Commemorative Biographical Record of Fairfield County, Connecticut

Ziba Fairchild, our subject's grandfather, fol- lowed agricultural pursuits on a moderate scale, and his life was spent at Newtown and New Mil- ford. He was twice married, and had four sons and two daughters, the latter dying when young, but the sons lived to maturity and married, (i) Edmund, born January 3, 1814, died July 22, 1883. He married (first) Harriet Whitney, and (second) Louise Peck, who is still living at the head of the street, in Newtown. He had two children by his first wife, Julia A. (i), who died in childhood; and Lucy A., who married Edgar Northrop, of Newton, and had three children — Edgar, George and Lucy; and one child by second wife, Julia A. (2), who married Eugene Buckley. (2) David Wheeler, second son of Ziba, resided about sixty rods west of the home of our subject, and with the exception of a few years spent in Wisconsin, his life was passed in Newtown. He married Emeline Whitniore, of Newtown, and had six children: (a) Mary Jane married William Lawrence, and had five chil- dren— Lottie, Frances, William, Katharine and Bertha, (b) Augustine married E. A. Good- emote, and had one son, Claude, who married in Canada, and has one child now living in Buffalo, N. Y. (c) Sarah M. married (first) Myron Colby, and has one child, (d) Henry W. was married in western New York, and after- ward settled in Minnesota, (e) Arthur died in childhood, (f) Julia. (3) Le Grand, the third son of Ziba, is mentioned more fully in the next paragraph. (4) Samuel, youngest son of Ziba by his second marriage, married and had one daugh- ter, Mary. Le Grand Fairchild, our subject's father, was born February i, 1820, and died October i 5, 1895. By occupation he was a carpenter and joiner, and many of the buildings in and around Newtown were constructed under his supervision. He pos- sessed fine natural abilities, and although he started in business life without capital, he man- aged to acquire a goodly competence, by thrift and enterprise, so that he was able to retire at the age of sixty-eight in the enjoyment of the re- sults of his early labors. For many years he was a leading member of Trinity Episcopal Church, of Newtown. In politics he was a Republican, but he never took an active share in partisan work. His wife, Emily Whitney, a daughter of Abel Whitney, was born in 1821, and died March 25, 1 89 1. They had a family of four children: J. Botsford, our subject; Julius Burr, born August 24, COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 215 1847, died May i, 1873; James Burtis, born Feb- ruary 4, iSsS, died February 20, 1858; and Emily Aurelia, who married a Mr. Mayhew, and has had four children — Susan C, Theodore F., Joseph B. and Gala. The subject of our sketch was born March 4, 1844, and since he was about four weeks old has had his horne in Taunton District, town of Newtown. He was educated in the common schools of that locality and in Newtown, attend- ing until he reached the age of seventeen years. He then began to learn the carpenter's trade with his father, and this business he continued for a quarter of a century, the firm being considered the leading carpenters of the town. Among the buildings erected by them we may mention the Grand Central Hotel, the store of E. F. Hawley, the residence of D. G. Beers, and St. John's Epis- copal church at Sandy Hook. Since 1886 Mr. Fairchild has been engaged in farming upon his homestead near Hawleyville, which is a tine tract of eighty acres. He is also interested in the sale of agricultural implements, and is the principal dealer in this line of goods in this town, being the exclusive agent for the Wiard Plow Company, of Batavia, N. Y. His energy and good judgment have been rewarded by a fair re- turn, and he ranks among the substantial busi- ness men of his neighborhood. As a citizen he has shown much public spirit, but is not an act- ive vvorker in politics, and, while he is a Repub- lican so far as national issues are concerned, he votes independently on local questions. On December 13, 1865, Mr. Fairchild mar- ried Miss Emma J. Jennings, who was born May 4, 1 843, a daughter of William B. Jennings. Three children have blessed this union: Mary Ella, born October i i, 1867; Jennie Louise, born April 24, 1869, both now at home, and Emma Irene, born January i, 1879, who died August i, 1879. The family is identified with the Congregational Church at Newtown, and Mr. Fairchild is one of the prominent members of that society. HORACE S. PLUMB, a highly esteemed resi- dent of Bridgeport, is now spending the afternoon of a long and useful life, having re- tired to the home of his childhood to enjoy well- earned leisure. Mr. Plumb was born January 18, 1827, at his present residence, and comes of good pioneer stock, his ancestors having settled in this coun- try at an early day. David Plumb, his grand- father, was born in the town of Trumbull, June 25, 175 I, and made his home there upon a farm, his death occurring May 31, 1813. On Decem- ber 19, 1776, he married Miss Mary Beach, who was born March 11, 