Captain Elihu Yale (1747–1806) was an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...

military commanding officer, and one of the first manufacturers of

bayonet A bayonet (from Old French , now spelt ) is a -4; we might wonder whether there's a point at which it's appropriate to talk of the beginnings of French, that is, when it wa ... , now spelt ) is a knife, dagger">knife">-4; we might wonder whethe ...

s in Connecticut. He served during the

American War of Independence The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was the armed conflict that comprised the final eight years of the broader American Revolution, in which Am ...

, and later became the grandfather of

penny press Penny Publications, LLC is an American magazine publisher specializing in puzzles, crosswords, sudokus as well as mystery and science fiction magazines. Penny Publications publishes over 85 magazines distributed through newsstands, in store ...

pioneer

Moses Yale Beach Moses Yale Beach (January 15, 1800 – July 19, 1868) was an American inventor, entrepreneur, philanthropist and publisher, who founded the Associated Press, and is credited with originating print syndication. His fortune, as of 1846, amounted t ...

Biography

Elihu Yale of Wallingford was born in 1747, to Theophilus Yale and Azubah Wolf, members of the

Yale family Yale University is a private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States, and one of the nine colonial colleges char ...

. His grandfather, Capt.

Theophilus Yale Captain Theophilus Yale (1675 – 1760) was a British people, British military officer, magistrate, and one of the early settlers of Wallingford, Connecticut. His grandnephew, Gov. Lyman Hall, became one of the Founding Fathers of the United St ...

, was a

magistrate The term magistrate is used in a variety of systems of governments and laws to refer to a civilian officer who administers the law. In ancient Rome, a '' magistratus'' was one of the highest ranking government officers, and possessed both judi ...

of the city, while his great-grandfather, Capt. Thomas Yale, was one of the founders of

Wallingford, Connecticut Wallingford is a town in New Haven County, Connecticut, New Haven County, Connecticut, United States, centrally located between New Haven, Connecticut, New Haven and Hartford, Connecticut, Hartford, and Boston and New York City. The town is part ...

. He also served as a magistrate. Yale was an early settler of Wallingford with his family and joined the

Continental Army The Continental Army was the army of the United Colonies representing the Thirteen Colonies and later the United States during the American Revolutionary War. It was formed on June 14, 1775, by a resolution passed by the Second Continental Co ...

during the

. He served as Sergeant in Col. Thaddeus

Cook's Regiment of Militia Cook's Regiment of Militia was called up at Wallingford, Connecticut on August 26, 1777, as reinforcements for the Continental Army during the Saratoga Campaign. Background In October 1776, the Connecticut Assembly ordered the raising of new ...

, in New Haven and Fairfield, Connecticut. The regiment served as reinforcement during the

Saratoga Campaign The Saratoga campaign in 1777 was an attempt by the British to gain military control of the strategically important Hudson River valley during the American Revolutionary War. It ended in the surrender of a British army, which historian Edmund M ...

to Gen.

Horatio Gates Horatio Lloyd Gates (July 26, 1727April 10, 1806) was a British-born American army officer who served as a general in the Continental Army during the early years of the American Revolutionary War, Revolutionary War. He took credit for the Ameri ...

. He served as Sergeant in the New Haven Alarm regiment of the Connecticut State militia, a unit organized for the costal defense between New York and New Haven. He also served at Tryon's Invasion of Connecticut, led by British Gen.

William Tryon Lieutenant-General William Tryon (8 June 172927 January 1788) was a British Army officer and colonial administrator who served as governor of North Carolina from 1764 to 1771 and the governor of New York from 1771 to 1777. He also served durin ...

. Yale was then under the orders of Capt. Abraham Stanley, his brother-in-law, who had served in the 10th Continental Regiment, part of the

Connecticut Line The Connecticut Line was a formation within the Continental Army. The term "Connecticut Line" referred to the quota of numbered infantry regiments assigned to Connecticut at various times by the Continental Congress, the size of its allocation d ...

.Rolls and Lists of Connecticut Men in the Revolution, 1775–1783
Connecticut Historical Society, Volume VIII, Hartford, 1901, p. 194 On August 27, 1777, from Wallingford, Yale's regiment was sent to assist Gen.

Enoch Poor Enoch Poor (June 21, 1736 (Old Style) – September 8, 1780) was a brigadier general in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War. He was a ship builder and merchant from Exeter, New Hampshire. Biography Poor was born and raised ...

's brigade. Yale eventually became a commanding officer, reaching the rank of

Captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

.Record-Journal
17 Aug 1916, Thu, p. 4Yale, Elihu, Connecticut, Captain
Daughters of the American Revolution, Genealogy Research, Accessed January 24, 2024 He was a member of the

15th Continental Regiment The 1st Massachusetts Regiment was an infantry unit of the Continental Army that fought during the American Revolutionary War. It was first authorized on 23 April 1775 in the Massachusetts State Troops as Paterson's Regiment under Colonel Joh ...

of Gen.

