James Witherell (June 16, 1759 – January 9, 1838) was an American politician. 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 ...

and as a Judge of the Supreme Court for the

Territory of Michigan The Territory of Michigan was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from June 30, 1805, until January 26, 1837, when the final extent of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Michigan. Detroit ...

Biography

Witherell was born in Mansfield in the

Province of Massachusetts Bay The Province of Massachusetts Bay was a colony in British America which became one of the thirteen original states of the United States. It was chartered on October 7, 1691, by William III and Mary II, the joint monarchs of the kingdoms of ...

. After completing preparatory studies, he served in the Continental Army from 1775 to 1783 during the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...

. He entered service as a private and rose to the rank of Adjutant in the Eleventh Massachusetts Regiment. He was severely wounded in the

Battle of White Plains The Battle of White Plains was a battle in the New York and New Jersey campaign of the American Revolutionary War, fought on October 28, 1776 near White Plains, New York. Following the retreat of George Washington's Continental Army northward f ...

in 1776. After the war, Witherell studied medicine and law, and was licensed to practice medicine in 1788. He moved to

Hampton Hampton may refer to: Places Australia *Hampton bioregion, an IBRA biogeographic region in Western Australia *Hampton, New South Wales *Hampton, Queensland, a town in the Toowoomba Region * Hampton, Victoria Canada * Hampton, New Brunswick *Ha ...

in the Vermont Republic in 1788 and to Fair Haven in 1789 and continued the practice of his profession. Witherell was a member of the Vermont House of Representatives from 1798 to 1802. He was associate county judge from 1801 to 1803, judge of Rutland County from 1803 to 1806, and an executive councilor from 1802 to 1806. He 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 ...

to the Tenth Congress, serving from March 4, 1807, until May 1, 1808, when he resigned to accept an appointment by President

Thomas Jefferson Thomas Jefferson (April 13, 1743 – July 4, 1826) was an American statesman, diplomat, lawyer, architect, philosopher, and Founding Father who served as the third president of the United States from 1801 to 1809. He was previously the natio ...

as one of the Judges of the Supreme Court for the

. While serving in Congress, he argued in favor of the Act that abolished the slave trade, and voted for the Act, which passed in 1808. 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 ...

, he was in command of the troops at

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at t ...

in the absence of General

William Hull William Hull (June 24, 1753 – November 29, 1825) was an American soldier and politician. He fought in the American Revolutionary War and was appointed as Governor of Michigan Territory (1805–13), gaining large land cessions from several Am ...

, and was taken prisoner when General Hull surrendered. He lived in Fair Haven, Vermont while on

parole Parole (also known as provisional release or supervised release) is a form of early release of a prison inmate where the prisoner agrees to abide by certain behavioral conditions, including checking-in with their designated parole officers, or ...

from the British and later was exchanged and returned to his duties in

in the Michigan Territory. On April 30, 1821, Governor Lewis Cass and Judges John Griffin and James Witherell passed a new act that changed the name of the Catholepistemiad or University of Michigania to the

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

, and put control in the hands of a Board of Trustees consisting of twenty members plus the governor. After serving as a Supreme Court justice for nearly twenty years, Witherell resigned in 1828 to accept an appointment by President

John Quincy Adams John Quincy Adams (; July 11, 1767 – February 23, 1848) was an American statesman, diplomat, lawyer, and diarist who served as the sixth president of the United States, from 1825 to 1829. He previously served as the eighth United States ...

to become Secretary of the Territory. He held the position until May 1830. Witherell was

Acting Governor An acting governor is a person who acts in the role of governor. In Commonwealth jurisdictions where the governor is a vice-regal position, the role of "acting governor" may be filled by a lieutenant governor (as in most Australian states) or an ...

of the

for the first three months of 1830.

Family life

Witherell was married on November 11, 1790, to Amy Hawkins; the couple had six children. His son, Benjamin F. H. Witherell, was also a justice of the Michigan Supreme Court, and his grandson was

United States Senator 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 powe ...

from Michigan

Thomas W. Palmer Thomas Witherell Palmer (January 25, 1830 – June 1, 1913) was a U.S. Senator from the state of Michigan. He is considered to be one of the most significant figures in the history of Detroit, Michigan. Palmer was born in Detroit, where his m ...

Death

Witherell died at his home in Detroit on January 9, 1838, less than a year after the Michigan Territory's admission to the Union as a state. He was interred at the Russell Street Cemetery. Later, he was reburied in Elmwood Cemetery in Detroit.

References

External links

The Political Graveyard
*
govtrack.us
{{DEFAULTSORT:Witherell, James 1759 births 1838 deaths People from Mansfield, Massachusetts Vermont state court judges Members of the Vermont House of Representatives History of Detroit American revolutionaries People of the Michigan Territory Chief Justices of the Michigan Supreme Court Democratic-Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Vermont Justices of the Michigan Supreme Court Burials at Elmwood Cemetery (Detroit)