History of Farmington, (Hartford County) Connecticut United States of America

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Biographies:

Chauncey Langdon, representative, was born at Farmington, Conn., Nov. 8, 1768; son of Ebenezer Langdon. He was graduated from Yale in 1787, and studied law at Litchfield, Conn., 1787-88. He removed to the New Hampshire Grants in 1788, and settled in the village of Castleton. He became an influential citizen and served as register of probate, 1792-97; judge of probate, 1798-99; a representative in the state legislature, 1813-14, 1817, 1819-20 and 1822, and was a Federalist representative from Vermont in the 14th congress, 1815-17. He served as state councillor for one term in 1808, and was again elected in 1823, serving by repeated re-elections till his death. He was a trustee of Middlebury college, 1811-30, and president of the Vermont Bible society for many years. The honorary degree of A.M. was conferred on him by Middlebury college in 1808. He was married to Lucy Nona, daughter of the Rev. Elijah Lathtop of Hebron, Conn. He died in Castleton, Vt., July 23, 1830.

From: Twentieth Century Biographical Dictionary of Notable Americans, Johnson, Rossiter, editor

Edward Hooker, naval officer, was born in Farmington, Conn., Dec. 25, 1822; son of Edward and Elisabeth (Daggert) Hooker; grandson of Col. Noadiah Hooker, of Revolutionary service; great grandson of Capt. Joseph Hooker (1705-1764), and great4 grandson of the Rev. Thomas Hooker, of Chelmsford, England, who landed in Boston, Mass., in 1633, and in Hartford, Conn., in 1636; and also a descendant of Capt. Thomas Willett, first mayor of New York city, 1665. He attended Farmington academy 1833-36; entered the merchant marine service in 1836, transferring his services to the U.S. navy as acting master, July 19, 1861. He was navigator on the gunboat Louisiana, of the North Atlantic blockading squadron, and was severely wounded, Oct. 5, 1861, the first officer of his grade wounded in the war. This gunboat accompanied the Burnside expedition, and in the absence of the commanding officer, he commanded the vessel in the engagement at Washington, N.C., Sept. 5, 1862, and was promoted acting volunteer lieutenant for gallant conduct in this action, his commission dating from Sept. 5, 1862. In 1863 he commanded the steamer Victoria, and with her captured the brig Minna and the steamer Nicholai I. of Wilmington, N.C.; was in command of a division of the Potomac flotilla, on Rappahannock river, Va., 1863-65, and during the advance of Grant's army he commanded the boats that cleared the river of torpedoes planted by the Confederates, and opened it for the transportation of supplies to the army, and was then promoted acting volunteer lieutenant-commander. He was naval store keeper at Brooklyn, N.Y., 1865-67. He commanded the storeship Idaho, 1867-69, upon the Asiatic station, and when on that station he was transferred to the regular navy and appointed lieutenant, March 12, 1868, and lieutenant-commander, Dec. 18, 1868. He was inspector of yards and docks, U.S. navy-yard, Brooklyn, 1870-73; senior line officer, naval station, League Island, 1873-75; assistant lighthouse inspector, 3d district, 1875-77, and second line officer at the Naval Home, Philadelphia, 1877-84; was promoted commander, Feb. 9, 1884, and was placed on the retired list, Dec. 25, 1884. He then made his home in Brooklyn, N.Y.

From: Twentieth Century Biographical Dictionary of Notable Americans, Johnson, Rossiter, editor

Asahel Strong Norton, clergyman, was born in Farmington, Conn., Sept. 20, 1765; son of Col. Ichabod and Ruth (Strong) Norton; grandson of Thomas Norton, and of Asahel and Ruth (Hooker) Strong, and a descendant of John Norton, the founder of the family in Farmington, Conn., whose name first appears on the records of the town of Branford in 1646. He was graduated at Yale, A.B., 1790, studied theology under Dr. Strong of Haddam, and Dr. Smalley of Berlin, and was licensed to preach by the association of Hartford county, in 1792. He was ordained pastor of the Congregational church at Clinton, N.Y., in September, 1793. He was married Jan. 19, 1795, to Mary Clap, daughter of the Rev. Timothy and Temperance (Clap) Pitkin, of Farmington, Conn. He was dismissed from his pastorate at his own request in November, 1833, and devoted himself to agricultural pursuits. He was one of the founders of Hamilton college in 1812, delivered the Latin address at the inauguration of the Rev. Azel Backus, its first president, and was a member of the corporation of the college, 1812-33. He received the honorary degree D.D. from Union college in 1815. He died in Clinton, N.Y., May 10, 1853.

From: Twentieth Century Biographical Dictionary of Notable Americans, Johnson, Rossiter, editor

Noah Porter, educator, was born in Farmington, Conn., Dec. 14, 1811; son of the Rev. Dr. Noah and Mehetable (Meigs) Porter. He was gradated at Yale, A.B., 1831, A.M., 1834; was master of the Hopkins grammar school, 1831-33, and tutor at Yale, 1833-35. He attended the Divinity school, 1833-36, was ordained April 27, 1836, and was married April 13, 1836, to Mary, daughter of the Rev. Dr. Nathaniel W. Taylor, professor of systematic theology at Yale, 1822-58. He was pastor of Congregational churches at New Milford, Conn., 1836-42; Springfield, Mass., 1843-46; professor of moral philosophy and metaphysics at Yale, 1846-92, and president of Yale, 1871-86, resigning in 1886 and being succeeded by Timothy Dwight. He received the degree D.D. from the University of the City of New York, 1858, and LL.D. from Western Reserve, 1870, from Trinity, 1871, and from the University of Edinburgh in 1886. He is said to have been one of the most scholarly metaphysicians in the United States; was the principal editor of the revised editions of Noah Webster's Unabridged Dictionary in 1864 and 1880, and is the author of: Historical Discourse at Farmington, Nov. 4, 1840 (1841); The Educational Systems of the Puritans and Jesuits Compared (1851); The Human Intellect, used as a text book at Yale and elsewhere (1868); Books and Reading (1870); American Colleges and the American Public (1871); Science of Nature versus the Science of Man (187l); Evangeline: the Place, the Story and the Poem (1882); Science and Sentiment (1882); The Elements of Moral Science (1885); Life of Bishop Berkeley (1885); and Kant's Ethics (1886). He died in New Haven, Conn., March 4, 1892.

From: Twentieth Century Biographical Dictionary of Notable Americans, Johnson, Rossiter, editor