History of Litchfield county, Connecticut, Part 174

Author: J.W. Lewis & Company (Philadelphia, Pa.)
Publication date: 1881
Publisher: Philadelphia : J.W. Lewis & Co.
Number of Pages: 1532

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DR. HARMON W. SHOVE.

The "Shove" family has long had a place in the annals of Connecticut. Rev. Seth Shove, the great- grandfather of Dr. Shove, was the first settled pastor of the First Congregational Church in Danbury. His sons, Seth and Levi, came to Warren shortly after marriage, and settled permanently there as farmers. They both reared large families, and were reputable citizens. The only son of Seth was Cyrus. He mar- ried Saloma Young, by whom he had seven children.

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He was always a farmer, and died, much respected, when comparatively a young man. His son, Har- mon W., was born in Warren, Litchfield Co., Conn., July 30, 1823. He remained at home until he was fifteen years old, and then for three years attended Howard's Academy, in Warren, after which he went to New Jersey, and taught school for four years. He then taught. two years in New York and two in Con- necticut. About 1849 he, commenced the study of medicine at Litchfield, in the office of Drs. Beckwith and Seymour. He attended one course of lectures at Yale Medical College, and two at the College of Physicans and Surgeons in New York, and was gradu- ated at Yale in the spring of 1852. For two years, while pursuing his studies, he held the appointment of surgeon's steward in the United States navy. This was, botlı in experience and pecuniarily, of great as- sistance to the young student. Immediately after graduation, Dr. Shove removed to Woodbury, where he has since resided. For the past twenty-eight years he has steadily devoted himself to his profession, work-

ing hard and never relaxing his student habits, but keeping pace with all medical progress, and availing himself of all the improvements and advancement of the healing art, at the same time gathering rich ex- perience from an extended practice, and his long and successful labors have been productive of a handsome competency. He is a member of the Litchfield County Medical Society, Connecticut State Medical Society, and the American Medical Association, and has been examiner for pensions since 1861.

Dr. Shove is a careful, deliberate man, of fine phy- sique, pleasing in personal appearance, and with a fund of quiet humor which makes his conversation entertaining. He has never received any assistance from any one but himself, and is a good example of what may be accomplished by steady application, self-denial, and patient resolution. In politics he has been a Republican from 1856.

Dr. Shove married, July 30, 1861, Susan J., daugh- ter of Thomas and Susan (Sherman) Bull, of an old and honorable Woodbury family.

SUPPLEMENT.

THE following additions were received too late for insertion in the body of this work :

JOSEPH BATTELL.

Joseph Battell was born in Milford, Conn., July 21, 1774. He was the second of twelve children of Wil- liam and Sarah (Buckingham) Battell, of whom five sons and five daughters lived to adult life. He was of the fifth generation in descent from Thomas Bat- telle, who became a townsman of Dedham, Mass., in 1648, and in the same year married Mary Fisher, daughter of Joshua Fisher, of Dedham. This Thomas Battelle spelled his name as here written. The name, with different spellings, is an old one in England, and from the prevailing forms would seem to have been of Norman origin.

William Battell, the father of Joseph Battell, re- moved from Milford to Woodbury, and soon again to Torringford, while the son was yet a lad. At the | age of eighteen the son commenced business for him- self in Norfolk, upon a small capital furnished by his father, which was afterwards refunded. Here he passed the remainder of his life, for forty-six years of which he was actively engaged in mercantile business.

The following extract from a sermon delivered at Norfolk the Sabbatlı after New Year, 1842, is be- lieved to be a just estimate of the character of Mr. Battell :

" The character of his intellect was elevated, com- bining qualities which we do not often meet ; he had comprehension of mind to embrace the largest sub- ject, and at the same time did not overlook the details of any matter. Ilis mind was wonderfully active, and capable of great and long-continued effort witlı- out any signs of exhaustion or weariness. In the most active and busy period of his life, when his cares would have seemed sufficient to overwhelm and crush a mind of ordinary vigor, so far was he from being oppressed or overburdened that at that very period he was a great general reader. Most of the books of his large and select library were purchased during those years, and were read, too. Standard authors in lit- erature, history, morals, and religion were perused amid the intervals of business. Ilis taste was just ; his criticism upon authors and intellectual perform- ances indicated nice discrimination, a full apprecia- tion, and high enjoyment of whatever possessed lit- erary merit. He was a friend of education, and a lib- eral patron of literary institutions in different parts of our land.

