Generic_male
No image available

Charles Bostwick


Gender:
Male
Born:
November 12, 1775
Died:
March 1, 1852
Home Town:
New Milford, CT
Later Residences:
New York, NY
Bridgeport, CT
Marriage(s):
Catherine Peet Bostwick (May 3, 1809)
Biographical Notes:
Charles Bostwick was the son of Benjamin and Esther Bostwick. After attending the Litchfield Law School in 1798, he was admitted to the bar in Fairfield County in 1799.

Bostwick's father became the proprietor of the Washington Hotel in Bridgeport, Connecticut where Charles took the position of postmaster from 1804-1810, the post office operating from the hotel. While in Bridgeport, he married Catherine Peet, with whom he had seven children.

Bostwick left Bridgeport for New York in 1810, and engaged in mercantile business until 1837 when he returned to Bridgeport, where he remained for the rest of his life. In 1840, he was elected mayor, of the city and chief judge of the city court.
Quotes:
"Mr. Bostwick was esteemed for purity and simplicity of character and for a devout Christian life."
Dexter, Franklin Bowditch. Biographical Sketches of the Graudates of Yale College with Annals of College History, Vol. 5. New York: Henry Holt and Company, 1911.

Education
Years at LLS:
1798
Other Education:
Graduated from Yale College in 1796.

Profession / Service
Profession:
Lawyer; Political Office; Business
Local Posts:
Mayor (Bridgeport, CT) 1840
Judge for the City of Bridgeport (Bridgeport, CT)

help The Citation of Attendance provides primary source documentation of the student’s attendance at the Litchfield Female Academy and/or the Litchfield Law School. If a citation is absent, the student is thought to have attended but currently lacks primary source confirmation.

Records for the schools were sporadic, especially in the formative years of both institutions. If instructors kept comprehensive records for the Litchfield Female Academy or the Litchfield Law School, they do not survive. Researchers and staff have identified students through letters, diaries, family histories and genealogies, and town histories as well as catalogues of students printed in various years. Art and needlework have provided further identification of Female Academy Students, and Litchfield County Bar records document a number of Law School students. The history of both schools and the identification of the students who attended them owe credit to the early 20th century research and documentation efforts of Emily Noyes Vanderpoel and Samuel Fisher, and the late 20th century research and documentation efforts of Lynne Templeton Brickley and the Litchfield Historical Society staff.
CITATION OF ATTENDANCE:
Catalogue of the Litchfield Law School, Hartford, CT: Press of Case, Tiffany and Company, 1849, 3.
Secondary Sources:
Bostwick, Henry Anthon. Genealogy of the Bostwick Family. NY: 1901

Dexter, Franklin Bowditch. Biographical Sketches of the Graudates of Yale College with Annals of College History, Vol. 5. New York: Henry Holt and Company, 1911.

Orcutt, Samuel, A history of the old town of Stratford and the city Bridgeport, Connecticut, Volume 2, Fairfield County Historical Society, Bridgeport, Conn,
Press of Tuttle, Morehouse & Taylor, 1886.

Contact Us

Do you have more information for the Ledger?

If you have family papers, objects, or any other details you would like to share, or if you would like to obtain a copy of an image for publication, please contact us at curator@litchfieldhistoricalsociety.org.