Commemorative Biographical Record of Fairfield County, Connecticut

The Fairchild family originated probably in Scotland, where the name was, and still is, Fair- bairn, but the ancestors of our subject removed to England at an early period. On the family crest there are three crescents, showing that three prisoners were taken by some of its mem- bers while serving as Crusaders, and three birds (martlets), indicating three pilgrin^agesto the Holy Land. The first to come to America was Thomas Fairchild, of England, who settled at Stratford, this county, in 1639, and became a leader in the little colony, serving as its first magistrate. Our subject is of the eighth generation in descent from this worthy pioneer, the line being traced as follows: Joseph (eldest son of Thomas by his second wife) was born in 1664, and married Jo- hanna Wilcoxson; Timothy, born in Stratford in 1687, married Sarah Humphrey; Daniel, born in 1720, married Hepzibah Lewis; Lewis, born in Trumbull in 1746, married Mary Ufford; Reuben, our subject's grandfather, and Charles Nichols Fairchild, our subject's father, are mentioned more fully below. The family displayed a patri- otic spirit during the Revolutionary war, several of its members doing gallant service in Washing- ton's army, and at all times the name has been associated with a high order of citizenship. COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 311 Reuben Fairchild, the grandfather of our subject, was born in 1782, and died October 4, 1855. He received a common-school education, and in his youth learned the cabinet-maker's trade. As a young man he became interested in the manufacture of saddle-trees at Nichol's Farms, Trumbull township, where he made his home, and he and his brother Eben, under the firm name of R. & E. Fairchild, built up an ex- tensive trade in that line. In 1817 Eben re- moved to Bridgeport to take charge of a similar business, and in 1826 Reuben formed a partner- ship with Eben and another brother, Lewis, and engaged in the manufacture of paper. About 1836 he established a carriage factory in Bridge- port, in partnership with Haight, Hurd & Keeler, under the firm name of Haight, Fairchild & Co., but in 1840 he withdrew, and his remaining years were spent in farming. He married Anna Hawley, and had six children: Caroline, Elizabeth, Mary Ann, Starr, Lewis and Charles Nichols. Hon. Charles Nichols Fairchild, the father of our subject, was born in Trumbull, October 27, 1818, and was educated in the district school at Nichol's Farms. He learned the trade of car- riage making in Bridgeport, and for a short time was engaged in that business at Nichol's Farms, but has since followed farming as an occupation. He is prominent in local affairs, and has been elected on the Democratic ticket to various offi- cial positions, including that of representative in the State Legislature. His first wife, Louisa Beach, daughter of Alfred Beach, of Trumbull Center, died on August 13, 1845, aged twenty- four years, and on April 21, 1846, he married Miss Mary B. Banks, daughter of S. O. Banks, of Easton. By his first marriage he had two sons: Henry Charles and Alfred Beach, both of Bridgeport. By the second union there were also two children: Laura Frances, and Erwin Starr, our subject. HENRY 1. BROWN SON (deceased), who in his lifetime was a prominent agriculturist of Huntington township, was the owner of a fine farm near the village of Huntington, and his scientific management won for him a high repu- tation as a man oU progressive ideas and execu- tive ability. The Brownson family, which is of English ex- traction, has been identified with Connecticut from an early date, and our subject's grandfather, Israel Brownson, was born probably in Kent, where his manhood was passed. He was a gun- smith by trade, though much of his time was given to agricultural pursuits. He died in Kent, and his wife, Anna (Dayton), passed from earth in 1822. They had four children: Eliza, Hannah, Anna and Sheldon M. Sheldon M. Brownson, our subject's father, was born and reared in Kent, and was married there to Miss Alma Goodsell, who was born near New Milford, the daughter of Stiles Goodsell. Soon after his marriage he removed to Susque- hanna county, Penn., where he followed farming about sixteen years, but later returned to Con- necticut in about 1849, locating permanently in the town of Huntington, his death occurring there in 1886. In politics he was a Republican, and he and his wife, who died in 1884, were devout members of the Congregational Church. Of their eight children, the eldest, Hannah (now deceased), married Col. John Stearns, of Vermont, an official in the employ of the general government; Chloe A. died unmarried; Abigail married Dr. John Neff, of Baltimore; Henry I., our subject, is mentioned more fully below; Byron is a farmer in the town of Huntington; \\'illiam H., formerly a merchant in Chicago, was burned out there in 1870, and subsequently conducted a fruit farm in Vineland, N. J., where