Commemorative Biographical Record of Fairfield County, Connecticut

At the father's death, the surviving mother and her family of young children took up their residence with her parents, Matthew and Nancy (Hobbs) Mead. Here our subject was reared, and here he obtained the rudiments of education that were obtainable by farmer boys, attending the rude schools a few months during the winter. The grandfather was kind, and filled the vacant place of father. In his youth our sub- ject was apprenticed to his uncle, William Mead, to learn the mason's trade, and for four years he worked for his board and clothes. He was a willing lad, and did with a cheerful spirit what- ever labor he was able to perform. After his trade was learned he went to jour- ney work at White Plains, N. Y., working for Robert Layton. He helped to build the old Methodist chapel on Church street, Greenwich, but delay in getting his wages caused him to go to New York City. There he found work at his trade with a Mr. Crane. Country boys were not then desirable help, but his steady ways and re- liability commended him to Mr. Crane, and en- abled him to learn his trade, as he was associated with skilled workmen. Later he worked in Will- iamsburg, N. Y. , and this was followed with journey work until he went into business for him- self. He was for five years with one man, Nathaniel Willett, who trusted him well. Mr. Willett met with losses, and having work under way and no ready cash he asked young Merritt if he would work and wait for his pay. Our sub- ject readily consented, and when they settled, Mr. Willett appreciating Mr. Merritt's valuable service, asked him to take up his (Willett's) busi- ness, which he did. Mr. Merritt had often been sent by Mr. Willett to do work where he had ac- cess to valuables, etc. Their safety was always assured, which fact caused him to become a very popular employe. During the time he was in business for himself Mr. Merritt employed at times from seventy-five to one hundred men. In Williamsburg, N. Y., he next engaged in business with a Mr. Vail, under the firm name of Merritt & Vail. After several years, during which time they carried on business extensively and very COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 167 successfully, Mr. Merritt retired from the firm. He engaged in building and selling houses; lait his health beginning to fail he bought a farm in Greenwich, whither he removed, and lived there nine years. He then bought another farm, in North Greenwich, where he lived two years. In the spring of 1 866, he came to Greenwich village, where he engaged in a livery business, first lo- cating on Putnam avenue, and having had much experience with horses, he prospered at his new business. He was the first occupant of the "Lenox House" stables. After two years he bought on Church street, and he has since built his home and barn on that street, where he now conducts the livery business. Mr. Merritt when twenty-six years of age, was married in New York, to Miss Julia Downs, a daughter of Sturges Downs, of that city, and three children have been born to them, as follows: Belle C. (Mrs. George Scofield), of Greenwich; George W., also of Greenwich, engaged in the livery business with his father; and Anna A. (Mrs. R. J. Walsh), of Greenwich. Mr. Merritt is not bound by party ties, but his sympathy is with the Republican party, and he is always called a Republican. For nineteen years in suc- cession he was senior burgess of Greenwich, and then resigned. He has never been an office seeker, but has held office only with a desire to further the tov\ n's improvement. Both he and his wife are prominent members of the Congre- gational Church. Mr. Merritt is the oldest busi- ness man in Greenwich in his line, both in years and in duration of business. He has fought the battle of life himself, starting as a poor boy, equipped with but limited schooling, but he was always steady, reliable ar.d honest, principles that have characterized him in every transaction. He has a comfortable competence, yet his sole aim has by no means been to accumulate prop- erty. He has taken an interest in local improve- ments, and has ever been public spirited. The business he has established is still conducted by himself and son, and is one of the leading con- cerns of its kind in Greenwich. QTIS BEERS, a well-to-do resident of Strat- ford, is one of the progressive and public- spirited citizens of that town, and his life and character reveal the wholesome tendencies of the sturdy New England stock from which he is descended. Mr. Beers was born November 22, 1822, in the town of Stratford, where his accestors set- tled' many years ago. Matthew Beers, his grand- father, was born probably in that town, and he passed his later life there in agricultural pursuits. He married a Miss Curtis, and had five children as follows: Curtis and Men/es learned the shoe- maker's trade, and settled in Cornwall, Litchfield county, where Curtis was a farmer, Menzes be- coming a prominent merchant; they died some years ago, and