USA > Connecticut > New Haven County > Commemorative biographical record of New Haven county, Connecticut, containing biographical sketches of prominent and representative citizens and of many of the early settled families, V. I, Pt 1 > Part 42
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On Sept. 1, 1841, Mr. Ives was married to I.ucy Julia Birdsey, who was born in Meriden, a daughter of Gershom and Lucy Coe Birdsey, of whom further mention is made in the genealogy of Eli C. Birdsey in this volume. Mrs. Ives is a lady of much character and business ability. Dur- ing the long absences from home of her husband, she cared for his local interests in a thoroughly business-like way. She is also well-read and refined. and is a favorite with the young people of her ac-
quaintance, with whom she loves to mingle. The embodiment of Christian virtues, she is a valued member of the First Baptist Church and pursues the same line of Christian labors which were so well undertaken by her lamented husband. Though well advanced in years she is still in the enjoyment of vigorous health, and is active and useful in the various affairs of life. The children of Mr. and Mrs. Ives were five in number. (1) William Bird- sey, born Oct. 27, 1843, in Meriden, married S. Clarissa Rutty, daughter of Ezra Rutty, of Meri- den. (2) Ellena Lucy, born March 24, 1847, mar- ried Conrad G. Bacon, of Middletown, Conn., and died July 30, 1870, leaving one child. Ellena Ives, born July 27, 1870, who married Arthur A. Allen, of Middletown, Oct. 6, 1890 ; she has had three chil- dren, Margaret (born Nov. 30, 1891), John Will- iam (Oct. 19, 1898, died the 26th of the same month), and Ellena (born October, 1900). (3) Elizabeth, born May 29, 1849, died two days later. (4) Carrie, born Dec. 1, 1856, died six days later. (5) George W., born Aug. 8, 1861, was a success- ful business man in Meriden and Mussell Shell. Montana, and died in Meriden, unmarried, April 17, 1889.
HENRY DENNISON HALL, now retired from the butcher business, in which he was so long and successfully engaged in Wallingford, was born on a farm in that town Sept. 7, 1836, and is a de- scendant of John Hall, the founder of the family in New Haven Colony, through his son John and grandson of the same name.
John Hall, son of John and Mary ( Parker) Hall, and grandson of the first John Hall, was born March 14, 1681, in the town of Wallingford, where he was an extensive land owner, spending his life in the cultivation of the broad acres that constituted the Hall homestead. He was a man of character and standing in the town and church affairs, being deacon of the church and an occupant of several public positions. At the ripe age of eighty-six years this worthy and honorable progenitor of Henry D. Hall passed away. April 27, 1766.
Elisha Hall, born in Wallingford, was a ser- geant in the State militia, and participated in the war of the Revolution. All his life was spent in Wallingford, where he died January 19, 1800, at the age of seventy years. Thankful At- water, his wife, was united in marriage with him. June 14, 1755. Born in 1732, she became the mother of a numerous family, and died June 28, 1792. The following children were born to this marriage: Phebe, born Feb. 10, 1756, married Mr. Parmalee, of Durham: Sarah, born April 5, 1758, married John Fields, of Cheshire : Joseph, born July 25, 1759, married Mercy Cornwall, May 31, 1799: Lydia, born July 17, 1761, married Mr. Curtis, and settled in Durham; Sally, born Dec. 8, 1763 ; Eliza- beth, born Oct. 3, 1765, married Benjamin Hall ; -
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Hannah, born Jan. 26, 1769; John, born July 13, 1770; and Eunice, born Aug. 1, 1772, married Miles Peck.
John Hall, whose name is noted in the preceding paragraph, was the grandfather of Henry Dennison Hall, and was born on the Hall homestead, and his early youth and boyhood were passed amid the troublous years of the American Revolution. He became a substantial farmer, a well and highly re- spected citizen, and followed the tillage of the soil all his life. He married Grace Dennison Hall, April 3, 1800, and she died Jan. 3, 1840. Both husband and wife are buried in Center Street Cemetery. These were their children : Lowly, born April 21, 1804, married a Mr. Johnson ; Jeremiah Atwater, born in 1806; John, born in 1807; Thankfull, born Sept. 6, 1808, married a Mr. Hopson ; Phebe, born Dec. 18, 1810; Dennison D., born Dec. 9, 1815; Grace D., born July 18, 1813, married George Simp- son ; Elisha. born March 15, 1818; Jennette, born May 31, 1820; and Patty.