William Heath William Heath (March 2, 1737 – January 24, 1814) was an American farmer, soldier, and political leader from Massachusetts who served as a major general in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War. Life and career Heath ...

, who were involved in the

Battle of Bunker Hill The Battle of Bunker Hill was fought on June 17, 1775, during the Siege of Boston in the first stage of the American Revolutionary War. The battle is named after Bunker Hill in Charlestown, Boston, Charlestown, Massachusetts, which was peri ...

during the

Siege of Boston The siege of Boston (April 19, 1775 – March 17, 1776) was the opening phase of the American Revolutionary War. In the siege, Patriot (American Revolution), American patriot militia led by newly-installed Continental Army commander George Wash ...

. Initially a

blacksmith A blacksmith is a metalsmith who creates objects primarily from wrought iron or steel, but sometimes from #Other metals, other metals, by forging the metal, using tools to hammer, bend, and cut (cf. tinsmith). Blacksmiths produce objects such ...

, he became wealthy from his ventures.The Yale Family: Or the Descsendants of David Yale
Storer & Stone Printers, Harvard College Library, New Haven, 1850, pp. 57–58 He was among the first manufacturers in Connecticut at the time, being a pioneer in the manufacturing of

s and

scythe A scythe (, rhyming with ''writhe'') is an agriculture, agricultural hand-tool for mowing grass or Harvest, harvesting Crop, crops. It was historically used to cut down or reaping, reap edible grain, grains before they underwent the process of ...

s.The Stanley families of America
Israel P. Warren, B. Thurston & Co., Portland, Maine, 1887, pp. 76–77 Bayonets were used as ancillary weapons at war while scythes were used by farmers for mowing grass and harvesting crops. He also became one of the largest landholders in Wallingford. For his role in the war, he is recognized as a

Patriot A patriot is a person with the quality of patriotism. Patriot(s) or The Patriot(s) may also refer to: Political and military groups United States * Patriot (American Revolution), those who supported the cause of independence in the American R ...

of the Revolution by the

Daughters of the American Revolution The National Society Daughters of the American Revolution (often abbreviated as DAR or NSDAR) is a lineage-based membership service organization for women who are directly descended from a patriot of the American Revolutionary War. A non-p ...

. His son Ira Yale would follow in his footsteps and become a

pewter Pewter () is a malleable metal alloy consisting of tin (85–99%), antimony (approximately 5–10%), copper (2%), bismuth, and sometimes silver. In the past, it was an alloy of tin and lead, but most modern pewter, in order to prevent lead poi ...

manufacturer. He was the pewter master of Lemuel Johnson Curtis and William Elton. They acquired his enterprise in 1835 and started the firm Curtis & Hall,

German silver Nickel silver, maillechort, German silver, argentan, new silver, nickel brass, albata, or alpacca is a cupronickel (copper with nickel) alloy with the addition of zinc. The usual formulation is 60% copper, 20% nickel and 20% zinc. Nickel silver ...

and Britannia Ware manufacturers.New England Manufacturers and Manufactories
Volume 2, J. D. Van Slyck, Van Slyck & Co., Boston, 1879, p. 441 Manufacturer Ashbil Griswold would also acquire land in the Northern part of

Meriden, Connecticut Meriden ( ) is a city in New Haven County, Connecticut, United States, located halfway between the regional cities of New Haven, Connecticut, New Haven and Hartford, Connecticut, Hartford. The city is part of the South Central Connecticut Planni ...

from Ira Yale to start his pewter and block

tin Tin is a chemical element; it has symbol Sn () and atomic number 50. A silvery-colored metal, tin is soft enough to be cut with little force, and a bar of tin can be bent by hand with little effort. When bent, a bar of tin makes a sound, the ...

business. Ira Yale's third cousins were Union Army major general

William Tecumseh Sherman William Tecumseh Sherman ( ; February 8, 1820February 14, 1891) was an American soldier, businessman, educator, and author. He served as a General officer, general in the Union Army during the American Civil War (1861–1865), earning recognit ...

, Judge

Charles Taylor Sherman Charles Taylor Sherman (February 3, 1811 – January 1, 1879) was an American district judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Ohio. Education and career Born on February 3, 1811, in Norwalk, Connecticut, Sherman ...

United States Senator The United States Senate consists of 100 members, two from each of the 50 U.S. state, states. This list includes all senators serving in the 119th United States Congress. Party affiliation Independent Senators Angus King of Maine and Berni ...

and

United States Secretary of State The United States secretary of state (SecState) is a member of the executive branch of the federal government of the United States and the head of the U.S. Department of State. The secretary of state serves as the principal advisor to the ...

