Ralph Isaacs Ingersoll (February 8, 1789 – August 26, 1872) was a lawyer, politician, and diplomat who served as a member of the Connecticut House of Representatives, where he was

Speaker of the House The speaker of a deliberative assembly, especially a legislative body, is its presiding officer, or the chair. The title was first used in 1377 in England. Usage The title was first recorded in 1377 to describe the role of Thomas de Hung ...

, a

United States representative The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Artic ...

from

Connecticut Connecticut ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York (state), New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. ...

for four consecutive terms from 1825 to 1833, and was the U.S. Minister to the Russian Empire under President

James K. Polk James Knox Polk (; November 2, 1795 – June 15, 1849) was the 11th president of the United States, serving from 1845 to 1849. A protégé of Andrew Jackson and a member of the Democratic Party, he was an advocate of Jacksonian democracy and ...

in the late 1840s.

Early life

Ingersoll was born in

New Haven, Connecticut New Haven is a city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is located on New Haven Harbor on the northern shore of Long Island Sound. With a population of 135,081 as determined by the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, New Haven is List ...

, on February 8, 1789. He was the son of Judge

Jonathan Ingersoll Jonathan Ingersoll (April 16, 1747 – January 12, 1823) was a Connecticut politician of the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. Early life Ingersoll was born on April 16, 1747, in Ridgefield, Connecticut, Ridgefield in what was then ...

(1747–1823) and Grace (

née The birth name is the name of the person given upon their birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name or to the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a births registe ...

Isaacs) Ingersoll (1772–1850). His father was a judge of the Supreme Court and

Lieutenant Governor of Connecticut The lieutenant governor of Connecticut is the second highest executive officer of the government of the U.S. State of Connecticut. The lieutenant governor acts as President of the State Senate, presiding over the Senate and casting votes in the ...

up until his death in 1823. His maternal grandfather, and namesake, was Ralph Isaacs Jr., a Yale educated merchant who was prominent in New Haven and Branford, and his paternal grandfather was Rev. Jonathan Ingersoll, chaplain for the Connecticut Troops during the

French and Indian War The French and Indian War, 1754 to 1763, was a colonial conflict in North America between Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain and Kingdom of France, France, along with their respective Native Americans in the United States, Native American ...

who was the brother of Jared Ingersoll Sr., a British colonial official. His grand-uncle's son,

Jared Ingersoll Jared Ingersoll Jr. (October 24, 1749 – October 31, 1822) was an American Founding Father, lawyer, and statesman from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He was a delegate to the Continental Congress and a signer of the United States Constitution. He ...

, served as

Attorney General of Pennsylvania The Pennsylvania attorney general is the chief law enforcement officer of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. It became an elected office in 1980. The current attorney general is Republican Dave Sunday (politician), Dave ...

and was the father of fellow U.S. Representative,

Charles Jared Ingersoll Charles Jared Ingersoll (October 3, 1782 – May 14, 1862) was an American lawyer, writer and politician who served as a Democratic member of the U.S. House of Representatives for Pennsylvania's 1st congressional district from 1813 to 1815, Pen ...

, and grandfather of his second cousin, author

Edward Ingersoll Edward Ingersoll (2 April 1817, Philadelphia - 19 February 1893 Germantown, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) was a United States author. Biography He was the son of Mary Wilcocks and politician and writer Charles Jared Ingersoll. He graduated from the U ...

. His cousin, Ralph Isaacs III, was the father of Mary Esther Malbone Isaacs, who married

Chancellor Chancellor () is a title of various official positions in the governments of many countries. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the (lattice work screens) of a basilica (court hall), which separa ...

and

U.S. Senator The United States Senate is a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and House have the authority under Article One of the ...

Nathan Sanford Nathan Sanford (November 5, 1777 – October 17, 1838) was an American politician. Early life Sanford was born on November 5, 1777, in Bridgehampton, New York. He was the son of Thomas Sanford and Phebe (née Baker) Sanford, a family of farm ...

in 1813. He pursued classical studies, and was 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 1808. He studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1810 and commenced practice in New Haven.

Career

Ingersoll was a member of the State house of representatives from 1820 until 1825 and served as speaker during the last two years. He was elected as an Adams candidate to the Nineteenth and Twentieth Congresses and reelected as an

Anti-Jacksonian The National Republican Party, also known as the Anti-Jacksonian Party or simply Republicans, was a political party in the United States which evolved from a conservative-leaning faction of the Democratic-Republican Party that supported John ...

to the Twenty-first and

Twenty-second Congress The 22nd United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, consisting of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C. from March 4, 1831 ...

es, serving from March 4, 1825, until March 3, 1833. He was not a candidate for renomination in 1832. He resumed the practice of law and was later appointed State's attorney for New Haven County in 1833. He declined the appointment as

United States Senator The United States Senate consists of 100 members, two from each of the 50 U.S. state, states. This list includes all senators serving in the 119th United States Congress. Party affiliation Independent Senators Angus King of Maine and Berni ...

tendered by Governor Henry W. Edwards upon the death of Senator Nathan Smith in 1835. On August 8, 1846, he was appointed by Democratic President

(the former Speaker of the House of Representatives) to serve as the sixteenth U.S. Minister to the Russian Empire. He presented his credentials in Russia on May 30, 1847, and served until he resigned and left his post on July 1, 1848. He was elected as a member of the

American Philosophical Society The American Philosophical Society (APS) is an American scholarly organization and learned society founded in 1743 in Philadelphia that promotes knowledge in the humanities and natural sciences through research, professional meetings, publicat ...

in 1848. He again engaged in the practice of law and was Mayors of New Haven in 1851.

