But, it is rather as a public man, and civilian, that he is best known in history. The public life of Mr. Huntington commenced in 1764, when he represented Norwich in the general assembly. It was certainly fortunate that such a man should have commenced his public service, at just such a crisis. The famous and odious stamp act had just been designed and laid before parliament; and the assembly, of which he was for the first time a member, would be called to meet the responsibility of yielding to the oppressive measure, or of opposing and resisting it. Grenville, now become prime minister, was urging forward the measure to its enactment, and men of clear heads and stout hearts were needed to confront him. Among these, Mr. Huntington soon became prominent. Both in the assembly and among his townsmen at home, he, exposed the oppressive nature of the act, and gave his ready voice and vote against a recognition of its authority. When the town clerk of Norwich, his kinsman, Benjamin, (1.2.4.3.11.) called a town meeting, April 7, 1765, to learn if the citizens wished him to use the stamps to be furnished by the Crown, he was present to urge, what the meeting unanimously voted: "that the clerk shall proceed in his office as usual, and the town will save him harmless from all damage that he may sustain thereby."
The cause which he now espoused, and the Governmental principles which he now advocated, were his pole-star throughout his life. He was henceforth to be with the people, against all oppressive and unconstitutional acts of their rulers, even to the bitter but unavoidable end of revolution. The creed which was so soon to be immortalized in the declaration of a nation's independence, was already the most vital mainspring of his public acts. Yet, though opposed, with all his heart, to the stamp act, he was still a most loyal subject of the crown. He advised all moderation until better counsels should prevail in parliament, as be firmly believed would soon be the case. He was appointed, in 1765, the very year when the stamp act was to go into operation, the king's attorney for his state, and was of course expected to see that no disrespect should be shown the crown. This office he held until other official duties obliged him to resign it. In 1773, he was nominated a member of the council, or upper house of the Connecticut assembly, and took his seat in 1775. In 1774 he was appointed associate judge of the superior court of Connecticut. In October 1775, the general assembly of which he was now a member, appointed him, with such men as Roger Sherman, Oliver Wolcott, Titus Hosmer and William Williams, a delegate to congress, in which body he took his seat on the sixteenth of January 1776. Of this body he was a member until 1780; and it is due to the history of those years, the most eventful in our national existence, to say that no member of those busy congresses was more marked for his diligent and laborious working, or for his unselfish patriotism, or for his wise statesmanship than Mr. Huntington. None were consulted oftener or with more confidence than he; and none were readier to suggest or wiser to plan. The year in which he took his seat, finds him on many of the most important committees, such as were equally creditable to his head and his heart. With Jefferson and Livingston, we find him on the committee of Indian affairs; with Paine and Wilson and Lee and Morris, on that upon the manufacture of arms; with Wythe and Rutledge and Paine, on that on the capture and condemnation of prisoners; with the committee of one from each colony on supplies of ammunition; and on several committees raised to consider special cases of appeal, as that of Christopher Leffingwell, on the cargo of the brig Nancy; that of Henry Keppele, on sentence; and that of Hewes, a defrauded prisoner.
In March of this same year we find him appointed, also, a member of the marine court, constituted for the control of our navy. Nor was he less conspicuous on the memorable Fourth of July of this memorable year. Four Connecticut names, of which his was not the least, are autographed on that Declaration of Independence, which was to witness to all coming generations, equally, the patriotism and the treason of its signers: "names," in the prophetic language of our historian, "that will be household words in every family in the state, as long, as the principles of 1776 shall survive in the hearts of the people."
How true to this hazardous declaration, of his principles, Mr. Huntington subsequently proved; how intelligently and fearlessly he met all the responsibilities involved in it; how, step by step, he showed himself more and more indispensable to its efficient maintenance; how he won for himself, from the leaders of that day, the place and honor of leadership over even themselves, is abundantly attested by their vote of September 28,1779, in which he is chosen their PRESIDENT, with a unanimity as honorable to them as to him. Nor did he fail in this trying office, an office which called for the highest qualities both of the jurist and statesman. From the date of his election, until his resignation, July 6, 1781, he was most incessantly and acceptably engaged in the engrossing cares of his office. Perhaps no one of those honored men who were called to that eminent post during the formative period of our government, occupied it with more credit than he. Certainly never did congress show sincerer reluctance than when, from utter exhaustion of his strength, he was forced to ask either for a temporary, or a final retirement from the office. For two months they delayed seeking for a successor, hoping that meanwhile he might so far recover as to justify his continuance. But such had been the tax upon his strength that be was compelled to insist upon his resignation, about a month before the close of his second year. The resignation was accepted, and a hearty vote of thanks testified to the confidence which congress reposed in him as the chief executive of the nation, and their gratitude for his impartial and able administration.
