Pierpoint Isham
{{Short description|American judge (1802–1872)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=February 2021}}
{{Infobox officeholder
|name = Pierpoint Isham
|image = Pierpoint Isham (Vermont Supreme Court Justice).jpg
|alt =
|caption = From Volume VII (1897) of The National Cyclopaedia of American Biography
|office1 = Associate Justice of the Vermont Supreme Court
|term_start1 = 1851
|term_end1 = 1856
|preceded1 = Daniel Kellogg
|succeeded1 = Luke P. Poland
|office2 = Vermont Bank Commissioner
|term_start2 = 1848
|term_end2 = 1850
|preceded2 = Carlos Coolidge
|succeeded2 = George C. West
|birth_date = {{Birth date|1802|08|05}}
|birth_place = Manchester, Vermont
|death_date = {{Death date and age|1872|05|08|1802|08|05}}
|death_place = Piermont, New York
|resting_place = Dellwood Cemetery, Manchester, Vermont
|occupation = Attorney
|spouse = {{Marriage|Semantha Swift|1831}}
|children = 3, including Edward Swift Isham
|party = Whig{{cite news |date=July 26, 1839 |title=Democratic Whig Ticket |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/48648199/vermont-phoenix/ |work=Vermont Phoenix |location=Brattleboro, VT |page=2 |via=Newspapers.com}}
|signature = Signature of Pierpoint Isham (1802–1872).png
}}
Pierpoint Isham (sometimes spelled Pierpont, Pierrepont, or Pierrepoint; August 5, 1802 – May 8, 1872) was a Vermont attorney and judge who served as an Associate Justice of the Vermont Supreme Court from 1851 to 1856.
Biography
Isham was born in Manchester, Vermont on August 5, 1802, the son of Dr. Ezra Isham and Nancy (Pierrepont) Isham.{{sfn|History of Bennington County, Vt.|pages=539-541}} He was raised and educated in Manchester, and at age 19 began the study of law with Richard Skinner.{{sfn|History of Bennington County, Vt.|pages=539-541}} He was admitted to the bar in 1823, and established a practice in Bennington and Pownal.{{sfn|History of Bennington County, Vt.|pages=539-541}} In 1831, he received the honorary degree of Master of Arts from Middlebury College.{{cite news |date=August 30, 1831 |title=Commencement, Middlebury College |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/85363827/middlebury-commencement/ |work=Rutland Herald |location=Rutland, VT |page=3 |via=Newspapers.com}} In the 1820s and 1830s, Isham was active in the Vermont Militia and served as inspector of the 2nd Division, which was headquartered in Manchester.{{cite news |date=September 15, 1829 |title=Division Head Quarters, Manchester, September 12, 1829 |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/85365867/division-orders/ |work=Bennington Gazette |location=Bennington, VT |page=3 |via=Newspapers.com}}
In 1848, the Vermont General Assembly appointed Isham state bank commissioner, succeeding Carlos Coolidge, and he served until 1850.{{cite news |date=November 6, 1848 |title=Legislature of Vermont: House |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/85365483/isham-bank-commissioner/ |work=Brattleboro Eagle |location=Brattleboro, VT |page=2 |via=Newspapers.com}} In 1851, Isham was appointed an associate justice of the Vermont Supreme Court.{{sfn|History of Bennington County, Vt.|pages=539-541}} He served until 1856, when he declined appointment to another term.{{sfn|History of Bennington County, Vt.|pages=539-541}}
Isham moved to Piermont, New York in 1860.{{sfn|History of Bennington County, Vt.|pages=539-541}} He continued to practice law until his death in Piermont on May 8, 1872.{{sfn|History of Bennington County, Vt.|pages=539-541}}{{sfn|Death notice, Pierrepont Isham}} Isham was buried at Dellwood Cemetery in Manchester, Vermont.{{sfn|"Vermont News: Bennington County"|page=3}}
Family
In 1831, Isham married Semantha Swift, the daughter of Dr. Noadiah Swift and Jennet Henderson of Bennington.{{sfn|History of Bennington County, Vt.|pages=539-541}} They were the parents of three children:
- Edward Swift Isham (1836-1902), an attorney in Chicago, who practiced in partnership with Robert Todd Lincoln,{{sfn|"Edward Swift Isham"}} and served in the Illinois House of Representatives{{sfn|History of Bennington County, Vt.|pages=539-541}}
- Mary Adeline Isham Prentice (1839-1913), the wife of Army Major Sartell Prentice{{sfn|History of Bennington County, Vt.|pages=539-541}}
- Henry Pierrepont Isham (1842-1897), a Chicago real estate broker and banker{{sfn|History of Bennington County, Vt.|pages=539-541}}
References
{{reflist}}
Sources
=Books=
- {{cite book |last=Aldrich |first=Lewis Cass |date=1889 |title=History of Bennington County, Vt. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TyY_AQAAMAAJ&pg=PA539 |location=Syracuse, NY |publisher=D. Mason & Co. |ref={{sfnRef|History of Bennington County, Vt.}}}}
=Newspapers=
- {{cite news |date=May 10, 1872 |title=Death notice, Pierrepont Isham |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1872/05/10/79020362.pdf |work=New York Times |location=New York, NY |ref={{sfnRef|Death notice, Pierrepont Isham}}}}
- {{cite news |date=May 22, 1872 |title=Vermont News: Bennington County |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/168438447/ |work=Green Mountain Freeman |location=Montpelier, VT |url-access=subscription |ref={{sfnRef|"Vermont News: Bennington County"}}}}
=Internet=
- {{cite web |url=https://dellwoodcemetery.org/2016/10/16/edward-swift-isham/ |title=Edward Swift Isham |last=Harrington |first=S. P. |date=October 16, 2016 |website=Dellwood Cemetery |publisher=Dellwood Cemetery Association |location=Manchester, VT |ref={{sfnRef|"Edward Swift Isham"}}}}
{{s-start}}
{{s-off}}
{{succession box
|title=Justice of the Vermont Supreme Court
|before=Milo Lyman Bennett
|after=Luke P. Poland
|years=1851–1856}}
{{s-end}}
{{authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Isham, Pierpoint}}
Category:Burials at Dellwood Cemetery
Category:People from Manchester, Vermont
Category:People from Bennington, Vermont
Category:People from Piermont, New York
Category:New York (state) lawyers
Category:U.S. state supreme court judges admitted to the practice of law by reading law
Category:Justices of the Vermont Supreme Court
Category:19th-century American judges