Richard Ely

  Noted events in his life were:

• Family History: From Ely Ancestry by Moses S. Beach & Rev. William Ely, Page 31, 1902. Richard Ely, of Plymouth, Devonshire Co., England, emigrated to America between 1660 and 1663, his son Richard accompanying him. He resided for a time at Boston, and later settled at Lyme, Conn., which in 1660 was a part of Saybrook. Mr. Ely was a widower when he came to America, his first wife Joane (maiden name presumed to have been Phipps), having died in Plymouth, Jan. 7, 1660. A note by a person of reliability slates: "This Phipps is supposed to have been a sister of Constantine John Phipps (Baron Mulgrau), the great navigator and commissioner of the Admiralty. A younger brother, Viscount Normandy, was an officer of the British army."
Children of Richard and Joane Phipps.
(recorded m Plymouth, Eng.)
1. William, bapt. Oct.1647; d. 1717 m. May 12, 1681, Elizabeth Smith.
2. Judith, bapt. Sept. 6, 1652: d. June 21. 1655
3. Richard, bapt. June 19, 1657; m. Mary Marvin.
4. Daniel, bapt. Jan. 7. 1650: d. Mar. 8, 1659.

Children of Richard and Elizabeth Cullick- Second wife.
Samuel.

For his second wife Mr. Ely married al Boston in 1664 a Mrs. Elizabeth Cullick, widow of Capt. John Cullick, who was for some time Secretary of the Colony of Connecticut, and whose will mav be seen among the Boston records.

Capt. John Cullick was one of the most noted men in the Colony of Connecticut, and had, by vote of the town of Hartford, conferred on him the estate assigned to Jonathan Luce. He lived on the north side of Elm Street. He married Elizabeth, sister of Hon. George Fenwick, in 1648.

He represented Hartford in the General Court from 1644 to 1647, when he was chosen Assistant and Secretary of State: which offices he filled for ten years. He was one of the Commissioners of the United Colonies from 1652 to 1654.

“He removed to and died in Boston in 1663, and Gen. John Leverett possessed his estate in Hartford. His children were: John, 1649, graduated at Harvard College in 1668; Elizabeth, 1652, married Benjamin Batten, Boston." (Wm. S. Porter; "Hist, notices, of Conn." Hartford; 1842.)

The widow of Capt. Cullick being interested, as was her brother, Col. Fenwick, in landed estates near the mouth of Connecticut river, the necessary care and improvement of the lands led Mr. Ely to leave Boston and make his residence at Lyme, Conn. There he and his sons added largely to the estates. He was the founder of the Ely family of Lyme. Mrs. Cullick's estate was £400 in debt, and Mr. Ely discharged the debt, and took title to the property. The estate was largely composed of lands known as the Great Meadow. In 1675, Mr. Ely applied to the Honorable General Court in Hartford to appropriate to him upland to accommodate his cattle in connection with the Great Meadow for summer food, assigning various reasons for this claim, one of which is that he is yearly charged with a sixth or a seventh part of the rates of the town. Mrs. Cullick was a sister of Colonel Fenwick, of Saybrookport, Colonel Fenwick being the husband of Lady Alice Fenwick, whose tomb is to be seen in the Saybrook Cemetery.

That Richard Ely was a shipping merchant in Plymouth is proven by a certain bond to Benjamin Stark dated Plymouth, Dec. 30, 1658, for the due and faithful sailing the ship Judith, by Caleb Crane, Plymouth to Madeira, thence to Cape Verd Islands, thence to Barbadoes, thence to London. This bond is now in possession of Richard Ely, of Binghamton, N. Y.

Mr. Ely died in Lyme, Nov. 24, 1684; his second wife died Nov. 12, 1683. Their married life was a long and happy one. Mr. Cullick Ely lives not over a quarter mile from where the first Richard Ely's house stood.

One authority says the red sandstone monument of Mr. Ely is to be seen in a damaged condition in the old cemetery in Lyme, in the part of the town called "Black Hall." It seems that a more recent and legible monument has been erected by some pious descendant, information in regard to which has been kindly furnished by Professor Daniel C. Eaton, of Yale College. Eaton is a great-grandson of Elijah Ely, who was a great-great-grandson of the first Richard Ely.

The brother of Richard Ely's second wife (Col. Geo. Fenwick) was a member of Parliament and was appointed by Cromwell to act as one of the Judges to try King Charles. He refused to serve, however, in that capacity.

Richard Ely, after settling at Lyme, became involved in a lawsuit with George Fenwick, in which he was successful and received over nine hundred pounds sterling, a very considerable sum for those days.

Richard Ely had 3,000 acres of land, including what is now called Ely's Ferry, in his estate ; and a few years later the town of Lyme set off to his sons, Richard and William, 1,300 acres adjoining their father's land, for 300 pounds, making an estate of over 4,000 acres in the possession of the Elys of Lyme . Some of these lands are still in the family. Mr. Cullick Ely lives not more than one quarter of a mile from where the first Richard's house stood.

• Family History: From Additional Beckwith Notes, Frederick H Beckwith, Stratford, Connecticut, 1956, page 24. ELY (5 C) - Richard Ely, Hamshere, Eng., d. 24 Nov. 1684 bur. Ely Buring Ground, Lyme, Conn. m. (1) Joane Phipps d. before 1671 m. (2) Elizabeth Fenwick widow John Cullick d. 12 Nov. 1683 Lyme, Conn. Boston Merchant Shipping.

CHILDREN (Recorded in Plymouth, England)
1 - William bapt. 15 Oct. 1647
2 - Judith bapt. 6 Sept. 1652 d. 21 June 1655
3 - Richard bapt. 19 June 1657 m. Mary Marvin
4 - Daniel bapt. 7 Jan. 1659 d. 8 Mar. 1659
5 - Samuel - by second wife

In 1676 Richard Ely added to his holdings, a large grant of land within the bounds of Falls River, Moonchange Creek, the cove and Connecticut River. His tract, together with that of the Lords, covered about all that is now included in the parish of the First Congregational Church of Lyme, Conn., until those baronial estates began to be divided up. There were few settlers before 1700 in the northern part of Lyme at Sterling City and Pleasant Valley, Conn. He owned 3000 acres at Ely Ferry, Lyme, Conn.

Note: Ely's Ferry Road and the landing site for the ferry are identified on Google Maps. The landing is about ten miles north of where the Connecticut River joins the Long Island Sound.

Richard married Joanne Phipps. (Joanne Phipps died on 7 Jan 1660 in Plymouth, Devon, England.)

Richard next married Elizabeth Fenwick. (Elizabeth Fenwick died on 12 Nov 1683 in Lyme, New London, Connecticuit.)