| Samuel Chilton | |
| Birth Date: | September 7, 1804 |
| Birth Place: | Fauquier County, Virginia, US |
| Death Place: | Warrenton, Virginia, US |
| Occupation: | Politician, lawyer |
| Spouse: | Isabella R. Brooke (m. 1832) |
| Children: | 5 |
Samuel Chilton (September 7, 1804January 14, 1867) was a 19th-century politician and lawyer from Virginia.
Born in Warrenton, Virginia, Chilton moved to Missouri with his family as a child and attended private school there. He studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1826, commencing practice back in Warrenton. He got involved in politics and was elected a Whig to the United States House of Representatives in 1842 when he narrowly defeated William "Extra Billy" Smith following a redistricting. Chilton served one term from 1843 to 1845, during which he advocated abolishing imprisonment for debt. Afterward, he returned to practicing law and was a delegate to the Virginia Constitutional Convention from 1850 to 1851. At the convention he proposed a key compromise on legislative apportionment.
Chilton moved to Washington, D.C., by 1853 and became a member of American Party, or Know-Nothings. Despite having owned slaves, in 1859 he was appointed as a defense attorney for abolitionist John Brown after his previous defense attorneys advocated that the defendant advance a plea of insanity as his defense.[1]
Chilton died in Warrenton on January 14, 1867, and was interred there at Warrenton Cemetery.