USA > Connecticut > The governors of Connecticut : biographies of the chief executives of the commonwealth that gave to the world the first written constitution known to history > Part 4
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14
Governor Talcott's service to the courts of the colony was extensive and able. In May, 1721, he was appointed judge of the Supreme Court, and was also chief judge of the County Court and judge of the Probate Court for Hartford county for a long course of years.
During the long administration of Governor Talcott the chief thing which attracts attention in the history of the colony was its
70
1
The Governors of Connecticut
constant growth by the establishment of new towns. The town of Willington, destined to become the birthplace of one of the most famous of early American writers, started with twenty-seven inhabitants. The settlement of Somers, Cornwall, Salisbury, Canaan, Kent, Goshen, Torrington, Winchester, New Hartford, Hartland, Colebrook, Union, Barkhamsted, East Haddam, and New Fairfield, followed in rapid succession, and demonstrated the thriving condition of the community they enlarged. Governor Talcott died October 11, 1741, and was buried in the old cemetery in the rear of the Center Church at Hartford.
In commenting on Governor Talcott's career a writer has said : " In summing up Governor Talcott's character we may say that while not in any way a brilliant man he displayed sterling good sense, great faithfulness in performing the duties of his station, excellent judgment in managing the affairs entrusted to him, and a disinclination to follow extreme measures in any direction."
He left a large family, and many distinguished descendants have not allowed the luster of the name to grow dim.
71
The
TWELFTH GOVERNOR of
CONNECTICUT was JONATHAN LAW
A Harvard graduate who became a mem- ber of the Connecticut judiciary, and by force of his own exertions attained the highest political honor in the colony, the expedition against Louisburg, for which Connecticut furnished a thousand men, occurring during his administration
JONATHAN
LAW
ONATHAN LAW, twelfth governor of Connecticut, was born in Milford, August 6, 1674. Richard Law, his grandfather, was king's attorney and emigrated to this country in 1635.
Jonathan Law studied at Harvard College and was graduated in the class of 1695. After studying law he commenced practice in his native town in 1698, and with such success that he was soon made chief judge of the New Haven County Court. He held this office five years, when, in May, 1715, he was chosen as an associate judge of the Superior Court. In this capacity Jonathan Law demonstrated his thorough knowledge of the law, so that his ability was rewarded two years later when he was chosen as a governor's assistant. He held this office eight years, until 1725, when he resigned, having been elected lieutenant governor of the colony. During the same year Law was made chief justice of the Superior Court, an office he held for seventeen years.
Upon the death of Governor Talcott, in 1741, Jonathan Law succeeded as acting-governor until the time of the regular election in the spring, and he succeeded himself annually until his death in 1751.
75
The Governors of Connecticut
After the election of Governor Law it was the rule in Con- necticut that a governor hold office until he died or refused to serve longer, when the deputy governor took his place for a like term.
The administration of Governor Law was uneventful, except for the expedition against Louisburg, commanded by Roger Wol- cott, and for which Connecticut furnished a thousand men. Governor Law was a strong opponent of the preaching of Rev. George Whitefield and the other revivalists, and signed an act "prohibiting any itinerating clergymen or exhorter from preaching in a parish without the express desire of the pastor or people." Under the provision of this law such preachers as the Rev. Samuel Finley were driven from Connecticut as vagrants.
The governor had an extensive farm near Cheshire, and he was one of the first to plant mulberry trees and introduce the raising of silk-worms. This industry Governor Law advocated and advertised in a public manner by appearing in 1747 wearing the first coat and stockings made of New England silk. Dr. Aspin- wall of Mansfield and President Stiles of Yale College were both deeply interested in the industry and the latter wore a gown made of Connecticut silk at the next commencement. From this humble beginning developed the extensive silk industry in Connecticut.
Governor Law died on November 6, 1750, and at his funeral Dr. Ezra Stiles pronounced a eulogy in Latin which is still in print.
76
The Governors of Connecticut
He referred to the dead governor as "a most illustrious man and the great patron of Yale College."
A biographer wrote : " He was unquestionably a man of high talents and accomplishments, both natural and acquired. He was well acquainted with civil and ecclesiastical subjects, and gradually rose by the force of his own exertions to the highest honor in the state. He was of a mild and placid temper, amiable in all the relations of domestic life, and seems to have well discharged the duties imposed upon him."
