Gideon Welles GIDEON WELLES (1802-1878), born into a wealthy Connecticut family, studied law, co-founded the Hartford Times in 1826, and joined the Connecticut legislature in 1827 as a Jacksonian Democrat. In 1854, Welles quit the Democrats and joined the Republicn Party. In 1856 he founded the Hartford Evening Press, one of the first Republican papers in New England. Due to his strong support for Abraham Lincoln, he became Secretary of the Navy from 1861 to 1869. Read More Read Less