USA > Connecticut > New London County > History of New London county, Connecticut : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men > Part 128
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perseverance of David Geer. He was a Whig and Republican in politics. He died May 19, 1867, and lies buried by the side of his wife in the family bury- ing-ground on the home farm.
His brothers and sisters settled in New London County, excepting Win. S., Robert, and Charles, who settled near Syracuse, Onondaga Co., N. Y. His children settled in Lebanon, with the exception of William F., who settled in Syracuse, N. Y., and died there Aug. 26, 1875.
Erastus Geer was reared on the farm, and early learned the cardinal principles of success, industry, and frugality. His advantages for an education were such as the common schools of the day afforded, supple- mented with a few terms at Bacon Academy, at Col- chester, Conn. At the age of nineteen he commenced teaching school, and taught ten terms during the win- ters, working on the farm summers. Being the youngest of the family, he very naturally continued the occu- pancy of the homestead. He is energetic, prudent, and practical, alike in public and private affairs. As a man lie is respected at home and abroad ; as a farmer he ranks among the most enterprising of the town. In politics a life-long Whig and Republi- can, and as such has held important offices of the town.
In 1877 he was a member of the State Legislature, serving on the Committee of Claims. In 1878 he was appointed one of the County Commissioners of New London County, and is now (1881) serving on his second term. He has been twice married,-first to Almira H. Saxton, May 12, 1852. She died May 30, 1853, leaving one son, William H. Second, to Frances A., daughter of Joseph and Laura (Witler) Geer, of Ledyard, Conn., Nov. 21, 1861.
Mr. and Mrs. Geer are members of the Goshen Congregational Church, in Lebanon, Conn.
Isaac Gallup Avery, of Lebanon, is a descendant of Isaac Avery, of Groton, who was one of that large and intelligent family of Averys so intimately con- nected with the early history of Groton. For a more extended notice of the ancestry, see history of Gro- ton, Conn., also biography of Albert L. Avery, of Groton.
Isaac Avery, of Groton, had a son Nathan, who had a son Elias B., born in Ledyard, Conn., March 6, 1805. He was twice married,-first to Mary Ann Gallup, daughter of Isaac Gallup (see history of Groton), and to them was born, Dec. 20, 1835, Mary Ann, who mar- ried, March 24, 1857, William Geer, of Torrington, Conn. Mrs. Avery died Jan. 4, 1836. Mr. Avery married for his second wife Thankful S., daughter of David and Nancy (Gallup) Geer. She was born in Ledyard, Conn., May 10, 1814. Their children are Sarah A. (married John Williams), Isaac G., Nancy M. (married Everette Stark), Eliza S. (died at twenty- one), and Albert A. (died young).
Elias B. was a farmer. He settled in Lebanon, Conn., in 1837, and resided there till his death, July
34
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HISTORY OF NEW LONDON COUNTY, CONNECTICUT.
25, 1864. He was a Whig and Republican, and held the offices of selectman and magistrate.
Isaac Gallup Avery, son of Elias B., was born on the farm where he now resides, in Lebanon, Conn., July 4, 1841. He worked on the farm summers and attended the district school winters till seventeen years of age, when he left the school and continued to work on the farm till Aug. 21, 1862, when he enlisted in the Twenty-first Connecticut Volunteer Infantry. He served faithfully his country, and was in all the engagements of his regiment. He was mustered out as corporal, June 16, 1865, at New Ha- ven, Conn. He was in many engagements, but es- caped with a slight wound. He is a farmer on the old homestead. On the 1st of March, 1862, he mar- ried Eliza M. Williams, daughter of James C. and Har- riet A. Williams. She was born in Lebanon, Conn., Jan. 12, 1844. Their children are Anna G. (deceased), Albert G. (deceased), Amorett E., Arthur D., Alice L., and Ada N.
James C., son of Jasen Williams, was born in Leb- anon. He was a farmer. Jasen was born in Canter- bury, Conn., settled in Lebanon, and died in 1855, aged eighty-eight. His wife died in 1845.
