Supplement to Norwalk, Conn., Volume One: Genealogy

He was a public man and appears, like his neighbor Richard Olmstead, to have been a surveyor. His home lot almost backed uoon the mill pond, which because of its capacity insufficiency was, at the close of Mr. Webb's life, abandoned. The town elected himself and Thomas Fitch and Nathaniel Richards as a com- mittee to advise with one Swayne of Stamford in re- lation to the mill situation (see page 35) in Norwalk. Richard Webb, Jr., resided in Stamford, where he had quite a family. It is possible that he came with the senior Webb to Norwalk, but if so his tarry here was short. He was early identified with Stamford inter- ests and in 1651 made purchase of a residence in that town. Richard Webb, Sr., who came with his fellow ad- venturers to Norwalk, was, according to careful rec- ord investigation (see page 398), of the fourth gener- ation (Richard of Norwalk IV., Alexander, Jr., III., Alexander, Sr., II., Henry I.) from Henry Webb, who was usher to the Privy Council of Katharine (Parr), Queen Regent of Britain in the XVIth century. This Henry married an Arden, while his sister married one of the identical family and had a daughter who mar- ried, May, 1562, John Shakespeare, father of (April 23, 1564) William Shakespeare, the great poet. There seems to have been a double Webb-Arden connection which amounts, perhaps, to relationship. The Nor- walk Webb father valued, it may well be supposed, this ancestry and affinity, but he could not foresee those of his name who were to succeed him, among whom, to the credit of Norwalk fatherhood, were the honored Col. Charles Webb of the Revolution, Gen. Saumel B. Webb, Washington's private secretary, William Henry Webb, the distinguished ship builder of New York, Hon. James Watson Webb, the notable New York Editor, Gen. Alexander S. Webb of Gettys- burg fame, Dr. W. Seward Webb, President of the Wagner Palace Car Company, Henry Walter Webb, Vice President of the New York Central Railroad. Lawyer William B. Webb of Washington, D. C, Dr. George F. Webb, the Ohio inventor, Rev. Henry Webb Johnson, D. D., of the west, and Rev. Harvey Webb, D. D., of Cleveland, Ohio. Richard Webb, Jr., the names of whose children are given on page 150, was a Stamford progenitor. Norwalk can hardly claim him, but its sister city may well register his offspring. One ol these, at least, has a distinct place in Norwalk annals. When the New York and New Haven railroad was laid out there lived, at Rowa3'ton, an aged man who took comfort in his Rowalton-side home, and with some reluctance parted with a portion of his farm for the company's use. This veteran, Moses Webb, born February 18, 1756, son of Epenetns and Deborah (Ferris) Webb, lived, as before stated, at Five Mile River, now Rowayton. He owned the tract in that section through which the Consolidated road is built, and upon which its present Rowayton passenger stations stand. His still existing home was built somewhat south of the stations referred to near the point of the highway branching to Five Mile River Landing. He was a Revolutionary soldier and a brother-in-law of the soldier John Street, who was the father of William Jarvis Street, the daughter of whom, Mrs. George R. Cholwell, still beautifully presides over her honored parents' remodelled hearthstone in the High Street of 1899. Moses and Polly (Street) Webb were the parents of Epenetus Ferris Webb, who was the father of Mrs. James A. Tyndall, now of the Connecticut Turnpike, near the State Armory, and who formerly resided in the ancient Main Street house in which Henry J. Ray- mond, founder of the New York Times, was born. The late Martin S. and William T. Craw are of the same Webb blood as the patriot Moses Webb, who died in 1850. Mr. Webb married, second, a widow Jarvis, an instructress, whose school was kept in the Eseck Kellogg (now Edward Bradley) West Norwalk home. His descent from Richard Webb, Sr., of Norwalk, ap- pears to be as follows: Gen. II. Richard Webb, Jr. " III. Joseph1 st and Hannah (Seofield) Webb. " IV. Joseph2^ and Mary (Hoyt) Webb. " V. Epenetus1 st and Deborah (Ferris) Webb (second wife) . " VI. Moses and Polly (Street) Webb. Moses Webb's grandmother, Mary, was a daugh- ter of Benjamin and Hannah (Weed) Hoyt. Mr. Webb was a Revolutionary soldier and he is the au- thority for the statement that Gen. Tryon's officers temporarily quartered arms or ammunition, or both, in the old Belden barn as per cut fronting page 383. It is known that said barn contained one or more timbers which were war-inscribed, but the exact na NORWALK. 389 The homes of the Norwalk John Beldens were situated thus: John Belden1*', on Strawberry Hill; John2ud, Bissell corner of 1895; John3rd, West Avenue and Berkeley Street of 1896; Jonn4th, same as John3rd; John5th, with his parents Henry and Esther Belden, site of Grace Church, 1896. Thomas, son of Samuel8rd and Ann (Lampson) Belden, married, December 24, 1798, Elizabeth, daughter of Rev. George Ogilvie, and had as per page 253. Samuel, son of Samuel Belden3'1', married Laurany, daughter of David2"d and Susan- nah (Rogers) Lambert, and had no children. He, as was the case with his father, was town clerk of Wilton. William (Col), son of Samuel Belden3rd, married, August 16, 1801, Rebecca, born May 2, 1781, daughter of Joshua, born June 8, 1750, and Sarah (born August 26, 1756) Adams, and had: Henrietta1, born May 16, 1802, died February 13. 