Samuel Chandler CRAFTS, Congress, VT (1768-1853)

CRAFTS, Samuel Chandler, a Representative and a Senator from Vermont; born in Woodstock, Conn., October 6, 1768; graduated from Harvard College in 1790; moved in 1791 to Vermont with his father, who founded the town of Craftsbury; town clerk 1799-1829; delegate to the Vermont constitutional convention 1793; member, State house of representatives 1796, 1800-1803, 1805, and clerk of the house 1798-1799; register of probate 1796-1815; assistant judge of the Orleans County Court 1800-1810, 1825-1828; made an extensive botanical reconnaissance of the Mississippi Valley in 1802; member, State council 1809-1813; chief judge of the Orleans County Court 1810-1816; elected to the Fifteenth and to the three succeeding Congresses (March 4, 1817-March 3, 1825); again served as State councilor in 1825 and 1826; Governor of Vermont 1828-1831; member of the Vermont constitutional convention of 1829 and served as president; clerk of Orleans County 1836-1839; appointed and subsequently elected to the United States Senate to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of Samuel Prentiss and served from April 23, 1842, until March 3, 1843; retired to his farm in Craftsbury, Orleans County, Vt., where he died November 19, 1853; interment in North Craftsbury Cemetery, North Craftsbury, Vt.

Bibliography

Bassett, T.D. Seymour, ed. “Samuel Crafts and His Dugout Canoe.” Vermont History 41 (Autumn 1973): 198-204; Hessel, Mary Ellen. ”The Quiet Virtues of Samuel Chandler Crafts.” Vermont History 30 (October 1962): 259-90.

Source: Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1771-Present