USA > Connecticut > Encyclopedia of Connecticut biography, genealogical-memorial; representative citizens, v. 1 > Part 6
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acquired .a handsome estate through his own industry. He was a farmer. "He had much cunning, or quick wit, and very sound judgment ; was a selectman nearly all his active life, and commanded a com- pany of Connecticut men at the Siege of Louisburg, hence his title of Captain." He died March 5, 1782. He married, July 8, 1740, Jemima Leavitt, of Suffield, born July 9, 1721, "a lady of excellent mind, good character, and pious principles," daughter of Joshua and Hannah Leavitt. She married (second) June 4, 1784, Cap- tain Ebenezer Grant, and died February I, 1790. Children : David, born March 27, 1741 ; Oliver, April 29, 1745, mentioned below ; Martin, January 12, 1750; Jemima, March 13, 1751.
(IV) Chief Justice Oliver Ellsworth, son of Captain David Ellsworth, was born in Windsor, April 29, 1745. At an early age he was placed under the instruction of Rev. Dr. Bellamy, and in 1762 entered Yale College, remaining there two years. At Nassau Hall, now Princeton, New Jer- sey, he attained high rank as a scholar, and there received the degree of Bachelor of Arts in 1766. After his graduation, his father placed him under the instruction of Rev. Dr. Smalley, to educate him for the ministry. After a year's study, how- ever, he abandoned that calling for the law, and studied first with the first Gov- ernor Griswold of Connecticut. He com- pleted his course of reading with Judge Root, of Coventry, and was admitted to the bar of Hartford county, in 1771. The debts which he incurred while studying he paid by cutting and selling wood from land which he owned, not being able to sell the land. His father gave him a house and farm in Bloomfield (then Win- tonbury), and for about three years he divided his time between farming and the law, the income from his practice being very small. His skill in handling an im- portant case given him by a neighbor se-
cured a verdict for his client and won him at once a high reputation. His practice rapidly. increased, and in 1775 he was ap- pointed attorney for the State. He sold his farm and removed to Hartford, and his practice soon became larger and more remunerative than any of his contempo- raries in the State. His resolute will, and power of concentration, together with the concise statements of his cases, and his lucid and forcible arguments, gained for him a commanding position at the head of his profession.
He was a Whig in politics, and at the beginning of the Revolution represented Windsor in the General Assembly of Con- necticut. While in that body he served actively in the militia, and was one of a committee of four called the "Pay Table." This committee attended to the military expenditures. In October, 1777, he was elected a delegate to the Continental Con- gress, and served as a member of the marine committee, acting as a board of admiralty, and also on the committee of appeals, and took a prominent part in all discussions and political measures. From 1780 to 1784, by yearly elections, he was a member of the Governor's Council. In June, 1783, he left his seat in Congress, and although reelected, declined to serve. In 1784 he declined the appointment of Commissioner of the Treasury to take the position of judge of the Superior Court of Connecticut. He conducted the duties of this office with rare ability and great reputation until he was a member of the Federal Convention at Philadelphia in May, 1877. In this body he bore a dis- tinguished part, and became conspicuous as one of the ablest advocates of the rights of the individual States. To him we are largely indebted for the Federal element of our constitution "by which so many sovereign States are kept in distant activ- ity, while included under a higher sov- ereignty." He moved in the convention
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to expunge the word "National" from the constitution, and substitute the words "Government of the United States," and this was finally agreed to without a dis- senting vote. Upon the organization of the new government at New York in 1789, Mr. Ellsworth was one of the Senators from Connecticut, and was appointed chairman of the committee to organize the judiciary of the United States. The original bill, in his handwriting, passed with but slight alteration, and its provi- sions are still in force. He was particu- larly watchful over the treasury, and was called the "Cerberus of the Treasury." He was spoken of by John Adams as "the firmest pillar of Washington's whole ad- ministration." By common consent he was yielded precedence in the Federal ranks in the Senate, then composed of the élite of the Republic. The mission of John Jay to England in 1794 was due to his suggestion. March 4, 1796, he was made the successor of Mr. Jay as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, and by an extensive course of study, freshened his memory on points of law in which he felt himself deficient. His dignified bearing, courteous imparti- ality and acknowledged ability won for him everywhere the confidence and es- teem of the bar. In 1799 President Adams appointed him one of a committee to negotiate with France as an extraordinary commission to avert a war between the two countries, if possible. Of the other members of the commission, Mr. Henry declined to act, on account of age, and Mr. Ellsworth did so reluctantly, but went to France, reaching there March 2, 1800, accompanied by two other members of the commission. A treaty was con- cluded which met with much opposition from Congress, but which time has proved was wise. Judge Ellsworth's health had been seriously impaired, and travel only increased his malady. He was carried to
