History of Litchfield county, Connecticut, Part 87

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

USA > Connecticut > Litchfield County > History of Litchfield county, Connecticut > Part 87

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Of the three surviving children of this family,

JOHN HODGES WADHAMS, born Nov. 30, 1840, the eldest, resides on a farm adjoining his paternal home. He received a common-school and an aca- demic education at Goshen and Norfolk ; married, Sept. 11, 1865, Mary G. Pelton, of Torrington (born Dec. 11, 1846), and has seen considerable portion of his native country by travel, having resided over two years at Bloomington, Ill., from September, 1865. He is in politics a Democrat ; having been a member of the General Assembly in the years 1872 and 1874, and for many years chairman of the town Democratic committee. He was also a director of the Connecti- cut State prison from July, 1874, to July, 1876, and is at present justice of the peace and register of voters.

His children are Julia E. Wadhams, born July 6, 1867; John Marsh Wadhams, born Sept. 14, 1870; Lucy Burr Wadhams, born April 8, 1872; Mary H. Wadhams, born Feb. 21, 1876; and Robert P. Wad- hams, born Jan. 10, 1879.

SARAH JANE, daughter of John Wadhams, born July 12, 1846, married Frederick A. Lucas (born Sept. 9, 1841) Aug. 7, 1867. They reside at West

David M. Lucas.

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GOSHEN.

Goshen, where Mr. Lueas, a successful business man, has been engaged some years as a merchant. Their children are Frederick Wadhams Lucas, born Nov. 11, 1868 ; and John Marsh Lucas, born Dec. 14, 1870.

JULIA HINCKLEY, daughter of John M. Wadhams, born Oct. 16, 1852, married, Sept. 3, 1874, Wilber H. Wadhams (born Nov. 6, 1848), a business man residing at West Goshen, being the owner and con- ductor of a valuable grist-mill property at that place. They have one child, Elizabeth Wadhams, born June 24, 1876.

ELIZABETH, daughter of John Wadhams, Jr., born Sept. 5, 1813, has always resided on the paternal homestead, and, although not the strongest in health, bas a competency to secure the comforts of life, and has always been the aunt of the old homestead, whom all have delighted to honor.

SAMUEL NOAH, son of John Wadhams, Jr., born March 20, 1815, married, Sept. 9, 1838, Lucy Matilda Rea, who was born March 26, 1819. He engaged for a time as a merchant in Danbury, Conn., after a farm- ing experience of some three years. Having trav- eled somewhat in former years as a salesman of cut- Jery, he engaged in this capacity with the Holley Manufacturing Company of Salisbury, in which rela- tion he continued about twenty-five years, making a success of the enterprise both for himself and the company. He died Nov. 29, 1874. Their children were Mary Elizabeth, born June 5, 1839, who mar- ried Ephraim Starr Brewster, Jan. 20, 1859, and died in Florida, July 3, 1869, leaving a son, Clarence Nel- son, born April 16, 1860; Franklin Edward and Francis Morris, twins, born July 17, 1844; the former married Alice Eliza Barnum, Nov. 25, 1875, who died June 2, 1880, leaving no children ; the latter, Francis Morris Wadhams, married Frances Minor Palmer, Dec. 28, 1870, their children being Mary l'almer, born Sept. 30, 1872; Noah Samuel, born May 27, 1875; Joseph Palmer, born April 22, 1877; Francis Ray, born Jan. 22, 1880; Luey Octavia Woodruff, born Feb. 27, 1848, who married Dr. John Crego Lester, June 24, 1880; and Henrietta Josephine, born Jan. 9, 1851.

