Ebenezer R. Hoar

Biography

Ebenezer Rockwood Hoar, born in 1816 in Concord, Massachusetts, rose through the ranks of the legal profession after graduating from Harvard and devoted himself to reforming state law. He served as Massachusetts attorney general and briefly on the state supreme court before earning national notice.

Appointed U.S. attorney general by President Grant in 1869, he defended federal authority and civil rights and, upon returning home, continued to uphold the rule of law; he lies at Sleepy Hollow Cemetery, remembered for his calm integrity.