USA > Connecticut > Litchfield County > Plymouth > History of the town of Plymouth, Connecticut : with an account of the centennial celebration May 14 and 15, 1895 : also a sketch of Plymouth, Ohio, settled by local families > Part 26
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302
HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH.
Mrs. Joseph C. Alcox.
A. Bronson Alcott.
303
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.
CAPTAIN AMOS BRONSON.
Captain Amos Bronson, who lived at Mount Jericho on the Naugatuck, was a leading man in establishing the Episcopal Church in Plymouth. His wife was Anna Blakeslee of this town. After marriage he embraced Episcopacy and became a staunch churchman, bringing his family up in that faith. He named his eldest son Tillotson, after the distinguished divine of that name. This son became rector of St. John's Church in Waterbury, and subsequently, for several years, was at the head of the Episcopal Academy in Cheshire. For many years it was the most celebrated seat of learning in the State under the control of churchmen ; it was both college and theological seminary for this and other dioceses. Dr. Bronson was distinguished for his classical and mathematical attainments. He was a theologian of eminence and the choice of a large portion of the diocese of Connecticut for the bishopric. For many years he was editor of the Churchman's Magazine, to which he contributed portions of his lectures delivered to his students, entitled "Science the Handmaid of Religion," and a poem entitled "Retrospect," describing his birthplace on the Naugatuck, from which is quoted the following :
"Sweet vale, secluded from the world's vain strife, Where science never trod, where genius slept In unambitious, humble life, And calm religion sought retreat,-
Thy flowery lawns, thy green enamelled meads, Untuned to numbers, thee I joyous greet.
" Full on the right a mountain appears sublime; There leafy forests crown its rounded brow;
There up the rocky steep securely climb Few straggling, stinted oaks; and there
A naked moss grown cliff of sable hue Bedims with gloom the sun's declining glare.
" A dark-green two-fold pine, ascending tall, Just on the precipice's dizzy height, Nods to the winds and threats a fall. The seated hill and subject plain In seeming haze the swimming eye confuse, And all the kindling dazzling senses pain."
Amos Bronson's second son, Noah Miles, was a man of strong mind and of a public spirit. He built the turnpike road along the banks of the Naugatuck to Salem Bridge in Water- bury, connecting there with the turnpike road to New Haven and with the road to Derby Landing. The building of this road through its length was thought an undertaking of no ordinary kind in those days. It was not completed until IS02. Before this time in passing from Jericho to Waterbury, after the Revo- lution, one was obliged to ford the stream four or five times and remove from twenty-five to thirty sets of bars. It was through the bars and fords that the adventurous mother rode on her way to New Haven, twenty-five miles distant, and paid her son Tillotson's tuition bills. He fitted for college with Rev. Dr. Trumbull of Watertown and graduated at Yale in 1786.
304
HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH.
Louisa M. Alcott.
Milo Blakesley.
305
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.
Anna Bronson, daughter of Amos, married Joseph C. Alcox of Wolcott, and was mother of the celebrated scholar, Bronson Alcott, and grandmother of Louisa M. Alcott. When she went to Wolcott she had advantages of culture that were not so com- mon there at that time, and at her marriage brought to the Spin- dle Hill neighborhood a refinement of disposition and a grace of deportment that gave a more polite tone to the little community. In the course of time her husband and children joined her in the Episcopal form of worship, when introduced in their neighbor- hood, where the service was read (at the Spindle Hill school house), until in course of time a church was gathered. She lived to a great age, surviving her husband more than thirty years.
