Encyclopedia of Connecticut biography, genealogical-memorial ...

Commensurate with his professional
standing has been the place he has taken
in the civic life of his town, and his circle
of friends and acquaintances is a wide
one. He is a member of the County,
State, and National Medical associations,
and he holds membership in both the Masonic
and Odd Fellows orders. Dr. Sim-
onton has been a lifelong member of the
Republican party, and a strong believer
in its principles, and he is, with his fam-
ily, a communicant of the Methodist
church.
Dr. Simonton married, in Charlestown,
Maine, November 8, 1904, Edith Marion
Thayer, born August 6, 1879, daughter of
Fred Alphonso and Mary (Tibbetts)
Thayer, her mother a member of a family
old in Charleston, Maine, her father born
in Wrentham, Massachusetts. Children
of Dr. Frank Forester and Edith Marion
(Thayer) Simonton : Mary Harriet, born
February 10, 1907; Edith Marion, born
February 21, 1908; John Thayer, born
August 24, 1916.
WHITTELSEY, William Frost,
Insurance Executive.
The story of a life cannot be told in
any fragmentary mention of a man and
his work; but the heritage of an honored
name is a story in itself, a story already
told. In the days of the Crusades—down
through English History—from the early
Colonial days in America—the name of
Whittelsey has stood for all that is
worthy. William Frost Whittelsey, ma-
rine vice-president of the Aetna Fire In-
surance Company, of Hartford. Connect-
icut, is putting into the administration of
the large affairs in his hands the same
sound judgment and unimpeachable in-
tegrity which have marked the careers of
his forebears.
ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY
26
The name of Whittelsey originated with
the people who dwelt in Cambridge-
shire, England, on the Whittelsea Fens,
and belongs to the "Place names." It
dates back to the tenth century. In 1187
William Whittelsey was one of those who
followed their King "in the vain hope of
securing our Saviour's tomb from the
Jews." He returned to England in 1190,
and fell at the battle of Malta, in 1192.
The coat-of-arms of the Whittelsey fam-
ily is as follows
:
Arms—Azure, a fesse, ermine, between three
escallop shells, or. An esquire helmet on shield.
Crest—Lion rampant.
Motto—Ammo et fide (Courage and Faith).
(I) John Whittelsey, the immigrant an-
cestor of the family in America, was born
July 4, 1623, in Cambridgeshire, England,
a son of John and Lydia (Terry) Whit-
telsey. He was a member of the Lords'
Say and Seal Company, which named Say-
brook, one of the earliest settlements of
Connecticut. He came to America in
1635. In 1662 he was keeper of the ferry
at Saybrook, with William Dudley. He
bought lands and was representative in
the General Assembly, besides holding
several other minor offices. He married,
June 20, 1664, at Saybrook, Ruth Dudley,
born April 20, 1645, m Guildford, Con-
necticut, daughter of William and Jane
(Lutman) Dudley. Her father was the .
immigrant of that name who settled in
Guilford in 1639.
(II) Stephen Whittelsey, second son of
John and Ruth (Dudley) Whittelsey, was
born April 3, 1667, at Saybrook, and died
in 1760. He was a prominent man, and
made himself signally useful in the public
life of the community. He was made a
freeman, April 5, 1704; was elected dep-
uty for Saybrook in 1710, and also in
1725. He was townsman, justice of the