The day after St. Patrick’s Day was anything but a lucky one for John G. Rowland, who found himself on the wrong end of the law on March 18, 2005, and then again ten years later on March 18, 2015. Once considered one of Connecticut’s best and brightest politicians, Rowland first won elected office…
Tag: connecticut governors
March 17: Connecticut Statesman and Civil War Hero Joseph Hawley Dies
Perhaps best known as a Civil War general who served in the First Battle of Bull Run, the Siege of Petersburg, and other notable engagements, Connecticut’s Joseph R. Hawley proved to be an equally accomplished leader off the battlefield, as one of Connecticut’s foremost statesmen of the late 19th century. A graduate of Hamilton…
March 1: Samuel Huntington Becomes the United States’ First President
On this day in 1781, more than four years after they were first adopted by the Continental Congress, the Articles of Confederation became the supreme law of the United States after being formally ratified by all thirteen states. As a result, the previous sitting President of the Continental Congress — a Connecticut lawyer by…
February 23: Connecticut Openly Defies President Jefferson’s National Embargo
In the early 19th century, Thomas Jefferson, who was elected to two consecutive terms as President of the United States, proved to be a constant thorn in the side of Connecticut’s political leaders. Virtually all the members of Connecticut’s political “Standing Order” were staunch Federalists who vehemently disagreed with Jefferson’s Democratic-Republican political agenda and…
February 19: Roger Sherman Baldwin, Governor and Abolitionist
On this day in 1863, in the midst of a bloody Civil War that pitted Americans against each other over questions of slavery and freedom, scores of Connecticans mourned the passing of Roger Sherman Baldwin, one of Connecticut’s most ardent abolitionist lawyers and accomplished politicians. Baldwin was born in 1793 to a well-to-do Connecticut family,…
January 7: Hiram Bingham III, Connecticut’s One-Day Governor
It would be an understatement to say that Hiram Bingham III, Connecticut’s famous archaeologist, explorer, professor, pilot, politician, and best-selling author who likely was the inspiration for the fictional adventurer Indiana Jones, accomplished much in his lifetime. It remains an irony, however, that one of Bingham’s most well-known accomplishments was also one of the…
January 6: The Inaugural Ball That Wasn’t
Long known as “the Land of Steady Habits,” Connecticut is home to scores of political and cultural traditions that span generations, including many that stretch back into the colonial era. One such tradition has been the Inaugural Ball, a ceremony filled with plenty of pomp and circumstance thrown for newly-elected governors by the Governor’s…
December 26: Connecticut’s “Crowbar Governor”
While the state — and colony — of Connecticut has been helmed by a number of colorful personalities over its long history, few of them can compare to the widely-accomplished Morgan G. Bulkeley: Civil War veteran, financier, insurance executive, baseball enthusiast, and strong-arm politician who earned himself the nickname “the Crowbar Governor” while in…
December 7: Civil War Veteran, Governor, and Baseball Hall of Famer
Morgan Gardner Bulkeley, long-time Connecticut politician and successful businessman, was undoubtedly one of the most accomplished men to ever hold the office of state governor. However, while many Connecticans are familiar with Bulkeley’s many namesakes in the Hartford area (including a school, a street, and the long, stone-arch bridge that carries Interstate 84 over…
November 24: William O’Neill, Connecticut’s Longest-Serving Governor
In many respects, Governor William A. O’Neill lived the life of a quintessential 20th century Connectican. Born in Hartford in 1930, he attended public schools in hEast Hampton, took classes at the Connecticut Teacher’s College (now Central Connecticut State University), and subsequently held jobs in two of Connecticut’s major industries: first at Pratt…
November 16: Joseph Talcott, Connecticut’s First Native-Born Governor
Joseph Talcott was born on November 16, 1669 in Hartford, to one of the leading families in the colony of Connecticut. His father served as treasurer of Connecticut, and his grandfather John was one of the very first English settlers to buy land in the colony in the early 1630s. Even though he was…
November 4: Connecticut Founder John Winthrop Jr. Arrives in America
Today in 1631, John Winthrop, Jr., one of the most significant leaders in Connecticut history, first set foot in the New World, having arrived in Boston where his father, John Winthrop Sr., was governor. A remarkable Renaissance man of many talents, the younger Winthrop was well-versed in medicine, theology, and alchemy, and quickly acquired…