History of Fairfield County, Connecticut

In IS.").'! a division anjse in his congregation in n-- gard to procairing him an as.soeiate. A large number witlidrcw anil formed the First Presbyterian (.'hurch, to which they called their "old, revered, and beloved ]>astor, whose ministrations thi-y could not consent to forego." He was dismissed from his former idiarge Se])tember 21st, and October :'lst was installed over the latter, where "he eontinue(l to preach tlie Word anil feed the flock of Cod" till nearly tiiurseore years of age. During all these years he retained his remark.able vigor. In stature more than six feet, of imperial form and visage, lie hore the imjiress of a prophet. His in- tellect was gigantic, liis voice of unequaled comjiass, power, and melody, and his eloquence unrivaled. During the theological controversies that for .scores of years agitated the churches lie bore a most decided jiart, holding fast to the AVestniinster standards. And yet, with all the courage of a soldier and silways in the thickest of the battle, his heart was tender as a Woman's, and he had the simplicity of a idiild. Though often sulijeet to fits of despondency, in con- versation he was most charming, and the seed sown by the magnetism of personal intercourse will con- tinue to bear fruit through successive generations. Dr. Hewit was twice married. His first wife. Miss Rebecca Hillhouse, of New Haven, died Jan. 4, ISMl. His second wife. Miss Susan Eliot, of Fair- field, died May 1, ls57. In the fall of 18.')8, having arrived at the age of seventy years, he tendered his resignation, which his jieople refused to accejit. Four years later, April 1, 18(52, he released his salary to the congregation, and in August of the same year Rev. Horace H. Hinsdale was called as associate pastor. To this colleague and suecc.s.sor he cordially handed over his charge, preafdiing occasionally, until on Sabl)ath morning, Feb. .'!, ]8(!7, he "fell aslee|)." ( )f the three children who survived him, one, Henry S. Hewit, M.D., late surgeon of the Army of the Cuml)erland, has since died; another son. Rev. .\ugustus F. Hewit, is one ofthePaulist Fathers, of New York; the other, Saraii, the widow of the late William S. Bowen, M.D., sur- geon U.S.X., resiiles in New Haven. A marble tablet to his memory, which was destroyed when the church edilice was burned in 1874, has been replaced in the new sanetiiiiry by a liandsome memorial baptismal font of carved stone, the gift of the (diildrcn of the Sunday-school. To a memorial discourse delivered on the occasion of his funeral, Feb. 0, 18f;7, by Rev. Lyman H. At- 16-1 HISTORY OF FAIRFIELD COUNTY, CONNECTICUT. water, D.D., of Princeton, N. J., we arc indebted for nuieh of tlie foregoing sketcli. Of liini it may be well said, — " IIo being dt-a*! yet speoketb." EZRA CURTIS. Ezra Curtis was born in Monroe, Fairfield Co., Conn., Sept. 24, 1813, and died in Bridgeport Oct. 17, 1879. He was third child of Geo. P. and Sarah Cur- tis. His grandfather, Dr. Ezra Curtis, was widely and favorably known for his i)r()fessional skill, a.s well its his probity and inauly worth. The ancestry of Mr. Curtis was of the English knighthood, and in the time of Charles I. " by grant under the Great Seal, reciting that search having been made in the Register and Records for the true and antient armes belonging to the Curtis name and family, and the same appearing by ould scales and other good testimony and j)roofs in the custody and keeping of Richard St. George, Clarencieux King of Armes, to be the proper and antient arrftes thereof, and which they did theretofore beare, they were to them and their issue and posterity in memory there- of forever ratified and confirmed, according to the law of armes and the custom of England." This coat of arms has been in possession of the American family from the early days when their ancestors emi- grated from England. Mr. Curtis was educated at the common and pri- vate schools of Fairfield County ; learned the carpenter trade and engaged in business in New Haven, where he renniined until 1847 or 1848, when he removed to Bridgeport, and in comjjany with Asahel Lyon, his first wife's brother, established one of the first, if not the very first, lumber firms in Bridgeport, under title of Lyons & Curtis. The business was profit- ably conducted, and still continues as Lyon, Curtis & Co., S. M. Gate, Sr., and C. A. Granuis having been admitted as members. Mr. Curtis was a man of far-seeing sagacity in busi- ness and practical in attention to detiiils. He attended strictly to his own atfairs, taking but few into his confidence, and never intruding himself into m.atters concerning others, except to quietly and effectually relieve such cases of suffering as came to his notice, and, in passing, we would here note that, although one of the <|uiekest |)ersons to respond to any call for aid, and a lil)cral contributor to church purposes, his generosity wxs not iirodaimed