Representative Ansel Sterling

Ansel Sterling (February 3, 1782 – November 6, 1853) was a United States Representative from Connecticut and a long-serving member of the Connecticut General Assembly. He was born in Lyme, Connecticut, where he attended the common schools. He was part of a politically active family; his brother, Micah Sterling, later served as a United States Representative from New York. Raised in rural Connecticut at the close of the Revolutionary era, Ansel Sterling came of age as the new nation’s political and legal institutions were taking shape, a context that would influence his choice of profession and public service.

After completing his early education in Lyme, Sterling pursued the study of law, reflecting the common path of aspiring public men of his generation. He read law in the traditional manner under established practitioners and was admitted to the bar in 1805. Shortly thereafter, he commenced the practice of law in Salisbury, Connecticut. In 1808 he moved to Sharon, Connecticut, where he continued the practice of his profession. Sharon would remain his principal residence and professional base for the rest of his life, and he became a well-known figure in the legal and civic affairs of Litchfield County.

Sterling’s legal career developed in tandem with increasing involvement in state politics. As a practicing attorney in Sharon, he gained experience in local courts and community matters, which helped establish his reputation and facilitated his entry into elective office. His understanding of Connecticut’s legal framework and town-based political culture made him a natural candidate for the state legislature, where lawyers were often prominent. Over time, he became closely associated with the evolving political currents of the early nineteenth century, including the transition from the first party system to the era of Adams and Clay.

Sterling was first elected to the Connecticut House of Representatives in 1815, marking the beginning of a lengthy and intermittent legislative career. He returned to the state House in 1818–1821, 1825, 1826, 1829, and 1835–1837, serving multiple nonconsecutive terms that reflected sustained confidence from his constituents. During his early service he also held important procedural responsibilities, serving as clerk of the House in the sessions of 1815 and 1818–1820. In that role he was responsible for maintaining legislative records and assisting in the orderly conduct of business, duties that drew on his legal training and familiarity with parliamentary practice. His repeated elections and leadership responsibilities underscored his standing within Connecticut’s political community.

Building on his state legislative experience, Sterling was elected to the national legislature as a member of the Democratic-Republican Party. He served in the Seventeenth Congress and was reelected as an Adams-Clay candidate to the Eighteenth Congress, holding office from March 4, 1821, to March 3, 1825. His shift from Democratic-Republican to Adams-Clay affiliation reflected the broader realignment of national politics in the 1820s, as factions coalesced around John Quincy Adams and Henry Clay in support of a nationalist program of internal improvements and economic development. Representing Connecticut in the U.S. House of Representatives, Sterling participated in congressional deliberations during a period marked by debates over tariffs, internal improvements, and the role of the federal government in fostering economic growth in the post–War of 1812 era.

After leaving Congress in 1825, Sterling returned to Sharon and resumed the active practice of law. His congressional service enhanced his stature in Connecticut, and he continued to be a respected figure in both legal and political circles. In the late 1830s he was elevated to the judiciary, becoming chief justice of the court of common pleas of Litchfield County from 1838 to 1840. In that capacity he presided over a broad range of civil and criminal matters at the county level, applying state law in a period of social and economic change. His judicial service capped a career that had encompassed legislative, congressional, and legal responsibilities, and it reflected the confidence placed in his judgment and legal acumen by his contemporaries.

Sterling spent his later years in Sharon, remaining identified with the town where he had practiced law for decades and where he had long been a prominent citizen. He died in Sharon on November 6, 1853. He was buried in Sharon Burying Ground, a local cemetery that holds many of the town’s early and notable residents. His life and career, spanning from the early national period through the age of Jacksonian democracy, exemplified the trajectory of a New England lawyer-politician who served his state and nation in multiple capacities over the course of more than four decades.