History of New London county, Connecticut : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Part 93

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 93

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A characteristic of Mr. Fitch was his ceaseless ac- tivity. In body and mind he was alike energetic and alert. It was owing to this and to his rigid attention to diet and regimen that he lived so long, bearing up under complicated infirmities, and accomplishing so much actual labor. He was wonderful in planning, constructing, and laying out work. The lives of such persons are full of action and incident; they make changes and improvements, they are benefactors to their race, but, undertaking too much, they do not finish as they go, and often leave their most cherished projects incomplete.

Mr. Fitch was unmarried; of nine brothers and sisters he was the only one that entered into no mat- rimonial connection.

STEPHEN FITCH, son of Col. Asa Fitch, was born in Bozrah, Aug. 21, 1790. He married Mary I. Rogers, March 23, 1817. She was born Jan. 4, 1794, in Nor-

wich, and died in Norwich, Sept. 22, 1837. Their children were Sophia I., Asa Douglass, Mary E., and William H.

Mr. Fitch was engaged in the manufacturing of iron and farming in Bozrah till his marriage, when he set- tled in New Hartford, N. Y., where he followed farm- ing till 1832, when he returned to Connecticut and settled in Norwich, where he remained till after the death of his wife, when he settled in Bozrah, Conn., and was for many years engaged in the manufacture of cotton goods with his brother Asa. Politically he was a Jeffersonian and Jackson Democrat, as his an- cestors were and his descendants are. He was once a member of the State Legislature, besides holding other town offices. He died Oct. 6, 1868.

Sophia I. (deceased) married William S. Craft, of Boston ; Mary E. has been twice married : first, R. H. Winslow, of Westport, Conn. ; second, to Dr. R. C. M. Page, of Westport, Conn .. Mrs. Page is one of the most accomplished ladies in Fairfield County, and the principal supporter of the Episcopal Church in West- port, Conn.

DOUGLAS W. FITCH, son of Col. Asa Fitch, was born in Bozrah, New London Co., Conn., Feb. 18, 1796; married Louise C. Bee, October, 1834. Of their three children two are living in France. Harold, born Oct. 10, 1837, and Charles D., born Oct. 10, 1845; both are natives of Marseilles, France.

Mr. Fitch visited America in June, 1838, with his wife. He was engaged in business in Marseilles with his brothers, and all we have said of them is equally true of him. He died June 1, 1848, aged fifty-two years.

Mr. Fitch was successful in all his business rela- tions, and the Fitch family of this generation, and children of Col. Asa Fitch, of Bozrah, Conn., were among the most successful business men of their day. Not only were they successful in business, but very prominent and influential men in the places where they lived, and now (1881), though dead, their names live and their works do follow them.

WM. FITCH, youngest son of Col. Asa and Susannah Fitch, was born in Bozrah, Conn., Oct. 27, 1800. He spent his youth with his father, working on the farm summers and attending the common school winters, till he was some fifteen or sixteen years of age, when he went to Colchester, Conn., and attended the Bacon Academy, from which he graduated. He was deeply interested in books, and at an early age manifested a strong desire for study. Before he was twenty years of age he had taught school several terms.

Having a strong desire to go into business with his brothers, Asa and Douglass, he accordingly went to France in 1820 or 1821, and was there engaged with them in the mercantile and commission business, under the firm-name of Fitch Bros. & Co. About 1825 or 1826 he returned to America and commenced business with his brothers in New York City, where he continued in trade till 1848. While there he had

Pra Hle. Fitch

AD. Tilch

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BOZRAH.

charge of the entire correspondence. On account of failing health he returned to his native town, and was for several years engaged in the manufacturing busi- ness with his brother Asa.

Oct. 14, 1857, he married Mary E., daughter of Dr. Elias Williams and Mary Ann Hillhouse. She was born in the town of Bethlehem, Litchfield Co., Conn., Jan. 23, 1825. Her father was a son of Rev. Joshua Williams, and was born in Harwinton, Litch- field Co., Conn. (See history of Dr. Elias W. Wil- liams.)

