Abijah Catlin (April 1, 1805 – April 14, 1891) was an American politician. Abijah Catlin, elder son of Abijah Catlin, Jr., and Orinda (Williams) Catlin, was born in

Harwinton, Connecticut Harwinton is a town in Litchfield County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 5,484 at the 2020 census. The high school is Lewis S. Mills. History The town incorporated in 1737. The name of the town alludes to Hartford and Windsor, Con ...

, on April 1, 1805. He graduated from

Yale College Yale College is the undergraduate college of Yale University. Founded in 1701, it is the original school of the university. Although other Yale schools were founded as early as 1810, all of Yale was officially known as Yale College until 1887, ...

in 1825. He studied law at the

Yale Law School Yale Law School (Yale Law or YLS) is the law school of Yale University, a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. It was established in 1824 and has been ranked as the best law school in the United States by '' U.S. News & Worl ...

, and was admitted to the

Litchfield County Litchfield County is in northwestern Connecticut. As of the 2020 census, the population was 185,186. The county was named after Lichfield, in England. Litchfield County has the lowest population density of any county in Connecticut and is the ...

bar Bar or BAR may refer to: Food and drink * Bar (establishment), selling alcoholic beverages * Candy bar * Chocolate bar Science and technology * Bar (river morphology), a deposit of sediment * Bar (tropical cyclone), a layer of cloud * Bar (u ...

, but soon removed to

Greensboro Greensboro (; formerly Greensborough) is a city in and the county seat of Guilford County, North Carolina, United States. It is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, third-most populous city in North Carolina after Charlotte, North Car ...

, Ga., where he practiced for about five years. He then returned to Harwinton, and followed his profession there. In 1837 he was elected by the Whig party to the

Connecticut House of Representatives The Connecticut State House of Representatives is the lower house in the Connecticut General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Connecticut. The house is composed of 151 members representing an equal number of districts, with ...

, and was re-elected for the next two years. In 1844 he was a member of the

Connecticut State Senate The Connecticut State Senate is the upper house of the Connecticut General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Connecticut. The state senate comprises 36 members, each representing a district with around 99,280 inhabitants. Sen ...

, and was one of the ''

ex-officio An ''ex officio'' member is a member of a body (notably a board, committee, council) who is part of it by virtue of holding another office. The term '' ex officio'' is Latin, meaning literally 'from the office', and the sense intended is 'by right ...

'' Fellows of Yale College. From 1847 to 1850 he held the office of

Connecticut State Comptroller The State Comptroller is the chief fiscal guardian of the State of Connecticut. The duties and responsibilities of the state comptroller include, among other things, overseeing state accounting, preparing state financial reports, paying and adminis ...

. In 1850 and 1851 he was again in the House, and in 1857 was Commissioner of the School Fund. At the outbreak of the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states ...

, in 1861, he was again sent to the Legislature, and served for two years, as well as in 1865, 1874, and 1879. He was judge of probate for some fourteen years between 1838 and his retirement on account of age in 1875 ; he was also judge of the County Court in 1844 and 1845. He was twice married : first to Mary Simonton of Georgia ; and secondly to Mary, daughter of Dr. Andrew Abernethy, of Harwinton. He died in Harwinton, on April 14, 1891, at the age of 86.

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Catlin, Abijah 1805 births 1891 deaths Yale College alumni Connecticut lawyers Connecticut state senators Members of the Connecticut House of Representatives Whig Party (United States) politicians 19th-century American politicians Connecticut Comptrollers People from Harwinton, Connecticut 19th-century American lawyers