Commemorative Biographical Record of Fairfield County, Connecticut

On May 20, 1838, Mr. Banks married Miss Abby Williams, who was born November 22, 1815, daughter of David and Olive (Treadwell) Williams, well-known residents of Easton. She died March 5, 1892, after fifty-four years of hap- py wedded life, and her remains now rest in Oak Lawn cemetery, in Fairfield township. As an earnest Christian she left a memory which is an inspiration in her family, and among the large circle of friends connected with Greenfield Con- gregational Church, of which she was a devout member. Four children were born of this mar- riage, three of whom are living: (i) George W., born July 11, 1839, is a Congregational minister, and has been in charge of the Church at Guil- ford, Conn., for twenty-five years. . (2) Henry W., born September 15, 1841, died February 8, 1896; he was a farmer by occupation and was re- spected among his associates, being especially active in religious work as a member of the Con- gregational Church at Southport, in which he held the office of deacon. (3) Dwight M., born March 14, 1847, is engaged in farming at Green- field Hill, and is a deacon of the Congregational Church at Greenfield Hill. (4) Carrie A., born April I, 1855, married Simeon Pease, of Tru- mansburg, N. Y., but now of Greenfield Hill. HON. JOSEPH G. HYATT, ex-member of the State Legislature from Fairfield county, an educator of note and an official for years in the town of Westport, where he has been prom- inent both in public and social life, is a native of the town, born September 19, 1852. Gilbert Hyatt (his grandfather) was engaged in farming operations throughout his lifetime. His wife was Miss Julia St. John, of Norwalk, and shortly after their marriage they settled in that town, and there reared a family of several children, the youngest of whom was James W., the father of our subject. James W. Hyatt was born in the town of Norwalk, Conn. At the age of eight years, on the death of his father, he was taken to the South, and there reared and educated, residing in the States of Georgia and Alabama. He learned the shoemaker's trade in that section, and worked at same there and later in Westport, Conn., he having returned to Fairfield county when of age. He was twice married, (first) to Ann Quintard, and (second) to Abigail Couch, a daughter of Joseph Couch, a native of the town of P~"airfield, Conn., where also the daughter (mother of our subject) was born. After his sec- ond marriage, James W. Hyatt and wife located in Westport. Hisdeath occurred there February 28, 1S8S. He was a man of intelligence and an excellent citizen, lending his influence to such measures as tended to the good of the commu- nity. In religious faith he was an Episcopalian, while his widow, who yet survives, is identified with the Methodist Church. In his political views he was a Republican. Joseph G. Hyatt, the only child of Jaines W. by the second marriage, passed his boyhood and received his primary education in Westport. At the age of eighteen years he began teaching school at Greens Farms in his native town. Later he taught in Wilton, and, in all, followed the profession nearly twenty-one years, until 1890. During this period he read law, was admitted to the Bar in 1882, and for a time was engaged in practice. Since 1890 he has much of the time been engaged in public life. In politics he is a Republican, being active and" influential in his party. During the administra- tion of President Harrison he served as post- master at Westport, conducting the business of the office with ability and dispatch; his term extended four months beyond the four-years' term, or administration period. He has served the town as justice of the peace and town clerk, having been elected ip 1897 to the latter office, which he yet holds. In 1897 he was chosen a representative in the State Legislature, and per- formed the duties of that high office in a manner entirely satisfactory to his constituents, as well as to his own credit. He has held many of the minor offices of the town. He takes a great interest in public affairs, and his name is identi- fied with many local movements which have COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 38 been of benefit to the town. He is a member of the Westport Historical Societ)', and first vice-president of the Reading Room and Library Association. Socially, he is past master of Tem- ple I^odge No. 65, F. & A. ^I.; is also a member of the I. O. O. F. On April 14, 1874, Mr. Hyatt was married to Miss Mary A. Comstock, a native uf the town of Wilton, and daughter of Charles E. Com- stock, of Wilton. They have no children. Mr. and Mrs. Hyatt are members of the Congrega- tional Church. BEV. WILLIAM TOUCEY HILL, M. A., the only child of \\'illiam Hawley and Emma (Clarke) Hill, was born July 22, 1830. in Redding, Conn. John Reade Hill (our subject's grandfather), of Redding, Conn., descended