Capt. Theophilus Yale

Capt. Theophilus Yale's great-grandnephew, Sea captain Theophilus Yale, nephew of Capt. Elihu Yale

Captain Theophilus Yale (1675 – 1760) was a 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 States, and a signatory of the Declaration of Independence. Yale was also a deputy of the Connecticut House of Representatives and Justice of the Peace for Wallingford.

His daughter, Sarah Yale, became the great-grandmother of abolitionist Congressman Sherlock James Andrews, who welcomed Abraham Lincoln at Cleveland during his presidential visit.

Biography

Theophilus Yale was born on November 13, 1675, to Capt. Thomas Yale and Rebecca Gibbards, daughter of William Gibbards, Esquire. He was a member of the Yale family, namesake of the future Yale College, and descendant of the Princes of Powys Fadog, Lords of Yale and Dinas Bran. He became a magistrate from about 1724, at 49 years old, to the end of his life in 1760, and occupied various offices in the city and the military. Yale was made Justice of the Peace of New Haven from 1727 to 1729, and performed 4 marriages, which under the Puritans, could only be performed by a civil magistrate. On May 14, 1734, Yale is recorded as a witness for a concession of 75 aces, in the County of New Haven, to James Scoville of Scoville Hill in Harwinton, Connecticut.

In 1735, Yale is recorded as a Deputy of the Connecticut House of Representatives, representing Wallingford with Capt. Benjamin Hall, and would stay for most of his political career. He is reappointed Justice of the Peace of New Haven County in 1736, a few times more in 1737, 1739, 1740, 1741, and once more in 1742 for the next year ensuing.

In 1742, at a meeting of the Convocation of New Haven County, Theophilus Yale, as a member of the First Church of Wallingford, launched a complaint against Harvard graduate, Rev. Philemon Robbins, pastor of the First Church in Branford. The controversy concerned the Newlightism preaching of Rev. Robbins to the Baptists of Wallingford, whose group were not within his defined territory. Her grandfather Rev. Nicholas Street was a minister, colleague of John Davenport, and graduate of Pembroke College at Oxford. Through his wife Sarah Street, Yale became the granduncle of Dr. Lyman Hall, one of the Founding Fathers of the United States. Dr. Hall was also a signatory of the Declaration of Independence, a Yale graduate, and Governor of Georgia.

Capt. Yale's daughter Sarah became the great-grandmother of abolitionist Congressman Sherlock James Andrews, who also graduated from Yale.

Among his descendants, number were involved in seafaring ventures; the grandson of his son Theophilus, Sea Captain Theophilus Yale, was involved in the Old China Trade, dealing in natural resources, and died at sea in Valparaíso, Chile. He served as a Privateer in the War of 1812, serving America, and operated a whaling business with wholesale grocers Fitch Brothers & Co. of Marseille, France.

Death

Capt. Theophilus Yale died on September 13, 1760. Members included merchant William Yale, Senator Charles D. Yale, General Edwin R. Yale, merchant Henry Clay Yale, Yale merchant William H. Yale, Yale spy William Yale, CIA Director of Finance Thomas B. Yale, and others.

Theophilus Yale (1714-1759), became the father of Capt. Elihu Yale, a wealthy merchant who was among the first bayonet manufacturers of Connecticut.

Sarah Yale (1716-1784), became the wife of Capt. Joshua Atwater, and the great-grandmother of abolitionist Congressman Sherlock James Andrews, who was a graduate from Yale and the 1st President of the Cleveland Bar Association. He was also the son-in-law of Congressman John W. Allen, Mayor of Cleveland, and was related to the Griswold family and the Clay family.

Divan Berry Yale, father of Linus Yale Sr., of the Yale Lock Company, was Capt. Theophilus Yale's great-grandnephew, being a descendant of one of his brothers. Members of this branch included inventor Linus Yale Jr., railroad builder Julian L. Yale, Rockefeller partner George W. Gardner, abolitionist Barnabas Yale, golfer John Deere Cady, baseball owner William Yale Giles, and others.