Samuel Huntington

Stylized black script text saying 'I am an Huntington'
Portrait of a man in 18th-century clothing with a white cravat, set in an oval frame with a gold background.

BORN - July 16, 1731, in Windham, CT.  Parents (English ancestry) – Nathaniel Huntington I (b1691-d1767) and Mehetabel Thurston Huntington (b1700-d1781).  Ten Children – Nathaniel Huntington, Jr. (b1724-d1756), Abigail Huntington (b1727-1d771), Mahetabel Huntington (b1729-d1748), Samuel Huntington (b1731-d1796), Jonathan Huntington (b1733-d1781), Joseph Huntington (b1735-d1794), Eliphalet Huntington (b1737-d1799), Enoch Huntington (b1739-d1809), Sibyll Huntington Eels (b1742-d1773), Elijah Huntington (b1745-d1753, age 8).        

DIED - January 5, 1796 (age 64), in Norwich, CT.  Religion – Congregationalist (Puritan).  Buried - Old Norwichtown Cemetery, Norwich, CT, located behind his home.    

APPEARANCE – The picture above is the portrait of Samuel Huntington (age 52) painted by Charles Willson Peale in 1783.  A shy and quiet man.  Steady and realiable. 

FAMILY – Married - Martha Devotion (b1738-d1794) in 1761.  No Children - When his brother, Joseph Huntington, died they adopted their nephew and niece and raised them as their own - Samuel H. Huntington (b1765-d1817), Frances Huntington Griffin (b1769-d1838).

OCCUPATION – LAWYER, JUDGE, LEGISLATOR.  Self-taught and home schooled.  Established law practice in Norwich, CT.  Member of the Continental Congress representing Connecticut on and off from 1776 to 1783.  President of Congress from 1779 to 1781. As a result he has been called the first real president of the U.S.  Chief Judge of the Connecticut Superior Court from 1778 to 1785.  Governor of Connecticut from 1786 to 1796.

AT SIGNING – Age 44 at signing. 

AFTER SIGNING – Continued to serve in Congress in Philadelphia, on and off, until 1783.

HISTORIC SITES

Norwich Home – Governor Samuel Huntington House, Norwich, CT (1785).  Located at 34 East Town Street, Norwich, CT 06360.  Home of Samuel Huntington during the time he served as Governor of CT from 1785 until his death in 1796.  Privately owned. 

Gravesite – Old Norwichtown Cemetery, Norwich, CT.  Located at 47 Town Street, Norwich, CT 06360, behind his house in Norwich and behind Town Street, at the end of Old Cemetery Lane. 

Birthplace - Huntington Homestead Museum, Scotland, CT (1732).  Located on the north side of Route 14, two miles west of its intersection with Route 97, Scotland, CT, Phone 860-423-1880, Website www.huntingtonhomestead.org    

Capital – Old State House, Hartford, CT (1796).  Located at 800 Main Street, Hartford, CT 06103, Phone 860-522-6766, Website ctoldstatehouse.org.  Construction was overseen by Samuel Huntington while he served as the Governor of CT.  

Yellow multi-story house with white trim and a red roof, surrounded by trees and greenery.

Governor Samuel Huntington House, Norwich, CT (1785). 

Located at 34 East Town Street, Norwich, CT 06360.  Privately owned.

The house was built by Samuel Huntington and was his home during the time he served as the Governor of Connecticut from 1786 to his death in 1796.  He is buried in the Old Norwichtown Cemetery which is located behind the house.