History of Middlesex county, Connecticut, with biographical sketches of its prominent men, Part 43

Author: Whittemore, Henry, b. 1833; Beers, J.B. & Company, publishers
Publication date: 1884
Publisher: New York : J. B. Beers & co.
Number of Pages: 818

USA > Connecticut > Middlesex County > History of Middlesex county, Connecticut, with biographical sketches of its prominent men > Part 43

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Keep Death before your eyes."

" In Memory of Patience Plum wife of Samuel Pluni who died Jan'ry 10th A. D. 1793 in the Sist Year of her Age.

"Come now and see as you pass by As you are now so once was I As I am now so you must be Prepare for Death and follow me."

These bodies were evidently brought from some other graveyard, for the first interment in the Miner Cemetery was that of Mr. John Smith, which occurred in 1859. The cemetery was enlarged in 1876.

CEMETERY IN WEST DISTRICT, NUMBER 3.

This lot was given in 1831, by Joseph Wilcox to Hosea Goodrich and others to be used for burial purposes. In- terments are at present made therein.

INDIAN HILL CEMETERY.

The Indian Hill Cemetery Association was organized June Irth 1850, under a general act of the Legislature passed in 1841. The capital stock was $5,000. About 40 acres, on what is known as Indian Hill, were pur- chased by the company. The first officers were: Samuel Russell, president; Samuel D. Hubbard, vice-president; Thomas J. Brower, Secretary; Joseph Taylor, treasurer. The directors were: Ebenezer Jackson, Austin Baldwin, Charles R. Alsop, Jesse G. Baldwin, Thomas Addison, Clark Elliott, Stephen Brooks. The corner stone was laid July 23d 1850, by Dr. Horatio Stone. The cemetery was formally dedicated September 30th 1850. The

152

HISTORY OF MIDDLESEX COUNTY.

grounds were beautifully laid out, and several expensive and elegant monuments now adorn the cemetery. The - present officers are: Jesse G. Baldwin, president; Joseph W. Alsop, M. D., vice-president; Stephen B. Davis, secretary and treasurer. The directors are: Jesse G. Baldwin, Aaron G. Pease, E. F. Sheldon, Charles E. Jackson, O. Vincent Coffin, George W. Harris, Samuel T. Camp, and Arthur B. Calef. A beautiful memorial chapel stands near the main entrance. This chapel was erected in 1867, by Mrs. Samuel Russell in memory of her deceased husband, and is used for burial services.

FARM HILL CEMETERY.

The Farm Hill Cemetery Association was formed in 1853, under the general act relating to burying grounds and places of sepulture. The corporators were: Asa Hub- bard, Isaac Roberts, Alfred Hubbard, Elisha S. Hub- bard, Samuel C. Hubbard.

Asa Hubbard was the first president, and Alfred Hub- bard the first secretary.

The first interment in this cemetery was that of Joseph Warren Johnson who died September 30th 1853.

The yard is located on a beautiful eminence in the Farm Hill District, and lies adjacent to the South Farms Burying Ground.

Asa Hubbard was the first president of the association.

PINE GROVE CEMETERY ASSOCIATION.

This corporation was organized under the law of Con- necticut relevant to burial grounds in 1870.

The corporators were: Gaston T. Hubbard, Wilbur F. Burrows, Alfred Hubbard, Robert P. Hubbard, and Buckley N. Hedges.

The cemetery is located in the East Long Hill District.

PROMINENT MEN.

REV. SAMUEL STOW.

Rev. Samuel Stow came to Mattabesett in 1651. He was the youngest of the four sons of John and Elizabeth Stow, who " arrived at New England the 17th of the 3d month ano 1634," and was then twelve years of age. He graduated in the first class of Harvard College, 1645, studied for the ministry, was employed in Massachu- setts for a time, and on his removal here became the founder and pastor of the " First Ecclesiastical Society " in this city, and was recognized by the General Court as " their engaged minister," as recorded in volumes of the Colonial Records,

In March 1669 he made an appeal to the General Court (still extant) to settle differences that had arisen between him and his people, which resulted thus:

