Encyclopedia of Connecticut biography, genealogical-memorial ...

whose ancestral record is appended to
this biography, and they became the par-
ents of three children : Edith, born April
26, 1872, wife of Charles W. Palmer, of
New York City ; Agnes, born February
ID, 1873, married George D. Arthur, also
of New York City, and has one child,
George D. (3) ; and William Allen, born
June II, 1875, and now, for some years,
the successor of his father in business.
About twenty years ago, it being the
desire of Mrs. Belden to make her summer
home in Connecticut, she was authorized
by her husband to select a site and
to make all the arrangements necessary
for the erection of a residence. She fin-
ally purchased a plot on Wallack's Point,
in the town of Stamford, one of the most
beautiful spots on the Connecticut shore,
and there built a spacious and attractive
mansion, which reflects a strong indi-
viduality and a fine sense of proportion.
One of the most important elements in
her influence was her love for the natural
beauties of the place and her care for
their preservation. In order to save a fine
tree she had a U-shaped niche built into
the house, thus giving it room for growth.
Mr. Belden was a man of exceptionally
strong domestic attachments, appreciat-
ing nothing so highly as an atmosphere of
family affection and fireside happiness.
It was not, however, in his beautiful
Connecticut home, that Mr. Belden
"ceased from earth," but in Montreal,
Canada, where, on February 12, 1912, he
passed quietly away. From the old city
of the North, rich in historic associations,
the sad tidings came to his beloved Stamford,
bringing to many hearts profound
sorrow for the loss of one whose daily
life among them had given an example of
every private virtue even as his course in
the turmoil of the world of business had
been one of undeviating rectitude and
stainless integrity.
ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY
266
A career like that of Charles Denison
Belden is independent of comment. Its
unadorned record has a simple and con-
vincing eloquence far transcending the
language of eulogy.
(The Brush Line).
This name, which is another form of
Broom or Broome, is, perhaps, derived
from the German brusch, meaning a
broom. Some claim that it is an angli-
cized form of Plantagenet (planta genista),
but it is, more probably, a local designa-
tion derived from one of the parishes so-
called in the counties of Norfolk, Suffolk,
Stafford, Bedford, and Durham. Robert
de Brus went with William the Con-
queror to England, where the name of
his son Robert was changed to Bruce.
This, some say, was the origin of the
Brush, Bruse, Bruce and Bush families.
Branches of the Brush family were
early transplanted to Massachusetts and
Long Island, and also to Westchester
county, New York. Everywhere have the
members proved themselves worthy citi-
zens, valuable, in the different walks of
life, to their respective communities.
(I) Caleb Brush was bom in West-
chester county, and was engaged in business
on Grove street, New York City. He
married Eleanor Van Tassel (see Van
Tassel family), the original of the fas-
cinating Katrina Van Tassel, the cele-
brated heroine of the "Legend of Sleepy
Hollow," perhaps the best known of those
charming tales from the pen of Wash-
ington Irving, whose genius has clothed
with an atmosphere of romance, the banks
of the Hudson from New York to Albany.
(II) Joshua, son of Caleb and Eleanor
(Van Tassel) Brush, was engaged in the
lumber business. He married Lucretia
Keesler, of New York City.
(III) Catherine Louisa, daughter of
Joshua and Lucretia (Keesler) Brush, be-