Samuel Sitgreaves

Samuel Sitgreaves
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania's 4th district
In office March 4, 1795 – 1798
Preceded by	New District
Succeeded by	John Chapman and Robert Brown
Personal details
Born	March 16, 1764 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Died	April 4, 1827 (aged 63) Easton, Pennsylvania
Political party	Federalist
Spouse(s)	Franconia Allibone (m. 1783) Maria Angelina Kemper (m. 1796) [1]
Profession	Lawyer

Samuel Sitgreaves (March 16, 1764 – April 4, 1827) was a United States Representative from Pennsylvania. Born in Philadelphia, he pursued classical studies, studied law, was admitted to the bar in Philadelphia on September 3, 1783 and began practice in Easton, Pennsylvania in 1786. He was a delegate to the Pennsylvania Constitutional Convention in 1790, and was elected as a Federalist to the Fourth and Fifth Congresses, serving from March 4, 1795, until his resignation in 1798. Sitgreaves was one of the managers appointed by the House of Representatives in 1798 to conduct the impeachment proceedings against Senator William Blount. On August 11, 1798, Sitgreaves was appointed United States commissioner to Great Britain under the Jay treaty, regarding British debt claims arising from the American Revolution.

Service After Congress

After his involvement in the Blount affair of 1797, Sitgreaves was considered the Congressional expert on treason. As such, Sitgreaves was asked to lead the prosecution against John Fries and the others responsible for carrying out Fries's Rebellion, an armed tax revolt among Pennsylvania Dutch farmers between 1799 and 1800. Sitgreaves was successful in his prosecution and the jury in the case found the men guilty of treason, but a second trial and an eventual pardon from President John Adams saved the rebels from execution.^[2]

Sitgreaves returned to Easton, where he served as a burgess from 1804 to 1807, helped to found the Easton Library (now Easton Area Public Library),^[3] served as treasurer of Northampton County from 1816 to 1819, and resumed the practice of law. He was president of the Easton Bank from 1815 to 1827, and died in Easton; interment was in Easton Cemetery.

His sister Julianna married Lewis Allaire Scott, and was the mother of Mayor of Philadelphia John Morin Scott (1789–1858).

References

1. Johnson, Rossiter. The Twentieth Century Biographical Dictionary of Notable Americans. The Biographical Society, 1904.
2. Whelan, Frank. "Easton's Forgotten Founding Father Samuel Sitgreaves Left His Mark On Fledgling Nation". The Morning Call. August 05, 1991
3. McEvoy, Colin. "Easton Area Public Library to celebrate 200th anniversary, reflect on history". The Express-Times. December 30, 2010

• United States Congress. "Samuel Sitgreaves (id: S000460)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
• The Political Graveyard