History of Fairfield County, Connecticut

Mr. Davis has been elected to the office of burgess for two terms, and four times to the position of war- den of the borough. In 1878 he represented his town in the State Legislature, and again the I'oUowiug year. He has been appointed assignee in the failure of sev- eral firms and is trustee and guardian for nnnor chil- dren, holding considerable sums of money in trust. In 1861 he was a member of the Wooster Gunrds, which played a j)romineut part in the late war. At the call of the President the company was called together by its captain, and a vote was taken as to whether they should offer their services to the gen- eral government. To their honor be it said, every man in the eomiiauy voted atHrmatively. This de- cision was at once telegraphed to the (Jovernor, and theirs is the i)roud record of having been the fir.st company in Connecticut to thus offer their services. They became part of the First Regiment Connecticut Volunteers, and did duty aniund Washington and I)articipated in the first Bull Run battle. Mr. Davis served during the term for which his company en- listed, and was honorably discharged. For three years he has been Commander of James E. Moore Post, Grand Army of the Republic. Mr. Davis luis done something for the improvement of his adojited town. He liuilt the factory now occu- pied by him, also the Montgomery factory, besides many other buildings. His own elegant residence he erected on one of the most — in fact, on the most — com- manding sites in tlie town, overlooking, as it does, the entire borough of Danbury, besides extensive pros- pects in every direction. JOHN F. BEAKD. .Folin F. Beard was born March fi, ISOfl, in Trum- bull, Fairfield Co., Conn. His grandfather, .Tames Beard, a native of Derby, New Haven Co., Conn., was a lawyer by profession, and for many years a judge f)f the County Court. He was married to Miss Holbrook, of Derby, and became the father of seven children, among whom was Dr. Daniel Beard, father of the subject of tliis memoir. He, also, was a native of Derby; was educated to the medical profession, and practiced during his lifetime both as a j)hysician and surgeon. He was appointed military surgeon of the troops stationed at Bridgeport under command of Gen. Foote, and served during the war of 1812-14. He was an enthusiast in his profession, a too close 18 application to which terminated his career Oct. 2t), 1815, when but forty-eight. He was married early in life to Miss Betsey, daugliter of Dr. Spencer and Betsey (Frink) Fields, of Oakham, Mass., and Iheir children were: Spencer F., Algernon E.. .Tolui F., Elizabeth F., Catherine J., Isabella M., William ».)., and Mary A. At his father's death .John was but eleven years old, and, the family lieing ])oor, ho was obliged to rely almost wholly upon his own abilities for his sup- ])ort. For the first two and a half years lie found a home witli an uncle, wjiom he assisted in the manage- ment of his farm, receiving as pay for his services his board and clothing. From this time until his marriage, at the age of twenty-three, he worked at <lifferent kinds of labor, principally farming, laying up but little in the way of money, but adding nuich in the way of experience to the little stock of knowl- eilge which he had managed to acquire during a few years of desidtory attendance at the district school. For two years after his marriage he labored as a farm-hand, leaving it to engage in hat-manutaeturing, which he followed for about seven years, when he moved on the farm, then known as " Hearthstone Hill," where he has ever since resided. His wife was Miss Lois A., daughter of Hiram Wildman, of Dan- bury, and their children were Pxlwin W. (deceased), William S. (deceased), Martha M. (now Mrs. Somers, living in Galesburg, 111.), John P. (resident of Dan- bury), Mary A. (now Mrs. S. C. HoUey, Danbury), and James B. (resident of Council Bluffs, Iowa). Mr. Beard's principal business has been tliat of farming, but he has always taken an active interest in jiublic matters of his town, and has often been called to the position of selectman and several times elected justice of the peace. When the Danbury and Norwalk Railroad was pro- jected, to further the enterprise Mr. Beard took the contract to build it entire. Owing to the immense amount of work of various kinds involved in the con- struction of a railroad, he found it necessary to take partners, in order that responsil)le heads might push the different departments of the work — bridge-build- ing, cutting, filling, etc. — at one and the same time, and although, financially, the enterjirisc was a losing one, which it is but justice to Mr. Beard to say was at- tributed to the want of integrity on the part of those he formed connections with to further the work, yet he had the satisfaction of handing over to the com- pany the road in eom])lete running order to the <lriv- ing of the last bolt. This road has given