"That the people of Middletown are free from Mr. Stow as their en- gaged minister. 2dly. That the people of Middletown shall give to Mr. Stow L'rs Testimonial as drawn up by the worshipfull Governor in ye Courte. And Mr. Stow is not infringed of his liberty to preach in Mid- dletown to such as will attend him, until there be a settled minister there. It is ordered by this Court, that ye people Middletown shall pay unto Mr. Stow for his labour in ye ministry the year past £40, which is to be paid unto - by the 10th of April next." *

He continued his work in various places, and founded churches. In 1680, twenty persons from Simsbury pe- titioned the Legislature thus: the petitioners " having knowledge and tryall of Mr. Samuell Stow in ye labours of ye Word, & doctrine of ye Gospell, manifest their de- sire, for his continuance, to be a Pastor and Watchman over our Souls and ye Souls of ours, and ask ye counte- nance of the General Court to their settlement and order; " which petition was granted and the order given .*

He married Hope Fletcher, the daughter of William Fletcher, of Chelmsford, Mass. With the exception of John, his oldest son, born at Charlestown, Mass., June 16th 1650, his children were all born here.t After his retirement from the work of the ministry, he wrote sev- eral books for the press, one of which was probably the earliest history of New England, and is not now known to be extant, another on the conversion of the Jews, all of which appear in the inventory of his estate. He held during his life, 1374 acres of land, some of which he deeded to his children, of some he gave instructions in his will that it be sold, and the proceeds be used to present a Bible to each of the numerous young men among his kindred bearing his name. He also be- queathed a large tract in Newfield and Westfield to the town, and thus laid the foundation of the first free schools here, an example which was followed by Nathaniel White and Jasper Clements. These bequests combined are the source of the present town school fund.

As his two sons died without male heirs, the name of Stow is extinct in his line, but the standing of his de- scendants at this day shows the fulfillment of the promise of "the jealous God " who " sheweth mercy unto thou- sands of them that love him and keep his command- ments."

He died at Middletown, May 8th 1704, aged 82. The table monument in the Riverside Burying Ground, sup- posed to be his, is devoid of any inscription, time and the elements combined having left the surface smooth.

HON. GILES HAMLIN.

Hon. Giles Hamlin, ancestor of the early and very respectable family of that name, came from some part of England, and became a resident of Middletown, probably in 1650. He was probably a seafaring man. He was the first person admitted to the communion of the church under Rev. Mr. Collins, and was elected to the Colonial Council in 1685, and annually thereafter till his death, except during the usurpation of Andross. He died in 1689.

Hon. John Hamlin, eldest son of Giles, inherited the sterling qualities of his father, and served the public for a much longer period. He was an assistant, from 1694 to 1730. In 1715 he was appointed a judge of the Court of Common Pleas for the county of Hartford, and

* Trumbull's Colonial Records, Vol. 1, pp. 361, 362.

*Col. Rec. Vol. III, p. 101.

+ His home lot consisted of five aeres, situated on the northwest corner of Main aud Washington streets, running west on the last-named to what is now Pearl, or near there, and the remainder on Main street.

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MIDDLETOWN-BIOGRAPHIES.

from 1716 to 1721, he was an assistant judge of the Superior Court. He died in 1733, at the age of 75.

Hon. Jabez Hamlin, son of John, was held in equally as high esteem as were his father and grandfather, and was still more extensively employed in public life. He was early made a colonel of militia, and was in the com- mission of the peace in 1733 or 1734, and was a justice of the Quorum from 1745 till 1754. He was a judge of the Hartford County Court from 1754 till 1784, was judge of the Court of Probate from 1752 till 1789, and mayor of the city of Middletown from its incorporation till his death. He was annually elected an assistant from 1758 till 1767. Although he supported an un- popular measure, such was his personal popularity that he was at once sent as a representative to the Assembly and was made speaker of the House, a position which he continued to occupy till he was returned to the Council in 1773. He died in 1791, at the age of 82.

COMMODORE THOMAS MCDONOUGH.

Although not a native of Middletown, the alliance of Commodore McDonough with the family of a prominent citizen, Nathaniel Shaler, gives this town a right to claim him as one of its sons.

