Samuel Hitchcock

Samuel Hitchcock
Judge of the United States Circuit Court for the Second Circuit
In office February 20, 1801 – July 1, 1802
Appointed by	John Adams
Preceded by	Seat established
Succeeded by	Seat abolished
Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Vermont
In office September 3, 1793 – February 20, 1801
Appointed by	George Washington
Preceded by	Nathaniel Chipman
Succeeded by	Elijah Paine
Personal details
Born	March 23, 1755 Brimfield, Massachusetts, British America
Died	November 20, 1813 (aged 58) Burlington, Vermont, U.S.
Political party	Federalist
Alma mater	Harvard University

Samuel Hitchcock (March 23, 1755 – November 20, 1813) was an attorney and judge in Vermont. He was the son-in-law of Ethan Allen, and the father of Ethan Allen Hitchcock.

Early life

Samuel Hitchcock, the son of Noah and Mary Hitchcock, was born in Brimfield, Massachusetts and graduated from Harvard College in 1777. He studied law with Jedediah Foster in West Brookfield, Massachusetts, attained admission to the bar, and practiced in Worcester, Massachusetts.

Career

He moved to Manchester, Vermont in 1785 and Burlington, Vermont in 1786, where he continued to practice law. He was state's attorney for Chittenden County, Vermont from 1787 to 1790, when he became the first Attorney General of Vermont, serving from 1790 to 1793. He served simultaneously, from 1789 to 1793, as a member of the Vermont House of Representatives. Hitchcock also served as a Justice of the Peace and heard cases in Burlington.^[1]

In 1791 Hitchcock was a delegate to the Vermont convention which ratified the United States Constitution and enabled Vermont to join the Union as the 14th state.^[2]

Hitchcock drafted the charter for the University of Vermont, was an original member of its board of trustees, and was the longtime secretary of the board.^[3]

In 1792 he was one of Vermont's presidential electors, casting his ballots for Washington for President and Adams for Vice President.^[4]

He received a recess appointment from President George Washington on September 3, 1793 to a seat on the United States District Court for the District of Vermont vacated by Nathaniel Chipman. Hitchcock was formally nominated on December 27, 1793, confirmed by the United States Senate on December 30, 1793, and received his commission on January 28, 1794.

On February 18, 1801, Hitchcock was nominated by President John Adams to a seat on the newly created United States circuit court for the Second Circuit, created by 2 Stat. 89, also known as the Midnight Judges Act. Hitchcock was confirmed to this seat by the Senate on February 20, 1801, and received his commission the same day. However, his service terminated on July 1, 1802, with the repeal of the act that created the circuit courts. Hitchcock thereafter returned to private practice in Burlington, Vermont and Vergennes, Vermont until his death.

Death and burial

Hitchcock died in Burlington on November 20, 1813.^[5] He was buried in Burlington's Elmwood Cemetery.^[6]

Family

Samuel Hitchcock was married to Lucy Caroline Allen (1768-1842), the daughter of Ethan Allen. Their children who lived to adulthood included:^[7]

1. Lorraine Allen Hitchcock (1790-1815),^[8] the wife of Army Major George P. Peters (1789-1819).^[9]

2. Henry Hitchcock (1791-1839), a Chief Justice of the Alabama Supreme Court.^[10]

• Henry's son Ethan Hitchcock (1835-1909) served as United States Secretary of the Interior under William McKinley.
• Another of Henry's sons, Henry Hitchcock (1829-1902), was a prominent attorney in St. Louis, Missouri and a founder and president of the American Bar Association

3. Mary Anne Hitchcock, (1796-1823), the wife of Dr. John S. W. Parkin.^[11][12]

4. Ethan Allen Hitchcock (1798-1870), a United States Army Major General.^[13]

5. Caroline P. Hitchcock (1796-1822).^[14]

6. Samuel Hitchcock (1808-1851), An 1827 graduate of the United States Military Academy.^[15] He was an Army officer and attorney in Vermont, Alabama, and Mississippi, and a civil engineer in Michigan. He died while en route to the United States from Europe, and was buried at sea.^[16]

References

1. William S. Rann, History of Chittenden County, Vermont, 1886, page 414
2. John Davison Lawson, American State Trials, Volume 6, 1916, page 689
3. Yale University, Obituary Record of Graduates of Yale University, 1910, page 135
4. Vermont Secretary of State, Vermont Legislative Directory, 1902, page 198
5. James T. White & Company, The National Cyclopaedia of American Biography, Volume 11, 1901, pages 195-196
6. Samuel Hitchcock at Find a Grave
7. Dwight Whitney Marsh, The Genealogy of the Hitchcock Family, 1894, pages 250-251
8. Lorraine Allen Hitchcock Peters at Find A Grave
9. George P. Peters at at Find A Grave
10. American Bar Association, Annual Report: Including Proceedings of the Annual Meeting, Volume 25, 1902, page 772
11. Mary Anne Hitchcock Parkin at Find A Grave
12. John S. W. Parkin at Find A Grave
13. William Richard Cutter, American Biography: A New Cyclopedia, Volume 11, 1922, page 211
14. Caroline P. Hitchcock at Find A Grave
15. United States Military Academy Association of Graduates, Annual Reunion Report, 1881, page 79
16. George Washington Cullum, Biographical Register of the Officers and Graduates of the United States Military Academy, Volume 1, 1891, page 396

Sources

• Samuel Hitchcock at the Biographical Directory of Federal Judges, a public domain publication of the Federal Judicial Center.