My Genealogy Hound

CHARLES L. HOSFORD, proprietor of Terrace Grove, Williamsburg, and a veteran of the Civil War, was born in Williamstown, Berkshire County, Mass., November 12, 1839, son of Arad and Sophia (Bardwell) Hosford. Mr. Hosford’s grandfather, Stephen Hosford, was a soldier in the Revolutionary War. He followed agriculture in Plainfield, Mass., for some time, and later moved to Goshen, where he became a prosperous farmer.

Arad Hosford, Mr. Hosford’s father, was born in Plainfield in 1795. At the age of twenty-one he entered mercantile life in Williamstown as a clerk; and after continuing in that capacity for several years he purchased a farm, upon which he settled. He became an extensive real estate dealer and was a progressive citizen. He was a Captain in the State militia and a Whig in politics. He died in 1857. His wife, Sophia Bardwell, was a daughter of Obediah Bardwell, a veteran and a pensioner of the Revolutionary War, who died at the advanced age of ninety-six years. She became the mother of eleven children, four of whom died young. Those who reached maturity were: Harriet, Calvin C., Chester B., B. Frank, William A., Charles L., and Mary. The mother died in 1872, aged sixty-four years.

Charles L. Hosford was educated in the district schools of Williamstown; and at the age of eighteen he went to Winsted, Conn., where he was engaged as a clerk for four years. In 1861 he enlisted as a private in Company E, Second Regiment, Connecticut Volunteers, for three months’ service; and at the expiration of that time he re-enlisted and was commissioned a Lieutenant.

He was subsequently promoted to the rank of Captain, and participated in several important battles. He resigned his commission in 1863, and returning to Winsted engaged in the retail boot and shoe business. In 1871 he sold his business and came to Haydenville, where he secured a position at the brass works, in which he later became overseer of his department. He remained there until 1885, when failing health caused him to retire. In 1887 he bought the William Skinner farm of sixty-three acres, which was comparatively unimproved, with the exception of twelve acres of meadow land; and he proceeded to clear the neglected portion into a state of cultivation. He erected a handsome house and spacious barns, with all modern conveniences; and upon the completion of the electric road from Northampton he beautified and fitted up a fine grove of stately pines and oaks for amusement purposes.

Mr. Hosford has spared neither pains nor expense in making Terrace Grove an attractive picnic ground. It contains a platform seventy by thirty feet, covered by a canvas awning and capable of seating two hundred people, with kitchen conveniences connected equal to the preparation of an elaborate dinner. There is an oven for clam-bakes, with ample space for lawn tennis, base-ball, company drill, and all other out-of-door exercises. Special pains have been taken to make the grove popular as a resort for chowder and clam-bake parties, basket picnics, and evening parties; and a pleasant dressing-room is provided for ladies. The grove is reached by the New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad, and the electric cars from Northampton run to a point within two minutes’ walk of the entrance. Although Terrace Grove has been opened but a short time, it is already appreciated by many, and is a popular resort for summer outing parties. Mr. Hosford’s enterprise merits all the success to be anticipated.

On September 22, 1864, Mr. Hosford was united in marriage to Harriet I. Pierce, daughter of Amos Pierce, a prosperous farmer and dairyman of Winsted, Conn. Mr. and Mrs. Hosford had seven children, namely: Nellie, who died in infancy; Alice, who resides at home; Howard, who married Lillian Van Slyke, and is a travelling salesman for the brass works in Haydenville; Mary, a talented singer, who resides at home; Frank B., a machinist of Williamsburg; Robert, who died young; and Charles, who resides at home. Mr. Hosford is a member of St. Andrew’s Lodge of A. F. & A. M. of Winsted. He is a Democrat in politics and liberal in his religious views.