Jared Ingersoll (399)

Jared Ingersoll (October 1749–31 October 1822) was a lawyer, a signer of the U.S. Constitution, a public official and a member of the American Philosophical Society, elected in 1780. Ingersoll was born in New Haven, Connecticut, and, after graduating from Yale in 1766, moved to Philadelphia where he began a legal practice in 1778. Over the course of his career, he became one of the most prominent attorneys of the day: he represented wealthy clients including bankers and congressmen and argued significant cases before the newly-formed Supreme Court. Ingersoll served as a state attorney general from 1790–1799 and from 1811–1817, as solicitor for the city of Philadelphia from 1798–1801, and as Pennsylvania’s district attorney from 1800–1801. Ingersoll also had a notable career as a public official. He was elected to the Continental Congress in 1780 and in 1787 was selected as a representative from Pennsylvania to the Constitutional Convention. His contributions to the convention did not seem particularly noteworthy, but he did impress his fellow delegates with his keen legal understanding and his perfect attendance record. Ingersoll initially supported revising the Articles of Confederation, rather than drafting a new Constitution, but, in September 1787, he was one of the thirty-nine signers of the new document. He was a devoted member of the Federalist party and was the party’s nominee for vice president during the election of 1812. He and his running mate, Elbridge Gerry, were defeated when James Madison was re-elected, and Ingersoll returned to Philadelphia, where he worked as a judge of the city’s district court until his death in 1821. Two of his sons, Joseph Reed Ingersoll and Charles Jared Ingersoll, were also members of the American Philosophical Society. (ANB)