Silas Palmer Abell, of Lebanon, Conn., is a lineal descendant of Caleb Abell, of Norwich, who married Margaret Post (born in 1653), of Saybrook. She was a daughter of John Post, born at Hartford in 1637, and her mother's name was Hester Hyde, born in England, and daughter of William Hyde, born in England, and died at Norwich in 1681. Caleb Abell had three sons,-Caleb2, born April, 1677, Samuel, and John.
Caleb2 married Abigail Sluman, Feb. 20, 1705. She was the daughter of Thomas Sluman and Sarah Bliss, and was born March, 1680. Caleb Abell had four children, viz. : Daniel1, Caleb3, Abigail, and Mary. Samuel Abell married Elizabeth Sluman in 1697, and had five children,-Elizabeth, Margaret, Samuel, Joshua, and Sarah. John Abell married Rebecca Sluman, and had seven children,-John, Sarah, Solo- mon, Rebecca, Hannah, Bertha, and David. Daniel1, son of Caleb2, married Sarah Crane in 1729, and had nine children, viz .: Daniel2, Eliphalet, Jonathan, Mary, Betsey, Sarah, Elijah, Simon, and Elizabeth. Daniel married Lucy Bill; Eliphalet married Lydia Williams; Jonathan married Lydia Bliss; Elijah, grandfather of Silas P., married Hannah West ; Mary married J. Clark, grandfather of Col. J. Clark ; Betsey married Daniel Clark, Jr., and had seven children. He was the father of Hosea Clark, who married Esther Williams; Betsey married Joseph William Bissel, and had a son, Clark Bissel, who was one of the Governors of Connecticut. Ruby Clark mar- ried Ambrose Williams, and Lucy Clark married Capt. Charles Williams. Elijah Abell and Hannah West had five children,-(1) Betsey (Mrs. William C. Hills) ; (2) Elijah, married Lucy Webster; (3) Julia, never married; (4) Daniel, married Jemima
Burnham ; and (5) Silas, who married Rhoda Web- ster, and had seven children, viz. : James M., Wil- liam E., Rhoda C., Betsey M., Julia A., Silas Spauld- ing, and Silas Palmer, born Aug. 10, 1822. His
Slad Rabelo
father dying when he was only three years of age, he was left to the care of his mother, with whom he lived till he was nine years of age, when he com- menced living on the farm where he now resides, with one Col. Julius Clark, a successful farmer in Lebanon. Mr. Abell married Sophronia Robinson, March 22, 1846, and to them have been born six children, viz .: Julia A., Caroline C., Ida S., Clifford R. and Clifton P., twins, and Myron R. Julia A. died at twenty- five, wife of Leonard A. Horton; (2) Caroline C. married Chauncey A. Brown, and has two children,- Julia A. and Annie S .; (3) Ida S. married Elisha P. Spafard, and has two children,-Lottie M. and Henry P .; (4 and 5, twins) Clifford R. and Clifton P. died at three years and nineteen days and three years nine months and four days respectively; (6) Myron R., born Nov. 18, 1862. Mr. Abell is a Re- publican, and follows the vocation of a farmer. He received his education at the common schools. He has been at different times assessor, grand juror, selectman, town agent, justice of the peace, and member of the board of relief. In 1860 and 1880 he was member of the State Legislature. In 1876 he was a candidate from the Ninth District for State senator. Mr. and Mrs. Abell are members of the Congregational Church at Exeter, and he was elected deacon in 1869.
T
Isaac S. avery
Labez Moc Call.
In a letter from Hon. A. J. McCall, of Bath, Steuben Co., N. Y., to Jabez McCall, of Lebanon, Conn., we glean the following imperfect record of the early history of the McCall family, collected from the town records of their old home, Marshfield, Mass.
The first James McCall married Anna . ., and had children,-James (2), born Oct. 30, 1690, and Anthony, who died May 29, 1688. James (1) was elected constable of Marshfield in 1690. He died May 9, 1695.
James (2) married Rachel Turner, Nov. 15, 1711, and had the following children: Benajah, born in Marsh- field, Aug. 19, 1712; Ebenezer, date of birth not known, baptized Feb. 6, 1715; James (3), born March 16, 1715; Rachel, born Nov. 26, 1716.