Mr. and Mrs. Fiteh have six children, viz. : Wm. Asa, died March 28, 1860, aged twenty months; Marian H., Susan L., Elizabeth M., Fanny R., and Sarah G., all of whom were born in Norwich Town, Conn.

In the summer of 1858, Mr. Fitch settled in Nor- wich Town, where he continued to reside till his death, Dec. 23, 1880. Politically he was a Democrat, but never sought office. From the pen of a personal friend we quote the following, written at the time of his death :

" Mr. William Fitch, a wealthy and prominent citizen of this place, died at his residence, Norwich Town, on Wednesday night, Dec. 23, 1880, at the age of eighty. He has been in failing health for the last two years, but has been confined to his house only for the past three months. His illness, which was long and painful, he bore with remarkable patience. He was a son of Col. Asa Fitch, and was born in that part of the town known as Fitchville in the year 1800. ITe had four brothers and five sisters, of whom only one sister, Mrs. Haughton, of Fitchville, survives him. He left this place in 1820 and went with his brothers, Asa and Douglas, to France, where he remained for three years. He then returned to New York, where he was associated with them in the mercantile and commission business for nearly a quarter of a century, a part of the time having an establishment abroad and importing all kinds of foreign goods. They also took contracts to furnish supplies to gov- erninent vessels. They were very successful in business, and accumu- lated considerable property.

" Ile retired from the business in 1848 on the death of his brother, and returned to Fitchville, where for several years he was postmaster. Ile married in 1857, and the following year moved to Norwich Town, where he has since resided. Ile was a member of Trinity Church, and was characterized for benevolence among that people. He was a man of generous impulses, and will be missed by many poor families. His was a long and useful life, peacefully closed with a full hope of immortality. Ile leaves a wife and five daughters to mourn his loss."

ELIAS WILLIAM WILLIAMS was born in Harwin- ton, Conn., on the 16th day of September, 1797. His father was the Rev. Joshua Williams (Y. C., 1780), a native of Rocky Hill, Conn., and for many years pastor of the Congregational Church in Harwinton. His mother's name was Mary Webb. Mr. Williams fitted for college under the instruction of his father. After he graduated he studied medicine with Dr. Ros- well Abernethy, of Harwinton ; attended lectures at the medical schools of New Haven and New York, and was licensed to practice in 1822. He commenced practice as a physician at Bethlehem, Conn., where he was associated with his brother-in-law, Dr. Conant Catlin. About the year 1826 he removed to the city of Troy, N. Y., where he established himself in busi- ness as a druggist. His residence there, however, was brief. His health failed him, and he became a victim to consumption. He died at Claverack, Columbia Co., N. Y., on the 28th of September, 1828, at the age

of thirty-one, while attempting to perform a journey between the cities of Troy and New York.

Mr. Williams was married on the 3d of April, 1823, to Miss Mary Ann Hillhouse, of Montville, Conn., and left one child, who married William Fitch, de- ceased, of Norwich, Conn.

ASA DOUGLASS FITCH, eldest son of Stephen Fitch and Mary I. Rogers, was born in New Hartford, N. Y., March 27, 1820. He received his education at com- mon and select schools, and graduated from the Washington Institute, N. Y., in 1837, having such men as William H. Vanderbilt for schoolmates. Im- mediately after his graduation he became clerk for his uncles, Asa and William Fitch, in the city of New York, in the wholesale commission business, with whom he remained till 1842, when he came to Fitch- ville, New London Co., Conn., and assumed the charge of the store for his uncles. Here he continued to reside till 1849, when he went to Stockton, Cal., via Cape Horn. He remained in Stockton a year, then went to Portland, Oregon, and was there engaged in the mercantile business with his brother, William H., till 1859. William H. then returned to Connecticut. Asa D. continued in trade till 1866, when he also re- turned to Connecticut and took up his abode with Wil- liam H., with whom he spends his summer months.

