city of New England he never at any time left the
parental roof, and has always devoted his energies
and time — except when called to official positions
of trust and responsibility — to the management of
his farm. He is a thorough agriculturist and skilled
in all the details of general farming.

On June 3, 1866, Mr. Tyler married r^Iiss Jane
Elizabeth, daughter of Joseph and Sarah Lovisa
Thompson. Two children were liorn to them : \\"\\\-
iam Joseph and John Alexis Dilible. The first named
was born May 12, 1867, and died Nov. 18, 1873,
aged six years, six months and six days. The sec-
ond, who was born Nov. 11, 1875, died July 16,
1879, when three years and eight months old. '

Mr. Tyler is a stanch supporter of the Republi-
can party and its principles, hut the usual narrow
confines of partisanship have not prevented him in
his official life from acting for the good of all con-
cerned. His manners are most gracious and pleas-
ing, and marked by an affabilitv not possessed by
every person. In the Eastern States the office of
selectman — like that of the town clerk — r^nks as
first in importance and one of the most difficult to
administer in a satisfactory manner. Notwithstand-
ing this, Mr. Tyler has held the office continuously
— elected annuallv — since 1886. No official in this
town (nor probablv in any other) has such an en-
viable and remarkable record. The laying out of the
suburban electric road, the erection of a new town
hall, a magnificent new school house, and the build-
ing of a new State highwav. with new roads on the
north shore of Long Island Sound, also an engine
house for a recently organized fire department, have
all taken place during his term of office. Mr. Ty-
ler ranks deservedly among the most prominent and



puljlic-spirited citizens of his town. He and his wife
are members of the Grange, No. 106, and are ac-
tive officials in this fraternal association.

DA\TD BOUGHTON HAMILTON (de-
ceased) was Ixirn in Danbury, Conn., Oct. 19. 1824.
He was in the sixth generation from Sir ^^'illianl
Hamilton, who was born in Scotland in 1643, ^nd
died in Danbury in 1746, aged one hundred three
years.

(I) Sir William ?Ianiilton was the son of Gal-
latin Hamilton, of Glasgow, Scotland, and he set-
tled with his family first on Cape Cod, where he
was so fortunate as to capture a whale, which had
been driven on the beach during a storm, and for
this he was accused of witchcraft and of being in
league with the Devil. In consequence he fled to
Rhode Island, and later moved to Danbury, Conn.
There, on the verge of civilization, he established
his home at "Bear Mountain," where remains of
the old house could be found as late as 1835. Will-
iam had six children, all of whom lived to remark-
able ages, and died in Danbury: Joseph, aged
eighty-six; David, aged seventy-nine; ricnjamin.
aged ninety; Ezra, aged ninety-three: Thankful
(spinster), aged one hundred two; Mercy, aged
fifty-two.

(II) Joseph Hamilton, son of Sir William, had
three sons, all of whom were born at Bear Moun-
tain, and died in Danbury: Silas, Benjamin and
Joseph, Jr.

(III) Silas Hamilton, .son of Joseph, had five
sons; Silas, Jr., Paul. James, John, and Orpha.

(IV) Paul Hamilton, son of Silas, was born
Nov. 19, 1752, and died May 31, 1830. He mar-
ried Anna Stevens (born 1757, died 1829), who
was the daughter of Lieut. Ezra Stevens, an of-
ficer in the American Revolution. Lieut. Stevens*
mother, .Abigail Barnum. was a daughter of Thom-
as Barnum. and the first white child born in Dan-
bury. Paul had six sons and four daughters, all
born at Bullet Hill, Pembroke District, Danbury:
Anna, Ix)rn 1775, married Je?se Hoyt, and died in
Danbury in 1848; Llannah. born 1776, married
Elias Boughton, and died in Danbury, in 1843;
Iktsy, born 1779 (siiinster). died in Danbury i-,i
1859; Elizabeth, horn 1781. married John Kna|ip,
and died in Danbury in 1862; James, born 1783.
married Waity Budlong, and died in Danbury in
1865; Daniel, born 1785, marjied Miss .\iken. and
died in New Haven in 1823; Paul S., born i78(;,
married Reiney Wood, and died in Hartford in
1841 ; David, born 1791, married Deborah Knapp
Boughton, and died in Hartford in 1834: Silas, born
1793, married Isabel Williken, and ilied in .\lbany
in 1861 ; and Ezra, born 1801, married Syl)il Prich-
ard, of Waterbury. and died in Hartford in 1879.

