surrounding country he was widely known and
numbered among his friends many prominent men.
Fraternally he was a Mason.
Dr. Sanford and his wife had children, as fol-
lows: Jane Geraldine, born June 16, 1831, married
Charles L. Roberts ; both are deceased. George
Amibrose, born Nov. 26. 1832. died Feb. 5, 1851.
Joseph Willis, born Sept. i, 1835, of the Scovill
-Mfg. Co., of Waterbury, Conn., married Emma
Woodward, by whom he had one son, Frank Willis,
who married Susan (ioodman, and they have one
child, Mary Ellen. Marvin H.. born Sept. 20, 1837,
died Dec. 8, i8y6. James Honor, born Mav 8, 1840,
died March 25, 1892, at Meriden, where for many
years he was connected with the street department.
Ophelia, born .April 15, 1842, died Sept. 16, i860.
Morton, born July (1. 1844. is keeper of the State
poor; his sketch appeared in the history of Hart-
ford county. Mary, born July 11, 1846, died Feb.
8, 1847. Mary .\licc, born Nov. 27, 1847. died
July 8, 1848. Henry W. is mentioned below. George
.Ambrose, born Aug. 15, 1852, resides in Winsted,
Conn. Ellen B., born Oct. 28, 1855, d'ied Aug. 19,
1870. The mother of this family died March 9,
1872, and Dr. Sanford married Ada L. Eno, who
now resides in New Britain, Connecticut.
Henry W'. Sanford spent his early school days
in the public schools of Tariffville and latter at-
tended the Connecticut Literary Institute at Sufifield
for two years, after which he joined his brother in
caring for the State poor. .After four years he went
to Saunders county, Neb., on the Platte river, where
for three years he was in the cattle business. .At
the expiration of this time he returned to TarifT-
ville and for two years more was in business with
his brother, M. H. C^n March i, 1878, he came to
New Haven as superintendent of the New Haven
.Alms House, and for twelve years had charge of
that institution, then located on the western end of
Martin .street. He was in charge when its four
hundred inmates were removed to Springside Home,
near Evergreen Lake, which is one of the best ap-
pointed institutions of the kind in New England.
In the building and arrangement of this new home
Mr. Sanford took a keen interest and worked hard
to include in its arrangement plans and conveniences
that his experience had taught him were needed.
In that line of work (.Almshousc-keeper) he was
one of the well-known men in New England. He
labored constantly for improvements and it was en-
tirelv through his labors and untiring efforts that
in 1885 an ambulance wagon became part of the
I270
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
institution. This was the first ambulance wagon
in New Haven and a feature that was soon copied
by the police department there. Few people have
any idea of the care and responsibility incident to
such a ]X)sition. Mr. Sanford took a deep interest
in the work and it was with considerable regret that
his resignation was received in 1895 when he be-
came manager of the New Haven Ice Co., which
position he still holds.
On May 17, 1877, Mr. Sanford was married in
Avon, Conn., to Helen E.. daughter of Newton Mil-
ler, and one son has come to this union, Newton
Waldo, born in New Haven Nov. 27, 1891. Fra-
ternally Mr. Sanford is a thirty-second degree
Mason, a member of New Haven Conimanderv, K.
T. ; the Red Men; the Heptasophs; the A. 6. I'.
W. ; and the Knights of Honor.
JERFMlAll FRANCIS DONOX'AN. Promi-
nent among the young professional citizens of New
Haven is Jeremiah Francis Donovan, a well-known
lawyer, a prominent Democrat and senior represent-
ative of the city of New Haven in the General As-
sembly, having been elected to that honorable posi-
tion in November, 1900. The paternal ancestors of
Representative Donovan were prosperous farmers
in Ireland and there at Castle Donovan, County
Cork, was the ancestral domicile for over five gen-
erations.
Jeremiah C. Donovan, his father, located when
a young man in New Haven and has since resided
there, being one of the oldest Irish residents of the
city. He was by trade a silver-plater and lor many
}ears he was engaged in the grocery business but
has now retired. In 1^56 he was married in New
Haven to Miss Ellen Collins, of Skibbereen, County
Cork, Ireland, and of their marriage were born
eight children.
