USA > Connecticut > The history of Connecticut, from the first settlement of the colony to the adoption of the present constitution, vol. II > Part 57
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HITCHCOCK, PETER, was born in Cheshire, October 19, 1781, and graduated at Yale in 1801. Having pursued the study of law in the county of Litchfield, in his native state, he was admitted to the bar in March, 1804. He immediately opened an office in his native town, and remained there for about two years, dur- ing which time he married Miss Abigail Cook. In the spring of 1806, he re- moved to Geauga County, Ohio, and settled upon a farm. His location was in a wilderness, and far away from the county-seat. Law business was of course dull, and for several years his time was divided between his profession, teaching school, and " clearing up" and cultivating his land. In 1810, he was elected a repre- sentative to the General Assembly of the state ; and from 1812 to 1816, he was a member of the state senate, and was elected president of that body at one ses- sion. In 1817, he was chosen a member of Congress, and during the following year, before the expiration of his congressional term, he was chosen by the legis- lature a judge of the supreme court of the state for the term of seven years. He was re-elected to the same office in February, 1826, in March, 1835, and in Jan- uary 1845 ; and retired from the bench in February 1852, after a judicial service of twenty-eight years. A part of this time he had filled the place of chief justice. From 1833 to 1835, he was again a member of the senate, and once more was elected speaker or president. In 1850, Judge Hitchcock was elected a delegate to the convention which formed the new constitution of the state. He died at the residence of his son, the Hon. Reuben Hitchcock, in Painesville, Ohio, March 4, 1854.
HITCHCOCK, SAMUEL J., LL. D., was born in Bethlem, and graduated at Yale in 1809. He was a tutor from 1811 to 1815, and was subsequently until his
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death instructor of law in that college. He received the degree of doctor of laws in 1842, and died in 1845. He was mayor of the city of New Haven, judge of the court of common pleas, and commissioner of bankruptcy during the continu- ance of the national bankrupt law.
HOLLEY, HORACE, LL. D., was born in Salisbury, February 13, 1781, and graduated at Yale in 1803. Having studied theology in New Haven, in 1805 he was ordained pastor of the church at Greenfield Hill, Fairfield, over which Presi- dent Dwight had formerly been settled. In 1809, he became pastor of the Hollis- street church, Boston, where he remained until 1818, when he accepted the presi- dency of Transylvania University, in Kentucky. Under his auspices the univer- sity so increased in popularity that in 1825 it numbered four hundred students. He resigned in the spring of 1827 ; and in July of that year he embarked at New Orleans for the north, but on the fifth day out he died on ship-board, July 31, 1827, aged 46 years. He was a man of great learning, and was one of the most eloquent and distinguished pulpit orators of the age. Professor Caldwell, of Tran- sylvania University, pronounced an eulogy upon him, which was published in a handsome volume in connection with his memoirs by his widow.
HOLMES, ABIEL, D.D., LL. D., was born in Woodstock in 1763, and graduated at Yale in 1783. For six years he was pastor of a church in Midway, Georgia ; and in 1792, he became pastor of the first church in Cambridge, Mass., where he spent the remainder of his days. He was highly respected for his talents, learn- ing, and industry. In 1805, he published his " Annals of America," one of the most valuable historical publications of the age. The work has since been repub- lished in this country and in Europe. His life of President Stiles was published in 1798. His other publications, consisting of sermons and historical disquisitions, are about thirty in number. He received the degree of doctor of divinity at the Edinburgh University, and in 1822, the degree of doctor of laws was conferred upon him by Allegany College. He died June 4, 1837, aged 74.
HOPKINS, SAMUEL, D.D., was born at Waterbury, September 17, 1721, and graduated at Yale College in 1741. For many years he was settled in the min- istry in Great Barrington, Mass., and in Newport, R. I. He was an eminent theo- logian, from whom the Christians called " Hopkinsians" derive their name. He was the author of " A System of Doctrines, contained in Divine Revelation, to which is added a Treatise on the Millenium," 2 volumes 8vo., published in 1793 ; and also of several smaller works. He died December 20, 1803, aged eighty-two.
HOSMER, TITUS, of Middletown, graduated at Yale in 1757. Having been for many years a representative of the Connecticut Legislature, he was chosen a mem- ber of the council in 1778, and was also three times elected a member of the Con- tinental Congress. He was speaker of the house in 1777. In January 1780, he was appointed by Congress, a judge of the court of appeals, for the revision of maritime and admiralty cases. He was regarded as one of the greatest men in the state during his mature years. He died, August 4, 1780, aged 44.
