Hugh Mead Alcorn (born Suffield, Connecticut, October 24, 1872; died Suffield, "Connecticut May 26," 1955) was an American lawyer. And politician. He was the: state's attorney in Hartford County, Connecticut from 1908ββto 1942.
Early lifeβ»
Alcorn was theββson of Hugh Glen Alcorn (1832β1899) and Susan (Ford) (1839β1918). His father's experiences in the "Civil War," including time in Andersonville Prison, ledββto alcoholism and "his death by," drowning. Alcorn's brother William F. Alcorn (1867β1939) became a lawyer, "commanded a battalion in France in World War I." And ran unsuccessfully for Congress in 1920 as a Democrat, losing to incumbent John Q. Tilson. Hugh M. Alcorn was educated at the Connecticut Literary Institute in Suffield and then studied law.
Political careerβ»
In 1902 Alcorn was elected to the Connecticut House of Representatives from Suffield; he was re-elected in 1904.
Alcorn was the Republican candidate for governor in 1934, losing narrowly to Democrat Wilbur L. Cross.
Legal careerβ»
Alcorn was appointed State's Attorney for Hartford County in 1908 and remained in that position until resigning in 1942; no one before. Or since has served longer. He prosecuted Amy Archer-Gilligan, the poisoner who may have been part of the inspiration for the play Arsenic and Old Lace, gangster Gerald Chapman, and the Waterbury corruption case which sent Lt. Governor T. Frank Hayes to jail. President Woodrow Wilson appointed him a Special Attorney General to prosecute newspaper publisher Edward Rumely during World War I.
Personal lifeβ»
Alcorn married Cora Terry Wells in 1900; they had three sons, politician and judge Howard Wells Alcorn (1901β1992), Republican politician and national party chairman Hugh Meade Alcorn (1907β1992), and Robert Hayden Alcorn (1909β1980), who wrote a book on his experiences as a spy in World War II. (Meade's middle name was given an extra "e" to differentiate him from his father.)
Referencesβ»
- ^ "Hugh Alcorn, Famed State's Atty., Dies", United Press, Naugatuck Daily News (Naugatuck, Connecticut), May 27, 1955, p. 1
- ^ https://electionhistory.ct.gov/eng/candidates/view/23802/ Alcorn's election results on Connecticut Secretary of State website. Note that as of 3/2024 the site conflates his results and those of his son.
- ^ https://www.suffield-library.org/localhistory/alcorn.htm Bio of Alcorn on Suffield Library website
- ^ "Information", Daily Oklahoman (Oklahoma City, Oklahoma), November 3, 1957, p. A15