Was Mayor of New Haven, 1866-68[S:126]
~~~
Birth: 
unknown
Death: 
Jun. 26, 1890

Burial:
Evergreen Cemetery
New Haven
New Haven County
Connecticut, USA
Plot: Section: Western Avenue, Plot: 1178 West, Grave: 2
 
Record added: Jun 03, 2015
Find A Grave Memorial# 147396957
~~~

ENDED HIS LIFE.
Ex-Mayor Lucien W. Sparry Shoots
Himself at His Orange Street Resi-
dence, and Almost Instantly Expires
--The Deed Due to Despair Over His
Business Troubles and Temporary
Aberration of Mind-- His I.ate Finan-
cial Difficulties and a Sketch of His
Former Prosperous Career.

The news of the suicide of ex-Mayor Lu-
cien W. Sperry cast a gloom over the large
circle of business men and others who had
known and esteemed him in his more pros-
perous days. At first the rumor seemed
scarcely credible, but later facts confirm-
ed the truth of the affair to every one.
It was shortly after 10 o'clook yesterday
morning when the residents in ths vlolnlty
of Mr. Sperry's Orange street homo wars
startled by the loud report of pistol. The
only ooonpsnt of ths house at tha time was
domeatio, Mary Fox. Hla : son-in-law, Eu
gene .8. Millar, and. Mrs. Miller were away
npon a day'a trip to Walllngford. Mrs.
Adrianoe, who ooonplea an upstairs room,
waa also out. .
- The domeatio rushed to Mr. Sperry's room
and found him lying npon tha floor before
nis dresser wltn tne smoking pistol cllnohed
in his Hand. She ran to a neighbor and word
waa immediately telephoned to the family
pbyalolan. Dr. Whittemore.
. The dootor hastened to the Sperry residenoe
and entered tne sleeping room ot Mr. sperry
on the lower floor where he beheld the dead
body resting npon the baok. He saw at a
glanoe that the vlotim was dead. The feet
were upturned beneath the edge of the
dresser, which showed that Mr. Sperry had
stood in front of the mirror, that he might
be more aoonrate in the fatal aim. He had
fallen as he stood,the deadly weapon remain
ing in his band. He must have placed the
platol quite oloae to his right temple and dis
charged it. The ahot punctured the right
temple and came out just below the left
temple. The interior of the bead must have
been considerably shattered, aa in that part
of the f aoe where the shot issued the bones
were splintered..
Dr. Whittemore allowed the body to re
main aa it had fallen, and oommnnioatcd
with Menloal Examiner White, who drove to
Mr. Sperry's house and began bis examina
tion. Death must have been almost instan
taneous. The pistol was a large one of 43
oallbre. Dr. White searched for the bullet,
but could not find it. He turned the body
over to Euoa S. and Charles Kimberly, step
sons of the deceased, who had been sum
monad just in advance of the medical exam
iner. The body was given in obarge of an
undertaker, and the funeral will be held at
the Sperrv reeidenoe on Saturday afternoon.
Yesterday morning before the shooting
Mr. Sperry arose and went to breakfast aa
usual. Aooording to the domestic, Mary
Fox, he ate quite heartily and appeared no
worse than he had been for several days. He
had not mueh to say, as be never did at
breakfast time, but inquired it the other
members of the family had breakfasted. Af
ter breakfast he went to the sitting room
and read bis paper several minutes.
A neighbor saw Mr. Sperry sitting on
the veranda daring the early morning.
He arose from his chair in tha sitting
room about 10 o'olook and walked in
to hla bedroom that opena out of the Bitting
room. Five minutes later she heard the
pistol explosion.
Dr. TV hi l te more has attended Mr. Sperry
daring hie recent illness. He wm sailed fre
quently after Mr. Sperry's business troubles
began to affect his health. Mr. Sperry waa
snbjeot to- fluctuations of health, one day
feeling quite well and tha next day being
confined to hla bed. Dr. Whittemore aaya
the deed waa probably done while in a state
of intense despondency whloh caused tempo
rary aberration or mind.
The near frienda of Mr. Sperry feel certain
that he baa not been in hla right mind ainoe
the death of his wife. Lately hla distraction
haa been specially notioeable. Daring the
last week at times no little alarm haa been
felt oonoerning his mental oondition, bat it
waa hoped that he wonld overcome the tend
ency whloh bad manifested itself.
Poatmaeter N. D. Sperry, brother of the
the deosased, left for Chloago on Wednesday