England on the "Portsmouth," and there took the mineral waters at Bath, with some benefit. His son Oliver, who had accompanied him as secretary, returned home with his father's resignation of the office of chief justice. Judge Ellsworth sailed from Bristol in April, 1801, and after a painful voyage was landed at Bos- ton. In 1802 he was again elected a mem- ber of the Governor's Council which acted as a Superior Court of Errors in Connec- ticut, being the final court of appeals from all inferior State jurisdictions. Here his influence was controlling. In May, 1807, he was appointed Chief Justice of the Su- preme Court of Connecticut, but he re- signed the office soon. He died Novem- ber 26, 1807, and was buried in the Wind- sor cemetery. A monument marks his grave. Judge Ellsworth was tall and erect. His eyes were blue, large, fine and penetrating, and his brows were arched and heavy. His expression was pleasant. His manners were simple and unaffected, and his bearing was dignified and courtly. He was particular about his personal ap- pearance, and never hurried his toilet. In public he always appeared in black silk stockings, with silver knee buckles, and wore a fine ruffled shirt. His silk justice's robe and powdered hair greatly height- ened his natural advantages. His life was regular and strictly temperate. Daniel Webster once in the senate referred to Ellsworth as "a gentleman who had left behind him, on the records of the govern- ment of his country, proofs of the clearest intelligence and of the utmost purity and integrity of character." In 1790 he re- ceived the degree of Doctor of Laws from Yale College, and in 1797 the same degree from Dartmouth and Princeton.
Judge Ellsworth married, December 10, 1772, Abigail Wolcott, born February 8. 1755, died August 4, 1818, daughter of William, Esq., and Abigail Wolcott. Chil- dren, born in Windsor : Abigail, born Au-
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gust 16, 1774; Oliver, October 22, 1776, died May 20, 1778; Oliver, April 27, 1781 ; Major Martin, April 17, 1783; William, June 25, died July 24, 1785 ; Frances, Au- gust 31, 1786; Delia, July 23, 1789; Wil- liam Wolcott, November 10, 1791 (q. v.) ; Hon. Henry Leavitt (twin), born Novem- ber 10. 1791.
ELLSWORTH, William W., Lawyer, Governor.
Governor William Wolcott Ellsworth, son of Chief Justice Oliver Ellsworth, was born in Windsor, November 10, 1791. He graduated at Yale College in the class of 1810. He studied law at the then cele- brated law school at Litchfield, Connecti- cut, under Judges Reeves and Gould, and in the office of his brother-in-law, Chief Justice Williams. He was drawn to the profession of law by a natural taste and hereditary predilection and prosecuted the study with great energy and high pur- pose. His text books, which have been preserved, give evidence of his thorough- ness in the marginal and interleaved notes of decisions in both English and Ameri- can courts bearing upon the subject of the text. Throughout his life he kept pace with the decisions of the courts, the pro- gress and changes in the law of the land. He was admitted to the bar in 1813, and in a city where the progress of a young lawyer is seldom rapid his success was so great that, in 1817, when Judge Williams, whose practice at that time was second to none at the Connecticut bar, was elected to Congress, Mr. Ellsworth was taken into partnership with him and was for two years in charge of his extensive busi- ness. By this time Mr. Ellsworth had an extensive practice of his own and he con- tinued successfully to practice in Hart- ford for sixteen years.
He was a Whig in politics, and was elected to Congress in 1827, and served
five years, resigning at the end of the Twenty-third Congress. His legislative record was highly honorable to himself and satisfactory to his constituents. As a member of the judiciary committee he was active in preparing measures to carry into effect President Jackson's "Procla- mation against the Nullification Act of South Carolina." He was on the com- mittee to investigate the affairs of the United States Bank at Philadelphia. To him, more than to any other man, is due the extension of the copyright law. He was a persistent and consistent advocate of a moderate protective tariff to protect home industries and develop manufac- tures, as well as furnish revenue for the government. Returning to Hartford in 1834, he resumed the practice of law, and it was against his inclination that in 1838 he was persuaded to become a candidate for Governor of the State. He was elect- ed by a large majority, however, and thrice reelected, serving the State four years as chief executive with conspicu- ous ability and success. During this period he was twice offered and declined an election to the United States Senate. From 1842 to 1847 he was again in active practice of his profession. Then he was elected by the legislature a judge of the Superior Court and of the Supreme Court of Errors. He remained on the bench as an associate judge of the Supreme Court until 1861, when he retired by age limita- tion. Then, full of honors and still pos- sessed of his great intellectual powers, he retired to private life, though he never ceased to take a keen interest in public affairs. He received the honorary degree of Doctor of Laws from Yale College in 1838. He was professor of law in Trinity College, Hartford. He was one of the original incorporators and at the time of his death president of the board of direc- tors of the American Asylum for the Edu- cation and Instruction of the Deaf and
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Dumb, at Hartford. He was president of the board of directors of the Hartford Re- treat for the Insane. He died in Windsor, Connecticut, January 15, 1868.
