Commemorative Biographical Record of Fairfield County, Connecticut

was, to many a hitherto thoughtless youth, the call of God, and in surrendering himself to the service of the nation he surrendered himself to Christ. Young Hall was just at an age to be deeply influenced by these stirring times, and the place of his birth, Richmond, Vt. , with his par- entage of New England origin on both sides, in- sured his susceptibility to the more patriotic in- fluence that then swept over the land. Oberlin College, too, with which he had become identi- fied, was the place in all the country where the influence of those times would be felt with all its force. Oberlin was in the forefront of the fray. Two years before the town had been profoundly moved by the raid of John Brown upon Harpers Ferry. The father of Brown had been a trustee of the college, and his younger brothers and a sister had been students there, the hero himself had been closely identified with Oberlin men, and two of them lost lives with him in his mem- orable raid. Oberlin therefore had been keyed up to a high pitch of patriotic interest and ex- pectation by the time that Sumter had fallen, and within two days after the proclamation of the President 130 of her choicest young men had signed their names to the muster roll. Our youthful Vermonter, a worthy successor to the Green Mountain boys of Revolutionary fame, took his place with the rest and served for some time in the 43rd and 150th O. V. I. The training of Mr. Hall was therefore not wholly within college walls. The sterner discipline of the field was also his, and the interruptions that his studies suffered from these military absences were more than made up by such richer qualities of mind and heart as heroic self-sacrifice brings. It is good for a man to bear the yoke in his youth. " His army experience served to sober his youthful thoughts and clarify his judgment, so that graduating just as he attained his majority, among the youngest in the class, he excelled in scholarship, and was distinguished for a grasp and maturity of mind far beyond his years. In the recitation room he was never known to fail or to be unprepared, and in his literary society he was a formidable antagonist in debate. That mental curiosity and capacity for acquiring infor- mation, and that living interest in the questions of the time that are so marked a feature in his later years, characterized him from the first. His fondness for reading made him a full man, and his delight in extemporaneous discussion a ready man. After two years spent in teaching and business in Tennessee, he entered Union Theo- logical Seminary in New York City, from which he graduated with the class of '70, having charge during the last two years of his course, however, of the Wilson Mission in Tompkins Square. For his first regular pastorate he went to Ver- mont, his native State. The village of Pittsford was for nine years the scene of his devoted la- bors. During this time he became widely known as a man of power and promise, and in 1879 he was called to the First Congregational Church of Mt. Vernon, Ohio. Six years later, becoming interested in the new material and religious de- velopment in Florida, he went to the ' P"lowery State,' and in Tavares and Jacksonville he spent six useful years. The South Florida Chautau- qua, of which he has been its president since or- ganization in 1887, is largely the fruit of his thought and care. He also served several years in the board of trustees of Oberlin and Rollins Colleges. His connection with the large and im- portant suburban Church, of which he is now pastor (Greenwich), dates from January, 1892. "The pulpit efforts of Mr. Hall are distin- guished for originality and depth of thought, full- ness of information, and fluence and grace of ex- pression. His style of speaking is uniformly extemporaneous, only the briefest notes of his interesting remarks ever appearing on the desk before him. The truths that he presents are clear and well defined in his own mind, and he succeeds in making them appear so to his hear- ers. No thoughtful person ever leaves his Church in doubt as to the meaning of the peacher. His theological is warmly evangelical. With a mind ever open to new light from whatever direction it may come, he rests his faith and his preaching upon the great historic facts and truth of God." In December, 1897, Dr. Hall removed to New Britain, Conn., and became pastor of the First Church of Christ in that city, where he still remains. iWIGHT WAUGH, one of Stamford's lead- ing citizens, has been prominently identified with the business interests of that locality for many years. As will be seen in the following brief biography, he is also prominent in Masonic circles, and has risen to the highest rank in the fraternity in this State, a fact which speaks vol- umes for his ability and personal worth. Samuel Waugh, the grandfather of our sub- ject, was a native of Litchfield county, Conn., and served as a soldier in the Revolutionary war. During the war of 1812 he organized a company to garrison Fort Trumbull, at New London, Conn. His wife, Elizabeth Goodwin, was no less partiotic, and as a school girl she helped to mold the lead, taken from the statue of King George HI, into bullets for the use of the Coloni- "al army. ''-'^la C.