Joseph Healy

Joseph Healy (August 21, 1776 – October 10, 1861) was an American politician, farmer, innkeeper, and United States representative from New Hampshire. He was born in Newton, Middlesex County, Massachusetts, the son of John Healy and Mary Wight Healy. Healy completed his preparatory studies in Massachusetts before moving into adult life as a working farmer and innkeeper, occupations that would remain central to his livelihood even as he entered public service.

On December 21, 1801, Healy married Ruth Jaquith. The couple had one son, Harvey, who was born on December 24, 1802. After Ruth Jaquith Healy’s death on June 19, 1807, Healy married Sally Copeland on February 2, 1808. With his second wife he had five children: two daughters, Clara and Louisa, and three sons, John Plummer Healy, Langdon Healy, and Sullivan Wight Healy. During these years he continued to work in agriculture and the hotel business, establishing himself as a farmer and innkeeper, pursuits that connected him closely with the economic and social life of his community.

Healy’s public career in New Hampshire began at the state level. Having settled in New Hampshire, he entered politics and became a member of the New Hampshire Senate in 1824. His service in the state senate coincided with a period of significant political realignment in the early republic, as factions coalesced around the policies of President John Quincy Adams and his supporters. Healy’s experience as a farmer and innkeeper, and his familiarity with local concerns, helped shape his legislative outlook as he moved from state to national office.

Elected as an Adams Party candidate, Healy won a seat in the United States House of Representatives from New Hampshire by a majority of 4,000 votes over the Federalist candidate Ezekiel Webster. He served in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Congresses from March 4, 1825, to March 3, 1829. As a member of the Adams Party representing New Hampshire, Joseph Healy contributed to the legislative process during two terms in office, participating in the democratic process and representing the interests of his constituents during a significant period in American history marked by debates over internal improvements, tariffs, and the evolving role of the federal government. His tenure placed him in the midst of the transition from the “Era of Good Feelings” to the more sharply defined party politics of the Jacksonian era.

After leaving Congress in 1829, Healy returned to New Hampshire and continued his involvement in public affairs. He served as a member of the New Hampshire Executive Council from 1829 to 1832, advising the governor and participating in the administration of state government. Following his service on the Executive Council, Healy resumed his agricultural pursuits and the hotel business, returning to the occupations that had grounded his life before and during his political career.

Joseph Healy spent his later years in Washington, Sullivan County, New Hampshire. He died there on October 10, 1861, at the age of 85 years and 50 days. He is interred at Old Cemetery in Washington, New Hampshire. His long life spanned from the early years of the American republic through the opening months of the Civil War, and his career reflected the engagement of local citizens in both state and national governance during the formative decades of the United States.