{{Short description|American judge (1786–1868)}} {{about|the 19th-century U.S. representative and federal judge from New York|the 18th-century Connecticut state representative|Samuel Betts (Connecticut politician)}} {{Use mdy dates|date=September 2020}} {{Infobox officeholder | name = Samuel Betts | image = Samuel Rossiter Betts.jpg | alt = | caption = | office = Judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York | term_start = December 21, 1826 | term_end = April 30, 1867 | appointer = John Quincy Adams | predecessor = William P. Van Ness | successor = Samuel Blatchford | state1 = New York | district1 = 7th | term_start1 = March 4, 1815 | term_end1 = March 3, 1817 | predecessor1 = Abraham J. Hasbrouck | successor1 = Josiah Hasbrouck | office2 = Judge of the Circuit Court for New York's 2nd District | term_start2 = May 1, 1823 | term_end2 = December 21, 1826 | predecessor2 = Position created | successor2 = James Emott | office3 = District Attorney of Orange County, New York | term_start3 = February 5, 1818 | term_end3 = June 6, 1820 | predecessor3 = Position created | successor3 = Henry G. Wisner | term_start4 = February 15, 1821 | term_end4 = May 9, 1823 | predecessor4 = Henry G. Wisner | successor4 = Ogden Hoffman | birth_date = {{Birth date|1786|6|8}} | birth_place = Richmond, Massachusetts | death_date = {{Death date and age|1868|11|3|1786|6|8}} | death_place = New Haven, Connecticut | resting_place = Woodlawn Cemetery<br>New York City, New York | resting_place_coordinates = | party = Democratic-Republican | spouse = Caroline Abigail Dewey | relations = Daniel Dewey (father in law) | children = 5 | education = Williams College | profession = Attorney }} '''Samuel Rossiter Betts''' (June 8, 1786 – November 3, 1868) was an American attorney, politician, and jurist who served as a United States representative from New York and a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York.
==Early life and education== Born on June 8, 1786, in Richmond, Berkshire County, Massachusetts,<ref name="auto">{{FJC Bio|164|nid=1377786|name=Samuel Rossiter Betts<!--(1786–1868)-->}}</ref> Betts graduated from Lenox Academy in 1803, and was the first from that institution to attended college.<ref name="History-NY-Bench-Bar 1897">''[https://books.google.com/books?id=a1kwAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA43 History of the Bench and Bar of New York]'' (Volume 2), David McAdam, Henry Bischoff, Jr., Jackson O. Dykeman, Joshua M. Van Cott, George G. Reynolds, Richard Henry Clarke (eds.), New York History Company (1897), pages 43–44</ref> He graduated from Williams College in1806 and studied law with Thomas P. Grosvenor in Hudson, New York.<ref name="auto"/><ref name="auto1">{{CongBio|B000427|inline=yes}}</ref>
==Career== Betts was admitted to the bar in 1809 and entered private practice in Monticello, where he practiced until 1812.<ref name="auto" /> He served in the United States Army from 1812 to 1814<ref name="auto" /> appointed as a judge advocate of volunteers during the War of 1812.<ref name="auto1" /> He was a division judge advocate, General Court Martial, for the New York State Detached Militia starting in 1814.<ref name="auto" />
===U.S. House of Representatives=== Betts was elected as a Democratic-Republican from New York's 7th congressional district to the United States House of Representatives of the 14th United States Congress, serving from March 4, 1815, to March 3, 1817.<ref>{{cite web|title=Samuel Rossiter Betts|url=http://www.govtrack.us/congress/members/samuel_betts/401413|publisher=Govtrack US Congress|accessdate=August 31, 2013}}</ref><ref name="auto1"/> He was not a candidate for renomination in 1816.<ref name="auto1"/>
===Later career=== Following his departure from Congress, Betts resumed private practice in Newburgh, New York, from 1817 to 1823.<ref name="auto" /> He was district attorney for Orange County, New York from 1818 to 1820 and again from 1821 to 1823.<ref name="auto" /> He was a judge of the Supreme Court of Judicature of New York (now the New York Supreme Court) from 1823 to 1826.<ref name="auto" />
===Federal judicial service=== Betts was nominated by President John Quincy Adams on December 19, 1826, to a seat on the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York vacated by Judge William P. Van Ness.<ref name="auto"/> He was confirmed by the United States Senate on December 21, 1826, and received his commission the same day.<ref name="auto"/> His service terminated on April 30, 1867, due to his resignation.<ref name="auto"/>
Together with Supreme Court Justice Joseph Story and Judge Peleg Sprague on the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts, Betts oversaw, untangled and interpreted the British legacy of admiralty and maritime law in adherence to the American Constitution.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Raffety |first1=Matthew Taylor |title=The Republic Afloat: Law, Honor, and Citizenship in Maritime America |date=2013 |publisher=University of Chicago Press}}</ref> He decided numerous prize court cases during the American Civil War.