A son, Richard Law, LL.D. (1733-1806), was graduated at Yale in 1751, and practiced law in New London. He was a delegate to the Continental Congress in 1777-78, and 1781-84, and mayor of New London for twenty years. The leading lawyer of that section of Connecticut, Richard Law was made chief justice of the Supreme Court, and Washington appointed him judge of the United States District Court. Richard Law and Roger Sherman revised the laws of Connecticut.
77
The THIRTEENTH GOVERNOR of
CONNECTICUT was ROGER WOLCOTT
A Windsor weaver who served in the Connec- ticut troops in an expedition against Canada, became a major-general, and by self-educa- tion rose to the judgeship of the Supreme Court bench and to the governorship, ac- quiring vast knowledge without even the foundation of a common school education
ROGE R
WOLCOTT
O N the fourth of January, 1679, in Windsor, Connecticut, was born Roger Wolcott, the progenitor of a famous fam- ily. In the section of Windsor where the Wolcotts lived, onslaughts from the Indians were so frequent that it was impossible for the inhabitants to support either a minister or a schoolmaster. It is said by one writer that Roger Wolcott did not attend a com- mon school a day in his life. As a boy he learned the weaver's trade, and at the age of twenty-one went into that business for himself. He says he was apprenticed to a "cloathier," in 1694, and went into business for himself January 2, 1699. By great industry he acquired in a moderate length of time, what was considered a competence.
In 1709 he was chosen as a representative from Windsor, and a justice of the peace the following year. Wolcott was selected as commissary of the Connecticut troops in the expedition against Canada in 1711. In 1714 he became a member of the governor's council, which position he held when chosen judge of the County Court in 1721. His ability as a judge was so generally recognized that in 1732 he was raised to the bench of the Supreme Court of the colony. In 1741 Wolcott served as deputy governor of the
8 I
The Governors of Connecticut
colony, and chief justice of the Supreme Court. When Connecti- cut, in 1745, furnished one thousand men for the famous expedition against Louisburg, Wolcott was made a major general and placed in command of the Connecticut troops. During the famous siege, General Wolcott was second in command, Sir William Pepperell being the chief officer.
Wolcott succeeded Jonathan Law as governor when the latter died in November, 1750, and was continued in office for three years. His administration, on the whole, was satisfactory, but near the end of its last year an unfortunate affair occurred which injured his popularity. A Spanish vessel, while in distress, put into New London harbor for protection. While at anchor she was robbed of a portion of her valuable cargo. Complaint was made to the Crown by the Spanish ambassador at London. There was a good deal of agitation over the matter, and for a time it looked as if the Connecticut colony would be held responsible for the loss. Gov- ernor Wolcott was blamed and severely censured on account of existing conditions in that part of the colony which made such a robbery possible. Public resentment of what they called " official negligence," was widespread. The episode cost Governor Wol- cott a re-election, and he " was dismissed by great majority of voices."
From his retirement in 1754, Governor Wolcott did not again enter public life, but lived quietly at his old home in Windsor. He devoted the remainder of his life to religious meditation and liter- 82
The Governors of Connecticut
ary pursuits. Although he had no education whatever, Governor Wolcott, by hard and extensive reading, fitted himself for his career in life. To literature he devoted much time, and a small volume entitled, "Poetical Meditations," was written by him and pub- lished at New London in 1725. It was a collection of six short poems, and a long narrative poem entitled, "A Brief Account of the Agency of Hon. John Winthrop in the Court of King Charles the Second, Anno Domini, 1662, when he obtained a Charter for the Colony of Connecticut." This poem has been printed in the Massachusetts Historical Society collection. A letter written to the Rev. Peter Hobart in 1761, entitled, "The New England Con- gregational Churches, etc.," is reprinted in Everest's "Poets of Connecticut."
Governor Wolcott died on May 17, 1767, at Windsor, in the eighty-ninth year of his age. On his tomb is the following inscrip- tion :
"Earth's highest station ends in ' Here he lies,' And 'dust to dust ' concludes her noblest song."
Governor Wolcott's son, Oliver, was afterward governor of the state ; and another one, Erastus, was a judge of the Supreme Court.
