USA > Connecticut > Litchfield County > Woodbury > History of ancient Woodbury, Connecticut : from the first Indian dead in 1659 to 1854 > Part 46
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of confidence existing between the subject of this notice, and that great statesman.
Mrs. Kirby died at Litchfield, in October, 1817, aged fifty-three.
NICHOLAS S. MASTERS, ESQ.,
Was born in the parish of Judea, Woodbury ; was educated at Yale College, where he graduated in 1779; read law with Daniel Everitt, Esq., and settled in New Milford in the practice of his pro- fession, immediately after his admission to the bar, about the year 1785. He continued to practice there until his death, Sept. 12, 1795, in the thirty-eighth year of his age. He was a member of the Gen- eral Assembly in May, 1792, and again in May, 1794.
REV. ELISHA MITCHELL, D. D.,
Is a native of Judea society, Washington ; graduated at Yale Col- lege in 1813, and is now Professor of Natural Philosophy in the Uni- versity of North Carolina, residing at Chapel Hill. The materials for a sketch of Prof. Mitchell have not reached the author.
REV. JUSTUS MITCHELL, V. D. M.,
Was a native of Woodbury, graduated at Yale College in 1776, married a sister of Roger Sherman, signer of the Declaration of In- dependence, and was settled over the Congregational church of New Canaan in 1783, where he continued to reside till his death in 1806. Ile was a talented and useful man in the sphere of his labors.
The following inscription, copied from his monument in the old graveyard in New Canaan, contains an epitome of the history of his life and character.
" In memory of the Rev. Justus Mitchell, A. M., V. D. M., pastor of the Church of Christ in New Canaan, who died suddenly in the hour of sleep, 21th September, A. D. 1506, in the fifty-second year of his age, and twenty-fifth of his ministry. In death was lost to his consort, an affectionate and beloved hus- band; to his children a kind, revered parent, counsellor and guide ; to his flock a faithful, learned and venerated pastor ; to the Church of Christ a bright or-
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nament and example; to the poor a liberal benefactor : to the discousolate a comforter and friend.
" In doctrine uncorrupt, in language plain. And plain in manner, decent, solemn, chaste, Affectionate in look, and much impress'd. By him the violated law spoke ont Its thunders ; and by him in strains as sweet As angels use, the gospel whisper'd peace."
REV. FREDERICK MUNSON,
Was born in Bethlem, graduated at Yale College in 1843, studied theology at East Windsor and New Haven, was licensed to preach in 1845 by the Hampshire Association in Massachusetts, and was or- dained over the Congregational church in North Greenwich. Sept. 22, 1817.
REV. RUFUS MURRAY,
Is the youngest son of Philo Murray, Esq., and was born at Wood- bury in 1796. His education was completed under the instruction of Rev. Dr. Brunson, who was at the head of the institution at Chesh- ire, where most of the elergy of the Episcopal denomination at that day were educated, it being at that time the only institution in Con- nectieut under the patronage of that church. He followed his fam- ily to Ohio, and was ordained deacon by Bishop chase, in 1822. He was soon after called to the rectorship at St. Paul's Church, Mayville, Chatauque Co., New York, where he received priest's or- ders from the Rt. Rev. Bishop Ilobart. He remained in western New York, discharging his ministerial duties with pleasure to him- self and profit to his church, many years. He is now settled at Adrian City, Michigan, in a flourishing parish, much esteemed as a faithful and popular preacher, and much beloved by his parishioners.
COL. AMASA PARKER,
Was born in 1784, in that part of Ancient Woodbury known as Judea society, in the neighborhood of the Hollisters, Ilazens, Hines
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and Royces. He was named Amasa, after his father, and had a brother Daniel, a clergyman and teacher in Sharon, many years since. The latter left one son, Amasa J. Parker, who is one of the justi- ces of the supreme court, and resides at Albany, N. Y. He studied his profession with the subject of this sketch, and has distinguished him- self as a jurist. Thomas, grandfather of Col. Parker, removed from Wallingford in 1756, and lived in Judea till his death in 1788. He left six sons, Peter, Thomas, Amasa, Abner, Joseph and Daniel, all of whom were whigs of the Revolution. After the war, Peter moved to the state of New York.
