History of East Haddam, (Middlesex County) Connecticut United States of America

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Biographies:

Edward Dorr Griffin, educator, was born in East Haddam, Conn., Jan. 6, 1770; son of George and ??? (Dorr) Griffin. His father was a farmer. He prepared for college under the Rev. Joseph Vaill of Hadlyme, Conn., and was graduated from Yale in 1790. He then became principal of an academy at Derby, Conn., at the same time studying law. In 1791 he began the study of theology under Jonathan Edwards, at New Haven, Conn., and was licensed as a minister of the gospel, Oct. 31, 1792. He preached at New Salem, Conn., 1793-95; at New Hartford. Conn., 1795-1801; at Newark, N.J., 1801-09; was Bartlet professor of sacred rhetoric at Andover theological seminary, 1809-11; pastor of the Park Street Congregational church, Boston, Mass., 1811-15; at Newark, again, 1815-21; and president of Williams' college, 1821-36. On May 17, 1796, he was married to Frances, daughter of the Rev. Joseph Huntington of Coventry, Conn. He received the honorary degree of M.A. from the College of New Jersey in 1802, and that of D.D. from Union in 1808. He published: Course of Lectures in Park Street Church (1813); and Sixty Sermons on Practical Subjects. See Memoir of Rev. E. D. Griffin, by W. B. Sprague (1838); and Recollections of Rev. E. D. Griffin, by Parsons Cooke (1856). He died at the home of his daughter, Mrs. Lyndon A. Smith, at Newark, N.J., Nov. 8, 1837.

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

Louis Powell Harvey, governor of Wisconsin, was born at East Haddam, Conn., July 22, 1820. He was taken to Ohio in 1828, and was prepared for college at the Western Reserve academy. He attended Western Reserve university, 1837-39; was a teacher and editor at Kenosha, Wis., 1840-50, and in 1850 removed to Shopiere, Wis., where he engaged in manufacturing. He was a member of the second constitutional convention of Wisconsin which met at Madison, Dec. 15, 1847. In 1854 he was elected a state senator, his seat being unsuccessfully contested by John R. Briggs, Jr., and he was re-elected in 1855, 1856, and 1857. He was secretary of state of Wisconsin from Jan. 2, 1860, to Jan. 6, 1862; and governor of the state from the latter date until his death. After the battle of Shiloh he started for Pittsburg Landing with suppies for the relief of the wounded soldiers, and was drowned at Savannah, Tenn., April 19, 1862.

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

Uriel Holmes, representative, was born in East Haddam, Conn., Aug. 26, 1764; son of Uriel and Statira (Cone) Holmes; grandson of Christopher and Sarah (Andrews) Holmes and of Jonah and Elizabeth (Gates) Cone; great grandson of John and Mary (Willey) Holmes, and great2 grandson of Thomas Holmes, who came to Virginia from London during the "great plague" in 1665 and later removed to New York state, where he married Lucretia, daughter of Thomas Dudley, of London, England. They settled in New London, Conn., and after her death he removed to East Haddam. Uriel was graduated from Yale in 1784 and settled in Litchfield, Conn., as a lawyer. He was married, Oct. 24, 1794, to Esther, daughter of the Hon. Aaron and Sarah (Kellogg) Austin. He was a representative in the Connecticut legislature nine terms; was a judge of the Litchfield county court, 1814-17, and in 1817 he was elected a representative from Connecticut in the 15th congress. He resigned his seat in 1818. He died in Canton, Conn., May 18, 1827.

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

Nathanael Emmons, theologian, was born in East Haddam, Conn., April 20, 1745. He was graduated from Yale in 1767, studied divinity, was licensed Oct. 3, 1769, and preached for four years in New York state and New Hampshire. He became pastor of the Wrentham (afterward Franklin), Mass., church, April 21, 1773, and remained there until 1827, when he retired from active pastoral work. He trained many young men for the ministry, and devoted much time to literary work, contributing frequently to the Massachusetts Missionary Magazine, the Connecticut Evangelical Magazine, and other periodicals. He received from Dartmouth the degree of A.M. in 1786, and that of D.D. in 1798. He published six volumes of sermons, 1800-26, and a seventh volume was issued in 1850. His collected works were published in six volumes in 1842, with a memoir by his son-in-law, Dr. Jacob Ide. See also a memoir by Edwards A. Park (1861). He died in Franklin, Mass., Sept. 23, 1840.

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