Prominent People of Derby, Connecticut

Following along with my investigation into the towns of Bristol, Wolcott, New Milford, and Torrington, I now turn my attention to the next book in the series written by Samuel Orcutt, “The History of the Old Town of Derby, Connecticut, 1642-1880, with Biographies and Genealogies”. This is another huge tome with approximately 1000 pages. Thus, it occupied me for several days, including building out family trees for each of the individuals in the Biographies section to see how many shared ancestors in Connecticut/New England history with me.

The beginning of this book is quite interesting. Prior to the page with the number “1” on it are 80 pages of Indian history. This starts with a description of the various rivers and streams which make up the Housatonic (then called the Ousatonic) River and tributaries such as the Naugatuck River. Then it goes through each of the geographic areas and names all the tribes and their leaders. It then documents all the various treaties signed with these tribes and whose signatures are on them. While these various tribes claimed large tracts of land, the number of individuals in each tribe was relatively small. For example, the Tunxis tribe roamed over the area all the way from what is now Farmington nearly to the NY border, but they only numbered perhaps 100 warriors and 400 individuals.

The towns which were previously written about by Orcutt were all settled in the 1730s. But Derby, being at the junction of two rivers, has a history which begins in 1642, nearly 100 years earlier, when a few individuals from New Haven took up residence in the area. This has a couple of consequences:

·         Some of the early settlers, being several generations earlier than the other towns, did not have enough time to intermarry, so finding common relatives with my Connecticut ancestors was not possible in some situations.

·         Being at the junction of two waterways meant that the town was more populous than the other places Orcutt had served previously, so there was a higher incidence of people who had moved into the town from other places (or other countries), also leading to more difficulty in finding common ancestors.

·         The other places that Orcutt had served, in addition to having fairly small populations, were only in their second generation when the American Revolution broke out, so the number of individuals who served in the military was fairly small. But in Derby, there were several people with military titles among those in the biography section of the book.

The history of the town is quite interesting to read because of all the detail it goes into. While the town was quite small in the early years – being fewer than 100 inhabitants – they still needed to collect taxes, support a minister, provide for a schoolteacher, etc. My eye caught a reference to one of my ancestors, Rev. James Pierpont, when in 1706 they were having an issue with their pastor who felt he could no longer continue. The book records the following:

“The town and the church with Mr. James desire the council of the neighboring churches and elders in this affair and matter. The town have chosen Mr. Pierpont, Mr. Andrew and Mr. Stoddard to give advice in the sorrowful case between Mr. James and the town.” 

Only a few pages further along, the town was building a new church/meeting house and the book records the details of who was assigned to sit in which seats – with the then appropriate method of sitting men and women on separate sides of the center aisle. It’s hard to imagine such methods being used in churches today!

I also found it interesting to read through some of the history in 1742 in the town’s reaction to the “Great Awakening” which occurred with the visit of the British evangelist George Whitefield to New England in 1740. The books notes:

“The effort made by those who sustained the half-way covenant, which method was called the Old way, and was at that time the legal way, to stop the progress of the New way, the followers of which were called New Lights was very arbitrary and determined, as given by Dr. Trumbull. … a violent opposition was made in the county of New Haven, to the new lights, and to the religious revival which had been in the country.” 

But after such discussions, the next paragraph talks about the use of a toll bridge across the river in town. Such were the concerns of the town and church in Derby! Even this book concludes this discussion with, “Straws tell which way the wind blows, is an old saying, meaning that very small items illustrate character, customs and manners.”

As the history progresses through the Revolutionary War, I was intrigued by an inclusion of the “Grand List” which shows the expectations of the funds collected from each town to support the war efforts. Since the allocation is based on the relative size of each town in the state, it’s an interesting way to see which towns were the largest/smallest in Connecticut at the time. At the head of the list is New Haven (73K pounds), then Norwich and Farmington (66K each), Woodbury (56K), Stratford (52K), Wallingford (51K), Hartford (48K), Middletown (42K), Norwalk (42K), and Lebanon (41K). Derby is considerably down the list at 19K, and the smallest town in the state is Tolland at just 1,431 pounds. Towns such as Wolcott and Bristol do not appear on the list as they were not yet incorporated.

