History of Fairfield County, Connecticut : with illustrations and biographical sketches of its prominent men and pioneers, Part 82

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 82

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The present town elerk, Daniel Maloney, was born in the " colonial" on the Bennitt place. He served from 1872 to 1873, and from 1874 to 1880. He is the only one who served as town clerk who has not be- longed to a colonial. family, though he was born in a colonial house !

The Turney house was sct fire to, but the flames were either extinguished or it failed to burn.

The house oeeupied by Burr Lyon, deceased, owned then by Isaac Jennings, was the first one fired and the first rebuilt.

Dr. Hull must have given up his house to Mr. Eliot within ten years, as he lived awhile with Justin Hobart, and his daughter Eliza was born in that " colonial" (No. 3). In time he purchased the house which stood close to the road in front of the residence of Gen. E. S. Parker, who is spoken of in the " Ameri- can Cyclopædia" as one of the most eminent men of the Iroquois nation, and who served on President Grant's staff and became commissioner of Indian affairs.

The present home of Gen. Parker, formerly that of Col. Robert C. Wetmore, a descendant of Quarter- master Richard Hubbell, "one of Fairfield's most fearless defenders," belonged once to Dr. David Hull, and here stood the " eolonial" in which he lived and died. This house was fired in common with the rest, but was saved from destruction, though the fire

burned through into the sitting-room, destroying in a great measure the base-boards, which Dr. Hull would never have replaced while he occupied it. He died in 1834, aged sixty-eight.

His two daughters, Mrs. John C. Sanford and Miss Eliza Hull, are yet living, and are in possession of several portraits of "ye olden time" and articles made a eentury or so ago. He was uncle to Com. Isaac Hull, and brother to Gen. William Hull, born in Derby.

It is said of the doctor that few lived more beloved and respected. He was distinguished for talent as a physician. He practiced in Fairfield more than forty years, and was eonspicuous as a husband, a neighbor, and a member of the Christian Church.

During the occupation of Boston by the British a number of families left that place and took refuge in Fairfield. Among them was the family of Rev. An- drew Eliot (Sr.), D.D., a patriotic and faithful min- ister, who himself remained in Boston in the dis- charge of his appropriate duties. Dr. Eliot was born in 1718, and graduated from Harvard in 1737. He became pastor of the new North Church in Boston in 1742, and filled that position till his death, in 1778. He was elected president of Harvard University, but declined the honor. Some of his family (Mrs. Sarah Squire, Mrs. Dr. Hull, and his son, the Rev. Andrew Eliot). found a permanent home in Fairfield. His son Andrew was ealled to succeed the Rev. Noah Ho- bart (see "Colonial," No. 3) in 1774. Dr. Atwater speaks of him as a ripe seholar, a prudent, faithful, and beloved pastor. Benjamin Silliman, speaking of him, says : " In my early days mueh company resorted to Holland Hill,-not a few lodging-guests,-and it was a favorite excursion from Fairfield, especially with young people of both sexes ; and in Mr. Eliot's family there were sensible and agreeable daughters. The reverend gentleman was not forgotten by his Boston friends, even by the great. On one occasion the celebrated Governor Hancock" (see " Burr Family"), " president of Congress, drove up to Mr. Eliot's with his eoaeh and four horses, and while he made his call the eoaelumnan drove farther up the road to find a place wide enough to turn the horses and carriage" !

It is said that Mr. Eliot came down from Holland Hill to build his own fires in the church. The seats were mere benches, such as were used in school-houses at that era. His salary was three hundred dollars per annum. When the parish was destroyed by fire in 1779 his people told him that, being crippled finan- cially, they could not do as well by him as others eould; but his noble manhood shone beautifully in his reply : "I've been with you in your prosperity, and I'll stay in your adversity ;" and he stayed. He entered the following historical note on the church record :

* W. A. Beers, in the Southport Times, 1880.

+ The other four were the Turney and Bennitt houses; also one which stood on the site of the residence of the late Mr. George A. Phelps, a wealthy New York merchant and ship-owner, occupied for a long time by Miss Sally White; also one standing in front of the house occupied by Gen. E. S. Parker. A picture of this house is owned by Miss Eliza Hull,

# Sons of the late Andrew Turney.

"1779, July 7th .- A part of the British army, consisting of Britons, Germans, and American refugees, under the command of Maj .- Geu. Garth, landed in this town from a fleet commanded by Sir Georgo Collier.

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FAIRFIELD.

" In the evening and night of the same day a great part of the build- ings in the town-plat were consumed by said troops.

