Heman J. Redfield
Heman Judd Redfield (December 27, 1788 in Suffield, Hartford County, Connecticut – July 22, 1877 in Batavia, Genesee County, New York) was an American politician from New York.
Life
He was the son of Peleg Redfield (1762–1852) and Mary (Judd) Redfield (1765–1844). The family were neighbors of Oliver Phelps who opened a land sales office in Suffield, Ct, after the Phelps and Gorham Purchase. The Redfields exchanged their small property in Suffield for 200 acres (0.81 km2) of land in the Town of Farmington (in that part that was later separated as Manchester, Ontario County, New York) and moved to the West in 1800.
He attended Canandaigua Academy from 1808 to 1810, and then studied law with John Canfield Spencer.
During the War of 1812, he enlisted as a private and fought in the Battle of Queenston Heights, and in November 1813 at Fort George, Ontario where he received from the commanding general William Henry Harrison a brevet for gallant services.
He was admitted to the bar in 1815, and commenced practice at Le Roy. On January 27, 1817, he married Abigail N. Gould (d. 1841), and they had 14 children.
He was appointed District Attorney of Genesee County in 1821. He was Postmaster of Le Roy for more than twenty years. He was a member of the New York State Senate from 1823 to 1825.
In 1826, he was offered the position of Special Counsel to the New York State Attorney General for the trials against the abductors of William Morgan, but declined, recommending John Canfield Spencer who was chosen.
On May 9, 1835, Redfield was elected a Canal Commissioner by the New York State Legislature to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of Michael Hoffman, but he declined to take office. The Legislature adjourned on May 11, and left Governor William L. Marcy to appoint John Bowman instead.
When the Holland Land Company sold out their land in 1836, he became land agent for the new proprietors and moved to Batavia, NY.
On April 14, 1846, he married Constance C. Bolles (d. 1909), and they had four children.
President Franklin Pierce appointed Redfield Naval Officer of the Port of New York, and on November 1, 1853, Collector of the Port of New York. He resigned on July 1, 1857, and retired from politics.
Sources
- Genealogical History of the Redfield Family in the United States by John Howard Redfield & William Redfield (Munsell & Rowland, 1860) Bio of his father on pages 42ff, of Heman pages 99f
- Bio in Democracy in the United States: What it Has Done, what it is Doing, and what it Will Do by Ransom H. Gillet (D. Appleton and Company, 1868, pages 218ff)
- The New York Civil List compiled by Franklin Benjamin Hough (pages 42, 125f, 144 and 374; Weed, Parsons and Co., 1858)
- His second wife's death notice, in NYT on April 9, 1909
External links
- Portrait, and a picture of his house, in Batavia Revisited by Larry D. Barnes (Images of America series; Arcadia Publishing, Charleston SC, 2011; ISBN 978-0-7385-7404-2 ; pg. 120)
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