Portrait of Thomas Williams
Thomas Scott Williams
Gender:
Male
Born:
June 26, 1777
Died:
December 22, 1861
Home Town:
Wethersfield, CT
Later Residences:
Hartford, CT
Marriage(s):
Delia Ellsworth Williams (January 7, 1812)
Martha Coit Williams (November 1, 1842)
Martha Coit Williams (November 1, 1842)
Biographical Notes:
Thomas Scott Williams was the son of Sheriff Ezekiel and Prudence (Stoddard) Williams and was the tenth of eleven children. His uncle William Wiliams was a signer of the Declaration of Independence. After attending the Law School, Williams studied under Chief Justice Swift in Windham, CT. He began his legal practice in 1799 in Windham. In 1803, he moved to Hartford, CT where he was appointed the attorney of the Board of Managers of the School Fund in 1809.
Williams entered politics serving as both a State Representative in Connecticut and as a U.S. Representative to Congress. From 1831 to 1835 Williams was elected Mayor of Hartford, CT and as Chief Justice of the State Supreme Court of Errors from 1843 to 1847.
After the death if his first wife in 1840, he remarried ...
[more]
Williams entered politics serving as both a State Representative in Connecticut and as a U.S. Representative to Congress. From 1831 to 1835 Williams was elected Mayor of Hartford, CT and as Chief Justice of the State Supreme Court of Errors from 1843 to 1847.
After the death if his first wife in 1840, he remarried ...
[more]
Education
Years at LLS:
1796
Other Education:
He was privately tutored by Azel Backus before going to Yale College at the age of seventeen. He then graduated from Yale in 1794 and received an honorary degree from Yale in 1834.
Profession / Service
Profession:
Lawyer; Political Office
Admitted To Bar:
Windham, CT in 1799
Training with Other Lawyers:
After attending the Litchfield Law School he studied for a time with Chief Justice Swift in Windham, CT.
Political Party:
Federalist
Federal Posts:
U.S. Representative (CT) 1817-1819
State Posts:
State Representative (CT) 1813, 1815-1816, 1819, 1825, 1827-1829
Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of Errors (CT) 1829-1833
Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Error (CT) 1834-1847
Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of Errors (CT) 1829-1833
Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Error (CT) 1834-1847
State Committees:
Clerk of the Connecticut House of Representatives in 1815 and 1816.
Local Posts:
Mayor (Hartford, CT) 1831-1835
Immediate Family (Why only immediate family?)
Related Objects and Documents
In the Ledger:
The Citation of Attendance provides primary source documentation of the student’s attendance at the Litchfield Female Academy and/or the Litchfield Law School. If a citation is absent, the student is thought to have attended but currently lacks primary source confirmation. Records for the schools were sporadic, especially in the formative years of both institutions. If instructors kept comprehensive records for the Litchfield Female Academy or the Litchfield Law School, they do not survive. Researchers and staff have identified students through letters, diaries, family histories and genealogies, and town histories as well as catalogues of students printed in various years. Art and needlework have provided further identification of Female Academy Students, and Litchfield County Bar records document a number of Law School students. The history of both schools and the identification of the students who attended them owe credit to the early 20th century research and documentation efforts of Emily Noyes Vanderpoel and Samuel Fisher, and the late 20th century research and documentation efforts of Lynne Templeton Brickley and the Litchfield Historical Society staff.
CITATION OF ATTENDANCE:
Moothall Society Record Books, Litchfield Law School Collection Series 1: Period Documents: Subseries 3: Other Papers lists Williams as a member.
Handwritten list on loose papers of Litchfield Law School students "prior to 1798," inside Catalogue of the Litchfield Law School Hartford, CT: Press of Case, Tiffany and Company, 1849 at the Litchfield Historical Society.
Handwritten list on loose papers of Litchfield Law School students "prior to 1798," inside Catalogue of the Litchfield Law School Hartford, CT: Press of Case, Tiffany and Company, 1849 at the Litchfield Historical Society.
Secondary Sources:
Williams, Stephen W. The Genealogy and History of The Williams Family in America. Greenfield: Merriam and Mirick, 1847.
Hartford Courrant 16 Dec 1861.
Hartford Courrant 16 Dec 1861.
Contact Us
Do you have more information for the Ledger?
If you have family papers, objects, or any other details you would like to share, or if you would like to obtain a copy of an image for publication, please contact us at curator@litchfieldhistoricalsociety.org.