Samuel Chilton
BornSeptember 7, 1804
Fauquier County, Virginia, US
DiedJanuary 14, 1867(1867-01-14) (aged 62)
Warrenton, Virginia, US
Occupation(s)Politician, lawyer
SpouseIsabella R. Brooke (m. 1832)
Children5

Samuel Chilton (September 7, 1804 – January 14, 1867) was a 19th-century politician and lawyer from Virginia.

Biography

Chilton's grave in the family plot at Warrenton Cemetery.

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. Despite having owned slaves, 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.[1]

Chilton died in Warrenton on January 14, 1867, and was interred there at Warrenton Cemetery.

Sources

  1. ↑ "Samuel Chilton (1805–1867) – Encyclopedia Virginia". Retrieved March 6, 2022.
  • John T. Kneebone et al., eds., Dictionary of Virginia Biography (Richmond: The Library of Virginia, 1998- ), 3:217-218. ISBN 0-88490-206-4.
  • Death date in obituary, Warrenton True Index, 12, January 19, 1867.


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