Background

Samuel Dexter Hastings was born on July 24, 1816, at Leicester, Massachusetts, United States, the son of Simon and Elizabeth (McIntosh) Hastings and a lineal descendant of Thomas Hastings who emigrated from England in 1634 and settled in Watertown, Massachusetts.

Career

Samuel's early youth was spent in Boston; at the age of fourteen he moved to Philadelphia and there humbly began his mercantile career. Aided by a friend from Leicester, he was established in his own business at the age of twenty-one. During his sixteen years in Philadelphia he maintained a deep interest in social and religious questions. In 1835 he began his long connection with the anti-slavery movement that brought him into intimate association with William Lloyd Garrison, Wendell Phillips, and John G. Whittier.

In 1839 Hastings was elected to the first state legislature by a large majority. In the first session he delivered a memorable speech against slavery and was the author of the resolutions which committed the new state to its opposition to the extension of the slave trade.

Hastings moved from Walworth County to La Crosse in 1852 and later to Trempealeau on the Mississippi. In 1856 he was returned to the legislature and the following year was elected treasurer of the state. He held this office for eight years, ably managing the state finances during the difficult period of the Civil War. He had spoken frequently, had encouraged legislation, and was an active member of many organizations to suppress these alleged evils.

In the Sons of Temperance he became Grand Worthy Patriarch of Wisconsin and was six times elected Right Worthy Grand Templar, the highest office in the international order of Good Templars. He spoke for prohibition in nearly every state of the Union, in Canada, in Australia and New Zealand, and six times crossed the Atlantic to further the cause. For many years he contributed to prohibition and anti-slavery papers and in 1883 edited the speeches of John B. Finch under the title, The People versus the Liquor Traffic. Honest men sometimes quarreled with his methods, but he was never troubled by doubts of the value of his ends or his means to them. He died at Evanston.

Achievements

• Samuel Hastings was known as one of the active founders of the Liberty party in Pennsylvania. Throughout a long and active life he labored indefatigably for two great purposes: the emancipation of the negroes of the South and the imposition of prohibition upon the English-speaking peoples of the world.

Works

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  • Resolutions of the Wisconsin legislature, on the subject of slavery: with the speech of Samuel D. Hastings, in the Assembly, Madison, January 27, 1849.

    (This volume is produced from digital images from the Corn...)

  • Address by Hon. Samuel D. Hastings, delivered at Sparta, Wisconsin, July 4th, 1863.

    (This volume is produced from digital images from the Corn...)

  • Speech of Samuel D. Hastings, of Walworth County, in the Assembly: in committee of the whole, in support of the resolutions reported by him as ... to whom the subject had been referred.

    (Originally published in 1849. 16 pages. This volume is pr...)

Religion

In his youth Samuel had been an ardent Presbyterian but withdrew from the church because of his anti-slavery views. He then became prominent in the Congregational Church, was influential in establishing a free Congregational church in Philadelphia and, although remaining a layman, became moderator of the Wisconsin state convention.

Views

During his long career Hastings was a zealous foe of liquor and tobacco. He had spoken frequently, had encouraged legislation, and was an active member of many organizations to suppress these alleged evils.

Connections

On August 1, 1837, Hastings married Margaretta Shubert.

Father:

Simon Hastings

Mother:

Elizabeth (McIntosh) Hastings

Spouse:

Margaretta (Shubert) Hastings

Daughter:

Emma Margaretta (Hastings) Hobart

Son:

Samuel Dexter Hastings

References

• The Hastings Memorial: A Genealogical Account Of The Descendants Of Thomas Hastings Of Watertown, Mass. From 1634 To 1864. With An Appendix And Index