Hinman, Royal R. A Historical Collection, from Official Records, Files, &c., of the Part Sustained by Connecticut, during the War of the Revolution; With an Appendix, containing important Letters, Depositions, &c., written during the War. Hartford: Printed by E. Gleason, 1842. [7664]
Recently nicely rebacked in brown cloth with gilt titles & rules, original black cloth boards stamped in blind, 6 x 9 1/2 inches, new end papers, bookplates of Hartford State Library & Connecticut Historical Society saved from original paste-down and now laid in. Frontispiece lithograph with tissue guard of George Washington in military uniform at age 40. (i)-iv., (5)-643, (1) clean pp., tight. There is also a lithograph of Jonathan Trumbull, with tg. Howes calls for these two portraits only, complete. Very good. Hardcover.
Howes H-509.
"Many of the facts contained in this collection, will be found new and interesting to most of the present generation; the whole work will give a livelier character to the deeds of their ancestors during this eventful struggle for liberty and independence. The work contains about 100 pages of general history, so far as Connecticut was concerned in the war of the revolution. Then follows an epitome, not only of all the acts of the General Assembly, relating to the war, but also of the acts of the Governor and his Council of Safety, or Council of War, until May, 1778, as taken from the original records in the Secretary's office...Connecticut, though one of the great producing States during the war, not only of provisions, but of men and money to carry on the contest, has never had her full merit recognized, in any historical notice yet published, of that eventful time that so thoroughly tried men's souls. It has, therefore, been the object of the compiler to rescue from oblivion, a sufficient amount of authentic facts, to place the citizens of our own State on their true ground, as among the earlier, most zealous, and efficient movers of that physical and moral machinery, which tore America from the cruel embrace of England." - Preface.
Royal Ralph Hinman (1785-1868), b. Southbury, Connecticut; d. Hartford, Connecticut. He was the son of General Ephraim Hinman, who served for the duration of the American War of Independence as a captain, rising to the rank of general after the war. Royal Hinman graduated Yale College in 1804 and Litchfield Law School in 1806, and in 1808 was admitted to the bar in Litchfield County Court. He practiced law, was a Connecticut State Representative for several terms, was a Postmaster for 10 years, was Secretary of the State of Connecticut from 1825 to 1842, and served in several other Connecticut government capacities.
He had a great interest in history and antiquities, and wrote volumes on the Blue Laws of Connecticut, the Public Statutes of the same, historical collections on the American Revolution, records of Puritan families, &c.