History of Fairfield County, Connecticut

ral, Calhoun & Co. In 1S.")8, after the death of :\rr. .Mr. Lacey has also introdueeil system into the ac- Harral, the firm was reorganized under the name id' couids of tlie town of Bridgeport, and since lS7i; has ( 'alhoun, Lacey i*c Co., and in LS03 the title w as again hail Ihe mamigemeut of the town sinking I'und, which changed to Lacey. Meeker & Co. The late war was at the present time lOctober, ISNO) amounts to over almost a fatal blow to the saddlery business, the chief .•sliMi,lMMI. From his large e-\periencc, his serviei's are market for which was in the 8nuth. Not only did it freiiiu'utly in demand to a]i|iortioii the cost of sewers cause immense losses, but it demoralized ami inipov- and ]iavcments, and in fact, in so many tbrms does crislicd the market, so much so as to render attemiits his work appear, that he has sonntimes been accused to contiinic the business unprofitable, if not ilisastrous, of runidng the entire city government. He is cou- Hclweeii tile years 1S40 and LS.'id, ^Ir. Lacey was tinuallv called U|ion tbr advice and Ibr data conceru- connected with the old volunteer tire department, as ing eitv and town matter-, both by rcsideids id' the private member and as foreman of Company No. 1, plaei' and by correspondents from abroad. In b^7.'! and assistant engineer. In LS4'^ he drew up and pro- he commenced the compilation ol' the ■'Municipal cured the passage of a very full and explicit onlinance Ilegister,"' a work of several hundred pages, coutain- for the organization and goverinnent of the depart- ing lists of city officers, piddle documents, financial mint. Previous to this time the several companies statements, etc., together with historical information had been entirely imlepeiident of each other, and of gnat inlerest. This work has been published an- anytliiiig but harmony had prevailed. I'lidcr the niially to the ]ireseiit lime, and is invaluable as a now systi'Ui the government was vested in a board id' work of rcfi leiiee. engineers, discipline was enfiirceil, and the result was From a \ery early |ierio.l Mr. Lacey has taken a I'xceediiigly advantageous in all respect>. This plan deep interest in llic cause of edncalioii. On first continued in force until the adoption of the paid sys- coming lo r.ridge|iorl, when he w.is only eiglileeii teiii in bs7ll. vears of age, hi- "spirit was slirrcd within him" at .Another field in which his infiuence has been felt is the low condition of the public schools. He addressed the ( 'oiiimon ( 'ouncil, to which he was elected in I.H-t.S, several communications to Ihe newspaper- upon this IH'>2, bs.-i;;, and again in l.S()4. topic, and unaided obtained the services id' Prof. .1 About the year l>i70 there was felt by leading citi- Orville Taylor, of ,\lbany, the common-school cham- zens of Bridgeport to be a n-cd of a better -ysteni of pion of the Slate of New York, lo hcline here upon keeping the eity acconnts. .Vccordingly, at the re- the subject. As the fruit of these elforts, the old 152 HISTORY OF FAIllFIKLl) COUNTY, CONNECTICUT. wooden I)uil(lin<r, iii;ii)|)roi)ri;itily known as tlie llijrli- school house, was deniolislied, and a substantial biiek structure, at No. 200 State Street (now oeeui)ied for business purposes), took its place, and the services of such teachers as George W. Yates, and afterwards of Emory F. Strong and others, were secured. Another subject in which Mr. Laccy has always been interested, and wliieli in fad might be called his hobby, i.s the early history of this place and of its in- habitants. Coucerning the old families here his knowledge is varied and exceedingly accurate. It was at his sug- ' gestion that his father-in-law, Deacon Isaac Sherman, a life-long resident, wrote out a valuable series of ar- ticles, embodying his own early recollections, together with many facts that had been handed down from the first settlers. These articles, revised and corrected by Mr. Lacey, were published after the decease of Es- quire Sherman. The historical papers of the " Municipal Register" have already been alluded to, and mention ought also to be made of the many excellent and judicious obit- uarj' sketches from Mr. Lacey's i)en which from time to time have been kiudly contributed to the columns of our local newspapers when the ranks of our leading citizens have been thinned by death. Tliese sketches have always been read witii interest, though few be- sides the immediate friends of the deceased have been aware of their authorship, nor even they of the labor involved in their preparation. The biographies of the Kev. Henry Jones, Shernum Hartwell, and Isaac Sherman in the present volume, are from liis hand. As might be supposed, the services of a gentleman so well qualified have been in request in