Commemorative Biographical Record of Fairfield County, Connecticut

to Sandy Hook to learn the turner's trade with Henry L. Wheeler, and after two years there he was sent to Westville, Conn., to manage a store belonging to Mr. Wheeler. Later this business was purchased by Charles M. Piatt, with whom Mr. Hall remained for seven years, at the end of that time returning to Sandy Hook and re- entering the employ of Mr. Wheeler for about eight years. After spending eighteen years in this manner he decided to purchase the business, which has now been established for more than forty years, and since July 14, 1886, he has con- ducted it at the old stand with marked success. At present Mr. Hall is also a director in the Sandy Hook branch of the Mercantile Co-operative Bank of New York. • In 1879 our subject married Miss Anna J. Taylor, daughter of Rev. James Taylor, a native of England, who is now a resident of Sandy Hook. No children have blessed this union. Mr. Hall is an active worker in the Nfethodist Church of Sandy Hook, in which he holds the office of trustee, and his fine voice is used to good advan- tage in the choir. In politics he is a Republican, but he has never been an aspirant for official honors. HON. WILMOT C. WHEELER, formerly a representative from the town of Trumbull in the State Legislature, is one of the most highly es- teemed citizens and, although now less active in political and social life than of old, he continues to wield his influence in a quiet way on the side of progress. His family, of which a more complete account is given elsewhere, ranks among the oldest and wealthiest in this section, and he is one of the eighth generation in descent from Sergeant Eph- raim Wheeler, who came from England prior to 1639. The line of descent iS traced through Deac- on Isaac Wheekr, son of Sergeant Ephraim; Isaac; Ebenezer, who married Abigail Edwards; John, who married Esther Mallett; John M.,who married Ann Walker; and Ebenezer, our subject's father, who was born and reared in the town of Trum- bull, receiving his education in the local schools, and later engaging in farming in the same locality. He was married February 20, 1S40, to Cordelia Mallett. This worthy couple had two sons, cf whom our subject is the younger. Hon. Hobart R. Wheeler, the elder of the two, was born November 30, 1840, and is now a prominent resident of this county, his home being in Trum- bull in the summer, and in the city of Bridgeport in the winter. The father was much interested in the church at Long Hill, to which he gave generously when it was built, and of which he was junior warden for some years, as has also been his son Wilmot, since the death of his father. Our subject was born March 1 1, 1848, at the old home in the town of Trumbull, and his ele- mentary education was secured in the neighbor- ing schools. On completing the course of study offered there, he pursued higher branches at Cheshire Academy near New Haven, and later he attended an advanced school in Bridgeport. He has a beautiful home in Trumbull, where he spends the summer months, while in the winter he resides in Bridgeport. The care of his estate has occupied much of his time since early man- hood, but at present he is living in retirement. On June 3, 1873, he was married in Stratford to Miss Sarah Curtiss, daughter of Peter P. and Mary (Fitch) Curtiss, and they have two children, Lillian C. and Wilmot F. HENRY F. GUTHRIE (deceased). Among the people who come to us from other lands there are many syhose thrift, industry and intelli- gence make them welcome as citizens, but our English-born residents seem as a rule to possess a keener understanding of our national spirit than others, and to appreciate more fully the es- sential purpose of our institutions. This might be expected when, we consider the relations which we as agnation sustain to the "Mother country," but it is none the less gratifying to find the facts e.xemplifying the theory so thoroughly. The subject of this sketch, who in his life- time was a well-known resident of Norwalk, was born in London, England, August 18, 1828, and his ancestors in both paternal and maternal lines were of English blood. Alexander Guthrie, his grandfather, spent his entire life in the old coun- try, where he v/as successfully engaged in business as a merchant tailor. He reared a large family of children, am'ong whom was a son, Robert, our subject's father, who was born in London, De- cember 1 3, 1 802, and is still living at the advanced age of ninety-six, being one of the most highly esteemed citizens of Norwalk. This venerable gentleman passed his youth in his native land, and was married there to Miss Elizabeth Ann Walls, of Cornwall, England, who was a true helpmeet to him in all his enterprises. At one time when he was principal of a private school for boys in London, she conducted a similar in- stitution for girls in the same city. Her death, which occurred in Norwalk, April 8, 1887, was deeply mourned by a large circle of friends and