Samuel D. Parker (attorney)

Samuel Dunn Parker (1781–1873) was an American attorney who served as District Attorney of Suffolk County, Massachusetts.

Samuel D. Parker
District Attorney of Suffolk County, Massachusetts
In office
1832–1852
Preceded byJames T. Austin
Succeeded byJohn C. Park
Personal details
BornDecember 6, 1781
Boston
DiedJuly 29, 1873 (aged 91)
Boston
NationalityAmerican
Spouse(s)Elizabeth Mason
Alma materHarvard College

Early life

Parker was born on December 6, 1781 to Samuel Parker and Ann Cutler.[1] He was one of 13 children. His brothers included acting Mayor of Boston William Parker, businessman John Rowe Parker, and educator Richard Green Parker.[2] He graduated from Harvard College in 1795 and after college, spent many years as an instructor at Philips Exeter Academy.[1]

On December 12, 1807 he married Elizabeth Mason, daughter of Jonathan Mason.[3][4] They had seven children[5]:

  • Susan Elizabeth (Parker) Hoppin, wife of Rev. Nicholas Hoppin
  • Susanna Powell (Parker) Grennough, wife of Alfred Greenough
  • Anne Cutler (Parker) Hinckley, wife of Samuel L. Hinckley and mother of painters Susan Hinckley Bradley and Robert Cutler Hinckley
  • Charles Henry Parker, Boston Common Councilor and treasurer of Suffolk Savings Bank. Father of Samuel D. Parker
  • Jonathan Mason Parker, died young
  • Jonathan Mason Parker, attorney in Chicago
  • Isabella Parker Codman, wife of John Codman

Parker began his law studies in the office of Rufus G. Emory. After being admitted to the bar in 1823, Parker became a successful criminal defense attorney.[6] On July 5, 1832, Parker was appointed District Attorney for Suffolk County by Governor Levi Lincoln Jr.[7][8]

During his tenure as DA, Parker tried Abner Kneeland multiple times for blasphemy.[9] Kneeland's 1838 conviction was the last time a court in the United States jailed a defendant for blasphemy.[10] In 1842, Parker was the prosecutor in Commonwealth v. Hunt, a case which ruled that labor unions were legal.[11] In 1844 he tried Abner Rogers Jr. for the murder of Charles Lincoln. Rogers was acquitted by reason of insanity.[12]

In 1846 he prosecuted Albert Tirrell for the murder of Maria Bickford, a prostitute he left his wife to be with. Tirrell's attorney Rufus Choate presented the defense that Tirrell could have murdered Bickford while sleepwalking. Tirrell was found not guilty. It was the first time a sleepwalking defense was successful in a murder case.[13]

In 1849, Parker tried Washington Goode, an African-American sailor, for the murder of Thomas Harding. Parker's case was largely circumstantial, but Goode was found guilty and hanged on May 25, 1849.[14]

On November 30, 1849 a group of men, including City Marshal Francis Tukey, Henry Jacob Bigelow, Parkman Blake, Robert G. Shaw, and members of the Boston Police Department came to Parker's home to inform him that human remains had been found. Parker advised them to make a complaint and gave them directions on what to do with the body. The body was determined to be that of George Parkman and Harvard Medical School professor John White Webster was arrested for his murder. Parker testified as a government witness during the Parkman–Webster murder case.[15]

In 1852, Parker was removed from office for political reasons. He was succeeded by John C. Park.[16]

Parker died on July 29, 1873 at his home in Boston.[1]

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References
  1. "Samuel Dunn Parker". The Boston Daily Globe. July 30, 1873.
  2. Address of Alderman Parker to the City Council of Boston January 23, 1845. Retrieved July 26, 2019.
  3. "Monthly List Of Marriages And Deaths". The Emerald. January 2, 1908.
  4. Boston Marriages, 1751-1809. Documents of the City of Boston, Volume 4, Issues 101-160. Retrieved July 26, 2019.
  5. Morse, Abner (1867). A Genealogical Record of Several Families Bearing the Name of Cutler: In the United States. S. G. Drake. p. 13. Retrieved July 26, 2019.
  6. Cohen, Daniel A. (1993). Pillars of Salt, Monuments of Grace. Oxford University Press.
  7. "Communication". Trumpet and Universalist Magazine. July 6, 1832.
  8. "Senate......No. 56" (PDF). March 10, 1834. Retrieved July 26, 2019.
  9. Report of the Arguments of the Attorney of the Commonwealth: At the Trials of Abner Kneeland for Blasphemy in the Municipal and Supreme Courts in Boston, January And May 1834. Beals, Homer & Co. Retrieved July 26, 2019.
  10. Levy, Leonard. Blasphemy in Massachusetts: Freedom of Conscience and the Abner Kneeland Case. (1973)
  11. Nelles, Walter (1932), "Commonwealth v. Hunt", Columbia Law Review, 32
  12. "Trial of Abner Rogers jr., for the murder of Charles Lincoln, before the Supreme Court of Massachusetts at Boston, in January 1844, and acquittal by reason of insanity". The Western Law Journal. January 2, 1908.
  13. Kappman (ed), Edward W. (1994). Great American Trials. Detroit, MI: Visible Ink Press. pp. 101–104. ISBN 0-8103-9134-1.CS1 maint: extra text: authors list (link)
  14. {{Rogers, Alan. "Under Sentence of Death": The First Effort to Abolish the Death Penalty, Murder and the Death Penalty in Massachusetts. (Amherst & Boston: University of Massachusetts Press, 2008}}
  15. "Trial of Professor Webster". Boston Cultivator. April 6, 1850.
  16. "Miscellaneous Intelligence". The Monthly Law Reporter. March 1852.
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