SOLOMON WADHAMS, son of Noah, Sr., born June 26, 1740, in Middletown, where his father resided one year, was two years of age when his father's family removed to Goshen. He was graduated at Yale Col- lege in 1762, and afterwards engaged as a merchant in a store half a mile north of his father's residence. He married, in 1802, widow Abigail (Beebe) Allen, who had sons,-Beebe Allen and Heman Allen. He resided in Goshen until his deeease. His children were Beebe and Melinda. Beebe Wadhams married Charlotte, daughter of Abner Ives, of Torrington,* and lived a time as a farmer about a mile south of Goshen Centre, where his wife died, and afterwards

he removed to Berkshire Co .. Mass., where he died. His children, born in Goshen, were Henry, who mar- ried Hannah Scott, of Massachusetts, and had sons,- Henry L., who died, leaving daughters, Charlotte and Mary, and Lewis, who married, and resides in Pittsfield, Mass., has son Lonis ; Julius, who died young; Wil- lard, who was graduated at the Vermont University when seventeen years of age, traveled and studied in Europe, and died early in Texas; Albert, born June 25, 1819; received a diploma from Norwich Univer- sity, Vermont ; married, first, Lucy L. Ensworth, of Norwich, Vt., June 7, 1844, and second, Mrs. Eme- line Perkins, of Goshen, Aug. 22, 1866, and has one son, Charles, born Sept. 2, 1847.

SETH, youngest son of Noah Wadhams, Sr., was born in Goshen ; married Ann Catlin, of Litchfield, a woman of great energy of character and efficiency ; known far and near as a practicing physician ; built a brick dwelling-house near his father's residence, which is now owned by the heirs of Samuel Ives, whose wife, Polly, was his youngest daughter.

His children were Nancy, who married Timothy Childs, of Torrington, whoseson, Dr. Samuel R. Childs, was one of the commissioners of New York City in the construction of the Croton Water-Works for that city ; Anna, who married Capt. Samuel Buell, of Litchfield ; Seth, Jr., died in Cornwall, had a son, George D. Wadhams, a merchant of Wolcottville, Conn .; Jesse, who removed to Mount Morris, N. Y., where he died ; Heman, died in Goshen ; David, who was for many years a merchant in Goshen Centre, leaving a family of fourteen children; Norman, who built the brick house where he lived and died, on the new road two miles south of Goshen Centre, a quar- ter of a mile east of his father's house.

DANIEL NORTON LUCAS.

The Lueas family came from England, the gene- alogy having been traced back to about the year 1600. The subject of this sketch belongs to a family noted as large land-holders in Goshen and Middletown, reaching back to 1733. In the latter year we find Thomas Lucas, and also his son, Thomas Lucas, Jr., as residents of Middletown and owners of large tracts of land on the west bank of the Connecticut River, records of titles to same being found in " Middletown Land Records," Lib. 7, folio 135,-" 35 page of Mid- dletown, eightly book of Records," and others,-as we copy from the old deeds now in the hands of the family.

This Thomas, Jr., came to Goshen from Middle- town about 1755, and bought a tract of land on what is now known as Inens Hill, getting his titles from one of the original proprietors of the town. He built a log house near the big rock east of the house now be- longing to the estate of Daniel Norton Lucas, and from that day till now that section has remained in the name and occupancy of this family.

* See Torrington history.

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HISTORY OF LITCHFIELD .COUNTY, CONNECTICUT.

Thomas, Jr., had two sons ; the elder, also a Thomas, Jr., was a soldier in the war of the Revolution, a young man of great promise, but gave his life for the new republic, dying of camp fever ten days after his return home.

The other son, Allen, remained with his father on Lucas Hill, married, and reared a numerous family, some of his boys scattering into the far West, one of his girls marrying into one of the Goshen families. His son, Thomas Allen Lucas, remained on the hill, as also did David, his brother, until his death.

The descendants of Thomas Allen Lucas now com- prise nearly all of the Lucas name in Goshen, there being one exception, a daughter (Clarinda) of David Lucas.

Thomas Allen Lucas was killed while in the prime of life by being thrown from a load of hay during a thunder-shower, in 1837, while the oxen attached were running away. He left a widow and four children,- Daniel Norton, Henry Augustus, Elizabeth, and Polly Ann. His widow was the daughter of Deacon Daniel Norton, of Goshen, and a woman of sterling charac- ter, sound sense, and business energy. She carried on the large farm, with the aid of her children, the eldest being then eighteen years old, till her death in 1840.