Her son, Amos Bronson Alcott, was born in the house of his grandfather, Captain John Alcott, November 29, 1799. In the spring of 1814 he went to work for Silas Hoadley, "fitting and putting together" clocks. The clock shop was situated about a mile from his home, and was reached by a blind, pre- cipitous pathway, leading down the declivity through a narrow defile, following and crossing repeatedly a little rushing stream, as it wound its way towards the factory. This neighborhood was then named Ireland. The work proved irksome to Mr. Alcott, though neither hard nor disagreeable, but it left him less of the freedom for reading and study with which he had been favored hitherto, and, after urgent persuasion on his part, he was permitted to return and attend school. Afterward he became a peddler in the South, but being unsuccessful he turned to teach- ing school. Previous to 1827 the district schools of Connecticut, and of all New England, were at a low degree of discipline, instruction and comfort, and in all these matters Mr. Alcott set the example of improvement. He first gave his pupils single desks, now so common, instead of the long benches, and double or three-seated desks. He established a school library ; he broke away from the rule of severe and indiscriminate punishments, and substituted therefor appeals to the affections and the moral sentiment of children. He introduced also light gymnastics, and made radical changes in all the old-time methods. Mr. Alcott was married in 1830 to a daughter of Colonel Joseph May of Boston, to whom four children were born, the authoress, Louisa M., being one. She was a popular writer of humorous and pathetic tales, and many of her books have been translated into French and German, being universally read by both old and young.
Mr. Alcott was an uncle of E. L. Gaylord of Bridgeport, Anna Bronson Alcott being Mr. Gaylord's grandmother. The picture of Mrs. Alcott was taken at the age of eighty-nine, when she visited Mr. Gaylord in Terryville.
MILO BLAKESLEY.
Milo Blakesley was a descendant of Joel Blakesley, who was bern August 19, 1750. His father, Linus Blakesley, was a thrifty farmer living in the eastern part of Plymouth, and this son was born November 16, 1804. After the usual experiences
306
HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH.
Mrs Milo Blakesley.
A. M. Blakesley.
307
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.
of the youth of the time, not including much of educational ad- vantantages, he was, when about twenty, employed by Eli Terry, Jr., who was engaged in the manufacture of clock move- ments in the village of Terryville. Some time afterward he en- tered into partnership with Mr. Terry in the clock business, which arrangement continued until the death of Mr. Terry, when the affairs of the concern were closed up. He then took up the care of the old family farm, which, with a large milk business, occupied him until a few years before his death when he moved nearer the village, to what was known as the " Frank Mix" place ; where he died July 8, 1871.
He was a devoted member of the Congregational Church in Terryville, was one of its first deacons (an office which he re- tained until death), and was church treasurer for the greater part of the time. In politics he was an "Old-Line Whig." After the " Anti-Slavery " movement was inaugurated, he entered into it with earnestness, at a time, it must be remembered, when such an attitude was not popular, and when it cost something to take a decided stand for that cause.
Any biography of Deacon Blakesley would be incomplete which did not speak of his wife, Dorcas McKee, whom he wedded October 26, 1826, and by whom he had children- Theron, born December 11, 1827, died April 24, 1852 ; Augus- tus Milo, born March 4, 1830; Fanny, born January 18, 1832, died June 24, 1832 ; Fanny Jane, born August 23, 1833, died September 11, 1885 ; Linus, born December 16, 1837. Like her namesake of old she was " full of good works and almsdeeds which she did," a pattern of industry, frugality and devotion to God's service. She survived her husband twenty-three years, dying July 30, 1894, at the advanced age of ninety years.
How much the good old town of Plymouth owes to that class of its citizens of which the subject of this sketch is an ex- ample, it would not be easy to estimate ; much certainly. Sturdy, righteous men they were, with something of Puritan blood in them, evinced continually in an uncompromising enmity toward evil and a congenial effort to and for the good, as they saw it.
" Far from the madding crowd's ignoble strife,
Their sober wishes never learned to stray ; Along the cool sequestered vale of life They kept the noiseless tenor of their way."
AUGUSTUS M. BLAKESLEY.
Augustus Milo Blakesley, the second son of Milo Blakesley, was born in the village of Terryville, March 4, 1830. The usual experiences of the common school and of the farm life of that period were his. After the short time in which he was employed as a clerk in the stores of Andrew Terry and Allen Hemingway in his native place, he went to Waterbury, March 22, 1849, and was employed by J. M. L. & W. H. Scovill in their mercantile business. Remaining with them until they ceased operations in that particular line, he then took the position of teller in the Waterbury Bank (February 2, 1852), was appointed cashier, No-
308
HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH.
