Thomas Bartlett, Jr.

Thomas Bartlett, Jr.
Member of the United States House of Representatives from Vermont's 4th district
In office March 4, 1851 – March 3, 1853
Preceded by	Lucius Benedict Peck
Member of the Vermont Senate
In office 1849–1850
Member of the Vermont House of Representatives
In office 1854–1855
Personal details
Born	June 18, 1808 Sutton, Vermont, US
Died	September 12, 1876 (aged 68) Lyndon, Vermont, US
Political party	Democratic
Profession	Politician, Lawyer

Thomas Bartlett, Jr. (June 18, 1808 – September 12, 1876) was an American lawyer and politician. He served as a U.S. Representative from Vermont.

Biography

Bartlett was born in Sutton, Vermont,^[1] and attended the common schools. He read law and was admitted to the bar in 1833.^[2] He began the practice of law in Groton, Vermont.^[3] In 1836 he moved to Lyndon, Vermont, where he continued to practice law.

From 1839 until 1842, Bartlett served as the State's attorney for Caledonia County.^[4] He was a member of the Vermont State Senate in 1841 and 1842,^[5] and served in the Vermont House of Representatives in 1849, 1850, 1854 and 1855.^[6] Bartlett was a delegate to the State constitutional conventions in 1850 and 1857,^[7] and was President of the Vermont Constitutional Convention in 1850.^[8]

Bartlett was elected as a Democrat candidate to the Thirty-second Congress, serving from March 4, 1851 until March 3, 1853.^[9] In Congress, he served as chairman of the Committee on Expenditures on Public Buildings.^[10] He was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1852. After leaving Congress, Bartlett resumed the practice of law.

In 1851, Bartlett aired his dismay for the current behavior of college students in a letter that appeared in the July 19, 1851 edition of the Caledonian, a newspaper printed at St. Johnsbury, VT. The letter then became a pamphlet entitled "An Epistolary Disquisition on College Morality." His main complaint was what he felt was the loose language of college students. He had sent the letter to the editor outlining his complaints and the pamphlet, written just before his induction to the 32nd Congress, was written to justify his earlier criticisms. A pamphlet mocking Bartlett for his criticisms of "the shockingly profane and obscene" language he complains of was circulated in late 1851 with Barlett's letter printed intact and a mocking rebuke of the letter and its author following.

Death

Bartlett died on September 12, 1876 in Lyndon, Vermont. He is interred in Lyndon Town Cemetery in Lyndon.^[11]

References

1. "PAST HISTORY of the Geographic Area of Caledonia County". Ancestry.com. Retrieved December 7, 2012.
2. Crockett, Walter Hill (1921). Vermont: the Green mountain state, Volume 3. The Century history company, inc. p. 388.
3. Dodge, Andrew R. (2005). Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1774-2005: The Continental Congress, September 5, 1774, to October 21, 1788, and the Congress of the United States, from the First Through the One Hundred Eighth Congresses, March 4, 1789, to January 3, 2005. United States Congress. p. 619.
4. "Docket of Thomas Bartlett, 1848-1876.". Vermont Historical Society. Retrieved December 7, 2012.
5. Vermont Historical Society (1921). Proceedings of the Vermont Historical Society. Vermont Historical Society. p. 84.
6. "BARTLETT, Thomas, Jr., (1808 - 1876)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. Retrieved December 7, 2012.
7. "Bartlett, Thomas, Jr. (1808-1876)". The Political Graveyard. Retrieved December 7, 2012.
8. Bartlett, Thomas Edward (1802). The Bartletts: Ancestral, genealogical, biographical, historical. Comprising an account of the American progenitors of the Bartlett family, with special reference to the descendants of John Bartlett, of Weymouth and Cumberland. Press of the Stafford Printing Co. p. 97.
9. "Lucius Benedict Peck". Govtrack.us. Retrieved December 7, 2012.
10. THE WASHINGTON AND GEORGETOWN DIRECTORY (1853). THE WASHINGTON AND GEORGETOWN DIRECTORY. p. 33.
11. "Thomas Bartlett, Jr". Find A Grave. Retrieved December 7, 2012.

External links

• Biographical Directory of the United States Congress: BARTLETT, Thomas, Jr., (1808 - 1876)
• Govtrack.us: Lucius Benedict Peck
• The Political Graveyard: Bartlett, Thomas, Jr. (1808-1876)
• Find A Grave: Thomas Bartlett, Jr

 This article incorporates public domain material from the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress website http://bioguide.congress.gov.