USA > Connecticut > The history of Connecticut, from the first settlement of the colony to the adoption of the present constitution, vol. II > Part 56
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In 1801, he resigned his seat in Congress, and returned to the practice of the taw at Hartford. The next year he was chosen to the office of councilor (after- ward senator) in the state legislature, which he continued to fill down to 1807, when he was elected to the Senate of the United States. During the violent con- flicts of the next six years, he took an active part in most of the discussions which arose out of the embargo, the non-intercourse laws, and the other measures which led to the war with Great Britain. The same qualities which marked his early efforts, were now more fully exhibited in the maturity of his powers; while the whole cast of his character made him peculiarly fitted for the calmer deliberations of the senate. He had nothing of what Burke calls " the smartness of debate." He never indulged in sarcasm or personal attack. In the most stormy discus- sions, he maintained a courtesy which disarmed rudeness. No one ever suspected him of wishing to misrepresent an antagonist, or evade the force of an argument ; and the manner in which he was treated on the floor of the Senate, shows how much can be done to conciliate one's political opponents, even in the worst times, by a uniform exhibition of high principle, if connected with a penetrating judg- ment and great reasoning powers. Mr. Jefferson playfully remarked to a friend during this period, "That white-headed Yankee from Connecticut, is the most difficult man to deal with in the Senate of the United States."
In 1813, he was chosen lieutenant-governor of the state, and continued to hold this office until his death. At the meeting of the legislature in 1814, he was ap- pointed a delegate to the celebrated Hartford Convention. Though in feeble health, he took a large share in the deliberations of that body, and especially in those healing measures which were finally adopted. During its session, he re- ceived communications from distinguished men in other states, touching the vari- ous questions at issue ; and particularly from Mr. Daniel Webster, who had pre- viously sent him an extended argument to show that the provisions of the embargo law, " so far as it interdicts commerce between parts of the United States," were
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unconstitutional and oppressive in the highest degree. Mr. John Randolph, also, addressed him under date of December 16, 1814, forwarding a pamphlet which he had just published against the administration, in the hope of promoting " the wel- fare of the country in these disastrous times." At an earlier period, Mr. Randolph had been one of the strongest political opponents of Mr. Goodrich ; but he now says, " Unfeigned respect for your character and that of your native state, which like my own is not to be blown about by every idle breath-now hot, now cold- is the cause of your being troubled with this letter ; a liberty for which I beg your excuse." In reference to the convention, he remarks, "I make every allowance for your provocations ; but I trust that the 'steady habits' of Connecticut will prevail in the Congress at Hartford, and that she will be the preserver of the Union from the dangers by which it is threatened from the administration of the General Government, whose wickedness is only surpassed by its imbecility." The anticipations of Mr. Randolph were correct. Nothing could be farther from the design of that meeting, or the wishes of Connecticut, than to foster disunion. The object of the convention was not to foment but to restrain violence. When the report of its doings arrived at the city of Washington, Mr. David Daggett, than a member of the Senate, wrote to Mr. Goodrich as follows, under date of Jan. 11, 1815. " The proceedings of the convention reached us by yesterday's mail. The pamphlet was announced with almost as great sensibility, as would have been a treaty of peace. The Senate had adjourned a few minutes before the mail was opened ; and many of the members being present, Mr. Galliard read it audibly. The minds of our friends are relieved. To those of us who know the authors of these proceedings, they are not more discreet, dignified, and wise, than our strong partialities had led us to hope. Of others it may be truly said, they exceed their most sanguine expectations." He adds in reference to the friends of the administration, "they are left without ground either of complaint or triumph-I am perfectly satisfied." Such, the writer believes, will be the decision of history; notwithstanding the odium which has been heaped upon this conven- tion, by those who had no personal knowledge of the men who composed it, or the motives by which they were actuated.