Mrs. James McCall died Dec. 8, 1716, and he married Hannah Green, Jan. 28, 1718. She was the daughter of a clergyman.
Elisha McCall, probably son of James and Hannah McCall, was baptized in 1720.
James (2) and his wife Hannah took letters of dismis- sion to the Goshen Church, in Lebanon, Conn., in 1724. (See "History of Lebanon.") James (2) had by his wife Hannah several sons and daughters, one of whom was Archippus, born in 1723, married Deborah Marsh, and had children, viz .: Jacob, Hobart, Ozias, Roger, Walter, Green, Anna, Mary, and Deborah. Anna mar- ried a Murdock, Mary married Joseph Badcock, and Deborah married Levi Coe, of Litchfield, Conn.
Archippus McCall was a farmer; died Dec. 2, 1798, aged seventy-five years. Deborah, his wife, died Feb. 15, 1820, aged ninety-three years.
Green McCall, son of the above, was born in Leb- anon, Conn., May 12, 1765; married Asenath Gager, June 5, 1788. She was born Jan. 1, 1767. Their children were William, born July 24, 1790; John, born Dec. 13, 1793; Mary, wife of Daniel Hinckley, born Oct. 5, 1795; Jerusha, born July 28, 1797, died Aug. 16, 1814; Joseph, born June 20, 1800; Jabez, born
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Jan. 23, 1803; and Harriet, born Oct. 20, 1806, died Feb. 18, 1853.
Green McCall purchased his farm in Lebanon of one Joseph Brown soon after his marriage, and continued to reside on the same farm where all his children were born till his death, Aug. 18, 1854, aged eighty-nine years. He was a Whig in politics, and held the various offices of his town. His wife died May 12, 1858, aged ninety-one years.
Jabez McCall, son of Green, was reared on the farm, receiving the advantages of a common-school education till he was eighteen years of age. He continued on the home farm till 1835 or '36, when he purchased a farm within a mile of the old homestead, and lived on it till 1850, when he returned to the old homestead, where he now (October, 1881) resides. He has been twice married : first to Almira Loomis, daughter of Joseph Loomis, Sept. 27, 1827. She was born May 12, 1807, and died April 19, 1864. Their children are (1) Aurelia, born Nov. 9, 1828, married Erastus R. Randall, and has three chil- dren, viz., Abby, Mary, and Lizzie; (2) Mary A., born Aug. 19, 1834, married O. E. Pettis, of Lebanon, and had three children,-Jabez McCall, Mary E. (deceased), and Carrie W. Mr. McCall married for his second wife Cordelia Huntington, daughter of Eliphalet Huntington, Dec. 14, 1865. She was born Aug. 24, 1813.
Mr. McCall has always been a stanch Republican, and one of the leading men in his town. He has been justice of the peace and selectman many years, and member of the State Legislature in 1857, serving on the Committee of Sale of Lands. Mr. and Mrs. McCall are members of the Congregational Church, as was his first wife, and he has been a deacon of the same for more than twenty years. He is a man of strong will and positive character. He has always been very active in life. He is very economical, yet liberal towards all benevolent institu- tions, and charitable to the poor. He enjoys the confi- dence of all his fellow-townsmen, and is regarded as one of the best and most influential mon of the town.
Hermy of Spafand
Gideon Hoxie
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LEBANON.
Henry A. Spafard, of Lebanon, Conn., is a de- scendant from John Spafford (or Spafard, as the name is spelled by some), who came from England and settled in Massachusetts. He had several children, one of whom was named Thomas, born in Rowley, Mass., June 6, 1678, married Bethial West, December, 1701. They had several children, one of whom was Thomas (2).
Thomas (1) came to Connecticut and settled in Lebanon between 1701 and 1718, and became the pro- genitor of a large and intelligent family.
Thomas (2) married Sarah West, Nov. 27, 1735, and had one son, Nathan, and several daughters. Nathan married Ann Cole, and had many children, one of whom was Ebenezer, who married Lydia Wells, Oct. 11, 1798, and had four children, viz. : Lucy (Mrs. Jesse Wilcox), Samuel, Augustus, born Sept. 9, 1802, and Polly (Mrs. Henry Porter). Eben- ezer was a farmer, and held the various town offices.
