Julius Hotchkiss was a United States Representative from Connecticut

Connecticut

Connecticut is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, and the state of New York to the west and the south .Connecticut is named for the Connecticut River, the major U.S. river that approximately...

. He was born in Waterbury, Connecticut

Waterbury, Connecticut

Waterbury is a city in New Haven County, Connecticut, on the Naugatuck River, 33 miles southwest of Hartford and 77 miles northeast of New York City...

, the son of Woodward and Polly (Castle) Hotchkiss, Prospect

Prospect, Connecticut

Prospect is a town in New Haven County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 8,707 at the 2000 census.-Geography:According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of , of which, of it is land and of it is water...

 farmers. At seventeen, he taught in Prospect schools. He later moved to Waterbury and ran a store and a factory that made cotton webbing and suspenders

Suspenders

Suspenders or braces are fabric or leather straps worn over the shoulders to hold up trousers. Straps may be elasticated, either entirely or only at attachment ends and most straps are of woven cloth forming an X or Y shape at the back. Braces are typically attached to trousers with buttons...

.

Personal life

In 1823, he married Melissa Perkins (of Oxford

Oxford, Connecticut

Oxford is a town located in western New Haven County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 12,272 at the 2010 Census. There are several areas in Oxford: Quaker Farms, Riverside and Oxford Center. Oxford belongs to the Naugatuck Valley Economic Development Region and the Central...

) with whom he had five children and were members of The New Church

The New Church

The New Church is the name for a New religious movement developed from the writings of the Swedish scientist and theologian Emanuel Swedenborg . Swedenborg claimed to have received a new revelation from Jesus Christ through continuous heavenly visions which he experienced over a period of at least...

.

Public office

Hotchkiss was nominated by both parties to be the first Mayor

Mayor

In many countries, a Mayor is the highest ranking officer in the municipal government of a town or a large urban city....

 of Waterbury in 1853 when it was incorporated, shifting to the Democratic Party

Democratic Party (United States)

The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...

 when the Whig

Whig Party (United States)

The Whig Party was a political party of the United States during the era of Jacksonian democracy. Considered integral to the Second Party System and operating from the early 1830s to the mid-1850s, the party was formed in opposition to the policies of President Andrew Jackson and his Democratic...

s had dissolved. In 1851 and 1858, he served as a member of the Connecticut House of Representatives

Connecticut House of Representatives

The Connecticut House of Representatives is the lower house in the Connecticut General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Connecticut. The house is composed of 151 members representing an equal number of districts, with each constituency containing nearly 22,600 residents...

. He was elected as a Democrat to the Fortieth Congress

40th United States Congress

The Fortieth United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, consisting of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C. from March 4, 1867 to March 4, 1869, during the third and fourth...

 (March 4, 1867-March 3, 1869). After leaving Congress, he was the Lieutenant Governor of Connecticut in 1870. He died in Middletown

Middletown, Connecticut

Middletown is a city located in Middlesex County, Connecticut, along the Connecticut River, in the central part of the state, 16 miles south of Hartford. In 1650, it was incorporated as a town under its original Indian name, Mattabeseck. It received its present name in 1653. In 1784, the central...

in 1878 and was buried in Pine Grove Cemetery.