Commemorative Biographical Record of Fairfield County, Connecticut

Rev. John Warren was born in Ulster county, N. Y. , a son of William Warren, who came to this country from Glasgow, Scotland, with an uncle who was a colonel in the British army. Not having an all-absorbing passion few things British, and having the inherent Scotch love of liberty, this William Warren deserted his uncle and joined the ranks of the Continental army, where he remained until the close of the war. He died at the age of ninety-seven. Rev. John Warren was a resident of Ulster county until he entered the ministry, when he was called to Car- mel, N. Y. , where he was pastor of the Baptist Church for thirty years. He married Desire Grant, of Ulster county, and to this union came twelve children, as follows: Anna Bell, Rev. John, Jr., Jonathan, Mary Hill, Olive Buckley, and Euphemia, all deceased; David, of Carmel; Solomon, deceased; Hiram, our subject; Levi (deceased), who was a surgeon in the army; Eliza Fols, of Yonkers, N. Y. ; and Maria Shrive, also of Yonkers, The father of this family died at Danbury at the age of eighty-seven years. Hiram Warren attended the common school at Carmel, and on acquiring all the knowledge to be obtained in the district schools, he engaged in teaching while preparing for college. He graduated from Madison University and from the medical department of New York University. Entering the Union army as surgeon, he went on the Banks expedition to Louisiana, but dur- ing his service he was thrown from a horse and injured so severely that he was mustered out of service. He then settled down to private prac- tice at Hamburg, New London Co., Conn., where he remained until 1865. His spine having been injured by his fall, he decided that to engage in active practice would result in entirely under- mining his health, so he accepted the principal- ship of Walkill Academy. Later he was super- intendent of schools at Middletown, N. Y. In 1885 he moved to Danbury, Conn., and after a five-years' residence in that city he came to Brookfield. He died April i, 1897. At Middletown, N. Y., Dr. Warren was mar- ried to Mary E. Bennett, and by this union he became the father of two sons: John W. ; and Levi G., who is with the Western Electric Com- pany, New York City. Dr. Warren was at one time a member of the F. & A. M.,and during his college days was one of the workers in the Delta Kappa Epsilon Fraternity, of which he was presi- dent. In religious faith he was a Baptist, an active member of a number of religious societies, and in former years he had been superintendent of Sunday-school. PHILIP J. JONES. The good will of one's neighbors is popularly regarded as an evi- dence of worth, and this venerable and kind- hearted gentleman, of whom every one speaks well, is in all respects deserving of the esteem in which he is held in his community. Mr. Jones is of Irish birth and parentage, and his family has long been identified with I.'l ■ l( :< >..'./ . W:V. I '-'J (Kil.i;i.r.;', ■'■ >,i I (.,•!, : :' I,: ■■'.. i'.: - I ; . ■ / ' , • \ ' 'i { ( ' I ■ -. ■-.•I ,l: -. ■,. nyj •/ v'/ , J'J J i:i> J '■'.!■ .'■ • .^.; :--^-v^ ■■:■ Mi .i '.'/; '■■ V 126 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. County Kildare, Ireland. Samuel Jones, the father of our subject, was born in that county, and became a successful farmer there, making' a specialty of raising cattle. He also operated a gristmill for many years, but late in life he came to America, locating upon a farm at HawJcy, Penn., where he died May 26, i860. His wile, Mary (Henderson), of County Dublin, Ireland, died in the old country in 18 — . Of their large family of children five lived to maturity: Charles, a farmer by occupation, died in Cincinnati, Ohio; John was a butcher in Stratford, Conn. ; Philip J. is the subject proper of this sketch; Eliza, who married Thomas Spooner in Ireland, did not come to America; and Harriet, the youngest, did not marry. Our subject was born November 14, 1821, at the old home in County Kildare, Ireland, and re- mained upon the farm until he reached the age of eighteen, his education being obtained in the local schools. In 1839 he came to Connecticut, and after making a short stay in Stratford he settled in Bridgeport, where he was employed about fifteen years by the Hart & Calhoun Co., manufacturers of harness and saddles. While there he married Miss Isabella Bradley, daughter of John Bradley, a well-known resident of Bridgeport. Removing later to New Jersey, he spent a year upon a farm, and he then