The history and genealogies of ancient Windsor, Connecticut, Vol. I, Part 97

Author: Stiles, Henry Reed, 1832-1909
Publication date: 1891
Publisher: Hartford, Conn., Press of the Case, Lockwood & Brainard company
Number of Pages: 1038

USA > Connecticut > Hartford County > Windsor > The history and genealogies of ancient Windsor, Connecticut, Vol. I > Part 97

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831

THE ELLINGTON SCHOOL.

The pupils, who were boys exclusively, came not only from Conner- tient, but from Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New York, and other states as far south as Louisiana : also from the West Indies and Brazil. They were prepared either for college or for business life, and some of them afterward became men of prominence. Among them were Henry C. Deming, Representative in Congress : Henry W. Ellsworth, Minister to Sweden ; Rev. Chauncey Goodrich and Dr. Levi Ives of New Haven : Rov. Dr. John L. Taylor, already mentioned ; James W. Tucker, long a banker in Paris ; Francis Bacon of Litchfield, who died ere his prime; Colin M. Ingersoll of New Haven, Representative in Congress : Donald G. Mitchell, the well-known author; Frederic Law Olmsted, the land- seape architect who laid out New York Central Park : Rev. Dr. Edward W. Gilman of New York ; Rev. C. S. Lyman, previously named ; Gen. William S. Pierson of Windsor : Rev. Junius M. Willey of Bridgeport : Robbins Battell of Norfolk ; Ebenezer P. Mason, the enthusiastic young astronomer : William R. Bliss, a successful author : Rev. Birdsey G. Northrop of educational fame ; Dr. Levi W. Flagg of Yonkers, N. Y .; Rev. Dr. Gordon Hall of Northampton : Gen. Francis P. Blair of St. Louis, Mo .: Res. Dr. Azariah Eldridge of Yarmouth, Mass .: Rev. Dr. Edward E. Rankin of Newark, N. J .; Richard S. Donnell, Representa- tive in Congress from North Carolina. The whole number of pupils in those ten years was a little over three hundred. During that time it was regarded as one of the foremost classical schools in the country. After it passed into other hands it came to have more the character of a village academy, receiving pupils of both sexes, and preparing very few boys for college. It was continued, with varying fortunes, and with sev- eral changes of management, until about 1870. The building was de- stroyed by fire in October, 1875.

In 1844, Edward Hall, the oldest son of the founder of the Elling- ton School, established a family school which in a few years acquired an excellent reputation. The boys that were placed in his charge received a thorough training, both morally and intellectually. The school was maintained successfully for nearly thirty years, and many boys living in the town, as well as those from abroad, were profited by the oppor- tunities which it afforded.

For nearly half a century the two men, father and son, were fore- most in promoting education in the community. These two schools oh- viated the necessity for any other school of a higher rank than the dis- triet schools. Beside these schools there have been select schools main- tained usually for a few terms only, also private schools established by individuals. The most important of these were the schools of Mrs. E. D. Marsh and Miss E. C. Brockway.

832

HISTORY OF ANCIENT WINDSOR.

X. Lawyers who resided in Ellington.

ASA WILLEY. He was born in East Haddam, Feb. 22, 1774 : studied law with Ilon. Sylvester Gilbert of Hebron, and was admitted to the bar in February, 1801. He opened an office in Ellington about 1803, and resided there the remainder of his life. He represented the town in the General Assembly in May and October, 1810, 1814, 1816, 1817, and 1818: in 1820, 1822, 1825, 1826, 1828, 1829, 1834, 1836, 1837, and 1843- in all, twenty sessions. He was chosen chief judge of the County Court in 1826, and hell the office by annual re-election till 1835. When the probate district of Ellington was established, in 1826, he was appointed judge, and was reappointed yearly till 1833; also in 1834, 1838, 1839, and 1840, thus holding the office for eleven years. He was also a delegate to the convention which framed the State Constitution in 1818, and elerk of courts, 1850-51. fle died Dee. 9. 1851. His only son, Junius Marshall Willey, became an Episco- pal minister. The house where he lived has been for many years the residence of Rev. G. 1. Wood.