"Of his business character I will not say much : most of you have had opportunity to judge for your- selves. His plans were characterized by enterprise, by sagacity, and by cantion. But he was not a mere schemer. He was, beyond any man I ever knew, dili- gent and persevering in the execution of his plans. Without any parade of method, he attended to every matter in its season, and never left anything to which he put his hand till he had seen it through and fin- ished, then, the very next moment, he was ready to turn to anything else that might arise. This habit of doing things in the proper season, of carrying through matters undertaken, was, I imagine, one great secret of his success. His business never became confused, nothing was overlooked. He was ever ready to attend to any person who called, or to any subject that might be presented, thus everything was kept in order. His natural disposition was uncommonly amiable, and thus business never perplexed or fretted him. On this account he was always in good humor, and ready to attend to your concerns.

"Need I add that, as a merchant and a man of business, he was scrupulously honest. His integrity was perfect. Those who knew him best, who had most dealings with him, and the best opportunities to understand his principles, were most implicit in their confidence; indeed, many considered him fastidious on this point.

"In speaking of him in relation to business, I ought to add that his own affairs, extensive and various as they were, constituted but a small part of that which received his attention. How many went to him for advice? and he must draw their contracts, and adjust the whole matter for them.

"With what interest would he enter into your affairs ! how disinterested his counsel, how prompt in rendering you his personal assistance! He was guardian for many an orphan, treasurer of various corporations ; and how easily he seemed to sustain these burdens, how cheerful and pleasant and social !

" In his character as a citizen he was public-spirited and liberal. He was an intelligent and interested observer of public affairs, both in our own land and in the world. His circle of acquaintance and friends was as wide as that of any man I have known who was not in public life, yet he felt a special regard for this place. Here he had spent the greater part of his life, transacted a vast amount of business, made his property, enjoyed much happiness, formed many

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intimate friendships ; here he expected to be buried. I have never known him give a stronger manifestation of injured feeling than when any one spoke dispar- agingly of this place or its population.

" He rejoiced in your prosperity, was always grati- fied in the well-doing of your children who live else- where, and is it too much to say that he himself con- tributed much to the prosperity of this town during the half-century he has been here?

" In declaring that he did I only repeat what has been frequently said to me by those among you. Cer- tainly everything of a public nature received his most cordial and liberal support ; it was expected by every one, and he seldom disappointed such expectation.

"This Icads me to speak of his charities. I will but just allude to them. I think those bestowed in private far exceeded in amount his public dona- tions. For some years I have been in a situation to know something in regard to these matters, and am cer- tain that his heart was full of compassion for the poor and distressed ; that he thought of them, and provided for their relief when they were forgotten by others. A single remark now on this point: his charities arose, not from indifference to the value of property,- he appreciated it according to its worth,-but benevo- lence overcame his desire to retain it. He was a thoughtful, a judicious, a considerate benefactor."

Mr. Battell married, July 24, 1805, Sarah Robbins, daughter of Rev. Ammi R. and Elizabeth (Le Baron) Robbins. There were nine children of this marriage, four sons and five daughters, who lived to adult age.

Mr. Battell died Nov. 30, 1841, aged sixty-seven years.

THIE COE FAMILY.

The Coe family came to this country from Suffolk- shire, England, where they had resided for many generations. The earliest notice of them which can now be found is in Fox's "Book of Martyrs," which speaks of Roger Coe, of Milford, Suffolkshire, in 1555. Little is known respecting the family till the removal of Robert Coe to this country. In the au- thentic family record he belongs to the first genera- tion.

