History of New London county, Connecticut : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Part 11

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton)
Publication date: 1882
Publisher: Philadelphia : J.W. Lewis & Co.
Number of Pages: 1317


USA > Connecticut > New London County > History of New London county, Connecticut : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men > Part 11


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volunteered and performed military duty, though not mustered into public service.


Mr. Wait has also introduced other important bills of public interest, notably for the unloading of foreign vessels at ports of delivery in the United States, the object being to relieve parties engaged in the West India and guano trade; for the propagation of salt- water fish in connection with the menhaden fisheries that exist along the New England coast ; the improve- ment of rivers and harbors in Connecticut ; the erec- tion of buildings at the New London navy-yard for the accommodation of the school-ships of the navy ; the appropriation of money toward the expense to be incurred in the centennial celebration of the battle at Groton Heights and the repair of the monument; and for the establishment of a free dispensary for the benefit of the poor of the city of Washington. He occupies a prominent place in the deliberations of the national Congress. His speech in the Forty-fourth Congress against the abolition of the naval station at New London, and his elaborate arguments in the Belford and Pacheco election cases in the Forty-fifth Congress, won for him the reputation of an able and eloquent debater. He is also an efficient committee worker, and is popular with his associates in the House. During his four years of service at Wash- ington he has been invariably attentive to the de- mands made upon his time and consideration by his constituents in matters affecting their private inter- ests. Courteous and frank towards all who have approached him, he has allied men to him by the strongest personal ties, and is universally popular throughout his district and the State. In November, 1880, he was re-elected to the Forty-seventh Congress by a largely-increased majority.


JEREMIAH HALSEY deservedly stands in the front rank of the Connecticut bar. It is a professional eminence generally and generously accorded to him, -the high reward of native worth and talent, of pa- tient industry and indomitable perseverance against drawbacks of a most serious and protracted nature. He came to it, not by any tidal wave of extraneous influence, but by dint of personal energy, brooking neither the difficulties in the way of preparation for his profession nor continued feebleness of health in its long practice, by unstained purity of character, by recognized legal abilities successfully matched with alike eminent members of the bar, by wisdom and safety in counsel, by stores of knowledge ready at hand as occasion requires.


Having lost his only son, Lient. Marvin Wait, in the great struggle to save the nation's life, he has ever warmly sympathized with the soldiers of the Union; and feeling that justice to those broken down by wounds received and diseases contracted while in military service demanded that their applications should be heard at the earliest possible moment, he has twice introduced resolutions calling for additions By inheritance, and as well by this well-earned reputation, the title Honorable justly belongs to him. Inheriting an honored name, he has lived to reflect upon it all the more honor. The son of Jeremiah S. and Sally Brewster Halsey, he was born in the town of Preston, New London County, on the 8th day of February, 1822. His father was the eldest son of Col. Jeremiah Halsey, of Preston, an active officer to the clerical force in the pension-office and the offices of the Surgeon-General and Adjutant-General, and each time, in response to these resolutions, Congress, by express legislation, has added to the force of these bureaus, and the delays which had existed have in a measure been removed. He also introduced the bill extending the provisions of the act granting pensions to the soldiers of the war of 1812 to all persons who ' in the Continental army ; his mother a descendant


-


Halsey


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of Elder William Brewster, of the " Mayflower" com- pany, of the sixth generation in the direct line of descent from that Plymouth band of Pilgrims.


His early education was pursued under serious dif- ficulties in the public and private schools of the day, for a short time being a pupil in the old Norwich Academy. Here, however, delicate health and acute disease of the eyes-inflammation and ulceration -- compelled his absence from school for days and weeks at a time, preventing everything like a regular classi- cal course, and defeating the noble purpose of enter- ing Yale College. Instead of being an insuperable bar, these obstacles only seemed to stimulate his eagerness to learn. We are told of François Huber, the Swiss naturalist, who, notwithstanding the entire loss of eyesight at an early age, pursued his study of the habits of bees, and by his important observations laid the foundation of all our scientific knowledge of the subject ; of William Hickling Prescott, the Amer- ican historian, whose sight failing, gave nevertheless volume after volume of his careful and charming works-a classic in English literature. The story has come to us of this delicate youth of impaired vision, withal so eager to pursue his studies, learning his Latin grammar, with eyes bandaged and suffering in- tolerable pain, by repeating Musa and Dominus, amo and lego after his father, and keeping up with all his classes by having the lessons read and explained. It is a perfect marvel how he accomplished so much under circumstances so serious and painful. All this, of course, wellnigh forbade the thought of his ever being admitted to the bar, the profession of his own eager desire, and far more of ever attaining to prom- inence in it, so deservedly named a learned profession, where studious habits and close application are abso- lute prerequisites.


