History of Derby, (New Haven County) Connecticut United States of America

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Biographies:

Ann Sophia Stephens, author, was born in Derby, Conn., in 1813; daughter of John Winterbotham. She was liberally educated, and in 1831 was married to Edward Stephens, a publisher and merchant of Portland, Maine. She was the founder of the Portland Magazine, which her husband published and at first edited, and was herself its editor, 1835-37, contributing to its columns her best-known poem, Polish Boy, and published a compilation of sketches called "The Portland Sketch Book" in 1836. In 1837 she removed to New York city, where her husband had received an appointment in the customhouse; edited The Ladies' Companion and The Ladies' National Magazine; contributed to The Columbia Magazine, Graham's Magazine, and Peterson's Magazine, becoming associate editor of the two last publications in 1842 and 1844 respectively; established The Ladies World in 1843, and The Illustrated New Monthly in 1846. She traveled extensively through Europe and the Orient in 1850, for the purpose of collecting literary material. Her husband died in 1862. She is the author of numerous popular short stories; of contributions to The Brother Jonathan, a weekly published by her husband; Fashion and Famine, a novel (1854), translated into French; Zana, or the Heiress of Clare Hall (London, 1854), republished as The Heiress of Greenhurst (New York, 1857); The Old Homestead (1855; 2d ed., 1860; 3d ed., 1889); Sybil Chase (1862); Ahmo's Plot (1863); Pictorial History of the War for the Union (1863); Phemie Frost's Experiences (1874), and many other novels. T. B. Peterson & Co., Philadelphia, Pa., for whom she wrote under contract several years, published a uniform edition of her works in 1869, and a second edition in 1886. She died in Newport, R.I., Aug. 20, 1886.

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

Isaac Hull, naval officer, was born in Derby, Conn., March 9, 1773; son of Lieut. Joseph Hull; grandson of Capt. Joseph and Elizah (Clark) Hull; and a nephew of Gert. William Hull, U.S.A. His father, a lieutenant of artillery in the Revolutionary war, was distinguished for gallantry at the defence of Fort Washington, where he was taken prisoner and exchanged in 1778. He again entered the army, was given command, in 1779, of a flotilla on Long Island sound, consisting of several old whale-boats; and captured a British armed schooner. After the war be engaged in farming and whale fisbing. He died while Isaac was quite young and the boy was adopted by an uncle, who desired to have him attend Yale college and adopt a learned profession. Isaac, however, chose to follow the sea, and when sixteen years old he became cabin boy in a merchant ship. The ship was wrecked and the captain owed his life to the skill of the cabin boy in supporting him and getting him ashore. In 1793 be commanded a strip sailing to the West Indies, and on the reorganization of the U.S. navy he was commissioned fourth lieutenant, March 9, 1798. He served under Com. Samuel Nicholson on the Constitution, 1798-1800, and on the same ship under Com. Silas Talbot, 1800. He was promoted first lieutenant in 1801, and as sailing master he handled the Constitution in her friendly race with an English frigate, which was continued an entire day, and the Englishman was beaten by several miles, and lost the stake, a cask of wine. During the same cruise Lieutenant Hull manned the Sally, a small sloop, and with her boarded and captured a French letter of marque in Puerto Plata, Haiti, and landing his marines, spiked the guns of the battery before the commanding officer could prepare for defence. He was raised to the rank of master commandant, May 18, 1804, and commanded the brig Argus, one of the vessels of the fleet of Com. Edward Preble, in the Mediterranean. He was made captain in 1806, and commanded the Constitution when she carried Joel Barlow to France in 1811, as U.S. minister, and on the same voyage be carried specie to Holland to pay the interest on the debt due froth the United States. While in the barbor of Portsmouth, England, the Constitution was followed and watched by two English ships and as the question of right of search was at the time unsettled, Captain Hull, being suspicious of their movements, ordered the ship cleared for action. The next day be sailed for Cherbourg, France, and was followed by several men-of-war. The Constitution outsailed all but one, and when a safe distance had been gained Hall hove to, beat to quarters, and when the frigate came close to the Constitution no hostilities were offered and the incident was over. It resulted however, in the return of two seamen taken by the Leopard from the Chesapeake four years before. Returning to America the Constitution was cleaned and recoppered at Annapolis and ordered to joia the squadron of Commodore Rodgers at New York. On July 19, 1812, when five days out and near Sandy Hook Captain Hull encountered a British fleet of five sail under Commodore Broke and the entire fleet gave chase, which lasted for three days and three nights, during which time the Constitution kept the lead of her pursuers and used every device known to seamanship to escape. Every man on board was on duty the entire time and the excitement of the chase was intense. On reaching Boston Captain Hull was given a public reception and in a letter posted by him in the Coffee House he gave all the credit for the escape to Ills officers and men, as he did in Ills official report to the secretary of the navy. He received no orders to leave Boston, but tiring of inactivity he pat to sea, Aug. 2, 1812, without orders, and on August 19 gave chase to a strange sail that proved to be the British frigate Guerridr?. The Constition cleared for action, with guns double shotted and the crew and officers at quarters, bore down on the enemy and not till within a few hundred yards of each other did the order come from Captain Hull to open fire. Meantime several of the crew of the Constitution had been killed or wounded and Lieutenant Morris had three times asked permission to begin the action, but was met with the "Not yet, sir," of Captain Hull. The Constitution's first broadside was fired into the Guerri?re when only fifty yards parted the two ships. In thirty minutes the affair was over and the Guerri?re, Captain Dacres, a prize. This contest, the first naval victory of the war, won for the Constitution the name of "Old Ironsides," by reason of her coming out of the action with so little injury, the enemy's shot not having evev indented the sides of the ship. The Americans lost seven killed and seven wounded, while the enemy had seventy-nine killed and wounded. The Guerri?re was so badly injured that Captain Hull decided to destroy her and sloe was burned. He carried his prisoners into Boston and was received with great demonstrations of rejoicing. A public banquet was given to the captain and his officers in Faneuil Hall and the different cities passed resolutions of thanks and presented the freedom of the city, and several of them voted swords to the gallant commander. New York ordered a full-length portrait painted by Jervis. Congress gave him a gold medal and voted $50,000 to be distributed as prize money. This exploit, proving successful, was duly praised and rewarded; had it been disastrous, even under the same conditions as to valor, patriotism and devotion to duty, it would have cost Captain Hull his commission if not his life. He had disobeyed orders in undertaking it and knowingly accepted tire issue. He was succeeded in the command of the Constitution by Commodore Bainbridge, his superior in rank, and became a member of the naval board. He afterward commanded the navy yards at Boston and Washington and the squadrons in the Mediterranean and the Pacific. He commanded the ship of the line Ohio, flagship of the European squadron, 1839-41. He was then retired and made his home in Philadelphia, Pa. His last words were, "I strike my flag." He was buried in Laurel Hill cemetery, Philadelphia, and an altar tomb of Italian marble, a copy of one he had admired in Rome, marks his grave. He died in Philadelphia, Pa., Feb. 13, 1843.