Following in the footsteps of his honorable ances- tors, he votes the Democratic ticket. While a resi- dent of Portland, Oregon, he belonged to the Com- mon Council, was county treasurer two terms, and commissioner of the penitentiary during the building of that institution, while Oregon was yet a territory.

WILLIAM H. FITCH, youngest son of Stephen and Mary I. (Rogers) Fitch, was born in New Hartford, N. Y., Nov. 4, 1830. When he was but two years of age his parents settled in Norwich, where the family remained until the death of Mrs. Fitch, in 1837. They then removed to Fitchville. He received his education at the schools in Norwich, and graduated from Cheshire Academy. In the spring of 1850 he set sail for California via the Isthmus, where he re- mained a short time, when he went to Portland, Ore- gon, and became a partner in the general merchan- dise business with his brother, Asa D., with whom he remained till 1859, when he returned to Fitchville, and entered into partnership with his uncle Asa, under the firm-name of William H. Fitch & Co., for the manufacturing of cotton goods. He continued in business till 1867, when he retired to his farm of three hundred acres, situated between Fitchville and Yantic. His farm is one of the best in the town, well watered and improved, and the buildings are commo- dious and good.

He is a Democrat in politics. While a resident of Oregon he was assistant commissary in the Indian war. Since his return to Connecticut he has been judge of probate. Jan. 13, 1870, he married Louise C., daughter of Capt. William Smith, of Norwich. (See history of Capt. Smith, of Norwich.) Mrs. Fitch

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HISTORY OF NEW LONDON COUNTY, CONNECTICUT.

was born in Bozrah, Conn., Dec. 3, 1844. They have had three children, viz., Mary I. (deceased), Stephen D. (deceased), and William D., born Oct. 25, 1879.

Maj. John W. Haughton, son of William Haugh- ton, was born in Montville, Conn., the 1st of the year, 1797. His father was a farmer in Montville, Conn., and John was brought up on the farm. His advan- tages for an education were such as the common schools of his day afforded. He was a great reader, and his memory was good, so he became well informed on all the current events of the times. He married Clarissa, daughter of Col. Asa and Susannah Fitch, Oct. 14, 1824. She was born June 5, 1802, in Bozrah. Their children were Asa F., died at eight years, March 20, 1834; and Samuel Wells, born Sept. 30, 1831, mar- ried, Jan. 9, 1867, Harriet W., daughter of Capt. William Smith, of Norwich. For several years after marriage Mr. Haughton resided on a farm in Mont- ville; then he went to Clinton, N. Y., where he was engaged as a farmer, and where he remained some five years. Here is where his youngest son, Samuel Wells, was born. In the spring of 1832 he returned to Connecticut and settled in Fitchville, in the town of Bozrah, where he became the superintendent of all of his brother-in-law's-Asa Fitch-business, both in building the village, and more especially the gen- eral oversight of the cotton-mill ; he was thus engaged some nine years. He was also much interested in the building of the turnpike road leading from Colchester to Norwich, which was under the management of Asa Fitch and others. He was also interested in farming. He was a member of the Trinity Church at Norwich. He was a teacher in the Congregational Sunday- school at Bozrah, Conn., where he always attended service when not attending in Norwich. He was a bright Mason, and a man respected for his many noble qualities of head and heart. He was a major of the old State militia, and took special pride in military parade. In politics he was a Democrat, and held some of the minor offices of the town. He died July 31, 1871, aged seventy-four years and six months.

William F. Bailey, son of Roswell Bailey and Sally C. Hough, was born in the town of Bozrah, Conn., Aug. 17, 1823. He traces his ancestry back to England. His great-grandfather came from Eng -. land with two of his brothers and settled in the town of Groton, New London Co., Conn., at an early day.

