Samuel Chilton

Samuel Chilton (September 7, 1804 – January 7, 1867) was a 19th-century politician and lawyer from Virginia.

Biography
Born in Warrenton, Virginia, Chilton moved to Missouri with his family as a child and attended private school there. He studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1826, commencing practice back in Warrenton. He got involved in politics and was elected a Whig to the United States House of Representatives in 1842 when he narrowly defeated William "Extra Billy" Smith following a redistricting. Chilton served one term from 1843 to 1845, during which he advocated abolishing imprisonment for debt. Afterward, he returned to practicing law and was a delegate to the Virginia Constitutional Convention from 1850 to 1851. At the convention he proposed a key compromise on legislative apportionment.

Chilton moved to Washington, D.C., by 1853 and became a member of American Party, or Know-Nothings. In 1859 he was appointed as a defense attorney for abolitionist John Brown after his previous defense attorneys advocated that the defendant advance a plea of insanity as his defense.

Chilton died in Warrenton on January 7, 1867 and was interred there at Warrenton Cemetery.

Sources

 John T. Kneebone et al., eds., Dictionary of Virginia Biography (Richmond: The Library of Virginia, 1998-  ), 3:217-218. .
 Death date in obituary, Warrenton True Index, 12, 19 Jan. 1867.
 "John Brown Trial: 1859 - Brown's Lawyers Search For A Defense," Law Library - American Law and Legal Information, http://law.jrank.org/pages/2558/John-Brown-Trial-1859-Brown-s-Lawyers-Search-Defense.html (accessed December 14, 2009).

External links

Samuel Chilton at Encyclopedia Virginia

Category:1804 births
Category:1867 deaths
Category:Members of the United States House of Representatives from Virginia
Category:Virginia lawyers
Category:Lawyers from Washington, D.C.
Category:People from Warrenton, Virginia
Category:Virginia Whigs
Category:Washington, D.C. Know Nothings
Category:Whig Party members of the United States House of Representatives
Category:19th-century American politicians