Brooklyn, Connecticut Biographies
Lorin S. Atwood, born in Mansfield July 23d, 1812, is one of
twelve children of Elisha and Anna (Hartshorn) Atwood. From about 1850 to
1860 he was engaged in the hotel business in Hampton. He then removed to
Brooklyn and was a merchant there till his death in 1888. He married,
first, a Miss Cooley, by whom he had three children: Juliette, Arvila and
Herman. His second wife was Margaret Bradbent, who had one son- Oscar F.
John M. Baker, son of Almon and Hannah (Tucker) Baker and grandson
of John Baker, was born in Brooklyn in 1814, and has followed the business
of carriage making through life. He married Sarah French, of Plainfield,
daughter of Hezekiah French, February 14th, 1848. Their children are: John
F., born in 1849; Edwin, born in 1851, and Jennie, born in 1S56, died in
1887.
Henry D. Bassett, son of Joseph Bassett, was born in 1528. About
1852, he succeeded his father in the business of making cloth, which the
latter had carried on for twenty years. A year later he changed the
business to carding wool and grinding grain. In 1866 he built a new saw
mill. Mr. Bassett is one of the most successful business men of Brooklyn.
He married Alsada, daughter of Pardon Phillips. Their children are: Edward
W., Fannie, Ellen L., George C. (who was killed by being thrown from a
load of lumber on his seventeenth birthday, June 28th, 1880), Mary C. and
Almira.
Benjamin Brown, born in Brooklyn in 1807, is a son of Benjamin
Brown and grandson of John Brown. Benjamin Brown, Sr., married Susanna
Cooper, daughter of Nathaniel Cooper, of Rehoboth, Mass., and came to
Brooklyn in 1805. He had four children: Susan, Benjamin, Emeline and
George. Benjamin Brown in early life was engaged in teaching, and since
1839 has been a farmer. He married Emeline Mason, of Providence. Their
children are: George, Frank, Charles (in Providence), Ardelia (married a
Pond), Ann (married Joseph K. Potter), John (married Hattie Utley),
William and James A., who graduated at Brown University in 1883 and at
Newton Theological Seminary in 1836. He is a Baptist minister at Newark,
Ohio.
Sanford Chapman was born in Griswold, Conn., and came to Brooklyn
in 1550. He is one of eleven children of Joseph and Ruth (Main) Chapman,
and grandson of Rufus Main, a soldier of the revolutionary war. Mr.
Chapman is a successful farmer. He was married in 1844 to Laura, daughter
of Ira Miller, and has six children: Mary, married Alfred Havens; Hattie,
Irving, Alice, married Wellington James; Ida and Susie.
Francis Clark was born in Leeds, England, and came to Brooklyn in
1852. He learned the trade of currier, and bought a tannery in Brooklyn in
1853, which business he conducted till his death in 1875. He married Sarah
M. Heath in 1841. They had five children: Sarah, Benjamin, Levi, Francis
and John.
Henry M. Cleveland, son of Mason Cleveland, was born in Hampton,
Conn., in 1827. He was a member of the general assembly in 1867, 1877, and
1882, a member of the state board of education four years, appointed in
1877 a member of special commission to examine insurance companies of
Connecticut, and appointed member of commission to revise expenditures of
state. He married Mary A., daughter of Jonathan A. Welch, in 1854. They
have four children: Louis B., a graduate of Columbia Law School, class of
1876, lawyer at Putnam; Lilly C., married Lieutenant Commander Louis
Kingsley of the United States Navy; Mary A., and Henry M. Jr.
Martin W. Crosby was born in Lisbon, Conn., and came to Brooklyn in
1855. The ancestor of the family in this country came from Lancashire to
America in the ship " Susan & Ellen" in 1635. Mr. Crosby was appointed
deacon of the Congregational church of Brooklyn in 1877, which position he
has retained until the present time. He married Abby,, daughter of Marvin
Dexter. and a descendant in seventh generation from Reverend Gregory
Dexter, who came to America and settled at Providence in 1644, and was
pastor of the First Baptist church at Providence. They have two children:
Henry D., and Mary A.
William H. Cutler, born in Killingly in 1817, is a son of Dan and
Amy (Bussey) Cutler, the former a soldier of the war of 1812, and a son of
Benjamin Cutler. In early life William H. worked in a cotton mill. He was
in the jewelry business in Providence about twenty years, came to Brooklyn
in 1865, and has since been a farmer. He has been selectman several years.
He married Sarah F. Washburn of Killingly, and they have one son, Charles
H., an engineer at Taunton, Mass.
