Nathaniel Niles (April 3, 1741October 31, 1828) was an American lawyer and 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 ...

. He also wrote a famous poem about the Battle of Bunker Hill.

Early life

Niles was born in

South Kingstown South Kingstown is a town in, and the county seat of, Washington County, Rhode Island, United States. The population was 31,931 at the 2020 census. South Kingstown is the second largest town in Rhode Island by total geographic area, behind New ...

in the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations. He attended

Harvard College Harvard College is the undergraduate college of Harvard University, an Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636, Harvard College is the original school of Harvard University, the oldest institution of higher lea ...

and graduated from

Princeton College Princeton University is a private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the ni ...

in 1766. He studied law and medicine, and taught in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

. Niles also studied

theology Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing the ...

and preached in

Norwich Norwich () is a cathedral city and district of Norfolk, England, of which it is the county town. Norwich is by the River Wensum, about north-east of London, north of Ipswich and east of Peterborough. As the seat of the See of Norwich, with ...

and

Torrington, Connecticut Torrington is the most populated municipality and only city in Litchfield County, Connecticut and the Northwest Hills region. It is also the core city of Greater Torrington, one of the largest micropolitan areas in the United States. The city p ...

. Niles invented a process for making wire, and erected mills in Norwich.

Career

After the

Revolution In political science, a revolution (Latin: ''revolutio'', "a turn around") is a fundamental and relatively sudden change in political power and political organization which occurs when the population revolts against the government, typically due ...

, Niles moved to West Fairlee in the Vermont Republic, and was a member of the Vermont House of Representatives in 1784 and served 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 1784 to 1788, he was a justice of the

Vermont Supreme Court The Vermont Supreme Court is the highest judicial authority of the U.S. state of Vermont. Unlike most other states, the Vermont Supreme Court hears appeals directly from the trial courts, as Vermont has no intermediate appeals court. The Court ...

and a member of the council in 1785 and 1787. He was a delegate to the Vermont state constitutional convention of 1791, and upon the admission of Vermont as a State into the Union was elected to the Second Congress as an

Anti-Administration Party The Anti-Administration Party was an informal political faction in the United States led by James Madison and Thomas Jefferson that opposed policies of then Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton in the first term of US President George ...

candidate. Niles was reelected to the Third Congress and served from October 17, 1791, to March 3, 1795. After his terms in Congress, Niles was again a member of the Vermont House of Representatives from 1800 to 1803 and 1812 to 1815. He was a member of the Governor’s Council from 1803 to 1809. He was a

presidential elector The United States Electoral College is the group of presidential electors required by the Constitution to form every four years for the sole purpose of appointing the president and vice president. Each state and the District of Columbia app ...

for the

Thomas Jefferson Thomas Jefferson (April 13, 1743 – July 4, 1826) was an American statesman, diplomat, lawyer, architect, philosopher, and Founding Father who served as the third president of the United States from 1801 to 1809. He was previously the natio ...

ticket in 1804 and for the

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 ...

ticket in 1812. He was a delegate to the State constitutional convention of 1814.

''The American Hero''

During his early adulthood, Niles was famous for a poem he wrote in 1775 and published in a broadside in 1781. The music for the poem was published the same year by Andrew Law, entitled ''Bunker Hill''; the poem and song were widely printed and sung well into the 1830s.

Death

Niles died in Fairlee, Vermont on October 31, 1828, and was interred at West Fairlee Center Cemetery.

Family

In 1774, Niles married Nancy Lathrop. After her death, in 1789 Niles married Elizabeth Watson, whose family was from Plymouth, Massachusetts. With his first wife, Niles' children included William, Sally, Mary, and Elizabeth. With his second wife, Niles was the father of five children -- Nathaniel, Samuel, Betsey, Watson, and Nancy.

References

External links

* *
govtrack.us

Vermont: The Official State Website

{{DEFAULTSORT:Niles, Nathaniel 1741 births 1828 deaths Harvard College alumni Princeton University alumni American inventors Members of the Vermont House of Representatives Speakers of the Vermont House of Representatives Members of the United States House of Representatives from Vermont Justices of the Vermont Supreme Court Vermont Democratic-Republicans People of pre-statehood Vermont 1804 United States presidential electors 1812 United States presidential electors People from South Kingstown, Rhode Island