Connecticut
Gov. Charles Robert Ingersoll
- May 7, 1873 - January 3, 1877
- Democrat
- September 16, 1821
- January 25, 1903
- Connecticut
- Yale University
- Married Virginia Gregory; six children
About
CHARLES ROBERT INGERSOLL, Connecticut’s 30th governor was born in New Haven, Connecticut, on September 16, 1821. He graduated from Yale University in 1840, studied law, and was admitted to the bar in 1844. He practiced law in his father’s firm, and served as director of the New Haven Colony Historical Society. Ingersoll entered politics in 1846, serving as clerk of the Connecticut Assembly, a position he was reelected to in 1856, 1857, 1858, 1866, and 1871. He won the 1873 Democratic gubernatorial nomination, and was elected Governor of Connecticut. He was reelected in 1874, and 1875. During his tenure, a state constutional amendment was passed that lengthened the governor’s term to two years. Also, the state endured a financial depression that took six years to recover from, and Hartford — which was a co-capital with New Haven — was finally chosen as the sole lawmaking center. Ingersoll did not run for reelection, and left office January 1877. He continued to practice law, trying cases on the state and federal levels and in the U.S. Supreme Court. He also was an organizer and vice president of the State Bar Association. Governor Charles R. Ingersoll died on January 25, 1903, and is buried in the New Haven Grove Street Cemetery.
Source
Sobel, Robert, and John Raimo, eds. Biographical Directory of the Governors of the United States, 1789-1978, Vol. 1, Westport, Conn.; Meckler Books, 1978. 4 vols.
