History of Fairfield County, Connecticut

Samuel Raymond was a man prominent not only in his native town, but also in his county and State. He was well versed in the laws of the State, some of which he drafte<l, while many were pasi^ed duriii<r his membership in the Legislature. He represented New Canaan in the Legislature thirteen years, with one year in the Senate, and his influence was second to none. An extensive reader, retaining all he read, he could cope in debate with the ablest niend)ers of his day. A strong partisan, but not an extremist, he wsis thoroughly honest, and no party measure ever received his encouragement or supjiort if in his view there was < anything wrong in it. Party caucuses never succeeded in whipping him into the traces, and for his adherence to what he conceived to be the right, which was con- trary to the views of his party in a matter relating to the banks of the State, he was at one time "read out." For ni.any years previous to 18-12 he had been en- gaged in the mercantile business. That year he was elected sherift', and sold his business to liis three sous. This business was in a short time bought by the twn youngest sons, who remained together several year-, and was finally bought by William E., who continued it down to 18o7, when he sold out and went to Iowa, where he had a large interest in government lands. He went West with the intention of engaging in banking, but, not liking the way they did business Id that new Slate, in the autumn of the same year he returned to C^innccticut. In 1859 he was elected to the Legislature, and the I'Luto. by Wilson, BridgQport, -^J'^.A I {JUi^jjUi %J^to c^^ NEW CANAAN. 451 same year he eiijiafreJ in nianuf'ucturiiii;-, folldwiiiLC it to 1875, when lie retiiccl. lu l,S7;i he was elected ■State treasurer, faithfully and satisfactorily ]ierforin- \n<i the duties of that oflir/e for four successive years. The jiresent t'nur and a half per cent, bonded indebt- edness of the State was rec;ininiendeil in his last report to the (xcneral Assembly, and liy its adopticju many thousands of dollars iiave l)een s:ived to the tax- [layers. William K. Rayiunnd ha; tilled viniuus oliiees of trust and responsibility. At present he is an active trustee of the New ('aiiaan UailruMil ; is a bank director and an lionorary member of the .\nierican Board. (Sanuud liayiniind died in lS()"i, at the advanced aire of nearly ei.i;hty-two, and is still well remembered. lU'SSKI.I- L. II.ALL. Kussidl L. Hall was Ixn-n Aua:. 18, ISIW, in Warren, Litehtield Co., Conn., and is of Welsh descent. J lis early life wasspent in layinu: the fiundatidii ufthe edu- cation which has enabled him to become thesncce^sful business man he is to-day. Ilis education was both common scluxjl and academic. At the ajre of sixteen lie bcfran the trade of cal)inet-maker, in fioshen, Litchfield Co. As an apprentice lie worked for George 8. Brewster for nearly five years, receiving as com- peusatiiin twenty-five dollar^ lirst, witli five dollars advance each year, rc/eiving for the last year forty- five dollars. In IS-jIj he came to New Caauan, the phico of Ids present abode, an<l in the following spring embarked in business on his own account. His success lias been uniform, and he stands to-day one of the prominent men of his adopted town. Elnathan Hall, his great-grand father^ was a large landholder in the western part of Fairfield County at an early day, and just before the Revolution pur- chased a large tract of land in Vermont, wliicdi he divided among his children, some of whom went there to live. His youngest son, Elnathan \j., moved to Fairfichl C(ninty, wdiere he learned the trades of tanner and shoemaker, which business, in conneetion witli farming, he followed through life. His wife's name was Huldah Stoni', of Hanbury, and their children eight in number, all of whom are living, the youngest about sixty, the eldest nearly ei.iihty. Norman S. Hall, father (d' Kussell, was a native of Litchfield County. His business was that of tanner, princii)ally. His wife was Jfary A., clde<t daughter of Russell and Hurd Stone, of Kent. Tlieir children were Russell L., Harriet E., E/.raS., Amelia Sophia (deceased), Mary J., Charles W., Laura 1., and Lucy M. (deceased). Eassell L. Hall wa.s married Dec. -I-i, lSo7, to Jliss Betsy A., eldest daughter of Reuben and Sarah (Sco- field) .Tones, of New Canaan. Their children are Julia M. and Lewis C. Mr. Hall has filled with satisfaction to his c<institu- ents various ofliccs of trust in his town. He has been treasurer of New Canaan Savings Rank fur some time, and in 1878 he was electeil president uf First National Bank of New Canaan, having previously filled the ofhee of vice-president of the in-titutiun for several years. CAPT. STICI'IIEX IIOYT. Ca]it. Sfeiihcn Hoyt was born in New Canaan, .Vpril 7, 18U0. He was the mily son of Stephen ami INdly (Carter) H<iyt, and had Ibur sisters. Of these, I'dly married Bradley Keeler ; Hannah, Alfred i^eeley ; and Sally Carter, Benjamin Hoyt; while .Inlia, the youngest but one, died unmarried at the age uf nine- teen. An only