Augustus Spafard was a farmer. In 1831 he went to Choconut, Pa., with his family, and remained till 1836, when he removed to Broome County, N. Y., and remained there till 1852, when he returned to Leba- non, Conn., with his family. He married Esther, daughter of Amos Porter and Sarah Webster. Their children were Albert P., Henry A., Amos, and Har- riet P. (Mrs. Thomas A. Carpenter). Augustus Spafard was a Democrat in politics, as were his forefathers. He died March 5, 1873, and his wife died March 22, 1870. Both were buried at Exeter, Conn.
Henry A. Spafard was born in Lebanon, Conn., June 5, 1831, went to Pennsylvania and New York with his parents, returned with them in 1852, at twenty-one years of age. He has always been a farmer, and since his marriage to Mary E., only child of Elisha P. and Mary C. Porter, April 3, 1853, has lived on the Porter homestead, in Exeter, Lebanon, Conn. Their children are Elisha P., Emily P. (Mrs. J. Eugene Tucker), Henry A., Jr., Lizzie, John A., all born on the Porter homestead. He is a Repub- lican in politics, and as such has been selectman four years, three of which he was first selectman, assessor many years, justice of the peace several years, which office he still holds, also all the minor town offices, and member of the Legislature in 1868. Mr. and Mrs. Spafard are members of the Congregational Church at Exeter, and he is one of its deacons, His wife is descended from John Porter, an Englishman, who settled in Lebanon, Conn., at an early day. He had three sons, one of whom was John, who settled at Exeter, in Lebanon, Conn., on a large tract of land near the North Pond. One of his sons was Reuben, who had a son Asahel, who married Mary Pratt, of Cooperstown, N. Y., and had five children, three of whom grew to maturity, viz .: Elisha P., Mary, and Betsey. Elisha P. married Mary C. Porter, and had one daughter, Mary Elizabeth, born May 24, 1830. All the above generations have been farmers, and six generations of them have resided on the farm
now owned by Henry A. Spafard. Elisha Pratt Porter was born Oct. 24, 1794, and died April 4, 1853. Mrs. Elisha P. Porter was born September, 1802, and died June 27, 1830.
Mary Porter, sister of Elisha P., always lived on the old homestead, and died April 29, 1881, aged seventy-five years.
Gideon Hoxie, son of Isaac Hoxie and Cynthia Loomis, was born in Lebanon, Conn., March 9, 1808. His father, Isaac, was a son of Gideon Hoxie, and was born in Rhode Island in 1780, and settled in Lebanon, Conn., in 1794, at fourteen years of age, with his parents, on the farm now owned by his son Gideon. He was always a farmer. He married Cyn- thia Loomis, and had the following children, viz. : (1) Mary Ann, married Daniel Blanchard; (2) Gideon ; and (3) Abby Jane (deceased), married Joshua Tracy. In politics he was a Democrat. He died about 1845, and his wife in 1865.
Gideon, Sr., was of English descent, and was a na- tive of Rhode Island, where his ancestors had resided for several generations. Gideon Hoxie, the subject of this sketch, received a common-school education, and worked on his father's farm till 1837, when he went to Franklin and kept public-house with Joshua Tracy. He made a journey to the West, and pur- chased horses, returned, and was engaged as a team- ster six years at South Coventry, Conn., then went West and bought more horses. On his return he set- tled on his farm at Liberty Hill, where he remained until his mother's death in 1865. He was not en- gaged in any business for the next eight years. In 1873 he settled on his present beautiful farm, and has resided here since. In 1879 he commenced building his present residence, which is one of the best in the town. He married Phylura Mason, widow of Edward Mason (see history of Mason family), and daughter of Edmund Styles, June, 1858, and to them was born one son, George Henry, Dec. 31, 1858.
Mrs. Hoxie died in November, 1860.
In politics Mr. Hoxie has always been a Democrat, but on account of a deafness, caused by sickness when he was a young boy, he has not been able to transact any town matters. Religiously, he inclines towards Universalism, as his fathers have done for several generations.
