Lectures to focus on the legacy of Northport’s John Sloss Hobart, patriot and statesman
Image of John Sloss Hobart via the Vanderbilt Museum and Reichert Planetarium.
Northport author and historian Brian O’Connor will give a lecture on Sunday, October 25 at 1pm at the Northport Historical Society and again on Thursday, October 29 at 7pm in the Suffolk County Vanderbilt Museum’s Reichert Planetarium. The lecture is entitled “John Sloss Hobart: Revolutionary War Patriot and Statesman.”
O’Connor will draw on his forthcoming book on John Sloss Hobart (1738-1805), a Northport/Eaton’s Neck lawyer and historical figure who played a significant role in New York’s support of the Declaration of Independence. Hobart’s legacy remains deeply connected to Eaton’s Neck and Long Island’s Revolutionary history.
Born in Fairfield, Connecticut, in 1738, John Sloss Hobart played a prominent role in both our country’s founding and our local history. Today, he remains memorialized through Hobart Beach on Eaton’s Neck, which was named in his honor.
As a member of the New York Provincial Congress, Hobart voted on July 9, 1776, to approve the Declaration of Independence and directed New York’s delegates in Philadelphia to join the other colonies in declaring independence. He helped draft New York’s first state constitution and was appointed as one of the first three judges on New York’s Supreme Court of Judicature – its highest court – on which he served until 1798. He went on to serve as a U.S. senator and federal judge, leaving a lasting legacy in both state and national history.
Born in Brooklyn, O’Connor is also the author of Death by Fire and Ice: The Steamboat Lexington Calamity (Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press, 2022), which recounts the tragic sinking of the Lexington in 1840 in Long Island Sound’s worst maritime disaster.
He received a B.A. in Government and Politics, magna cum laude, from St. John’s University and a J.D. from St. John’s University School of Law, where he served as publications editor of the law review. After beginning his legal career with a clerkship on the New York Court of Appeals, he became a partner in a prominent Wall Street law firm, Willkie Farr & Gallagher, LLP, where he specialized in complex commercial litigation for 38 years before retiring in 2017 as the firm’s general counsel. He lives on Eaton’s Neck with his wife, Helen.
Part of its Sundays at the Society lecture series, the historical society event is free, but space is limited and registration is required. Register here. Purchase tickets to the lecture “John Sloss Hobart: Revolutionary Patriot and Statesman” at the Vanderbilt here.
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