Zabdiel Sampson (August 22, 1781 – July 19, 1828) was a

U.S. Representative The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they c ...

from

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut Massachusett_writing_systems.html" ;"title="nowiki/> məhswatʃəwiːsət.html" ;"title="Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət">Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət'' En ...

Early life

Sampson was born in

Plympton, Massachusetts Plympton is a town in Plymouth County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 2,930 at the 2020 census. The United States senator William Bradford was born here. History Plympton was first settled in 1662 by Reverend Justin P. Daley ...

on August 22, 1781. He was the eldest of nine children born to George Sampson (1755–1826) and Hannah ( née Cooper) Sampson (1761–1836), who married in 1780. His paternal aunt, Hannah Sampson, was married to his maternal uncle, Richard Cooper. His paternal grandfather, and namesake, was Zabdeil Sampson, who died in the Revolutionary War. As a young man during the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...

, he apprenticed as a blacksmith. He later pursued classical studies and graduated from Brown University in

Providence, Rhode Island Providence is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Rhode Island. One of the oldest cities in New England, it was founded in 1636 by Roger Williams, a Reformed Baptist theologian and religious exile from the Massachusetts ...

in 1803.

Career

He studied law, was

admitted to the bar An admission to practice law is acquired when a lawyer receives a license to practice law. In jurisdictions with two types of lawyer, as with barristers and solicitors, barristers must gain admission to the bar whereas for solicitors there are dist ...

in 1806. He first began practicing in

Fairhaven, Massachusetts Fairhaven (Massachusett: ) is a town in Bristol County, Massachusetts, United States. It is located on the South Coast of Massachusetts where the Acushnet River flows into Buzzards Bay, an arm of the Atlantic Ocean. The town shares a harbor wi ...

before returning to practice in Plymouth. Sampson first became involved in politics as a member of the Board of Selectmen for Plymouth. In 1816, he was elected as a

Democratic-Republican The Democratic-Republican Party, known at the time as the Republican Party and also referred to as the Jeffersonian Republican Party among other names, was an American political party founded by Thomas Jefferson and James Madison in the early ...

to succeed Congressman

William Baylies William Baylies (September 15, 1776 – September 27, 1865) was a U.S. Representative from Massachusetts, and brother of congressman Francis Baylies. His great-grandfather was Thomas Baylies, an ironmaster from Coalbrookdale, England, who emig ...

and represent

Massachusetts's 8th congressional district Massachusetts's 8th congressional district is located in eastern Massachusetts, including part of Boston. It is represented by Democrat Stephen Lynch. For one congressional term (1791–1793), it served as the home district of the District of Ma ...

in the

Fifteenth In music, a fifteenth or double octave, abbreviated ''15ma'', is the interval between one musical note and another with one-quarter the wavelength or quadruple the frequency. It has also been referred to as the bisdiapason. The fourth harmonic, ...

and Sixteenth Congresses and served from March 4, 1817, to July 26, 1820 when he resigned due to his appointment by President

James Monroe James Monroe ( ; April 28, 1758July 4, 1831) was an American statesman, lawyer, diplomat, and Founding Father who served as the fifth president of the United States from 1817 to 1825. A member of the Democratic-Republican Party, Monroe was ...

as Collector of Customs at Plymouth on July 26, 1820, and served until his death. Sampson was a close friend of

Daniel Webster Daniel Webster (January 18, 1782 – October 24, 1852) was an American lawyer and statesman who represented New Hampshire and Massachusetts in the U.S. Congress and served as the U.S. Secretary of State under Presidents William Henry Harrison ...

Personal life

On October 18, 1804, Sampson was married to Ruth Lobdell (1784–1837), daughter of Captain Ebenezer and Judith Lobdell. Together, they were the parents of ten children, including: * Milton Lobdell Sampson (1805–1806), who died in infancy. * Eudora Rowland Sampson (1807–1852), who married Francis Alden. * Algernon Sidney Sampson (1809–1815), who died as a child. * Marcia Lobdell Sampson (1811–1859), who married John Hayden Coggeshall. After his death, she married Dr. John Hornby. * Maria Louisa Sampson (b. 1813), who married Daniel Ricketson in 1834. * Algernon Sidney Sampson (1815–1849), who married Adeline Lombard. * Ruth Lobdell Sampson (1819–1851), who married Daniel Hathaway. * Zabdiel Silsbee Sampson (1821–1870) * Judith Lobdell Sampson (b. 1827), a twin. * Nancy Ripley Sampson (1827–1854), a twin who married prolific author James Loring Baker (1813–1886). Sampson died on July 19, 1828 in Plymouth. He was interred in Burial Hill Cemetery.

References

External links

* 1781 births 1828 deaths Brown University alumni People from Plymouth, Massachusetts Democratic-Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Massachusetts 19th-century American politicians People from Plympton, Massachusetts Burials at Burial Hill {{Massachusetts-Representative-stub