The change in attitude toward the Revolutionary War can be seen in the feelings of the town residents. “At first (1774) the whole town was loyal to the king, and entertained no thought but reconciliation; in December, 1775, a large majority were strongly in favor of supporting the war; in 1777, a little over one year after the Declaration of Independence, only a fraction – not to exceed one-eighth was found in the tory ranks.”  

It was a man from Derby, Colonel (later a General) David Humphreys, was so involved in the war on behalf of the patriots and following the surrender of Cornwallis, George Washington said in his letter to the President of Congress, “These returns and colors have been committed to the care of Colonel Humphreys, one of my aids-de-camp, whom, for his attention, fidelity and good services, I beg leave to recommend to Congress and to your excellency.”

There is much more information in this book than can be readily summarized in this blog. There are sections on the creation of other towns such as Oxford, Shelton, Ansonia, and Seymour, the coming of the railroad, businesses in town, other churches, construction of dams and bridges, participation in the Civil War, etc. Fun fact – one pastor of the church in Seymour from 1833 to 1834 was a man by the name of Rev. Rollin Stone. Perhaps the rock band of the 1960s were inspired by this man?

While there are a great number of individuals recognized in the history section of this book, I will devote the rest of this blog to those who are listed in the Biographies section. There are 170 pages in the Biographies followed by 100 pages of Genealogies (i.e. 270 of the 1000 pages of the book).

There are a total of 137 individuals listed in the biography section of the book. Of these, 8 do not have common ancestors with me (identified by the underlined phrase “no relation”), and for 4 the book does not supply sufficient information for me to identify them or their families (many are missing birth/death dates) (identified by the underlined phrase “not enough information”). The remaining 125 have an ancestral connection to me through a common ancestor in Connecticut/New England history. I share a common ancestor with 117 of them; 5 of them were not from the area, but their wives share a common ancestor with me; and 3 have sons who married someone with a common ancestor. These latter 2 categories are identified by the underlined word “wife” or “son”. Relationships are identified using the format “nCmX”, meaning “nth Cousin, m times removed”. Common family members are indented. In one instance, one of my direct ancestors is in the biography and is identified with the format G8GF, meaning great*8 grandfather.

There are two African individuals in the list. For one, there is no relationship to me. The other is the son of two former slaves who had been freed (his father was a slave to one of my direct ancestors and he took on the last name of Freeman). But he married a white woman (there may have been no other individuals in the town at the time with his background) and so he is a cousin of mine via marriage.

So, without further ado, here are all the individuals listed in the biography section.

·         Joseph Arnold (1811-1884), store owner, 4C5X via Joseph Arnold (1625-1715)

·         Henry Atwater (1819-1862), ran Birmingham Iron and Steel Works, 4C6X via David Atwater (1615-1692)

·         William T. Bacon (1812-1881), pastor, 2C6X via Isaac Judson (1700-1789)

·         Scott R. Baker MD (1854-1931) [off by 20 years in the book], 6C4X via Ralph Keeler (1612-1672)

·         Leonidas Bradley Baldwin (1834-1907), pastor, 6C3X via William Bradley (1619-1691)

·         Lewis Barnes MD (1824-1908), 5C5X via William Curtis (1618-1702)

·         J. H. Bartholomew (1814-1884), manufacturer, 5C5X via John North (1611-1692)

·         Rev. Amos Bassett (1764-1828), 4C6X via John Bassett (1589-1652)

o   Rev. Archibald Bassett (1772-1868), 4C6X via John Bassett

o   Benjamin Bassett MD (1825-1879), 5C5X via John Bassett

o   Doc. Martin Bull Bassett (1802-1879), 5C5X via John Bassett

o   Rev. William Elliott Bassett (1829-1881), 5C5X via John Bassett

o   Royal M. Bassett (1828-1905), Iron Foundry, 7C3X via John Bassett

·         Ebenezer D. Bassett (1833-1908), African American, no relation

·         Ambrose Beardsley MD (1811-1884), 4C6X via Joseph Beardsley (1634-1712)

·         George Lucius Beardsley MD (1848-1910), 5C5X via Joseph Beardsley (1634-1712)

·         Rev. Benjamin Beach (1737-1816), 3C8X via Richard Beach (1611-1691)

o   Sharon Yale Beach (1809-1899), son of Rev. Benjamin, paper mill, 4C7X via Richard Beach

