ORRIN STONE ARNOLD
& THE BUCK and DANIELSON FAMILIES

BIOGRAPHY

AS RECORDED IN:

COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD OF TOLLAND AND WINDHAM COUNTIES CONNECTICUT.

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES OF PROMINENT AND REPRESENTATIVE CITIZENS AND OF MANY OF THE EARLY SETTLED FAMILIES.

PUBLISHER: J.H.BEERS & CO., CHICAGO; 1903 P. 665 -
668

ORRIN STONE ARNOLD, a prominent and successful manufacturer of Killingly, Windham Co., Conn., descends from one of the oldest and most honorable of the early families of the State of Rhode Island.

The Arnold ancestry is one which may well bring a feeling of pride to its representatives, so complete is the record and so honorable the achievements of this conspicuous family. The Arnold genealogical tree needs no props, standing secure, and typified by the sturdy oaks which for generations have shaded the old colonial homes of the family in various localities. The family is of English descent, and its early members were numbered among the most distinguished founders of Rhode Island, and they may be traced back in a connecting line for twenty-five generations.

Thomas and William Arnold, brothers, from Cheselbourne, Dorsetshire, England, descendants in the sixth generation from Roger Arnold, through Thomas, Richard, Richard (2), and Thomas Arnold, became early settlers of Rhode Island. William, born in 1587, married Christian Peak, and with his family sailed from Dartmouth, England, in 1635. On arriving in New England he was for a time at Hingham, thence moving to Providence in 1636, and to Pawtuxet in 1638; he died in 1676. He was one of the original thirteen members of the First Baptist Church of Providence. Thomas Arnold, the other brother, born in 1599, came to America in the ship “Plain Joan,” in 1635, and settled in Watertown, Mass. He married (second) Phebe Parkhurst. In 1661 he removed to Providence, R.I., where he died in 1674. His widow died
in 1688. Both were prominent and leading citizens of their respective towns, as have been many of their descendants. As may be judged, William and Thomas Arnold were among those who recognized the excellent qualities of Roger Williams (the founder of the city of Providence), and as sympathizers with him in his views on both civil and religious liberty, decided to join their fortunes with his. With their effects they embarked in a canoe, and, after a perilous voyage, finally landed safely at Providence, and history records them as being among the thirteen original proprietors of the town of Providence, Rhode Island.

The town of Coventry, R.I., the home for several generations of the ancestors of Orrin Stone Arnold, of Danielson, Conn., was formed from the
town of Warwick in 1741, and in Warwick lived a branch of the descendants of William Arnold, the immigrant settler. In the town are recorded the marriages of a number of the children of Israel Arnold, and the births of the children of several of his grandsons, among them James Arnold, who married Dec. 3, 1740, in East Greenwich, Freelove Burlingame, and their twenty-two children were born between 1741 and 1769, all of record in Warwick, the sons being James, Eleazer, Caleb, David, George, Peleg, Wait, Reuben, Simon and Eleazer, the latter the youngest child, born March 7, 1769. These children were in the sixth generation from William Arnold the settler, their line being through Stephen and Mary (Smith), Israel and Mary (Smith), Israel (2) and Elizabeth (Smith) and James and Freelove (Burlingame) Arnold.

William Arnold, the immigrant settler, had the following family of children: Benedict, born De. 21, 1615, who died June 20, 1678, married to Damaris Westcott, and the father of Godsgift, Josias, Benedict, Freelove, Oliver, Caleb, Damaris and Priscilla; Thomas; Stephen, who lived and died in Pawtuxet; a daughter, who married Zachary Rhodes.

Thomas Arnold, the younger of the two brothers who came to America, moved to Smithfield, R.I., Oct. 17, 1661. By the first wife, whose maiden name is unknown, he had three children, two of whom died in infancy, the survivor marrying John Farnum. His second wife was Phoebe Parkhurst, and their children were: Ichabod, who died young; Richard; Thomas, who died single; John; Eleazer; and Elizabeth, who married Samuel Comstock.

Benedict Arnold, son of William the settler, resided in Pawtuxet, and his name appears on the first conveyance in the records of the town. It is attached to a memorandum dated March 9, 1639, which was added to a deed conveying a grant of land by Massasoit, the noted Indian chieftain, and this was later confirmed by Chief Miantonomi. His name appears in the list of fifty-four persons to whom the town lots were granted, lots bounded by what are now know as North and South Main and Hope streets. In 1642 he was one of the four inhabitants who, having become dissatisfied with the conduct of Gorton and his company, placed themselves and their lands under the protection of Moss, where they remained for sixteen years, with the exception of Mr. Arnold, who, in 1653, removed to Newport, R.I. We find his name upon the list of commissioners from that place, appointed to adjust certain difficulties and to bring about the union of the towns of Rhode Island under the charter of patent granted by the Parliament of the Commonwealth of England. At the meeting of the General Assembly in 1654, Mr. Arnold was elected a colony officer and in 1657-61 he was president of the colony of Aquidneck, under the charter of King Charles, and was elected governor for several years.

