Prominent People in Bristol, Connecticut

Recently I became acquainted with a book titled “Bristol, Connecticut (In the Olden Time ‘New Cambridge’) (Which Includes Forestville)”. The introduction includes the following:

“Bristol is less fortunate than some other towns in the state in that its complete history has not as yet been written by any one living within its borders. … This book is such an undertaking; and it has been carried through with signal success. … The book is most comprehensive and ambitious in its detail… To the people of this town the work will be interesting for years to come, and will serve its mission, even if not a complete history of the subject; and, to coming generations, it will stand as a monument of the history of present day Bristol.”

Certainly, I have to agree with the phrase “ambitious in its detail”. At over 700 pages it is not a book to be read by the faint of heart. There are articles on history, geography, and industry. There are chapters dedicated to each of the churches in town. Interspersed are pages of thumbnail pictures of all the prominent houses in the town. The book was printed in 1907 and is a kind of anthology, with chapters written by a number of residents of the town at that time.

Because Bristol occupies the area immediately to the north of my hometown, much of it is atop the same higher elevation to the west of the Connecticut River valley. And, like the eastern part of Wolcott, it was originally part of the large town of Farmington. The earliest settlers of Bristol came in 1737, just a few years after the first settlers of Wolcott in 1731. So, also like Wolcott, these settlers came from the earlier towns of Connecticut such as Hartford, Farmington, Wallingford, and New Haven.

Thus, of much interest to myself is the “Genealogical Section” which occupies about 75 pages and contains biographies of 84 “prominent people of the past, who have been citizens of the town.” While the author of that section notes that they “mention only a few” of these individuals, it is still a very lengthy list. Since many of them came from the same places in Connecticut as my own ancestors, I thought it might be interesting to see how many of them were related to me. Rather than cherry pick those who I recognized, I will rely on the selection of the book authors. Below I list them all in the order they appear in the genealogy chapter with notations about my connection to them. [Note – the designation nCmX is shorthand for “nth cousin, m times removed”.]

You will note that a large number of these individuals are associated with the clock industry for which Bristol is known. Also, reflective of the societal norms of the time this book was written (1907), there are only men in this list.

I have been able to find a cousin relationship to 78 of these 84 individuals – far more than I thought I would find. This is some indication of how inbred the population of the state was for the first two centuries from the mid-1600s when it was settled to the mid-1800s (the period that all these individuals were born in). Nearly all these individuals were of English heritage. There are three from other countries for whom I have no connections and three others for whom information was not available. Of the 78 for whom I have connections, 72 are via common ancestors and 6 are not from the area originally, but they married into families from the area and so have a cousin connection to me via that marriage. It’s also quite likely that I have multiple relationships with several of these individuals, but I chose to stop my research when I found one documented connection (building out family trees for all these individuals was quite time-consuming!).

·         Ephraim Downs (1787-1860), clock maker, descended from John Downs (an alias of John Dixwell the regicide whom I wrote about here), 5C5X via Richard Sperry (1606-1698)

·         Ransom Mallory (1792-1853), clock maker, 3C6X via Thomas Mallory (1659-1690)

·         Bryan Hooker (1764-1826), woolen mill, 3C6X via Samuel Hooker (1633-1697)

·         Samuel Hancock (1828-1874), blind preacher, ancestry not available

·         Rodney Barnes (1818-1896), real estate, 5C5X via Thomas Barnes (1623-1691)

·         Edward Prindle Woodward (1837-1904), physician, 3C4X via Jonathan Prindle (1704-1782)

·         Herbert N. Gale (1859-1902), photographer and inventor, 7C3X via Robert Rand (1593-1691)

·         Edward Ingraham (1830-1892), clock maker, 6C5X via John Loomis (1562-1619)

·         Lester Goodenough (1820-1898), brass foundry, 6C3X via John Judson (1647-1709)

·         Filbert Leander Wright (1817-1856), dentist and clock maker, 4C5X via Hannah Scott (1645-1711)

·         Samuel Augustus Mitchell (1792-1868), publisher, 4C5X via Mary Tudor (1660-1743)

