ARCHER, Stevenson, Congress, MD (1786-1848)

ARCHER, Stevenson, (son of John Archer and father of Stevenson Archer [1827-1898]), a Representative from Maryland; born at ‘Medical Hall,’ near Churchville, Harford County, Md., October 11, 1786; attended Nottingham Academy, Maryland, and was graduated from Princeton College in 1805; studied law; was admitted to the bar of Harford County in 1808 and commenced practice the same year; member of the State house of delegates 1809-1810; elected as a Republican to the Twelfth Congress to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of John Montgomery; reelected to the Thirteenth and Fourteenth Congresses and served from October 26, 1811, to March 3, 1817; chairman, Committee on Claims (Thirteenth Congress), Committee on Expenditures in the Department of the Navy (Fourteenth Congress); paymaster to the Fortieth Maryland Militia during the War of 1812; appointed on March 5, 1817, by President Madison as United States judge for the Territory of Mississippi, with powers of Governor, holding court at St. Stephens; resigned within a year and returned to Maryland and practiced law; elected to the Sixteenth Congress (March 4, 1819-March 3, 1821); chairman, Committee on Expenditures in the Department of the Navy (Sixteenth Congress); appointed chief judge of the judicial circuit court of Baltimore and Harford Counties and Baltimore city in 1823; in 1844 was appointed by Governor Pratt as chief justice of the Maryland Court of Appeals and served until his death at ‘Medical Hall,’ near Churchville, Harford County, Md., June 26, 1848; interment in the Presbyterian Cemetery, Churchville, Md.

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