Jeremiah F. Donovan was born in New Haven
Feb. I, 1872, and was educated in the public schools
and the high school of his native city. After leav-
ing school he engaged in business for two years
and entered Yale University Law School in 1892,
graduating in June, 1894, at which time he was
admitted to the New Haven county Bar. He has
since practiced his profession in New Haven. Mr.
Donovan has always taken an interest in public
questions and his city's welfare, by reason of which
fact he was elected at the comparatively youthful
age of twenty-eight years as representative to the
General .Assembly bv the largest constituency in the
State of Connecticut. His record as a legislator of
abilitv and integrity has been unsurpassed by anv
young man in the General Assembly. Mr. Dono-
van was active in debate and in the councils of his
party and was a champion of the cause of Constitu-
tional Reform. He is one of the few men of the
General Assembly having the honor to serve on
three committees, each of which was important :
Contested Election committee. Joint Constitutional
Amcnfhnent committee and Revision of Statutes
committee, all of them requiring close attention and
involving complicated legal questions. His record
argues for further political consideration and ad-
vancement at the hands of his fellow citizens.
Un Oct. 12, 1898, at St. John's Roman Catholic
Church Mr. Donovan was married to Miss Mary
E., daughter of Mrs. Margaret J. Fahy, and two
children have been born of this union : Jerome
F., born in August. 1899, and Mary E.. born in
November, 1900. During his college days Mr.
Donovan was prominent in athletics and was also
one of New Haven's amateur actors. He is a prom-
inent member of many societies and clubs and is in-
terested in the National (juard of the State of Con-
necticut, holding a commission as captain of the
Sarsfield Guard of New Haven.
JOSEPH .XNSELL, one of the prominent and
successful business citizens of Meriden, Conn., who
conducts a business in meats, ])oultry and green
groceries on \\'est Main street in Meriden. is rapidly
coming to the front as one of the substantial as well
as one of the most reliable merchants in the city.
Mr. Ansell was born in Birniingham. England,
Feb. 4, 1870, coming from an old family of that
city, his forefathers having successfully engaged in
business pursuits there for a great many years —
good, honest men and devoted members of the
Church of England. Joseph Ansell. Sr., the father
of our subject, was born in Pirmingham. j-lngland.
July 25, 1838, and there he grew to manhood and
opened up a large trade in fruits and vegetables,
at which business he continued until the time of
his death, in 1876. On Jan. i, 1859, at All Saint's
Church, Birmingham, he was united in marriage
with Sarah Butwill, a native of the same place, and
she still resides in liirmingham. Seven children
were born to this marriage, of whom two are de-
ceased: Elizabeth, who married Benjamin Davis,
of New York City ; John, who resides in Nonvich,
Conn., where he is foreman of the Crescent .-\rins
Co. and a prominent member of the Masonic fra-
ternity ; Sarah Ann, who married Charles Madley.
a prominent railroad contractor, of Crudington.
Wales ; Jo.seph ; and Charles, who is foreman in the
glass works of L. Strauss & Son. in New York.
Joseph .Ansell, our subject, was but six year? of
age when his father was removed by death and his
mother was left to care for the family. Thus Jos-
eph had few educational advantages beyond those
ofTered by the common schools and he started out
while yet a youth to earn his own living. Being a
bright and prepossessing youth he easily secured
employment with the wholesale grocery firm of
Henry Clay & Co., where he continued until he had
saved enough money to gratify his ambition and
start for .\nierica, an older brother having become
a resident of New York City, and to him the four-
teen vear old traveler made his way. .\fter a short
visit with his brother. John, he came to Meriden, and
soon secured employnient with the Meriden Britan-
nia Co., and with wages at fifty cents per day, re-
mained with them for a year, leaving to take a posi-
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
12;
tion in the chandelier department of the Bradley
& Jluhi)ar(i ^raiuilacturinj,' Co., and for thirteen
years was one of its most trusted and vakied em-
ployes.