acquaintances. In his early life Robert Guthrie learned the tailor's trade, and for some time ,i;iiifij COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 267 followed it in London, but in 1842 he came to America, and settled in Norwalk, where he has since lived in retirement. Of a family of eleven children, the greater number were born in Eng- land, several dying and being buried there. Rob- ert B., born December 22, 1826, died in 1834; Henry F., our subject, is mentioned more fully below; Claude, born September 16, 1830, is a resident of the town of Norwalk, and has been engaged in business there as a turner, farmer and blacksmith, but now follows the latter occupa- tion exclusively ; Margaret J., born March 4, 1833, died in 1S35; Alexander, born March 24, 1835, served during the Civil war in the 17th Connecti- cut Volunteer Infantry, and for some years pre- vious to his death, which occurred in 1875, he was engaged in business as a turner at Silver- mine, in the town of Norwalk; lillizabeth A. , born December 14, 1836, died March 4, 1838; Eliza- beth A. (2), born October 16, 1S39, died in 1839; Sidney, born August 16, 1841, was a soldier in the lOth Connecticut Volunteer Infantry, and is now a resident of Silvermine; St. Clair, born March 21, 1844, is a farmer in Kansas; Joseph, born February 2, 1S46, died June 22, 1867; Ed- mond A., born August 13, 1849, died in 1890. Henry F. Guthrie's education was obtained chiefly in the private school in London of which his father was the head, and at the age of tliir- teen he began clerking in the establishment of William Buckmaster, a regimental tailor, with whom he remained about eighteen months. He then took a trip to the coast of Africa in a ship which was sent for a cargo of guano, and on his return set sail for America, his first employment after landing being as a farm hand in New Jersey, where he spent one season. In 1846 he came to Norwalk; on June 10, 1850, he engaged in busi- ness on his own account at Silvermine, and ever after conducted a lumber mill and turning shop there, his extensive trade keeping his mill runn- ing night and day most of the time, and giving employment to a large number of hands. Dur- ing the fifty years which he spent in this busi- ness Mr. Guthrie won the esteem and confidence of financiers, and he was a valued adviser in various enterprises. For many years he was a director dn the Central National Bank of Nor- walk, also in the Fairfield County Savings Bank, and for a long time he was a director in the Fairfield County Agricultural Society, which is now a thing of the past. On January 30, 1854, Mr. Guthrie mar- red Miss Hannah Buttery, who was born May 20, 1834, in Norwalk, this county. Her father was Silas Buttery, a highly esteemed citizen, and her family is well known in this locality. Mr. Guthrie was identified helpfully with all forms of philanthropic work in his oommunity, and contributed liberally to the advancement of religious enterprises. He took a keen interest in the questions of the day, and on October 20, 1852, became a naturalized citizen of the United States. Politically he was a steadfast Repub- lican, but he neither sought or held office — in fact he refused nominations when tendered to him. He died April 28, 1898. T=%\AVID A. NICHOLS makes his home in the JLJ' town of Monroe, Fairfield county, and is one of the most popular men in that section. He was born there May 19, 1856, about two miles east of Monroe Center, on what is known as Barn Hill, and belongs to a family identified with Con- necticut history from the earliest days, the first ancestor in this country having been Sergeant Francis Nichols, who lived in Stratford in 1639, and was one of the first settlers and original pro- prietors of that town. Sergeant Francis Nichols was a nati\'e of England, and was doubtless closely related to Col. Richard Nicolls, the first English governor of New York State. He had been a military man in his native country, and there is some evi- dence that he belonged to the famous regiment of Horse Guards, of London, some of whom are known to have come to Boston about the time of his emigration. Francis Nichols was twice mar- ried, his second wife being Anne Wines, daughter of Barnabas Wines, of Southold, L. I. From his second son, Caleb, who was born in England, our subject traces his descent through Abraham, born January 19, 1662; Joseph, born September 21, 1685; and Lieut. Nathan, born December i, 1709. Nathan, Jr., son of Lieut. Nathan and Patience Nichols, was baptized May 24, 1778. His son Daniel was a native of the town of Hunt- ington (formerly Stratford), Fairfield county, where he owned considerable land and carried on farming. He married Hannah Bennett, and they reared three sons, all of whom have long since passed the four-score mark, viz. : George L., Nathan B. and Daniel A., the last two liv- ing in Huntington. The father was of a very retiring disposition, and passed his life quietly, dying at the ripe old age of eighty-seven years.