Samuel Huntington
Samuel Huntington
From humble beginnings, Huntington worked to great heights
In law and politics. He fought for colonists' rights.
Though he had no advantages of an elite family
lineage or inherited wealth, he had genius and perseverance; and though he had
no background of grand education, he later in life would r
eceive
honorary degrees from Princeton, Yale, and Dartmouth. "His mind," says the
historian of Norwich, "was naturally acute and investigating, and his thirst for
mental improvement so great as to surmount all obstacles."
He had many brothers and sisters, several of whom devoted their lives to the gospel ministry. One of his brothers, Dr. Joseph Huntington was well known as the author of Calvinism Improved, or the Gospel illustrated as a system of real Grace, issuing in the salvation of all men.
An outspoken critic of British
oppressions, he was elected to become a delegate in the
Continental Congress where he voted for and signed the Declaration of
Independence. "His integrity and patriotism were stern and unbending; and
so conspicuous became his sound judgment and untiring industry, that in 1779 he
was appointed President of Congress..."
B. J. Lossing, Signers of the Declaration of Independence, George F.
Cooledge & Brother: NY (1848) [reprinted Lives of the Signers of the
Declaration of Independence, WallBuilder Press: Aledo, Texas (1995)], page
54.
Over the next few years, he was elected or appointed to several offices; and by 1786, he was promoted to the Chief Magistracy, an office he held for the next ten years until his death. His tomb is located down Old Cemetery Lane in Norwich.
"Governor Huntington lived the life of the irreproachable and sincere Christian, and those who knew him most intimately, loved him most affectionately.... as a devoted Christian and a true patriot, he never
swerved from duty...It was this most important faculty which constituted the chief aid to Samuel Huntington in his progress from the humble calling of a ploughboy, to the acme of official station, where true greatness was essential, and to which none but the truly good could aspire. " B. J. Lossing, Signers of the Declaration of Independence, George F. Cooledge & Brother: NY (1848) [reprinted Lives of the Signers of the Declaration of Independence, WallBuilder Press: Aledo, Texas (1995)], page 55.
"His departure from the world, as might be expected, from the even tenor of his life, and from the decided Christian character and conversation which he had manifested, was tranquil. He had for many years been a professor of religion, and a devoted attendant upon the ordinances of the gospel. His seat in the house of God was seldom vacant, and when occasion required, he was ready to lead in an address to the throne of grace, and was able to impart instruction to the people, drawn from the pure oracles of God." Rev. Charles A. Goodrich Lives of the Signers to the Declaration of Independence. New York: William Reed & Co., 1856. Pages 169-174.
http://www.adherents.com/people/ph/Samuel_Huntington.html
And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour. Luke 1:47