evening, but was apprised by telegraph at
rnliadeipnia or tne event and returned last
night. He had started with hia wife for a
vacation rest of abont two weeke for the far
ther recuperation of his health.
TOeaeoeasedwasaBonot tne late Enoch
Sperry of Woodbrldge. The survivors of the
family are N.D.Sperry and E. Knight Sperry
of this olty and S. D. Sperry of Hartford. A
sister, a Mrs. Rsmsdell, who resided nearly
opposite tne borne ol tne deceased, died sev
eral yeara ago. The wife of the deceased, who
was lormeriy Miss Harriet A. sperry. a dis
tant relative before bar marriage, died some
two yeara ago. xne only ohlid ol tne tie
ceased is Mrs. Eugene S. Miller of this olty.
Mr. Sperry wss in his seventieth year. He
waa tall, erect, and ths plotnre of ragged
manhood before hia recent troubles, wbioh
began to harass him at the death of Pbilo
Ohatfield, the builder. Ia the settlement of
Mr. Cbatfield's estate It waa found that he
oerried a large amount of paper for Enos
Kimberly, Mr. Sperry's son-in-law. The de
mand for thla indebtedness osnsed the as
signment of Enoa Kimberly.
Mr. Sperry waa on Mr. Kimberly'a paper
to the extent of $20,000. Thla caused the
oredltore to inquire about Mr. Sperry's
assets, and the Fiiat National bank secured
an order from the probate court to compel
him to ahow why he ehould not be declared
insolvent. The hearings - on this ap.
plication wsa aeveral timea postponed.
but when air. sperry waa exam
lned it waa learned that he had praotioally
nothing. He waa declared insolvent and
John Gallagher waa appointed trustee. Early
in this month Mrs. Sarah E. Hull, benefici
ary nnder tba will of the lata Hnoa Sperry,
asked tbe probata court to remove u. w
Sperry as truatee of her property, amounting
to $14,000 or $15,000. On Jane 6 Jadge
Robertson rsmoved Mr. Sperry and appoint
ed Jasnea Bishop as trnstse. Mr. Bishop
thereupon demanded an accounting of tbe
trust funds, but Mr. Sperry never mads any,
deferring hie appointmenta from time to
time. They were to have bad an Interview
2 o'olook yesterday afternoon at Mr. Sperry 'a
bouse.
Lnclsn W. Sperry was born In Wood-
bridge on Maroh 8, 1820. He waa a direot
descendant on both his father'a and mother's
side of Blohard Sperry, who wm one of the
first settlers of New Haven. Hie father wm
Enooh Sperry, and Lncien was tha oldest of
six children. In early boyhood he worked
upon hie father'a farm and attended the
country aohool. At the age of seventeen he
came to New Haven to learn the oarpenter'a
trade. In 1845 he entered ths mercantile
business in Westvllle with bis
brother. Stiles D. Sperry. TJn
til 1866 be followed tbe mercantile profession
in Woodbrldge. new Uavan and Hertford,
He waa for yeara in the coal buslneaa on
Grand avenue where, later, after he relin
quished it, it wm oonduoted by Kimberly 6t
Uoodrlon.
Ia 18S5 he bought a tract of land on Mill
river, east ot Railroad avenue and invested
his money in the ooal and wood business. In
both Woodbrldge and Weetville he wm eleo
ted to the board of education and after hia
removal to this city served for nine yeara in
tbe same oapaoity. When be was twenty-one
he wm eleoted lientenant-oolonel of the
Second regiment and afterward became ita
colonel. In 1861 when tbe Second company
Governor's Horse Guards was reorganized he
became ita captain under non. noun ax,
Ingersoll, who was eleoteof ita major,
After aerving three yeara both of them re
signed, but the oompany refused to acoept
both resignations and eleeted Captain Sperry
ita major in 1864. Ths next year he re
signed and tbla closed bla aotive military
oareer. in iso4 ne was elected nrst select
man of the town, and tendered the position
of town agent, whloh he declined. He wm
re elected each year to the board of select
men nntll 1800, wben be positively declined
to serve, in tbe spring of 1806 be wm
eleoted mayor of New Haven, and waa re
eleoted in 1867 and 1868, receiving the larg
est majority ever given a mayor np to that
time, in laou ns aeciuea a re-eieotion. say
ing that he had held ths position aa long
as no oouia ana ao lusttoe to nimself,
The paving of Chureh atreet, from Chapel to
Kim, wm aone uuaer nis personal supervision
During his administration the funded and
floating debt of the olty wm reduoed over
$20,000, and this without Increasing the tax.
ation. While still mayor he was eleeted in