(V) David Hamilton, son of Paul, born 1791,
died 1834. He married Deborah Knapp Boughton,
born in 1790, and died in 1864. They reared the

I following children: Julia Ami. born 1812, mar-



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.



891



ried William C I'^llis. ilird in Hartford in 1850.
Clarissa Marictte, horn in 1815. married Hiram
Wiklman. died in Hartford in iS8q; Lorenzo, born
in t8i8, married Lavinia Delliber, died in Cali-
fiirnia in i86t); Orville, born in 1821, married Eliz-
abeth Lyon, died in Texas in 1888: David Pkhij^Ii-
ton, born in 1824: Elizabeth, born 1827, married
Henrv Chaniplin, and is still liviiij^. a widow, in
Hartford.

David Boujjhton Hamilton spent his boyhood
days in Danbury, and received his education in his
native town, and at a select school in Hartford.
In early youth he had a desire for the ministry, and
began ]ireparalion for a life work in the pulpit,
but the bent of his mind was neither in that direc-
tion nor in the Ici^al profession, to which he turned
his attention for a time. His was a distinctively
business nature, and, by a process of natural se-
lection, he became a business man of high stand-
in.o;. In early youth he taupfht school for two years,
and in 185 1 became a clerk in the postoffice at
Hartford. Two years later when the Rogers'
Brothers organized for the manufacture of silver-
plated ware, he became a salesman for the new
firm. In 1858 he joined the firm of Rogers &
Bros., and his connection with the silver plating in-
dustry was interrupted during forty-two years only
on two occasions, once when he visited California
in 1856 for the benefit of his health, and again dur-
ing his service in the Union army in the Civil war.

Mr. Hamilton entered the service in 1861, al-
most immediately on the breaking out of the Re-
bellion. On that memorable .^pril 19, 1S61, he was
in Baltimore, just after the attack upon the L^nion
soldiers. Th€ next .day he was in Washington, and
joined a company of volunteers raised by Col.
Cassius AI. Clay for the defense of the capitol. Tn
a few days he returned to Connecticut, and en-
listed for regular service in the 5th Conn. \'. I.,
where he received a commission as first lieutenant.
He was promoted to be captain in 1862, and was
honorably discharged for serious disabilities Jan. 10,
1863. Capt. Hamilton made a fine record as a
soldier, and was highly esteemed by all bis old
comrades.

Mr. Hamilton was secretary of Rogers & Bros,
from the incorporation of the firm until 1868, when
he was elected treasurer. In 1878 he became presi-
dent also, filling both positions to the eminent sat-
isfaction of all interested in the enterprise. Capt.
Hamilton was president of the Manufacturers' Na-
tional Bank from its incorporation in 1881, of the
Watcrbury Lumber and Coal Co. from its reorgan-
ization in 1883, and of the Connecticut Steam Boiler
Inspection and Insurance Co. from 1891 to 1894.
He was also extensively interested in various im-
portant business enterprises throughout the State,
more especially in the William Rogers Manufactur-
ing Co. of Hartford, the Meriden Britannia Co.
and the Bridgeport Brass Co., being a director in
each.



Politicallv Capt. Hamilton was a Republican,
and in his time filled many important official posi-
tions, which were chicll}- municipal and business in
their character. In 1881 he was elected to fill the
State Senatorial vacancy created by the death of
Senator Brown. He served the city as councilman
and alderman, and was a member of the Board of
Water Commissioners from 1885 to i8<)3. He had
been selectman of the town, and chairman of the
Board of School Visitors. As a member of a com-
mittee of three, appointed by the Wadhams post,
G. A. R., to raise money for a soldiers' monument,
he rendered material assistance to that commend-
able enterprise. Capt. Hamilton belonged to the
New York Commanderv of the Loyal Legion, the
I. O. O. F., and the Masonic fraternity, where he

j was also a Knight Templar. Cai)t. Hamilton was

I a man of much ambition and business energy, and,
in his business character, had visited every State
of the Union. He was an indenendent thinker,
much interested in ])liilosophical and social prob-
lems, and deeply devoted to the progress of the
world.

