Samuel Prentiss
Samuel Prentiss | |
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Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Vermont | |
In office April 8, 1842 – January 15, 1857 | |
Appointed by | John Tyler |
Preceded by | Elijah Paine |
Succeeded by | David Allen Smalley |
United States Senator from Vermont | |
In office March 4, 1831 – April 11, 1842 | |
Preceded by | Dudley Chase |
Succeeded by | Samuel C. Crafts |
Chief Justice of the Vermont Supreme Court | |
In office 1829–1830 | |
Preceded by | Richard Skinner |
Succeeded by | Titus Hutchinson |
Associate Justice of the Vermont Supreme Court | |
In office 1825–1829 | |
Preceded by | Joel Doolittle |
Succeeded by | Titus Hutchinson |
Member of the Vermont House of Representatives | |
In office 1824–1825 | |
Preceded by | Araunah Waterman |
Succeeded by | William Upham |
Personal details | |
Born | Stonington, Connecticut, U.S. | March 31, 1782
Died | January 15, 1857 Montpelier, Vermont, U.S. | (aged 74)
Political party | Federalist National Republican Whig |
Spouse | Lucretia Houghton Prentiss |
Children | 12 |
Profession | Lawyer 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
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n The History of the Town of Montpelier, pp. 447–451.
- ^ a b DAR Lineage Book, p. 273.
- ^ The History of the Town of Montpelier, p. 454.
- ^ a b c d General Catalogue of Dartmouth College, p. 67.
- ^ a b "Vermont Election Results", p. 2.
- ^ Annual Report of the American Historical Association, p. 507.
- ^ a b c d e Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1774-2005, p. 1762.
- ^ a b History of Vermont, Natural, Civil and Statistical, p. 124.
- ^ "Prominent People Buried in Vermont:Samuel Prentiss".
- ^ 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
- "Prominent People Buried in Vermont:Samuel Prentiss". www.voca58.org/. Burlington, VT: Vermont Old Cemetery Association. Retrieved July 14, 2017.
- Vermont State Archives and Records Administration. "Vermont Election Results: United States Representative (Six Districts), 1812-1820" (PDF). www.sec.state.vt.us/. Montpelier, VT: Vermont Secretary of State. Retrieved July 14, 2017.
External links
- Samuel Prentiss at the Biographical Directory of Federal Judges, a publication of the Federal Judicial Center.
- "Samuel Prentiss". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
- Samuel Prentiss at Find a Grave
- Binney, Charles J. F. (1883). Memoirs of Judge Samuel Prentiss, of Montpelier, Vt., and his Wife, Lucretia (Houghton) Prentiss. Boston, MA: C. J. F. Binney.
- Phelps, Edward John (1883). Address on the Life and Public Services of the Hon. Samuel Prentiss. Montpelier, VT: Vermont Watchman & Journal Press.
- 1782 births
- 1857 deaths
- United States Senators from Vermont
- Members of the Vermont House of Representatives
- Judges of the United States District Court for the District of Vermont
- United States federal judges appointed by John Tyler
- 19th-century American judges
- Vermont lawyers
- People from Stonington, Connecticut
- Chief Justices of the Vermont Supreme Court
- Vermont Whigs
- 19th-century American politicians
- Vermont National Republicans
- National Republican Party United States Senators
- Burials in Vermont