Charles Roberts Ingersoll

Charles Roberts Ingersoll (September 16, 1821 – January 25, 1903) was an American lawyer and the 47th governor of Connecticut from 1873 to 1877.

Early life Ingersoll was born in New Haven, Connecticut, son of Ralph Isaacs Ingersoll, a New Haven lawyer who also served in the state House of Representatives, the United States Congress, and as United States Minister to Russia and as the mayor of New Haven, and of his wife, Margaret, née Van den Heuvel. His maternal grandfather was Jan Cornelis Van den Heuvel, a Dutch born plantation owner and politician who served as governor of the Dutch province of Demerara from 1765 to 1770 and later became a merchant in New York City with the Dutch West India Company.

He graduated from Yale College at the age of nineteen in 1840. He visited Europe aboard the United States frigate Preble, commanded by his uncle, Captain Voorhes, for two years, and returned to Yale Law School, graduating in 1844.

Career Ingersoll was admitted to the bar in 1845 and became the law partner of his father, During his tenure, a state constitutional amendment was passed that lengthened the governor's term to two years. Also, the state endured a financial depression that took six years to recover from, and Hartford—which was a co-capital with New Haven—was finally chosen as the sole lawmaking center. Ingersoll did not run for reelection, and left office January 1877.