(Jn Nov. 5, 1845, 'Mr. Wilcox married Caroline A.
Munger, who was born April 25, 1826, and they
had children as follows : Caroline M., born Feb.
24, 1847, is the wife of Eli T. Dudley; Alice Eliza-
beth, born Aug. 26. 1833, married (ieorge W. Car-
ter; Emily Louise, born June 25, 1859, is the wife
of Edward J. Chittenden, whose name opens this
sketch.
Samuel Wilmot Landox belonged to an old
family of Long Island, and was a descendant of
Nathaniel Landon, one of the first settlers in the
vicinity of Southold. Judge Samuel Landon, son
of Nathaniel, born in 1699 in Southold, died there
June II, 1782. David Landon, son of Samuel, was
i)orn Oct. 30, 1743, in Southold, and finally settled
in Guilford, Conn., where he ended his days Sept.
14, 1796. On Oct. 18, 1763, he married Rebecca
Ruggles, born Aug. 30, 1743, who died in June,
1823, and they had children: Jonathan was born
C3ct. 19, 1764; Samuel, born Oct. 17, 1765, died
.•\ug. 23, 1793; David, born July 31, 176 — , died
Oct. 27, 1788; John, sketch of whom follows; Re-
becca, born Oct. 11, 1773, died Oct. 27, 1773; Will-
iam, born Dec. 9, 1774, died Jan. 18, 1830; Na-
thaniel Ruggles, born March 16, 1781, died in Sep-
tember, 178 1 ; Nathaniel Ruggles (2), born June
28, 1784, died in December, 1857; George, born
Aug. ID, 1787, died Oct. 8, 1866 (married Ruth
Hart) ; four other sons died young.
John Landon, born Aug. 16, 1771. in Guilford,
died March 27, 1826. He married Mrs. Sally At-
water, who died July 15, 1851, and they had two
children: Sanuiel W., sketch of whom follows;
and Sally, born April 9, 1798, who married W.
Nelson Wheeler, and died July 16, 1850.
Samuel W. Landon, born Dec. 4, 1795, in Guil-
ford, died there Dec. 17. 1886. His first wife was
Eliza Stone, his second Beulah Huston, and he had
childrdn : Charles Wilmot, sketch of whom fol-
lows : Mary, born May i, 1823, married John
Graves, and died Dec. 8, 1861 ; John Elisha, born
1076
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
Nov. 15, 1827, married Alice Cahill ; Samuel, born
April 17, 1831, died Nov. 18, 1854: Hugh, born
Dec. 14, 1834, married Charlotte Tucker, and died
in December, 1884.
Charles Wilmot Landoii, bom July 17, 1819,
died July 19, 1877. ^^" -^ov. 5, 1844. he married
Mary E. Benton, born Aug. 31, 1819, and they had
children: Irene Elizabeth, born Sept. 6, 1845, 'l''-'<^'
May 15, 1867; I'ranklin H., born Aug. 27, 1848,
married Florence Isabel Whitmore ; Charles Ben-
ton, born Feb. 21, 1851, married Helen Brockett;
John Stone, born Oct. 6. 1853, married Edwin A.
Clark; .Ann .Mary, born June 3, 1856, died May 15,
1857; Samuel Wilmot, born June 19, 1859, is men-
tioned below.
Samuel Wilmot Landon received his education
in the district schools and high school of Guilford,
and commenced active life as clerk in the store of
Edward Griswold, in Guilford, remaining with him
until 1883. He then embarked in the grocery and
provision business in partnership with George S.
Davis, the firm name being Landon & Davis, con-
tinuing same until his death, Oct. 13, 1890. His
remains lie in the West cemetery. Socially he was
a member of St. Alban's Lodge, F. & A. M., (Juil-
ford, and the Order of the Eastern Star ; relig-
iously he was a member of the Mrst Congregational
Church, and his political affiliation was with the
Democratic party.
On Oct. 5, 1881. Mr. Landon married Miss
Emily Louise Wilco.x, a native of Xew Haven
county, and a daughter of Alfred N. Wilcox. Two
children were torn to this union. Pearl Wilcox and
I'lurton Hill, the former of whom is attending
school ; the latter is at home.
