History of Fairfield County, Connecticut

He built his i)resent house on temperance principles in 182(i or 1828, it being the first house in the town put up without the use of rum at the raising. As a characteristic of his well-known temperance prin- ciples, even in those early days, we mention that when his head carpenter came to him and said that tlie men loould not work without ruin, he replied that the timber could lie %|id rot before one drop of rum ehoiild be brought on his prcmueB. He stuck to his vow, and the result was his house was put up all right, and no one was injured. He continued at his trade until 1860, since which time he has been a farmer. On the 10th of May, 1821, he married Matilda, daughter of Rev. David Peck, of Greenwich, Conn. She was born May 7, 1797, and died June 17, 1879. She was a devoted wife and an affectionate mother. Their children were as follows : Zaccheus, Cornelius (deceased), Ann (deceased), David (deceased), Al- pheus (deceased), Augustus, Elethea, Sarah H., and Mary E. Mr. Banks has always been an outspoken, bold, anti- slavery man, and his own house has often been opened for ])rayer and public meetings to discuss the slavery question, even when the church was barred against such meetings ; but time has wrought a wonderful change, and nnch a change. In politics he was a Free- Soilcr and Whig till 1856, when he became a staunch Republican, and in November, 1880, voted for Gen. Garlicld, of Ohio, for President of the United States. In 1840 he voted the Liberty ticket, having James G. Birney for President and a Jlr. Earle for Vice-President. There were only about seven thou- sand votes cast for this ticket in the United States in 1840, but this small party, under different names, at different times, has grown until its principles are well known and felt throughout the length and breadth of our vast domain, and in 1880 elected the rijicst scholar and statesman that ever graced the Presidential chair. Mr. Banks has been very liberal indeed, having given more than two thousand dollars to aid the missionary cause, besides doing his part for home interest. NATUAN FINCU. Nathan Finch, son of Reuben Finch and Abigail Reynolds, was born in the town of Greenwich, at or near Stanwich, Fairfield Co., Conn., April 7, 1802. His great-grandfather, on his father's side, was named Nathan Finch, who, together with his brother Jonathan, came from England and settled in the town of Greenwich, Conn. Jonathan Finch simn after left the town and county, and nothing has c\ ■ r been known of him or his descendants, and it is generally sui)])osed that he died leaving no family. Nathan (1st) niarried and hail a family of children, one of whom was named Jonathan, who married and had .several children, one of whom was named Reuben, who was born iu the town of Greenwich, Conn., July 19, 1773, married Abigail Reynolds, Oct. 5, 1794. She was born in Greenwich, Conn., Nov. 13, 1774. Their children were as follows: Reuben R. (deceased), Deborah A., Amos (deceased), Nathan, Lockwood (deceased), Mary R., Jonathan (deceased), Hannah M., Julia E., and George G. (deceased). Reuben Finch was a merchant for a great many years, and was moderately successful. He also was engaged in farming for many years, and reared his children to > aJA,.' ^ f^l^ c^ /^.__ I^f'^^, /I ^ a^V-tl' / ^'> /-A'lA-^-^} HTINTINGTOX. 4(19 industry iiiul economy. He died on tlie 28th of April, 1880. Natliaii FiiK'li (2d) worked on his lather's farm summers and att.'nded the district seliool winters until he was twenty years of ag-e, when he entered his father's store as a partner with his father and remained a few years, when lie heeame a copartner with his brother, Reuben R., in general merchan- dising in the city of Xew York, wlierc he remained about a year, when he returned to his native town and entered the employ of .Joseph Brush, nf Cos Cob, Conn., where he remained a short time. During the next five years he was a nu'rchant at .Sing >Sing, X. Y., and the succeeding five years were sjjent at Peckskill, N. Y., as a merchant with his brother Reuben R., when he again returned home and l)ecame a partner with Ids brother .Tonathan in general merchandising, which continued sumc three years, when he became interested in the stock trade, bought an<l sold, to- gether, and with buteliering, in which business he remained some fifteen years, since which time he lias not been actively cngagi'd in any business. He is regarded as an Imiirst, iijin'i//if ritizcu, is a Republican in politics, but never aspired to any official positions, and is a niendier (jf the Methodist Episcopal Church of Stanwirli, Conn. art; seijiic-iits wlii<li .in' CHARTER XXXIX. HUNTINGTON. Geograpliical— Turojinipliii'iil— Tin- ri.inoers— Kxtraits from Tnwn lii'c- ords— Slav.-rv— Till. Iii.lian Well— List ..f S.