Samuel Huntington was born on July 16, 1731, the fourth of ten children of Nathaniel and Mehetabel (Thurston) Huntington. In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, the Huntingtons were a large and
Samuel Huntington was born on July 16, 1731, the fourth of ten children of Nathaniel and Mehetabel (Thurston) Huntington. In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, the Huntingtons were a large and prominent family in this region. Samuel's great-grandfather Simon was among the original settlers of Norwich in 1660, his grandfather Joseph was one of the founders of Windham and his father Nathaniel helped to establish the Scotland area as a separate parish of Windham. Nathaniel was a prosperous and influential farmer who owned a 180-acre farm bordering Merrick's Brook in Scotland Parish.
The house where Samuel Huntington was born and raised was built for his father about 1723. It was two stories in height with one room on each floor. In the present house, the east front room on the ground floor and the chamber above it are Nathaniel Huntington's original house. In form and construction, this house reflected a conservative approach to building that was rooted deep in the seventeenth century. The house was enlarged and remodelled to its present appearance in several phases over the next 120 years.
Nathaniel Huntington sent three sons to Yale where they trained for careers in the ministry, but Samuel was not one of them. On his own, the young man pursued the study of law in the library of Reverend Ebenezer Devotion, and under the instruction of several lawyers. In 1754 Samuel received permission to practice law in the Connecticut colony. In 1760, he moved to the river port town of Norwich where greater opportunities existed for a young and ambitious attorney. It was here that he launched his illustrious political career.
From election as a Representative from Norwich to the Connecticut General Assembly in 1764, Samuel rose to King's Attorney for Connecticut and Judge and Chief Justice of