Early in 1815, it was found that a hidden disease under which Mr. Goodrich had for some time labored, was an affection of the heart. His death was probably near -- it would unquestionably be sudden-it might occur at any moment ! He received the intelligence with calmness, but with deep emotion. He expressed his feelings without reserve to his pastor, the Rev. Dr. Strong, and at a later period to the writer of this sketch. From his youth, he had been a firm believer in the divine authority of the Scriptures. He read them habitually even in the busiest scenes of his life. So highly did he prize public worship, that he once remarked, he would attend on preaching of a very low intellectual order, which was even repulsive to his taste-and that he always did so (if he could find no better) when away from home-rather than be absent from the house of God. As the result of all his studies and reflections, he had become more and more fixed in his belief of those great doctrines of grace, which had been taught him by his father, and which are generally received in the churches of Connecticut. His life had, indeed, been spotless, and devoted to the service of his country. But in speaking of our ground
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of acceptance before God, he said in substance, " A moral life is of itself nothing for the salvation of the soul. I have lived a moral life in the estimation of the world ; but no language can express my sense of its deficiency in the sight of a holy God. If there were not an atonement, I must be condemned and miserable forever. Here my hope is stayed. A sense of imperfection often sinks my spirits ; but generally I have a hope that supports me ; and at times I have rejoiced in God without fear, and have wished only to be in his hands and employed in his service." In this state of mind his summons found him. On the 18th of August, 1815, in the midst of the family circle, while walking the room and engaged in cheerful conversation, he faltered for a moment, sank into a chair, and instantly expired in the fifty-sixth year of his age. His death was a shock to the whole community. Party distinctions were forgotten under a sense of the general loss ; and in the simple but expressive language which was used at his funeral, all united in " a tribute of respect to the memory of the man who has so long been dear to us and done us so much good."
In his person, Mr. Goodrich was a little above the medium height, of a full habit, slightly inclining to corpulency. He had finely turned features, with prominent and rounded cheeks, and a remarkable purity of complexion which retained throughout life the flush of early youth. His countenance was singularly expres- sive, showing all the varied emotions of his mind when excited by conversation or by public speaking. His eye was blue, and deep-sunk under an ample forehead. He had the habit of fixing it intently upon those to whom he spoke in earnest con- versation ; and no one who has felt that look, will ever forget its searching and subduing power. His portrait by Colonel Trumbull is one of the best productions of that celebrated artist.
In domestic and social life, he was distinguished for his gentleness and urbanity. He had a delicacy of feeling which was almost feminine. A friend who had con- versed with him intimately for many years, remarked that he had one peculiarity which was strikingly characteristic : "Not a sentiment or expression ever fell from his lips in the most unguarded moment, which might not have been uttered in the most refined circles of female society." He had, at times, a vein of humor, which shows itself in his familiar letters to Oliver Wolcott, and others, as published by Mr. Gibbs, in his " Memoirs of the Administrations of Washington and John Adams." But, in general, his mind was occupied with weighty thoughts, and it was perhaps this, as much as any thing, that gave him a dignity of manner which was wholly unassumed, and which without at all lessening the freedom of social intercourse, made every one feel that he was not a man with whom liberties could be taken. He could play with a subject, when he chose, in a desultory manner ; but he preferred, like Johnson, to " converse rather than talk." He loved of all things to unite with others in following out trains of thought. The late Judge Hopkinson, of Philadelphia, in a letter to Mr. Gibbs, classes him in this respect with Oliver Ellsworth, Fisher Ames, Uriah Tracy, Oliver Wolcott, and Roger Griswold ; of whom he says, " You may well imagine what a rich and intellectual society it was. I will not say that we have no such men now, but I don't know where to find them."
His crowning characteristic, that of integrity and honor, was thus referred to a
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few days after his death, by a writer in one of the leading journals of Hartford. " His judgment was so guided by rectitude, that of all men living he was, perhaps, the only one to whom his worst enemy (if enemy he had) would have confided the decision of a controversy, sooner than to his best friend."
