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

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Biographies:

David Dudley Field, clergyman, was born in East Guilford, Conn., May 20, 1781; son of Capt. Timothy and Anna (Dudley) Field. His first American ancestor, Zachariah Field, emigrated from England about 1631 and settled in the colony of Plymouth, Mass. Zachariah's son Ebenezer removed to Guilford, Conn., and his son David died there in 1770. David's son, Captain Timothy, an officer of the American army during the Revolution, was the father of David Dudley, who was graduated at Yale in 1802, paying his way through college by teaching school, was licensed to preach by the association of New Haven east in 1803 and received his M.A. degree from Yale in 1805. He had charge of the church at Sommers in 1803, and while there was married to Submit, daughter of Capt. Noah Dickinson, an officer under Putnam in the French and Indian war and also in the war of the Revolution. He was ordained April 11, 1804, as pastor of the Congregational church at Haddam, Conn., and served that congregation for fourteen years. He resigned his charge in 1818 and made a missionary tour through the wilderness of western New York, under direction of the Missionary society of Connecticut. He was installed pastor of the church at Stockbridge, Mass., in August, 1819, as successor to Dr. Stephen West, and remained there eighteen years. He returned to Haddam in 1836 and was pastor of his old congregation until 1844, when they divided and he took charge of a new church formed at Higganum, and in 1851 retired from the ministry. He passed his declining years at Stockbridge, Mass. He served for a time as vice-president of the Connecticut historical society, and was also a corresponding member of the Massachusetts and Pennsylvania historical societies. He visited Europe in 1848 with his son Stephen. Williams college conferred on him the honorary degree of D.D. in 1837. Of his seven sons, six lived to maturity and gained national fame?David Dudley, lawyer; Jonathan Edwards, legislator; Stephen Johnson, jurist; Cyrus West, merchant; Matthew, civil engineer, and Henry Martyn, author. He published: History of the County of Berkshire (1829); History of the County of Middlesex (1839); History of Pittsfield (1844); and Genealogy of the Brainard Family (1857); besides numerous sermons and addresses. He died in Stockbridge, Mass., April 15, 1867.

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

Robert Elliott De forest, representative, was born in Guilford, Conn., Feb. 20, 1845; son of George C. and Julia (Chapman) Griswold; grandson of George and Nancy Griswold, and a descendant on his mother's side of Robert Chapman, the original settler. He was prepared for college at Guilford academy and was graduated from Yale in 1867. He was admitted to the bar in 1868 and practised at Bridgeport, Conn., where he was prosecuting attorney in 1872. He was judge of the court of common pleas for Fairfield county, 1874-77; mayor of Bridgeport, 1878-79; representative in the state legislature, 1880-81; state senator, 1882-84; again mayor, 1889-91, and a Democrat representative in the 52d and 53d congresses, 1891-95.

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

John Wolcott Phelps, soldier, was born in Guilford, Vt., Nov. 13, 1813; son of Judge John and Lucy (Lovell) Phelps; grandson of Timothy Phelps, sheriff of Cumberland county under the jurisdiction of New York, and a descendant of William Phelps, Windsor, Conn., 1635. He was graduated at the U.S. Military academy and brevetted 2d lieutenant in the 4th artillery, July 1, 1836; was promoted 2d lieutenant, July 28, 1836, and served in the Florida war, 1836-39, and in the Cherokee nation while removing the Indians to the West. He was promoted 1st lieutenant, July 7, 1838; served on the northern frontier during the Canada border disturbances, 1839-40, and at various forts in Michigan, 1840-41; at Fort Monroe, Va., and Carlisle barracks, Pa., 1841-45. In the war with Mexico, 1846-48, he served in the engagements leading up to the capture of the city of Mexico, and declined the brevet rank of captain, Aug. 20, 1847, for gallantry at Contreras and Churubusco. He was a member of the board that devised a complete system of instruction for siege, garrison, seacoast and mountain artillery, 1849-50; was promoted captain, March 31, 1850, and served in Texas, 1851-56, where he broke up a filibustering expedition. He was a member of the artillery board at Fort Monroe, Va., 1856-57; served on frontier duty in Kansas and on the Utah expedition, 1857-59, and resigned from the service, Nov. 2, 1859. Until the beginning of the civil war he resided in Brattleboro, Vt., where he wrote forceful articles pointing out the danger of the constantly increasing political influence of the slave states. He enlisted for the volunteer service and was appointed colonel of the 1st Vermont volunteers, May 2, 1861; took possession of and held Newport News for the defense of Hampton Roads, Va., May to November, 1861, and was engaged in several skirmishes. He was promoted brigadier-general of volunteers, May 17, 1861; served on the expedition to the Gulf of Mexico, late in 1861, when he took military possession of Ship Island, Miss., and with Commodore Farragut's fleet forced the opening of the lower Mississippi in April and May, 1862. While in garrison at Camp Parapet, La., in 1862, he organized the first Negro troops. He was, however, ordered by the government commander to cease such organization, and for that reason resigned, Aug. 21, 1862, but not before being declared an outlaw by the Confederate government. He declined the commission of major-general when the negroes were armed, and retired to Brattleboro, Vt., where he resided until 1883, when he was married to Mrs. Anna B. Davis, and removed to Guilford. He devoted himself to literary work; was the candidate for the American party for president of the United States in 1880; was vice-president of the Vermont Historical society, 1863-85, and of the Vermont Teacher's association, 1865-85. He contributed to current literature; translated Lucien de la Hodde's "Cradle of Rebellions" (1864) from the French, and is the author of: Good Behavior, text books for schools, adopted in the west (1880); History of Madagascar 1884), and The Fables of Florian (1888). See "Memoir" by C.H.C. Howard (1887). He died in Guilford, Vt., Feb. 2, 1885.