A. P. Bradstreet.
Frank W. Etheridge.
309
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.
vember 29, 1864, and at present (February, 1895), holds that of- fice-a period of thirty years. His entire service in the institu- tion-forty-three years -- is worthy of note. He is also president of the American Pin Company, treasurer of the Waterbury Hos- pital, and has filled various positions of trust in town and city.
Mr. Blakesley was one of the fifty original members of the Second Congregational Church of Waterbury, which was organ- ized in 1852, and has been treasurer of the society and of the Sunday-School since 1856. He also had charge of the music until 1876, and still sings in the choir; was appointed deacon November 7, 1879. He married Margaret Johnson of Cadiz, Ohio, September 5, 1853, and has two children : Albert John- son, born April 30, 1858; Jenny Elizabeth, born August 25, 1865.
REV. L. BLAKESLEY.
Of the loyal sons of Plymouth, there is one, now a resident of Topeka, Kan., who looks back to the place of his birth with an affection and veneration that come to all who have gone forth and made their mark in this world. We speak of Rev. Linus Blakesley, the third son of Deacon Milo Blakesley. He was prepared for college at Kimball Union Academy, Meriden, N. H., and graduated from Yale in 1860; from Lane Theologi- cal Seminary, Cincinnati, in 1863, where he remained the fol- lowing year as tutor in Hebrew. Then for six years he was pastor of the Second Presbyterian Church at Piqua, O. Since that time he has been in Topeka, Kan., and is now completing the twenty-fifth year of his pastorate of the First Congregational Church. He was married to Nellie Treat at Terryville in IS66. Three clildren are now living.
Mr. Blakesley has been trustee and secretary of Washburn College for twenty-two years, from which institution he received the degree of D. D. in 1893; he is a member of the board of directors of the Chicago Theological Seminary, director of the Kansas Medical College, president of the Topeka Congrega- tional Club, president of the Choral Society, the finest musical organization in Kansas ; he has also been president of the school board of Topeka, and for many years chairman of the Kansas Home Missionary Society.
JUDGE A. P. BRADSTREET.
Hon. Albert P. Bradstreet, second son of Thomas J. and Amanda T. Bradstreet, was born in the town of Thomaston, for- merly Plymouth, June 9, 1846. His boyhood was spent in at- tending school in his native town, and in work upon his father's farm. In 1867 he entered Yale College, graduating in 1871 with the degree of bachelor of arts. In the fall of the latter year he entered Columbia College Law School in New York City, and graduated in 1873 with the degree of bachelor of laws. After spending a few months in the law office of Webster & O'Neill of Waterbury, he opened an office in Thomaston.
In 1877-'78 he represented Thomaston in the legislature, and
310
HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH.
was senator from the sixteenth district in the sessions of 1881-'82, serving the latter year as chairman of the judiciary committee.
In 1879 he was elected deputy judge of the district court of Waterbury, and in 1883 was elected judge of said court, being re-elected to the same office in 1887 and again in 1893.
He was town clerk of Thomaston continuously from 1875 until 1891, and judge of probate for the Thomaston district from 1882 until 1890. He has always been a Republican in politics.
FRANK W. ETHERIDGE.
Frank W. Etheridge was born in Montville, Conn., March 31, 1858, educated in Hartford High School, and resided in Hartford for several years prior to 1880. He was admitted to the bar in 1880 after a thorough course of study with the late Elisha Johnson (who for so many years was a prominent resi- dent of Plymouth) and Hon. S. O. Prentice, now a judge of the Superior Court, then comprising the firm of Johnson & Prentice.
Shortly after admission he moved to Thomaston and opened an office in Morse block. In December, 1880, the law firm of Bradstreet & Etheridge was formed, and still exists, Hon. Albert P. Bradstreet, judge of the Waterbury district court, being the senior partner.
