Samuel Locke Sawyer 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 Missouri

Missouri

Missouri is a US state located in the Midwestern United States, bordered by Iowa, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska. With a 2010 population of 5,988,927, Missouri is the 18th most populous state in the nation and the fifth most populous in the Midwest. It...

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Born in Mont Vernon, New Hampshire

Mont Vernon, New Hampshire

Mont Vernon is a town in Hillsborough County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 2,409 at the 2010 census.It is not clear why it is spelled differently from the many other towns in the United States named after Mount Vernon, the home of George Washington...

, Sawyer was graduated from Dartmouth College

Dartmouth College

Dartmouth College is a private, Ivy League university in Hanover, New Hampshire, United States. The institution comprises a liberal arts college, Dartmouth Medical School, Thayer School of Engineering, and the Tuck School of Business, as well as 19 graduate programs in the arts and sciences...

, Hanover, New Hampshire

Hanover, New Hampshire

Hanover is a town along the Connecticut River in Grafton County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 11,260 at the 2010 census. CNN and Money magazine rated Hanover the sixth best place to live in America in 2011, and the second best in 2007....

, in 1833. He studied law, and was admitted to the bar in Amherst, New Hampshire

Amherst, New Hampshire

Amherst is a town in Hillsborough County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 11,201 at the 2010 census. Amherst is home to Ponemah Bog Wildlife Sanctuary, Hodgman State Forest, the Joe English Reservation and Baboosic Lake....

, in 1836. He moved to Lexington, Missouri

Lexington, Missouri

Lexington is a city in Lafayette County, Missouri, United States. The population was 4,453 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Lafayette County. Located in western Missouri, Lexington lies about 40 miles east of Kansas City and is part of the Greater Kansas City Metropolitan Area...

, in 1838 and continued his law practice.

Sawyer was elected circuit attorney of the sixth judicial circuit of Missouri in 1848 and reelected in 1852. He served as delegate to the Missouri constitutional convention in 1861. He served as delegate to the Democratic National Convention in 1868. Sawyer was elected judge of the twenty-fourth judicial circuit and served from 1871 until February 15, 1876, when he resigned.

Sawyer was elected as an Independent Democrat to the Forty-sixth Congress (March 4, 1879-March 3, 1881). He did not seek renomination in 1880, and returned to the practice of law and engaged in banking. He died in Independence, Missouri

Independence, Missouri

Independence is the fourth largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri, and is contained within the counties of Jackson and Clay. It is part of the Kansas City Metropolitan Area...

, March 29, 1890, and was interred in Woodlawn Cemetery.