JOUN HALL BROCKWAY, the oldest child of Rev. Diodate Brockway. was born in Ellington, Jan. 31, 1801. He was graduated at Yale in 1820. studied law with Seth P. Staples and Samuel J. Hitchcock in New Haven, and was admitted to the bar in that city in April. 1823. Ile opened an office in his native town, and resided there during his life. He represented the town in the General Assembly in 1832 and 1838, and was State Senator from the Twentieth district in 1834. In April, 1839, he was elected Representative in Congress from the Sixth district, comprising Windham and Tolland counties, and was re-elected in 1841. He was appointed State's Attorney for the county in 1849, and held the office until 1867. He died July 29, 1870.

FRANKLIN M. CHARTER was born in Ellington, Jan. 21, 1852. Hc studied law in Rockville, and with J. L. Barbour in Hartford. He was admitted to the bar in 1887, and soon after opened an office in Rock- ville, continuing to reside in Ellington. He has now an office in Elling- ton.

X1. Physicians who have practiced in Ellington.

JOEL CARPENTER, born in 1720, seems to have been the earliest physician resident in Ellington. ITis wife was Mary Ruggles, and of his four children the two sons became physicians. He died in Elling- ton, JJan. 25, 1789.

ROBERT MORISON. A physician of this name lived in Ellington 1757-61. as is indicated by the tombstones of his wife and an infant child in Ellington cemetery. Little has been learned about him, but he is believed to have come from Scotland, and to have remained in Ellington but a few years.

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833

THE PHYSICIANS OF ELLINGTON,

JOSEPH BISSELL WADSWORTH was born in Hartford in 1747, Int during his boyhood his home was in Windsor. He was graduated at Yale College in 1766. and settled in Ellington in 1775. He was a sur- geon in the Revolutionary Army, and kept a journal during that time, but it has been lost. "Old people invariably described him as the hand- somest man and the most polished gentleman they ever knew. Besides his regular education, he possessed many elegant accomplishments rare among his contemporaries. A peculiar neatness and elegance of taste and style was a marked characteristic. He wore a large three-cornered hat, scarlet coat, white or yellow vest and breeches, and topped boots, -a costume which appears to have been rather frequent among those who occupied a high rank in society."

The following letter written by him to his father-in-law, Mr. Allyn of Windsor, may be of interest :

"Camp West Point, May 1, 1778.

" Hon'd Father: I return you my hearty thanks for the favor of your two letters. I can inform you that notwithstanding my taking a bad cold coming from home, whereby I have been incapable of joining my regiment until last Saturday, I am now, through the goodness of God, almost well. As to news, we have none here, except what you wrote. We have no enemies nigh that appear, but snakes; and they have not yet forgot the severity of winter, and I desire the time may come when the tories and ministerial tools may lie as still as the snakes have here the winter past.

"Let me beg the favor of a line from you every opportunity, as it will revive the spirits of your obedient son,

"JOSEPH B. WADSWORTH.

" My sincere regards to mamma and sisters and all friends.

"P. S. I can not forget to return you my sincere thanks for the kind care you have taken of my family since my absence. May the choicest of Heaven's blessings rest on you, your family, as well as on them, is the prayer of your ob't son, in haste, " J. B. WADSWORTH.

"N. B. I have now 21 under my care, sick with the measles, fevers, etc."

Dr. Wadsworth died in Ellington, March 12, 1784, in the 37th year of his age. He had a high reputation as a physician and surgeon. Dis house stood where Harlow Martin now lives.

JOSEPH KINGSBURY was born in Ellington in 1756. He was the son of a farmer, and in his latter years often described the habits of society in the days of his youth. Though residing more than a mile from the meeting-house, he used in summer, umtil more than a dozen years old, to attend service without hat or coat, and with breeches that left the legs bare below the knees - a simplicity of dress, however, that was common to boys of his age in Ellington at that day. He wrote an elegant hand, which he had acquired mostly by writing on birch bark, then in general use among school boys as a substitute for paper. Under similar disadvantages he acquired a good English education. At the age of twenty-one he enlisted in Washington's army for three years as

VOL. I .- 105

834

HISTORY OF ANCIENT WINDSOR.