Daniel Mason was born in Lebanon, Conn., Sept. 13, 1770. He was a lineal descendant of Capt. John Mason, who was born in England in 1600, and who was Sir Thomas Fairfax's companion in arms in the Netherlands, and was probably a lieutenant. Capt. John Mason settled in America between the years 1630 and 1632. We quote the following :
" The first occurrence of his name in the history of New England is in the year 1632-33, when he and Capt. Gallup, a kindred spirit, were appointed by the magistrate of Massachusetts to suppress the rapine and cruelty of Bull's band of pirates on the coast. The court granted to him (1633) for his service ten
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HISTORY OF NEW LONDON COUNTY, CONNECTICUT.
pounds, and in the terms of the grant he is called 'Lieu- tenant Mason.' In November of the year 1633 he was entitled by the court 'Captain Mason,' when Sergt. Stoughton was chosen the ensign of his company in Massachusetts. Having settled at Dorchester, he was admitted a freeman in 1634-35, and represented this town at the General Court in 1635 and 1636. He re- moved with Mr. Warham's party from their first loca- tion, and thus became (1636) one of the first planters of the new colony at Windsor. He is to be distin- guished from his contemporary, Capt. John Mason, Governor of Newfoundland, the associate of Sir Ferdi- nando Gorgee and others, who claimed the territory of New Hampshire. He and his friend Whiting were for many years distinguished leaders of the people, celebrated for their care and protection of the col- onies.
"Ninety men for the Pequot war were furnished by the three settlements, Hartford, Windsor, and Weth- ersfield; and these, together with seventy Mohegans and other friendly Indians, soon proceeded on their expedition towards Saybrook fort. The friendly In- dians were led by the celebrated Uncas, sachem of the Mohegans, and the whole force was under the command of Capt. Mason. Not long after the termi- nation of the war the captain was (March 8, 1638) appointed, and until his death he continued to be, the major-general of all the forces of Connecticut.
"For eighteen years (1642 to 1660) he was chosen a magistrate, a commissioner to the Congress of the United Colonies (1647, 1654 to 1657, and 1661), chief judge of the County Court (from 1664 to 1670), and for nine years (1660 to 1669) Deputy Governor. In the settlement of the town of Saybrook, as early as the year 1637, he was one of the five principal plan- ters, and he afterwards (1647) resided there, and was chosen one of the two magistrates to whom was con- fided the government of the town.
" In testimony of their appreciation of his services, and especially of his exploit at the Mystic River, the General Court, after the example of the ancient Greeks, who gave portions of land to their victorious heroes, bestowed (1641) upon their valiant captain five hundred acres of the Pequot territory, and a tract of equal extent for distribution among his comrades. On a previous occasion (1639) the court had granted to him ten pounds 'for his good service against the Pequots, and otherwise.' While Governor Winthrop was absent in England on the business of the colony, for a renewal of their charter, at the time of the ac- cession of King Charles II., on Deputy Governor Mason devolved the chief conduct of civil affairs ; and when the charter was sanctioned by the royal authority he was appointed (1662) by the king ' Dep- uty Governor until an annual election could be had, and at that election his appointment was continued. He was one of the nineteen petitioners to Charles II. who were selected to sign the document in the colony's behalf.
" Having for many years resided at Saybrook, Maj. Mason removed (1660) to Norwich, where, advanced in years and disabled by bodily infirmities, 'he ex- ensed himself from the service of the commonwealth,' and soon after died, before the 4th day of June (1672), in the seventy-third year of his age, honored and lamented, not more sagacious, valiant, and in- trepid as a military leader than he was wise and just as a legislator and a magistrate. His house at Nor- wich was ' a little south of the old court-house, on the old road leading to New London, near the bridge' over the Yantic, and was 'bought by the town (1692) for a parsonage.' In a neighboring field of graves repose his ashes, where a monument designates the grave of the first military officer and the Deputy Governor of the colony of Connecticut."
He left three sons and four daughters by his second wife, whom he married in 1640, his first wife having died at Windsor. They were Priscilla, born in Octo- ber, 1641; Samuel, July, 1644; John, August, 1646 ; Rachel, October, 1648; Anne, June, 1650; Daniel, April, 1652; and Elizabeth, August, 1654.
