Samuel Sewall (congressman)
Encyclopedia
Samuel Sewall was an American
lawyer and congressman. He was born in Boston, Massachusetts.
After attending Dummer Charity School (now The Governor's Academy
), Sewall graduated from Harvard College
(AB 1776, AM 1779, honorary LLD 1808 and set up practice as a lawyer in Marblehead. He served as a member of the state legislature in 1783 and from 1788 to 1796. He represented Massachusetts
in the U.S. House
from 1796 to 1800, and from 1800 to 1814 served as a judge of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court
, serving as Chief Justice in 1814. He died at Wiscasset, Massachusetts (now Maine) while holding a court there.
American Novelist Louisa May Alcott
was Sewall's great niece. His younger sister, Dorothy, was Alcott's great-grandmother.
In 1781 he married Abigail Devereux; they had a family of at least six sons and two daughters.
Sewall's great-grandfather Samuel Sewall
was a judge at the Salem witch trials
in colonial Massachusetts, and subsequently Chief Justice of Massachusetts.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
lawyer and congressman. He was born in Boston, Massachusetts.
After attending Dummer Charity School (now The Governor's Academy
The Governor's Academy
The Governor's Academy is an independent school located on in the village of Byfield, Massachusetts, United States ; north of Boston. The Academy enrolls approximately 385 students in grades nine through twelve, 70% of whom are boarders...
), Sewall graduated from Harvard College
Harvard College
Harvard College, in Cambridge, Massachusetts, is one of two schools within Harvard University granting undergraduate degrees...
(AB 1776, AM 1779, honorary LLD 1808 and set up practice as a lawyer in Marblehead. He served as a member of the state legislature in 1783 and from 1788 to 1796. He represented Massachusetts
Massachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
in the U.S. House
United States House of Representatives
The United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the Constitution...
from 1796 to 1800, and from 1800 to 1814 served as a judge of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court
Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court
The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court is the highest court in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The SJC has the distinction of being the oldest continuously functioning appellate court in the Western Hemisphere.-History:...
, serving as Chief Justice in 1814. He died at Wiscasset, Massachusetts (now Maine) while holding a court there.
American Novelist Louisa May Alcott
Louisa May Alcott
Louisa May Alcott was an American novelist. She is best known for the novel Little Women and its sequels Little Men and Jo's Boys. Little Women was set in the Alcott family home, Orchard House in Concord, Massachusetts, and published in 1868...
was Sewall's great niece. His younger sister, Dorothy, was Alcott's great-grandmother.
In 1781 he married Abigail Devereux; they had a family of at least six sons and two daughters.
Sewall's great-grandfather Samuel Sewall
Samuel Sewall
Samuel Sewall was a Massachusetts judge, best known for his involvement in the Salem witch trials, for which he later apologized, and his essay The Selling of Joseph , which criticized slavery.-Biography:...
was a judge at the Salem witch trials
Salem witch trials
The Salem witch trials were a series of hearings before county court trials to prosecute people accused of witchcraft in the counties of Essex, Suffolk, and Middlesex in colonial Massachusetts, between February 1692 and May 1693...
in colonial Massachusetts, and subsequently Chief Justice of Massachusetts.