Silas Lee

Silas Lee (July 3, 1760 – March 1, 1814) was a lawyer, judge, and United States Representative from Massachusetts, whose public career was closely associated with the District of Maine during the early years of the American republic. He was born in Concord, in the Province of Massachusetts Bay, where he pursued classical studies in preparation for higher education. Reflecting the educational aspirations of New England’s professional class in the post-Revolutionary period, he entered Harvard University and graduated in 1784, joining the ranks of Harvard-educated lawyers who would play a prominent role in the legal and political life of Massachusetts.

After completing his studies at Harvard, Lee read law in the traditional manner of the time and was admitted to the bar, commencing the practice of law. As a young attorney, he became active in public affairs and entered state politics. He served as a member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives in 1793, and again in 1797 and 1798, participating in the legislative business of a state that still encompassed the District of Maine. His repeated elections to the House reflected growing local confidence in his judgment and legal expertise, and positioned him for higher office at the federal level.

Lee was elected as a Federalist to the Sixth and Seventh Congresses and represented Massachusetts in the United States House of Representatives from March 4, 1799, until his resignation on August 20, 1801. Serving during the administrations of Presidents John Adams and Thomas Jefferson, he sat in Congress at a time marked by intense partisan division between Federalists and Democratic-Republicans, debates over the Alien and Sedition Acts, and the peaceful transfer of power in the election of 1800. Although detailed records of his individual floor activity are limited, his Federalist affiliation placed him among those favoring a strong national government and commercial interests, positions that were influential in New England politics at the turn of the nineteenth century.

On January 6, 1802, shortly after leaving Congress, Lee was appointed by President Thomas Jefferson as United States Attorney for the District of Maine, then part of Massachusetts. His selection by a Democratic-Republican president, despite his Federalist background, underscored his professional reputation and the practical considerations that sometimes bridged party lines in federal appointments. He held the office of U.S. Attorney from 1802 until his death in 1814, overseeing federal prosecutions and representing the United States in the federal courts serving the District of Maine during a period that included the lead-up to and early years of the War of 1812.

In addition to his federal responsibilities, Lee held a series of important judicial and local offices within the District of Maine. In 1803 he served as a justice of the peace and of the quorum, roles that involved administering oaths, handling minor civil and criminal matters, and performing various administrative and judicial functions essential to local governance. From 1805 to 1814 he was a probate judge, presiding over the settlement of estates, guardianships, and related matters, thereby exerting significant influence over family and property law in the region. In 1810 he became chief judge of the Court of Common Pleas, a key trial court of general jurisdiction, where he would have heard a wide range of civil and criminal cases, further cementing his standing as a leading legal authority in the District of Maine.

Lee spent his later years in Wiscasset, a prominent coastal town that served as an important commercial and administrative center in the District of Maine and that was then still part of Massachusetts. He continued to discharge his judicial and federal duties there until his death on March 1, 1814. He was interred in Evergreen Cemetery in Wiscasset. His career, spanning service in the Massachusetts legislature, the United States Congress, and multiple judicial and federal posts, reflected the evolving political and legal landscape of Massachusetts and its District of Maine in the decades before Maine achieved statehood in 1820.