My paternal grandparents were master craftspeople, running the premier woodworking shop in Hartford, Connecticut during the 17th and 18th centuries. Their handiwork produced exquisite furniture that stands as a testament to their artistry. Below I’ve included brief biographies of these gifted ancestors along with links to view some of the beautiful chairs attributed to their Spencer and Spencer-King workshops. Take a moment to admire the elegant lines and intricate details of their designs, passed down through generations of dedicated artisans. Their legacy of fine craftsmanship lives on in these striking pieces. The first chair noted, sold by Sotheby’s at auction, carried an estimate of $10-15,000!

Thomas Spencer (1607-1687) – My 9^th great-grandfather

Thomas Spencer was one of four brothers who emigrated to the Massachusetts Bay Colony from England arriving in 1633, first living in Cambridge, Massachusetts and then moving to Hartford, Connecticut in 1636.  Thomas served in the Pequot War alongside Nicholas Disbrowe and later both of them had a long association as fellow woodworkers.

Nicholas Disbrowe (1612-1683) – My 9^th great-grandfather

Nicholas Disbrowe (Disborough/Desborough) was a carpenter/joiner/cabinetmaker from Essex, England and was an original founder of Hartford, Connecticut.  Nicholas was one of the earliest known American furniture makers and is famous for the Hartford Chest. “Disbrowe was no ordinary carver and his designs are distinguished by undulating bands of carved tulips flowing from stiles to rails without breaking, Disbrowe’s designs were carefully worked out to fit the individual piece and no two pieces were identical.”

Obadiah Spencer Jr. (1666-1741) – My 7^th great-grandfather

Obadiah, a joiner and a turner, was the grandson of Thomas Spencer.  It is believed that Obadiah may have been trained as a turner by his paternal grandfather, Thomas, and as a joiner by his maternal grandfather, Nicholas Disbrowe. His uncle, Gerard Spencer (1650-1712), was also a skilled carpenter. 

Obadiah’s father was Obadiah Spencer Sr. (1638-1712) and mother Mary Disbrowe (1641-1709), the daughter of Nicholas.

“Obadiah’s shop produced fashionable turned chairs with shaped and carved crest rail and other decorative options in imitation of the sophisticated banister-back and cane-back seating furniture made in Boston.” (source: Sotheby’s). These chairs are products of the Deerfield, Connecticut turning tradition related to the Spencer-King workshops. of Hartford, Connecticut, was the grandson of Thomas Spencer (1607-1687), Hartford’s leading turner during the seventeenth century, and the principal leading joiner.”

Chair #1 Circa 1750 – Sotheby’s

“Important William and Mary Black-Painted Carved and Turned Maple Bannister-Back Armchair, Attributed to the Spencer Family Shop, Hartford area, Connecticut.”

Description: It is a rare example of William and Mary seating furniture from the Connecticut River Valley with a fan and rosette carved crest rail and spool shaped finials. The armchair is attributed to the Spencer family workshop of Hartford since it displays distinctive characteristics associated with that shop. These include the placement of the banisters with the rounded side against the sitter’s back, the shaped rail below that terminates in carved volutes, and the turned rails between the arm supports and the seat rails. 

Five Colleges and Historic Deerfield Museum Consortium

Chair #2 Circa 1790-1820

Description: One of a pair of slat-back side chairs supported by turned posts surmounted with the spool finial characteristic of Deerfield area craftsmanship, and fit with the original, woven split ash seat.

Chair #3 Circa 1740

Description: Bannister-back side chair, painted black, attributed to the Spencer family workshop of Hartford, Connecticut. The chair has a solid arched crest rail; four turned banisters with the round side facing forward; flattened arch-shaped bottom rail; ball finials over similarly turned back stiles; trapezoidal rush seat; block-and-vase turned front posts ending in small modified Spanish feet; high front stretcher with vase-and-ring turnings in the center and three similarly-turned side and back stretchers; and plain back legs that are slightly flared near the floor.

