Commemorative Biographical Record of Fairfield County, Connecticut

Abraham Briggs, the grandfather of our sub- ject, was born February 9, 1780, at Quaker Hill, where he obtained a common-school education. At the age of twenty-two he married Freelove Osborn, daughter of Stephen and Sarah Bourne Osborn, and in 1803 he purchased the homestead where he resided till his death, adding from time to time to his surroundings. As prosperity came to him he invested largely in real estate, and at one time he had about eight hundred acres of land, which he divided among his children be- fore his death, which occurred January 28, 1859, when he was aged seventy-nine years. He also carried on blacksmithing with his brother Ed- ward for many years. In disposition he was re- markably cheerful, but in his later years he be- came quite deaf. He liked to tell stories, and was always fond of a joke. One instance, in his boyhood days, he amused his grandchildren by repeating when he heard of certain acts of mischievous boys, which came near resulting fatally: " During a holiday he with other boys chanced to pass an unoccupied dwelling, so thinking it rare sport they proceeded to till the adjoining well with stones. Not many years after he purchased the same property and went to reside thereon; but in order to get water the stones which he had helped to throw into the well had to be removed at his expense. He had Jesse Sherman in the well filling a large bucket, but on drawing it out the bail broke, so near the top of the well, however, that they saved it from going on the old man's head, thereby averting a catastrophe, for the bucketful of stones would undoubtedly have crushed him. When speaking of the incident in after years Jesse said he never dared tell his wife Hannah how near he came to being crushed through the work of thoughtless boys." Abraham Briggs was a birthright Quak- er, and his faith was the rule of his daily life. Politically his support was given to the Demo- cratic party. Eight children were born to Abra- ham and Freelove Briggs, namely: Willis, born October 28, 1803; Daniel, May 4, 1806; Mary (the mother of our subject), October 5, 1808; Sarah A., April 25, 181 1 ; Stephen E, January 7, 1813; Almira, January 14, 181 5; Caroline, January i, 1817; Charles A., February 16, 1820. (i) Willis, the eldest son, married Jane, daughter of Isaac Sherwood, and had three chil- dren: Abram, Mary Jane, and Sarah. Of these, Abram married Ann Eliza Corning, and had three children, one of whom died in infancy; the others are Fred and Jennie, who are married COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 189 and living in Bridgeport. Mary Jane married Henry O. Warner, but she died soon thereafter. Sarah became his second wife, and by her he has three children; all are living in New Miiford. (2) Mary was our subject's mother. (3) Sarah A. married Marshall Treadwell, and had two children: John M., who married (first) Susan, daughter of Diamon Durgy, and had three chil- dren; on the death of this wife he married Emma Weller, by whom he has four. Mary, daughter of Sarah Ann, married Walter Chatterton, and has two children — Robert and Carrie. (5) Stephen E. , the fifth child of Abraham and Freelove Briggs, had the educational ad- vantages of common schools and academies of his time, by which he received an excellent edu- cation. From early manhood he was engaged in farming in the town of Sherman, and he became quite prominent in the community. Like all the rest of his family, he was a Democrat, and he served his town as selectman and member of the Legislature. Although he was a birthright Quaker, he attended the Congregational Church at Sherman. He was fond of his home and fam- ily, being a model husband and father. He married Nancy Stuart, daughter of Nehemiah and Susan (Hungerford) Stuart. There were three children by this union: Walter, born No- vember I, 1848, died at the age of five years; Carrie E., born July 7, 1852, married the late Theodore Rogers, and has two children — John Theodore and Ruth; John, born October 8, 1856, died in 1877 in his twenty-first year. (6) Alniira married David Treadwell, and moved to New Fairfield; they had three children, Carrie E., who was the wife of Charles Wanzer, and had three children — Will, who married Miss Mc- Mahon; Minnie, who is the wife of George W. Durgy; and Alice, who is not married. Stephen B., second child of Almira, married Mary Bar- num, and has five children, Carrie, Charles, Will- iam, Benjamin and David, all residing in Dan- bury. Edward, third child of Almira, married Sophia Hungerford, and has three children, Nel- lie, Myra and Mattie. Caroline, the seventh child of Abraham and Freelove Briggs, died un- married. Charles A., the youngest in the fam- ily, married Ann Janette Marsh, and. had three children. In early life he was very jovial, and had many friends. In politics he was a Demo- crat, and held many town offices, besides serv- ing one term in the Legislature. His three chil- dren were Daniel F., who married Miss Burdick, and has one son, Charles, living in New York. (2) Andrew M. married Phebe Jennings, and had two children, Lottie and Stephen; Lottie died at about the age of fifteen. (3) Charles J. died before reaching the age of twenty-one years. Of the eight children of Abraham and Freelove Briggs, Almira is now living. Stephen Osborn, the father of Freelove Os- born, and great-grandfather of our subject, was born at Salem, Mass., in 1748, and died April 3, 1825, at the age of eighty-six. His wife, Sarah (Bourne), was born December 21, 1749, and died November 22, 1833, aged about eighty-four years. They were married July 26, 1774, and moved to New Miiford, Conn. About this time a brother came to Quaker Hill, who was the grandfather of Richard Osborn. Fourteen chil- dren came of this marriage, whose names with dates of birth and death are as follows: Mary, January 30, 1776 — February 15, i860; Hannah, May 21, 1777 — March i, 1854; Isaac, January 18, 1779 — October 30, 1856; Freelove, April 21, 1780 — April 3, 1865; Stephen, November 4, 1781 — June 14, 1829; Phoebe, May 15, 1784 — October 23, 1819; Sarah, April 19, 1786 — Sep- tember 9, 1862; John, December 17, 1787 — July 16, 1855; Anna, December 17, 1787 — April 6, i860; Nathaniel, August 7, 1789 — March 23, 1847; David, June 3, 1791 — February i, 1792; Susanna, February 20, 1793 — August — , 1885; David, July 5, 1795 — April 10, 1858; and Cyn- thia, April 13, 1797 — March 13, 1869. Northrop Mallory, the father of our subject, had one sister, Hetty, who married Harvey Hill and lived in Newtown. Six children were born to them: Susan, John, George, William, Sinclair and Burtis. All but the last named married. They moved to Joliet, and from there to Cen- tralia. 111. Mrs. Hill died at that place a few years since at an advanced age. The Hungerford family, of which Mr. Mal- lory's first wife was a member, has been repre- sented in the town of Sherman for many years. Levi Hungerford, Mrs. Ophelia Mallory's grand- father, was a native of Sherman, and he and his wife Diana (Hungerford) reared a family of six children, as follows: Thomas, father of Mrs. Mallory; Edwin, who married Susan Giddings; Orin, who married Wealthy White; Hannah, wife of Delazon Hungerford; Harriet, wife of George Shove; and Emily, wife of Carlisle Smith. Thomas Hungerford was born and reared in the town of Sherman, and was always interested in farming there, but his chief occupation was car- pentering. In politics he was a Republican, and at times he held minor town offices. He mar- ried Rachel, daughter of Nathaniel Smith and Betsey Mead, and had seven children: Sophia, who married Edward Treadwell; Ophelia (Mrs. Mallory); Mills, a resident of the town of Sher- man; Jay, who married Sarah Hoag;, Nelson T., .•fi\'3 1.1.':* I ; 190 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.