Sedgwick, Theodore

Sedgwick, Theodore, 1746–1813, American lawyer and statesman, b. West Hartford, Conn. He practiced law in Massachusetts after being admitted (1766) to the bar. In the American Revolution he acted (1776) as military secretary to Gen. John Thomas on the Canadian expedition. After serving in the state legislature for several years, he became a member of the Continental Congress, was concerned with the suppression of Shays's Rebellion, and was a delegate to the Massachusetts convention that ratified the Constitution (1788). A Federalist, from 1789 to 1801 he served both in the U.S. House of Representatives, where he was speaker (1799–1801), and in the Senate. He was afterward judge of the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts until his death.

Bibliography

See biography by R. E. Welch, Jr. (1965).

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Sedgwick, Theodore (1811–59) legal scholar; born in Albany, N.Y. He practiced law for several years (1934–50) and served as U.S. district attorney for the Southern District of New York (1858–59). He wrote extensively for the popular press as well as Thoughts on the Annexation of Texas (1844) and Statutory and Constitutional Law (1857).