The Press., 1892-01-14
OllftuarV

|tiied on the 12th of grip and influenza |Aged 76 years. MT. Davis was a promi |nent citizen of his section of the town
 He sat in the legislature in 1883, He was "a native of Stafford and belonged to one Eof Its oldest families. Like. the late Lu. .cius Blodgett, he could claim line oi Eiineal descent from John Alden, of Ply mouth colony. His great-grandfather settled In Stafford in 1719, living on farm near by, now owned by Geo. W. Davis, nephew of deceased, in house that has been occupied by five generations Of the family This great t-grandfather was given a large tract of land Cncluding the homestead farm, and quite likely ad- joining land since held in the Davis fami- lies) for services in the Narragansett war. There we're until within few years since five Davis brothers owning farms and liv- ing within mile of each other-A1den, Noah and David in Stafford, and Dan- iel and Spencer in Somers. Spencer is now the only survivor. Tn early life
 
 life occupation has been farming. He enjoyed the confidence and respect of his fellow townsmen, aid will be much miss ed. He leaves one son, Myron P. Davis, who owns and resides upon the David Davis farm, near the homestead place, al- so one daughter, Mrs. John R. Gilbert, of Gilead. MT. Davis funeral will be held at his late residence on Friday, at Il am.
 LUcIUs BLoDGETT, whose death by pneumonia on the 4th inst, at the age of H. years and 3 months, was briefly alluded to last week, was of English descent, the of the family in America be- iaG Thomas Blodgett and his wife, Susan, who emigrated from London and sailed in the ship Increase with their two sons, Daniel and Samuel, who removed from Woburn, Mass, to Stafford, being among the earliest settlers of the town. Samuel left a son, Joshua, born in 1721--the first white male child born in Stafford. He was reared by his uncle, Daniel, and To- cated on the farm in the north part of the town, called the village, which has since remained in the Blodgett name. The wife of Joshua Blodgett was Hannah AL den, descendant of John Alden of Puri- tan fame. The farm was next owned by Alden Blodgett, son of. Joshua, deacon of the Congregational church at Stafford Street, between forty and fifty years. From him it descended to his son, Dan- iel, father of the subject of this sketch. The name Blodgett occurs very frequent ly among the business and official records Of the town. Lucius Blodgett gained his education in the district school, finishing it at select school at Stafford Street, taught by Rev. Chas. Hammond He worked on the farm summers and taught school winters until he was twenty, at which time he went to learn the business Of wool-sorting at the Hydeville mill. After serving his apprenticeship he found q situation in Rockville, remaining there dne year, when he returned to his native town, to what was then the Kingsbury mill. near Foxville. He remained here until the failure of the company. He
 
 he lived two and one-haH years. At this time his brother who was living on the farm died, and at the urgent request of his father, who was in poor health, he gave up his business and returned to the olH homestead. Here he spent the last thFty-seyen years of his life, holding many offices of public trust. In politics he was formerly an old-line whiG and cast his first presidential vote for Henry {saaR. For many years past he has been zi 5inch rep2bl blican. In private life he
 6n3al md hospitable ;4the iatch- stll zta3 always out, and no one ever ch1n6 to him for favor without it's being grnnted, if 1t was in his power. He was a; great reader, and had very retentive memory. Aug. 23d, 1846, he married Eliza Bidwell, of Rockville. Four chil- dren were born to them-Chas. E., now a druggist at Portland, Conn.,, Arthur. O., who lives on the home farm, and two daughters who reside at New London, Mrs. Lucius D. Smith and Mrs. Albert Peck.
 STEPHEN JACKSON, one of the best knxwn of the Irish born residents of the town, died of grip and pneumonia on Sat- urday last Nh. Jackson was Fl years old. He came to Stafford about 1848, when the railroad was building, having thssa recently came from Ireland, and this being his first permanent stopping place. There were very few Irish people then living here, and of those few MT. J. was the last survivor. He was man respect ed by all, especially his fellow Irfshmen, being helper of all new corners, and looked to by all for counsel. He was one of the building committee of St Edwards church, and had leading part in select. ing site for the building. MI. Jaekson'e first work in Stafford was upon the rail. road then building. For many years he worked at the depot as assistant for Ru. fug G. Pinney, then station agent. His last employment was in the Foxville mill For several past years he has done little work, being troubled with rheumatism, He acquired a little property by industry and frugality while rearing family, Sam uel Jackson, employed at M. G. Moore's being son of his. Since the outbreak oi tho grip MT. J. has seemed to have pre- monition of his becoming victim, and has talked much with his family about the conduct of affairs if he should be re msEed. His death removes a good citi zen. One pecularity of the deceased was his strong love of home. His only son does not remember of his ever spend Ing night away from home, and doubts if he ever did after coming to Stafford.
 ---=-------- ---- ---zE-- ----zE--