fnnu the house-tops, but de-'iircd by him to be known only by its results. For years a member of the Baptist Church, he was universally acknowledged a good Christian man, who strived to follow his Master in all respects. He was a deacon for some time, and his counsels were sought and heeded in all important matters. In the family circle he found his highest earthly pleasure, and was an alTectionate husband and a loving father. He preferred the society of home to that of public life, and never would consent to allow his name to be put forward as a candidate for any public office, although from tha time of the organization of the Republican l)arty he gave it his vote and strongest inrtuence. In all the relations of life Mr. Curtis did his work well, and the void caused by his death will not soon be filled. Mr. Curtis nnirried Jliss Mary E. Lyon, of New Haven, in 1839. (She was sister of Asahel Lyon, so many years a partner of Mr. Curtis, and whose biog- raphy appears elsewhere in this work.) She died in 18(57, leaving no offspring. He married, Oct. 6, 1869, Miss Mary Elizabeth, daughter of Robert and Eliza- beth Yj. (Bishop) Ells, of Norwalk. Their only child, George Ells, was born Jan. 20, 1871. CHARLE.? B. IIGTCIIKISS. Charles B. Hotchkiss wa-s born in the town of Waterbury, now Naugatuek, July 4, 1820. He re- ceived the rudiments of his education at the common schools of his native town and completed it at the Middlebury Academy. His father was a manufac- turer of buttons an<I clocks in Naugatuek, and at the early age of eighteen Charles B. assumed the management of his business. About this time ex- periments were being made at Naugatuek in the manufacture of rubber goods under the Goodyear patent, and the management of the business soon passed into the hands of Mr. llntchkiss and two others, and it was conducted under the firm-name of The Naugatuek India-Rubbcr Company. It was con- tinued with varied success about three years, when, in consequence of trouble with the Union Rubber Company of New York, the factorj' was closed. The establishment was subsequently, however, oi)ened by Mr. Hotchkiss, who continued the business a short time, when he disjjosed of the whole concern to the National Rubber Company of New York, and, re- moving to New York City, took charge of the business of the Union Company, and in the following year superintended the erection of the i>resent large factory owned by this company at Harlem, New York City. He remained in charge of the business in New York about four years, during which time he visited Paris to negotiate the sale of rubber patents, and soon after, an American company having decided to commence the numufacture of rubber goods in Paris and in other parts of France and ( iermany, he removed with his family to that city and took the entire charge of their foreign manufacture. His characteristic energy and determination displayed itself here, and about one year later he became a partner in the establishment, which was known as Hutchinson, Henderson & Co. The business increiuscd with amazing rapidity, and the manufacture was not only earrieil on in Paris exten- sivily, but large establishments were also located in ^&/r^./^^ f^^. I'hoto. bj- TuttU', BriJtcoport. rUuto. by Wils..ii, l!ri.lBe|,.,it. r 1 BRIDGEPORT. 165 Montargis and in Mannheim, Germany. Mr. Hotch- kis-< remained in Paris ton years, when he withdrew i'nim the business, and, returninsr to liis native 8tate, Ideated in the eity of JJridgeport, w liere lie lias sinee resid,.,!. Mr. Ilotehkiss is a jiuldie-spiriteil <'iti/.en, and is interested in various enterjirises both at home and abroad. In 1807 lie purehased an interest in the Pe- (juonnoek Xational Hank in this city, and was made its vice-president, and at the next annual meeting was elected president, a jiosition which he lias since lield. He is still interested in the Tuion Kubber Company in New York ; is a stockliohler in the Tom- linson Spring and Axle Company, located at Newark, N. .T., in the Derby (las Comjiany, ami various other companies. In 1S79, Mr. Hotclikiss, in company with .Tolin Hurd, Esq., of Bridgei)ort, and Peter McFarlane, of Evart, Mieli.. purchased the Evart and Osceola Rail- road, with the contract to put sixty million feet of logs into the Muskegon River. In addition to this they also purchased a large tract of i>ine timlier-land and commenced operations at once, and u|) to August of the following year — a i)eriod of about nine months — have put into the river about fifty-tliree million feet of lumber, the largest busine;;S of the kind ever done by any firm in the State up to that time. They em- ploy about four hundred men, forty pair of horses, .and several yokes of oxen. Although the business is now of gigantic proportions, it will be largely increased during the ensuing year. Messrs. Hotclikiss and Hurd are now also prospecting for the purchase of a very large tract of timber-land located in Wisconsin.