a tifer. He was in the battles of Monmouth, Germantown, and other engagements, and shared in the sufferings of that army during his time of service. He was also in the State troops as sergeant. It was his settled resolve in early life to be a physician, and he did not relinquish this purpose when he entered the service of his country, but improved his opportunities, when he had leisure, to frequent hospitals and learn by observation, as well as by instruction, which many of the surgeons willingly gave him. In this way he had obtained, before quitting the army, a considerable amount of professional knowledge, and after study- ing a while with Dr. J. B. Wadsworth he commenced practice. Dr. Wadsworth died in the spring of 1784, and four years afterward Dr. Kingsbury married his widow, who was a lady of wealth. As his health was not vigorous, he gradually withdrew from practice. He was considered an excellent physician, and was one of the original members of the Tolland County Medical Society at its organization in September. 1792. He was, in most cases, partial to simple and botanic remedies : his ideas on medical science were original : his success often indicated a preuliar skill ; he enjoyed a high rank in his profession : health and poverty only were needed to urge him to exertions that must greatly have extended his fame. He was a deacon of the church for about twenty-five years before his death. He was a gentleman of the old school, and adhered to the costume of the revolutionary age. He was through life regarded with high respect and esteem by the whole com- munity, and was a rare instance of one who had the good fortune to ascend from comparatively humble life to the highest social rank in his native town, and yet retain the warm friendship of the early companions whom he had so greatly distanced. His residence was twenty or thirty rods west of the corner where Harlow Martin lives. He died August 29, 1822, aged 66.

Dr. JAMES STEELE, a native of Tolland, was a resident in Ellington as early as 1782, in which year he was married to Jemima Wolcott. He lived about a mile east by north from the church, in the house after- ward occupied by his son, Oliver Wolcott Steele, and now the residence of R. A. Taft. He was, however, rather a merchant than a physician. and the store in which he traded, a few steps north of his house, has been taken down within a very few years. He died January 15, 1819.

RUGGLES CARPENTER, son of Dr. Joel Carpenter, above-mentioned, was born in Ellington not later than 1769, for he was admitted an elector in 1790. In 1791 he was collector of taxes in the ecclesiastical society. He practiced medicine in Ellington till 1813, when he re- moved to Tolland. After a few years he returned to Ellington, but soon removed to some place in Massachusetts, and thence again to De Ruyter, Madison County, New York, where he died about 1840. His

385

THE PHYSICIANS OF ELLINGTON.

residence in Ellington was about a mile and a half southeast of the vil- lage, where Mr. Patzold now lives.

ALLYN HYDE was born in Ellington, April 5, 1773. He settled as a physician in his native town, where he practiced successfully till old age impaired his activity. He died August 28, 1855. He received the honorary degree of M.D. from Yale College in 1824.

EPAPHRAS BIDWELL. In 1802 he was chosen treasurer of the erelesiastical society. No further information has been received con- cerning him.

POTWINE. A physician of this name lived in Ellington about 1822-25. [Probably Dr. Benjamin Potwine, grandson of Rev. Thomas of East Windsor. See Potwine Genealogy in 2d volume of this history. - I. R. S.]

MILO L. NORTH was born in Sharon, Conn .; graduated at Yale Col- lege in 1813, and settled in Ellington as a physician in 1822. He re- moved to Hartford in 1828, and about ten years later to Saratoga Springs, N. Y., where he died in 1856. He received the degree of M.D. from Yale College in 1834.

FREDERIC MORGAN was a native of Groton, where he was born in 1792. IIe was graduated at Yale College in 1813; was tutor there 1816-18 : graduated M.D. in 1819: began practice at Colchester Jan- uary, 1820 ; removed to Middle Haddam in 1824, to Middletown in 1826, and to Ellington in 1829. He returned to Colchester in 1830, and died there June 18, 1877.

CHAUNCEY BROWN was born March 14, 1802; came to Ellington about 1830 ; removed to Farmington about 1833, and practiced there till his death, August 9, 1879.

