The following information was assembled from numerous sources and cannot be used directly as proof of Qualifying Service or Lineage.
It is considered a research aid and is intended to assist in locating sources that can be used as proof.
Elijah Welles was the third great-grandson of Thomas Welles, subject of Descendants of Gov. Thomas Welles of Connecticut, Barbara Jean Mathews (Welles Family Association, Wethersfield, Connecticut: 2013) volume 1, 2ndedition, and its predecessor The Descendants of Governor Thomas Welles of Connecticut and his Wife Alice Tomes, Donna Holt Siemiatkoski, Volume 3, Part B. In summary, the families lived in turbulent times in England, then crossed the Atlantic Ocean to Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1636 seeking greater religious freedom. In the same year Thomas Welles joined The Reverend Thomas Hooker relocate to found Hartford in the Colony of Connecticut seeking greater religious freedom still.
Succeeding generations (Thomas, John, Captain Robert, Joseph, Joseph (Jr)) lived in or near Wethersfield, Connecticut Colony. Wethersfield was prominent in Bunker Hill, Nathaniel Philbrick, (Penguin Group, New York, New York:2013) page 208
Elijah Welles was born 10 January 1751 in Wethersfield, Hartford County, Connecticut Colony and became a farmer. At age 21, he married Sarah Belden Balch (born 01 April 1751 in Hartford, Connecticut) 12 November 1772. Their eight children included Elijah Wells born 27 February 1775. The second “e” was omitted after Elijah (Sr) was born. Genealogy of the Balch Families, Galusha Balch, page 59 pertains. It was in the context of this young family’s being that Elijah served “the Cause”.
Elijah enlisted as a private in Connecticut militia in and around Boston January to March 1776. Later he joined Captain Hanmer’s Military Company aboard the sloop Anne as part of August 1776 troops in the Battle of Long Island (Battle of Brooklyn), and in October 1776 the Battle of White Plains. He served in the Battle of Trenton in December 1776. Hezikiah Welles was commissioned a captain and assigned leadership of the 4thCompany of Colonel Erastus Wolcott’s Regiment of Connecticut militiamen.
Elijah died 23 December 1796 in Wethersfield at the age of 45, “his constitution broken and life shortened by his exposure in the service.” Sarah died in Wethersfield 04 March 1823 at age 72. They are buried in Wethersfield Village Cemetery (“the Old Cemetery of Wethersfield”).
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