruling elder for thirty years. Rev. J. Sherman preached in Milford, Mass., Goshen, Conn., and Woodbridge, where he died, leaving six children.

In 1789; at the age of sixteen, Judge Sherman en- tered the sophomore elass at Yale. In six weeks his father died, leaving no property; so the son's chances at college appeared of a negative charac- ter, but an unele (Hon. Roger Sherman) came to his relief and rendered necessary aid. He taught school in New Haven through the last half of his college days, but attended regularly the duties of

his class, and graduated with honor. He taught next in an academy in Windsor, and began the study of law under Hon. Oliver Ellsworth. He afterwards took a common school in Litchfield, and continued the study of law under the Hon. Tapping Reeve. In 1795 he was tutor in Yale College, and instructed the class that graduated in 1797, at the same time studying. under Hon. Simeon Baldwin. There were several distinguished men, both in his own class and the one he instructed. As tutor he was peculiarly sueeessful. He resigned that office, and in 1796 was admitted to the bar in New Haven. He then estab- lished himself in Norwalk, having married Miss Elizabeth, daughter of Dr. William Gould, of New Haven. She was sister of Judge Gould, of Litchfield. They had two children, twin sons, of high promise, but they both died young. In 1807 he removed to Fair- field, where he resided till his death, which occurred Dec. 30, 1844. As a jurist he had few equals.

From 1814 to 1818, Mr. Sherman was a member of the upper branch of our State Legislature, where he showed a high power in debate and a patriotic devo- tion to the welfare of the people. In 1814 he was chosen by the Legislature of this State a delegate to the convention of the New England States assembled at Hartford for the purpose of devising measures suited to the exigency brought on by the war. New England sent her most gifted and patriotic statesmen. In this galaxy he shone with peculiar lustre, aud an account of his labors has been published.

From 1818 to 1839 he was wholly devoted to his profession, except that he was now and then a mem- ber of the Legislature. He originated and drafted many important laws, which have become inwrought into the fixed policy of his native State. These refer to the administration of justice, tending to abridge the cost and delay involved in vindicating our rights at law, and to abolish cumbrous formalities.

In 1839 he was judge of the Superior Court and associate judge of the Supreme Court for the re- vision of errors in that State. His written opinions in the Court of Errors (published in Vols. XIII. and XIV. of the Connecticut Reports) are the most im- portant monuments to his great intellect which he has left to posterity. In 1842 he resigned this office, on account of poor health, that he might have the genial support of a retired home-life. He died aged seventy-one years and seven months.

Judge Sherman was versed not only in jurispru- dence, but in theology and metaphysics, and was fond of the exact and natural seiences. He was familiar with the theory of government and political economy, and with whatever a statesman should know. Neither did he neglect elegant literature. This various knowl- edge he made tributary to his profession in cases that could be illustrated by it, and sometimes astonished and delighted his auditors as he poured forth its treas- ures. He was not only great, but good, and was strictly subordinated to moral and religious principle. With-

* In a cyclone.

+ A prominent officer in town and State.

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out bigotry, he believed in the doctrines of Dwight and Edwards. He was a modest, unassuming, unobtrusive man, and impressed all who became acquainted with him. He maintained the strietest integrity and up- rightness in all his publie, private, and professional transactions, and serupulously adhered to truth, kept his promises, abstained from making any which he could not fulfill, would not sell his conscience for office or emolument, discouraged what seemed to him to be groundless litigation, and was a model of parental and conjugal love, tenderness, and fidelity. He was an early and powerful advocate of the temperance cause, and seemed to be everybody's friend .*

He left a very lengthy will,-covering pages in the town records, volume for 1840, page 359,-of which the following is an abstract:

"I give the 'Edinburgh Encyclopaedia,' Webster's large quarto dic- tionary, in 2 vols., Beza's Greek Testament, Scott's ' Family Bible,' in 5 vols. quarto, tho works of Robert Hall, in 2 vols., the sermons of Dwight, Chambers, Saurin, Burder, Davies, and all other sermons and treatises on Theology, also Hume's 'History of England,' and the continuation of said history, in 12 vols., lettered on the back ' Huine's England,' tho ‹ Life and Writings of Jolin Jay,' Crabb's 'Synonyms,' Jay's 'Political Economy,' Bostick's 'Physiology,' Good's ' Book of Nature,' Olmsted's 'Philosophy,' in 2 vols., Murray's Grammar, octo., Spanish and French Dictionaries and Spanish Grammar, one Greek Lexicon, Aloxander Adams' 'Roman Antiquities,' Barber's ' Historical Collections for Con- necticut, Massachusetts, and New York,'and Dufrees' ' Nature Displayed,' to the First Ecclesiastic Society in Fairfield for the uso of the minis- ters' library. The said books shall be always kept in said library, and shall never be sold or exchanged.

"I give and deviso my homestead,-bounded sontheasterly on the main street in Fairfield, on land of Mrs. Knapp and on land formerly belong- ing to Wm. Dimon, now deceased; southwesterly on highway on land of Abraham Gould Jennings, and on land formerly belonging to said Dimon ; northwesterly on highway and land of said Jennings; northeasterly on land of Wm. S. Smith, together with the dwelling-houso and all other buildings on said homestead,-aud I also give the double windows or Russian lights, the Venetian blinds, all tho fire-grates and stoves which shall be in use at my decease, the large metallic clock, the carpet on the stairs, in the front hall, and all tho carpets or mattings on the floors of the lower rooms and in use at my decease, and no other carpets or mat- tings, and the oil- or floor-cloth which may then bo on the tloor of the front entry, to the First Ecclesiastic Society in said Fairfield, in trust, for the personal use, habitation, and occupation of the minister of suid Society while statedly ministering therein, and every minister of said Society while statedly ministering therein, etc., etc.