IlORATIO Dow was born in Ashford, January 30, 1793. He studied medicine with Dr. Joseph Palmer of Ashford. and with Dr. Gilbert of New Haven, where he attended lectures. He was licensed to practice by the Connectient Medical Society March 28, 1818, and received the honorary degree of M.D. from Yale College in 1833. He began prac- tiee in Vernon in 1818 : removed to Ellington in 1832. In 1846 he re- moved to New York, but returned to Ellington in 1849, and continued there till his death, September 28, 1859.

JOSEPH CLARK DOWE, brother of the preceding, was born in Ash- ford. July 7, 1805 : studied with his brother in Vernon, and at Yale Medical School. He practiced elsewhere for several years ; then came to Ellington in 1816. In the same year he received from Yale College the honorary degree of M.D. Ile removed to Milwaukee, Wis., in 1818, and died there Angust 21, 1857.

CALVIN PEASE was born in Ellington, November, 1820. He studied medicine with Dr. Fisk of Broad Brook, and about 1850 settled in

836

HISTORY OF ANCIENT WINDSOR.

Lebanon. About 1857 or '58 he returned to Ellington. In 1862 he represented Ellington in the General Assembly. In the latter part of the same year he became Assistant Surgeon of the Twenty-second Regi- ment, Conn. Vols., which served near Norfolk, Va. After being mus- tered out, in 1863, he went South, and settled in Mississippi. In 1867 he disappeared, and was reported to be dead ; but it was not certainly known what had become of him, and some believed that he was living at a later time.

JOHN H. MANNING was born in Lebanon, February 1, 1819, and graduated at Berkshire Medical College, Pittsfield, Mass., in 1843. lle came to Ellington in December, 1844, and remained there till March, 1856, when he removed to Pittsfield, Mass., where he died, November 12, 1863.

LEVI S. PEASE was born in Wilbraham, Mass., February 12, 1823, and graduated at Pennsylvania Medical College, Philadelphia, in 1846. He practiced in Ellington from 1847 to 1850, and at Thompsonville from 1850 till he died there, March 4, 1872, except that he was Assistant Surgeon in the army from 1862 to 1866.

JOEL A. WARREN was born at Irasburgh, Vt., February 15, 1834. He studied at Hanover, N. H., and at the College of Physicians and Surgeons, New York, graduating there in 1860. He came to Ellington in JJune of that year, and resided there till his death. Dec. 25, 1890.

OLIVER W. KELLOGG resided in Ellington two years, from 1867 to 1869. Ile was born in Hartland, July 9, 1817: studied medicine at Hobart College, Geneva, N. Y., and at Jefferson Medical College, Phila- delphia, graduating there in 1842. He has practiced in Suffield since that time, except the two years when he lived in Ellington.

JOSEPH PARTRIDGE, a . botanic physician, practiced in Ellington a few years. He was born in Cheshire, Mass., January 14, 1812; studied with a private teacher in Pittsfield ; practiced a few years in Stoning- ton, Conn .: came to Ellington in the fall of 1856, and remained there till his death, January 24, 1864.

EDWIN T. DAVIS was born in Richford, Vt., October 8, 1863, and graduated in medicine at Burlington, Vt., in July, 1888. In October of that year he commenced practice in Rockville, Conn., and continued there till he removed to Ellington in February, 1891.

XIl. Ministers raised up in Ellington.

JOHN MCKINSTRY, son of the first minister in Ellington, was born in Sutton, Mass .. December 31, 1723; was graduated at Yale College in 1746, and ordained first pastor of the church at Chicopee, Mass .. Sep- tember 27, 1752. In 1789 he was released from preaching, but dis-

837

MINISTERS RAISED IN ELLINGTON.

charged the other duties of the pastorate till his death, at the age of 90. November 7, 1813.

JOUN ELLSWORTH. grandson of the first minister in Ellington, and nephew of the John Mckinstry above-mentioned, was born in 1762; graduated at Yale in 1785: was ordained the same year at East Wind- sor, and became pastor of a Presbyterian church on the Island of Saba, in the West Indies ; but, his health failing, he returned to his native town, where he died of consumption, November 22, 1791, aged 29.

