Richard SKINNER, Congress, VT (1778-1833)

SKINNER Richard , a Representative from Vermont; born in Litchfield, Conn., May 30, 1778; completed preparatory studies and was graduated from Litchfield Law School; was admitted to the bar in 1800 and commenced practice in Manchester, Vt.; State's attorney for Bennington County 1801-1813 and 1819; judge of probate for the Manchester district 1806-1813; elected as a Republican to the Thirteenth Congress (March 4, 1813-March 3, 1815); unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1814 to the Fourteenth Congress; resumed the practice of law; assistant judge of the State supreme court in 1815 and 1816; declined the office of chief justice in 1817; member of the State house of representatives in 1815 and 1818, serving as speaker in the latter year; Governor of Vermont 1820-1823; chief justice of the supreme court of Vermont from 1823 until 1828, when he retired; interested in public education and served as president of the northeastern branch of the American Educational Society; trustee of Middlebury College; died in Manchester, Bennington County, Vt., May 23, 1833; interment in Dellwood Cemetery.

Source: Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1771-Present