History of Middlesex county, Connecticut, with biographical sketches of its prominent men, Part 64

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 64

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

" In witness whereof we have hereunto set our hands this roth day of September, A. D., 1873.

EDWIN B. STEVENS, H. S. MEIGS,

DANIEL M. WEBB,

M. JOSEPHINE WARREN,

DAVID A. WRIGHT, MARY G. JUDSON,

CHARLES WV. REDFIELD, SUSAN E. GRISWOLD,

JOHN ANDREWS,

J. J. D. BUELL,

JOHN S. PELTON,

JANE WILSON,

M. J. STEVENS,

MARY B. WRIGHT.

S. A. LEFFINGWELL,

"Clinton Sept. roth 1873. Certified and authorized to call a meeting bearing date five days before said meet- ing.

"ELIAS W. WELLMAN, Justice of the Peace."

The chapel of "Holy Advent Church " was conse- crated by Rt. Rev. John Williams, bishop of the diocese of Connecticut, July 8th 1880.

PROMINENT MEN.

EDWARD GRISWOLD.

To this man should be given the credit of first organ- izing a settlement at Killingworth. Born in Kenilworth, England, 1607, he came to Massachusetts in 1639, re- moved to Connecticut the same year, and settled in Windsor, on the banks of the Farmington River. lle was representative to the General Court in 1658, and justice of the peace before 1663. In 1663, the settlement of the plantation at Hammonassett began, and was named Kenilworth, after the place of his birth. It may be re- marked that the various changes in the name of the set-

tlement all took place after the death of Edward Griswold, in 1691, and are all the mistakes of clerks and recorders.

Dr. Field, in his "Statistical Account," says that Ed- ward Griswold was from Saybrook, but there is no evi- dence that he was ever a landholder there. His brother, Matthew, settled at Saybrook as the agent of Colonel Fenwick. No stone marks the grave of Edward Gris- wold in Clinton. A very rough slab of granite, marked M. G., is supposed to be in memory of his wife, dated 1670. This is the oldest record in the Clinton burying ground. John Griswold, son of Edward, was a deacon of the church, and a member of the General Court 28 sessions.

JOSIAS HULL.

Josias Hull, one of the first settlers, emigrated from England to Windsor, Connecticut, about 1640. He married Elizabeth, daughter of Joseph Loomis, of Wind- sor, May 20th 164t. He was deputy to the General Court from Windsor in 1659, 1660, and 1662. He re- moved to Killingworth in 1663, and died November 16th 1675. He was the ancestor of all of the name now re- siding in Clinton and Killingworth.

HENRY CRANE.

Henry Crane was a school teacher, and the second representative to the General Court from Killingworth. He removed to Durham in 1708.

JOSEPH WILCOX.

Joseph Wilcox was born in Killingworth, and was a warrant officer in the Revolutionary war. He married Phebe, daughter of Theophilus Morgan 2d, January 30th 1785, and became his father in-law's successor. He was marshal of the State, and brigadier general of infantry. He became involved in pecuniary difficulties, gave up his property, and removed to Marietta, Ohio, about 1810, and died soon afterward. General Wilcox did much to improve his native place. He built wharves, houses, vessels, planted shade trees, etc. He was ad- mitted to be one of the most capable business men in the town.

CAPTAIN DANIEL GRISWOLD.

Captain Daniel Griswold was a great-grandson of Ed- ward, and was born in 1722. He was a captain of infan - try in colonial times, and went with his company to Ha- vana, about 1759. He owned the mills where the Clin- ton Paper Manufacturing Company are now located. In 1792, he removed with his family to Little Falls, Her- kimer county, N. Y. The present residence of Henry Woodstock was occupied by Captain Griswold before his removal and was probably built by him.

JUDGE WILLIAM MORGAN.