1843 ; ture of the inscription is unknown. Mr. Webb lived to the age of ninety-four, and was an esteemed Nor- walk veteran. The late William K. James, a Norwalk financier, knew him well and would direct a riding companion's attention to the patriarch as he chanced to overtake him in his driving trips over the country. Moses Webb's great uncle, Joseph Webb3rd, born Jan- uary 26, 1700, was the grandfather of Gen. Samuel B. Webb, whose son, Hon. James Watson Webb, is of hemisphere wide fame, and whose children, Dr. W. Seward Webb of the New York Central Railroad, and Gen. Alexander S. Webb of national renown, the town of Norwalk gathers honor to itself in naming as its descendants. Nor does the Webb memorabilia here cease. Richard Webblst of Norwalk drew his last earthly breath in the dew-pearly precincts across which, in the East Norwalk of to-day, pass the long and heavy laden trains of the four-track Consolidated road. Samuel Webb, son of Richard2nd, had a name- sake son born on the first Sunday of November, 1692, who had a brother Charles, whose son, Charles2nd, was Connecticut's eminent Col. Charles Webb. The little Lord's day born Webb (Samuel2nd) was also a first cousin of William Webb, who was a great grandfather of Isaac Webb, the naval architect. Isaac Webb, who hailed from Shippan Point, was a no distant neighbor of the family of Isaac Bell, and his son, William Henry Webb, became the ship mod- deler and builder of the western continent, who was knighted, and thereafter known as Sir William Webb. These all refer back to this county for parentage, and, as elsewhere stated, embrace in their notable kin- circle the Webb historian, Dr. George F. Webb, an in- ventor and distinguished medical specialist of Cleve- land, Ohio, and his cousin, the Rev. Dr. Henry Webb Johnson, pastor of the First Presbyterian Church of South Bend, Indiana. Interest will ever attach itself to the story of the first English named party in the Sagamore Ruck- inheage Norwalk deed, Richard Webblst. It is claimed that he made the survey from Hartford to Norwalk. Here he had fourteen distinct land parcels set off to him by the planters. These parcels were on both sides of the river and down in the "Planting Field," as well as east as far as the Saugatuck. He was one of the seven heaviest noted land owners in 1655. He is Norwalk mentioned in 1659 as "de- ceased," although at the inventory of his estate as registered (1665) in Fairfield it is named that he died '' July last." It is reasonable to believe that he was the father of Richard Webb, Jr., who bought a Stam- ford home in 1651. While, however, the Norwalk evidence upon this point is circumstantial rather than documentary one recorded transaction (see Vol. II., N. T. R.) appears confirming. John Webb of North- ampton, Mass., is considered to have been of blood of Richard1 st of Norwalk. This John had a son, Eben- ezer, born January 16, 1673, whose brief history as a Norwalk resident is touching. He came hither some years after Richard1 st had passed away and made a purchase (perhaps only a beginning) of Nor- walk property. He had just "come to age" and here found, possibly, family friends. Death intervened and good Zerubbabel Hoyt, ancestor of famed descend- ants, took care of the stranger youth's personal effects and delivered them, in 1703, to his brother Henry Webb and his sisters Anna, Mary and Thank- ful of Northampton. Mr. Hoyt makes a record of "3 or 4 shillings in money'" found in the young man's pocket. Ebenezer Webb is tabulated on page 81 of this volume. iMarried January 11, 1830, J. B. Stone, and died February 13, 184,3. 39° NORWALK. Maria, born October 13, 1803, died September 27, 1854; Sarah Ann1, born October 12, 1804; Charlotte2, born May 16, 1806; Pattie Emily, born November 25, 1807, Mrs. Francis Haight ; William3, born March 11, 1810; Julia4, born November 27, 1812; Charles, born March 12, 1815, died October 17, 1845 ; David5, born November 20, 1816, unmarried ; Frederick, born June 30, 1818 ; Joshua, born April 30, 1822, died young. Colonel William Belden was a prominent Wilton man. He resided a short distance north of his father, Samuel Sr., on the road between Wilton and Cannons Stations. His mother was a daughter of David2nd and Susannah (Rogers) Lambert, and a granddaughter of Nehemiah and Elizabeth (Fitch) Rogers (see page 172). His son Frederick, long a resident of Norwalk, came to this town first in the capacity of a clerk. As a young man he was admired and, later, marked for his urbanity. He was engaged in business in New Orleans, but generally spent his summers north. His home pleasantly bordered Norwalk "Green," and was an attractive hearthstone. AMOS BELDEN LINEAGE.