History of Fairfield County, Connecticut

A jtrominent characteristic of Capt. Brooks is his benevo- lence; charitable and religious objects ever find him ready to contribute with his counsel anil his means. Warm-hearted anil generous, no worthy poor wore ever turned emply-handed fiom his door. He has ever manifested a decided interest in religious matters, and has contributcil liberally, and almost lavishly, to the various churches with which he has been connected. He is a kind husband, a devoted friend, and an upright citiien. Although Capt. Brooks is now an octogenarian, he retains in a remarkable degree the vigor and elasticity of youth. Plioto. y>y Wilson, Brnigi'port. <X^\>-L^^ ^, oCoS^^^^Si^AJ-rTT^^^ii^ Reuben Lockwooh, whose fatlicr was .lolm Lock wo( 1(1, was born April 17, 1762, at Fair- field, Conn. His wife, JCiizahcth (Kavmond) Lockwood, was born Nov. 2o, 1701. Tlicir son, father (if the sulyect of this notice, was David Lockwo(xl, who was horn at Weston, Conn., April 27, 1791, and his wife, Abigail (Gray) Lockwood, was born at Westport, Conn., Jan. 2, 1802. Their children were Wakenian D., Rhoda Ann, and David Benjamin, the subj(_'ct of this sketch, who was born Jan. 7, 1827, at Weston, Conn. He attended the Easton Academy, and graduated at Wesleyan University, Middletown, Conn., in 1849; studied law at Bridgeport, Conn., and was admitted to the Fairfield County bar in 1851. He practiced his ])rofessi(in in Ijridgejxirt from 1851 to 1856, and from 1856 to 18G1 in New York. From 1862 to 1865 he was first ser- geant of Second Connecticut Light Battery in tlic war (if the Rebellion. During the year 186(i he was assistant editor of the Watcrburi/ Daili/ Amrriaiii. In 1867 he again resumed the practice of his profession in Bridgeport, w'hich he has continued until the jtresent time in con- nection with his other duties. From 1869 to ls71 he was judge of the City Court of Bridge- port, and in 187-'i representative to the General As.sembly. The j)rescnt year (1880) he is city attorney for Bridgeport. He was married Jan. 11, 1856, to Caroline Amelia Redfield, of Clinton, Conn., who died Nov. 5, 1865. The result of this union is Alice Redfield, born Oct. 2, 1856, and Lester Burchard, born Sept. 25, 1860. Li 1868 he married for his second wife Lydia Ellen Nel- •son. Their children are Harriet Eugenia, born Aug. 18, 1869, \A\cy Bettie Josephine, born Nov. 19, 1870, and Sidney Nelson, born Nov. 14, 1872. lUlOOKFIELD. 169 CHAPTER XV. the jihu'c tdiik tn it-cif tlir Muiiir of thr "Siicic'ty oi- Parish nt' Newlmrv," — tlu' iiuiiK' <lrrivcil, iircsuiiKiMv, iniiii i\c»'to\vn ana i'Mioiiri/, ailiiiinini.' tciwiis, Irmn Early History— First Towii-Mi-i/tiiig— Palish :iiiil Cliinvli OrpiiiizatiiMis wllirll, as will 111' slllisc(|llc'Ill Iv sri'Ii. tllr society Was -Schools-Bunal-1'lac-cs-Milit.irv Ken,r.l-Uc-l.resel.t.,tives-Sel«t- J.,,.;,,,]^. takrll— ailll Uudw this a|i|icllal ioM it Cdll- ■ ! timiril tViun its tii-st (irfianizatiou, in 17-")4, tn the tiiiK' Ix respect to most of the rural towns ami smaller of its inc-orjioration with town privileires, in 17SS, — a communities of New Kntrland, l>a(k ol' all ni-orilnl ju-riod of thirty-four years. history there was a ]>erio(l of formation and ineipient Xewlmry (now I'.ronkfield) was constituted of ]ior- growth, interesting', douljtless, in its incidents, liut not tions of three adjacent towns, — viz.. New Milford, suhject-matter of accurate knowledge to the jiresent Xcwtoun.and 1 >anliuiy, these purtions mcetint: at a generation. Xo ehroiiicler havinir certified the facts common centre ticar the |ireseiit residence of ^Ir. transpiriiifr or preserved even the nann's cif the great .\hcl Sherman. A rock, now hlasted away, lying majority of those who bore part in the life that was witliin limits now incloseil in Mr. •Sherman's (hior- livi'd, and traditions handed down heing very unre- yard, w;ts recognized at the " hound-stone" between liable eyidenee of what actiuilly took place, little can tliese <lilferent towns, and of course the different see- he spoken of which is n(jt coMJectural, and the mo^t tions of the newly-constnu'ted society, satisfaction we can have in the ^tiidy nt the ]>irii"l is With reference to the hrst settlers who ]danled here that afield is thus (i]iencd for the '■pleasures of im- their hojues, opened the school-house, and set up the agination." altars of religion, it is not ikjw p<issible to designate Brookfield is no exception to this general nde. them so clearly as perliaps their enterprise and worth There were beginnings of days and dawnings of his- deserve. Tradition affirms that they came here from tory concerning which we must consent to remain the town of Jlilford. They were probably induced much in ignorance. Coidd we successfully interrogate to settle here from the fact that some of their kindred the years of dimness and nni'crtainty reaching back- and towns[ieople hail prcviou.