Durinf,r this period Mr. Ansell had worked his
way up to a responsible position in this house and
left it only to take a more lucrative one with the
American Pin Co., of Waterhury. Throunfh 1895
he sold the goods of this latter firm through all the
New England States and also handled goods for
the Excelsior Faucet Co., of Xew York, and local
firms of Meriden. Our suliject is still the agent
for the American Pin Co., Waterbury, in connection
with his other line of business. In May, 1897, he
opened up his present line in meats, poultry and
green goods on West Main street, in this city, and
immediately received encouragement from the citi-
zens, his strict attention to business, with his hon-
esty in dealing, gaining for him the confidence of
the public.
Josqjh Ansell was married in 1891, in this
city, to Miss l-Vances Kilmer, who was born
in Glens Falls, N. Y., a daughter of John Kib-
ner, of that place, but was lx)rn in Chan)-
bly, Canada. John Kibner married Susan Paro, a
native of \'ermont, and they had nine children, two
sons and seven daughters. Four children have
been horn to Mr. and Mrs. Josc])h Ansell: Joseph
Wilbur, who died in infancy; \'ictoria Stella, born
on the birthday of the late lamented Queen of Eng-
land, May 24, 1895; Henrv William, born Aug. 7,
1897; and Steward, born Dec. 9, i8c)q.
Of a pleasing per.sonality and genial nature Mr.
Ansell has connected himself with a number of or-
ganizations for social and educational purposes, in
all of them being very ponular • and he is active in
the management of the fairs and bazaars, which
form a pleasant feature of their entertainments. In
April, 1890, he joined Court Excelsior, No. 6, For-
esters of America, and the following year was
elected to the office of Chief Ranger, filling the du-
ties of the position for more than a year, and in
1893 was elected the Court delegate to the Grand
Court in Danbury. In T892 he joined Charles
Dickens Lodge, Xo. 89, Sons of St. George, and in
1895 was made its president and in 1896 took his
Grand Lodge degree at Stamford, Conn., and was
the District Deputy Grand President for both Mer-
iden and Wallingford. Mr. Ansell is also a charter
member of I. C. Lewis Lodge, Knights and Ladies
of Honor, which was organized in 189^ and is an
active meml)er of the I'riendly Circle Companions.
In politics he votes independently. He is a member
of All Saints Memorial Episcopal Church.
LOUIS F. G.VRDXER. member of the well-
known firm of John B. Gardner's Sons, manufac-
turers of clock trimmings, nickle plating and brass
finishinfj-, Ansonia, is a native of that city, born
Aug. 18. T859. John P.. Gardner, his father, was
born in Germanv whence, when about fourteen
years old he came to .\merica in the employ of the
Jerome Clock Co., Ansonia, and subsequently car-
ried on for his own account the clock trimming
business, in which he remained until his death, Jan.
25, 1891. By his wife, Mary Jane (Gregory), he
had a family of children as follows: Horace, who
died young; Sturgis G. ; Louis F., our subject;
Annie L., wife of Emile Schultz, a lawyer in Xew
York: John, who died at the age of fifteen; Mary
C. and Charlotte G., both single. The mother
passed away Aug. 27, 1890. The father was a Re-
publican in politics, served as warden in Ansonia
for many years and was a justice of the peace and
deputy judge there.
Louis F. Gardner, whose name introduces these
lines, received his education in part at the local
schools of .\nsonia, in jjart at boarding schools and
then commenced business life along with his father.
On the latter"s death Louis became a member of the
firm, the name thereof being now Tolm IJ. Gardner's
Sons.
