John Whitefield Hulbert

John Whitefield Hulbert (June 1, 1770 – October 19, 1831) was a Federalist politician, lawyer, and banker who served as a U.S. Representative from Massachusetts in the early nineteenth century. He was born in Alford, in the Province of Massachusetts Bay, on June 1, 1770, into a politically engaged family. His father, Dr. John Hulbert, was a physician who had received his medical training in Sharon, Connecticut, and became an active participant in Shays’ Rebellion in the mid-1780s. During that period of unrest, Dr. Hulbert crossed from Connecticut into Massachusetts to raise awareness of the agrarian grievances and to recruit support for the rebellion. Connecticut authorities were alerted to his activities, and he was arrested along with co-conspirators; the charges were ultimately dropped after the defeat of the rebellion and the replacement of the hawkish Massachusetts governor James Bowdoin by the more conciliatory John Hancock. In contrast to his father’s insurgent stance, John Whitefield Hulbert would later align himself with the Federalist Party and pursue a career within established political institutions.

Hulbert completed his preparatory studies in Massachusetts before entering Harvard University. He graduated from Harvard in 1795, a period when the college was a principal training ground for New England’s professional and political elite. Following his graduation, he undertook the study of law and was admitted to the bar in 1797. He commenced the practice of law in his native Alford, Massachusetts, where he established himself as an attorney. His legal practice in a rural but commercially developing region of western Massachusetts provided him with experience in property, commercial, and local governance matters that would later inform his public service.

In addition to his legal work, Hulbert became involved in regional finance and economic affairs. He served as a director of the Berkshire Bank in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, an institution that played a significant role in the financial life of Berkshire County in the early nineteenth century. His position at the bank reflected both his standing in the community and his engagement with the economic development of western Massachusetts at a time when banking and credit were increasingly important to commerce and agriculture.

Hulbert entered national politics as a member of the Federalist Party, which drew much of its strength from New England and advocated a strong national government and commercial development. He was elected as a Federalist to the Thirteenth Congress to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of Representative Daniel Dewey of Massachusetts. Hulbert took his seat in the U.S. House of Representatives on September 26, 1814, during the later stages of the War of 1812, a conflict that deeply divided Federalists and Democratic-Republicans. He was reelected to the Fourteenth Congress and served continuously from September 26, 1814, to March 3, 1817. During his tenure, he participated in the legislative debates of the postwar period, which included questions of national finance, military preparedness, and the country’s economic recovery. He was not a candidate for renomination in 1816, thus concluding his service in the House at the end of the Fourteenth Congress.

After leaving Congress, Hulbert relocated from Massachusetts to central New York, reflecting the broader westward movement of New Englanders in the early nineteenth century. In 1817 he moved to Auburn, New York, then an emerging community in Cayuga County. There he resumed the practice of law, integrating himself into the civic and professional life of his new home. His legal expertise and prior congressional experience made him a prominent figure in local affairs.

Hulbert continued his public service at the state level in New York. In 1825 he represented Cayuga County as a member of the New York State Assembly. His election to the Assembly demonstrated the confidence placed in him by his adopted community and allowed him to participate in state legislative matters during a period of rapid growth and institutional development in New York, including issues related to internal improvements, legal reform, and the evolving political landscape of the post-Federalist era.

John Whitefield Hulbert remained in Auburn for the rest of his life, practicing law and maintaining his involvement in public and community affairs. He died in Auburn, New York, on October 19, 1831. He was interred in North Street Cemetery in Auburn, where his burial marked the close of a career that had spanned local, state, and national service in both Massachusetts and New York, and that reflected the political and geographic shifts of the early American republic.