 The
son of Jared Ingersoll, Sr., a British colonial official and later
prominent Loyalist, Ingersoll was born at New Haven, CT, in 1749. He
received an excellent education and graduated from Yale in 1766. He
then oversaw the financial affairs of his father, who had relocated
from New Haven to Philadelphia. Later, the youth joined him, took up
the study of law, and won admittance to the Pennsylvania bar.
In the midst of the Revolutionary fervor, which
neither father nor son shared, in 1773, on the advice of the elder
Ingersoll, Jared, Jr., sailed to London and studied law at the
Middle Temple. Completing his work in 1776, he made a 2-year tour of
the Continent, during which time for some reason he shed his
Loyalist sympathies.
Returning to Philadelphia and entering the
legal profession, Ingersoll attended to the clients of one of the
city's leading lawyers and a family friend, Joseph Reed, who was
then occupied with the affairs of the Supreme Executive Council of
Pennsylvania. In 1781 Ingersoll married Elizabeth Pettit (Petit).
The year before, he had entered politics by winning election to the
Continental Congress (1780-81).
Although Ingersoll missed no sessions at the
Constitutional Convention, had long favored revision of the Articles
of Confederation, and as a lawyer was used to debate, he seldom
spoke during the proceedings.
Subsequently, Ingersoll held a variety of
public positions: member of the Philadelphia common council (1789);
attorney general of Pennsylvania (1790-99 and 1811-17); Philadelphia
city solicitor (1798-1801); U.S. District Attorney for Pennsylvania
(1800-01); and presiding judge of the Philadelphia District Court
(1821-22). Meantime, in 1812, he had been the Federalist
Vice-Presidential candidate, but failed to win election.
While pursuing his public activities, Ingersoll
attained distinction in his legal practice. For many years, he
handled the affairs of Stephen Girard, one of the nation's leading
businessmen. In 1791 Ingersoll began to practice before the U.S.
Supreme Court and took part in some memorable cases. Although in
both Chisholm v. Georgia (1792) and Hylton v. United States (1796)
he represented the losing side, his arguments helped to clarify
difficult constitutional issues. He also represented fellow-signer
William Blount, a senator, when he was threatened with impeachment
in the late 1790s.
Ingersoll's long career ended in 1822, when he
died less than a week after his 73d birthday. Survived by three
children, he was buried in the cemetery of Philadelphia's First
Presbyterian Church. |
