History of Litchfield county, Connecticut, Part 9

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

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No man trents his equals with more courtesy and candor, his superiors on the bench or elsewhere with more respect and deference, and his juniors and infe- histories of towns have succeeded, but none have

HISTORY OF LITCHFIELD COUNTY, CONNECTICUT.

excelled it. It has received the highest commenda- tions of the public press and of well-informed critics. Though professedly a local work, it contains a very complete epitome of the historical events of Connec- ticut. His chapter on the early ecclesiastical troubles of the colony of Connecticut is the most complete, exhaustive, and authoritative that has yet heen pub- lished.

Of this work the late Rev. Dr. Chapin, of Glaston- bury, Conn., remarked : "The author has made a place for himself among the 'men of the times,' and his name will be blessed as long as ' Ancient Wood- bury' has a son living worthy of herself." The late Governor Dutton, of Connecticut, said of it, "It embodies a large number of historical facts not to be found in other publications, of great interest not only to those who have a peculiar regard for the town of Woodbury, but to all who cherish the memory of our forefathers." Rev. Dr. Fuller, late of Andover, Mass., said of it, "The historical portion, extending through a period of nearly two centuries, has all the absorbing attractions of a romance. The author has placed Connecticut, and the community generally, under perpetual obligations to him." Judge Williams, late chief judge of Connecticut, said, " It will be highly valuable to the future historian of Connecticut." Ex-President Day, of Yale College, remarked, "That the style of composition is such as history, biography, and statistics require; simple, lucid, and unostenta- tious." Hon. Thomas Day, LL.D., late of Hartford, Conn., speaking of the work, said of it, " As a part of the history of the State, no authority is more re- liable. It is minutely accurate, without being in the least degree tedious." In a letter to Mr. Cothren, President Wayland, late of Brown University, assured him, "I have no doubt yours will take an honorable place in this most interesting class of historical works ; for you have done laborious and patriotic service to our common country, and will have the thanks of all those who cherish a veneration for our Puritan fore- fathers."

In all the social and confidential relations in life the character of Mr. Cothren is worthy of imitation. Few men have had truer or more devoted friends than he has always found for himself wherever he has been intimately known. The sentiment of friendship with him partakes of a high nobility. Of course it is not promiscuous, but is confined to those who can appre- ciate the same affection which he himself feels. For such his respect and esteem are entire. Those that are once loved are loved to the end. He does not see, or seeing, has not the heart to notice a fault in one whom he admits as a friend. To others he is gener- ous; with a friend he is more than paternal. He rev- erences only what he truly admires, and can love no one whose character he does not really respect. With these sentiments he has won for himself a circle of warm friends both in his public and private relations. It is to be hoped that he may long enjoy their friend-

ship, and live many years to add to the well-earned fame which already gathers around his name.

GEORGE A. HICKOX was born in Washington, Conn., in 1830, and graduated from Trinity College, Hartford, in 1851. He pursued the study of the law in the law school at Ballston, N. Y., and Yale law school, and in the office of Hollister & Beeman, in Litchfield. In 1853 he was admitted to the bar and commenced practice in Litchfield, where he has since resided. Since 1866 he has combined the practice of his profession with editorial work, having in that year become editor of The Litchfield Enquirer, and three years later its sole proprietor. He was a mem- ber of the Legislature in 1862.