son, Steidien enjoyed all that parental and sisterly love could ju'ovide, while he, on his part, contributed, tr) the extent of his ability, tn their com- fort and luqipiness. His parents, in comfortable cir- cumstances, planned to give him a collegiate educa- tion, but "Man proposes, (bjil disposes." \'ouiig Stephen's eyesight failing him in part, he was obliged to abandon study and seek other pursuits. When twenty years of age he taught the winter term of wdiat is known as the White (_)ak District School. The sjiring following he entered mercantile life, taking his father's interest in the store kejit by Husted & Hoyt. The business was carried on in the corner-store now owned by S. C. Weed, — the only store at that time in the village of New (_'anaan. At the end of about five years JL'. Husti'd sold his in- terest to Edwin Nash, wdio remained in the firm until his death, in 184'). In 1837, Benjamin Hoyt became a jiartner, and budness was conducted under the lirm- nanie of S. ^^ B. H(jyt. In 1S4(I, Stephen s(dd his interest to .Vmlrews Weed, that he might give his entire attention to the cultivation of his farm liought three years before. \{ twenty-three he was married to Sally, daughter (d' Caleb Beneilict, comnieneing housekeeping in a new building built liy his father opposite the old home. In 1824 he wa^ elected captain in a coiiqiany of militia, serving three years, during the time marching his company to N<irwalk to do honor to Cen. Lafay- ette, then making the tour of the States. As a merchant lie was obliging and jiopular, and quite successful, but on acconnt of his large and growing family, wdiich he felt could be better trained in the counlry, he abamhmed mercantile for farm life. This he did against the opposition of his fatlnr's family, wdio idolized him and wished him to remain near them. in polities he was a Whig, and repres<'nled his jiarfy in 183(1 and 1840 in the State Legislature. .As selectman he served several terms, and for many years was treasurer of the town deimsit fund. He was an earnest ailvocate and defender i>t' human liberty, and joined the Free Soil party in 1848 and the Re- 452 HISTORY OF FAIRFIELD COUNTY, CONNECTICUT. publican party in 1856. He was, during the Rebel- [ lion, a thorough Union man, giving of time, money, and voiee, aiding his town to raise its quota, and in assisting the families of those who had gone to the front. After the war he withdrew from aetive politics ! and devoted himself to the improvement of his farm. He was a man of high moral character, and entered heartily into any project having for its object the ele- vation of mankind or the im])rovemcnt of his town. He took a resolute stand in 1840 in connection with the, in his town, unpopular Washingtonian reform movement. Signing the pledge, he banished from . his table and fields cider, as well as all other intoxi- I cants. In this new and unpopular sphere he showed the same resolute determination characteristic witli him in all his undertakings. He spent much of his time and money in attending and sustaining State, county, and town temperance organizations, and for years was rarely absent from their weekly meetings held in the town. He was one of the fourteen charter members who organized Friendship Division, No. 10, Sons of Tem- perance, in New Canaan, in 184o, — an organization which has existed upwards of thirty-five years, with a membership at the present writing of nearly two hundred. .\t his death he was one of the few charter members wjio remained true to the great principles of this reform. Capt. Hoyt took great interest in the New Canaan Railroad, giving much time and money towards its construction. He was stockholder and director of the First National Bank, and for several years its president, and for many years director and loaning committee of the savings bank. He interested him- self in forming the Union Cemetery Company, of whicli he was chosen president. To this work he de- voted much time and labor, and advanced the money necessary to make the survey, lay out the drives and walks, and for other work necessary to bring the cor- poration into a self-sustaining association. The cemetery was dedicated in 1872. The elm-tree standing in the triangle of the road as you enter the village of New Canaan from the oast wa.s planted there by Capt. Hoyt in 1870, and the stone coping surrounding it was caused to be placed there bv Jlrs. Dr. W. I'arker. As a farmer Cai)t. Hoyt was eminently successful. His farm, bought in 1837, was known as the Shaker F'arm, comprising at that time one hundred and sixty- three acres of worn-out rocky land, with poor fences and outbuihlings. He entered at once upon the work of im]>rovement, and long before his death had the satisfaction of bringing about a complete trans- formation, the rocky. uni>roduetive fields giving place to grass, orciiard, and tree-covered, fertile ones, and the old tumble-down fences and buildings entirely replaced by new. In 1842 he cultivated a few onions, increasing thequantity of ground until five acres were annually cultivated, yielding from two thousand five