William Davis Shipman (December 29, 1818 – September 24, 1898) was 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 Connecticut The United States District Court for the District of Connecticut (in case citations, D. Conn.) is the federal district court whose jurisdiction is the state of Connecticut. The court has offices in Bridgeport, Hartford, and New Haven. Appeals ...

. He notably presided over the 1861 trial of

Nathaniel Gordon Nathaniel Gordon (February 6, 1826 – February 21, 1862) was the only slave trader in the U.S. to be tried, convicted, and executed for having "engaged in the slave trade," under the Piracy Law of 1820. Early life Gordon was born in Portla ...

, the only person to be convicted and executed in the United States for illegal slave smuggling.

Education and career

Born in

Chester Chester is a cathedral city and the county town of Cheshire, England. It is located on the River Dee, close to the English–Welsh border. With a population of 79,645 in 2011,"2011 Census results: People and Population Profile: Chester Loca ...

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 ...

, Shipman

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 ...

to enter the bar in 1849 and entered private practice in

East Haddam East Haddam is a town in Middlesex County, Connecticut. The population was 8,875 at the time of the 2020 census. History Until 1650, the area of East Haddam was inhabited by at least three Indigenous peoples: the Wangunk, the Mohegan and the Ni ...

, Connecticut. He was a

probate judge A probate court (sometimes called a surrogate court) is a court that has competence in a jurisdiction to deal with matters of probate and the administration of estates. In some jurisdictions, such courts may be referred to as Orphans' Courts o ...

Hartford Hartford is the capital city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It was the seat of Hartford County until Connecticut disbanded county government in 1960. It is the core city in the Greater Hartford metropolitan area. Census estimates since the ...

, Connecticut from 1852 to 1853, a member of the

Connecticut House of Representatives The Connecticut State House of Representatives is the lower house in the Connecticut General Assembly, the state legislature (United States), state legislature of the U.S. state of Connecticut. The house is composed of 151 members representing an ...

in 1853, and the

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 Connecticut from 1853 to 1860.

Federal judicial service

Shipman was nominated by President

James Buchanan James Buchanan Jr. ( ; April 23, 1791June 1, 1868) was an American lawyer, diplomat and politician who served as the 15th president of the United States from 1857 to 1861. He previously served as secretary of state from 1845 to 1849 and repr ...

on February 28, 1860, to a seat on the

vacated by Judge Charles A. Ingersoll. 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 12, 1860, and received his commission the same day. His service was terminated on April 16, 1873, due to his resignation.

''United States v. Nathaniel Gordon''

Among the notable cases over which Shipman presided, was the case of the ''United States v. Nathaniel Gordon''. The case resulted in Gordon's execution, which is the only such execution ever under the Piracy Law of 1820. In sentencing Gordon, Shipman said:

Later career and death

Following his resignation from the federal bench, Shipman resumed private practice in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

until his death on September 24, 1898, in the Astoria neighborhood in

Queens Queens is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located on Long Island, it is the largest New York City borough by area. It is bordered by the borough of Brooklyn at the western tip of Long ...

, New York City.

References

Sources

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Shipman, William Davis 1818 births 1898 deaths American abolitionists Judges of the United States District Court for the District of Connecticut United States federal judges appointed by James Buchanan 19th-century American judges Probate court judges in the United States People from Chester, Connecticut Members of the Connecticut House of Representatives Connecticut state court judges Connecticut lawyers Lawyers from New York City United States federal judges admitted to the practice of law by reading law 19th-century American politicians