JOHX I'RANCIS HAYES, M. D., sou of
Michael and Mary Ryan Hayes, was bern in Water-
bury, Conn., Jan. 17, 1857, and comes of good Irish
ancestry, of which he has always been proud.
His father was born in Stoncpark, CAcn of Ahcr-
low, County Tipperary, and his mother in (ialbaly.
County Limerick. They were among the early Irish
settlers coming to Waterbury in 1846-48, and were
noted for their honesty and industry, and .for their
frugal and temperate habits. The Doctor spent his
boyhood days in Waterbury, where he was eilucated
in the grammar and high schools, and also in what
was known as the Waterbury English and Classical
School, where many of the leading men of the city
of W^aterbury at the present time, obtainetl their
education. His father had destined him to be a gro-
cer, but the young man's ideas did not run in that
direction, and he entered the Medical Department
of the University of New York, in September. 1877,
from which he graduated two years later (1879),
receiving the degree of .M. D., cum laiidc, when
twenty-two years of age. Soon after graduating he
successfully passed a competitive examination which
gave him a choice of service and a position as resi-
dent physician and surgeon of the Mt. Sinai Hos-
pital, New York. He remained there fourteen
months, and then went abroad and entered the Ro-
tunda Lying-in-Hospital, Dulilin, Ireland, one of the
largest institutions of the kind in the world. He
completed the course of study prescribed there in
eight months and received the degree of Licentiate in
Midwifery. At Dublin he also took a special course
at St. Mark's Hospital in diseases of the Eye and
Ear. The year Dr. Hayes spent in Ireland is one
of thei "red letter" years in his life, as he had
longed to visit the birtli places of his parents and
ancestors, and was gratified with the genial courtesy
and the kindly reception he met, wherever he turned
in that country. From Dul)lin he went to Edin-
burgh, and entered the Royal Infirmary where he
further devoted his time to general medicine and
surgery, and diseases of the Eye and Ear under
Prof. Bell and Drs. Robinson and W^alker. After
three months in the old Scotch capital. Dr. Hayes
went to London and entered St. Bartholomew's Hos-
pital, where he had special o])portunities for clinical
study; and he was also a student at the Royal Lon-
don Ophthalmic Hospital, where over 25,000 patients
are received annually, and here the doctor spent
about three months. Returning to W^aterbury he
began his medical career in July, 188 1, when he
opened an office in the Brown block, No. 22 East
^lain street, and from the beginning, his success
has been pronounced. To-day he enjoys a large
general practice, and has by far the largest practice
in midwifery of any physician in the city, and no
])hysician has a higher or more honorable standing
in the city of his birth.
On Jan. 29, 1885, Dr. Hayes married Mary A.
Conran, a daughter of Patrick Conran. of Xauga-
tuck. Conn. Six children were born to them, all
but one of whom are now living: Michael Conran,
Julia Purcell, John Ryan, Louis Mncent, Joseph
(who died when three days old), and Francis Irving.
Michael and Julia are in the W^aterbury high school
taking the college course ; John in the eighth grade,
Crosby (irammar; Louis in the fourth, and bVancis
in the first primary. In politics. Dr. Hayes has
always been a stanch Democrat, and is noted for
being frank, positive, ardent and outspoken in his
views, and loyal to his friends, and is generally re-
garded as one of the ablest leaders of his party. He
has taken more than ordinary interest in educational
matters, and with a desire to raise the standard of
education in our schools, but more especially in the
high school, that it might take a place second to
none among the high schools of Connecticut, he
sought a place on the Board of Education, and was
elected in 1889, and has served the public in this
capacity with but a single break, up to the present
time. He has served as chairman of all the com-
mittees, and on Jan. 2, 1900, was electetl chairman
of the I'oard by a unanimous vote. As a member of
the board his report for the year 1894 regarding
the condition of the schools is a model document,
and an intelligent and strong plea for a more thor-
1076
•ORAriVE
clerk ir
i.>ct. 13, 1890.
