U.S. Congressman. He was educated early at Rock River Seminary and later at De Pauw University. An expert shorthand writer and the only one at that time who represented that skill, he became a very close friend of Abraham Lincoln - so close that when the famous Lincoln-Douglas debate was to happen in 1858, at the request of Lincoln, Hitt was used as a shorthand note taker at these debates. Lincoln had first used him in many trials in Chicago, Illinois when Mr. Lincoln was a lawyer. In 1872 he was the personal secretary for Senator Oliver P. Morton and in December 1874 he was appointed by President Ulysses S. Grant to be First Secretary of the American Legation at Paris, serving from 1874 to 1881, and as Charge d'Affaires a part of that time. He was the First Assistant Secretary of State under James G. Blaine during President James A. Garfield's Administration and was elected to represent Illinois' 9th district in the United States House of Representatives in 1882. He became Chairman of the Committee on Foreign Affairs at the beginning of the Fifty-first Congress. He was appointed in July 1898 by President William McKinley, a member of the commission to establish a government in the Sandwich Islands. During the last years of his life, he was Regent of the Smithsonian Institution.
U.S. Congressman. He was educated early at Rock River Seminary and later at De Pauw University. An expert shorthand writer and the only one at that time who represented that skill, he became a very close friend of Abraham Lincoln - so close that when the famous Lincoln-Douglas debate was to happen in 1858, at the request of Lincoln, Hitt was used as a shorthand note taker at these debates. Lincoln had first used him in many trials in Chicago, Illinois when Mr. Lincoln was a lawyer. In 1872 he was the personal secretary for Senator Oliver P. Morton and in December 1874 he was appointed by President Ulysses S. Grant to be First Secretary of the American Legation at Paris, serving from 1874 to 1881, and as Charge d'Affaires a part of that time. He was the First Assistant Secretary of State under James G. Blaine during President James A. Garfield's Administration and was elected to represent Illinois' 9th district in the United States House of Representatives in 1882. He became Chairman of the Committee on Foreign Affairs at the beginning of the Fifty-first Congress. He was appointed in July 1898 by President William McKinley, a member of the commission to establish a government in the Sandwich Islands. During the last years of his life, he was Regent of the Smithsonian Institution.
Bio by: David Lee Zellers
Gravesite Details
S/O Rev. Thomas H. Hitt & Emily (John) Hitt
Family Members
Siblings
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