Ingersoll, Jared, Jr.

Extract

Ingersoll, Jared, Jr. (24/27 Oct. 1749–31 October 1822), a signer of the U.S. Constitution, was born in New Haven, Connecticut, the son of Jared Ingersoll, a lawyer, and Hannah Whiting Ingersoll. His father was active in colonial affairs. The younger Ingersoll was educated privately and at Yale, where he graduated in 1766. For several years he managed his father's financial affairs in New Haven while the elder Ingersoll lived in Philadelphia, helping to organize a vice-admiralty court at the invitation of colonial authorities. The younger Ingersoll joined his father in Philadelphia around 1770, read law, and was admitted to the Pennsylvania bar in 1773. With tensions increasing between the colonies and England, the elder Ingersoll, a Loyalist, encouraged his son to go to London for the further study of law. The son obliged and was admitted to the Middle Temple in the summer of 1773. Upon completing his studies in 1776 he traveled on the Continent and lived for a while in Paris. During this time he became increasingly sympathetic to the Revolutionary cause, creating a breach with his father....