communi- cation with the outer world to Danbury, which before its construction was an isolated inland town, and per- haps no one thing has contributed more to the devel- opment of the place. Mr. Beard was one of the originators of the Danbury Agricultural Society, the most prosperous society of the kind in the State, and for nine years its president. He was for two years a member of the State Board of Agriculture. In 1831 266 HISTORY OF FAIRFIELD COUNTY, CONNECTICUT. he joined the First Cougregat : ' ; ich of Dan- bury, and the year following was made a deacon in the same, in wliieh capaeity he has acted till the pres- ent time, and for ten consecutive years Wius superin- teudentof its Sabbath-school. His wife and daughters, also, are members of the same cliurch. In polities, 5Ir. Beard has been a Whig, and since the formation of the Ivepublican party luis affiliated with it. JAMES WHITE NICHOLS. James White Nichols, son of Ebenezer Nichols and descendant of Samuel Nichols, a resident of Wood- bury in KItIO, was born Oct. 15, 1809, in Danbury, in the room in which he died iSept. 17, 1875. His father wius a farmer on the old Nichols farm, occupying the house in which his son lived his entire lifetime about the time of his first marriage. The Nichols family were extensive landholders in the early days of Danbury. James W. Nichols was not a liberally educated man, although well up in the English branches, and when a young man taught school several terms in Danbury. He had no other occupation than farming. The deli- cate state of his health, however, permitting him to perform only the lighter work of his calling, he devoted much of his time to writing and other liter- ary jiursuit-;, for which he had a decided jiredilection. He was married July G, 1845, to Miss Phebc Hawley, of Danbury, who died Jan. 26, 1869. Mr. Nichols was married the second time to Miss Henrietta S., daughter of Daniel 15. and Zemiah (Hays) Burton, of Woodbury. The issue of this union was a son, James H., born March 27, 1871. From an article from the pen of H. B. AVild- man, schoolmate of deceased, published soon after Mr. Nichols' death, we make the following extracts: . . . "Mr. Nichols wius a rare man, highly esteemed by his friends and neighbors, who often bestowed upon him offices of honor and trust. He bad always a genial smile and kindly word for everybody. He was both poet and artist, and his song was like the rippling of a summer stream or like the murnuir of the evening zephyrs that fanned through the shades of his be- loved 'Oak t'ottage' home. Contented in his situa- tion, he lived and breathed an atmosphere purely his own. He cared not for the ambitious world around him, nor for the literary luspirants quarreling and toiling for fame and glory." Mr. Nichols wrote some of the sweetest ])octry that ever emanated from un- pretentious bard, and it is matter of regret to us that we are not in timely receipt of specimens promised for this sketch, that they might become inscribed upim the page of enduring history. "He Wiis a faithful member of the Methodist Church, a devout worsfrtj)er and a true Christian, and was ready and willing to go when the summons came. His patience and fortitude during his severe and painful illness was most conspicuous; during all that trying time he was never known to make the slightest murmur of uneasiness or impatience." . . . CHA I'TKll XXV. DARIEN. Geographlcnl — Topographical — Names of Pioneers — Revolutionary Inci- dent— The Capture of the Rev. Pr. Mather — Poetical Narrative — Old Documents — A l)i^triljutiou Ilitl of 172-1, etc. — Pioneer Merchants — The First Gritst-Mill — The Pioneer Post-office. Darien is located in the southwestern part of the county, and is bounded as follows : On the north by New Canaan ; on the ea.st by Norwalk ; on the south by Long Island Sound ; on the west by Stamford. The soil of the town is a rich, gravelly loam. The surface is undulating. The town was settled contemporaneously with Stam- ford, of which it originally formed a part. The fol- lowing is believed to be a list of the pioneers who located in this town, taken from Huntington's " His- tory of Stamford :" Aaron Andrews, or Andreas, bought land here in 1G57, with (iarret Eivis. He is called a Dutchman. The name Andrews and .\ndrus occurs often, and also interchangeably. Jeremiah Andrews is said to be of Bedford after 1687. John Austin was one of the eleven Greenwich men who in 1656 acknowledged allegiance to the New Haven jurisdiction, to constitute part of the Stamford colony. The name is usually spelled Astin and -\sten on the records. A son of his, Samuel, died here in 1657, the year, al-so, of his own death. His inventorj', taken by Richard Law and Angell Husted, Sept. 5, 1657, was presented in court in Stamford by his widow " Katherine Astine," May 13, 1658. It amounted to £78 8)1. ill. Several of this name are rejtortol on the land records during the first century of the town.