James Fisk (October 4, 1763November 17, 1844) was an American politician 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 served in the

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entitles. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often c ...

and the

United States Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and pow ...

Early life

Fisk was born in

Greenwich Greenwich ( , ,) is a town in south-east London, England, within the ceremonial county of Greater London. It is situated east-southeast of Charing Cross. Greenwich is notable for its maritime history and for giving its name to the Greenwich ...

Province of Massachusetts Bay The Province of Massachusetts Bay was a colony in British America which became one of the thirteen original states of the United States. It was chartered on October 7, 1691, by William III and Mary II, the joint monarchs of the kingdoms of ...

, the son of Stephen Fisk and Anna Bradish. His father died when Fisk was a year old, and he was largely self-educated. As a teenager, he worked on his family's farm.

Start of career

Military service

He served in the Revolutionary War from 1779 to 1782 as a private in Captain Willis' Company, Colonel Brooks' Regiment, a unit of the Massachusetts Militia.

Post-American Revolution

After the war, he was a farmer in Greenwich. In 1785, Fisk served as a member of the

Massachusetts General Court The Massachusetts General Court (formally styled the General Court of Massachusetts) is the State legislature (United States), state legislature of the Massachusetts, Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The name "General Court" is a hold-over from th ...

. Fisk was ordained as a Universalist minister, and preached occasionally. He married Priscilla West in 1786.

Move to Vermont

In 1798, Fisk moved to what is now Barre City, Vermont, but was then a village in the Town of Barre. While owning and operating a farm, Fisk received his credentials as a Universalist minister and began to preach. He also studied law, 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 ...

, and began the

practice of law In its most general sense, the practice of law involves giving legal advice to clients, drafting legal documents for clients, and representing clients in legal negotiations and court proceedings such as lawsuits, and is applied to the profess ...

as the first attorney in Barre. In 1799 he was elected to the town's board of selectmen. Fisk represented Barre in the Vermont House of Representatives from 1800 to 1805, 1809 to 1810 and in 1815. He was judge of the

Orange County, Vermont Orange County is a county located in the U.S. state of Vermont. As of the 2020 census, the population was 29,277. Its shire town (county seat) is the town of Chelsea. Orange County was organized on February 2, 1781, as an original county wit ...

Court from 1802 to 1809 and in 1816. In 1803, he was Orange County's member of the commission to choose a permanent site for the state capital, which selected Montpelier In 1804, he served as chairman of the commission that attempted to settle the question of the Vermont-

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

boundary.

Congressman

In 1804, Fisk was elected to the United States House of Representatives 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 was reelected in 1806, and served two terms, March 4, 1805 to March 3, 1809. He ran unsuccessfully for reelection in 1808. In 1810, Fiske was elected again to the House. He was reelected in 1812, and served from March 4, 1811 to March 3, 1815. He was chairman of the Committee on Elections. Fisk was appointed United States Judge for the

Territory of Indiana The Indiana Territory, officially the Territory of Indiana, was created by a congressional act that President John Adams signed into law on May 7, 1800, to form an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from July 4, ...

in 1812 by President

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 ...

, but declined the appointment. He was a delegate to the state constitutional convention in 1814, and served as judge of the Supreme Court of Vermont from 1815 to 1816.

U.S. Senator

In 1817, Fisk was elected to the United States Senate to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of

Dudley Chase Dudley Chase (December 30, 1771February 23, 1846) was a U.S. Senator from Vermont who served from 1813 to 1817 and again from 1825 to 1831. He was born in Cornish, New Hampshire. Career After graduating from Dartmouth College in 1791, he s ...

. He served from November 4, 1817 until resigning on January 8, 1818 to become U.S. collector of customs for the district of Vermont. He served from 1818 until 1826, moved to Swanton, Vermont in 1819 so that he could be closer to the border with Canada and the crossing points where customs were paid.

Death

Fisk died in Swanton on November 17, 1844. He was interred at the Church Street Cemetery in Swanton.

Family

Following his Revolutionary War service, Fisk married Priscilla West (1763–1840). Fisk's daughter Parma was the wife of Orlando Stevens, who served as Fisk's deputy collector, and was later a member of the legislatures of both Vermont and

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...

References

External links

Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
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govtrack.us: Sen. James Fisk

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fisk, James 1763 births 1844 deaths People from Greenwich, Massachusetts Members of the Universalist Church of America Members of the Vermont House of Representatives United States senators from Vermont Democratic-Republican Party United States senators Justices of the Vermont Supreme Court Democratic-Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Vermont