MARCUS L. DELAVAN .- When nearly half a mil- lion of Huguenots left France because of the revo- cation of the Edict of Nantes, they sought homes in those countries where their Protestant faith would be respected and could be enjoyed. Every nation that opened its arms to receive them brought within its limits a class of citizens honest, conscientious, deeply religious, industrious, energetic, intelligent, and generally far advanced in all arts of industry,-a class whose presence was of immense benefit to it. Many came to what, about a century later, became these United States. Among them was the progenitor of the present Delavan family, the name then being spelled De La Van. Later the last capital was dropped and the last two syllables were united, making the name De Lavan, and in process of time it became the more convenient Delavan of the present time. At the time of the Revolutionary war there were eleven brothers, descendants of the progenitor alluded to, all of whom took an active part in our struggle for national independence. Gen. Daniel Delavan was the trusted friend and adviser of Gen. Washington, and the warm, personal, and intimate friend of La- fayette, who presented him with a beautiful sword as a mark of his esteem. Gen. Delavan was wounded in the engagement at Stony Point, but not one of the brothers was killed,-a fact which, historians have declared, finds no parallel in the recorded history of this or of that of any other country. The general was also actively engaged in the war of 1812. The subject of this sketch came from the same stock. On the maternal side his ancestors, as far back as can be traced,-which is for several generations,-have been among the most solid, respectable, influential, and well-to-do natives of the towns adjoining New Haven, Conn., in which city, on the 23d day of August, 1832, Mr. Delavan first saw the light. By the dishonesty of those who should have protected the defenseless, the property his mother should have received was never permitted to come to her, and when she married she could call only a few hundred dollars her own. Hav- ing a large family, and her husband being laid up for many years with consumption, the little pittance which bad been inherited, and that which had been accumu- lated in the early life of their union, was swept away

BENCH AND BAR.

before our subject was born. At three years of age one of the members of the church with which his parents were identified called upon them, and, taking the little one upom his lap, began to question him about religious subjects. He was so pleased with the child's answers, questions, and remarks that he wrote a Sunday-school book about him,-a work, however, which he never saw, the only copy his parents had carefully treasured up to present to him when he be- came old enough to fully appreciate it having myste- riously disappeared before that time arrived. When he was five years of age his father died, leaving one son younger than our subject, and one son and four daughters older. The death of his father forced his mother, in order that she might engage in the means of supporting those who were too young to care for themselves, to send him to the orphan asylum, where, however, she paid his board weekly. His health had always been quite poor, and, after several months of living on the the meagre and innutritious food of the institution, it was found necessary to send him to a sea- side country town in order to save his life. There his health improved, and, returning to the place of his birth, he was sent to school until he was ten years of age ; then, with a maturity unusual in one so young, he saw the necessity of contributing to the support of the family, which, by the second marriage of his mother, was in- creasing. The illness and death of his step-father, at about this time, strengthened his conviction that he should be a help to, and not a drain upon, the family ; so he obtained a situation in a printing-office,-that of the New Haven Daily Herald. This was finally merged into the Courier, and made a morning paper. As this change required night-work, and only the poorest kind of lights were used,-for gas had not then been introduced into New Haven,-our subject's eyes com- pelled him to give up his position, after about seven years' service in the same office without the loss of a single hour. Finishing his trade, a few months later, in the Waterbury American office, he worked there for a while as a journeyman, in Litchfield, and in Chicopee, Mass., and other places, in the same capacity, for a short time, and then gave up the mechanical part of the business. From his earliest recollection he had had an intense desire to qualify himself for the prac- tiee of law, but he saw the necessity of a general education before he could properly pursue legal studies ; so, before his day's work was begun, and after it was finished, until long after midnight, it was his daily custom to take his books to a quiet place and study them. So intense was his desire for an educa- tion that he used to carry his dinner and his books to the office where he was employed, and devote the noontime to study. This course was adopted when he first entered a printing-office, at about ten years of age, and was persevered in until after his ndmission to the bar. He has often said he " never had a boy- hood." He seldom engaged in the pastimes which gave others of his age great delight, but always pre-