HOSMER, STEPHEN T., LL. D., son of the preceding, was a native of Middletown, and graduated at Yale in 1782. He was a member of the council for ten years, a judge of the superior court for four years, and chief judge for fourteen years.
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He received the degree of doctor of laws from Yale College. He died in Mid- dletown, August 6, 1834.
HUNTINGTON, SAMUEL, LL. D., was born in Windham in 1732, and settled in Norwich as a lawyer in 1760, where he soon became distinguished in his profes- sion. Previous to the revolution he had held the office of representative, assistant, king's attorney, and judge of the superior court. In 1775, he was chosen a dele- gate to the Continental Congress ; and on the 4th of July, 1776, he appended his name to the declaration of independence. In 1779, he was chosen president of Congress, and was re-elected to that honorable office in 1780. In 1781, he was again appointed a judge and member of the council. In 1783, he was re-elected to Congress, and during the following year he was appointed chief judge of the supe- rior court and lieutenant-governor. In May 1786, Judge Huntington was elected to the office of chief magistrate of the state, to succeed Governor Griswold, and was annually re-elected until his death, which took place at Norwich, January 5, 1796, at the age of 63 years. He was also a member of the convention which adopted the federal constitution in 1788. His wife, Martha, the daughter of Ebe- nezer Devotion, pastor of the church in Windham, died June 4, 1794. Governor Huntington was not a graduate, but received honorary degrees from Dartmouth and Yale.
HUNTINGTON, JOSEPH, D.D., brother of the preceding graduated at Yale in 1762, and became pastor of the congregational church in Coventry. He published sev- eral sermons and addresses, and was the author of a work, which was published after his death, entitled, " Calvinism Improved, or the Gospel illustrated in a system of real grace, issuing in the salvation of all men." He received the de- gree of doctor of divinity at Dartmouth. He died in 1795, leaving two children ; viz., a daughter who married Edward Dorr Griffin, D.D., President of Williams College, and a son, Samuel, who graduated at Yale College in 1785, and became chief justice and governor of Ohio, and died at Painesville, (Ohio,) July 7, 1817, aged 49.
HUNTINGTON, JABEZ, General, was born in Norwich in 1719, graduated at Yale in 1741, and settled in his native town as a merchant and importer. He was chosen a member of the colonial assembly in 1750, was speaker of the House for several years, and subsequently a member of the council. In the war of the revolution was a member of the council of safety, and major-general of militia. He died in 1786.
HUNTINGTON, JEDEDIAH, General, (a son of the preceding,) was born in Nor- wich in 1743, and graduated at Cambridge in 1763, on which occasion he pro- nounced the first English oration delivered in that college at commencement. He was colonel of a continental regiment in 1775 ; and two years after, Congress gave him a commission of brigadier-general, which office he held during the war with high honor and usefulness. In 1788, he was appointed state treasurer, and was a member of the convention which ratified the constitution of the United States. He removed to New London in 1789, on receiving from President Washington the appointment of collector of the customs for that port, an office which he continued to hold for twenty-six years. He died September 25, 1818. His first wife, Faith, daughter of Governor Trumbull, died at Dedham, Massachu-
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setts, in 1775, while on her way with her husband to join the continental camp at Cambridge. His second wife, a sister of Bishop Moore of Virginia, died in 1831. General Huntington was an officer of the church, and one of the original mem- bers of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions.
HUNTINGTON, BENJAMIN, LL. B., of Norwich, graduated at Yale in 1761, and having settled in his native town in the practice of the law, he soon rose to emi- nence in his profession. He was a judge of the superior court from 1793 to 1798, and was a member of the Continental Congress from 1780 to 1784, and from 1787 to 1788. After the reorganization of the government, he was elected a Representative in Congress from 1789 to 1791. He was mayor of the city of Norwich for twelve years. He died in 1800.
HUNTINGTON, EBENEZER, General, of Norwich, graduated at Yale in 1775, and during the same year he joined the army near Boston, as a volunteer. In 1776, he was commissioned as a captain and appointed deputy adjutant-general. In 1777, he received a major's commission, and during the following year he was made lieutenant-colonel. In 1799, he was, at the recommendation of Washing- ton, appointed a brigadier-general in the army raised by Congress in anticipation of a war with France. He subsequently held the office of major-general of the militia of Connecticut. General Huntington was elected a representative in Con- gress in 1810 and again in 1817. He died in Norwich, in June 1834, at an ad- vanced age.
