Gideon Hawley was born on September 26, 1786, in Huntington, Connecticut, United States, the son of Gideon Hawley and Sarah (Curtiss) Hawley and a descendant of Joseph Hawley who came to America in 1629 and later settled in Stratford, Connecticut. Gideon moved with his parents to Ballston, New York, in 1794 and in 1798 to Charlton, New York.
Gideon graduated from Ballston Academy, entered Union College, was graduated (B. A. ) in 1809, and was appointed tutor in the college for the following year. After studying law with Henry Yates in Schenectady and in the office of Bleecker & Sedgwick, Albany, he was admitted to the Albany bar in May 1812.
Gideon Hawley was master in chancery from 1812 to 1830. As director of the Mohawk & Hudson Railroad and treasurer of the Utica & Schenectady Railroad, he shared in the pioneer work of railroad development in New York State.
In 1812, the year of his admission to the bar, Hawley was chosen the first superintendent of public instruction for the state of New York, and between 1812 and 1821, when the office was abolished, he laid the foundations for the public elementary schools of the state. The Board of Regents, who were guiding the development of the private academies, appointed him secretary in 1814, an office which he held until 1841.
In 1842 Hawley became a member of the Board of Regents of the University of the State of New York and continued in that office until his death twenty- eight years later. He was largely responsible for the establishment of the first normal school in New York State, that in Albany. His total servicece to public education extended from 1812 to 1870, while his connection with the Board of Regents, as secretary and as member, covered a Period of fifty-six years. From 1846 to 1861 he was a member of the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian Institution. Aside from official reports, his only publication of any consequence seems to have been Essays on Truth and Knowledge (1856), containing an essay previously issued under the title, Definitions of Knowledge and Truth. The Gideon Hawley Library at the State College for Teachers, Albany, commemorates his service.
Gideon Hawley's most notable service to the state was in the field of education. In his dual capacity as secretary of the Board of Regents and superintendent of public instruction for the states of New York he became the dominant figure in state education. He created the executive functions of the official variously known as superintendent and commissioner of education and gave especial significance to the judicial functions of the educational executive.
On October 19, 1814, Hawley married Margarita Lansing, member of an Albany family of social, political, and financial distinction. Two children were born to them.
