Source: https://archive.org/details/commemorativebio12inbeer
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COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 495 owner. There he died in 1690. He and his wife, Mary, had three children: Francis, born June 3, ihjb; Richard, Kov. 26, 1678; and Joseph, Xov. I, 1680. Joseph Nichols, son of Isaac, Jr., was horn and reared in Stratford, whence he removed to Long Island, and in 1728 came to W'aterbury, New Ha- ven countv, where he owned property. Here he died March 10, 1733, ^""^ '^^''^^ buried in W'aterbury cemetery. He married Elizabeth Wood, of Strat- ford, and they had a family of eight children : James, born on Long Island, June 2j, 1712; George, ■born at the same place, July 14, 1714; Elizabeth, who was married, in 1740, to Ebenezer W'akelee ; Kichard; Joseph, born in 1724; Alaria; Isaac, who was born 'Slay 4, 1729, and died in the British army in 1776; and Benjamin, born May 14, 1731. Joseph Nichols, Jr., son of Joseph, was born on Long Island, and came with his parents to W'ater- bury, where he subsequently owned and operated a farm until called from this life Jan. 24, 1773, at ihe age of forty-nine years. On Sept. 6, 1750, in Waterbury, he married Tamar Bronson, daughter of Lieut. John Bronson, and to them were born two children : Simeon, mentioned below ; and Eunice, who was born Sept. 6, 1753, and married to Michael Bronson. The mother of these children died Nov. 14, 1755, ^"<^ ®" Dec. 15, 1757, the fa- ther married Annie W^ebster, by whom he had one child, Lucy, who was born Dec. 5, 1758, and who married Luke Adams. Simeon Nichols, son of Joseph, Jr., was bom /\pril 20, 175 1, in W'aterbury, where he spent his entire life as a farmer, land owner and highly re- spected citizen. On June 15, 1775. he married IMartha Hotchkiss, and to them were born ten chil- dren, whose names and dates of birth w^ere as fol- lows: Joseph, April 21, 1776, died Oct. 27, 1825, aged forty-nine; Tamar (wife of James Chatfield), Dec. 25, 1778; Humphrey, Nov. 23, 1781, died Jan. 5, 1853, aged seventy-one; Abigail, }ilarch 2, 1784; Chloe, July 30, 1786; Amy, Nov. 25, 1788; Will- iam, August, 1791, died Alarch 5, 1817; Chauncey, February, 1794, died April 6, 1795, aged fourteen months; Simon, 1796; and Philo, June, 1798, died Dec. 14, 1849, aged fifty-one years. Humphrey Nichols, son of Simeon and father of our subject, made his home throughout life in W'aterbury, where he owned a farm, and like his ancestors engaged in agricultural pursuits. He died Jan. 5, 1853, and his remains were interred in the old cemetery where the Bronson Library now stands. He had two wives, Esther and Phebe Hotchkiss. Esther Hotchkiss was a native of \yaterbury, a daughter of Stephen Hotchkiss. and died Oct. 29, 1837, aged fifty years. Flumphrey Niciiols was the father of the following children : Harriet, Iwrn Feb. 3, 1810, married G. A. Hall: Emcline. born May 20, 181 1, married David Ter- rell, and died Nov. 4, 1834, aged twenty-three; Stephen H. was born April 25, 1813; Isaac, bom Sept. 2j, 1814, married Lydia Frisbee ; William, born Jan. 27, 1817, married Elizabeth Atwater ; Ann, born Feb. 8, 1819, died Alay I2, 1835; Nancy, born June 15, 1821, married ^'larvin Mills; Eli, born Sept. 15, 1822, married Jane Mann; Esther married Fred Holmes; David died Sept. 27, 1865, aged thirty-seven; and Joseph N. is our subject. Franklin, a son by his union with Phebe Hotchkiss, died Sept. 2t,, 1848, aged six years. Joseph N. Nichols grew to manhood in Water- bury, and became a prosperous farmer and land owner of that town. He owned the homestead farm at Hope vi lie and also the large Hull farm on lown Plot, W'aterbury, upon which he made many improvements. It was the Benjamin Moore tract of eighty acres, and has since been divided into lots for building purposes. He was united in mar- riage with Aliss Lucena Clark, of New Milford, a daughter of Daniel and Lucy (Hawes) Clark, and by this union were born seven children: (i) Dan- iel Humphrey, who died ]\Iarch 18, 1890, aged thirty-three years, first married Mary C. Gladding (who died Feb. 28, 1887, aged twenty-nine years), by whom he had two sons, Frank Bacon and Ar- thur W. ; Arthur was a member of St. John's Church choir. For his second wife he married Albertie Lobdell, by whom he had one child, Harry Hum- phrey. (2) Clark Holmes is a resident of Water- bury. (3) Joseph Hayden, who resides on the old homestead, first married Nellie Jackson, by whom he had two children, Louis Hayden and Carl Humphrey, deceased, and for his second wife mar- ried Alice Farmer, by whom he had one child, Nellie Alice. (4} Lucy Esther was educated in the high school of Waterbury and resides on the town plot near the old homestead. (5) Emily C. died April i, 1885, aged twenty years. (6) Anna L. died ]March 26, 1886, aged eighteen years, six months. (7) William Francis, who is connected with the United States mail service and resides in W'aterbury, married Annie O'Rourke, and they have had four children, Gertrude E., Charles (de- ceased), William and Elizabeth. Our subject died April 21, 1878, aged fifty-three years, his wife Sept. 14, 1887, aged fifty-nine years, and both were laid to rest in Riverside cemetery. They were faithful members of St. John's Episcopal Church, and were highly respected and esteemed by all who knew them. In his political affiliations Mr. Nichols was a Democrat, and ever took a commendable interest in those enterprises calculated to advance the moral, social or material welfare of his town anfl county. He was a kind father, a loving husband and true friend. ANTON REUSS, who in his lifetime was one of the best-known and most highly-respected Ger- man citizens of Meriden, was born in Bomberg, Bavaria, Germany, :\Iarch 20, 1825. While he was in his infancy his father died, and this made it necessary for hmi to early take up the responsi-