James W. Cheney

James Woodbridge Cheney was born on 9 February 1838. He was the son of George Wells Cheney (1799-1841) and Mary Cheney (1801-1886). He had seven siblings.

James worked for the Cheney Brothers silk business for many years. He was also an active civil servant, being a member of the board of directors of the state prison for over twenty years, and was very involved in politics as part of the Republican Party.

James married Harriet Elizabeth Cheney (1838-1913) in 1868. They had two children: John Platt Cheney, Sr. (1868-1959) and Adeline Louise Cheney Olcott (1870-1955).

James died on 25 September 1919 at the age of 81.

Source: The above information was gathered from primary sources on Ancestry.com and FindAGrave.com, James' obituary in the "Hartford Courant" published on September 26, 1919, and an online reprint from "Dedication New Connecticut River Bridge" published in American Enterprise Souvenir, East Hartford, Connecticut, 1908. The latter was accessed online on 3/20/2024 on the Manchester Historical Society website.

https://cdn.manchesterhistory.org/Reprints/mhs3_hartfordbridge_jamescheney.html