Prentiss Mellen : Ask Biography

Personal data

Date of birth

October 11, 1764

Place of birth

Sterling, Massachusetts

Date of death

December 31, 1840(age 76)

Place of death

Portland, Maine

Political party

Federalist

Spouse

Sarah Hudson

Children

Grenville Mellen;
Frederic Mellen

Alma mater

Harvard University

Profession

Attorney

Religion

Congregationalism

In office

June 5, 1818 - May 15, 1820

Serving with Harrison Gray Otis

Succeeded by

Elijah H. Mills

Preceded by

Eli P. Ashmun

First Chief Justice
of the Maine Supreme Judicial Court

Assumed office

July 1, 1820 � October 11, 1834

Succeeded by

Nathan Weston

Preceded by

None

Home | Office Holder | Prentiss Mellen

Prentiss Mellen (October 11, 1764 - December 31, 1840) was a Senator from Massachusetts; born in Sterling, Massachusetts to Rev. John and Rebecca (Prentiss) Mellen. Mellen graduated from Harvard University in 1784; studied law; admitted to the bar in 1788 and commenced practice in Sterling and Bridgewater, Massachusetts, and in Dover, New Hampshire; moved to Biddeford, Massachusetts (later a part of the State of Maine in 1820), around 1791 and practiced law; settled in Portland, Maine, around 1806; member of the Massachusetts Executive Council 1808-1809, 1817; presidential elector in 1817; trustee of Bowdoin College, Brunswick, Maine from 1817 to 1836; elected to the United States Senate to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of Eli P. Ashmun and served from June 5, 1818, to May 15, 1820, when he resigned; upon the admission of the State of Maine into the Union in 1820 became chief justice of the supreme court of that State and served until his resignation in 1834; member and chairman of the commission to revise and codify the public statutes of Maine in 1838; died in Portland, Maine, December 31, 1840; interment in Western Cemetery.

In 1833, Mellen was the first President of a newly formed abolitionist society formed in Portland. Samuel Fessenden and Methodist Rev. Gershom A. Cox were the vice-presidents.

United States Senate
Preceded by Eli P. Ashmun	United States Senator from Massachusetts Served alongside: Harrison Gray Otis 1818-1820	Succeeded by Elijah H. Mills
Legal offices
Preceded by None	Chief Justice of the Maine Supreme Judicial Court July 1, 1820 - October 11, 1834	Succeeded by Nathan Weston

Class 1		Dalton * Cabot * Goodhue * Mason * Adams * Lloyd * Gore * Ashmun * Mellen * Mills * Webster * Choate * Webster * Winthrop * Rantoul * Sumner * Washburn * Dawes * Lodge, Sr. * Butler * Walsh * Lodge, Jr. * J. Kennedy * Smith * E. Kennedy * Kirk * Brown
Class 2		Strong * Sedgwick * Dexter * Foster * Pickering * Varnum * Otis * Lloyd * Silsbee * Davis * Bates * Davis * Everett * Rockwell * Wilson * Boutwell * Hoar * Crane * J. Weeks * Walsh * Gillett * Coolidge * Lodge, Jr. * S. Weeks * Saltonstall * Brooke * Tsongas * Kerry

Prentiss Mellen

Home | Office Holder | Prentiss Mellen

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United States Senators from Massachusetts