Philemon Bliss (July 28, 1813 – August 25, 1889) was an

Ohio Ohio () is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Of the List of states and territories of the United States, fifty U.S. states, it is the List of U.S. states and territories by area, 34th-l ...

Congressman, the first chief justice of the Supreme Court of

Dakota Territory The Territory of Dakota was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from March 2, 1861, until November 2, 1889, when the final extent of the reduced territory was split and admitted to the Union as the states of N ...

, and a

Missouri Missouri is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee): Iowa to the north, Illinois, Kentucky and Tennessee to the east, Arkansas t ...

Supreme Court justice.

Early life and education

Bliss was born in

Canton, Connecticut Canton is a town, incorporated in 1806, located in the Farmington Valley section of Hartford County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 10,124 as of the 2020 census. It is bordered by Granby on the north, Simsbury on the east, Avon a ...

in 1813 to Asahel Bliss and Lydia Adams (Griswold) Bliss. He attended

Fairfield Academy Fairfield Academy was an academy that existed for nearly one hundred years in the Town of Fairfield, Herkimer County, New York. Founding It was organized as an academy for men in 1802, when the community was an active local manufacturing center. ...

and

Hamilton College Hamilton College is a private liberal arts college in Clinton, Oneida County, New York. It was founded as Hamilton-Oneida Academy in 1793 and was chartered as Hamilton College in 1812 in honor of inaugural trustee Alexander Hamilton, following ...

, where he studied law. He moved to

Elyria, Ohio Elyria ( ) is a city in the Greater Cleveland metropolitan statistical area and the county seat of Lorain County, Ohio, United States, located at the forks of the Black River in Northeast Ohio 23 miles southwest of Cleveland. As of the 2020 ...

, where he studied law under his brother Albert.

Career

In 1840 Bliss passed the bar and began practicing law, first in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio and later in

. On November 16, 1843 he married Martha W. Thorpe. They had three children. He served as presiding judge of the 14th Judicial Circuit of Ohio from 1848 through 1851. Bliss ran for congressional office as a republican and was elected 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 chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they ...

. He served in the

34th Congress The 34th 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 in Washington, D.C., from March 4, 1855, ...

as an Oppositionist and

35th Congress The 35th 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 in Washington, D.C. from March 4, 1857, ...

as a Republican, but did not run for re-election in 1858. President

Abraham Lincoln Abraham Lincoln ( ; February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was an American lawyer, politician, and statesman who served as the 16th president of the United States from 1861 until his assassination in 1865. Lincoln led the nation throu ...

appointed Bliss chief justice of the Supreme Court of Dakota Territory in 1861. He also served as associate justice of the

Supreme Court of Missouri The Supreme Court of Missouri is the highest court in the state of Missouri. It was established in 1820 and is located at 207 West High Street in Jefferson City, Missouri. Missouri voters have approved changes in the state's constitution to gi ...

from 1868 through 1872.

Later career

After his retirement from the bench, Bliss became

Law Dean Law is a set of rules that are created and are law enforcement, enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior,Robertson, ''Crimes against humanity'', 90. with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. ...

for the

University of Missouri The University of Missouri (Mizzou, MU, or Missouri) is a public land-grant research university in Columbia, Missouri. It is Missouri's largest university and the flagship of the four-campus University of Missouri System. MU was founded in ...

, where he served until his death in

Saint Paul, Minnesota Saint Paul (abbreviated St. Paul) is the capital of the U.S. state of Minnesota and the county seat of Ramsey County. Situated on high bluffs overlooking a bend in the Mississippi River, Saint Paul is a regional business hub and the center ...

in 1889. He is buried at the Columbia Cemetery in

Columbia, Missouri Columbia is a city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It is the county seat of Boone County and home to the University of Missouri. Founded in 1821, it is the principal city of the five-county Columbia metropolitan area. It is Missouri's fourt ...

Legacy

The Philemon Bliss Scholarship was established at the University of Missouri School of Law in his honor.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bliss, Philemon 1813 births 1889 deaths People from Canton, Connecticut Opposition Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Ohio Ohio Republicans Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Ohio Ohio state court judges Judges of the Supreme Court of Missouri Justices of the Dakota Territorial Supreme Court 19th-century American judges Ohio lawyers Politicians from Columbia, Missouri People from Elyria, Ohio Politicians from Saint Paul, Minnesota People from Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio Hamilton College (New York) alumni University of Missouri alumni University of Missouri faculty Burials at Columbia Cemetery (Columbia, Missouri) 19th-century American politicians 19th-century American lawyers