83
The
FOURTEENTH GOVERNOR of
CONNECTICUT
was
THOMAS FITCH
A learned lawyer who was graduated from Yale College and began his career as a preacher at "thirty shillings per Sabbath," and gained distinction as a legal authority by revising the laws of the colony and gaining commendation in both England and America
THOMAS
F I TC H
P RESIDENT Dwight, the first, said Governor Thomas Fitch was "probably the most learned lawyer who had ever become an inhabitant of the colony." For a long period he held a foremost position among Connecticut lawyers, and won a distinguished place in the profession. Born in Norwalk, in 1700, Thomas Fitch was a son of one of the first settlers of the town. He studied at Yale College, and was graduated in a class of thirteen, in 1721. Five years later he was licensed to preach as a supply in the Norwalk church, at "thirty shillings per Sabbath." In May of the same year, he began his long public career by serving as a deputy to the General Assembly. Afterward he was elected a justice of the peace and served from 1726 to 1730 in the Assembly, when he was nominated as a governor's assistant. He had pre- viously studied law, and was so successful in the practice of his profession, that in 1742 he was appointed on a committee to revise the laws of the colony. The work dragged along for two years, when in May, 1744, Fitch was asked to revise the laws himself without the aid of the committee. He accomplished the gigantic task in six years, and the result of his labors was published at New
87
The Governors of Connecticut
London. The revision called forth praise in both America and England.
Serving as an assistant in 1734 and 1735, and from 1740 to 1750, Fitch was then chosen deputy governor by the Assembly, in special session, on account of the death of Governor Law, to take the place of Roger Wolcott, who had been advanced to the office of governor. At the same time he was selected as chief judge of the Superior Court of the colony. He was elected to the office of deputy governor every year until 1754, when he became governor of the colony. The French war began at the commencement of Governor Fitch's term of office, and the long, dreary struggle occu- pied much of his attention. The clouds of the revolution were gathering during the last year of his administration and his course at this time resulted in his being practically forced to retire from office.
Governor Fitch reported to the Lords of Trade on September 7, 1762, that the population of the colony amounted to "a hundred and forty-one thousand whites, and four thousand five hundred and ninety blacks, or thereabouts."
Connecticut experienced a share of the excitement resulting from the passage of the Stamp Act. In March, 1764, George Grenville, Prime Minister of England, introduced his budget of " Declaratory Resolves " in the House of Commons, and one year was to elapse before the Stamp Act was to go into effect. The 88
The Governors of Connecticut
following May, the Connecticut Assembly appointed a committee, including Governor Fitch, "to collect and set in the most advan- tageous light, all such arguments and objections as might justly and reasonably be advanced against creating and collecting a revenue in America, especially against effecting the same by stamp duties." The outcome of the work of the committee was set forth in a pam- phlet, written by Governor Fitch, entitled, "Reasons why the British Colonies in America, should not be charged with internal taxes, by Authority of the Parliament, humbly offered, for consider- ation, in behalf of the Colony of Connecticut." This was for- warded by order of the Assembly to the colony's agent in London.
Lord Halifax addressed a circular to Governor Fitch in 1764, asking him to prepare for the use of the British ministry, a schedule of particulars as a guide for framing the proposed act. The gov- ernor took advantage of the opportunity to enter further remon- strance against the Stamp Act. The Act was assented to by George III., March 22, 1765, and according to its terms, every colonial governor was obliged to take an oath before November 1st, to insure the Crown of their loyalty in its support. The penalty for refusal to take this oath on the part of a governor, was removal from office and a fine of 5,000 pounds. Excitement ran high in the colony as the time approached for the obnoxious act to go into effect.
Evidently fearing the royal mandate, Governor Fitch threw the inhabitants of Connecticut into an uncontrollable rage, when,
89
The Governors of Connecticut
on October 29, 1765, he took the oath to sustain the law he had so ably opposed. The wrath against his course grew apace as the time for re-election approached. Two months before the election, in March, 1766, the governor published an anonymous pamphlet, which is still preserved in the library of Yale University. It was entitled, "Some Reasons that influenced the Governor to take, and the Councilors to administer, the Oath." This able defense of his actions did not ward off the impending blow, and he was succeeded by William Pitkin.