Among the Arnold descendants were men who became prominent in town, State and nation, and women who were noted for wit and beauty. Lieut. Col. Job Arnold, well remembered as a hero who won distinction at Bull Run and in the Burnside expedition, during the Civil war, was a native of Smithfield, R.I. Still farther back we note that Hon. Oliver Arnold was attorney-general of Rhode Island from 1766 to 1771; Gov. Lemuel Hastings Arnold was representative to the General Assembly in 1826 and succeeded Gov. James Fenner, in May, 1831, serving to 1833, during the Dorr Rebellion, and was one of the executive council in 1845 and later was elected representative to Congress from the Western District; Hon. Samuel Greene Arnold, LL. D., the historian of Rhode Island, was born in Providence in 1821, in the homestead
located on the corner of South Main and Planet streets, a noted historical spot, as in this old mansion was planned the capture and burning of the “Gaspee” in 1772. In 1848 Samuel G. Arnold was a trustee of Brown University and in 1852 he was elected Lieutenant Governor of Rhode Island and re-elected in 1861. In 1862, upon the resignation of Hon. James F. Simmons, he was appointed United States Senator and in 1878 he was made Republican presidential elector. This very incomplete list of the notable members of this prominent family merely indicates the fiber and strength of intellect which it has produced.

Grandfather Elisha Arnold was a descendant of the first of the name in Rhode Island and was a resident of Coventry, where he carried on farming operations during the summers and followed shoemaking during the winters. In his later years he went to Marshall, Mich., to live with his children and there he died. His wife was a member of the Bates family, one which was identified with Windham county, Conn. His three sons were Henry B., Alfred and Otis.

Henry Bates Arnold, son of Elisha and father of Orrin Stone Arnold, was born in Coventry, R.I., and there grew to manhood. He married Alzada Stone, born in Coventry, daughter of Waldo Stone, and a descendant of Hugh Stone, who came to this country between 1655 and 1665; he married Abigail Busecot and died at Providence at the age of ninety years, about 1725. When a young man, Henry B. Arnold followed both farming and school teaching. In 1849 he joined a company for California, going by way of Cape Horn, reached there safely and remained two years, attaining fair success in the mines. On a second trip, taken soon after his return from the first, Mr. Arnold was taken ill on board the ship and died in 1852 shortly before it reached San Francisco; he was buried on an island in the Pacific ocean. His widow remained in Coventry until her son Orrin came to Killingly, when she accompanied him there, and died at his home in Williamsville in 1877. Two
sons were born to Henry B. Arnold and his wife, namely: Orrin Stone, of Williamsville; and Denham, born in 1839, who is now a resident of St. Louis, Mo. For a considerable period he occupied a chair in Washington College, but for the last ten years he has been at the head of a College preparatory school, and is a man of high scholarly attainments.

Orrin S. Arnold was born June 24, 1837, in Coventry, RI. His education was acquired in the public schools of his native town, which he attended until the age of seventeen years, at which time he entered upon a practical line of work in Peck’s machine shop in Coventry. His tastes were in the direction of machinery and he soon became a skilled workman. After learning bobbin-making, he followed that occupation for five years in Coventry, in the meantime accumulating means with which to enter into business for himself.

An opportunity of this kind was offered in 1864 at which time Mr. Arnold came to Williamsville, town of Killingly, and purchased a half-interest in the bobbin factory which was then owned and operated there by R. N. Potter. The business was carried on under the firm name of R. N. Potter & Co. until the death of the senior partner, which occurred April 26, 1878, when Mr. Arnold bought out the remaining interest. In 1887 he took in as a partner, G. D. Barber, and for a period the business was conducted under the name of the Arnold and Barber Bobbin Company. At the end of that time Mr. Arnold again became sole proprietor, and since then has carried on this extensive and increasing business alone. Mr. Arnold has found in his capable son, Henry D., an efficient assistant who every year assumes more and more of the responsibility. While this is gratifying, it is not an actual necessity in Mr. Arnold’s case, as he possesses the vitality and activity of a much younger man, but the necessity has passed by for him to superintend everything and he feels justified in relieving himself of a part of his duties. The business has much more than trebled since he became its owner, and is now one of the leading industries of the place. The plant is run continuously through the year, giving employment to about twenty-five hands. Mr. Arnold has plans under consideration by which he will soon be able to increase his business fully one-third.