Mr. Etheridge has been clerk of probate court, district of Thomaston, since its organization in 1882, till elected judge of same in 1890, which office he has since held ; the present town clerk and for three or four years past; six years member of board of education, declining re-election last fall; four years secretary of board; justice of the peace for past ten years or more. He is a member of the Methodist Church; of Franklin Lodge, I. O. O. F .; of Columbia Encampment, I. O. O. F. He married Ellen Matthews, December 20, 1882, and has four children, Frederick W., Clara May, Jesse R., and Florence M.
About December, 1892, after the death of editor C. James, and when, for want of management, the paper seemed about to go to pieces, he bought the Thomaston Express, and has since brought it to a higher standard than ever before. The publica- tion has just entered upon its sixteenth year. It is still managed and edited by him, and is a live and thriving publication devoted largely to Thomaston and vicinity.
Mr. Etheridge is interested in the prosperity of his town and a firm believer in the future continued growth of the place.
CAPTAIN LEAVITT DARROW.
Captain Leavitt Darrow, son of Captain Titus Darrow, one of the incorporators of the town of Plymouth, was born in Ply- mouth, January 2, 1792, and died May 11, 1863. Presented herewith is his well known Having spent his whole known, the family history He was born at the old church (south side of the
face and family monogram. life here, and being so well naturally centers in him. family home west of the street), settled on the farm one mile north, and later at his farm in the "Hollow," now
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BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.
Thomaston. He was a soldier of the war of 1812, and was stationed for defense of New London until honorably discharged. He was captain of militia and selectman of the town of Plymouth, and ready to meet every requirement of a citizen. He retained his membership to the last in the old Congregational Church in Plymouth.
" Frank, open-hearted, generous as the sun Dispenses blessings by his genial rays, So he by many a kindly act, Smoothed down life's rugged ways."
Lucy Blackman Darrow, a daughter of Elisha Blackman, a pioneer of " Wyoming Valley," Penn., and the mother of Cap- tain Leavitt Darrow, was among those who escaped the Indian massacre on the devastation of that fair region claimed by the State of Connecticut.
Captain Darrow was thrice married. The mother of his children was Betsy, daughter of Amos Smith of Litchfield (now Morris). She died November 29, 1832. His second wife was Esther Hall, who died March 8, 1838. His third wife was Mrs. Delia Hill, who died November 21, 1885.
His father, Captain Titus Darrow, who died in Plymouth, January 25, 1841, aged nearly 88 years, was a soldier of the Revolution, and participated in the battle of Saratoga at the cap- ture of Burgoyne, October 17, 1777. His sister, Anna Darrow, after a long life of usefulness, sleeps in the "new" grounds at Plymouth. His eldest son, Erastus Darrow, is a bookseller and publisher in Rochester, N. Y. Amos Smith Darrow, second son, graduated at Yale University in 1847, resided in the South for many years, and died in 1877, leaving one son, Wallace Leavitt, now residing in Tallulah, La. Wallace, the youngest son living of Captain Darrow, resides at Yorktown, N. Y. Of his stepsons, Harlow B. Hill is an esteemed business man in Chicago, and Judge Edward M. Hill, residing in Beatrice, is County Judge of Gage County, Nebraska. Mrs. Charles L. Goodhue of Springfield and Mrs. Montague of Holyoke, Mass., are daughters of the eldest stepson, Lewis H. Hill.
A son of Erastus Darrow, Dr. Charles E. Darrow, is a practicing physician in Rochester, N. Y. He is the custodian of the sword of his great-grandfather, Titus Darrow. A son of Wallace Darrow, Colonel Walter N. P. Darrow, is a graduate of West Point. He glories in his family military record, and in his membership in the Sons of the Revolution of Ohio. He resides at Columbus, O.
The members of the family have removed to other localities,- but an esteemed relative, Hon. Porter Darrow, is doing his life work in Thomaston, the western portion of old Plymouth.
