Page:Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography (1892, volume 3).djvu/236

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208
HILLEGAS
HILLHOUSE

phia, 1864); “Political Duties of the Educated Classes,” a pamphlet (Boston, 1866); and “Life of George Ticknor,” with Mrs. Ticknor (Boston, 1873).


HILLEGAS, Michael, merchant, b. in Philadelphia, Pa., in 1729; d. there, 29 Sept., 1804. His father, Michael Hillegas, was an early German emigrant. The son engaged in sugar-refining, possessed means and was active in municipal and national affairs. In June, 1774, he became treasurer of the committee of safety, of which Dr. Franklin was president. In 1775 he was appointed by the Continental congress treasurer of the United States, with George Clymer as his assistant, and held this office until 1789. On 2 April, 1781, the general assembly of Pennsylvania passed the following resolution: “Resolved, That Michael Hillegas be requested and empowered to revise, compare, correct, and publish in one volume the resolves of the committee of the late province of Pennsylvania, with their instructions to their representatives in assembly held at Philadelphia, July 15, 1774; the proceedings of the provincial conference of committees held at Carpenter's Hall, June 18, 1776; the Declaration of Independence, made July 4, 1776; minutes of the proceedings of the convention of the state of Pennsylvania, July 15, 1776, with the constitution; the minutes of the assemblies of the commonwealth of Pennsylvania to the end of 1781, and the articles of confederation.” The volume was published in 1782.


HILLER, Alfred, clergyman, b. near Sharon Springs, Schoharie CO., N. Y, 22 April, 1831. He received his preparatory training in academies at Ames and Canajoharie, N. Y., and was graduated at Hartwick theological seminary, in Otsego county, N. Y., in 1857. In the same year he entered the ministry of the Lutheran church, and was pastor of congregations at Fayette, N. Y.. in 1857-'8, and German Valley, N. Y., in 1858-'81. During a two- months' service in the civil war, in the spring of 1865, he was in the employ of the U. S. Christian commission, and organized an army church of seventy-seven members at Edyfield, near Nashville, Tenn. In 1881 he was elected president of Hart- wick theological seminary and professor of syste- matic theology. He received the degree of D. D. from Wittenberg college in 1882.


HILLHOUSE, James, clergyman, b. in Ireland about 1687 ; d. in Montville, Conn., in 1740. He was educated at the University of Glasgow, studied theology there, and was ordained by the presbytery of Londonderry, Ireland. It is supposed that he joined the Presbyterian emigrants who established themselves in New Hampshire in 1719. In 1720 he published a sermon in Boston, and was spoken of by Cotton Mather as a " worthy hopeful young minister lately arrived in America." In 1722 he was installed pastor in the newly instituted parish of New London, Conn. — His son, William, jurist, b. in Montville, Conn., 25 Aug., 1728 ; d. there, 12 Jan., 1816, received a good education, studied law, and was admitted to the bar. He represented New London in the legislature from 1755 till 1785, and was also made " assistant," or member of the coun- cil, serving altogether in 106 semi-annual legisla- tures. He was judge of the court of common pleas for about forty years, a major in the 2d regiment of Connecticut cavalry in the Revolution, and from 1783 till 1786 a member of the Continental congress. At the age of eighty he declined a re-election to the council, and retired from public life. — Another son, James Abraham, lawyer, b. in Montville, Conn., in 1730; d. in New Haven, Conn., in 1775, was graduated at Yale in 1749, and in 1750 was appointed tutor there, which post he held till 1756. He then practised law successfully in New Haven, and in 1772 was elected one of the twelve "assistants."— William's son, James, lawyer, b. in Montville. Conn., 21 Oct., 1754 ; d. in New Haven, Conn., 29 Dec, 1832, was graduated at Yale in 1778. He served in the Revolutionary war, and in 1779 was captain of the Gov- ernor's foot - guards when New Haven was invaded by the Brit- ish under Tryon. He was a representative in the legislature from 1780 till 1789, when he was called to a seat in the coun- cil. He was then elected as a Federal- ist to congress, where he took an active part in debates and served

in 1791-'5. In 1796

he entered the U. S. senate, having been chosen for the unexpired term of Oliver Ellsworth, who had resigned his seat to become chief justice in the U. S. supreme court. He was elected for a full term in 1797, and again in 1803 and 1809. When Thomas Jefferson withdrew from the senate after his election to the presidency, Mr. Hillhouse was appointed president pro tempore of that body. Although he was a strong Federalist, he proposed amendments to the constitution, in 1808, to correct what he considered dangerous tendencies in the system of Federal government. In 1810 he resigned his seat to become commis- sioner of the school fund of Connecticut, which office he held till 1825, rescuing the fund from gradual destruction and adding by judicious invest- ments the sum of $500,000. From 1782 till his death he was treasurer of Yale, from which he re- ceived the degree of LL. D. in 1823. He published numerous speeches. See "Sketch of the Life and Character of Hon. James Hillhouse" (New Haven, 1860).—James Abraham, son of the second James, poet, b. in New Haven. Conn., 26 Sept., 1789 ; d. there, 5 Jan., 1841, was graduated at Yale in 1808, after which he spent three years in Boston, prepar- ing for a mercantile career. He engaged in busi- ness in New York, and in 1819 went to Europe, where he met many distinguished men. Zachary Macaulay, father of the historian, spoke of him "as the most accomplished young man with whom he was acquainted." In 1822 he married Cornelia, daughter of Isaac Lawrence, of New York, and retired to his country-seat, "Sachem's Wood," near New Haven, where he spent the remainder of his life, devoting his attention to literature. He pub- lished "The Judgment, a Vision," a poem delivered before the Phi Beta Kappa society of Yale (New York, 1812) ; " Percy's Masque," a drama (London, 1819 ; reprinted, with additions, New York, 1820) ; " Hadad," a sacred drama (New York, 1825); and a collected edition of his writings, containing the additions of "Demetria," a domestic Italian tragedy, written in 1813 ; " Sachem's Wood," a poem ; and several discourses, under the title of "Dramas, Discourses, and other Pieces " (2 vols., Boston, 1839). — Augustus Lucas, another son of the second James, b. in New Haven, Conn., 9 Dec, 1791; d. in Paris, France, 14 March, 1859, was graduated at Yale in 1810. He was the author of the hymn "Trembling before thine Awful Throne."