Chair #4 – Circa 1740

Description: Attributed to the Spencer family workshop.  Bannister-back armchair with rush seat, covered overall with black and gold paint. The armchair has a solid arched crest rail; four turned banisters with the round side facing forward; shaped bottom rail; gilded ball finials on a vase shape over the two turned side rails; two plain arms ending in scrolled handhold; rush seat; turned front posts ending in small peg feet; high front stretcher with two turned ball in the center; and three turned side and back stretchers. The chair was originally painted red and later repainted black and gold, which was possibly added to compete with the fancy chairs being manufactured in the nineteenth century by Hitchcock and others.

Note: The Five Colleges and Historic Deerfield Museum Consortium is an amazing database of objects from the collections of seven museums in the Pioneer Valley of Massachusetts: the Mead Art Museum at Amherst College, Hampshire College Art Gallery, Historic Deerfield, Mount Holyoke College Art Museum, Joseph Allen Skinner Museum of Mount Holyoke College, the Smith College Museum of Art, and the University Museum of Contemporary Art at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.

Copyright © 2022. All Rights Reserved by David R. French. Questions, Comments and Corrections are Appreciated

My mother’s “Aunt Kittie,” Catherine Ruth Grace was born in 9 November 1889 in New Britain, Connecticut to William J. Grace and Mary Courtney Grace. Her siblings were: Joseph, Edward and Raymond (my grandfather). Catherine married Arthur Pearce Fourette in 1913 and they had two children together, Helen (b.1915) and Ruth (b. 1916), it does not appear they lived together after the birth of the children.

Helen died in her first year of life and Ruth died in 1923, at the age of six (cause unknown). The 1920 census shows Catherine working as a clerk at Travelers Insurance Company and living with her mother, younger brother (Raymond) and daughter Ruth.

This post centers on a tragic incident involving Thomas F. Griffith, an elected constable and political leader in Middlesex County (Hartford, CT), that resulted in the death of Catherine’s daughter Helen. The details of the incident are supported and illustrated by court records and newspaper stories.

The Crime – On 13 March 1915, Thomas Griffin, an elected constable for Middletown, went to apartment of Catherine Fourette to serve court papers on her husband, Arthur, for the return of certain household furniture. Arthur was not living in the apartment at the time. According to news articles and court records, Griffin forced his way into the residence and in the process assaulted both Catherine and her infant, Helen. It is assumed that the injuries to mother and daughter led to the death of Helen. The actions of that day are described in an the below article “Judge Scores Constable” – The Journal (Meriden, Connecticut) · 13 Apr 1917.

The Case – Almost two years the death of Helen and with no criminal action taken against Griffin, Catherine filed a civil suit alleging trespass and assault and seeking $5,000 in damages. After a trial, the jury found in favor of Griffin after a very short deliberation. This verdict was successfully appealed by Catherine’s attorney, Daniel J. Donahoe, and a new trial was ordered based on a biased statement by the judge to the jury that Griffin’s breaking of the door (into the apartment) was “accidental and unintentional.” The appeal, Fourette v. Griffin, provides very interesting reading.

Sadly, this is were the story ends. I have been unable to find record of a second trial or the case being settled out of court. However, this case set precedent by viewing a shared entrance/passageway in a house, with multiple apartments, as being protected against unreasonable search and seizure, an officer had no right to enter the property. Below are quick vignettes on Thomas F. Griffin and Catherine’s attorney, Daniel J. Donahoe.

“A great big brute who attacked a defenseless woman endeavoring to protect her baby.” Daniel J. Donahoe

According to his obituary, Thomas F. Griffin (1870 – 1933) served as the elected town constable of Middletown, CT. for 27 years, was the Democratic town chairman and was also a member of the Democratic state committee. In 1920, he was appointed by President Woodrow Wilson to serve as a Deputy U.S. Marshall (article).