Joseph Bailey, grandfather of the subject of this sketch, was born in Groton, married Hannah Hicks, and had seven sons and one daughter, of whom Ros- well was the youngest. Joseph Bailey settled in the western part of Bozrah, where he died in 1855, at the advanced age of ninety-three. His wife died previous to that time, at ninety-one years of age.

Roswell Bailey was born in Groton in 1797, and set- tled in the town of Bozrah with his parents, and after many years went into the town of Colchester. He married Sally C., daughter of Deacon Jabez Hough, of Bozrah, and had four sons and one daughter, viz. :

William F., Jabez H. (deceased), Charles H., Ros- well, and Sarah J. (Mrs. Peleg Babcock, of Iowa), the two eldest being born in Bozrah, and the others in Colchester. Mr. Bailey was for many years before his marriage engaged in peddling in some of the South- ern States, but after his marriage was engaged in farming and teaming. Politically he was a Demo- erat, and in religions views he and his wife were Bap- tists. He died in 1832, at thirty-five years.

William F. Bailey received a common-school educa- tion till he was sixteen years of age. His father dying in 1832, when he was only nine years of age, he was compelled to leave home and find one with his pater- nal grandparents and his uncle, Joseph Bailey, with whom he lived till he was sixteen, when he returned to his own home and assisted his widowed mother in carrying on the farm of one hundred and forty acres. He remained at home till he was twenty-three, in 1846, when he purchased the farm of the heirs and re- mained two years. In the spring of 1849 he settled on the farm where he now (1881) resides. His present farm of some three hundred and forty acres is well watered and improved, and he is accounted one of the best farmers in the town.

In 1833 he entered into partnership with Elisha Waterman, son of Elisha Waterman, and was engaged with him in the teaming business for the Hayward Rubber Company, of Colchester, Conn. Their busi- ness steadily increased till at one time they owned some eighty horses.

After the death of Mr. Waterman, Mr. Bailey had James M. Peckham for his partner for several months, when he purchased his interest and conducted the business himself, and the business increased even more than before. Besides this, he owns and runs a saw and grist-mill and shops of various kinds, where he makes and repairs his own wagons, shoes his own horses, and does everything within himself.

In politics he is a Republican. He has been asses- sor and first selectman many years, and in 1860 was member of the Assembly, and in 1872 represented the Ninth Senatorial District in the State Senate, serving as chairman on roads and bridges.

In November, 1846, he married Phebe A., daughter of Orimal Johnson and Artamissa Armstrong, and to them have been born the following children : (1) Wil- liam B., who died Nov. 26, 1879, in his thirty-third year. He married, June 5, 1872, Lilly A., daughter of Newell S. Brown and Anna L. Atkinson, of New Jersey. (2) Phebe J., married Claudius M. Pendle- ton, and they have one son,-William B. (3) Jabez H., married Fanny Spicer, June 13, 1881. She is the daughter of Albert A. and Frances (Cross) Spicer, of Hyde Park, Vt.

Albert Spicer, son of Simeon, who was a son of Ish- mael Spicer, natives of Connecticut, probably belong to the Ledyard family of Spicers. (See Spicer his- tory, in Groton, 4th Charles H.)

Rev. Nathan S. Hunt is a grandson of Eliphaz

M/m 4, Bailey

Nathan !. Hunt

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BOZRAH.

Hunt, a native of Lebanon, Conn.,1 and son of Dr. Ebenezer Hunt and Anna Strong, born in Coventry, Conn., July 5, 1802. His father, Ebenezer, was born in Coventry, Conn., studied medicine with Dr. Tur- ner, of Norwich, and practiced in Coventry, Conn. He married Anna Strong, daughter of Rev. Nathan Strong, first minister of North Coventry, Conn., and had five children, viz .: Ebenezer, Esther, Anna, Hannah, and Nathan S.

