History of New London county, Connecticut : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Part 99

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 99

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3 The following is taken from the Hartford Daily Courant of Sept. 8, 1879: " A large company of neighbors and friends, numbering between Iwo and three hundred, met at the residence of Dr. Ashbel Woodward, of Franklin, on Friday afternoon, the 5th instant, to celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of his settlement among them in the practice of medicine. Except during the first three years, he has been throughont this long period the only physician in the town, and accordingly, through the sanctities of the sick-chamber, has for several successive generations been brought into close relations with nearly every household. In our land of unrest such instances of long-continued professional service in one locality, particularly in rural communities, are memorable from their infrequency. As the afternoon advanced the gathering throngs filled the house and overflowed on the shady lawn in front. Among other inci- dents of the occasion, a massive gold-headed cane was presented to the doctor. The head was elaborately wrought, and on the face was en- graved :

"' 1829. Presented to Ashbel Woodward, M.D., as a memorial of 50 years of professional service, 1879.'

"Rev. F. C. Jones made the presentation speech for the donors, and to his words of generous appreciation the recipient feelingly responded. The Hon. Lafayette S. Foster, a native of Franklin, followed in a few happy remarks, expressing his pleasure at meeting such a gathering of his former townspeople under such auspicious circumstances

"The life of Dr. Woodward has been one of hard labor and of rigorous devotion to duty. Fond of his profession, he has aimed always to exalt

1 The first named under each year was for the May, and the second for the October session.

2 Under the new constitution only one session a year has been held, in May.

Eng d. bry E.G Willams & Bro

Photo by Bogardus.

Chas, Rooson Pur Prita .

AShbed Woodward

Bet. Huntington

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FRANKLIN.

ried Emeline, daughter of Samuel Bicknell, of Ash- ford, and has two sons.

In 1830 he became a member of the Connecticut Medical Society, and in 1859 was elected to the pres- idency of the association, and was re-elected to the same office during the two succeeding years.

In 1849 he became a member of the American Medical Association, and in 1876 he was constituted a member of the International Medical Congress. He has likewise, in the past, been elected an honorary member of several different State medical associa- tions.

In 1855 he received the honorary degree of M.D. from Yale College.

As a member of the Army Board of Medical Ex- aminers, and as surgeon and medical director in the Department of the Gulf, he served during almost the entire period of our late civil war.

He has contributed numerous articles for "The Transactions of the Connecticut Medical Society" and other kindred works, but his researches in this direction have not preeluded him from exploring other fields of science. The time that could be snatched from more active labor has been devoted to literary works, particularly in the lines of history of our aboriginal tribes, American history, numismatics, and genealogy. He has thus been connected and as- sociated with numerous historical societies on both sides of the water in most honorable positions.

Henry Williams Kingsley, son of Jason W. Kings- ley and Eunice Hartshorn, was born in Franklin, Conn., April 9, 1820. His father, Jason W., son of Alpheus Kingsley and Eunice Williams, a descend- ant of the old Williams family of Lebanon, was born in Franklin, Conn., married Eunice Hartshorn, daughter of Silas Hartshorn, and granddaughter of Ebenezer Hartshorn, who lived to be ninety years of age, and who was a magistrate till his death, and whose decision was never reversed by a higher court. Jason had six children,-Silas H., deceased ; Henry W. ; Junius E., proprietor of the Continental Hotel, Philadelphia; Charles A., living on the old home in Franklin ; Julia, died at three ; and Julia A., died at twenty-three.

Jason Kingsley was a farmer and mechanic. He was prominent in town, church, and society affairs. In politics a Whig and Republican, and held all the important town offices. He died in November, 1866, aged seventy-seven, and wife died Dec. 30, 1868, aged seventy-five, and both were buried in the Frank- lin Cemetery.

Alpheus Kingsley was of Scottish descent, his an- eestors having settled in the town of Scotland, Wind- ham Co., Conn., whither they had come with many others from Scotland. He married in Canterbury, and

had five sons and five daughters, viz. : Betsey, Nancy, Sophia, Jason, Joseph, Elihu M., Eunice, Alpheus, Clarissa, and Simon, all married.