Robert Coe* was born in Suffolkshire, England, in 1596. With his wife, Anna, born in 1591, and their three sons, he sailed from Ipswich in the ship " Fran- cis," John Culling, master, April 10, 1634. They reached Boston in the following June, only six years from the date of the first settlement in the Massachu- setts colony. Robert Coe settled with his family in Watertown, near Boston, and was made a freeman

there Sept. 3, 1634. In 1635 or '36 he removed to Wethersfield, Conn.

Oct. 30, 1640, Mr. Andrew Ward and Mr. Robert Coe, in behalf of themselves and about twenty other planters, purchased Rippowams (Stamford) of New Haven colony for thirty-three pounds, and com- menced a settlement there. At the General Court in New Haven, April 5, 1643, a court having the same powers as that at New Haven was established at Stamford, and Robert Coe was appointed one of the assistant judges.

In the spring of 1644, Robert Coe and several others formed the first English settlement at Hempstead, L. I. In 1652 he removed to a place called Westport, and aided in establishing a settlement, which was named Middleburg (now Newtown, L. I.). He was a magistrate during his whole residence there, and took a leading part in all the affairs of the town.

Early in 1656 he, with several others, commenced a settlement in Jamaica. The first town-meeting was held February 18th, when a house-lot was given to Robert Coe, and another to his son, Benjamin Coe. He continued to be one of the most active and prom- inent men in public affairs till about 1672, at which time he was seventy-six years old. The time of his death is not known.

SECOND GENERATION.

Robert1 and Anna had three children, viz., John2, Robert2, and Benjamin2. Robert2 was born in Eng- land in 1627, and accompanied his father to Water- town, Wethersfield, and Stamford. He removed thence to Stratford, Conn., married Hannah and died in 1659, aged thirty-two.

THIRD GENERATION.

Robert2 and Hannah had one child, viz., John3, born May 10, 1658, spent his early life in New Haven, returned to Stratford in 1680, married Mary Hawley, December 20, 1682, and died April 19, 1741, aged seventy-eight, leaving ten children, viz. :

FOURTH GENERATION.

Robert4, born Sept. 21, 1684; Joseph4, born Feb. 2, 1686; Hannah4, born April 14, 1689; Mary4, born Aug. 11, 1691; John4, born Dec. 5, 1693; Sarah4, born March 26, 1696 ; Ephraim4, born Dec. 18, 1698 ; Kath- arine4, born Sept. 23, 1700 ; Abigail4, born March 11, 1702; Ebenezer4, born Aug. 18, 1704.+

Robert4, son of John and Mary (Hawley) Coe, mar- ried Barbara Parmele, and settled in Durham, and afterwards in Middlefield, Conn. He was commis- sioned as ensign in train-band in 1718. His wife, Barbara, died in Bristol, Sept. 26, 1774, in her eighty- sixth year. Children :

FIFTH GENERATION.

John5, born in 1710; Martha5, born March 21, 1713; Ebenezer5, born Aug. 21, 1715; Mary5, born April

* "Iu Fox's ' Book of Martyrs' the orthography is Coo; in the records of the custom-bonse in Westminster Hall, London, the name is written Cooe; in many of the early records of New England it is Co. The old- est origioal signature which I have found is in the town records of Ja- maica, L. I., and is written Feb. 14, 1663. The name is Robert Coe; but a signature written March, 1663, is Robert Co."-From a " Record of the Coe Family," by Rev. David B. Coe.

f The above record is taken from " Record of the Coe Family," by Rev. David B. Coe.

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11, 1717; Robert5, born June 11, 1719, died young ; Hannah5, baptized April, 1721; Robert5 (2d), baptized June, 1723; Thomas5, born May 18, 1727; Reuben5, baptized Dec. 22, 1728; William5, baptized June 7, 1730; Rachel5, baptized Oet. 22, 1732.

