Commemorative Biographical Record of Fairfield County, Connecticut

Andrew Bell, son of Thaddeus, was born February 12, 1791, and was married September 29, 18 1 3, to Betsy, daughter of Stephen and Mary (Selleck) Raymond. They had children as follows: Mary Elizabeth, born May 3, 1818, married December 24, 1839, Legrand Johnson. Fannie Raymond, born October 12, 18 19, mar- ried, January i, 1843, Alonzo St. John. Maria Antoinette, born March i, 1822, married, March 4, 1847, Henry L. Weed. Andrew Jackson is mentioned below. Amanda Malvina, born Sep- tember 16, 1827, married, March — , 1845, George C. Wilson. Thaddeus Holly, born October 4, 1832. Andrew Bell was a school teacher in early life. In 1835 he became captain of a sloop called the " Mayflower," plying between Stam- ford and New York. He died at Five Mile River, Fairfield county, Conn., July 17, 1874. The old Bell Bible, which has been in the family for nearly three centuries, is a rare curi- osity, and was printed many years before the first New England settlers came hither. Only part of the Old Testament remains, but it is very legible and clearly printed, and the book was used at the 200th and 250th anniversary celebra- tions in Stamford. The following record gives the names of its owners and the length of time each one had it in possession: Francis Bell, belore 1640 to 1690; Jonathan Bell, 1690 to 1699; Abraham Bell, 1699 to 1744; Abraham Bell, 1744 to 1795; Mercy Bell, 1795 to 1842; Isaac Bell, 1842 to 1848; Abraham Bell, 1848 to 1891; Georgianna Bell, 1891 to present. The last named is the wife of John V. Hecker, of Noroton, Connecticut. Our subject spent his boyhood in the town of Norwalk, where he attended school until he reached the age of seventeen. He then removed to Stamford and learned the blacksmith trade with James B. Scofield, receiving, as compensa- tion for each year's work, only thirty dollars. Being too independent and ambitious to remain in a subordinate position, he determined to begin business for himself as soon as he became of age. Having borrowed fifty dollars from his father, he put his resolution into effect, opening a black- smith shop in Stamford, near the bank of the canal on Stage street, and in the rear of the "Stamford House." He prospered from the first, the stage line furnishing him a profitable custom, and at the end of three months he easily repaid the money borrowed. During the first year he cleared five hundred dollars, and having formed a partnership with Mr. Waterbury, re- moved his business to a shop located on the present site of the postoffice. A year later he purchased his partner's interest, and for twelve years continued the business with uninterrupted success, working from sunrise to sunset the year round. In looking over his old ledger he now finds but six of his former customers living, namely: Isaac Wardwell, Dr. Chauncey Ayres, Charles Gaylor, Joseph D.Warren, Lewis Weed and Silas Scofield. His first purchase of real estate in Stamford was a house and lot on Bank street, intended as a residence for himself, and later he bought land on Atlantic street, just north of the railroad, for the sum of $700, which he sold a few weeks afterward for $1,300. His next investment was a lot on Summer street, where he built the house now occupied by Dr. P. P. Van- Vleet. Finding the real-estate business both congenial and profitable, he disposed of his blacksmith shop shortly before the war, and de- voted his attention to this new line of effort. He is now one of the chief property owners of the town, and having laid out some popular sub-di- visions, he opened a street through his property in the center of the city, called Bell street. At one time he owned the old Academy property, at 272 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. the corner of Atlantic and Bank streets, which was in litigation for many years. When the town hall was built he was the leading member of the building committee. Subsequently he erected on his own account many handsome residences and business houses, including a block of stores called Bell block. Politically, Mr. Bell is a Democrat, but not a strict partisan so far as local issues -are concerned. His ability and public spirit are highly appreciated by his fellow-citizens, and for many jears he has held ofhce as justice of peace and burgess of the borough of Stamford. He served as chief of police, and also as chief en- gineer of the lire department. In 1848 Mr. Bell was married in Stamford to Miss Maria Louise Miller, daughter of Mr. Seth Miller, a well-known resident of that city. Of 'the five children of this union the eldest, Harry, now cashier of The First National Bank of Stam- ford, married Olive Barber, of Brooklyn, N. Y., and had — Gertrude, Andrew