Alpheus Kingsley, Sr., was a Revolutionary sol- dier, and was under Washington at Valley Forge. He was a mason by trade. He died in 1850, at ninety years of age ; wife died in 1840, aged eighty years.

Henry W. received a common-school education, supplemented with several terms at private schools in the town and vicinity. He was reared on the farm, and farming has been his principal business through life. He married, Feb. 15, 1843, Sarah E., daughter of Azariah Huntington and Lavinia Greenslit, and granddaughter of Azariah Huntington, Sr., and great- granddaughter of Barnabas Huntington. They have had two sons,-Henry H., born May 21, 1849, married Hattie Noyes, of Lebanon, daughter of Wm. C. Noyes, of Lebanon, Feb. 25, 1875. She died March 1, 1881. Henry H. is a farmer and mechanic. Silas H., born June 1, 1851, died October, 1870, at nineteen years of age. He was a very bright boy.

Mr. Kingsley settled on his present farm of some two hundred acres in March, 1850, having lived some five years in the town of Bozrah, and several years in another part of this town. He is one of the most successful farmers in Franklin.

In polities he has always been a life-long Republi- can. He has been selectman for fifteen years, and the most of that time first selectman. Justice of the peace for many years, and at the present time, September, 1881, the only one in town. He has been a member of the Board of School Visitors for several years, and at present is its chairman. In 1858 he was in the Legislature, and in 1869 in the State Senate.

Mr. and Mrs. Kingsley are members of the Congre- gational Church at Franklin. He is now and has been for several years a treasurer of that society. He is a self-made man, social, energetic, and frugal, -a man esteemed by all who know him.

Benjamin Franklin Huntington, son of Charles Phelps and Maria (Perit) Huntington, was born in Norwich, Conn., Oct. 24, 1813. His grandfather, Andrew (born 1745, died 1824), was son of Gen. Jabez Huntington, who was prominent in the Revolutionary period, one of the Committee of Safety, and a personal friend of Gen. Washington. Andrew was commissary under Washington. Gen. Jedediah Huntington was brother of Andrew. He was an aide to Gen. Washing- ton. (See biography, elsewhere in this volume.) Gen. Ebenezer, another brother, was also aide to Washing- ton. Andrew always lived in Norwich ; was a mer- chant and farmer; was judge of probate for many years. He was twice married, first to Lucy Coit, by whom he had children, second to Hannah, daughter of Dr. Charles Phelps, of Stonington. To this last union were born two children, Chas. P. Huntington and Lucy Coit Huntington, who married Col. Elisha Tracy, of Norwich.

Charles P. was born Oet. 2, 1779. He was a mer-

its beneficence. On this occasion it must have been highly gratifying to him to be reminded by numerous tokens of the loving esteem in which he is held by the grandchildren and the great-grandchildren of his early friends."

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HISTORY OF NEW LONDON COUNTY, CONNECTICUT.

chant, often in public affairs, cool and cautions ; he was prominent in all matters of public interest, and often called to positions of trust, and represented Norwich in the State Legislature several years. He married, first, Charlotte Lathrop ; second, Maria Perit, a descendant of an ancient Huguenot family of France, driven from that country by religious persecution. She was daughter of John and Ruth (Webster) Perit. Her brother Pelatiah was president of the Chamber of Commerce, New York, for twenty years. The children of C. P. Huntington were John Perit, Charles Webster, Ruth Leflingwell, Samuel Andrew, Benja- min F., James Monroe, and William Henry. Mr. Huntington always lived in Norwich, and died there, Sept. 28, 1850.

