Samuel Dinsmoor (July 1, 1766 – March 15, 1835) was an American teacher, lawyer, banker and politician from

New Hampshire New Hampshire ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec t ...

. He served as the 14th

governor of New Hampshire The governor of New Hampshire is the head of government of the U.S. state of New Hampshire. The governor is elected during the biennial state general election in November of even-numbered years. New Hampshire is one of only two states, along w ...

and as a member of the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Artic ...

Early life

Born in 1766 in Windham in the

Province of New Hampshire The Province of New Hampshire was an English colony and later a British province in New England. It corresponds to the territory between the Merrimack and Piscataqua rivers on the eastern coast of North America. It was named after the Englis ...

, Dinsmoor was the son of William and Elizabeth (Cochran) Dinsmoor. He graduated from

Dartmouth College Dartmouth College ( ) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Hanover, New Hampshire, United States. Established in 1769 by Eleazar Wheelock, Dartmouth is one of the nine colonial colleges chartered before the America ...

in 1789, worked as a teacher, studied law and 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 ...

. He established a law practice in Keene, New Hampshire, where he was appointed as Postmaster in 1808. He helped organize the Keene

light infantry Light infantry refers to certain types of lightly equipped infantry throughout history. They have a more mobile or fluid function than other types of infantry, such as heavy infantry or line infantry. Historically, light infantry often fought ...

and was the infantry commander.

Political career

Elected as a

Democratic-Republican The Democratic-Republican Party (also referred to by historians as the Republican Party or the Jeffersonian Republican Party), was an American political party founded by Thomas Jefferson and James Madison in the early 1790s. It championed l ...

, Dinsmoor represented

in the

during the Twelfth Congress, serving from March 4, 1811, to March 3, 1813. Dinsmoor was an 1820 presidential elector, and served on New Hampshire Governor's Council in 1821. He was a commission member that negotiated and established the boundary line between Massachusetts and New Hampshire in 1825. He also served as state court judge in New Hampshire from 1823 to 1831. Securing the Democratic gubernatorial nomination, Dinsmoor was elected

Governor A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the ...

by a popular vote in 1831. He was reelected to a second term in 1832, and to a third term in 1833, serving from 1831 to 1834. During his tenure, new manufacturing businesses were incorporated, railroads and banks flourished, and the first free public library in the United States was established in

Peterborough Peterborough ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city in the City of Peterborough district in the Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county of Cambridgeshire, England. The city is north of London, on the River Nene. A ...

. During his governorship, he also made the first official recommendation to establish a state asylum for the insane to remove the insane from prisons, dungeons, and cages. In 1838, a bill for the establishment of an asylum was finally passed by the state. He retired from political life and entered the private sector, serving as the first president of the Ashuelot Bank in Keene. He served in that position until his death.

Death

Dinsmoor died in Keene, Cheshire County, New Hampshire, on March 15, 1835 (age 68 years, 257 days). He is interred at Washington Street Cemetery in Keene, New Hampshire.

Personal life

Dinsmoor was the grandson of Robert and Margaret (Orr) Dinsmoor who settled in Nutfield in 1723. In 1798, he married Mary Boyd Reid, daughter of General George Reid and Molly (Woodburn) Reid. His son was Samuel Dinsmoor Jr., the 22nd Governor of New Hampshire.

References

External links

*
National Governors Association profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dinsmoor, Samuel 1766 births 1835 deaths People from Windham, New Hampshire Dartmouth College alumni Politicians from Keene, New Hampshire New Hampshire postmasters Democratic Party governors of New Hampshire Democratic-Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from New Hampshire Schoolteachers from New Hampshire 19th-century American lawyers New Hampshire lawyers 19th-century members of the United States House of Representatives