Norwalk

The three Warren brothers, Esaias, Nathan and Stephen, who left Norwalk in 1797-8, were conspicuous examples of brotherly co-operation, confidence and affection. They were a unit, and their father, after three years Troy-sojourn, on Apr. 6, 1801, sold out the old Norwalk property and employed the handsome proceeds in his sons' interest. They did what might be termed a general produce business, investing their profits in real estate, and safely, sagely and squarely conducting their affairs. The firm was known for its integrity and reliability and its members' descendants comprise, to-day. a strong host. The head of the house, Edmond Warren, sleeps in the simple burial meadow near the old Norwalk Warren corner in Rowayton, but his grand-children, Eliakim and Phoebe, and many of their offspring rest within the stately Gothic mausoleum in Oak wood Cemetery, Rensselaer County, N. Y. gentleman as that the flow of years has failed to ef- face the remembrance of it. A Norwalk Oblong ex- cursion, in almost any direction, will interest the in- telligent tourist. There was three months to a day difference in the ages of Norwalk's two representative sons, Esaias Warren and Benjamin DeForest. Both left Fairfield County not far from the same period. Mr. Warren preceded his father and brothers to Troy, and, sat- isfied that the village offered opportunities for the future, arranged for the family's removal thither. Piece after piece of the old Van der Hey den property fell into Warren possession, until the " Warren bro- thers" became a potential name. No "pent-up Utica could contract" either Esaias Warren or Benj. De- Forest's ambition. Both were enterprising and both successful, Mr. DeForest commenced modestly, but his methods and manners made him friends. On one occasion he made a Norwalk loan (Eliphalet Lock- wood & Son) of several thousand dollars, and when the "Sou" of the firm (Col. Buckingham St. John Lockwood) called at the New York DeForest office. he was pleasantly greeted by the head of the house with the salutation: "I had no trouble in obtaining this amount and I have now no trouble in returning it." No trouble in procuring and no trouble in pay. ing was Mr. DeForest's evident experience after the young man left Fairfield and Westchester Counties. Eliphalet Lockwood did a large West India business. His vessels' wharf was in the rear of the present Walt St. "Lockwood Hall,*' which pier was wont, a number of years ago, to be piled with West India freight. A heavy business was once carried on between Norwalk and the South. An old Norwalk ledger shows that under date of March 21, 1772, Capt. Squires reports a commission on Barbadoes sales amounting to £397, 12s, 7d, and the variety of the merchandise which was transported to and from the Southern islands is sur- prising. Horses, in numbers, were transported. Si- las Hickox's great-grand-nephew, Henry Burlock, was sent out with a cargo of these favorite beasts. Mr. Hickox lived plainly in what is now Wilton, and was probably a plain man, but his Burlock relative (nep- hew of Mrs. Nathan Bouton and brother in-law of 282 NORWALK THE OLMSTED LINK. From fames Olmsted,'81- the older son of Richard. Sr., sprang the Norwalk Olm- sted contingency. The three sons of his brother John, viz., Daniel, Richard and John, settled elsewhere. The children of James'"- and Phcebe Barlow were : James, Jd- born Aug. 17. 1675. Nathan, l* born Apr. 27, 1678. Joseph, born March 10, 1676-7 Samuel,'"1- born May [3, 1683. John,' born Aug. 14. 1692. From the foregoing it is noticeable that the children of James Olmsted'51- were boys, while the offspring of his brother John were, largely, girls. The sons of James re- mained in Norwalk and here transmitted the name, while of his brother John's three sons, two, Daniel2 and Richard,3 removed to Ridgefield, and John, it appears, to Fairfield. John's daughter Elizabeth, (Mrs. Henry Whitney), also found her home in Ridgefield. Her husband, born Feb. 21, 1681, was a grandson and namesake of Henry Whitney, the miller and settler. Elizabeth, who like her older sister, Mary, the Olmsted-Warren ances- tress, was born close by the Rider, 1896, East Avenue, premises, married, June 14, 1710, her Whitney suitor, and both took up nine of the finest acres on the east side of the well laid-out "Ridgefield Street," which nine acres to-day represent a valuable sum. Henry and Elizabeth (Olmsted) Whitney had a grand-daughter Rebecca, (daughter of Henry Whitney), who, Jan. 18, 1789, married Josiah Olmstead. Josiah's father was Daniel, son of Richard and grandson of Lieut. John Olmstead,"1- of Norwalk. Josiah and Rebecca Olm- stead were the parents of William, born March 31, 1793, who married Clara, daughter of Jared and Rachel Xash, of Ridgefield, who had, Sept. 22, 1825, Charles (Gen. Charles Olmstead, 1896, of Norwalk). The young Charles Olmstead came early in life to Norwalk and was one of the most energetic and popular public school instructors of his day. He married, Dec. 8. 