{{short description|American politician (1807–1877)}} {{More citations|date=June 2025}} {{Infobox officeholder | name = James Chaffee Loomis | image = | alt = | caption = | office = | term_start = | term_end = | alongside = | predecessor = | successor = | birth_name = | birth_date = April 1807 | birth_place = Windsor, Connecticut, U.S. | death_date = {{death date and age|1877|9|16|1807|4}} | death_place = South Egremont, Massachusetts, U.S. | resting_place = Mountain Grove Cemetery<br />Bridgeport, Connecticut, U.S. | party = Democratic | spouse = {{marriage|Eliza C. Mitchell|1833|1840|reason=died}}<br />{{marriage|Mary B. Sherman|1844}} | children = 3 | relatives = Osbert Burr Loomis (brother) | education = Yale College<br />University of Virginia School of Law<br />Yale Law School | occupation = {{hlist|Politician|lawyer}} | signature = }} '''James Chaffee Loomis''' (April 1807 – September 16, 1877) was an American lawyer and politician from Connecticut. He served in the Connecticut Senate and Connecticut House of Representatives. He was mayor of Bridgeport, Connecticut, in 1843.
==Early life== thumb|left|Loomis Homestead in Windsor James Chaffee Loomis was born on April 24<ref name="bridgeport">{{cite book|last=Orcutt|first=Samuel|title=A History of the Old Town of Stratford and the City of Bridgeport, Connecticut|year=1886|url={{Google books|uvMLAAAAYAAJ|page=896|plainurl=yes}}|pages=896–897}}</ref> or 29, 1807,<ref name="yale">{{Cite web |url=http://mssa.library.yale.edu/obituary_record/1859_1924/1877-78.pdf |title=Obituary Record of Graduates of Yale College |date=June 26, 1878 |page=292 |access-date=2025-06-23 |via=Archive.org |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231003001711/http://mssa.library.yale.edu/obituary_record/1859_1924/1877-78.pdf |archive-date=2023-10-03 |url-status=dead}}</ref> in Windsor, Connecticut, to Abigail S. (née Chaffee) and James Loomis.<ref name="yale"/> His brother was Osbert Burr Loomis.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://mssa.library.yale.edu/obituary_record/1859_1924/1885-86.pdf |title=Obituary Record of Graduates of Yale College |date=June 1886 |page=300 |access-date=2025-06-23 |via=Archive.org |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230307031519/http://mssa.library.yale.edu/obituary_record/1859_1924/1885-86.pdf |archive-date=2023-03-07 |url-status=dead}}</ref> He attended a grammar school in Hartford.<ref name="bridgeport"/> He graduated from Yale College in 1828. He then studied law at the University of Virginia School of Law. After a year, he returned to Connecticut and studied at Yale Law School and then studied under Clark Bissell in Norwalk. He was admitted to the bar of Fairfield County in 1832.<ref name="bridgeport"/><ref name="yale"/>
==Career== Loomis began practicing law with Samuel B. Sherwood of Saugatuck (later Westport).<ref name="yale"/> From 1837 to 1838, he was an ex-officio member of Yale College.<ref name="yale"/> In 1840, he moved to Bridgeport to practice law.<ref name="yale"/> In 1848, he started a law practice with George W. Warner.<ref name="bridgeport"/> He became city attorney of Bridgeport and served as its mayor in 1843.<ref name="bridgeport"/><ref name="obit2">{{Cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-meriden-daily-republican-james-chaff/175092515/ |title=James Chaffee Loomis |date=1877-09-18 |newspaper=The Meriden Daily Republican |page=2 |via=Newspapers.com |access-date=2025-06-23}}{{Open access}}</ref>
Loomis was elected to the Connecticut Senate, representing the 10th district, around 1835. He served as a member of the Connecticut House of Representatives in 1856 and 1860.<ref name="bridgeport"/><ref name="yale"/><ref name="obit2"/> In 1861 and 1862, he was an unsuccessful Democratic candidate for governor of Connecticut and was defeated by William A. Buckingham.<ref name="yale"/><ref name="obit2"/> Around 1870, he retired from active practice.<ref name="yale"/>
Loomis was president of the Congregational Society from 1847 to around 1860.<ref name="bridgeport"/> At the time of his death, he was president of the Fairfield County Bar Association, president of Bridgeport's Board of Education, president of Mountain Grove Cemetery and president of the Bridgeport Library Association.<ref name="bridgeport"/><ref name="yale"/> He was director of Bridgeport's City National Bank and trustee of the People's Saving Bank.<ref name="bridgeport"/>
==Personal life== Loomis married Eliza C. Mitchell of New Haven on May 1, 1833. They had one son. His wife died in 1840. He married Mary B. Sherman, daughter of Ira Sherman, of Bridgeport on April 24, 1844. They had one son and daughter, including James Sherman.<ref name="yale"/><ref>{{Cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/classof0historyof0yalerich/mode/2up |title=History of the Class of 1868 Yale College, 1864–1914 |last=Wright |first=Henry P. |year=1914 |page=343 |via=Archive.org |access-date=2025-06-23}}{{Open access}}</ref> He had a home on Golden Hill in Bridgeport.<ref name="obit">{{Cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-the-obsequies-of-james/175092396/ |title=The Obsequies of James C. Loomis |date=1877-09-22 |newspaper=Hartford Courant |page=4 |via=Newspapers.com |access-date=2025-06-23}}{{Open access}}</ref>
Loomis traveled on August 18, 1877, to South Egremont, Massachusetts. He fell ill with a gastric fever two days later and died there on September 16.<ref name="yale"/><ref name="obit2"/> He was buried in Mountain Grove Cemetery in Bridgeport.<ref name="obit"/>
==Legacy== In 1874, the Connecticut legislature passed a law naming Loomis and his brothers and sister as trustees of Loomis Institute, an institute for "the free education of children and youth between 12 and 20 years of age" in Windsor.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-springfield-daily-republican-our-har/175093786/ |title=Our Hartford Letter |date=1877-09-21 |newspaper=The Springfield Daily Republican |page=7 |via=Newspapers.com |access-date=2025-06-23}}{{Open access}}</ref> Following his death, Loomis donated a portion of his approximately {{USD|500000}} estate to the school.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-fairfield-county-24-se/175093919/ |title=Fairfield County |date=1877-09-24 |newspaper=Hartford Courant |page=4 |via=Newspapers.com |access-date=2025-06-23}}{{Open access}}</ref>
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== *{{find a Grave|111072375}}
{{s-start}} {{s-ppo}} {{s-bef|before=Thomas H. Seymour}} {{s-ttl|title=Democratic nominee for Governor of Connecticut|years=1861, 1862}} {{s-aft|after=Thomas H. Seymour}} {{s-end}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Loomis, James Chaffee}} Category:1807 births Category:1877 deaths Category:People from Windsor, Connecticut Category:Mayors of Bridgeport, Connecticut Category:Yale College alumni Category:University of Virginia School of Law alumni Category:Connecticut lawyers Category:Democratic Party Connecticut state senators Category:Democratic Party members of the Connecticut House of Representatives Category:Burials at Mountain Grove Cemetery, Bridgeport Category:19th-century American lawyers Category:19th-century mayors of places in Connecticut Category:19th-century members of the Connecticut General Assembly