Sylvester Gilbert (October 20, 1755 – January 2, 1846) was a

United States representative The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they ...

from

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 cap ...

. He was born in

Hebron, Connecticut Hebron is a town in Tolland County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 9,098 at the 2020 census. Hebron was incorporated May 26, 1708. In 2010, Hebron was rated #6 in Top Towns in Connecticut with population between 6,500 and 10,000, ...

. He pursued classical studies and was graduated from

Dartmouth College Dartmouth College (; ) is a private research university in Hanover, New Hampshire. Established in 1769 by Eleazar Wheelock, it is one of the nine colonial colleges chartered before the American Revolution. Although founded to educate Native A ...

in 1775. Later, he studied

law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior,Robertson, ''Crimes against humanity'', 90. with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been vario ...

, was admitted to the bar in November 1777, and commenced practice in Hebron. Gilbert 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 (United States), state legislature of the U.S. state of Connecticut. The house is composed of 151 members representing an ...

1780–1812. He was also the Connecticut attorney for

Tolland County, Connecticut Tolland County is a county in the northeastern part of the U.S. state of Connecticut. As of the 2020 census, its population was 149,788. It is incorporated into 13 towns and was originally formed on 13 October 1785 from portions of eastern Ha ...

1786–1807. He was the chief judge of the county court and judge of the probate court 1807–1818 and a principal of a law school 1810–1818. He was a member of the

Connecticut 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. Sena ...

in 1815 and 1816 and was elected as a

Democratic-Republican The Democratic-Republican Party, known at the time as the Republican Party and also referred to as the Jeffersonian Republican Party among other names, was an American political party founded by Thomas Jefferson and James Madison in the early ...

to the

Fifteenth Congress The 15th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, consisting of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in the Old Brick Capitol in Washington, ...

to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of

Uriel Holmes Uriel Holmes (August 26, 1764 – May 18, 1827) was a United States representative from Connecticut. He was born in East Haddam, Connecticut, and then moved with his parents to Hartland, Connecticut. He attended the common schools and graduated ...

and served from November 16, 1818, to March 3, 1819. After leaving Congress, he resumed the practice of law in Hebron. Gilbert was again judge of the county court 1820–1825 and a member of the Connecticut House of Representatives in 1826. He died in Hebron, Connecticut in 1846 and was buried in Old Cemetery.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gilbert, Sylvester 1755 births 1846 deaths Members of the Connecticut House of Representatives Dartmouth College alumni Democratic-Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Connecticut People from Hebron, Connecticut