Samuel Huntington

Samuel Huntington was born on July 5, 1731, in Scotland, Windham County, Connecticut, to Nathaniel Huntington and Mehetable (Thurston) Huntington. He was the fourth of ten children and the second son. His listed birthday aligns with the Julian calendar, as do most of the Signers’ birthdates in this project. When Britain adopted the Gregorian calendar, the date of his birth was moved to July 16^th. This was the custom among many people at the time, so that their birthdays would fall exactly 365 days later under the new calendar.

            Huntington’s paternal ancestry can be traced back to his great-grandfather, Simon Huntington, who was born in England. He came to Boston in 1633 and then moved to Norwich, Connecticut. Another Great Grandfather, Mathew Marvin, came to America in 1635 and settled in Hartford in 1638. Both grandparents came during the Great Puritan migrations. Huntington’s father was a farmer and clothier in Scotland, Connecticut, and his home still stands in Scotland. His childhood home is now a historic site, owned by the Governor Samuel Huntington Trust, Inc., and is open to the public.

Huntington Childhood Home

            There is little information on his life before the age of thirty, as only four documented incidents exist: his birth, baptism, admission to the church, and marriage. From what we do know, he grew up on a farm, in a family of modest means. Most farms of this time produced what the family needed, with the surplus going to market. They were a well-off family, but not a well-to-do family, and certainly not poor as legend portrays them. While they would not have enjoyed any luxuries, they were not wanting in necessities either. It was said that the family home was a gathering place for the young people of Scotland, and the family was known for their musical abilities. But it was a typical life for a large New England farming family, which would have spent much of its time outdoors doing chores.

            He had no formal education, like some of the other Signers, but he did attend Common Schools. Three of his brothers would go on to Yale. One would take over farming and care for their elderly parents, and the youngest brother would die of dysentery at the age of seven. Huntington would be apprenticed to a cooper, one who makes barrels, at age 16. While he did this, he helped on the family farm. There is no documentary evidence to back up this claim. His father may have apprenticed him out, but it was more likely that he spent a great deal of time working on the farm. This supposed apprenticeship appears to be more legend than fact.

Huntington was interested in learning and began to use the libraries of Reverend Ebenezer Devotion and some local lawyers. He studied history, Latin, and law during this time. It was not known which lawyer he studied under, but it was most likely to be Jedidiah Elderkin, a local attorney. He was admitted to the bar in March of 1754 and first practiced in Windham, Connecticut, before moving to Norwich City, Connecticut, in 1760, to open a practice. According to court records, most of his cases were civil, involving debtors.

The move to Norwich seems to be driven by a desire to expand his practice, even though he already had a large one in Windham. He still had many extended family members there, and his family had been among the city’s founding members, so while success was not guaranteed, his family name would greatly help him establish a successful practice and political career. He would eventually return to Windham to marry his wife, Martha.

On April 17, 1761, he married Martha Devotion, who was the daughter of Reverend Ebenezer and Martha (Lothrop) Devotion. The Reverend performs the ceremony. She was described as someone who did not succumb to the latest fashions and was amiable. Around two in the afternoon, she would take tea with a neighbor’s wife, and according to Pastor Strong, they had an “uncommonly happy” marriage.[1]  They would have no children, but his nephew, Samuel Huntington, and niece, Frances Huntington, would stay with them after the death of their mother, the wife of Reverend Joseph Huntington, Samuel’s brother. Samuel Huntington, the nephew, would graduate from Yale in 1785 and become the third Governor of Ohio. He would pass away in 1817, from injuries sustained in an accident. Francis would marry Reverend Edward Griffin, who was the President of Williams College, and she passed away in 1837. Martha and Samuel would stay married until her death on June 4, 1794, after a short illness.

