- Pierpont Edwards
Pierpont Edwards (
April 8 ,1750 -April 5 ,1826 ) was a delegate to the American Continental Congress. He has been described as "a brilliant but erratic member of the Connecticut bar, tolerant in religious matters and bitterly hated by stern Calvinists, a man whose personal morality resembled greatly that of Aaron Burr." Pierpont Edwards was the founder of the Toleration party in Connecticut.He was born in
Northampton, Massachusetts as the 11th and youngest child of the Rev. Jonathan Edwards. Pierrepont Edwards graduated fromPrinceton College in 1768, at the age of 18. He served in theContinental Army during theRevolutionary War , and thereafter was a member of the Connecticut Convention held in January 1788, a convention that ratified the Constitution of the United States.He was a delegate to
Continental Congress from Connecticut, 1787-88, Edwards served asUnited States Attorney for 17 years until, in 1806, President Thomas Jefferson appointed him as United States District Judge for the District of Connecticut. After thetreason ofBenedict Arnold he became administrator of that officer's estate.He was a member of the
Connecticut House of Representatives , 1789-90, a judge of United States District Court for Connecticut, 1806 and a delegate to the Connecticut state constitutional convention, 1818.He died in
Bridgeport, Connecticut , and was interred atGrove Street Cemetery . Pierpont Township, Ashtabula County,Ohio is named for him. [ [http://www2.ashtabula.com/detail.asp?id=2209 Ashtabula County, Ohio] Ashtabula County, 2007. Accessed2007-05-28 .] There is a dormitory building atUMass Amherst named after him as well.He was the uncle of
Aaron Burr , Theodore Dwight, andTimothy Dwight IV , and father ofHenry W. Edwards and John Stark Edwards.References
External links
* [http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=E000079 Edward's biography on U.S. Congress webage]
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