went to Hawley, Penn., where his first wife died. About 1856 he came back to this county and purchased a farm, which he soon sold, and in 1858 he took possession of his present homestead, a fine farm of 250 acres near Shelton. All of the improve- ments upon the place have been made by him, as the land was in a primitive condition when he bought it, and his handsome residence was built in 1870. His barns and other farm buildings are models, and the roads and fences about the place are kept in admirable repair. His atten- tion is largely given to the raising of blooded horses and cattle, and at one time he rented three or four other farms in the vicinity in order io carry on that business more extensively. He is an excellent business man, and has met with good success financially. In politics he is a Democrat, for two years he held the office of township assessor, and he has also taken an active part in educational affairs in his locality, being always ready to aid in any worthy move- ment. In religious faith he is an Episcopalian. After the death of his first wife Mr. Jones married Miss Sarah G. Booth, of Bridgeport, daughter of David Booth, a prosperous farmer of Trumbull township. She died in Huntington, and he afterward married Miss Fannie Tyrrell, ■of Roxbury, Conn. He has had four children, of whom three are living. Of the two children by his first marriage, one died in infancy at Haw- ley, Penn. ; and Eliza is now the wife of Theo- dore Hubbell, a farmer of Huntington township. By the second marriage there were also two children: William, who is a farmer at the home- stead, was married in 1881 to Miss Teresa Hub- bell, daughter of Charles Hubbell, of Hunting- ton; and Sarah, who married James Stone, a corset manufacturer at Aurora, Illinois. ILLIAM GREENE BROWNSON, M.D., who died at Noroton of pneumonia, Jan- uary 3, 1899, was the resident physician and sur- geon of the Connecticut Soldiers' Home at Noroton, and ranked among the leaders of his profession in this country, his numerous articles in the medical journals of the day having won for him a wide reputation as a scientific observer in professional lines. Doctor Brownson was born August 6, 1830, at Fenner, Madison Co., N. Y., and belonged to a well-known family, his uncle, Hon. Greene C. Bronson, having been chief justice of the New York Supreme Court for thirty years, and, later, corporation counsel for the City of New York. Simeon Brownson, the father of our subject, was a native of Connecticut, whence he went to cen- tral New York when about twenty years of age, making his permanent home there, and engaging in agricultural pursuits upon a farm which he cleared from the primeval forest. He was a quiet, unassuming citizen, and was held in high esteem by his associates. He died November 6, 1852, and his wife, Lucretia Stewart, who was a native of the Empire State, passed to the un- seen life in 1887, at the advanced age of eighty- nine years. Doctor Brownson had one sister, Mrs. Celestia Kayner, of Gasport, N. Y., and two brothers, Addison, nowT a resident of Mar- shall, Mich., and Oliver J., of Middleport, N. Y. He also had a half-brother. Rev. Isaac K. Brownson, formerly of Fayetteville, N. Y., who died January 28, 1899, at an advanced age. The Doctor's education was begun in the dis- trict schools near his early home, and later he attended the New York Central College at Mc- Grawville, N. Y. , and the State Normal School at Albany, N. Y. , where he was graduated in February, 1853. He had taught at various times while securing his education, and after graduat- ing he accepted a position as instructor in a boarding school in New Jersey, subsequently teaching in union schools on Long Island, and at Ogdensburg, N. Y. Later he became principal of a large school at Jamaica, Queens Co., N.Y., .-;[ ,K :Ji.i -HOT -..ir : 1 ^^ ^ •'-<■ \ \ ,\i\j •i,; .\,r..- :^::, ■.■'■■< v..!;!) l> I' ' •.:'j'/ ■■', „l-^ ■ff , l..>'j;>.l: •■ .<>/.' ■ COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 127 where he remained four and one-half years. During this time he began his medical course in the University of New York, and in February, 1865, he received the degree of M. D. from that institution. On the day of his graduation he en- listed in the army, and was appointed acting assistant-surgeon in the De Camp General Hos- pital, New York Harbor, which position he held until discharged in September, 1865. He located in New Canaan, this county, and remained in active practice some twenty-six years, meeting with success from the outset.