On retiring from the oppressive duties of his presidential career, he resumed, in August, his judicial post in the superior court of his native state, and also his seat in the council of the state.
In May of the next year, he was again elected to congress, but his health did not permit him to occupy his seat. Such service as he was able to render his country he still continued to perform in his official positions at home. Yet such was the impression among his fellow-citizens of the need of his counsel and statesmanship in congress, that he was again appointed in 1783; and in July of that year we find him once more a member of that body. In this office we find him unwearied and faithful as before, until his strength giving out, he was obliged to take his final leave of the national council, which he formally did on the fourth of November, 1783. No plea from his native state, which he had now so signally honored, could induce him again to accept a nomination for a post for which he felt he had not the requisite strength. He now retired to his beloved home, in Norwich, but not to the rest of private life. In 1784 he was appointed chief justice of the superior court of Connecticut. In 1785 he was chosen lieutenant-governor of the state; and the following year he was elected to succeed governor Griswold, as the chief magistrate. This office he continued to fill, being annually re-elected, until his death.
As the chief justice of his state, he showed the same ability which had marked him in other official stations. Indeed, this seemed pre-eminently the place for which he was fitted. His studies had made him familiar with the history and science of jurisprudence. He had the patience needed for the complete mastery of whatever evidence or analysis was essential to the case. He was remarkable for his urbanity, his impartiality, and his inexorable demand for what was true and right. The following testimony on this point, from the Biography of the Signers
to the Declaration of Independence, is fully authorized by all we have been able to gather regarding his judicial course. "Having at all times a perfect command over his passions, he presided on the bench with great ability and impartiality. No judge in Connecticut was more dignified in big deportment, more courteous and polite to the gentlemen of the bar, or more respected by the parties interested in the proceedings of the court. His name and his virtues are frequently mentioned by those who remember him in his judicial capacity, with respect and veneration."
As governor of his native state, he was exceeded in the confidence he inspired and in the esteem he won, by none of those great men who, at different times, have made that office illustrious. Perhaps the elder Trumbull, the right hand man of Washington in the most perilous days of our revolutionary period, exceeded him in popularity. But to stand second to such a man in popular admiration, and his peer in the popular confidence, is enough for the lasting fame of any man. Such, doubtless, was the true position of Mr. Huntington among the Connecticut governors.
The following testimonials to his personal characteristics will complete our too meager sketch of this truly eminent and estimable man. The same authority just quoted, says:
"In his person, Mr. Huntington was of the common stature, his complexion dark, and his eye bright and penetrating; his manners were somewhat formal, and he possessed a peculiar faculty of repressing impertinence, and keeping aloof from the criticising observations of the multitude. Without inflicting upon others the consciousness of inferiority, he never descended from the dignity of his station."
"Being a man of great simplicity and plainness of manners, he was averse to all pageantry and parade, and strictly economical in his expenditures. He maintained that it was a public duty to exhibit such an example as migbt, so far as his individual efforts could avail, counteract the spirit of extravagance which had begun to appear. His principal aim in his domestic arrangements was comfort and convenience without splendor; although not hostile to good living, he was simple, sparing and temperate in his diet. His conversation, studiously avoiding frivolous topics, was eminently instructive, and he delivered his sentiments in few, but weighty words. He inherited from nature a large share of that delicacy and sense of propriety which distinguish the man of honor and refinement."
It may be truly said that no man ever possessed greater mildness or equanimity than Mr. Huntington. A living witness can attest, that during a long residence of twenty-four years in his family, he never, in a single instance, exhibited the slightest symptoms of anger, nor spoke one word calculated to wound the feelings of another, or to injure an absent person."
Miss Caulkins, in her Norwich history, concludes her sketch of this eminent and good man, with this testimonial to his piety.
"Mr. Huntington was always a constant attendant on public worship, and for many years a professor of religion. In conference meetings he usually took a part, and on the Sabbath, if no
minister chanced to be present, he occasionally led the services, and.his prayers and exhortations were always solemn and acceptable. During his last sickness, he was supported and animated by an unwavering faith in Christ, and a joyful hope of eternal life. This sketch cannot be better concluded, than with the earnest wish breathed by a contemporary panegyrist: 'May Connecticut never want a man of equal worth to preside in her councils, guard her interests, and diffuse prosperity through her towns.'"
Though never a member of college he was honored equally by Yale and Dartmouth, from each of which he received, in 1787, the degree of LL.D. He received the same degree from Princeton in 1780.
The disease of which Mr. Huntington died, was dropsy of the chest, and his death occurred January 5, 1796. His estimable wife had died nineteen months before, June 4, 1794, aged
fifty-six years."