{{short description|Captain and pioneer of Lee, Massachusetts}} thumb|225px|Portrait of Capt. Josiah Yale's son, Josiah Yale Jr. [[File:Burgoynes Surrender At Saratoga, American War of Independence.jpg|thumb|British General John Burgoyne's surrender, during the Saratoga Campaign]]
Captain '''Josiah Yale''' (1752 – 1822) was a politician and military officer from Massachusetts. He became an early settler and pioneer of Lee, Massachusetts, and was made Justice of the Peace and Minister Treasurer. He also fought in the Stillwater Alarms of the Saratoga Campaign during the American War of Independence, and was a deputy in the Massachusetts House of Representatives, serving under Gov. James Sullivan and Lt. Gov. Levi Lincoln Sr.
==Biography== [[File:Battle of Saratoga (September 19, 1777) MET DP876929.jpg|thumb|Battle of Saratoga at Stillwater, New York, where Capt. Yale was engaged under General Rossiter during the Saratoga Campaign]]
Josiah Yale was born in Wallingford, Connecticut, on June 19, 1752, to John Yale and Eunice Andrews, members of the Yale family.<ref name="Yale deathB1">{{Cite web|url=https://archive.org/details/yalegenealogyhis00byuyale/page/154/mode/2up?q=josiah|author=Rodney Horace Yale|title=Yale Genealogy and History of Wales. The British Kings and Princes. Life of Owen Glyndwr. Biographies of Governor Elihu Yale|date=1908|publisher=Milburn and Scott company|website=Archive.org|pages=155–156|language=en}}</ref> His father John was the grandson of Capt. Thomas Yale Jr., cofounder of Wallingford, and the great-grandson of Capt. Thomas Yale Sr., cofounder of New Haven Colony.<ref name="Yale deathB1"/> Josiah was the grandnephew of Capt. Theophilus Yale, a cousin of Capt. Elihu Yale, and a distant cousin of Lt. Gov. William H. Yale.<ref name="Yale deathB1"/>
In 1774, Yale bought 50 acres of land from William Andrus of Lenox in the northwest part of Lee, which became part of the estate of Senator Elizur Smith, uncle of paper manufacturer Wellington Smith, Yale's great-grandson.<ref name="Berk91">[https://books.google.com/books?id=Ddw_AQAAMAAJ&dq=%22josiah+yale%22+%22massachusetts%22&pg=PA128 History of Berkshire County, Massachusetts], Vol II, Joseph Edward Adams Smith, Thomas Cushing, J. B. Beers & Co., New York, 1885, p. 128-134-160-161-162-163-164-165</ref><ref name="spring bio121"/> Capt. Yale married to Ruth Tracy on December 26, 1774, in Lee, Massachusetts, one year before the incorporation of the town, and were the first couple recorded in its history.<ref>[https://www.newspapers.com/image/76766463/?terms=yale&match=2 The Wichita Beacon], Mon, May 02, 1910 ·Page 10</ref><ref name="Berk91"/> Yale was among the early settlers and pioneers of Lee, Massachusetts, along with Cornelius Bassett, Jesse Gifford, William Ingersoll, Samuel Stanley, and others.<ref name="early set121">[https://books.google.com/books?id=bwc2K44uR3AC&q=yale&pg=PA6 History of the Town of Lee, Mass: A Lecture], Rev. Amory Gale, French & Royce, Lee, Massachusetts, 1854, p. 6-36</ref><ref name="spring bio121"/>
The Battle of Lexington, the first military campaign of the American War of Independence, was fought about two years and a half before the incorporation of the town.<ref name="spring bio121"/> The town raised men for the war, and provided food to the Continental Army and the militia.<ref name="spring bio121"/> Regiments included those of Col. John Paterson, later Major General and Congressman, and Col. Benjamin Simonds of Simonds' Regiment of Militia.<ref name="spring bio121"/> Some of the town's soldiers were engaged in General John Stark's regiment at the Battle of Bennington, and participated in the campaign that brought the surrender of British General John Burgoyne.<ref name="spring bio121"/>
On January 4, 1780, Yale was put in charge, with the selectmen of the city, of the payments of 11 soldiers for 6 months of service.<ref name="spring bio121"/> Yale served during the American War of Independence and was promoted to the rank of captain.<ref>[https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/78/Soldiers_and_sailors_whose_graves_have_been_designated_by_the_marker_of_the_society_%28IA_soldierssailorsw00sons%29.pdf Soldiers and Sailors whose Graves have been Designated by the Marker of the Society], Massachusetts Society of the Sons of the American Revolution, Boston, 1901, p. 28</ref> He would also lead his regiment toward the Stillwater Alarms with the militia companies of Lee and Lenox, Massachusetts.<ref name="spring bio121"/> Yale's company during the revolution was part of General David Rosseter's regiment, and saw action at the Stillwater Alarms of the Saratoga Campaign.<ref>[https://www.newspapers.com/image/522088314/?terms=%22Capt.%20Josiah%20Yale%22&match=1 The South Bend Tribune], Mon, May 20, 2002 ·Page 5</ref><ref>[https://www.westerly-journeys.com/genealogy/Tolland/TollandWestGenealogy.pdf West of Tolland, CT and Lee, MA], Marilou West Ficklin, May 2022, p. 14-25</ref> Rosseter was previously major in Simonds' Regiment of Militia.
