Samuel Shaw (politician)

Samuel Shaw (December 1768 – October 23, 1827) was an American politician. He served as a United States representative from Vermont.

Samuel Shaw
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Vermont's 1st district
In office
September 6, 1808 – March 3, 1813
Preceded byJames Witherell
Succeeded byWilliam Czar Bradley
Personal details
BornDecember 1768 (1768-12)
Dighton, Province of Massachusetts Bay, British America
DiedOctober 23, 1827(1827-10-23) (aged 58)
Clarendon, Vermont, U.S.
Political partyDemocratic-Republican
SpouseSally Campbell Shaw
ChildrenHenry Shaw
ProfessionPolitician, Physician

Biography edit

Shaw was born in Dighton in the Province of Massachusetts Bay to John Shaw and Molly Hudson.[1] He moved to Putney, Vermont, at the age of ten, and received limited schooling as a youth. He moved to Castleton in the Vermont Republic in 1789 and studied medicine for two years, and then commenced the practice of medicine in Castleton.[2]

Shaw was elected to both the Vermont House of Representatives in 1800.[3] He served from 1800 until 1807,[4] and was Presidential Elector from Vermont in 1804.[5] He was elected as a Democratic-Republican candidate to the Tenth Congress to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of James Witherell. He was reelected to the Eleventh and Twelfth Congresses and served from September 6, 1808, to March 3, 1813.[6]

He served in the United States Army during the War of 1812 as a hospital surgeon from April 6, 1813, to June 15, 1815,[7] when he was honorably discharged. He was reinstated on September 13, 1815; appointed post surgeon April 18, 1818, and resigned on December 31, 1818.[8]

Shaw is not to be confused with the early whistleblower Samuel Shaw, who had been arrested by Esek Hopkins during the Revolutionary War. Representative Shaw would have been nine at the time of the incident.

Family life edit

Shaw married Sally Campbell in 1788.[9] Shaw's son Henry Shaw also served in the United States Congress as United States Representative from Massachusetts, serving from 1817 until 1821.[10]

Death edit

Shaw died on October 23, 1827, in Clarendon Springs. He is interred at Castleton Congregational Cemetery in Castleton, Vermont.

References edit

  1. ^ "Samuel Shaw". Ancestry.com. Retrieved November 14, 2012.
  2. ^ "SHAW, Samuel, (1768 - 1827)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. Retrieved November 14, 2012.
  3. ^ Encyclopedia, Vermont Biography: A Series of Authentic Biographical Sketches of the Representative Men of Vermont and Sons of Vermont in Other States. 1912. Ullery Publishing Company. 1912. pp. 66. samuel shaw.
  4. ^ "Shaw, Samuel (1768–1827)". The Political Graveyard. Retrieved November 14, 2012.
  5. ^ Vermont Legislative Directory. Rand, Avery. 1886. pp. 72. samuel shaw presidential elector vermont.
  6. ^ "Rep. Samuel Shaw". govtrack.us. Retrieved November 14, 2012.
  7. ^ American State Papers: Documents, Legislative and Executive of the Congress of the United States ..., Part 5, Volume 1. Gales and Seaton. 1832. p. 391.
  8. ^ Congressional serial set. United States. Government Printing Office. 1913. p. 990.
  9. ^ "Samuel Shaw". Ancestry.com. Retrieved November 14, 2012.
  10. ^ "SHAW, Henry, (1788 - 1857)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. Retrieved November 14, 2012.

External links edit


U.S. House of Representatives
Preceded by Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Vermont's 1st congressional district

1808–1813
Succeeded by