Commemorative Biographical Record of Fairfield County, Connecticut

' well District, town of Newtown. Gideon Bald- win and Charlotte Ferris had three children; Harriet, born probably in 1815, who married Starr Skidmore, son of Wheeler Skidmore; Will- iam David Baldwin, our subject; and jared licers, who died April 5, 1832, aged three years, one month and nine days. ^■* William D. B. Ferris was born February 14, 1823, at the old homestead near Newtown, in the " Head of the Meadow" District. He received a good English education in the Newtown Acad- emy and in a private school at Taunton conducted by Mr. Peck, in which institution he continued his studies until he reached the age of twenty years, and as he was always fond of reading he became more than ordinarily well-informed. He inherited a portion of the estate of his parents, and later purchased the interest of his sister. About 1864 he bought the Capt. Hart Shepard farm of 100 acres, to which he soon added some sixty acres, making in all nearly three hundred acres owned by him. In 1869 he removed to the last mentioned farm, where he made his home until his death on July 12, 1885. He was a man of excellent judgment, and while by disposition he was retiring and modest he was enterprising as a business man and progressive as a citizen. Politically, he affiliated with the Republican party, but official honors had no charms for him. For many years he was a leading member of Trinity Episcopal Church at Newtown, with which his family is still identified. On November 25, 1857, Mr. Ferris was mar- ried, by Rev. Mr. Early, to Miss Maria Louise Blackman. Three children were born to this union: (i) George Blackman, born June 16, 1864, was married January 8, 1890, to Miss Bertha E. Clark, daughter of Albert Clark, of Trumbull, this county, and five children were born to them, their names with dates of birth being as follows: Elsie Clark, February 10, 1891; Herbert Curtis, April 20, 1892; George Mallett, September 25, 1893; Arthur Judson, April 14, 1895; and Charles Blackman, August 17, 1897. The father of these died January 31, 1899, of pneumonia, the result of a severe cold, and the sympathy of the entire community went out in unstinted measure to the widowed mother in her affliction. He was an industrious, successful farmer, and an honest straightforward citizen. (2) Charles David, born January 12, 1867, now occupies the Shepard homestead. (3) Hattie Louise, born October 14, 1875, resides at home with her mother. Mrs. Maria L. Ferris was born April 26, 1835, in the State of New York, a daughter of Donald Blackman and a granddaughter of Jo- seph Blackman, a prominent resident of New- town, who owned an extensive tract of land in what was known as " The Rackets". Donald Blackman was born September 15, 1804, in the house now occupied by Albert Turner, and died in Trumbull township, this county, March 7, 1866, in his sixty-second year. He inherited a portion of his father's homestead, and later ac- quired by purchase the interest of his sister, Mrs. Peck Blakeslee. For some time after his mar- Mri.-:i:A .-;.. 96 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. riage, with the exception of two or three jears spent at Carmel, Putnam Co., N. Y., he made his home there, but in 1840 he bought a farm of about eighty acres in Trumbull township, this county, where he resided for more than thirty years. He was a thorough-going, energetic busi- ness man, meeting with success in his various en- terprises, and accumulated a handsome property.' In politics he vyas a Democrat, taking, however, no active part in public affairs, yet his interest in local advancement was shown in many ways, and during his life he did much for the cause of religion, being especially identified with the work of the Episcopal Church. Oa February 10, 1833, he was married, by Rev. S. Stratton, to Miss Louisa Piatt, daughter of Eli and Betsey (Underbill) Piatt. She passed to the unseen life August 6, 1896, having survived her husband many years. They had four daughters, viz.: (i) Maria Louise (Mrs. Ferris); Harriett Brown, born November!, 1839, was married January 10, 1S61, to David Curtis, of Newtown, and died July 30, 1869, aged twenty-nine years and nine months; they had two children — one that died in infancy, and Lottie A., born in 1866, who died in 1S68. (3) Sarah Elizabeth, born June 22, 1845, be- came the second wife of David Curtis; they had one child, Hattie Louise, born in 1873, who died in 1 891. (4) Charlotte Augusta, born Novem- ber 22, i846,died June 16, 1866. FREDERICK A. HUBBARD is a native of _ Hollis, Hillsboro Co., N. H. born No- vember 17, 185 1. Since the age of seven years, however, he has resided in Green- wich. He was educated in the public schools and in the local academy, of which latter institu- tion Prof. Frank Shepard was then the princi- pal. After graduating from school, he entered upon the study of law with the firm of Evarts, Southmayd & Choate, in the City of New York, tsvo years later entering the Law School of the University of the City of New York ; graduating in the class of 1875 with the degree of LL.B. Mr. Hubbard was admitted to practice in the the State of New York in 1875, and, later in the same year in Connecticut, whereupon he opened an office ia Greenwich, where he has since been active and successful in the practice of his pro- fession. Mr. Hubbard, though qften importuned to accept, has never held any public office. In National matters a Republican, in local matters the ties of party rest lightly on his shoulders. Beia^ by nature a methodical man, and having inherited from his New Hampshire stock a thor- ough dislike for waste, his criticisms upon the methods of public olificials are often outspoken and sometimes expressed with vigor ; but the re- sult to the body politic has been admirable. He is a man of means, and this, with the natural in- dependence of his character, has made him a power for good in governmental matters. In business he is strict, accurate and industri- ous, carefully guarding the interests of clients; preferring an office practice to the vexations of the Court room, he yet controls a large propor- tion of Greenwich litigation. Notwithstanding he is so engrossed in business, he has always de- voted a considerable time to literary pursuits ; from a young man he has been a contributor to periodicals and newspapers, and his friends feel that he would have made his mark in literature if he had not devoted himself so closely to his profession. His home surroundings indicate the man — a well-selected library of standard works with choice bric-a-brac and curios. On August I, 1883, Mr. Hubbard was mar- ried to Agnes Helena Waterbury, daughter of George P. and Ellen F. (June) Waterbury. Mrs. Hubbard is a musician of merit, and her grace and housewifely qualities serve to make their domestic life bright and cultured. Two sons— Carleton Waterbury, born April 25, 1884, and Drexel Tenney, born August 22, 1886 — give promise of being men worthy of the family traditions. Both Mr. and Mrs. Hubbard are active members of the Second Congregational Church. Mr. Hubbard belongs to the Masonic Fratern- ity, and for Hiore than twenty years has been a member of the local Masonic Lodge, Acacia No. 85. He is also a life member of the New Eng- land Society of the City of New York. In the borough, and everything pertaining to its progress- iveness and welfare, he takes keen interest. He has been interested in real estate in Greenwich, and is one of the largest tax-payers in the borough. He is a trustee in the Greenwich Savings Bank, and for several years has been its counsel. Take him all in all, Mr. Hubbard shows, in his every-day walk of life, many of the traits of his sturdy New England ancestry, modified by the more active life and bustle of the closing days of the Nineteenth Century. PROFESSOR BENEDICT STARR, of Dan- bury. The Starr family is on-e of the oldest in this section, and the distinguished educator whose name opens this sketch is of the sixth gen- eration in direct descent from Capt. Josiah Starr, one of the founders of the town of Danbury, and of the eighth generation from Dr. Comfort i^arr lid^iAS) COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 97 who came from Ashford, England, about the middle of the seventeenth century, and died in Boston, Mass., January 2, 1659.