Albion Keith Parris (January 19, 1788 – February 11, 1857) was the 5th

Governor of Maine The governor of Maine is the head of government of the U.S. state of Maine. Before Maine was admitted to the Union in 1820, Maine was part of Massachusetts and the governor of Massachusetts was chief executive. The current governor of Maine is Ja ...

, a

United States representative The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they ...

from the

District of Maine The District of Maine was the governmental designation for what is now the U.S. state of Maine from October 25, 1780 to March 15, 1820, when it was admitted to the Union as the 23rd state. The district was a part of the Commonwealth of Massachu ...

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous U.S. state, state in the New England ...

, a

United States senator The United States Senate is the Upper house, upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the United States House of Representatives, House of Representatives being the Lower house, lower chamber. Together they compose the national Bica ...

from

Maine Maine () is a state in the New England and Northeastern regions of the United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Quebec to the northeast and north ...

, a

United States district judge The United States district courts are the trial courts of the United States federal judiciary, U.S. federal judiciary. There is one district court for each United States federal judicial district, federal judicial district, which each cover o ...

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 17 ...

, 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 The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) is an independent bureau within the United States Department of the Treasury that was established by the National Currency Act of 1863 and serves to charter, bank regulation in the United States ...

for the

United States Department of the Treasury The Department of the Treasury (USDT) is the national treasury and finance department of the federal government of the United States, where it serves as an executive department. The department oversees the Bureau of Engraving and Printing and t ...

Education and career

Born on January 19, 1788, in

Hebron Hebron ( ar, الخليل or ; he, חֶבְרוֹן ) is a Palestinian. city in the southern West Bank, south of Jerusalem. Nestled in the Judaean Mountains, it lies above sea level. The second-largest city in the West Bank (after East J ...

(then part of

), Parris graduated from

Dartmouth College Dartmouth College (; ) is a private research university in Hanover, New Hampshire. Established in 1769 by Eleazar Wheelock, it is one of the nine colonial colleges chartered before the American Revolution. Although founded to educate Native A ...

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 Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

, 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 The Massachusetts House of Representatives is the lower house of the Massachusetts General Court, the state legislature of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. It is composed of 160 members elected from 14 counties each divided into single-member ...

from Paris, District of Maine from 1813 to 1814. He was a member of the

Massachusetts Senate The Massachusetts Senate is the upper house of the Massachusetts General Court, the bicameral state legislature of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The Senate comprises 40 elected members from 40 single-member senatorial districts in the ...

from Oxford and

Somerset ( en, All The People of Somerset) , locator_map = , coordinates = , region = South West England , established_date = Ancient , established_by = , preceded_by = , origin = , lord_lieutenant_office =Lord Lieutenant of Somerset , lord_ ...

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 (representing the District of Maine) to the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the Lower house, lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the United States Senate, Senate being ...

of the 14th and

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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 James Monroe ( ; April 28, 1758July 4, 1831) was an American statesman, lawyer, diplomat, and Founding Father who served as the fifth president of the United States from 1817 to 1825. A member of the Democratic-Republican Party, Monroe was ...

on January 27, 1818, to a seat on the

vacated by Judge

David Sewall David Sewall (October 7, 1735 – October 22, 1825) was a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the District of Maine. Education and career Born on October 7, 1735, in York, in that area of the Province of Massach ...

. He was confirmed by the

United States Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and pow ...

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 *Cumberla ...

Probate Court from 1820 to 1821. During his judicial service, the District of Maine was admitted to the Union as the State of

on March 15, 1820. He was the 5th

from 1822 to 1827.

United States senator

Parris was elected to the

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

for the

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 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. B ...

. 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. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

with the Winnebago (Ho-Chunk) Indians.

Family

Parris was the cousin of Virgil D. Parris, a

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