imported>Jevansen: added :Category:19th-century members of the United States House of Representatives

2024-12-09T06:00:35Z

added Category:19th-century members of the United States House of Representatives

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{{short description|American politician}}
{{for|the bishop of Virginia|Samuel B. Chilton}}

{{Use mdy dates|date=November 2020}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Samuel Chilton
| image = Portrait_photograph_of_Samuel_Chilton.jpg
| alt =
| caption =
| birth_name = 
| birth_date = September 7, 1804
| birth_place = [[Fauquier County, Virginia]], US
| death_date = {{Death date and age|1867|1|14|1804|9|7}}
| death_place = [[Warrenton, Virginia]], US
| nationality =
| other_names =
| occupation = Politician, lawyer
| spouse = Isabella R. Brooke (m. 1832)
| children = 5
| years_active =
| known_for =
| notable_works =
}}
'''Samuel Chilton''' (September 7, 1804{{spnd}}January 14, 1867) was a 19th-century politician and lawyer from [[Virginia]].

==Biography==
[[File:Grave of Samuel Chilton, Warrenton Cemetery.jpg|thumb|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 Party (United States)|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 of 1850|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 [[Know Nothing|American Party]], or [[Know-Nothings]]. Despite having owned slaves, in 1859 he was appointed as a defense attorney for [[Abolitionism in the United States|abolitionist]] [[John Brown (abolitionist)|John Brown]] after his previous defense attorneys advocated that the defendant advance a plea of insanity as his defense.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Samuel Chilton (1805–1867) – Encyclopedia Virginia |url=https://encyclopediavirginia.org/entries/chilton-samuel-1805-1867/ |access-date=2022-03-06 |language=en-US}}</ref>

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

==Sources==
{{reflist}}
* 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.

==External links==
{{CongBio|C000358}}
*[http://www.encyclopediavirginia.org/Chilton_Samuel_1805-1867 Samuel Chilton] at ''[[Encyclopedia Virginia]]''

{{s-start}}
{{s-par|us-hs}}
{{US House succession box
| state=Virginia
| district=9
| before=[[William "Extra Billy" Smith]]
| after= [[John Pendleton]]
| years=March 4, 1843 – March 3, 1845
}}
{{s-end}}
{{VirginiaRepresentatives09}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chilton, Samuel}}
[[Category:1804 births]]
[[Category:1867 deaths]]
[[Category:Virginia lawyers]]
[[Category:Lawyers from Washington, D.C.]]
[[Category:People from Warrenton, Virginia]]
[[Category:Washington, D.C., Know Nothings]]
[[Category:Whig Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Virginia]]
[[Category:19th-century American lawyers]]
[[Category:19th-century members of the United States House of Representatives]]

{{Virginia-Representative-stub}}

Samuel Chilton - Revision history

imported>Jevansen: added :Category:19th-century members of the United States House of Representatives