Personal life

In 1814, Ingersoll married Margaret Catharine Eleanora Van den Heuvel (1790–1878). Margaret was the daughter of Charlotte Augusta (née Apthorp) and

Jan Cornelis Van den Heuvel Baron Jan Cornelis van den Heuvel (December 23, 1742 – May 6, 1826) was a Dutch born plantation owner and politician who served as governor of the Dutch province of Demerara from 1765 to 1770 and later became a merchant in New York City with the ...

, the former governor of the Dutch province of

Demerara Demerara (; , ) is a historical region in the Guianas, on the north coast of South America, now part of the country of Guyana. It was a colony of the Dutch West India Company between 1745 and 1792 and a colony of the Dutch state from 1792 unti ...

from 1765 to 1770 who later moved to New York. Her maternal grandfather was prominent New York landowner Charles Ward Apthorp and her siblings included younger sisters, Maria Eliza van den Heuvel, who married

John Church Hamilton John Church Hamilton (August 22, 1792 − July 25, 1882) was an American historian, biographer, and lawyer. He was the son of Alexander Hamilton, one of the Founding Fathers of the United States. Early life and education Hamilton was born on Au ...

(son of U.S. Treasury Secretary

Alexander Hamilton Alexander Hamilton (January 11, 1755 or 1757July 12, 1804) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father who served as the first U.S. secretary of the treasury from 1789 to 1795 dur ...

), and Susan Augusta Van den Heuvel, the mother of Charlotte Augusta Gibbes, wife of

John Jacob Astor III John Jacob Astor III (June 10, 1822 – February 22, 1890) was an American financier, philanthropist and a soldier during the American Civil War. He was a prominent member of the Astor family, becoming the wealthiest member in his generation. Ea ...

, from her marriage to Thomas Stanyarne Gibbes II. Together, Ralph and Margaret were the parents of seven children: * John Van den Heuvel Ingersoll (1815–1846), a Yale educated lawyer who edited a political paper in Ohio and served as secretary of the Indian Commission. He drowned during a fishing excursion on

Lake Erie Lake Erie ( ) is the fourth-largest lake by surface area of the five Great Lakes in North America and the eleventh-largest globally. It is the southernmost, shallowest, and smallest by volume of the Great Lakes and also has the shortest avera ...

. * Ralph Apthorp Ingersoll *

Colin Macrae Ingersoll Colin Macrae Ingersoll (March 11, 1819 – September 13, 1903) was a Connecticut attorney, politician, and military leader. He served as a member of the United States House of Representatives for two terms in the 1850s. Early life Ingersoll was ...

(1819–1903), who was also a member of Congress from Connecticut from 1851 to 1855. He married Julia Harriet Pratt, the daughter of U.S. Representative

Zadock Pratt Zadock Pratt Jr. (October 30, 1790 – April 5, 1871) was a tanner, banker, soldier, and member of the United States House of Representatives for two non-consecutive terms in the mid-19th century. Pratt served in the New York militia from ...

. *

Charles Roberts Ingersoll Charles Roberts Ingersoll (September 16, 1821 – January 25, 1903) was an American lawyer and the 47th Governor of Connecticut from 1873 to 1877.''Obituary Record of Graduates of Yale University Deceased during the Academical Year ending in J ...

(1821–1903), who served as

Governor of Connecticut The governor of Connecticut is the head of government of Connecticut, and the commander-in-chief of the U.S. state, state's Connecticut Military Department, military forces. The Governor (United States), governor has a duty to enforce state laws, ...

from 1873 to 1877. He married Virginia Gregory, the daughter of Admiral

Francis Gregory Francis Hoyt Gregory (October 9, 1789 – October 4, 1866) was an officer in the United States Navy during the War of 1812 through to the American Civil War, Civil War, serving then as a Rear admiral (United States), rear admiral. Early life Gre ...

. * Grace Suzette Ingersoll (1823–1904) * William Adrian Ingersoll (1825–1865), a

paymaster A paymaster is someone appointed by a group of buyers, sellers, investors or lenders to receive, hold, and dispense funds, commissions, fees, salaries (remuneration) or other trade, loan, or sales proceeds within the private sector or public secto ...

with the

U.S. Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest displacement, at 4.5 million tons in 2021. It has the world's largest aircraft ...

. * Justine Henrietta Ingersoll (1827–1832), who died young. Ingersoll died in New Haven on August 26, 1872, and was buried in

Grove Street Cemetery Grove Street Cemetery or Grove Street Burial Ground is a cemetery in New Haven, Connecticut, that is surrounded by the Yale University campus. It was organized in 1796 as the New Haven Burying Ground and incorporated in October 1797 to replace th ...

References

External links

*
The Inventory of the Ralph Ingersoll Collection #113
at the

Howard Gotlieb Archival Research Center The Mugar Memorial Library is the primary library for study, teaching, and research in the humanities and social sciences for Boston University. It was opened in 1966. Stephen P. Mugar, an Armenian immigrant who was successful in the grocery b ...

Boston University Boston University (BU) is a Private university, private research university in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. BU was founded in 1839 by a group of Boston Methodism, Methodists with its original campus in Newbury (town), Vermont, Newbur ...

. {{DEFAULTSORT:Ingersoll, Ralph Isaacs 1789 births 1872 deaths Lawyers from New Haven, Connecticut Ingersoll family Toleration Party politicians National Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Connecticut Ambassadors of the United States to the Russian Empire 19th-century American diplomats Members of the Connecticut House of Representatives Mayors of New Haven, Connecticut Connecticut lawyers Yale College alumni Burials at Grove Street Cemetery 19th-century American lawyers 19th-century members of the United States House of Representatives 19th-century members of the Connecticut General Assembly Members of the American Philosophical Society