·         Warren Ives Bradley (1847-1868), writer and publisher, 7C3X via John Spaulding (1633-1721)

·         Laporte Hubbell (1825-1889), clock maker, 5C5X via Richard Hubbell (1626-1699)

·         Julius R. Mitchell (1821-1899), merchant and politician, 5C4X via Mary Tudor (1660-1743)

·         Henry Ward (1834-1882), miner and grocer, born in England, wife is 5C4X via William Wilmot (1632-1688)

·         Newton Spalding Manross (1825-1862), professor, 6C4X via John Spaulding (1633-1721)

·         James Hanna (1848-1902), fireman, born in Ireland, wife is German, no relation

·         Wallace Barnes (1827-1893), spring manufacturing, 4C3X via John Hotchkiss (1694-1777)

·         Samuel Emerson Root (1820-1896), clock dial maker, 4C6X via Simon Tuttle (1647-1719)

·         Joel H. Root (1822-1885), clock maker, 4C6X via Simon Tuttle (1647-1719)

·         Leonard Andrews Norton (1813-1895), farmer and basket maker, 4C6X via Richard Sperry (1606-1698)

·         Edward L. Dunbar (1815-1872), clock spring maker, 5C5X via John Butler (1617-1679)

·         William Day (1809-1899), clock case maker, 5C6X via John Strong (1605-1699)

·         Charles Churchill (1822-1891), merchant, 5C5X via Samuel Boreman (1615-1673)

·         Charles Churchill, Jr (1844-1864), student and soldier, 6C4X via Samuel Boreman (1615-1673)

·         Noah Pomeroy (1819-1896), clock maker, 4C6X via Richard Lyman (1618-1662)

·         Charles E. Nott (1845-1900), clerk and landowner, 6C4X via Richard Seymour (1604-1655)

·         Jesse Gaylord (1833-1880), farmer and wood dealer, 6C4X via David Atwater (1615-1692)

·         Elijah Darrow (1800-1857), clock maker, 4C6X via William Bradley (1619-1691)

·         Franklin Elijah Darrow (1834-1882), clock maker, 5C5X via William Bradley (1619-1691)

·         Evits Hungerford (1777-1867), blacksmith and farmer, 3C6X via Samuel Pond (1648-1718)

·         Havilah Thompson Cook (1809-1869), shoemaker, ancestry not available

·         Gilbert Penfield (1823-1896), sewing machine salesman, 6C4X via Samuel Boreman (1615-1673)

·         Charles Andrew Steele (1814-1893), sheriff and railroad agent, 5C6X via Robert Webster (1619-1676)

·         David Sylvester Miller (1823-1895), bookkeeper, 7C4X via Joseph Loomis (1590-1658)

·         John House Adams (1812-1900), bookbinder and candlestick maker, ancestry not available

·         William Gibb (1868-1897), pastor, from Scotland, wife is 7C3X via Elizabeth Browne (1621-1685)

·         Joseph Sigourney (1821-1887), merchant, from Italy, wife is 3C5X via John Merrill (1669-1748)

·         John H. Sutliffe (1810-1884), clock maker, 4C6X via Samuel Brockett (1651-1742)

·         Anson Lucius Atwood (1816-1907), clock maker, 4C6X via William Trowbridge (1633-1690)

·         Edward Butler Dunbar (1842-1907), spring manufacturing, 6C4X via John Butler (1617-1679)

·         Henry Albert Seymour (1818-1897), clock maker and jeweler, 5C4X via John Merrill (1636-1712)

·         Allen Bunnell (1802-1873), wagon maker, 4C6X via Henry Bristol (1625-1695)

·         Elisha C. Brewster (1791-1880), clothmaker and clock salesman, 4C6X via Edward Yeomans (1630-1706)

·         George W. Bartholomew (1805-1897), copper miner, 4C5X via Daniel Shelton (1668-1728)

·         Harry S. Bartholomew (1832-1902), bit brace manufacturer, 5C4X via Daniel Shelton (1668-1728)

·         Charles Beach (1816-1894), clock maker, 4C6X via John Beach (1654-1709)

·         Orrin Burdette Ives (1830-1896), clerk and merchant, 4C5X via Caleb Merriman (1665-1703)