·         Thaddeus G. Birdseye (1810-1880), 5C5X via Joseph Judson (1619-1690)

·         Alfred Blackman (1807-1880), lawyer, 4C6X via John Blackman (1631-1662)

·         Frederick P. Blodgett MD (1847-1893), 7C4X via Joseph Loomis (1590-1658)

·         Rev. John Bowers (1629-1687), G8GF

·         Rev. John Brainard (1830-1904), 9C4X via John Fuller (1518-1559)

·         Thomas Burlock (1804-1865), grain distiller, 6C6X via Richard Belden (1591-1655)

·         Abiel Canfield (1753-1812), button mfg, 3C7X via Thomas Canfield (1623-1689)

·         Ben. Adam Caston MD (?), practicing in Clinton, not enough information

·         George W. Cheeseman (1823-1891), hoop skirt mfg, wife is 5C5X via Henry Tomlinson (1606-1681)

·         Rev. Trueman Coe (1788-1858), 3C6X via John Hopkins (1662-1732)

o   John Coe (1815-1876), leather dealer, 4C5X via John Hopkins

·         Sylvester Colburn (1806-1870), 4C7X via Edward Spaulding (1596-1669)

o   Sullivan Colburn (1806-1876), twin, 4C7X via Edward Spaulding

o   Josiah M. Colburn, MD (1799-1882), 4C7X via Edward Spaulding

·         John W. DeForest (1826-1906), 4 years in Europe, wrote novels, 4C6X via William Curtis (1618-1702)

·         Sidney A. Downes (1817-1890), business manager of corset mfg, 5C5X via Joseph Beardsley (1634-1712)

·         William E. Downes (1824-1904), lawyer, 5C5X via Thomas Hine (1621-1698)

·         Charles Durand (1820-1900), merchant, 5C5X via Henry Tomlinson (1606-1681)

·         Dr. Hosea Dutton (1754-1826), 4C7X via Richard Treat (1584-1669)

·         Almon Farrell (1800-1857), millwright, 5C4X via John Warner (1625-1700)

o   Franklin Farrell (1828-1912), millwright and foundry, 6C3X via John Warner

·         Roswell Freeman (1803-1877), parents were slaves (Quash to Agur Tomlinson (my G8GF) & Rose to Rev. Yale), fox hunter, wife is 5C4X via John Merrill (1636-1712)

·         David French Esq (1741-1821), 2C7X via John Bowers (1629-1687)

·         Samuel M. Gardner (1840-1880), lawyer, 5C5X via Ebenezer Booth (1651-1732)

·         Isaac J. Gilbert (1727-aft 1790), abolitionist, 2C7X via Joseph Peck (1641-1718)

·         Truman Gilbert (1788-1857), lumber yard, 4C6X via Thomas Canfield (1623-1689)

·         Rev. Thomas Guion (1817-1862), 6C4X via William Lyon (1620-1692)

·         Zephaniah Hallock (1792-1870), ship builder, 4C7X via Robert Hawkins (1610-1704)

·         Frederick Hall MD (1842-1882), parents died when he was young, not enough information

·         Abram Hawkins (1810-1894), blacksmith, iron mfg, 4C5X via Joseph Hawkins (1669-1732)

o   William Hawkins (1816-1881), bro of Abram, 4C5X via Joseph Hawkins

·         Benjamin Hodge (1793-1868), 4C5X via Peter Mallory (1653-1720)

·         Josiah Holbrook (1788-1854), 4C8X via Thomas Holbrook (1599-1677)

o   Prof. Alfred Holbrook (1816-1909), son of Josiah, teacher, textbook writer, 5C7X via Thomas Holbrook

o   Dwight Holbrook (1817-1890), son of Josiah, much travelled, 5C7X via Thomas Holbrook

o   Rev. Zephaniah Swift Holbrook (1847-1901), son of Dwight, 6C6X via Thomas Holbrook

o   Frederick Holbrook (1854-1935), son of Dwight, teacher in WI, 6C6X via Thomas Holbrook

