William Sampson (lawyer) facts for kids

Quick facts for kids William Sampson
Engraving by F. Grimbede from Memoirs of William Sampson, 2nd edition, 1817
Born	26 January 1764 Derry, Ireland
Died	28 December 1836 New York City, New York, United States
Occupation	Lawyer
Organization	New York Manumission Society
Political party	Democratic-Republican Party
Movement	Society of United Irishmen
Spouse(s)	Grace Clark
Children	William, John, and Catherine Anne

William Sampson (born January 26, 1764 – died December 28, 1836) was a lawyer and judge. He worked to bring about democratic changes in his home country of Ireland. Later, when he was forced to leave Ireland, he continued this work in America.

In the 1790s, in Belfast and Dublin, he joined the Society of United Irishmen. He defended them in court against the British government. He also wrote for their newspapers and helped with their plans before a big rebellion.

In New York, starting in 1806, he became a famous trial lawyer. He represented the abolitionist Manumission Society, fighting against unfair laws based on race. He also challenged charges against worker groups and helped make sure that Catholic confession was protected by law.

Sampson believed that old laws, called common law, were unfair to ordinary people. He thought they caused injustice. Because of this, he helped start a movement in America to write down laws clearly in a code.

Early Life and Education

William Sampson was born in Derry, Kingdom of Ireland. His parents were Mary Spaight Sampson and Arthur Sampson, who was a clergyman in the Church of Ireland.

He went to Trinity College Dublin to study. After that, he studied law in London at Lincoln's Inn. In 1792, he became a lawyer in Ireland. He then moved to Belfast.

In Belfast, he worked as a junior lawyer with John Philpot Curran. In 1790, he married Grace Clarke from Belfast. Her parents were active in the Belfast Society for Promoting Knowledge. Sampson also became friends with Thomas Russell, who was the Society's librarian. Sampson and Russell wrote popular political articles and funny stories together.

Fighting for Change in Ireland

A Voice for Reform

In 1782, Sampson joined the Irish Volunteers. This group helped Ireland's Parliament gain more freedom from London during the American War of Independence. However, they did not achieve their main goal. Many Volunteers, especially in the north, wanted to end the control of the Anglican landowners, known as "the Protestant Ascendancy."

In 1791, people in Belfast celebrated the French Revolution. Volunteers suggested that Protestants and the large Catholic population should unite. Sampson, even though he was part of the favored Anglican church, supported this idea. He worked with John Philpot Curran to defend the Society of United Irishmen in many cases. These cases involved charges like spreading false information, causing trouble, and treason.

Sampson wrote anonymous reports about these trials. He also wrote for the Northern Star, a United Irish newspaper in Belfast. Writing as "Fortesque," he argued that judges should be independent from the government.

With Thomas Russell, he wrote Review of the Lion of Old England; or Democracy Confounded (1794). They said that famous English laws like the Magna Carta were not truly honored in Ireland. They felt these laws only "amused the masses" and did not bring real change.

In The Trial of Hurdy Gurdy (1794), Sampson and Russell made fun of the government's efforts to stop people from speaking out. In this story, a barrel organ was charged with playing a rebellious song called Ça Ira. This story was a parody of real events where playing such songs led to arrests.

Sampson said he only took the United Irish pledge in open court. He did this to show that its goal was fair representation for Ireland, not treason. In Advice to the Rich (1796), he asked the powerful landowners to accept reforms. He wanted them to show that the government truly worked for everyone's happiness. But with Britain at war with France, peaceful change became impossible.

Sampson's clients began to consider a rebellion with French help. In 1795, he and Curran defended William Jackson, who was a messenger from France to the United Irishmen. Jackson was found guilty of treason and died in court.

A Leader and a Suspect

On New Year's Day 1797, news arrived in Belfast that a French fleet was near Bantry Bay. Sampson spoke at a public meeting. His friend Drennan was amazed that Sampson spoke so calmly and bravely to the crowd, especially with soldiers nearby. Drennan called Sampson the "most active" man in Ireland.

In October 1797, Sampson helped create a rallying cry for the movement: "Remember Orr!" He had tried to save William Orr from being executed for giving the United Irish pledge to soldiers. After Orr's execution, Sampson published dramatic reports of the trial and Orr's final words.