their remains were interred there. Silas is mentioned more fully below. Lewis fol- lowed the shoemaker's trade in Stratford for a time, and then went to Columbus, Ga., where he engaged on a large scale in the manufacture of shoes; his death occurred in Stratford. Lucinda married Isaac Curtis, a carpenter at Stratford. Silas Beers, our subject's father, was born in Stratford in 1791, and in his youth he learned the weaver's trade, which he followed for some years. Later he settled upon a farm in Strat- ford, and he died there in 1877. In religious faith he was a Methodist; politically he was a Whig until the organization of the Republican party, of which he then became an ardent sup- porter. He was one of fifteen Abolitionists in this part of the State, at a time when any one entertaining those views would be sure to be un- popular. His wife, Hannah (Judson), died in 1853. Of their four children, the eldest, Susan, married Enoch Curtis, a mechanic in Stratford, and both are now deceased; Otis, our subject, was the second in the order of birth; Abigail died in infancy; and Miss Mary resides in Strat- ford. The boyhood of Otis Beers was spent on the the old farm in Stratford, his education being obtained in the local schools, which he attended until he reached the age of eighteen years. He then engaged in farming at the homestead, and he has ever since been interested in some branch of agricultural work. He owns about ninety acres adjoining the village of Stratford, and for many years followed general farming, but for the past four or five years he and his sons have de- voted their attention to raising seeds for the market. Mr. Beers is a stanch Republican, and he has taken an influential part in local affairs. From 1 861 to 1868 he held the office of select- man continuously, and in 1872 he was again chosen to that position. During the Civil war he was appointed by Governor Buckingham to act as recruiting agent, which difficult position was filled by him with marked ability and tact, the quota of men being provided by him without delay. In February, 1846, Mr. Beers married Miss Susan Curtis, daughter of Ashbel Curtis, of Strat- ford. She died in 1854, and on February 18, 1856, he married Miss Mary Peck, daughter of Lewis and Hannah (Wheeler) Peck, of Stratford. lu V i;i !'.■ ' '^. III i. ■ d 'Ui ■ :. .JO-; 10'! S' v.vo!Ic/l :!ii '-. i-^ Id nrisl « ;; :■.] I".',, J/. , !!J...,' Ki .^'■v, ti-i.' f. ;>r;n -,.ii T,; ,U I,..},,..,. 168 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. Herbert Beers, the only child of the first union, died at the age of four years. By the second marriage there was one son, Edward W. , born in October, 1861, who married Miss Edith Stowe, of Milford, New Haven Co., Conn., and has one child, Douglass Stowe Beers. Edward W. is now engaged in business with his father. Mrs. Otis Beers is a member of the M. E. Church of Stratford. E EDWARD T. HALL, one of the old and '/ highly-honored citizens of Fairfield, is a retired merchant, enjoying at leisure, after many years of well-directed labor, the rewards thereof. A native of Connecticut, he was born August- 28i 1823, at Long Hill, a worthy member of an old family long identified with Trumbull, Fair- field county. He attended the public schools of the district, and at the age of si.xteen commenced learning the trade of tinsmith in the shop of Lockwood & Zane, Water street, Bridgeport, his wages being $30 for the first year. At about the close of his apprenticeship, or in 1844, he and his brother, Claudius B., opened a stove and tin- ware business in Southport. At the end of six months he bought out his brother's interest, and from that time until his selling out, in 1862, car- ried on the concern alone. Mr. Hall then asso- ciated himself with George Bishop in a similar line of business on Water street, Bridgeport, but at the end of five years he bought out his partner and reinoved the stock to Southport, where he continued in the stove and tinware line, as here- tofore, until his retirement in 1870. He attrib- utes his success mainly to close attention to busi- ness, and his working early and late, in all seasons and times — dull and brisk alike. Some years after giving up business he erected his present substantial block on the corner of Main and Cen- ter streets, Southport, to take the place of the one he had previously built, and which was burned down, entailing a heavy loss to him. He remod- eled his home on Center street, where he now lives a quiet, retired life, merely looking after his prop- .erty interests. He is a distinctively self-made man, ha\'ing by his own unaided efforts worked his way up to a comfortable competence from a poor bojhood. On May 5, 1856, Mr. Hall was united in mar- riage with Miss Sarah C. Jennings, daughter of Aaron Jennings, and there was one child by this union, Minnetta F., who died December 22, 1874, at the age of eighteen years. Her mother died May 29, 1859, and May 21, 1862, Mr. Hall wedded Miss Mary A. Bulkeley, daughter of Scth ^L Bulkeley, by which marriage there were live