According to a Bible that belonged to Caroline (Hubbell) Cole, her younger brother Lewis Brown Hubbell was born March 23, 1814. An 1881 Hubbell Genealogy by Walter Hubbell notes Caroline as being born in 1808 in Dutchess County.

Caroline and Lewis were 2 of the five known children of Nathaniel B. and Abigail Brown Hubbell.  Caroline and Lewis's siblings were Charles, Jane and Calista.  Charles was born in March 1802 in Bridgeport, CT and died Nov. 26, 1846 in San Francisco, CA. Dates and locations of birth are not known for Jane and Calista. As you will read later Caroline was the eldest daughter of Nathaniel and therefore Jane and Calista must have been born between 1808 and 1821 when Nathaniel died. The 1881 Hubbell Genealogy notes Calista's date of death as "prior to 1880" and Jane's date of death as Nov. 1855.

The Hubbell Family originated in CT where Nathaniel's grandfather (LBH's great grandfather) Comfort Hubble b. 1729 made his will in 1797.  At the time he made his will Comfort was of Newtown,  Fairfield County, CT.  Comfort served for a brief period during the Revolutionary War.  According to Hilbert Hubbell, a genealogist with the Hubbell Family Historical Society and author of a recent book on the Military History of the Hubbell Family, Comfort served for 12 days as a Clerk in the 13 Regiment of the Connecticut Militia.

Both Nathaniel Hubbell and his brother Asa are found in the 1810 Census for Amenia.

Since the Hubbell Genealogy says that Caroline was born 1808 in Dutchess County and her father Nathaniel is in the 1810 Census for Amenia, it is can be fairly safely assumed that Nathaniel moved to Dutchess County prior to 1808 and that Lewis was also born in Dutchess County, most likely in Amenia.

Nathaniel B. Hubbell and his wife Abigail are noted in VanAlystyne's Tombstone Inscription book as dying in 1821 and 1823 respectively and are buried in Smithfield burying Ground in Amenia.

From the above and other research conducted with the assistance of the HUBBELL Family Historical Society, I have come to the following conclusions about Lewis Brown Hubbell.

- Both his parents died before he arrived at the age of 10 years.

- He Never Married.

- He worked as a farmer on the farms of others - some of which may have been extended family.

- At the time of his death, it appears that he had only one surviving sibling, his sister Caroline Hubbell Cole.

- Arriving at the age of 59 and perhaps not in good health and with no immediate family close by to care for him or other means of support, worn out from years of hard farm labor, Lewis spent the last days of his life at the Dutchess County Poorhouse and died there Mar. 14, 1871 (March 14, 1874?) and was buried at Brier Hill.

- It is most likely Caroline Hubbell Cole who arranged for the erection of the headstone and footstone at Brier Hill.
 

Caroline Hubbell Cole was b. 1808 in Dutchess County, m. Richard Cole October 6, 1843 and died Jan. 17, 1876 in SanFrancisco, CA.  

The 1881 Hubbell Genealogy says this about Caroline:

"Caroline Hubbell, eldest daughter of Nathaniel B. Hubbell, was born in Dutchess County, New York in 1808, was married to Richard Cole in 1843, and died in SanFrancisco, California, Jan. 7th, 1876.

From a child, she was remarkable for her deep ernest piety and a desire to occupy some influential position in life, where she could be of great benefit to her race.  In 1830 she established a Young Ladies' Institute in New Brunswick, New Jersey, which she sucessfully conducted for some twelve years, closing her school in 1842, to become a missionary to China, under the auspices of the Presbyterian Board of Foreign Missions.  In 1843 she became aquainted with Richard Cole, who was also to go out to China as a missionary, and as printer of Bibles and tracts in the Chinese language; after an acquaintance of a few months they were married on October 6th, 1843, sailed from the port of New York in the ship Huntress , Captain Lovett, for Hong Kong, where they arrived after a passage of 136 days."

It goes on to say that Caroline kept a journal during the voyage.  In 1853 she returned to SanFrancisco, California owing to her husbands ill health and there she, for a number of years, had charge of the "Women's Mission to Chinese Women and Children".  Here she also had a large Bible Class. A few years prior to her death, Jan. 7th, 1876, Caroline lost her only son (not named) who was born in 1848 in China.  In 1881 Caroline's daughter Annie S. Cole,  a chinese infant who she and Richard adopted as their own, survived in San Francisco.

Lewis's Immigrant Ancestor was Richard Hubbell born 1627/8 in Great Britain.  He was a wealthy planter and held many offices of Trust in the Colony of Conneticut.  The Silver Tankard he willed to the First Congregational Church of Stratfield Parish (CT) at his death Oct. 23, 1699 (at his residence in Pequonnock, CT), is still in use.  It is valued in the inventory of his estate at 55 Pounds and is of very elegant workmanship.

Lewis Brown Hubbell and Edwin Powell Hubble, of Hubble Space Telescope Fame, are both descendants of Richard Hubbell, the Immigrant Ancestor of the Hubbell Family in America.
 Visit the Hubbell Family Historical Society Website.
 

November 21, 2003
 

Dear Ginny Buechele,

Thank you for contacting the Hubbell Society in connection with the research project being done by the Digital Underground (Geology/Physics 241) students in the paupers' cemetery at the Dutchess County Poorhouse.  As with any kind of scientific research, the outcome may always be more than we anticipated.  In this case, it has given an extended family the knowledge of where one of its less fortunate members finally lay down to rest.

The Hubbell Family Historical Society has long sought to locate the names, dates and places connected with all of the Hubbell descendants of Richard Hubball of Rock, Worcestershire, England who came to the shores of this country in the 1600s. That work has often been difficult if not impossible particularly when the person being sought built no buildings, or left no will distributing his worldly goods to many offspring thereby allowing us to follow him across the years.

The Hubbells have changed the spelling of their name many times, or it has been done for them by government or by chance.  Some of them have taken the name into the history books like Carl Hubbell whose name is recorded in Cooperstown, or Edwin Powell Hubble whose name is written in the stars. 

Honoring the grave of Lewis B. Hubbell with this project honors all of those who died unsung, who finally found life's challenges to be overwhelming.  While we do not know much about Lewis' life, we know about many of the challenges that he faced in his time, and we recognize him as a human being, a family member.  We don't know how he died, but this is the day when we can finally say goodbye to him.  We want to express our appreciation to all of those who worked with the project, particularly those who did not know how valuable their work would be to a large family who values all of its members.  For Lewis, thank you for all that you did.

Sincerely yours,

Carol Hubbell Boggs - President, THFHS