Sept. 13, 1840, Daniel Norton Lucas married Ma- rilla L., one of the twelve daughters of Benjamin Price, of Goshen, and, buying the real estate dis- tributed to his sisters, which with his own made a farm of one hundred and sixty-five acres, began busi- ness for himself, being at that time twenty-two and his wife seventeen years old, she bringing him no worldly goods, yet rich in all other qualifications necessary for a happy, successful farmer's life.

For thirty years they worked their farm and bought additions to it, increasing their dairy of cows from twenty-five to fifty, and their cattle from thirty to sixty-five head.

At one time his real estate was one of the most valuable in the town, and consisted of more than six hundred acres, carrying one hundred head of cattle, part of which was managed by his son.

Lucas was a successful farmer, and owed much to his wife for her skill and energy in the management of the dairy and household affairs. About 1870 he retired from his farm to a residence in Goshen Centre, placing his son, Daniel Norton, Jr., on the farm. The quiet of his new house was very irksome to him, and he rode to the old farm almost daily, and worked with the men and directed the management until his death.

He was a man of decided opinions and bold to de- clare them, of an argumentative disposition, but very fair and honorable in business. His dealings for forty years with his neighbors were extensive in cattle, horses, and farm produce, but he never had a law- suit. He cared very little for politics, and held very little public office : was a selectman one term. He

was practical, plain, made no displays, cared nothing for fashion, and seldom went outside for business or pleasure.

He departed this life April 25, 1880, and was buried on his sixty-second birthday in the Centre cemetery in Goshen, and his heirs have erected a handsome monument to his memory.

He will long be remembered as one of Goshen's most enterprising and successful farmers.

We place on record a few leaves and twigs from the genealogical tree of this family.

James Lucas, in 1620, was a land-holder near Man- chester, England, and held an appointment under the government similar to our trial justice. His son, Thomas James, died in Boston about 1650, and one of his sons, Thomas Augustus, died at sea, in command of a vessel, about 1665. This Capt. Lucas had a son Thomas, born in Boston in 1640, who died in Mid- dletown in 1737, and whose son Thomas, Jr., born in 1700, near Boston, died in Middletown in 1749; and it was a son of this last-named Thomas, Jr .- who was also a Thomas, Jr .- that settled in Goshen about 1755. This man had two sons : the elder, born in Middletown, March 20, 1750, also a Thomas, Jr., was a soldier in the Revolution, and died in Goshen in 1783; while the other, named Allen, born in Middletown, March 1, 1753, died in Goshen, March 11, 1820. His wife was Sarah Thompson, born in Goshen, March 1, 1789; she died March 27, 1838. The children of Allen were John, Ezra, Augustus, Heman, Sarah, David, Olive, Betsy, Mary, and Thomas Allen. John and Ezra moved to the West, married, and have descendants in large number, which we must omit here. Augustus died in Goshen, a young man, leaving a widow, who afterwards married Towner. Sarah died while a young woman, and unmarried. Mary married Horatio N. Beach, on East Street in Goshen, and is yet living (March, 1881) in the home she entered so long ago, and has been a widow for fifty years. Her son Edward, who lived with her till his death, April 3, 1871, left a widow, now living at the homestead, Laura Johnson, and three daughters,-Mary E., born May 7, 1861; Laura Jane, horn May 9, 1864; and Ella C., born Feb. 22, 1866. Heman was with Hud- son, of Goshen, when he settled the town in Ohio which bears his name, and found an early grave there, and was the first white man buried in that town. Olive and Betsy never married ; both lived in Goshen until their death a few years since. David remained in Goshen all his days, married Mary Merrills, and had children,-Esther, who never married, and died at home, Jan. 28, 1848; Jane, who married Virgil Col- lins, of Goshen, leaving at her death Evaline, who married Joseph Carter, of Plymouth, and afterwards - Lindley, of Waterbury; and Mary, who married William Hotchkiss, of Plymouth. David, Jr., who married Eunice Davis, of Goshen, he dying Oct. 12, 1863, and his widow Aug. 25, 1867, leaving Charles, now married in New Haven, and Alice, now the wife

Frederick A Lucas. Lucas.