Jeremiah A. Hall, father of Henry Dennison Hall, was born and reared on the old family home- stead, and had a fair education in the district school. He was a life-long farmer, and was also engaged in teaming between Waterbury and Wallingford, carrying in German silver to the local manufac- turers. A well known and much respected man, he had many friends in the community, and was long regarded as one of the representative men of the town. In politics he was in early life a Whig, and then became a Republican. Temperate and do- mestic in his habits, his life was singularly free from flaws and stains, and those who knew him best entertained for him the most profound respect. In religion he was a Presbyterian, and his long and upright life of more than eighty-four years cast no stain upon his profession of faith. Jemima Field, born in the town of Madison, became his wife, and was the mother of four children, of whom the oldest, Henry Dennison, is the subject of this writing. Her second son, Joseph Atwater, was born Oct. 11, 1838, and had his education in the Wallingford distriet school and in a private school at Southfield. He remained at home and worked with his parents until he reached the age of twenty-five, when he went to New York City, and for a year was a clerk in a hotel on Cortland street. For two years he was clerk for A. L. Chamberlain, a general merchant at Fair Haven. In 1863 he became a partner with his brother, Henry D., under the firm name of H. D. & J. A. Hall, and engaged in the butcher business in Wallingford, where he continued until the time of his death, April 27, 1900. He was buried in the Center Street Cemetery at Wallingford. He was a Mason, and was known as a good man who lived very close to the Golden Rule. During the Civil war he served as a soldier of the Union army, being a member of the Regimental Band connected with the 5th Conn. V. I. He was a musician of marked ability, and for many years he was a member of the
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Wallingford Band. He was married at Broad Brook, Hartford Co., Conn., to Miss Cora Beamen, a native of South Windsor, and a daughter of Shel- don Beamen. They had one child, Eva Lillias, who graduated from the Wallingford high school in 1899, and married Edwin Francis Ives, a son of Dobson Ives, of East Wallingford. Mrs. Joseph Hall died in 1892, and is buried in the Center Street cemetery. The third son of Mr. and Mrs. Jeremiah Hall was Julius C. Hall, who is now engaged in the butcher business at Wallingford. Their only daugh- ter, Hannah Elizabeth, married Andrew Anderson. Mrs. Jeremiah Hall died at the age of fifty-two years, and is buried in the Center Street Cemetery : she was a member of the Presbyterian church, and a lady of fine character.
Henry Dennison .Hall attended the district school, and was a student in a private school for four years. He remained at home working for his parents until he was eighteen years of age, when he started out for himself in life, finding his first work in a coal office at New Haven. For three years he worked in the New Haven office, when. desiring to start in business for himself, he returned to Wall- ingford and engaged in business with Willard & Hopkins, old butchers and meat men. At a later period he formed a partnership with his brother. after a four years' partnership with Mr. Willard, of the firm already mentioned, and the firm of H. D. & J. A. Hall built up a large and enduring business. The third brother, Julius, became a member of the firm, and is now carrying on the business. Henry Dennison has bought stock very largely. In 1872 they built a fine brick market on Center street. Mr. Hall is an active and energetic man, and has never married. He has a farm of sixty aeres, and is one of the solid men of the community.
FRANKLIN TITUS IVES, an old and much respected citizen of Meriden, who for many years was one of its leading business men, is now spend- ing the evening of his days in retirement at his very comfortable home on Broad street, Meriden. He was born on the Ives homestead. in the town of Meriden, near the Wallingford line, Aug. 1, 1828, and is a descendant of one of the oldest and most respected families of New England.
John Ives, the first of the name to settle in New Haven county, was a land owner and farmer in that part of Wallingford which is now Meriden. There he spent his life, and had a family of eight children. John Ives, his oldest son, was born Nov. 16, 1669, and was engaged in farming in what was then the North Farms of Wallingford, where he died in 1738, at the age of sixty-nine years. In 1693 he was married to Mary Gillette, by whom he became the father of eleven children, the eldest of 1 whom, John, was born Sept. 28, 1694. This John Ives was a farmer, and owned considerable land near the Wallingford line, in the southeast part of | Meriden. His life was spent on the farm, where he
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COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
died Aug. 4, 1745. His remains were laid to rest in Meriden. On Dec. 18, 1719, he married Hannah Royce, daughter of Samuel and Hannah Royce, of Wallingford. She died Nov. 5, 1770 at the age of seventy years. Their children were twelve in num- ber.