he died October 3, 1898; Medad G. (deceased) was a farmer in Great Barrington, Mass., and Charles (deceased) was at one time a traveling salesman, later a merchant in Chicago. Henry I. Brownson, our subject, was born December 16, 1833, in New Milford, and was but a child when his parents removed to Pennsyl- vania. At the age of fourteen he returned to Connecticut and found employment at Bridge- port, where he worked for five years. He resided in the town of Huntington from the year 1849, following farming during the greater portion of the time, and from 1865 up to his death he made his home at his late farm. The place contains 140 acres of excellent land, and is devoted to general crops, a fine greenhouse supplying facili- ties for raising early vegetables of all sorts. Mr. Brownson died June 25, 1898, after a year's ill- ness. He was a Republican politically, but took no active part in partisan work. In 1869 he married Miss Anna Booth, a native of Newtown, and a daughter of Lewis Booth, a leading citizen of New Milford. Four children have blessed this union: Harry B. (who now takes charge of the active work on the homestead), Mary Louise, Edith E. (deceased) and Anna G. HOMER STILLfe CUMMINGS is a rising young attorney of Stamford, and since 1895 has been the junior partner in the well-known firm of Fessenden, Carter & Cummings. He has 312 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. already won an enviable reputation at the Bar, while he is also taking a prominent part in polit- ical life as an ardent supporter of the principles of the Democratic party. Mr. Cummings was born April 30, 1870, at Chicago, 111., and is the only child of Uriah and Audie Schuyler (Stille)) Cummings, of New York City. His father, who is a native of the Empire State, is the president of The Cummings Cement Company (which owns an extensive plant at Akron, N. Y.) and the author of a technical treatise on "American Rock Cements," which was published by the Brick Builders' Publishing Company, of Boston, Mass., and has made a ■wide impression, being regarded as authority on that subject in scientific circles. Our subject's early life was mainly spent in Buffalo, N. Y. , where he prepared for college, and in 1891 he was graduated from Yale. He then entered the law school connected with that institution, and in 1893 received the degree of LL. B. During his stay at Yale he represented the University in an intercollegiate debate with Harvard University, the meeting being held at Cambridge, and he was also connected with various societies at the University, including "Book and Gavel " and " The Yale Ivent Club," of which he was president. In the fall of 1893 he located at Stamford, entering the office of Fessenden & Carter, and on January i, 1895, he was admitted as a member of the firm. He is secretary of The Cummings Cement Company, the corporation of which his father is the head, and few young men have started in life with as brilliant prospects. He has always taken a keen interest in political affairs, and being a member of a family which had long been identified with the Republican party he naturally afiiiiated with that organization, but while engaged in the e.\- amination of political and social questions he be- came convinced that the restoration of bimetal- ism by the independent action of this nation was necessary to the prosperity of the country. He decided that he would give his vote and influence to the party which should first accept that view and carry it to the front as a national issue, and in 1896, when the Democratic party clearly en- dorsed the principle, he joined that organization and at once began to«work for its success. In September of that year he was nominated by the Democratic State Convention at New Haven for the office of Secretary of State, and from that time until the day of election conducted an aggressive and vigorous campaign, and established a reputa- tion as a brilliant and effective political speaker. On June 29, 1897. he was married to Miss Helen W. Smith, and the next five months he spent in a foreign tour. Mrs. Cummings is a daughter of Commodore James D. Smith, of the New York Yacht Club, who is a prominent resi- dent of Stamford, and at one time was the presi- dent of the New Stock York Exchange. Mr. Cum- mings and his wife are popular socially. They have one child, Dickinson Schuyler Cummings, born June 17, 1898. Mr. Cummings is an active member of the Masonic P'raternity, belonging to Old Hiram Lodge No. i, F. and A. M., at New Haven, and is also a member of the Royal Arcanum, No. 999, of Stamford. JOELFARIST,of Bridgeport, is a ruling spirit in many of the business enterprises of that thriving city, and his reputation as a financier is an enviable one. His name is more closely identified with The Farist Steel Company, of which he is the founder and present head; but his sound practical judgment and rare executive ability have caused his co-operation to be sought in almost every line of business effort.