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of Elihu Carlisle, of Goshen. Clarinda, still living in Goshen, never married.

Thomas Allen Lucas was born in Goshen, Oct. 12, 1792, and died Aug. 30, 1837. His wife, Sally Nor- ton, was born in Goshen, Jan. 28, 1793, and died Sept. 18, 1840. They were married March 19, 1817, and their children were, -

Daniel Norton1 (see sketch), born April 28, 1818.

Henry Augustus,2 born April 15, 1819, died May 19, 1875. He married Mary H. Pierson, of Richmond, Mass., March 27, 1844, and their children are Sarah Baldwin, born Jan. 14, 1845, wife of Seelye Hart, of Cornwall, Conn .; Elizabeth Melissa, born March 7, 1848, wife of Charles Blake, of Cornwall, Conn .; Henry Pierson, born Nov. 21, 1850, married Mary A. Humphrey, of Pittsfield, Mass., after whose death he married Lillian Wolleston, of Pittsfield, and is settled in business as a prosperous merchant in Pittsfield, Mass .; Joseph Allen, born Dec. 7, 1856, now living on the homestead in Goshen with his mother.

Sarah Elizabeth,3 born July 12, 1822, died July 2, 1851, married Myron C. Gaylord, of Norfolk, Conn., Jan. 8, 1843, who died April 4, 1854. Their children were Mary Louisa, born Dec. 8, 1843, died Jan. 18, 1856; Sarah Elizabeth, born July 30, 1845, died May 14, 1870; Myron Lucas, born July 18, 1847, died Jan. 16, 1852; Henry Norton, born July 7, 1849, now living in Norfolk.

Polly Ann,4 born Dec. 9, 1823, married Jonathan Wadhams, Jr., of Goshen, Feb. 22, 1842, who died Feb. 25, 1865. She married Deacon Addison Palmer, of Torrington, Conn., Oct. 27, 1869, and they now live on the Wadhams homestead in Goshen. Her children are Williard Norton Wadhams, born March 16, 1843, died in army hospital at Philadelphia, July 22, 1865, while in the service of the United States, and holding the position of color-guard in the Second Connecticut Heavy Artillery, and he was a very fine soldier and a brave man ; Henry Augustus Wadhams, born Feb. 26, 1847, died in Goshen, Oct. 10, 1867 ; Jonathan Edwards Wadhams, born Jan. 1, 1856, married, Feb. 19, 1877, Lavina F. Collough, of Morris, Conn., and has children,-Williard Ilenry, born May 9, 1878 ; and Darwin Addison, born March 13, 1880.

The children of Daniel Norton Lucas (sketch) are Frederick Allen1 (see sketch in this history), Mary Elizabeth,2 born Jan. 25, 1843, died April 4, 1866; Emma Lucretia,6 born May 9, 1861, died May 1, 1871; Daniel Norton, Jr.,8 born June 27, 1845, now a farmer in Goshen, married Addie Wadhams Tuttle, adopted daughter of Calvin Tuttle, of Goshen, Feb. 6, 1867, and has chiklren,-Franklin Calvin, born Jan. 19, 1868; Daniel Edwin, born Jan. 3, 1871; Mary Addic, born Feb. 5, 1872; Charlie, born Oct. 2, 1873.

Benjamin Franklin,4 born Aug. 24, 1847, died Feb. 5, 1875, in Goshen, married Kate L. Miles, daughter of Philo C. Miles, of Goshen, Oct. 3, 1870, and their children are Willis F., born July 17, 1871; Emma B., born April 4, 1873.

Anna Marrilla,5 born July 22, 1851 ; married Charles C. Allyn, of Goshen, May 23, 1876, and lives in West Goshen, Conn.

FREDERICK ALLEN LUCAS.

Frederick Allen Lucas is the eldest child of Daniel Norton Lucas (referred to in this history with sketch and portrait), and is now the oldest living male rep- resentative of the Lucas family in Goshen. He was born in Goshen, Sept. 9, 1841.