These reports appeared in The Press, a new newspaper Sampson started in Dublin with Arthur O'Connor and Drennan. The military had destroyed the presses of the Northern Star in Belfast. The Press also published a poem about Orr and a letter criticizing the government for his execution.

The government in Dublin knew Sampson was gathering information about cruel acts by the military. He was sharing these stories in pamphlets and The Press. He also gave them to Lord Moira, who tried to show them to the King.

A key informant told the government that Sampson was at important meetings of the United Irishmen in Dublin. At these meetings, they were clearly discussing an armed rebellion. Sampson had also written a popular song called Death before Dishonour (1797). It ended with a strong call to action:

Irish heroes grasp your arms,

Firmly clasp the pointed steel,

Shake their souls with fierce alarms,

Teach their harden’d hearts to feel.

Let the tyrants of the world

See their hateful reign is o’er;

From their seats let them be hurl’d,

Nor wield their iron sceptre more.

In March 1798, Sampson was charged with treason.

Arrest and Forced Exile

In April 1798, a month before the United Irish uprisings, Sampson escaped to England. However, he was sent back to Dublin. Under a special law, he was allowed to leave Ireland and go into exile.

President John Adams of the United States did not want him to come to America. Adams's government was worried about bringing in "Jacobins" (a term for radical revolutionaries). So, Sampson traveled to Portugal. In March 1799, he was arrested there by the English. They mistakenly thought he wrote a pamphlet protesting Ireland's union with Great Britain.

In May 1799, he was sent to France. He lived there under close police watch, even though he did not like Napoleon’s new government. In May 1805, his family joined him in Paris. They then went to Hamburg and later to England to avoid Napoleon's troops. After being arrested again and allowed to leave, Sampson sailed to the United States. Thomas Jefferson was now president, and he was more welcoming.

On July 4, 1806, Sampson arrived in New York City. Fellow exiles Thomas Addis Emmet and William James MacNeven met and helped him. He became a lawyer in New York in October. His wife, son, and daughter joined him in 1810.

Lawyer and Advocate in New York

Fighting for Equal Rights

In New York City, Sampson started a business publishing court case summaries. These cases often involved popular issues and arguments for reform. Sometimes, he was both the lawyer and the reporter for the case.

In one case, Sampson spoke about how unfair it was that a woman could not speak for herself in court. He said it was a "weighty obstacle to justice" when the law silenced someone who could not tell their own story.

In 1808, he defended an "interracial" marriage. He stated that "every man must follow his own pleasure." He added that "neither philosophy nor religion have forbade such mixtures."

Supporting Workers' Rights

In 1810, Sampson published Trial of the Journeymen Cordwainers of the City of New-York for a Conspiracy to Raise Their Wages. This book presented his arguments in a case from 1806, where he tried to stop charges against workers who formed a union.

Sampson argued that the prosecution was using old English laws without considering American laws. He said this allowed them to deny workers the right to "conspire against starvation." Meanwhile, master tradesmen could secretly work together to keep wages low. This was one of the first times in the United States that someone tried to make worker unions legal.

A Champion of Religious Freedom

In The Catholic Question in America (1813), Sampson wrote about his success in a case called People v. Phillips. He argued that a Catholic priest could not be forced to reveal what was said in sacramental confession. The priest had helped a church member return stolen goods but refused to name the person.

The court ruled in favor of the defense, recognizing the right of priest-penitent privilege. This was a big win for religious freedom. Historians see Philips as a major victory for religious and cultural equality in America.

Sampson used his report to correct misunderstandings about Catholic beliefs. He also reminded Americans of their fair laws by recalling Ireland's anti-Catholic Penal Laws. These laws had "reversed" all principles of justice.

In 1824, Sampson and Thomas Addis Emmet defended Irish weavers in Greenwich Village. These weavers were charged with rioting during a 12th of July event with local Orangemen. Sampson used this chance to speak out against religious hatred. He also criticized Britain's refusal to grant full Catholic emancipation in Ireland.

On St. Patrick’s Day, 1829, Sampson and MacNeven gathered the “Friends of Religious and Civil Liberty” in Tammany Hall. They said they were meeting for the same reason that "good men of all nations" protested the "enslavement of the Africans." Sampson believed that fighting for Catholic rights was connected to fighting for the rights of enslaved people.

In 1831, Sampson again defended Catholics in Philadelphia who were charged after a fight with Orangemen. He clearly stated his view of American citizenship. He argued that America is not just a Protestant country. It is "equally a Jewish country, a Seceding country, a fire worshiping country." He said it is "a country that tolerates all religions."

