Sampson Salters Blowers, Halifax, Nova Scotia

Sampson Salter Blowers (March 10, 1742 – October 25, 1842) was a noted

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

n lawyer,

Loyalist Loyalism, in the United Kingdom, its overseas territories and its former colonies, refers to the allegiance to the British crown or the United Kingdom. In North America, the most common usage of the term refers to loyalty to the British Cro ...

and jurist from

Nova Scotia Nova Scotia ( ; ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. Nova Scotia is Latin for "New Scotland". Most of the population are native Eng ...

who, along with Chief Justice

Thomas Andrew Lumisden Strange Sir Thomas Andrew Lumisden Strange (30 November 1756 – 16 July 1841) was a chief justice in Nova Scotia, known for waging "judicial war" to free Black Nova Scotian slaves from their owners. From 1789 to 1797, he was the sixth Chief Justice ...

, waged "judicial war" in his efforts to free

Black Nova Scotian Black Nova Scotians (also known as African Nova Scotians and Afro-Nova Scotians) are Black Canadians whose ancestors primarily date back to the Colonial United States as slaves or freemen, later arriving in Nova Scotia, Canada, during the 18th ...

slaves from their owners, leading to the decline of slavery in Nova Scotia.

Career

After graduating with a

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. Tho ...

from

Harvard College Harvard College is the undergraduate college of Harvard University, an Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636, Harvard College is the original school of Harvard University, the oldest institution of higher lea ...

in 1765, he studied law at Thomas Hutchinson's office. He became a

barrister A barrister is a type of lawyer in common law jurisdictions. Barristers mostly specialise in courtroom advocacy and litigation. Their tasks include taking cases in superior courts and tribunals, drafting legal pleadings, researching law and ...

at the

Massachusetts Superior Court The Massachusetts Superior Court (also known as the Superior Court Department of the Trial Court) is a trial court department in Massachusetts. The Superior Court has original jurisdiction in civil actions over $50,000, and in matters where equita ...

in 1770. His home on Southack's Court (present-day Phillips Street) at

Beacon Hill, Boston Beacon Hill is a historic neighborhood in Boston, Massachusetts, and the hill upon which the Massachusetts State House resides. The term "Beacon Hill" is used locally as a metonym to refer to the state government or the legislature itself, mu ...

bordered on the properties of

John Hancock John Hancock ( – October 8, 1793) was an American Founding Father, merchant, statesman, and prominent Patriot of the American Revolution. He served as president of the Second Continental Congress and was the first and third Governor of the ...

John Winthrop John Winthrop (January 12, 1587/88 – March 26, 1649) was an English Puritan lawyer and one of the leading figures in founding the Massachusetts Bay Colony, the second major settlement in New England following Plymouth Colony. Winthrop led t ...

and

John Phillips (mayor) John Phillips (November 26, 1770 – May 29, 1823) was an American politician, serving as the first mayor of Boston, Massachusetts from 1822 to 1823. He was the father of abolitionist Wendell Phillips. Life and politics Phillips was a descenda ...

. A very successful trial lawyer, he worked with Josiah Quincy and

John Adams John Adams (October 30, 1735 – July 4, 1826) was an American statesman, attorney, diplomat, writer, and Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father who served as the second president of the United States from 1797 to 1801. Befor ...

and in defending British soldiers involved in the so-called Boston "massacre" a March 1770 confrontation in which British soldiers shot and killed several people while being harassed by a

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

mob. Considered a Loyalist, he was forced to relocate to England in 1774. He resettled in America in 1777, in

Newport, Rhode Island Newport is an American seaside city on Aquidneck Island in Newport County, Rhode Island. It is located in Narragansett Bay, approximately southeast of Providence, Rhode Island, Providence, south of Fall River, Massachusetts, south of Boston, ...

(then still under British control) as a judge in the

vice admiralty court Vice Admiralty Courts were juryless courts located in British colonies that were granted jurisdiction over local legal matters related to maritime activities, such as disputes between merchants and seamen. American Colonies American maritime act ...