Col. Parker graduated at Yale College in 1808, read law princi- pally in the law school of Judges Gould and Reeve, at Litchfield, and was there admitted to the bar. Ile shortly afterward removed to Delhi, Delaware County, N. Y., and has ever since resided there, being a period of forty years. He has devoted himself wholly to the practice of his profession, in which he has become eminent, and en- joyed an extensive practice. He has never sought office, but has nevertheless held several offices, civil and military. He was for eight years, surrogate for Delaware county. In 1847, after the adop- tion of the present constitution of New York, he was offered the nom- ination for justice of the supreme court, on a ticket which was sure of an election ; but he declined the nomination, choosing rather the honors of a successful legal practice, and the quiet enjoyment of pri- vate life.
COL. HENRY PERRY,
A youthful and gallant hero, who was killed on the confines of Mexico in 1817, whilst bravely contending for the cause of civil lib- erty in that interesting section of America, was from his earliest youth a resident of Woodbury. Col. Perry was one of those heroic and chivalrous youth, whose courage springs from the noblest impulse of nature, an enthusiastic love of liberty, and a generous sympathy for all who are the unfortunate subjects of despotie power. He was engaged as a volunteer in the glorious defense of New Orleans, and after the peace, joined the patriot army of Mexico. He had the command of a detachment of men under Mina, and was distinguished for his zeal, his courage, and his enterprise, during the short career of that unfortunate general, whose fate, and that of the gallant Perry's,
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were associated by that providence which governs the destinies of man.1
REV. GEORGE E. PIERCE, D. D.,
Is a native of that part of Ancient Woodbury now included in the town of Southbury. Ile graduated at Yale College in 1816, studied theology, and settled in Harwinton ; preached there some years, when he was elected President of Western Reserve College, Ohio, which office he still continues to hokl. The degree of Doctor of Divinity was conferred upon him a few years ago by Middlebury College.
REV. CHARLES PRENTICE.2
Was born in Bethlehem society, Woodbury, in 1778, and gradnated at Yale College in 1802. Small and rather feeble, but symmetrical in form, he had a pleasant and honest countenance, suggestive of Na- thaniel, whom our Saviour saw under the fig-tree. A man of uncom- mon gift in prayer, he had his " conversation in the world" by the grace of God, in simplicity and godly sincerity. With a sound mind, a warm heart, and devoted piety, it seemed to be his meat and drink to do the will of his Heavenly Father. In the pulpit and in the so- cial meeting, he spoke with great ease and carnestness. As his man- ner everywhere among his people was very affectionate, he could " reprove, rebuke and exhort," with little risk of giving offense. The poet has well described his pastoral course, in saying of "the good minister :"
" Prompt at every call, He weeps and watches, prays and feels for all ; And as a bird each fond endearment tries To tempt its unfledged offspring to the skies, Ile tries each art, reproves each dull delay, Allures to brighter worlds, and leads the way."
The last sickness of Mr. Prentice, long and painful, he bore with much Christian patience, and with assured hope and faith. His cov-
1 Niles and Pease's Gazetteer of Connecticut and Rhode Island, p. 267.
2 Rev. Mr. Yale's Discourse at Litchfield, July, 1852.
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enant God was with him in the furnace to purify and not consume ; to brighten his graces, and complete his preparation for the faithful minister's home. After thirty-four years of arduous labor, the much- loved and highly useful minister of South Canaan, passed to his rest, May 29, 1838, aged sixty years.
MAJOR AMOS STODDARD.
The subject of this sketch, while on a visit to England, gave con- siderable attention to the investigation of the history of his ancestry. He found that his English ancestors were Puritans, and traces them back to 1490, at which time one of them lived in the hamlet of Mot- tingham, in Kent, about seven miles from London Bridge, where he owned some three hundred or four hundred acres of land. One of the descendants of the latter, Anthony Stoddard, emigrated to Bos- ton, Mass., where he died, about the year 1676. From that period to the present, a very full genealogy of the family was prepared by Elijah W. Stoddard, in 1849, in which year he graduated at Amherst College. The principal part of that publication will appear in the genealogies, which will be found in the next chapter of this volume.
