Biography

Samuel Rossiter Betts was a US Congressman. He was admitted to the New York State Bar in 1807 and during the War of 1812 he served in the United States Army as a Judge Advocate General for the volunteer service. Betts was elected as a Republican to represent New York's 7th Congressional District in the United States House of Representatives, serving from 1815 to 1817. In 1826 he was appointed by President John Quincy Adams to be the United States District Court Judge for the Southern District of New York, a position he held until he resigned in 1867.