Compelled at length by ill health to seek a change of climate, he went South, making a temporary home at Hawkinsville, Ga. Here he entered the law-office of Messrs. Polhill & Whitfield,-the first named a family of distinction in that State,-and was admitted to the bar by the Superior Court for the Southern Circuit at Hawkinsville on the 23d day of April, 1845, and subsequently admitted to the bar in this State, in Windham County, on the 11th day of De- cember, 1845. Delicate health was still a serious obstacle in his way, preventing his entering upon the full and active practice of his profession. Yet his active mind could not be quiet. The time was occu- pied in legal studies and travel until September, 1849, when he opened an office in Norwich, in com- pany with the late Samuel C. Morgan, Esq. Since then he has been actively and almost exclusively de- voted to professional pursuits. He came to the bar when such men as the Hon. Henry Strong, the Hon. Lafayette S. Foster, the Hon. John T. Wait, at Nor- wich ; Lippett and Crump, at New London ; McCur- dy, at Lyme; Thomas C. Perkins, Charles Chapman, and Isaac Toucey, at Hartford, were in full practice,


and it was not long ere he showed himself princeps inter pares.


In April, 1863, he was admitted to the bar of the United States Circuit Court, and to the Supreme Court of the United States on the 24th day of Feb- - ruary, 1870. In the courts of the State and of the United States his practice has been varied and exten- sive. The reports of many important cases deter- mined by the Supreme Court of the State, in which Mr. Halsey made elaborate and effective arguments, will ever be monuments of his great ability and learn- ing as a lawyer. One of the most marked cases- Wright vs. the Norwich and New York Transporta- tion Company, reported 13 Wallace, p. 104, argued be- fore the Supreme Court of the United States-settled the construction of the act of Congress limiting the liability of ship-owners on the basis of the maritime law of Europe, giving full protection to the vast in- land ship interests of the country.


Professional, not political, distinction has been Mr. Halsey's high ambition. He was a Whig until the organization of the Republican party, with which he has ever since acted, but never as a mere partisan, nor a politician, using politics for personal ends. Outspoken in his political views, yet has the law been his sole profession, and eminence here his masterly aim and attainment. He never sought a public office, and yet not seldom has he been rewarded with the fullest trust and confidence of the people. He was elected to the Legislature from Norwich in 1852 and 1853, and then again in 1859 and 1860, that critical period in the country's history when the war-clouds began to darken the horizon. He has served the State in other capacities.


In 1873 he was appointed by Governor Ingersoll one of the commissioners for building the new State- House at Hartford, serving on the commission until the completion of the building in 1880. The building is itself an ornament to the capital, and the pride of the State. There is this remarkable thing about this commission : the commissioners kept within the sum named and appropriated by the Legislature,-a marvel in this day of extravagant and wasteful use of public funds. To the credit of the Assembly be it spoken this service is thus honorably mentioned in this pre- amble to a joint resolution : " Whereas, the Board of Capitol Commissioners have served the State for about six years with great industry and with rare fidelity to a public trust of the highest importance, and have turned over to the State its elegant capitol, and have thus far received no compensation, therefore," and then follows the generous action of the Assembly.


Besides this, his service in the city government has been long and faithful. Appointed in 1853 to the office of city attorney, he held it for eighteen years, when it was resigned.


About his style of speaking there is nothing like splendid action nor boisterous demonstration, but, what is of far more account, clear, sober, potent thought, SEP 9' 1952 47304


GENEALOGICAL SOCIETY OF THE CHURCH OF JESUS CHRIST


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HISTORY OF NEW LONDON COUNTY, CONNECTICUT.


carrying conviction to the mind that can or cares to think. There comes with what he says the feeling always of an earnest, candid man, saying nothing for mere effect, saying only what the case justly warrants. By reason of this general confidence, inspired by manner and method, he is always a powerful antag- onist. He is still in full practice, with more vigorous health than he has enjoyed for years, the result of a year's recreation and extensive travel abroad with his wife in 1878-79, returning with a new lease on life.