“Possessed of an indomitable will and ambition”

Catherine’s attorney, Daniel Joseph Donahoe (1853–1930), was very distinguished and respected. Donahue served as an Associate Judge (1887-1903) and Judge (1913-15) for the Middletown City Court. He was also the first lawyer to hold the office Public Defender for the Superior Court of Middlesex County. Donahoe was also a published poet. In 1914, Donahoe argued before the CT. Supreme Court on behalf of the plaintiff in ELIZABETH BROWN vs. THOMAS BROWN we held that a married woman could recover damages from her husband for an assault committed upon her by him.

Copyright © 2022. All Rights Reserved by David R. FrenchQuestions, Comments and Corrections are Appreciated

This story begins 25 years after the U.S. Civil War. The subject of this post, William “Willis” Craig, lived In the small farming community in Longview in East Texas. Willis was born enslaved in Georgia in 1856 and moved to Longview with his parents Lewis and Easter Craig.

The 1880 Census for Longview, Texas notes that Willis (24) is working as a farm laborer and living with his 16 year-old bride Anna (Richardson) and their 1 year-old son, Devread. Anna just happened to be the daughter of his next door neighbor, Weakly and Sarah (Bryant) Richardson. (Photo R: Anna 1897)

Here is where the story takes an interesting turn.

In the 1900 Census for Rusk, Texas, Willis is a recorded as a prisoner in the East Texas Penitentiary. Below is his “convict record” listing his age, weight, and distinguishing marks (in blue below) and term of sentence. The record notes that in January 1899, Willis was convicted of murder and sentenced to five years. However, Willis was pardoned in February 1901. No additional public records were found regarding the murder conviction and pardon.

Why was Willis pardoned after serving only one year of a 5 year sentence?

In the 1900 Census, Anna is living with Elderville, Rusk County, Texas with six of her children whose ages ranged from 2 to 18 years-old. (Children: Lucy, Louis, Joseph, Ulysses, Addie and Sarah)

In the 1910 Census for Depew, Oklahoma (300 miles north of Longview, TX), Willis and Anna are together with their children Sara, Addison, Ulysses, Joseph and Fannie Mae. Also living with them are the children of eldest daughter, Ida Dixon, whose names were Arthur, Eva, Essie and Ermon. There is no record of where Ida and Frank Dixon where living in 1910.

Note: Willis’ wife Anna died on 18 Aug 1912. After her death, Willis is shown in the 1920/30/40 Census’ living with his daughter Ida Wiggins in Depew.

In the 1920 Census for Depew, Oklahoma, Ida (34) and her husband Matthew (46) are living with their children Rebie (Wiggins) and Arthur, Eva, Essie and Ermon (Dixon). Also in the home was Ida’s father, Willis, and her sister Fannie Mae.

Here is the second turn in the the life of Willis Craig.

On Saturday, October 21, 1911 in Depew, Oklahoma, Willis and his brother Noah became witness to the death of William Bryant during an attempt to arrest of Henry Page who was accused of beating his wife. As reported in the newspapers, white deputies attempted to arrest Page and when unsuccessful, had four “Negroes” deputized by the Justice of the Peace. Willis and Page were deputized along with Bryant. Bryant apparently agreed to “go in and bring the Page boy out” and died when he was shot by one of the “Page boys” while Willis was struggling with Henry Page. It is interesting that that shots were fired from “inside and outside” the house, which seems to indicate that the white deputies outside were also engaged in the shooting.

Bob Bryant and the story of his death are memorialized by the Oklahoma Peace Officers Memorial. The news articles gave his name as William Bryant?

News articles (below) reporting the incident illustrate the nature of racism in 1900’s Oklahoma in their description of the murder. Sadly, I have been unable to uncover a record of the outcome of the case.

