JONATHAN LAW, Governor of the Colony of Connecticut, 1741-1750

by Joseph B. Barnes, Esq

 

Born in Milford, Connecticut on August 6, 1674 [possibly 1672], Jonathan Law (Jr.) was the only son of Jonathan Law of Milford and Sarah Clark, born February 18, 1644 daughter of Milford founder, Deacon George Clark. His grandfather, Richard Law was an early settler of Wethersfield and Stamford

 

*As a young man he briefly served as a minister before attending Harvard. 

*He graduated from Harvard in 1695 and worked as a lawyer. 

*In 1698 he established his law office in Milford. 

*In May 1709, Law became a Justice of the Peace and of the Quorum for New Haven County,

Later being named Judge of the County Court of New Haven County and Assistant Judge of the Connecticut Superior Court.

*He was elected Deputy to the Connecticut General Assembly in 1706 and served several terms until 1717. 

*In that year he was chosen an Assistant, service as such, with the exception of one year, until 1724.

* In October 1724, he became Deputy Governor and in May 1725 Chief Judge of the Superior Court.  He held these latter two offices at the same time, which was possible under the government of that era.

*At age 67 in October 1741, following the death of Governor Joseph Talcott, he became 27^th Governor of the Colony of Connecticut, an office he held until his death in 1750.

 

Jonathan Law lived at a time when a person’s life span could be short, as medical knowledge about diseases was not very advanced.  Although he lived to be 86 years old, his wives were not as fortunate.  Law married five times, usually into prominent political New England families: December 20, 1698 he married Anne Eliot, daughter of Rev. Joseph and Sarah (Brenton) Eliot and granddaughter of John Eliot, the apostle, and of Governor William Brenton of Rhode Island; February 14, 1705,  Abigail Arnold, daughter of Josiah and Sarah (Mills) Arnold, grandfather of Governor Benedict Arnold of Rhode Island; August 1, 1706, Abigail Andrew, the daughter of Rev. Samuel Andrew, Minister of the First Congregational Church in Milford, rector of Yale College and a Milford Hall of Fame designee (2010); In 1725 to widow Sarah Burr of Fairfield, Connecticut; and In 1730 to Eunice (Hall) Andrew, daughter of John and Dorothy (Lyman) Hall; widow of Rev. Samuel Andrew, the son of the rector of Yale College (thus a former in-law) and aunt of Lyman Hall, signer of the Declaration of Independence from Georgia.

 

Some of the children and grandchildren went on to serve in Congress and to hold other national political offices. His great grandson, Samuel Augustus Foote (1780-1846), would become Connecticut Governor and U.S. Senator.

 

In addition to being a jurist and a governor, Jonathan Law seriously attempted to develop the cultivation of silk worms on a farm in Cheshire.  He received recognition from the British Parliament.  He personally appeared in the first coat,  hat’s and stockings made of New England silk and his daughter was the first to exhibit a silk dress of domestic material. Regrettably, the silk production permit was never renewed.

 

Perhaps  because Jonathan Law merely did well what everyone expected him to do he is not remembered as well as some of the “shooting stars” of American history.  Certainly those people who knew him recognized his qualities of leadership.  Jonathan Law was considered by his peers to be talented, amiable, even-tempered and a man who promoted religion, education, and cooperation.  He died on November 6, 1750, shortly after the end of the fall session of the General Assembly after 35 years in the colonial government.  He is buried in Milford Cemetery.  A high school in Milford is named for Governor Law.  When the Memorial Bridge on New Haven Avenue was erected to honor the early settlers of Milford, the doorstep from Jonathan Law’s house was included in the stonework.