"July 8th .- In the morning the meeting-house, together with the Church-of-England building, the court-house, prisons, and almost all the principal buildings in the Society were laid in ashes.

" Our lioly and our beautiful house, where our fathers praised Thec, is burnt with fire, and all our pleasant things are laid waste.

" The Lord gave and the Lord hath taken away.

" Blessed be the name of'the Lord.

" All things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the ealled according to His purpose.

" Alleluia !

"The Lord God Omnipotent reigneth. Amen !"

Dr. E. E. Rankin quoted these notes one hundred years after they were written, and said, " In subse- quent times of prosperity and safety tliese sentiments have not been wholly lost."

Mr. Silliman, in speaking of Mr. Eliot as a teacher, writes : "Mr. Eliot was a thorough scholar, and was so fully imbued with classical zeal that he was not always patieut of our slow progress. He, however, devoted himself with great zeal and fidelity to our instruction in all good learning that was adapted to our age and destination, and carried us safely through. He was most faithful during the more than two years that we were his private pupils." (Mr. Eliot pre- pared Mr. Silliman for college.) "Mr. Eliot took great delight in reading aloud to us from the 'Æneid.' Being excited and animated both by the poetry and the story, he evidently enjoyed the subject, and would fain have imparted to us a portion of his own enthu- siasm."

Mr. Eliot, wife, and daughter lie within the only inclosure of an iron railing in the old ground in Fair- field. The daughter, Mary, aged twelve, died first, then the father, whose inscription reads :

"In Memory of the Rev. Andrew Eliot, A.M., born at Boston, Mass., Jan. 11, 1745. Ordained pastor of the first Church of Christ in Fairfield, June 22, 1774, in which station lie served God with fidelity until Sept. 26th, 1805, when lie rested from his labors, in the 63d year of his age and 32d of his ministry.

" They that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament, and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars forever and ever."

His wife's reads :

"In Memory of Mary Eliot, Relict of the late Revd Andrew Eliot, and Daughter of tho Honble Joseph Pynchon, of Boston, and Mary his Wife. She was born at Brookfield, Mass., was married July 19th, 1774, and died Deeem" 10th, 1810, in the 62d year of her age. Her flesh rests in hope."

Of their daughters, Ruth married Dr. William Burr Nash, Elizabeth married Gershom Burr, Mary mar- ried - Joy, father of Andrew Eliot Joy, of Bridge- port, and Susan married Rev. Nathaniel Hewit, D.D .* (Sec "Colonial," No. 5.)

Mr. Eliot's " mother was Mary Pynchon, of Spring- field, Mass., a lineal descendant of William Pynchon, who settled Springfield with Jehu Burr, of Fairfield."

Among the old tombstones in Fairfield is the fol- lowing, to " Mrs. Saralı Squire, wife of Capt. Joseph Squire, and daughter of the late Reverend Andrew Eliot, D.D., of Boston, died 34 May, 1799, in her 44th year."

They lived in the house on the V or angle of the two roads converging near Capt. John Gould's estate. This was then a private residence ; only half of it was plastered for years. It was the style through the State to erect a large frame, and finish as the owners were able.

The name of Squire was one of repute and respect- ability. David Squire lost both hands in the Revo- lution. John Squire's house stood on the site of George's Hotel. Samuel Squire was commissary in the army. Probably when Andrew Eliot, Jr., went to visit his aunt Mary Squire he became interested in Miss Sophia Wasson, who lived across the way with her mother, in a house belonging at present to Mr. Albert Turney. A tombstone in the old ground to her father's memory tells a portion of his history.

" Capt. John Wasson, died at New York, Nov. 11th, 1797, in his 43d year; was removed to this place March 23d, 1798."

Mr. Eliot called at Mrs. Wasson's one Saturday morning, and in an interview with Miss Sophia asked her to become Mrs. Eliot on the following day. It eame so sudden to her that he consented to call in the evening for the reply. Ou conferring with her mother, who favored it, knowing her daughter's sen- timents regarding the young minister, she said, as slie was baking, she could as well bake some cake, so they could pass around some cake and wine, and she (the daughter) could look and see if she had a white dress ready to wear: if she had there was nothing to hinder the marriage. He ealled in the evening, and the re- sult was that next morning the banns were duly pub- lished in church, and in the evening the white dress was worn and the cake aud wine passed. This Rev. Andrew Eliot (3d) was pastor of the Congregational Church in New Milford, Conn., where his people were greatly attached to him, and always speak of him in endearing ternis.

