USA > Connecticut > Litchfield County > Woodbury > History of ancient Woodbury, Connecticut : from the first Indian dead in 1659 to 1854 > Part 45
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Ilis talents were far above mediocrity. I have heard the older members of the bar speak of his eloquence when his feelings were excited, as greater than that of almost any other lawyer in the state. His reputation was high as an impartial and sound judge. The few written opinions of his which are to be found in the reports, make no display of learning, but are characterized by good sense and sound judgment.
But it was as a patriot and a man that he was chiefly worthy of commemoration. It has never been my fortune to meet with any one for whom I entertained such profound and unmingled respect. He came nearer to the perfection of character which raised Gen. Washington so much above other men, than any other person within my observation. He was the very embodiment of the spirit of '76. Nothing base or dishonorable would stand a moment in his presence. No man ever so forcibly called to my mind those words of Horace,
" Justum et tenacem propositi virum, Non civium ardor prava jubentium, Non vultus instantis tyranni, Mente quatit solidã." " The man of just and steadfast soul, Will scorn alike the mob's control, And tyrant's frowns."
His independent spirit would never suffer him to stoop to beg a favor to save his life. He would rather have raked a support from the ground, with his fingers, than have owed it to charity or injustice. No wonder that when such men were to be found, liberty was secured.
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He was indeed a great and good mau, and in all respects a model worthy of imitation.
The following is a fac-simile of his autograph :
0 8
ISAAC GILBERT GRAHAM, M. D.,
Was the son of Dr. Andrew Graham, and born in Southbury par- ish, Woodbury. September 10th. 1760. Ile studied medicine under the direction of his father, and entered upon the active duties of his profession. He was an assistant surgeon in the army, under Gen. Washington, at West Point. He was present at several engage- ments, and when he retired from the army, he received from Gen. Washington and other officers, the highest proof of their respeet and esteem. At the close of the war, he commenced practice at Union- ville. N. Y., where he lived for more than sixty years. His was a career of constant usefulness and benevolence. With the numerous excellences he exhibited as a patriot of the Revolution, a benevolent physician, a kind friend and adviser, in every domestie relation, he united the more important characteristics of a sincere and humble be- liever in the Christian faith. He realized that the highest of human enjoyments is a faithful and persevering devotion, and that no rapture on earth can equal the rapture of piety. He died at Union- ville, Westchester county, N. Y., September Ist, 1818, aged eighty- eight years.
HON. JOHN A. GRAHAM, LL. D.,
Was son of Dr. Andrew Graham, and brother of the above. He devoted himself to the practice of the law, and resided in the city of New York, engaged in the active duties of that profession for many years. He was an energetic and successful lawyer. The degree of doctor of laws was conferred on him by a foreign university. He was a kind and hospitable man-a " gentleman of the old school," in 29
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every sense of the word. For a further account of Dr. Graham, the reader is referred to the genealogy of the "Graham family," in the next chapter.
HON. JOEL IIINMAN,
Is the son of Col. Joel Hinman, and was born January 27th, 1802. The colonel was a patriot of the Revolution, and received a musket. ball in his thigh, which he carried for nearly thirty-three years. It finally became troublesome, and Dr. Anthony Barritt performed a surgical operation upon him and extracted it. It is now in the pos- session of his relict, Widow Sarah Hinman, of Southbury. IIe left with it, at his decease, a serap of paper, on which is written the fol- lowing :
" This ball I rec'd in my left thigh, near the groin, on the 17th day of April, 1777, at the time the British burnt Danbury, which struck on a bayonet, which hung on my thigh, and was taken out on the 30th day of March, 1810, by Doct. A. Burritt.
Joel Ilinman, a native of Southbury-A. D. 1810."
The subject of this sketch devoted himself to the study of the pro- fession of law, and practiced it for a number of years, at Waterbury, Conn. He married a Miss Scovill, of that town. He was appointed a judge of the superior court, in 1842, which office he now holds. He is at present a resident of New Haven.
