Jonathan Sturges

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For his grandson, the American businessman and arts patron, see Jonathan Sturges (businessman).

Jonathan Sturges
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Connecticut's At-large district
In office
March 4, 1789 – March 3, 1793
Preceded byRoger Sherman
Succeeded byJonathan Trumbull, Jr.
Personal details
Born(1740-08-23)August 23, 1740
Fairfield, Connecticut Colony, British America
DiedOctober 4, 1819(1819-10-04) (aged 79)
Fairfield, Connecticut, U.S.
Political partyPro-Administration Party
SpouseDeborah Lewis Sturges
ChildrenLewis Burr Sturges, Jonathan Sturges, Barnabas Lothrop Sturges and Priscilla Sturges
Alma materYale College
OccupationLawyer, Jurist, Politician

Jonathan Sturges (August 23, 1740 – October 4, 1819) was an American lawyer, jurist and politician from Fairfield, Connecticut. He represented Connecticut as a delegate to the Continental Congress and in the United States House of Representatives.

Early life[edit]

Sturges was born in Fairfield in the Connecticut Colony where his father, Samuel (1712–1771) was a surveyor. His mother, Ann (Burr) Sturges was Samuel's second wife.[1] His great-great grandfather, also Jonathan Sturges (1624–1700), was one of the original settlers of the town.[2]

Sturges graduated from Yale in 1759. He earned his master's degree from Yale in 1761, and his Doctor of Laws degree from Yale in 1806.[3] He read law, and was admitted to the bar in May 1772. He began the practice of law in Fairfield.

Career[edit]

Sturges' entry into public service came when his neighbors in Fairfield sent him to the Connecticut House of Representatives in 1772. He was returned every year until 1784.[4] In 1773 he served Fairfield County as a justice of the peace, and in 1775 he served as the judge of probate court.[5] Connecticut sent him as a delegate to the Continental Congress in 1786. He served as a member of the Connecticut Council of Assistants from 1786 to 1788,[6] and simultaneously served as a judge of the Connecticut Supreme Court of Errors from 1786 to 1789.[7]

When the new United States government was formed, the voters elected him to the U.S. House as a Pro-Administration Party candidate. He served two terms in Congress from March 4, 1789 to March 3, 1793.[8] Sturges was one of seven representatives to vote against the Fugitive Slave Act of 1793.[9]

Upon returning home, he was appointed an Associate Justice of the Connecticut Supreme Court, serving from 1793 until 1805. He was a presidential elector in 1797 and 1805.[10]

Sturges died at his home in Fairfield on October 4, 1819.

Personal life[edit]

In 1760 Sturges married Deborah Lewis. They had four children together.

Their son, Lewis Burr Sturges, would follow his father in the U.S. Congress.[11]

Jonathan Sturges, an important arts patron in New York City, was his grandson.[12]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Jonathan Sturges". Ancestry.com. Retrieved December 30, 2012.
  2. ^ "The Sturges Family" (PDF). Fairfield History.org. Archived from the original (PDF) on November 3, 2013. Retrieved December 30, 2012.
  3. ^ Chamberlain, Joshua Lawrence and John De Witt (1900). Universities and their sons: history, influence and characteristics of American universities, with biographical sketches and portraits of alumni and recipients of honorary degrees, Volume 5. R. Herndon company. p. 236.
  4. ^ Denboer, Gordon R (1984). Documentary History of the First Federal Elections, 1788-1790. Univ of Wisconsin Press. p. 57. ISBN 9780299095109.
  5. ^ "STURGES, Jonathan, (1740-1819)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. Retrieved December 30, 2012.
  6. ^ "Sturges, Jonathan (1740-1819)". The Political Graveyard. Retrieved December 30, 2012.
  7. ^ Day, Thomas (1809). Reports of Cases Argued and Determined in the Supreme Court of Errors, of the State of Connecticut, in the years 1805, 1806, and 1807. Vol. 2. p. xii-xiii.
  8. ^ "Rep. Jonathan Sturges". Govtrack.us. Retrieved December 30, 2012.
  9. ^ "Voteview | Plot Vote: 2nd Congress > House > 85". voteview.com. Retrieved August 21, 2023.
  10. ^ New York Genealogical and Biographical Society (1919). The New York genealogical and biographical record. New York Genealogical and Biographical Society. p. 230.
  11. ^ "Sturges, Lewis Burr (1763-1844)". The Political Graveyard. Retrieved December 30, 2012.
  12. ^ Oaklander, Christine I. (2008). "Jonathan Sturges, W. H. Osborn, and William Church Osborn: A Chapter in American Art Patronage". Metropolitan Museum Journal. 43: 173–194. doi:10.1086/met.43.25699093. JSTOR 25699093. S2CID 192999034.

External links[edit]

U.S. House of Representatives
Preceded by
District created
 Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Connecticut's at-large congressional district
1789–1793 		Succeeded by
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