Judge William Morgan, son of the first Theophilus, (see page 233), was born June ist 1746, and married Mir- iam Murdock, November 23d 1769. He was justice of

238

HISTORY OF MIDDLESEX COUNTY.

the peace for many years and also judge of the Middle sex County Court. He was member of the General As sembly, 1804-6. He died January 17th 1824.

JOSIAH BALDWIN.

Josiah Baldwin, one of the heroes of the Revolution- ary war, was born in Killingworth. He enlisted in the French war, in 1759. In 1775, he was first lieutenant of Capt. Samuel Gale's company, and went in command of the company to Ticonderoga to take the British posts there. He was afterward promoted captain, and was authorized to raise, and did raise, a company for the de- fense of the State. He was twice married, first to Eliza- beth Redfield, and second to Martha Stannard. Captain Baldwin died in 1819.

ELISHA ELDERKIN.

Elisha Elderkin was born in Killingworth and learned the silversmith's trade previous to the Revolutionary war. In 1777, he was living in New Haven. He married Mary, sister of Capt. Caleb Brintnall, who was at one time mayor of New Haven. Elderkin was a captain of the coast guards, was assigned " captain of whale boats," and did good service. At the close of the war he settled in Killingworth and carried on liis trade there. He died November 28th 1822, aged 67 years. His only son, Buckminster Brintnall, was captain of Ist Company, 7th Regiment of Connecticut infantry. He was a brave and faithful man, whose character was above reproach. Nancy, daughter of Elisha Elderkin, married Major General Horatio Gates Wright, of Washington, D. C., chief of engineers of United States army, commander of the 6th Corps in the war of the Rebellion. The heirs of Elisha Elderkin received a pension for his services in the Revolutionary war.

DR. AARON ELLIOT.

Dr. Aaron Elliot, son of Rev. Jared Eliot, was born March 15th 1718, and died December 30th 1785. He married Mary, daughter of Rev. William Worthington, of Westbrook. She died June 30th 1785. He assisted his father in the manufacture of steel from black sand, and carried on the business after his father's death. He was a physician, deacon of the church, and a colonel of in- fantry. He was representative to the General Court nine sessions, and also town clerk. At his death the manufacture of steel was abandoned, and has never been revived.

ABEL BUELL.

Matthew Griswold, the king's attorney, conducted the prosecution (Griswold was a third cousin). As it was his first offense, and because of his previous good char- acter, he was dealt with leniently. His punishment con- sisted of imprisonment, cropping, and branding. The tip of his ear only was cut off, held on the tongue, and replaced, where it grew on. He was branded on the forehead, so high up that the hair afterward covered the scar. But the hot iron was held on long enough to say, "God save the King " After this he constructed a lapi- dary machine, believed to have been the first, used in this country. With this machine he constructed a very beau- tiful ring, which was presented to Mr. Griswold, the king's attorney, and his pardon was obtained. About 1790, Abel Buell removed to New Haven. About this time Bernard Romans was constructing a map of North America. A survey of the coast of Florida was wanted. Buell undertook this task. While at Pensacola, a man, knowing him to be ingenious, asked him to break the Governor's seal and replace it without injury. Buell showed him how, but was arrested for it, and escaped in a boat of his own construction. He was three days at sea, but finally returned home safely. The map was published during the Revolutionary war, and it is believed to have been the first map engraved and pub- lished in this country. During the Revolutionary war it was exceedingly difficult to procure types for printing, except French types. Mr. Buell constructed a type foundry, and employed 15 or 20 boys in manufacturing types. This is believed to have been the first type foundry in America. The Legislature of Connecticut, impressed with the fact of his eminent services, restored to him his forfeited rights. Mr. Buell and some others were employed by the State in coining coppers. Mr. Buell constructed all the apparatus for this purpose; and to - such perfection did lie bring his machinery that he was able to coin 120 a minute. Soon after, he went to Eng- land, ostensibly to procure copper for coining, but really to gain some knowledge of machinery for manufacturing cloths. A letter from Mr. Buell to his sister in New Haven, written from England, is now preserved in the hands of George B. Butler, Esq., New York city.