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

Alfred Holbrook, educator, was born in Derby, Conn., Feb. 17, 1816; son of Josiah and Lucy (Swift) Holbrook; grandson of Deacon Daniel and Anne (Hitchcock) Holbrook; great grandson of Deacon Daniel and Elizabeth (Riggs) Holbrook; great2 grandson of Deacon Abel and Hannah (Meriam) Holbrook and great3 grandson of John Holbrook, who emigrated from Derby, England, and settled at Oyster Bay, L.I., N.Y., when his son Abel was born in 1653. On his mother's side his first ancestor in America was William Swift, of Sandwich, Mass., one of the party of English immigrants who settled in Boston in 1630-31. Alfred was educated at Groton academy, Mass., and under the direction of his father, an educator and inventor, both of which callings he followed. He founded a school for training teachers at Lebanon, Ohio, in 1855, which grew into the National Normal university, of which he was president until 1897, when he became chancellor of the Southern Normal university, Huntingdon, Tenn. This continuous labor in the education of teachers for nearly fifty years entitled Chancellor Holbrook to be classed as the dean of the profession in America. He is the author of: The Normal Methods of Teaching; An English Grammar Conforming to Present Usage; School Management ; Manual of Rhetoric and Letter Writing; Exponental System of Outlining, and numerous contributions to educational journals.

