Hezekiah HUNTINGTON
Biography

Hezekiah, born in Norwich, Dec. 16, 1696. He married for his first wife, July 9, 1719, Hannah Frink, who died Sept. 4, 1746. He married for his second wife, March 23, 1748-9, widow Dorothy Williams, of Bristol, and she died, Feb. 27, 1774, in her 67th year. In 1721 he and his wife united with the First Congregational Church of Norwich, of which they both became useful members, being himself appointed deacon in 1737. In the civil history of his town and state, he also became a prominent man. He showed himself ever ready to second and aid any enterprise, either in business, in civil or in religious affairs, which promised to promote the secular or religious interests of his native town. He was a member of the Connecticut Council from
1740 to 1743, and again from 1748 to 1773. He attained, also, the rank of lieutenant-colonel in the Connecticut Militia. As the crisis of our revolutionary history approached, he took a decided stand with the patriots of that day. His name is at the head of that committee of fourteen, of the prominent patriots of Norwich, who were called by their fellow-townsmen to direct the movement of the people, in the threatened conflict with the mother-land. He was prominent in the earnest controversy which ended in making Norwich half-shiretown of the county. He won the third place in that honored trio, consisting of James, (28) Isaac, his brother, and himself. Though above reproach, he was not beyond the reach of serious charges against his personal character. This appears from the records of the Norwich church, as early as Feb. 12, 1747-8. Dr. Benj. Wheat had reported a slanderous charge, which he had overheard in Hartford, and had evidently aimed to make the most he could of it, by his own unfavorable construction. But, not so was the true and good man to be discredited. His own conscience moved the accuser publicly to recall the slander with a frank confession of having been moved thereto "by a want of brotherly love." It is believed that Hezekiah was not again attacked during his life.

He proved himself an intelligent and scholarly man ; and we find his name among the subscribers to that work, so rare for its day, the Chronology of Thomas Prince. He was appointed Judge of the County Court, and served in this office, with no less success and distinction than in others he had filled- In the midst of his judicial duties he died very suddenly, in New London, Feb. 10, 1773. His gravestone in the old burying-ground, in Norwich Town, contains this well-earned tribute: "His piety, affability, prayers and example, wisdom and experience, endeared him to his friends and the State."

A genealogical memoir of the Huntington family in this country: embracing all the known descendants of Simon and Margaret Huntington, who have retained the family name (1863)
Author: Huntington, E. B. (Elijah Baldwin), 1816-1877
Subject: Huntington, Simon, 1583-1633; Huntington family
Publisher: Stamford, Conn., The author



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