CAPT. ELISHA HINMAN,
Of New London, Conn., was born in " ancient Woodbury," parish of Southbury. The date of his removal from his native town, with two of his brothers, was about the year 1760. He commanded the Cabot, a continental brig, in the first naval expedition under the au- thority of Congress, fitted out at New London, Jannary, 1776, and commanded by Commodore Hopkins. He was a veteran of the sea before the commencement of the Revolution. He succeeded Paul Jones in the command of the ship Alfred, which he was unfortunately obliged to surrender to the Ariadne and Ceres, on a return voyage from France, March 9th, 1778. Being carried a prisoner to Eng- land, after a sbort confinement, he found friends who aided his escape
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to France, whence he returned home, and engaged for a time in pri- vate adventures. In 1779, he went out in the privateer sloop. Han- cock, owned by Thomas Mumford, and had a run of brilliant, dashing success. In 1780, he took command of the armed ship Deane. In 1779. Captains Hinman and Havens took the Lady Erskine, a brig of ten guns, having cut her off with their sloops Hancock and Bearer, in sight of the harbor of New London, from a fleet of twenty-one sail, which was passing toward Rhode Island, noder convoy of the Thames frigate of thirty-six guns. After the war, Capt. Hinman and other commanders, casting aside the apparel of war, entered into the mer- cantile line. Hlinman was afterward in the revenue service. He died in 1807, aged seventy-three.'
LAURENS HULL, M. D.,
Was the son of Dr. Titus Hull, and born in Bethlem, June 6th, 1779. Ile studied medicine with Doctor David Hull, of Fairfield, was licensed to practice physic and surgery by the Connecticut State Medical Society, May, 1802, removed and settled in Oneida county, New York, in November of that year, where he practiced his profes- sion until 1836, when he removed to Angelica, Allegany county, the place of his present residence. In the year 1813, he was elected a member of the Assembly from the county of Oneida. In 1817, he was elected delegate to the State Medical Society, and was twice re- elected to the same office, each term being four years in length. In 1824, he was elected a permanent member of the same society. In 1825, he was again elected to the Assembly. In 1826, he was elected Fellow of the College of Physicians and Surgeons of the University of the state of New York. In 1827, he received the honorary degree of doctor of medicine, from the regents of the same university. In 1828, he was elected a commissioner to the general assembly of the Presbyte- rian church, which met at Philadelphia. He was twice elected vice president of the New York State Medical Society, and twice presi- dent of the same. He was in 1837, elected a senator of the state of New York, for four years, from the 6th senate district, composed of the counties of Allegany, Broome, Cattaraugus, Chemung, Chenango, Livingston, Steuben, Tompkins and Tioga. In 1852, he was a mem- ber of the general assembly of the Presbyterian church, which met at
1 Miss Caulkins' History of New London, Conn.
1
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Washington city, in May. IIe married in 1803, Dorcas, daughter of David Ambler, Esq., Bethlem, Conn. IIer mother was sister of the Rev. Benjamin Wildman, of Southbury.
REV. LEVERETT IIULL,
The fifth son of Dr. Titus Hull, was born at Bethlem, December 3d, 1796, graduated at Hamilton College, studied theology at Auburn Theological Seminary, was licensed to preach, and became an able and successful minister of the gospel. He died at Sandusky City, Ohio, of cholera, after an illness of only eleven hours, September 3d, 1852.
IION. ANDREW C. HULL,
Fourth son of Dr. Titus Hull, held the office of first judge of the court for Allegany county, New York, for five years. He has held other offices of honor and responsibility in.the community where he has resided. He has held the office of postmaster under four differ- ent administrations. He is a man of intelligence and mueli ability.
GEN. ELIAS HULL,
Third son of Dr. Titus Hull, was born in Bethlehem society, April 3d, 1786 ; was a captain in the war of 1812, having volunteered with an independent company, which he raised for one year. IIe served with reputation as an officer, and afterward received a commission as a brigadier-general in the militia of New York. IIe now resides in Alabama, where he is a practicing attorney. He is a man of more than ordinary mental and acquired abilities.
SAMUEL J. HITCHCOCK, LL. D.,
Was a native of Bethlem, a graduate and a tutor in Yale College. He was for many years an instructor of law in that institution before his death in 1845. He was mayor of the city of New Haven, judge of the county court, and a commissioner of bankruptcy under the na- tional bankrupt law.
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REV. PHILO JUDSON,
Is the son of Philo Judson, and was born in Woodbury at a house which formerly occupied the site of Horace Hurd's new house. He graduated at Yale College in 1809, and settled in the ministry at Ashford, Conn., in 1811. Here he continued to labor in his high calling for twenty-one years, during which time the church was vis- ited with numerous revivals of religion. He was dismissed from this church on account of ill-health. Ile was again settled at Willimantic, having been previously settled for a short time, at another place. At the close of Dr. Chapin's ministry he was called to Rocky Hill, Conn. During a revival, which followed, he was again prostrated by a severe attack of bleeding from the lungs. Since that time he has preached very little, but has traveled about the country for his health, introducing standard books into the common and other schools.