HUNTINGTON, JABEZ W., was born in Norwich, November 8, 1788, and gradu- ated at Yale in 1806. He pursued his professional studies at the Litchfield Law School, and commenced the practice of his profession in Litchfield, where he re- mained for about thirty years. In 1828, he was elected to the state legislature, and in 1829, he was chosen a representative in Congress, in which office he re- mained until his election as a judge of the superior court, in 1834. In 1840, he was elected to the senate of the United States, and continued to hold that office until his death, November 1, 1847. He took up his residence in his native town a few years previous to his decease.
INGERSOLL, JARED, LL. D., (son of the Hon. Jared Ingersoll, stamp master and judge of the admiralty court,) was a native of New Haven and a graduate of Yale in 1766. He settled in Philadelphia, where he attained a high rank as a lawyer. He was elected a member of the Continental Congress in 1780, and was a member from Pennsylvania of the convention which framed the constitution of the United States. He was also a judge of the district court and attorney general of the state. In 1812, he was the candidate of the federal party for the office of vice president of the United States. He died October 31, 1822, aged 73. His sons, Joseph R. and Charles J., have both been members of Congress from Philadelphia.
INGERSOLL, JONATHAN, LL. D., a son of the Rev. Jonathan Ingersoll, was born in Ridgefield, and graduated at Yale in 1766. He settled in New Haven and became a lawyer of distinction. Besides holding many other offices of importance, he was a judge of the supreme court and lieutenant-governor of the state. He died in the latter office, January 12, 1723, aged 76.
JOHNSON, WILLIAM, LL. D., was born in Middletown, graduated at Yale in
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1788, and settled in New York city in the practice of law. In 1806, he published a translation of Azuni's " Maritime Law," accompanied by a commentary. He was the reporter of the supreme court of New York from 1806 to 1823, and of the court of chancery from 1814 to 1823. In 1838, he published a digest of cases decided in these courts from 1799 to 1836. He received the degree of doctor of laws from Hamilton College in 1819, and from the college of New Jersey in 1820, He died in the city of New York in July, 1848.
JOHNSTON, JOSIAH S., was born in Salisbury, and emigrated to Kentucky in 1789, with his parents. He settled in or near New Orleans, as a lawyer. In 1821, he was chosen a representative to Congress, and in 1825, he was elected a United States senator. On his return homeward from Washington City, in the spring of 1833, he was instantly killed by the bursting of a steamboat boiler on the Ohio river, May 19.
KILBOURNE, JAMES, was born in New Britain (then a parish of Farmington,) October 19, 1770. He studied divinity, and became a clergyman of the episcopal church. In 1803-'4, he was instrumental in forming an emigrating colony to Central Ohio, then a wilderness. His company nearly all united with the episco- pal society, and for some time he officiated as their minister ; but as many secular duties devolved upon him, he finally abandoned his chosen profession and de- voted his time to the civil affairs of the settlement. A town was soon organized and named Worthington. In 1805, he was appointed, by act of Congress, to the office of United States surveyor of public lands ; and during the following year, the legislature of Ohio, in joint ballot, chose him a member of the first board of trustees of Ohio College, at Athens. In 1812, the president of the United States ap- pointed him a commissioner to settle the boundary between the public lands and the great Virginia reservation. About this time, he was commissioned as colonel of the frontier regiment ; and during the year 1812, he was elected a representa- tive to Congress. In the fall of 1814, he was re-elected to Congress. He was also a member of the Ohio legislature, and discharged the duties of many other public trusts with remarkable fidelity and ability. He was a man of wonderful energy and perseverance, and an earnest friend of education, good order, and reli- gion. Colonel Kilbourne died in Worthington, in April, 1850, in the 80th year of his age.
KINGSLEY, JAMES L., LL. D., was born in Windham, August 28, 1778, and graduated at Yale in 1799. In 1801, he was appointed tutor in that institution, and in 1805, he was chosen professor of languages and ecclesiastical history. In 1831, on the appointment of Professor Woolsey, he ceased to give instruction in Greek ; in 1836, the duties of his office were again divided, and from that date until 1851, he filled the chair of professor of the Latin language and literature. From 1805 to 1824, he was also the librarian of the college. Professor Kingsley was a gentleman of extensive, accurate, and varied learning, and his writings are distinguished for perspicuity, terseness, and force. In the history of this country, and especially of New England, he was well versed, and his contributions on these subjects possess great value. He died in New Haven, August 31, 1852.