Thomas5, son of Robert4 and Barbara (Parmele) Coe, married Mary - -, and settled in Litchfield, Conn .; died Feb. 23, 1810, in the eighty-third year of his age. His wife, Mary, died Sept. 10, 1812, aged eighty-five years. Children :

SIXTH GENERATION.

Zachariah6, baptized Dec. 11, 1757 ; Abigail6, bap- tized Jan. 15, 1759 ; Levi6, born July 3, 1760; Lois6, baptized June 6, 1762; Mary6, baptized June 23, 1765; Eunice6, baptized Aug. 31, 1766; Thomas6, Jr., Sept. 11, 1768.

Levi6, son of Thomas5 and Mary Coe, married De- borah McCall, of Lebanon, Conn., Sept. 8, 1789. He purchased the homestead in Litchfield in 1785, which is still in possession of his son Levi7. Levi6 Coe died Feb. 28, 1832, aged seventy-one years. His wife, Deborah, died April 29, 1843, aged seventy-three years. Children :

SEVENTH GENERATION.

Dyer7, born June 2, 1794; Ira7, born April 9, 1796 ; Walter™, born Feb. 10, 1798; Emeline7, born Feb. 2, 1801; William7, born Nov. 28, 1802; Elizabeth7, born Jan. 18, 1805 ; Olive7 M. W., born Oct. 29, 1806; Levi7, Jr., born Sept. 14, 1810; Maria7 D., born July 10, 1812; Thomas M., born Jan. 4, 1815.

Levi7, son of Levi6 and Deborah (McCall) Coe, mar- ried, May 22, 1838, Lavinia, daughter of Samuel and Lavinia (Judson) MeNiel, of Litchfield, born Sept. 30, 1815. Children :

EIGIITH GENERATION.

Dwight8 M., born March 6, 1840, died Dec. 3, 1863; Frederick8 L., born Sept. 20, 1842, married Sarah C. (born Jan. 1, 1851), daughter of William Norton, of Litchfield, Dec. 8, 1875. Children :

Stanley? L., born Sept. 3, 1876; Philipº F., born Nov. 20, 1878.

Francis" M., born Jan. 22, 1852, married, March 18, 1880, Marion I. Platt (born Oct. 10, 1852), daughter of Sherman Platt, of Marhledale, Conn.

Levi7 Coe and his family are all members of the Congregational Church, Litchfield.

REV. RUFUS BABCOCK, D.D.

The Rev. Rufus Babcock, D.D., a native of Cole- brook, Litchfield Co., Conn., was one of the most prominent and learned men who have been born in the town of Colebrook, Conn. His father, Elder Rufus Babcock, was the founder and first pastor of the Colebrook Baptist Church. He was born in North Stonington, Conn., April 22, 1758, and was of the eighth generation from James Babcock, of Essex, England. As a Puritan, James Babcock migrated to

Leyden, Holland, and thence went to Plymouth col- ony, Mass., where he arrived in June, 1623. Elder Rufus Babcock was ordained at Colebrook in 1794, and was the first minister of any denomination in the town. He continued to serve the Baptist Church at Colebrook as its pastor until he was seventy-three years of age, with good success, maintaining his fam- ily by carrying on the business of a farmer. In the same way he was enabled to give a liberal education to his two younger sons, Cyrus G. and Rufus, at Brown University, Providence, R. I. After resigning as pas- tor he continued to nurse the church with fatherly care, and gave to it a parsonage. Without any great advantages of early culture, without fluency of speech, or any of the graces of oratory, Elder Babcock had such native sounduess and vigor of miud, coupled with good sense and indefatigable industry, that he was highly and deservedly esteemed, not only in his own community, but by learned and intelligent min- isters of other denominations.

During the Revolutionary war he was twice called out as a soldier, and served in Capt. Timothy Moses' company. Elder Babcock was twice married, but left issue only by his first wife, who was a daughter of Capt. Moses, all being sons, named, respectively, Timothy, Cyrus Giles, and Rufus. He died Nov. 4, 1842, aged nearly eighty-five years. His youngest son, Rufus, in writing of him, describes him as being "one of the best of fathers."