Major Stoddard was born at Woodbury. Oct. 26, 1762. His father was Anthony, third son of Eliakim, who was the second son of Rev. Anthony, the first of the name that settled in Woodbury. His mother's name was Read, a half-sister of Richard Smith, of Rox- bury parish, father of Judge Nathaniel Smith. When he was a few months old, his father removed to Lanesborongh, Mass. In an auto- biography of himself, he says, " that if in childhood he possessed any valuable qualities, they were a strong memory and an aptuess at ac- quiring whatever he aimed at. That at eight years of age he was able to read the Scriptures with fluency, and with a passable pronun- ciation. His memory secured and retained whatever he read." As an illustration of the latter faculty he says, " The battles of the Jews made strong impressions on my mind, and I used to recite from mem- ory the whole of the books of Samuel, Kings and Chronicles. The prayers I heard at school in the daytime, I frequently repeated to my mother in the evening. I was more than once called on to recite the sermon I had just heard, and always succeeded-once indeed in the presence of the parson, who had his notes before him." But, he says, " If my mind was tenacious, I wanted ideas. If my ear was
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pleased with hearing, or reading an eloquent sermon, or any other composition, my mind was too weak to profit by it ; and I remember to have read many poetic effusions, which filled me with warmth and animation, though I did not comprehend their meaning. Perhaps this is the case with all children ; but I mention these trifles to show that the lapse of forty years has not erased them from my mind."
Notwithstanding Major Stoddard's low estimate of his intellectual powers, as indicated in these extracts, yet it is unquestionably true, that he possessed no ordinary mind, as his after life, and the estima- tion in which his literary and scientific attainments were held by oth- ers, abundantly show. He entered the army early in 1779, as a pri- vate soldier, before he was seventeen years of age, and was mustered into service at West Point by Baron Steuben. Illustrative of the spirit by which be and thousands of others were actuated at that eventful period, he states, that he was at the time small of his age, and fearing that bis small stature would induce the baron to reject him, he " gathered the dirt under his heels," to increase his height. Ile remained in service until the army was disbanded, when he re- turned home a non-commissioned officer, less than twenty years of age. During his service in the army, he contracted no habits of dis- sipation ; and notwithstanding the vicissitudes of several arduous campaigns, the vigor of his constitution was much increased, so much so that he was six feet in height, and possessed of so much vigor of body, that a march of forty miles a day created little or no fatigue. In the spring of 1784, be removed to Boston, and obtained a clerk- ship in the office of the supreme court, under Charles Cushing, & brother of the chief justice, and was a member of his family for two years, during which time he studied diligently, and laid the foundation of an education which rendered hien an able writer. During the same period, he wrote much for the newspapers, and so ardent was he in the acquisition of knowledge, that in one year he read one hun- dred and fifty volumes.
In 1786, the Shays rebellion began to rear its head, and Congress authorized the raising of twe regiments of infantry, to be commanded by Cols. Jackson and Humphrey. In one of these, Major Stoddard was commissioned as an ensign, and was actively engaged nuder Gen. Lincoln in suppressing it. After the suppression of that once cele- brated, but now ahost forgotten outbreak of popular feeling, Mr. Stoddard returned to Boston, and went thence to England in 1791 and .1792. After his return from Europe, he resumed his studies, and in April, 1793, he was admitted to the bar, and afterward in 1798,
30
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he was commissioned, by the president, a captain in the second regi- ment of artillerists and engineers, and was promoted in 1806 or 1807, in the same regiment, to the rank which he held at the time of his death.
On the 24th of January, 1804, Major (then Capt.) Stoddard, re- ceived a commission as first civil commandant of Upper Louisiana, from Gov. Clairborne, who, as " Governor of the Mississippi terri- tory," exercised the powers of " Governor-General and Intendant of the province of Louisiana," and under that authority, he repaired to St. Louis to receive the surrender from the French authorities of that portion of the newly ceded territory, together with the public ar- chives. Here, for a considerable time, he exercised all the powers of government, to the general acceptance of the inhabitants. He re- mained at St. Louis, and on the other side of the Mississippi, in com- mand, and as "intendant," two or three years, and then returned to the seat of government. He was soon stationed at New York, and in the garrisons in the neighborhood, until the commencement of the war of 1812.
While he resided in the west, he gathered materials, and afterward published a volume entitled " Sketches, historical and descriptive, of Louisiana, by Major Amos Stoddard, U. S., M. P. S., and New York Historical Society." This work was published at Philadelphia, and the preface bears date, " Fort Columbus, 1812." At the time of its publication, and for several years afterward, it was a standard au- thority on the subjects of which it treats, and is still regarded as a valuable addition to the history of the country, exhibiting its author in a favorable light as a writer.
