HUNTINGTON, Samuel,
Signer of Declaration of Independence.

Samuel Huntington was born in Scotland, Windham, county, Connecticut, July 3, 1731, son of Nathaniel and Mehetabel (Thurston) Huntington, grandson of Deacon Joseph and Rebecca (Adgate) Huntington, great~grandson of Deacon Simon and Sarah (Clark) Huntington,
and great~great~grandson of Simon and Margaret (Baret) Huntington, who left Norwich, England, for Massachusetts Bay, in 1633, with their sons, William, Thomas, Christopher and Simon, and the father dying of smallpox at sea, the mother settled in Roxhorough, Massachusetts Bay Colony, and married Thomas Stoughton, of Dorchester, in 1735-36. His father being a farmer in moderate circumstances, Samuel Huntington had but a limited education, his youthful years being principally occupied with farm work and learning the trade of cooper.
He did not begin serious study until he was twenty-two years old, when he learned to read the Latin language and also studied law. He settled as a lawyer in Norwich, Connecticut, about 1758. He represented the town of Norwich in the General Assembly in 1764, where he opposed the Stamp Act. He was, however, appointed king's attorney in 1765, and held the office for several years. He was appointed associate judge of the Superior Court of Connecticut, and was a member of the upper house of the General Assembly in 1775. He was a delegate to the Continental Congress, 1776-82, signed the Declaration of Independence of July 4, 1776, and was president of the body from September 28, 1779, to July 6, 1781. On retiring he received a vote of thanks "in testimony of appreciation of his conduct in the chair and in execution of public business." In August, 1781, he resumed his seat as justice of the Superior Court of Connecticut and as a member of the council, or upper house of the General Assembly. He was reelected a delegate to Congress in May, 1782, but did not take his seat owing to the condition of his health. He was again elected in 1783 and took his seat while the Congress was assembled at Princeton, New Jersey, serving from June
30 to November 4, and when the Congress adjourned he gave formal notice of his resignation on account of continued illness. He was elected Chief Justice of the Superior Court of Connecticut in 1784; Deputy Governor in 1785, and Governor in 1786, and was continuously reelected
to the latter office at the succeeding annual elections up to the time of his death.
He received the honorary degree of Master of Arts from Yale in 1779 and that of Doctor of Laws from the College of New Jersey in 1780 and from Yale in 1787.
He married, April 17, 1761, Martha, daughter of Rev. Ebenezer Devotion, pastor of the church at Windham. They had no children, and adopted those of Judge Huntington's brother Joseph-Samuel, who became Governor of Ohio; and Frances, who became the wife of Rev. Edward
Dorr, president of Williams College. Judge Huntington died in Norwich, Connecticut, January 6, 1796.