Jonathan Sturges
Jonathan Sturges | |
|---|---|
| Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Connecticut's At-large district | |
| In office March 4, 1789 – March 3, 1793 | |
| Preceded by | Roger Sherman |
| Succeeded by | Jonathan Trumbull, Jr. |
| Personal details | |
| Born | August 23, 1740 Fairfield, Connecticut Colony, British America |
| Died | October 4, 1819 (aged 79) Fairfield, Connecticut, U.S. |
| Political party | Pro-Administration Party |
| Spouse | Deborah Lewis Sturges |
| Children | Lewis Burr Sturges, Jonathan Sturges, Barnabas Lothrop Sturges and Priscilla Sturges |
| Alma mater | Yale College |
| Occupation | Lawyer, Jurist, Politician |
Jonathan Sturges (August 23, 1740 – October 4, 1819) was an American lawyer, jurist and politician from Fairfield, Connecticut. He represented Connecticut as a delegate to the Continental Congress and in the United States House of Representatives.
Early life
[edit]Sturges was born in Fairfield in the Connecticut Colony where his father, Samuel (1712–1771) was a surveyor. His mother, Ann (Burr) Sturges was Samuel's second wife.[1] His great-great grandfather, also Jonathan Sturges (1624–1700), was one of the original settlers of the town.[2]
Sturges graduated from Yale in 1759. He earned his master's degree from Yale in 1761, and his Doctor of Laws degree from Yale in 1806.[3] He read law, and was admitted to the bar in May 1772. He began the practice of law in Fairfield.
Career
[edit]Sturges' entry into public service came when his neighbors in Fairfield sent him to the Connecticut House of Representatives in 1772. He was returned every year until 1784.[4] In 1773 he served Fairfield County as a justice of the peace, and in 1775 he served as the judge of probate court.[5] Connecticut sent him as a delegate to the Continental Congress in 1786. He served as a member of the Connecticut Council of Assistants from 1786 to 1788,[6] and simultaneously served as a judge of the Connecticut Supreme Court of Errors from 1786 to 1789.[7]
When the new United States government was formed, the voters elected him to the U.S. House as a Pro-Administration Party candidate. He served two terms in Congress from March 4, 1789 to March 3, 1793.[8] Sturges was one of seven representatives to vote against the Fugitive Slave Act of 1793.[9]
Upon returning home, he was appointed an Associate Justice of the Connecticut Supreme Court, serving from 1793 until 1805. He was a presidential elector in 1797 and 1805.[10]
Sturges died at his home in Fairfield on October 4, 1819.
Personal life
[edit]In 1760 Sturges married Deborah Lewis. They had four children together.
Their son, Lewis Burr Sturges, would follow his father in the U.S. Congress.[11]
Jonathan Sturges, an important arts patron in New York City, was his grandson.[12]
References
[edit]- ^ "Jonathan Sturges". Ancestry.com. Retrieved December 30, 2012.
- ^ "The Sturges Family" (PDF). Fairfield History.org. Archived from the original (PDF) on November 3, 2013. Retrieved December 30, 2012.
- ^ Chamberlain, Joshua Lawrence and John De Witt (1900). Universities and their sons: history, influence and characteristics of American universities, with biographical sketches and portraits of alumni and recipients of honorary degrees, Volume 5. R. Herndon company. p. 236.
- ^ Denboer, Gordon R (1984). Documentary History of the First Federal Elections, 1788-1790. Univ of Wisconsin Press. p. 57. ISBN 9780299095109.
- ^ "STURGES, Jonathan, (1740-1819)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. Retrieved December 30, 2012.
- ^ "Sturges, Jonathan (1740-1819)". The Political Graveyard. Retrieved December 30, 2012.
- ^ Day, Thomas (1809). Reports of Cases Argued and Determined in the Supreme Court of Errors, of the State of Connecticut, in the years 1805, 1806, and 1807. Vol. 2. p. xii-xiii.
- ^ "Rep. Jonathan Sturges". Govtrack.us. Retrieved December 30, 2012.
- ^ "Voteview | Plot Vote: 2nd Congress > House > 85". voteview.com. Retrieved August 21, 2023.
- ^ New York Genealogical and Biographical Society (1919). The New York genealogical and biographical record. New York Genealogical and Biographical Society. p. 230.
- ^ "Sturges, Lewis Burr (1763-1844)". The Political Graveyard. Retrieved December 30, 2012.
- ^ Oaklander, Christine I. (2008). "Jonathan Sturges, W. H. Osborn, and William Church Osborn: A Chapter in American Art Patronage". Metropolitan Museum Journal. 43: 173–194. doi:10.1086/met.43.25699093. JSTOR 25699093. S2CID 192999034.
External links
[edit]
- 1740 births
- 1819 deaths
- Continental Congressmen from Connecticut
- 18th-century Connecticut politicians
- Members of the United States House of Representatives from Connecticut
- Yale College alumni
- Lawyers from Fairfield, Connecticut
- Members of the Connecticut General Assembly Council of Assistants (1662–1818)
- American lawyers admitted to the practice of law by reading law
- 19th-century American lawyers
- Sturges family
- Justices of the Connecticut Supreme Court