B. F. Huntington passed his early life in Norwich. At the age of eighteen years he went to New York City to take position as clerk for his brother, Chas. W., where he remained until his health failed, to re- cover which he went to sea and remained three years. He then removed to Ohio, where he remained four years, and returned to Connecticut, settling at Frank- lin, in this county. He married, April 17, 1837, Maria Louisa, daughter of James and Zervia (Tyler) Huntington, of Norwich. Her grandfather was Rev. John Tyler, for fifty-four years Episcopal elergyman of Norwich. Their children are Benjamin Franklin, Emily Lee (Mrs. Morton F. Hale, of Brantford, Can- ada), Joseph Lawson Weatherly, Hannah Phelps (Mrs. James M. Mcech, of Norwich), Maria Perit (Mrs. Llewellyn P. Smith, of Lebanon, Conn., on the old Trumbull place).

By the circumstances of fortune placed in a com- fortable position, Mr. Huntington, by reading, exten- sive travel, and association with cultured society, has found life's pathway rather a pleasant way ; and with a large circle of friends, and with the most agreeable family relations, he has learned something of the true philosophy of life, and with a sense of positive enjoy- ment is passing down the slope of age, and in trust- ing confidence awaits the "twilight."

CHAPTER XXXVI.

GRISWOLD.

Geographical-Topographical-The First Settlements-Eleazer Jewett- Early Mannfactures-Later Manufactures-The Slater Mill-The Ashland Company-The Water-Power-Jewett City-Villages-Jewett City Savings-Bank -Knights of Pythias-Masonic-Distinguished Sons of Griswold: George D. Prentice, R. L. Stanton, Henry B. Stanton, Moses C. Tyler.

THE town of Griswold lies in the northeastern part of the county, and is bounded as follows: on the north by Windham County, on the cast by Volun- town, on the south by North Stonington and Preston, and on the west by Preston and Lisbon. The surface of the town is hilly, and the soil generally consists of a gravelly loam.

The first settlement in this town was made at Jewett City in 1771 by Eleazer Jewett, from whom the village of Jewett City derived its name. He was a persevering man, of a genial and kindly tempera- ment, happy in doing good, and opening paths of enterprise for the benefit of others without laboring to enrich himself. Beginning with only a small farm and a mill-seat on the Pachaug River, he lived to see a flourishing village spread around him, enriched with mills, stores, mechanical operations, and farms in an improved state of tillage. His tombstone in the cemetery at Jewett City bears the following in- scription :

" In memory of Mr. Eleazer Jewett, who Died Dec. 7, 1817.

in the 87th year of his age. In April, 1771, he began the settlement of this village, and from his persevering industry and active benevolence it has derived its present importance. Its name will perpetuate his memory."

Mr. Jewett had at first a grist-mill, and to this he added a saw-mill, and sold out portions of land to induce others to settle near him. About the year 1790 he was joined by John Wilson, a clothier from Massachusetts, whom he eu couraged to set up a full- ing-mill. We learn from Wilson's advertisement that he was ready at his mill to accommodate the public in December, 1793.

In 1804, Elisha Rose had an oil-mill in the neigh- borhood, and the same year John Scholfield, Jr., set a carding-machine in operation upon the same stream, advertising that he had a complete set of machinery for picking, breaking, and carding wool; terms, twelve cents per pound.

The Scholfield establishment was subsequently pur- chased by Mr. Wilson, whose enterprise assisted largely in the growth and prosperity of the village. He was a man of solid sense and dignified deport- ment, highly valued as a citizen. By a change of boundaries and new acts of incorporation he became an inhabitant of three different towns, and at distinct periods was a selectman of Norwich, of Preston, and of Griswold without changing his abode.

In 1820, Mr. Wilson sold the woolen-mill to J. G. W. Trumbull and John Breed. It was destroyed by fire in 1827, and not rebuilt by the owners. Slater's magnificent cotton-mill now occupies the site.

In 1814 the Fanning Manufacturing Company, con- sisting of four partners,-Chas. Fanning, Christopher Avery, Joseph Stanton, and Joseph C. Tyler,-erected a mill upon the river, not far from Scholfield's, and began the manufacture of cotton yarn and cotton cloth. Christopher Lippitt was their agent.

The largest mill at present in Jewett City is the cotton-mill owned by J. & W. Slater. It is a repre- sentative institution, and one of the most complete establishments of its kind in this section.

