Male

February 4, 1786

August 31, 1845

Woodbury, CT

New Haven, CT

Laura Coan Hitchcock (May 18, 1818)
Narcissa Whittemore Hitchcock (December 25, 1834)

Samuel Johnson Hitchcock was the son of Benjamin and Mary [Johnson] Hitchcock. He was born the oldest of twelve children. Since his father had very little money for his education, Hitchcock was first trained as a mechanic. However, he had a great love of reading and education and attracted the attention of his pastor, the Rev. Azel Backus who helped prepare him for college. He graduated as the valedictorian of his class at Yale in 1809. After attending the Litchfield Law School, he worked as a tutor at Yale for the next four years until he resigned in 1814 and consequently passed the bar in New Haven. In 1815 he entered practice in New Haven. His first wife, Laura Coan, died fourteen years after they married from contracting consumption. They had five children. His second wife, Narcissa Perry ...Whittemore, died eleven years after they married while on a trip to Southport. In 1820, Hitchcock became associated with Seth Staples as a teacher in his private law school. He divided his time equally between his legal practice and his teaching. Hitchcock and Staples were instrumental in the founding of the Law School of Yale College. Staples moved to New York City in 1824, and left Hitchcock in charge of his law school with Judge Daggett who assisted him in his teaching. From 1824 until his death, teaching at the law school was his most important job. That same year, Yale began to publish names of law students in its annual catalogue of students. Two years later Daggett was named a Professor of Law by Yale, even though Yale did not award a Bachelor of Law degree until 1843. In 1830, Hitchcock was made an instructor in law by Yale, even though his law school still remained separate. However, in 1846, a formal act of the Yale Corporation made the law department a branch of the college. Hitchcock was renowned by his students as an effective and inspiring teacher, whose lectures were often attended by many students of disciplines other than law. He often used examples from history and literature in his classes. From 1837 to 1840, he was the President of the Hartford and New Haven County Railroads. He received an honorary degree from Yale in 1842. At the time of his death in 1845, he was working to establish a railroad between New Haven and Albany.
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1809

Prepared for college with Rev. Azel Backus and attended Yale College in 1809.

Educator; Lawyer; Political Office

1815

After completing his studies at the Litchfield Law School he studied with Seth P. Staples.

Judge of the County Court (New Haven, CT) 1838-1842
Mayor (New Haven, CT) 1839-1841
Chief Judge of the County Court (New Haven, CT) 1842-1844
Judge of the Court of Common Pleas

Hitchcock, Samuel J., Notes at Judge Gould's Law School, Litchfield, 1809 (Connecticut Historical Society, MS 80220)

Hitchcock, Mrs. Edward, Sr. The Genealogy of the Hitchcock Family. Amherst, MA: Press of Carpenter & Morehouse, 1894.