Encyclopedia of Connecticut biography, genealogical-memorial ...

the town committee for ten years and a
member of the board of relief for five
years. Neither dues he confine his public
interest to the boundaries of his own
town. He is chairman of the Liberty
Loan Committee of East <
iranby, and
under his direction excellent work was
done for the country in her time u\ need.
Me is a member of Old Newgate Lodge,
Knights of Pythias, and is also a member
of the Grange. He is a Democrat, as were
his father and grandfather, and actively
interested in the welfare of the party, hut
has always declined office. lie is prom-
inent socially as well as in business life,
and altogether is a man of whom the cit-
izens of his native town speak with pride.
Mr. Thompson married Mary S. Rose,
a native of Suffield, daughter of Mortimer
and Lucy Ann (Sheldon) Rose. They
have no children of their own, but have
reared a daughter, Gertrude Crane, who
married Charles F. Griffin, of North
Bloomfield.
BIDWELL, George Edmund,
Agriculturist.
If there be any truth in the theories of
heredity, a phophet would not have found
it necessary to resort to occult sources of
information to predict when George Edmund
Bidwell was a lad that he would
win recognition as a successful agricul-
turist. The family record is unique as to
vocation for Mr. Bidwell is of the sixth
generation in direct line of descent, each
of whom has been a successful tiller of the
soil. George E. Bidwell was born in
Canton, Hartford county, December 21,
1858, son of Albert F. and Henrietta R.
(Pike) Bidwell.
The name, Bidwell, is of Saxon origin.
According to Burke, it was originally
spelled Biddulph, and is composed of "the
I'.WYCI.ni'KDI \ OF Bl< >GR \IMIV
*37
Saxon word- Bidde, or Bida, 'prayer, entreaty,'
and Ulph, 'assistance, prot© Hon/
indicating that he who Rrsl adopted it
had been employed in some embassy or
mission, to seek aid, and thence acquired
the designation. The famil) is certainly
of remote antiquity, and Erdeswick, in
his Survey of Staffordshire, says: The
Biddulphs derive themselves from one
( Irmus le * ruidi >n, L ird 1
if I )arl
Buckinghall, Biddulph, in Staffordshire,
who lived in the time of Domesday.'"
M>>re than fifteen variations in the spell-
ing of the name are recorded, the forms
now most commonly found being Biddulph,
Bedwell, Bidwell, and Biddle. The
various coats-of-arms show that tin- hear-
ers were descended from the Mime an-
cestor. According to Burke, already
quoted, the original Bidwell arm-- were:
Arms— Per saltire or, and gule four roundels
each charged with a niartl I mter-cfaarged
Crest—A hand in fesse couped at the wrist
holding a curling stone.
The first of the name in the Connecticut
Valley was Richard Bidwell, called on the
records "Goodman Bidwell." He was an
early settler at Windsor. His death oc-
curred on December 25, 1647. While def-
inite proof has not yet been found, it is
generally supposed that he was the father
of John, mentioned below.
(I) John Bidwell. a proprietor of Hart-
ford "by the courtesie of the town," re-
ceived four acres in the division of 1639-
jo. He owned a tan yard on an island in
Little river; was chosen chimney viewer,
1655-56; was freed fr. >m watching and
training in 1670. He married Sarah,
daughter of John Wilcox, and he and his
wife were original members of the Second
or South Church. February 12, 1670.
(II) John (2) Bidwell, eldest child of
John (1) Bidwell, was born about 1641,
and died July 3, [692. He married, No-