ROSWELL SHORTLEFF, D.D., was born August 29. 1773: graduated at Dartmouth, 1799; was tutor there, 1800-04 : professor of theology, 1804-27 : of moral philosophy and political economy, 1827-38; also librarian. 1810-20. He was Emeritus professor from 1838 till his death at Hanover. N. H., February 4, 1861, aged 87. He received the degree of D.D. from the University of Vermont, in 1834.

WILLIAM ANDREWS was born September 28, 1782 (joined Ellington church on profession, 1802) : graduated at Middlebury College in 1806; studied theology with Dr. Asa Burton of Thetford, Vt .: was ordained pastor at Windham, Conn., August 8, 1808 : dismissed April 20, 1813 : was pastor at Danbury, Conn., from June 30, 1813, to May 29, 1826 ; was installed at Cornwall, Conn., July 25, 1827, and died there JJanuary 1, 1838, aged 56. Of his six sons, five became ministers, the other a physician. One of his sons was connected with Marietta College as Tutor, Professor, and President forty-nine years; another was Profes- sor in the same institution eighteen years.

HORACE BELKNAP ( Presbyterian ), born December 10, 1791 (joined Ellington Church on profession, 1810) : graduated at Middlebury Col- lege in 1816, and at Andover Seminary in 1820. Ile was ordained by presbytery at Bradford, Mass., September 26, 1820 ; was a home mis- 'sionary at the South, and a member of Harmony Presbytery, S. C., 1825-29. He was afterward a physician at the South : in 1850 was living in Ohio; thence he went to Jowa, and later to California ; but re- turned to Iowa, where he died.

NORMAN NASH (Episcopal) was born November 17, 1790; studied theology in Virginia : was ordained deacon there by Bishop R. C. Moore, and priest in Pennsylvania by Bishop Win. White. Ho preached in Hampshire county, Va. (now West Virginia) ; also in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and New York. In 1825-26 he was missionary to the Menominee Indians, Green Bay, Wis. He last resided at Port Huron, Mich., where he died in 1869.

SYLVESTER NASH (Episcopal), nephew of the preceding, was born May 8, 1795; was ordained in Virginia, and begun his ministry there, but officiated at St. Albans, in Vermont, several years : then in Rhode Island, Maine. New York, Ilinois, and other Western States. Failing

838

HISTORY OF ANCIENT WINDSOR.

health caused him to return East, and he died at St. Albans, Vt .. in 1859. He was able to sway great audiences by his powerful singing. His wife, from Bristol, R. L., was a sister of Bishop B. B. Smith of Ken- theky.

FRANCIS BURDETT NASH (Episcopal ), brother of the preceding, was born November 16, 1812, in Springfield, Mass .: but his parents soon returned to Ellington, and his boyhood was spent there. He graduated in 1837 at an Episcopal Theological Seminary then existing in Lexing- ton, Ky .; was ordained in that State, deacon in 1837, priest in 1839. Ilis active ministry was in Kentucky, West Virginia, Ohio, Indiana, No- braska, Kansas, and lowa, mostly in missionary work on the frontier. For several years his home has been in Minnesota. Two of his sons are Episcopal ministers : one, F. B. Nash, Jr., at Fargo, Dakota ; the other, II. S. Nash, is professor in the Episcopal Theological Seminary at Cam- bridge, Mass. F. B. Nash, Sr., lives at Tinta, Minn.

RODOLPHUS K. NASH (Episcopal), consin of the two preceding, was born December 25, 1812: received his preliminary education in Elling- ton ; entered Kenyon College, Gambier, Ohio, in 1830, but left the next year, and taught three years in various places. He returned to Kenyon College in 1834 ; graduated there in 1837, and entered the Theological Seminary at Gambier, at the same time serving as tutor in the college. llis theological studies were interrupted by ill health, but he was or- lained by Bishop Mellvaine in 1847. From that time till 1873 he min- istered to various parishes in Ohio - for the most part missionary parishes-and a part of the time was also engaged in teaching. On account of failing health he withdrew from active service in 1873, and lived at Newark, Ohio, officiating occasionally at various places in that vicinity, till his death. He died at Zanesville, Ohio, March 7, 1889.

