Connecticut
Gov. William Thomas Minor
- May 2, 1855 - May 6, 1857
- American
- October 3, 1815
- October 13, 1889
- Connecticut
- Yale University
- Married Mary Catherine Leeds; two children
About
WILLIAM THOMAS MINOR, Connecticut’s 22nd governor was born in Stamford, Connecticut, on October 3, 1815. He graduated from Yale University in 1834, studied law, and was admitted to the bar in 1840. Minor entered politics in 1841 as a member of the Connecticut House of Representatives, where he served for eight years. He also served in the Connecticut State Senate in 1854. Minor won the 1855 American gubernatorial nomination, and was elected Governor of Connecticut by a legislative vote of 177 to 70. He was reelected to a second term in 1856. During his tenure, he was a proponent of lengthing the period of residency before naturalization, and he endorsed the dismissal of six military companies that consisted mostly of Irishmen, further enraging immigrants. Legislation was also constituted that deprived suffrage to men unable to read the state constitution. After leaving office, Minor practiced law, and in 1864 was appointed the consul-general to Havana, a position he held for three years. He served again in the Connecticut House of Representatives in 1868, and was appointed judge of the Superior Court, serving from 1868 to 1873. He also served on the 1879 commission that reconciled an extended boundary argument with New York. Governor William T. Minor died on October 13, 1889, and is buried in the Woodland Cemetery in Stamford, Connecticut.
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.