On May 6. 1847, Capt. Hamilton married Mary
Rogers, daughter of S. Rogers, of Hartford, and
she died May 22, 1859, leaving one son, Charles
Alfred, born May 3, 1849. On June 9. 1863, Cajrt.
Hamilton was uniteil in marriage with Mary Eliza-
beth, daughter of William Birely. of Frederick,

I Md. He l)ccame acquainted with Miss Birely while
doing detached duty under Gen. Banks. She di'.-d
Aug. 27, 1870, leaving two children. Lewis Birely
and Katherine, of whom the former, born in 1864,
is a graduate of Yale, class of 1886. and is a civil

• engineer by profession. Capt. Hamilton was mar-
ried, Sept. I, 1871, to Isabel L., daughter of John
Griswold Ely, of Lyme. This union was blessed
by the birth of one child, Paul, who was born Se])t.
I, 1873, and is a graduate of the Shcfifield Scientific
School at Yale, class of 1894. Capt. Hamilton's
last illness resulted from the lodging of a small
fish-bone in the larynx, where it caused ulceration,
and ultimately resulted in death. Eminent special-
ists were employed, but without avail, and Capt.
Hamilton died Sunday morning. -Aug. 14, i8g8.
Mrs. Hamilton, the widow of this gallant sol-
dier, distinguished leader in the business world, and
old-school gentleman, still survives. She is cightli
in line from Richard, "the settler.'' This Richard
Ely, first of the Ely family in America, came from
Plymouth, England, in 1660, and settled in Bos-
ton. His grandfather, Leonard Ely, Elder of
Wouston, who died in 161 5, was the grandson of
John Ely, born alxiut 1492, and who was Warden
of the palace of the Bishops of Winchester in
1540.

\\ hen Richard Ely came to this country he was
a widower with two sons, William and Richard. A
carved oak chest which he brought with him is in
a state of perfect preservation to-dav. in the family
of one of his descendants. In \C/^ he married



892



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.



Widow Cullick, sister of Col. Fenwick. and settled
at Lyme, on the Connecticut river, where he and
his sons, in a few years, owned 4,000 acres of land.
He died in 1690, and a few years later a stone was
erected to his memory, in the Ely burying ground
at Lyme, on which is recorded the following: "His
descendants besides peopling these mansions of the
dead, are greatly multiplied in the land."

(H) \Villiam Ely. son of Richard, born 1647,
died 1717. He married Elizabeth Smith, daughter
of Simon Smith, who with twenty-eight others took
up all the land between Haddam and Saybrook,
except Six-Mile Island ; the latter was the home
of William. To William and l^lizabcth were born
the following children: Ann, Elizabeth, Richard,
Mary, Daniel (had four wives), \\'i]liam, Jr., De-
borah and Johanna.

(III) U'illiam Ely, Jr., son of William, mar-
ried, first, in 1715, Hannah Thompson, of Ipswich,
Mass., and, second, Mary Noyes. He had ten chil-
dren, seven of whom were born of his first mar-
riage, namely : Jacob, James, Martha, Deborah,
Marv Ann, Samuel and Ammi ; by his second mar-
riage: Hannah, Mary and Ann. The first si.K
were baptized by the first minister of Lyme.

(IV) James Ely. son of William, Jr., born 171S,
died 1766. He married Dorcas Andrews, of Ips-
wich, in 1742. They had ten children: Elizabeth,
James, Ruhama. Jacob, Dorcas, Tabitha, Aaron,
Andrew, John and Gad. Of these, all six of the
sons served in the Revolution, and Aaron was killed
at the battle of Kings Bridge in 1776.

(\') James Ely, son of James Ely and Dorcas
Andrews, born in 1743, married Catherine Hays, in
1768, and afterward Prudence Hewitt. By his first
wife he had nine children : Richard. James, Dor-
cas, Phoebe, Aaron. John, Kate. William and Calvin.

(\T) .John Ely. son of James and Catherine
Hayes, born 1781, died 1817, married Lucy Miller
(died 1859, aged eighty-two). They had six chil-
dren: Horace. William, John Griswold, Rodney,
Ansel and Calvin.

