Elisha Mills Huntington

Elisha Mills Huntington
Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Indiana
In office May 2, 1842 – October 26, 1862
Appointed by	John Tyler
Preceded by	Jesse Lynch Holman
Succeeded by	Caleb Blood Smith
Commissioner of the General Land Office
In office June 2, 1841 – May 2, 1842
Appointed by	John Tyler
Preceded by	James Whitcomb
Succeeded by	Thomas H. Blake
Personal details
Born	(1806-03-29)March 29, 1806 Butternuts, New York
Died	October 26, 1862(1862-10-26) (aged 56) St. Paul, Minnesota
Resting place	St. Joseph Cemetery, Terra Haute, Indiana
Political party	Whig

Elisha Mills Huntington (March 29, 1806 – October 26, 1862) was an American lawyer, politician, prosecutor, judge and federal jurist.

Born in Butternuts, New York, Huntington moved to Terre Haute, Indiana to join his older brother Nathaniel Huntington. He read law and was admitted to the Indiana bar in 1827 on his 21st birthday. "Lish," as he was known, was in private practice in Terre Haute commencing in 1827. While residing in Terre Haute, he was a prosecutor for Indiana's 7th Circuit from 1830-32. He returned to private practrice and was an Indiana state representative from 1832-33. He became a presiding judge of Indiana's 7th Circuit from 1837–41, and later was appointed Commissioner of the U.S. Land Office in Washington, D.C., serving from 1841-42. On April 26, 1842, Huntington was nominated by President John Tyler to a seat as the sole judge of the United States District Court for the District of Indiana, vacated by Jesse L. Holman. Huntington was confirmed by the United States Senate on May 2, 1842, receiving his commission the same day. While serving as judge, he moved for a few years to Perry County, Indiana, where he assisted his brother-in-law Hamilton Smith in the management and operation of the Cannelton Cotton Mill. After his second wife, Susan Rudd Fitzhugh, died in 1853, he returned to reside in Terre Haute. He died at age 56 on October 26, 1862 in St. Paul, Minnesota, where he had been hospitalized in an attempt to recover from long-time pulmonary disorder.

Sources

• Elisha Mills Huntington at the Biographical Directory of Federal Judges, a public domain publication of the Federal Judicial Center.
• Elisha Mills Huntington at Find a Grave
•  "Huntington, Elisha Mills". Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography. 1900.