Absalom Tatom (1742 – December 20, 1802) was a

U.S. Congressman The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they ...

from

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...

from 1795 to 1796.

Biography

Born in North Carolina in 1742, Tatom was a sergeant in the

Greenville, North Carolina Greenville is the county seat of and the most populous city in Pitt County, North Carolina, Pitt County, North Carolina, United States; the principal city of the Greenville, North Carolina metropolitan area, Greenville metropolitan area; and th ...

Militia in 1763; he served in North Carolina Militia during the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...

, where he was commissioned

first lieutenant First lieutenant is a commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces; in some forces, it is an appointment. The rank of lieutenant has different meanings in different military formations, but in most forces it is sub-divided into a s ...

on September 1, 1775, and promoted to the rank of captain June 29, 1776. He resigned from the

Continental Army The Continental Army was the army of the United Colonies (the Thirteen Colonies) in the Revolutionary-era United States. It was formed by the Second Continental Congress after the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War, and was establis ...

on September 19, 1776. On August 15, 1778, Tatom enlisted as assistant quartermaster and keeper of the arsenal in the State service at

Hillsborough, North Carolina The town of Hillsborough is the county seat of Orange County, North Carolina, United States and is located along the Eno River. The population was 6,087 in 2010, but it grew rapidly to 9,660 by 2020. Its name was unofficially shortened to "Hillsb ...

; he was contractor for Hillsborough in 1778 and named major of detachment of the North Carolina Light Horse February 12, 1779. In 1779, Tatom served as clerk of court in

Randolph County Randolph County is the name of eight counties in the United States: *Randolph County, Alabama *Randolph County, Arkansas *Randolph County, Georgia *Randolph County, Illinois *Randolph County, Indiana *Randolph County, Missouri *Randolph County, Nort ...

; he was elected to the

North Carolina House of Commons The North Carolina House of Representatives is one of the two houses of the North Carolina General Assembly. The House is a 120-member body led by a Speaker of the House, who holds powers similar to those of the President pro-tem in the North Ca ...

, but, because of his county clerk position, was disqualified from service in the legislature. In 1781, Tatom was district auditor for Hillsborough. Tatom rose in state government; in 1782, he was one of three commissioners appointed by Congress to survey lands granted to Continental soldiers in the western territory (later Tennessee); that same year, he was a private secretary of Governor Thomas Burke and state

tobacco Tobacco is the common name of several plants in the genus '' Nicotiana'' of the family Solanaceae, and the general term for any product prepared from the cured leaves of these plants. More than 70 species of tobacco are known, but the ...

agent. The

Continental Congress The Continental Congress was a series of legislative bodies, with some executive function, for thirteen of Britain's colonies in North America, and the newly declared United States just before, during, and after the American Revolutionary War. ...

named him surveyor of North Carolina in May 1785 and was named commissioner to sign State paper money in December 1785. In 1788, Tatom was a delegate to the convention which considered ratification of the

United States Constitution The Constitution of the United States is the Supremacy Clause, supreme law of the United States, United States of America. It superseded the Articles of Confederation, the nation's first constitution, in 1789. Originally comprising seven ar ...

. In 1794, Tatom was elected as a

Democratic-Republican The Democratic-Republican Party, known at the time as the Republican Party and also referred to as the Jeffersonian Republican Party among other names, was an American political party founded by Thomas Jefferson and James Madison in the early ...

to the

4th United States Congress The 4th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, consisting of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met at Congress Hall in Philadelphia, Pennsy ...

where he served from March 4, 1795, until his resignation on June 1, 1796. Tatom was later a member of the state House of Commons from 1797 to 1802; he died in

Raleigh, North Carolina Raleigh (; ) is the capital city of the state of North Carolina and the List of North Carolina county seats, seat of Wake County, North Carolina, Wake County in the United States. It is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, second-most ...

, in December 1802 and is buried in the Old City Cemetery.

References

Retrieved on 2009-02-26 {{DEFAULTSORT:Tatom, Absalom 1742 births 1802 deaths Continental Army officers from North Carolina Members of the North Carolina House of Representatives Burials at City Cemetery (Raleigh, North Carolina) American surveyors Democratic-Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from North Carolina 18th-century American politicians People from Greenville, North Carolina People from Randolph County, North Carolina 19th-century American legislators