ferred his books, or the society of much older persons than himself, to them. He had also a strong love of disputation and of public speaking, and while in his " teens" he would walk ten miles any evening, how- ever bad the walking was, or however stormy it might be, for the purpose of attending a lyceum. He was " brought up" in the Democratic party, and his first votes were cast for that party ; but when the struggle for prohibitory legislation was going on in this State, and slavery was pushing itself into the Territories, he thought the main-springs of that party were "Rum, Romanism, and Human Bondage," so he left it, and as soon as the Republican party was organized he united with it, and at every Presidential election since then he has " stumped" some portions of this or some other State for that party. He has been elceted a number of times collector of taxes of the town of Naugatuck, and has often been named for other offices, for which he has declined to run. As we have inti- mated, he qualified himself for admission to the bar before people were generally awake in the morning, or after they were asleep at night, though he attended a course of lectures before the law-school of Columbia College. An incident connected with his admission to the bar may be worth giving here. His strong political convictions, and his outspoken manner of presenting them, gave great offence to a former judge of one of the highest courts in the State and his son- in-law, and when his application for admission was presented by the State's attorney of the county, who was his warm friend, the judge and his son-in-law ob- jected to its reception. Being pressed for the reason for such an unusual objection, they claimed that the applicant was not a resident of that county. Liter- ally, at that moment, that may have been the fact, but it was not when the application was placed in the State attorney's hands, nor would it have been at any time for many months before that. Some of the mem- bers of the bar learned that the reason assigned was not the real one entertained, and it did not take them long to become convinced that the opposition was really for political reasons. Still the judge and his obedient son-in-law had succeeded in presenting the matter in such a way that the members present were fearful of offending them if they were found to be very strongly opposed to them, so, though they voted to accept the application and examine the applicant, not a single member would consent to be one of the committee of examination. For forty years three at- torneys, appointed by the bar, had constituted the ex- nmining committee, but so much feeling had been ex- cited in this case that it was decided the whole bar should conduct the examination. There were about thirty or thirty-five members of the bar present. Mr. Delavan had listened to all that had been said in op- position to him, and, taking into consideration tho bitterness shown, the fact that he, though nominally in a law-office during his studies, had really had to pursue them when he should have been asleep, that

HISTORY OF LITCHFIELD COUNTY, CONNECTICUT.

he had not had the most ordinary advantages of law- students, and that instead of being examined by a committee of three who were without prejudice, he must be examined by the entire bar, some of whom were known to be strongly opposed to his admission, he keenly felt the injustice, and also the danger of rejection. It seems, however, to have made him all the more cool and determined, and, after an examina- tion lasting nearly three hours, conducted by some of the best lawyers in the State, in which he answered correctly every question put to him except two, and corrected himself on one of those before it passed from consideration, the bar voted unanimously for his admission, paying him a very high compliment for the way in which he passed through the trying ordeal.

When the war broke out Mr. Delavan was under bonds of many thousands of dollars as tax-collector, but, collecting all he could collect, he made a satisfac- tory arrangement with the authorities of the town, by which another collector took his place and his bondsman was released, and he hurried to enlist in the Fifteenth Regiment Connecticut Volunteers, influen- cing many to go with him.

For his interest and activity in the Union cause he was offered various official positions, but his reply always was, "No! If I live through this struggle I want to feel that no man can say he has borne more of the 'brunt of the battle' than I have; and I do not mean that any one shall have even the shadow of a reason for saying that I enlisted only for some office." So he remained a private until physical disability ren- dered him unfit for military duty and confined him in the hospitals at Washington and Darby, near Phila- delphia, from which latter place he was discharged, greatly to his surprise, and in opposition to his carnest protest. From the age of sixteen he had been a pro- lific writer for newspapers, and before the close of the war he was employed editorially on various papers. Twice he was one of the editors of the New Haven Palladium, for extended periods ; for about two years he edited the New Britain Record, and for over five . years he was the owner and chief editor of the Meri- den Daily Republican. For a number of years he also owned and edited the State Temperance Journal. All these papers were in Connecticut. While editing the Daily Republican his health became so shattered that his physician insisted upon a change. For a number of years he had been a licensed preacher in the Methodist Episcopal Church, supplying the pul- pits of pastors who were ill or absent, and visiting the various school districts in Meriden, evenings, to hold religious meetings, and when he was compelled to give up his Meriden paper a church in Hartland, Conn., which is situated in a very mountainous and healthy region, invited him to become their pastor. Believing that he could recover his health there while laboring in a cause to which he was warmly wedded, his presiding elder sent him there, putting him in charge of three churches. Five months after he went

