Samuel Prentiss

Samuel Prentiss (March 31, 1782January 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. Education and career Born on March 31, 1782, in Stonington, Connecticut, Prentiss moved with his family to Worcester, Massachusetts, and then to Northfield, Massachusetts, in 1786, completed preparatory studies and was instructed in the classics by private tutor Reverend Samuel C. Allen. He studied law in Northfield with attorney Samuel Vose, and Brattleboro, Vermont, with attorney John W. Blake in 1802. He was admitted to the bar and practiced in Montpelier, Vermont, from 1803 to 1824. He was a member of the Vermont House of Representatives from 1824 to 1825. He was an associate justice of the Vermont Supreme Court from 1825 to 1829, and chief justice from 1829 to 1830. Political affiliations and unsuccessful candidacy In addition to practicing law, Prentiss became active in politics, first as a Federalist, and later as a National Republican and Whig. He was an unsuccessful candidate for the United States House of Representatives in 1816.