AN HISTORIC RECORD AND PICTORIAL DESCRIPTION OF THE TOWN OF MERIDEN, CONNECTICUT p. 117-118

The name of Captain Thomas Yale has been frequently mentioned in the foregoing pages. He was born in New Haven in 1647, the son of Captain Thomas, Sr. He was a grandson of Ann, the daughter of Bishop Lloyd, of the diocese of Chester, England. [1 No reliance can be placed on the early pedigree of the Yale family, found in the pages of the genealogy compiled by Elihu Yale and published in 1850. See N. E. Hist, and Gen. Register, Vo.1. XXXVIII., p. 317, Vol. L, p. 72 and Vol. LIII., pp. 82-83. The statement made on page 11 of this book that Thos. Yale's mother was a daughter of Thos. Morton, Bishop of Chester, was a mistake.]

Her first husband was Thomas Yale, of Wrexham, Wales. He died about 1719 and she then married Theophilus Eaton, a merchant in London, who afterwards moved to New Haven and became governor of the colony.

Captain Thomas, Jr., was first cousin to Elihu Yale, after whom Yale College was named on account of his benefactions to the institution, and who, although born in New Haven, was afterwards a member of the famous and rich corporation known as the East India Company of London and later became its governor.

Captains Thomas, Sr. and Jr., although so well connected, seem to have preferred the life of a pioneer on the frontiers, to that of a man of affairs in the center of New Haven colony, for the senior early moved to a large farm in North Haven while the junior was one of the original planters of Wallingford in 1670 and at various times held almost every office his fellow townsmen could bestow on him ; he certainly was a very important man in the community. At an early date the town granted to Thomas Yale a large farm which cannot be precisely stated because the "ledger book" containing most of the original surveys of Wallingford is not to be found among the archives of that town. There is a description of an addition in 1702, and judging by inference when portions of the farm were sold at a later date, he originally had a tract bounded on the east by Swayne and Yale avenues ; on the west by an ancient highway a few hundred feet west of the southern part of Curtis street (this was really the first layout of the southern part of Curtis street; it is now closed) and by Curtis street; on the south by the town line, and on the north by Ann street and Meeting House Hill highway (which were one and the same road originally). Another section ran north of this old highway. Captain Thomas had his home lot in Wallingford village so he used the large farm in Meriden for agricultural purposes only. In 1703 he distributed a great part of it to his sons, Thomas and Nathaniel, who were shortly afterwards married.

For a while they both lived with their families in a house that must have stood very close to the junction of Yale and Miller avenues, for it was just half a mile, or 10 rods south of Meeting House Hill road, as described in a deed when the two brothers divided the farm in 1706. Nathaniel died a young man in 1711, leaving three sons, Asa, Moses and Abel, and it was of these three sons that the committee appointed by the church in 1728, bought the western portion of this farm, which they later (1729) disposed of to Rev. Theophihis Hall and which became his homestead farm. In the deed it is described as bounded north and west on highways (Curtis and Ann streets) and east on Thomas Yale. Julius and J. Hobart Yale and Levi Yale are descendants of Thomas Yale and much of his old farm is in their possession. The house erected as early as 1706 disappeared many years ago and was probably the one occupied later by David Levitt, who bought quite a farm of the Yales at an early date. There are two Yale houses still standing in Meriden, one on Yale avenue and occupied by J. Hobart Yale that was erected by his ancestor Noah, the son of Thomas, in the year 1761.

The house was certainly a fine one for those days and contains much good paneling and wainscoting, and is yet a comfortable and dignified dwelling and for years has been a landmark in that part of the town. Mr. Yale has removed the great chimney and thereby obtained much additional room and has established a water supply in the attic and a steam heater in -the cellar, so that it is now as well equipped for comfort and convenience as though it were within the city limits. The house in all its lines shows that it was built by a man who was in good financial condition and desired to make it an exponent of his comfortable position.