Biography
Samuel received his early education at the Fryeburg Academy, and graduated from Dartmouth College in 1806. He studied law with Judge Dana, of Fryeburg, and Daniel Webster, and was admitted to the bar in 1809. He began his practice at New Gloucester, Maine. In 1815-16, he was a representative in the Massachusetts House of Representatives, and in 1818-19 represented his district in the Massachusetts State Senate.
He was major-general of the 12th division of the Massachusetts (later Maine) militia, to which office he was elected on leaving the senate, and to which he gave much attention. He moved to Portland, Maine, in 1822, and about 1828 declined the presidency of Dartmouth.
He was an ardent Federalist, and one of the early members of the anti-slavery party in Maine. In 1847, he was a Liberty Party candidate for congressman and governor, and an early supporter of the United States Republican Party.
For forty years he stood at the head of the bar in Maine. He was an active philanthropist. He published two orations and a treatise on the institution, duties, and importance of juries. The degree of LL.D. was conferred upon him by Bowdoin College in 1846.
Read more about this topic: Samuel Fessenden
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“Just how difficult it is to write biography can be reckoned by anybody who sits down and considers just how many people know the real truth about his or her love affairs.”
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