Thomas McDonough was born in the county of New Castle, Delaware, in 1783. He became a midshipman in the navy at the age of 17, and was with the American fleet in the Mediterranean, where he took part in the de- struction of the frigate Philadelphia, which had been cap- tured by the Tripolitans, and the capture of a Tripolitan gun-boat. His gallantry in these affairs led to his pro- motion to the rank of lieutenant.

No noteworthy event in his life occurred between the Tripolitan war and that of 1812, except that he had been made a captain. In that year he took the command of the United States force on Lake Champlain, and carried the army of General Dearborn into Canada without en- countering opposition from the British force. No ac- tive operations occurred on the lake till the autumn of 1814, though both parties were busily employed in strengthening their naval forces.

On the 11th of September in that year, the celebrated battle between the two naval forces took place in front of Plattsburg. The British squadron, which was superior in force, was commanded by Commodore Downie, and that of the Americans by Captain McDonough.

It is unnecessary to give here a description of this battle, which lasted two hours and twenty minutes, and during which the ships of the commanders, the Confiance and the Saratoga, were the principal objects of attack. The former was hulled 105 times, and the latter received 55 shots, principally twenty-four pounders, in her hull.

"The personal deportment of Capt. MeDonough in the engagement, Ilke that of Capt. Perry In the battle of Lake Erie, was the subject of general admiration. His coolness was undisturbed throughout all the trying scenes on board his own ship, and although trying against a vessel of double the force and nearly twice the tonnage of the Saratoga he met and resisted her attacks with a constancy that seemed to set de- feat at defiance. The winding of the Saratoga, under such circum-

stances, exposed as she was to the raking broadsides of the Confiance and the Linnet, especially the latter, was a bold, seamanlike, and mas- terly measure, that required unusual decision and fortitude to imagine and execute. Most men would have believed that, without a single gun on the side engaged, a fourth of the people eut down, and their ship a wreek, enough injury had been received to justify submission; but Capt. MeDonough found the means to secure a vietory in the desperate situation of the Saratoga."

Though he had been honored before he was still more highly honored after this battle. Congress voted him a medal, and different States and towns complimented him by gifts. The State of New York gave him a thou- sand acres of land, and the State of Vermont, two hun- dred, situated in full view of the lake, near the scene of his victory. The Legislature of New York also voted him a splendid sword, and another, costing $1,300, was presented to him by the officers and seamen whom he had commanded in the Mediterranean. The State of Delaware also presented him with a massive silver tea set, on which was a suitable inscription. He was promoted for his services in this action.

Commodore McDonough continued in the naval ser- vice till near the time of his death. His last cruise was in the Mediterranean, in command of the old frigate Constitution, in 1825. By reason of failing health he re- signed the command of that vessel, and embarked from Gibraltar in October 1825. On the 10th of the next month he died at sea. His remains were brought to New York, and thence to Middletown, where they were interred in the old cemetery, near the bank of the Con- necticut River. A modest marble monument marks the place of his interment.

WILLIAM L. STORRS.

William Lucius Storrs was born in Middletown, Con- necticut, March 25th 1795, graduated at Yale College in 1814, and adopted the law as a profession. He was a member of the State Assembly in 1827, 1828, 1829, and 1834, serving as a speaker in 1834. He was a member of Congress from Connecticut from 1829 to 1833, and again from 1839 to 1840. In June 1840, he resigned to accept the appointment of associate judge of the Court of Errors. In 1846, he was appointed professor of law in Yale Col- lege, and served in that capacity till 1847. In 1856, he was appointed chief justice of the Court of Errors, and held that position until his death in Hartford, June 25th 1861.

HENRY R. STORRS.

Henry R. Storrs, elder brother of William L., was born in Middletown in 1785 or 1787, and graduated from Yale College in 1804. He practiced law some years at Utica, N. Y., and during his residence there was a representative in Congress from 1819 to 1821, and again from 1823 to 1831. After leaving Congress, he removed to the city of New York, where he became very eminent in his pro- fession. He was possessed of extensive aquirements, uncommon powers of discrimination, and great logical exactness. He was a powerful elocutionist and as a de- bater in Congress he stood conspicuous in the first rank. He died at New Haven, July 29th 1837.

I54

HISTORY OF MIDDLESEX COUNTY.

JAMES T. PRATT.

