Supplement to Norwalk, Conn., Volume One: Genealogy

xNathan Marvin Belden. Nathan Marvin Belden, son of John A. and Bet- sey C. Belden, was born in Wilton, Conn., August 17, 1826. He was the grandson paternally of the Rev. David Belden, and maternally of Nathan Marvin, of Wilton. He passed his boyhood in Wilton, and was noted among his companions for his physical activity as well as for his quick wit. After preparing in his native town he entered Trinity College at Hartford in 1844 and graduated in 1848 with high honors, being the Latin Salutatorian and second in his class, the late Bishop Paddock, of Massachusetts, being first. In 1850 he was called to the position of Greek tutor in Trinitj- College, which position he heldfortwo years, and afterward engaged in teaching in South- port, Conn., and Orange, N. J. In July, 1856, he married Sarah Jane, daughter of Serenius S. Stock- ing, then residing in Orange with her uncle, the Rev. Sabura S. Stocking, with whom he was associated in St. Mark's Hall. In the fall of that year he became the first principal of the Free Academy at Andover, Mass., and in 1857 removed to White Plains, N. Y., where in company with his brother, Samuel B., he opened a select boarding school for boys, which was maintained for four j-ears, with great success. Among the patrons of this school were numbered some of the most prominent families of the country. In 1862, owing to poor health, he temporarily relinquished his work as a teacher, and both he and his brother went back to their native town, where they purchased farms and engaged in agricultural pursuits for a number of years. To the end of his life Mr. Belden lived upon his farm, even when engaged in other pur- suits. In 1867, his health being restored, he resumed teaching, and was for two years principal of one of the public schools of Ansonia, Conn. From 1872 to 1874 he was in charge of the classical department in the Militar3' Institute in Weston, Conn., and in 1875 and 1876 conducted the Trinity School in Southport, Conn. Returning to Wilton, he maintained for some years a private school in his own home, giving par- ticular attention to the education of Spanish stu- dents, of whose language he was an accomplished master. His reputation as a linguist extended far be- yond his native town. There was probably no man in the state whose mastery of languages, both an- cient and modern, was more thorough or extensive. His favorite tongues, in which he was most thorough- ly at home, were Greek, Latin, Spanish and French. Mr. Belden, however, was a man whose rare clever- ness was not confined to one department of knowl- edge. His mathematical abilities seemed to be equally signal, and for many years he exercised them in the profession of surveyor and civil engineer. He held the position of County Surveyor, and during the last twenty years of his life his services were in frequent demand. The painstaking accuracy which characterized his work in every other department was noticeable also in this. In public affairs he took a warm interest, and his conscientiousness, honesty and good judgment were so fully recognized that he was chosen again and again to offices of public trust. For many years he held the office of First Selectman of Wilton, for six years he represented that town in the Legislature and for five years he was County Commissioner. He held many other positions of responsibility, and his integrity, combined with his intelligence and general familiarity with the law, made his services in con- stant demand in the settlement of estates and other trusts of a semi-legal character. In everything he performed his duties with a strict fidelity that ex- tended to the minutest detail. In religious matters he was no less prominent and faithful. Of Churchly descent -line, he was brought up in the Episcopal Church, and was always a devout, earnest, loyal member of that com- munion. For over thirty years he represented St. Matthew's Church, Wilton, in the Diocesan Conven- tion, serving also as Senior Warden and Treasurer for twenty-three years, and acting as lay reader in the vacancies of rectorships and at other times. While his loyalty was given to his own Church, he was free from bigotry, and probably no man in the county was more deeply loved and respected by all classes. The widow and the fatherless found in him a sympa- thetic adviser and helper, and his parish the strongest lay pillar it ever had. Personally, though naturally somewhat re- served, "He was genial and sociable among his friends, and a rare conversationalist. He always had some apt quotation from the classics, some appropri- ate anecdote, or some close comparison to make his meaning clear, or to clinch an argument." His un- usual mental gifts appeared all the more attractive hy virtue of the unobtrusive modesty which charac- terized his entire career. The retired life which he chose to lead so many years upon the Wilton farm could not hide his engaging personality' or his singu- lar gifts of mind and character from the community at large, and at his