RES. OF D.A. GEER, GRISWOLD, CONN.

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GRISWOLD.

The Ashland Cotton Company is a joint-stock cor- poration, and is the successor of the firm of Anthony & Adams, who carried on manufacturing at this point.

J. E. Roberts also carries on quite an extensive business as a "top-roll coverer." The above consti- tute the manufactures of Jewett City.

But a portion of the immense water-power at Jew- ett City is at present utilized. The Slater Mill and the Ashland Company form in themselves a manu- facturing interest of no small proportion, but within half a mile of the depot and post-office is an un- utilized water-power, cheaply available, capable, with an eighteen-feet dam, of operating one hundred and twenty thousand spindles.

Mr. H. L. Reade. in speaking of Jewett City, says, "Long before its settlement by the whites it was a noted place of residence for the red men. Along the rapids of Pachaug they caught with curious contriv- ances the fish that frequented that beautiful stream ; in the lone forests along the shores of the Quinnebaug they found game of all kinds in abundance, and prob- ably one hundred years before the sound of the white man's axe disturbed the solitudes the number of in- habitants occupying the same territory was greater than that of the present day. No spot for scores of miles around (with one exception) has so long pre- served so many and so curious samples of Indian hus- bandry and war as this.

" As is usual, those almost inseparable attendants on the earliest civilization, the saw- and grist-mills, were first operated by the deflected waters of the turbulent Pachang. Flinging across the gorge a wide log and bush-dam, and turning the stream to the northward, along the base of the gradual ascent, the waters of the stream that drains several considerable towns and has at length gathered to its shore millions of dollars' worth of property begun.

"Reading backwards seventy years, thirty years onward from the first settlement, the oldest inhabit- ants mention as the business men and the business of the place Enoch Baker, the hatter ; John Wilson, the clothier, which by interpretation means a man who converted home-made flannels into broadcloth ; Elea- zer Jewett, who had added to his saw- and grist-mill the hotel business ; Frederick Fanning and Charles Fanning, the merchants of the 'city' and country roundabout.

Jewett City is a beautiful and healthful village, and contains four churches,-Congregational, Methodist, Baptist, and Roman Catholic,-two immense manu- factories, besides numerous mercantile establishments, etc. It is an important station on the Norwich and Worcester division of the New England Railroad, and is only three hours from Boston, the metropolis of New England, and only six hours to New York, the metropolis of the country, while Hartford and Providence are still easier of access.

Many of the building sites contiguous to the village

are as charming as those on the Hudson, with the soli- tary exception that the broader river with its wealth of sails is not in the foreground. The present physi- cians are William Soule and G. H. Jennings.

Hopeville is a cluster of houses about three miles east of Jewett City. Here was located a cotton- and woolen-mill, which was destroyed by fire.

Clayville is a small hamlet in the northwest part of the town, and here is located the linen-thread mill of A. B. Burleson & Son.

Glasgo is a small hamlet located in the southeast- ern part of the town, and was named in honor of a Mr. Glasgo, a colored man, who in an early day es- tablished iron-works at this point. These works were long since abandoned. The only manufactory now is a paper-mill, which was established some years ago. A post-office is located here, with William P. Young as postmaster.

The Jewett City Savings-Bank was incorporated in 1873 with the following incorporators : Thomas L. Shipman, Daniel S. Anthony, John W. Fanning, Asher P. Brown, Thos. A. Clarke, Alfred A. Young, John R. Tracy, Welcome A. Browning, Ira G. Briggs, Andrew C. Burnham, Jeremiah K. Adams, Philetus Rathbun, George Sanger, James O. Sweet, Erastus C. Kegwin, Hezekiah L. Reade, Phineas Boyle, Silas E. Sherman, William Soule, Beriah H. Browning, Jo- seph E. Leonard, Henry L. Johnson, F. P. Partridge, John A. Rockwell, Alfred F. Brown, Israel Mathew- son, Levi J. Branch, Cornelius Murphy, Edwin La- throp, Patrick Murtha.

