Denison, Charles Neilson MD
CHARLES  NEILSON  DENISON, M. D.

Dr. Charles Neilson Denison, a popular and successful physician and surgeon practicing in Cheshire, Connecticut, was born in Stillwater, Saratoga county, New York, July 9, 1870, a son of Albert Gallup and Maria (Neilson) Denison. The name Denison is unquestionably of ancient and probably of Norman origin. Burke's Book of the Landed Gentry of Great Britain states: "One Danziel, or Daniel, a full blooded Norman, settled in Renfrewshire, called his place Danzielstovn, and from this came Denison. The family is unquestionably ancient, the name appearing in the charter of King Malcolm I, who died in 1165. The English Denisons are said to have sprung from a cadet of this ancient house, who went from Scotland in the time of Charles I and who fought at Marston Moor." The Denison family in America traces its descent from William Denison, who in 1631 came to America from Kngland with John Eliot, the apostle to the Indians, as a passenger on the ship Lion. He settled in Roxbury, Massachusetts, and was well known in that community. His son, Captain George Denison, was born in England in 1619 and came with his parents to Roxbury in 1631. Twelve years later he returned to England and at the time of the civil war in that country fought with the parliamentary troops under Cromwell and was wounded in the battle of Naseby. In 1645 he married Ann Borodell, always called Lady Ann. She was of Cork, Ireland, and both were remarkable for their magnificent personal appearance and force of mind and character. Captain Denison returned with his family to Roxbury, Massa-chusetts. From 1651 to 1654 he took a prominent part in military affairs in Roxbury but at the end of that period removed to what is now Stonington, Connecticut. In 1675 and 1676 he was in command of a body of soldiers contributed by New London county to the army that fought in King Philip's war. Captain Denison made a brilliant record and it was his force that captured Chieftain Canonchet, one of the Indian leaders. He was not only prominent in military affairs but also in community councils in time of peace. His record was at all times that of a public-spirited citizen. Miss Calkins in her History of New London says of him: "He has been described as the Miles Standish of the settlement, but lie was a greater and more brilliant soldier than Miles Standish. Our early history presents no character of bolder and more active spirit than Captain George Denison; he reminds us of the border men of Scotland." Later generations of the family removed from New England to New York. Charles Neilson Denison is descended from the Gallup family through his grandmother on his father's side—Eunice Gallup. She was a direct descendant of Captain John Gallup, slain in the Narragansett Fort battle, December 19, 1675. "We learn from Thomas Fuller, vicar of Broadwindsor, who quotes from manuscripts, that in 1413 (seventy-nine years before the discovery of America, and in the first year in the reign of King Henry V) that John Galope of that parish was the first man in England to assume the title of esquire." In an indenture dated September 20, 1519, John Gallop, son of the former, appears as one of ye governors and guardians of ye fraternity of St. Francis and St. Christo-pher in Ecclesia, Wetherbury, Dorset. Herald's Inquisition. 1562, cites his death in 1534. There is in Corpus Christ College, Cambridge, a very artistic illumination of John de Galop, dean of the Collegiate Church of St. Louis of Normandy, presenting to King Henry V a translation of Bonaventura's "Life of Christ," made by himself. This must have been taken in 1420, when, after the battle of Agincourt and his marriage with Catharine, Henry became regent of France. The drapery of the throne is powdered with fleurs de lis. In the library of the house of lords a collection of manuscripts called Gallopiana has many records of the branches of the Gallops and their allied families. The name seems to be spelled in many ways—Gallope—Galope and Gallup. Mrs. Maria (Neilson) Denison was born in Stillwater, New York, and also came of a family long established in America. The land on which occurred the battle of the Burgoyne, one of the most important conflicts of the Revolutionary war, is still in the possession of the Neilsons.

Albert Gallup Denison, the father of our subject, was born in Berne, New York, and for many years was a resident of Stillwater, that state, where he engaged in the manufacture of cotton underwear. He was not only prominent in business but was also a pillar in the Baptist church, in which he held the office of deacon. Mrs. Denison passed away at Stillwater in 1909, when seventy-five years of age, having for many years survived her husband, who died there in 1883, when fifty-two years old. They were the parents of three children, Mrs. G. P. H. Taylor; Rial N., for over thirty years a practicing physician, residing at Brooklyn, New York; and Charles N., of this review.

Charles N. Denison obtained his early education in the public schools of Stillwater and then entered the Brooklyn Polytechnic Institute, after which he studied in the Long Island College. Hospital, from which he was graduated with the degree of M. D. in 1893. The succeeding year was spent as an interne in the Ward's Island and Metropolitan Hospitals, both of New York city, and in 1894 he came to Cheshire, Connecticut, and opened an office for the independent practice of his profession. His success in diagnosing and treating disease and his devotion to his work have commended him to the patronage of the public, and his patients come not only from the town of Cheshire but from the surrounding country. Since May, 1910, he has also maintained an office at No. 299 Main street, Waterbury, and has built up a good practice in that city. Since 1910 he has been town health officer and medical examiner and has been very efficient in the discharge of his official duties.

Dr. Denison was married in 1895, in Stillwater, New York, to Miss Minnie Louise Conkey, a daughter of William S. and Louise (Brazier) Conkey, natives respectively of Troy and Stillwater, New York. Both the Brazier and Conkey families were established in the Empire state in early days and were well known in their respective localities. Mrs. Denison has taken a very active part in social and club work and organized the Drama Club, which has been the means of bringing about many improvements in the village, as the net proceeds of the entertainments given by the club are used to secure such improvements as additional sidewalks or a new town hall. The club has in reality done the work of a civic association and much of the credit for its successful accomplishments is due to Mrs. Denison.

Dr. Denison supports the republican party but has held no office outside the strict path of his profession. In religious faith he is a Baptist and fraternally is connected with Temple Lodge, No. 16, A. F. & A. M., at Cheshire, of which he is a past master, and Franklin Chapter, No. 2, R. A. M., of New Haven. For seven years he belonged to the Governor's Foot Guard of New Haven and after serving for a year and a half as a private was made assistant surgeon with the rank of lieutenant and later surgeon with the rank of captain on the general staff, which position he held for four years. He is now retired from that body but has been brevetted captain. With the outbreak of the war with Germany he turned his military experience to good account and helped to organize, and became the medical examiner of, the First Cheshire Company of the Connecticut Home Guard and has also been made surgeon with the rank of lieutenant in the One Hundred and First Regiment. Although his practice makes heavy demands upon his time and energy he has still found time to do much public service of great value, his keen interest in the general welfare prompting him to do all in his power for the public good in this time of stress and testing.
 
 

Modern History of New Haven
and 
Eastern New Haven County

Illustrated

Volume II

New York – Chicago
The S. J. Clarke Publishing Company 
1918

pgs 240 - 241

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pages / text are copyrighted by
Elaine Kidd O'Leary & 
Anne Taylor-Czaplewski
May 2002