there the greatest revival ever known in that section broke out, and about forty professed conversion. The labor of attending meetings every evening for a month, and being out until about midnight every night, brought his health back to the point where it was when he first went there, and recuperation seemed impossible. He remained more than a year afterwards with his people, but finally had to bid them good-by. Believing that a weekly paper would furnish sufficient mental exercise to keep him in working order, he pur- chased a paper in New Milford, named it The Housa- tonic Ray, and has published it ever since. Though so attached to newspaper labors, he has, much of the time while engaged in them, been in the full practice of his legal profession. In this State he has practiced at Southington, at New Britain, in New Milford, where he now is, and in other places. He has taken a somewhat unusual stand in his practice, publishing to the world that he will be connected with only those cases in which he feels that the moral right is on his client's side, and no inducement is sufficient to make him violate that rule.

COL. JACOB B. HARDENBERGHI was born in Wa- warsing, Ulster Co., N. Y., Aug. 4. 1831, the son of Col. L. Hardenbergh. At the age of thirteen he entered the Kingston Academy, at Kingston, for a four years' business course, from which he graduated in 1848. Immediately after his graduation he took up the study of law, in the office of Judge J. O. Lin- derman, with whom he remained four years, being admitted to the bar in 1852. He practiced in King- ston until the breaking out of the Rebellion in 1861, when the Twentieth New York militia, of which he was a member, under Col. George W. Pratt, entered the "three months' service," during which term he was elected major. At the expiration of the engage- ment the regiment returned home and immediately proceeded to reorganize for the war, entering the service again in October, 1861. Col. Pratt was killed in the battle of Second Bull Run, when Lieut .- Col. T. B. Gates took command, Maj. Hardenbergh suc- ceeding the latter as lieutenant-colonel. He was appointed colonel on the muster out of Col. Gates in the fall of 1864, and by that title he is familiarly known, although justly entitled to the preface of "general," having received the appointment of brevet brigadier-general, " for gallant and meritorious ser- vices," in 1865. His regiment participated in some of the fiercest and most decisive battles of the war, Second Bull Run, South Mountain, Antietam, Fred- ericksburg, Gettysburg, Wilderness, Petersburg, and earned a most honorable record. They were mustered out Feb. 1, 1866, after having served nearly five years.

At the close of the war, Col. Hardenbergh returned to Kingston, and resumed the practice of law until the fall of 1867, when he came to North Canaan, and purchased the law-office of Judge M. T. Granger, his present location. He was appointed clerk of the Probate Court-Frederick Watson, judge-the same

George Wheaton

BENCH AND BAR.

year, and was subsequently elected by the Democrats judge of probate, town clerk, treasurer, registrar, etc., which offices he still holds. He was married in April, 1869, to Miss Delia Watson, of North Canaan. In 1870 he was elected to represent the town in the General Assembly, and in 1876-77 was senator from the Seventeenth Senatorial District of Litchfield County. He has several times been chosen as delegate to attend Democratic conventions, and is identified with almost every enterprise relating to the welfare of his town. He purchased the Conneeti- cut Western News on Dec. 18, 1878, from which, in connection with his law business, he derives a com- fortable income.

As a lawyer, Col. Hardenbergh is widely known for his natural ability, dignified courtesy, and thorough knowledge of the science of law ; and his biting sar- casm, combining these three elements, makes him an opponent to be respected. Of the confidence reposed in him by his fellow-citizens, witness the various town offices he has held consecutively since his location here.

The fraternal disposition of Col. Hardenbergh can be felt and appreciated only by those whose privilege it is to enjoy his confidence and intimate acquaintance. His unconscious dignity, almost severe, inspires at once respeet, and the impression that his stern ex- perience on the field and the cynical character of his profession have blunted the susceptibility in his nature that is calculated to insure success in one's social and domestic relations. But a thorough ac- quaintance with the man discovers the contrary to be the fact. Few men have a faculty for retaining friends and commanding their respect to a greater extent than Col. Hardenbergh, and no man has a greater respect for the rights and opinions of others than he. No adequate review of his life and characteristics can be given in a brief sketch like this. In him are com- bined the qualities found only in that rarity to which can truly be applied the words-without the irony- of Antony : " An honorable man."