On Oct. 27, 1898, Mr. Gardner married Cecile
Banks, born in Easton, Conn., a daughter of Moses
E. and Amelia (Collins) Banks, of Bridgeport,
Conn. Mr. Banks was born June 15, 1835, in the
town of Easton (at that time known as Weston),
a son of William Banks, who was born in Weston,
in 1808, and followed agricultural pursuits all his
life. By his wife, Ellen (Burr), he had two chil-
dren, Moses E. and Eliza AL (Mrs. Tuttle, of
Bridgeport). Moses E. has for many years been
connected with a book publishing business in Xew
York and is also owner of a fine farm in the town
of Easton. On Dec. 24, 1853, he married Amelia
Collins, of Xew York, and four children were born
to them, viz. : Cecile, Mrs. Louis Gardner ; Jane E.,
wife of Major J. Taylor Amiss, of Asheville, X^.
C. : Mildred, widow of James H. Torry, late of
Bridgeport ; and C. Lincoln, a medical practitioner
in Bridgeport, Connecticut.
In politics Mr. Gardner is a Republican, and
although not a fraternity man in the strict sense of
the term, he Ijclongs to several clubs ; is a member
of the Board of Trade, of the Knickerbocker, Hol-
land and Imperial Clubs and an honorary member
of several other clubs. He has a fine residence in
Derby, though all his business interests are in
Ansonia, and he and his wife enjoy the esteem and
regard of a wide circle of friends and acquaintances.
THEODORE E. BEARD, M. D., a successful
young physician of Xew Haven, was born in Hunt-
ington, Fairfield Co., Conn., Feb. 7, 1866, son of
Theodore E. Beard. Sr., a prominent lumber dealer
of Huntington township and a wortliy representa-
tive of a family which has long been held in high es-
teem in that section.
Among the first settlers of Milford. Conn., m
the year iC^Tf), were Widow Martha Beard with
three sons and three daughters. Her husband,
James Beard, died on the passage from England to
127;
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD,
America. The names of the sons are James, John
and Jeremy (or Jeremiah). James, who was the
eldest, died in 1642, unmarrieil, and his estate was
the first ever settled in Mil ford. The name of
Jeremiah is not consijicuous on the records of the
town. He was propounded for freeman by the Gen-
eral Court at Hartford, May 11, 1671. Capt. John
Beard, the ancestor of those hearing the name in
this region, was a prominent citizen of the town.
He was married about 1653 to Hannah, the di-
vorced wife of John Oviatt. They had eight chil-
dren, whose names with dates of birth, are as fol-
lows: John, June 27, 1654 (old style) ; Mary, Nov.
12, 1658; James, Dec. 4, 1661 : Joseph, July 20,
1666; Samuel. Feb. 4, 1669: Jeremiah and Ebe-
nezer, twins, April 16, 1672; and Sarah, July 22,
1675. John was apixiinted captain of a military
company Jan. 17, 1675. He was deputy from Mil-
ford to the General Court for October, 1677, term.
and was re-elected continuously for the next thir-
teen years, with two exceptions. He was frequently
appointed by the (General Court commissioner to
settle boundaries, etc. His name appears frequently
in the Colonial records.
Samuel Beard, son of Capt. John, was born Feb.
4, 1669.
James Beard, son of Samuel, was born in 1702.
Sanniel Beard, son of James, was born in 1734
and served in the Revolutionary war. He married
Elizabeth Wheeler and had children as follows:
Lavinia, Rdbecca, Joel, James, Elizabeth, Sarah,
Joanna, Samuel and Polly.
Joel Beard, son of Samuel, was born Aug. 16,
1765, and was a resident of Huntington. He mar-
ried Nancy Blackman and had-childrcn as follows:
Eli, Sally, Nancy, Laura, Lucy, Caty, Polly, Annie
and Joel.
Joel Beard, son of Joel, was born in July. 1805,
in Huntington and was a lifelong resident of that
town, where he followed farming. He married Ma-
ria Chatfield and had the following children : Will-
iam T., Theodore E., James H. and Oliver G.
