William W. Ellsworth
William Wolcott Ellsworth | |
---|---|
At-large district | |
In office March 4, 1829 – July 8, 1834 | |
Preceded by | David Plant |
Succeeded by | Joseph Trumbull |
Personal details | |
Born | November 10, 1791 Windsor, Connecticut |
Died | January 15, 1868 Hartford, Connecticut | (aged 76)
Political party | Whig Republican |
Spouse | Emily S. Webster |
Relations | Oliver Ellsworth (father) Henry Leavitt Ellsworth (brother) Noah Webster (father-in-law) Henry W. Ellsworth (nephew) |
Children | 6 |
Alma mater | Yale College, Litchfield Law School |
Profession | Lawyer, politician, judge |
William Wolcott Ellsworth (November 10, 1791 – January 15, 1868) was a Yale-educated attorney who served as the
Biography
Born in Windsor on November 10, 1791, Ellsworth was the son of Founding Father Oliver Ellsworth, and son-in-law of Noah Webster, who named Ellsworth executor of his will. His twin brother was Henry Leavitt Ellsworth, first Commissioner of the United States Patent Office. He completed preparatory studies, and graduated from Yale College in 1810. He studied law at Tapping Reeve's Litchfield Law School in Litchfield, was afterwards admitted to the bar in 1811.[1]
Among Ellsworth's Yale classmates was
On September 14, 1813, he was married to Emily S. Webster, eldest daughter of Rebecca Greenleaf and Noah Webster Jr., publisher of dictionaries. Noah Webster named Ellsworth as one of the executors of his will of 1843.[4]
Career
Ellsworth was appointed professor of law at
As an
Ellsworth was elected
In 1847, Elsworth became judge of the Connecticut Supreme Court and served from 1847 to 1861, when, by the constitutional provision relative to age, he retired. He twice declined to accept the nomination to the United States Senate, and retired from public life.
Death
Ellsworth died in Hartford on January 15, 1868. The former Congressman and Governor is interred at the Old North Cemetery in Hartford.[8]
The lawyer and orator Rufus Choate said of Ellsworth before the Massachusetts General Assembly: "If the land of Shermans, Griswolds, Daggets and Williams, rich as she is in learning and virtue, has a sounder lawyer, a more upright magistrate, or an honester man in her public service, I know not his name."
See also
References
- ^ Litchfield Law School Students, Litchfield Historical Society, litchfieldhistoricalsociety.org
- ^ The Governors of Connecticut, Frederick Calvin Norton, Connecticut Magazine Co., Hartford, 1905
- ^ The inaugural message sent on the new Morse telegraph was dictated by Anna G. Ellsworth, daughter of Ellsworth's twin Henry Leavitt Ellsworth, whose wife suggested the text: "What hath God wrought."
- ^ "William W. Elsworth". Litchfield Historical Society. Retrieved 30 November 2012.
- ^ Chief Justice Williams, Memorials of Connecticut Judges and Attorneys as Printed in the Connecticut Reports, Vol. 29, Pages 611–614, Connecticut State Library, cslib.org Archived 2007-10-19 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "William W. Ellsworth". Govtrack US Congress. Retrieved 30 November 2012.
- ^ "William W. Ellsworth". National Governors Association. Retrieved 30 November 2012.
- ^ "William W. Ellsworth". The Political Graveyard. Retrieved 30 November 2012.
External links
- United States Congress. "William W. Ellsworth (id: E000150)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
- Litchfield Historical Society
- William W. Ellsworth at Find a Grave