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Humphrey’s HouseIn 1986 the Humphrey house and the “old Episcopal cemetery” were standing on Elm Street in Ansonia. The building is a large cube with a central chimney. It is two stories, plus an attic. The house has two attachments: a small 2 story extension on the side, housed the kitchen; a 2 story shed is on the back. The wooden building was made with posts and beams, the outsides are covered with overlapping horizontal boards, and shingles on the roof. Inside the floor and partitions are made of wide boards. The main floor is a museum, with displays of old furniture and artifacts. The second floor is used for teaching hand crafts to large groups. There is also a spinning demonstration and a military re-enactment. The Old Derby Historical Society has its office in the back of the building. How to find the Humphrey House: From Bridgeport, Connecticut, take State Highway # 8 north, get off the highway at Derby, heading east, across the bridge over the Naugatuck River; then turn left, going up the east side of the river along State Highway # 115, for about a mile. At the intersection of Derby Ave (Hwy. #115) and Division Street (Hwy. #243), turn right onto Elm St., and the road curves up the hill to the left. The Humphreys House is number 37, on the right side, past Vose St., and before Thomas St. On the left, across the street, down the hill, is an old cemetery. From Hartford take InterState Highway #91 south, change over to the State Highway #15, Wilbur Cross Parkway, to near New Haven. Exit onto State Highway. #34 heading west to Derby and Ansonia. The highway turns north past Derby, turn left at Highway #243, heading west toward the river. The road curves down the hill and becomes Elm Street. Parking is in the rear, via the driveway at the left of the house. Enter through the back door.
Humphrey’s House
The General David Humphrey’s House Mansfield HouseMembers of the Church of England in Derby township provided a house for their pastor. The structure was originally a barn, improved for a home for the rector. A three acre piece of land including an orchard and a barn were purchased in 1747. The conversion of the barn into a home was not completed till 1746. His original home on Jewett Street was still standing in 1968, preserved for viewing by the Derby Historical Society. The rectory building on Jewett Street is illustrated in a photograph taken around 1890.
Portrait of Dr. Richard Mansfield. ( Derby Historical Society; in: Hogan, The Lower Naugatuck Valley p.34. ) The WoostersDavid Wooster, Ruth Wooster’s cousin, graduated from Yale College, 1738, and later married Mary Clapp, the daughter of the president of Yale. He later became a General. Ruth Wooster’s grand-uncle Henry Wooster was killed serving in Queen Anne’s army in Nova Scotia against “Canada”. This was in King George’s War of 1744, where the British beat the French at Louisburg. Connecticut supplied their quota of soldiers to make up 20% of the colonial troops. Ruth’s mother Sarah Hawkins, born at Derby Neck, was the daughter of the ferry owner, Sgt. Joseph Hawkins & Elizabeth Gunn. Elizabeth’s grandfather, Dr. Jaspar Gunn, had been a doctor in Milford, from England. Dan Davis’s great grandmother, Margaret Tomlinson who had married Jabez Harger, may have been related to his new bride’s grandmother, Phebe Tomlinson, married to Lt. Thomas Wooster. In 1989 in the Quaker Farms district of Oxford, three roads exist near one another with the three family names: Davis Road, Hawkins Road, and Captain Wooster Road. Mail-a-Map of Derby, Ansonia, Shelton, Seymour, Oxford, Beacon Falls, and Naugatuck. |