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

William Hull, soldier, was born in Derby, Conn., June 24, 1753; son of Joseph and Eliza (Clark) Hull and fifth in descent from Richard Hull, of Derbyshire, England, a freeman of Dorchester, Massachusetts Bay colony, in 1634, who went to New Haven, Conn., in 1639 "because he would not endure Puritanism;" and also a descendant of Thomas Clarke, of Plymouth, said to have been a mate of the Mayflower. He was graduated at Yale, A.B. 1772, studied law at Litchfield and was admitted to the bar in 1775. He was captain of a company of militia recruited just after the battle of Lexington and marched from Derby to Cambridge, where General Washington assigned the company to Colonel Webb's Connecticut regiment. He recruited the 8th Massachusetts regiment, was promoted major, and was ordered to the command of the regiment at Springfield, Mass., in January, 1777, and in April, with 300 men, he marched to Ticonderoga to reinforce General St. Clair, and he shared with him in his defeat and retreat to Fort Edward. He commanded the rear guard of General Schuyler's army in its retreat from Fort Edward and received the thanks of the commanding general. He then marched his detachment to Albany, where be joined General Arnold in the relief of Fort Stanwix. He volunteered to lead three hundred men to the relief of General Poor in the first battle of Saratoga, Sept. 19, 1777, and in a successful bayonet charge he lost one-half his men. On October 7 He commanded the advance guard of General Arnold's force and repelled the attempt of General Burgoyne to cut his way through the American lines, after which he assisted in removing the prisoners and wounded and the captured artillery from the field. He was present, however, at the surrender of Burgoyne. He then with the regiment joined Washington's army at Valley Forge, where he assisted Baron Steuben in introducing the military tactics of Frederick the Great. He commanded his regiment at the battle of Mommouth Court House, N.J., June 28, 1778, and listened to the seathing rebuke administered to General Lee by Washington. In 1779-80 he commanded the regiment at Kingsbridge, N.Y., eighteen miles in advance of the American army, where he maintained his position throughout the winter. In May, 1780 he built a fort at West Point and on July 15 commanded four hundred men in the column led by Wayne at the capture of Stony Point, N.Y., and for his conduct was made lieutenant-colonel. He was deputy inspector of Howe's division under Baron Steuben during the campaign of 1780, and was invited to enter the military family of Washington as an aide, which honor he declined by advice of Baron Steuben, and be suggested his friend Colonel Humphreys for the position, which appointment was made. He made a successful attack with 600 men against Colonel de Lancey at Morrisania, Jan. 23, 1780, capturing 52 prisoners, 60 horses and a number of cattle, which he successfully guarded in a retreat to the borders of Connecticut, pursued by a large British reinforcement from Forts Washington and Independence. For his conduct in this engagement he received the thanks of General Washington in general orders, and also the thanks of congress. He was granted leave of absence after six years' service and passed the remainder of the winter of 1781 in Boston, where he was married to a daughter of the Hon. Abraham Fuller, of Newton, Mass. In July, 1781, he was ordered by Washington to Bedford, N.Y., where he arranged with Count do Rochambeau an attack on the British in New York. This action, in which he was an aide to the Duke de Lauzun, resulted in the transferor the seat of war from New York harbor to the Chesapeake; and when Washington led the army south, Colonel Hull was made adjutant and inspector general of the army in the Highlands, serving until the evacuation of New York by the British, Nov. 25, 1783. He then took possession of the forts about New York and commanded the corps of light infantry which escorted General Washington into the city upon his return from Virginia. He became second in command of the only regiment not disbanded at the close of the war, November, 1783, General Heath being made its colonel. In 1784 he was ordered to make a formal demand on Governor-General Haldimand at Quebec for the surrender of the frontier posts of Niagara, Detroit, Mackinac and others, still held by the British in violation of the treaty of Paris. This Governor-General Haldimand, in the absence of instructions, declined to do, and it was not till after the Jay Treaty of 1794 that the forts were surrendered. Colonel Hull's regiment was disbanded in 1786, and he practised law in Newton, Mass., where be erected a large brick residence and where one son and seven daughters grew up. In Shays's rebellion he commanded the left wing of General Lincoln's army, and by a forced march surprised and dispersed the insurgents in their camps at Pelham. In January, 1793, he went to Quebec as a commissioner to arrange a treaty with the Northwestern Indians, but the British policy prevented its consummation. In 1798 he visited Europe and in 1799 he was appointed judge of the court of common pleas for Middlesex county. He served in both branches of the Massachusetts legislature and as a member of the Council. He was a founder and charter member of the Society of the Cincinnati, commander of the Ancient and Honorable artillery company of Boston, and in 1798 was elected major-general of the 3d division, state militia, which position he resigned in 1805, when be accepted the governorship of Michigan Territory from President Jefferson, and he removed his family to Detroit and built a brick house in that village in 1806. He was reappointed at the end of his first term by President Jefferson, serving 1805-13, and in February, 1812, he went to Washington to urge upon the government the necessity of additional troops to defend Detroit against the Indians.' President Madison called for 1200 militia from the governor of Ohio for that service and Governor Hull was requested to lead