various posi- tions of financial responsibility. He is at present a director in the Rridgcport National Bank and in the Bridgeport Mutual Insurance Company, also tru.stee in the Mechanics' and Farmers' Savings Bank, and liis aid is often sought in the making of wills and in the management of estates and ])roperty, in such ca- pacities iis executor, a<lministrator, conservator, or trustee. For several years he was a director in tlie Moun- tain Grove Cemetery, and was on the committee for the first reaiipraisal of the lots. The old Stratfield Ceme- tery also, which has been used as a burying-place for more tium two hundred years, has lately been placed under the charge of a committee, of which Mr. Lacey is the treasurer and active member, and V)y his in- strumentality improvements are being made in the grounds. With so many judilie duties devolving upon him, Mr. Lacey has been necessarily much absent from home, but he has always been an atl'ectionatc hus- band and father. His first wife was Jane E., daughter of the late Isaac Sherman, Esq., of this city. They were mar- ried Nov. 17, 1841, but the union was dissolved by lier death, April 5, 1,S.')7. His present wife, Mrs. Elizabeth R. Boardnian Lacey, was a daughter of the late Sherman Boardnian, Esq., of Hartford. The date of their marriage is April 14, 1859. The children by the first marriage were (1) Mary Louisa, whose first husband was the late Maj. Ezra D. Dickerman, but who is now the wife of Samuel S. Hunter ; (2) Edward Rowland, dccea.sed ; (3) Henry Rowland, decea.se(l ; (4) David Sherman, now in business in New York City. Miss Henrietta Boardnian Lacey is Mr. Lacey's daughter by his second marriage. In politics, Mr. Lacey in his early years was a mem- ber of the old ^Vhig party, and a great admirer of Daniel Webster and Henry Clay. During the war he was an earnest I'nion man, and since its close he lias acted with tlie Repuldican ]iarty, and may be cla.ssed as a conservative Republican, though he has many warm friends in each of the two ))olitical ])arties. No sketch of the subject of this biography would be complete that did not give more than passing notice to the religious ]>rinciples which are the foun- dation of his whole character, — the solid rock upon •which the entire structure rests. Mr. Lacey wa.s born and educated a Congregationalist of the Puritan type, yet, from early association with Christian people of other denominations, has always been catholic and liberal in his sentiments, though firmly adhering to the faith of his forefathers. About the year 1827 he was one of the original scholars in the first Sunday- school Ibrmed in the town of Redding, the Sunday- school then being a new institution. Mr. N. H. Lindlcy, now of this city, was liis teacher in this school, but in his fifteenth year Mr. Laccy himself became a teacher. Previous to this time. May 6, 1832, at the age of fourteen years, he had made an o]>en profession of religion, and united with the Congrega- tional Church in Redding, a step due to the influence and the early religious instruction of a devoted Christian motlier, more than to any other human source. In July, 1837, he became a member of the First Congregational Church of this city, with which he has ever since been identified, both as deacon, to which oflice he was elected Aug. 30, ISoO, and for a number of years as clerk and jis treasurer of the church. From 1837 to 1850 he was a member of the choir. I'or many years he has also served in one or more of the following capacities: society's tre:isurer, member and chairman of society's committee, Sun- day-school teacher, librarian, superintendent of Sun- day-school, and teacher of a Bible class. His heart is in the Sunday-.school work, and he considers himself as enlisted for life to serve this cause in some capacity. Ill connection with Henry W. Cliatfield, now of New York, Mr. Lacey solicited and raised most of the funds for building the house of worshiji now oc- cupied by the First Church, and was also a member of the building committee for the erection of the chapel adjoining. These services are all important in their way, but V-fHi ""UJ^^^' /? BRIDGEPORT. 153 more importunt than any of tlirni is tlii' intluence exerted Ity a eoiistant and devoted, yet unostenta- tious, Christian life of more than forty years in this community. ISueh a life is a more elocjnent arj::iimeut for tlie Christian relijiion than any sermon, however alile, and such a eharacter, together with "TImt liral iKirtion iif a gcmd niiiii's lilV, His litllf, iiiiiilrk'ss, unrcim.'niliei*e(i ails Of kiuJliess ami of Itjvc," will at some future ilay lie his leiraey to those who bear his name, to the church of wdiieli lie is a niem- lier, and to all who have in any way come within the sphere of his iutiuenee. JOHN L. WES.5ELS.