Theodore E. Beard. Sr., was born Dec. 21, 1833,
at the old homestead in Huntington and received a
common school and acadcnn'c education during his
boyhood. As the son of a busy farmer he had a
practical training in agricultural work and at an
early age he began to display marked business abil-
ity. In 1854, when only twenty-one years old, he
engaged in the manufacture of straw jjaper in part-
nership with his brother. William T. Beard, build-
ing a mill about three and a half miles from Derby.
They continue
century then, in 1880, Theodore E. purchased his
brother's interest. After that time he carried on a
gristmill and sawmill business, his son, Frederick
W'., being associated with him. They enjoyed a
large trade, keeping about twelve men employed all
the year round. They purchased extensive tracts
of land from which they cleared the timlicr. but they
did not attempt to bring the property under culti-
vation. Mr. Beard died Dec. 9, 1901. In politics ,,
he was a Democrat and his sound judgment and up- |l
right character have caused him to be chosen to
different offices in his town, including those of se-
lectman, assessor and justice of the i)eace. He was
a member of St. Paul's F.pi.scopal Church, in which
he had been senior warden.
On Nov. 10, 1857, Theodore E. Beard, Sr., mar-
ried Miss Julia Ann Wheeler, daughter of Aug^ir
Wheeler, a well-known citizen of the same town.
Six children have blessed this union : Joel A., who
married .Miss Grace Morse, of Huntington, resides
in .South P.ritain, Conn., where he is engaged in
business as a grain dealer and lumberman, and
also ojjcrates a gristmill : I-'rederick W. was in bus-
iness with his father: Zina C, who married M;-~
May Turney, of Easton, is a grocer in Sheltoii :
Theodore E., our subject: Lavinia M., at home;
and .Anna S., a stenographer and typewriter in
New Haven.
Dr. Theodore E. Beard's early education was
acquired in Huntington, where he attended the pub-
lic schools until he was sixteen vears of age. He
then entered Staples .'\cademy in Easton, Conn.,
and after completing the course there was employed
three years in the Derby pai)er mills. The failure
of his eyesight had com]iclled him to give up his
studies temporarily and at the age of twenty-five
he entered Yale College and was graduated from
the Medical Department of that institution with
the class of 1897. He had, however, begun prac-
tice the year previously in New Haven on a State
license and he has been successfully engaged in
the active duties of his profession ever since, hi.^
office being at No. 163 Wooster street. He is a
member of the City, County and State Medical ."so-
cieties, and fraternally, of Hiram Lodge, No. i,
A. F. & A. M.. and of the English Order of Odd
Fellows, Manchester I'nitv. He is medical exam-
iner for the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company.
In May. 1893, ^^- Beard was married at St.
Paul's Church to Miss May Carroll, a native of
Northampton, Mass., and a daughter of William
and Elizabeth (Cook) Carroll, the latter born in
Colerain, Mass. Air. Carroll was born in \'ermont
and was an officer in the Civil war.
EDWARD WIER SMITH. M. D.. a prominent
l^hysician of Meriden, was born in that city Oct.
17, 1854, son of David and Fidelia (Parker) Smith,
and comes of sterling ancestry. Both the Smiths
and Parkers bore by no means an incons])icuous
part in the .American Revolution. The first known
ancestor of Dr. Smith in this country was James
Smith, one of three brothers who came from Eng-
land to the Massachusetts Colony. He settled at
Taunton in 163*'), with his wife. Johanna.
(II) Nathaniel Smith, .son of James, was born
at Taunton, where he and his wife. Experience,
passed their lives.
(III) Nathaniel .Smith (2), son of Nathaniel,
J^
^
4
^
A
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
1273
torn in TauiUon. moved to Hartford and was one
ol' tlie first settlers at Litchfield, where he died. His
wife WTis Anna Iloskins.
(I\') Jacoh Smith, son of Xathaniel (2), lived
at Litchfield and died April 14, 1807, at the a^e of
sixt\-ninc years. He was a lieutenant in the Revo-
lutionary army. His wife, Mary, daughter of Ger-
shom Lewis, of Cape Cod. died Dec. 30, 1833, aged
fighty-one years. L'pon his tomhstone in Xorthfield
cemetery, Litchfield, is inscribed :
"Oh! Thou Great Arbiter of Life and Death!