them to Detroit, which be declined to do, not desiring to assume a military command. When Colonel Kingsbury, who was appointed, fell sick, Governor Hull, in order to lose no time, assumed command and was given the rank of brigadier-general. He marched the three undisciplined and poorly-armed regiments to Urbana, Ohio, where 300 regulars, under Colonel Miller; joined him, and they cut a military road 200 miles through the wilderness, built bridges, causeways and block-houses, and on reaching the site of Toledo, June 30, 1812, unaware that war had been declared, June 18, he transferred the invalids, stores and important papers to a schooner for Detroit. When General Hull with the remainder of his army reached Detroit, July 5, he learned of the declaration of war and that the schooner had been captured at Malden by the British commanding the place. On July 12, in obedience to instructions from the war department, he crossed the river into Canada with 1000 effective men, all that could be spared from garrison duty, and established a [p.422] camp at Sandwicn, proposing to attack Malden. Colonels Case, McArthur and Finley discouraged an attack, and being supported only by Colonel Miller with 200 regulars, he decided to await siege guns from Detroit. Meanwhile the British troops were reinforced, and on July 17 Fort Mackinac was captured and the post of Chicago had been destroyed by the Indians and most of the garrison massacred. General Dearborn made an armistice with Sir George Provost that did not include Hull's army and General Brock concentrated all his forces against Detroit. On Aug. 4, 1812, Hull learned the condition of affairs and the impossibility of receiving support from Dearborn, the commander-in-chief, and on August 7 he recrossed the river to Detroit in order to open communications with Ohio. As Detroit was commanded by the British fleet and the batteries at Sandwich, Hull proposed to retire to the Raisin river, and there await reinforcements, but Colonel Case assured him that the Ohio troops would desert if this course was pursued. He sent Colonel Miller with 600 men to open communications with his depot of supplies at Raisin river. Miller's progress was opposed bye body of British troops and Indians, and after driving them from their intrenchments, he returned to Detroit. Colonels Cass and McArthur then led 500 men to effect a communication with the depot of supplies. While so occupied, General Brock appeared on August 15, opposite the city, and demanded its surrender, and when this was refused he opened a heavy bombardment. The next day he advanced with 1700 whites and between 1500 and 2000 Indians and crossed the river under the protection of the fleet, and to save the 900 men left to protect the city Hull surrendered the place, securing protection for the persons and property of the inhabitants, and a parole of the militia and volunteers. With the regular troops Hull was carried to Montreal, a prisoner of war. Afterward, when exchanged, he was placed under arrest. Gen. Wade Hampton was president of the court martial at Philadelphia, Pa., when Hull appeared ready for trial, but the court was dissolved by President Madison and a new court was summoned at Albany, N.Y., of which Gen. Henry Dearborn was president and several of his military family were members of the court. Hull was to be defended by Horace Binney, but he was denied the aid of counsel, while Dallas and Van Buren were employed to assist in the prosecution. Col. Lewis Cass, who had written his celebrated letter of Sept. 12, 1812, constituting the source of the charges against Hull, was the chief witness for the government. The charges were treason, cowardice and neglect of duty. The treason was in sending a vessel with invalids, supplies and baggage to Detroit after the declaration of war, but even Van Buren, the prosecuting officer of the court, pronounced the charge not only unsupported, but unsupportable. Hull was, however, convicted of cowardice and neglect of duty, and sentenced to be shot. Before the assembling of the court-martial Colonel Case had been promoted to the rank of brigadier-general and made governor of the territory of Michigan, and various of the other militia officers, who had opposed the reasonable suggestions of their commanding general, were advanced in rank. This course influenced the witnesses called before the court to favor the officers in power, with the honorable exception of Colonels Miller and Watson, Major Munson, Captains Maxwell and Dysen and Lieutenant Bacon, all experienced and tried officers of the army, who, after testifying in Hull's favor, were denied promotion and the last-named actually dropped from the army list. From copies of his private papers reluctantly furnished by the secretary of war in 1824, after repeated applications to each successive previous administration, his original papers having been burned with the vessel that carried his family to Buffalo, N.Y., after landing the passengers, he prepared "Memoirs of the Campaign of the North Western Army of the United States, A.D., 1812" (1824), which turned public opinion in his favor. His only son, Capt. Abraham Fuller Hull, of the 9th U.S. iufantry, fell at the battle of Lundy's Lane, July 25, 1814, while leading his company in a bayonet charge, and this loss was a great blow to a devoted father. President Madison, while approving the sentence of the court-martial, in view of the honorable service of Colonel Hull in the American Revolution, suspended the execution of its sentence and directed the dishonored officer to repair to his home in Newton. Mass. He there engaged in the cultivation of his farm for the mainteniance of his family. After the publication of his vindication in 1824, he was given a public dinner by the citizens of Boston, May 30, 1825; and when Lafayette made his last visit to America be was the guest of General Hull in Boston. He received the honorary degree of A.M. from Yale in 1779 and from Harvard in 1787. He died in Newton, Mass., Nov. 29, 1825.

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