Samuel Rossiter Betts

Background

Samuel Betts was born on June 8, 1786, at Richmond, Massachussets, United States, the son of Uriah and Sarah (Rossiter) Betts.

Education

Samuel was first educated in the rural school, then tutored for college at Lenox Academy, Lenox, Massachussets. In 1806, after four years of study, he graduated from Williams College. Removing to Hudson, New York, he began to study law and was admitted to the bar in 1809.

Career

Betts opened a law office in Monticello in the newly organized Sullivan County. His legal practise was disrupted by the War of 1812 when he enlisted in the army and served in the defense of New York Harbor until appointed by Gov. Tompkins as division judge-advocate in that vicinity. After the war he was elected to Congress in 1815 from Sullivan and Orange counties but declined reelection in 1817 and resumed the practise of law at Newburgh. For two years he served as district attorney of Orange County. His genial disposition, industry, and ability brought him into prominence, and led to his appointment in 1823 as a circuit judge of the supreme court of New York. Three years later in 1826 he was elevated by President John Quincy Adams to the United States district court for the southern district of New York.

When Betts moved to New York City in 1827 the admiralty court had few cases but under Judge Betts its work was quadrupled. He is generally credited with an authoritative restatement of American admiralty law, and his decisions in numerous cases of maritime law gave him such a high standing as a judge in that branch of law that for a score of years none of his rulings were appealed. With the outbreak of the Civil War such problems as slavery, neutrality, blockade, prize, and contraband, involving both national and international law, came before him as new questions and were settled on cogent reasoning and fundamental legal principles. In addition to these cases in admiralty law, violations of the national criminal law and cases of patents and bankruptcy were presented to him for adjustment. Many of his opinions, accepted as fundamental statements of the law, were written after the age of seventy-five.

Achievements

• Samuel Betts achieved success while serving as judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York. This position he filled from 1826 till 1867 with urbanity, kindness, wisdom, and legal erudition. His decisions were characterized by learned research, clarity, and logical statement.

Works

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  • The Diplomatic Correspondence of the American Revolution; Being the Letters of Benjamin Franklin, Silas Deane, John Adams, John Jay, Arthur Lee, Willi

    ( The Making of Modern Law: Foreign, Comparative and Inte...)

  • Collection of the Laws of Patent Privileges of All the Countries of Europe, the United States of N. America and the Dutch West-Indies.

    ( The Making of Modern Law: Foreign, Comparative and Inte...)

  • Handbook of the Law and Practice of Patents, Designs, Trade Marks and Copyright in the Union of South Africa.

    ( The Making of Modern Law: Foreign, Comparative and Inte...)

  • A Summary of Practice in Instance, Revenue and Prize Causes: In the Admiralty Courts of the United States, for the Southern District of New-York; and ... Together with the Rules of the District Court

    (This book was originally published prior to 1923, and rep...)

Connections

On November 4, 1816, Samuel Betts married Caroline A. Dewey of Northampton, Massachussets.

Father:

Uriah Betts

Mother:

Sarah (Rossiter) Betts

Spouse:

Caroline A. (Dewey) Betts