History of Fairfield County, Connecticut

"Mr. Waterman's personal appearance \va^ in itself an introduction at once. His countenance expressed just what we have been describing in character. There was a kind frankness connuingled with a sym- pathizing honesty and intelligent ability expressed in his face which |nit his hearers into a favorable mood to hear him and disarine<l suspicion. He was pciai- liarly a preacher to the hearts of his aiulieni'c, and. though at times his appeals to tlie reason were forci- ble and pertinent, his great strength lay more in the api)eals to conscience, to the claims of duty, and to tl the emotions of heart, and in these ap|)eals his earn- estness, appositeness, and naturalness were singu- larly powerful. We have known him to address tlie roughest, ignorant, and almo-t brutally profane, suil- denly, yet with such wisdom and elticieney as to change the man addressed into an apparent friend, and tluit during the utterance of an ordinary sen- tence. "There are many now living whose memorii'^ turn from the recollections of nuiny great s]ieecln's, elo- quent seruKins, and masterly intellectual elforts, to the memories of the wonderful jiowcr of Mr. Water- man's earnest, plain, and yet remarkable ajijieals to the heart, to his warm and sincerely beautiful point- ings tf) the eternal Father and to the Saviour, and these, memories are as ])leasing as the lasting harmo- nies of those highest beautic! with which his soul seeuu'd always in sweet accord." Politically Mr. Waternuiu was a Whig, subse- quently a Republican, and a vigorous exiionent of the 2jrincii)les of that ]iarty. He was a powerful champion of the temperance cause, and was jiractical in hi.s efforts to check this unholy traffic. It is re- lated of him that when he lived in (ialena. III., the city had a large trade with the upper Mississi]i])i River country, and it was the custom for the wholesale grocers to keep full sujipliesof li(piors to fill the orders of customers, while they might deny that they were liquor dealers. One day one of his sons went into a large wholesale grocery on the levee, whe?i the pro- prietor said to him, "Your father has just been here and given me a lecture on liquor selling. II' it had been any one else I should have sent him off in short order, but you know he can say anything he pleases and one cannot get mad about it." He posse.ssed in a remarkable degree the power of adapting himself to people and circumstances indi- vidually his own. It is related of him that on one occasion he was making a journey of two or three days through Wisconsin. On the return the driver told an ac(|uaintance, "That minister can go anywhere and do anything he thinks right, and the folks think it's all right too. Yoa see, the first night out I didn't want to stop at the regular place, because I founil there was going to be a dance there, but he insisted on stopping there. At last I told him of the dance, and that it wouldn't lie pleasant for him, but he in- sisted ; an<l, if you'll believe me, he actiudly had the fidiller play <_>ld Hundred, got them all to singing, and at last nuide a ]U'ayer and went up-stairs." William F. De Wolf, who was a law-student in the ofiice of Mr. Burgess, in Providence, when he first began to preach in that city, says his first recollec- tion of him was his connng into the office and stand- ing for (jver au hour at tl'.c book-case reading, and remarking, as he closed the book, " Upon many points it is important that a minister should know the com- mon law." It was not an unusual custom for him thus to visit the law-oftice. Senator Carpenter relates that upon one occasion he was in his office, where a young man was reading for the profession. During a brief convers^ition he re- marked that he trusted in his studies he would recog- inze the claims and merits of the religious law of the soul. The young man rejdied he was so occuiiied with his studies that he had no time fiir religious subjects. Mr. Waternuiu said to him, "Young man, you will never know civil law enough to rule out the law of your soul." Jn speaking of his jiower as a f'hristian worker, an article published in the ('nii;/rcijafi<iii(i/is/ in 1.S73 says, — " .Vhuiit the yi'iir 1S2G nr 1S27, Dr. I.ynian lit'ectiL-r Imvilig tjfcome the luistur uf Hnnovi.-r Stieot ClmrL-h, Busluii, revivals uf rulij^ioii were fre- quent, jiiiil !i new energy iti leli^^ions thinjirt was developeii. Ksjiecially the May ainiivei"sarie..i in ItoMtun, as also in New Yurk, hej^an to aagiinie new importance, to eoniliiaiid the attendance of multitudes, and to awakeji a much hi^Iier mea^uie of interest th.-in had chaimterized tliem hefnre, <ir than has atti-nded Ilieni for a few ye.-irs just past. This year Itev. T. T. Waterman, then pastor ot the Itichmond Street Churdi in i'rovideuce, lately decciLsed, Wiis iu\ited to spcml tlie Sahhalh, imme- diately preceding aiiniveisury week at lloston, in tliat city. He ac- cedcil to the proptisal, and in three dilfcreiit churches preached a sermon oil line csfn't'd dtitii\f of Vliyifthiu'* re^iilteiit^ in cities. " .