from the American ancestor, William Hill, who came from England and settled in Connecticut in 1632, and died in Fairfield in 1650. John Reade Hill married Miss Betsey Sanford in 1799, a daughter of Aaron Sanford, of Redding, Conn. , who was the first male Methodist and the first Methodist locid-preaclier in Connecticut. John Reade Hill's children were Aaron Sanford, Moses, Will- iam Hawley (born March 29, 1804, and died in December, 1830), Morris, Betsey, Lydia and Joseph. On his mother's side, also, W. T. Hill came from ancestors long in this country. His mother's mother was Hannah Toucey, wife of Zechariah Clarke, of Newtown, Conn. Hannah descended from Richard Tousey, who came from England and settled in Wethersfield in the seventeenth century. Emma Clarke Hill was born Novem- ber II, 1806, and died February 6, 1886. A few months after his father's death (Decem- ber, 1830) our subject was taken by his mother to her father's home in Newtown, where she con- tinued to reside and the son grew up. At fifteen he went to Wesleyan Academy, Wilbraham, Mass., and' prepared for college; entered Wesleyan Universit}', Middletown, Conn., in 1850, and was graduated in 1854. In 1855 he joined the New York East Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church, of which he is still a member. As pastor he has served the Churches in Seymour, Stratford, Winsted, New Canaan, Danbury, Redding and Forestville in Connecticut, and Brooklyn, New Rochelle, Jamaica and Bridge- hampton in New York. From 1876 to 1884 Mr. Hill was presiding-elder of the New Haven and the New York East Districts of his Conference, residing in New Haven, where he bought a home. In April, 1899, he retired from the itinerant pastorate, and now resides at No. 37 Howe street. New Haven, and is pastor of the Stony Creek Church as supply. On August 4, 1854, Mr. Hill married Miss Jane C. Burr, daughter of Linus Burr, Esq., of Middletown, Conn. Their children were Emma Elizabeth, William Burr, Cyrus Foss and Ellen. Of these, the two sons graduated from Yale College in 1881, and William B., from the Yale Law School in 1883. Emma E. graduated from the Yale Art School in 1882, after a four-years' course. Ellen is a kindergartener in the public- school system of New Haven. In 1891 William B. married Miss Illie Clapp, daughter of Dwight P. Clapp, of Brooklyn, N. Y. , and is now practic- ing law at No. 56 Pine street. New York City. Cyrus F. married, in 1885, Miss Kate Stratton Giles, daughter of William A. Giles, of Chicago, 111., and taught in the "Harvard School for Boys" five years, when he purchased the "Mil- waukee Academy", of which he was principal till his death, which occurred November 16, 1S89, when he was thirty years of age. STARR CLIFFORD BARNUM, one of Bethel's enterprising and progressive busi- ness men, belongs to a family which is noted for the possession of those admirable qualities. His ancestors were among the first settlers of this county, and he is of the eighth generation in direct descent from Thomas Barnum, who was born in England in 1625, and died in Danbury, December 26, 1695. A son of this worthy Thomas Barnum (2), who was born July 9, 1663, and died in 1730, was one of the eight pioneers of Danbury, and his wife, Sarah, daughter of William and Mary Beardsley, was a native of Stratford. In the third generation the line of descent is continued through Ephraim Barnum, who was born in 1710 and died in 1775. Of his wife, Mehitable, but little is known. Their son. Capt. Ephraim Barnum, who gained his title by service in the Revolutionary war, was born in 1737, and died in Bethel, April 17, 18 17. In 1753 he married his first wife, Keziah Covell, and after her death he married, in February, 1776, Mrs. Rachel Starr Beebe, widow of Jonathan Beebe, of Danbury, and daughter of Jonathan and Rachel Taylor Starr. Jonathan Starr was a descendant of Dr. Comfort Starr, who was born in England in 1625, and died in 1659. He (Dr. Comfort Starr) had two sons, viz.; (i) Josiah, born in Charlestown, Mass., in 1657. He married Rebekah •, and for a time resided on Long Island. They came to Danbury soon after its first settlement. 84 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. He was one of the first Patentees of the town of Danbury, its second justice of the peace, and its first town clerk. He died in 1 71 5. (2) Thomas, born October 26, 165S, married Rachel - — . [The maiden names of the wives of Josiah and Thomas are not now known.] Ephraim Barnum had fifteen children, ten by the first marriage and five by the second, and- among his grandchildren was the cele- brated showman, Phineas Taylor Barnum. In the next generation the line is traced through Abel Barnum, our subject's great-grandfather, who was a resident of Bethel. Edson Barnum, the grandfather of our subject, resided in the Plum Trees District, in the town of Bethel, and he and his wife, Cynthia Hamilton, reared a family of three children.