After the removal of the Eliot family by death and marriage, the house came into possession (by pur-

* See Burr Genealogy.

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HISTORY OF FAIRFIELD COUNTY, CONNECTICUT.

chase, probably) of Edmund Darrow. In time, Peter Burr Sturges owned it, and resided there for several years. Here he died, and his heirs disposed of it to Mrs. Henry Burr. The house is in exeellent eondi- tion. It was finished with panelings and mouldings of delieate workmanship, which have been preserved carefully, and for the time and place it was a suitable home for Rev. Andrew Eliot, the scholar, patriot, and Christian.

5. The Home of the late Jonathan Sturges .- This is located in the part of Fairfield known as Mill Plain.

The name of "Sturges" is a historic one. The earliest account of the family is that of Peter Stur- ges, who settled in Fairfield in 1680. When Fair- field was burned, Judge Jonathan Sturges and his family were among the fugitives, leaving all their ancestral records, of date prior to and following their emigration from England, to destruction.

Jonathan Sturges (1st) left a will, bearing date 1711, in which he devised property to his three sons, Jonathan, Peter, and David. For his eldest son, Jonathan, he had already built upon the site of the old homestead. From eonformity of dates and eir- eumstantial evidence, it appears that his son Samuel graduated from Yale College in 1732. He married Ann Burr, and was the father of Judge Jonathan Sturges. The latter was a successful lawyer; for several years a member of Congress while that body held its sessions in Philadelphia, and was one of the judges of the Supreme Court of this State until his infirmities compelled his resignation. He was greatly valued and respected by his fellow-citizens. He mar- ried in early life Deborah Lewis, born in 1742, daugh- ter of Lothrop Lewis, who came to this town from Barnstable, Mass., and married, in 1727, Sarah, daugh- ter of Jonathan Sturges (another branch of the Sturges family). (See "Colonial," No. 9.)

Judge Jonathan Sturges kept up the English style of going to Cireuit Court on horseback with his sad- dle-bags, and would be gone a month at a time. His life is well stated on his tombstone in the old ground thus :

"In memory of the Honorable Jonathan Sturges, LL.D., who was born Aug. 23, 1740, and died Oct. 4, 1819, aged 79 years.

" He sustained with high reputation from an early period a number of the most important offices in the gift of his native State, and was an efficient member of Congress under the confederation which vindicated the rights and the independence of the United States. Wise and prudent as a statesman, inflexibly upright as judge, a faithful friend, an affec- tionate parent, and, above all, an exemplary Christian, his friends have an assured hope that in his sudden death he passed into glory aud re- ceived the welcome of his divine Master."

The following is found in the "Life of Benjamin Silliman," vol. i. p. 24:

"Judge Jonathan Sturges, a noble gentleman, was an ornament to the town. He was a graduate of Yale (in the class of 1759), and, although seven years later than my father's* class of 1752, they were friends and

contemporaries at the bar, at which both were eminent practitioners. Mr. Sturges was a member of the House of Representatives of the United States when convened in New York in 1789, in the first year of the Presidency of Gen. Washington, and the evening years of his life were devoted to the bench of the Supreme Court of Connecticut.

" With a fine person, he had the superior manners of that day, dignity softened by a kind and winning courtesy, with the stamp of benevolence. Judge Sturges had a large family, sons and daughters; the sons were gentlemen in sentiments and manners, and the daughters refined ladies, partaking of the blended traits of both parents. They were all amiable and intelligent and pleasant : some of them were beautiful. It was a delightful female circle."

The eldest son of Judge Sturges was Lewis Burr Sturges, who resided in Fairfield during the early part of his active life. He was member of Congress for several consecutive years. Heresided in the house now occupied by Mrs. Catharine Beers, whose hus- band lies in the East burying-ground under this in- scription :

" The Grave of Augustin Prevost Beers, M.D., Surgeon of the

. United States Navy, who died on the 8th of Jnne, 1831, aged 28 years."

The Hon. Lewis Burr Sturges moved to Ohio, where he died at an advanced age.

Capt. B. Lothrop Sturges, another son of Judge Jonathan Sturges, lived in Southport. In 1800 he built the house at present occupied by David Banks. He was a farmer and a merehant. He built a large schooner, which when it went out of Southport har- bor was prophesied to bring back a fortune; but the first voyage proved the only one for Mr. Sturges, as the French took the vessel as a trophy in the war known as the French war, which occurred about that time.

