Ezekiel Bacon (September 1, 1776 – October 18, 1870) was an American lawyer and politician from
Massachusetts
Massachusetts (Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut Massachusett_writing_systems.html" ;"title="nowiki/> məhswatʃəwiːsət.html" ;"title="Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət">Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət'' En ...
and
New York.
Early life
Ezekiel Bacon was born on September 1, 1776, in
Boston, Massachusetts to Elizabeth (née Goldthwaite) and
John Bacon.
He graduated from
Yale College
Yale College is the undergraduate college of Yale University. Founded in 1701, it is the original school of the university. Although other Yale schools were founded as early as 1810, all of Yale was officially known as Yale College until 1887, ...
in 1794. Then he attended
Litchfield Law School
The Litchfield Law School of Litchfield, Connecticut, was the first independent law school established in America for reading law. Founded and led by lawyer Tapping Reeve, the proprietary school was unaffiliated with any college or university. (Wh ...
and studied law with
Nathan Dane
Nathan Dane (December 29, 1752 – February 15, 1835) was an American lawyer and statesman who represented Massachusetts in the Continental Congress from 1785 through 1788. Dane helped formulate the Northwest Ordinance while in Congress, and ...
in
Beverly, Massachusetts. He was admitted to the bar in 1800.
Career
Bacon commenced practice in
Stockbridge, Massachusetts. He was a member of the
Massachusetts House of Representatives
The Massachusetts House of Representatives is the lower house of the Massachusetts General Court, the state legislature of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. It is composed of 160 members elected from 14 counties each divided into single-member ...
from 1805 to 1806.
Bacon 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
10th United States Congress
The 10th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C. from March 4, 1807, to March 4, 1809, during ...
to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of
Barnabas Bidwell
Barnabas Bidwell (August 23, 1763 – July 27, 1833) was an author, teacher and politician of the late 18th and early 19th centuries, active in Massachusetts and Upper Canada (now Ontario). Educated at Yale, he practised law in western Massachus ...
and took his seat on November 2, 1807. He was re-elected to the
11th
11 (eleven) is the natural number following 10 and preceding 12. It is the first repdigit. In English, it is the smallest positive integer whose name has three syllables.
Name
"Eleven" derives from the Old English ', which is first atteste ...
and
12th United States Congress
The 12th 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 in Washington, D.C. from March 4, 181 ...
es, holding office until March 3, 1813. He was the chairman of the
Committee on Ways and Means
The Committee on Ways and Means is the chief tax-writing committee of the United States House of Representatives. The committee has jurisdiction over all taxation, tariffs, and other revenue-raising measures, as well as a number of other program ...
(12th Congress).
He was chief justice of the Court of Common Pleas for the Western District of Massachusetts from 1811 to 1814, and
Comptroller of the U.S. Treasury from 1814 to 1815.
In 1816, he moved to
Utica, New York
Utica () is a city in the Mohawk Valley and the county seat of Oneida County, New York, United States. The tenth-most-populous city in New York State, its population was 65,283 in the 2020 U.S. Census. Located on the Mohawk River at the ...
, and was appointed an associate judge of the Oneida County Court in 1818. He was a member of the
New York State Assembly in 1819, and a delegate to the
New York State Constitutional Convention
The Constitution of the State of New York establishes the structure of the government of the State of New York, and enumerates the basic rights of the citizens of New York. Like most state constitutions in the United States, New York's constituti ...
of 1821. In
1826
Events January–March
* January 15 – The French newspaper '' Le Figaro'' begins publication in Paris, initially as a weekly.
* January 30 – The Menai Suspension Bridge, built by engineer Thomas Telford, is opened between the island ...
, he ran again for Congress but was defeated by the incumbent
Henry R. Storrs
Henry Randolph Storrs (September 3, 1787 – July 29, 1837) was a U.S. Representative from New York, brother of William Lucius Storrs.
Born in Middletown, Connecticut, Storrs was graduated from Yale College in 1804.
He studied law.
He was ...
.
At the time of his death, he was the oldest surviving Member of Congress and the last representative of the administration of President
James Madison
James Madison Jr. (March 16, 1751June 28, 1836) was an American statesman, diplomat, and Founding Father. He served as the fourth president of the United States from 1809 to 1817. Madison is hailed as the "Father of the Constitution" for h ...
.
Personal life
Bacon died on October 18, 1870, in Utica. He was buried at the
Forest Hill Cemetery in Utica.
Judge and congressman
William J. Bacon
William Johnson Bacon (February 18, 1803 – July 3, 1889) was an American politician and a United States House of Representatives, U.S. Representative from New York.
Early life
Bacon was born on February 18, 1803, in Williamstown, Massachusett ...
was his son.
Notes
References
*Barlow, William, and David O. Powell. “Congressman Ezekiel Bacon of Massachusetts and the Coming of the War of 1812.” Historical Journal of Western Massachusetts 6 (Spring 1978): 28-41.
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bacon, Ezekiel
1776 births
1870 deaths
Members of the Massachusetts House of Representatives
Members of the New York State Assembly
Yale College alumni
Litchfield Law School alumni
Lawyers from Boston
New York (state) Democratic-Republicans
Politicians from Utica, New York
New York (state) state court judges
Democratic-Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Massachusetts
19th-century American lawyers
Burials at Forest Hill Cemetery (Utica, New York)