Charles Dorrance was born in Brooklyn in 1824. He is a son of
Samuel, and is descended from one of the early settlers of the county. He
married, first, Janet Sharp, and second, in 1877. Frances Davis, daughter
of Randall Davis. His children are George, born 1850, lives at St. Paul:
Janet C., married John Davenport; Harriet E., married Albert Putnam; Kate,
and Fannie G., married John Payne.
Vine R. Franklin was born in Brooklyn January 2d, 1843. He is a son
of John and Laura P. (Hammond) Franklin, whose children were Vine, William
H. and Annie, and a grandson of William B. Franklin, of Ashford. Mr.
Franklin represented Brooklyn in the legislature of 1887, and has held
various town ofices He married Josephine H. Main, of Brooklyn, and has one
daughter, Lucy H., born in 1867.
John Gallup, born in Sterling April 9th, 1807, was a son of David
and Nancy (Jacques) Gallup, and descended from John Gallup, who came from
England in 1630 and married Christabel, sister of Governor Winthrop. Mr.
Gallup was educated at the schools of Brooklyn and Plainfield; was deputy
sheriff and .sheriff for ten years in early life; was president of the
Windham County National Bank twenty years; representative to the
legislature twice, once as senator, and was bank commissioner three years.
He married Maria C. Tyler, great-granddaughter of General Putnan. Their
children were: Henry. superintendent of the Boston & Albany railroad;
Ellen DI. and Edward, who was assistant general manager of the Lake Shore
& Michigan Southern railroad, and died in October, 1888, at 46 years of
age.
George G. Gilbert was born in Brooklyn October 20th, 1814. He is a
son of John W. and Hannah A. Gilbert and great-grandson of John Gilbert,
the first of the name in Windham county, who was of the fourth generation
from Sir John Gilbert, who came from Devonshire, England, to Massachusetts
in 1636: In early life Mr. Gilbert learned the machinist's trade, which he
followed eight years, and has since been a farmer: He has been twice
married.
Hezekiah Hammond, son of Hezekiah, born December 14h, 1782, married
October 1st, 1804, Polly Greenslit, and had three children. She died in
1814. He married Lora Burnett in 1816 and she died in 1817, leaving one
child. He married third, Hannah Warren, daughter of John and Hannah
(Fuller) Warren, April 22d, 1819. She had four children: Charlotte, Helen,
Frances and Lucy. Charlotte, the eldest, born November 16th, 1822, married
September 28th, 1847, Gurdon A. Brown, son of Artemas Brown, of Brooklyn,
who was educated at the schools of Brooklyn, and engaged in real estate
business at Philadelphia, where he died at 32 years of age. Hezekiah
Hammond, 2d, brother of Colonel Asahel, was a descendant of Thomas
Hammond, of Suffolk county, England, who married Rose Tripp May 14th,
1573, and whose sons William and Thomas came to America about the year
1630.
Colonel Asahel Hammond was born in Hampton May 10th, 1778, and
married December 9th, 1801, Betsey Robinson. He removed to Brooklyn,
Conn., in 1842, was a director of the Windham County Bank and president of
the Windham County Fire Insurance Company, and colonel of the state
militia. He died in 1861, and his wife died in 1865. They had eleven
children, of whom Catherine, born May 10th, 1810, married in 1834 C. W.
Cain, of Petersburg, ETa., who was ensign in the 2d Regiment, United
States Dragoons, in the war of 1812, and afterward a merchant in New York
city. They had three children: 1. James H., born 1836, received an
academical education, enlisted at the commencement of the civil war, was
wounded and confined in Libby Prison during the summer of 1864, was first
lieutenant 1st Connecticut cavalry; 2. Elizabeth A., born 1838, married in
1866 John W. Hunt, who came from England, was engaged in mercantile
business in New York, and died in 1885, leaving three children; 3. Mary C.
Cain, born July 14th, 1840, resides at the old homestead at Brooklyn.
Harvey Harris, born in Brooklyn in 1859, is a son of George W.
Harris, one of the largest land owners in Windham county, who was a son of
Hosea Harris. Harvey Harris was married to Mary Cheney December 25th,
18S2. .
Erastus Harris was born in Brooklyn in 1815. About the year 1839 he
commenced the business of blacksmithing and wagon making. His business
increased until he employed fifteen or twenty men. He also carried on
farming, and for many years engaged in staging, owning several different
lines. In the time of the civil war he was active in the support of the
government. He contributed largely to the growth and prosperity of the
community, and was kind and charitable to the poor. He married in 1840
Miss Amy Herrick, daughter of Timothy Herrick. They had one daughter,
Fannie, who married Charles W. Snow. Mr. Harris died in 1871.
