Samuel Judah was an American lawyer and politician, who initially served as the United States Attorney for the District of Indiana and finally was elected Speaker of the Indiana House of Representatives.
Background
Samuel was born on July 10, 1798 in New York City, New York, United States, of a Hebrew family, the son of Dr. Samuel Bernard Judah, and a grandson of Samuel Judah who emigrated to America from London about 1760 and was active in the American Revolution. His mother, Catherine Hart Judah, was the daughter of Aaron Hart who accompanied Amherst to Canada in 1760, served as commissary general on Haldimand's staff, and settled in Three Rivers.
Education
Young Samuel graduated from Rutgers College in 1816.
Career
Judah was admitted to the bar, and in 1818 moved to Indiana and established himself in Vincennes, where he practiced his profession until his death. His father visited him in 1872 and kept a journal, which was published in the Indiana Magazine of History, December 1921 ("A Journal of Travel from New York to Indiana in 1827").
Judah participated in politics and was a member of the state House of Representatives in 1827-29 and 1837-41, being elected speaker in 1840. For some time he was United States attorney, but he lost his position in 1833 and the following year was opposing Jackson. In 1839 he presided over the Whig legislative caucus.
His most notable case as a lawyer was undertaken in 1842 in behalf of Vincennes University, the question at issue being the right of that institution to certain lands granted by act of Congress in 1804 but later taken by the state and in part sold. Judah procured the passage of a bill through the legislature granting the institution the right to bring suit against the state for the recovery of the property. Suit was brought in the Marion County court, and the university obtained a judgment for $30, 099. 96 and interest amounting to $5, 428. 87. The supreme court of Indiana reversed the decision, but the Supreme Court of the United States upheld the university's claim. Ultimately, in 1855, the state legislature passed a bill providing for the payment to the university of $66, 585, out of which Judah retained for fees and expenses $26, 728. 23. The board of trustees of the school brought suit to compel him to make an accounting, and in his answer, among other things, he stated that he had used $4, 500 in procuring the passage of the act of 1855. The trustees opposed this item, alleging that the money had been fraudulently and corruptly expended "in hiring persons to aid him in influencing members of the legislature and in bribing members to procure the passage of said act. " The courts, however, sustained Judah's claim. Echoes of the case continued to be heard for half a century, and in 1909 the state paid the university another large sum to satisfy its claim.
Judah died in 1869.
Achievements
Politics
Samuel was originally a Democrat and was one of the committee that wrote the address of the Jackson convention in 1824. In local politics he was a leader in the internal improvements party, was chairman of the canal committee of the Assembly, and reported in favor of canals, but the bill for their construction was defeated.
Interests
Judah was learned outside the law and during his long career maintained a love for science and the classics. His proficiency in Greek and Latin was well known and he possessed an interesting general library.
Connections
In 1825 Judah married Harriet Brandon of a prominent family in Corydon, Indiana. Six of their children reached maturity.