'['hy call I follow to the Land Unknown.
1 trust in 'Thee and know in Whom I trust."
( \' I David Smith, «)n of Jacol), was bom on
the homestead farm in Litchfield and was a far-
mer all his life. He married Anna, daughter of
Benjamin and Mary (Spencer) Bartholomew, and
tbey became the parents of. ten children, namely:
Hiram. Charles. Truman. Mary, Benjamin. Sam-
uel, Edward, David, James and .Vnna. The last
named became the wife of .\lerritt Clark and lives in
St. Paul, Minnesota.
(\T) David Smith, son of David, was Ix)rn
April 6, 1822, in Litchfield, where he grew up and
acquired the trade of stonemason. At the age of
thirty year.s, in 1852, he became a resident of Meri-
den, where he has since continued to make his
home, and where he has been active in building
operations as a contractor. His home is on West
Main street. An advocate of temperance, his life
has aiiforded a worthy example to all. Since the
advent of the Republican party in National politics
he has been among its adherents and rcligiouslv he
is identified with the First Congregational Church,
of Meriden. In 1848 Mr. Smith married Miss Fi-
delia Parker, a daughter of Daniel and Ruth (Hull)
Parker, of Meriden, the latter a daughter of Jesse
Hull, a Revolutionary soldier whose wife, Hannah,
was a daughter of Jehiel Preston, a sergeant in the
Revolutionary army. On Nov. 22, 1898, Mr. and
Mrs. Smith celebrated the fiftieth anniversary of
their wedding, surrounded by their surviving chil-
dren, and received the congratulations of man\'
friends. The youngest of their six children. Fran-
ces Eva, whose numerous paintings show much ar-
tistic ability, died Oct. 27. 1898. The others are:
Nettie, wife of Julius Augur, of MerideJi ; Frank
D.. of that city; Edward W., one of the most suc-
cessful physicians of his native place : and Ella Isa-
bel and Jennie S., leading members of Susan Car-
rington Clark Cha])ter. Daughters of the American
Revolution.
Daniel Parker, the maternal grandfather of Dr.
Smith, was a son of a Revolutionary soldier, and
his mother's maternal grandfather also participated
in that war, as related in the foregoing. These hon-
orable and gallant gentlemen did their country good
service in its early days and the Doctor is justlv
proud of his ancestry.
Dr. Smith was reared in Meriden and obtained
his academic education in the public schools of that
city, the Hopkins Grammar School, in New Ha-
ven and Yale College, from which institution he
was graduated in 1878. During his college course
he took considerable interest in athletics and played
on the Yale L'niversity baseball team, taking part in
contests with ilarvard, Princeton and others. Be-
ginning the study of medicine in the Medical De-
partment of Yale his course was interrupted after a
year of work by a year of teaching, and was re-
sumed in 1880 at Montreal, Canada, where he was
graduated from the ^^cGill Medical School in 1882.
In that year he located at Meriden, where he has
since been engaged in the active and successful prac-
tice of his profession. In i8c)2 he took a course in
the Post Graduate Medical College, of New York.
Dr. Smith was married Oct. 14, 1885, to Helen
B., daughter of Oliver and Ahbie C. (Caldwell)
Rice, of Meriden, and to this union have been bora
two children, Marion R. and David Parker. Dr.
Smith is a member of the First Congregational
Church. He enjoys a prominent place as a citizen
as well as in his profession. He holds membership
in various Medical associations, belonging to the
State Medical Societv, the National Medical Society
and the American Academy of Medicine. He is
on the staiT of the Meriden Hospital and is much
respected and esteemed wherever known.
JOSEPH GILLET XOYES, late secretary and
general manager of the National Electrical Manu-
facturing Co., of Milford. was born Ausr. 6, 1861,
, in New York City, a son of Oliver H. P. and
Louisa (Boyd) Noyes. His family is of English
origin and at an earlv date his ancestors settled in