William Yale Beach (1836 – 1910) was a banker and businessman from Connecticut, son of penny press pioneer Moses Yale Beach. His private bank was the first banking institution of Wallingford, and the largest in the city. He also did business with the freemasons and developed a number of streets in Wallingford.
Early life William Yale Beach was born in Wallingford, Connecticut, on January 7, 1836, to Nancy Day and Moses Yale Beach, members of the Yale family.Yale Genealogy and History of Wales, Rodney Horace Yale, Milburn & Scott Co., Beatrice, Nebraska, 1908, p. 136-237-238 Among his 7 siblings were innovator Alfred Ely Beach and politician Moses S. Beach.Record-Journal, 03 Jan 1896, Fri ·Page 3
His uncle was Benjamin Henry Day, cofounder of the New York Sun and pioneer of the penny press in America, and his cousin, Clarence Day, was the cofounder of Yale University Press. His nephews were Scientific American co-proprietor, Frederick C. Beach, father of aviation pioneer Stanley Yale Beach, and businessman Charles Yale Beach.
Biography
In 1856, Beach started his career learning business from his father and brothers, and sold his coal business to Capt. John Hendrick, the oldest in the city.Record-Journal, 03 Sep 1935, Tue ·Page 30 At the death of his father in 1868, he inherited the Beach estate, including his father's Italianate mansion built in 1846 at a cost of $62,000, or about 50 million dollars in 2024 money in relation to income.Record-Journal, 25 Nov 1960, Fri ·Page 21The Journal, 06 Jan 1890, Mon ·Page 6 The house was built by architect Henry Austin with the contractor and laborers brought from Italy, and had 16 bedrooms.
Beach lived in the home and later sold the property, which became for a time, the home of Senator Frank M. Boyce, a hotel, a boarding house and a property of Choate Rosemary Hall, a school founded by Judge William Gardner Choate and a niece of Sarah S. Yale.Record-Journal, 27 Jun 1970, Sat ·Page 38Record-Journal, 23 Oct 1959, Fri ·Page 23 Choate used the mansion to host the parents of their students while they were visiting the school in Wallingford. The house would later be demolished and converted into a bank.Record-Journal, 02 Feb 2006, Thu ·Page M9
Beach started his real estate ventures by created four streets in Wallingford, being Church, Meadow, Orchard and William streets, and built a housing development on the land he inherited. He owned a large tract of land on South Main Street near R. Wallace & Sons, and lost over $100,000 in the housing development, as he was too early before the expansion of Simpson, Hall, Miller & Co. and other silver manufacturers.The Meriden Daily Republican, 11 Mar 1870, Fri ·Page 2
The first banking facilities of Wallingford were those of William Yale Beach, established prior to the foundation of the first bank in the city named the Dime Savings Bank under president Samuel Simpson.The Journal, 22 Jan 1932, Fri ·Page 9 Beach also used his private bank in Connecticut to serve the banking needs of Wallingford prior to the foundation of the First National Bank in 1881.The Journal, 15 May 1934, Tue ·Page 2 In 1871, he built a banking house between the corner of Main and Academy streets.Hartford Courant, 12 Jan 1871, Thu ·Page 4 From 1875 to 1876, William Yale Beach's private bank is recorded as the most important bank in Wallingford, and is among the 52 largest in Connecticut by territories.Martindale's United States Law Directory for 1875-1876, James Boyd Martindale, New York, p. 74
Later life Beach would start doing his main real estate transactions in New Haven rather than Wallingford.The Meriden Daily Republican, 11 Jan 1876, Tue ·Page 3 He then passed most of his business career in New York and became a large real estate investor in the city. He was among the memorialists who addressed the New York State Senate regarding real estate improvements in the city of New York, with Maturin Livingston and many others.Documents of the Senate of the State of New York, Volume 4, University of Chicago, 1842, p. 287-289 He is recorded doing business with the Freemasons of the Masonic Temples of New York and Boston.January 12, 1876, The Boston Globe from Boston, Massachusetts · 2, page 2An Account of the Receipts and Expenditures of the United States, Treasurer's Accounts, 1873, p. 537
Toward the later years of his career, he was connected with his brother Alfred Ely Beach and his nephew Frederick C. Beach at Scientific American Magazine in New York City. In 1883, he is recorded superintendent of a mine in Wallingford, owned by his brothers Moses S. Beach and Alfred Ely, which was attacked by Indians.The Morning Journal-Courier, 02 Apr 1883, Mon ·Page 2 In 1886, he went to Minneapolis, Minnesota, and was engaged in the lumber business.The Meriden Daily Republican, 13 Jul 1886, Tue ·Page 4
He was also involved with the land donation of his father to Wallingford to establish a school named the Moses Y. Beach Elementary School.The Journal, 24 Jan 1910, Mon ·Page 3 He was a member of the school committee with Samuel Simpson of Simpson, Hall, Miller & Co., stepson of Mary Yale.Record-Journal, 08 Jan 1914, Thu ·Page 4
William Yale Beach died at 75 years of age on December 10, 1910, at his home in Stratford, Connecticut.The Bridgeport Times and Evening Farmer, 12 Dec 1910, Mon ·Page 2 He was married to Emma A. Munson on October 2, 1861.A Collection of Family Records: With Biographical Sketches, Charles Henry James Douglas, Historical Society of Wisconsin, 1879, p. 210Record-Journal, 17 Aug 1916, Thu ·Page 4 He was the great-granduncle of Rev. Brewster Yale Beach.The Courier-News, 25 Sep 1979, Tue ·Page 16
References