A. Homer Byington Explained

Aaron Homer Byington
Office:Member of the Connecticut Senate
from the 12th District
Term Start:1861
Term End:1863[1]
Predecessor:Julius Curtis
Successor:Morgan Morgans
Office2:Member of the Connecticut House of Representatives from Norwalk
Term Start2:1858
Term End2:1860
Predecessor2:Josiah Carter, William T. Craw
Successor2:William T. Craw, Samuel E. Olmstead
Alongside2:Daniel K. Nash, William T. Craw
Birth Date:26 July 1826[2]
Birth Place:Herkimer, New York
Death Date:[3]
Death Place:Flushing, Queens, New York
Restingplace:Riverside Cemetery, Norwalk, Connecticut
Residence:Norwalk, Connecticut
Alma Mater:Amos Smith Collegiate School
Occupation:Newspaper editor[4]
Party:Republican, Union Party
Spouse:Harriet Sophia Richmond (m. November 8, 1849)
Children:William Homer Byington, George Richmond Byington, and Stuart Woodford Byington, Henry Sumpter Byington (d. 1887), Harriet Eloise Byington (d. in infancy)

Aaron Homer Byington (July 23, 1826 – December 29, 1910) was the U.S. Consul in Naples from 1897 to 1907. He was a newspaper publisher and editor. He also represented Norwalk in the Connecticut House of Representatives from 1858 to 1860, and was a member of the Connecticut Senate representing the 12th District from 1861 to 1863.

He was born in Herkimer, New York, on July 23, 1826, to Aaron Byington and Sarah Waterbury.[2]

Career

Upon completion of his studies, he worked in a minor position at the Norwalk Gazette.[2] When the New Haven Morning Chronicle began publication with Thomas G. Woodward as editor, Byington became business manager.[2] He remained in this capacity until 1848, when he bought the Norwalk Gazette.[2] In the Gazette, Byington editorialized for giving blacks the vote, a distinctly minority position at the time.[4]

At the outbreak of the American Civil War, and before regiments of Northern troops had arrived to defend Washington, there was a report of a plot to burn the capital. On April 18, 1861, this report mobilized loyal citizens, including Byington, and former congressman Orris S. Ferry, also of Norwalk to form a militia. This militia was led by Cassius Marcellus Clay, and came to be known as the Cassius Clay Guard.[4]

During the war, Byington worked as a lobbyist for Connecticut's arms manufacturers.[4] Byington was a raconteur who eventually got to know Abraham Lincoln and swapped tall tales and jokes with him.[4]

After the war Byington co-founded the New York Sun, along with Edmund C. Stedman and Charles A. Dana.[2]

He was a delegate to the Republican National Convention from Connecticut in 1868 and an alternate in 1880.[3]

In 1897, he suspended operations of the Norwalk Gazette when he was appointed by President William McKinley United States Consul in Naples. He served until 1907.[3]

Byington died on December 29, 1910, in Flushing, New York.[2]

Notes and References

  1. https://books.google.com/books?id=ul0EAAAAYAAJ Roll of state officers and members of General Assembly of Connecticut, from 1776 to 1881
  2. http://beta.worldcat.org/archivegrid/data/170883517 ArchiveGrid - The Byington family papers, 1835-1996
  3. http://politicalgraveyard.com/bio/button-byrer.html#479.73.25 Political Graveyard
  4. http://norwalk.patch.com/groups/editors-picks/p/norwalkers-orris-ferry-and-a-homer-byington-help-guar5be1584424 Norwalk Patch