•cal .iti
I lending: i On
I '1 .nr.i
t'l.-'
her or i.
irth.
'â– y. Dr. ] . rried Mi
.m, of .â– â–
n to tb-
>f Ahcr-
irancis !
i
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
1077
oiigh study of English in the high school. As a re-
sult of his labors the course in English to-day is
four years instead of two, which prevailed at that
time. It is a document which does credit to his
pen, and produced a profound impression at the
time it was issued, lie has been untiring in his
efforts to promote the iniblic gooil, and is the father
of the free text book system in Waterbury, which
was introduced in this city in i8<)4. He also strongly
advocated and succeeded in establishing a training
school for teachers in this city, which to-day is
being successfullly conducted. Dr. Hayes has re-
peatedly been otTered other political honors, but has
always declined. He belongs to a number of fra-
ternal societies of which he is examining physician,
such as the United W'orkmen. New England Order
of Protection, Knights of Columbus, and Foresters
of America. As might be expected from a gentle-
man of his high professional standing. Dr. Hayes
belongs to the city, county, and State medical so-
cieties, and the American Medical Association, and
is regarded ps a gentleman in every way, a credit
to the noble calling in which he is engaged. At a
meeting o the American-Irish Historical Society
held in New York in January, 1899, Dr. Hayes
was elected one of the vice-presidents for Connecti-
cut. Dr. Hayes has made many public addresses,
and is regarded as one of the most prominent rep-
resentatives of the Irish race in Waterbury. He
and his family are members of the Roman Catholic
Church, parisli of the Immaculate Conception.
MRS. SARAH HILDA GORHAM, who is
successfully engaged in dressmaking business in
New Haven, belongs to an old and nonored family
of New Haven county. Her paternal grandfather.
Reuben Doolittle, was a life-long resident of the
town of Ilamden and lived to an advanced age, but
liis wife, who bpre the maiden name of Rhoda
Wooding, died when comparatively voung. Their
•children were Alfred, deceased ; Alma, deceased
wife of Enos Perkins: Isaac, deceased: Amy, who
died unmarried: Willis, who died Jan. 24, 1901, in
his ninety-first year: Seymour, deceased: Wealthy,
deceased wife of .\lfred Cooper: Lucius and Ben-
nett, both deceased: Hulda. deceased wife of Beech-
er Johnson: and Lauren, father of our subject.
Lauren Doolittle was born in Hamden, Conn.,
June 19, 1820, grew to manhood in his native town,
and on starting out in life for himself chose the oc-
cupation of farming. He died in Woodbridge.
Nov. I, 1895. His life was such as to gain him
the confidence and high regard of all with whom
he came in contact in business or social circles, and
in his death the conimunitv realized that it had lost
a valued and useful citizen.
On May i8, 1848, in Woodbridge, Mr. Doo-
little married Miss .\nn Eliza Parker, the cere-
mony being performed by Rev. Samuel H. Elliott,
a Congregational minister. Her father, Ebenezer
Philo Parker, was born in Bethany, Conn., Oct. 3,
1796, and was left an orphan at the age of six
years. Owing to ill treatment by his step-father, he
ran away from home when only eight years old,
and, as will readily be seen, his advantages for se-
curing an education were extremely limited, but
nevertheless he became a man of considerable
knowledge, owing to his practice of observation and
reading in mature years. He was a farmer and car-
penter by occupation, was captain of a company of
militia, and a man of considerable prominence in his
comnumity. His political support was given the
men and measures of the Democratic party. He
was married in Woodbridge, in 1821, to Hulda
Sperry. a daughter of Jared and Esther (Sanford)
Sperr\ , and a descendant of Richard Sperry, who
housed and fed the Regicides. She was born in
Woodbridge, July 21, 1794, and died Feb. 16, 1867,
while her husband died Aug. 12. 1867. In their
family were only two children : Esther, born April
24, 1822, married Lucius Doolittle, of Woodbridge,
a brother of our subject's father, and died Nov. 13,
1882. Ann Eliza, born Sept. 20, 1827, married
Lauren Doolittle, and died Jan. 30. 1901, a most
estimable ladv and possessed of a remarkable
memory.