On June 1, 1854, he was married to Elizabeth Fairchild, of Ridgefield, Conn., the centre of what has ever since been a charming, cultured, and hospit- able home.


During all his residence in Norwich, Mr. Halsey has been an active, faithful, and liberal member of Christ Church, and has acted for the greater part of the time in the capacity of warden and vestryman. Although the blood of the old Puritans flows in his veins, he is not a bit Puritanical. A Churchman by birth and conviction, his religion sits on his genial spirits like the glory of a June morning on the lovely face of nature.


" A man, not perfect, but of heart So high, of such heroic rage, That even his hopes become a part And parcel of earth's heritage."


HENRY HOWARD STARKWEATHER,1 who died at Washington during the session of Congress of which he was a member, was born in Preston, in the county of New London, and State of Connecticut, on the 29th of April, 1826. He was of respectable parentage, and received counsels well fitted to the susceptibilities of early life. He was impressed from his boyhood with the conviction that if he accomplished anything com- mendable in life it must be the fruit of his personal endeavors. Although his early years were devoted to labor on his father's farm in his native town, he em- ployed his leisure hours in reading, in the observation of men, and in the study of the causes that lie at the foundation of the triumphs and defeats by which the history of the world is marked. He thus laid down in the beginning of life the great law which guided him to its close.


At the age of twenty-two he went to Norwich, and entered the law-office of the Hon. Lafayette S. Foster, under whose guidance and tutelage he studied until he was admitted to practice in 1850. Shortly after his admittance to the bar he formed a partnership with the Hon. Edmund Perkins, of Norwich, then a lead- ing lawyer in Eastern Connecticut, with whom he was associated for several years. He was an assiduous worker, and soon acquired an enviable position among his professional associates, of whom were numbered some of the ablest and most distinguished in the State. He labored in his profession but a little more than a


decade, when his tastes and inclinations led him into political life. He was appointed postmaster in Nor- wich in 1861, and thereafter gave but little attention to his profession. In politics he was originally a Whig, but was active in the formation of the Repub- lican party, by which organization he was elected a member of the Lower House in the State Legislature in 1856. He was also a delegate to the Republican National Conventions in 1860 and 1868. The places of responsibility in which he moved were filled to general acceptance and with marked ability.


As a private citizen, as a member of a Christian Church, as a lawyer, as a politician, as representative in Congress for a longer period than any of his prede- cessors, he was respected, honored, and successful. He entered Congress in 1867 without the prestige of a great name. His approach was heralded by no marked achievements, by no appendage that would lift him up to high eminence at the outset. In the absence of these, accompanied with an unpretending, unobtrusive demeanor, it would not have been deemed strange had he ranked among the least distinguished of the representatives of the nation. But he had in- fluence from the beginning, and his influence had rapid and consistent growth, till it culminated in placing him among the wisest, the safest, the ablest members of the body to which he belonged at the time of his death. It has been said of him, and we believe justly, that none of the Republican members of the House had won more or better friends, and, with a single exception, had gained greater influence or a more thorough understanding of the principles which lie at the foundation of our national prosperity. There were none among them whose wisdom was more sought in emergencies, none whose judgment was more respected, none whose keen penetration and foresight did better service in seasonably detecting threatened evils, and in devising the best means for the general good.


Mr. Starkweather was remarkable for power of in- tuition. What the masses of men learn by protracted examination and study, by reasoning and deduction, he comprehended at a glance,-a power that contrib- uted greatly to his influence and success. He was distinguished for strong common sense. He did things at the right time and in the right place. He never violated the laws of propriety in his business transactions, or in any of the relations of life. He knew well how to avoid, in language and in practice, whatever would subject him to the envy or censure of his associates or awaken anywhere aversion. He had a kind regard for the feelings and interests of others, and a way of showing it that commended him read- ily to the confidence of all. He had a classic face, full of tenderness and power, which well expressed the features of his mind. The law of kindness was written all over it and on all its movements so promi- nently that none feared betrayal in unbosoming to him their burdens or in seeking his counsel. Another


