Читать книгу History of Bridgeport and Vicinity, Volume 2: Biographical - George Curtis Waldo jr. - Страница 14

Judge Morris Beach Beardsley, senior member of the law firm of Beardsley & Beardsley and who has been with the Bridgeport bar since 1872, was born in Trumbull, Fairfield county, Connecticut, August 13, 1849, a son of Samuel G. and Mary (Beach) Beardsley and a descendant of one of the oldest families of Fairfield county. His ancestry in the paternal line is traced to William Beardsley, who settled at Stratford, Connecticut, in 1639. Another direct ancestor was Samuel Gregory, who with Samuel Beardsley were two of the nine original members of the First Church of Christ, now the First Congregational church of Bridgeport.

The son of a prosperous farmer, Judge Beardsley was accorded liberal educational opportunities. He prepared for Yale in Stratford Academy and afterward won his Bachelor of Arts degree at Yale in 1870 He spent the succeeding year as a student in the law school of Columbia University of New York and then entered the law office of William K. Seeley and following his admission to the bar entered upon active practice in 1872 in Bridgeport, becoming junior member of the firm of Seeley & Beardsley, which partnership continued until Mr. Beardsley was elected city clerk. Through the intervening period of forty -six years he has been an active and well-known member of the profession in this city and has not only figured prominently in connection with the work of the courts but has also been called upon to fill various public offices of honor and trust. In 1873 he was chosen city clerk and continued in that position for four years, at the end of which time he was elected judge of the probate court of Bridgeport and continued in that capacity for sixteen years, retiring in 1893, in which year he was elected to represent the city in the state legislature. He has a comprehensive knowledge of probate law and his work in connection with the office of probate judge was highly satisfactory to the public in general.

In June, 1873, Judge Beardsley was united in marriage to Miss Lucy J. Fayerweather, and they became the parents of one son and two daughters: Major Samuel F. Beardsley, who is associated with his father in the practice of law; Lucy M., the wife of Emile C. Coming, of New Orleans, Louisiana; and Amelia L.

Judge and Mrs. Beardsley are members of the Congregational church and guide their lives by its teachings. Politically he has ever been a democrat and has kept foremost in the activities and councils of the party in the state. In 1894 he was the candidate of his party for lieutenant governor, and in 1916 he headed the ticket as candidate for governor but was defeated when Hughes carried the state for the republican party. Judge Beardsley has served for six years as a member of the public library board and at the same time as a member of the board, of education. At the present time he is a member of the board of park commissioners. Fraternally he is a Mason and exemplifies in his life the spirit of the craft. He holds membership in the Society of Colonial Wars, in which he has been governor, and he is also a very prominent and active member of the Sons of the American Revolution and at one time was president general of the national society. A residence of forty-six years in Bridgeport has made him widely known, and the sterling traits of his character have placed him in the front rank among those men with whom association means expansion and elevation.