The Father of American Law Codification

The French-American lawyer Peter S. Du Ponceau called Sampson the "Patriarch" of the American Codification movement. This movement aimed to write down all laws clearly in a system.

In his parody The King v Hurdy Gurdy, Sampson showed how old common law allowed judges too much power. He felt it let them act like lawmakers instead of just applying the law. William Duane, a publisher, agreed with Sampson. In Sampson Against the Philistines (1805), Duane argued that common law was "dark, arbitrary, unwritten." He said it allowed judges to make laws, which went against the Constitution. He believed a clear, written law code would make "justice made cheap, speedy, and brought home to every man's door."

In the Trial of the Journeymen Cordwainers (1810), Sampson made the same argument. He said that adopting common law had brought "barbarities" from the Old World to the New. These laws, he felt, only worked against the poor. He concluded, "The more I reflect upon the advantages this nation has gained by independence... the more I regret that one thing should still be wanting... a NATIONAL CODE."

Sampson's important work, Discourse on the Common Law (1823), argued that common law did not fit a democratic country. He suggested replacing it with a general law code, like the Code Napoleon. This work was called "the most sweeping indictment of common law idealism ever written in America." It was widely reported and greatly influenced public opinion.

His ideas inspired Edward Livingston, who used French and European civil law to write the 1825 Louisiana Code of Procedure. Later, Sampson's efforts seemed to pay off in New York. In 1846, a new state constitution ordered that all state law be written into a clear code. David Dudley Field later drafted the New York Code of Civil Procedure (1848).

Later Years and Legacy

Political Views and Challenges

Even though Sampson fought for legal reform, he did not join the Democratic Party of Andrew Jackson. Jackson supported the expansion of slavery and opposed policies Sampson believed were important for America's economy. From 1817-19, Sampson argued in Washington for protective tariffs against foreign goods. He faced opposition from southern planters.

In 1833, Sampson ran for Congress but lost. He was protesting Jackson's decision to remove funds from the Second Bank of the United States. He was defeated by the strong political organization of Tammany Hall, which had the support of many Irish and immigrant voters.

Sampson's standing among the Irish community in New York changed. In 1829, he and MacNeven decided to build a monument to their friend Thomas Addis Emmet using leftover funds meant for Catholic rights in Ireland. The main Irish newspaper, Irish Shield, criticized them. It said they were too proud and did not show enough thanks to Daniel O'Connell, who was a hero for Catholic rights.

Final Years

William Sampson passed away in December 1836. His friend and doctor, William MacNeven, cared for him. Sampson was first buried in the Riker Family graveyard on Long Island. His wife, Grace, and daughter, Catherine, put up a white marble tombstone. It said he was "An United Irishman [who] defended the cause of civil and religious liberty."

Later, he was reburied in Green-Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn, New York. He is now buried in the same plot as his daughter Catherine's husband, William Theobald Wolfe Tone, and his mother, Matilda Witherington Tone. William Theobald Wolfe Tone was the son of the Irish revolutionary Wolfe Tone.

Sampson's son, John Philpot Curran Sampson, who was a Deputy Attorney General in Louisiana, died before him in 1820.

Selected Writings

• With Thomas Russell, Review of the Lion of Old England; or Democracy Confounded, Belfast: 1794.
• Advice to the Rich, Belfast and Dublin: 1796
• With Thomas Russell, A faithful report of the trial of Hurdy-Gurdy, tried and convicted of a seditious libel in the court of King's Bench . . .,, Dublin: Bernard Dornin, 1806
• Memoirs of William Sampson with a brief view of Irish History, New York: George Forman, 1807.
• Trial of the Journeymen Cordwainers of the City of New-York for a Conspiracy to Raise Their Wages, New York: I Riley, 1810
• The Catholic Question in America, whether a Roman Catholic Clergyman be in any case compellable to disclose the secrets of Auricular Confession New York: Edward Gillespy, 1813.
• An Anniversary Discourse: Delivered Before the Historical Society of New York, on the Common Law, New York: E Bliss and White, 1823.

See Also

• Theobald Wolfe Tone
• Thomas Addis Emmet

Images for kids

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  Engraving by F. Grimbede from Memoirs of William Sampson, 2nd edition, 1817