Chapter 3The Churches of Derby TownshipAbout this time divisions started to set in among the people of New Haven County. Their land was not producing as much as before. Also, some of the citizens didn’t like the preaching of the new pastor of the Congregational church. The Congregational Church was the only church existing in New England. The church was the governing body of the settlement. Town meetings and church services were both held in the meeting house. Up until 1689, the people of Derby all had to be members of the established Congregationalist church to own land. The first parsonage was built in 1673 as a township requirement, as recognized in 1675. The minister Reverend Bowers died in 1687, and was the first buried in the Old Derby Uptown Burying Ground, or Colonial Cemetery on Derby Avenue in Derby. His widow Sarah Riggs, who in 1739 would marry Reverend Humphreys, kept the first parsonage. Three years passed before the town voted to build a new parsonage in 1690. The new parsonage took another five years to complete. The large old wooden house, located at 37 Elm Street in south end of Ansonia, was built by the township of Derby in 1695. The town did not have a pastor for two years after Reverend Webb left in 1692. Reverend John James was pastor from 1694 to 1706. Parson James would have been the first family to live in the new parsonage, when it opened in 1696. Joseph Moss was pastor 1706-1731. From 1733 to 1787 Daniel Humphreys was pastor. The church got a new minister who was “a bold and spirited man in religious opinions, and his views were not accepted by all his parishioners.” Rev. Daniel Humphreys preached the “new light” theories and so caused members to break away. In 1741 a new parish of Oxford was formed under the Congregationalist church (Rockey, 423). Members left the Congregationalist Church to start the Episcopal church. In November 1738, land was donated by Holbrook for a building and cemetery. The property was located across the street from the residence of the minister of the church from which they had broken away. Imagine their former minister, Reverend Humphreys, trying to write his “new-light” sermon for the Congregationalists, while across the street those who did not like his sermons were erecting a new hall to be used for an older religion, to listen to someone else’s sermons.
Locations of cemeteries in Derby and Ansonia. In 1739 Humphreys married Sarah Riggs, the widow of Reverend John Bowers. She may have given her home to her son Bowers when she moved into the parsonage with her new husband. John Davis Sr. did some work for her son on deeds. In 1737 the “Church of England” sent missionaries to Derby, meeting in private houses. This religion in America was organized under “the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts” (SPG), and members called themselves “episcopalians”. In Derby a meeting house was built in 1738 on land donated by J. Holbrook. The town did not allow the Episcopalians to erect their church near the corner of the common, so it was put across the street from the parsonage of the Congregational Church, on Elm Street. At the time that the purchase had been recorded, the property already had the frame of the church building. In 1739 the town released Episcopalians from paying taxes to the established Congregational church. Reverend Dr. Richard Mansfield (1724-1820) became the first Church of England resident clergyman in Derby. He was the minister of Christ Church, the Episcopalian Church for Derby parish, for 72 continuous years: 1748-1820. Reverend Mansfield “was tall, of spare habits, and wore a white, large wig. He generally traveled on horseback and was a familiar object to all the people”; he was a “scholarly vicar” (Ely, 32). The unhappy citizenry persisted in their efforts to have the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts appoint a Connecticut native to the post. When Mansfield had to return to England for ordination, his congregation prayed the ship might go down en route. One Sunday morning in 1775 Reverend Mansfield was obliged to flee from his pulpit when a guard of “American” soldiers marched into his church. The Reverend Dr. Richard Mansfield’s wife Anna was left to run the Episcopal Glebe House Rectory while expecting her ninth child, when her husband fled to Long Island due to his allegiance to the British authorities. During his absence both Anna and the infant died at the rectory. He returned shortly, and resumed his parochial work, but a guard was always present to see that he did not preach against the cause of the Colonists. It was said of him that “after the revolution he remained a firm but not offensive Loyalist”. (Rockey, 427). In 1989 the Episcopalian Church in Derby was called the St. James Protestant Episcopal Church. Barbour Collection, Vital Records of Connecticut Derby Town Probate and Land Records Davis, Geo.T., Genealogy of the Descendants of Col. John Davis jr. of Oxford, Conn. Ely, “St. James’s Episcopal Parish” Hall, The Glorious Revolution in America Hogan, The Lower Naugatuck Valley Lichfield and Hoyt, History of Oxford Mail-a-Map of Derby, Ansonia, Shelton, Seymour, Oxford, Beacon Falls, and Naugatuck. Orcutt and Beardsley, History of the Old Town of Derby Phillips, Town Records of Derby Rockey, History of New Haven County Vol.2