Mrs. Gorham, born in Woodbridge, Oct. 30,
1850, married l-'rancis L. Gorham, and is the oldest
in a family of six children, the others being as
follows: Frank Lauren, born Nov. 2, 1852, mar-
ried Harriet Beecher, and they have one daughter,
Eva Anna, born Feb. 6, 1883 : Grace Darling, born
•■^i'.'?. 31. 185s, is a resident of Hamden: Ilerl)ert
Edson, born Feb. 2, 1859, married Kate Hotchkiss,
of Bethany : (ieorge Reuben, born July 28, i860,
married Lla Hotchkiss : and Willard Philo, born
-Aug. 12, 1867, married Alta Rilla Austin, of Wood-
bridge, and they have one daughter, Mabel Edna,
born May 11, 1897. The members of this family
are (|uite prominent in the communities where they
reside, and their circle of friends and acquaintances
is extensive.
BYRON LUTHER MORSE is entitled to dis-
tinction as one of the most progressive and enter-
l)rising business men of Prospect, New Haven
county. L'pon the business activity of a community
depends its prosperity, and the men who are now
recognized as leading citizens are those who are at
the head of important and extensive business enter-
prises. Mr. Morse is a man of broad capabilities,
who carries forward to successful completion what-
ever he undertakes.
Mr. Morse was born June 9, 1859. in the town
where he still makes his home, and is a worthy
representative of one of the old and prominent
families of Connecticut. His father, Harry Morse,
w-as born in Prospect Centre in 1815, a son of Lent
Morse, a well-known citizen of that town. The
father received a district-school education, and
tbrougbout his active business life engaged in agri-
cultural pursuits. After his marriage he located on
10/8
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
the Thomas farm, and there successfully engaged in
general farming and stock raising vmtil 1859, when
he suffered a stroke of paralysis from the effect of
which he never recovered, though he lived twenty
years afterward. He died June 13, 1879, and his
remains were interred in Prospect cemetery. He
was a supporter first of the Whig and later of the
Republican party, and was liberal in his religious
views. Wherever known he was held in high re-
gard. He married Miss Sarah Ann Gillette, who
was born in Prospect in 1824, a daughter of Garrett
and Xancy ( Piatt) Gillette, and granddaughter of
Benjamin Gillette and Benjamin Piatt, a soldier in
tue Revolutionar}' war. Airs. Morse is still living
with cur subject upon the old homestead. She is
a sincere Christian woman. Byron L. Morse is
fifth in order of birth in a family of seven children,
the others being as follows : George, deceased ;
John, a blacksmith, who married Gertrude Clark;
Harriet, wife of Friend Sanford ; Walter, a resident
of \\'aterbury, who married Jane Boden ; Mary,
wife of Edward Ford, of New London ; and Alice,
wife of William Boden, of Waterbury.
In the district schools of his native town Byron
L. Morse obtained a good practical education, and
upon the home farm he early gained an excellent
knowledge of agricultural pursuits. On account
of his father's illness he took charge of the farm
at an early age, and in its operation has met with
marked success. It comprises 150 acres of valuable
land, much of which is devoted to fruit, and in con-
nection with general farming, stock raisnig and
dairying he is extensively engaged in fruit culture ;
he buys and ships large quantities of apples annu-
ally and is also interested in the wood business.
As a business man he is energetic, progressive and
notably reliable, and the success that he has achieved
in life is due entirely to his own well-directed ef-
forts. Since attaining his majority he has been a
stanch advocate of Republican principles, and in
1889 represented his town in the State Legislature.
He is a prominent niember of Prospect Grange,
and served as treasurer thereof for three years.
JOHN MAXWELL :\IcKENZIE, civil engin-
eer and survej'or of Wallingford, for some years
a popular and efficient member of the board of se-
lectmen, was born in Yalesvillc, New Haven Co.,
Conn., Oct. 15, 1855, and comes of sturdy Scottish
ancestry. William McKenzie. the father of John
M., was born in Murravshire, son of William and
Margaret (.Squire) McKenzie, who had three chil-
dren : Margaret, who died unmarried ; Alexander,
a railroad contractor ; and William, the father of
John AI. The father of these, a stonemason by
trade, spent his life in his native country, where he
died at a good old age. He was a member of the
Presbyterian Church.