During his boyhood, and until near his majority, he lived at home, and worked on his father's farm in summer, attending the common school in winter till he was twelve years old, when he entered Goshen Academy under the tutorship of James Q. Rice. At seventeen he taught a school in Cornwall Hollow, and continued to teach each winter and helping his father summers, till July, 1862, when he enlisted as a private soldier in Company C, Nineteenth Connecticut Vol- unteers (afterwards the Second Connecticut Heavy Artillery), under his old teacher, Capt. Rice.

As a boy young Lucas was a great worker, ener- getic, and persevering ; was never beaten at hoeing, haying, or milking ; held plow and followed the team as soon as large enough to swing a whip, and for sev- eral seasons milked the " mean ones" to the number of fifteen, night and morning, in his father's dairy of forty-five cows.

When the civil war broke out he was anxious to enlist at the first chance which offered, but his father's protest and argument that he could not spare him prevented him from shouldering a musket for the Union till 1862.

At Camp Dutton, in Litchfield, he was made a cor- poral, and when his turn came for promotion, some months afterwards, was advanced to a sergeant. While serving as sergeant of the guard one day at Fort Ellsworth, Va., an order from Col. Kellogg, command- ing, was read to the regiment on dress-parade, com- manding every non-commissioned officer in the regi- ment to present a specimen of his handwriting at headquarters within twenty-four hours. Lucas did not know of this order until after "taps," when he went to his quarters for supper, and the "boys" told him. By the light of a candle stuck in an inverted bayonet, on a half-sheet of note-paper that was far from clean, he attempted to obey his colonel's com- mand. He placed his first thought on paper, writing the first question and answer in " Artillery Tactics :" " What is understood by the term artillery ?" " Heavy pieces of every description, with the imple- ments and materials necessary for their use."

Signing his name he rushed to his captain's tent and handed in his specimen, Two days afterwards - he was as much astonished as fifty other sergeants, whom he "jumped," to hear himself commanded by a special order to report forthwith to regimental headquarters and assumo command of headquarters

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HISTORY OF LITCHFIELD COUNTY, CONNECTICUT.

guard, brass band, drum corps, and others, in all about eighty-five men. Whether his penmanship had any- thing to do with this Lucas never knew. It might have been due to his skill as a drill-master in both infantry and artillery tactics, as for many weeks pre- vious he had been detailed almost constantly on this duty, drilling the new men with which the regiment was being heavily recruited.

The best evidence we have that Lucas did his duty well in this new sphere is that shortly afterwards Col. Kellogg asked him if he had been home since his enlistment, and receiving the reply that he had not, he told Lucas to "go to Adjt. Vaill and tell him to make out a furlough." The colonel indorsed the paper with a few words of commendation, and an or- derly was dispatched to Washington to get the same indorsed by the general commanding and the Secre- tary of War, as this was done in the days of " no for- loughs," except in extreme cases. The time was for " seven days from date."

It was while home on this furlough that Lucas was made a " freeman," and cast his first vote on the first Monday in April, 1864.

His promptness to obey orders is shown by his re- turn to the regimental headquarters in Virginia, twelve hours before his furlough elapsed.

On his return, Col. Kellogg met him with, "How are you, sergeant-major ?" "Did you see your mother ?" "Did you see the girl?" Receiving satis- factory replies, he added, "You want a new set of chevrons, sir." Lucas did not know what he meant by the last remark till, visiting the Goshen boys in Company C that evening, and going to witness their battalion dress-parade, he heard the special order read making him a sergeant-major.

He served as sergeant-major on the staff of Col. Kellogg at Fort Ellsworth and Fort Ward, and while the regiment occupied Arlington Heights, and it was at the latter place that he received from a messenger of the War Department, and passed to the hands of Adjt. Vaill and Col. Kellogg, at midnight of the 16th of May, 1864, the order to "go to the front" for his regiment.