GOODRICH, ELIZUR, LL. D., was born at Durham, on the 24th of March, 1761. He was the second son of the Rev. Elizur Goodrich, D.D., who was for many years one of the most active members of the corporation of Yale College, and largely engaged in preparing young men for that institution. Hence, his son was trained from childhood to an intimate acquaintance with the classics ; and retained throughout life so great a familiarity with the Latin language especially, that he could read it at all times with entire ease, and continued occasionally to write it with accuracy and elegance. In the year 1775, he entered Yale College at the age of fourteen. During his senior year, his life was brought into extreme dan- ger at the time when New Haven was attacked by the British. On the landing of the troops, July 5th, 1779, he joined a company of about a hundred in num- ber, who went out, under the command of James Hillhouse, to annoy and retard the march of the enemy towards evening, when the town was taken and given up to ravage and plunder, he was stabbed near the heart by a British soldier, as he lay on his bed in a state of extreme exhaustion, and barely escaped with his life.
Having graduated in the autumn of the same year with the highest honors of his class, he received the appointment of Berkley scholar, and continued at college on this foundation for two years, when he was elected tutor, September, 1781, as successor to his brother, Chauncey Goodrich. He now commenced the study of law in connection with his college duties, under the tuition of his uncle, Charles Chauncey, one of the most learned lawyers of the state ; and resigning his tutor- ship at the end of two years, he commenced the practice of the law at New Ha- ven, in the autumn of 1783. He was soon after married to a step-daughter of David Austin, Esq., collector of the port of New Haven, and gradually rose into a valuable and extensive business.
In 1795, he was elected a representative of the town in the state legislature, an office which he continued to hold for many years, during which he was repeatedly chosen clerk and speaker of the House of Representatives. In 1799, he was elected a member of Congress, and was present at the last session of that body in Philadelphia, and its first session in Washington, when the seat of government was removed to the District of Columbia. He soon made himself known in the House, as a man of sound judgment and strong reasoning powers, but was invited, during his second session, to an office of much responsibility at home. On the death of his father-in-law, Mr. Austin, there was a general desire among the merchants of New Haven, that Mr. Goodrich should accept the office of the collector of the port; and recommendations to this effect having been forwarded to Washington, the president sent for him and proposed to make the appointment. As there was a probability, however, that Mr. Jefferson might be elected president in room of Mr. Adams, it was thought proper by Mr. Goodrich and his friends, to learn, if possible, whether a change would be made in offices of this kind, if a change of administration took place. The question was, therefore, put to Mr. Jefferson by a friend of the two parties, and he said at once, that in his view no such change
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ought to be made, on the mere ground of political differences. Mr. Goodrich, therefore, accepted the appointment early in 1801; but in this case, as in many others, the opinions of the president were over-ruled by party influences, and Mr. Goodrich was removed at the end of about six months. He was immediately elected to the state legislature, first as a member of the house of representatives, and soon after as a member of the council (afterwards senate) of the state ; which last office he continued to hold by successive annual elections, until 1818, when he and his associates were succeeded by those who opposed them in politics. He was thus, without intermission, a member of the state legislature, or of Congress, for the period of twenty-three years. His habits of mind fitted him peculiarly for the duties of a legislative body. He had great industry, clearness of judgment, and accuracy of knowledge in the details of business. He was much relied on in drafting new laws, as one who had been long conversant with the subject, and had gained a perfect command of those precise and definite forms of expression which are especially important in such a case. He was, also, chief judge of the county court for the county of New Haven thirteen years ; and judge of probate for the same county seventeen years, down to the change of politics in 1818. In the lat- ter office, he endeared himself greatly to numerous families throughout the county, by his judgment and kindness in promoting the settlement of estates without liti- gation, and by his care in providing for the interests of widows and orphans. He was also mayor of the city of New Haven, from September 1803 to June 1822, being a period of nineteen years, when he declined any longer continuance in this office. For nine years, he was professor of law at Yale College, and repeatedly delivered courses of lectures on the laws of nature and nations, but resigned the office in 1810, as interfering too much with his other public duties. His interest in the college, however, remained unabated. For many years he was a leading mem- ber of the corporation, and was particularly charged with its interests as a mem- ber of the prudential committee ; and was secretary of the board for the period of twenty-eight years, until he tendered his resignation in 1846. It is a striking cir- cumstance, that from the time of his entering college in 1775, he was uninter- ruptedly connected with the institution, either as a student, Berkley scholar, tutor, assistant to the treasurer, professor, member of the corporation, or secretary of the board, for the space of seventy-one years ! He received from the college the honorary degree of LL. D., in the year 1830.