John Sherman John Sherman (May 10, 1823October 22, 1900) was an American politician from Ohio who served in federal office throughout the Civil War and into the late nineteenth century. A member of the Republican Party, he served in both houses of the U. ...

, Warden

Thomas Mott Osborne Thomas Mott Osborne (September 23, 1859 – October 20, 1926) was an American prison officer, prison reformer, industrialist and New York State political reformer. In an assessment of Osborne's life, a ''New York Times'' book reviewer wrote: "His ...

, and

United States Attorney General The United States attorney general is the head of the United States Department of Justice and serves as the chief law enforcement officer of the Federal government of the United States, federal government. The attorney general acts as the princi ...

T. McKeen Chidsey. Capt. Yale's brother was also a blacksmith. The brothers were the uncles of Eliza Yale, grandmother of philanthropis
Laura A. Wood
who married the son of Connecticut Lieutenant Governor

Julius Catlin Julius Catlin (December 14, 1798 – April 23, 1888) was an American politician who was the 49th Lieutenant Governor of Connecticut from 1858 to 1861. His estate was valued at $726,000 at his death in 1888, and was made a Colonel before entering ...

, and of fur merchant

James Murray Yale James Murray Yale ( – 7 May 1871) was a clerk, and later, a Chief factor#Mercantile factors, Chief trader for the Hudson's Bay Company, during the late North American fur trade, as they were competing with the Montreal-based North West Company ...

, who had his name given to

Yaletown Yaletown is an area of Downtown Vancouver, Canada, bordered by False Creek and Robson and Homer Streets. Formerly a heavy industrial area dominated by warehouses and rail yards, since the Expo 86, 1986 World's Fair it has been transformed into on ...

Downtown Vancouver Downtown Vancouver is the central business district and the city centre list of neighbourhoods in Vancouver, neighbourhood of Vancouver, Canada, on the northwestern shore of the Burrard Peninsula in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. ...

. They were also the granduncles of Boston sailmaker

Rufus M. Yale Rufus Mitchell Yale (1822 – 1899) was a prominent Boston businessman and military officer. He was a pioneer in the development of Malden, Massachusetts, and a leading sailmaker in New England under R. M. Yale & Co., established in 1847. He wa ...

. Another of Capt. Yale's brother, Nathaniel Yale, became the great-grandfather of Judge George Edwin Lawrence, partner of Lt. Col. and Congressman

Charles Herbert Joyce Charles Herbert Joyce (January 30, 1830November 22, 1916) was an American lawyer and politician. He served as a U.S. Representative from Vermont. Biography Joyce was born near Andover, Hampshire, England to Charles Joyce and Martha E. Grist Joy ...

. He was the father of Vermont state attorney Robert A. Lawrence, who married the granddaughter of Senator Augustus P. Hunton.Encyclopedia of Vermont Biography
edited by Prentiss Cutler Dodge, 1912, pp. 232–323

Personal life

Capt. Elihu Yale married on November 24, 1774, to Lucretia Stanley, daughter of Capt. Abraham Stanley, and descendant of Capt. John Stanley of the Stanley-Whitman House. He died on May 12, 1806, on a Sunday, after having attended the church. His wife died on April 30, 1813. They had 7 children together. *Lois Yale (1776–1814), wife of

Postmaster A postmaster is the head of an individual post office, responsible for all postal activities in a specific post office. When a postmaster is responsible for an entire mail distribution organization (usually sponsored by a national government), ...

and

tavern A tavern is a type of business where people gather to drink alcoholic beverages and be served food such as different types of roast meats and cheese, and (mostly historically) where travelers would receive lodging. An inn is a tavern that ...

owner Jared Kirtland, became the aunt of Judge

Jared Potter Kirtland Jared Potter Kirtland (November 10, 1793 – December 10, 1877) was a naturalist, malacologist, and politician most active in the U.S. state of Ohio, where he served as a probate judge, and in the Ohio House of Representatives. He was also a phy ...

, cofounder of

Western Reserve University Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US * Western, New York, a town in the US * Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia * Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that ...

. Their daughter, Lois Yale Kirtland, married to Dr. Eli Mygatt, son of the President of the City Bank of Cleveland, and their granddaughter became the mother-in-law of Pennsylvania politician Ira Franklin Mansfield, owner of coal mines, board director of the First National Bank of Rochester, and president of

Beaver College Arcadia University is a private university in Cheltenham Township, Pennsylvania, with a Glenside mailing address. The university enrolls approximately 3,200 undergraduate, master's, and doctoral students. The 94-acre (380,000 m2) Glenside cam ...

