Henry Wetmore Beecher, engaged in the undertaking business in New Haven, was born in New Milford, Connecticut, July 22, 1857, and is the eldest of the four children of Stephen G. and Ellen E. (Wetmore) Beecher, representatives of families that have lived in this state for many generations. The ancestral line is traced back to John Beecher, who lived in the county of Kent, England, and there passed away in 1637, when in middle life. His widow, Mrs. Hannah Beecher, came with her family to this country, arriving in Boston, April 26, 1637. She was born about 1600 and died about 1658. Stephen G. Beecher, father of our subject, was born at New Milford, December 9, 1832, living on the old Beecher homestead at the foot of Mount Tom. He was married August 14, 1856, to Miss Ellen E. Wetmore, of Winchester, Connecticut, a daughter of Abel Samuel Wetmore. Her death occurred in New Milford, July 2, 1894. Her four children were: Henry W.; Mary Ann, who was born January 14, 1859, and died March 4, 1871: Abel Stephen, born July 26, 1861; and Bertha Lucy, born August 24, 1865.
     Henry W. Beecher was educated in the public schools and in the Housatonic Institute at New Milford, and after his textbooks were put aside entered the employ of the William L. Gilbert Clock Company of Winsted, Connecticut, with which concern he remained for several years. He was afterward engaged in the grocery trade in Winsted, Connecticut, and in 1894 came to New Haven, where he established himself as an undertaker and funeral director, joining his brother-in-law, James M. Bennett, under the firm name of Beecher & Bennett, located at No. 280 Elm street. Here he has continued in business to the present time and is accorded a liberal patronage.
     On the 3d of November, 1880, Mr. Beecher was married to Miss Elizabeth Abigail Loomis, a daughter of George Ward Loomis, of Winsted, Connecticut. She was born in Torrington, October 25, 1855, and passed away in Winsted, May 10, 1894. Mr. Beecher was again married May 27, 1896, when Addie Theresa Gilman became his wife. She was born December 17, 1862, at West Hartland, Connecticut, a daughter of Samuel and Harriet Theresa (Newton) Gilman. The children of the first marriage were two in number. The son, George Loomis, born June 15, 1884, at Winsted, died July 20, 1908. He was a graduate of Yale University of the class of 1906 and after spending a year in survey work for the Mexican International Railroad and serving as assistant civil engineer for the city of Zacatecas, Mexico, he returned to Yale for post-graduate work, receiving the degree of Civil Engineer in June, 1908. He was an enthusiastic member of the Phi Delta Chapter of the national college, fraternity, the Alpha Chi Rho. His future seemed bright with promise because of his pronounced ability but to all this death put an untimely end, his passing being deeply deplored by all who knew him, for he possessed not only marked professional skill and ability but also characteristics which rendered him very popular. The daughter, Helen Wetmore, born November 24, 1886, in Winsted, was graduated from the Hillhouse high school and also from the State Normal School of New Haven. She married May 29, 1913, Kenneth W. Leighton and they have one son, William Beecher Leighton, born November 25, 1914.
     Mr. Beechor is a member of City Lodge, I. O. O. F., also of the Royal Arcanum and the United Workmen of New Haven. He holds membership in the Dwight Place Congregational church, of which he has been a deacon for several years, and he is also a member of the New Haven Chamber of Commerce and the Business Men's Association. He is a director of the Broadway Bank & Trust Company, and in this way actively connected with the financial life of New Haven. He cooperates heartily in every movement which elicits his interest and support, and his labors are always productive of results.