Theodore Dwight

Who was Theodore Dwight?

Theodore Dwight was an American lawyer and journalist.

He was the brother of Timothy Dwight, president of Yale College, and the grandson of Jonathan Edwards. He was a distinguished lawyer, a leader of the Federalist Party, and a member of Congress in 1806–1807, and was secretary of the Hartford Convention in 1814-1815.

His talent as a writer made him a brilliant editor at the Hartford Mirror, the Albany Daily Advertiser, and the New York City Daily Advertiser, which he founded in 1817. Among his publications are Life and Character of Thomas Jefferson and History of the Hartford Convention.

He was a cousin of Aaron Burr. He was admitted to the bar in 1787 and began practice in Haddam, Connecticut; moved to Hartford, Connecticut in 1791, and continued the practice of law.

He was a member of the State council 1809-1815; elected as a Federalist to the Ninth Congress to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of John Cotton Smith and served from December 1, 1806, to March 3, 1807; declined to be a candidate for renomination in 1806; secretary of the Hartford Convention in 1814-1815; moved to Albany, New York in 1815 and published the Albany Daily Advertiser 1815-1817.