Mr. Arnold is too much of a practical man of business ever to accept political preferment, but his sympathies and interests are with the
Republican party. Both he and his estimable wife are members of the Congregational Church, in Williamsville. For a time Mr. Arnold was one of its deacons, but later resigned the office.

Mr. Arnold was married in Killingly, Conn., to Miss Lucy L.M.C. Buck, and two children were born to this union: Henry Denham, born June 10, 1877, who is associated with his father in the bobbin factory; and Fannie Danielson, born Nov. 22, 1879, who died July 8, 1902, the wife of Frank Spaulding and the mother of a little daughter, Dorcas Arnold.

BUCK. Capt. Joseph Buck, the grandfather of Mrs. Arnold, was a son of Samuel Buck, who served in Capt. Cady’s Regiment during the Revolution, and grandson of Samuel Buck, who came from Rehoboth. Capt. Joseph received his title from the local militia, and remembered meeting Gen. Washington. He was born in Killingly, now Putnam, where he passed his life as a farmer, dying in 1861, at the age of ninety-five years. His wife was Dorcas Fairbanks, a native of Thompson, Conn., who lived to the age of eighty-five years. Their children were: Chloe, who married a Mr. Bragg, of Vermont; Simon, the father of Mrs. Arnold; Abigail, who married William Bartholomew, of Pomfret, Conn.; Martha, who married John Perrin, of Thompson, Conn.; Joseph, who married Eliza Alton, lived in Killingly and Putnam, and died in
Pawtucket, R.I., leaving two children, Lewis, and Elizabeth Briggs, wife of Nathan Whipple, of Putnam; Mary, who married George Richard, of Pomfret; Eliza and Elisha, twins, the latter of whom died young, the former of whom married George Perry, of Putnam and lived at the old homestead; and Caroline, who died unmarried at the age of forty-two years. Mrs. Perry was living in 1902 at the age of ninety-one years.

Simon Buck, the father of Mrs. Arnold, was born Sept. 3, 1797, and died Aug. 6, 1869. His second marriage was to Mary Danielson, born Aug. 12, 1797, in Killingly, Conn., who died April 25, 1851. The children of this marriage were: Eunice W., born April 7, 1832, who married George Barber of Worcester, Mass., and died Jan. 6, 1864; Mary Jane, born Aug. 25, 1834, who resides in Worcester, Mass.; Lucy Maria Crosby, born Oct. 22, 1840, who married Orrin Stone Arnold, April 17, 1873; and Fannie Danielson, born Nov. 30, 1842, who married Horace Kendall in 1874 and died Aug. 22, 1881, in Worcester, Mass. By a prior marriage to Eunice Williams of Pomfret, Conn., Simon Buck had two sons, Edwin and Elisha F., the former of whom died in infancy, and the latter in Delavan, Ill., April 17, 1854.

DANIELSON. Through her mother Mrs. Arnold was connected with an old Revolutionary family and one which has from earliest days been prominent in Rhode Island and Connecticut. Mrs. Buck was a daughter of Capt. Samuel Danielson, a son of Samuel Danielson, who was a son of James Danielson, who came from Block Island, R.I., in 1706, and bought of Major Fitch in 1707 all the land that lies between the Quinebaug and Five Mile rivers, and as far north as Alexander’s Pond. He laid out Westfield cemetery.

Capt. Samuel Danielson, Jr., served in the Revolutionary war in Capt. Cady’s regiment, and went to the Lexington alarm with Gen. Putnam. On March 21, 1777, he was appointed Lieutenant by Gov. Jonathan Trumbull and was commissioned Captain May 16, 1783. He first married Hannah Whitman, of Providence, by whom he had these children: Samuel, Susannah and Martha. His second marriage was to Elizabeth Spaulding, of Killingly, Conn., by whom he had these children: John; Hannah; Elizabeth; Martha; Fannie; J. Willard, born Aug. 12, 1795, who died in Mason, N.H., Feb. 10, 1843; Mary, the mother of Mrs. Arnold, born Aug. 12, 1795, a twin of J. Willard; Lucy; and Thomas. J. Willard married Mary Palmer Roath, born Nov. 3, 1793, who died Jan. 3, 1832, daughter of Abial Roath, of Norwich, Conn. They had a
daughter, Mary Roath, who is the wife of Deacon William H. Chollar, of Danielson. A portion of the land which came into the possession of the Danielson family in 1707 is still owned by them.

Reproduced by:

Linda D. Pingel – great-great granddaughter of Cyrus White of Rockville, Ct.