Page:The Biographical Dictionary of America, vol. 01.djvu/428

 BREWSTER.

BREWSTER.

Detroit, Midi.. ISSl-'So; of Grace church, Balti- more. Md., iyiC)-'88, and of Grace church, Brook- lyn, N.Y., 1888-'97. He was elected by diocesan convention coadjutor to the Rt. Rev. John Wil- liams, bishop of the diocese of Connecticut and primate of the American ejiiscopate, and was consecrated Oct. 28, 18l>7, in Trinity cluirch, New Haven. Conn., at the hands of Bishops Littlejohn, Doane and Potter, a.ssisted by Bislioi)s Whit- aker, Lawrence, Paret, Whitehead, Wort hington and Walker, with one hundred and fiftj'-two priests of the churcli and twenty-five professors and students from the Berkeley divinity scliocl as witnesses. On the death of Bisliop Williams, Feb. 7, 1899, Bishop Brewster succeeded him and became oth bishop of Connecticut. He received the degree of D.D. from Trinity in 1897 and from Yale in 1898. He is the author of " Key of Life; Good Friday Addresses '" (1885^; " Aspects of Rev- elation " (10(tl ). and articles and reviews.

BREWSTER, Henry C, representative, was born in Rochester, N. Y., Sept. 7, 18-45, and was educated at the public schools. In 1863 he be- came a biink clerk, in 1868 was made cashier, and in 1894 became first vice-jjresident of the Traders national bank. He was made a director and vice-president of the Rochester trust and safe deposit company; of the Alliance bank; president of the Rochester clearing-hoase association; director in the Rochester and Genesee valley railroad company: in the Rochester and Lake Ontario railway company: in the Eastman kodak company; in the Ward natural science establish- ment; a governor of the Rochester homceopathic hospital; a trustee of St. Peter's Presbyterian church; a commissioner of Mt. Hope cemetery; vice-president of the New Y'ork state bankers as.sociation; ^^ce -president and president of the Rochester chamber of commerce; vice-president of the New York state league of Republican clubs, and president of the Monroe county leagiie. In 1894 he was elected as representative to the 54th Congress, and was in 1896 elected to the 55tli Congress.

BREWSTER, James, manufactxu-er, was born in Pr»'>t<jn, Conn., Aug. 6, 1788. He was a direct descendant of William Brewster, the pilgrim. He acquired an ordinary education, learned the trade of carriage building, and started in busi- ness for himself in New Haven, Conn., in 1810, ultimately ama.ssed wealth and attained celebrity as the builder of " Brewster " wagons, and of fine carriages. At the breaking out of the war of 1812 he enli.sted and was apr)ointed lieutenant, but soon after obtained a discharge from the army, and returned to his commercial ojiera- tioas. In 1833 the Hartford and New Haven railroad was projected, and Mr. Brewster was one of the eight men to procure a cliarter, and was

chosen president of the corporation. The neces- sary funds were generously advanced by him, as a disastrous tire in New York in 1835 prevented the collection of moneys which had been subscribed in that cit3^ After seeing the project fairly started, he resigned the presi- dency. He was in the habit of addressing his employees in the evenings on subjects of a practical and reformatory nature; he built and fitted up a fine hall for their use, and also spent many thousand dollars each year in maintaining courses of scientific lectures by Professors Silli- man, Olmsted and Shepard of Y'ale college, for their benefit. He also contributed largely to the orphan asylum erected in New Haven in 1855, was a generous subscriber to the home for the friendless, and \s as instrimiental in erecting many public buildings and in making much-needed im- provements in the city. See " Address upon the Life and Character of the Late James Brewster," by James T. Babcock (1866). He died Nov. 23, 1866.

BREWSTER, Osmyn, publisher, was born in Boston, ^lass., in 1797. He was for fifty years a partner in the widely-known firm of Crocker & Brewster, book-sellers. He held many public offices, served five years in the Massachu- setts house of representatives and one year in the senate, and was a member of the board of aldermen of Boston in 1856, 1857 and 1858. He was treasurer of the Massachusetts charitable mechanics association for twenty-five years, and a member of the Bunker Hill monument associa- tion. He died Aug. 16, 1889.

BREWSTER, William, pilgrim, was born about 1560, probably in England. He attended Cambridge university, and then held a sectarial position under William Davison, ambassador to the Netherlands, whose.influence on their return to England, obtained for Mr. Brewster the place of postmaster of Scrooby. (See William Bradford's "Memoir of Elder Brewster. " ) But religious toleration was growing more and more rare, and Brewster, pious, devout, and conscien tious, but a Protestant, foimd himself unable to remain longer in England, Accordingly in the fall of 1607 he attempted to go to Holland. All preparations were made; the goods were on board the chartered vessel at Boston, and the party was ready to start, when, through the treachery of the captain, they were seized by officials, their monej', goods and books confis- cated, and they themselves taken before the magistrates. In the summer of 1608, he succeeded in reaching Holland, where he was chosen the ruling elder of the colony, and also an instructor of English in the University of Leyden. In addition to this he started a printing-oflfice on a very small .scale, where he brought out a num- ber of works during 1617 and 1618. In 1619 he