Mr. Judson was a classmate of Dr. Nettleton, and has labored much with him during seasons of revival of religion in various places. There are few ministers, whose labors have been so success- ful in adding members to the Christian church. More than 1600 individuals have been gathered by him within its portals. Surely the laborer has had his reward.
REV. SAMUEL JUDSON.
Rev. Samuel Judson, son of Benjamin Judson, was born in Wood- bury, in the year 1767. He received the honors of Yale College, in 1790, and was ordained and installed minister at Uxbridge. Mass., in 1792. Ile labored in this field of the gospel, faithfully and success- fully, forty years. Mr. Judson held a respectable standing among the ministers of his age. He was very familiar with the Scriptures, was sound in the faith, and plain in his exhibitions of gospel doc- trines in the pulpit. He was truly a godly man. He loved the work to which his divine Master had called him. The character of Christ, as displayed in the work of redemption, was the loved theme of his preaching and conversation. Mr. Judson possessed many amiable traits of character. His kind disposition and his benevolent heart endeared him, not only to his own family and people, but also to all with whom he held intercourse. He was beloved in life ; and, at his death, he was universally lamented.
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HISTORY OF ANCIENT WOODBURY.
REV. ALBERT JUDSON.
Rev. Albert Judson, late of Philadelphia, was a native of Wood- bury. He was born in September, 1798. His father, Dea. Benja- min Judson, an eminently pious officer in the north church, made an carly and formal consecration of this son to the work of the gospel ministry. While yet a child, he evinced an uncommon fondness for study ; and, at a suitable age, he was sent to Litchfield to be pre- pared for college. It was while here that his attention was arrested, and that he was led to give up his heart to God. Soon after, he made a publie profession of his faith in Christ. IIe received the honors of Yale College at the age of twenty-three. Hle prosecuted his theological studies in the city of New York. There he com- menced his public labors as an agent for the Sunday School Union, and continued in its employ several years. When he entered this interesting field of labor, the whole business of Sabbath school in- struction was in its infancy. No suitable text-books for the assist- ance of teachers were then published. To this beloved brother, the Christian church is indebted for the first systematic course of Scrip- ture questions, adapted to this purpose. He felt the necessity of such a work ; he meditated upon it; he asked counsel of God in secret ; and the result was, the volumes entitled "Judson's Ques- tions," were thrown from the press into the hands of superintendents and their associates. The work was highly commended, and exten- sively used, in our country. It was republished in England, and was the means of giving an impulse to the cause of Sabbath schools in that country, beyond any work which had then been published. The author has often been heard to express the opinion, that the season of his labors in the cause of Sabbath schools, was the most important and useful portion of his ministry. In November, 1832, he took the pastoral charge of a church in Philadelphia. Here his labors were attended with a signal blessing. Year after year, the reviving influences of God's spirit, in a greater or less degree, were shed down upon his people.
There was a rare combination of excellencies, in this beloved man. He possessed, naturally, a good mind-he had a warm heart. His disposition was amiable and cheerful, to a high degree. As a scholar, and as a theologian, he stood in the higher class of ministers. As a Christian, few indeed, if any, have been more pious and devo- ted. As a preacher, he was plain, solemn, direct, impressive. The earnest manner, in which he presented and pressed home the truths
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of the gospel, was eminently adapted to carry the conviction to the minds of his hearers, that his whole soul was intent on the glory of God in their salvation.
As might naturally be expected of such a man, he loved revivals of religion, and warmly engaged in all the benevolent enterprises of the day.
His last sickness was protracted and painful ; and while others had no hope of his recovery, he could not believe that his divine master had no more work for him to do in his vineyard. But when told that his physicians had pronounced his case hopeless, he cheer- fully said, "Then I must set my house in order." To his oldest son he said, " Remember as you look down into your father's grave, the solemn charge which I now give you, to read the Bible daily on your knees." The last utterance of his dying lips to his distressed wife was, " C'ast yourself at the door of God's providence-he will sus- tain you-Christ is precious-in his atonement, is all my hope."
REV. EVERTON JUDSON.