Below is an excerpt from a story told by Josiah Bowers (J.B.) French (my 3rd great grand uncle) from a collection of stories about the history of Lowell, Massachusetts in a book titled, “Contributions of the Old Residents Historical Association – Lowell, MA 1877. The Association was formed in December of 1868 by prominent (male only) members of the local community who were residents at the time of the city’s incorporation in 1836 and who had continuously lived in Lowell since that time and were at least 45 years of age. His recollections on early transportation in Lowell/Billerica/Boston includes a reference to his father, my 4th great grandfather, Luther French ( 1767-1846) and mentions the use of a pillion that was used when courting on horseback. That was a new term for me and sounds both romantic and perhaps uncomfortable! ( I added the illustration, it was not part of J.B.’s story).

I previously posted a story about the interesting and successful life led by Josiah in “The Brothers French.”

Copyright © 2022. All Rights Reserved by David R. French

Questions, Comments and Corrections are Appreciated

Perhaps the most unusual name in my family tree (other than Bygod/Beget Eggleston) is Posthumous Sikes, the grandson of my 7th great-grandfather Victory Sikes (1649-1708). Posthumous, a farmer in Suffield, CT., is my 1st cousin 7x removed.

If it is not already on your frequent reading list, the Lost New England site is a great blog focusing on New England history.

Copyright © 2022. All Rights Reserved by David R. French

Questions, Comments and Corrections are Appreciated

In the 1970’s, I lived in the small, suburban town of Moraga, California attending Donald Rheem Elementary, Joaquin Moraga Intermediate, and Campolindo High School. While there may have been times where I failed to listen to my teachers, I am certain there was never any mention of the history of Moraga, beyond it being a Mexican land grant (Rancho Laguna de los Palos Colorados) made to Joaquin Moraga. Below are two articles that provide a small glimpse into the history of Moraga and explore tales of a squatters war and of ranchers resisting a railroad expansion.

Copyright © 2022. All Rights Reserved by David R. French

Questions, Comments and Corrections are Appreciated

The grandson of my 5^th great-grandparents Samuel Eggleston (I Swear, I Did Fight in the Revolution) and Dorcas Loomis was Myron Spencer Higley.  Myron was born in December 1801 to Dorcas Eggleston and Job Higley. In March 1826, Myron married Priscilla Ebberson in Leeds Village, Quebec, together they had 14 children (11 who survived childhood), 71 grandchildren, and, 56 great-grandchildren. 

Myron is the first follower of the Mormon faith (to date) that I have identified in my entire family tree.  He was baptized into Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in 1839 (only 9 years after the founding of the Church) and served as president of the branch at Boonville, NY in 1842. According to his obituary, he returned to Connecticut in an attempt to convert his family (who were members of the Congregational Church) and when discovered the community they “sent for the smartest preachers in the country round, but their doctrines were not sufficiently substantial to stand before the gospel as expounded by the Elder (Higley).”  By 1844, Myron had Priscilla moved to Nauvoo, Illinois, and later migrated to Salt Lake Valley, Utah by 1852.

Seventy Quorum Membership (1835-1846) – Myron Spencer Higley

General Authority Seventies—sometimes known simply as Seventies—are Church leaders who assist the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. Like the Quorum of the Twelve, they travel widely to teach the gospel of Jesus Christ. They also support and train Church leaders and assist in directing missionary work, humanitarian aid, temple building, family history, and other Church efforts. (LDS)

Copyright © 2022. All Rights Reserved by David R. French

Questions, Comments and Corrections are Appreciated

In the Personal Memoirs of U.S. Grant, Ulysses S. Grant writes of his being a descendant of Mathew Grant (below). Mathew resided in Windsor, Connecticut in the 17th century and is my paternal 10th great-grandfather (one of my 4,096 10^th great-grandparents). No matter how very distant, I share a genealogical relationship with the 18th President of the United States and General-in-Chief of the Union Army during the American Civil War.