While Buell was in England he passed through a town where people were constructing a bridge. Through some error or defect in contruction the builders could not make this bridge answer any useful purpose. Such was the ingenuity of Mr. Buell that he was able in a short time to instruct them how to do it in a proper manner. His services were considered so valuable that he was presented with a purse of a hundred guineas. Mr. Buell returned to this country and brought a Scotch- man by the name of McIntosh with him. They erected a cotton factory (water power) in Westville, a suburb of New Haven, Conn., one of the first, if not the first of its kind, erected in this country. He made a profession of religion at Stockbridge, Mass., after he was 70 years of age. About the year 1825, Buell returned to New Haven, his return, aged about 83.

Abel Buell, born in Killingworth (Clinton), February Ist 1742, was son of John, son of Benjamin,son of first Sam- uel. His mother was Abigail Chatfield. He was an in- genious mechanic, and learned the trade of a silversmith of Ebenezer Chittenden, of Killingworth. He was mar- ried at the age of 19, and at 20 was detected in altering a five shilling note to five pounds. So ingeniously was it done that it could be discovered only by comparing the poor and needy, and died in the alms house soon after stubs from which all the colony bills were issued.

239

CLINTON-BIOGRAPHIES.

A specimen of his work as a silversmith is now in pos- session of Mrs. Joseph J.Kelsey, in Clinton, in the shape of a silver milk pitcher, marked with the maker's initials, A. B. One of Buell's sister, Abigail, married Samuel Green, October 25th 1774, noted as a printer in New Haven, Conn. One sister, Hannah, married Phineas Bradley, of New Haven, February Ist 1769. George B. Butler, of New York, is a grandson. One brother, John H., was captain and major in United States army 1791-93.

EBENEZER LESTER.

Ebenezer Lester came to Killingworth at an early age, with his father, who was a tanner, and settled at Waterside, in Clinton. He married a Miss Colfax, of New London. He was captain of a company in the war of the Revolution. His father-in-law was colonel of the Washington Life Guards. After the war closed he be- came a merchant in Killingworth. He built and owned several vessels. His store was the building now owned by Mrs. Jeremiah Lynch, on the north side of Main street, next west of the bridge over Indian River. He began preaching to the Universalists of this place about 1815. About 1831, he received a pension for his services in the Revolution. He died March 17th 1838, aged 83. He left one son, Ebenezer, who settled in Boston.

Captain Noah Lester, brother of Ebenezer, studied law. He was a captain of artillery in the United States service in 1809, and raised a company in Killingworth. He was then transferred to Fort Trumbull, New London, and afterward to Fort Independence, Boston Harbor, where he was in command at the declaration of the war of 1812. He then resigned, and returned to Killing- worth and took up the practice of law. He died about 1820, unmarried.

AMAZIAH BRAY.

Amaziah Bray, son of Rev. Mr. Bray, of North Guil- ford, Connecticut, studied law, settled in Killingworth, and married Susan, daughter of Gen. Joseph Wilcox, in 1814. He was commissioned.captain of artillery in 1814. and authorized to raise a company in Killingworth for the defense of the State. He was placed in charge of the defense of Clinton Harbor and Saybrook Fort, in May 1814, and served four months. He was afterward pro- moted colonel of the 2d Regiment of Artillery. A few years later his health failed and he removed to Marietta, Ohio. He returned to Killingworth, and died October 26th 1823, aged 42, and was buried at the expense of the town.

JOHN STANTON.

John Stanton, only son of Adam Stanton, married Elisabeth, daughter of Jared Elliot Esq., and inher- ited his father's business. His life was largely de- votcd to religious subjects. He was justice of the peace for several years, and was an ardent whig. He died September 2d 1864, aged 82, leaving two sons and a daughter. His son, John, occupies the premises in Clin-

ton, on which the first Yale College building stood. The other son, Lewis Elliot, is a practicing lawyer in Hart- ford, Connecticut. He was member of the Legislature from that city in 1880, and was chairman of the judici- ary committee. The daughter, Elisabeth, died May 5th 1868.

