Zephaniah Swift

Zephaniah Swift
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Connecticut's At-large district
In office
March 4, 1793 – March 3, 1797
Preceded byJoshua Coit
Succeeded byUriah Tracy
Member of the Connecticut House of Representatives
In office
1787–1793
Personal details
Born(1759-02-27)February 27, 1759
Wareham, Province of Massachusetts Bay, British America
DiedSeptember 27, 1823(1823-09-27) (aged 64)
Warren, Ohio, U.S.
Political partyPro-Administration Party and Federalist
Spouse(s)Jerusha Watrous Swift and Lucretia Webb Swift
Alma materYale College
OccupationLawyer, Author, Politician, Judge

Zephaniah Swift (February 27, 1759 – September 27, 1823) was an eighteenth-century American writer, judge, lawyer, chief justice, congressman, law professor, diplomat and politician from Windham, Connecticut. He served as a U.S. Representative from Connecticut and State Supreme Court Judge. He wrote the first legal treatise published in America.[1]

He was also appointed secretary to Founding Father Oliver Ellsworth by President John Adams at the Treaty of Mortefontaine, in negotiations with King Joseph Bonaparte.

  1. ^ "Legal Theory and Legal History: Essays on the Common Law" at 310, A.W.B. Simpson (1987)