Ulysses S. Grant – Personal Memoirs 1885–86

Mathew (Matthew) Grant, the founder of the branch in America, of which I am a descendant, reached Dorchester, Massachusetts [now part of Boston], in May 1630. In 1635 he moved to what is now Windsor, Connecticut, and was the surveyor for that colony for more than forty years. He was also, for many years of the time, town clerk. He was a married man when he arrived at Dorchester, but his children were all born in this country. His eldest son, Samuel, took lands on the east side of the Connecticut River, opposite Windsor, which have been held and occupied by descendants of his to this day. I am of the eighth generation from Mathew Grant, and seventh from Samuel. Mathew Grant’s first wife died a few years after their settlement in Windsor, and he soon after married the widow Rockwell, who, with her first husband, had been fellow-passengers with him and his first wife, on the ship Mary and John, from Dorchester, England, in 1630. Mrs. Rockwell had several children by her first marriage and others by her second. By intermarriage, two or three generations later, I am descended from both the wives of Mathew Grant.

In the fifth descending generation my great grandfather, Noah Grant, and his younger brother, Solomon, held commissions in the English army, in 1756, in the war against the French and Indians. Both were killed that year.

My grandfather, also named Noah, was then but nine years old. At the breaking out of the war of the Revolution, after the battles of Concord and Lexington, he went with a Connecticut company to join the Continental army, and was present at the battle of Bunker Hill. He served until the fall of Yorktown, or through the entire Revolutionary war. – –

My Notes: 

• Noah Grant was killed on 20 September 1756 while participating in a 40-day scouting mission with British soldiers and Mohawk warriors out of Ft. William Henry in upstate NY during the French-Indian War).
• The Grant Family of Windsor Connecticut married into the Eggleston Family (Bygod – It is the Eggleston’s!)
• Ulysses S. Grant Papers – The papers of Ulysses S. Grant (1822-1885), army officer and eighteenth president of the United States, contain approximately 50,000 items dating from 1819-1974, with the bulk falling in the period 1843-1885. (Library of Congress)

Copyright © 2021. All Rights Reserved by David R. French

Questions, Comments and Corrections are Appreciated

My 5th great grandfather, Samuel Eggleston (1747-1837), served in the Continental Light Dragoons during the American Revolutionary War. In the pension application transcribed below, Samuel details his service, including having seen General George Washington at Newark, New Jersey. Submitted when Samuel was 88 years old, the pension was rejected on the grounds that he was unable to prove six months of service. The Second Continental Light Dragoons are recognized as having conducted the first cavalry charge on American soil and served as couriers relaying messages along a string of express stations between Washington’s headquarters and the northern colonies.

STATE OF CONNECTICUT

County of Hartford

On this 7^th day of May 1835 before the probate court for the District of Hartford in the County of Hartford and the State of Connecticut being a Court of Record, having a Clerk and Seal personally appeared Samuel Eggleston a resident of Windsor in the County of Hartford in the State of Connecticut aged eighty-eight years, who being first duly sworn, according to law, doth on this oath make the following declaration, in order to obtain benefit, of the Act of Congress, passed June 7, 1832. 

That he entered the service of the United States as a private in a company of dragoons commanded by Captain Thomas Seymour, Lt. Rueben Ellsworth and Colonel Edward Griswold at Windsor in the County of Hartford in the State of Connecticut.  On or about the 10^th day of May 1776; that said company belonged to a regiment commanded by Colonel don’t know Lt. Colonel don’t know and Major don’t know.  That the company was ordered out to go to New York and the aforementioned deponent served in the said corps until on or about the 10^th of July 1776 (as near as he can remember) when the company returned from New York to Hartford and was dismissed. 

That when he entered service, he resided in Windsor in the County of Hartford, in the State of Connecticut and was marched from Hartford to New York and there performed military service in the line of his duty until the company returned and he was dismissed having been absent on this tour of service (at least) one month and perhaps longer.  That the deponent knows of no person now alive who served with him. 