==Later career== [[File:Map of Lee, Massachusetts, 1878.jpg|thumb|Map of Lee, Massachusetts, during the 19th century]]
The citizens of Lee came initially from Cape Cod, following the financial troubles they suffered during the American Revolutionary War, and Yale helped with the construction of the town's first meeting-house with iron materials and its iron church bell.<ref name="Town records901">[https://archive.org/details/recordsoftownofl00inleem/page/n81/mode/2up?q=yale Records of the town of Lee from its incorporation to A.D. 1801], Wilcox, Dorvil Miller, Press of the Valley, Lee, Massachusetts, 1900, p. 20-25-26-28-29-33-35-37-38-45-69-80-83-91-100-101</ref><ref name="spring bio121">[https://archive.org/details/leecentennialcel00hyde/page/44/mode/1up?q=yale Lee : The centennial celebration, and centennial history of the town of Lee, Mass.], Hyde, Charles McEwen, C.W. Bryan & Co., Springfield, Massachusetts, 1878, p. 44-45-57-141-148-149-150-151-152-223-230-232-338</ref> His home became the old Yale house in the city.<ref name="spring bio121"/> At the time, the town of Lee was not yet incorporated, being a wild wilderness, and needed small farms and log houses to sustain its population.<ref name="spring bio121"/> Yale became selectman in 1781, and was involved in fixing the town's bridge and high ways.<ref name="Town records901"/>
Yale became one of the town surveyors in 1783, and town moderator in 1784 with Capt. Bradley and Lt. Wells.<ref name="Town records901"/> In the same year, Yale was made town treasurer, and in 1785, collector of taxes.<ref name="Town records901"/> He was selected among the 7 men, with Capt. Porter, to take care of the small pox.<ref name="Town records901"/> In 1785, he was selected as one of the school agents, and became Constable of the city.<ref name="Town records901"/> He was chosen as the town moderator in 1787.<ref name="Town records901"/> In 1792, Yale was selected to represent the town in the Massachusetts General Court, and became Minister Treasurer of the city in 1795, with Colonel Jared Bradley as moderator and Nathan Dillingham as town treasurer.<ref name="Town records901"/>
In 1797, he was on the committee to build a new meeting-house for the city, at a cost of $2,500, and was made one of its superintendent.<ref name="Town records901"/> Yale representend the town in the Massachusetts House of Representatives for numbers of years, but lost, along with Colonel Porter, to Capt. Joseph Whiton in 1799.<ref name="Town records901"/> In 1800, he cofounded and assisted in the construction of the first Congregational Church in the city, and stayed involved in the public sphere for much of his life.<ref name="church981"/><ref name="Berk91"/><ref name="spring bio121"/> Yale was also elected on the building committee.<ref name="spring bio121"/>
He served for twenty years on the board of selectmen, and 6 years as a deputy to the Massachusetts House of Representatives, serving under Gov. James Sullivan, and Lt. Gov. Levi Lincoln Sr., and Senate's President Harrison Gray Otis.<ref>[https://lldc.mainelegislature.org/Open/Mass/1806-1820/Mass_1808_05_Res.pdf Civil List of the Legislative], Maine State Legislature, Maine State Law & Legislative Library, Boston, 1808, p. 1-7</ref><ref name="spring bio121"/><ref name="Berk91"/> On June 10, 1819, Yale, with Deacon David Ingersoll and others, organized at a town meeting the creation of the Lee Congregational Sunday-School with Dr. Hyde, and was made a member of its committee.<ref name="spring bio121"/> In 1822, he was made Justice of the Peace.<ref name="church981">[https://kidzr.us/Portals/8/A_History_of_the_County_of_Berkshire_MA-s.pdf A History of the County of Berkshire], Thomas Hunt, Samuel W. Bush, Pittsfield, 1829, p. 354-361</ref> Capt. Josiah Yale died in Lee, Massachusetts, on May 13, 1822, at 69 years old.<ref name="Berk91"/>
==Family== [[File:A gazetteer of the state of Massachusetts - with numerous illustrations (1890) (14764720254).jpg|210px|thumb|Congregational Church of Lee, Massachusetts, under Dr. Hyde]]
Yale was the father of Rev. Cyrus Yale, who became the grandfather of Yale martyr Horace Tracy Pitkin, and Mary Yale Pitkin, wife of architect Charles Eliot.<ref name="Yale deathB1"/> Eliot's firm worked on the Biltmore Estate of the Vanderbilts, and was himself the son of the President of Harvard University, Charles William Eliot. His daughter Eunice Yale became the grandmother of Rev. Theodore Yale Gardner, and Cleveland Mayor George W. Gardner, one of the first business partners of John D. Rockefeller.<ref name="Yale deathB1"/>
