John Samuel Sherburne (1757 – August 2, 1830) was 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

New Hampshire New Hampshire is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec t ...

and 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 New Hampshire The United States District Court for the District of New Hampshire (in case citations, D.N.H.) is the federal district court whose jurisdiction comprises the state of New Hampshire. The Warren B. Rudman U.S. Courthouse for the New Hampshir ...

Education and career

Born in 1757, in

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council. Portsmouth is the most dens ...

Province of New Hampshire The Province of New Hampshire was a colony of England and later a British province in North America. The name was first given in 1629 to the territory between the Merrimack and Piscataqua rivers on the eastern coast of North America, and was nam ...

British America British America comprised the colonial territories of the English Empire, which became the British Empire after the 1707 union of the Kingdom of England with the Kingdom of Scotland to form the Kingdom of Great Britain, in the Americas from 16 ...

, Sherburne attended

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

, 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 1776 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 1776. 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 served in the

Continental Army The Continental Army was the army of the United Colonies (the Thirteen Colonies) in the Revolutionary-era United States. It was formed by the Second Continental Congress after the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War, and was establis ...

as a brigade staff major. He entered private practice in Portsmouth,

from 1776 to 1789, and from 1797 to 1801. He was

United States Attorney United States attorneys are officials of the U.S. Department of Justice who serve as the chief federal law enforcement officers in each of the 94 U.S. federal judicial districts. Each U.S. attorney serves as the United States' chief federal c ...

for the District of New Hampshire from 1789 to 1793, and from 1801 to 1804. He was a member of the

New Hampshire House of Representatives The New Hampshire House of Representatives is the lower house in the New Hampshire General Court, the bicameral legislature of the state of New Hampshire. The House of Representatives consists of 400 members coming from 204 legislative district ...

from 1790 to , and in 1801.

Congressional service

Sherburne was elected as an

Anti-Administration The Anti-Administration Party was an informal political faction in the United States led by James Madison and Thomas Jefferson that opposed policies of then Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton in the first term of US President George W ...

candidate from New Hampshire's at-large congressional district 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

3rd United States Congress The 3rd United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, consisting of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met at Congress Hall in Philadelphia, Penn ...

and reelected 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

4th United States Congress The 4th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, consisting of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met at Congress Hall in Philadelphia, Pennsy ...

, serving from March 4, 1793, to March 3, 1797.

Federal judicial service

Sherburne was nominated by President

Thomas Jefferson Thomas Jefferson (April 13, 1743 – July 4, 1826) was an American statesman, diplomat, lawyer, architect, philosopher, and Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father who served as the third president of the United States from 18 ...

on March 22, 1804, to a seat on the

vacated by Judge

John Pickering John Pickering may refer to: * John Pickering (dramatist), author of the play ''Horestes'' first published in 1567 * John Pickering (MP) (1585–1628), MP for Northamptonshire (UK Parliament constituency), Northamptonshire, 1626 * John Pickering (s ...

. 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 March 24, 1804, and received his commission on March 26, 1804. His service terminated on August 2, 1830, due to his death in Portsmouth.

Involvement in impeachment, conviction and removal of Pickering

Pickering was the first federal official to be removed from office through impeachment on March 12, 1804. Sherburne, who as a witness for the prosecution managers had aided the case for Pickering's removal even though the latter was insane and did not knowingly commit "high crimes and misdemeanors" on the bench, himself became insane and was for all intents and purposes removed from the bench in 1826, though he continued to receive his salary until his 1830 death.Lynn W. Turner, "The Impeachment of John Pickering," ''The American Historical Review'', Vol. 54, No. 3 (Apr. 1949), p. 506.

References

Sources

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sherburne, John Samuel 1757 births 1830 deaths Dartmouth College alumni Harvard Law School alumni Politicians from Portsmouth, New Hampshire New Hampshire militiamen in the American Revolution People of New Hampshire in the American Revolution Judges of the United States District Court for the District of New Hampshire United States federal judges appointed by Thomas Jefferson 19th-century American judges Continental Army officers from New Hampshire United States Attorneys for the District of New Hampshire Democratic-Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from New Hampshire United States federal judges admitted to the practice of law by reading law