History of Simsbury, (Hartford County) Connecticut United States of America

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Biographies:

John Smith Phelps, governor of Missouri, was born in Simsbury, Conn., Dec. 22, 1814; son of Elisha Phelps . He was graduated from Trinity college in 1832; studied law with his father, and practised in Connecticut until 1837, when he moved to Springfield, Mo. He was a member of the Missouri legislature in 1840; brigade-inspector of militia in 1841, and Democratic representative to the 29th-36th congresses, 1845-1861. During the 35th and 36th congresses respectively, he was chairman of the committee on ways and means and one of the select committee of thirty-three on the rebellious states. He declined election to the 37th congress; joined the Federal forces as colonel of U.S. volunteers in 1861; was made brigadier-general in July, 1862; was military governor of Arkansas, 1862-63; delegate to the National Union convention at Philadelphia, 1866; commissioner to settle war claims in Indiana, 1867; unsuccessful Democratic candidate for governor of Missouri, 1868, and governor, 1876-82. He died in St. Louis, Mo., Nov. 20, 1886.

From: Twentieth Century Biographical Dictionary of Notable Americans, Johnson, Rossiter, editor

Gifford Pinchot, forester, was born in Simsbury, Conn., Aug. 11, 1865; son of James Wallace and Mary (Eno) Pinchot; and grandson of Cyril Constantine Desir? and Eliza (Cross) Pinchot, and of Amos Richards and Lucy (Phelps) Eno. He graduated from Yale in 1889, and studied the science of forestry in France, Germany, Switzerland and Austria. He inaugurated the first piece of regular forest management in America on the estate of George W. Vanderbilt at Biltmore, near Asheville, N.C., in January, 1892, and later opened an office as consulting forester in New York city. In 1895 he became a member of a committee of the National Academy of Sciences, appointed to recommend a forest policy for the United States. In 1897 he made for the secretary of the interior an examination and a report upon the national forest reserves. He became forester of the U.S. department of agriculture July 1, 1898, and on July 1, 1901, the division of forestry of that department was raised to a bureau, of which he became the first chief. In collaboration with Prof. Henry S. Graves, director of the Yale Forest school, he is the author of: The White Pine (1896) and The Adirondack Spruce (1898). Independently, he is the author of a Primer of Forestry, issued by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and of numerous minor publications.

From: Twentieth Century Biographical Dictionary of Notable Americans, Johnson, Rossiter, editor

Sarah Pratt (MoLean) Greene, author, was born in Simsbury, Conn., July 3, 1856; daughter of Dudley and Mary (Payne) McLean, and granddaughter of Allen and Hannah (Bishop) MacLean. She was educated by private teachers and entered Mt. Holyoke college in 1970, but was not graduated. She was married in 1886 to Franklin Lynde Green of Fremont. Ohio. She is the author of: Cape Cod Folks (1881); Towrhead (1883); Some Other Folk (1884); Last Chance Junction (1889); Leon Pontifex (1890); Vesty of the Basins (1892); Stuart and Bamboo (1897); The Moral Imbeciles (1898); Flood Tide (1901), and contributions to periodicals.

From: Twentieth Century Biographical Dictionary of Notable Americans, Johnson, Rossiter, editor

Herman Humphrey, educator, was born in West Simsbury, Conn., March 26, 1779; son of Solomon and Hannah (Brown) Humphrey, and a desendant in the fifth generation from from Michael Humphrey, who came from England to Dorchester, Mass., and prior to 1643 removed to Windsor, Conn. He paid his way at Yale by teaching, and was graduated A.B., 1805, A.M., 1808. He studied theology under Timothy Dwight, was ordained to the Congregational ministry and was pastor at Fairfield. Conn., 1807-17, and at Pittsfield, Mass., 1817-23. He was president of Amherst college, l823-45, succeding Dr. Zephaniah S. Moore, who had been elected president on the organization of the college and conducted it two years, when he died. He was a trustee of Amherst, l823-43, and professor ef sacred theology, moral philosophy, and metaphysics. 1803-35, and of sacred theology, 1835-45. He was also a visitor at Andover Theological seminary, 1832-49. He was a temperance lecturer as carly as 1810, and in 1813 drew up the report of the Fairfield association of ministers, the first temperance tract published in America He wrote various other tracts and contributed to the periodical literature of the day. He received the honorary degree of D.D. from Middlebury college in 1823. He was married to Sophia Porter, and of their children James became a representative in congress, and Zephaniah Moore , Edward Porter and John became prominent Presbyterian clergymen. John (1816-1854) was elected pastor and professor of rhetoric in Hamilton college in 1854, but died before entering upon the duties of the position. Dr. Humphrey published: Essays on the Sabbath (l829); Great Britain. France and Belgium in 1835(2 vols., 1838); Domestic Education (l840); Letters to a Son in the Ministry (1812): Memoir of the Rev. Nathan W. Fiske (1830): Life of Thomas L. Gallaudet (1857); Sketches and History of Revivals (1859), and many sermons and addresses. He died in Pittsfield, Mass., April 3. 1861.

From: Twentieth Century Biographical Dictionary of Notable Americans, Johnson, Rossiter, editor