The daily morning journal and courier., 1895-01-09
DEATH OF STEPHEN |. UsnEr.

DEATH OF STEPHEN |. USHEFs
 He Did Much to Develop the West Shore -
 Came to This City From Providence.
 The death of stephen L. Usher oc-
 cnrred at his home at Waverly Grove
 yesterday morning, aged fifty-eight yeats and nine months. He died after
 two months illness from Bright's dis ease. He leaves a widow, but no chil-
 dren. Two brothers, Reuben A. Usher of Providence and Daniel Usher, who lived with him, and two sisters, Mrs. F..
 A. DeVoll and Miss s. E. Usher of Providence, survive him. His birth place was Providence and he came to this city from Providence about the year 1860. but few years later re- moved to West Haven, where he bought about thirty acres of land a good share of which was swampy land. This he began at once to redeem, and in few years he had developed fine property at Waverly Grove at cost Of many thousand dollars. He had lived there ever since, and his home, "Inwood," is considered one of the finest along the shore.
 In 1866, in company with his brother in-law, r. A. DeVoll, of Providence, he bought the Clark farm at Merwin's Point, which at that time consisted of twenty-seven or twenty-eight acres, most of it lying between the highway and the shore. MT. Usher thought that the location of that land was favorable for the growth of summer settlement and he determined to develop that idea! One of his first thoughts was to have place that should be distinctively family resort, and he always had a clause in the deed of sale stipulating that there should be no liquor sold on tho premises.
 2 N. H. Hoyt, jr., of Lee & Hoyt, this city, bought the first lot and built the first cottage at Woodmont Bennett Merrill bought about the same time, but went west and never built cottage on his lots. j. Gibb Smith of this city, the well-known manufacturer, was another early purchaser, his lot being on the hill. E6ur lots were sold at that point within q short time, and the settlement rapidly grew. MT. Usher was careful to whom he sold lots, and was strenuous about having nothing spring up at Woodmont that would be detriment to the place or interfere with it's growth as quiet, desirable place of abode. The growth of Woodmont has been rapid. From the first MT. Usher main tained warm interest in the place, and it is safe to say he made it what it is to-day.
 Mir. Usher was also interested in having an electric line go down to the colony, and though he bought no stock in the road, aided in securing n right of way. In fact, he and Mir. DeVoll, with whom he was associated, bought the Lincoln place just north of the Connecticut state building in order to give the road right of way through the place. In all matters he was public spirited, but modestly kept in the back ground and never sought or held public office.
 Mir. Usher had decided taste for art, and was an artist of no mean oapabili- ties, although he made no pretension II that direction. Last fall, in company with his nephew, son of Mir. DeVoll, | who is an artist, he drove up through ,he country in team. The weather was too cold for such trip and he ! never was quite well afterward.
 Mir. Usher was member of the West | Haven lodge of Masons. The funeral | will occur Thursday, at 12 o'clock. | Rev. MT. Squires of West Haven will |