John Bacon (Massachusetts politician)

John Bacon
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Massachusetts's 1st district
In office
March 4, 1801 – March 4, 1803
Preceded byTheodore Sedgwick
Succeeded byWilliam Eustis
President of the
Massachusetts State Senate
In office
1801–1803[1]
Personal details
Born(1738-04-05)April 5, 1738
Canterbury, Connecticut Colony, British America
DiedOctober 25, 1820(1820-10-25) (aged 82)
Stockbridge, Massachusetts, U.S.
Resting placeStockbridge Cemetery
Political partyDemocratic-Republican
SpouseElizabeth Goldthwaite[1]
ChildrenEzekiel Bacon
Alma materPrinceton

John Bacon (April 5, 1738 – October 25, 1820) was an American politician, judge, and pastor from Massachusetts.

John Bacon was born in Canterbury in the Connecticut Colony on April 5, 1738. Upon graduating from Princeton College he spent some time preaching in Somerset County, Maryland. On September 25, 1771, he and Mr. John Hunt were appointed as colleague pastors over the Old South Church in Boston, Massachusetts.[2] Bacon ran into difficulties with his congregation over doctrinal issues and his preaching style, which was described as "argumentative... approaching the severe."[3] He was dismissed from the Old South Church on February 8, 1775.

Elizabeth Goldthwaite (Mrs. John Bacon), painted by John Singleton Copley, 1771.

After leaving the church Bacon moved to Stockbridge, Massachusetts. He was a charter member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.[4] He served as a Magistrate, Representative, Associate and Presiding Judge of the Common Pleas, Member and President of the State Senate, and Member of Congress.[3]

Bacon served on a committee of safety in 1777 and was a member of the Massachusetts constitutional convention in 1779 and 1780. He alternately served in both chambers of the Massachusetts legislature at various points between 1780 and 1806, becoming the president of the Senate in 1806. [5] In 1788, he was a candidate for the 4th congressional district[6], and was later elected to represent the 1st congressional district for a single term in 1800 during which he chaired the Committee on Elections. After leaving Congress, he served as presiding judge of the court of common pleas, and was appointed chief justice of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court in 1809.[5]

Bacon married Elizabeth, the widow of Alexander Cumming and daughter of Ezekiel Goldthwait, Register of the Deeds for Suffolk County, and died in Stockbridge, Massachusetts, October 25, 1820. Bacon is interred in the Stockbridge Cemetery. His son, Ezekiel, and grandson, William, also served as congressmen, the latter from New York.

References

  1. ^ a b New England Historic Genealogical Society (1905), Memorial biographies of the New England Historic Genealogical Society Vol. 6, Boston, MA: New England Historic Genealogical Society, p. 401
  2. ^ Bridgeman, Thomas (1856), The Pilgrims of Boston and their Descendants, New York: D. Appleton and Company, p. 60, retrieved April 29, 2009
  3. ^ a b Bridgeman p. 60
  4. ^ "Charter of Incorporation". American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Archived from the original on January 3, 2011. Retrieved April 28, 2011.
  5. ^ a b
  6. ^ "A New Nation Votes". elections.lib.tufts.edu. Retrieved December 21, 2024.

Sources

U.S. House of Representatives
Preceded by Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Massachusetts's 1st congressional district
1801–1803 		Succeeded by


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