ELY AUGUSTUS ELLIOT.

Ely Augustus Elliot, only child of George Elliot and Patience Lane, was born September 18th 1791, and was educated at Clinton Academy. He was made a lieuten- ant of artillery in 1814. and after the war was commis- sioned brigadier general of artillery. He married Susan M. Pratt, of Saybrook, July Ist 1818. Hc served in the Coast Guards, as a lieutenant at Saybrook, in command of a section of Amaziah Bray's company, in 1814. . He was a merchant in Clinton from 1815 to 1850. He was president of the board of directors of the New Haven & New London Railroad Company from 1854 to 1857. He delivered the annual address before the Agricultural Society of Middlesex county, at Middletown, in 1849. He was judge of Probate from 1842 to 1844, and in 1846 and 1847. He was State Senator in 1839. He died January 6th 1871. His wife died January gth the same year, aged 76. They had three children: George E., Henry A., and Charles A. George E. married Cornelia C., daughter of David Redfield, and has four children: Mary Cornelia, teacher in Morgan School; Grace R., married Henry Gustave Rogers, of Naples, Italy, June 27th 1883; Ely Augustus, married Nellie M. Hunt, of Providence, R. I .; and George Edwin, now in Yale Col- lege. Henry A. Elliot married Phebe Elizabeth, daughter of Captain Levi Hull and Betsey Dibbell. They have one child, William Henry, who is employed in the office of the Consolidated Railroad Company, New York. He married Ellen Chittenden, of Scranton, Pa. Charles A. Elliot married Adelaide Augusta Wilcox, August 14th 1853. By her he has one daughter, Frances, unmarried. He married, second, Mary, daughter of John D. Leffing- well. Their children are John, Susan, Genevieve, and May.

LEET HURD.

Leet Hurd, son of Capt. Caleb Leet Hurd and Mary Griswold, was born in Clinton in November 1781. He married Wealthy Redfield, February 21st. 1810. He learned the trade of ship carpenter, and was master builder of many vessels. He was commissioned lieuten . ant of the Coast Guards in November 1814, was stationed at Clinton Harbor, and was paid for 34 days' service. He was a member of the Assembly in 1840, and was judge of Probate from 1847 to 1850. He was a great reader, and was well informed on all subjects pertaining to State and national politics. He died October 6th 1879, leaving one son and three daughters.

John L. Hull, son of Hiel Hull, was born September 26th 1808. At the time of his majority he was engaged in the cabinet business. A few years later, in connec- tion with his brother, Alfred, he added the lumber busi- ness, which was continued until his death.

240

HISTORY OF MIDDLESEX COUNTY.

He was a member of the Legislature in 1854, 1860, and 1862. He died suddenly, May 3d 1862. He was uni- versally respected, devoted to the welfare of the church, prompt to aid the suffering, and charitable to the poor.

BENJAMIN WRIGHT.

