Commemorative Biographical Record of Fairfield County, Connecticut

of John L. Weeks, a broker (whose main office was in New York, being a branch of Brown Bros., brokers of that city), as confidential clerk, remaining, however, but a few months. In 1848 he returned to Wilton, Conn., for one year, and then moving to Ridgefield, clerked for Henry Smith for some time. For a short period he was in business for his own account, and then re- turned to Henry Smith, with whom he remained till 1854, since when, with the exception of two years, he has been in business in Ridgefield con- tinuously— a period of forty years. For some twelve or fourteen years he was associated with D. S. Sholes in the manufacture of shirts. For the past forty years he has been engaged in gen- eral mercantile business. He has all his life been a very busy man, and for the most part a successful one, his golden motto in all his deal- ings being, " Honesty is the best policy." In 1849 Mr. Smith was married to Miss Delia J. Gregory, daughter of Lewis P. Gregory, of Wilton, and three children were born to them: Edward L., in partnership with his father; Her- bert, a farmer in the town of Ridgefield, Conn. ; and Henrietta Maria, who died in July, 1885, the wife of Charles H. Valden. During the war of the Rebellion Mr. Smith served as first lieutenant in the National Guard of Connecticut, Colonel Scott being captain of his company, and he continued with the organ- ization some si.\ years, being throughout a strong Union man. Socially, he is affiliated with the I. O. O. F., Our Brothers Lodge No. 10, of Norwalk, and with the F. & A. M., Jerusalem Lodge No. 49, of Ridgefield. He is president of the board of education, and has been town auditor for many years. In religious faith he is a member of St. Stephen's Episcopal Church of Ridgefield, and held office in same for many years. In his political convictions Mr. Smith was originally a Whig, his first Presidential vote be- ing cast for General Scott, and on the organiza- tion of the Republican party he united therewith. In 1859 he sat in the State Legislature. In 1 872 he joined what was known as the Liberal Repub- lican party, and in 1873 was sent to the Legisla- ture by the voice of the Democratic party. In 1892 and 1894 he was t!je candidate on the Democratic ticket for the Senate in the Twelfth Senatorial District, and at the election reduced a normal Republican majority from 600 to less than 1 50. For three years he was selectman, nominated, however, much against his desire or inclination. For many years he held the office of president of the Ridgefield Agricultural So- ciety, which, under his guidance, became a highly successful organization; was also, for a long period, president of the Ridgefield Improve- ment Society, and of the local Debating Society. As an orator and public speaker Mr. Smith's elo- quence and logic gave him high place, and with pleasure we here reproduce an extract from his Decoration Day speech of May 30, 1893: '• When we recall the fact that a little over a quarter of a century ago there were over three million men, women and children, slaves in this Christian land of ours; men who had no rights to- the fruits of their labor and toil; men without a right, without a hope, sold at the auction block like so many articles of merchandise; wives- separated from their husbands, children from their parents, your lovely girls, as fair in face and form as any within this hall today bought and sold as young cattle in the streets, I speak of scenes and events which I have repeatedly witnessed in the streets of Mobile and New Or- leans, and therefore speak feelingly. When we remember that our forefathers were partakers in this great wrong in the earlier days of the Re- public, and only abandoned it when they found it unprofitable; when we recall these facts; and that also from the press, yes, even the pulpit, from the lips of the eloquent and profound ex- ponents of State Craft, argument and appeal implied, if not directly expressed, in defense of the doctrine of the right of the stronger to en- slave the weaker, were listened to with pleasure and applauded as th^ words of wisdom falling from the lips of experience and of judgment, and that, by some, it was accounted the loftiest act of patriotism to intercept and return, under that flag, the poor fugitive in his midnight flight to liberty or death, and a great nation, boasting of its religion and independence, had become so debauched by its professional politicians that it seemed almost ready to adopt the sentiment which might be inferred from the decisions of the highest tribunals in the land. Witness the de- cision of the Supreme Court of the United States in the Dred Scott case — ' the black man had no rights which the white man was bound to respect. ' Recalling these facts to mind I wonder at God's goodness to us as a nation, and feel that we ought reverently to thank our God for that first shot fired at Sumter's battlements; for it was the fore-runner of a doomed system announcing a day of deliver- ance; the breaking of the bonds; the opening of the prison doors that the captives might go free; that no more should be witnessed the scarred and bleeding backs of its victims, no more the sobs of the mother, the wail of anguish from the bruised heart of the father, as they saw their little ones torn from their embrace and home. i 5G COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. "Reverently I can but feel that that shot was a messenger from God, proclaiming that no more should the soil of his chosen land be pressed by the foot of a slave, but by men, free men, no more to be called chattels, articles of merchan- dise, but by a man, a soul responsible to his Cod, an American Citizen. What a triumph for hu- manity! What a victory for Justice! '' And as we come together to testify our re- spect and gratitude to the fallen by decorating their graves with flowers, the first fruits of the new birth of Spring, we should rejoice that the lives, the labors, the heroic devotion of the men who composed the most sublime army of the world, fought not for enslavement, but for free- dom; not for destruction, but for preservation; not for personal aggrandizement, but for national honor; and that unmanned by no danger, neither discouraged nor disheartened by any defeat, but with the courage and enthusiasm of the Crusaders of old in their fight for the Holy Land, their steady tramp, tramp, tramp, as they went march- ing on, ceased not until that stainless old flag floated untrammelled over a free land, and they had established the sublime truth, enunciated in the Declaration of Independence, and which for nearly a century had been a living lie in our na- tional life: That ail men are born free and equal and endowed by their Creator with certain in- alienable rights among which are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness." HON. WILLIAM EDGAR RAYMOND (de- ceased) occupied for many years a leading position in the community, and his death, which occurred February 6, 1890, caused sincere mourning among a large circle of friends whom his sterling qualities of character had won for him. He was a worthy representative of one of the most respected families in the county, tracing his descent from Richard Raymond, who came from France with two brothers in Colonial times. According to tradition the two brothers settled in New London, Conn., and Richard, who was a mariner by occupation, located first in Salem, Mass., whence, on October 20. 1662, he came to Norwalk, this county, where he engaged in the coasting trade with the Dutch and English set- tlers on Manhattan Island. In 1664 he removed to Say brook, Conn., and beyond this we have no record of him except that he and his wife Judith were members of the First Church at Salem before 1636. John Raymond, the next in the line of de- scent to our subject, was a resident of Norwalk in 1665. He married Mary, daughter of Thomas Betts. Thomas Raymond, a son of John, was mar- ried November 15, 1701, to Sarah, daughter of Abraham Andrews, of Waterbury, Conn. Comfort Raymond, the great-grandfather of our subject, resided at New Canaan, and at- tained the advanced age of ninety years. William Raymond, our subject's grandfather, served in the Continental Army, and his discharge and receipt are on file in the comptroller's office at Hartford. From 1777 to 1780 he was a member of Col. Zebulon Butler's regiment, and was so seriously wounded that he became per- manently crippled. About 1785 he removed from Norwalk to the eastern part of the town of New Canaan, where he spent his remaining years. In i860 he married Priscilla Haydon, by whom he had a large family of children — sons and daughters — all becoming in after life a credit to their parents. With the exception of the youngest, Samuel, the sons settled in other States, and their descendants have made the name respected wherever it is known.