To these children are to be traced the genealogies of very many descendants conspicuous for intellectual endowments and moral worth. Daniel, the third son, resided at Lebanon, was for a time (1679) a school- master at Norwich, and died (1736) at Stonington, at the age of eighty-five years. His son Daniel was born at Roxbury in the year 1676, his mother having been sent thither to her friends during the Indian trouble at Norwich, and he was baptized there (A.D. 1676, month 2d, day 9th) by the pastor of the first church at Roxbury, Eliot, the apostle of the Indians.
He married, April 19, 1704, Dorothy, daughter of the Rev. Jeremiah Hobart, of Haddam, and died leaving one son, Jeremiah, who was born March 4, 1705, and married (May 24, 1727) Mary, daughter of Thomas, who was son of Wm. Clark, one of the first settlers of Haddam. After his marriage he removed to Franklin, Conn., and there had four sons and four daughters. The farm where he settled in Franklin, Conn., is owned by James F. Mason. He was a deacon of the Congregational Church and an influ- ential man in the town. He died in 1779, and his wife died at the advanced age of ninety-six years, in the same house in Lebanon, Conn., where their great- grandson, Jeremiah Mason, now (1881) resides. One of his children was named Jeremiah (2), born in Franklin, Conn., 1730; married Elizabeth, daughter of Rev. James Fitch, who was born at Bocking, Es- sex Co., England, Dee. 24, 1632, settled in Saybrook, Conn., thence went to Norwich, Conn., where he was the first pastor of the Congregational Church in Nor- wich, and died in Lebanon, Nov. 18, 1702.
Elizabeth was born in 1732, and died in 1809. Jere- miah(2) had eight children, viz .: 1, Abigail, who married Capt. Andrew Fitch, a captain in the Revo- lutionary war; 2, Elizabeth (Mrs. John Hillhouse, of Montville) ; 3, Ann, who married Christopher Ray-
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LEDYARD.
mond, of Montville; 4, Mary (Mrs. John N. Pea- body) ; 5, Rhoda (Mrs. Munford Dolbeare) ; 6, James Fitch ; 7, Jeremiah ; and 8, Daniel, all born in Leba- non, Conn., except Abigail. He served with distinc- tion in the Revolutionary war, and was known as Col. Mason. He was prominent in town and county affairs, and ever tried to do good. He was a farmer, and reared his children to habits of industry and so- briety. He was a good man, affectionate to his family, kind and obliging to his neighbors, faithful and strict in the observance of all moral and religious duties. He died at eighty-three years of age (1813). His youngest son, Daniel, married Eunice Hunting- ton, daughter of Capt. Wm. Huntington, Dec. 8, 1798. She was born Jan. 14, 1769. Their children were: 1, Bithiah H., who married Col. John Wattles; 2, Eunice E., married Col. Joseph Ambler ; 3, Mary L., married Dr. Charles Dutton; 4, Rhoda L., married Rev. Nathan S. Hunt; 5, Julia Ann, born Oct. 10, 1805; 6, Wealthy F., who died at twenty-four; 7, John G. H., died at twenty-one; and 8, Abby J.
Mr. Mason was a farmer and manufacturer of woolen goods; a Whig in politics. He died March 26, 1828, and Mrs. Daniel Mason died March 22, 1857, and both were buried in the First Cemetery, at Leb- anon, Conn. His daughter, Julia A. Mason, inserts the above notice of her ancestry in memory of them.
James Fitch Mason, sixth child of Jeremiah (2), was born in Lebanon, Conn., in 1762. He was always a farmer; married Nancy, daughter of Jo- seph Fitch, of Montville, and had eight children, viz. : Elizabeth, married Elisha Waterman ; Nancy ; Jeremiah; James Fitch, died without issue, Lockport, N. Y .; Sarah; Alfred, died in Iowa without issue ; William, no issue; Edward, who married Phylura O. Styles, and had five children, viz. : James F., Nancy F., George E. (deceased), William A. (deceased), and Jeremiah (deceased). Edward died March 30, 1849, aged thirty-nine.
James F., Sr., held nearly all the offices of the town, such as selectman and member of the Legisla- ture. He died May, 1836, his wife having died May, 1832.
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