Zabdiel Sampson

Zabdiel Sampson (August 22, 1781 – July 19, 1828) was a U.S. representative from Massachusetts.

Early life Sampson was born in Plympton, Massachusetts, on August 22, 1781.

His paternal aunt, Hannah Sampson, was married to his maternal uncle, Richard Cooper. His paternal grandfather, and namesake, was Zabdeil Sampson, who died in the Revolutionary War.

As a young man during the American Revolutionary War, he apprenticed as a blacksmith. He later pursued classical studies and graduated from Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, in 1803. In 1816, he was elected as a Democratic-Republican to succeed Congressman William Baylies and represent Massachusetts's 8th congressional district in the Fifteenth and Sixteenth Congresses and served from March 4, 1817, to July 26, 1820, when he resigned due to his appointment by President James Monroe as Collector of Customs at Plymouth on July 26, 1820, and served until his death. Sampson was a close friend of Daniel Webster. Together, they were the parents of ten children, including: Judith Lobdell Sampson (b. 1827), a twin.

Sampson died on July 19, 1828, in Plymouth. He was interred in Burial Hill Cemetery.