funeral the tributes of respect 398 N O R W A L K . Cecelia Augusta, born December 30, 1839, died young ; Martha Jane, born March 29, 1843, Mrs. Dr. Levi Warren.1 Here ends the male line of the third generation of William and Margaret (Arms) Belden. The town of Wilton is a rewardful field for Belden Genealogia, and the author has collected much data in this direction. The matter, however, of investigation in the William and Margaret Belden line more properly belongs to Wilton, and every effort put forth for its accomplishment is deserving of support. In recognition of an important Norwalk and Stamford Webb constituency the story- thread of the early non home-lot proprietors is here briefly broken in order to text-introduce, in connection with the Webb family note which closed on page 389 and in consonance tenor with the lineage preface, page 81, the submitted collected and contributed WEBB GENEALOGY. Gen. I. Sir Henry and Grace (Arden) Webb, 1533. Gen. II. Alexander and Margaret (Arden) Webb. Gen. III. Alexander Webb, Jr. Gen. IV. Richard Webblst of Norwalk, 1650. (See page 149.) In miscellaneous Genealogia et Heraldica, by Joseph Jackson Howard, LL. D., F. S. A., Vol. II., Third Series, page 156, is found thus: "Henry Webbe of the city of London, Gentillman, is descendyd of a Hovse vnde- famed and ben one of ye Gentleman Vshers vnto the late Kyng of most famous memory, Henry ye Eight," etc. The wife of this Sir Henry Webb was Grace, sister of Robert Arden, of Warwickshire. Alexander, the oldest son of Sir Henry and Grace Webb, married Margaret Arden, and had Robert, Margaret and Alexander Jr. This last son had a family of six children, the oldest of whom, Richard, born 1584, is said to have been the Norwalk Webb foreparent. According to this pedigree Richard Webblst was approaching three score years and ten when he cast his lot among the Norwalk pioneers. His age and child-unaccompaniment when he arrived in this town may account for the early disappearance of the family. Mrs. Webb (second wife, probably,) was Elizabeth, sister, it would seem, to settler John Gregory. To her was bequeathed the entire Webb property. Thomas Butler and wife Sarah, of Hart- ford, claimed, and apparently successfully so, Webb heirship, but the two eventually (May 16, 1671) relinquished all rights by virtue of "deeds, gifts or otherwise," and the estate fell to the widow, and finally to John Gregory. There was evidently no issue by the second mar- and affection paid by all classes were eloquent wit- nesses of the influence of his true and noble life. He died very suddenly, of apoplexy, the result of overwork, on Sunday, July 28, 1895, while preparing, as usual, to attend the services of the Church, and was buried in St. Matthew's Churchyard, Wilton. His widow and two sons survive him also his ven- erable mother, at the age of ninety-two, as well as two sisters and a brother. iThis thorough Belden and true woman has taken an intelligent and indefatigable interest in the work of collecting Belden data. During the closing years of her honored mother's life she with daughter- ly devotion ministered faithfully to her aged parent, and still made time to gather valuable famihr facts. The large Belden household is her debtor. The home of Mrs. Dr. Warren is in the neighborhood of the "Rock House Woods" of early Norwalk story. NORWALK. 399 riage, and only one child, it is conjectured, by the former union, viz, Richard Webb, Jr., of Stamford in 1651. Granting the preceding generation table to be correct there is opened an inviting Old and New World Webb, Arden and Shakespeare family investigation. There were at least two well known branches of the Arden family in England. It has been broached that the Arden-Webb branch may be of Norman invasion date, and that William the Conqueror may have been an Arden Forest1 patron. The right of Mary Arden, of Mrs. Sir Henry Webb blood, to vital connection with the principal Arden limb of that day was maintained, in 1699, by such British authorities as Sir William Dethick and Camden.'2 Said Mary having been the wife of John Shakespeare and mother of William Shakespeare, the Stratford on Avon poet, it would follow (note, pages 387-389) that Richard Webblst of Norwalk was kin to the master of the English tongue, ".on whose forehead climb the crowns of the world." Another connection of Richard Webblst of Norwalk is of interesting mention. Lucy Webb, of Sir Henry Webb consanguinity, married, first, Hon. Jno. Robinson, and second, William Laude, Archbishop of Canterbury, who was executed at Tower Hill in January, 1645. Richard Webb, Jr., born January 9, 161 1, settled in Stamford. His children are thus reported : William, born May 10, 1632, settled in Weymouth, Mass.; Joshua, born March 15, 1634; Joseph, born March 30, 1636; Richard, born April 14, 1638 ; John, born April 12, 1640; Sarah, born October 16, 1653 ; A child, born October 5, 1655, died January 1, 1656; Samuel, born March 30, 1662; Caleb, born March 20, 1664; Jonathan, born April 12, 1675. Richard Webb, Jr., died March 15, 1675-6.