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Choate, Rufus, 1799-1859

 

Dates

  • Existence: 1799 - 1859

Biography

Rufus Choate was born on October 1, 1799, in Essex, Massachusetts. He graduated from Dartmouth College in 1819 and worked as a tutor for the College, to pay of his college debts, until 1820. He entered the law offices of William Wirt in Washington, DC in 1821 and was admitted to the Massachusetts Bar in 1822. In 1825, he established a law practice in Danvers, Massachusetts and was elected to the Lower House of the Massachusetts General Court. Two years later he was elected to the state senate and in 1830, to Congress on the anti-Jackson ticket, where he served two terms before resuming his law practice in 1835. In 1841, Choate was chosen to complete Webster's term in the US Senate, returning to his law practice in 1845. Even though he never returned to professional politics, he took an important part in the Massachusetts Convention to revise the state constitution in 1853. Choate died in Halifax, Nova Scotia on July 13, 1859.

Found in 15 Collections and/or Records:

Asa Lyon letter

 Item 1
Identifier: Mss 818101
Mss 818101
Date(s): 1818-01-01
Abstract

In English.

Chauncey Allen Goodrich letter

 Item 1
Identifier: Mss 852625
Webster Mss 852625
Date(s): 1852-11-25
Scope and Contents

Letter from Chauncey Allen Goodrich in New Haven, Connecticut to Rufus Choate, explaining his sending a book to Choate and describes Webster and his oratory in the Dartmouth College case. (Photocopy)

Daniel Webster letter

 Item 1
Identifier: Mss 841457
Webster Mss 841457
Date(s): 1841-08-07
Abstract

In English.

Daniel Webster letter

 Item 1
Identifier: Mss 844358
Webster Mss 844358
Date(s): 1844-06-08
Abstract

In English.

Isaac Bates letter

 Item 1
Identifier: Mss 842257.2
Mss 842257.2
Date(s): 1842-04-08
Abstract

In English.

Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court certificate of admission

 Item 1
Identifier: Mss 825603.1
Mss 825603.1
Date(s): 1825-11-03
Abstract

In English.

Petition to the United States Treasury

 Item 1
Identifier: Mss 847380.1
Webster Mss 847380.1
Date(s): 1847-06-30
Abstract

In English.

Reuben Dimond Mussey letter of certification

 Item 1
Identifier: Mss 821311
Mss 821311
Date(s): 1821-05-11
Abstract

In English.

Rufus Choate daguerreotype

 Box 1
Identifier: 1728
Iconography 1728
Date(s): before 1857

Rufus Choate legal note

 Item 1
Identifier: Mss 836607
Mss 836607
Date(s): 1836-11-07
Abstract

Unidentified case note of Rufus Choate, probably from the Essex Superior Justice Court of Massachusetts. The note is dated November 7, 1836 and summarizes cause of action. The parties and significant portions of the document are illegible.

Rufus Choate letter

 Item 1
Identifier: Mss 841669
Mss 841669
Date(s): 1841-12-19
Abstract

In English.

Rufus Choate letter

 Item 1
Identifier: Mss 846900.2
Mss 846900.2
Date(s): 1846
Abstract

In English.

Rufus Choate papers

 Collection
Identifier: MS-406
MS-406
Date(s): 1811 to 1859
Abstract

Rufus Choate (1799-1859), lawyer. Dartmouth College Class of 1819. The collection consists of correspondence, student copybooks, manuscripts of lectures and speeches, notes on classical studies as well as notes and briefs for legal cases, account books and a travel diary.

Theophilus Parsons letter

 Item 1
Identifier: Mss 849123
Mss 849123
Date(s): 1849-01-23
Abstract

In English.

Thomas Sewall letter

 Item 1
Identifier: Mss 841661
Mss 841661
Date(s): 1841-11-11
Abstract

In English.

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