The following estimate of his character and delineation of his personality is from a sermon by Rev. George H. Gould, pas- tor of the Centre Church of Hartford, preached at the funeral of Governor Ells- worth :
He was a Puritan of the best stock. His honesty was of perfect whiteness. Rufus Choate once spoke of him, in a speech before a legis- lative committee of Massachusetts, as "a man of hereditary capacity, purity, learning and love of the law," adding, "If the land of the Shermans, and Griswolds, and Daggetts, and Williams, rich as she is in learning and virtue, has a sounder lawyer, a more upright magistrate or an hon- ester man in her public service, I know not his name." In Judge Ellsworth were hereditary qualities of great mental and moral worth. Like his father, the Chief Justice, he was remarkable for the simplicity of his tastes and habits. In manner he was dignified; in person he was tall and finely proportioned with as fine a personal presence and bearing as any man of his time; he was a good speaker and had a fine voice; in conversation he was earnest and sincere, and all his intercourse was marked by kindness and integrity of nature. The crown of his enduring character was his Christian walk and conversa- tion. He early professed Christ and ever after, through all his membership in the old Centre Church of Hartford, was an humble and faithful follower of his Lord.
He delighted in theological studies and dis- cussions and took a very active part in religious movements. He was a prominent friend of the great charitable and missionary enterprises; was much interested in Sunday schools and even after he had attained a high official position, he continued his duties as a teacher in the school connected with his church. From 1821 until his death, a period of forty-seven years, he held the office of Deacon in the Centre Church. In all things he was an admirable representative of New England, a man of old-time integrity, sin- cerity, solidity of character.
Governor Ellsworth married, Septem- ber 14, 1813, Emily Webster, born August 4, 1790, died August 23, 1861, daughter of
Noah Webster, the lexicographer. Chil- dren, born in Hartford: I. Dr. Pinckney Webster, December 5, 1814. 2.Emily, Sep- tember 27, 1816; married, April 27, 1841, Rev. Abner Jackson, president of Trinity College. 3. Harriet, July 4, 1818; mar- ried, December 23, 1845, Rev. Russell S. Cook, secretary of the American Tract Society ; she died February 24, 1848. 4. Oliver, September 13, 1820. 5. Elizabeth, November 17, 1822 ; died January 20, 1823. 6. Elizabeth, June 8, 1824; married, De- cember 14, 1853, Hon. Waldo Hutchins, Congressman from Twelfth New York district, lawyer of New York City.
DYER, Eliphalet,
Legislator, Jurist.
Eliphalet Dyer was born in Windham county, Connecticut, September 28, 1721. He was graduated from Yale College in 1740, and received his Master of Arts de- gree in 1744. He studied law and was admitted to the practice of law in 1746. He was a representative in the General Court by repeated elections between 1743 and 1762. In 1753-55 he projected and promoted the establishment of a Connec- ticut colony in Pennsylvania. He served as lieutenant-colonel of a regiment of vol- unteers sent from Connecticut to reduce Crown Point, New York, in August, 1755, and was colonel of a regiment in the ex- pedition against Canada in 1758. He was an assistant to the Governors of Connecti- cut at times between 1762 and 1784, and went to England in 1763 to procure from the crown confirmation of title to lands selected by the Connecticut colony in the Wyoming region. He was the first of the commissioners sent to the Stamp Act Congress from Connecticut, in 1765. In 1784 he withdrew from the Governor's Council rather than aid in enforcing the stamp act. He was Associate Judge of the Superior Court, 1766-89, and Chief
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Justice, 1789-93. He was a delegate to Congress from Connecticut, 1774-79 and 1780-83 ; a member of the State Commit- tee of Safety, 1775-76; and declined an appointment as brigadier-general of militia in December, 1776. Harvard Col- lege conferred upon him the honorary de- gree of Master of Arts in 1744, and Yale College gave him that of Doctor of Laws in 1787. He died in Windham, Connec- ticut, May 13, 1807.
