Titus Hosmer (1736 – August 4, 1780) was an American

Founding Father The following list of national founding figures is a record, by country, of people who were credited with establishing a state. National founders are typically those who played an influential role in setting up the systems of governance, (i.e. ...

, lawyer, and jurist from Middletown, Connecticut. He was a delegate for

Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its capita ...

to the Continental Congress in 1778, when he signed the Articles of Confederation.

Biography

Titus was born in

West Hartford, Connecticut West Hartford is a town in Hartford County, Connecticut, United States, west of downtown Hartford, Connecticut, Hartford. The population was 64,083 at the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census. The town's popular downtown area is colloquially ...

, attended

Yale Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wor ...

and graduated in 1757. He read for the law, was admitted to the bar, and began a practice in Middletown, Connecticut. Hosmer was elected to the Connecticut State Assembly annually from 1773 to 1778 and served as their speaker in 1777. In May 1778, he became a member of the State Senate and remained in that office until he died. Later in 1778, the joint state legislature sent him as one of their delegates to the Second Continental Congress. He was subsequently elected by the Continental Congress on January 22, 1780, to serve as a federal judge on the

Court of Appeals in Cases of Capture A court is any person or institution, often as a government institution, with the authority to adjudicate legal disputes between parties and carry out the administration of justice in civil, criminal, and administrative matters in accordance ...

.Library of Congress, ''Journals of the Continental Congress'', Vol. 16, 79.
/ref> Titus died at Middletown on August 4, 1780, of undisclosed causes, and is buried in the Mortimer Cemetery there.

Joel Barlow Joel Barlow (March 24, 1754 – December 26, 1812) was an American poet, and diplomat, and politician. In politics, he supported the French Revolution and was an ardent Jeffersonian republican. He worked as an agent for American speculator Wil ...

, who received Hosmer's patronage, wrote a much-admired elegy on his death.

Family

Hosmer married Lydia Lord on November 29, 1761, in Middletown. One son, Stephen Hosmer, became a lawyer and was the chief justice of the Connecticut Supreme Court. The other son, Hezekiah Lord Hosmer, became a

U.S. representative The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they c ...

for New York. A grandson, also named Hezekiah Lord Hosmer, became the first chief justice of the

Montana Territory The Territory of Montana was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from May 26, 1864, until November 8, 1889, when it was admitted as the 41st state in the Union as the state of Montana. Original boundaries ...

and authored several books. The Hosmer family is traced to Rotherfield in Sussex (and much earlier to Otterhampton,

Somerset ( en, All The People of Somerset) , locator_map = , coordinates = , region = South West England , established_date = Ancient , established_by = , preceded_by = , origin = , lord_lieutenant_office =Lord Lieutenant of Somerset , lord_ ...

), where Alexander Hosmer was native before a marian martyr in nearby Lewes and the family consequently moved to

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

in the following generations. His colonial ancestor, Colonel Thomas Titus, was a

Roundhead Roundheads were the supporters of the Parliament of England during the English Civil War (1642–1651). Also known as Parliamentarians, they fought against King Charles I of England and his supporters, known as the Cavaliers or Royalists, who ...

in the New Model Army, who left

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in Kent for

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upon the

English Restoration The Restoration of the Stuart monarchy in the kingdoms of England, Scotland and Ireland took place in 1660 when King Charles II returned from exile in continental Europe. The preceding period of the Protectorate and the civil wars came to ...

. Thomas Titus later settled in Middletown. Hosmer had a Whig relative who fought and was mortally wounded in the Battles of Lexington and Concord against

Hugh Percy, 2nd Duke of Northumberland Lieutenant General Hugh Percy, 2nd Duke of Northumberland (14 August 174210 July 1817) was an officer in the British army and later a British peer. He participated in the Battles of Lexington and Concord and the Battle of Long Island during t ...

. There is a Hosmer Corner in

Hampden County, Massachusetts Hampden County is a non-governmental county located in the Pioneer Valley of the state of Massachusetts, in the United States. As of the 2020 census, Hampden County's population was 465,825. Its traditional county seat is Springfield, the Co ...

named for the family although the Hosmer's are more renowned as founders of Hartford Connecticut.

Notes

References

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hosmer, Titus 1736 births 1780 deaths Members of the Connecticut General Assembly Council of Assistants (1662–1818) Speakers of the Connecticut House of Representatives Signers of the Articles of Confederation Continental Congressmen from Connecticut 18th-century American politicians Politicians from Hartford, Connecticut Yale University alumni Founding Fathers of the United States