(VII) John Griswold Ely, son of John and Lucy
(Miller) Ely, born in 1810, died 1863, was the fa-
ther of Mrs. Plamilton. In 1830 he married Sally
Pratt Williams, who was born in 1812, and died
in May, 1901, in Lyme. They had eleven children:
John Hebcr. Elizabeth, Oscar, Ellen, Patterson,
Isabel L. (Mrs. Hamilton), Ernest, Emma, Lewis,
Edna J. and Edward W.

CAPT. ELIJERT L. FORD, an influential citi-
zen of Milford. was born in that town Feb. 21,
1847, son of Samuel A. Ford, and grandson of
Samuel Ford. The family has been well known in
the town for several generations, our subject's line
of descent being as follows: Thomas Ford, Jr.,
Thaddeus, Samuel, Sanuiel A. and Capt, Elbert.
The Fords are a very long-lived people, some living
to be over one hundred years of age, and many to
be over ninety.



Samuel Ford, the grandfather of Capt. Elbert,
was a native of the locality, and passed his life there
as a farmer. He married Polly Smith, of Milford,
and had the following children : David S., who
was a farmer and shoemaker in Milford ; Lewis, a
carriage-maker, who was last heard from while
serving as a soldier in the Civil war ; Samuel A.,
our subject's father; James, a carriagemaker, now
residing in New York State ; and Catherine, who
married Everett Smith, a shoemaker in Milford,
where she now resides.

Samuel A. Ford was born and reared in Milford
and became a farmer there. Politically he was a
Republican, and in religious faith both he and his
wife were Congregationalists. He died March 7,
1882. He married Sarah E. Smith, a native of
Stratford, Conn., and a daughter of John Smith, of
that town. 'S\rs. VorA passed away Dec. 28, 1898.
Our subject was the eldest in the familv. the otlicrs
being: Elizabeth M.. wife of Alonzo W. Burns, of
Milford; Emily E., wife of Merritt C. Ford, of Mil-
ford ; Lauren A., a mason of the same town ; and
Edwin E., who died in infancy.

Elbert L. Ford attended the district schools
near his home and the high school in Milford
village. On leaving school he chose a seafaring
life, and when only twenty-two years old was mas-
ter of a vessel, and his skill as a master and pilot
won him a high reputation. In November, 1881,
he passed a successful examination and received a
United States master's license for steam vessels,
upon the Atlantic coast, its sounds, bays and har-
bors. In 1883 he became captain of William M.
Merwin & Sons' oy'Ster steamer, which position he
held for twelve years. In 1869 Capt. Ford married
Miss Elva W. Whittlesey, daughter of Samuel ami
Wealthy Whittlesey, of Stratford, Conn. She died
in 1872, leaving one child. Bertha E. In 1S73 Mr.
Ford married Miss Carrie ^^'. Sherwood, daughter
of Capt. Joseph \\'akeman Sherwood, of Southport,
Conn., and bv this marriage there are nine children:
Lillian W., Grace S., Ethel S., Samuel E., Ada F.,
William A., E. Lewis, Cecil and Arthur S.

Capt. Ford is deservedly popular in his tmvn.
He was elected selectman in 1893-94-95-96-99-00-

01, and for five years was first selectman and town
agent. He is one of the oldest members of the
Milford Fire Department, of which he served many
years as foreman. Fraternally he is identified with
Aiisantawae Lodge, No. 89, I*". & A. M. ; Solomon
Chapter, No. 3, R. A. M. : Harmony Council, No.
8, of New Haven : New Haven Conmiandery, Xo.

2, K. T. : Pyramid Temple, Nobles of the Mystic
Shrine, Bridgc])ort : Lucia Chapter, No. 25, O. E.
S. ; and Wopowage Lodge, No. 14, I. O. O. F., Mil-
ford. Capt. Ford and family attend St. Peter's
Episcopal Church of Milford.

RUFUS NORTON LEETE (deceased) is re-
membered as one of the prominent and influential
members of the Leete familv, one of the oldest and





^v<




^^y^



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.



893



best known in Guilford. He was hum at Lccte's
Island, near Guilford, Aug. 17, 1812, the second
son of Miner and Lucinda (Norton) Lccte, and a
descendant of Gov. William Lcete, the progenitor of
most of the Leetcs in America. He was prominent
in the Mcnuncatuc plantation and in the town of
Guilford, and in his official relations to the Colony
of New Haven, and later the L"nited Connec-
ticut Colonies.

