MIDDLETOWN UPPER HOUSES
a history of the north society of Middletown, Ct.
from 1650 to 1800
with genealogical and biographical chapters
on early families.
Charles Collard Adams
New York: Grafton Press, 1908.
THE KELSEY FAMILY
[transcribed by Coralynn Brown ]
   
1. Mark Kelsey1 ,(Kilsey, Kellsey), married Rebecca ____. Resided in Wethersfield. Had eight children, of which the sixth - was:
2. Ezekiel Kelsey2,, who m. Jan. 13, 1742-3, Sarah' Allis (Ellis), b. Oct. 6, 1715, dau of William3 Allis (John, William) and Mary Griswold, dau. of Jacob. Their second child was:
3. Igrael Kelsey3,, b. Nov. 20, 1745 ; m. Dec. 29, 1768, Mary Sanborn, bapt. May 10, 1747, dau. of Jedediah Sanborn. He resided in Kensington Society of Wethersfield. He purchased in 1771 the Hugh White estate, in the Northwest School district of Upper Houses, which included a grist mill and thirty acres of land. This section of the town became known as " Kelsey Quarters." He built the brick mansion covered with stucco which still stands and is now (1908) owned and occupied by his descendants. In 1802 he gave the land for the cemetery in which Aaron White's burial was the first. He was a captain in the War of 1812. Prominent and ingenious he invented a water-wheel and went to Philadelphia to superintend the erection of one there. Fond of music he composed psalm tunes still in use. His death was on May 16, 1824, and he is buried in the cemetery which he gave to the town. His widow d. Apr. 14, 1827.
Children:<
4. Israel Kelsey4,, b. Sept. 5, 1771; m. July 8, 1792, Martha Edwards Stocking, b. Mar. 17, 1771, dau. of Capt. Zebulon Stocking and Martha Edwards. She d. Jan. 29, 1847, he Sept. 1, 1852. He conducted the mill purchased by his father. Nearly all his children were born in the old brick house. They rem. to the village, buying a " White " house near the river.
Children :
5. Franklin Kelsey5,, b. Jan. 11, 1793; d. July 2, 1861; m. Margaret Stewart. He was, like his father, an inventor, but reaping little from his ingenuity except from improvements in mfg. rope. It is claimed that he was the inventor of the vibrating propeller. The first was sunken at Hoboken. He sold out to Ericsson who reaped the benefits. The gold medal he received was sold to obtain money to help carry on his investigations. He invented a flying machine, which did not prove a success. The patents issued to him were : Flax and hemp machine, Nov. 26, 1824; cordage, Feb. 8, 1825; washing machine, Sept. 28, 1827; management of bees, Aug. 26, 1828; door spring, Nov. 27, 1848; vibrating propellers, Nov. 2, 1852. He served at Saybrook in the War of 1812.
6. Zebulon Stocking Kelsey5,, b. Jan. 7, 1796 ; d. Dec., 1877; in. Nov. 8, 1816, Sally Edwards of Upper Houses. Rem. to Huntington, O. They had nine children. The second was George Ranney Kelsey, b. Apr. 25, 1817; d. Mar. 20, 1887. He ret. to Cromwell and manufactured buckles in the old " Miller " mill on Chestnut brook. He rem. to West Haven, where he built up the great buckle business; built the horse railroad from New Haven to Savin Rock, built the Sea View House, and greatly developed that summer resort.
His only child to reach maturity was Lewis Lafayette Kelsey6, b. Nov. 6, 1823; d. Mar. 1, 1872; having married June 25, 1850, Caroline Canfield, b. June 2, 1830; d. July 3, 1906.
Children:
James Canfield, b. May 4, 1866; d. Jan. 12, 1904; m. May 28, 1894, Carrie A. Weston; res. West Somerville, Mass. Children:
7. Martha Edwards Kelsey5,, b. Jan. 28, 1801; d. Oct. 20, 1890, West Haven, Conn. ; m
. Capt. Doty Lord Wright of Clinton, in the sea coast trade. Brought the first oranges to New York from Florida. Three children lived to adult age.
Children:
8. Mary Anna Kelsey5,, b. Sept. 13,-1813; d. Mar. 4, 1854, Green-port, Long Island, N. Y.; m. Aug. 5, 1847, Elisha Sylvester Champion, b. June 4, 1815; Lynne, Conn. ; d. Nov. 15, 1866, Greenport, son of Col. Sylvester Champion and Nancy Chadwick. Lumber merchant.
Child:
9. Elizur Goodrich Kelsey5,, b. 1816; d. Sept., 1872; m. Julia Maria White, b. Jan. 2, 1820; d. 1904.
Children:
Florilla Valant, b. Mar. 26, 1838; m. May 2, 1854, Charles L. Sage (Luther W., Solomon, Solomon, Timothy, David), a veteran of the Civil War. Both buried in Middletown, Conn. Children res. in Hartford, Conn.
10. William Stockings Kelsey5,, b. Oct. 3, 1818, Upper Houses; d. July 29, 1854, Cromwell ; m. Aug. 3, 1840, New York City, Elizabeth Grace Teale, b. Eng., dau. of John Crandell Teale; came to the U. S. in 1810, and Grace Elizabeth Popham, who was dau of Sir Thomas Furzen Popham, who came, 1808, from England to New York City, where he d. in 1834. Mrs. Elizabeth Grace (Teale) Kelsey, now (1908) eighty-seven years of age, makes her home in New Haven with her daughters.
Children:
11. Martha Elizabeth Kelsey6,, b. June 10, 1841, Upper Houses ; m. Dec. 25, 1860, William A. Waterbury of Stamford, who has been in the railroad business for over forty years and now retired, resides in New Haven, Conn.
Children:
Child: