Samuel Eddy was a U.S. Representative

United States House of Representatives

The United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the Constitution...

 from Rhode Island

Rhode Island

The state of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, more commonly referred to as Rhode Island , is a state in the New England region of the United States. It is the smallest U.S. state by area...

. Born in Johnston, Rhode Island

Johnston, Rhode Island

Johnston is a town in Providence County, Rhode Island, United States. The population was 28,769 at the 2010 census. Johnston is the site of the Clemence Irons House a stone-ender museum and the only landfill in Rhode Island...

, near Providence

Providence, Rhode Island

Providence is the capital and most populous city of Rhode Island and was one of the first cities established in the United States. Located in Providence County, it is the third largest city in the New England region...

, Eddy completed preparatory studies. He graduated from Brown University

Brown University

Brown University is a private, Ivy League university located in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. Founded in 1764 prior to American independence from the British Empire as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations early in the reign of King George III ,...

 in 1787. He studied law, was admitted to the bar

Admission to the bar in the United States

In the United States, admission to the bar is the granting of permission by a particular court system to a lawyer to practice law in that system. Each U.S. state and similar jurisdiction has its own court system and sets its own rules for bar admission , which can lead to different admission...

 in 1790 and practiced a short time in Providence. He served as clerk of the Rhode Island Supreme Court

Rhode Island Supreme Court

The Rhode Island Supreme Court, founded in 1747, is the court of last resort in the U.S. State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations. The Court consists of a chief justice and four associate justices. The current Justices of the Rhode Island Supreme Court are:*Chief Justice Paul A...

 1790–1793.
He also served as Rhode Island Secretary of State 1798–1819.

Eddy was elected as Democratic-Republican to the Sixteenth

16th United States Congress

-House of Representatives:During this congress, one House seat was added for the new state of Alabama and one seat was reapportioned from Massachusetts to the new state of Maine. For the beginning of the next congress, six more seats from Massachusetts would be reapportioned to...

 and Seventeenth

17th United States Congress

The Seventeenth United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, consisting of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C. from March 4, 1821 to March 3, 1823, during the fifth and sixth...

 Congresses, and reelected as an Adams-Clay Republican

National Republican Party (United States)

The National Republicans were a political party in the United States. During the administration of John Quincy Adams , the president's supporters were referred to as Adams Men or Anti-Jackson. When Andrew Jackson was elected President of the United States in 1828, this group went into opposition...

 to the Eighteenth Congress

18th United States Congress

The Eighteenth United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, consisting of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C. from March 4, 1823 to March 3, 1825, during the seventh and eighth...

 (March 4, 1819 – March 3, 1825). He was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1824 to the Nineteenth Congress

19th United States Congress

-House of Representatives:-Leadership:- Senate :* President: John C. Calhoun * President pro tempore: John Gaillard , until December 4, 1825** Nathaniel Macon , from May 20, 1826- House of Representatives :* Speaker: John W. Taylor -Members:...

 and for election in 1828 to the Twenty-first Congress

21st United States Congress

-House of Representatives:-Leadership:- Senate :* President: John C. Calhoun * President pro tempore: Samuel Smith - House of Representatives :* Speaker: Andrew Stevenson -Members:This list is arranged by chamber, then by state...

. He served as associate justice of the Rhode Island Supreme Court

Rhode Island Supreme Court

The Rhode Island Supreme Court, founded in 1747, is the court of last resort in the U.S. State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations. The Court consists of a chief justice and four associate justices. The current Justices of the Rhode Island Supreme Court are:*Chief Justice Paul A...

 in 1826 and 1827, and served as chief justice

Chief Justice

The Chief Justice in many countries is the name for the presiding member of a Supreme Court in Commonwealth or other countries with an Anglo-Saxon justice system based on English common law, such as the Supreme Court of Canada, the Constitutional Court of South Africa, the Court of Final Appeal of...

 1827–1835. Eddy wrote the Court's first published decision, Stoddard v. Martin

Stoddard v. Martin

Stoddard v. Martin 1 R.I. 1 was the first case recorded in the official reports of the Rhode Island Supreme Court.-Holding:In the Court's first officially recorded decision, Chief Justice Samuel Eddy held that a bet on the outcome of the 1826 U.S...

in 1828. Eddy died in Providence, Rhode Island

Providence, Rhode Island

Providence is the capital and most populous city of Rhode Island and was one of the first cities established in the United States. Located in Providence County, it is the third largest city in the New England region...

, February 3, 1839, and was interred in North End Cemetery.

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