Samuel T. Douglass
Samuel T. Douglass | |
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| Justice of the Michigan Supreme Court | |
| In office 1851–1857 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | February 28, 1814 Wallingford, Vermont, US |
| Died | March 5, 1898 (aged 84) Grosse Ile, Michigan, US |
| Spouse |
Elizabeth Campbell (m. 1856) |
| Education | Fredonia Academy |
| Occupation | Jurist |
| Signature | .png){kind=small} |
Samuel T. Douglass (February 28, 1814 – March 5, 1898) was an American lawyer and jurist. He served as a justice of the Michigan Supreme Court.[1]
Early life and education
[edit]Douglass was born in Wallingford, Vermont, on February 28, 1814.[1][2] His family moved to Fredonia, New York, and Douglass was educated at Fredonia Academy there.[1] He studied law in the office of James Mullet (who was judge of the Supreme Court of New York).[1]
Career
[edit]Douglas came to Detroit in 1837, and was admitted to the bar the same year.[1] With the exception for a brief time in Ann Arbor, Douglass spent the next fifty years in Detroit as a practicing lawyer and judge.[1] In 1849, Douglass became law partners with James V. Campbell, also later a justice of the Michigan Supreme Court.[1] He married Campbell's sister, Elizabeth, in 1856.[1]
In 1845, Douglass was appointed reporter of decisions of the Michigan Supreme Court; he served in that position until resigning in 1849.[1] Douglass was reporter when the first two volumes of the Michigan Reports were published, covering 1843 to 1847.[1] Douglass served as judge of the Wayne County Circuit Court and the Michigan Supreme Court from 1851 until 1857.[1]
A separate Michigan Supreme Court was created in 1857, and Douglass was nominated for justice by the Democratic Party.[1] The Democrats were an extreme minority in the Michigan Legislature at the time, however, and James V. Campbell, Douglass' former law partner and brother-in-law, was appointed instead.[1] In May 1857, Douglass resigned the circuit judgeship and returned to private practice.[1]
Douglass was a lover of nature and an amateur naturalist.[1] In 1860 he built a home and farm on Grosse Ile in the Detroit River.[1] Douglass took part in several trips to explore the Upper Peninsula of Michigan at a time when the area remained remote and almost entirely unsettled.[1]
Douglass died at his home on Grosse Ile on the afternoon of March 5, 1898.[1][3]
Notes
[edit]- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r Biography: Samuel Douglass, Michigan Supreme Court Historical Society.
- ^ "The Bench and Bar of Detroit". Magazine of Western History. Vol. III, no. 6. April 1886. pp. 700–705. Retrieved October 28, 2024 – via Google Books.
- ^ "Veteran of the Bar". Detroit Free Press. March 6, 1898. p. 7. Retrieved October 28, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
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