Hoar, Samuel

Hoar, Samuel (1778–1856) lawyer, U.S. representative, public official; born in Lincoln, Mass. He graduated from Harvard in 1802 and worked for a time as a tutor in Virginia before returning north to practice law. He served eight years in the Massachusetts legislature and a single term in the U.S. House of Representatives (Whig, 1835–37) where he passionately opposed slavery. His appearance in a Charleston, S.C., court to argue on behalf of free blacks in 1844 nearly touched off a riot, and his expulsion from the city provoked outrage in the north. In 1854–55 he helped found the Free Soil Party in Massachusetts.