Encyclopedia of Connecticut biography, genealogical-memorial ...

ENCYCL( >PEDIA (
ried Elizabeth Cornish, of Granby, who
was born November n, 1776, daughter
of Lieutenant Joseph and Elizabeth (Mor-
ton) Cornish Elizabeth Cornish was a
descendant of James Cornish, the pioneer
school teacher, who died in Siinshury at
an advanced age in 1698. His wife was
Phcebe (Larraboy) Cornish, and their
son, Deacon James Cornish, was born in
1663. On November 10, 1692, he married
(first) Elizabeth Thrall, daughter of Tim-
othy Thrall, of Windsor, Connecticut.
She was born May 1, 1667, and died January
25, 1713-14. Deacon James Cornish
died in Simsbury, April 2, 1740. Their
second son, Joseph Cornish, was born Oc-
tober 18, 1697, and died May 26, 1759.
He married, May 5, 1726, Mary, widow of
Samuel Humphrey, and daughter of
James and Abigail (Bissell) Eno. She
died September 16, 1731. Their eldest
child, Lieutenant Joseph Cornish, born
June 13, 1729, died September 24, 1776, of
camp distemper. He married, October
25, 1753, Elizabeth Morton, daughter of
Thomas and Hannah (Wilcox) Morton,
who died November 14, 1792. Thus the
prominent family of Cornish joins the
Mitchelson line in which we are inter-
ested, by the marriage of Elizabeth Corn-
ish to the first Ariel Mitchelson.
Ariel Mitchelson, father of Ariel Mit-
chelson, was well educated, first in the
common schools of his home district, then
at the Holcombe High School in Granby,
finishing at an academy in Poughkeepsie,
New York. In the early days of the
tobacco industry in his State, Ariel Mit-
chelson recognized the probable future
importance of the crop and entered what
proved to be a significant career in the
production and handling of tobacco. He
was associated with his cousins, A. L.
and C. L. Holt, of New York, who
marketed a large quantity of his product
there, but was himself one of the best
isl
>F 15|( HIRAI'IIY
known wholesalers in this section. He
was a broad, public-spirited man, giving
generous and substantial support to any
institution or project which had to do
with the public welfare. He was largely
instrumental in bringing the railroad
through Tariffville when the original lay-
out was through Farmington. He built
part of the village of Tariffville, laid out
streets, donated land for two school
houses and the sites for the Baptist and
Roman Catholic churches and Trinity
Kpiscopal church, and to the latter, of
which he was a member, he bequeathed
five thousand dollars. For many years
Mr. Mitchelson was a director of the
Charter Oak National Bank, of which he
was one of the organizers. His political
affiliations were originally with the old
line Whig party, later with the Republi-
can, and he was keenly interested in the
election of trustworthy and efficient offi-
cials, though not ambitious to hold office
himself. On June 5, 1848, he married
Elizabeth Chappell, who was born in
East Lyme, Connecticut, November 29,
1824, a daughter of Daniel and Hannah
(Loomis) Chappell. Hannah Loomis was
a descendant of the old Loomis family
that settled in Windsor in 1639, and which
has given the world many eminent men.
Mr. Mitchelson died February 8, 1894,
and his widow in 1900. Their remains
were laid away in Scotland Church Cemetery.
Mrs. Mitchelson in her younger
years was a member of the Baptist
church, and later united with the Episco-
pal church. To her loyal devotion the
family have always ascribed much of their
success in life. They were the parents of
eight children: 1. Ariel, born August 2,
1850, died at the age of six years. 2.
Elizabeth C, born February 7. 1852, died
at the age of four years. 3. George, born
June 30. 1854, now a resident of Bloomfield
; he is an enthusiastic collector of