-lectineii— List uf Kcpif- sentatives— Villajjcs, etc — Ecclfsiustic-al llistitry. The town of Huntington lies on the eastern border of the county, and is bounded as folhjws: On the nprth by the town of Monroe and tlie Housatonic River; on tlie east by the Housatonic River, whicli separates it from Xew Haven County; on tlie south by the towns of Stratford and Trumbull ; and on the west by Trumbull and Monroe. The surface of the town is uneven, being diversified with numerous hills and valleys. The soil is generally fertile. I THE PIONEERS. Prominent among the pioneers of jriintington was : Daniel Shelton, of honored memory, the common I ancestor of all who bear the name of .'-ihelton in this portion of the United .States. The following sketch of this pioneer is taken from a discourse delivered by tlie Rev. AVilliam .Shelton, D.D., ,hine 14, bS77 : "Tliat he calno fr..iuEin;Iniiil, and IVoiii tin. town of Hij.pi.n (m; as we call it, Hiptoii), in ah„ut UW7; was niarii...! in Stratf.>iil in W.ii ■ was a vestryman of that vencral.lc parisli, wliicli is among tlie olilcst in tlie country; tliat lie was a niercliant and farmer ; that he liad seven ehil- llren, and that he was a larse lanil.iwner, as appiare l.y the town records and by the tra.lilional knowledge ..f his .les.en.lants ; that he was a de- I voted and intellij;ent ehnrehman ami snITered for his attachment to the holy principles of the Book of Common Piaver,-are among the oliiefcst ! 27 I of our renuniscencfs of him. Hut t" those thi.- dear In :iU of ns, as I shall cmlfavnr ti' shuw. ! " It ig wi'U known that \u: vats th-vatfil tu :uiil was jj;i.vri iicii hy thoHo great ami ;iranti jiiincii'lLS of thr rhuit^h of Kiii;lan<i inh<-ritcil h_v lu-r I fioin priniilivi- anti<iMity ; ttiat hi- <hil \vh;it in him lay to i>i'oi.a\;ati- antl to (h-fenii them in this then new antl hustiU- cmntry ; that hi- w as thmwu j into jirison Hume eij^litniih-s from his honu', and carried tiieri' in an isiio- . minious manner, for ri.'fi!sing to pay his money to Mipport the prt-ailuii;^ i of doctrines and a system of theoluj;y in wiiifh he had ui Ir.ljil i.r , ..n- 1 fideuee, — arc among tlu' traditions of his lifi-.* This nm^t hav.- hi-i.>n an < aslonishnu-nt to a man wlio )uid crossed tlie ntcan to sctth- hinistdf in :i 1 country regarding whicli it had heen puhlicly proelainn^d that all men were Imrn tree and conhl wursliip (lod iii their owTi maiinei-, pnj\i.liMl they did n.>t infririgu upon tlie rights of otheis. He Iiad cmr I'mni liis I native land, wIulIi had heen distracted by eoiiflirting parties <iii all re- ligions .sulijt-cts, the Indepcndi-nts on the one hand, and the euriniit Clmreh uf Itumc on tliL' other, both e.jnally Imstile and .Mpjally assailing and |«erse< nting the ( hnrch of Knglan-I. He had linked, d.,iiMle>s, fur ' peace, and had .••ought quiet in a new country, where, as he thought, ' i»arty animosity di<l not e\i>t. It must have sniprised him, I say. to find himself imprisoned and evil treated bet^anse he would not i)ay fur tho j t:nppnrt of u system of religion in wliich he did not l.elieve. He was : really in tho condition in which this country claimed to be, many years I after, when the war-cry was raised against the mother-cnnntry hecuuso , she exacted a tax without rt-presentation. " He was a member of the (.'hnrcli of England, and yet a r<digiuus so- I ciety rudidy took him from Ins farm and thrnst him into jirison, where I he Wiis confined at least one in'ght. It is not stated tlnit he refused to I contril'ute to the support uf divine religion, for he was at one time a vestryman of his parish ( hurch, which Im would not have ln'cn had ho [iruved himself so far forgetful uf his ihity as not to promote tlu! temp-jrat as Well as sj'iritual interests of religion; ami it is recorded that on All Saints' day, in 1122, sixteen Kfiiscnpiilian-s, inhalitants of Ilipton, ad-" dre^sed a paper to tlie secretary of tin- Society for the Propagation of tlie Gospel in Foreign l'art>, asking for a i>;istor of thidr own, or f.tr stated supplies every third Sunday froni the ministers settled in Stratford and New Haven. 'We arc eniholdened," they state, 'to liope tliis, hotli ht?- cause wc design to si^^t apart a glebe for unr spiritual gui^le when liu conies, and also heeaus<' ue sulTer great persecution fortlie Chulch'ssake from those who have the civil puwer here, and who have nnide that a handle to grasji the ecclesiastical.' The second signature to this docu- ment was that of Daniel Shelton, and the fifteenth wiis nmlnul.teiHy Unit of his son, Joseph, then twenty-four yeais of age and ripening into the fortituile and manlim-ss of defending tho principles in which ho had heen educated by his father. Jt is reconleil, also, that the eliler di..'d he- fore a clinrch Inid been luilt in Ilipton, under the ministrations of Dr. .Iohnsi>n; but he hdt a nanie.it is said, and an ititlueno- behind him which lived and was fruitt'nl in good works.