William McKenzie. our subject's fatlior, learned
the stone mason's trade under his father's instruc-
tion. \Mshing a wider field for his work, when
nineteen years of age he left his native country on
a sailing vessel bound for New York. He first
found employment on government fortification work
at Newport and Boston harbors, and later, in com-
pany with his brother Alexander, he engaged in the
business of railroad contracting. In 1840 he came
to Yalesville, where he located, and many of the
large railroad structures on the Hartford Division
of the New York, New Haven & Hartford rail-
road, notably the Skew arch bridge over the New
Haven & Hartford turnpike, about one-half mile
above the village of Yalesville, are monuments of
his thoroughness and skill. He also erected St.
Paul's Episcopal church, in Wallingford. The re-
mainder of his life was spent in Yalesville, where
he died in 1872. He was a member of the Baptist
Church, and a Republican in politics. William Mc-
Kenzie was twice married, his first wife being a
daughter of Andrus Hall, of Wallingford, and the
mother of the following children: William, a
storekeeper, who lives at Tracy ; Mary, who married
Andrew J. Brown ; James, who resides in Yales-
ville; and Margaret, who died at the age of sixteen
years. Mr. McKenzie married for his second wife
Temperance Hall, a daughter of Adnah and Eliz-
abeth (Scott) Hall. To this union were born
four children : Theodore, a civil engineer of South-
ington ; Homer, deceased : John Maxwell ; and
George C, of Yalesville. Mrs. McKenzie was a
school teacher before her marriage, is a ladv of
culture and refinement, and has a strong poetic
faculty. She is an earnest advocate and worker
for the cause of temperance.
I John Maxwell McKenzie attended the public
schools of Yalesville, Mr. French's select school at
New Haven, and also studied at Amenia, N. Y.,
where he took up civil engineering and surveying.
He has been engaged on many public works through-
out the State, among them the Southington, Nauga-
tuck and Wallingford water works, Meriden sewage
disposal, and the State highways in the towns of
Wallingford, Southington and Rocky Hill, as well
as numerous railway projects. He has also spent
several years in the West, in the location and con-
struction of railroads for the Burlington system, in
the States of Nebraska, Dakota and Wyoming.
Mr. McKenzie has been engineer for the borough
of Wallingford for a number of years, and is still
filling that position. Many important municipal :
I improvements have been carried out under his su- I
j pervision. He is well known and highly respected
throughout the town. For four terms he was elected
second selectman of Wallingford. and is still filling'
that office. As committee of the Third school dis-
trict he takes a deep interest in educational and
other matters pertaining to the welfare of his na-
tive village. Our subject belongs to the Baptist
Church, and in politics is a Republican.
In 1893 Mr. McKenzie was married, in South-
ington, to Miss Louise Schlayer, a daughter of
George and Caroline Schlayer, natives of Germany,
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
10/9
and residents of Soiitliinfjton. where tlicir daughter
Louise was born. They have tliree children. Mar-
Gjueritc, Maxwell and Alcyone. Mrs. McKenzie
has many friends and is very popular and efficient
in cliiircli and .uncial matters.
The Halls, from whom Mr. McKenzie descends
in the maternal line, are an old family of W'alling-
ford. Jonathan Hall, son of Thomas and Grace
Hall, and grandson of the first John Hall, was born
in Wallingford July 25, 1672. On May 22, 1703,
he married Dinah Andrews, who died at the age
of seventy-nine years. He was eighty at the time
of his death. Of their ten children, Benjamin Hall,
horn on the farm Oct. 20, 1725, was married Dec.