The subject of this notice, was the son of Asa and Sarah Judson, and was born in Woodbury, December 8th, 1799. He was descended on both sides from pious ancestors. Ilis paternal grandfather, Ben- jamin Judson, is represented to have been an eminently devoted Christian. Ilis maternal grandfather, Matthew Minor, held the office of deacon in the Congregational church of Woodbury, for the space of forty-three years, and died at the advanced age of eighty- three years. Mr. Judson was the eldest of six children, and in his youth was prompt, decided, unyielding in his opinion, jocose and sarcastic. His moral character and conduct were always unexcep- tionable.
HIe commenced his preparation for college in the spring of 1822, entered the sophomore class at Yale College, in the fall of 1823, and graduated at that institution in 1826. During his course of study at college and at the Theological Seminary, he was exceedingly difli- dent, rarely, if ever, taking any part in public literary exercises. At the close of his second year at the seminary, he became an agent of the American Sunday School Union, to travel in the west. In the summer of 1829, having previously returned to Connecticut, he was ordained as a missionary to the Home Missionary Society in
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Woodbury, by the Litchfield south eonsociation. He again went to Ohio, and commenced preaching at Milan toward the close of that year, and was connected in ministerial labor with the church in that place, till the close of his life. IIe was an active laborer in the field allotted to him, and spent his life in projecting and carrying into execution plans of usefulness. He died August 20th, 1848. He was a good preacher, holding a ready pen, and having an ability at the same time, to interest and instruct in extemporaneous efforts. Ilis temperament was ardent, and his conception of things strong and lively. His power of description was great, nor was his sarcas- tic power less remarkable. When he chose, he could assail vice with a merciless torrent of satire. He excelled in the discharge of pastoral duties. His whole soul was in his work, and he guarded with watchful care the people committed to his charge. He had great tact in approaching men of all classes and conditions, He was impetnous in his feelings, and tenacious of his purpose. In fine, he was an excellent specimen of an energetic, practical man. It is not deemed necessary to extend this sketch, as an excellent memoir of Mr. Judson, by Rev. E. P. Barrows, Jr., has been published, to which the reader is referred.
REV. ADONIRAM JUDSON,
Was born in Woodbury, and baptized July 15th, 1750. He grad- uated at Yale College in 1775, received the honorary degree of Master of Arts from Harvard, in 1782, and was pastor of the Con- gregational churches in Malden, Wenham and Plymouth, Mass., un- til 1817, when he became a Baptist, resigned his charge, and died soon after. ITis son, Rev. Dr. Adoniram, graduated at Brown Uni- versity, in 1807, and recently died, after having been a faithful and successful foreign missionary, in the Burman empire, for forty years.1
REV. EPIIRAIM JUDSON,
The eldest child of Elnathan and Rebecca Judson, was born De-
1 Rev. Dr. Wayland, President of Brown University, is preparing the memoir of this eminent man. It will be looked for with interest by the religious community.
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cember 5th, 1737, and according to primitive New England usage, was baptized the next Sabbath. He was brother of the preceding, and graduated at Yale College in 1763. His first settlement in the ministry was over the second church in Norwich, Conn., as the suc- cessor of Doctor Whittaker. He commenced his labors in Taunton, Mass., some time during the year 1780. These labors for the space of ten years, the period of his settlement, were of a very decided and positive character. In the pulpit, and out of it. Mr. Judson left the mark of a strong mind upon everything he touched. His peo- ple were never at a loss to know what he believed. He was the very man to make warm friends, and was just as sure to have impla- cable enemies. Ilis cecentricities are remembered by those who have forgotten his excellencies.
He was stern and apparently severe, but not without a good degree of moderation and mildness. He was very precise in all his pro- ceedings.
Notwithstanding his marked peculiarities, and undesirable oddities, Mr. Judson had many redeeming qualities, which made him not only as a preacher, but as a citizen and a neighbor, a very desirable and useful man. One who knew him well, says of him, "His temper was kind and hospitable, and his deportment courteous. Occasion- ally, he was exceedingly interesting in the pulpit, discovering great learning and logical acuteness. His manner, when he commenced, was slow and indolent, but always solemn ; as he proceeded, he be- came animated, and seldom failed before the close, to produce a deep interest in his hearers."
Mr. Judson was dismissed from his pastoral charge in Taunton, December 28th, 1790. He was subsequently settled in Sheffield, Mass., where he continued in the ministry, until his death, February 23d, 1813, in the seventy-sixth year of liis age, after a long service in the ministry of nearly fifty years. He was considered a learned divine, an acute logician, and an evangelical preacher. He was mild, courteous and hospitable. By his numerous friends he was deemed a wise counselor, an active peacemaker, and a sincere Christian.1
1 This sketch is extracted from a late ab'e and interesting work by Rev. Samuel Hopkins Emery, entitled " The Ministry of Taunton," Mass.
