Encyclopedia of Connecticut biography, genealogical-memorial ...

I
non Angli, sed Angeli! Bayldon has been
the seat of the family of that name since
a period prior to the reign of King John,
and ever since the Norman Conquest it
has been a chapelry in the West Riding
of Yorkshire. Bayldon Hall is not far
away and is still in a good state of preser-
vation. The fact that it stands on an emi-
nence seems to render probable the idea
that the family name may be derived from
Bael, or Bel, meaning fire, a flame, or the
sun, and Don, a hill, and that the hill on
which Bayldon Manor stands may have
been selected for one of those on which
sacrificial fires were burned in honor of
Bael. The fact that high places were
chosen for these fires seems to render this
idea more probable than the one which
assumes that the name signifies merely a
beacon hill. The family, since our earliest
knowledge of it, has been distinguished in
English history.
Richard Bayldon, founder of the New
England branch of the race, was bom in
Yorkshire, England, and in 1635 settled at
Wethersfield, Connecticut. He died in
1655, and many of his numerous descend-
ants have won fame and honor in both
civil and military life. The Bayldon
escutcheon, like most others, has varia-
tions, the form displayed by the descend-
ants of Richard Bayldon being the fol-
lowing:
Arms—A fesse between three fleur-de-lis sable.
Motto—God my leader.
It is worthy of note that the motto ap-
pears to be peculiar to the coat-of-arms
of the New England branch.
David Belden, father of Charles Denison
Belden, was bom at East Haddam,
Connecticut, and in his infancy was deprived,
by death, of his father. He was
taken by his widowed mother to New
York City, and as he grew to manhood
entered business life. In partnership with
ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY
265
his brother-in-law, George Brainerd, he
conducted a flourishing wholesale gro-
cery concern, retiring a number of years
before his death. As a young man Mr.
Belden was a member of the Militia Regi-
ment, which was the forerunner of the
famous Seventh. He married Catherine
Louisa Brush, whose family record is ap-
pended to this biography.
Charles Denison Belden, son of David
and Catherine Louisa (Brush) Belden,
was born January 9, 1844, in New York
City, and received his education in the pri-
vate school of Clark & Fanning. Inherit-
ing from his father an inclination for the
active career of an executant, he early con-
nected himself with the grocery business.
It was not long, however, before he was
drawn, by his taste and aptitude for fi-
nance, into the arena of Wall street,
where, as a stock broker, he found full
scope for his talents. He was a man
whose word carried weight and as the
years went on, his fund of experience and
the honorable success which he had
achieved caused his advice to be fre-
quently sought by young men entering
upon the active work of life, and also by
older men who found themselves in need
of counsel in relation to some problem of
unusual difficulty. A few years before his
death he retired, being ably succeeded by
his son.
As may be supposed, the strenuous life
of a Wall street broker left Mr. Belden
little leisure for orders or fraternities.
His only association of that nature was
with the New York Society of the Sons
of the Revolution. In his youth he was
actively interested in athletics and as he
grew older, hunting and fishing became
his favorite recreations. Withal, he was
a man of literary tastes, spending some of
his happiest hours in his library.
Mr. Belden married Sarah R. Allen,