GEORGE WHEATON was born in East Haven, Conn., in 1790. He lost his father when very young, and went to live with a Congregational elergyman, prob- ably in Southbury, when about twelve years of age. His mother died soon after. Ile availed himself with eagerness of his advantages for education, soon be- came a teacher, and steadily pursued his studies in preparation for the profession of his choice-law ; and in course of time came to Salisbury to become a stu- dent in the office of Judge Church, who occupied a high standing in legal circles. Ho was a close and careful student, was admitted to practice in 1813, and settled in Cornwall Centre, then a thriving place. He there married Lewey, daughter of Medad Alling, an early settler of Canaan. Their children were Nancy (Mrs. William Baldwin), Cynthia (Mrs. Elbert Shep- ard), and George A. Mr. Wheaton soon became an important factor in Cornwall, and was selected to hold

various positions of public trust, was many times the representative of Cornwall in the General Assembly of the State, and for twenty years the postmaster at Cornwall Centre. For his second wife he married Eliza, daughter of Andrew Cotter, of Cornwall. Their only child, Lucetta, married Dr. P. C. Cum- mings.

About 1840, Mr. Wheaton moved to West Cornwall, then making rapid growth from the advantages given by the opening of the Housatonic Railroad, and made that place his home until his death, Nov. 5, 1865, at the age of seventy-five years.

For over half a century Mr. Wheaton moved among the citizens of Cornwall, active in political, educa- tional, and religious matters, and none ever questioned the purity of his motives, the honesty of his convic- tions, or the soundness of his judgment. He was a member of the Congregational Church for years. In polities he was in early life a Whig, afterwards a Re- publican.

As a lawyer he was not so much noted as an advo- cate as for the thorough manner in which he prepared his cases. They were carefully arranged, and every little point on which dispute might arise was properly fortified. His knowledge of law was extensive, and it has been said of him that he never gave advice that was not the very best that could have been given under the circumstances as expressed to him. In pre- paring a case he was absorbed in his work, paying no attention to meals or sleep, and when made up and presented to a court he was uniformly found to be successful. Of one thing his clients were assured : all the law favoring their side would be presented, and in the clearest, briefest manner, and the court always listened when they were presented. As a consequence, he had many and good clients and acquired a hand- some property.

As a citizen, Mr. Wheaton was conservative, and in favor of all things tending to improve, elevate, and dignify society, but he did not assume that all things claiming to be of benefit were really so. If, on in- vestigation, they proved to be desirable, he gave them his persistent and unwavering support. By his death Cornwall lost an able lawyer, a good citizen, and an honest man, one lamented by all of the better class of the community.

G. W. Shepard, son of Elbert Shepard, bears his grandfather's name, and inserts his portrait in this work.

FLORIMOND D. FYLER was born in Torrington, Conn., Dec. 11, 1834. He commenced the study of law in the office of Judge Gideon Hall, nt Winsted, where he continued as his health would allow until the spring of 1864, when he attended Yale Law School that term. He was admitted to the bar in IS64, and returned to Yale Law School and studied one year, and received the degree LI .. B., July, 1865. In Sep- tember, 1865, he located in Winsted as an attorney-at- Inw. He was a member of the Legislature in the

HISTORY OF LITCHFIELD COUNTY, CONNECTICUT.

May session of 1872. He was elected by the Legisla- ture of 1877 judge of the District Court of Litchfield County for four years from July 1, 1877.

AUGUSTUS HALL FENN was born in Plymouth, Conn., Jan. 18, 1844. In March, 1862, he commenced the study of the law in the office of Ammi Giddings, of Plymouth, and in the following August enlisted in the Nineteenth Regiment Connecticut Volunteers, subsequently the Second Artillery.

The following extract concerning liis military career is taken from Vaill's history of the regiment :

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History of Litchfield county, Connecticut, Part 9

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