In politics he was a Federalist and a Webster Whig,
but remained all his life a free-trader. He attended
Unitarian services, though he was never a communicant. Fond of entertaining and dining out, he was
simple and affectionate in his home life, his interest in
the social events of his household extending to the minutest details. After his resignation from the bench, his
health failed, and he died within a few months on March
30, 1861. He was buried in Mount Auburn Cemetery.
Associate Justices:
Samuel Sumner Wilde was born in Taunton,
Massachusetts in 1771, and graduated from
Dartmouth College in I 789, winning admission to
the Massachusetts Bar in 1792. He practiced law in
Waldoborough, Maine until 1794 and later moved
his practice to Warren, Maine which he represented in
the Massachusetts legislature from 1798-1799. He also
served as a presidential elector in 1800 and 1808, as well
as state councilor in 1814. He was elected as a representative to the 1814 secessionist Hartford Convention.
Judge Wilde was a delegate to the State constitutional
convention of I 820 and a member of the American
Academy of Arts and Sciences. Bowdoin gave him
the degree of LL. D. (doctorate in law) in 1817 and
after Maine achieved statehood in I 820, he moved to
Newburyport, MA and in 1831 to Boston.
The Honorable Samuel S. Wilde was appointed to the
Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court on the 17th
of June, 1815, serving until he retired on the 5th of
November, 1850.
He was one of the best nisi prius (court of original jurisdiction) judges in the state, and possessed
profound legal learning and great integrity. In 1841
Harvard awarded him the degree of LL. D., as did
Dartmouth in I 849.
The Hartford Convention
Courtesyof theLibrary ofCongress
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