Gov. Leete came to America in the Rev. Henry
Whitfield Company, and was one of the signers of
the riantation Covenant, on shipboard, Jan. i, 1639.
He was born in Dodington, Huntingdonshire,
England, in 1612 or 1613, and was a grandson of
Thomas Leete, of Ockington, Cambridgeshire, Eng-
land, who married .Maria Slack-, uf Rusluon, Xortli-
amptonshire, daughter of Edward Slade. To
Thomas Leete were born four children : John, of
Dodmgton (the elder); John, of Islington; Jane,
who married Richard Dale ; and Rebecca, who mar-
ried Thomas Fowler. John Leete, of Dodington,
son of Thomas of Ockington, married Ann Shute.
daughter of Robert Shute, one of the Justices of
the King's Bencli. To this union three children
were born : William ; John, of Medlow Grange,
Huntingdonshire, England ; and .Ann, who married
Robert Ruly.

William Leete, son of John, of Dodington, was
bred in the law, and served for a considerable time
as clerk in the Bishops" Court, at Cambridge, where,
observing the oppressions and cruelties then prac-
ticed on the conscientious and virtuous Puritans,
he was led to examine more thoroughly their doc-
trines and practices, and eventually to become a
Puritan himself and to give up his ofifice. Coming
to America as noted above, he arrived at New
Haven about July 10, 1639. ^^'hen they had agreed
upon Guilford as a place of settlement, he was one
of the six selected to purchase the land from the
native Indians in trust for the plantation until their
organization. He selected for himself about 250
acres of land three miles west of Guilford, now
known as Leete's Island. He filled many public
offices in the New Colony, and was clerk of the
plantation from 1639 to 1662. He was also one of
four to whom was intrusted the full civil jx^wer of
the plantation, without limitation, until a church was
formed. He was selected one of the "seven pillars"
of the foundation work. He was deputy from Guil-
ford to the General Court in New Haven from
1643 'o 1650 and from 165 1 to 1658 he was magis-
trate of the town. In 1658 he was chosen dejiuly
governor of the Colony, and continued in that office
until 1 661, when he was elected governor, an office
which he held until the union with Connecticut, in
1664. After the union he was an assistant imtil
1669, when he was elected deputy governor of the
Connecticut Colony, holding that office until 1676,
when he was chosen governor. 1 le retained the
office by continuous re-elections uiUil his death.



April 16, 1683. Upon being elected governor he
removed to Hartford, where he lived continuously
until his death, and was buried there.

William Leete married first in England, about
1638, Anna Payne, daughter of Rev. John Payne,
of Southoe. She died Sept. i, 1668. For his sec-
ond wife he married April 7, 1670, Sarah, widow
of Henry Rutherford; she died Feb. 10, 1673. He
married for his third wife, Mrs. Mary Street, who
had been twice married before, first to Gov. I-'rancis
Newman, and later to Rev. Nicholas Street ; she
died Dec. 13, 1683. His children were: John, born
in 1639, is mentioned below ; Andrew, born in 1643,
married Elizabeth Jordan ; William married Mary
I'^enn ; Abigail married Rev. J. Woodbridge; Caleb,
born Aug. 24, 1O51, died Jan. 13, 1673; (Iratiana
was born Dec. 22, 1653; Peregrine, born Jan. 12,
1658, died young; Joshua, born in 1659, died l-'eb-
22, 1660; Anna, born March 10, 1661, married John
Trowbridge.

(II) John Leete, son of Gov. William, was born
in 1639 in (iuilford, and is said to have been the
first white child born in the town. He married, Oct.
4. 1670. Mary, daughter of William and Joanna
(Sheafe) Chittenden. She was born in 1647, anc'
died March 9, 1712. John Leete died Nov. 25, 1692.
Children: .\nn, born Aug. 5, 1671, married John
Collins; John, born Jan. 4, 1674, married .Sarah
.Mien; Joshua, born July 7, 1676, married Mary
?ilunger; Sarah, born Dec. 16, \C)/7, married Elia-
kim Marshall; Pelatiah, born March 26, 1681, is
mentioned below; Mehita:bel, horn Dec. 10, 1683,
married Dr. Anthony Lahore; Benjamin, born Dec.
26, 1686, married Rachel Champion; Daniel, born
Dec. 23, 1689, died young.

