Solomon Sibley

Solomon Sibley

Solomon Sibley (born October 7, 1769 in Sutton , Province of Massachusetts Bay , †  April 4, 1846 in Detroit , Michigan ) was an American politician . Between 1820 and 1823 he represented the Michigan Territory as a delegate in the US House of Representatives .

Career

Solomon Sibley was the father of Henry Hastings Sibley (1811-1891), who was governor of Minnesota from 1858 to 1860 and had previously served as congressional delegate for the Wisconsin and Michigan territories. After elementary school, Sibley studied at the College of Rhode Island , later Brown University in Providence, until 1794 . After studying law and being admitted to the bar in 1795, he began to work in his new profession in Marietta in what was then the Northwest Territory . Today the city is in the state of Ohio . In 1797 he moved to Detroit, where he continued to work as a lawyer. There he was initially one of only two lawyers.

At the same time, Sibley embarked on a political career. In 1799 he was elected to the Parliament of the Northwest Territory. In 1806 he became mayor of Detroit. During the British-American War of 1812 , he participated in the unsuccessful defense of Detroit. Between 1814 and 1817 he was an auditor in the Michigan Territory. Between 1815 and 1823 he also served as federal prosecutor in this territory.

After the resignation of Congress delegate William Woodbridge , Sibley was elected as his successor to the US House of Representatives in Washington, DC , where he took up his new mandate on November 20, 1820. After being re-elected in the regular congressional elections in 1820 , he was able to represent Michigan in the US House of Representatives until March 3, 1823. During this time he negotiated a peace treaty with the native Indians together with Lewis Cass . In 1822 Sibley declined to run for Congress again.

In 1824, President James Monroe made him a Supreme Court Justice on his territory. As Chief Justice, he was even its chairman. He held this office until 1837; then he had to resign because of a hearing impairment. In the following years he worked again as a lawyer in Detroit. He died there on April 4, 1846. Solomon Sibley was married to Sarah Whipple Sproat (1782-1851), with whom he had eight children, including the aforementioned son Henry.

Web links

• Solomon Sibley in the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress (English)

• Solomon Sibley in the database of Find a Grave (English)