Henry Champion (general)

Infobox Person
name = General Henry Champion

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birth_date = March 16, 1751
death_date = July 13, 1836
birth_place = Westchester, Connecticut
occupation = War Veteran, Politician and Landowner
spouse = Abigail Tinker
parents = Colonel Henry Champion, Deborah Brainard
children = Henry, Aristarchus and Aristobulus

General Henry Champion (March 16 1751 - July 13 1836) was born to Colonel Henry Champion and wife Abigail Tinker. Col. Champion and Deborah Brainard. He is a descendant of the Henry Champion who settled in Connecticut in 1647 for Norwich, Norfolk, England.

General Champion lived in Westchester, Connecticut, at his family's magnificent Federal style house which is placed on the National Register of Historic Places. His family consisted of three sons; Henry and the twins Aristarchus and Aristobulus. Henry married Ruth Robbins and settled in Westchester. Aristarchus moved to Rochester, NY and died there childless. Aristobulus died at the age of 2 in Wetschester.

Biography

Henry Champion entered into service in the Continental Army at the Lexington Alarm. He served as Ensign for 22 days before being promoted to 2nd Lieutenant of the Eighth Company, Second Regiment on April 26, 1775. In May, he became a 1st Lieutenant of the same. He was one of the men who fought at Bunker Hill. January 1776 be was again promoted to Adjutant on the staff of Col. Samuel Wyllys. One year later, he was Captain of the First Connecticut Line.

July 15, 1779, Captain Champion was detached from his old regiment and appointed Acting Major of the First Battalion Light Brigade. The Light Brigade had been organized by General George Washington to attempt the capture of Stony Point on the Hudson. The corps was composed of men picked from all regiments and under direct command of General Washington. Major Champion continued his career in the army until the close of the Revolutionary War. He was a member of the Connecticut Society of the Cincinnati.

After returning home to Westchester, Gen. Champion entered the life of politics. He was Deputy from Colchester to the Connecticut Assembly in 1789, 1793 to 1798 and 1800-1805. From 1806 to 1817 he held the office of Assistant. From 1813-1828 he was a deacon in a church in Westchester. General Champion always celebrated July 16th which he called Stony Point Day, in due and ancient form at his famous old country seat in Westchester. He obtained a charter for the Phoenix Bank of Hartford, because the State Bank had refused him the accommodation of $2,000.

He was largely interested in the Connecticut Land Company to which he subscribed over $85,000, and the towns of Champion, NY and Champion, OH, named in his honor.

After his death, in 1836, the Champion Homestead was sold to the Loomis Family and Henry's male line had died out in 1865.

General Henry Champion House

Today the Gen. Champion house still stands and is located on Westchester Rd in Colchester, CT. The house in now privately owned and not open to the public.

References in literature

* "The Champion Genealogy, A History of The Descendants of Henry Champion of Saybrook and Lyme, Connecticut together with Some account of Other Families of the Name" by Francis Bacon Trowbridge. Published 1891