John Ives, eldest son of Jolin and Hannah (Royce) Ives, was born July 4, 1729, and was a lifelong farmer. He was twice married, his first wife being Mary Hall, a daughter of Dr. Isaac Hall. She died in February, 1788, and Mr. Ives married for his second wife Sarah Hall, who passed away Nov. 24, 1814. He entered into rest in February, 1816. He was the father of eight sous and four daughters: (1) Lucretia married Capt. Samuel Ives. (2) John married Martha Merriman, and settled in Lewis county, N. Y. (3) Isaac married a Miss Benedict, and after her death wedded a Mrs. White, of Danbury. He was a member of the firm of Ives & White, the first wholesale hatters in New York. (4) Levi married Fannie Silliman, June 18, 1789, and settled in Lewis county, N. Y. He was the father of Bishop Ives, of North Carolina, who later became a Catholic, and died at Fordham. N. Y., Oct. 13, 1867. (5) Joseph married Lucy Hall, a daughter of Benjamin Hall, and located in Canada. (6) Joel M. married a Miss Hart, and also found a home in Canada. (7) Othniel, born Aug. 17, 1779, married Sarah Yale, and after her death, Rosetta Yale; he was engaged in farming in Meri- den, on part of his father's estate, and died about 1829. (8) Titus was the father of Franklin T. Ives. (9) Eli was engaged in the hat business in New York, and died of yellow fever. He was a penman of very artistic tastes, and Mr. Ives has in his possession samples of drawing and writing from this exquisite artist, which are almost without equal. (10) Anna married Noah Foster. ( II ) Polly mar- ried John Hooker. (12) Meriel married a Mr. Clark, and moved with him to Canada.
Titus Ives, noted above, was born July 15, 1782, on the old homestead, where he was reared, and he secured his education in the neighborhood district school, though he always regarded himself very largely as a man self-educated, by close observation and wide reading. For twenty-five years he taught school in Wallingford and Meriden, and he was also engaged in farming, building a dwelling house. barns and other appurtenances on that portion of the large estate which fell to him, and which is now owned by Robert Owen. The house was destroyed by fire in 1901. Titus Ives spent his life on the farm, and became one of the most prominent and highly respected men of the town. Long serving as trial justice in Meriden, he was familiarly known as "Squire" Ives, and he also acted in other local positions. In politics he was a stanch Democrat. In religion he was a member of the Baptist Church, helping to organize the church of that denomination in Meriden, and was always deeply interested in its welfare. In 1806 Titus Ives married, in Meriden,
Lodema Yale, a daughter of Nathaniel Yale, who was a deacon of the Presbyterian Church. She is remembered as a woman of great Christian worth and high moral character. To this union were born six children: (1) Silas Yale, who was a school teacher for forty years, and died in North Madison, Conn .; (2) Nathaniel Yale, who died of small pox in New York: (3) Maria, who married Luther Hall: (4) A daughter that died in infancy un- named: (5) Susan L., who died young; and (6) Franklin T., whose name introduces this article. Titus Ives died March 11, 1834.
Franklin Titus Ives was reared under the par- ental' roof, and secured his education in the local schools. All his life he has been a close student, and at an early age became a teacher, for a number of years being a very successful worker in the school room. Very early in life he became inter- ested in the stock business, and as early as his eigli- teenth year began buying cattle in the Vermont and western centers of that trade, and selling them in the home market. In 1862 he began the tobacco business, and followed that line for more than twenty-five years, having long been one of the largest buyers and packers of tobacco in the State. His knowledge of the art of curing and packing the article is profound. By the feeling of the weed he could tell the kind of land on which it grew and what kind of fertilizer was employed in its growth. He was ready to pay the highest market prices, and his packing always sold at the top of the market. During the other seasons of the year he also bought wool and skins, a line in which he was eminently successful, buying wool in nearly every State of the Union, and building up a very extensive busi- ness. Mr. Ives was also interested with I. C. Lewis, in the manufacture of boots and suspender web, under the firm name of Ives, Lewis & Co., and was a member of the firm of Hall. Ives & Co .. com- mission merchants, in New York, dealers in Cali- fornia wines and brandies, and for years among the largest dealers at New York in wines of the Pacific coast.
In 1887 Mr. Ives, in company with Lemuel J. Curtis, Robert Bowman and O. B. Arnold, became interested in furnishing $100,000 to a mining com- pany known as the Aurora Mining Co., of Wiscon- sin, which went under with a debt of $120.000. Mr. Ives was sent out by the creditors in Meriden to look after their interests, and when he reached the mines met a number of strangers all bent on a similar errand. After a consultation a new com- pany was formed, with Mr. Ives as secretary. treas- urer and general manager, and Judge Stevenson Burke. of Cleveland, as president. Mr. Ives was so successful in his management that he paid the debts. put $512,000 to the company's credit, and then sold the mines to the Wisconsin Central Railway Co. for $1,000.000, and this inside three years.