Benjamin Wright was a settler in Killingworth as early as 1660. He is said to have been a squatter on the lands on the west side of Menunketesuc River, near its mouth. His farm included the land given to Rev. James Fitch, then of Saybrook, by the General Court. Wright afterward bought his land of Mr. Fitch, and by the bounds first established was included in Killing- worth, and recorded as one of the first settlers. About 1704, the line was changed, placing his residence in Saybrook, and a portion of his farm in Killingworth. When the settlers of Killingworth, in 1663, came to lay out their plantation they found Wright already within their bounds. He had led a solitary life on his beau- tiful promontory some years, four miles away from the nearest white inhabitant. With an abundance of oys- ters, clams, and fish in front, and game in the thick for- est north and west of his residence, he was literally as well as poetically "Lord of the fowl and the brute." His son, James, in 1700, refused to bring in his list to the town of Saybrook for the year 1699. The General Court ordered £30 to be added to his list of the previous year, and that he be listed at £200. The de- scendants who occupied the premises refused to be in sympathy with Saybrook. Benjamin Wright was a Cath- olic from England, and was said to have held a mili- tary office under King Charles, but when Cromwell de posed the king, Wright left England and settled in Guil- ford. Conn. He was there in 1745. His residenee was on the corner of State and North streets in Guilford. He owned the land where Guilford Institute now stands. It has been reported and believed that he was arraigned before the Guilford authorities for being a "pestilent fellow." His children were: Benjamin, Jane, Elisabeth, James, Anna, John, Joseph, and Jonathan, who married Asena Hand and went to Wethersfield. Among his de- scendants are: Hon. William Wright, of New Jersey, at one time United States Senator; Major-General H. G. Wright, of Washington, I). C., and Hon. John B. Wright, State Senator in Connecticut in 1861 and 186.2, now deputy collector of internal revenue, residing in Clinton.

DR. BENJAMIN GALE.

Dr. Benjamin Gale, practicing physician in Killing- worth, next after Rev. Jared Eliot (see page 19), was born in Goshen, New York, and married Hannah, daugh- ter of Rev. Jared Eliot, June 6th 1739. He had eight children, two of whom were sons, and died in infancy. Dr. Gale died May 6th 1790.

Dr. Samuel Gale was a nephew of Dr. Benjamin Gale. He was born in Goshen, New York, removed to Killing- worth, studied medicine with his uncle Benjamin, and married his daughter, Elizabeth, September 4th 1766. He practiced medicine in Killingworth till 1786, when

he removed to Troy, New York, where he died January 9th 1799. He was commissioned captain of infantry in 1775. His company marched to Ticonderoga, under command of his lieutenant, Josiah Baldwin. Capt. Gale also commanded a company that marched to Boston in the "Lexington Alarm."

Samuel Gale, son of the above Samuel, was a physician in Troy, New York. He married Mary Thompson, Sep- tember 15th 1811. Their son, E. Thompson Gale, is president of the United States National Bank of Troy. He was married, January 17th 1844, to Caroline DeForest.

HON. WILLIAM H. BUELL.

It is not for lack of material that the old town of Kil- lingworth has produced fewer distinguished men than some of her sister towns, for this was the original seat of learning in the State, and her youth have always enjoyed fair educational advantages; but for over 200 years her citizens have tilled the soil or sailed the sea, and have been content to follow in the footsteps of their ancestors, many of whom were connected with families who have been prominent in the history of our country.

The maternal ancestor of W. H. Buell was Edward Griswold, whose record is too well known to require a repetition in this sketch. His paternal ancestors, the Buells, were among the original settlers on the plantation of Hammonassett, afterward called Kenilworth.

Hiel, of the fifth generation, the father of W. H. Buell, followed the occupation of a farmer and fisherman. He married Lucy, daughter of Josiah Griswold, by whom he had six children: Roxana, Hiel, Mary Ann, Heman, Robert, and William H1. The latter, who was the youngest of the family, was born November 30th 1806. He had all the advantages of the town for schooling dur- ing the winter, and assisted his father in farming and fishing during the summer. From the age of twenty he taught school for eight terms, and during this time apprenticed himself to a shipbuilder; this occupation he followed until 1850, a period of 22 years.

In 1850, he was appointed by the government to take the census of the southern portion of the State, which includes the towns of Clinton, Killingworth, Westbrook, Old Say- brook, Essex, Saybrook, Chester, East Haddam, Guil- ford, and Madison. This was an immense territory for one man, but he did it thoroughly and satisfactorily. Soon after this, prominent lawyers in the State, having unsuccessfully prosecuted bounty land claims, under the act of 1850, the business was undertaken by Mr. Buell, and through his efforts a number of widows were pro- vided for, that had hitherto been omitted, as well as nu- merous pensioners.

