Green Berry Samuels

Green B. Samuels
Judge on the Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals
In office 1852 – January 5, 1859
Circuit Judge for Virginia's 14th Circuit Court
In office December 11, 1850-1852
Delegate to the Virginia Constitutional Convention of 1850-1851
In office October 14, 1850 – December 10, 1850
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Virginia's 16th district
In office March 4, 1839 – March 3, 1841
Preceded by	Isaac S. Pennybacker
Succeeded by	William A. Harris
Personal details
Born	(1806-02-01)February 1, 1806 Shenandoah County, Virginia, U.S.
Died	January 5, 1859(1859-01-05) (aged 52) Richmond, Virginia, U.S.
Resting place	Woodstock, Virginia
Spouse	Maria Gore Coffman
Children	5
Profession	Law

Green Berry Samuels (February 1, 1806 – January 5, 1859) was a Virginia lawyer, politician and judge.

Early life

Born in Shenandoah County, Virginia on February 6, 1806, Green Berry Samuels was a son of Isaac Samuels (1762–1819) and Elizabeth Pennybacker (1766–1824). He received a private classical education, then he studied law at Winchester Law School under Judge Henry St. George Tucker Sr.

On April 12, 1831, Samuels married Maria Gore Coffman and they had 5 children who reached adulthood: Elizabeth Margaret Samuels, Isaac Pennybacker Samuels, Anna Maria Samuels, Green Berry Samuels, Jr., and Samuel Coffman Samuels.

Career

Samuels was admitted to the bar in 1827 and began his legal practice at Woodstock, Virginia, the Shenandoah county seat. Voters of Virginia's 16th congressional district elected him as a Democrat to the Twenty-sixth Congress (March 4, 1839 – March 3, 1841), where he succeeded his cousin Isaac Samuels Pennybacker, a congressman and later senator from Virginia. However, Samuels chose not to see re-election, so William A. Harris succeeded him until population losses in the next census caused Virginia to lose that congressional seat.

Voters from Shenandoah, Hardy and Warren Counties elected Samuels as one of their four delegates to the Virginia Constitutional Convention of 1850, alongside William Seymour, Giles Cook and Samuel C. Williams, but Samuels resigned on December 10, 1850, after legislators elected him a judge of the circuit court. Mark Bird then succeeded him at the convention. Two years later, in 1852, legislators elected Samuels to the Court of Appeals.

Death

Green Berry Samuels died suddenly in Richmond, Virginia on January 5, 1859, at the age of 52. His remains were returned to Woodstock for burial in the Old Lutheran Graveyard (Emanuel Lutheran Church Cemetery).

Bibliography

• "Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1774 - Present". bioguide.congress.gov. United States Congress. Archived from the original on April 23, 2010. Retrieved January 1, 2016.

• Pulliam, David Loyd (1901). The Constitutional Conventions of Virginia from the foundation of the Commonwealth to the present time. John T. West, Richmond. ISBN 978-1-2879-2059-5.