Orville Hitchcock Platt (July 19, 1827 - April 21, 1905) was a United States Senator from Connecticut. Born in Washington, Connecticut, he attended the common schools and graduated from the Gunnery Academy in Washington. He studied law in Litchfield, and was admitted to the bar in 1850, commencing practice in Towanda, Pennsylvania. He moved to Meriden, Connecticut in 1850 and continued to practice law. He was clerk of the State senate in 1855 and 1856, secretary of state of Connecticut in 1857, and a member of the State senate in 1861 and 1862. He was a member of the State house of representatives in 1864 and 1869, and served as speaker in the latter year. Platt was state's attorney for New Haven County, 1877 to 1879, and was elected as a Republican to the U.S. Senate in 1879. He was reelected in 1885, 1891, 1897 and 1903, and served from March 4, 1879, until his death. While in the Senate, he was chairman of the Committee on Patents (Forty-seventh through Forty-ninth and Fifty-fourth and Fifty-fifth Congresses) and a member of the Committees on Pensions (Forty-seventh Congress), Territories (Fiftieth through Fifty-second Congresses), Cuban Relations (Fifty-sixth through Fifty-eighth Congresses), and the Judiciary (Fifty-eighth and Fifty-ninth Congresses). Platt died in Meriden, and was interred in Washington, Connecticut in the Cemetery on the Green.
The Platt Amendment, which governed U.S. relations with Cuba from 1901 to 1934, was named for Sen. Platt.
This article incorporates facts obtained from the public domain Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
