Samuel B. Pettengill

Samuel Barrett Pettengill (January 19, 1886 - March 20, 1974) was a U.S. Representative from Indiana, nephew of William Horace Clagett.

Early life

Pettengill was born January 19, 1886 in Portland, Oregon. After his mother’s death the family moved to Vermont in 1892, and settled on a farm in Grafton, Windham County.He attended the common schools.He graduated from Vermont Academy at Saxtons River in 1904, from Middlebury College, Middlebury, Vermont, in 1908, and from the law department of Yale University in 1911.He was admitted to the bar in 1912 and commenced practice in South Bend, Indiana.He served as member of the board of education of South Bend from 1926 to 1928.

Politics

Pettengill was elected as a Democrat to the Seventy-second and to the three succeeding Congresses (March 4, 1931-January 3, 1939).He was not a candidate for renomination in 1938 to the Seventy-sixth Congress.He then resumed practicing law.

Other work

His first book, "Hot Oil", published in 1936, summarized the arguments pro and con in reference to the question of federal control or nationalization of the petroleum industry. In 1939, he wrote, "Jefferson, The Forgotten Man", to show how far the principles of Thomas Jefferson had been discarded.He worked as a newspaper columnist 1939-1948.He was elected Chairman of the Republican National Finance Committee in 1942.He served as vice president and general counsel of the Transportation Association of America from 1943 to 1945.He was a National radio commentator from 1946 to 1948.He was a practicing attorney for the Pure Oil Co., Chicago, Illinois from 1949 to 1956.He was a consultant for the Coe Foundation from 1956 to 1965.

Retirement

He retired from public life on July 1, 1956 and moved back to Vermont.After retirement he taught American history at a variety of colleges in the Vermont area.He was one of the founders of the Grafton Historical Society in 1962 and its President for the next ten years.He was a 33rd Degree Mason [ [http://politicalgraveyard.com/bio/petitpren-pettis.html The Political Graveyard: Index to Politicians: Pethick to Pettis ] ] , Master of Lodge # 294 and past deputy Grand Master of the Indiana Grand Lodge. In 1973, he received a citation and a medal of honor from the Masons in recognition of distinguished service to the craft.He continued to live at his boyhood farm in Vermont until his death in Springfield, Vermont, March 20, 1974.

He was interred in Grafton Village Cemetery, Grafton, Vermont.His autobiography, "My Story", edited by his wife Helen, was published posthumously in 1979.

References

External links

* [http://nwda-db.wsulibs.wsu.edu/findaid/ark:/80444/xv01044 Guide to the Samuel B. Pettengill papers at the University of Oregon.]
* Tales of Old Grafton, James and Margaret Cawley, Barnes, New York, 1974, ISBN 0-498-10277-8.(85-95)