\t ca.h delivery attention wa.s marketi. The snliject w;is much talked of through tlie week, and continued to be a theme for remark ill conversation and in ridigious journals for snhsr-cpient months. JI.v special invitation, this discourse was repeated in several cilics, and the name of the yonuK pasltir of Providence became at once well known through New Kngland and the Middle States. I have leason to think that this sermon had aiiprecialdeintlnem e in prepaiing the way in later years for lahor in cities to save young men and young women, ami fur the introtluction of the whole work of Christian .Associations." While Mr. Waterman exctdled as a sermonizer and a [lulpit orator, and was engrossed in the multifarious duties of an active ]iastorate, still he fiiund time to indulge the |>oetical promptings of his nature, and the poetry of his soul found vent in many sweet and sacred songs, which clearly indicate that the bent of his mind in this sphere also was of no ordinary east. The following beautiful liiu's are irom his pen, en- titled "The Tlirill at Parting:" "Repress: No, I would not, tliat tliriU of tin' soul AVhich saddens the moment of parting with It lend ; That tlirill, 'lis the strength of atlectioiis which roll Uown the cu: n-nt uf lime, "till jiaitiligs shall end. 168 HISTORY OF FAIRFIELD COUNTY, CONNECTICUT. " That thrill— lot it come, in the might of its power ; It bids 118 look upward and onward for peace ; It liailtt tliegliid prunii^e, and welcomes tlie hour AVIiuii the sorrows of parting forever sliall cease. "0 then, when in Ileaven, what emotions will rise, As hearts which are holy in fellowshii) rest ; Kor distance, nor altscnce, nor tears reach the skies. Nor farewell is hoard in the home of the blest. "Then cca.se thy repining, and cliase away gloom, By faith ' look aloft' where attachments ahido ; Our Jesus h&» triumphed o'er gin and tlic tomb. And by parting, we meet to bo one at His side. " Thin thought, then, shall cheer ns when far and away •Mid the changes and sorrows of life we are driven, Wo shall soon meet above, and in ecstjisy say — There was nothing below like the friendship of Heaven, "The friendship of Heaven I — by blood 'tis miule sure, Everlastingly strong its raptures shall roll ; It is union with God and the hearts of the pure. In the bosom of Jr^vs — tlie home of the soul." Dec. 11, 1827, he united in marringe with Delia, daughter of Dann Storrs, a native of Mansfield, Conn., and their family consists of five children, — Thomas S., Alfred T., George I., Lucy M., and Kdwin S. Dann Storrs, mentioned above, was the grandfather of the Hon. (). 8. Seymour and Sirs. George C. Wood- rufl", of Litchfield Hill, Conn. The "Watermans trace their ancestry in this country to Thomas Waterman, who came with his family to Plymouth, Mass., in a very early day. Ilis son Thomas married Elizabeth Allen, of Gro- ton. They lived at Norwich, and died in their ninety- fifth and eiglity-ninth year, respectively, having lived together sixty-eight years. His son Nehemiah married Sarah Gifford. His sou Nehemiah married Susannah Isliam, of Colchester. His son Elijah married Lucy Abbe, of Windham, whose son was the subject of our sketch. Mr. AVater- man died in Stratford, Conn., Aug. 7, 1873, aged seventv-one vcars. JAMES D. FRARY. James D. Frary was born at Meriden, Conn., Sept. 20, 1832. He remained with his father, who was a manufacturer of britannia ware, until he wsis sixteen years of age, when he went to New York City as clerk in the liardware business. Here he remained until 1852, when he returned to his fatlicr's factory, taking charge of the business. He was one of the organizers of the Meriden Britannia Co., Jan. 1, 1853. In the following year he disposed of his in- terest, and i)urehased the stock of the Meriden Hard- ware Co. Jan. 1, 18")5, he became one of the firm of Frary, Benbam & Co., manufacturers of powder- flasks, shot-pouches, game-bags, and a general assort- ment of sportsmen's goods. In the spring of 1857 he solil his interest to a new company, known as the American Flask and Cap Co., located at Watcrbury, Conn., and remove<l to that city. He returned to Meriden in the fall of the same year, and formed a company known a.s Frary & Co., subsequently Frary, Carj' & Co., manufacturers of hardware. This com- pany was consolidated in the spring of 1861 witii the Landers & Smith Manufacturing Co., at New Britain, Conn., and the name changed to Landers, Frary & Clark, manufacturers of general hardware and cut- lery. In spring of the year 1876, Mr. Frary removed to Bridgeport, Conn., and organizcil the Frary Cutlery Co., for the manufacture of table cutlery. To this manufacture was added, in July, 1879, the making of pocket cutlerj- and razors. At the beginning of the business there were about one hundred persons em- ployed. The business h.is rapidly increased, and at the present time the establishment gives employment to seven hundred and sixty-nine.