Samuel Huntington (October 4, 1765 – June 8, 1817) was an American jurist who was the third governor of Ohio from 1808 to 1810.

Biography

Huntington was born in

Coventry Coventry ( or ) is a city in the West Midlands, England. It is on the River Sherbourne. Coventry has been a large settlement for centuries, although it was not founded and given its city status until the Middle Ages. The city is governed b ...

in the

Colony of Connecticut The ''Connecticut Colony'' or ''Colony of Connecticut'', originally known as the Connecticut River Colony or simply the River Colony, was an English colony in New England which later became Connecticut. It was organized on March 3, 1636 as a settl ...

. He was the nephew (and, later, the adopted son) of Samuel Huntington, the fourth

President of the Continental Congress The president of the United States in Congress Assembled, known unofficially as the president of the Continental Congress and later as the president of the Congress of the Confederation, was the presiding officer of the Continental Congress, the ...

and first President of the United States in Congress Assembled under the Articles of Confederation. Huntington studied at

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 ...

until the end of his junior year. He then transferred to

Yale College Yale College is the undergraduate college of Yale University. Founded in 1701, it is the original school of the university. Although other Yale schools were founded as early as 1810, all of Yale was officially known as Yale College until 1887, ...

, from which he was graduated in 1785. He was admitted to the bar and began practicing law in

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 capita ...

. In 1801, he moved to Ohio with his wife, Hannah, and their young sons, settling in the tiny village of

Cleveland Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...

Career

After serving as a

Trumbull county Trumbull County is a county in the far northeast portion of U.S. state of Ohio. As of the 2020 census, the population was 201,977. Its county seat is Warren, which developed industry along the Mahoning River. Trumbull County is part of the ...

delegate to the State's first constitutional convention, Huntington was selected as an associate justice of the

Ohio Supreme Court The Ohio Supreme Court, Officially known as The Supreme Court of the State of Ohio is the highest court in the U.S. state of Ohio, with final authority over interpretations of Ohio law and the Ohio Constitution. The court has seven members, a ...

and succeeded

Return J. Meigs, Jr. Return Jonathan Meigs Jr. (; November 17, 1764March 29, 1825) was a Democratic-Republican politician from Ohio. He served as the fourth governor of Ohio, fifth United States Postmaster General, and as a United States senator. Early life Meigs ...

as Chief Justice a year later. He served until being elected Governor in 1808. His tenure was stormy, with much controversy over the impeachment of two judges for upholding the principle of judicial review (Huntington would have been impeached as well had it not been being elected governor), the move of the state capital from

Zanesville Zanesville is a city in and the county seat of Muskingum County, Ohio, United States. It is located east of Columbus and had a population of 24,765 as of the 2020 census, down from 25,487 as of the 2010 census. Historically the state capit ...

to Chillicothe, and the Tiffin Resolution, which terminated the terms of all sitting judges. Huntington did not stand for re-election, but instead ran for the

U.S. 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 ...

, losing to

Thomas Worthington Thomas or Tom Worthington may refer to: *Thomas Worthington (Douai) (1549–1627), English Catholic priest and third President of Douai College * Thomas Worthington (Dominican) (1671–1754), English Dominican friar and writer * Thomas Worthington ...

. Huntington was also an active Freemason, and served as the second Grand Master of the Grand Lodge F.&A.M. of Ohio in 1809.

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Huntington, Samuel 1765 births 1817 deaths Governors of Ohio Ohio state senators Justices of the Ohio Supreme Court Politicians from Cleveland Ohio Democratic-Republicans Ohio Constitutional Convention (1802) Democratic-Republican Party state governors of the United States Yale University alumni Masonic Grand Masters 19th-century American politicians 19th-century American judges 18th-century American lawyers 19th-century American lawyers People from Coventry, Connecticut Lawyers from Cleveland