Author: Ingersoll, Charles Jared
Biography:
Ingersoll, Charles Jared (1782-1862: ANBO)
The son of Jared Ingersoll, Jr., an attorney and judge, and his wife Elizabeth (Pettit) Ingersoll, he was born and died in Philadelphia. (The surname seems to have been spelled indifferently with one L or two: his first title-page used one.) He attended Princeton but left without a degree in his third year. His play Edwy and Elgiva was performed and published in 1801. Ingersoll was admitted to the Pennsylvania bar in 1802, spent a year travelling in Europe, and then returned to Philadelphia to practise. He married Mary Wilcocks in 1804; the couple went on to have eight children. Two publications established him as an influential nationalist: his View of the Rights and Wrongs . . . of the United States of America (1808) and Inchiquin the Jesuit's Letters (1810). He was first elected to Congress 1812-14 and then again, after a few failed attempts, 1840-9. Whether in government or not, he was politically active throughout his life. He also continued to write both fiction and polemical prose--and one more tragedy, Julian, in 1831. His last significant works were a history of the War of 1812 in four volumes (1845-52) and a memoir, Recollections (1861). (ANBO 7 June 2019)
Other Names:
- Charles Jared Ingersol