Stephen Longfellow was an American lawyer and politician. He was a member of the U. S. House of Representatives from Maine's 2nd district from 1823 to 1825.
Background
Stephen Longfellow was born on March 23, 1776 on his father's farm in Gorham, Maine, United States, whither his parents, Stephen and Patience (Young) Longfellow had fled on the destruction of Falmouth (now Portland) by the British in October 1775. His great-great-grandfather, William Longfellow, had settled in Newbury, Massachusetts, about 1676. It is not surprising that he chose the law for his profession, since his grandfather, a graduate of Harvard College in 1742, was register of probate and clerk of the judicial court for York County, and his father, judge of the court of common pleas.
Education
Stephen entered Harvard in 1794, graduating in 1798, having been elected to Phi Beta Kappa. He immediately commenced the study of law with Salmon Chase of Portland, who had the most extensive practice of any lawyer in the county. He was admitted to the bar in 1801.
Career
In 1801 Longfellow established the law practice in Portland, which with a population of 3, 800 was already served by seven lawyers. He was a representative in the Massachusetts General Court in 1814 and 1815, and was chosen a delegate to the Hartford Convention in 1814. He represented Maine in the Eighteenth Congress (1823 - 1825). In 1826 he represented Portland in the state legislature. From 1811 to 1817 he was an overseer, and from 1817 to 1836, a trustee of Bowdoin College.
An attack of epilepsy in 1822 so weakened his constitution that he was forced gradually to relinquish a good part of his law practice.
Achievements
Politics
Longfellow was a member of the Federalist Party. In 1816 he actively opposed measures then being taken for the separation of Maine from Massachusetts. The same year, as a presidential elector, he, along with others from Massachusetts, threw his vote to Rufus King. While in Senate he opposed the great expenditures on internal improvements then under consideration.
Membership
Longfellow served as president of the Maine Historical Society in 1834.
Connections
Longfellow married, on January 1, 1804, Zilpah, the daughter of Peleg Wadsworth. They had four daughters and four sons. Of the latter Henry Wadsworth and Samuel are the best known.