27, 1752, to Mary Ives. They had three children:
Benjamin, born Sept. 25, 17^'?. who died young;
Eliab, born Feb. 17, 1755; and Benjamin (2), born
Nov. 3, 1755. Benjamin antl Phcbe Hall were mar-
ried April 28, 1757. They settled in Plymouth,
Conn,, and to this union came a numerous family :
Mary, born Jan. 27, 1758; Andrew, born Aug. 15,
1759; Mary (2), born Aug. 6, 1761 ; Phcbe, born
Aug. 20, 1763; Linus, born Sept. 25, 1765: David
and Jonathan, twins, born Nov. 17, 1767; Erastus,
born Feb. 12, 1770; Adnah, born May 8, 1772; Sol-
omon, born in 1774; Eliab, born Dec. 11, 1776 (set-
tled in North Killingworth) ; Grace Denison, born
May 5, 1778: Asaph, born Oct. i, 1781.
Aclnah Hall, a member of the above family,
spent his entire life in Wallingford, where he was
engaged in farming, and died June 17, 1838. He
married Elizabeth Scott, who died in 1840. To
them were born children as follows: (i) Volutia,
born March 29, 181 1; (2) Wilfred, born July 25,
1815; (3) Temperance, born May 24, 1817 (mar-
ried William McKenzie) ; (4) Harvey S.. born
Sept. 7, 1819; and (5) Ezekicl, born Jan. 23, 1822.
RICHARD BRADLEY, contractor and builder
of Bran ford, a progressive and prosperous citizen,
is a native of that place, born at the family home-
stead in West Main street June 30, 1850.
Timothy and Sarah (Goodsell) Bradley, his pa-
ternal great-grandparents, lived in the house in
Bran ford now occupied by Scth Thomas Bradley.
Their son, Timothy Bradley, grandfather of Rich-
ard, was a farmer, sailor and vessel owner, for
many years coasting along the Atlantic shores, and
making his home in Branford. He married Irene
(iordon, daughter of Alexander and Irene Gordon,
of Branford, and children as follows were born to
them: James; Timothy; Irene, Mrs. William
Bryan ; Nancy, who was thrice married, to, re-
spectively, Sylvester Harrison, Henry Linsley and
William Bryan: Lydia, who was twice married,
first to Allen Pardee, and second to Benjamin
Linsley; Sally, Mrs. James Waddell; Mary, Mrs.
Elias Linsley; Major Seth ; and Gurdon.
Gurdon Bradley, father of Richard, was born in
Branford Sept. 27, 1819, and as will be seen above
was the youngest in his father's family. He began
life as a farmer, also owned a vessel and followed
the coast for three winters, in addition to which
lie for many years conducted a saw and grist mill,
and took contracts for the building of cellars, re-
moving of buildings, etc. ; for upward of twenty
.\ears he was also engaged in the ice business. On
Jan. 29, 1843, he married Anna Maria, daughter
of Samuel and Esther (Tyler) Spinks, of Branford,
and to this union were born fourteen children, as
follows: Ebenezer T. (deceased) was a molder by
trade; he married Hannah Stedman, and had two
sons, Harry and Robert. One son died in infancy.
Esther M., Mrs. Sherman Holcomb, had two chil-
dren, Anna and Harry C. Bessie, Mrs. Charles N.
Holcomb, had one child, Fannie. Willis married
Isabel Lane, and had three children, Maria, Helen
and one deceased. Richard is our subject. Eliza
A., Mrs. Charles E. Bunnell, had two children,
Walter II. and Bessie. Albert C. is deceased. A.
Gurdon is deceased. F. Cline married Mary Jane
Foote, and has two children, Eugenia and Roberta.
Charles S. married Sarah Kerr, and had two chil-
dren. Fern and Gurdon. John H. married Emma
Hall. Lee A. and Robert L. are deceased.
Richard Bradley, the subject proper of this
sketch, was feared on the homestead, and received
a conunon-school education, afterward learning the
trade of carpenter. About the year 1874 he com-
menced business as a contractor and builder, and
has since followed that occupation with wcll-nicritcd
success. Mr. Bradley is a director and trustee in
ti.c Branford Savings Bank. Besides his fine home
he owns several houses in Branford, and also a cot-
tage at Haycock Point, on the Sound.
On April 30, 1873, Mr. Bradley married Mary
C. Smith, daughter of Leonard and Harriet E.