1758, and died August lo, 1833. They had the following children: Han- nah, who married Silas Nichols; Noah, our sub- ject's father; Polly, born September 8, 1787, married Eli Booth; David lieach; and Camilla, wife of Nelson C. Nichols. Noah Plumb, the father of our subject, was born May 3, 1782, in Nichols, town of Trumbull, where he grew to manhood. He became a farmer by occupation, and in April, 1814, settled upon a homestead in the town of Bridgeport, where he died July 8, 1862. On November 22, 1804, he was married in Trumbull to Thank- ful Beach, who died soon afterward. On April 8, 1807, he married Eurania Wells, who was born November 15, 1784, a daughter of Elias Wells, of Stratford, and died December 27, 1866. Our subject was the youngest in a family of eight children, the others being: David W., deceased; Louisa P.. wife of Peter E. Capel; Mary N., who married James Fitch; Hepsa B. ; Sally E. ; Elias N., a farmer by occupation; and limily U. David W. , who married (first) Clarissa Allen, and (second) Louisa Wakely, was en- gaged in a manufacturing business at Birming- ham and Ansonia, and, later, resided in Shelton. Horace S. Plumb was educated in the schools of Bridgeport, and in early manhood became in- terested in agricultural pursuits. From 1854 to i860 he was engaged in railroading, and he sub- sequently embarked in business as a dealer in tiour and feed, carrying on this line from 1861 to 1880, part of the time at Titusville, Penn. In 1880, returning to Bridgeport, he opened a flour and feed business there, continuing same until 1892, since when he has been living in retire- ment. JAMES L. G. CANNON. The Cannon family is of French descent, the first settlers of that name in America having been Huguenots who fled from their native land to escape religious per- secution. Their descendants in every generation have shown themselves worthy of their ancestry, filling honorable positions in life, and manifest- ing the qualities that constitute good citizenship. In the early days the family was identified with New York City, and one of the streets of the metropolis was named in their honor. Commo- dore Cannon, the great-grandfather of the well- known citizen whose name opens this sketch, commanded a vessel during the French and In- dian war. He removed from New York to Nor- walk, this county, at an early period in the his- tory of the latter town. 216 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. John Cannon (i), our subject's grandfather, was born in Norwalk, where he was married in early manhood to a Miss St. John, a member of an old family of that locality. They died in Norwalk leaving a large family. John Cannon (2), our subject's father, was born in Ncrwalk in 1780, and passed his life there, becoming a wealthy and prominent citi- zen. In politics he was first a Whig, later a Democrat. His death occurred at Norwalk in 1840, and a few years later the family remo\ed to Newark, N. J. His wife, who died in New- ark in i860, was formerly Miss Fanny Lock- wood, daughter of Joseph Lockwood, of Nor- walk. Five children were born to this union, viz.: Harriet (deceased); Jeannette, who mar- ried John A. Bioren, of Philadelphia (both now deceased); John, who was engaged in business in New York City; Rebecca, who married Dr. John F. Morse, and died in California; and James L. G. Our subject was born in Norwalk, Conn., where he remained unnil he was fourteen years old. He then went to Newark, N. J., and for four years was employed as a clerk in the drug -'■jtore of Charles W. Badger. In 1849 he went to California, by way of Cape Horn, and during his four-years' residence there he was proprietor of a drug store. On his return to the East he again located at Newark, N. J., but in 1867 he removed to Westport, this county, and estab- lished a drug store, which he has since conducted successfully. As a citizen he is held in high esteem, and he is one of the leading Democrats of the locality, having served as treasurer of the township for seventeen years. Socially, he and his family are popular, and he is an active mem- ber of the Masonic Fraternity, with which he united in 1868. Mr. Cannon married MissCaroline F. Coombs, of Brunswick, Maine, and four children have been born to them: John F., Fanny B., Le- grand B. and Carrie G. BiRADLEY BROTHERS, of Westport, Fair- I field county. Industry puts an entirely new face upon the products of nature. By labor man had subjugated the world, reduced it to his dominion, and clothed the earth with a new gar- ment. The first rude plough that man thrust into the soil; the first rude axe of stone with which he felled the pine; the first rude canoe scooped by him from its trunk to cross the river and search the green fields beyond, were each the outcome of a human faculty which brought within his reach some physical comfort he had never before enjoyed. The mechanic is King, when we consider that all material things become subject to the influence of his labor, and in this connection it is with pleasure we read the life history of such well-known citizens as DeWitt C. and Gershom W. Bradley.