1X50, Mary Jane, born Aug. 24, 1830, daughter of Deacon Charles and I5enj. DeFore-t) was of sinking figure and features. Arriving at Lit destination he landed with his freight, and his personal beauty, it is stated, so captivated a young heiress of the island that the two were mar- ried. Mrs, Henry Btlrlock was doomed to early de- mise and left Iter entire estate to her husband." He al«i> rilled an early grave, and the property finally fell to the Deforests. 'John, the youngest son of fames Olmsted '»«■ married Feb. 2.,. Mary, daughter of Robert Small, and had Sylvaiius, born Nov. 2;, 171S, Phoebe born Aug. 5, t72o, Reuben, born April" 5, 1722, David! born Feb. 6. 1724 5, James Small, horn Mar. 2, 1727-8' John. b. March 29, 1729, and Iehabod, b. June 14, 1733. 'lie married, May 9, 17 1 1, Hannah, daughter of Joseph and Mercy (Lindall) Ketchum, of Nor'.valk, and two of his children were: Samuel,* born March 27, 17 15, and Nathan, born March 7, 1716-17. .iHe married April 22, 1714, Mary, born Sept. 10, 1693, daughter of Saml. and Judith (Reynolds) Belts, of Norwalk, and had John, Richard, Stephen, Tbmii- as, Hepzibah, Justus, Daniel, Samuel and Mary. The parents of these children lived opposite the present Methodist Church on the Ridgefield street. Their father was a justice of the peace and died Feb. 17. 1776. Their mother lived until Jan. 31, 1786. 'Ills hter. »j i,!. who was ,0 born married Abraha ■ of J"11".'-!, who was son Na.h. the -ruler., Xa.l,. grandfathe Olnisleaj ). who wa~ the m< ,.alk. Abraham N;,-h had her of Clara (Mrs. William i.Chas. Olmstead, of N,,r- . Abral who married Sarah lienedirt, of " West Lane District." Kidgeheld. '1 his son re- moved to Troy, \. V ., and was the proprietor of the large •• Nash Brewery " of that city. His sisters were Mrs. Silas SI. John, of" Xod"i Wilton), and Mrs A. Thaddeus Seymour, of Kidgetield. NOR WALK. 2*3 Emeline (Brown) Lockwood, of Norwalk, and had Maty Frank, who married LeGrand, son of Frederick T. and Susan (Stevens) Betts ; Clara Elizabeth, who married Hon. John Sammis Seymour, of Washington, D. C, and Norwalk; Horace L. ; Anna A. and Wil- liam T. After the decease of his first wife, Gen. Olmstead married, second, Nov. 12, 1874, N&nnie E. Taylor, born at Whitestown, X Y., Oct. 8. 1836. Gen. Olmstead has for many years filled positions of trust in Norwalk. James Olmstead, 3d- son of JamesIst- and Phoebe, appears to have died young. He does not seem to be named in his father's will, and his record is not found. His brother. Joseph, married Mehitable Warner, (see page 103) and is known to have had : Joseph, removed to Farmington ; Deborah (Mrs. Robert Farquhar) ; Gideon ; Gardiner ; David iprob.) ; (Mrs. Joseph Monroe).1 Nathan, *5ti son of James and Phoebe Olmsted, married, first, Sarah, daughter of Ralph21'- and Grace (Lindall) Keeler, and had Nathan,24- born 1703. The first Mrs. Nathan Olmsted'*'- died, and her husband married, second, Mercie. born Nov. 12, 1676, daughter of Christopher and Hannah (Piatt) Comstock, and had: Samuel,2 born 1707. Mercie, born 1711 {Mrs. Moses St. John). James,*1- born 1709.1 Hannah, born 1 71 3. (Mrs. Justus Miles, ..f Milford.) Lydia, born May, 1716, (Mrs. Matthew Fitch). After Nathan Olmsted's decease, his widow, Mercie (Comstock) Olmsted, married, second, John Williams, of Norwalk. 'The Monroes were early in Norwalk. They ap- pear originally to have been Massachusetts people. Among the first of the name in Norwalk were David and his wife Rebecca. These had a son, Solomon, to whom his brother Amos sold, May 17, 1734, six acres of land at "Toilsome," north of the " Norwalk Rocks,'' for £1,000; a large price at that day. On Nov. 9, 174.1, the same Amos Monroe sold the whole ot' Cock- cnoe Island, in Norwalk harbor, to Ralph Isaacs, for £300. From the days of the Revolution the Monroes have very definite and distinct Norwalk family trac- ing. The Joseph Monroe who made his will in 1796 lived, died and is buried in the Oblong, a short dis- tance from the New Canaan and Lewisboro town lines. 2ThN Samuel Olmsted married Sarah, born 1723, daughter of Samuel and Sarah (Jones) Fairchild. The two were the first Olmsted settlers on "Olm- sted's Hill," Wilton. Here the father, Samuel, lived until i76r, and the mother, Sarah, until Jan., 1777. Their children were: Sarah, baptized Feb. 2, 1745-6, Samuel, Sept. 27. i?47. Lydia, May 14. 1749, Moses April 2N, 1751, Eleanor, Oct. 19, 1755, and Hannah, March 26, 1736. Samuel, the second child, married, Nov. 2£, 1773, Anne Dunning, and had Samuel D., born Dec. 17, 1774, Sarah, July 27, 1776, Hannah, Feb. I 12, 1779, Stephen, Dee. 7, 1780, and Noah, Oct. 3, rjrSfi, who was the father of the late Samuel Edwin Olmstead, of Norwalk.