. *Lucretia Yale (1778–1800), married County Surveyor and Deputy

Sheriff A sheriff is a government official, with varying duties, existing in some countries with historical ties to England where the office originated. There is an analogous, although independently developed, office in Iceland, the , which is common ...

Moses Sperry Beach, and became the mother of newspaper entrepreneur

, who, at one point, owned the largest newspaper in America. The William street, Meadow Street and Orchard Street, in Wallingford, are named after Moses Yale Beach's estate. His son, abolitionist

Moses S. Beach Moses Sperry Beach (October 5, 1822 – July 25, 1892) was an American newspaper owner, editor, inventor, and politician from New York. His papers were the Boston Daily Times and the The Sun (New York City), New York Sun. He ran the Sun through mo ...

, would sell his paper the

New York Sun ''The New York Sun'' is an American conservative news website and former newspaper based in Manhattan, New York. From 2009 to 2021, it operated as an (occasional and erratic) online-only publisher of political and economic opinion pieces, as we ...

to a friend of

Karl Marx Karl Marx (; 5 May 1818 – 14 March 1883) was a German philosopher, political theorist, economist, journalist, and revolutionary socialist. He is best-known for the 1848 pamphlet '' The Communist Manifesto'' (written with Friedrich Engels) ...

named

Charles Anderson Dana Charles Anderson Dana (August 8, 1819 – October 17, 1897) was an American journalist, author, and senior government official. He was a top aide to Horace Greeley as the managing editor of the powerful Republican newspaper '' New-York Tribune ...

, Assistant Secretary of War of

Abraham Lincoln Abraham Lincoln (February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was the 16th president of the United States, serving from 1861 until Assassination of Abraham Lincoln, his assassination in 1865. He led the United States through the American Civil War ...

, and stayed a stockholder. *Ira Yale (1783–1864), became Justice of the Peace and

of Meriden, landowner,

manufacturer and owned a general grocery store. His son Elihu Yale Jr. became Judge of the

Probate court A probate court (sometimes called a surrogate court) is a court that has competence in a jurisdiction to deal with matters of probate and the administration of estates. In some jurisdictions, such courts may be referred to as orphans' courts o ...

and

Cheshire, Connecticut Cheshire ( ), is a town in New Haven County, Connecticut, United States. At the time of the 2020 census, the population of Cheshire was 28,733. The town is part of the Naugatuck Valley Planning Region. The center of population of Connecticut i ...

, then member of the City Council of

New Haven New Haven is a city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is located on New Haven Harbor on the northern shore of Long Island Sound. With a population of 135,081 as determined by the 2020 U.S. census, New Haven is the third largest city in Co ...

, Chief of Police,

Constable A constable is a person holding a particular office, most commonly in law enforcement. The office of constable can vary significantly in different jurisdictions. ''Constable'' is commonly the rank of an officer within a police service. Other peo ...

and Justice of the Peace. He was also a

marble Marble is a metamorphic rock consisting of carbonate minerals (most commonly calcite (CaCO3) or Dolomite (mineral), dolomite (CaMg(CO3)2) that have recrystallized under the influence of heat and pressure. It has a crystalline texture, and is ty ...

manufacturer and the author of the Yale genealogy book published in 1850. Capt. Yale's cousin, Rev. Thomas Yale, became the first of the Yales to graduate from

Yale College Yale College is the undergraduate college of Yale University. Founded in 1701, it is the original school of the university. Although other Yale schools were founded as early as 1810, all of Yale was officially known as Yale College until 1887, ...

in 1765. The past member being Deacon David Yale, educated at

Cambridge University The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

, England, who received an honorary degree from Yale in 1724. This was the David Yale initially considered to inherit the fortune of

Elihu Yale Elihu Yale (5 April 1649 – 8 July 1721) was a British Americans, British-American Colonialism, colonial administrator. Born in Boston, Massachusetts, Yale lived in America only as a child, and spent the rest of his life in England, Wales, a ...

, benefactor of Yale College, but the man's whole estate, made from the diamond mines of Golconda, India, went to the British branch instead, and was lost through corruption with no living descendants past his grandchildren. Another cousin of Capt. Yale was Capt. Josiah Yale and abolitionist

Levi Yale Levi Yale (April 11, 1792 – February 19, 1872), of Meriden, Connecticut, was a postmaster, justice of the peace and abolitionist, who worked as an agent of the Underground Railroad. He was a member of the state legislature, cofounded the abolit ...

, cofounder of the anti-slavery political party of Connecticut named the Liberty Party.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Yale, Elihu 1747 births 1806 deaths Beach family Yale family People from Wallingford, Connecticut American manufacturing businesspeople Patriots in the American Revolution Connecticut militiamen in the American Revolution