Encyclopedia of Connecticut biography, genealogical-memorial ...

the first family washing business in the
city of Bridgeport, and employ on an
average twenty persons. Mr. Hennessey
is in immediate charge of the Bridgeport
business, while Mr. Elliott takes care of
the Hartford branch. In 1916 a new plant
was built at Bridgeport and this has been
equipped with the very latest machinery
and facilities. The business was extended
to Hartford in 1908, and is one of the old-
est of its kind in that city. A large force
of employees is kept busy throughout
the year, and five auto trucks are needed
to collect and deliver the laundries.
Mr. Elliott is possessed of much determination
and force and has the ability to
execute his plans. His early training and
the knowledge thus gained has been of
untold value to him in his present busi-
ness, and he has made himself master of
its smallest detail, accounting in a meas-
ure for his signal success. His business
matters occupy the greater part of his
time, and he, therefore, has no particular
desire to take more than a good citizen's
interest in public affairs. He is not a
seeker for office, but is anxious, and at all
times willing, to take up his part of the
burden and can always be counted upon
to lend his support, financially and otherwise,
if need be, in the furthering of any
well-deserved movement for the benefit
of the general public.
Mr. Elliott married Olga Fischer,
daughter of Gustave Fischer, of Hartford.
MITCHELSON, Ariel,
Agriculturist.
In the realm of science are numbered
many lines of labor. The last word is not
yet said or written along these lines. But
perhaps agriculture holds the most inter-
esting possibilities of any science, because
agriculture is not an exact but an inex-
haustible science. In the early days of
ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY
150
our civilization agriculture was practiced
ably for the purpose of providing the
necessities of life. The possibility of rais-
ing the pursuit above the level of drudg-
ery seemed not to occur to the average
farmer, and whenever opportunity offered
he dropped it and turned to some more
interesting work. It remained for the few
men capable of crystallizing their ideals
into progressive results, to grasp the pos-
sibilities of development along this line
of productive endeavor. Here and there,
among mediocre farms, we find one preeminent
among its neighbors, an example
of agriculture, the science.
Ariel Mitchelson, one of the most pro-
gressive agriculturists of his day, is a
great-grandson of William Mitchelson,
Jr. The latter came to Hartford in his
youth, and on April 26, 1713, he married
Mary Howard. He was efficient and in-
dustrious, and when they inherited a con-
siderable amount of property from the
Howard family his management and care
enhanced its value and gave their children
a good start in life. Their son, Eliphalet,
born about 1730-35, married, December
28, 1758, Susannah Eno, daughter of William
and Mary (North) Eno. They had
several children : Their son was a successful
physician in Charlestown, South
Carolina, and many prominent people of
Rhode Island are descended from their
daughters. Their son, Ariel Mitchelson,
was born December 14, 1774, in what is
now the town of Bloomfield, near Scot-
land Church, and died September, 1852.
He was baptized in this church by
Rev. Roger Viets. He followed farm-
ing throughout his life, and was highly
esteemed in his community, a man of
strict integrity, serving among his neighbors
as an arbiter in their disputes. He
was a man of progressive ideas, in poli-
tics a Whig, and served several terms in
the General Assembly. In 1809 he mar-