He died at his home in Coventry in 1808, aged forty-two years. He was a skillful physician, and his early death was caused by overwork and undue exposure. His mother was Hannah Stiles, cousin of President Stiles.

Dr. Hunt dying in 1808, left a widow and five chil- dren, the youngest of whom was Nathan S., being only six years of age.

Nathan S. entered the family of Joseph Strong, father of Hon. Henry Strong, of Norwich, at six years of age, and remained till he was thirteen, receiving a common-school education, also instruction from Henry Strong, of whom he speaks in the highest terms. His mother being desirous that he should learn to work on the farm, he was put under the charge of Mr. Woodward, father of Dr. Ashbel Wood- ward, of Franklin, Conn., with whom he lived till he went home to take charge of the home farm.

After leaving the home of Joseph Strong he at- tended school only during the winter months till he began to teach school, which he successfully followed every winter thereafter until he had completed his college studies. He prepared for college under the instruction of his brother-in-law, Rev. Alpha Miller, of Bridgewater, N. Y., and entered Hamilton College in 1826. In 1828 he entered the junior class in Wil- liams College, from which he graduated with honors in 1830. During his college and theological course he was wholly dependent upon himself, teaching winters, and collecting funds for Williams College during the vacations. It is said he was very success- ful as a collector, and then learned many things which were of great value to him in after-life. Im- mediately after graduation he entered Andover Semi- nary, from which he graduated in the early summer of 1833. He was immediately called to the pastorate of a Congregational Church in Abington, Conn., and was installed pastor of the same Feb. 12, 1834. He remained there twelve years; then was one year at Montville, New London Co., Conn., when he received a call from the Congregational Church at Preston City, where he remained twelve years ; then settled in Bozrah, where he labored faithfully twelve years, till failing voice compelled him to resign, in 1871, his pastorate, since which time he has not been actively engaged in the ministry, but continues to reside in Bozrah. During his ministry he was very active in building and repairing churches. He is universally

esteemed, was a good preacher and faithful pastor. His name is a household word in many homes in the county and State. He bears a striking resemblance to Daniel Webster, and has often been called Web- ster. He is now in his seventy-ninth year, and has poor health.

By energy and economy he redeemed the home farm of incumbrance after he commenced preaching. By careful investments he now has a competency in his old age. On the 25th of October, 1842, he mar- ried Rhoda L., daughter of Daniel Mason, of Leb- anon.2 She was born March 18, 1804. and in her younger days was a successful teacher, both in Con- necticut and New Jersey.

Mr. Hunt has never been identified with any polit- ical organization, but has always been in sympathy with the great principles of the Republican party.

He was ever faithful and true to his mother, caring for her tenderly till her death; a good student in school, a faithful pastor, a good citizen, and a devoted husband.

The Rogers Family.3-JAMES ROGERS, one ac- count says, came from England in the ship "In- crease" when about twenty years of age. He came to New London from Fairfield Co., about 1657 or 1658. A baker by trade on a large scale, furnishing the sea- men and colonial troops with biscuit, etc., between 1660 and 1670 he had a greater interest in the trade of the port than any other person. He married Elizabeth, daughter of Samuel Rowland, of Stratford. They had a number of children, and it is said they all embraced the Rogereen faith but Samuel, the eldest, the ancestor of the Montville Rogerses. Samuel mar- ried Mary, daughter of Thomas Stanton, the parents of the two parties entering into an agreement to give two hundred' pounds each as a marriage portion. Samnel's father, in fulfillment of his part, conveyed to his son his stone house and bakery at the head of Winthrop's Cove, where he resided for fifteen or twenty years ; he then removed to the outlands of the town, near the Mohegan tribe, and became the first white settler within the limits of the present town of Montville. They were always on the best of terms with Uncas and his tribe, and made an agreement with them, " if the other Indian tribes molest either of us we will help each other, and the signal will be to fire a gun." On one occasion Samuel, wishing to give them a surprise, roasted an ox and got it all pre- pared for the meal, and then fired his alarm-gun, and they came flocking in in haste, supposing neighbor Rogers was being murdered or taken prisoner, when to their surprise and pleasure a bountiful repast awaited them.

His son Samuel (2) married Abigail Plum about 1694. He settled in Montville. It is not known how large a family he had or whether certainly he was the

1 Sec Hunt genealogy, in Lebanon history.

2 See Mason family history of Lebanon.

3 Contributed by Fanny L. Rogers.

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HISTORY OF NEW LONDON COUNTY, CONNECTICUT.

father or grandparent of Samuel Rogers (3), who mar- ried Lucy Denison. Samuel Rogers' (3) homestead was a little west of what was formerly known as the " Bland tavern" on the Salem road. He had three sons and four daughters.

Daniel, the eldest son, married Hannah Latimer, daughter of Col. Jonathan Latimer and Lucretia Griswold. Col. Latimer served in the old French war, and in some of his excursions he came through Tennessee, and thought it the pleasantest country he ever saw, and if his family would all go there he would emigrate, and they started with ox-teams through the then wilderness. One son's wife died on the journey, and they buried her under a tree.

Jabez Rogers, son of Samuel (3), married a - - Gorton; removed to Vermont. His son Jabez mar- ried Governor Chittenden's daughter, and their de- scendants are James Rogers, born 1739; married Zylpha Hyde, born 1735, daughter of Eleazer Hyde and Sarah (Hewett) Hyde. He settled in Norwich (Wawecus Hill) ; had eight children ; was a farmer, a large, muscular man, a Baptist by profession. His children were Eleazer, married Lucy Edgerton ; James, married, first, Zerviah Ingraham ; second, Sarah Coit; Denison, married Nancy Pendleton ; Eliab, married Mary Hyde; Lucy, died unmarried ; Sarah, married Phineas Leflingwell ; Hannah, married Jabez Bush- nell; Lydia, married Jabez Leffingwell. The Lef- fingwells both removed to Warren, Ohio, and Sarah was mortally wounded by the accidental discharge of her husband's rifle while he was hastening out of the house to shoot a deer that was in sight. The descend- ants of the family are in Ohio and Iowa. Jabez Bushnell and wife both died in Norwich, leaving two children,-a daughter, now the wife of Edward Stone, of New York; the other a son, William F. Bushnell, a carpenter, now living in Evanston, Illinois.

Eleazer Rogers was eighteen years old when New London was burnt, and was called out with the militia to defend. He was afterwards captain of militia, and his lieutenant's and captain's commissions, signed by Jonathan Trumbull, Governor, are in the possession of the writer. He came to live with his aunt at his grandfather Hyde's homestead, and inherited it from her (and added to it), and it has continued in the family, and is now occupied by the sixth and seventh genera- tions in a direct line from the first John Hyde. The other three brothers settled on Wawecus Hill, were farmers, and all of them reared large families, but many of them are dead or gone to other places. The eldest daughter of James married Stephen Fitch, of Fitchville, and one of her sons resides there now. The eldest son by his second wife, George, was a merchant at Darien, Ga., married a Southern wife, had a large family, and one son was killed in the Confederate army, his widow and family now living there. Ed- ward went to Michigan and engaged in farming, and died in Marshall, leaving a widow and one son. Charles, a farmer, died on the homestead, unmarried.

James, a cabinet-maker, lived at Norwich, where his widow and children now live. Sophia, their sister, married Deacon Elisha Filler, of Plainfield ; died leaving no children. Denison Rogers' children all gone but two, Col. James Denison, on the homestead, and William Pendleton, living at East Great Plain. William has three sons, one settled near him in the ice trade, one living with him, and another, Joab B., who was a captain of a company of horse under Sheridan, now city sheriff; one daughter died in Cali- fornia, and another still resides there.

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History of New London county, Connecticut : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Part 93

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

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