TRACY, Uriah, Lawyer, Legislator.
Uriah Tracy was born in Franklin, Con- necticut, February 2, 1755, and died in Washington, D. C., July 19, 1807, his being the first body interred in the Con- gressional burying ground. He was grad- uated from Yale College with the degree of Bachelor of Arts in 1778 and received the degree of Master of Arts in 1781. He then turned his attention to the profes- sion of law and after a thorough course of study was admitted to the bar in 1781. Immediately afterward he entered upon practice in Litchfield, Connecticut, and rose to eminence by his ability and tal- ents. He was a representative in the State Legislature, 1788-93, serving as speaker in the latter named year, and was a Fed- eralist representative from Connecticut in the Third and Fourth Congresses, serving from December 2, 1793, to December 6, 1796, when he was elected United States Senator to complete the unexpired term of Jonathan Trumbull, resigned, officiat- ing for a short time as president pro tem. of the Senate, and serving in that body until his death, when he was succeeded by Samuel Whittlesey Dana. He served at one time as major-general of militia. Sen- ator Tracy had a reputation for wit, was an able orator, graceful in his mode of de- livery, and lucid in argument. He was an ardent debater, his ideas coming rapidly
and being eloquently set forth, and he was greatly admired and esteemed by his friends and respected by his opponents. His three daughters married, respectively, Judge Gould, of Litchfield; Judge Howe, of Northampton, Massachusetts; and Judge Metcalfe, of Dedham, Massachu- setts.
HOSMER, Titus,
Jurist, Delegate.
Titus Hosmer was born in Middle- town, Connecticut, in 1736, died there, August 4, 1780. He was a descendant on the paternal side of Thomas Hosmer, of Kent, England, who came to America with his brother, James Hosmer, in 1635, was one of those who accompanied Hooker, June, 1636, to settle Hartford, Connecticut, and died there in 1637. His son, Stephen Hosmer, who married Han- nah Bushnell. Their son, Captain Thom- as Hosmer, who married Ann Prentiss. Their son, Stephen Hosmer, who married Deliverance Graves, and they were the parents of Titus and Timothy, the latter named serving as surgeon on the staff of General Washington in the War of the American Revolution, and judge of On- tario county, New York, in 1798. Thom- as Titus, another ancestor of Titus Hos- mer, was a resident of Hawkhurst, Eng- land, an officer in Cromwell's army, came to America after the accession of Charles II., settled in Boston, Massachusetts, and subsequently removed to Middletown, Connecticut.
Titus Hosmer was graduated at Yale College with the degree of Bachelor of Arts in 1757, and received that of Master of Arts in 1760. He studied law, was admitted to the bar, and settled for the practice of his profession in his native town, Middletown, in 1760. He served in the State Council; was elected a repre- sentative to the General Assembly in
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October, 1773, and was reelected at every ensuing election until May, 1778, when he was elected an assistant, and was annu- ally reëlected to that office to his death. He was speaker of the House of Repre- sentatives in 1777 ; a member of the Com- mittee of Safety during a portion of the Revolutionary War; and a member of the Continental Congress in 1778-79, where he signed the articles of confedera- tion. He was a judge of the Court of Appeals then established by Congress principally for the revision of maritime and admiralty cases in the United States, elected in January, 1780. He was a man of deep and extensive learning, particu- larly interesting himself in the study of national law and universal history, and Dr. Noah Webster bracketed him with William Samuel Johnson, LL. D., of Stratford, and Oliver Ellsworth, of Wind- sor, and called the trio "the three mighties."
DAGGETT, Naphtali, President of Yale College.
Naphtali Daggett was born in Attle- boro, Massachusetts, September 8, 1727, son of Ebenezer Daggett, and grandson of Deacon John Daggett, who removed in 1707 from Martha's Vineyard to Attle- boro and built a "garrison house" for pro- tection against the Indians. His first an- cestor in America, John Daggett, came with Winthrop's company in 1630 and settled in Watertown, Massachusetts. John Daggett's son, Thomas Daggett, father of Deacon John Daggett, resided in Edgartown, Martha's Vineyard, re- moving thither probably with Governor Mayhew when he settled the island in 1644, and he was married to Governor Mayhew's eldest daughter, Hannah.
