Albion Keith Parris (January 19, 1788 – February 11, 1857) was the 5th Governor of Maine, a United States representative from the District of Maine, Massachusetts, a United States senator from Maine, a United States district judge of the

United States District Court for the District of Maine The U.S. District Court for the District of Maine (in case citations, D. Me.) is the U.S. district court for the state of Maine. The District of Maine was one of the original thirteen district courts established by the Judiciary Act of 178 ...

, an associate justice of the

Maine Supreme Judicial Court The Maine Supreme Judicial Court is the highest court in the state of Maine's judicial system. It is composed of seven justices, who are appointed by the Governor and confirmed by the Maine Senate. From 1820 until 1839, justices served lifetime a ...

and the 2nd Comptroller of the Currency for the United States Department of the Treasury.

Education and career

Born on January 19, 1788, in Hebron, District of Maine (then part of Massachusetts), Parris graduated from Dartmouth College in 1806 and

read law Reading law was the method used in common law countries, particularly the United States, for people to prepare for and enter the legal profession before the advent of law schools. It consisted of an extended internship or apprenticeship under the ...

in 1809. He was admitted to the bar and entered private practice in Paris, District of Maine from 1810 to 1811. He was prosecutor for Oxford County, District of Maine from 1811 to 1813. He was a member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives from Paris, District of Maine from 1813 to 1814. He was a member of the Massachusetts Senate from Oxford and Somerset Counties, District of Maine from 1814 to 1815.

United States representative

Parris was elected as a

Democratic-Republican The Democratic-Republican Party, known at the time as the Republican Party and also referred to as the Jeffersonian Republican Party among other names, was an American political party founded by Thomas Jefferson and James Madison in the early ...

from

Massachusetts's 20th congressional district Massachusetts's twentieth congressional district is an obsolete district. Its short tenure (1813-1821) was dedicated to the Maine District until Maine Maine () is a state in the New England and Northeastern regions of the United States ...

(representing the District of Maine) to the United States House of Representatives of the

14th 14 (fourteen) is a natural number following 13 (number), 13 and preceding 15 (number), 15. In relation to the word "four" (4), 14 is spelled "fourteen". In mathematics * 14 is a composite number. * 14 is a square pyramidal number. * 14 is a s ...

and

15th United States Congress The 15th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, consisting of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in the Old Brick Capitol in Washington, ...

es and served from March 4, 1815, to February 3, 1818, when he resigned to accept a federal judicial position. He was a delegate to the Maine constitutional convention in 1819.

Federal judicial service and gubernatorial service

Parris was nominated by President James Monroe on January 27, 1818, to a seat on the

vacated by Judge David Sewall. He was confirmed by the United States Senate on January 28, 1818, and received his commission the same day. His service terminated on January 1, 1822, due to his resignation. Concurrently with his federal judicial service, he was a Judge of the

Cumberland County Cumberland County may refer to: Australia * Cumberland County, New South Wales * the former name of Cumberland Land District, Tasmania, Australia Canada *Cumberland County, Nova Scotia United Kingdom *Cumberland, historic county *Cumberlan ...

Probate Court from 1820 to 1821. During his judicial service, the District of Maine was admitted to the Union as the State of Maine on March 15, 1820. He was the 5th Governor of Maine from 1822 to 1827.

United States senator

Parris was elected to the United States Senate from Maine and served from March 4, 1827, to August 26, 1828, when he resigned.

Later career

Parris was an associate justice of the

from 1828 to 1836. He was the 2nd Comptroller of the Currency for the United States Department of the Treasury from 1836 to 1850. He resumed private practice in

Portland Portland most commonly refers to: * Portland, Oregon, the largest city in the state of Oregon, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States * Portland, Maine, the largest city in the state of Maine, in the New England region of the northeas ...

, Maine from 1849 to 1852. He was the Mayor of Portland in 1852. He was an unsuccessful

Democratic Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (United States) (D) **Democratic ...

candidate for Governor of Maine in 1854, losing to

Know Nothing The Know Nothing party was a nativist political party and movement in the United States in the mid-1850s. The party was officially known as the "Native American Party" prior to 1855 and thereafter, it was simply known as the "American Party". ...

candidate

Anson Morrill Anson Peaslee Morrill (June 10, 1803 – July 4, 1887) was an American politician who served as the 24th governor of Maine from 1855 to 1856 and later as the U.S. representative from Maine's 4th congressional district from 1861 to 1863. ...

. He died on February 11, 1857, in Portland. He was interred in Western Cemetery in Portland.

Special service

In the fall of 1846, Parris served as one of the three commissioners negotiating a treaty at Washington, D.C. with the Winnebago (Ho-Chunk) Indians.

Family

Parris was the cousin of

Virgil D. Parris Virgil Delphini Parris (February 18, 1807 – June 13, 1874) was a U.S. Representative from Maine, and cousin of Albion Keith Parris. Born in Buckfield, Massachusetts (now in Maine), Parris attended the common schools, whereupon he entered Heb ...

, a United States representative from Maine.

References

Sources

* * Gravesite https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/7125172/albion-keith-parris {{DEFAULTSORT:Parris, Albion K. 1788 births 1857 deaths Dartmouth College alumni Democratic Party governors of Maine Maine state court judges Justices of the Maine Supreme Judicial Court Mayors of Portland, Maine Members of the Massachusetts House of Representatives Massachusetts state senators Members of the United States House of Representatives from Massachusetts People from Hebron, Maine Democratic Party United States senators from Maine Judges of the United States District Court for the District of Maine United States federal judges appointed by James Monroe 19th-century American judges Maine Democratic-Republicans Maine Jacksonians Democratic-Republican Party United States senators Democratic-Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from the District of Maine Massachusetts Democratic-Republicans Burials at Western Cemetery (Portland, Maine) Democratic-Republican Party state governors of the United States 19th-century American politicians