The same year, 1818, in which he retired from public office, Mr. Goodrich had the misfortune to lose his wife ; and from this period he divided his time in part between his children, residing not only at New Haven, but at Hartford, and Utica, with his oldest son, and at Washington City, in the family of his daughter, who was married to the Hon. Henry L. Ellsworth, for many years commissioner of patents for the United States. Wherever he resided, his society was highly ac- ceptable in private life. His cordial manners, extensive information, and genial humor, rendered him an object of interest to every circle he entered ; and with- out any attempt at brilliancy, he made an impression upon the minds of strangers by his powers of conversation, such as few men have ever surpassed. As he ad- vanced in years, he resided chiefly at New Haven, retaining the full possession of his mental powers to within a few months of his death, which took place w thout
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pain or any apparent disease, from the mere decay of nature, on the first day of November, 1849, in the eighty-ninth year of his age. He had been for some years " the senior member of the Connecticut bar ;" and at a meeting of the pro- fession the next day, it was " Voted, unanimously, that in token of our respect for the memory of the deceased, and our appreciation of his long and honorable pub- lic service, we will attend his funeral in a body."
After what has been said, it is unnecessary to give any labored delineation of Mr. Goodrich's character. He was distinguished for the clearness and strength of his judgment, the ease and accuracy with which he transacted business, and the kindness and affability which he uniformly manifested in all the relations of life. His reading was extensive and minute; and what is not very common in public men, he kept up (as already stated) his acquaintance with the ancient clas- sics to the last, being accustomed to read the writings of Cicero, Livy, Sallust, Virgil, and Horace, down to the eighty-ninth year of his age, with all the ease and interest of his early days. He professed the religion of Christ soon after leaving college ; adorned his profession by a consistent life ; and experienced the consola- tions and hopes which it affords, in the hour of dissolution.
GRANGER, GIDEON, was born in Suffield, July 19, 1767, and graduated at Yale in 1787. He became celebrated as a lawyer and politician ; and in 1801, Presi- dent Jefferson appointed him postmaster-general of the United States-an office which he held for thirteen years. In 1814, he removed to Canandaigua, N. Y., and in 1819, was elected a member of the senate of that state. He gave one thousand acres of land in aid of the Erie Canal. He died December 31, 1822. His son Francis Granger, of Canandaigua, was postmaster-general under Presi- dent Harrison.
GRIFFIN, EDWARD, DORR D.D., was born in East Haddam, January 6, 1770, and graduated at Yale in 1790. In 1795, he was ordained pastor of the congrega- tional church in New Hartford ; and in 1801, he became the colleague-pastor with the Rev. Dr. McWhorter, in Newark, New Jersey. He was subsequently pastor of the Park-street church, Boston, professor of sacred rhetoric in the theo- logical seminary at Andover, and president of Williams College. He returned to Newark in 1836, where he died, November 8, 1837, aged 67. Dr. Griffin was one of the most eloquent preachers of his time. His memoirs were written by the Rev. Dr. Sprague, of Albany, N. Y.
GRISWOLD, ALEXANDER, V., D.D., was born in Simsbury, became a learned and eloquent divine of the episcopal church, and bishop of the eastern diocese of Massachusetts. He received the degree of doctor of divinity from Harvard Col- lege, Brown University, and from the college of New Jersey. Bishop Griswold, died in Boston, February 15, 1843, aged 76 years. His biography, by the Rev. John S. Stone, D.D., has been published.
GRISWOLD, MATTHEW, was born in Lyme, March 25, 1714 ; in 1751, he was chosen a representative, and in 1759, he was elected a member of the council. He was also a judge and chief judge of the superior court, lieutenant-governor, and from 1784 to 1786, he was governor of the state. In 1788, he was chosen presi- dent of the convention which adopted the constitution of the United States. He died April 28, 1799, aged 85. He was father of Governor Roger Griswold.