The Mansfield House ( Derby Historical Society; in: Hogan, The Lower Naugatuck Valley, 1991, p.35. ) DAN DAVISOn December 6, 1738, Dan was married at age 28 to Ruth Wooster, age 16, grand-daughter of Lt. Thomas Wooster. The wedding was recorded as follows: “DAUIS, Dan: m. Ruth Wooster, Dec. 6, 1738” (Vital Records). Dan was probably a member of the Episcopalian church while his grandfather, John Davis Sr. had been in the Congregationalist Church. In 1756 Dan’s niece, Abigail Davis, was married to Abel Gunn of Waterbury by Reverend Richard Mansfield of the Episcopalian church. Several of Dan Davis’s children were christened in the Episcopalian church. Ruth Wooster’s father Thomas Wooster Jr., helped Jonas Smith, John Holbrook, and Abel Gunn, erected the timbers for the frame of the first Episcopal church building around 1738. If the weather had allowed, they might have held Ruth’s wedding in the frame of the new church building. Rockey, History of New Haven County, Vol.2. CHILDRENRuth and Dan Davis had seven children: Naomi in 1741; twins Dan and Reuben in 1745; Sarah in 1747; Allis in 1753; Ethel on Feb. 15, 1756, and Isaac. Sarah Davis was named for her father’s mother, Sarah Chatfield. Dan was named for his father. The records of the births read as follows: “Davis, Dan; twin with Ruben; s. Dan & Ruth, b. Sep.17, 1745” ( Vital Records, v. LR5, 413). “Ethel Son of Dan & Ruth Davis was Born February the 15th AD 1756” ( Church Book); “Davis, Ethiel, s. Dan & Ruth, b. Feb.15, 1756” ( Vital Records, v. LR6, 15). Alice and Ethel, and probably their siblings, were baptized at around two months old at the Episcopal Church. The church record book of the baptism, called “A Memorandum of the Children and Adults Baptized in the Parishes of Derby and Oxford” lists “1756 Ethel Son to Dan Davis May 9th” ( Church Book). Barbour Collection, Vital Records of Connecticut. LIVELIHOODPossibly, Ethel and his brother Isaac helped their older brothers with the sheep. Their twin brothers were 13 years older than Ethel. Ethel got along well with his cousin John Davis in Oxford. Sometimes Ethel would visit Cousin John at Uncle Joseph and aunt Mary’s house at Oxford. They all learned to handle horses and cattle. The twins would let them help herd the cattle together for ear notching; and drive them from pasture to market. Schools existed in towns of 50 or more families with a penalty for those not attending. New Haven, 10 miles east of Derby, had a free school since 1641, and Yale College in late 1690’s. A full-time school teacher was hired ca. 1728 and a school house was built in east Derby. Ethel and his father had some education, since both had signed their wills, instead of making their mark. Towns of 100 or more families had a grammar school to prepare youths for the university. All landowners in Derby could sign their names. Around 1747 farming depleted the soil nutrients. Crop rotation and fertilizing practices had not yet been developed. Corn was grown with beans and pumpkin. Dan and family were busy with:
They used horses to get around; they owned a side saddle and two “pilions” or saddles with back seats. Inventory of Dan Davis LAND ACQUISITIONDan received his inherited share of land from his father before he himself died, and the remaining land went to two daughters, Rachel Hawley and Betty Keeney. In 1759, Dan’s uncle Samuel Davis bought/sold 1/4 acre garden spot in “town Derby with mantion house there at the Neck” bounded NE on the highway; S. Jed+ Philo Mills land; W. land of widow Abigail Moss. Derby Land Records
Posssible locations of lands owned by Davises.
