Encyclopedia of Connecticut biography, genealogical-memorial ...

Lieutenant-Governor of Connecticut in
[847 and [848. lie was appointed United
States Charge d' Affaires to Vienna, Austria,
by President Fillmore in [850, and
was succeeded by F M. Foote in 1852.
Returning to Hi-, native State from his
foreign diplomatic office, he renewed the
practice of law at New London, Connec-
ticut, and in 1856 was appointed a judge
df the Superior Court, and subsequently
advanced to tin- Supreme Bench, serving
until [867. lie was the author of the
law in Connecticut allowing principals in
criminal suits to testify in their own
behalf.
Judge McCurdy was an active member
of the Peace Conference at Washington,
District of Columbia, in February, 1S61.
The degree of Doctor of Laws was con-
ferred on him by Yale College in 1868.
He was the last survivor of his class, the
oldest living Yale graduate in 1800. and
was lecturer on life insurance at that in-
stitution from [873 to 1875. "'* death
occurred at Lyme. Connecticut, lune S,
l8oi.
NILES. John Milton.
Journalist. Public Official.
John Milton Niles, famous as a jour-
nalist and politician in the stormy days of
the Jackson administration, was horn in
Windsor, Connecticut, August -7. 1787,
and died in Hartford. Connecticut. May
31. 1856. He was a son of Moses and
Naomi (Marshall) Xiles, and a grandson
of Benjamin and Lucy (Sill) Xiles. ilis
father was a native of (
I M V< L( iPEDl \ ( IF UK IGRAPHY
"-roton, Connecti-
cut, and removed to Windsor prior to the
Revolutionary War.
John Milton Xiles attended the common
school in his native place but. moved
by ambition and a determination to rise,
he studied law under John Sargent. How-
ever, his activities were not concentrated,
and he was not admitted to the bar until
he was thirty :
age.
He entered
upon practice in Hartford, but, discerning
many years of effort before him until he
could attain sufficient distinction in the
legal profession to satisfy him, he re-
turned to journalism, and there found his
true vocation. In the very year of his
admission to the bar he founded the Hart-
ford "Times," and with the aid of strong
men whom he called to his aid, he 300H
made the paper a recognized power in the
Xew England State-, enjoying for the
time a phenomenal circulation. Mean-
time he had taken an active personal in-
terest in politics. In 1821 he was elected
an associate judge of the County Court,
an office which he held until 1829; in
[826 was a Representative in the General
Assembl) ; and in [827 was a candidate
for the State Senate, but was defeated.
1 le became a national character in 1828,
when he gave an influential support to
the presidential candidacy of General Andrew
Jackson. In recognition of the val-
uable support "The Times" had given
him, very soon after his inauguration.
President Jackson appointed its editor.
Major B. H. Xorton, postmaster at Hart-
ford. This gTeatly incensed Mr. Xiles
who, as founder and publisher of the
paper, claimed the credit for its support
of General Jackson, to whom he personally
appealed, with the result that Xorton
was dismissed from the post-office, and
Xiles appointed in his stead. Norton,
however, was somewhat appeased with
an appointment in the Boston Custom
House. On the death of United States
Senator Nathan Smith in 1836. Xiles was
chosen to fill out his unexpired term, ex-
piring March 3, 1839. In 1S40 President
Van Buren appointed him Postmaster-
(
^°D
"uncial in succession to Amos Kendall,
deceased, an office in which he continued
less than a year, retiring March 3. 1841, at