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Samuel C. Parks

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Samuel C. Parks
Associate Justice of the Wyoming Territorial Supreme Court
In office
January 11, 1882 – April 14, 1886
Appointed byChester A. Arthur
Preceded byWilliam Ware Peck
Succeeded bySamuel T. Corn
Associate Justice of the New Mexico Territorial Supreme Court
In office
January 22, 1882 – January 11, 1882
Appointed byRutherford B. Hayes
Preceded bySamuel B. McLin
Succeeded byJoseph Bell
Associate Justice of the Idaho Territorial Supreme Court
In office
March 10, 1863 – May 1865
Appointed byAbraham Lincoln
Preceded byposition established
Succeeded byMilton Kelly
Member of the Illinois House of Representatives
In office
1855
Personal details
Born(1820-03-25)March 25, 1820
Middlebury, Vermont, U.S.
DiedFebruary 8, 1917(1917-02-08) (aged 96)
Kansas City, Missouri, U.S.
Political partyRepublican
Spouse
Elizabeth A. Turley
​
(m. 1853)​
Children4

Samuel Chipman Parks[1] (March 25, 1820 – February 8, 1917) was an American lawyer and jurist who practiced law with Abraham Lincoln, and was later appointed to serve as a justice of three different territorial supreme courts by three different presidents, serving on the Idaho Territorial Supreme Court from 1862 to 1865, the New Mexico Territorial Supreme Court from 1878 to 1882, and the Wyoming Territorial Supreme Court from 1882 to 1886.

Early life, education, and career

[edit]

Born in Middlebury, Vermont,[2][3] to B. Parks, a professor at Indiana University Bloomington.[2] Parks himself graduated from Indiana University Bloomington in 1838.[4]

Soon after his graduation, in 1840,[5] Parks moved to Springfield, Illinois, where he taught school for six years,[2][3] received an M.A. from Jacksonville College in 1844,[2] and read law.[2][3] He became junior member of Abraham Lincoln's law firm.[4] He became one of Lincoln's closest friends, the pair often traveling the Illinois circuit together.[4][3] In 1853, he married Elizabeth A. Hurley in Logan County, Illinois, and they would have four children.[6]

Political and judicial activities

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Parks became active in Illinois politics, serving as a school commissioner,[3] and as a member of the 1848 Illinois Constitutional Convention.[3][2] In 1855, he was elected to serve in the Illinois House of Representatives.[7][5] Parks attended both the 1856 and 1860 Republican National Conventions,[5] and was instrumental in having Lincoln nominated for the presidency,[4] primarily by canvassing his native state of Vermont.[5]

On March 6, 1863, President Lincoln nominated him as one of the first associate justices of the newly-established Idaho Territorial Supreme Court, and he was confirmed by the senate four days later.[8] He resigned from the court in 1865, leaving office in May 1865,[6] following the death of one of his children in Illinois.[9] Parks was also a delegate to the 1870 Illinois Constitutional Convention.[5]

On December 15, 1877, President Rutherford B. Hayes nominated Parks as Associate Justice of the New Mexico Territorial Supreme Court, and he was confirmed by the senate on January 22, 1882.[10] At Parks's request, President Chester A. Arthur nominated him as Associate Justice of the Wyoming Territorial Supreme Court on January 6, 1882, and he was confirmed by the senate five days later.[11][5][2] He served on the latter court until 1886, and afterwards served on the State Board of Pardons of Kansas and a court referee in Cleveland, Ohio.[3]

Death

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He died at the home of his daughter, Mrs. H. D. Lee, of Kansas City, Missouri.[4][3] At the time of his death, at age 97, he was Indiana University's oldest living alumnus.[4] By coincidence he was laid to rest on the anniversary of the birthday of Abraham Lincoln.[4]

References

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  1. ^ Judges of the United States. Judicial Conference of the United States Bicentennial Committee. 1983.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Theophilus Adam Wylie, Indiana University, its history from 1820, when founded, to 1890 (1890), page 180.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h Wyoming State Archives biography of Samuel C. Parks, available at 2301 Central Ave, Cheyenne, Wyoming 82001.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g "Death of Samuel C. Parks, Indiana University Alumni Quarterly, Volume 4 (1917), pages 229-30.
  5. ^ a b c d e f Illinois Department of Public Health, "Parks, Samuel C.", The Law Practice of Abraham Lincoln.
  6. ^ a b Power, John Carroll (1876). History of the Early Settlers of Sangamon County, Illinois.
  7. ^ Illinois Legislative Roster--1818-2019.
  8. ^ United States Senate (1887). Journal of the Executive Proceedings of the Senate of the United States of America, from December 1, 1862, to July 4, 1864, inclusive. Government Printing Office.
  9. ^ Deborah K. Kristensen, The First 50 Men in Idaho Law, The Advocate (October 2010), pages 54-55.
  10. ^ United States Senate (1901). Journal of the Executive Proceedings of the Senate of the United States of American, from March 5, 1877, to March 3, 1879, inclusive. Government Printing Office.
  11. ^ United States Senate (1901). Journal of the Executive Proceedings of the Senate of the United States of American, from March 5, 1881, to March 3, 1883, inclusive. Government Printing Office.
Political offices
Preceded by
seat established
 Justice of the Idaho Territorial Supreme Court
1862–1865 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Justice of the New Mexico Territorial Supreme Court
1878–1882 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Justice of the Wyoming Territorial Supreme Court
1882–1886 		Succeeded by
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