After his defeat, Governor Fitch lived in retirement until his death, which occurred at Norwalk, on July 18, 1774, in the seventy- fourth year of his age. In the sermon delivered at the funeral of Governor Fitch, the Rev. Moses Dickinson (Y. C., 1717), his pas- tor, spoke of the dead governor's life-work in glowing terms. Referring to his revision of the laws of the colony, he said the work was "justly esteemed by gentlemen in Great Britain, who are acquainted with them, to be the best code of plantation laws that were ever published."
The governor's descendants have been leading citizens in the southwestern portion of Connecticut.
90
The
FIFTEENTH GOVERNOR of CONNECTICUT
was WILLIAM PITKIN
An East Hartford boy who was chosen town collector at the age of nineteen years, and becoming interested in mili- tary affairs in the stormy period preced- ing the Revolution, boldly denounced the tyranny of the mother country
WILLIAM
PITKIN
W ILLIAM Pitkin, the governor who distinguished him- self during the excitement attending the passage of the Stamp Act, by his bold uncompromising advocacy of the cause of the colonies, was born April 30, 1694, in the town of East Hartford. Of his early life and education we know very little. He was a member of the Pitkin family that furnished a number of brilliant men to the commonwealth at different periods. At the age of nineteen William Pitkin was chosen town collector. He was afterward a representative in the General Assembly from 1728 to 1734. During these years he took a deep interest in military affairs, becoming a captain of the Train Band in 1730 and a colonel in 1734. In 1734 he became a member of the governor's council, and the year following was appointed a judge of the County Court. He occupied this position until 1752. Governor Pitkin was also a judge of the Superior Court, and served as chief justice of the Supreme Court for twelve years.
In all matters that pertained to the future welfare of Connecti- cut, and in the days when the colony was rearing the structure of its future freedom, Governor Pitkin was an important figure.
93
The Governors of Connecticut
He was a member of the famous Albany convention of 1754, when Franklin offered a plan for the union of the colonies. Gov- ernor Pitkin also served on the committee, of which Franklin was chairman, appointed by the convention to draft a constitution. Always a strong exponent of colonial rights, Pitkin was one of the first in Connecticut to resist the Stamp Act, when the British ministry undertook to foist that measure on the colonies. He was thoroughly uncompromising in his denunciation of the act, and when on October 29, 1765, Governor Fitch took the oath to uphold it, William Pitkin, then lieutenant governor, showed his
courage in a forcible manner. Pitkin, together with several other prominent men, including Jonathan Trumbull, were in the room where Governor Fitch and members of the council were to take the oath to support the Act. Pitkin indignantly rebelled against the action of the governor, and in company with the sturdy Trumbull, deliberately left the room while the oath was being administered. This patriotic act was thoroughly commended by the majority of the people of Connecticut, and they manifested their approbation in a substantial way when, in the following May, 1766, he was elected governor of the colony by an overwhelming majority.
A newspaper of that day rather facetiously remarked, in com- menting on the election, that Pitkin's majority over Fitch-who had fallen into popular disfavor-"was so great that the votes were not counted." Governor Pitkin's course through the stormy period
94
The Governors of Connecticut
preceding the Revolution was uniformly consistent and courageously patriotic, which called forth the plaudits of his constituents. He died while in office, in October, 1769.
His biographer tells us that the governor was "of commanding appearance, highly affable and pleasing in manner." The follow- ing inscription is on his monument : "Here lieth interred the body of William Pitkin, Esq .- late Governor of the Colony of Connecti- cut. To the God of Nature indebted for all his talents, he aimed to employ them in Religion, without affectation, chearful, Humble, and Temperate, zealous and bold for the Truth, Faithful in distrib- uting Justice, Scattering away Evil with his Eye, an Example of Christian Virtue, a Patron of his Country, a Benefactor to the Poor, a Tender Parent, and Faithful Friend. Twelve years he presided in the Superior Court, and three and a half Governor in chief. After serving his generation by the will of God, with calmness and serenity, fell on sleep, the 1st day of October, A. D., 1769-in the 76th year of his age."
95
The SIXTEENTH GOVERNOR of
CONNECTICUT was JONATHAN TRUMBULL
The son of a country storekeeper in Lebanon who studied theology, and then while a clerk in his father's store acquired law and was elected to the legislature twenty- three times, and became the distinguished war governor of Connecticut and friend and adviser of General Washington
-
Jon Trumbull on, trumbull
JONATHAN
TRUMBULL
ONATHAN Trumbull, the first war governor of Con- necticut, is pre-eminently known in history as the brave patriot who presided over the destinies of his native state during its most critical period. His other brilliant qualities fade away before that magnificent patriotism which made Connecticut worship her noble son.