Rufus Babcock, Jr., was born in North Colebrook, Conn., Sept. 19, 1798, and passed his early years on his father's farm, where he formed habits of indus- try which never forsook him as long as life lasted. Having obtained such rudiments of education as a country town afforded, he was sent to Brown Uni- versity, then the only Baptist college in America, where he devoted himself with untiring energy to study, and from which he was graduated in 1821. As was the custom in those days with students in the various colleges, young Babcock devoted his vaca- tions to teaching, and took charge of a school in the town of Barrington, R. I., on the shores of the beau- tiful Narragansett Bay, where in after-years he was accustomed to spend many weeks each year, amidst the friends whose acquaintance he had formed in early life. While at college, by his consistent de- portment and steady habits, he made many warm friends, and among them was Nicholas Brown, whose friendship continued until death severed the ties which bound them together.

The natural ability of the young student soon at- tracted the attention of distinguished men in the Bap- tist denomination, and before his class had graduated he was offered a tutorship in Columbian College (now Columbian University), n Baptist college, which had then been chartered by Congress, in the District of Columbia, under the special auspiees of the cele- brated Luther Rice. It was in 1815 that he united with the Baptist Church at Colebrook, and, having

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been licensed to preach, he spent several months after his graduation, in 1815, in supplying churches in Massachusetts and Connecticut.

In 1821 he went to Washington City, and assumed the position of tutor in the college of which the Rev. William Staughton, D.D., was president. He re- mained here until 1823, when he resigned to take charge of the Baptist Church at Poughkeepsie, N. Y., where he was ordained, and the same year was mar- ried to Miss Olivia Bicknell Smith, daughter of Na- thaniel Wait Smith, of Barrington, R. I. It was while here that he formed his hahits of personal visitation among his flock as pastor, and devoted himself to his studies, which soon placed him among the best preachers of his denomination. While at- tending one of the large conventions of his church he met with Dr. Lucius Bolles, of Salem, Mass., who, although pastor of the flourishing church at that place, was likewise engaged as corresponding secre- tary of the Baptist Triennial Convention, now known as the American Baptist Missionary Union. Such was the impression created by Mr. Babcock that he was invited by Dr. Bolles to become his associate pastor at Salem, and in 1826 he moved to that city, and at once assumed such a position that his learning and graces as a speaker made him prominent among the Baptists of New England. He found here a loving, intelligent people, and after a lapse of fifty years, refer- ring to his settlement at Salem, he wrote of them as fol- lows : " A happier settlement, all things considered, I have never seen ; and I have ever since heen accus- tomed to think and speak of this as the model church." But his fame had gone forth as a teacher and preacher, and Waterville College, in Maine, being without a president, he was in 1833 invited to that high and honorable place. Accordingly, in that year he as- sumed the duties of president of that college, and so continued until 1836, when failing health compelled him to resign and seek a more congenial clime. He accordingly removed to Philadelphia, Pa., and became pastor of the Spruce Street Baptist Church.

While at Waterville the degree of Doctor of Divin- ity was conferred upon him by Bowdoin College, and while at Philadelphia he was invited to the presi- dency of the State University, at Bloomington, Ind., of Alton (now Shurtleff) College, Illinois, and of Columbian College, District of Columbia, all of which positions he declined, as he afterwards did the presi- dency of Burlington University, Iowa. Few young men were more sought after at this period than was . Dr. Babcock.

His subsequent pastorates were at New Bedford, Mass., Paterson, N. J., and again at Poughkeepsie, N. Y., which he always regarded as his home. For some years Dr. Babcock was president of the Amer- ican Baptist Publication Society, and corresponding secretary of the American and Foreign Bible Society ; he was also interested in the Pennsylvania Coloniza- tion Society and the American Sunday-School Union.

While at Poughkeepsie one of his most prominent parishioners was Matthew Vassar, the founder of Vas- sar College, who conferred with Dr. Babcock in all the initiatory steps which led to the organization of that grand institution of learning for young women.

