Background
He was born in Waterbury, Connecticut, the son of Woodward and Polly (Castle) Hotchkiss, Prospect farmers.
He was born in Waterbury, Connecticut, the son of Woodward and Polly (Castle) Hotchkiss, Prospect farmers.
At seventeen, he taught in Prospect schools. He later moved to Waterbury and ran a store and a factory that made cotton webbing and suspenders. Hotchkiss was nominated by both parties to be the first Mayor of Waterbury in 1853 when it was incorporated, shifting to the Democratic Party when the Whigs had dissolved.
He was elected as a Democrat to the Fortieth Congress (March 4, 1867 – March 3, 1869).
After leaving Congress, he was the 35th Lieutenant Governor of Connecticut in 1870. He died in Middletown in 1878 and was buried in Pine Grove Cemetery.
In 1851 and 1858, he served as a member of the Connecticut House of Representatives.