Ammi Giddings (1822 – February 13, 1882) was an American lawyer and politician from

Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its cap ...

, who was twice elected to the

Connecticut Senate The Connecticut State Senate is the upper house of the Connecticut General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Connecticut. The state senate comprises 36 members, each representing a district with around 99,280 inhabitants. Sena ...

. He served as President pro tempore of the Connecticut Senate. He was appointed to the Montana Territorial Supreme Court, but never served. Giddings was born in

Sherman, Connecticut Sherman is the northernmost and least populous town of Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 3,527 at the 2020 census. The town was formed in 1802 from the northern part of New Fairfield. It is named for Roger Sherman ...

. He graduated from

Yale Law School Yale Law School (Yale Law or YLS) is the law school of Yale University, a Private university, private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. It was established in 1824 and has been ranked as the best law school in the United States by ''U ...

, and was

admitted to the bar An admission to practice law is acquired when a lawyer receives a license to practice law. In jurisdictions with two types of lawyer, as with barristers and solicitors, barristers must gain admission to the bar whereas for solicitors there are dist ...

in 1849. That same year, he married Augusta Bays of Wethersfield. He subsequently practiced law at

Plymouth Plymouth () is a port city and unitary authority in South West England. It is located on the south coast of Devon, approximately south-west of Exeter and south-west of London. It is bordered by Cornwall to the west and south-west. Plymouth ...

. In 1857, Giddings was elected to the Connecticut Senate from the state's 16th District, and served as the President ''

Pro Tempore ''Pro tempore'' (), abbreviated ''pro tem'' or ''p.t.'', is a Latin phrase which best translates to "for the time being" in English. This phrase is often used to describe a person who acts as a ''locum tenens'' (placeholder) in the absence of ...

.'' He was elected again in 1864. On June 15, 1864, President

Abraham Lincoln Abraham Lincoln ( ; February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was an American lawyer, politician, and statesman who served as the 16th president of the United States from 1861 until his assassination in 1865. Lincoln led the nation thro ...

appointed him as an associate justice of the Supreme Court for the newly formed

Montana Territory The Territory of Montana was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from May 26, 1864, until November 8, 1889, when it was admitted as the 41st state in the Union as the state of Montana. Original boundaries T ...

; 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 ...

unanimously confirmed him on June 22. Giddings resigned immediately due to poor health and never served on the court. However, his commission remained in force until he was replaced in 1865, and histories of the Montana Supreme Court still list him as one of the first justices of that court. In 1866, Giddings moved to

Kalamazoo, Michigan Kalamazoo ( ) is a city in the southwest region of the U.S. state of Michigan. It is the county seat of Kalamazoo County. At the 2010 census, Kalamazoo had a population of 74,262. Kalamazoo is the major city of the Kalamazoo-Portage Metropolit ...

. He returned to Connecticut in 1872, and died at Sherman in 1882.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Giddings, Ammi Montana Territory judges Connecticut state senators Connecticut lawyers 1822 births 1882 deaths Presidents pro tempore of the Connecticut Senate 19th-century American politicians People from Sherman, Connecticut People from Plymouth, Connecticut 19th-century American judges 19th-century American lawyers