During all his career Dr. Babcock was a most in- defatigable student and worker. From his early life he wrote much for the press, and while at Pough- keepsie projected, and for five years edited, the. Baptist Memorial, which soon acquired great popu- larity. When Dr. Sprague hegan his great work, "The American Pulpit," and was gathering materials for his sixth volume, containing sketches of Baptist ministers, he secured the aid of Dr. Babcock, to whom, in his preface, he offered his best thanks, and said that to him the public were indebted for no small degree of the interest that pertains to that department of his work. He was likewise a frequent contributor to the Christian Review of extended articles, as well as literary notices, and he wrote much for the various Baptist newspapers. His published works are "Claim of Education Societies," 1829; "Review of Beck- with's 'Dissuasive from Controversy on Baptism,'" 1829; "Making Light of Christ," 1830; "Life of George Leonard," 1832; " Abraham Booth and Isaac Backus ;" "History of Waterville College," 1836 ; "Tales of Truth for the Young," 1837; "Adoniram Judson, D.D.," 1851; "Personal Recollections of John M. Peck, D.D.," 1858; and "The Emigrant's Mother," 1859. Dr. Babcock's attachment to his birthplace, and his love for the church of which his father was the founder, were remarkable. Towards the close of his life, when he had withdrawn from the duties of the pastorate and was living at Poughkeep- sie, surrounded by a loving circle of friends, and in the midst of an attached family, having heard that the little church was without a pastor, he separated himself from all home comforts, and journeyed to Cole- brook. There, even in the winter, he remained for many months, and ministered to the little flock, trying to infuse new life and energy into the church. While thus lahoring he was cheered by the hearty support of his warm and devoted friend, Gen. E. A. Phelps, who had been his playmate, though several years his junior, in "days lang syne," and who still survives, and often speaks of his friend, Rufus Bahcock.

As already stated, Dr. Babcock was devoted to lit- erary pursuits, and his ability as a scholar was recog- nized hy those with whom he was associated in the various benevolent and educational organizations of his church. For nearly half a century he was a trustee of Brown University,-his Alma Mater,-and he was one of the original trustees of Vassar College, Poughkeepsie, N. Y. Dr. Babcock died at Salem, Mass., on the 4th day of May, 1875, in the seventy- seventh year of his age. He had gone there appa- rently in excellent health, and on the last Sunday of April preached twice, his last sermon being delivered at the First Baptist Church, of which he had once

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been the pastor. His text was from Mark vii. 37: " He hath done all things well." The effort was too much for him, and he was attacked with typhoid pneumonia, and died after a brief illness. His re- mains were taken to Poughkeepsie, N. Y., and interred in the beautiful cemetery near that city. The esti- mate of his character has been truthfully portrayed by the Rev. Dr. F. B. Wheeler, pastor of the Pough- keepsie Presbyterian Church, in the following words : " Affectionate and sunny in his disposition, all were won to him ; courteous and gentlemanly in his bearing, all respected him; a man of warm Christian spirit, all revered him. His memory is precious in many hearts. He was pre-eminently a peacemaker, always ready to conciliate and turn away wrath. In all the inter- course of life he was kind and true, a friend upon whom one could always rely. As a preacher he has been a positive power in his denomination, persuasive in oratory, and thoroughly evangelical in his doctrine. While he was warmly attached to the principles and faith of the Baptist Church, there was no narrowness in his spirit, but a catholicity of feeling and action that was delightfully refreshing to all with whom he came in contact. Honored by his brethren and his church, he has entered into rest, like a shock of corn fully ripe into the garner."

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History of Litchfield county, Connecticut, Part 174

Author: J.W. Lewis & Company (Philadelphia, Pa.) Publication date: 1881 Publisher: Philadelphia : J.W. Lewis & Co. Number of Pages: 1532

Author: J.W. Lewis & Company (Philadelphia, Pa.)
Publication date: 1881
Publisher: Philadelphia : J.W. Lewis & Co.
Number of Pages: 1532