Gideon Olin (November 2, 1743January 21, 1823) was an American politician. He served as a
United States representative
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
Vermont
Vermont () is a state in the northeast New England region of the United States. Vermont is bordered by the states of Massachusetts to the south, New Hampshire to the east, and New York to the west, and the Canadian province of Quebec to ...
.
Biography
Olin was born in
East Greenwich
East Greenwich is a town and the county seat of Kent County, Rhode Island. The population was 14,312 at the 2020 census. East Greenwich is the wealthiest municipality within the state of Rhode Island. It is part of the Providence metropolitan st ...
in the
Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations
The Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations was one of the original Thirteen Colonies established on the east coast of America, bordering the Atlantic Ocean. It was founded by Roger Williams. It was an English colony from 1636 until ...
to John and Susannah Pierce Olin. He received limited schooling and engaged in agricultural pursuits. He moved to Vermont and settled in
Shaftsbury in 1776, becoming one of the founders of
Vermont
Vermont () is a state in the northeast New England region of the United States. Vermont is bordered by the states of Massachusetts to the south, New Hampshire to the east, and New York to the west, and the Canadian province of Quebec to ...
.
Olin was a delegate to the Windsor Convention in 1777, which enacted the constitution that formed the
Vermont Republic
The Vermont Republic ( French: ''République du Vermont''), officially known at the time as the State of Vermont ( French: ''État du Vermont''), was an independent state in New England that existed from January 15, 1777, to March 4, 1791. The ...
. He was a member of the
Vermont House of Representatives
The Vermont House of Representatives is the lower house of the Vermont General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Vermont. The House comprises 150 members, with each member representing around 4,100 citizens. Representatives ar ...
in 1778, 1780 to 1793, and in 1799, serving as
Speaker
Speaker may refer to:
Society and politics
* Speaker (politics), the presiding officer in a legislative assembly
* Public speaker, one who gives a speech or lecture
* A person producing speech: the producer of a given utterance, especially:
** I ...
from 1788 to 1793.
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 ...
, Olin was appointed Major in the Second Regiment under Colonels Samuel Herrick and Ebenezer Walbridge, and served on the frontier. After the war, he served as an
assistant judge of the Bennington County Court from 1781 to 1798. He was a delegate to the state constitutional convention in 1791 and 1793, and a member of the Governor’s council from 1793 to 1798.
Olin 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 Eighth and Ninth Congresses, serving from March 4, 1803 to March 3, 1807. He served as chief justice of the Bennington county court from 1807 to 1811, and was a founder of the
University of Vermont
The University of Vermont (UVM), officially the University of Vermont and State Agricultural College, is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Burlington, Vermont. It was founded in 1791 and is amon ...
. After leaving office, he resumed agricultural pursuits.
Family life
Olin married Patience Dwinnell on December 13, 1768. He later married Lydia Myers Pope and they had five children, Benjamin Olin, Esther Olin, Nathaniel Green Olin,
Abram Baldwin Olin and Job S. Olin.
Olin was the uncle of
Henry Olin
Henry Olin (May 7, 1768August 18, 1837) was an American lawyer and politician. He served as a United States representative from Vermont and eighth lieutenant governor of Vermont.
Biography
Olin was born in Shaftsbury in the New Hampshire Gran ...
. Both Abram Baldwin Olin and Henry Olin served as United States Representatives in the 19th century.
Death
Olin died in Shaftsbury, Vermont on January 21, 1823, and is interred at Center Shaftsbury Cemetery in Shaftsbury, Vermont.
References
External links
Ancestry.com*
govtrack.usVermont Historical Magazine
{{DEFAULTSORT:Olin, Gideon
1743 births
1823 deaths
People of colonial Rhode Island
Members of the Vermont House of Representatives
Speakers of the Vermont House of Representatives
People of Vermont in the American Revolution
People from Shaftsbury, Vermont
People from East Greenwich, Rhode Island
People of pre-statehood Vermont
Democratic-Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Vermont
Vermont state court judges
Burials in Vermont