The first president was Hezekiah L. Reade, the first vice-president Asher P. Brown, and the first treasurer and secretary Henry T. Crosby. Both Mr. Reade and Mr. Crosby have occupied these positions to the present time.

The first board of directors were as follows : James O. Sweet, Thomas A. Clark, Andrew C. Burnham, Phineas Boyle, Silas E. Sherman, Welcome A. Brown- ing, John A. Rockwell, Cornelius Murphy, William Soule, Beriah H. Browning, John R. Tracy. Attor- ney, Erastus C. Kegwin.

The first deposit was made June 23, 1873, by Miss Mary L. Brown ; amount, $100. The present (Aug. 20, 1881) amount of deposits is $322,975.

The present board of directors or trustees are as follows : Cornelius Murphy, John R. Tracy, Francis S. Young, Albert G. Brewster, Henry L. Johnson, Josepli E. Leonard, Israel Mathewson, Charles H. Fanning, George W. Brown, Stephen Tiffany, and Allen B. Burleson. E. C. Kegwin, attorney.

The present members of the corporation are as fol- lows : Thomas L. Shipman, Daniel S. Anthony, John W. Fanning, Alfred A. Young, John R. Tracy, Ira G. Briggs, Andrew C. Burnham, Jeremiah K. Adams, Philetus Rathbun, George Sanger, James O. Sweet, Erastus C. Kegwin, Hezekiah L. Reade, William Soule, Beriah H. Browning, Joseph E. Leonard, Henry L. Johnson, Frederick P. Partridge, John A.

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HISTORY OF NEW LONDON COUNTY, CONNECTICUT.

Rockwell, Alfred F. Brown, Israel Mathewson, Levi J. Branch, Cornelius Murphy, Edwin Lathrop, Fran- cis S. Young, Albert G. Brewster, Henry Lyon, Dan- iel M. Brown, George W. Brown, Stephen Tiffany, Louis K. Potter, Charles H. Fanning, Allen B. Bur- leson, George A. Ross, Clark W. Reynolds, Edward F. Burleson.

The present officers are as follows: President, Hez- ekiah L. Reade; Vice-Presidents, James O. Sweet, Alfred A. Young; Treasurer and Secretary, Henry T. Crosby.

KNIGHTS OF PYTHIAS .- A lodge was formed in Jewett City on the 23d of February, 1873, consisting of eighteen charter members. The first officers were George O. Stead, Past Chancellor ; Robert B. Sher- man, Chancellor Commander; Charles Thomas, V. C .; Edwin Ingraham, Prelate; Thomas Chese- borough, M. of E .; Theodore Dunkerly, M. of .F .; William Sherman, M. at A .; John Hutchinson, K. of R. and S .; William Webster, I. G .; James H. Smith, O. G. The first officers since the organization to the present time have been Wm. Soule, M.D., Ed- win Ingraham, Edwin Sherman, H. M. Miner, Amos P. Davis, Wm. C. Blivin, and Joseph Rood, who is C. C. at this date. This lodge has been greatly prospered, having 115 names of members upon its roster, and although some have died and many moved away, it is at present a strong and well-working lodge. It has ever relieved its distressed or sick members, furnished watchers for all who have needed them, cared for the dying, and buried with loving hands and sad hearts all its dead. Its ministrations to those who have had need have always been ready, and the source of lasting gratitude from many. It has paid out for relief and burial more than five hundred dol- lars. It has now on hand in property and cash in bank about fifteen hundred dollars. Its beautiful burial service has been read at the grave of all its dead, and touching tributes to their memory have been rendered in all instances. Its aim has ever been and will continue to be to relieve the distressed, lift up the fallen, wipe away the tears of the sorrowing, comfort the widow and the orphan, and thus contribute towards the erection of that monument sacred to friendship, under whose shadow virtue and truth shall ever flourish, and vice and crime shall flee away, and thus hasten the day when every kindred and nation and tongue and people under the whole heavens shall acknowledge the common brotherhood of man and the universal fatherhood of God.

