Henry Hitchcock
Chief Justice of theSupreme Court of Alabama
In office 1836–1837
Preceded by	Reuben Saffold
Succeeded by	Arthur F. Hopkins
1stAttorney General of Alabama
In office 1819–1823
Governor	William Wyatt Bibb Thomas Bibb Israel Pickens
Preceded by	Position Established
Succeeded by	Thomas White
1stSecretary of State of Alabama
In office 1818–1819
Governor	William Wyatt Bibb
Preceded by	Position Established
Succeeded by	Thomas A. Rodgers
United States Attorney for the Southern District of Alabama
In office 1825–1830
President	John Quincy Adams Andrew Jackson
Preceded by	Position Established
Succeeded by	John Elliot
Personal details
Born	(1792-09-11)September 11, 1792 Burlington, Vermont, US
Died	August 11, 1839(1839-08-11) (aged 56) Mobile, Alabama, US
Resting place	Magnolia Cemetery, Mobile Alabama
Spouse	Ann Erwin (m. 1821-1839, his death)
Relations	Samuel Hitchcock (father) Ethan Allen (grandfather) Ethan Allen Hitchcock (brother)
Children	8 (includingEthan Hitchcock andHenry Hitchcock
Education	University of Vermont
Profession	Attorney

Henry Hitchcock (September 11, 1792 – August 11, 1839) was the firstattorney general of Alabama, having been elected by theAlabama General Assembly in December 1819 in its initial session. He was also the Secretary of theAlabama Territory, the position which was the precursor to the modern-daySecretary of State of Alabama.^[1]

Henry Hitchcock was born inBurlington, Vermont, in 1792. He was the grandson of GeneralEthan Allen, leader of theGreen Mountain Boys and hero ofTiconderoga, and the son of JudgeSamuel Hitchcock.Major GeneralEthan Allen Hitchcock was his brother. Henry Hitchcock's son,Ethan Hitchcock, served asUnited States Secretary of the Interior underWilliam McKinley. Another son,Henry Hitchcock, was a prominent attorney inSt. Louis, Missouri.

Henry Hitchcock attendedMiddlebury College for a while and then graduated from theUniversity of Vermont in 1811. While studying law, he cultivated a small farm in order to provide for the needs of his family. He became a member of thebar in 1815 and handled several important lawsuits before leaving Burlington for the lure of what was then called the Southwest. He traveled byflat boat down theOhio andMississippi rivers, eventually arriving inMobile on January 22, 1816, after a brief stay inNatchez.

On May 14, 1818, six months after the creation of theAlabama Territory, Hitchcock was appointed its first secretary by GovernorWilliam Wyatt Bibb. He also participated in the writing of Alabama's firstconstitution, representingWashington County in the constitutional convention inHuntsville on July 5, 1819. Hitchcock was elected as the State's firstAttorney General by the General Assembly in December 1819. In 1821, he married Ann Erwin (1803-1854). Two sons wereHenry Hitchcock (1829-1902), a prominent attorney inSt. Louis, Missouri, andEthan Hitcocock (1835-1909), served asUnited States Secretary of the Interior underWilliam McKinley. Hitchcock then had the distinction of producing the first book printed in the State of Alabama entitled,The Alabama Justice of the Peace, Containing All the Duties, Powers and Authorities of That Office, which was published inCahawaba, Alabama, in 1822. In 1826, Hitchcock was appointed United StatesDistrict Attorney for the Mobile region. On January 9. 1835, Hitchcock was elected to fill a vacancy on theAlabama Supreme Court. He becameChief Justice in June 1836.^[2] Hitchcock was also a very astute businessman, reputedly the wealthiest man in Alabama before feeling the effects of thePanic of 1837. On August 11, 1839, Hitchcock succumbed to yellow fever during one of the worst epidemics of that disease in Mobile's history.

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  Henry Hitchcock
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  Ethan A. Hitchcock in 1902

• William H. Brantley, Jr., "Henry Hitchcock of Mobile, 1816-1839."The Alabama Review V (January, 1952):3
• Darell E. Bigham, From the Green Mountains to Tombigbee: Henry Hitchcock in Territorial Alabama, 1817–1819,"The Alabama Review XXVI (July, 1973):209

• 1792 births
• 1839 deaths
• 19th-century Alabama politicians
• 19th-century American judges
• Alabama attorneys general
• Chief justices of the Supreme Court of Alabama
• Justices of the Supreme Court of Alabama
• Politicians from Burlington, Vermont
• Secretaries of state of Alabama

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