·         Constant Loyal Tuttle (1775-1858), farmer and tanner, 3C6X via Joseph Tuttle (1640-1690)

·         John Humphrey Sessions (1828-1899), foundry owner, 7C3X via Samuel Boreman (1615-1673)

·         John Henry Sessions (1849-1902), bank president, 8C2X via Samuel Boreman (1615-1673)

·         Albert Joseph Sessions (1834-1870), trunk manufacturer, 7C3X via Samuel Boreman (1615-1673)

·         Hervey Ellsworth Way (1828-1891), physician, 4C6X via Eliasaph Preston (1643-1707)

·         Elisha N. Welch (1802-1887), foundry and machine business, 6C4X via Thomas Dibble (1613-1700)

·         Julius Nott (1819-1877), brick mason and grocer, 5C5X via Richard Seymour (1604-1655)

·         Gad Norton (1815-1898), banker, 5C5X via Nathaniel Sutcliffe (1643-1679)

·         Benjamin F. Hawley (1808-1887), town clerk and judge, 5C4X via John Ives (1644-1693)

·         Benjamin B. Lewis (1818-1890), clerk, orphan, wife is 5C5X via Edward Yeomans (1630-1706)

·         Samuel Morse Sutliff (1828-1899), bookkeeper, 5C5X via Samuel Munson (1643-1688)

·         Isaac Pierce (1815-1897), amusement park owner, 4C5X via James Bennett (1645-1736)

·         Elias Ingraham (1805-1885), clock cabinet maker, 5C6X via John Loomis (1562-1619)

·         Daniel Pidcock (1823-1895), born in England, no relation

·         Elisha Manross (1792-1857), clock maker, 5C5X via John Spaulding (1633-1721)

·         Hiram C. Thompson (1830-1907), clock maker, 3C5X via Ephraim Cook (1699-1774)

·         George S. Hull (1844-1906), surgeon, 5C3X via George Pardee (1656-1723)

·         Wales A. Candee (1825-1883), dentist, 6C3X via Daniel Kellogg (1630-1688)

·         Samuel P. Newell (1823-1888), lawyer, 4C5X via Samuel Hooker (1633-1697)

·         Charles S. Bailey (1811-1890), joiner and watchman, from elsewhere, wife is 5C6X via William Andrews (1595-1676)

·         John J. Jennings (1855-1900), lawyer, father-in-law is Samuel Newell above with connection to Samuel Hooker, 5C5X via Jonas Seeley (1652-1703)

·         John Birge (1785-1862), clock maker, 4C6X via Stephen Hopkins (1631-1689)

·         Nathan L. Birge (1823-1899), lawyer and merchant, 5C5X via Stephen Hopkins (1631-1689)

·         John Birge (1853-1905), manufacturer, 6C4X via Stephen Hopkins (1631-1689)

·         George W. Birge (1870-1901), company secretary, 6C4X via Stephen Hopkins (1631-1689)

·         Nathan R. Birge (1877-1950), company manager, 7C3X via Stephen Hopkins (1631-1689)

·         Henry Alexander Mitchell (1805-1888), judge, 4C5X via Mary Tudor (1660-1743)

·         Leverett Griggs (1808-1883), pastor, 5C5X via William Knowlton (1614-1655)

·         William Clayton (1820-1883), knife manufacturer, from England, daughter-in-law is 6C4X via Henry Peck (1617-1651)

·         George John Schubert (1836-1901), contractor, from Germany, no relation

·         Walter Adams (1810-1880), clock manufacturer, 5C5X via Nicholas Camp (1627-1706)

·         Thomas Barnes (1773-1855), carriage maker, 3C7X via Thomas Barnes (1623-1691)

·         William Rush Richards (1816-1885), carpenter, 4C4X via Stephen Upson (1655-1735)

·         William Champion Richards (1845-1908), merchant and salesman, 5C3X via Stephen Upson (1655-1735)

·         William Gaylord (1819-1906), cloth manufacturer, 6C5X via Thomas Starr (1615-1658)

·         Charles J. Root (1859-1907), manufacturer, 5C5X via Simon Tuttle (1647-1719)