At the commencement of the war of 1812, Major Stoddard had be- come wholly unfit for active field service, and he was, at the time of his death, an exceedingly corpulent man.
When the government had determined upon a prosecution of the war on the western frontier, and appointed Gen. Hull to the con- mand on that line of operations, Major Stoddard was selected from the engineer corps, and ordered to Pittsburg, to superintend and for- ward from that military station, the ordnance, materials, &c., which should be judged necessary for the prosecution of the campaign, with the understanding, that he should not be required to go any farther west. But upon the surrender of Hull, the emergency was so press- ing, and Fort Meigs was so important as a military post for the pro- tection of all the settlements south of the lakes, in Ohio, that he was ordered to repair to that post, and prepare it for a defense against
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the attack which it was anticipated would be made upon it, by the combined British and Indian forces. It was doubtless owing greatly to Major Stoddard's judicious and scientific preparation of the fort for attack, that Gen. Harrison was enabled to make his successful de- fense. During this siege, in 1813, Major Stoddard received a wound, of which he died.
The foregoing sketch has been compiled from copious minutes kindly furnished the author by Col. Henry Stoddard, of Dayton, Ohio. Ile obtained them from the papers of Major Stoddard, which came into his possession after much inquiry for them for many years. His military chest, containing these papers, shamefully mutilated, and many of them partially destroyed, was found at the house of a nephew of his in Mahoning county, Ohio. Others have been found among the papers of the late Judge Lawless, of St. Louis, Mo. Many of them are of much historie value, and are to be sent to an appro- priate place for preservation, by Col. Stoddard.
COL. HENRY STODDARD.
This gentleman, now residing in Dayton, Ohio, is a descendant of the Rev. Anthony Stoddard, and was born at Woodbury, in 1786. In common with others he attended the district school. Necessity Ient her aid in forming his character, his father, Capt. Asa Stoddard, be ing unable to afford any greater facilities of education than those at that period found in the district school-house. At about fifteen years of age, he was put into a store at Roxbury, under the control of Isaac E. Judson, then extensively engaged in commercial pursuits. Hle remained in this employment until about the year 1813, when Mr. Judson's failure in business changed his destiny. He had im- proved essentially in this occupation, and with commendable perse- verance attained considerable progress under the teaching of the Rev. Mr. Swift, the Congregational minister at Roxbury. About 1813, he commenced the study of the law in the office of Royal R. Hinman, Esq., then a practitioner at Roxbury. He was admitted to the bar at Litchfield, about the year 1815, and soon after opened an office at Kent, in Litchfield county, where, following his profession with tact and perseverance, he attained a fair practice ; but he felt he was formed for a larger theater than his native county afforded, and in 1818, he left Kent, to seek his fortune in the "far west." On
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horseback, in company with Hon. George B. Holt, he left Connecti- cut, pursuing his journey to what was then deemed the " ultima thule." He reached Dayton, Ohio, then a village of some 600 in- habitants, and opened an office, as did Judge Holt. The usual re- wards awaiting industry, perseverance, tact, sagacity and prudence, followed, and he won confidence, employment and respect. Perhaps no man so well understood the potency of a single word, "snug," in its best sense. He finished all he undertook, and finished it as early as it could be accomplished. Possessing shrewdness, a discriminating and reflecting mind, he attained wealth by his professional labors alone. He was distinguished for professional excellence in the large judicial circuit in which he practiced.
About the year 1825, he was advised that Major Amos Stoddard had probably left a large landed estate at St. Louis, and was solicited by those entitled to inherit from Major Stoddard, to undertake the agency of examining the title, and vindicating it. He repaired to St. Louis, and found that the estate of Major Stoddard would ulti- mately be of immense value. Before he buckled on his armor for the conflict, he laid aside from his own fortune fifty thousand dollars, that should remain a fund for his family, not jeopardized by the fate of this operation. After a stern collision of master minds in this ju- dicial combat, he was successful, and the Major Stoddard title was established by the supreme court of the United States. In 1851, the whole estate was sold under a decree in chancery for nearly nine hundred thousand dollars. This large fund, of course, afforded legiti- mate means of acquisition, and Mr. Stoddard found himself from a poor forlorn boy in 1810, able in 1850 to set himself down as a mil- lionaire. ITis fortune is estimated at eight hundred thousand dollars. His industry and perseverance have become habitual, and he enjoys this great possession with the consciousness that fortune has not accidentally bestowed it. An early friend who introduced him at Dayton, recently remarked to him, that he possessed all the elements of human happiness, the largest fortune, the handsomest wife, and the most intelligent family of any man in Ohio.