Elias H. Main, son of Gardner, and grandson of Nathaniel Main, was
born in Norwich, Conn., in 1808. In early life he was a mason, and
afterward engaged in mercantile and real estate business in New York city.
He has held various town offices. He married Susannah, daughter of
Reverend John G. Dorrance, a graduate of Brown University, who was a
grandson of Reverend Samuel Dorrance, a graduate of the University of
Glasgow, who settled in Sterling, Conn. Their children are: Sarah E.,
Caroline T., George W., Alice P. and John G., who was adjutant in the 6th
New York cavalry, and was killed at Cedar Creek, October 19th, 1864.
Enoch Pond was born in 1810, and came to Brooklyn in 1824. He is a
son of Enoch, and grandson of Enoch Pond, who came from Wrentham, Mass.,
to Ashford, Conn., and was pastor of the church there. Mr. Pond learned
the trade of cabinet maker, which has been the business of his life. He
married Sarah A. Utley, and they have four sons: Theodore D., who enlisted
in the 21st Connecticut volunteers and served till close of war, married
Delia M. Brown; George E., enlisted in the 21st Regiment, was wounded at
the battle of Dury's Bluff, graduated at West Point in 1872, and is a
captain in the United States army; Charles F., graduated at Annapolis in
1872, is lieutenant in navy, and John C., an officer at the Connecticut
state prison.
Abram Shepard, born in 1806, in Plainfield, was a son of John
Shepard, and a descendant in the fourth generation from Isaac Shepard, one
of the first settlers of the town of Plainfield. Abram Shepard came to
Brooklyn about 1837, and engaged in farming and mercantile business, which
he continued till his death, in 1877. He was married in 1828 to Hannah
Webb of Sterling. Their children were: Edward, living in California; Mary,
married to James Pike; Maria, Duncan, Cameron and Esther A., a school
teacher.
Simon Shepard, son of William, and grandson, of Simon, was born in
Plainfield in 1833, came to Brooklyn in 1866, and is a farmer. He is one
of the selectmen of the town, and has held various town offices. He was
married in 1857 to Louisa, daughter of John Gardner. Their children are:
Martha, married John E. Allen; Nettie, married Benjamin Clark; John,
Charles C., Jennie, Morgan and Simon E.
Preston B. Sibley was born in Eastford, Conn., and came to Brooklyn
in 1880. He is a son of Samuel Sibley, who came to Windham county from
Sutton, Mass., in 1827, and a descendant in the sixth generation from one
Sibley, who came from Wales to Massachusetts in 1705. He is a director in
the, savings bank, and Windham County Insurance Company. He was married in
1862 to Katie Noble, and they have three children.
Joseph B. Stetson, born in Brooklyn, Conn., is a son of James, and
a descendant in the eighth generation from Robert Stetson, who settled at
Scituate, Mass., in 1634, and a great-grandson of Nathan Witter, who came
to Brooklyn from Preston in 1753. Mr. Stetson represented Brooklyn in the
legislature of 1880.
B. H. Weaver was born in Plymouth, Vt., in March, 1814. He is a son
of Caleb Weaver, who married Betsey Clark, grandson of Benjamin Weaver,
who served as a captain in the revolutionary war, and a descendant of
Clement Weaver, who lived at Newport, R. I., as early as 1655. Mr. Weaver
was in mercantile business in Massachusetts from 1833 to 1855, then
removed to New York city, where he continued business till 1861, then came
to Brooklyn, Conn., where he has been engaged in farming till the present
time. He was married October 19th, 1841, to Sarah J. Gates, and has one
son, J. Frank Weaver.
Charles G. Williams was born in Sterling, Conn., is a son of
Nathaniel and Hannah Williams, and grandson of Samuel Williams. In early
life he taught school, and afterward was a farmer. He married in 1846 Lucy
E. Gallup, of Sterling, daughter of John Gallup. His second wife was Ruby
G. Burgess, daughter of David Gallup, of Plainfield. He has three
children: Mary M., born in, 1848; Nathaniel, born in 1850, and John C.,
born in 1856.
Henry N. Wood was born in South Scituate, R. I., and came to
Plainfield, Conn., in 1865. He is a son of Nehemiah and Phila Wood. The
family are of English origin. Mr. Wood learned the trade of blacksmith,
and has for many years been foreman in that department at the mills of the
Wauregan Company. He married in 1848 Mary Saulsbury and has three sons:
Nehemiah, Henry and Charles, who married Ida Westcott.
Additional Offsite Biographies
Back to: Brooklyn, Windham County, Connecticut History
Source: History of Windham County, Connecticut, Bayles, Richard M.; New York: W.W. Preston, 1889