Commemorative Biographical Record of Fairfield County, Connecticut

By degrees his practice enlarged. Suavity of manner, and conscientious labor, rapidly won for him friends, and he was soon in the posses- sion of a handsome income. In May, 1854, he formed a co-partnership with Dr. David H. Nash, which continued unbroken for seventeen years. In 1861, when the war of the Rebellion broke out, he was a practitioner of a standing so high that, upon the recommendation of the State Medical Society, of which he was an honored member, he was appointed, by Governor Buck- ingham, a member of the board of medical ex- aminers, to investigate the qualifications of all applications for surgeoncy in the regiments then being recruited in Connecticut. In 1862 he him- self took the field as surgeon (with rank of major) of the Seventeenth Regiment Connecticut Vol- unteer Infantry. A few months later he was promoted to brigade-surgeon in General Sigel's corps, and shortly after the battle of Chancellors- ville he was again promoted, this time to the rank of surgeon of division in General Devin's command. In recognition of meritorious service Q8 90 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. on the field during the battle, he was raised to the rank of medical inspector, and assigned to the staff of General Howard. At the battle of Gettysburg he served as medical director-in- charge of the Eleventh Corps. When the same corps was ordered to Lookout Mountain, he was again assigned to serve as its medical director, and also as staff surgeon to General Hooker. He participated in the battles of Lookout Mountain, Missionary Ridge and Ringgold, and was con- spicuous for his devotion to the wounded upon those bloody fields. Arduous campaigning and intense mental strain, consequent upon his heavy responsibilities as a medical officer, finally impaired his health to such an extent that he was compelled to leave the field. Resigning from the army. Doctor Hubbard returned to Bridgeport, and after a brief rest assumed private practice. In the hope of ob- taining relief from a severe attack of sciatica, which probably had its origin while he was in the army, he took a trip to Germany. While abroad he visited many of the principal hospitals and other medical institutions. A Second trip to Europe was made in 1883, and a third in 1885. In 1879, he was elected president of the Con- necticut Medical Society. He was an active member of nearly all the leading medical so- cieties, and contributed several interesting and valuable papers and addresses to the literature of his profession. He was the preceptor of many of the prominent physicians of Bridgeport and other cities to the number of about fifty, among whom are Doctors Godfrey, Garlick, Lauder, Lynch, Wright, Gordon, and others in Bridge- port, and Dr. Dudley, of Chicago. The last five years or so of his life were confined to his office work and consultation. He had thousands of warm and appreciative friends in all parts of the State, not least among whom were the veterans who remembered his services for his country on the battle fields. 0 In the public affairs of Bridgeport Doctor Hubbard took an active interest from the time of his arrival there. In 1874 he was elected to represent the city in the State Legislature. In 1875 he was nominated for Congress, by the Republicans of the Fourth Congressional Dis- trict of Connecticut, his opponent being the Hon. William H. Barnum. Though defeated he gained rather than lost in personal popularity, and in 1876 he was again elected to the State Legislature. In the following year he was re- nominated f(sr Congress. His opponent, Levi Warner, was elected by a small majority. Urged in 1879 to again become the standard bearer in the Congressional race, he declined, although Republican victory was clearly foreseen. The exacting requirements of his professional labors induced him to take this course. Doctor Hubbard was married April 15, 1855, to Miss Cornelia Boardman, youngest daughter of Sherman and Sophia Hartwell, honored res- idents of Bridgeport. Mrs. Hubbard died in 1 87 1. The children of this marriage were as follows: (i) Sherman Hartwell Hubbard (the only son), who was a graduate of Yale Law School, and subsequently enjoyed a large and favorable practice at Bridgeport, with patent laws a specialty, died in 1891; he married Miss Comete Ludeling, eldest daughter of Hon. John Ludeling, former chief justice of Louisiana, and they had one son, John T. Ludeling Hubbard. (2) Sophia Todd Hubbard, wife of Charles M. Everett, vice-president of the Vacuum Oil Com- pany, Rochester, N. Y. (3) Cornelia E. Hub- bard, wife of Courtlandt H. Trowbridge (son of the late Henry Trowbridge, of New Haven), an importer and ship-owner, engaged in the West Indies trade, in New Haven, Conn. They have two children, Virginia and Henry Trowbridge. On July 18, 1897, Doctor Hubbard, while ascending the steps of his office, lost his balance and fell heavily to the