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HISTORY OF ANCIENT WOODBURY.
HON. EPHRAIM KIRBY,
Was born in Judea society, Woodbury, on a farm now owned by Andrew Hine, Esq. The cellar over which the house stood still ex- ists. It is situated about eighty rods from Gen. Daniel B. Brins- made's dwelling-house, and to this day goes by the name of the " Kirby Farm."' His father was a farmer in moderate circumstan- ces, and Ephraim was employed on the farm during his boyhood. At the age of nineteen, fired with the patriotism which burst into a flame throughout the country, on the news of the battle of Lexing- ton, he shouldered his musket, and marched with the volunteers from Litchfield to the scene of conflict, in time to be present at the battle of Bunker Hill. He remained in the field until independence was achieved, with only a few intervals, when he was driven from it by severe wounds. Ile was in nineteen battles and skirmishes-among them, Brandywine, Monmouth, Germantown, &c., and received thirteen wounds, seven of which were saber-ents on the head, in- flieted by a British soldier at Germantown, where Kirby was left for dead upon the field. These "honorable scars," he carried with him through life.
At the close of the Revolution, he rejected with indignation the offer of pecuniary assistance to speculate in soldiers' certificates, by which he might have amassed wealth without labor. He would not tarnish the glory of the cause of freedom, by thus taking advantage of the necessities of his comrades in arms-preferring, penniless as he was, but conscious of the fire within, to take a more congenial road to eminence. By the labor of his own hands, he earned the price of his education. He was for some time a member of Yale College, and in 1787, received the honorary degree of Master of Arts, from that institution. Mr. Kirby studied law in the office of Reynold Marvin, Esq., who had been king's attorney before the war, and who relinquished the office for the purpose of engaging with all his might in the great struggle for independence. After he was ad- mitted to the bar, Mr. Kirby was married to Ruth Marvin, the excel- lent and accomplished daughter of his distinguished patron and pre- ceptor.
1 Mr. Kilbourne, in his " Litchfield Biography," from which most of this sketch is taken, says Mr. Kirby was a native of Litchfield, but the birthplace here given, is well attested by the best authority.
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In 1791, Col. Kirby was for the first time elected a representative to the legislature-a post of honor and responsibility to which he was subsequently re-chosen at thirteen semi-annual elections. As a legislator, he was always distinguished for the dignity of his de- portment, for his comprehensive and enlightened views, for the liber- ality of his sentiments, and for his ability, firmness and decision.
On the election of Jefferson to the presidency, in 1801, Col. Kirby was appointed supervisor of the national revenue for the state of Connecticut. About this period, he was for several years a candi- date for the office of governor. Upon the acquisition of Louisiana, the president appointed him a judge of the then newly organized territory of Orleans. Ilaving accepted the station, he set out for New Orleans ; but he was not destined to reach that place. Having proceeded as far as Fort Stoddard, in the Mississippi territory, he was taken sick. and died October 2d, 1804, aged forty-seven-at a period when a wide career of public usefulness seemed opening upon him. Ilis remains were interred with the honors of war, and other demonstrations of respect.
While in the practice of law in Litchfield, in 1789, he published a volume of reports of the decisions of the superior court and su- preme court of errors in this state. This was a novel undertaking, being the first volume of reports ever published in this country. It was executed with faithfulness, judgment and ability, and is still re- garded as authority in all our courts. Col. Kirby was a man of the highest moral as well as physical courage-devoted in his feelings and aspirations-warm, generous and constant in his attachments- and of indomitable energy. Ile was, withal, gentle and winning in his manners, kindly in his disposition, and naturally of an ardent and cheerful temperament, though the last few years of his life were saddened by heavy pecuniary misfortunes. As a lawyer, he was remarkable for frankness and downright honesty to his clients, striving always to prevent litigation, uniformly allaying irritation and effecting compromises, and only prosecuting with energy the just and good cause, against the bad. Ile enjoyed the friendship of many sages of the Revolution, his correspondence with whom, would form interesting materials for the history of his time ; but, unfortunately, almost all of it was lost at sea, between New York and St. Augus- tine, some twenty-five years ago. A few letters to and from Presi- dent. Jefferson are, however, still preserved by Col. Edmund Kirby, of Brownville, N. Y., which are interesting as showing the relations
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