His son, Josiah Yale Jr., became the grandfather of millionaire Wellington Smith, the largest paper manufacturer in America.<ref name="Josih121"/><ref name="Berk91"/><ref>[https://www.newspapers.com/image/836949533/?terms=%22Wellington%20Smith%22%20%22millionaire%22&match=1 Transcript-Telegram], Thu, Apr 28, 1910 ·Page 4</ref> Smith was an intimate friend of Abraham Lincoln and President William McKinley, and became the father of socialite Elizur Yale Smith, who married the daughter of Col. Clermont Livingston Best, a member of Mrs. Astor's Four Hundred.<ref>[https://www.sar.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/XXIII-NO-1_JUNE-1928.pdf Official Bulletin], National Society Sons of American Revolution, Volume XXIII, June 1928, No. I, p. 198-199</ref><ref>[https://www.newspapers.com/image/109982001/?terms=%22josiah%20yale%22&match=1 The Leavenworth Post], Sat, May 07, 1910 ·Page 8</ref><ref name="Josih121">[https://www.newspapers.com/image/531860513/?terms=%22josiah%20yale%22&match=1 The Berkshire Eagle], Tue, Jul 13, 1897 ·Page 4</ref><ref name="Yale deathB1"/> Yale's nephew, Rev. Elisha Yale, became a Yale graduate and the first minister of the Congregational church of Gloversville, New York.<ref name="Yale deathB1"/>
Capt. Josiah Yale's cousin, Fanny Alsmena Yale of New York, became the mother of Clarissa Hills, who married to Supreme Court Judge Alanson H. Barnes, Associate Justice of Dakota and namesake of Barnes County.<ref name="Yale deathB1"/> Clarissa was the mother-in-law of Judge Alfred Delavan Thomas, who became the corporate attorney of millionaire George Hearst, father of William Randolph Hearst of Hearst Castle.<ref name="Thomas bio221">[https://www.newspapers.com/image/440250323/?terms=%22Alanson%20H%20Barnes%22&match=1 The Bismarck Tribune], Sun, Jan 31, 2010 ·Page 25</ref> Hearst's wealth came from the Homestake Mines that he owned in South Dakota at the time.<ref name="Thomas bio221"/>
Yale's sister, Mary Yale, married to Samuel Simpson Sr., and became the stepmother of Samuel Simpson Jr., cofounder of Simpson, Hall, Miller & Co. in Wallingford, Connecticut.<ref name="Yale deathB1"/> Capt. Yale's cousin, Colonel Braddam Yale, became the great-grandfather of May Yale Ogden, who married the grandson of Knight commander Henry James Anderson, and Frances Da Ponte.<ref>[https://www.newspapers.com/image/54332346/?terms=%22%20May%20Yale%20Ogden%22%20anderson&match=1 The Brooklyn Daily Eagle], Mon, Mar 30, 1914 ·Page 15</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://archive.org/details/ogdenfamilyiname00whee/page/444/mode/2up?view=theater|title=The Ogden Family in America and Their English Ancestry|year=1907|publisher=J. B. Lippincott Company Philadelphia|first=William Ogden|last=Wheeler|pages=444–446 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://archive.org/details/yalegenealogyhis00yale/page/158/mode/2up?view=theater&q=goodrich|title=Yale genealogy and history of Wales. The British kings and princes. Life of Owen Glyndwr. Biographies of Governor Elihu Yale|date=1908|publisher=Milburn and Scott company|first=Rodney Horace|last=Yale|pages=348–349}}</ref> Da Ponte was the daughter of Venetian artist Lorenzo Da Ponte, who built the first Italian opera house in Manhattan, and became a personal friend and associate of Mozart and Casanova.<ref name="Yale deathB1"/><ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/1985/11/10/arts/music-view-did-casanova-lend-a-helping-hand.html Music View, Did Casanova Lend a Helping Hand?], The New York Times, Donald Henahan, Nov. 10, 1985</ref><ref>{{Cite Grove1900|wstitle= Da Ponte, Lorenzo |volume= 3.1 | page= 15 |last= Dumazet de Pontigny |first= Victor |author-link= |year=1900| short=1}}</ref>
==References== {{Reflist}} {{authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Yale, Josiah}} Category:1752 births Category:1822 deaths Josiah Category:People from Wallingford, Connecticut Category:People from Lee, Massachusetts Category:American justices of the peace Category:18th-century Massachusetts politicians Category:19th-century Massachusetts politicians Category:Massachusetts local politicians Category:Massachusetts select board members Category:Massachusetts militiamen in the American Revolution