Gideon Hiram Hollister (December 14, 1817 – March 24, 1881) was an American politician, diplomat, and author.

Biography

He was the son of Gideon Hollister and was born in

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

Litchfield County Litchfield County is in northwestern Connecticut. As of the 2020 census, the population was 185,186. The county was named after Lichfield, in England. Litchfield County has the lowest population density of any county in Connecticut and is the ...

, Conn., December 14, 1817. He graduated from

Yale College Yale College is the undergraduate college of Yale University. Founded in 1701, it is the original school of the university. Although other Yale schools were founded as early as 1810, all of Yale was officially known as Yale College until 1887, ...

in 1840. After studying law in Litchfield with the Hon.

Origen S. Seymour Origen Storrs Seymour (February 9, 1804 – August 12, 1881) was a Democratic Speaker of the Connecticut House of Representatives in 1850 and the Chief Justice of the Connecticut Supreme Court from 1873 to 1874. He was an unsuccessful candidate ...

, he was admitted to the bar in April, 1842. He began practice in Woodbury, Conn., but soon removed to Litchfield, where, in 1843, he was appointed Clerk of the Court, an office which he held—a single year excepted—until 1852. In 1856 he was elected to the

Connecticut State Senate The Connecticut State Senate is the upper house of the Connecticut General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Connecticut. The state senate comprises 36 members, each representing a district with around 99,280 inhabitants. Sen ...

, and in February, 1868, was appointed by President Andrew Johnson Minister of the United States to Hayti, but was recalled by President

Ulysses S. Grant Ulysses S. Grant (born Hiram Ulysses Grant ; April 27, 1822July 23, 1885) was an American military officer and politician who served as the 18th president of the United States from 1869 to 1877. As Commanding General, he led the Union Ar ...

in September, 1869. He then resumed the practice of law, in company with his brother in

Bridgeport Bridgeport is the most populous city and a major port in the U.S. state of Connecticut. With a population of 148,654 in 2020, it is also the fifth-most populous in New England. Located in eastern Fairfield County at the mouth of the Pequonnoc ...

, Conn, but in 1876 returned to Litchfield. In 1880 he represented the town in the

Connecticut Legislature The Connecticut General Assembly (CGA) is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is a bicameral body composed of the 151-member House of Representatives and the 36-member Senate. It meets in the state capital, Hartford. Ther ...

, as a

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (United States) (D) **Democratic ...

. He died in Litchfield, after about a week's illness, of suffusion of the heart, March 24, 1881, in his 64th year. In June 1847, he married Mary S. Brisbane, a native of Charleston, South Carolina, who survived him with one only of their four children. Hollister authored 'History of Connecticut'', in two volumes, published in 1855. A revised edition was about to appear at the time of his death. He also published, in 1851, an historical romance, entitled ''Mount Hope, or Philip, King of the

Wampanoags The Wampanoag , also rendered Wôpanâak, are an Indigenous people of the Northeastern Woodlands based in southeastern Massachusetts and historically parts of eastern Rhode Island,Salwen, "Indians of Southern New England and Long Island," p. ...

'', which his maturer judgment disapproved as too florid in style, and a tragic poem, in 1866, entitled '' Thomas a Becket'', which was dramatized and played by Edwin Booth, besides other minor poems.

External links

*
''Memorials of Connecticut Judges and Attorneys''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hollister, Gideon Hiram 1817 births 1881 deaths People from Washington, Connecticut Yale College alumni Connecticut lawyers Connecticut state senators Members of the Connecticut House of Representatives 19th-century American historians American male novelists Ambassadors of the United States to Haiti 19th-century American poets American male poets 19th-century American novelists 19th-century American politicians 19th-century American male writers Politicians from Litchfield, Connecticut American male non-fiction writers 19th-century American lawyers Historians from Connecticut