NATHANIEL CHUBBUCK was born September 5, 1789, and removed to Orwell, Bradford county, Pa., in 1811. As early as 1823 he be- came a licensed exhorter in the M. E. Church, and was well known through a large extent of territory for his power in public address. He died in Orwell, August 1, 1865.

AUSTIN E. CHUBBUCK, brother of the preceding, was born in Elling- ton, June 16, 1810, and removed with his father's family to Orwell, Pa., in 1818. A few years after reaching his majority he went into business at Elmira, N. Y. In 1844 he entered the ministry of the M. E. Church, and was a member successively of the Genesee and Central New York Conferences. He died in Elmira, April 15, 1882.

FRANCIS S. CHUBBUCK, brother of the two preceding, was born March 10, 1812, and removed with the family to Orwell in 1818. In 1847 he joined the Wyoming Conference of the M. E. Church, and continned in active service about twenty years, serving as a chaplain in

839

MINISTERS RAISED IN ELLINGTON.

the army in Texas in 1863-4. He now resides in Nichols, Tioga county, N. Y.

JOSEPH ADDISON SAXTON (Presbyterian ) was born November 27, 1810 (joined Ellington Church on profession, 1827) ; graduated at New York University in 1835, and at Yale Theological Seminary in 1839. He was ordained over the Presbyterian Church at Greenpoint, Long Island, June 7, 1843; acting pastor New River, Ascension Parish, Louisiana, 1845-50 : pastor North ch., New Hartford, Conn., 1851-52: aeting pastor Manhattanville, N. Y., 1853: acting pastor So. Haven and Belleport, L. I., 1854-55 : in New Preston and Brookfield, Conn., 1857-58 : Principal of Collegiate Institute, Norwich Town, Conn., 1859-62: preaching at Fitchville, 1859-61 and 1865-67 : instructor in Cooper Union, New York city, 1867-72: professor in New York Uni- versity, 1871-72 ; and has since lived in New York city.

OTIS SAXTON (Methodist and Baptist ), brother of the preceding, was born Angnst 31, 1818. Ile joined Ellington Church (Congre- gational) by letter, 1844 ; became a Methodist preacher, and was sta- tioned in various places in Western Connectient. About 1865 he be- came a Baptist, and preached thenceforth in churches of that denomi- mation. Hle was killed by being thrown from a carriage in Simsbury, Com., April 25, 1887.

DARIUS MORRIS was born in South Wilbraham, Mass., April 27, 1815. His father removed with his family to Ellington in the spring of 1837. The son Darius (joined Ellington Church on profession, 1839) entered Wesleyan University in the autumn of that year, and graduated in 1841. The next two years he studied theology in East Windsor (now Hartford ) Seminary ; then preached and taught school a few years in Willoughby, Ohio. In 1849 he went to California, where he served as a minister, conducting fimerals and religious services in forests and open fields before the advent of home missionaries. He made geologi- cal surveys in California and the Rocky Mountains, and published an outline of a system of geology. He died at Ellington, August 31, 1864.

JUNIUS MARSHALL WILLEY ( Episcopal) was born May 27, 1821. He pursued classical studies in the Ellington School (joined Ellington Congregational Church, 1841, on profession ), and studied theology with the Rev. Joseph Scott, rector of the church at Warehouse Point. He was ordained deacon in New York city, May 1, 1844, and priest at Mid- dletown, June 10, 1845. lle officiated at Saybrook a short time : then at Stonington ; next at Bath, Me., one year : then at Litchfield, 1855-58 : at Waterbury, 1858-61. He then served three months as chaplain of the Third Regiment, Conn. Vols., and was present at the first battle of Bull Run. He was rector of St. John's Church, Bridgeport, from

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The history and genealogies of ancient Windsor, Connecticut, Vol. I, Part 97

Author: Stiles, Henry Reed, 1832-1909 Publication date: 1891 Publisher: Hartford, Conn., Press of the Case, Lockwood & Brainard company Number of Pages: 1038

Author: Stiles, Henry Reed, 1832-1909
Publication date: 1891
Publisher: Hartford, Conn., Press of the Case, Lockwood & Brainard company
Number of Pages: 1038