Jackson and Arthur. (2) Georgianna is the wife of John V. Hecker, of Noroton, Conn. (3) Frank died in 1880. (4) Edward Morgan (deceased) married Jessie Pol- hamus, of New York City, and had Edward M. (deceased), Jessie H. and Florence. (5) Mary Louise married (first) L. D. Gnswold.and (second) Mr. Vincent. CYRUS BEERS SHERMAN. This venera- _' ble and highly respected citizen, who has now passed an honorable life of four-score years, and is yet hale and hearty, was born February 24, 1 8 19, in the borough of Newtown, then a mere village, in the same house he now owns and occupies. He is of the seventh generation from Samuel Sherman, the line of his descent being through Samuel (2), Daniel, Samuel, Jo- tham, and Cyrus. [See Sherman genealogy.] Cyrus Sherman, father of our subject, also born in Newtown, married Huldah Matilda Booth, and children as follows came to this union: Jo- tham, who was a farmer, is now deceased; Cy- rus B., whose name introduces these lines; and Mary, the widow of Elijah B. Price. The father, who was a lifelong agriculturist, died when our subject was a small boy of some six summers, the mother passing away when he was about twenty-one years old. Cyrus B. Sherman was reared on the home farm, and his primary education was secured at the district schools of the neighborhood of his home, after which he attended the Newtown Acad- emy for a few years. At the early age of seven- teen he took charge of the home farm, and has ever since had the exclusive management and control of it. This fine property, located near the railroad station in the town of Newtown, now comprises some seventy acres of highly-improved land; and its well-kept appearance denotes the care and superior judgment of its owner. On February 10, 1847, Mr. Sherman was united in marriage with Miss Caroline Beers, a daughter of Lemuel Beers, of Newtown. In re- ligious faith Mr. Sherman is a lifelong adherent of the doctrines of the Episcopal Church ; in politics he is a stanch Republican, originally an equally zealous Whig. Affable and courteous to all alike, he possesses the essential qualification to success in any sphere of life, that of making friends readily, and of strengthening the ties of all friendships, which in his case are of that last- ing nature that cease only with the final sum- mons. HON. JAMES EDMUND MILLER. Few citizens of this section are as well known throughout its limits as the subject of this sketch, who has been for many years a leading spirit in the varied activities of business, political and social life. At present he is serving as county commissioner, and for two' terms he represented the town of Redding in the State Legislature. His business interests have been largely con- nected with agriculture and stock raising, and during the summer he resides upon his farm in Redding, his winters being spent at his residence at Danbury, while he maintains an office in Bridgeport for the transaction of business. Mr. Miller was born July 28, 1848, in the town of North Castle, Westchester Co., N. Y., and comes of excellent ancestry. Albert Miller, our subject's grandfather, was a farmer in West- chester county, where he died in 1821, at a com- paratively early age. Peter H. Miller, our subject's father, was born December 23, 1817, in the town of Bed- ford, Westchester county, and as he was left fatherless when only three or four years old he was obliged to make his own way in the world from boyhood. He was reared to farm work, but as a boy he served an apprenticeship with a carriage maker in South Salem, N. Y. , and this business he followed successfully for some years in North Castle. In 1853 he removed to the town of Redding, this county, and engaged in farming and stock raising, his death occurring there August 2, 1879. He married Miss Mary Ann Jones, a native of Ridgefield, whose ances- tors came from England at an early day. Her father, Timothy Jones, who was a well-to-do farmer in Ridgefield, was a nephew of Lieutenant /t^^V//-U<f "^ fdf^/uyf^?o^cu9^ COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 273 Jones, of Revolutionary fame. She is still living, and of the three children of the marriage all oc- cupy honorable positions in life, (i) Rev. El- bert L. Miller graduated from the University of Michigan, and entered the Methodist ministry about thirty years ago, joining the Iowa Confer- ence, and is now a presiding elder, with head- quarters at Davenport. He married Miss Char- lotte I. Hill, of Norwalk, this county, sister of Hon. E. J. Hill, a member of Congress from that district. (2) Jennie O. married John F. Sanford,a farmer in Redding, and a brother of ex-Sheriff Sanford of this county, and of Henry Sanford, of Bridgeport, ex-president of the Adams Express Company.