Encyclopedia of Connecticut biography, genealogical-memorial ...

:
and his home city of Bridgeport have been
marked with fidelity to the trust reposed
in him when he filled the offices of mem-
ber of the State Legislature, a member of
the Board of Aldermen and president of
the Board of Police Commissioners. His
business, financial, social and fraternal
associations are widely varied and of great
value, he being either an officer, a director
or a stockholder in numerous industrial
and financial institutions and corpora-
tions, while in club life and in the realm
of the more important fraternities he has
membership of long standing. His career
has, in fact, shed additional luster on the
family name of Bishop, of which the people
of Connecticut in general and of New
England as well are justifiably proud.
The surname Bishop was in common
use in England many centuries ago, and
some eleven immigrants of that name
emigrated from there with their families
before 1650. Rev. John Bishop, minister
of Stamford, who founded the family
name in this country, married (first) Rebecca,
surname unknown. He married
(second) Joanna Royce, widow of Rev.
Peter Prudden and of Captain Thomas
Willet of Swansea. Massachusetts. Of the
first union there were six children, of
whom Stephen was born in Stamford
about 1660. He married Mercy, surname
unknown, and had eight children. He
had a son, John (2), born in Stamford
about 1680 and married Mary Talmadge
of Stamford. They had nine children.
From Rev. John Bishop the direct line
descends through
(I) Pierson Bishop, lineal descendant
of the minister of Stamford, was living in
that town in 1790. He married Hannah
Finch, and had children, among whom
was William.
(II) William Bishop, son of Pierson
and Hannah (Finch) Bishop, born June
ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY
93
23, 1769, at Stamford, died February 24,
1844. He married Susanna, at Bridge-
port, daughter of John and Sarah (Nich-
ols) Scofield. They had eleven children,
of whom was Alfred.
(III) Alfred Bishop, son of William
and Susanna (Scofield) Bishop, was born
at Stamford, December 21, 1798, and died
June 12, 1849. He had a great career as
a railroad contractor and built a large
canal and a bridge over the Raritan River
at New Brunswick, New Jersey, and was
the first and chief builder of the New
York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad,
the old Housatonic Valley and the Berk-
shire, Washington & Saratoga Railroads,
and the Naugatuck Railroad, which afterward
became a division of the New Haven
system. He was the first member of the
House of Bishop to lay the foundation of
the family fame as builders and execu-
tives of great transportation properties.
He married Mary, daughter of Ethan Fer-
ris of Greenwich, Connecticut, who died
January 3, 1833. They had three children.
(IV) William D. Bishop, second son of
Alfred and Mary (Ferris) Bishop, was
born in Bloomfield, New Jersey, September
14, 1827, and died February 4,
1904. He was the greatest of the Bishops
who had to do with the upbuilding and
executive management of the New Haven
Railroad System. He was graduated
from Yale University in the class of 1849,
having had a brilliant career as a student.
He was a skillful debater in the college's
political forum, and was president of the
Linonia Society, which was rated as one
of the highest honors in the college world
of his time. His father having died in
June, 1849, during the month of his gradu-
ation, the mantle of heavy responsibility
fell upon his young shoulders—he was
only twenty-two at the time. William
D. completed the contracts, including rail-