History of Watertown, (Litchfield County) Connecticut United States of America

Our database does not include an historic photo for Watertown, (Litchfield County) Connecticut, do you have one you would like to contribute? Contact Us!

Biographies:

Daniel McDonald, educator, was born at Watertown, Conn., June 28, 1785; son of James and Huldey (Foot) McDonald; grandson of Daniel and Sarah (Bestwick) McDonald and great-grandson of Louis McDonald, who was born at Inverness, Scotland, in 1708, and came to America, where he became colonel of the colonial militia of New York. Daniel McDonald attended the academy of Cheshire, Conn., where he was an assistant teacher, 1808-13, and was for a time a student at Middlebury college, Vt. He took orders in the Protestant Episcopal church in 1810 and was rector of St. Peter's, Auburn, N.Y., 1813-17; of St. Paul's, Waterloo, N.Y., 1822-26; principal of the academy and theological school at Fairfield, N.Y., 1817-21; principal of Geneva academy and professor of Latin and Greek language and antiquities at Geneva (afterward Hobart) college, 1821-30, acting president 1825-26, and professor in the General Theological seminary (Geneva branch), 1823-25. He was married, first, Oct. 9. 1807, to Percy Talmage of Cheshire, Conn., and secondly, Oct. 11, 1811, to her sister Phebe Talmage. He was president of the Christian Knowledge society, New York. Columbia conferred upon him the degree S.T.D. in 1821. He died in Geneva, N.Y., March 25, 1830.

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

Frederick Holcombe, clergyman, was born in Granby, Conn., Oct. 13, 1786; son of Capt. Jesse and Louise (Pinney) Holcombe. He was graduated at Williams in 1809; took a course in theology, 1809-12; received deacon's orders in 1812, and was ordained a priest in 1813. He was rector of Christ church, Harwinton, Conn., 1812-14, and of Christ church, Watertown, Conn., 1814-72. He was a founder of Trinity college, Hartford, and of the Episcopal seminary, Cheshire, Conn., curator of Trinity, 1832-72, and received from that institution the degree of S.T.D. in 1838. He died at Watertown, Conn., May 26, 1872.

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

George Scovill Mallory, educator and editor, was born in Watertown, Conn., June 5, 1838; son of George and ??? (Scovill) Mallory. His father was an inventor and one of the founders of the Wheeler & Wilson Manufacturing company of Bridgeport, Conn. George Scovill Mallory was graduated at Trinity college, Conn., in 1858, and at the Berkeley Divinity school, Middletown, Conn., in 1862, and was ordered deacon in the Protestant Episcopal church, June 4, 1862. He was adjunct professor of the Latin language and literature at Trinity college, 1862-64, and Brownell professor of literature and oratory there, 1864-72. He purchased a half-ownership in the Churchman, a weekly religious journal published in New York city in 1866, subsequently becoming sole owner, and was its editor, 1866-97. He was treasurer of Trinity college, 1867-76, and a trustee of that institution, 1872-97. He received the degrees D.D. from Hobart, 1874, and LL.D. from the University of the South, 1891. With his brother Marshall H. Mallory, he built the Madison Square theatre in 1880, and directed the character of the plays presented during his ownership. He died in New York city, March 2, 1897.

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

Bethel Judd, educator, was born in Watertown, Conn., in May, 1776; son of Noah and Rebecca Judd; grandson of John Judd, the first of that family to become an Episcopalian; great grandson of John Judd, a Congregationalist, and a descendant probably of one of the original settlers of Hartford and Farmington, Conn. He was graduated from Yale, A.B., 1797, A.M., 1800, and was admitted a deacon in the Protestant Episcopal church at Cheshire, Conn., by Bishop Jarvis, Sept. 30, 1798, was ordained a priest the next year, and was rector of St. Paul's, Woodbury, and Christ church, Roxbury, Conn., 1799-1801. He then removed to Hudson, N.Y., where he established a private school, and on May 5, 1802, was made rector of Christ church, then without a rector or organization. He finished the incomplete church building, which was consecrated by Bishop Moore, Oct. 2, 1803, and also served as rector of Trinity parish, Claverack, N.Y., receiving from Christ church $300 per annum for his services every other Sunday. He organized the first Sunday school in the state outside of New York city and the second oldest in the United States, formed Jan. 5, 1803, as "The Episcopal Sunday Charity School." He was married in 1803 to Margaret, daughter of William Heron, of Reading, Conn., who died, Jan. 30, 1828. He resigned the rectorship of both churches, Oct. 20, 1807, "in consequence of his health and the climate not agreeing with his constitution." From Hudson he went to Annapolis, Md., where he was rector of Anne Arundel parish and the second president of St. John's college, 1807-12, serving without pay, the annuity from the state having been withdrawn. He then returned to Connecticut, where he was prominently mentioned as successor to Bishop Jarvis, and where he served as rector of St. Paul's church, Norwalk, 1813-17. He was rector of St. John's church, Fayetteville, N.C., 1817-19, and was a candidate for the bishopric of North Carolina in 1819. He served as a missionary among the feeble churches of New London county, Conn., under the Protestant Episcopal Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, in 1819; and was rector of St. James's church and taught a female academy in the city of New London, Conn., 1819-33. He removed from New London to Cheshire, Conn., and was rector of St. Peter's church and principal of the Episcopal academy there, 1834-36. He was rector of St. Paul's church, Norwalk, Conn., in 1836, and also for a time of St. Matthew's, Wilton. He was rector of St. John's, Ithaca, N.Y., 1837-44; Christ church, Sacket Harbor, N.Y., 1844-47; Zion church, Avon Springs, and St. John's, Sodus, N.Y., in 1847, and attended the general convention in New York city in 1847. He went to St. Augustine, Fla., with an invalid daughter, and was rector of Trinity church in that city from Nov. 5, 1847, to May 1, 1848. He was a member of the standing committee of the diocese of Connecticut. He received the degree of S.T.D. from Washington (Trinity) college in 1831, when the degree was conferred for the first time on three American clergymen, and he was a curator of the college, 1830-36. He is the author of: Baptism not Regeneration, a sermon (1819), and two pamphlets, in which he maintained that ordination by bishops is the only valid ordination. He died in Wilmington, Del., April 8, 1858.

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