Commemorative Biographical Record of Fairfield County, Connecticut

In July, 1887, Mr. Seymour was appointed, by Governor Phineas C. Lounsbury, one of the three railroad commissioners of the Stale of Con- necticut, which position he is at present filling, serving his third term of four years each, having been recently re-appointed for a fourth term. He is also chairman i-.v officio of the State Board of Engineers which has charge of the construc- tion and inspection of dams. In 1892 he was elected probate judge for the district of Ridge- field, and is still filling that position with char- acteristic skill and ability. During the years 1867-68 he served in the State Legislature, hav- ing been elected on the Republican ticket. He is a member of the F. & A. M., Jerusalem Lodge No. 48, of Ridgefield, while in religious faith he and his family have been prominently identified with the Congregational Church of Ridgefield for years. On October 31, 1855, Mr. Seymour was mar- ried to Rebecca Sproull, daughter of Col. Thomas Sproull, of Warwick, Orange Co., N. Y., and they have two children: (i) Mary C. , born April 27, 1858, married David L. Jones, of Ridgefield, Conn., and has two children — Christie Law Jones, born April 21, 1882, and Helen Wallace, born August 22, 1892; and (2) Augusta D., born November 3, 1863, married Howard D. Smith, formerly of S. Norwalk, Conn., and has two chil- dren— Walter Seymour, born May i, 1891, and James Quinlard, born April 20, 1892. WILLIAM E. HINE. This venerable and highly esteemed resident of Shelton has watched the entire development of that thriving village, having located there when its site was under cultivation as a farm. But two nr three persons are now living in that vicinity who were there when he settled at his present homestead, and he is regarded throughout the community as one of its foremost citizens. Mr. Hine is of English descent on the pater- nal side, but his ancestors located in Connecticut at an early day, and his grandfather, Thaddeus Hine, followed the tanner's trade at Derby. William Hine, the father of our subject, was born in Derby, August 30, 1772, and became a farmer by occupation. In politics he was a Whig, but he did not aspire to official honors. He died in Naugatuck, January 24, 1850, and was buried there, as it was incorporated a town in 1844. His wife, Esther (Hickox), a native of Waterbury, born August 19, 1782, died April 19, 1864. Their married life was spent partly in Waterbury, but later they made their home at Derby, returning, however, to Waterbury in 1835. They had nine children, of whom two died in infancy; of the others, the eldest, Samuel B., was a farmer; Lu- cius followed the carpenter's trade; Rufus was a joiner; Mary never married; William E. is the subject proper of this sketch; Charles is a tailor in New Haven; and Henry was a joiner by occu- pation. Of this large family none are now living except William E. and Charles. (3ur subject was born February 6, 1822, at the old home in Waterbury, and was about three years old when his parents removed to Derby, where he grew to manhood. He learned the joiner's trade, which he followed successfully for many years. In 1846 he married Miss Catherine Booth, a daughter of David C. Booth, and grand- daughter of Philo Booth, of Trumbull, where her family has long been prominent. No children were born of this union. In 1859 Mr. Hine and his wife removed to Shelton, where they have since resided, taking a helpful share in the vari- ous movements that have tended to bring about the present prosperity of the town. Mr. Hine is a Republican in politics, and at times he has held local offices, including those of assessor and grand 210 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. juror. His parents were members of the Con- gregational Church, and he has always been in sympathy with the work of that society. E\RWIN EDWARDS, proprietor and editor of '/ The Grceinuich Graphic, which needs no introduction to the residents of Fairfield county, is a native of this State, born in Norwich. His primary education was obtained at his birth- place, where he attended both public and private schools. When he was twelve years old his parents, Elisha and Lauretta (Strong) Edwards, removed with their family to New Haven, Conn. , to give their sons a college education. Erwin Edwards attended the Hillhouse High School. At the age of fourteen, when about to graduate, he was obliged to abandon study on account of ill health, and went on a farm, on the advice of a physician, to build up his strength. He had been there but four months when he was called home by the death of his father. Mr. Edwards embarked in business, continu- ing thus for a year or so, when he decided to go to college. He entered Wesleyan Academy, Wilbraham, Mass., where he fitted for Yale Scientific School, but being not over-robust, and having an offer to engage in stock farming in the West, he went to Dallas Center, Iowa, where he remained for nearly a year. Being averse to the rough life of the plains, Mr. Edwards re- turned to New Haven, where he again entered business, being in the office of The lilm City Press, of which his brother was editor. From there he went to Brooklyn, N. Y., and became connected with a large book house. His family removed to Hartford, and, desiring to study law, he went to that city and entered a law office, gaining a good insight into the prac- tice of the profession. From there he went to New York, where he was employed on The Nczv York Daily Witness. In 1880 Mr. Edwards and a brother started The Blooiiificld Republican, at Bloomfield, N. J., but he sold out in the winter of that year, and went to Washington, D. C. , in which city he did some newspaper work. In the summer of 1881 he came to Greenwich, Conn., on a vaca- tion, but was urged to start a newspaper there, and decided to stay. For a time he was corre- spondent for a New York newspaper, and in De- cember, 1 88 1, he and a brother launched The Creeii'u'ich Graphic. On February 3, 1883, they bought The Greein^ncli Observer, which they consolidated with The Graphic, and our subject has been the sole owner and editor since July 28, 1890. Tlie Graphic, by its fearless stand on public matters and its constant efforts to further the in- terests of the town, has become, under Mr. Ed- wards, a newspaper of marked influence and weight in the conununity, and gained wide re- nown as a model country newspaper. Mr. Edwards is one of the trustees of the Greenwich Savings Bank, but has never cared for public office. He has a valuable library, and spends his leisure movements over his books. He is an antiquarian, and has always taken a great interest in Put's Hill, which is lo- cated in Greenwich, and has written much about it, as well as of other incidents of the Revolu- tionary war, with which Greenwich is so inti- mately associated. These articles have attracted attention all over the country from those who are interested in such matters. MEV. ARTHUR REQUA. The influence of a consecrated life cannot be estimated by earthly standards, for all outward manifestations are but faint indications of the deep and lasting impression made upon his associates by one who strives to work out in his own character and life his highest thought. In the history of the well- beloved pastor of the Presbyterian Church at Noroton there is revealed a devotion and courage in the pursuit of the ideal, which overcame most unpromising conditions in his early years, and to these inspiring qualities, as well to his knowledge and eloquence, we may attribute his success in his sacred calling. His ancestry was noted for piety, and four gen- erations in the paternal line were identified with the Presbyterian Church at Yorktown. N. Y., his father, Isaac Requa, and grandfather, Daniel Requa, holding the office of elder for j'ears. His mother, whose maiden name was Ellen Crosby, was also a member of a family which had long been connected with the Presbyterian Church, and at her death in July, 1856, when our subject was but seven weeks old, her last words were a prayer that he might enter the ministry. I^oth parents were natives of New York State, and their lives were spent there, the father, who died in 1878, being a farmer by occupation. Our subject was born May 19, 1856, in the town of Patterson, Putnam Co., N. Y., and for some years of his boyhood he attended a district school at Jefferson Valley, N. Y. At the age of fifteen he went to Peekskill, N. Y. , to tnake his home with an uncle and aunt, and while there he pursued his studies in the district school and the military academy. Later he entered the semi- nary at Pennington, N. J., but his course there COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 211