Burrage Yale
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Burrage Yale (1781 – 1860) was an American tin ware manufacturer and justice of the peace from Wakefield, Massachusetts. He was the town treasurer and the largest employer in the town. He gave his name to Yale Avenue and Yale Fire Station. He was also the first postmaster recognized in Washington, D. C., and the cofounder of South Reading Academy, with abolitionist minister, Cyrus P. Grosvenor.
His son, Burrage Buchanan Yale, became one of the founders of Lamson, Goodnow & Yale., a major gun-making machine manufacturer for Abraham Lincoln's army during the American Civil War.
Burrage Yale was born on March 27, 1781, in Meriden, Connecticut, the son of soldier Amerton Yale and Sarah Merriman, members of the Yale family.[1][2][3] His father was a member of the 6th Connecticut Regiment under Capt. Hough during the American War of Independence, and was at Tryon's raid in 1779.[1] His grandfather, Nash Yale, was also a soldier of the Revolution.[1][2]
Yale was a cousin of abolitionist lawyer Barnabas Yale, inventor Linus Yale Sr. of the Yale Lock Company, and of Louisa D. Wilcox, family of millionaire Congressman Chester W. Chapin of Boston.[1] Another cousin, lawyer Harvey P. Yale, was the son-in-law of Senator Truman H. Lyon, brother of Capt. Edward Lyon, proprietor of the Michigan Exchange Hotel in Detroit, Michigan.[4][5][6][1][7][8]
Other cousins included Capt. Josiah Yale from the Revolutionary War, and Col. Braddam Yale of the War of 1812.[1] His nephew was Dr. Leroy Milton Yale Jr. of the New York Etching Club.[1] He was distantly related to the Yales of the Britannia ware factories in Yalesville, Connecticut.[9] Members of this branch included merchant William Yale, Gen. Edwin R. Yale and Senator Charles Dwight Yale, among others.[9]
Biography
Yale started working at an early age, and arrived in Wakefield, Massachusetts, at the time named South Reading, in the early 1800s.[2][3] He stayed at Col. Boardman's house when he arrived in town, a man who would become his future father-in-law.[3] He started in the tin ware industry as a tin peddler, and thereafter, as a manufacturer in a small shop that he established in 1802.[10]
In 1808, Yale married teacher Sarah S. Boardman, daughter of Colonel Amos Boardman, and became a brother-in-law of sea captain Amos Boardman Jr. and Dr. Moses Long.[2] Their only son, Burrage Buchanan Yale, would marry the daughter of Major Daniel Flint, son of Colonel Daniel Flint Sr., and become a merchant in New York.[2] Buchanan married secondly Mary Macferran, sister of Lieutenant Colonel William K. Macferran of the 52nd Pennsylvania Infantry, part of General George Meade's regiment.[11]
In 1812, at the incorporation of South Reading (Wakefield), Yale was elected as one of its officers, and was nominated on a committee to help the poor and settle other matters.[2] He was on the building committee for the erection of the New Baptist meeting house, and also operated large retail and manufacturing factories in various wares.[9] His pewter factories were operated by Mr. Richardson and Mr. Boardman.[9][2] He then became a wholesale dealer of tin plates, and a large commodity dealer during the War of 1812 with Britain.[2]
Over time, he made a fortune in his line of business.[2] He tried his way into politics, but ran unsuccessfully for a seat in the Massachusetts House of Representatives.[2] He became Wakefield's town treasurer and justice of the peace for number of years.[12][3][2] He was also town moderator.[13][14] Starting in 1825, Yale opened a tavern named the Burrage Yale Inn, next to his factories in Wakefield, and on March 16, 1827, he became the first postmaster of South Reading, Massachusetts, and the first postmaster to be recognized in Washington, D. C.[15][3] He kept the office for about 3 years until he let his brother, Eli. A. Yale, a partner in his ventures, take the office.[3]
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In 1828, Yale became one of the founders and founding trustees of South Reading Academy, which was affiliated with Newton Theological Institution, and obtained the approval by Governor Levi Lincoln Jr. and the Senate.[16][2] Other trustees included Reverend Lucius Bolles, abolitionist minister Cyrus Pitt Grosvenor, college president Rufus Babcock, Reverend Enoch W. Freeman, and a few others.[2]
The school promoted access to higher education to South Reading citizens and taught courses in English and Classics. Over time, the school was discontinued and the land and building were sold to Yale and William Heath, who sold them back to the city in 1847.[2] One of Yale's employees, Francis O. Dewey, became one of the largest glassware manufacturers in New England, and lived at Frank Palmer's house, the past supertintendent of the Boston Merchants Exchange.[2]
Yale was the largest employer in Wakefield in the early 19th century, with most of his fortune coming from his tin ware factories.[14] The basis of his fortune came from the growth of Wakefield from a small village of about 800 individuals at its incorporation, to a thriving suburb of Boston with thousands of citizens.[17] The change came with the creation of the Boston and Maine Railroad, which linked the city to Greater Boston, and gave Yale access to a larger customer base, while manufacturing his products in a lower-cost area.[17]
Yale would hire about 100 peddlers, selling tin ware articles with covered wagons and horses throughout New England, and used his newly acquired wealth to build a large general store in the city, with family members working under him.[18][3][2] For his personal affairs, he travelled by horse, as he did not have much trust in railways at the time.[3] In addition to his 100 peddlers across New England, he had employees in his tavern and stores.[14] Yale's businesses expanded over time, forcing him to build new facilities, and he eventually became one of the largest tin ware manufacturers in Massachusetts.[2][3]