AARON D. WELLS.
Aaron Dutton Wells was born in Plymouth, Conn., June 14, ISOS, in the house now occupied by his daughter, Elizabeth Wells. He was one of Plymouth's most prominent citizens, and
312
HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH.
Captain Leavitt Darrow.
Aaron D. Wells.
313
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.
during his lifetime held many offices of trust for his town. He was a strong abolitionist and Congregationalist. Mr. Wells married Miss Martha Bull, November 16, 1831, and died April II, 1871. His children were : Allan B., born August, 1837, died, 1872; Elizabeth B., born July, 1839; George M., born October, 1845.
COLEY JAMES.
In 1883 the house next to the residence of Mr. Talmadge was bought by Coley James, editor and proprietor of the Thomaston Express, and, at the time of the purchase, a member of the leg- islature of Connecticut. He had been living in what was called the Migeon Mansion, in Torrington, a place within easy reach of his office in Thomaston. Mr. James was born in 1837, in Wilton, Conn., where the James family had lived for several generations. He was educated at Trinity college, Hartford. In 1861 he joined the army, entering Company D, First Connecti- cut Cavalry Volunteers, and served three years, when he retired with the rank of lieutenant of Company H.
After the war he was engaged in teaching for several years before beginning his editorial work. He was for some time editor and proprietor of the Wolcottville (or Torrington) Regis- ter. He sold that paper in 1882, and took charge of the Thom- aston Express. He died in Plymouth, July 30, 1892. Mr. James was twice married. His first wife died within a few years of her marriage, leaving two sons, Louis Bishop and Coley Clifford. The elder, Louis, was killed in the terrible railroad disaster at White River Junction, in 1887. The second wife died in January, 1893, leaving two young children, Mary Belden and Burtis Magie, who are now living in Dover, N. J. Mr. James was a member of the Episcopal Church. In politics he was through life an ardent Republican.
RILEY SCOTT.
Riley Scott was born in Waterbury, Conn., July 3, 1806, and died in Plymouth, February 21, 1892. Mr. Scott, when quite young, learned the carpenters and joiner's trade, and was subsequently a successful contractor and builder. In 1838 he erected the Terryville Congregational Church, of which he was a member up to the time of his death. He had erected more houses and buildings in the town, up to the time he retired, than any other builder. He also built the school house in 1850, and the town hall in 1853. As he advanced in years, he purchased a large farm, and followed the occupation of farming for some time. He was kind hearted, industrious and a Christian, whose ideas of rights, irrespective of party, creed, color or sex, received the respect of the entire community. In building the Congrega- tional Church at Ellsworth, Mr. Scott received severe injuries from which he never recovered. Mr. Scott married Anna R. Blakesley of Northfield, October 12, 1830, by whom he had five
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HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH.
Riley Scott.
Edwin M. Talmadge.
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BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.
children : Julius, born July 27, 1831, died March 11, 1832 ; Henry Thomas, born January 23, 1833, died March 21, 1842 ; Marietta, born November 17, 1836; Walter Henry, born July 29, 1841 ; Moses Riley, born October 28, 1843. Mrs. Scott died May 3, 1853. Mr. Scott's second wife was Melinda A. Burnell of Cummington, Mass., whom he married, May 7, 1854. Their children were: Gertrude Elizabeth, born September 3, 1856, and died May 3, 1863; Julius Homer, born May 28, 1858, and died May 2, 1863; Emily Amelia, born October 14, 1862 ; Gertrude Adaline, born January 3, 1865. Some of the best workmen in Plymouth learned their trade of Mr. Scott.
EDWIN M. TALMADGE.
Edwin M Talmadge, Plymouth's present postmaster, was born in this town in 1833, and is a son of Edwin Talmadge, who was in business here for about forty years, and who had served as postmaster several terms. Mr. Talmadge is one of Plymouth's prominent citizens, and has held many offices of trust, such as auditor, selectman, justice of the peace, and was town clerk for a number of years. He is also a member of St. Peter's Epis- copal Church and has held the office of senior warden there for some years. Mr. Talmadge was married to Miss Diana C. Bucknall of New Britain in 1858. His children are Anna C. Talmadge and William G. Mr. Talmadge's father was at one time in company with A. B. Curtiss.
