Barzillai Gannett (June 17, 1764 – 1832) 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

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut Massachusett_writing_systems.html" ;"title="nowiki/> məhswatʃəwiːsət.html" ;"title="Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət">Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət'' En ...

. Born in Bridgewater in the

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 ...

, Gannett was graduated from

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of high ...

in 1785. He studied theology, but did not enter the ministry. He served as Selectman of

Pittston, Maine Pittston is a town in Kennebec County, Maine, United States. The population was 2,875 at the 2020 census. The town was named after the family of John Pitt, who were early settlers. Pittston is included in the Augusta, Maine micropolitan New En ...

(then a district of Massachusetts). He also served as

town clerk A clerk is a senior official of many municipal governments in the English-speaking world. In some communities, including most in the United States, the position is elected, but in many others, the clerk is appointed to their post. In the UK, a Tow ...

in 1794 and

town moderator Town meeting is a form of local government in which most or all of the members of a community are eligible to legislate policy and budgets for local government. It is a town- or city-level meeting in which decisions are made, in contrast with ...

1797–1802. Gannett was Selectman and assessor of

Gardiner, Maine Gardiner is a city in Kennebec County, Maine, United States. The population was 5,961 at the 2020 census. Popular with tourists, Gardiner is noted for its culture and old architecture. Gardiner is a nationally accrediteMain StreetAmerica commun ...

from 1803 to 1808. He was appointed as the first postmaster of Gardiner and served from September 30, 1804, to October 1, 1809. He also served as Town Moderator. Gannett served as member of both the

Massachusetts House of Representatives The Massachusetts House of Representatives is the lower house of the Massachusetts General Court, the state legislature of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. It is composed of 160 members elected from 14 counties each divided into single-member ...

and the

Massachusetts State Senate The Massachusetts Senate is the upper house of the Massachusetts General Court, the bicameral state legislature of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The Senate comprises 40 elected members from 40 single-member senatorial districts in the st ...

. Gannett was 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 ...

to the

Eleventh In music or music theory, an eleventh is the note eleven scale degrees from the root of a chord and also the interval between the root and the eleventh. The interval can be also described as a compound fourth, spanning an octave plus a ...

and Twelfth Congresses and served from March 4, 1809, until his resignation in 1812. Because of an accusation regarding a breach of trust Gannett left Maine, changed his name to Benjamin Gardiner, and moved to Ohio. During about the year 1822 Barzillai Gannett (Benjamin Gardiner) again suddenly disappeared from Ohio. Gannett died in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

in 1832.

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gannett, Barzillai 1764 births 1832 deaths Members of the Massachusetts House of Representatives Massachusetts state senators Harvard University alumni People from Bridgewater, Massachusetts Massachusetts Democratic-Republicans People from Gardiner, Maine Democratic-Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from the District of Maine People from Pittston, Maine Members of the United States House of Representatives from Massachusetts