Betts was the sitting judge for the piracy trial of Charles Gibbs in 1831.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Thomas |first1=Wansley |title=The life and confession of Thos. J. Wansley : one of the pirates, concerned with Charles Gibbs, alias James Jeffers, in the murder and piracy committed on board the brig Vineyard / written by himself; to which is added, several interesting letters, together with the trial, sentence, and execution of Gibbs and Wansley, the latter of which took place on the 22d day of April, 1831 |date=1831 |publisher=Charles N. Baldwin}}</ref>
==Personal life== Betts married Caroline Abigail Dewey (1798–1882), daughter of Daniel Dewey (1766–1815) and Maria Noble (1770–1813).{{Citation needed|date=June 2019}} They had five children.{{Citation needed|date=June 2019}}
According to the 1820 U.S. Census, Betts was the owner of two slaves, a female under 14, and a female between 26 and 44.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.ancestry.com/ |title=1820 United States Federal Census, Entry for Samuel R. Betts |date=1820 |website=Ancestry.com |publisher=Ancestry.com, LLC |location=Lehi, UT |access-date=May 9, 2022 |url-access=subscription}}</ref> In keeping with New York's gradual emancipation law, under which all slaves were freed by 1827,<ref>{{cite news |last=Landy |first=Craig A. |date=June 7, 2017 |title=When Did Slavery End in New York? |url=https://history.nycourts.gov/when-did-slavery-end-in-new-york/ |work=Historical Society of the New York Courts |location=White Plains, NY |access-date=May 9, 2022}}</ref> by the time of the 1830 census, Betts held no slaves.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.ancestry.com/ |title=1830 United States Federal Census, Entry for Samuel R. Betts |date=1830 |website=Ancestry.com |publisher=Ancestry.com, LLC |location=Lehi, UT |access-date=May 9, 2022 |url-access=subscription}}</ref>
Betts died on November 3, 1868, in New Haven, Connecticut.<ref name="auto"/> He was interred in Woodlawn Cemetery in The Bronx, New York City, New York.<ref>{{cite web|title=Samuel Rossiter Betts|url=http://politicalgraveyard.com/bio/berryhill-betz.html|publisher=The Political Graveyard|accessdate=August 31, 2013}}</ref><ref name="auto1"/>
==See also== *List of United States federal judges by longevity of service
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== *{{Find a Grave|7643465}} {{CongBio|B000427}} *{{FJC Bio|164|nid=1377786|name=Samuel Rossiter Betts<!--(1786–1868)-->}}
{{s-start}} {{s-par|us-hs}} {{US House succession box |state=New York |district=7 |before=Abraham J. Hasbrouck |after=Josiah Hasbrouck |years=1815–1817}} {{s-legal}} {{s-bef|before=William P. Van Ness}} {{s-ttl|title={{nowrap|Judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York}}|years=1826–1867}} {{s-aft|after=Samuel Blatchford}} {{s-end}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Betts, Samuel}} Category:1786 births Category:1868 deaths Category:19th-century New York state court judges Category:19th-century United States representatives Category:American militia officers Category:American militiamen in the War of 1812 Category:Williams College alumni Category:Judges of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York Category:United States federal judges appointed by John Quincy Adams Category:People from Richmond, Massachusetts Category:People from Hudson, New York Category:Politicians from Newburgh, New York Category:County district attorneys in New York (state) Category:Burials at Woodlawn Cemetery (Bronx, New York) Category:People from Monticello, New York Category:Democratic-Republican Party United States representatives from New York (state) Category:United States Army Judge Advocate General's Corps Category:United States federal judges admitted to the practice of law by reading law