Green Berry Samuels (February 1, 1806 – January 5, 1859) was a Virginia lawyer, politician and judge.

Early life

Born in

Shenandoah County, Virginia Shenandoah County (formerly Dunmore County) is a county located in the Commonwealth of Virginia. As of the 2020 United States Census, the population was 44,186. Its county seat is Woodstock. It is part of the Shenandoah Valley region of Virgini ...

on February 6, 1806, Green Berry Samuels was a son of Isaac Samuels (1762–1819) and Elizabeth Pennybacker (1766–1824). He received a private classical education, then he studied law at

Winchester Law School Winchester Law School was a privately run institution for legal education. Operated by Henry St. George Tucker Sr., it was open from 1824 to 1831. History In 1824 Henry Tucker was named Chancellor of the Equity Court of the Fourth District, w ...

under Judge Henry St. George Tucker Sr. Congressional Biographical Directory, "Green Samuels" On April 12, 1831, Samuels married Maria Gore Coffman and they had 5 children who reached adulthood: Elizabeth Margaret Samuels, Isaac Pennybacker Samuels, Anna Maria Samuels, Green Berry Samuels, Jr., and Samuel Coffman Samuels.

Career

Samuels was admitted to the bar in 1827 and began his legal practice at

Woodstock, Virginia Woodstock is a town and the county seat of Shenandoah County, Virginia, United States. It has a population of 5,212 according to the 2017 census. Woodstock comprises 3.2 square miles of incorporated area of the town, and is located along the ...

, the Shenandoah county seat. Voters of

Virginia's 16th congressional district Virginia's 16th congressional district is an obsolete congressional district. It was eliminated in 1843 after the 1840 U.S. Census. Its last Congressman A Member of Congress (MOC) is a person who has been appointed or elected and inducted i ...

elected him as a Democrat to the Twenty-sixth Congress (March 4, 1839 – March 3, 1841), where he succeeded his cousin

Isaac Samuels Pennybacker Isaac Samuels Pennybacker (September 3, 1805 – January 12, 1847) was a United States representative and a United States senator from Virginia and a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Western District of Vi ...

, a congressman and later senator from Virginia. However, Samuels chose not to see re-election, so William A. Harris succeeded him until population losses in the next census caused Virginia to lose that congressional seat. Voters from Shenandoah, Hardy and Warren Counties elected Samuels as one of their four delegates to the

Virginia Constitutional Convention of 1850 The Virginia Constitutional Convention of 1850 was an assembly of elected delegates chosen by the voters to write the fundamental law of Virginia. It is known as the Reform Convention because it liberalized Virginia political institutions. Backgro ...

, alongside William Seymour, Giles Cook and Samuel C. Williams, but Samuels resigned on December 10, 1850, after legislators elected him a judge of the circuit court.Cynthia Miller Leonard, Virginia's General Assembly 1619-1978 (Richmond, Virginia State Library 1978) p. 441 and note Mark Bird then succeeded him at the convention. Two years later, in 1852, legislators elected Samuels to the

Court of Appeals A court of appeals, also called a court of appeal, appellate court, appeal court, court of second instance or second instance court, is any court of law that is empowered to hear an appeal of a trial court or other lower tribunal. In much of t ...

Death

Green Berry Samuels died suddenly in

Richmond, Virginia (Thus do we reach the stars) , image_map = , mapsize = 250 px , map_caption = Location within Virginia , pushpin_map = Virginia#USA , pushpin_label = Richmond , pushpin_m ...

on January 5, 1859, at the age of 52. His remains were returned to Woodstock for burial in the Old Lutheran Graveyard (Emanuel Lutheran Church Cemetery).

References

Bibliography

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Samuels, Green Berry 1806 births Justices of the Supreme Court of Virginia Virginia lawyers 1859 deaths People from Shenandoah County, Virginia Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Virginia 19th-century American politicians 19th-century American judges 19th-century American lawyers Winchester Law School alumni Virginia circuit court judges