Mr. B. L. Sturges died in 1831 at the old homestead, leaving one son, the late Jonathan Sturges, the "mil- lionaire merchant," and three daughters. He mar- ried Mary Sturges, who belonged to the family on Mill Plain. Her brother, Dimon Sturges, owned the property on which the late Jonathan Sturges built his house in 1841. He purchased these premises from Hezekiah Sturges, a son of Dimon Sturges, in 1835, for the use of his mother and sisters, the former of whom died in 1840.

About 1840 there were many changes in the build- ings around the green. The old church (Episcopal) was entirely obliterated, the society building in South- port. Many of the old houses were repaired or re- placed by new ones, which ealled out some exeellent poetic effusions ; one was by the late Mrs. Julia M. (Beers) Burr, and another was introduced to the pub- lic by the widow of the Rev. D. H. Short, D.D. Both were eopied through the papers.

Mr. Sturges did not spend all his time on Mill Plain, as this was only his country-seat, he having been engaged in commercial interests in New York, whither he went in 1823 with sueh intent. He was eminently successful.

* Gen. G. S. Silliman.

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FAIRFIELD.

Having obtained a situation with Mr. Luman Reed, lie rose by successive grades to be the head of the firm. He also built the present stores, and after leav- ing business occupied the office in the store which his sons now hold. He married an accomplished lady, Miss Mary Pemberton Cady, a descendant of the fam- ily who gave the name to " Pemberton Hill," Boston. She was the mainspring in his prosperous career. She was trained in a literary atmosphere, her father being editor for many years of The Virginia Herald, one of a few papers published in the whole of that State. He died in 1874.

The late family interments, marked by beautiful and appropriate monuments,-viz., the late Mr. J. Sturges, his son, Arthur P. Sturges, a Princeton stu- dent, and daughter, Amelia, wife of Mr. Pierpont Morgan, and grandchildren,-are in Fairfield East burying-ground.

The homestead and eity mansion are alternately occupied by Mrs. Sturges (who is largely associated with benevolent institutions) and her son, Henry C. Her other sons, Frederic and Edward, have also hand- some estates in Fairfield. Her daughter, Mrs. William H. Osborne, and husband, are largely identified with the artistic, benevolent, and best interests of New York City.

6. Waldstein, the Home of the Osgood Family .- About thirty-one years ago the Rev. Samuel Osgood eame to Fairfield to find a boarding-place, and possibly to locate for himself a home. He purchased a tract, not far from Fairfield depot, that no one would hardly accept as a gift, it scarcely being a shecp pasture for quality, overrun with cedars and cumbered with plenty of stones. This property he rescued from the wilds and made it to blossom as a rose, and there he built a residenec after the modern cottage style of architec- ture surrounded by smiling and joyous nature. The apparently worthless natural incumbrances upon the place he converted into ornaments. The stones and rocks made fences, recesses, grottoes, monuments, trellises, and landscape-finishings. On a beautiful lawn near the house is a life-size figure of Dante, brought from Italy. It stands on a pedestal bearing this inscription :

" Your own Poets have said, For we are also His offspring."

In the rear of Dante is a ledge of rocks which ap- pear as if Nature had some intention in arranging expressly for the purpose for which they were used, -to commemorate the poets. The names of Emerson, Longfellow, Bryant, Chaucer, Tasso, Dante (1265), Alfieri, Petrareh, Shakspeare (1564), Goethe, Sehil- ler, Corneille, Milton (the day this name was en- graved an English oak was set out over the rock bearing it), Wordsworth, Keble, Scott, Homer, and Virgil are carved in individual rocks at various angles, about and over which graceful ferns and shrubbery throw a charm. The whole combination

is beautiful and poetic. The inscription, "The groves were God's first temples," is very befitting.

On a solitary rock not far from the wayside is this text and injunction, "Know thyself," which was written over the door of the temple of Apollo, and originated with the poet Menander. Dr. Osgood gave this special prominence, as he felt it should be the foundation of every man's character.

In another direction is the ecclesiastical part of the ground, in which the beauties of the place are ascribed on one rock to "God;" on the next to " Our Father;" and lastly, "In Christ." "God our Father in Christ" is the thought that pervades this place. Three stones form a complete and natural pulpit. On the rock forming the right side is engraved "God is Love;" on the one forming the left side is "Glad Tidings." The scriptural quotations in view are: "Blessed are the pure in heart : for they shall see God ;" "Where the spirit of the Lord is, there is Liberty ;" "Honor thy father and thy mother." Again, one sees "The Comforter," "The Holy Spirit," engraved on otlier roeks.

