Henry C. Deming

Henry C. Deming, 1865 photograph by Mathew Brady & Co.

Henry Champion Deming (May 23, 1815 – October 8, 1872) was a U.S. Representative from Connecticut.

Life and career

Born in Colchester, Connecticut, the son of Gen. David and Abigail (Champion) Deming.Deming pursued classical studies. He was graduated from Yale College in 1836 where he was an 1836 initiate into the Skull and Bones Society,^[1]:112 and from the Harvard Law School in 1839.

He was admitted to the bar in 1839 and began practice in New York City but devoted his time chiefly to literary work. At this time he was engaged with Park Benjamin, Sr. in editing The New World, a literary weekly, and at this time also he published a translation of Eugène Sue's The Wandering Jew.

He moved to Hartford, Connecticut, in 1847, and opened a law office. In 1849, 1850, 1859 and 1860, he was a member of the Connecticut House of Representatives. In 1854 he was elected Mayor of Hartford, Connecticut and served until 1858, and again from 1860 to 1862.

At the close of the year 1861, he was appointed Colonel of the 12th Connecticut Infantry Regiment, and accompanied Gen. Butler's expedition to New Orleans. After the capture of that city he was detailed Mayor of New Orleans, and served with tact and ability until January, 1863, when he resigned both military and civil position, on account of his own health and the health of his wife.

Deming was elected as a Republican to the Thirty-eighth and Thirty-ninth Congresses (March 4, 1863 – March 3, 1867). He served as chairman of the Committee on Expenditures in the Department of War (Thirty-eighth and Thirty-ninth Congresses). He was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1866 to the Fortieth Congress.

In 1868 he wrote a life of Ulysses S. Grant, The Life of Ulysses S. Grant, which had an extensive sale. In the following year he was appointed by the President, Collector of Internal Revenue, and this office he held until his death, which occurred at his residence in Hartford, Oct. 9th, 1872. He was interred in Spring Grove Cemetery.

Besides his Congressional speeches, Col. Deming published a Eulogy of Abraham Lincoln, delivered before the General Assembly of Connecticut, in 1865; an Oration delivered at the completion of the Monument to Gen. Wooster, at Danbury, Connecticut in 1854, and many other public addresses. These with his unpublished writings abundantly attest his great fertility of intellect; his personal power as an orator was equally remarkable. He received the degree of LL.D. from Trinity College in 1861.

 This article incorporates public domain material from the Yale Obituary Record.

Family

In 1850 he married Sarah, daughter of Laurent Clerc, the first deaf-mute instructor in the United States. His wife died in July, 1869, leaving three sons. In June, 1871, he married Mrs. Annie Putnam Jillson, a great-granddaughter of Gen. Putnam, who survived him.

His children by his first wife:

• Henry Champion Deming, Jr. (November 25, 1850 – January 19, 1931), president Mercantile Trust Company^[2]
• Charles Clerc Deming (May 22, 1852 – July 23, 1924), lawyer and railroad executive.^{[3]:1314–15}
• Laurent Clerc Deming (November 21, 1860 – October 12, 1945), railroad executive^[4]
• Mary Shipman Deming (d. November 11, 1861)^[5]

 This article incorporates public domain material from the Yale Obituary Record.  This article incorporates public domain material from the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress website http://bioguide.congress.gov.

References

• United States Congress. "Henry C. Deming (id: D000227)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. 

External links

• Henry C. Deming at Find a Grave