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

Fitz-Greene Halleck, poet, was born in Guilford, Conn., July 8, 1790; son of Israel and Mary (Eliot) Halleck; and a direct descendant from Peter Halleck, who landed in New Haven colony in 1640 and with other English families crossed the sound to Long Island and settled in Southold; and also a descendant of John Eliot, the apostle to the Indians. His father was a native of Duchess county, N.Y., and during the American Revolution was a Royalist and served in the British army under Colonel Tarleton. Fitz-Greene received a common school training and was a clerk and book-keeper in the store of Andrew Eliot in Guilford, 1805-11, making his home with his employer. It was during this time that his first poem appeared in print in a New Haven newspaper. He was a clerk and bookkeeper in the banking house of Jacob Barker, in New York city, 1811-31. In 1812 he formed a business partnership with a relative of Mr. Barker as Halleck & Barker, which was short lived by reason of the war, and in 1819 he formed a literary partnership with Joseph Rodman Drake, and the arrangement resulted in the "Croaker" papers, quaint, satirical chronicles of New York life, published anonymously in the New York Evening Post, Drake writing under the name "Croaker" and Halleck, "Croaker, Jr." It was during the latter part of this year that he wrote "Fanny," an amusing satire, that received unqualified praise from John Randolph of Virginia and was enlarged by fifty stanzas and republished in 1821. He visited Europe in 1822 and in 1827 published anonymously a collection of his poems which included "Burns" and "Alnwick Castle" and the lyric "Marco Bozzaris." He was a clerk for John Jacob Astor, 1832-49; was a trustee of the Astor library, and received from the millionaire at his death an annuity of "?40 a year," supplemented by a gift of $10,000 from his son, William B. Astor, upon which he retired and lived with a maiden sister in the mansion of the Shelley estate at Guilford, Conn., and there wrote "Connecticut," "Lines to Lewis Gaylord Clark," and "Young America." He visited New York city, which had been his residence for nearly fifty years, for the last time in October, 1867. His memory is perpetuated by his poems; by a monument over his grave in Alderbrook cemetery, Guilford, Conn., erected by Bryant, Longfellow, Sumner, Whittier and numerous other friends, the first public monument raised to an American poet; a full length bronze statue,--the first set up in the New World to a poet,--erected in Central Park, New York city, and unveiled in May, 1877, by President Hayes, his cabinet, the general of the army and the leading literary men of the nation; and portraits painted by Jarvis, Morse, Inman, Waldo, Elliott and Hicks. His published works, from which he received during his life-time $17,500, include: Fanny (1819, new ed., 1821); Alnwick Castle, with Other Poems (1827, 2d ed., 1836, 3d ed., 1845); Fanny and Other Poems (1839); The Poetical Works of Fitz-Greene Halleck now first collected (8 vols., 1847); The Croakers (1860); Young America, a Poem (1865); and The Poetical Writings of Fitz-Greene Halleck (1869). He died at Guilford, Conn., Nov. 19, 1867.

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