Ulysses Grant Church
attorney at law
The law is an exacting mistress to those who would follow her, but though exacting, she brings great rewards. Of her votaries she demands from first to last that they make themselves students, nor will she excuse them from this necessity, however far they made progress in knowledge. Of them, too, she will have the strictest adherence to for standards, the closest observation of the etiquette she has approved, so that one should not inconsiderately pledge himself to her cause. Yet there are some who possess a pure love of the law for its own sake, even in this day and generation, some who would regard it as well worth their best efforts even though it were an end and not a means, a road that existed for its own sake and led nowhere. Such is undoubtedly true in the case of Ulysses Grant Church, the distinguished attorney of Waterbury, Connecticut, whose name heads this brief sketch, a profound student of the law and an ardent lover of its traditions and its methods.
Ulysses Grant Church was born Nov. 22, 1869, at Chaplin, Connecticut, a son of Julius and Manerva (Turner) Church, and a member of an old and honored New England family, whose founder, Richard Church, came to Plymouth, Massachusetts, and 1630. The paternal grandfather, Morris Church, was born in Mansfield, where he lived most of his life, was a farmer in Chaplin, living there in the high regard of his neighbors until his death at the age of 87 years. He was twice married, but it was by his first wife, Paty (Robbins) Church, that is children were born. They were three and all, two daughters, Martha and Eunice, both deceased, and Julius, Mr. Churche's father, now also deceased.
Julius Church was born in Mansfield, but afterward made his home in Chaplin, where his son was born, and finally at North Windham, where he died in 1915 at the age of 89 years, his wife having died there the previous year at the age of 82. Like his father he was a farmer, and his son, Mr. Church, enjoyed the benefits that come from a youth spent amid the wholesome, favorites environment of the farm. He was the youngest of five children, the others being as follows: Emma, who died at the age of 13 years; Edith, who became Mrs. Charles Smith, of North Haven, Connecticut, and died in 1891; Clifton J., who now resides at the old homestead at Chaplin with his wife, Eva (Whittaker) Church, and they are two children, Bernard and Lawrence; Martha, now Mrs. Orin E. Colburn, of North Windham, and the mother of two children, Raymond and Edith.
Ulysses Grant Church lived in his native town of Chaplin during the first 17 years of his life, and there attended local public schools for the rudimentary portion of his education. Later he went to the Mount Hermon School at Northfield, Massachusetts, and graduated therefrom in the year 1891. In later life Mr. Church served a term as trustee of this institution. He was a youth of much ambition and no little taste for study and he matriculated at Yale University in 1891 and graduated with the class of 1895 from the academic department. It had been a growing desire on his part to study law, and upon completion of his academic course he entered the Yale Law School and graduated therefrom two years later with the class of 1897. Shortly after, the outbreak of the Spanish -- American War turned Mr. Churche's thoughts away from the law temporarily. He join the auxiliary force of the United States Navy, mustered and for the occasion. However, the war was soon over and in January, 1899, Mr. Church came to Waterbury, Connecticut, and there began his practice of the law, Waterbury having remained his home up to the present time. He opened his office at Nos. 17 and 19 Odd Fellows Building, is present location, and was very successful from the outset. His practice is now a large and important one and he is regarded as one of the leaders of the county bar.
Besides his private practice in the law, Mr. Church has identified himself prominently with the affairs of the city he has chosen for his home and has already rendered valuable service to the community. Greatly interested in politics from an early age, Mr. Church has allied himself with the local organization of the Republican party, of the principles and policies of which he is a staunch supporter. It was son recognized by his colleagues that Mr. Church was a coming power in the political situation and a natural leader and he was placed in a number of responsible positions in the parties organization. He was chairman of the city committee for a number of years and for six years a member of the Fiftenth Senatorial District and the State committee. He is at present holding this responsible position, serving his fourth term therein, having succeeded General Lilly in this position. In 1906 he was appointed prosecuting attorney for the District Court and served in this difficult post until 1914, a period of eight years. He is one of those chosen in 1915 to serve on the State civil service commission by Governor Holcomb,, and still effectively serving the State in this capacity.
Mr. Church is a conspicuous figure in fraternal circles in Waterbury and a prominent member of several orders. He belongs to Harmony Lodge, Free and Accepted Masons; Eureka Chapter, Royal Arch Masons, and Clark Commandery, Knights Templer. He is also a member of the local encampment of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, the Waterbury Lodge of Elks, and the Waterbury Lodge of Spanish War Veterans. He is a member of the Waterbury Club and decidedly active in the general social life of the city. He keeps in touch with his colleagues of the profession by membership in the American Bar Association and the Connecticut Bar Association. In the matter of religious beliefs Mr. Church is a Congregationalist, attending the First Church of that denomination in Waterbury and giving liberally of effort and money in its cause.
On Dec. 2,1899, at Chaplin, Connecticut, the marriage of Mr. Church to Mabel Spafford Lincoln was celebrated. Mrs. Church is a native of Chaplin, born July 10, 1875, a daughter of Edgar S. and Katherine (Griggs) Lincoln, then of Chaplin, now Waterbury, where Mr. Lincoln lives in retirement, having withdrawn from the active life of a large merchantile establishments some years ago. There's another daughter besides Mrs. Church, Lucy, now the wife of Hubert Blake, of New Britain, Connecticut. To Mr. and Mrs. Church one child has been born, Richard Lincoln Church, December 17, 1912.
The life of Mr. Church may well be served as an example for the young people of his community. Possessed of talents above the average, a capable mind and alert perceptions, to which he adds a fine legal training, he is training the better part of his efforts to the service of the community, contenting himself with the knowledge of work well down. For such a one the future seems to smile most fairly, and it may be discreetly predicted that, with a growing reputation and his faculties at the a prime, the coming years will witness still higher achievement that in the past.