·         Lewis Hotchkiss (1806-1887), lumber company, 5C4X via Samuel Hotchkiss (1623-1663)

o   Willis Hotchkiss (1803-1884), brother of Lewis, lumber company, 5C4X via Samuel Hotchkiss

o   Willis Hotchkiss (1788-1872), 5C4X via Samuel Hotchkiss (1623-1663)

·         John L. Howe (1793-1876), doctor, mfg, 5C7X via John Waterbury (1621-1658)

·         Gen. William Hull (1753-1825), 4C6X via James Bennett (1618-1659)

o   Joseph Hull (1750-1826), Lt in Navy, 4C6X via James Bennett

o   Isaac Hull (1775-1843), commodore of Constitution, 5C5X via James Bennett

·         Rev. Daniel Humphreys (1706-1787), 4C7X via John Grant (1573-1640)

o   Gen. David Humphreys (1752-1818), son of Daniel, 5C6X via John Grant

o   Maj. Elijah Humphreys (1746-1785), son of Daniel, 5C6X via John Grant

o   Sarah [Humphreys] Mills (1750-1827), dau of Daniel, 5C6X via John Grant

·         Rev. John James (1657-1729), no relation

·         Isaac Jennings MD (1788-1874), 3C9X via Joshua Jennings (1620-1675)

o   Rev. Isaac Jennings (1816-1887), son of Isaac, 4C8X via Joshua Jennings

o   Catharine [Jennings] Parsons (1823-1919), dau of Isaac, missionary to Turkey, 4C8X via Joshua Jennings

·         Rev. Stephen Jewett (1783-1861), 5C6X via Francis Cooke (1583-1663)

o   Pliny Adams Jewett MD (1816-1884), son of Stephen, 6C5X via Francis Cooke

o   Thomas R. Jewett MD (1850-1885), son of Pliny, 7C4X via Francis Cooke

·         Ebenezer Johnson (1645-1726), Col in army, no relation

·         Harvey Johnson (1798-1883), stone mason, 3C6X via William Johnson (1640-1716)

·         Sheldon C. Johnson MD (1797-1887), 5C4X via Isaac Johnson (1615-1675)

·         William Johnson MD (1849-1880), from PA, no relation

·         Donald Judson (1798-1847), bridge builder, 4C6X via Joseph Judson (1619-1690)

·         Ithiel Keeney (1755-1837), tavern owner, 3C7X via Nathaniel Cook (1625-1688)

·         Elisha Strong Kellogg (1824-1864), killed at Yorktown, 5C5X via Martin Kellogg (1595-1671)

·         Joshua Kendall MD (1807-1891), 6C7X via Richard Austin (1548-1623)

·         Edmund Leavenworth (1766-1857), 3C8X via William Beardsley (1605-1661)

·         John Lewis (abt 1779-), merchant, retired in 1840, not enough information

·         John Lindley (1816-1887), merchant, 4C5X via Richard Nichols (1678-1756)

·         Lyman L. Loomer (1814-1892), mfg, 7C4X via Thomas Ruggles (1558-1647)

·         Rev. Richard Mansfield (1724-1820), 3C8X via Theophilus Eaton (1591-1657)

·         Rev. Joseph Moss (1679-1731), no relation

·         H. B. Munson (1821-1885), lawyer, 4C6X via Samuel Munson (1643-1688)

·         Thomas M. Newsom (1817-1893), newspaper publisher, parents from England/Canada, wife is 7C2X via Isaac Johnson (1615-1675)

·         Rev. Charles Nichols (1798-1878), 5C6X via Isaac Nichols (1625-1695)

·         Thomas J. O’Sullivan MD (1852-1900), parents and wife from Ireland, no relation

·         Samuel Orcutt (1824-1893), 6C5X via Stephen Hopkins (1581-1644)

·         Eleazer Peck (1808-1878), 4C5X via Joseph Peck (1651-1731)

o   George Hobart Peck (1834-1893), 4C6X via Joseph Peck

o   Robert Peck (1825-1884), 4C6X via Joseph Peck

·         Dr. Joseph Perry (1726-1793), 3C8X via William Judson (1592-1662)

·         Anson Green Phelps (1781-1853), 5C6X via Edward Griswold (1607-1690)

·         Albert W. Phillips MD (1838-1929), parents from England, wife is 6C4X via Thomas Hooker (1586-1647)