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GRISWOLD, STANLEY, was born in Torringford, November 1768, and graduated at Yale in 1786. In 1790, he was installed at New Milford, as colleague-pastor of the church in that place with the Rev. Mr. Taylor, and continued in the pastoral office in New Milford until 1802, when he resigned. In politics he was a Jeffer- sonian democrat -an unusual circumstance among the congregational clergy of Connecticut at that time. It was claimed that in consequence of his political opin- ions, he was persecuted by his clerical brethren. At all events, he was excluded from the South Consociation of Litchfield county-but the people of his charge warmly espoused his course. In 1804, Mr. Griswold became the editor of a democratic paper in Walpole, N. H., but soon after was appointed by President Jefferson to the post of secretary of the territory of Michigan. He was subse- quently a United States senator from Ohio, and United States judge for the north- western territory. He died at Shawneetown, Illinois, August 21, 1814, aged 46 years.
HALL, LYMAN, was a native of Wallingford, and graduated at Yale College in 1747. He studied medicine and established himself at Midway, Georgia. Hav- ing early and zealously espoused the cause of his country, his efforts contributed much to induce the Georgians to join the American confederacy. He was chosen a member of the Continental Congress in May 1775, signed the declaration of independence, and continued in that body till the close of 1780. In 1783, he was elected governor. He died in February, 1791, aged 66.
HILLHOUSE, JAMES, LL. D., was born at New London, October 21, 1754, and graduated at Yale in 1773. He was an officer in the revolution; and in 1791, was elected a member of the House of Representatives in Congress. From 1796 to 1810, he was a member of the United States Senate ; from 1810 to 1825, he was commissioner of the school fund of this state, and from 1782 to 1832, was treasurer of Yale College. He died at New Haven, December 29, 1832, in the 79th year of his age.
HILLHOUSE, WILLIAM, was a son of the Rev. James Hillhouse, of New London, where the subject of this paragraph was born August 25th, 1728. As a represen- tative and member of the council, he attended the legislature at one hundred and six semi-annual sessions !- probably a much longer period than any other person who ever lived in Connecticut. He was also a major of cavalry in the rev- olution, judge of the county court, and a member of the Continental Congress from 1783 to 1786. His brother, James Abraham Hillhouse, (born May 20, 1730, graduated at Yale College, 1749,) a distinguished lawyer and member of the council, died in 1775.
HINMAN, BENJAMIN, Colonel, was born in Woodbury in 1720. He served against the French in Canada as early as 1751, under a commission as quarter- master of the troop of horse in the 13th regiment. On the 19th of April, 1775, he was commissioned as a captain in the regiment of Colonel Elizur Goodrich, raised for the defense of his majesty's territories against the French at Crown Point and vicinity. Before the close of the French and Indian wars, he had risen to the rank of lieutenant-colonel; and on the 1st of November, 1771, he was ap- pointed colonel of the thirteenth regiment of horse. At the commencement of the revolution, May 1st, 1775, he received from Governor Trumbull a commission
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as colonel of the fourth regiment of troops enlisted for the defense of the colony. He continued in active service until January, 1777, when he returned home in ill health. He represented the town of Woodbury in the legislature at about twenty sessions ; and after Southbury was incorporated, he represented that town at eight sessions. He was also a member of the convention which ratified the constitution of the United States. Colonel Hinman died in Southbury, March 22, 1810, at the age of 90 years.
HINMAN, ROYAL R., (now a resident of Harlem, N. Y.,) was born in Southbury, and graduated at Yale in 1820. He pursued his professional studies at the Litch- field Law School, settled in his native town, and was chosen a representative at four sessions of the General Assembly. In 1835, he was elected to the office of secretary of state, and continued to be re-elected every year until 1842. In 1836, he published a volume entitled, " Antiquities of Connecticut ;" and in 1842, he compiled and published a work of 643 large octavo pages, entitled, " A Historical Collection of the part sustained by Connecticut during the war of the revolution"-a valuable book. He has latterly given to the public several excel- lent genealogical works. In 1835, he was appointed chairman of a committee to revise the public statutes of the states ; and in 1838, he was appointed on a simi- lar committee. Several volumes of statutes and public and private acts were compiled and published under his supervision. In September 1844, Mr. Hinman was appointed collector of customs for the port of New Haven ; and he also, for a short time, held the office of postmaster at Hartford.
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