(HI) Pelatiah Leete.' the tilth child of John
Leete, was married Jidy i, 1705, to .\bigail, daugh-
ter of Abraham and Elizabeth (liartlett) b'owler,
and they soon after removed to Leete's Island, where
no settlement had before been made. The land had
been allotted to his grandfather. ( Inv. Leete, after
proper purchase from the Indians, and the title to
the greater ]jart of this soil has never been out of
the family name. L'pon these ancestral acres seven
generations of Lcctes have resided as farmers, mem-
bers of each generation being content to remain
and follow the occupation of their forefathers, most
of them with success and j^rofit. Originally the
soil was very fertile, and it is said of Deacon Pela-
tiah Leete that he farmed .so successfully that he
did not consider a hundred bushels of shelled corn
to the acre more than an average yield. He also
had a herd of one hundred head of neat cattle.
In 1735 he erected a large house on a commanding
spot on his farm, overlooking the waters of the
Sound, in which he lived un'il his death, Oct. 13,
1768, at the ripe old age of eighty-seven. This
house was later occupied by descendants in several
generations. Pelatiah was deacon of the Fourth
Church of Guilford. He was also a representative



894



COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.



of the town in the General Court. Mis wife died
Oct. 22, 1769, aged ninety years. Their children
were: Abigail, born Sept. 13, 1707, died June 2,
1792; Daniel, born Oct. 14, 1709, is mentioned be-
low; Mehitabel, born Sept. 28, 171 1, died Oct. 21,
171 1 ; Pelatiah, born March 7, 1713, married Lydia
Crittenden; Mehitabel, born in 1714, married John
Brewster.

(IV) Deacon Daniel Leete. eldest son of Deacon
Pelatiah, was also a deacon of the Fourth Congre-
gational Church of Guilford. He was engaged in
farming and stockraising at Leete's Island and
built a house near the residence of his father, which
became noted in the Revolution. In 1874 it was de-
molished and upon its site was erected the present
residence of Calvin AI. Leete. Deacon Daniel
Leete died Oct. i, 1772. He married, June 14,
1738, Rhoda, daughter of Caleb and Sarah (Meigs)
Stone, of Guilford, bom Nov. 2, 1719, died Dec, 23,
1769. ' Both are buried in the Guilford cemetery.
Children : Rhoda, born April 14, 1739, married Xoah
Rogers; Daniel, born April 17, 1742, married
Charity Norton; Ambrose, born Jan. 19, 1748, is
mentioned below; Abraham, born Sept. 25, 1753,
died Oct. 26, 1753; Abraham (2), born April 5,
I7i5. died Nov. 5, 1757.

(V) Deacon Ambrose Leete, son of Deacon
Daniel, was born on the homestead at Leete's Island,
Jan. 19, 1748. Like his father and grandfather he
was a deacon of the Fourth Congregational Church,
chosen to that office in 1786, and to the same office
in the First Church in 1807. He married, Nov.
10, 1773, Miranda, daughter of William and Ra-
chel (White) Chittenden, and died Feb. 14, 1809;
his widow survived until Sept. 16, 1838, reaching
the age of ninety-one years and six months. Chil-
dren : Amibrose, born Nov. 10, I774- married
Catherine Ward: Miranda, born Jan. 8, 1777, died
Dec. 21, 1822; Miner, born June 30, 1779. is men-
tioned below ; Abraham, born Jan. i, 1784. died Feb.
26, 1848; Wealthy, born Oct. 27, 1785. died March
23. 1870.

(VI) Miner Leete was born on the Leete's
Island farm, where he spent his life in agricultural
pursuits, a well-known citizen. He died compara-
tively young in life. Nov. 7. 1826, aged forty-seven
vears, and was buried in the Leete cemetery. He
married, Nov. 17, 1807, Lucinda Norton, born Nov.
18. 1780, in Guilford, 'daughter of Col. Rufus and
Hannah (Cook) Norton. She died Aug. 28, 1848,
and was buried in the family cemetery. Their five
children were as follows: (i) Edward Lorenzo,