"I also givo and bequeath to said Society twenty-five shares of Stock on Fairfield County Bank, in the Fairfield County Bank, in trust, to apply the dividends thereon and the income thereof to tho keeping of the building and fences of the said homestead in good order and repair; and whenever said dividends or income shall bo more than is necessary for that purpose, the surplus may be appropriated to purchasing carpets for the front rooms of the dwelling-house, should new carpets be neces- sary, and whatever of said income or dividends shall be more than wanted for either of the said purposes shall be safely kept or invested on good security, to be used or applied for those purposes and for no other when- ever the same may become necessary or expedient."

The balance of his property (which amounted to seventy-two thousand and some odd dollars) he willed to various institutions and to various relatives.

He is said never to have replied " Yes" or "No" to a question. Once a friend, meeting him coming out of the post-office, thought sure he would put an in- terrogation which would draw out a " Yes" or a "No;"

so he asked "Is the mail in?" Sherman replied, " Are you expecting a letter ?"+

A townsman, speaking of Mr. Sherman, said, "He was a lawyer what was a lawyer."

In the Foote Genealogy (published 1849), page 309, may be found the following :

" Mrs. Elizabeth Sherman, widow of the late Hon. Roger MI. Sherman, died at Fairfield, Ang. 3, 1848, in the seventy-fifth year of her age. Thus has passed away all that remained of the family of a man of eminent distinction in the Church and the State. His venerable relict, who has now followed him to tho grave, adorned the station allotted her by Provi- dence by bringing toit intellectual powers and accomplishments not li- ferior to those of hier distinguished husband. Remarkable for her con- scientiousness, prudence, wisdom, her firmnessand steadfastness of attach- ment to the doctrine and ordinances of the gospel, her zeal in maintain- ing religions institutions, her liberality to the poor, and in sustaining tho missionary and charitablo enterprises,-she was in all these high points of a spirit congenial to his, of ' like precious faith,' his cordial and efficient fellow-helper, with him 'ready to do every good work.' In her death the poor universally mourn the loss of a great benefactor; the Church bewails the removal of a strong pillar; benevolent institutions will miss a constant and generous patron ; society suffers the loss of a bright example and firm supporter of whatever is pure and lovely and of good report.

" In accordance with the mutual understanding and united wishes of herself and husband, she has made the following bequests to religlous and public institutions, She has bequeathed her miscellaneous library, house, and homestead to the First Ecclesiastic Society of Fairfield, to- gether with a fund of $2500 for the purpose of keeping the same in re- pair,-tho former for the increase of the ministerial library, the latter tor a parsonago. She lias given the law-library of hier late husband to tho county of Fairfield for the use of the bar and courts of said county ; $1000 to the corporation of Yale College, on the condition that they pay an annuity of $200 to one of her nephews during his life; $2000 to the East Windsor Institute; $4000 to the American Home Missionary Society ; $4000 to the American Colonization Society; $1000 to the Re- treat for the Insane at Hartford ; $500 to the Female Beneficent Society of Fairfield,"

A monument to the memory of Mr. and Mrs. Sher- man and two sons is erected in the East ground :

" Ilon. Roger Minot Sherman, Judge of the Supreme Court of Connecticut, Died December 30, 1844, aged 71 years & 7 mo.

"Eminent as a Civilian, a Jurist & an Orator, Adorned with rare moral and Christian excellence, in life he was widely beloved and revered, and in death greatly lamented.

" Reviviscemus !"

The inscription to his wife reads :

" Elizabeth, widow of Roger Minot Shernian, Died Ang. 3, 1848, Aged 74.

" Like her distiugnished husband highly gifted by nature and education sho was his associate & fellow-helper in all good works, &, dying as she had lived, in the faith and hope of the gospel, hier death was mourned as a public calamity."

. The portraits of the judge and his wife hang in the parlor of the parsonage, which has been occupied since the demise of Mrs. Sherman by Dr. Lyman At- water, now professor in Princeton, Dr. Willis Lord, Rev. Alexander MeLean, Rev. E. E. Rankin, D.D., who at present resides in Hartford as a private citizen, and Rev. George S. Burroughs, who was elected last May a member of the American Oriental Society,

* See Dr. Lyman Atwater's Funeral Discourse of Hon. R. M. Sher- man, Fairfield, Jan. 2, 1845.

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328

HISTORY OF FAIRFIELD COUNTY, CONNECTICUT.

which was organized some fifty years since, and num- bers among its members the leading Ameriean Orien- tal scholars, with associate and honorary members in Europe and Asia. Mr. Burroughs has entered on the study of the Assyrian language."

4. Rev. Andrew Eliot's Home .- This was not burnt in 1779, from the fact that it was not completed. Dr. David Hull, who married a Miss Susanna Eliot, daughter of Dr. Eliot, of Boston, purchased it, fin- ished it, and resided there for a few years. That was the only house unoccupied at the time of the confla- gration, and Dr. Hull intended to purchase it. There were, as near as can be ascertained, only nine houses standing at that time south of the railroad in Fair- field, five of which have been mentioned in the " Colo- nial Houses."; One of these was left standing till 1874, when Arthur Bennitt had it torn down. It was not burnt in 1779, as it was owned by a Freemason. The house next to it is always spoken of as the Turney house, from which those of that name in town probably originated. The principal ones remaining are Albert and Theodore Turney,# who reside not far from this old "colonial." Rufus Turney was town clerk from 1867 to 1870.

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History of Fairfield County, Connecticut : with illustrations and biographical sketches of its prominent men and pioneers, Part 81

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