stone sidewalk, causing a fracture of the skull, from the effects of which he died next morning, at the home of his daughter- in-law, Mrs. C. F. Stead, in Bridgeport. No event caused such genuine and universal sorrow in the city of Bridgeport, where the name of Doctor Hubbard is a household word and a synonym of kindness and ability. As a physician of forty- six years experience in peace and war, he oc- cupied the first rank, while his ability as a sur- geon was recognized all over the country by those high in the ranks of that profession. He possessed a natural aptitude for the practice of medicine, and to this he added a faculty for thorough investigation which made him pre-emi- nently successful. As a rrlan he was universally beloved and respected. His services were avail- able alike to rich and poor, and there are hun- dreds of people in the city who will bear him in- grateful remembrance. B)ENAJAH GILBERT, (deceased), who in his ^ lifetime was a prosperous farmer of the town of Wilton, was born in South Salem, West- chester Co., N. Y., June 25, 181 5. After obtaining his early education in the common schools, Mr. Gilbert attended a select school in which he studied the classics, and later he attended Prof. Hawley Olmstead's academy in Wilton. For a few years afterward he taught COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 91 school, and then turned his attention to farm- ing. From 1843 to 1849 he was a resident of Virginia, and in 1849-1850 was in the coal and timber business in Ulster county, N. Y., in the latter year going to Wilton, Conn., and purchas- ing a farm. He after that was engaged in agri- culture. During training days he was a mem- ber of a militia company, was always a strong Republican in politics, and held several of the minor offices of his town, having been treasurer thereof for seven years, and filled other places of honor and trust. Early in his life he united with the Presbyterian Church, and while he lived in Virginia he was elder of the Church of which he was a member. At the time of his death he was a member of the Congregational Church at Wilton, and was a deacon of same. In 1843 he married Fannie M. Keeler, daughter of Isaiah and Lucy Keeler, the former of whom was a farmer of Wilton. She was born November 20, 1813, and had the following children: Josiah, born July 15, 1845, in Virginia; George K., born December 19, 1846; and Charles B., born March 9, 1855. Benajah Gilbert, the father, passed from earth September 21, 1897. Josiah Gilbert, eldest son of the subject, was educated in the district schools of Wilton, and also at Prof. Edward Olmstead's academy at Wilton, Conn. Since then he has followed farming. As a Republican he has held the posi- tion of selectman of his town for the past six years. He married Elizabeth Olmstead, by whom he has three children: Edward O. , Thomas J. and George H. George K. Gilbert, second son of the subject, after completing his education became engaged in mercantile business, and is now in the custom house in New York. He married Miss Elizabeth Marvin, by whom he has two children: Earnest M. and Walter M. Charles B. Gilbert, youngest son of the subject, after finishing his early education in the district schools, and Prof. E. Olmstead's Wilton Acad- emy, attended Williams College, and graduated at that institute in the year 1876. He has been principal of the high schools in Minnesota and Wisconsin, and is now superintendent of the pub- lic schools of Newark, N. J. He has also been superintendent of schools in the West. He mar- ried Miss Jennie Weed, and has no children. As to the ancestry of the Gilbert family the following running genealogy may be of interest : Josiah and Elizabeth Gilbert were the early American ancestors of the family. They lived in Wethersfield in 165 1. Their son Josiah was born in 1659 ; his son John, in 1679, and his son Josiah, March 24, 1697. He had a son, Benajah, born May 10, 1743, who married Eunice , born in 1746, and they became the grandparents of our subject ; Benajah was en- gaged in farming and running a sawmill. Their children were as follows : Hannah (i), born August 5, 1770, died in 1775 ; Lois ; John, born in 1778, died young ; Eunice ; Hannah (2) ; Rhoda ; Eliza ; Mary and Josiah. Josiah, the youngest child, was the father of our subject. He was born in the town of South Salem, N. Y., and was there educated in the dis- trict schools. He was engaged in farming most of his life, and he also ran a sawmill for some years. Politically, he was a strong Republican, and held several minor town offices. He was a member of the Presbyterian Church, of South Salem, and was an elder in same. He married Miss Sallie Hoyt, daughter of David and Rebecca Hoyt, of South Salem, N. Y., and by her had the following children : Lucy, who married Rich- ard Hoe ; Benajah, who married Fannie M. Keeler ; John, who married Miss Sarah C. Ball ; Joseph, who married Martha J. Crosby ; and Thomas, who married Mary L. Lawrence.