David Barton (December 14, 1783September 28, 1837) was one of the first U.S. senators from Missouri, serving 1821–1831. Barton was born near

Greeneville, Tennessee Greeneville is a town in and the county seat of Greene County, Tennessee, United States. The population as of the 2020 census was 15,479. The town was named in honor of Revolutionary War hero Nathanael Greene, and it is the second oldest town i ...

, then part of

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...

. He moved to

St. Louis St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...

in 1809. In 1812, he joined

Nathan Boone Nathan Boone (1780–1856) was a veteran of the War of 1812, a delegate to the Missouri constitutional convention in 1820, and a captain in the 1st United States Regiment of Dragoons at the time of its founding, eventually rising to the rank of lie ...

's company of mounted rangers. Later stints with the rangers helped to make Barton popular in the region. Barton marker at mizzou (east side)

He became a major political presence in early Missouri, serving as attorney general, president of the state's constitutional convention, speaker of the Missouri territorial House of Representatives, and as one of its first pair of U.S. Senators.

Barton County, Missouri Barton County is a County (United States), county located in the southwestern part of the U.S. state of Missouri. As of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, the population was 11,637. Its county seat is Lamar, Missouri, Lamar. The county ...

is named for him. He was the brother of

Joshua Barton Joshua Barton (July 28, 1792 – June 30, 1823) was the first Missouri Secretary of State. He was involved in three duels with prominent Missouri politicians before being killed in a duel. Barton, a younger brother of Senator David Barton, was ...

, the first

Missouri Secretary of State The people below have served as the Secretary of State of the U.S. state of Missouri. List Gallery File:Warren E. Hearnes.jpg, Warren E. Hearnes File:James C. Kirkpatrick.jpg, James C. Kirkpatrick File:Rep Roy Blunt.jpg, Roy Blunt File:Matt ...

. David opposed the reappointment of William Rector to the Office of Surveyor General for Missouri, Illinois and Arkansas, saying that Rector was using his relatives for surveying positions and paying them too much while Rector was surveying the

Louisiana Purchase The Louisiana Purchase (french: Vente de la Louisiane, translation=Sale of Louisiana) was the acquisition of the territory of Louisiana by the United States from the French First Republic in 1803. In return for fifteen million dollars, or app ...

. Joshua published the charges in the ''St. Louis Republican'' under the signature of "Philo." Rector's brother Thomas Rector challenged Joshua to a

duel A duel is an arranged engagement in combat between two people, with matched weapons, in accordance with agreed-upon Code duello, rules. During the 17th and 18th centuries (and earlier), duels were mostly single combats fought with swords (the r ...

in 1823 on

Bloody Island (Mississippi River) Bloody Island was a sandbar or "towhead" (river island) in the Mississippi River, opposite St. Louis, Missouri, which became densely wooded and a rendezvous for duelists because it was considered "neutral" and not under Missouri or Illinois con ...

and killed Joshua. President

James Monroe James Monroe ( ; April 28, 1758July 4, 1831) was an American statesman, lawyer, diplomat, and Founding Father who served as the fifth president of the United States from 1817 to 1825. A member of the Democratic-Republican Party, Monroe was ...

did not reappoint Rector. Barton switched parties three times in his political life. He was first 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 ...

; he then switched to an Adams Democrat for his re-election in 1825. When he ran for the Senate again in 1830 he switched to being an

Anti-Jacksonian 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 ...

candidate. In the Senate, he served as chairman of the committee on public lands. He was a member of the

Missouri State Senate The Missouri Senate is the upper chamber of the Missouri General Assembly. It has 34 members, representing districts with an average population of 174,000. Its members serve four-year terms, with half the seats being up for election every two yea ...

in 1834-1835.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Barton, David 1783 births 1837 deaths People from Greeneville, Tennessee American people of Irish descent Missouri Democratic-Republicans Missouri National Republicans Democratic-Republican Party United States senators from Missouri National Republican Party United States senators from Missouri Missouri state senators