On another rise of ground is a long stone on which is engraved "The Prophets ;" on another is " Watch and Pray." At the base of the undulation is the key to Christian progress, written in stone : " To do justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with thy God." This section is called Carmel, and not far from here is the dedication of the ground : "To TRUTH : A Student's Offering," and is on the central group or ledge of rocks. This rock bears also the monogram adopted by Dr. Osgood, in which P is combined with X ; the P signifying Chi and the X rho, so that the two sig- nifications are blended in Chirho, a Greek word mean- ing "Christ." The P also denotes pax, Latin for "peace ;" so the motto of his adoption is "Christ and Peace," or "Peace in Christ."

Another nook is devoted to the family, where, on the various rocks, are engraved the initials of each member of the family, and on the return of each birthday a floral decoration of the corresponding stone is the order of the celebration. A large vase is the centre-piece.

Not far distant one is reminded, from the long stone underlying a bank on which is engraved in excellent lettering, "Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow," of the Sermon on the Mount.

On another slope is a circular opening, formed by rock and trees, dedicated to sentiment. On one stone is the word "Psyche," on another rock is "Strong Song of God, Immortal Love," the first line of Ten- nyson's "In Memoriam."

Near the street is the patriotic group of rocks, on which are noble names of history, "Alfred," "Lin- coln, 1865," and "Washington." On a huge rock close by the street a fairy - like structure, called " Union Tower," composed of cedar, has a com- manding view. On this rock is cut "God and our Country. 1862."

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332

HISTORY OF FAIRFIELD COUNTY, CONNECTICUT.

Dr. Osgood was born at Charlestown, Mass., in 1812. He graduated from Harvard in 1832, having been prepared by Dr. Willard Parker ; completed his theological course at the Cambridge Divinity School in 1835; preached in the West and South about two years ; took charge of the Unitarian school in Nashua, N. H., in 1837 ; was called to the Westminster Church in Providence, R. I., in 1842, and in 1849 went to the Church of the Messialı, New York, as the successor of Dr. Dewey, where he remained twenty years. After this he took orders in the Episcopal Church, but, owing to various and extensive literary duties, did not take the entire charge of a parish.

Dr. Osgood was a delegate to the International Peace Congress ; was a member of the New England Society, the Historical Society, the Century Club, and the Union League Club; president of the Fairfield Improvement Society, and of the Memorial Library. He was also president of the Fairfield Centennial Commemoration. He compiled the record of that day, which is a valuable contribution to the centennial histories of the country. Fairfield was to him the loveliest of earthly paradises. In its praise he was unceasing, in acts for its welfare persistent, enthusi- astic, and lavish. He was a voluminous writer, both for periodicals and of books.

He died April 14, 1880, at his New York residence, in the sixty-eighth year of his age. His remains were brought to Fairfield and interred in the Oak Lawn Cemetery, in a retired spot which he selected a few years since, and corresponds with his own home for thirty years. Mill River ripples at its base, and the native trees sough above him. Last year he had a large stone conveyed thither, upon the top of which a Maltese cross was erected. The pedestal, a native rock, bears this inscription: "God is our Rock. 1879." This stone, his home, and his literary works are his undying monuments .* He intended to reside permanently in Fairfield when he retired from public life, and have a common interest with the people. His home is a lasting memento of his great intel- lect.

7. The Home of Frederic Bronson .- This was orig- inally the place where Dr. Dwight lived and wrote the poem of "Greenfield Hill," published in 1794.

When Dr. Dwight left his charming home for New Haven, Dr. Oliver Bronson purchased it. His son Frederic heired this property, the other sons being settled elsewhere.

* His tombstones are of granite. His headstone contains:

" Samuel Osgood Doctor in Divinity, Born in Charlestown, Mass., Aug. 30, 1812, Died New York City April 14th, 1880. "" Peace I leave with you.'"

This is headed by the monogram before referred to, signifying " Peace in Chiist."

On the footstone is the Maltese cross, under which is " Sursum Corda," which, interpreted, means "Lift up your hearts." Under this are the initials "S. O." in monogram.

About ten years since the old part, built for Dr. Dwight, was removed, and a new addition was made to the other portion of the house.

On the eastern slope of Greenfield Hill, in a roman- tic locality, lies an estate of some two hundred and fifty acres, owned by Mr. Frederic Bronson, which has been in the Bronson family for nearly a century. This is one of the finest country-seats in the State.

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History of Fairfield County, Connecticut : with illustrations and biographical sketches of its prominent men and pioneers, Part 82

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