Dr. Josiah Gale Beckwith (1803-1871) was born in Standford, N. Y. After graduating from Union College, he studied medicine at the Albany Medical College and settled in Litchfield in 1829. He married Jane Maria Seymour (1811-1868) in 1831 and they had five children: Jane (1833-1837), Elizabeth (1835-1896), Josiah (1838-1911), Sarah (1840-1928), and George (1841-1890). Jane Seymour (1811-1868) was a daughter of Moses Seymour Jr. (1774-1826) of Litchfield. Dr. and Mrs. Beckwith resided in the house Mrs. Beckwith's father built in 1817 on South St. The house was occupied by succeeding generations of Beckwiths. Dr. Beckwith was a successful practitioner, officer of the state medical society, nominated for governor, and elected to the state legislature several times. He operated a drug store, invested in a variety of business interests, and served as an officer of several prominent local institutions, including terms as president of the Phoenix Bank and Litchfield Mutual Fire Insurance Co. A son of Dr. Beckwith, Dr. Josiah Gale Beckwith (1838-1911) was born in Litchfield. He attended the U.S. Naval Academy for two years until resigning in 1855. He attended Union College, leaving in 1860, and also attended the Yale University Medical School in 1861 and 1862. In 1862, he volunteered with a local military company, but appears not to have served as a soldier during the Civil War. He was at the Knight United States Army General Hospital in New Haven for a time starting in 1862. He practiced medicine at Charlton, N.Y. from 1866 through 1869 and then returned to Litchfield. After his father's death in 1871, he took over the family drug store and continued with his medical practice. He married Anne Bonfield Alsop (Allsopp) (1851-1936) of Quebec, Canada, in 1873. They had three children: Josiah (1874-1957), Margaret (1885-1972), and Sutherland (1890-1986). Josiah Gale Beckwith (1874-1957) was alternatively referred to in various combinations of Josiah Gale Beckwith Jr., J. Gale Beckwith, and Gael Beckwith. He was born in Litchfield and attended Union College and Albany Law School. He was briefly a lawyer in Waterbury in the early 1900s. In the 1910s he worked in New Jersey and Georgia and later moved to Minneapolis and St. Petersburg, Fla., where he died in an automobile accident. Sutherland Alsop Beckwith (1890-1982) was born in Litchfield. He graduated from the Sheffield Scientific School of Yale University in 1915. He fought in the 1916 Mexican border conflict, WWI, and WWII. His military career spanned 35 years and he retired as a colonel. During the 1920s, he was involved in a lumber business operating under the name of Hubbard & Beckwith. Beckwith was a state adjutant general, a sheriff of Litchfield County, and a local director of the Works Progress Administration. For 10 years he served as Litchfield postmaster. He married Helen Cahill in 1925. After she died in 1929, he married Charlotte Louise Coopernail (1904-1986), daughter of Dr. George Coopernail (1876-1964), on July 30, 1932. They had three children: Ann (1934- ), Margaret (1936- ) and George (1938- ).

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