^ ' 'i^'wSH K;, i- '^df^H Hmk' I'^X ' *^^^tf juyKJ^>' ^^l^B^^^^^^^I 'i? ^ We a Hp" '''■'^•^^^^H ml K j^a.t^K 1 ^ ^^H^ f ■ - P^^.^''-' 1 •dt'i-y^hyi-'^'^^y^ COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 145 Samuel W. Waugh, thefather of our subject, was born in the town of Morris, Litchfield county, where he followed farming for many years. His wife, whose maiden name was Caroline Marsh, was a desdendant of one of the first settlers of that county. Our subject was born January 20, 1831, in the town of Morris, Litchfield county, and his boy- hood was spent upon the old farm. He was educated in the public schools of the locality, and in a private school taught by F. W. Gunn., in the town of Washington, now called "Gunn- ery School," and for a short time he was en- gaged in teaching in the district schools of his community. At the age of twenty he settled at Stamford through the influence of his uncle, Isaac B. Redfield, then manager of the Cove Mills, at that place. Beginning in Novembt;r, 1851, as an engineer of Cove Mills (Stamford) Mfg. Co., Mr. Waugh was promoted from time to time until he became general superintendent of the company, which position he filled satis- factorily for five years previous to his retirement in April, 1893. He has been connected with various other business enterprises, and was first president of the Cove Transportation Company of Stamford. Notwithstanding the pressure of business cares he has found time to fulfill the duties of a good citizen, and he has been especi- ally active in educational affairs, having served as a member of the first school board in his town. For two years he was a burgess of the borough of Stamford. In politics he is a stanch Re- publican, but he is not an aspirant after official honors. Mr. Waugh united with Union Lodge No. 5, F. & A. M., of Stamford, August 3, 1859, and was advanced January 18, i860, and February I, i860. He became Mark Master August 4, 1864; Past Master and Most Excellent Master, August II, 1864; Senior Warden in 1865, and in 1866 and in 1868, 1872 and r875, he held the rank of Master. He was High Priest of Rittenhouse Chapter No. 11, R. A. M., in 1868, 1870, 1872, 1874, 1876, 1879, 1881, 1882, 1884, and 1887. On August 18, 1864, he took the Royal Arch degree at Norwalk, and in 1868, when the charter of Washington Council, Stam- ford, was restored, he became a charter member. He was four times Illustrious Master of his Council — in 1868, 1883, 1889 and 1891. On March 3, 1865, he entered Clinton Commandery No. 3, K. T., at Norwalk, and in 1880 he held the post of Eminent Commander in that body. He also belongs to Lafayette Consistory of the Scottish Rite at Bridgeport, and to Pyramid Shrine at the same place. Since 1872 he has been the representative of the Grand Lodge of Michigan in the Grand Lodge of Connecticut, and he has been through all the chairs in the Grand Lodge, Grand Chapter, and' Grand Coun- cil of this State. The following is a copy of a vote of thanks from the Grand Lodge which was presented, neatly framed, to Mr. Waugh in Most Worshipful Grand Lodge of Connecticut, An- nual Coninuinication held in the city of Hartford, Jan- uary 20 and 21, 1886. Resolved, That the thanks of the Grand Lodg-e E., be and are hereby tendered to the Most Worshipful Grand Master, Dwij^ht Waugh, for the able and impartial and in every way satisfactory manner in which he has per- formed the duties of his office during the two years of his administration. Attest — J. K. Wheeler, Grand Sec- retary. Henry H. Green, Grand Master. S>MITH FAMILY. The father and sons of the _^) Smiths of Newtown, of whom we particular- ly write, came of hardy Puritan ancestry, through whose generations have descended the fragrance of Godly lives, simple in faith but fervent in piety. Rev. Henry Bagg Smith, the beloved pastor of the Congregational Church at Newtown from 1863 to 1873, was born at Westfield, Mass., November 8, 18 19, the eldest child of Deacon Horace Smith, and his wife, Grata Bagg. Deacon Horace Smith, who afterward took his father-in- law's farm in West Springfield, Mass., was a man of decided convictions, sternly adherent to right, but generous to a fault. He was ever for- ward in every good work, and peculiarly devoted to the services of his Church, from which neither tempest nor the stress of summer heat could keep him. Deacon Smit'h tilled the soil for a living; he became the father of si.x sons — Henry B., Joseph A., Franklin F. , William H., Sam- uel D. and Lyman; and three daughters — Mar- garet, Harriet and Caroline T. The mother of these children, quiet as she was, matched her husband's perseverance and Christian devotion, and, when she was taken away in her old age. Deacon Horace Smith, the husband of her life, almost fell in his tracks, as if the death shaft pierced his heart also.