Samuel Prentiss

Samuel Prentiss
United States district judge 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 from the Montpelier district
In office 1824–1825
Preceded by	Araunah Waterman
Succeeded by	William Upham
Personal details
Born	Samuel Prentiss (1782-03-31)March 31, 1782 Stonington, Connecticut
Died	January 15, 1857(1857-01-15) (aged 74) Montpelier, Vermont
Resting place	Green Mount Cemetery Montpelier, Vermont
Political party	Federalist National Republican Whig
Spouse	Lucretia Houghton ​ ​ (m. 1804; died 1855)​
Children	12 (including Theodore Prentiss)
Relatives	John Holmes Prentiss (brother) William A. Prentiss (brother)
Profession	Attorney

Samuel Prentiss (March 31, 1782 – January 15, 1857) was an associate justice and chief justice of the Vermont Supreme Court, a United States senator from Vermont and a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the District of Vermont.

Born on March 31, 1782, in Stonington, Connecticut,^[1] Prentiss moved with his family to Worcester, Massachusetts, and then to Northfield, Massachusetts, in 1786, where he completed preparatory studies and was instructed in the classics by private tutor Reverend Samuel C. Allen.^[1] He studied law in Northfield with attorney Samuel Vose,^[1] and in Brattleboro, Vermont, with attorney John W. Blake^[1] in 1802.^[1] He was admitted to the bar and practiced in Montpelier, Vermont, from 1803 to 1824.^[2]

He was a member of the Vermont House of Representatives from 1824 to 1825.^[1] He was an associate justice of the Vermont Supreme Court from 1825 to 1829,^[3] and chief justice from 1829 to 1830.^[3]

In addition to practicing law, Prentiss became active in politics, first as a Federalist,^[4] and later as a National Republican^[5][6] and Whig.^[6] He was an unsuccessful candidate for the United States House of Representatives in 1816.^[4]

Prentiss was elected in 1831 to the United States Senate as a National Republican. He was reelected as a Whig in 1837 and served from March 4, 1831, to April 11, 1842, when he resigned to accept a judicial appointment.^[6] He was Chairman of the Committee on Patents and the Patent Office for the 27th United States Congress.^[6]

While in the Senate, Prentiss was the originator and successful advocate of the law to suppress dueling in the District of Columbia.^[1]

Prentiss was nominated by President John Tyler on April 8, 1842, to a seat on the United States District Court for the District of Vermont vacated by Judge Elijah Paine.^[1] He was confirmed by the United States Senate on April 8, 1842, and received his commission the same day.^[1] His service terminated on January 15, 1857, due to his death in Montpelier.^[1] He was interred at Green Mount Cemetery in Montpelier.^[7]

Samuel Prentiss was the fourth in his line to be named Samuel Prentiss. He was the second of nine children born to Dr. Samuel Prentiss III and his wife Lucretia (née Holmes).^[8] Two of his younger brothers also had notable political careers. John Holmes Prentiss served two terms as a U.S. congressman from New York.^[8] William A. Prentiss was the 10th mayor of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and served in the Vermont House of Representatives and the Wisconsin State Assembly.

Their father, Dr. Samuel Prentiss was a prominent physician and served as a combat surgeon for his father, Colonel Samuel Prentice II, during the American Revolutionary War. The Prentiss family were descendants of Captain Thomas Prentice, who emigrated from England to the Massachusetts Bay Colony in the 1640s and served as a captain during King Philip's War.^[8]

Samuel Prentiss IV married Lucretia Houghton (1786–1855), of Northfield, in 1804. They had twelve children, though at least two died in infancy. Their 8th child, Theodore Prentiss, moved to Wisconsin, became the first mayor of Watertown, Wisconsin, and also served in the Wisconsin State Assembly.^[8][9]

Among the lawyers who received their education and training in Prentiss's office was William Upham, who later served in the United States Senate.^[10]

Prentiss was a trustee of Dartmouth College from 1820 to 1827;^[11] he received the honorary degrees of Artium Magister^[11] and Legum Doctor^[11] from Dartmouth in 1817 and 1832.^[11]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Samuel Prentiss (judge).

• 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. p. 67.
• 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. p. 447.
• Thompson, Zadock (1842). History of Vermont, Natural, Civil and Statistical. Burlington, VT: Chauncey Goodrich. p. 124.
• Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1774-2005. Washington, DC: US Government Printing Office. 2005. ISBN 978-0-16-073176-1.

• "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.

• 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.