MOUNT VERNON LODGE, No. 75, F. & A. M., was organized Nov. 21, 1871. The charter members were F. H. Fanning, Wm. G. Duce, D. K. Prior, B. M. Gay, Amos Chesbrough, Nehemiah Prentice, L. D. Arms- trong. The first officers were F. H. Fanning, W. M. ; W. G. Duce, S. W .; D. K. Prior, J. W. The Past Masters are F. H. Fanning, 1871-73; W. G. Duce, 1874-75; D. K. Prior, 1876-78; Israel Mathewson, 1879-80. The present officers are Thomas M. Crumb,

W. M .; Charles H. Ray, S. W .; Charles Edward Prior, J. W. ; D. K. Prior, Treas .; A. R. Young, Sec .; Rev. G. N. Kellogg, Chap .; Alpheus Weaver, Mar- shal; H. A. Brown, S. D .; James L. Ray, J. D .; Gilbert MeBroome, S. S .; Antoine Maynard, J. S .; Charles Edward Prior, Organist ; Thomas E. Lee, Tyler.

GEORGE DENISON PRENTICE was born in this town. He graduated at Brown University in 1823, studied law, and was admitted to the bar in 1829, but did not practice. In 1830 he removed to Louisiana, having been editor of the Hartford Weekly Review for two years previous. From this time until his death he was editor of the Louisville Journal, a Whig news- paper, which throughout the war opposed the cause of secession with much vigor. He was a man of great personal courage, keen-witted, bitterly sarcastic, and of high political sagacity. He published various poems of merit, also a life of Henry Clay in 1831, and a collection of witty paragraphs from his paper called Prenticeana.

R. L. STANTON, D.D., a conspicuous divine in the Presbyterian Church, is a native of Griswold. His brother, Henry B., was also born here. He is a law- yer in New York, best known as the husband of Eliza- beth Cady Stanton. Another son of this town is Moses C. Tyler, who is acquiring an enviable reputa- tion as the author of the " History of American Lit- erature," of which one volume is already before the public. He wields a polished pen. He is now a professor at Ann Arbor University, Michigan.

REV. WILLIAM J. TUCKER, D.D., Bartlet Professor of Sacred Rhetoric and Lecturer on Pastoral Theology, born in Griswold, Conn., first settled as pastor in Manchester, N. H., afterwards settled as the successor of Rev. William Adams, D.D., over the Presbyterian Church, Madison Square, New York.

CHAPTER XXXVII.

GRISWOLD-(Continued). ECCLESIASTICAL-CIVIL.

The First Congregational Church of Griswold-Congregational Church, Jewelt City-Episcopal Church-Baptist Church-Roman Catholic Church-Methodism in Griswold-Representatives from 1816 to 1882.

First Church in Griswold .- Griswold was incor- porated as a town in 1815. In the carly records of the ecclesiastical society it is designated as North Pres- ton, being originally a part of Preston.

Precisely what year the people began having divine worship separate from the church in Preston the rec- ords do not show. In 1717, thirty-one years after the town was settled, the people in North Preston were divided on the question of locating a site for a meeting-house. On May 9th of that year the Legis- lature appointed a committee of two to determine the

c .; ir-

RES, OF JAMES C. LORD, GRISWALD CONN.

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GRISWOLD.

site, which was accordingly done. But the two parties, designated " petitioners" and " non-petitioners," soon came to a compromise, and changed the location to the place where the present house now stands.

The following vote will show what significance was attached to the erection of a meeting-house one hun- dred and fifty years ago :

" Voted, That there shall be forty-one shillings and eight pence of the Society's money laid out for one hundred weight of cheese for the raising of our meeting-house."

In October, 1719, the inhabitants of the society (there was no church) chose Mr. Hezekiah Lord to be their minister. In the year following, Nov. 30, 1720, what is now the First Church in Griswold was organized, and Mr. Lord was ordained and installed pastor the same day.

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History of New London county, Connecticut : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Part 99

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