Rufus McIntire (December 19, 1784 – April 28, 1866) was a

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

lawyer A lawyer is a person who practices law. The role of a lawyer varies greatly across different legal jurisdictions. A lawyer can be classified as an advocate, attorney, barrister, canon lawyer, civil law notary, counsel, counselor, solic ...

, captain of U.S. Army artillery in the

War of 1812 The War of 1812 (18 June 1812 – 17 February 1815) was fought by the United States of America and its indigenous allies against the United Kingdom and its allies in British North America, with limited participation by Spain in Florida. It bega ...

congressman A Member of Congress (MOC) is a person who has been appointed or elected and inducted into an official body called a congress, typically to represent a particular constituency in a legislature. The term member of parliament (MP) is an equivalen ...

U.S. Marshal
land agent and hostage/prisoner in the Aroostook War.

Biography

Early life

Rufus McIntire was born on December 19, 1784, at York, Massachusetts (now in

Maine Maine () is a state in the New England and Northeastern regions of the United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Quebec to the northeast and north ...

). He attended Berwick Academy and was graduated from

Dartmouth College Dartmouth College (; ) is a private research university in Hanover, New Hampshire. Established in 1769 by Eleazar Wheelock, it is one of the nine colonial colleges chartered before the American Revolution. Although founded to educate Native A ...

in 1809. After graduation, he read law for three years with John Holmes of Alfred, Maine.

Career

Rufus McIntire was admitted to the York County Bar Association in 1812, but when the war with Great Britain intervened, he was commissioned as a captain of a

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

artillery Artillery is a class of heavy military ranged weapons that launch munitions far beyond the range and power of infantry firearms. Early artillery development focused on the ability to breach defensive walls and fortifications during siege ...

company (3rd Regiment) during the

. McIntire's troops were deployed in northern New York State and Canada and were engaged in significant battles at Sackets Harbor,

Crysler's Farm The Battle of Crysler's Farm, also known as the Battle of Crysler's Field, was fought on 11 November 1813, during the War of 1812 (the name ''Chrysler's Farm'' is sometimes used for the engagement, but ''Crysler'' is the proper spelling). A Briti ...

and Fort Oswego. He was a voting member in the Brunswick Convention of 1816. In 1820, the year Maine acquired statehood, he was elected to the

House of Representatives. In early 1827, he and ex-governor William King were named Maine's members of the commission to establish the boundary with New Hampshire. Later that year, he was elected a

to replace the deceased William Burleigh in the

Twentieth United States Congress The 20th 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, 1827, ...

. He served thereafter in the Twenty-first, Twenty-second, and Twenty-third U.S. Congresses from September 10, 1827, through 1835. In 1837, McIntire was a candidate for the Democratic party's nomination for

governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

; but at the state convention, he finished second to

Gorham Parks Gorham Parks (May 27, 1794 – November 23, 1877) was a U.S. Representative from Maine, and a Democratic Party candidate for Maine Governor. Born in Westfield, Massachusetts, Parks attended the common schools and graduated from Harvard University ...

by a vote of 137 to 167. McIntire served as the State Land Agent in 1839 and 1840. Because the boundary between Maine and

New Brunswick New Brunswick (french: Nouveau-Brunswick, , locally ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. It is the only province with both English and ...

remained unsettled, he was sent with a posse of militiamen into the disputed Aroostook territory to combat the intrusion of Canadian lumbering operations. On the night of February 12, 1839, McIntire's cabin was surrounded by armed Canadians, who took him prisoner and transported him to jail in

Fredericton Fredericton (; ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of New Brunswick. The city is situated in the west-central portion of the province along the Saint John River, which flows west to east as it bisects the city. The river is the do ...

. The incident led to the activation of large militia forces in both Maine and New Brunswick in the affair which became known as the Aroostook War. McIntire was appointed as

br>Marshal
for

in January 1849 by Democratic President

James K. Polk James Knox Polk (November 2, 1795 – June 15, 1849) was the 11th president of the United States, serving from 1845 to 1849. He previously was the 13th speaker of the House of Representatives (1835–1839) and ninth governor of Tennessee (183 ...

; but shortly after the Whig

Zachary Taylor Zachary Taylor (November 24, 1784 – July 9, 1850) was an American military leader who served as the 12th president of the United States from 1849 until his death in 1850. Taylor was a career officer in the United States Army, rising to th ...

was inaugurated in March of that year, McIntire was removed from the office. He was later appointed Surveyor of Customs in Portland, Maine by President

Franklin Pierce Franklin Pierce (November 23, 1804October 8, 1869) was the 14th president of the United States, serving from 1853 to 1857. He was a northern Democrat who believed that the abolitionist movement was a fundamental threat to the nation's unity ...

, in which position he served from 1853 through 1857. Rufus McIntire died at the age of 82 in

Parsonsfield, Maine Parsonsfield is a town in York County, Maine, United States. The population was just 1,791 at the 2020 census. Parsonsfield includes the villages of Kezar Falls, Parsonsfield, and North, East and South Parsonsfield. It is part of the Portland& ...

on April 28, 1866, and is buried in Town House Cemetery.

Philosophical and/or political views

Like his legal mentor John Holmes, Rufus McIntire was a committed Jeffersonian in his early years. In his first congressional campaign, he ran on the Adams (Anti-Jackson) ticket; but in succeeding terms he ran and served as a stalwart Jacksonian Democrat.''Eastern Argus'' (Portland), 11 July 1834, p. 1.

Marriage and family

Rufus McIntire married Nancy Rolfe Hannaford in 1819. They had eight children, three of whom died in infancy. After Nancy's death on February 2, 1830, Rufus married her sister, Mary B. Hannaford in 1832. They had two children.

Notes

References

* McIntire, Rufus. ''The War of Northern New York : The Observations of Captain Rufus McIntire''. Edited by John C. Fredriksen. ''New York History'', 68 (July 1987), pp. 297–324. * Dearborn, J.W., ''A History of the first century of the town of Parsonsfield, Maine'', Portland: Brown Thurston & Co., 1888, pp. 21–23, 317–318, portrait p. 21.

External links

McIntire, Rufus - Biographical Info

McIntire, Rufus - Guide to Research Papers

Letter from Gov. Fairfield to Rufus McIntire

Lithographic image of Rufus McIntire

Findagrave.com Rufus McIntire
{{DEFAULTSORT:McIntire, Rufus 1784 births 1866 deaths United States Army officers Dartmouth College alumni People from York, Maine Jacksonian members of the United States House of Representatives from Maine 19th-century American politicians People from Parsonsfield, Maine