In 1858-59-60 he was elected State comtroller with Hon. William A. Buckingham as governor, and in 1861, when the first call for troops was made by President Lincoln, he rendered material aid in the equipment of the Ist and 2d Regiments, Connecticut Volunteers, which went from New Haven. On the arrival of the Ist Con- necticut Regiment at the Washington Navy Yard, Gen-

241

CLINTON-BIOGRAPHIES

eral Scott remarked that he " thanked God for the arri- val of one regiment fully equipped."

Mr. Buell has held other positions of trust in his native town and county, and has always been prominent in edu- cational matters, and was for some time treasurer of the school fund. He was justice of the peace for two years, and a director in the Clinton National Bank for 14 years. As a financier he has always displayed great executive ability, and he was fitted by nature for a higher posi- tion in life than the humble occupation he followed in his native town. His ability as a writer is well known, and it was the unanimous wish of the people of his native town that he should write that portion of the history of Middlesex county; and the writer of this sketch gladly adds his humble tribute of praise to that so freely bestowed by his friends and neighbors.

On the 10th of November 1830, he married Delia A.,

daughter of Jared Buell, by whom he had four children: Roxana, Mary Ann, William Henry, and Charles Francis Adams.

Mary Ann, the second child, was married to Dr. E. C. Hine, a practicing physician of Philadelphia, now pro- fessor of natural history at Girard College.

William Henry, the third child, married Jessie, the daughter of Hon. Abijah Catlin, of Harwinton, Conn., formerly State controller, also treasurer of the Con- necticut Trust Company of Hartford.

Charles Francis Adams married Kate M. Heaney, of St. Paul, Minn.

The wife of Mr. Buell died September 26th 1857, and he has since remained single. He is now nearly 80 years of age, and while he is subject to physical infirmities that render him less active than in former years, his mental faculties remain unimpaired.

THE GALE FAMILY.

The professional exercise of his skill as a physician for more than forty years in Killingworth made Dr. Benjamin Gale not only eminent but renowned. He was fineally a descendant of Edmond Gale who came from England to Cambridge, Massachusetts, and died in Boston, in 1642. His son, Abel, moved in 1704 to Jainaica, on Long Island. In 1721 he changed his residence to Goshen, New York, where some of his posterity still live. His son, Benjamin, having graduated from Yale College, be- gan his professional life as a physician in Killingworth. He married Hannah, the only living daughter of the Rev. Jared Eliot, also a phy- sician, a grandson of John Eliot, the celebrated apostle to the Indians of New England.

In the early years of his practice, Dr. Gale, to abate the virulence of small pox among the people, persuaded them to be inoculated with the matter produced by it. Although this mode of treatment was severely eensured by many, he, nevertheless was highly sneeessful in lessening the fatal ravages of the much dreaded disease. He afterward wrote an important paper on the practice of inoculation for small pox in the British American provinces, particularly in New England, which was published in the philosophical transactions of 1765. Among the facts presented by him was that the number of deaths froin small pox before inoculation was practiced in New England averaged one to seven per- sons, and that inoeulation reduced the rate of mortality to one in thirty. His personal observations on some other diseases appeared in later pub- lieations. His biblical knowledge permitted him to become the author of a comprehensive work on the Old Testament prophecies. The wide fieid of his studies also embraced the science of agriculture, and his paner on " An improvement in the drill-plough" was considered so ineritorious by the London Society for the Promotion of the Arts and Sciences, that its members, in 1770, awarded him a gold medal, now in the possession of E. Thompson Gale of Troy. His tomb in the grave- yard in Killingworth is marked by a marble tablet on which is inseribed: "In memory of Doctor Benjamin Gale, who after a life of usefulness in his profession and a laborious study of the prophecies fell asleep, May 6, 1790. aged 75." By the side of his grave is that of his wife, "who having obtained a good report through faith fell asleep, June 27, 1:81, aged 68."

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

History of Middlesex county, Connecticut, with biographical sketches of its prominent men, Part 64

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