The sixth child in a family of eight, William was born October 22, 1803, in Woodstock, Connecticut. His father died when he was thirteen years old. William's mother was the daughter of Charles Church Chandler, the well known Windham lawyer. In 1819 he traveled to Marietta, Ohio where he was employed by the mercantile establishment of Dudley Woodbridge. Health required William to return to Norwich where he took up residence in his ancestral home, becoming the seventh Backus generation to live there. Through long days of hard work, the family farm began to prosper with bumper harvests of corn, rye, potatoes, etc. including a large herd of cattle. William worked the farm by day while reading and studying by lamp light at night. He was able to publish an extensive, 400 page, genealogy of the Backus family. William's financial success enabled him to make generous contributions to private charities and public benefactors later in life. His gift of $75,000 to the founding of the W.W. Backus Hospital is one example of his sensitivity toward the unfortunate and distressed in our society. William W. Backus died in Norwich on July 13, 1892 at 89 years of age. [bio by: Dave]
The sixth child in a family of eight, William was born October 22, 1803, in Woodstock, Connecticut. His father died when he was thirteen years old. William's mother was the daughter of Charles Church Chandler, the well known Windham lawyer. In 1819 he traveled to Marietta, Ohio where he was employed by the mercantile establishment of Dudley Woodbridge. Health required William to return to Norwich where he took up residence in his ancestral home, becoming the seventh Backus generation to live there. Through long days of hard work, the family farm began to prosper with bumper harvests of corn, rye, potatoes, etc. including a large herd of cattle. William worked the farm by day while reading and studying by lamp light at night. He was able to publish an extensive, 400 page, genealogy of the Backus family. William's financial success enabled him to make generous contributions to private charities and public benefactors later in life. His gift of $75,000 to the founding of the W.W. Backus Hospital is one example of his sensitivity toward the unfortunate and distressed in our society. William W. Backus died in Norwich on July 13, 1892 at 89 years of age. [bio by: Dave]
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