DEATHOn October 2, 1786, Dan Davis at Derby wrote his will, including a three acre lot of pasture land for Ethel Davis and a piece of it for brother Isaac. Ethel’s father probably knew that his son was not on the list of Loyalist confiscatees if he had left him some land. Dan Davis died at Derby, New Haven Co., Connecticut, in 1789. His body may have been buried by his son Reuben, but the location has not been found. In 1790, the first census was taken; indicating three thousand people in Derby township, including Oxford parish. There were 553 families and 50 slaves. The eldest brother Daniel Davis had died in 1786, and his family is listed with 3 boys and 2 girls. Reuben, the twin of Dan, had a wife and two daughters. An Isaac was listed without a wife and with 3 daughters. Sisters Naomi, Sarah, and Alice, were all married and living in the area. The gravestones of Dan Davis and his relations have not been located in the Derby or Oxford areas of New Haven Colony. They were not listed in the index at the Connecticut State Library, or in the State Archives’ collection of 2,000 graveyards. Nor were they found in the Episcopal and Congregational cemeteries in Derby and Oxford, which were searched by the Derby Historical Society and by a minister in Oxford in 1989. Derby Land Records, Vol. 6 and 7, Deeds 1751-1765 Hawkes, A Hawkins Genealogy. Inventory and Distribution of John Davis Jr. Inventory of John Davis Sr. Will and Inventory of Dan Davis
Land of Davises in Derby Township
Descendants of Dan Davis7* Dan DAVIS, b. 1710, Jan.17, d. 1789, Mar.20, Derby, Weaver, spinner and farmer at Derby. Children baptized in St.James P.E.Church, Derby:
6. Naomi Davis, b. Jan. 1, 1741, d. Mar. 1818.
m2 1780: Benjamin Davis, b. 1743. d. 1817. Lived in Seymour, CT
6. Daniel Davis, 1745,Sep.17- 1786, m. Hannah Wooster, children baptized in St.James P.E.Church, Derby:
6. Reuben Davis, b. 1745, Sep.17, d. 1815. m Annie, d.1827, Dec.12. Lived in Derby near brook.
6* Ethel DAVIS, b. 1756, Feb. 15, Derby. bp. 1756, May 9 at St. James P.E.Church, Derby.
5. Alva Davis, 1795 – 1860,Dec.25. m1.Eunice Spencer -d.1831
m2.1832: Polly Holbrook -d.1833
4. Isaac Harvey Davis, 1818- 1882, m.1842: Maria L. Bassett, 1821-1892
3. Zera B. Davis, 1844 – ; m. 1872: Alice A. Watson
3. Erwin J. Davis, 1850 – 1887; m1.Jennie Rose 3. Llewellyn Davis, 1854-1884, m.1880: Clara B.Morris
Lineage of Ruth Wooster10* Edward WOOSTER, b.(prob. England) 1622, d. 1689, Jul.08. Given land at Milford, Conn. tax free to grow hops in 1651. Pioneered north to Paugasuck River, Ansonia, Old Derby with three other families in 1654. m. 1669: Tabitha Tomlinson, daughter of Henry Tomlinson and sister of Phebe Tomlinson, of Stratford, N.H
9* Lt. Thomas WOOSTER, sr., b. 1656; m. Phebe TOMLINSON, of Stratford, New Haven Co, Conn.. Farmer, lived in Derby, north of father.
9. Abraham Wooster, m. 1697: Mary Walker, of Stratford; 1706 to Stratford. In 1743, Abraham Wooster sold Quakers Farm to son Abraham for a gun.
9. David Wooster, Bp.1670, d. 1711, Mar.29, m. Mary
9. Timothy Wooster, b.in Pawgasuck: 1670, Nov.12; m. Anna Perry. Address: Derby.
9. Sylvester Wooster, b.Derby, d.1712,Nov.16, m. Susannah
9. Ebenezer Wooster, m. Margaret Sawtell, dgtr. of Zechariah Sawtall of Groton;to Stratford.
8* Thomas WOOSTER Jr., 1692, Feb.18-1777, Feb.02. Address: Derby. m. 1718. Dec.25: *Sarah HAWKINS *, 1695, May.23-1785, Dec.10
