Samuel H. Huntington was the third Governor of Ohio and an accomplished American jurist who had gained much influence in Ohio politics.
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Early Years
Samuel H. Huntington was born in Connecticut Colony in 1765 and would grow up during the American Revolution.
Connecticut was located in the New England Colonies, which was the hotbed of the Revolutionary War. Men such as Samuel Adams, John Hancock, John Adams, and his uncle were influential on the American sons that were growing up in that era.
Huntington was the nephew of Samuel Huntington, a signer of the Declaration of Independence. His uncle went on to become the fourth President of the Continental Congress and the first President of the United States under the Articles of Confederation (George Washington was the first President of the United States under the Constitution).
Huntington was privileged to be the nephew of an influential Connecticut politician. However, he earned his merits through hard work.
He attended Dartmouth College until his senior year, when he transferred to Yale College. He graduated from Yale in 1785 and was admitted to the Connecticut Bar. He followed many Connecticut citizens and moved to Ohio and settled in the city of Cleveland when it was only a village.
Career in Ohio
Samuel H. Huntington quickly became active in local Ohio politics. Cleveland would prove to be an excellent place to begin his career in Ohio due to the city's location on Lake Erie and its growing population.
His first office was lieutenant colonel of the Trumbull County militia. While this role may not seem as prestigious as later offices, it would help set the stage for his future success. Ohio was still considered frontier at the time, and the local militia leaders were often the first line of defense against Native American attacks. This would have put him in contact with many influential men who were some of the first settlers of the area.
He would go on to serve as Justice of the Peace and the Supervisor of Roads in the local area as well.
At first, he was not in favor of Ohio statehood and sided with military Governor Arthur St. Claire. However, that changed, and he would serve as a member of the first Ohio Constitutional Convention. Here, he would make contact and become allies with future governor Edward Tiffin.
Judicial Career
Ohio achieved statehood in 1803, and Edward Tiffin would become its first governor. His relationship with Tiffin paid off, and he was appointed judge of the Ohio Supreme Court.
Being a judge on the Ohio Supreme Court was very important since he would be setting state precedent with many of his rulings.
One of his most famous cases was Rutherford v. M'Fadden (1807). The issue facing the court was whether or not the court could declare state laws unconstitutional. Huntington believed the court had the right, which the state legislature saw as a breach of their power. This issue would carry over into the gubernatorial election of 1808.
During the election, Samuel H. Huntington maintained his position that the court could declare state laws unconstitutional and was opposed by Thomas Worthington and Thomas Kirker, who argued for state sovereignty.
Worthington and Kirker held the more popular position but ended up splitting the vote, which allowed Huntington to win the election and become Ohio's third governor.
Huntington would serve one term as governor, which would prove to be a difficult term. Ohio History Connection says the following about his term:
Huntington's term as governor was not without controversy. Although he himself was not targeted, the state legislature tried to impeach two other judges for decisions similar to the Rutherford v. M'Fadden case. These impeachment proceedings were ultimately unsuccessful. The two judges, Calvin Pease and George Tod, maintained their positions by a single vote each. The state capital was moved to Zanesville for a time, and there was continued debate over its permanent location. In addition, there was considerable unease about potential military conflict with Great Britain, which ultimately did occur with the War of 1812.
Huntington opted not to run for re-election and pursued a position in the United States Senate. His opponent would again be Thomas Worthington and this time, Worthington would not split the vote. Worthington soundly defeated Huntington and moved on to serve as U.S. Senator while Huntington finished out his term.
Two years after finishing his term, the War of 1812 broke out, and General William Henry Harrison appointed him as army paymaster.
He would live another five years after that and would unfortunately die in an accident while supervising the construction of a road near his home.