He was born in the town of Lebanon on October 12, 1710, and was the son of Joseph Trumbull, a well-to-do merchant and farmer who had moved to the little town ten years previous. At thirteen years of age Trumbull entered Harvard College and was graduated in the class of 1727. Early in life his family and friends discovered the young man's fine talents, and a professional life was planned for him. He studied theology, which was thoroughly agreeable to his tastes, and in a few years was licensed to preach. His career in the ministry was brief, but it is pointed out by good authorities that if he had continued in the profession Jonathan Trumbull would have become, without doubt, a conspicuous figure in the church.
His plans in life were changed abruptly in 1731 when an older brother left his father's store in Lebanon and Trumbull
99
The Governors of Connecticut
resigned from the ministry to carry on the business. While attend- ing to his duties in the store Trumbull studied law, and two years later, in 1733, was elected a member of the General Assembly, which marked the opening of his long public career. In this body he became such a leading spirit that in 1739 he was elected speaker and occupied the office with such success that during the following year he was chosen as assistant. Trumbull was re-elected to this position twenty-two times, and was looked upon as one of the soundest men in the colony. He afterward became judge of the County Court, and assistant judge of the Superior Court, and chief judge of the latter body from 1766 to 1769. In the year 1767 Trumbull was elected deputy governor and held the office for a year, when he succeeded William Pitkin as governor, upon the latter's death in 1769.
His utter abhorrence of the Stamp Act was abundantly demon- strated in 1765 when he absolutely refused to take the oath required of every official to support the obnoxious act. Bancroft remarks concerning this period that Trumbull "was the model of the virtues of a rural magistrate; profoundly religious, grave in man- ner, discriminating in judgment, fixed in his principles." Professor Johnston says that for several years Trumbull had been at the head of the popular volunteer organization known as the "Sons of Liberty," which patrolled the country, "overawed those who were inclined to support the British government, and making ready to
100
The Governors of Connecticut
resist the execution of the law." When Jared Ingersoll rode from Hartford to New Haven to put the Stamp Act into operation he found fully a thousand of these "Sons of Liberty" ready to resist to the last degree.
When Trumbull became governor the people of Connecticut were convinced that in him the colony had found the man the people needed at that time. Before Trumbull doubt and hesitation fled in the twinkling of an eye. He threw his whole soul into the impending struggle, and while the war clouds were not as black in Connecticut as in the neighboring colony of Massachusetts where Trumbull's classmate, Hutchinson, was governor, yet the crisis called for a man in whom craven frailty was an unknown quantity.
Trumbull, with many other worthy men, was committed to the idea that extreme measures in dealing with existing difficulties were unnecessary ; that it was neither wise nor expedient to sepa- rate from Great Britain, and he personally thought the troubles between the colonies and the mother country ought to be settled " by gentle and insensible methods rather than by power and force."
His private opinions were quickly set aside, however, when the declaration of war came; and from that time Trumbull was laboring day and night for the cause for which the colonies were making such a sacrifice.
A correspondence soon ensued between Governor Trum- bull and General George Washington. It gradually assumed
IOI
The Governors of Connecticut
a close personal cast, which was continued after the Revolu- tion.
In August, 1776, when Washington wrote Governor Trum- bull concerning the weakness of the Continental army, the latter immediately called together the council of safety and supplemented the five Connecticut regiments already in the field by nine more, which proved to be of incalculable benefit to the cause.
The governor's pertinent injunctions to those who had not left the fields for the war have come down to us ringing with his magnificent patriotism. He said: "Join yourself to one of the companies now ordered to New York, or form yourselves into distinct companies and choose captains forthwith. March on; this shall be your warrant: May the God of the Armies of Israel be your leader." It is no wonder such words as these inspired many a Connecticut farmer to leave the harvest fields unfinished, and begin the weary tramp to New York where they arrived in the nick of time. Washington wrote to Trumbull that he had "full confidence in his most ready assistance on every occasion, and that such measures as appear to you most likely to advance the public good, in this and every instance, will be most cheerfully adopted."
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.