8. Abraham Wooster Jr., m. Martha; addr: Quakers Farm,
8. General David Wooster, 1710, Mar.02-. Graduated from Yale College 1738.
8. Timothy Wooster Jr., 1699,Dec.29- ; m1. 1727,Aug.18: Abigail Harger, d. 1736,Sep.23; m2. 1737,Mar.22: Sarah Bowers, d.1749,Oct.23
8. Edward Wooster, 1702, Sep.17-
8. Samuel Wooster, 1706, Apr.17- ; m.1731, Oct.28: Ann Moss
8. Samuel Wooster, 1704- , m.1725,May.22: Hannah Johnson,
7* Ruth WOOSTER, 1722,Mar.30-, m. 6 Dec.1738 Dan DAVIS, 1710,Jan.17- 1789 (See Dan Davis for children) 7. David Wooster, in Middlebury, b. 1735, Jan. 5 –
6. David Wooster, address: Campton, N.H.
Worcester, The Decendants of William Worcester, 243 Horizontal Rule lineLineage of Sarah Hawkins11* Robert HAWKINS, m. Mary;
10* Joseph HAWKINS, 1st., Bp. 1642, Apr.03 at First Church of Charlestown, Mass. Will: 1682, Oct.12. Settled in 1665 at Birmingham Pt., Pegasset, near Derby; Owned store in Derby. Property inventoried at 482 pounds. m1. 1668,Apr.08: Abigail HOLBROOK of Huntington, N.Y.
9* Joseph HAWKINS, 2nd., “Sergeant” 1669, Feb.14-1732, Apr.21, Lived at Birmingham Pt., Represtative 1712, selectman. 1705-10; Operated the ferries over the Stratford River and the Naugatuk River. 1695 built house in Derby.
m. 1693,Aug. 9: Elizabeth GUNN, 1672, Aug. 5
9. Agnes Hawkins, 1681,Nov.06-; m1. Isaac Nicholas
m2. Abel GUNN 8* Sarah HAWKINS, Derby Neck: 1695,May.23- 1785; m. ca. 1716: Thomas WOOSTER Jr. 1692, Feb.18-1718- 1777. ( For children, see Thomas Wooster Jr. ) 8. Joseph Hawkins (III)., Derby Neck: 1697, Jan. 1-1767, May 31. Farmer at Derby.
8. Captain Moses Hawkins, Derby Neck: 1703, Aug. 1- 1760, Sep.10; Ferry Operator, Representative and Selectman. Hawkes, A Hawkins Genealogy Lineage of Elizabeth Gunn11. Dr. Jaspar GUNN, b. 1606, d. ca. 1670. Left London, England with his wife Christian on July 14, 1635 on ship “Defense”. Arrived Boston, Mass. on October 8, 1635. Made a “Freeman” at Roxbury, May 1636 and given lot #24 (5.5 acres) at Milford, New Haven County. Designated a “Free Planter” for physician services; a deacon and the first physician in Milford, New Haven County (1988 medical notebook at Watkinson Library, Trinity College, Hartford). Miller at Hartford, Conn., in 1659. Lawyer at New Haven, Conn. in 1661.m. Christian (Ann/Mary), 1610-1690.
10. Jobamah GUNN, b. at Roxbury, 1637. m. Susan LANE, daughter.of John Lane; lived in Milford, New Haven County.
9 *Elizabeth GUNN, b. 5 Aug. 1672 m. Joseph HAWKINS Jr. ( For children, see Joseph Hawkins Jr. ) Lineage of Abigail Holbrook11. Richard HOLBROOK, of Huntington, Long Island, New York. m. Agnes.
10* Abigail HOLBROOK m. 1668, Apr. 8: Joseph HAWKINS Sr. ( For children, see Joseph Hawkins Sr. ) Lineage of Phebe Tomlinson10. Henry TOMLINSON, Milford, New Haven County, Conn.
9. Phebe TOMLINSON, Milford, Conn. m. Lt. Thomas WOOSTER Sr. (For children see Lt. Thomas Wooster Sr.)
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