Samuel B. McLin served as Florida Secretary of State from 1873 until 1877, and as a justice of the New Mexico Territorial Supreme Court from 1877 to 1878.
He was involved in Florida's delegate counting feud during the disputed 1876 United States presidential election[1] between Republican Rutherford B. Hayes and Democrat Samuel Tilden.
A lawsuit alleged the canvassers did not count votes from a few counties and acted illegally.
[3] McLin and Florida Comptroller Clayton A. Cowgill, a former Union Army surgeon from Delaware, determined Hayes won the election and Florida Attorney General William Archer Cocke determined that Samuel Tilden won the disputed election.
[5] In March 1877, McLin was appointed to a seat on the New Mexico Territorial Supreme Court.