Zephaniah Swift

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Zephaniah Swift (born February 27, 1759 in Wareham , Plymouth County , Massachusetts Bay Colony , †  September 27, 1823 in Warren , Ohio ) was an American politician . Between 1793 and 1797 he represented the state of Connecticut in the US House of Representatives .

Career

Zephaniah Swift and his parents came to Lebanon in New London County , Connecticut, while still growing up. There he attended public schools. He then studied at Yale College until 1778 . After a subsequent law degree and his admission as a lawyer, he began to practice in Windham in his new profession.

Swift was a supporter of the administration of President George Washington and his Treasury Secretary Alexander Hamilton . He became a member of the Federalist Party founded by Hamilton in the late 1790s . Between 1787 and 1793 Swift was a member of the Connecticut House of Representatives ; in 1792 he was its president . In the Congressional elections of 1792, which were held nationwide in Connecticut, he was elected to the newly created sixth seat of his state in the US House of Representatives. After re-election in 1794, he could remain in Congress until March 3, 1797 .

After the end of his time in the US House of Representatives, Swift initially worked as a lawyer again. He was also active as the author of several legal treatises. In 1800 he was secretary at the French embassy; In 1801 he became a judge on the Connecticut Supreme Court . Between 1806 and 1819 he presided over it as Chief Justice . In 1814 he was a delegate at a conference in Hartford , where the New England states discussed a possible exit from the Union. This was to make their opposition to the British-American War of 1812 clear. Swift supported the exit movement, but it failed to find a majority. Between 1820 and 1822 Swift was once again a member of the state parliament. He died on September 27, 1827 while visiting Warren, Ohio.

Web links

  • Zephaniah Swift in the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress (English)