WILLIAM W. BULL.
Benedict Bull and Betsy Carrington were married at Milford, Conn., in April, 1800, and moved to Plymouth, in 1815. They had fourteen children, ten of whom lived to adult age, one dying in 1838, aged eighteen. William W. was the youngest of five sons, born November 28, 1816; Edward Carrington married and migrated to Bradford County, Penn., a farmer, and died in 1845 ; Jabez B. went to Buffalo to find employment and became a member of a tannery company, and died in 1871; Isaac Miles went into the care of his uncle, Edward Carrington, Providence, R. I., at nine years of age, and when nineteen years old he went on a ship to the west coast of South America, sold the cargo, took in silver, went to Canton, China, and took in tea, when he returned home after an absence of three years. He again returned to Canton and spent fourteen years there, when he returned to Woonsocket, R. I., and started a cotton mill. He was never married and died in 1884 Henry C. learned the clock maker's trade, and went to Alton, Ill., as agent for the company to sell clocks, in 1839. He died in 1885.
William Bull married Sophia P. Buell in 1846, and remained at the old family homestead with his father and mother and older sister until his wife died in 1874. His father died in 1852 and mother in 1872. He then married Mrs. Sarah M. Fenton in
316
HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH.
W. W. Bull
Mrs Betsy Bull.
317
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
1876, rented the old farm, and bought and moved into the par- sonage built by the Rev. Andrew Storrs in 1764, where he now resides. Mr. Bull has held many trustworthy offices, and has lived to see many changes in the town and the church of which he is a most prominent member.
CALVIN BUTLER.
Calvin Butler was born in Waterbury (now Wolcott), October 6, 1772. In the spring of 1773 the family moved to New Marl- boro, Mass. His education preparatory to entering college was obtained under the tutelage of Rev. Ammi Robbins of Norfolk, Conn. He married Miss Rosanna Phelps in Norfolk, October 16, 1799. Their first child was born in Canaan in November, ISoo; two other children were born in Bristol, one in December, 1So2, and one in February, 1805; the fourth child was born in Plymouth, April 15, 1807; from which is inferred Mr. Butler came to Plymouth in 1806. He bought the house which is now owned by Henry C. Ives, and which remained his home while he lived. He had a family of fourteen children, only four of whom survived him. E. T. Butler of Norfolk, the seventh child and the only one now living, was born December 21, 1813. He is now living in the house where his father and mother were married, and if his life is continued for four and one-half years more he expects to celebrate the one hundreth anniversary of his parents' wedding in the room in which they were married in 1799. His father died August 1, 1845, having served as a public officer in Plymouth for many years, much of the time being the only lawyer in the town.
A. B. CURTISS.
A. B. Curtiss was born in the town of Plymouth in IS19, and died at the age of sixty-seven. While a boy he entered the store of Edwin Talmadge as clerk, and his aptness for business and pleasant manners so commended him to his employer that when he became of age he was taken into partnership. The firm did a large business for those days, but unfortunate endorse- ments caused their downfall. Mr. Curtiss started in business again in the Stephen Mitchell store, but soon after bought the property where he died, remodeled the house, and opened a hotel. Except for a couple of years, when he kept the Brown hotel in Waterbury, he had for forty years welcomed strangers to his house and catered to their wants. He was well fitted for a landlord by his care to have everything pleasant, his genial hearty manners and business like ways. He was a benevolent, public spirited man. always ready to do his full share in common enterprises. His later years were full of suffering, yet to the last he had a bright and cheery word for each friend and acquaintance. Mrs. A. B. Curtiss still keeps the doors of the Quiet house open to strangers and travelers, some of whom often travel out of their way to indulge in the homelike accommoda- tions that are to be had there.
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