Henry Williams Dwight (February 26, 1788 – February 21, 1845) was a lawyer and politician who became

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 ...

from

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut Massachusett_writing_systems.html" ;"title="nowiki/> məhswatʃəwiːsət.html" ;"title="Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət">Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət'' En ...

Life

Born February 26, 1788 in Stockbridge, Massachusetts, his father was also named Henry Williams Dwight (1757–1804) and mother was Abigail Welles (1763–1840). His grandfather was Joseph Dwight (1703–1765), and mother traced her ancestry to

Thomas Welles Thomas Welles (14 January 1660) is the only person in Connecticut's history to hold all four top offices: governor, deputy governor, treasurer, and secretary. In 1639, he was elected as the first treasurer of the Colony of Connecticut, and fro ...

(1590–1659). Dwight was a trustee of

Williams College Williams College is a private liberal arts college in Williamstown, Massachusetts. It was established as a men's college in 1793 with funds from the estate of Ephraim Williams, a colonist from the Province of Massachusetts Bay who was kill ...

Williamstown, Massachusetts Williamstown is a town in the northern part of Berkshire County, in the northwest corner of Massachusetts, United States. It shares a border with Vermont to the north and New York to the west. It is part of the Pittsfield, Massachusetts Metropolit ...

from 1829-1837. He was admitted to the Massachusetts bar in 1809 and practiced in Stockbridge. During the

War of 1812 The War of 1812 (18 June 1812 – 17 February 1815) was fought by the United States, United States of America and its Indigenous peoples of the Americas, indigenous allies against the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom ...

Dwight served as aide-de-camp with the rank of colonel on the staff of General Whiton, and kept the title colonel for the rest of his life. He served as member of the Massachusetts State house of representatives in 1818. Dwight was elected as a Federalist to the Seventeenth Congress starting on March 4, 1821. He was reelected as an Adams-Clay Federalist to the Eighteenth Congress. Dwight was elected as an Adams candidate to the Nineteenth and Twentieth Congresses. Dwight was reelected as an Anti-Jacksonian to the Twenty-first Congress until March 3, 1831. He was not a candidate for renomination in 1830 to the Twenty-second Congress. He was again a member of the State house of representatives in 1834. He received an honorary degree from William College, and as a trustee nominated Mark Hopkins as a replacement professor in 1830. He bred purebred sheep, horses, and cattle. He married Frances Fowler (1797–after 1874) on November 10, 1824. They had one daughter who died young, and two sons. Henry Williams Dwight, 3rd was born September 23, 1825, and died May 16, 1861. James Fowler Dwight was born January 30, 1830, joined the Union Army in the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states ...

and rose to rank of colonel. Dwight died in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

on February 21, 1845. He was interred in Stockbridge Cemetery, Stockbridge, Massachusetts.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dwight, Henry Williams 1788 births 1845 deaths People from Stockbridge, Massachusetts United States Army officers Federalist Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Massachusetts Massachusetts National Republicans Williams College alumni National Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives 19th-century American politicians Military personnel from Massachusetts

Life

See also

References