1 By Col. Allen Tenny, a member of the New London County bar, and for several years Mr. Starkweather's law partner.


.853.358


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BENCH AND BAR


rked trait in His character was nolexible houp ty. his counsel , in his measure , in I's ine, every - cre, its principles governed him. He hever neri- it to secure per mil gain, or to please, or to ry out any purpose however seemingly important was antil. ochropist and patriot in th bert sense l, above all . Christian gentleman ; without ion of unity, without any ostentations (. te of the menal of Christianity. Entirely exsuge m all taint of sectarian bigotry, he was the. ievar in the principles of the Christian pelon. ision of kindness, of integrity and of beneambiente? its larret breadth was his religion. The virtues which huanity & apelle had in him weid ity ri than ordinarily consistent and vigorous develop Th remembrance of them is fragrant. It is asan to call to mind an example of such excel- re when many are proving faithless to their trusts lijttern: es of the degeneracy of the race .re mp und from so many tonge It i wich a life . mal Ost is entooling and pare, w lett as a legger 1. bu Am - the nation. Vier in's dignity And glory . he comtem platingof the > t pride of his manha !. "before even the frosts ag: had silvered hls locks, or the hand of time rowed his brow," and we shall ever retain the ne brance of his pe von and character with mit - d feelings of reverence and love.


Hos JOHN DUAM. PARK, LI. D., chief justice of . Supreme Court of Errors of the State of Connect :- ,was born in the town of Preston in the county of W Lalon, on the 26th day of April, 1819. He s the ' 1 Benjam in Fran -lin Park, a farmer and rehan. o said town, who was the son of Elisha k, who was the son of Rer. Paul Park, a minister gospel in sand town, who was fi Park, who was the son of Robert Park, who va mon of the nas Park, who was the & n of Sir Rob T rk, who, with his wife and thine us anne cal change made in the Wieland in 1650 and settled at Beims, M. The first of the mume that em grated to do- The genealogy of the Park family has beep Goor new jud res el und generations in England to the Earl of af whoth Judo ful


Those English ancestors since qu sided in Lancashire, England. Thu 46, of England, descended from the acestral family name of the chief justies Prides with an e-INK -until vi


his father's ferm Ile wrccd mp


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favoris & Poster why subs month break Com -nator acting Vice-Premier Stay, and o jordan of the Supreme. Boly the State. Judge Poster at tig ing member viale bur m things -59. a. tele Part Of the best opportunity of . Lnowledge of the Arbery prinses


at layan l the practice of th 1.


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Gangof Norwich in the


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la Legislmiur. the city of Norwich {


Oil Company, and the


Od Company had all dies icipal streets of the city act prive the New Compaus a. t . the laying down of thee pres bo car mulig trae, Legislature an oxplusi.


ity: Judge Park en. the cause of Company, and Edmund Vegas The other repr tative rom the town of For ach, was the chamy no of the Old Company.


The speech of Judge Tak i opposition to grant- ing the proposed right " manled as very ITe took the ground not the proposed gran) we noxious to their stile Enter the State. was carried lyd masionity het Court of Erestat after nullified


uncon titutie.1 . 542 Part Hade and where the Leris mir


At this session of the Lep sintas


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It, Tele Tari sa


53


BENCH AND BAR.


marked trait in his character was inflexible honesty. In his counsels, in his measures, in his life, every- where, its principles governed him. He never sacri- ficed it to secure personal gain, or to please, or to carry out any purpose however seemingly important. He was a philanthropist and patriot in the best sense, and, above all, a Christian gentleman ; without affec- tation of sanctity, without any ostentatious observ- ance of the ritual of Christianity, entirely exempt from all taint of sectarian bigotry, he was a cordial believer in the principles of the Christian religion. A religion of kindness, of integrity, and of benevolence in its largest breadth was his religion. The virtues of which humanity is capable had in him evidently more than ordinarily consistent and vigorous develop- ment. The remembrance of them is fragrant. It is pleasant to call to mind an example of such excel- lence when many are proving faithless to their trusts and utterances of the degeneracy of the race are being heard from so many tongues. It is pleasant to trace in such a life so much that is ennobling and pure, now left as a legacy to his family, to the church, and to the nation. We rise to a higher appreciation of man's dignity and glory in the contemplation of these virtues, But we mourn that his light went out in the pride of his manhood, "before even the frosts of age had silvered his locks, or the hand of time furrowed his brow," and we shall ever retain the remembrance of his person and character with min- gled feelings of reverence and love.


