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SAMUEL HUNTINGTON Founding Father, Gov, 2x Continental Congress President Signer

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SAMUEL HUNTINGTON Founding Father, Gov, 2x Continental Congress President Signer
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Governor Samuel Huntington of Connecticut Two-Times Continental Congress President Who Signed Both the Declaration of Independence & Articles of Confederation
GOVERNOR SAMUEL HUNTINGTON (1731-1796). Signed Both the Declaration of Independence and Articles of Confederation as a Delegate to the Continental Congress, President of the Continental Congress (1779-1781), Statesman, and Patriot in the American Revolution from Connecticut, where he also served as Supreme Court Chief Justice (1784-1785), and 18th Governor from 1786 until his death.
June 20, 1774-Dated Pre Revolutionary War, Partially-Printed Document Signed, "Saml. Huntington" as Justice of the Peace, 1 page, measuring 6.5" x 5.5", at Norwich, Connecticut. Being a legal Court Summons, in which the sheriff or deputy of Norwich was to appear before the Justice of the Peace, to testify in a case. June 21, 1774 notation from the Constable and other notations on the otherwise blank reverse. Well printed text on laid period paper with rich brown ink manuscript portions and signature.

Samuel Huntington was a jurist, statesman, and Patriot in the American Revolution from Connecticut. As a delegate to the Continental Congress, he signed the Declaration of Independence. The esteem with which he was held by Congress was evidenced by his election in 1779 to the first of two terms as President of the Continental Congress. While he was President in 1781, the Articles of Confederation went into effect, thus technically making him the First President of the United States. Later he served as Chief Justice of the Connecticut Supreme Court from 1784 to 1785, and the 18th Governor of Connecticut from 1786 until his death.

Samuel Huntington’s signature and title is at the conclusion of the front of this Document at bottom right, measuring a large 3.75” long in bold brown ink.
Samuel Huntington (1731 – 1796). Signed the Declaration of Independence and the Articles of Confederation. He also served as President of the Continental Congress from 1779 to 1781, President of the United States in Congress Assembled in 1781, Patriot in the American Revolution from Connecticut and as a Delegate to the Continental Congress, he was Chief Justice of the Connecticut Supreme Court from 1784 to 1785, and the 18th Governor of Connecticut from 1786 until his death.

After brief service as a selectman, Huntington began his political career in earnest in 1764 when Norwich sent him as one of their representatives to the lower house of the Connecticut Assembly. He continued to be returned to that office each year until 1774.

In 1775 he was elected to the upper house, the Governor's Council, where he was reelected until 1784. In addition to serving in the legislature, he was appointed King's attorney for Connecticut in 1768 and in 1773 was appointed to the colony's supreme court, then known as the Supreme Court of Errors. He was Chief Justice of the Superior Court from 1784 until 1787.

Huntington was an outspoken critic of the Coercive Acts of the British Parliament. As a result, the assembly elected him in October 1775 to become one of their delegates to the Second Continental Congress. In January 1776 he took his place with Roger Sherman and Oliver Wolcott as the Connecticut delegation in Philadelphia. He voted for and signed the Declaration of Independence and the Articles of Confederation. He suffered from an attack of smallpox while in Congress

While not known for extensive learning or brilliant speech, Huntington's steady hard work and unfailing calm manner earned him the respect of his fellow delegates. As a result, when John Jay left to become minister to Spain, Huntington was elected to succeed him as President of the Continental Congress on September 28, 1779. The President of Congress was a mostly ceremonial position with no real authority, but the office did require Huntington to handle a good deal of correspondence and sign official documents. He spent his time as President urging the states and their legislatures to support the levies for men, supplies, and money needed to fight the Revolutionary War. The Articles of Confederation were finally ratified during his term.

Huntington remained as President of the Continental Congress until July 9, 1781, when ill health forced him to resign and return to Connecticut. In 1782, Connecticut again named him as a delegate, but his health and judicial duties kept him from accepting. He returned to the Congress as a delegate for the 1783 session to see the success of the revolution embodied in the Treaty of Paris.

In 1785 he built his mansion house just off the Norwichtown Green at what is now 34 East Town Street and the current headquarters of United and Community Family Services, Inc.

In 1785 he was elected as Lieutenant Governor for Connecticut, serving with Governor Matthew Griswold. In 1786 he followed Griswold as Governor of Connecticut. He remained in charge of the Supreme Court during his tenure as Lieutenant Governor but vacated that position upon election to Governor. He was reelected Governor annually until his death in 1796. That same year, in a reprise of his efforts in Congress, he brokered the Treaty of Hartford that resolved western land claims between New York and Massachusetts. The following year he lent his support to the Northwest Ordinance that completed the national resolution of these issues.

In 1788 he presided over the Connecticut Convention that was called to ratify the United States Constitution. In later years he saw the transition of Connecticut into a U.S. State. He resolved the issue of a permanent state capital at Hartford and oversaw the construction of the state house. He died while in office, at his home in Norwich on January 5, 1796.