James Hillhouse (October 20, 1754 – December 29, 1832) was an American lawyer, real estate developer, and politician from

New Haven New Haven is a city in the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is located on New Haven Harbor on the northern shore of Long Island Sound in New Haven County, Connecticut and is part of the New York City metropolitan area. With a population of 134,023 ...

Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its capita ...

. He represented the state in both chambers of the

US Congress The United States Congress is the legislature of the federal government of the United States. It is bicameral, composed of a lower body, the House of Representatives, and an upper body, the Senate. It meets in the U.S. Capitol in Washin ...

. From February to March 1801, Hillhouse briefly served as President pro tempore of the United States Senate.

Early life

Hillhouse was born in Montville in the Connecticut Colony, the son of William Hillhouse and Sarah (Griswold) Hillhouse. At the age of seven, he was adopted by his childless uncle and aunt, James Abraham and Mary Lucas Hillhouse. He attended the

Hopkins Grammar School Hopkins School is a private, college-preparatory, coeducational, day school for grades 7–12 located in New Haven, Connecticut. In 1660, Edward Hopkins, seven-time governor of the Connecticut Colony, bequeathed a portion of his estate to found s ...

in New Haven, Connecticut, and 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 1773. At Yale, he was a member of the

Linonian Society Linonia is a literary and debating society founded in 1753 at Yale University. It is the university's second-oldest secret society. History Linonia was founded on September 12, 1753, as Yale College's second literary and debating society, af ...

. He studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1775, and practiced law in New Haven. James Hillhouse's commission in Governor's Foot Guards

Revolutionary War

During the Revolutionary War, Hillhouse served as captain of the Second Company of the

Governor's Foot Guard The Governor's Guards of Connecticut are four distinct units of the Connecticut State Guard, a part of the organized militia under the Connecticut State Militia. There are two foot guard units and two horse guard units. All four units are formed ...

. During the successful British invasion of New Haven on July 5, 1779, he commanded troops alongside Aaron Burr, with Yale student volunteers.

Career

Hillhouse was a member of 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 ...

from 1780 to 1785. He was a member of the Connecticut council of Assistants from 1789 to 1790 and was elected as a US representative from Connecticut at large for the Second, Third, and Fourth Congresses and served from March 4, 1791, to his resignation, in the fall of 1796. Elected as a US senator on May 12, 1796, to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of Oliver Ellsworth, Hillhouse was re-elected in 1797, 1803, and 1809, and he served from December 1796 to June 10, 1810, when he resigned. During the Sixth Congress he was

President pro tempore of the Senate A president pro tempore or speaker pro tempore is a constitutionally recognized officer of a legislative body who presides over the chamber in the absence of the normal presiding officer. The phrase ''pro tempore'' is Latin "for the time being". ...

. In 1803, Hillhouse and several other New England politicians proposed secession of New England from the union because of the growing influence of Jeffersonian Democrats, especially after the

Louisiana Purchase The Louisiana Purchase (french: Vente de la Louisiane, translation=Sale of Louisiana) was the acquisition of the territory of Louisiana by the United States from the French First Republic in 1803. In return for fifteen million dollars, or app ...

, which would further diminish Northern and Federalist influence. Hillhouse was elected a member of the

American Antiquarian Society The American Antiquarian Society (AAS), located in Worcester, Massachusetts, is both a learned society and a national research library of pre-twentieth-century American history and culture. Founded in 1812, it is the oldest historical society i ...

in 1813. In 1814, he was a Connecticut delegate to the

Hartford Convention The Hartford Convention was a series of meetings from December 15, 1814, to January 5, 1815, in Hartford, Connecticut, United States, in which the New England Federalist Party met to discuss their grievances concerning the ongoing War of 1812 and ...

, and he was treasurer of Yale College from 1782 to 1832. He died in 1832 in New Haven and is interred at the city's Grove Street Cemetery. Hillhouse was a slaveholder."More than 1,700 congressmen once enslaved Black people. This is who they were, and how they shaped the nation"
'Washington Post'', January 10, 2022. Retrieved January 10, 2022.

Legacy

Hillhouse made major contributions to the beautification of New Haven. He was active in the drive to plant the

elm tree Elms are deciduous and semi-deciduous trees comprising the flowering plant genus ''Ulmus'' in the plant family Ulmaceae. They are distributed over most of the Northern Hemisphere, inhabiting the temperate and tropical-montane regions of Nort ...

s, which gave New Haven the nickname of "Elm City."

Hillhouse Avenue Hillhouse Avenue is a street in New Haven, Connecticut, famous for its many nineteenth century mansions, including the president's house at Yale University. Both Charles Dickens and Mark Twain have described it as "the most beautiful street in Amer ...

and

James Hillhouse High School James Hillhouse High School is a four-year comprehensive public high school in New Haven, Connecticut. It serves grades 9–12. James Hillhouse High School is the oldest public high school in New Haven, and is part of the New Haven Public Scho ...

, in New Haven, are named after him. He was a nephew of Matthew Griswold and an uncle of Thomas Hillhouse.

References

External links

James Hillhouse High School website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hillhouse, James 1754 births 1832 deaths 18th-century American politicians 19th-century American politicians 18th-century American lawyers Members of the Connecticut General Assembly Council of Assistants (1662–1818) Members of the Connecticut House of Representatives United States senators from Connecticut Presidents pro tempore of the United States Senate Yale College alumni Connecticut militiamen in the American Revolution Burials at Grove Street Cemetery People from Montville, Connecticut Businesspeople from New Haven, Connecticut Federalist Party United States senators Federalist Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Connecticut Military personnel from Connecticut Members of the American Antiquarian Society People of colonial Connecticut