HON. JOHN DUANE PARK, LL.D., chief justice of the Supreme Court of Errors of the State of Connecti- cut, was born in the town of Preston, in the county of New London, on the 26th day of April, 1819. He was the son of Benjamin Franklin Park, a farmer and merchant of said town, who was the son of Elisha Park, who was the son of Rev. Paul Park, a minister of the gospel in said town, who was the son of Heze- kiah Park, who was the son of Robert Park, who was the son of Thomas Park, who was the son of Sir Rob- ert Park, who, with his wife and three sons, came from England in 1630 and settled at Boston, Mass. He was the first of the name that emigrated to this country. The genealogy of the Park family has been traced many generations in England to the Earl of Wensleydale. Those English ancestors since the Conquest resided in Lancashire, England. The late Baron Parke, of England, descended from the same line. The ancestral family name of the chief justice was always written with an e-Parke-until within a few generations. The early life of Judge Park was spent upon his father's farm. He worked upon the farm during the summer and attended the district schools during the winter, and when sixteen years of age commenced teaching school in the winter season, and taught during several such seasons. At the age of eighteen he commenced a systematic course of study, and secured a thorough academical education. In 1845 he entered the law-office of the late Hon. La-


fayette S. Foster, who subsequently became United States senator, acting Vice-President of the United States, and a judge of the Supreme Court of Errors of the State. Judge Foster at this time was the lead- ing member of the bar in the county and State, and Judge Park had the best opportunity of acquiring a thorough knowledge of the general principles of the common law and the practice of the same.


In February, 1847, he was admitted to the bar in New London County, and immediately commenced the practice of law. He opened an office in the city of Norwich, where he continued to practice so long as he remained at the bar. In 1853 he received the nomination of senator to the General Assembly. In 1854 he was elected judge of the County Court of New London County.


In 1855 he represented the town of Norwich in the Legislature. During this session of the General As- . sembly there was a very exciting controversy before the Legislature, between two rival gas companies in the city of Norwich. One company was called the Old Company, and the other the New Company. The Old Company had laid down their pipes in all the principal streets of the city, and they sought to de- prive the New Company of the use of the streets for the laying down of their pipes by obtaining from the Legislature an exclusive right to the streets of the city. Judge Park engaged in the cause of the New Company, and Edmund Perkins, the other represen- tative from the town of Norwich, was the champion of the Old Company.


The speech of Judge Park in opposition to grant- ing the proposed right was regarded as very able. He took the ground that the proposed grant was ob- noxious to the constitution of the State. The measure was carried by a small majority, but the Supreme Court of Errors soon after nullified the grant on the ground that it was unconstitutional, as Judge Park had claimed before the Legislature.


At this session of the Legislature there was a radi- cal change made in the courts of the State. The County Courts were abolished, and all the business of those courts was transferred to the Superior Courts. Four new judges of the Superior Court were elected, of whom Judge Park was one.


In 1861, Judge Park received the degree of A.M. from Yale College.


In 1863, Judge Park was re-elected a judge of the Superior Court.


In 1864 he was elected a judge of the Supreme Court of Errors.


In 1872 he was re-elected a judge of the Supreme Court of Errors.


In 1873 he was elected chief justice of the State, which position he now holds.


In 1878 he received the degree of LL.D. from Yale College.


JAMES ALBERT HOVEY, of Norwich, one of the judges of the Superior Court of Connecticut, was


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HISTORY OF NEW LONDON COUNTY, CONNECTICUT.


born in Hampton, in the county of Windham, April 29, 1815. His father, Jonathan Hovey, was a native of the same town, and was descended from ancestors who emigrated to this country from the Hague, the capital of the Netherlands. His mother, Patience Fuller Stedman, was also a native of Hampton, and identified by ancestry with the sturdy Puritans, who illustrated in Europe and America, as the Dutch Calvinists did in Holland, the virtues of invincible love of liberty and incorruptible patriotism. In 1830 young Hovey was elected a non-cominissioned officer of a company of infantry connected with the Fifth Regiment of Connecticut militia, and after serving in that capacity two years was promoted to the office of lieutenant, and two years later to the office of cap- tain of the same company. In 1836 he was elected major of the regiment to which his company belonged, and performed the duties of that office two years. He was chosen colonel of the same regiment, and held the position three years. While holding these positions he made himself thoroughly familiar with military law.




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