Pennington, William S. (William Sandford), 1757-1826

William Sanford Pennington, the sixth of the nine children of Mary Sanford (1725-1805) and Samuel Pennington (1725-1791), was born in 1757 in Newark, New Jersey. He was probably trained as a hatter, but at the outbreak of the Revolution joined the Continental Army and became in 1777 a sergeant in the 2nd Regiment of Artillery under Colonel John Lamb and Major General Henry Knox. He advanced to the rank of 2nd lieutenant in 1780, and at the end of the war was brevetted Captain by a special act of Congress.

After leaving the army, William S. Pennington studied law in the Newark office of Elias Boudinot in addition to serving in the New Jersey State Assembly in 1797, 1798, and 1799. In 1812, Pennington was the Republican candidate for Governor of New Jersey and the following year won the gubernatorial election becoming New Jersey's Governor from 1813-1814. The year after he left office, President James Madison appointed him a Judge of the Federal District Court for New Jersey, a position that he kept until his death eleven years later.

From the description of William S. Pennington papers, 1780-1781. (New Jersey Historical Society Library). WorldCat record id: 53085555