Jefferson P. Kidder
Jefferson Parish Kidder (
June 4,
1815 -
October 2,
1883) was an
American lawyer and jurist. He served as the non-voting delegate from the
Dakota Territory to the
United States House of Representatives.
Jefferson was born in
Braintree,
Orange County,
Vermont and studied law at
Montpelier. He was admitted to the bar in
1839 and practiced at Braintree and
West Randolph. He was a member of the State Constitutional Convention in
1843, and served as State's attorney, as a member of the
State Senate,
Lieutenant Governor of
Vermont, and a delegate to the
1856 Democratic National Convention.
Kidder moved to
St. Paul, Minnesota, where he joined the
Republican Party, and was a member of the state House of Representatives of
Minnesota. In
1865 he moved to
Vermillion,
Dakota, when
Abraham Lincoln appointed him an associate justice of the territorial Supreme Court. In
1875 he resigned, having been elected the territory's delegate to the U.S. Congress. He served from
March 4,
1875 -
March 3,
1879. He was an unsuccessful candidate for renomination in
1878, then was reappointed a justice of the territorial Supreme Court, where he served until his death in St. Paul.
Kidder County, North Dakota is named for him.
*
Kidder's Congressional biography
