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Samuel Prentiss

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Samuel Prentiss
Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Vermont
In office
April 8, 1842 – January 15, 1857
Appointed byJohn Tyler
Preceded byElijah Paine
Succeeded byDavid Allen Smalley
United States Senator
from Vermont
In office
March 4, 1831 – April 11, 1842
Preceded byDudley Chase
Succeeded bySamuel C. Crafts
Chief Justice of the Vermont Supreme Court
In office
1829–1830
Preceded byRichard Skinner
Succeeded byTitus Hutchinson
Associate Justice of the Vermont Supreme Court
In office
1825–1829
Preceded byJoel Doolittle
Succeeded byTitus Hutchinson
Member of the Vermont House of Representatives
In office
1824–1825
Preceded byAraunah Waterman
Succeeded byWilliam Upham
Personal details
Born(1782-03-31)March 31, 1782
Stonington, Connecticut, U.S.
DiedJanuary 15, 1857(1857-01-15) (aged 74)
Montpelier, Vermont, U.S.
Political partyFederalist
National Republican
Whig
SpouseLucretia Houghton Prentiss
Children12
ProfessionLawyer
Politician
Judge

Samuel Prentiss (March 31, 1782 – January 15, 1857) was a Vermont attorney, judge, and politician. He served as a Justice of the Vermont Supreme Court, a United States Senator from Vermont and later a United States federal judge.

Early life

Prentiss was born in Stonington, Connecticut on March 31, 1782.[1] The fourth in his family to be named Samuel Prentiss, he was the son of Lucretia (Holmes) Prentiss and Samuel Prentiss III (1759-1818), a physician who served as an army surgeon during the American Revolution.[1][2] His grandfather, Colonel Samuel Prentiss II (1736-1809), was also a veteran of the Revolution.[1][2] The Dr. Samuel Prentiss family moved to Worcester, and then to Northfield in 1786, and the younger Samuel Prentiss completed his education in the schools of Northfield and with private tutoring in the classics from Reverend Samuel C. Allen.[1] Prentiss studied law in Northfield with attorney Samuel Vose,[1] and in Brattleboro, Vermont with attorney John W. Blake;[1] he was admitted to the bar in 1802 and began a practice in Montpelier.[1] Among the lawyers who received their education and training in his office was William Upham, who later served in the United States Senate.[3] Prentiss was a trustee of Dartmouth College from 1820 to 1827;[4] he received the honorary degrees of A.M.[4] and LL.D.[4] from Dartmouth in 1817 and 1832.[4]

Career

In addition to practicing law, Prentiss became active in politics, first as a Federalist,[5] and later as a National Republican,[6] Anti-Jacksonian[7] and Whig.[7] He was an unsuccessful candidate for the United States House of Representatives in 1816,[5] and a member of the Vermont House of Representatives in 1824-1825.[1] From 1825 to 1829, Prentiss was an associate justice of the Vermont Supreme Court;[8] he was chief justice from 1829 to 1830.[8]

In 1831, Prentiss was elected to the U.S. Senate as an Anti-Jacksonian.[7] He was reelected as a Whig in 1837, and served from March 4, 1831 to April 11, 1842, when he resigned to accept appointment as a federal judge.[7] While in the Senate, he was chairman of the Committee on Patents and the Patent Office (28th Congress),[7] and he was the sponsor of the law to suppress dueling in the District of Columbia.[1]

On April 8, 1842, Prentiss was nominated by President John Tyler to the seat on the United States District Court for the District of Vermont vacated by the death of Elijah Paine.[1] Prentiss was confirmed by the United States Senate on April 8, 1842, and received his commission the same day.[1] He served on the court until his death.[1]

Death and burial

Prentiss died in Montpelier on January 18, 1857.[1] He was buried at Green Mount Cemetery in Montpelier.[9]

Family

In 1804, Prentiss married Lucretia Houghton (1786-1855) of Northfield, Massachusetts.[1] They were the parents of 12 children:[10]

  • George Houghton (1805-1833)
  • Samuel Blake (1807-1894)
  • Edward Houghton (1808-1893)
  • John Holmes (1811-1876)
  • Charles Williams (1812-1895)
  • Henry Francis (1814-1872)
  • Frederick James (1816-1895)
  • Theodore (1818-1906)
  • Joseph Addison (1820-1907)
  • Augustus (1822-1822)
  • Lucretia (1823-1823)
  • James (1824-1868)

Theodore Prentiss was a member of the Wisconsin State Assembly.

Prentiss's brother John Holmes Prentiss was a United States Representative from New York.

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n The History of the Town of Montpelier, pp. 447–451.
  2. ^ a b DAR Lineage Book, p. 273.
  3. ^ The History of the Town of Montpelier, p. 454.
  4. ^ a b c d General Catalogue of Dartmouth College, p. 67.
  5. ^ a b "Vermont Election Results", p. 2.
  6. ^ Annual Report of the American Historical Association, p. 507.
  7. ^ a b c d e Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1774-2005, p. 1762.
  8. ^ a b History of Vermont, Natural, Civil and Statistical, p. 124.
  9. ^ "Prominent People Buried in Vermont:Samuel Prentiss".
  10. ^ The History of the Town of Montpelier, p. 451.

Sources

Books

  • American Historical Association (1903). Annual Report of the American Historical Association. Vol. I. Washington, DC: US Government Printing Office.
  • Bisbee, Marvin Davis (1900). General Catalogue of Dartmouth College and the Associated Schools 1769-1900. Hanover, NH: Dartmouth College.
  • Dolliver, Louise Pearsons (1907). Lineage Book - National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution. Vol. XXIII. Harrisburg, PA: Telegraph Printing Company.
  • Hemenway, Abby Maria (1882). The History of the Town of Montpelier, Including that of the Town of East Montpelier. Montpelier, VT: A. M. Hemenway.
  • Thompson, Zadock (1842). History of Vermont, Natural, Civil and Statistical. I. Burlington, VT: Chauncey Goodrich.
  • Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1774-2005. Washington, DC: US Government Printing Office. 2005. ISBN 978-0-16-073176-1.

Internet

U.S. Senate
Preceded by U.S. senator (Class 3) from Vermont
March 4, 1831 – April 11, 1842
Served alongside: Horatio Seymour, Benjamin Swift and Samuel S. Phelps 		Succeeded by
Legal offices
Preceded by Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Vermont
1842–1857 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Chief Justice of the Vermont Supreme Court
1829–1830 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Associate Justice of the Vermont Supreme Court
1825–1829 		Succeeded by
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