Historian; born in
Deerfield, Mass., June 22, 1807; graduated at Harvard College in 1829; studied and practised law and wrote for newspapers and magazines until 1832, when he began to edit the
Boston Atlas.
In the course of many years
Mr. Hildreth wrote several books and pamphlets, chiefly on the subject of slavery, to which system he was opposed.
He resided on a plantation in the
South in 1834-35; in
Washington, D. C., as correspondent of the
Atlas, in 1837-38, when he resumed his editorial post on that paper; and resided in
Demerara,
British Guiana, from 1840 to 1843, when he edited, successively, two newspapers there.
Mr. Hildreth's principal work was a
History of the United States, in 6 volumes (1849-56). He was one of the editors of the New York
Tribune for several years.
In 1861
President Lincoln appointed him United States consul at
Trieste, but failing health compelled him to resign the post.
and he died in
Florence, Italy, July 11, 1865.
