William Chetwood (June 17, 1771 – December 17, 1857) was a

U.S. 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 c ...

from

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

. He was the Mayor of Elizabethtown, New Jersey from 1839 to 1841.

Biography

He was born on June 17, 1771 in

Elizabeth, New Jersey Elizabeth is a city and the county seat of Union County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey.New J ...

. Chetwood 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 nine ...

in 1792, where he studied law. He was

admitted to the bar An admission to practice law is acquired when a lawyer receives a license to practice law. In jurisdictions with two types of lawyer, as with barristers and solicitors, barristers must gain admission to the bar whereas for solicitors there are dist ...

in 1796 and commenced practice in Elizabeth, New Jersey. He served as prosecutor of the pleas for Essex County, became a member of the State Council of New Jersey, was a major of militia and served in the

Whiskey Rebellion The Whiskey Rebellion (also known as the Whiskey Insurrection) was a violent tax protest in the United States beginning in 1791 and ending in 1794 during the presidency of George Washington. The so-called "whiskey tax" was the first tax impo ...

of 1794 as aide-de-camp to

Major General Major general (abbreviated MG, maj. gen. and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. The disappearance of the "sergeant" in the title explains the apparent confusion of a ...

Henry "Light Horse Harry" Lee. Chetwood was elected as a Whig (at the time, a coalition of

National Republican Party The National Republican Party, also known as the Anti-Jacksonian Party or simply Republicans, was a political party in the United States that evolved from a conservative-leaning faction of the Democratic-Republican Party that supported John Qu ...

members) to the

Twenty-fourth Congress The 24th 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, 1835, ...

to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of

Philemon Dickerson Philemon Dickerson (January 11, 1788 – December 10, 1862) was a United States representative from New Jersey, the 12th governor of New Jersey and judge of the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey. Education and career ...

. He served in Congress from December 5, 1836 to March 3, 1837, afterward resuming the practice of law. In 1841 and 1842 he was elected to the

New Jersey Legislative Council The New Jersey Legislative Council was the upper house of the New Jersey Legislature under the New Jersey Constitution of 1776 until it was replaced by the New Jersey Senate under the Constitution of 1844. History The Legislative Council replaced ...

from

Essex County, New Jersey Essex County is located in the northeastern part of New Jersey. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the county's population was 863,728, making it the state's second-most populous county, behind Bergen and Middlesex Counties.

. He died on December 17, 1857 in

Elizabeth, New Jersey Elizabeth is a city and the county seat of Union County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey.New J ...

at the age of 86. He was interred in Hillside's Evergreen Cemetery.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chetwood, William 1771 births 1857 deaths People from Elizabeth, New Jersey People of colonial New Jersey National Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from New Jersey New Jersey Whigs Members of the New Jersey Legislative Council Mayors of Elizabeth, New Jersey Princeton University alumni Burials at Evergreen Cemetery (Hillside, New Jersey)