James T. Pratt was born in Middletown, Connecticut, in 1805, and was bred a farmer, which occupation he fol- lowed. He served in the Connecticut Legislature; and was a representative in Congress from that State from 1853 to 1855. He was also a delegate to the "Peace Congress " of 1861.

RT. REV. JOHN WILLIAMS, D.D., LL.D .*

Rt. Rev. John Williams, D.D., LL.D., was born in Old or North Deerfield, Mass., August 30th 1817. He was the only child of Ephraim Williams, a lawyer and author of the first volume of the Massachusetts Reports, and of Emily (Trowbridge) Williams. His parents were Uni- tarians and he was educated in that faith. He attended school at the academy in his native town, which was con- sidered an excellent school, and later was sent to North- field, where there was an academy with a high reputa- tion. In 1831, he entered Harvard College, where he re- mained two years. Here he had an intimate friend, after- ward Rev. Benjamin Davis, and in consequence of dis- cussions with him and of careful study of the prayer book, he determined to connect himself with the Epis- copal Church. In consequence of the change he wished to be transferred to a church college. Accordingly, with the cordial consent of his father, he left Harvard and entered what was then Washington (now Trinity) College, Hartford. This brought him into relations with Bishop Brownell, who had resigned the presidency of the college in 1831, and who continued to live in Hartford and take an active interest in the affairs of the college, and with the Rev. Dr. Samuel F. Jarvis, then one of its professors. He graduated in 1835. In the autumn of that year, having become a candidate for Holy Orders, he entered the Theological Seminary in New York, but after a short time was called home by the illness of his father and re- mained with him until his death. Then, after a little delay in Hartford, he came to Middletown to resume his theological studies with the Rev. Dr. Jarvis, who had be- come rector of Christ Church (now the Church of the Holy Trinity) in that city. Having completed his studies, he was ordained deacon, together with his friend Abner Jackson (afterwards successively a tutor and a professor in Trinity, and president, first of Hobart, and then of Trinity College) by Bishop Brownell in the church at Middle- town, September 2d 1838. After his ordination he con- tinued a tutor in Trinity College, a position which he had taken in 1837, until 1840. Being still below the canonical age of 24 required for ordination to the priest- lood, he went abroad with his mother for a little less than a year, spending most of the time in England and Scotland, although he also made a short visit to Paris.

On his return he becanie assistant to the Rev. Dr. Jarvis, at Middletown, for one year, and in 1842 was called to the rectorship of St. George's Church, Schenec- tady, N. Y. In 1848, he was elected president of Trinity College and removed to Hartford. Bishop

Brownell was now advanced in years, and in 1851, when he was already past " three score years and ten," it be- came necessary to elect an assistant Bishop. The choice fell with unanimity upon Dr. Williams, and he was con- secrated in St. John's Church, Hartford, October 29th 1851. The increasing infirmity of Bishop Brownell threw upon him nearly the whole work of the diocese, but he nevertheless retained the presidency of Trinity College two years longer, finally resigning in 1853.

During his presidency, and chiefly through his per- sonal exertions, the very small endowment of the college was considerably increased. When he resigned the office of president, he still retained that of vice-chancellor, becoming chancellor, ex-officio, on the death of Bishop Brownell, and his active interest in the welfare of the college has never flagged. He still continues to lecture on history to each of the two upper classes.

In the year 1854, he removed to Middletown with his mother, and has since lived there. The occasion for this change of residence was the incorporation of the Berkeley Divinity School, for which Middletown was considered the most suitable location. This school had grown out of a theological department of Trinity College which existed during his presidency. On the establish- ment of the Divinity School he became its dean, and has ever since taken his full share in the instruction of its students, in addition to his abundant labors as bishop of a rapidly developing diocese.

January 13th 1865. Bishop Brownell died and Bishop Williams became the sole bishop of the diocese. He has lived to see a remarkable development of its strength and vigor under his able administration. The number of its parishes has increased by one-half, while that of its clergy has grown in a still larger ratio; the number of families connected with it has nearly doubled, and that - of its communicants has more than doubled; the average annual number of baptisms has also doubled, while the confirmations have more than doubled. The various in- stitutions of the diocese have been correspondingly strengthened, and several important ones have been established and grown to a vigorous manhood. There have also been founded, in connection with the various parishes, a number of charitable institutions, such as homes for the aged and infirm, and for orphans. The contributions for parochial and benevolent purposes have multiplied thirty fold.