Mr. Ives became connected in 1887 with Judge Burke and James Corrigan, also of Cleveland, in
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the Corrigan-Ives Co., dealers in ore. This firm built up a business of nearly three million dollars a year, but suspended operations in 1893, owing to the tightness of the money market, paying, however, in full all claims against them. The business was finally closed in 1901, with a substantial profit to the investors, and Mr. Ives settled down to a private life after a very eventful business career. In Sep- tember, 1901, he made a voyage on the private yacht of Mr. Corrigan, just before that vessel went down with Mr. Corrigan's family on board.
Mr. Ives built his present fine home on Broad street in 1861, and it is reputed to be one of the most substantial in Meriden. He is a practical man, a deep thinker, with decided opinions, as well as respect for others' thoughts, and he is a strong ad- mirer of the late Robert Ingersoll. He is known as a man of letters of no mean ability. His poetic ability is marked, and a poem of his which follows sets forth his views on theology :
ORTHODOXY.
Life is the time to serve the Lord, The time to insure the great reward ; And while the lamp holds out to burn The biggest rascal can return.
From youth to age in sin can revel Cheat, lie and steal and serve the Devil; And when life's clock is past eleven, Profess religion, and go to heaven.
If man's last breath speaks faith. hope and belief, Who all his life has been a knave, and thief, And makes success to gain the great reward, Gives doubts as to the judgment of the Lord.
Absurd such faith; professions are a cheat ; The acts men do make character complete; With unbelief, an honest life should have An honored niemory, and a peaceful grave.
This creed seems safe: Be always true and just ; Nor fear God's wrath when we return to dust, Or that our souls the vaults of hell may fill; Do right; and when death calls, let come what will.
While in the West Mr. Ives wrote quite occa- sionally for the Meriden and other papers, and his communications were regarded as peculiarly valtı- able and interesting. He also possesses musical gifts of a high order, and is an expert checker player. He has presented some valuable scientific papers before the Meriden Scientific Association, and has in contemplation the preparation of a work describing his theories : a volume of reminiscences of early New England life is now in progress. Mr. Ives' theory of the earth formation, and origin of the water supply, is somewhat unique. He holds that the source of all water supply is the interior of the globe, and that centrifugal force brings it to the surface, and he shows many evidences to confirm his theory. He believes the earthi to be hollow, with openings at the polar ends nearly 1.500 miles across ; that the ice belt is the dividing line between salt and fresh water, the outside ocean being salt and
the inside fresh; that no point of actual polar cen- ter will ever be found, nor can be, any more than the moon can be explored ; that the earth to be cen- trally hot is impossible, but that the internal ocean is intensely cold, as evidenced by its exhaustless supply to our lakes and springs of uniformly cool water, with few exceptions; that rainfall has its main purpose to temporarily refresh the surface and vegetation, and nothing to do with lakes, etc. These claims, with various others, contradicting many accepted theories on this subject, he purposes to publish and explain at an early day, if life is spared.
In politics Mr. Ives is a Democrat, but has no desire for political honors. In 1897 he was ap- pointed to a membership on the State Board of Mediation and Arbitration, by Gov. Cooke, was successively reappointed by the State administra- tions, and is now chairman of the Board. In fra- ternity matters he belongs to Center Lodge, No. 97, A. F. & A. M., at Meriden.
Mr. Ives was married, in 1871, to Lucy Ann Miller, widow of the late Charles Rogers, of Bran- ford. Mr. and Mrs. Ives are much respected in the circles in which they move. He is marked by the possession of good artistic tastes, and by the devel- opment of high moral character, and an enviable record of business success.
WHEELER. The name of Wheeler has been prominent in the annals of Connecticut from the very dawn of the Colonial period. For quite 260 years, generations of the family have occupied lands in the territory now comprising the counties of Fairfield, New Haven and Litchfield. From the Southbury branch descended the family of the late Hon. Elisha Wheeler, and of him and his sons, who have occupied or are now occupying honorable positions in society, it is the especial purpose of this article to treat. Among these are the late Hon. Henry Samuel Wheeler, of Southbury, and Alfred Newton Wheeler, a member of the New Haven Bar, and who for some years has been assistant State's attorney.
Moses Wheeler, the emigrant ancestor of this branch of the Connecticut Wheelers, probably came with the company from London, England, who set- tied New Haven, in 1638, as he is of record there as early as 1641. He married in New Haven Miri- am, a sister of Joseph Hawley. Subsequent to the period of his residence in New Haven he removed to Stratford, where his family became prominent and for generations ranked among the most influential citizens of the town.
