Samuel church
Samuel Church Sketch
unknown

Samuel Church

Gender:
Male
Born:
February 4, 1785
Died:
September 13, 1854
Home Town:
Salisbury, CT
Later Residences:
Salisbury, CT
Marriage(s):
Cynthia Newell Church (1806)
Biographical Notes:
Samuel Church was the son of Nathaniel and Lois (Ensign) Church. Church was admitted to the bar in 1806 and set up his practice in Sharon, CT. In 1818, he was a representative to the CT State Constitutional Convention. His most prominent career advancements came in the judiciary. In 1848, he was granted an honorary LLD from Trinity College. He died in Newtown, CT.
Additional Notes:
In 1818 and 1820 Samuel Church served on the Committee of Examination for Litchfield County Court admissions to the bar.
Education
Years at LLS:
1806
Other Education:
Graduated from Yale College in 1803.
Profession / Service
Profession:
Lawyer; Political Office
Admitted To Bar:
1806
State Posts:
State Representative (CT)
State Senator (CT) 1824-1827
State's Attorney (Litchfield County, CT) 1825-1832
Associate Judge of the Supreme Court (CT) 1832-1847
Chief Justice of the Supreme Court (CT) 1847-1854
Local Posts:
Postmaster (Salisbury, CT) 1810
Justice of the Peace (Salisbury, CT) 1818
Related Objects and Documents
In the Ledger:
Other:
Litchfield County, Litchfield County Court Papers by Subject: Admissions to the Bar
help The Citation of Attendance provides primary source documentation of the student’s attendance at the Litchfield Female Academy and/or the Litchfield Law School. If a citation is absent, the student is thought to have attended but currently lacks primary source confirmation.

Records for the schools were sporadic, especially in the formative years of both institutions. If instructors kept comprehensive records for the Litchfield Female Academy or the Litchfield Law School, they do not survive. Researchers and staff have identified students through letters, diaries, family histories and genealogies, and town histories as well as catalogues of students printed in various years. Art and needlework have provided further identification of Female Academy Students, and Litchfield County Bar records document a number of Law School students. The history of both schools and the identification of the students who attended them owe credit to the early 20th century research and documentation efforts of Emily Noyes Vanderpoel and Samuel Fisher, and the late 20th century research and documentation efforts of Lynne Templeton Brickley and the Litchfield Historical Society staff.
CITATION OF ATTENDANCE:
Ledger. "Journals of the Barr - Litchfield County." Litchfield Historical Society.; Catalogue of the Litchfield Law School (Hartford, CT: Press of Case, Tiffany, and Company, 1849), 6.

Litchfield County Bar Association Records, 1806, Litchfield Historical Society, Helga J. Ingraham Memorial Library.
Secondary Sources:
Loomis, Hon. Dwight and J. Gilbert Calhoun. The Judicial and Civil History of Connecticut. Boston: The Boston History Company, Publishers, 1895.; Kilbourne, Dwight C. The Bench and Bar of Litchfield County, Connecticut 1709-1909. Litchfield, CT: Published by the Author, 1909.
Contact Us

Do you have more information for the Ledger?

If you have family papers, objects, or any other details you would like to share, or if you would like to obtain a copy of an image for publication, please contact us at curator@litchfieldhistoricalsociety.org.