1867 to represent the Fourth district In the
state senate, and wm re-elected in 1870. Hs
wm obslrman of the joint atandlng commit
tee on education. Mr. Sperry was connected
with local banking institutions m a director.
and also served npon the different boards of
dlreotors connected with the railroads in
whloh ths city and town were interested,
It is said of him that aa a preeiding officer
be WM excellent, and had. few equals.
From 1867 to 1870 Mr. Sperry wm road com
missioner and in 1874 he wm appointed a
member of the board of health which
position be hold nntll 1883. He wm
also for Mveral years one of tbe bank com
missioners of tbe state. After hia retirement
from tbe mayoralty Mr. Sperry dropped out
of politics, bnt wm still looked npon as one
of tbe leading men in New Haven. He never
appeared in a pnbHo position, but continued
in bla ooal busineH nnder tbe name of Sperry
& Kimberly. Later, m stated, ha turned
over the business to the lstter.hlB son-in-law;1
He was a member of Wooster lodge, F. and
A. M. ' He wm for several years a member of
the old Ohapel atreet Congregational ohuroh
and since then he haa been a member of the
Ohnroh of the Redeemer. Mr. 8perry married
the widow ot the late Eooa Kimberly. She
died two years ago laat January.
MrTSperry wm for a long time a member
of tbe Home Guards, which ha joined at the
time the sotnpsny wm reorganised in 1861.
Boon after hs became number hs was slsj
ted captain nnder Major Colin M. Ingersoll.
Wben Major ingersou resigned uaptaw
Sperry wm nnaaimonaly sleeted major,
whloh position no nnea in an able manner.
He was an excellent horseman, and aa he
rode well and was very erect in the saddle,
his appearance when mounted wm remark
ably good, lie waa very popular witn tne
members of the oompany. After having
command ot the oompany for aeveral
years, Major , Sperry tendered hia re-
-. 1 L .1 1-
SlgnatlOB, nut iuo wmpauy wuuiu
not accept nis resignation, oeing bo unwilling
toloMblm. Hswm earnestly requested to
remain with the. oompany. - The members,
who were very sntnusiMtio, oast a unani
mous vote in favor of not accepting hia res
ignation. Major Sperry, who wm mnoh af
fected by auob a manifestation, Of hia popn- i
iarlty, withdrew hia resignation and remained
with the company.
Tbe deceased rendered a great amount of
valuable service to the oity M mayor, mem
ber ot the health board and board of educa
tion. He took a deep interest in the affairs
and prosperity of tbe oity, and hla heart wm
also ever true to hia native town,Woodbridge.
Two years ago, on a drive among the old
familiar seenea of hia boyhood, which he took
with several frienda, he told nnmerona rem
lniseeneas of his boyhood and school days
the days of the little red sehoolhouae and of
the old teachers and pastors of those days.
But misfortune overtook him and the old age
that he had looked forward to spending with
serenity wm bllghted.and acute worry.gloom
and depression which he bravely tried to
conceal from intimate frienda embittered the
last two years of bis life and blighted the
strong brain and intellect until in mental
aberration the sad deed wm done.

• Morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven [Conn.]), 27 June 1890. Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers. Lib. of Congress. <https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn82015483/1890-06-27/ed-1/seq-2/>

~~~

Morning journal and courier. (New Haven [Conn.]) 1848-1894, May 05, 1890, Image 3
Image provided by Connecticut State Library, Hartford, CT
Persistent link: http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn82015483/1890-05-05/ed-1/seq-3/


http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn82015483/1890-05-05/ed-1/seq-3/print/image_681x648_from_5150%2C3362_to_6154%2C4319/

~~~
Morning journal and courier. (New Haven [Conn.]) 1848-1894, July 04, 1890, Image 4
Image provided by Connecticut State Library, Hartford, CT
Persistent link: http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn82015483/1890-07-04/ed-1/seq-4/
~~~
Morning journal and courier. (New Haven [Conn.]) 1848-1894, June 05, 1891, Image 4
Image provided by Connecticut State Library, Hartford, CT
Persistent link: http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn82015483/1891-06-05/ed-1/seq-4/

~~~
http://cdnc.ucr.edu/cgi-bin/cdnc?a=d&d=SFC18900627.2.13.17
~~~