, later moving to New York, and then in 1783 moved permanently to

Halifax, Nova Scotia Halifax is the capital and largest municipality of the Canadian province of Nova Scotia, and the largest municipality in Atlantic Canada. As of the 2021 Census, the municipal population was 439,819, with 348,634 people in its urban area. The ...

. In Halifax he built a busy law practice, and in 1784 was named attorney general of Nova Scotia. The following year, he was appointed attorney general for

New Brunswick New Brunswick (french: Nouveau-Brunswick, , locally ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. It is the only province with both English and ...

but refused the post, not wanting to relocate his family. Later that year, he was named attorney general for

. In 1785, he was elected to the

Nova Scotia House of Assembly The Nova Scotia House of Assembly (french: Assemblée législative de la Nouvelle-Écosse; gd, Taigh Seanaidh Alba Nuadh), or Legislative Assembly, is the deliberative assembly of the General Assembly of Nova Scotia of the province of Nova Scotia ...

for Halifax County and was chosen to be speaker for the assembly. In 1788, he was named to the

Nova Scotia Council Formally known as "His Majesty's Council of Nova Scotia", the Nova Scotia Council (1720–1838) was the original British administrative, legislative and judicial body in Nova Scotia. The Nova Scotia Council was also known as the Annapolis Counci ...

. Because Blowers put the onus on slave owners to prove that they had a legal right to purchase slaves, slavery died out in Nova Scotia early in the 1800s, unlike in

, where Chief Justice

George Duncan Ludlow George Duncan Ludlow (29 September 1734 – 13 November 1808) was a lawyer and Puisne Judge of the Supreme Court of the British Province of New York in the Thirteen Colonies who became the first Chief Justice of New Brunswick in Canada. Early lif ...

had ruled that slavery was legal.

Personal life

The young Sampson Salter Blowers became an orphan after his father died soon after his return from the Siege of Louisbourg. Blowers was raised by his grandfather, Sampson Salter. In 1774, he married Sarah Kent, daughter of Massachusetts Attorney General

Benjamin Kent Benjamin Kent (1708–1788) was Massachusetts Attorney General (1776–1777) and then acting Attorney General during much of Robert Treat Paine's tenure (1777–1785). He was appointed seven successive terms. Prior to the American Revolution, Ken ...

. In Halifax Blowers lived at the corner of

Barrington Street View southward on Barrington StreetBarrington Street is a major street in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, running from the MacKay Bridge in the North End approximately 7 km south, through Downtown Halifax to Inglis Street in the South End. Its ...

and the street now named after him. Blowers died in Halifax in 1842, aged 100, soon after he broke his hip in a fall. Most of his estate went to his adopted daughter, Sarah Ann Anderson, who had married

William Blowers Bliss William Blowers Bliss (August 24, 1795 – March 16, 1874) was a lawyer, judge and political figure in Nova Scotia. He represented Hants County in the Nova Scotia House of Assembly from 1830 to 1834. He was born in Saint John, New Brunswick ...

. He is buried in the crypt of

St. Paul's Church (Halifax) St. Paul's Church is an evangelical Anglican church in downtown Halifax, Nova Scotia, within the Diocese of Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island of the Anglican Church of Canada. It is located at the south end of the Grand Parade, an open sq ...

and his wife is buried in Camphill Cememtery.p. 48
/ref> Although he lost a substantial amount of property in the American War of Independence, he regained his wealth in Nova Scotia, leaving a large estate to his adopted daughter.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Blowers, Sampson Salter 1742 births 1842 deaths American Loyalists from Massachusetts Loyalists who settled Nova Scotia Canadian centenarians Harvard College alumni Harvard College Loyalists in the American Revolution Nova Scotia pre-Confederation MLAs Speakers of the Nova Scotia House of Assembly People from colonial Boston Men centenarians Deaths from falls People of colonial Massachusetts Canadian abolitionists Colony of Nova Scotia judges Members of the Legislative Council of Nova Scotia Attorneys General of the Colony of Nova Scotia