Samuel Oscar Prentice (born North Stonington,

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 ...

, August 8, 1850; died November 2, 1924) was a lawyer, judge, and chief justice of the

Supreme Court of Connecticut The Connecticut Supreme Court, formerly known as the Connecticut Supreme Court of Errors, is the highest court in the U.S. state of Connecticut. It consists of a Chief Justice and six Associate Justices. The seven justices sit in Hartford, acr ...

. Prentice attended the

Norwich Free Academy The Norwich Free Academy (NFA), founded in 1854 and in operation since 1856, is a coeducational independent school for students between the 9th and 12th grade. Located in Norwich, Connecticut, the Academy serves as the primary high school for Norw ...

1866-9 and then entered

Yale Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wor ...

, where he was a member of

Skull and Bones Skull and Bones, also known as The Order, Order 322 or The Brotherhood of Death, is an undergraduate senior secret student society at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut. The oldest senior class society at the university, Skull and Bone ...

, graduating in 1873. He continued on to

Yale Law School Yale Law School (Yale Law or YLS) is the law school of Yale University, a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. It was established in 1824 and has been ranked as the best law school in the United States by '' U.S. News & Worl ...

, graduating in 1875. Prentice was admitted to the bar and began practice, first with the firm of Chamberlain, Hall, & White in

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 t ...

and then in 1876 as the junior partner in Johnson & Prentice. In 1889 he was appointed to the Superior Court by Governor Morgan G. Bulkeley, who had employed him as executive secretary. In 1901 he was appointed to the Connecticut Supreme Court (then called the "Supreme Court of Errors"); he was reappointed in 1909. In February 1913 he was promoted to the position of Chief Justice, a position he held until he reached the judicial retirement age of 70 in 1920. Prentice was a professor at the Yale Law School from 1901 to 1915. He was involved with many charitable and professional organizations, serving as president of the

Hartford Public Library The Hartford Public Library serves the city of Hartford, Connecticut, United States. The library's main branch is located at 500 Main Street in downtown Hartford. The nine branch locations are named Albany, Barbour, Blue Hills, Camp Field, Dw ...

, president of the Watkinson Library, president of the Connecticut Humane Society, and a long-time member of the state bar examining committee.Encyclopedia of Connecticut Biography, American Historical Society, 1917, p. 225-7 Prentice married Anne Coombe on April 24, 1901. Mrs. Prentice was a delegate to the Republican National Convention in 1924.

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* {{DEFAULTSORT:Prentice, Samuel Oscar Connecticut lawyers Chief Justices of the Connecticut Supreme Court Yale Law School alumni 1850 births 1924 deaths People from North Stonington, Connecticut Yale University alumni 19th-century American lawyers Members of Skull and Bones