Talk:Samuel Sullivan (politician)

Miscellaneous
Some of my changes:
 * I changed "the first" pottery to "one of the first" because the biography in Sutor just says "pioneer."
 * Although the Sutor book did say that he was elected judge in 1812, that was apparently a second term (or first full term?). The Gilkey book says 1811, and there are records from 1811 that show him on the court (e.g. this, last paragraph on left, from FamilySearch.org).

Some other issues/future article expansions:
 * There might be some disagreement as to the year of his birth.
 * He had something of a pottery career in Philadelphia. The Smithsonian published a study of potteries there in the 1790s/1800s, but I don't remember the title offhand.
 * I am worried about the sentence that he served until 1815, because Gilkey doesn't explicitly say that.
 * He was closely involved with the Osborn v. Bank of the United States case and apparently placed under house arrest for refusing to follow one of the federal rulings. Did he really "refuse" re-election?
 * In 1822, he ran for US Congress and lost: see.

Ardric47 (talk) 18:18, 3 October 2012 (UTC)
 * Also, at least one portrait exists. Is it a photograph or drawing?. It can be seen at but that might not be the best scan available. Ardric47 (talk) 18:24, 3 October 2012 (UTC)


 * Gilkey shows no Muskingum county judges being elected by the legislature in 1813 or 1814. The 1915 election does not say "vice Sullivan resigned" either. One is safe in assuming he served until replaced.
 * Another website that is usually reliable says he ran for congress in 1822 see I say you should go ahead and add it.
 * I guess I missed the 1811 election in Gilkey. Good catch.
 * I say go ahead and upload the picture from the book you cited. With computer storage costing less than 1 cent per many megabytes, I think it would serve until and unless a better scan comes along.
 * I guess Sutor said "declined" rather than "refused". Sloppy editing on my part.
 * Roseohioresident (talk) 21:43, 3 October 2012 (UTC)


 * I got a different scan, I think better even though it has worse contrast. I'll have to deal with the 1822 election later. Ardric47 (talk) 03:23, 5 October 2012 (UTC)

Another data point on whether he was "the first" or "One of the first" ... by this fellows relative, (great-grandson?) : says : “He discovered and utilized the fine clay banks in Ohio, and was the pioneer manufacturer of fine wares of which the Muskingum Valley and other parts of Ohio boast today.” Roseohioresident (talk) 17:23, 6 October 2012 (UTC)


 * Yes, William Van Zandt Cox was his great-grandson (son of Thomas Jefferson Cox and nephew of Samuel Sullivan Cox). I guess "the pioneer" would imply THE first. Sutor used the same phrase, but I overlooked the significance of "the". I'll change it back.
 * Incidentally, WV Cox was Chief Clerk at the Smithsonian, served on the Washington DC school board, etc., and married the daughter of Matthew Gault Emery, but I'm not sure that this is significant enough to mention in the "Family" section. Ardric47 (talk) 00:41, 7 October 2012 (UTC)