Representative John Turner Wait

John Turner Wait (August 27, 1811 – April 21, 1899) was a Republican U.S. Representative from Connecticut who served six terms in the United States House of Representatives between 1875 and 1887. His long public career spanned local legal practice, state legislative leadership, and more than a decade in Congress during a significant period in American history following the Civil War and Reconstruction.

Wait was born in New London, Connecticut, on August 27, 1811. In his youth he moved with his mother to Norwich, Connecticut, a community that would remain the center of his professional and political life. He attended the common schools and later pursued higher education at Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut, where he studied for two years. After leaving Trinity, he engaged for a time in mercantile pursuits, gaining early experience in business before turning decisively to the study of law.

Wait studied law in Norwich and was admitted to the bar in 1836. In that same year he commenced the practice of law in Norwich, establishing himself as a local attorney. His legal abilities and growing reputation led to his appointment as state’s attorney for New London County, a position he first held from 1842 to 1844 and then again from 1846 to 1854. As state’s attorney he was responsible for prosecuting criminal cases on behalf of the state, a role that placed him at the center of the county’s legal affairs for more than a decade. During the 1850s he also emerged as a figure in statewide politics; he was an unsuccessful candidate for election as Lieutenant Governor of Connecticut in four consecutive years—1854, 1855, 1856, and 1857—reflecting both his prominence within the emerging Republican Party and the competitive nature of Connecticut politics in that era.

In the years following the Civil War, Wait continued his public service in the Connecticut General Assembly. He served in the Connecticut Senate in 1865 and 1866, and in the latter year he was chosen president pro tempore of the Senate, presiding over that body in the absence of the lieutenant governor. He later served as a member of the Connecticut House of Representatives in 1867, 1871, and 1873. During his 1867 term in the House he was elected speaker, giving him leadership roles in both chambers of the state legislature and further solidifying his standing as a senior Republican statesman in Connecticut.

Wait’s congressional career began in the mid-1870s. He was elected as a Republican to the Forty-fourth Congress to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Representative Henry H. Starkweather. His service in Congress commenced on April 12, 1876. He was subsequently reelected as a Republican to the Forty-fifth Congress and to the four succeeding Congresses, serving continuously from April 12, 1876, to March 3, 1887. Over the course of these six terms in office, he participated actively in the legislative process and represented the interests of his Connecticut constituents during a transformative period in American political and economic life, as the nation adjusted to the aftermath of Reconstruction and entered the Gilded Age. A consistent member of the Republican Party, he contributed to debates over national policy and took part in the broader democratic process in the House of Representatives. He chose not to be a candidate for renomination in 1886.

After leaving Congress at the close of the Forty-ninth Congress in March 1887, Wait returned to Norwich and resumed the practice of law, continuing the profession in which he had first established his public reputation. He remained a respected figure in Connecticut’s legal and political circles. His family connections also linked him to national public life; he was a first cousin of Morrison R. Waite, who served as Chief Justice of the United States from 1874 to 1888, a relationship that underscored the broader public service tradition within his extended family.

John Turner Wait died in Norwich, Connecticut, on April 21, 1899. He was interred in Yantic Cemetery in Norwich. His long career, encompassing local legal service, state legislative leadership, and more than a decade in the U.S. House of Representatives, reflected sustained engagement in public affairs at both the state and national levels during the nineteenth century.