·         Charles Hitchcock Pinney MD (1831-1893), 6C4X via John Hall (1605-1676)

·         David W. Plumb (1808-1893), mfg of woolen goods, 3C7X via Thomas Welles (1690-1750)

·         Rev. Amasa Porter (1774-1856), 5C6X via John Porter (1594-1648)

·         Jabez Pritchard (1741-1777), 3C6X via Samuel Hickock (1643-1695)

·         Capt. Lewis Remer (1785-1841), parents are German, wife is 3C6X via Agur Tomlinson (1658-1728)

o   Simon Remer (1801-1867), bro Lewis, son married Emeline Thrall (1838-1865) 6C4X via Joseph Judson (1619-1690)

·         Col. Charles L. Russell (1828-1862), killed in Civil War, 5C6X via Ralph Russell (1625-1679)

·         Rev. Joseph Scott (1801-1859), 5C6X via Benjamin Scott (1612-1671)

·         Hon. Henry S. Sanford (1823-1891), minister to Belgium under Lincoln, 5C4X via Josiah Curtis (1662-1745)

·         Lugrand Sharp (1797-1876), 5C6X via Mary Welles (1616-1659)

·         Charles W. Sheffrey MD (1832-1892), from England, no relation

·         Edward N. Shelton (1812-1880), bank president, 4C5X via Daniel Shelton (1668-1728)

·         G. A. Shelton MD (1841-1927), 4C5X via Daniel Shelton (1668-1728)

·         Rev. John D. Smith (1804-1849), 5C4X via John Bowers (1629-1687)

·         Horace M. Shepard (1803-1832), 2C5X via Timothy Shepard (1718-1776)

·         Sheldon Smith [Sr] (1780-1867), selectman, 3C6X via Joseph Hawkins (1669-1732)

·         Sheldon Smith [Jr] (1797-1866), relative of [Sr], selectman, 4C5X via John Bowers (1629-1687)

·         Bradford Steele (1761-1841), 3C6X via John Merrill (1636-1712)

·         Ann S. [Winterbotham] Stephens (1810-1886), poet and writer, parents from England, son married Ann Maria Sutton (1847-1899) 5C4X via Benjamin Starr (1683-1754)

·         Abiram Stoddard MD (1777-1855), 4C7X via Richard Baldwin (1622-1665)

o   Thomas Stoddard MD (1813-1887), son of Abiram, 5C6X via Richard Baldwin

·         Leman Stone (1750-1847), 4C8X via John Bishop (1590-1661)

·         Doctor Noah Stone (1783-1851), 5C5X via William Peck (1601-1695)

·         John W. Storrs (1824-1887), 6C5X via William Parsons (1570-1653)

·         Stephen N. Summers (1812-1884), 4C4X via Abraham Nichols (1662-1708)

·         Rev. Zephaniah Swift (1771-1848), 5C6X via Richard Warren (1580-1628)

·         William Terry MD (1822-1908), 5C6X via Richard Vore (1600-1683)

·         Rev. George Thatcher (1817-1878), 6C5X via John Porter (1594-1648)

·         John L. Tomlinson (1686-1756), 2C9X via George Tomlinson (1575-1628)

·         Hon. David Torrance (1840-1906), he and wife from Scotland, children married others from England/Ireland, Sec of State, no relation

·         Ira L. Ufford (1804-1846), b. Trumbull, not enough information

·         Rev. J. Howe Vorce (1843-1896), 6C4X via John Taylor (1641-1704)

·         Thomas Wallace (1797-1875), he and wife from England, son married Corisanna Jackson (1825-1874) 7C4X via Francis Cooke (1583-1663)

·         Rev. Joseph Webb (1666-1732), 1C11X via Elizabeth Gregory (1604-1681)

·         Rev. Cyrus Banter Whitcomb (1839-1907), 6C3X via Richard Sperry (1606-1698)

·         N. J. WIlcoxson (1805-1870), 4C7X via Samuel Sherman (1618-1700)

·         Samuel Wire (1789-1874), 5C4X via Daniel Kellogg (1630-1688)

·         Gen. David Wooster (1711-1777), 2C8X via Henry Tomlinson (1606-1681)

o   Col. William B. Wooster (1821-1900), lawyer, 5C5X via Henry Tomlinson