^ly located in Daidmry ■ward from the time when the iirst setth'rs of the town and Xew Milford. They who came to these ncigh- (scttlers of the English stock) built here their homes boring eomniunities not unlikely reported to their and here began their endeavors for thrift and comfort, former neighbors and I'riends, as the chihlren of Keu- we should find much, it is etisy to believe, which, by ben and (lad did eonccrnin.tr the land of (iilead, it.s novelty and other elements of interest, would well " I'^vcn the country is a land fiir cattle," and, allured reward our investigation. liy the prospect of ]>ei'uniary advantage, as well as The aboriginal inhabitant doubtless had here his being in the immediate vicinity id' former friends rude cabin, his ties of love and hope, and his rndcly- and aci|uaintaiices, they came hither into what was constructed civilization. I)oubtless, by the side of loniparativcly a new country ami kindled their home Still River and the Ilousatonie he dextrously cast the tires, spear and threw the hook for fish, tra]i]ied by Beaver Mxactly when this Iirst settlement took jilace it is Brook, and pursued on plain and hillside fur-clad or difficult now to determine, there being no authentic savory game, the evidence of this being a few Indian reconl, although, in an ohl Iiistorieal sermon prcaclied names not yet ohliterated — as "Whisconier" and in Danburyat the licginning of the present century " Pokono" — here and there an arrow-head ar otlur by "Th<imas Robbins, Candidate for the (iospcl stone "relic" picked out of the furrow with a few Ministry," it is asserted that "the first settlement of faded legends, as of the maiilen of " Lover's Leaji." ' Danbury was begun in the summer of lbS4," and Precisely who these aboriginal dwellers were in elsewhere the statement is made: "The western respect to their tribal connection, how nnmer<ins they pari of the town, calleil 'Miry Brook,' and the ■were, and whither they went are all matters which lie eastern ]iart (which now comprises a part of the much in the haze of the uiichronicled period to whiib town of Brookfield), were settled within a few years allusion has already been made. The probability is after the Centre," the centre of Danbury being evi- that they were an outlying portion of an Indian set- dently referred to. tlenient, two liundred warriors strong, at Xew AIilf<n-d, Xew Milford was settleil in 1707, and Xi'Wtown where a somewhat distinguished cliicl' or sachem, still earlier : so the inference is warranted that a jiio- Weraiihamati ff hy u;\i\\i\ \\r\il his scat of goNcrnniciit, neer population was lici'c not long snbscipient to and where there are >till pointed out Indian burial- 170(1, perlia|is still earlier than (bat, in the Kanbiiry places and a neighborhood on the western bank of the portion of thi' society. river known as "Indian Field." lint this is scarcely K is e(juallv difiicnlt to determine accurately who within the limits of veritable hislory. th,. first settlers were; but from the earliest dates When first brought into a separate organization for loniid upon tondistoues in the various cemeteries, local purposes, as the support of schools and churches, ami IV some other sources of inforimition, it is . evident that among the earliest dwellers in the place « By liev. A. c. Pit-rco. wcrcTibbals and .lared Baldwin, whose homes were 170 HISTORY OF FAIRFIELD COUNTV, CONNECTICUT. oil Loiif; Meatlow Hill, near the schoul-liouso ; Ann- uel Merwiii, whose residence wa-s where Noah Taylor, deceased, lived ; Deacon Matthew Baldwin, who lived a little south of Mr. Edwin Smith's; .Samuel Sher- man, who lived near where Mr. Ahel Sherman now resides; and Dcaeon Aniiel Peck, who lived at the corner just east of tlie Merwin Brook crossing. Among the earlier, if not the earliest, iiihabitant.s were also Mr. John Dunning and Deacon Michael Dunning, the last of whom came to his death under peculiarly sad circumstances. On his return from a religious meeting one night to his home, now known as the "Benham" place, hy some mishap he fell into his own well, and was either drowiie(l or killed by the fall. Mr. Henry Peck, the Dibbles, of Bound Swamp, and the Smiths and Hurds, of Whisconier, were also early in the field.