KIRBY, EPHRAIM, was born in Litchfield, February 23, 1757. He was an offi- cer in the revolution, and rose to the rank of colonel in the militia. He studied
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law, and commenced the practice of his profession in his native town. In 1787, he received the honorary degree of master of arts from Yale College. Colonel Kirby was chosen a representative in the legislature at fourteen sessions, and in 1801, he was appointed by President Jefferson, to the office of supervisor of the national revenue for the state of Connecticut. About the same time he was the democratic candidate for governor. Upon the acquisition of Louisiana, the presi- dent appointed him a judge of the newly organized territory of Orleans. While on his way to New Orleans to enter upon the duties of this appointment, he died at Fort Stoddart, in the Mississippi Territory, October 2, 1804, aged 47 years. In 1789, Colonel Kirby published a volume of "Reports of the decisions of the superior court and supreme court of errors" in this state-the first work of the kind published in the United States. The wife of Colonel Kirby, was Ruth Mar- vin, the only daughter of Reynold Marvin, Esq., of Litchfield, who had been king's attorney for the county, previous to the revolution. Major Reynold M. Kirby, U. S. A., who died October 7, 1842, and Colonel Edmund Kirby, U. S. A., who died August 20, 1849, were his sons.
LANMAN, JAMES, was born in Norwich, June 14, 1769, graduated at Yale Col- lege in 1788, and settled as a lawyer in his native town. He was state's attorney five years, representative two years, state senator one year, senator in Congress six years, judge of the supreme court three years, mayor of the city of Norwich three years, and a member of the convention which formed the state constitution. 1 He died in Norwich, August 7, 1841.
LAW, RICHARD, an early settler of Wethersfield, and afterwards of Stamford, was for many years one of the most prominent men in New Haven colony, under the jurisdiction of which he was for many years a representative, commissioner and magistrate. At the first session of the general court of Connecticut, after the union of the two colonies, May, 1665, Mr. Law was appointed a commissioner, and was "invested with magistratical powers in the towns of Stamford, Green- wich, and Rye, and also to assist in the execution of justice in the courts at Fair- field and Stratford." At a special session in July following, he was appointed on the committee " to order and appoint" the means of defense against the antici- pated invasion of our coast by De Ruyter, the Dutch Admiral. He continued to serve occasionally as a deputy, and nearly every year as a commissioner of the united colonies, until his death. His wife was Margaret, daughter of Thomas Kilbourn, of Wethersfield.
LAW, JONATHAN, a son of Mr. Jonathan Law of Milford, and grandson of the preceding, was born in Milford, August 6th, 1674 ; graduated at Harvard College in 1695 ; from 1715 to 1725, except one year, he was a judge of the superior court ; and in 1725, he was elected chief justice and lieutenant-governor, which offices he held until he was elected governor in 1741. He died while holding the office of governor, November 6, 1750. He was frequently a representative, and was speaker of the House.
LAW, RICHARD, LL. D., son of the preceding, was born in Milford, March 17, 1733, graduated at Yale in 1751, and settled in New London, where he died Jan- uary 26, 1806. He successively held the offices of representative, member of the council, judge and chief judge of the superior court, member of the Continental
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Congress, judge of the United States district court, and mayor of New London for twenty-two years. Richard Law, Esq., collector of the port of New London, and Hon. Lyman Law, speaker of the House and member of Congress, were his sons.
MANSFIELD, JARED, LL. D., was born in New Haven in May 1759, and graduated at Yale College in 1777. In 1802 he published at New Haven a work entitled " Essays Mathematical and Physical," which was the first volume of original mathematical research issued in this country. In 1803, he was ap- pointed surveyor general of the United States for the north west territories, and while employed in that duty he devised the system of surveying and dividing the public lands which is still in use. From 1812 to 1828, he was professor of natural and experimental philosophy in the national military academy at West Point, with the army rank of lieut .- colonel in the corps of engineers. He died in New Haven, Feb. 3, 1830, aged 71.
MARSH, CHARLES, LL. D., was born in Lebanon, July 10, 1765, graduated at Dartmouth in 1786, studied law at the Litchfield Law School, and commenced practice at Woodstock, Vermont, in 1788. For a long series of years he stood at the head of the bar in that state. In 1815, he was chosen a representative in Congress, and while a member of that body, he was associated with Judge Mar- shall, Henry Clay, and others, in forming the American Colonization Society. He was a trustee of Dartmouth College for forty years. He died at Woodstock, Vt., January 11, 1849.
