Encyclopedia of Connecticut biography, genealogical-memorial ...

George was administrator of the estate.
He was one of the leading men of the
early settlement at Waterbury.
(II) Richard Welton, son of John and
Mary Welton, was born September 27,
1679, and is reputed to have been the first
child of English parents born in Waterbury.
In May, 1699, and in 1723, he became
a townsman. He was apparently a car-
penter by trade and was also a sergeant
of militia. He first bought the house and
a lot of three acres on the corner of Grove
and Willow streets of his brother Stephen,
for which he gave "a horse and a young
stear and a parcel of timber," on August
I, 1703. In 1711, "in consideration of a
two year old hefFer,"he conveyed the land
(no mention is made of the house) to John
Scovill. In 1708 he had purchased the
house of Joseph Gaylord, Jr., in Buckshill,
and removed there. Richard Welton married
Mary Upson, daughter of Stephen
Upson.
(III) Richard Welton, son of Richard
and Mary (Upson) Welton, was born in
Waterbury, January 5, 1701. He was a
prosperous landowner and farmer. On
November 3, 1724, he married Anne Fenton,
(see Fenton II). He died January
II, 1766.
(IV) Captain John Welton, son of
Richard and Anne (Fenton) Welton, was
born January 26, 1726-27, in Waterbury,
Connecticut. He was a farmer of Buck-
shill. From an early period he was a
prominent member of the Episcopal Society,
and held the office of senior warden.
At the beginning of the Revolutionary
War he espoused the cause of the colonies,
became a moderate Whig, and was
confided in by the friends of Colonial in-
dependence. In 1784 he was appointed
a justice of the peace, and the same year
was elected to the Legislature, of which
he was a useful and much respected mem-
ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY
59
ber for fifteen sessions. It is said that few
men were listened to with more deference
than he. He died January 22, 1816. John
Welton married, January 5, 1758, Dorcas
Hickcox (see Hickcox IV).
(V) Richard Fenton Welton, son of
Captain John and Dorcas (Hickcox) Wel-
ton, was born April 17, 1767. On reach-
ing manhood he removed to the center
of the town, and lived on East Main
Street, near the west end of the lot on
which the Church of the Immaculate Conception
stands. His lot was bounded on
the west by land of James Scovil's, the
division line being about where the west
line of Phoenix Alley now is. About 1803
he established a general merchandise busi-
ness, in a store which he owned on the
corner of East and South Main streets.
About 1810, his health failing, he gave up
his business, and returned to Buckshill,
where he purchased a small farm. In
1817 he disposed of this and removed to a
farm near the present residence of Hiram
E. Welton. Richard F. Welton married
(first) Sarah Anna Hickcox. He married
(second) Anna Porter (see Porter V).
Children : i. Caroline. 2. George Wales,
of whom further. 3. Joseph C.
(VI) George Wales Welton, son of
Richard Fenton and Anna (Porter) Welton,
was born in the old Welton homestead
on East Main Street, Waterbury,
August 26, 1809. After preparatory stud-
ies in the Buckshill School, he entered the
Waterbury Academy. On completing his
studies, he turned to agricultural pur-
suits, and until 1845 was engaged success-
fully in extensive farming operations. In
the latter year he was one of the prime
movers in the formation of the now famous
Waterbury Brass Company, and
until 1857 filled the position of superin-
tendent of the company's plants. In 1857
he became superintendent of the Holmes,