Alvah Sabin (October 23, 1793 – January 22, 1885) was an American politician and
clergyman
Clergy are formal leaders within established religions. Their roles and functions vary in different religious traditions, but usually involve presiding over specific rituals and teaching their religion's doctrines and practices. Some of the ter ...
. He served as 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
Vermont
Vermont () is a state in the northeast New England region of the United States. Vermont is bordered by the states of Massachusetts to the south, New Hampshire to the east, and New York to the west, and the Canadian province of Quebec to ...
.
Biography
Sabin was born in
Georgia, Vermont
Georgia is a town in Franklin County, Vermont, United States. The population was 4,845 at the 2020 census.
Geography
The town occupies the southwest corner of Franklin County, bordered to the south by Chittenden County. The western border of th ...
, to Benjamin Sabin and Polly McMaster Sabin, and was educated in the common schools. He was also a member of the Vermont
militia
A militia () is generally an army or some other fighting organization of non-professional soldiers, citizens of a country, or subjects of a state, who may perform military service during a time of need, as opposed to a professional force of r ...
and served during the
War of 1812
The War of 1812 (18 June 1812 – 17 February 1815) was fought by the United States, United States of America and its Indigenous peoples of the Americas, indigenous allies against the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom ...
. Sabin also attended the
University of Vermont
The University of Vermont (UVM), officially the University of Vermont and State Agricultural College, is a public land-grant research university in Burlington, Vermont. It was founded in 1791 and is among the oldest universities in the United ...
in
Burlington
Burlington may refer to:
Places Canada Geography
* Burlington, Newfoundland and Labrador
* Burlington, Nova Scotia
* Burlington, Ontario, the most populous city with the name "Burlington"
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* Burlington Bay, no ...
, which awarded him the
honorary degree
An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or ''ad hon ...
of
Master of Arts
A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Th ...
in 1826.
After the war, Sabin studied
theology
Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing the ...
in
Philadelphia
Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...
and graduated from Columbian College (now
George Washington University
The George Washington University (GW or GWU) is a Private university, private University charter#Federal, federally chartered research university in Washington, D.C. Chartered in 1821 by the United States Congress, GWU is the largest Higher educat ...
),
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, ...
, in 1821. He was ordained a minister and preached at Cambridge, Westfield, and Underhill until 1825, when he returned to Georgia, Vermont. He was pastor of the
Georgia Baptist Church for fifty-three years.
Sabin was a member of the
Vermont House of Representatives from 1826 to 1835, 1838 to 1840, 1847 to 1849, 1851, 1861 and 1862. He served in the
Vermont Senate
The Vermont Senate is the upper house of the Vermont General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Vermont. The senate consists of 30 members. Senate districting divides the 30 members into three single-member districts, six two-m ...
in 1841, 1843, and 1845. He was the
Secretary of State of Vermont in 1841, and served as Probate Judge. He was a member of the Constitutional; Conventions of 1843 and 1850, and was Assistant Judge of the Franklin County Court from 1846 to 1852.
He was elected as a
Whig Party (United States)
The Whig Party was a political party in the United States during the middle of the 19th century. Alongside the slightly larger Democratic Party, it was one of the two major parties in the United States between the late 1830s and the early 18 ...
to the Thirty-third Congress and reelected as an Opposition Party candidate to the Thirty-fourth Congresses, serving from March 4, 1853, to March 3, 1857. While in Congress he served as chairman for the Committee on Revisal and Unfinished Business in the Thirty-fourth Congress. He was not a candidate for renomination in 1856. He served as a delegate to the first
Anti-Slavery National Convention, and was the county commissioner of
Franklin County, Vermont
Franklin County is a county located in the U.S. state of Vermont. As of the 2020 census, the population was 49,946. Its county seat is the city of St. Albans. It borders the Canadian province of Quebec. The county was created in 1792 and organ ...
, in 1861 and 1862, responsible for curbing the buying and selling of alcoholic beverages. He moved to
Sycamore, Illinois, in 1867 and continued his ministerial duties.
Family life
Sabin married Anna Mears in 1819. They had five children together, Benjamin F. Sabin, Julia A. Sabin, Harriet Amelia Sabin, Parthenia A. Sabin and Diantha Marie Sabin. Following Anna's death, Sabin later married Susan Marsh.
Death
Sabin died on January 22, 1885, in Sycamore. He is interred at Georgia Plains Cemetery in
Georgia Plains, Vermont.
References
Further reading
* ''"Vermont: the Green mountain state, Volume 3"'' by Walter Hill Crockett, published by The Century History Company, Inc., 1921.
External links
*
govtrack.us: Rep. Alvah SabinAncestry.com: Alvah Sabin (1793 - 1885)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sabin, Alvah
1793 births
1885 deaths
People from Georgia, Vermont
Baptist ministers from the United States
Whig Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Vermont
19th-century American politicians
Vermont Oppositionists
Opposition Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Vermont
Secretaries of State of Vermont
Vermont state senators
Members of the Vermont House of Representatives
Vermont state court judges
County commissioners in Vermont
Columbian College of Arts and Sciences alumni
People from Sycamore, Illinois
Burials in Vermont
19th-century American judges
19th-century American clergy