MASON, JEREMIAH, LL. D., was born in Lebanon, April 27, 1768, and graduated at Yale College in 1788. Having studied law, he commenced the practice of his profession at Westmoreland, near Walpole, N. H , and in 1797 removed to Ports- mouth. He was appointed attorney general in 1802; and in 1813, he was elected a senator in Congress, a post which he resigned in 1817. In 1832, he removed to Boston, where he died Nov. 14, 1848. He was regarded as one of the greatest lawyers in New England. Judge Woodbury of the supreme court of the United States, said of him, " In a profound knowledge of several branches of jurisprudence, and in some of the most choice qualities of a forensee speaker, he had, in his palmy days, not merely in this state or New England, but in this whole country, few equals, and probably no superior." Daniel Webster, in reference to Mr. Mason, wrote, " The characteristics of his mind, as I think, were real greatness, strength, and sagacity. He was great through strong sense and sound judgment, great by comprehensive views of things, great by high and ele. vated purposes. His discrimination arose from a force of intellect, and quick- seeing, far reaching sagacity, everywhere discerning his object, and pursuing it steadily." He received the degree of doctor of laws from Bowdoin, Dartmouthi, and Harvard colleges.
MEIGS, RETURN J., a son of Col. R. J. Meigs of the revolutionary army, was a native of Middletown, and graduated at Yale in 1785. He settled in Ohio, and became a judge of the supreme court of that state, a senator in Congress and governor of the state. He was appointed postmaster general of the United States in 1814, and held the office for nine years. He died at Marietta in March, 1825.
MEIGS, JOSIAH, was born in Middletown, graduated at Yale in 1778, and was
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professor of mathematics and natural philosophy in that institution from 1794 to 1801. He subsequently became the first president of the university of Georgia, and surveyor general of the United States. He died in 1822, aged 65.
MILLS, SAMUEL, JR., was born in Torrington, April 21, 1783, and graduated at Williams college in 1810. He originated the foreign mission school at Cornwall, and exerted an important influence in the establishment of the American board of commissioners for foreign missions, the American bible society, and the Ameri- can colonization society. He visited the city of Washington, and urged the scheme of colonization upon the attention of the eminent men gathered there, and attended the meeting at which the national society was organized. In his mis- sionary tours at the west and south, he found thousands of families destitute of the bible ; and in his report he urged the importance of a national bible society. The Rev. Dr. Spring, (who published his memoirs,) says "The formation of this great national institution Mr. Mills thought of, suggested, and pressed the suggestion, long before it probably entered into the mind or heart of any other individual." In 1817, he was commissioned by the American colonization society as its agent to explore the western coast of Africa, and select a suitable place for the estab- lishment of a colony. He was authorized to choose his colleague for this import- ant mission. He accordingly selected the Rev. Ebenezer Burgess, professor of mathematics and national philosophy in the university of Vermont. These two young men set sail for England on the 6th of November, and reached Liverpool late in December. Sailing thence in February, 1818, they reached the African coast on the 12th of March. After spending more than two months in exploring the coast, they selected the site of Liberia, and started on their return on the 22d of May. On their voyage homeward, Mr. Mills died on the 16th of June, aged 35 years.
MITCHELL, STEPHEN MIX, LL. D., was born in Wethersfield, Dec. 20, 1743, graduated at Yale in 1763, and was a tutor in that institution from 1766 to 1769, Having settled in his native town as a lawyer, he was elected a member of the Continental Congress in 1783, and was re-elected in 1785 and in 1787. In 1790, he was appointed chief judge of the county court ; in 1793, he was chosen a senator in Congress, which station he held until he was chosen a judge of the superior court in 1795, and from 1807 to 1814 he was chief judge. Judge Mitchell also held the office of assistant, or member of the council, for nine years. He died September 30, 1835, aged 92.
MORSE, JEDEDIAH, D.D., was born in Woodstock, in 1761, graduated at Yale in 1783, and was installed pastor of a church in Charlestown, Mass., April 30, 1789. In the year 1821, he was dismissed ; and died in New Haven, June 9, 1826, aged 65. His wife was Miss Breese, a granddaughter of President Finley. Dr. Morse is particularly distinguished for his geographical and statistical works. In 1789, his " American Geography" was published ; in 1793, it was greatly en- larged and published in two volumes, and has since gone through many editions. He published an " American Gazetteer," in 1797, and 1804 ; and subsequently, his great and valuable work, " Morse's Universal Gazetteer," made its appear- ance. In connection with Mr. Parish, in 1804, he published a history of New England. His other publications are numerous. He received the degree of doc-
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