Mr. Stoddard is preeminently a business man. He was a men- ber of the Ohio legislature for a few sessions, but always looked to better things than political influence, and its "beggarly account of empty boxes."
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HION. PERRY SMITII,
Was a native of Judea, Woodbury, and settled in the practice of the profession of the law, in New Milford, Conn., soon after his ad- mission to the bar of Litchfield county, abont the year 1807. IIe was elected a member of the General Assembly, in the years 1822 and 1823, and again in the years 1835 and 1836. During the latter session, he was appointed a Senator of the United States, for six years from the 4th of March following. He was also appointed judge of probate for the year 1833, and again for the year 1835. On being elected Senator, he gave up the practice of the law, which he had pursued until that time.
IION. NATIIAN SMITII,'
Of New Haven, was born in Roxbury parish, Woodbury, in an old house, which formerly stood nearly opposite the dwelling-house of Mr. Ezekiel Beardsley, in the year 1770. He was a son of Richard Smith, and brother of the late Hon. Nathaniel Smith, whose biogra- phy appears in this volume. His mother was a daughter of Benja- min Hurd, and grand-daughter of Benjamin Hinman, of this town. The parents of the subject of this sketch were poor, plain, unaspiring people, yet among their descendants have been some of the most em- inent lawyers and statesmen of the commonwealth.
On arriving at a suitable age, Nathan was transferred from other pursuits to the office of his brother, and afterward to that of Judge Reeve. to learn the " art and mystery" of the law ; and in due time he was admitted to the bar of his native county. He commeneed the practice of his profession at New Haven, where he continued to reside till his death. Slowly but surely he won his way to the high- est professional eminence. Indeed, he was an enthusiast in the pro- fession he had chosen, ever regarding success therein, as the goal of his ambition. Consequently he studied the standard legal authors of England and America, thoroughly and systematically. No practi- tioner in the Connectient courts better understood the law in all its intricacies, and no one could more effectually impress the minds of a jury with his own views and feelings on any case than he. The the-
1 This sketch of Mr. Smith is taken from Kilbourne's Litchfield Biography.
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oretical and practical, the profound and witty, were so happily blended in his arguments, that while they attracted the admiration of the lis- tener, they were almost certain of securing the wished for verdiet. His wonderful success at the bar, however, must not be attributed solely to his talents and ingenuity. His striet regard for justice and right, would not permit him to plead a case which he knew to be grossly unrighteous. Bofore enlisting his services in any cause, he was wont to examine minutely the main facts and circumstances con- neeted with it, and if convinced of its justice, he entered upon the discharge of his duties to his client with his whole soul, and rarely failed of coming off victorious. It was his own manifest confidence in the goodness of the cause he advocated, united to a knowledge of his uniform integrity of purpose, which so surely won from every jury a favorable verdict.
Mr. Smith was not a politician, and had the utmost contempt of the office-seeking propensity of many of his legal brethren. And even if his own ambition had been turned into that channel, it is by no means certain he would have been successful. The political party with which he acted, was for a long series of years in the minority in the region in which he lived ; and where party lines are closely drawn, a zeal for place and power not unfrequently triumphs over merit. His name was sometimes, without his consent, used by his fellow-citizens, in the political struggles of the times. In 1825, he was a principal opponent of Oliver Wolcott, for the office of governor of Connecticut. There were, however, some offices more directly in the line of his profession, which he did not dislike, though he was far from seeking them. Ile was for many years state's attorney for the county of New Haven, and subsequently United States attorney for the district of Connecticut. In these stations, his peculiar genius and learning were often rendered conspicuous.
In May, 1832, Mr. Smith was elected a Senator in the Congress of the United States. to succeed the HIon. Samuel A. Foote, whose term of office would expire on the 3d of March following. He took his seat in that distinguished body, March 4th, 1833, and continued to discharge the duties of that station until December 6th, 1835, when he died suddenly in the city of Washington, in the sixty-sixth year of his age.
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