I marched from Hartford Connecticut to the Peekskill in State of New York and in a few days crossed the Hudson River and proceeded to Hackensack and afterward Newark, then to Elizabethtown, then to New Brunswick and when in New York he went with the company many places that the names of which he has entirely forgotten, – and returned in a different route to the Hudson River above Peekskill where they crossed the river where deponent was discharged in a place near Peekskill in the State of New York by General Charles Lee and returned home sometime (he is pretty certain) the later part of December 1776.  Having faithfully served on this tour a little more (as he believes) than five months – the deponent says that he received a written discharge (on account of a weakening and ____?____ of his heart, so that he could not ride for many years – he presumes that is has been destroyed or lost a long-time ago. 

That while at New York on his first tour, he saw several field officers, he saw General Putnam and he saw other Generals on his second tour of service.  He saw General Washington at Newark and the deponent with his company, attended the General in an excursion around ___?__ hills westerly of town – and that the deponent also saw many other generals and field officers, whose names he then knew but due to the imperfection of his memory he is not able at this time to state them, that his services on both tours amount in the whole to at least six months and he thinks seven months. 

And in reply to certain interrogatories prescribed by the War Department and propounded by the Court, the deponent further declares,

1^st.  That he was born at Windsor in the County of Hartford and the State of Connecticut on the 16^th day of December 1747.

2^nd.  That the day of his birth was recorded in his father’s family bible and transcribed in the family bible of the deponent.

3^rd and 4^th.  That when he was called to service, he resided at the place and town as herein before stated; and served in a manner set forth in the preceding declaration. 

5^th.   That the general circumstances of his service are detailed in the preceding declaration, and also the names of such officers are as he distinctly recollects.

6^th   That he received a written discharge from the service but has lost it many years ago. 

7^th.  That he is personally know by Asabel Clark, Mrs. Mabel Skinner and Enoch ____?__ who are respectable persons in the neighborhood where he now resides, and can testify as to his character for veracity, and also their belief of his services as a soldier of the Revolution.

And the said Samuel Eggleston hereby relinquishes every claim whatever to a pension or annuity except the present, and declares that his name is not on the Pension Roll of any Agency of any State. 

                        Sworn to and subscribed, the day and year aforesaid. Samuel Eggleston (Signature)

And the said Court do herby declare in their opinion after investigation of the matter, and putting the interrogatories prescribed by the War Department, that the above named applicant was a Revolutionary Soldier, and served as he states.  And the Court further certifies that it appears to them that Asabel Clark, Mrs. Mable Skinner and Enoch ___?____whose affidavits are hereto affixed are credible persons and that their statements are entitled to credit.

I, Jonathan Edwards, Judge of the Probate Court for the District of Hartford do herby certify that the foregoing contains the original proceeding of the said Court in the matter of the application of Samuel Eggleston for a pension.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and seal of office the 7^th day of May 1835.

                                                               Jonathan Edwards – Judge of Probate

Continental and Militia Cavalry Compared: A Case Study from Saratoga, 1777 (Journal of the American Revolution) by Dean Snow

Comments, corrections and suggestions appreciated.

Copyright © 2021. All Rights Reserved by David R. French

French/Spencer Family Line

Grace/Daly Family Line

Forward the Ninth! – Civil War – Michael Daly (1828 – 1876)

Pvt. Edward F. Daly Jr. – WW1 (1899-1966)

James C. Daly – WW1 (1892-1926)

“Lucky” Sergeant – Joseph A. Grace – WW1 (1892-1918)

Note:

My 10th great-grandfather, Matthew Grant (1601-1681), is Ulysses S. Grant’s 4th great-grandfather.

The photo (top-left) is of an Honor Flight at the Marine Corps War Memorial (Iwo Jima) located in Arlington, Virginia. It has been my privilege, as a volunteer for the National Park Service, to be posted at this impressive memorial for the honored dead of the U.S. Marine Corps.

Copyright © 2024. All Rights Reserved by David R. French