Encyclopedia of Connecticut biography, genealogical-memorial ...

tivity at Bridgeport. He continued to
serve in his father's office until the latter's
death in 1849. He was made executor of
his father's estate and in that capacity
closed up the accounts that had been
left open when death interrupted his fa-
ther's career as builder of railroads. In
1850 he was elected a director of the Naugatuck
Railroad, and in 185 1 he was cho-
sen president of that road. He served
that road as its executive until 1855, when
he resigned and engaged in railroading in
the Middle West. Principal among the
railroads he operated were the Milwaukee
& Watertown, the Milwaukee & Chicago,
and the Dubuque & Sioux City. Upon
his return to Bridgeport he was reelected
president of the Naugatuck Railroad, and
held that office from 1873 until his death.
With the organization of the Bridgeport
Steamboat Company in 1865, Mr. Bishop
was made its president. This office he
afterward relinquished in favor of his son,
Dr. Sydney Bishop. In 1859 he yielded
to the desire and ambition of his youth,
and he entered the priesthood of the Prot-
estant Episcopal Church, and he with
some outside assistance built the Church
of the Nativity, which he served as rector.
Five years later, 1864, the college adjoin-
ing the church was finished, and within
its walls orphans and needy boys received
a thorough preparation for college or a
business life.
Mr. Bishop held a large place in the
social and fraternal life of Bridgeport
and the State of Connecticut. He was
affiliated with Hamilton Commandery,
Knights Templar ; St. John's Lodge, Free
and Accepted Masons; Jerusalem Council,
Royal and Select Masters ; Jerusalem
Chapter, Royal Arch Masons ; and the
Confraternity of the Blessed Sacrament of
the Protestant Episcopal Church. In the
Masonic fraternity as well as in his church
ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY
55
connections Mr. Bishop was extremely
active for the major part of his life.
Mr. Bishop married, March 22, 1847, ^t
Brooklyn, New York, Georgianna Moody,
born in England, daughter of John and
Elizabeth Frances Moody. Her father was
born in England, and came to Bridgeport,
where he took up his home on North
Avenue, near the present Mountain Grove
Cemetery. He developed that section,
and became a dealer in real estate, carry-
ing on this line of business to a consider-
able extent. He died at the age of sev-
enty-eight years, and his wife, who also
was born in England, died at the age of
sixty. They were the parents of eleven
children. To Mr. and Mrs. Ethan Ferris
Bishop there were born three children
1. Sydney, who was the successor of his
father in the presidency of the New York
and Bridgeport Steamboat Company and
for a number of years practiced medicine.
2. Alfred, born June 18, 1855, died in infancy.
3. Elizabeth Frances, born March
19, 1863. Mrs. Georgianna (Moody) Bish-
op, widow of Rev. Ethan Ferris Bishop,
died January 17, 1898.
The father, Alfred F., and the son, Ethan
Ferris Bishop, it will be readily gathered
from this memoir, were true to the best
traditions of the Bishop family. By their
lives and deeds they gave to the gen-
erations in which they moved and to
their successors the incalculable benefits
of their skill and industry. Who shall be
able to compute the blessings that have
come to their fellow-men from the majes-
tic sweep of those transportation lines,
rail and water, which they promoted,
builded and developed and maintained
They were honorable, clean-living men
they occupied a high plane of moral and
spiritual endeavor; and their well-nigh
marvelous successes in material things
they shared with a lavish hand with those
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