Lieut. Samuel Wheeler, a descendant of Moses, the emigrant, was the great-grandfather of Elisha Wheeler, who left Stratford about 1740, and set- tied in what is now the northern part of the town of Oxford, and there reared a large family, one of whose sons, and the next in line, was Robert, whose son, Moses, the pioneer of the Southbury family,
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was the father of the late Elisha Wheeler, of that town.
Moses Wheeler, born March 4, 1773, was mar- ried in 1795 to Betsey A. Loveland and soon after built and moved into the house .in which he died, July 24, 1827, and which is yet standing and is oc- cupied by the family of one of his sons, the late Elisha Wheeler. Betsey A., widow of Moses Wheeler, died May 28, 1835. Like his ancestors, Moses Wheeler was a man of unusual prominence and possessed many excellent qualities; was a Free Mason of high degree and was well known in the county and State.
Of the ten children of Moses and Betsey A. Wheeler, Elisha was born June 16, 1816, and died in the paternal home in Southbury Jan. 1, 1877. His education was acquired in the common schools of his native town where he was reared a farmer and continued as such through life, and in that vo- cation was successful, accumulating a comfortable estate. Industrious and thrifty, he managed his business affairs so as to become one of the largest land owners in the town. Judicious in the man- agement of his own business matters and possess- ing a broad knowledge of general affairs. he was frequently consulted by his neighbors in business matters and had the care and settlement of many es- tates. All these trusts he discharged with care and fidelity and won by his conscientious life the esteem of the entire community. Although exact and just he was a warm friend and a good neighbor, ever taking an interest in the affairs of his town and through his interest along these lines, and owing to his especial fitness, he was brought into prominence in official capacities. For many years he was first selectman of the town, and while a Democrat in his political affiliations, he discharged the duties of selectman all through the period of the Civil war in a manner to win the approbation of all parties. During the trying period of the war he was a stanch Union man and believed in the active prosecution of the war and the liberal care of the families of the enlisted men. Mr. Wheeler was an enterprising and public-spirited citizen, foremost in the town's progress and was sent by his fellow townsmen to represent them in the General Assembly in 1855 and 1861, and was sent to the Senate from his dis- trict in 1863, serving with credit in both bodies. On the questions at public issue he had strong con- victions, but was not radical or intemperate in his speech or actions.
In 1836 Elisha Wheeler was married to Anna M. Johnson, by whom he had one child, James L., born in 1837, who lived in the town of Beacon Falls, and Nov. 18, 1863, married Mary A. Curtis, of New- town; he died Jan. 1, 1875. For a second wife, Elisha Wheeler married, on April 10, 1838, Eliza A., daughter of Calvin Leavenworth, of Oxford, who survives him. Mrs. Wheeler was born Feb. 29, 1816, in Oxford. and is a descendant in the sixth generation from Thomas Leavenworth, who
came from England with his wife, Grace, and set- tled sometime after 1664 on Good Hill, in what is now the town of Woodbury, Conn., where he died in 1683. The line of descent of Mrs. Wheeler is through Thomas (2), Thomas (3), Thomas (4), and Calvin Leavenworth. In her early life Mrs. Wheeler was a school teacher, and she has retained an active interest in the intellectual life of the com- munity in which she has so long resided. She is a devoted member of the Episcopal Church and has been much engaged in charitable and benevolent work.
To the second marriage of Elisha Wheeler were born children as follows: (1) Frances Eliza, born Oct. 17, 1840, married Truman E. Hurd Oct. 17, 1865, and died April 12, 1875, leaving three chil- dren : Mary Frances married, Aug. 14, 1890, Louis A. Mansfield, of New Haven; Katie Eliza; and Henry Baldwin Harrison. (2) Martha Elizabeth, born Aug. 12, 1842, married, June 13, 1883, Rev. Elihu T. Sanford, of New Haven, who died Jan. 12, 1895, and she later resided in New Milford, Conn., and now, a widow. resides in New Haven. (3) Ralph Elisha, born May 17, 1844, died June 7, 1858. (4) Mary S., born April 26, 1846, married, June 9, 1870, Charles Edward Webster, of Mauch Chunk, Pa., and now resides at South Bethlehem, that State; their children are as follows: Margaret Vir- ginia, born Jan. 24, 1872; Mary Seabrook, born Aug. 31, 1874, died Aug. 29, 1876; and Charles E., Jr., born Nov. 11, 1877. (5) Henry Samuel. (6) Al- fred Newton.
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