Naphtali Daggett was graduated from Yale College in 1748, and became a Pres- byterian clergyman, preaching at Smith-
town, New York, 1751-55. In the latter year he was called to the first chair in- stituted in Yale College, that of divinity, which he held until his death. He was elected president of the college, pro tem- fore of Yale, October 22, 1766, to succeed President Thomas Clap, who had re- signed, and remained in office until March 25, 1777, when he devoted himself to the chair of divinity alone. During his presi- dency he abolished the aristocratic cus- tom of listing the students in the order of their social and financial importance, and introduced the alphabetical system. Under his presidency the Brothers of Unity, literary society, was formed ; and a second chair was established, that of mathematics. He graduated a number of persons who became distinguished, among them President Timothy Dwight, Rev. Joseph Buckminster, Rev. Nathaniel Em- mons, Governor John Treadwell, and Abraham Baldwin, Senator from Georgia, and president of the university of that State. In 1779 he aided in defending New Haven against the British, was cap- tured by the enemy, and was forced by repeated pricks of the bayonet to guide them. The injuries thus received hastened his death. Harvard College conferred upon him the degree of A. M. in 1771, and the College of New Jersey that of D. D in 1774. He published several of his sermons and, an account of "The Dark Day in New England, May 19, 1780." He died in New Haven, Connecticut, No-
CANFIELD, John,
Revolutionary Soldier, Jurist.
Jeremiah Canfield, grandfather of Hon. John Canfield, resided in Milford, Con- necticut, until 1727, when he settled in New Milford ; he died March 18, 1739-40. and his wife died January 4, 1739-40. His son, Samuel Canfield, father of Hon. John Canfield, was one of the judges of the
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County Court for Litchfield county, and a deacon in the church at New Milford ; he married Abigail Peck; he died De- cember 14, 1754, and his wife died Sep- tember 14, 1764.
Hon. John Canfield, son of Samuel Canfield, was born at New Milford in 1740, and graduated at Yale College in 1762. He studied law, and began practice in Sharon in 1765, the first lawyer who lived there. He married Dorcas, daugh- ter of Solomon Buell, of Litchfield, Octo- ber 2, 1765; Solomon Buell married Eunice Griswold; he was son of John Buell, son of Samuel Buell, son of Wil- liam Buel, the immigrant ancestor. In 1777 John Canfield joined Major Shel- don's troop of Light Horse; in this com- pany each man supplied his own horse and equipment, and they joined the army in General Wolcott's brigade. When General Wolcott called for volunteers to go to the aid of the troops in the colony of New York against Burgoyne, John Canfield was made adjutant of Connecti- cut volunteers and went to Saratoga. Before the battle of Saratoga he was made brigade major and held that office for the rest of the campaign. After the war he began again his profession and held the office of judge for several years. He established a law school which had a fine reputation. Judge Ambrose Spencer studied with him there, and married his daughter, Laura, in 1784; their daughter, Abba, married John Townsend. "Mr. Canfield enjoyed an enviable reputation and was holden in high estimation by his fellow citizens. He represented the town in the legislature at ten different sessions. He was a professor of religion and en- joyed the reputation of a sincere and humble Christian. In 1786 he was elected a member of the continental congress and had he lived to take a seat in that body would probably have been a distinguished member. He died however on 26th day of October, 1786."
STILES, Ezra,
Educator, Litterateur.
Rev. Dr. Ezra Stiles was born in North Haven, Connecticut, November 29, 1727, son of Rev. Isaac (Yale, A. B., 1722) and Keziah (Taylor) Stiles, and grandson of John and Ruth (Bancroft) Stiles, and of Edward (Harvard, A. B., 1671; A. M., 1720) and Ruth (Wyllys) Taylor, and a descendant of John Stiles, who settled in Windsor, Connecticut, in 1635.
He was graduated from Yale College, A. B., in 1746; received the A. M. degree in 1749; and was employed there as a tutor from that year until 1853. He had met Franklin prior to this, and conducted some experiments in electricity, which helped to draw the two men into a life- long friendship, an evidence of which was witnessed in 1755, when Franklin visited New Haven, and Stiles delivered an oration in Latin in his honor. In the summer of 1749 Mr. Stiles was licensed to preach, and, besides his regular college work, did some missionary work among the Indians, but because of "certain scru- ples respecting the truth of revelation" he decided to leave the ministry, and in 1753 he took the attorney's oath. He was a natural student, and law did not give him the leisure that he desired for study, and in 1755, when he received a unanimous call to the Second Congregational Church at Newport, he accepted it, serving until 1777. During his pastorate there he studied mathematics and astronomy, and upon receiving the D. D. degree began the study of Hebrew, in which he became very proficient. In addition, he acquired a knowledge of other Oriental languages, and corresponded with Greek bishops, Spanish Jesuits and travelers and savants in nearly all parts of the world. He also continued his astronomical studies, and his observations upon the comet of 1759 were such as to attract attention to him.
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