Honorary degrees of S. T. D., or D. D., were received from Union College in 1847, from Trinity in 1849, from Columbia in 1851, and from Yale in 1883; that of LL.D. was conferred by Hobart College in 1870.

The Bishop's mother died in 1872, on the day of the ordination of the graduating class of the Berkeley Divin- ity School. With that faithfulness at once to filial and to official duty which has characterized his whole life, the Bishop remained at her side during the early part of the service, giving directions that he should be sum- moned when his official duty began. Before that mo- ment arrived, Mrs. Williams had passed to her rest, and the Bishop, having watched her latest breath, entered the

*BY REV. FREDERIC GARDINER, D.D.

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155

MIDDLETOWN-BIOGRAPHIES.

Chancel to bestow the authority of the ministry upon the young men whom he had trained for its duties.

According to the rule prevailing from the organization of the Episcopal Church in this country, the oldest of the bishops in the order of consecration has always been the Presiding Bishop in the Church. In the growth of the Church this office, which was at first one of little more than formal honor, has gradually become of con- siderable responsibility and importance. At the General Convention of 1883, the rule was so far changed that Bishop Williams, being then fourth in order of seniority, was chosen chairman of the House of Bishops and "As- sessor " (a new office) to the Presiding Bishop. He thus became practically the recognized head of the American Episcopal Church.

This short notice of. one of the most honored of the citizens of Middlesex, and of Connecticut, and one of the most prominent of the members of the Episcopal Church in America cannot fitly be closed without men- tion of an incident of historic interest. After the close of the war of the Revolution, the American Church ap- plied to the English Church for the consecration of bishops. Dr. Samuel Seabury was the one chosen by the Church in Connecticut, and sent to England for this purpose. It was found, however, that the connection of the Church in England with the State interposed serious obstacles to the granting of the request. After long ne- gotiations and tedious delays, of the successful termina- tion of which there seemed little hope, Dr. Seabury, in accordance with his instructions, finally turned to the Church of Scotland, and was duly consecrated at Aber- deen, November 14th 1784. This event supplied the American Church with the long desired Episcopacy, and was a turning point in the negotiations by which two other bishops (White and Provoost) were consecrated in England, February 4th 1787, and a third (Madison), Sep- tember 19th 1790. Bishop Seabury, however, was the first Presiding Bishop of the American Church. It was deemed eminently fitting that the centennial anniversary of his consecration should be observed at Aberdeen, and Bishop Williams, with several of the other bishops, and with several of the clergy of Connecticut, were present by invitation on the occasion. Bishop Williams, as the di- rect successor of Bishop Seabury, and as the repre- sentative of the American Church, preached the especial sermon of the anniversary, and spent several months in England and Scotland.

GEN. JOSEPH K. F. MANSFIELD.

The ancestry of General Mansfield were of English extraction. They appear among the most distinguished names in the early settlement and history of the colonies. He was the son of Henry Stephen Mansfield and Mary Fenno, daughter of Ephraim Fenno, of Middletown, Conn. Henry Stephen Mansfield was born at New Ha- ven, Conn., February Ist 1762. On the 3d of August 1786, he married Mary, daughter of Ephraim Fenno, by whom he had six children: Henry Stephen, born May 26th 1785; John Fenno, born January 9th 1788; Mary

Grace Caroline, born June 4th 1792; Grace Totten, born February 13th 1799; Hannah Fenno, born February 24th 1801; Joseph King Fenno, born December 22d 1803.

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History of Middlesex county, Connecticut, with biographical sketches of its prominent men, Part 43

Author: Whittemore, Henry, b. 1833; Beers, J.B. & Company, publishers Publication date: 1884 Publisher: New York : J. B. Beers & co. Number of Pages: 818

Author: Whittemore, Henry, b. 1833; Beers, J.B. & Company, publishers
Publication date: 1884
Publisher: New York : J. B. Beers & co.
Number of Pages: 818