Lucas held his position on the staff on the noted march to Spottsylvania, and in the engagement there ; at Jericho Ford; the night-march along the Pau- munkey ; in that Aceldama, Cold Harbor, that cost every fourth man in the regiment; under that con- tinuous "twelve days' fire." It was here that Col. Kellogg was killed, and Lucas selected four men to go with him outside, between the lines, and bring in the dead body of their beloved commander, on June 2, 1864, and Lucas held charge of the corpse till the team could be brought up, by which it was sent to the rear, and thence home for burial.

He was in that noted march with the Sixth Corps to Petersburg; helped to build the intrenchments at Harrison's House ; was in the skirmish, so near a battle, of June 22, 1864; that dusty march to City

Point ; the trying marches and counter-marches under Sheridan in Maryland and the Shenandoah Valley ; in the memorable battles of Opequan, Winchester, and Fisher's; the chase after the flying rebels to Harrisonburg ; and in that most remarkable battle of the war, Cedar Creek, in which he was severely wounded by a minie-ball through his left thigh. This injury sent him to the rear for three months, but before it healed-in fact, it never healed till after the war was over-he rejoined his regiment at Peters- burg, just in time to go into the fight at Hatcher's Run, where he was wounded again, but so slight as only to confine him to his quarters about a week.

At this date he was sworn in as a second lieutenant and assigned to Company B, Second Connecticut Heavy Artillery, on a recommendation of Col. Mac- kenzie, on whose staff he had served since the death of Col. Kellogg. His commission from Governor Buckingham reached him while wounded, at Cedar Creek. Col. Mackenzie, in writing Governor Buck- ingham, said he "wanted Lucas commissioned for gallantry and soldierly conduct in the battles of Winchester and Fisher's Hill," and in this connec -. tion we copy from Vaill's "History of the Second Connecticut Heavy Artillery," page 210.

"Sergt .- Maj. (afterwards second lieutenant) Fred- erick A. Lucas received a wound in the left thigh at Cedar Creek which disabled him for several months. He returned to the regiment just in time to receive another wound-a slight one-in the affair at Hatcher's Run.

" He was promoted for gallantry at Winchester and Fisher's Hill, and Col. Mackenzie told the writer, just after those battles, that he never saw a braver man than Sergt .- Maj. Lucas."

He was immediately placed in command of his company, its captain being a prisoner in the enemy's hands since Cedar Creek, and remained its con- manding officer till near the close of the war.

In March, 1865, his old colonel, now Gen. Mac- kenzie, who had been assigned to the command of Kautz' cavalry division under Sheridan, urged Lucas to accept a position on his staff, promising him speedy promotion through the general's influence with Gov- ernor Buckingham, which offers were declined with gratitude, a declination much regretted ever since.

Company B was then color company, and Lucas led his men in the engagement at Fort Fisher, where his company, with two others, were left to hold through the night the advanced line gained in the fight that day, Lucas in command of the advance. He had. command of the picket-line in front of Fort Wads- worth, with three officers and one hundred and fifty men under him, on April 1, 1865, when Grant made his successful attempt to take Richmond and Peters- burg, and witnessed that glorious sight of the night cannonading, he and his men being stationed be- tween the lines of heavy guns, about midway between friend and foe; and as their position was on high

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ground, they were exultant spectators of next day's battle, where for the first time, after years of every sort of peril and trial, as Vaill puts it, "the faithful soldiers of the republic saw daylight."

He was in command of his company on the hard chase after Lee's flying army ; in the fight at Sailor's Creek, where three of his men captured flags; and at the " great surrender at Appomattox."

He commanded the rear-guard of the Sixth Corps on the famous march from Danville to Burkesville after Johnston's surrender.

He was in the grand review of the Sixth Corps and Sheridan's cavalry at Washington, June 8, 1865; and it was after this trying march that he was stricken down with malarial fever, which malady elung to him long after his return to private life.

Lieut. Lucas has the satisfaction of being able to ·say, what few men can, that he was present with, participated in, and by virtue of his office held a prominent position in every engagement with the enemy by the Second Connecticut Heavy Artillery. He was honorably " mustered out" Ang. 18, 1865.

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History of Litchfield county, Connecticut, Part 87

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