Huntington was elected a representative from Norwich to the Connecticut Assembly in 1764. He was well-liked by his fellow representatives as well as the townspeople. He was very active in judicial and legislative affairs during this time period. In May of 1765, he was appointed a Justice of the Peace for New London County. Due to his legislative and legal work, he was named King’s Attorney by Governor Trumbull and held the office until 1774. He had also helped Governor Trumbull avoid creditors at one point.[2]

In December of 1767, Huntington’s father passed away and left an estate worth £1160.5.0. The majority of his estate was in land, with very few liquid assets. This would have been typical of New Englanders at this time. He was among the most prosperous of the time, as he had sent 3 of his sons to Yale. It was estimated that he owned around 200 acres of land.

By May of 1773, Samuel Huntington was appointed to the Connecticut Superior Court and the Governor’s Council. He would hold the court position until 1778, then be named Chief Justice of the Court.

Huntington first gets involved in the patriot cause when he speaks out against the Coercive Acts. He had been active locally, though on a variety of political issues. Luckily, a majority of the Connecticut Assembly agreed with his views. One of the first acts that showed his change in view from a loyalist to a patriot was when he refused to prevent Francis Green, of Boston, from being chased out of town. Green was a Tory and a bill collector who would accuse Huntington of dereliction of duty because of the incident in 1774. In addition to the events in 1774, he was not doing well personally. By this time, he had lost his father, father-in-law, Uncle, younger brother Elijah, older brother Nathaniel, sisters-in-law Hannah and Elizabeth, along with his nephew Nathanial. The deaths of the younger relatives would affect him greatly and bring about a preoccupation with sickness and death at various periods for the rest of his life. However, it doesn’t stop him from continuing his work for the patriot cause.

In 1775, Royal Governor Trumbull, who was sympathetic to the colonist cause, would name him to a committee concerning state currency. A meeting was held in Springfield, Massachusetts, and representatives from Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and New York also attended. He was also a member of the Council of Safety this year and attended 19 of 25 meetings that governed the colony between legislative sessions. Their main work would involve decisions on military issues. He would serve as clerk of the meetings and had two additional important assignments: an issue involving a military officer and the investigation of a possible mutiny in Minerva.

In October of 1775, Huntington was elected as a delegate to the Second Continental Congress. He left Connecticut with Wolcott, and it was the first time he was out of the state. They would arrive on January 15, 1776, and present their credentials to Congress. He became ill with smallpox soon after he arrived and was unable to attend any sessions until the third week of February. Huntington would vote for independence on July 2, but none of his surviving letters indicate how he came to support independence. More than likely, it was a combination of the colonies' autonomous rule, the realization that liberty could be preserved, and the fact that there was no hope of reconciliation with the mother country. On August 2, 1776, he signed the engrossed copy of the Declaration.

In 1777, he would spend the entire year in Connecticut working on various state duties. He returns to Congress in 1778 and, by this time, has a deep understanding of the realities of the Revolution at the state level. He served on a variety of committees, many of which were ad hoc. The major committee assignment was based on status, prestige, and seniority. Some of the issues the men dealt with included musket contracts, firearms manufacturing, seamen's pay, and saltpeter production. However, this was just a fraction of the issues Congress regularly dealt with. Eventually, Huntington was appointed to the Marine Committee, the Indian Affairs Committee, and the Board of War and Ordinance, all of which are very prestigious. He would serve on 15 committees during his Congressional tenure.

On September 28, 1779, he was elected President of the Congress as John Jay was appointed Minister Plenipotentiary to the Court of Spain. While President, he convinced Virginia, New York, and Connecticut to cede lands to the national government that had been granted to them by the King. Once this happened, it was easy to convince Maryland to sign on to the Articles of Confederation, which he also signed. His title was changed once the articles were passed to the First President of the United States in Congress Assembled.[3] He would leave Congress on July 9, 1781, due to health reasons, and Dr. Rush later said that Huntington was “a sensible, candid and worthy man, and wholly free from prejudices.”[4]

