Philemon Bliss (July 28, 1813 – August 25, 1889) was an Ohio Congressman, the first chief justice of the Supreme Court of Dakota Territory, and a Missouri Supreme Court justice. Early life and education Bliss was born in Canton, Connecticut in 1813 to Asahel Bliss and Lydia Adams (Griswold) Bliss. He attended Fairfield Academy and Hamilton College, where he studied law. He moved to Elyria, Ohio, where he studied law under his brother Albert. Career In 1840 Bliss passed the bar and began practicing law, first in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio and later in Elyria, Ohio. On November 16, 1843 he married Martha W. Thorpe. They had three children. He served as presiding judge of the 14th Judicial Circuit of Ohio from 1848 through 1851. Bliss ran for congressional office as a republican and was elected to the United States House of Representatives. He served in the 34th Congress as an Oppositionist and 35th Congress as a Republican, but did not run for re-election in 1858. President Abraham Lincoln appointed Bliss chief justice of the Supreme Court of Dakota Territory in 1861. He also served as associate justice of the Supreme Court of Missouri from 1868 through 1872. Later career After his retirement from the bench, Bliss became Law Dean for the University of Missouri, where he served until his death in Saint Paul, Minnesota in 1889. He is buried at the Columbia Cemetery in Columbia, Missouri. Legacy The Philemon Bliss Scholarship was established at the University of Missouri School of Law in his honor. References 1813 births 1889 deaths People from Canton, Connecticut Opposition Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Ohio Ohio Republicans Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives Ohio state court judges Judges of the Supreme Court of Missouri Justices of the Dakota Territorial Supreme Court 19th-century American judges Ohio lawyers Politicians from Columbia, Missouri People from Elyria, Ohio Politicians from Saint Paul, Minnesota People from Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio Hamilton College (New York) alumni University of Missouri alumni University of Missouri faculty Burials at Columbia Cemetery (Columbia, Missouri) 19th-century American politicians 19th-century American lawyers