The Press., 1903-03-19
THE FIRST SETTLERS of UNION
CONNECTICUT.

| Union was the last town east OF the
Connecticut river TO be- settled: partly
because of It's rugged surface. Graphite
or black lead WAS mined In two places
one on the present Ashford boundary In
| 1867 on tract Of land granted to Capt.
Thomas Clarke OF Boston, the first owner
OF ''Union lands" as they were called,
perhaps because union OF different
tracts left over on the borders of sur
rounding settlements. Part of the town
was on territory disputed between Con-
necticut aud Massachusetts, Woodstock
ON the east and the south part of the
SpriI gtield tract, namely. Somers, En-.
field and Suffield, on the west OF Stafford
belonged originally to Massachusetts.
The Union lands we're sold In 1920 10 IL
Windsor oct men. James Emo was Il G
only one Of them who bee .ms an actual
settler. lie WINS the grandson of the
original enligrant, james Emo, who came
from London TO New England In 1916
The name is said by recent biographel
(lS97) to be undoubtedly of Huguenot
origin" Many Huguenots during the
persec utions OF the seventeenth century,
sought refuge In London and vicinity,
and especially just before the Revocation
of the Edct of Nantes, despairing of re-
turn to france, became naturalizsd clti-
zsns. In Agnew's French protestant ref
ugees he names Abraham Enoe' who
had with him his wife, Cathrine, and chill
dren, jeremy and ANA, as one Of those
naturaliz March h, 1852 The fret
James Emo was Il surg ,on- barber, the
two professions being united at that time,
as the barber pole, whose red stripes IT.
dictate or advertise blood letting, still
evidence. He Is said to have studied
medicine and surgery In the same insti-
tuition where the famous surgeon, Sir
Ashley Cooper, studied afterwards. Ia
1648 he was married to the widow OF
Richard Bidwell In Windsor, by whom he
had a daughter, Sarah, and two sons,
james and John. AS John had only
daughters, all the Windsor Enos are de-
cendauts OF James 81. The earliest white
settler OF Union Is said to have been John
Lawson, 1928; the second, WIN. McNall
then VIM Lawson and James Shear e..
James Shearer settled finally in Palmer.
These four were Scotch by blood and
Presbyterian by religion, though they
came by way Of the north of Ireland and
~
three Windsor shares al settled in Union
In 1927. The first meeting of proprietore
of Union was held Dec. 26ah, 1893, at the
house of VIM Wald of Ashford, James
Emo being moderator. In 1880 town
stree t was laid out. The first plot was
Joseph Dewey's; 8. cond, VIM. Wards
third, Nathaniel Walkers; fourth, Ma.
thanirl Sessions Robert Moore, Robert
Paul and James Armour (ai cestor of the
meat packers Armour) were early Scotch
settlers. John Burnley Of Windham
Conn, settled about 1889. Badger oil
Pomfret, and Sess on. settled about 1875
s muel Strong (1737) and Daniel LOOMS
1741, both of Windsor. The Crawfords
| (Scotch) settled about 1742; Caleb
Loomis of Lebanon, 1854; Eben, zer
Wales, with a large family, 1850; Ma.
thaniel Newell from Needbam, Mass, in
1875 In 1874 there were 10 families in
Union, numbering 1870 persons, as shown
In the petition for incorporation, the town
being incorp rated In that year. Union,
like Mansfield, Columbia and Coventry,
was In Windham county from 1926 till
1885, when Tolland county was formed.
New settle rs 1874. Fuller and Tiffany
1875 Allen, Able 1742. Barton 1875, Bas-
com 1859, Bates 1778, Booth 1854, Bishop
before 1869, Bugbee 1850, Fairbanks
1764, Foster 1777, Hammond Gather of
Rev. Charles H. 1893, Hiscock 1859,
Holman 1778, Houghton 1774, Howard
1899, James 1895, Kinney 1878, Lille
1771, Marcy, Sam. 1863 BENZ (ancestor
Of Dwight and Merrick Marcy about
1900, Moore (Scotch) before 1749, Morey
1901, Morse Nathan from Ashford, orig
inally from Medfeld, Mass. y after 1777,
whence Jedediah Morse, 1.-THE father of
American geography" Needham 1897,
Newell 1875, Olney (whose son, Jesse,
was author of a popular geography
and compiler of the National Pre-
ceptor) 1855, Reed, ancestor Of Joel HI.
Reed, Esq, 1850, Sessions 1744, Smith
1888, Thompson 1868, Town 1919. 9th
ers on the Congregational church re-
cords: before 1869, Coy, Houghton, Wood,
Burgess, Webb, Sprague, Clark, Wood
worth; 1850, Hendrich, Rev. E. Horton,
Robbins, Larned; 1859, May; 1866, Will
liams; 1868. Hutchinson, Lovejoy; ITO,
Cady; 1878, Holton; 1874, Drake; 1875,
Child, Colburn; 1777, Winter; 1879, Ly-
on; 1881. Stoddard; 1888, Bartlett, Rob-
erts; 1878, Taylor 1912, Smell; 1916,
Eaton; 1917, Griggs; 1919, Atwood /;
1920 Elias Severy and Arch Upham.
JOEL N. EMO, N. Y. Public Library.