Huntington returns to his home in Connecticut on July 25, 1781. However, he could not rest long because his personal finances had suffered from his service in Congress, and he owed back taxes to the state. From 1779-1781, he had earned only £752.8.0 (species), and this was less than what he would have earned had he practiced law during this same period. His expenses were £47.0.10 (species), or £3528.4.0 in Continental money, as a delegate. Unfortunately, he incurred additional expenses while serving as President of Congress. The Connecticut General Assembly would grant him an additional £15.9.0 species, or £384.0.0 in Continental money. Both numbers are included to show how inflated the Continental money was during this time period.[5]  Once he was able to resume his legal practice, his financial situation improved, and he returned to his customary affluence. Unfortunately, we know little about his life over the next six years other than that his mother, uncle, and another brother died. A bright spot was when his nephew Samuel, who had gone to Dartmouth but transferred to Yale, graduated in 1785.

In 1782, he was re-elected to Congress but declined to serve due to health reasons and his judicial duties in Connecticut. He was re-elected again in 1783 and returned to Congress in time to see the Treaty of Paris end the Revolution. He would serve for about 5 months and was on 24 different committees during this session. It was during this time that he began to worry about the taxing power of the federal government and the economy because of its inability to regulate commerce nationally. He was, however, optimistic that the country would solve these ails and become strong. Congress dissolved itself on November 4, 1783, after the Treaty of Paris was approved and Huntington heads home for the final time.

Over the next three years, he will be appointed Chief Justice of the Connecticut Supreme Court, Elected Lieutenant Governor of Connecticut, and, finally, in 1786, elected Governor of Connecticut, succeeding Mathew Griswold. During his time as governor, he helped broker the Treaty of Hartford, which resolved the land claims between New York and Massachusetts. He supports the Northwest Ordinance and oversees the building of the new Statehouse in Hartford. During the Ratifying Convention, which he presided over, he was an ardent supporter of the Constitution. The political climate during his term was favorable, and there were no real hot issues to divide the state. He remains a political moderate in the later stages of his life, as he was during the Revolution.

As with other areas of his career, his private opinions about the office are not well known, as his surviving correspondence tends towards the office rather than the personal. He was an advocate for education during this time, believing it was necessary to maintain a republican form of government. This was not unlike other founders, such as Thomas Jefferson or John Adams, who believed education was key to keeping the republic intact. As governor, he continued to practice law but was limited to high-profile clients only. For example, he participated in the settlement of Governor Trumbull’s estate.

He passed away on January 5, 1796, while serving as Governor of Connecticut, and is buried in the Norwichtown Burial Ground in Norwich, Connecticut. At the time of his death, he owned 12 properties valued at £7425.0.0. The property he owned was mostly in Windham, but he also owned land in Vermont and Massachusetts. He had lent money; the estate was owed a total of £372.83, and he held 7,464 dollars of worthless Continental money. The total value of his estate was £8601.6.11, which put him in the top 10% of wealthiest people in the state. [6] 

Tidbits

1789 Received 2 electoral votes for President of the United States.

1790-91 Received honorary degrees from Yale, Dartmouth, and Princeton, which recognized his service to the country.

The 1783 home is still standing in Norwich, but has since had Greek Revival Columns added.

He was a true Yankee – reserved, religious, formal, and dignified.

He was very shy and was neither a good speaker nor a writer (Kiernan book)

There are Huntington descendants, but none of them are direct descendants of Samuel Huntington.

[1] Gerlach, Larry R. Connecticut Congressman: Samuel Huntington, 1731-1796. Hartford: American Revolution Bicentennial Commission of Connecticut, 1976. 28

[2] Gerlach, Larry R. Connecticut Congressman: Samuel Huntington, 1731-1796. 22

[3] http://www.dsdi1776.com/signers‑by‑state/

[4] Gerlach, Larry R. Connecticut Congressman: Samuel Huntington, 1731-1796, Hartford: American Revolution Bicentennial Commission of Connecticut, 1976, 33

[5] Gerlach, Larry R. Connecticut Congressman: Samuel Huntington, 1731-1796. 75

[6] Gerlach, Larry R. Connecticut Congressman: Samuel Huntington, 1731-1796.