Benjamin Pond (1768October 6, 1814) was a

United States representative The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Artic ...

from

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

Early life

He was born in Stockbridge in the

Province of Massachusetts Bay The Province of Massachusetts Bay was a colony in New England 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 Eng ...

in 1768. He attended the

common school A common school was a public school in the United States during the 19th century. Horace Mann (1796–1859) was a strong advocate for public education and the common school. In 1837, the state of Massachusetts appointed Mann as the first secretar ...

s, became a farmer, and moved to

Poultney, Vermont Poultney is a town in Rutland County in the southwestern part of the U.S. state of Vermont. New York state is on its western border. Castleton, Vermont, is on its northern border. Poultney was home to Green Mountain College, a private liberal ar ...

, in 1800. He later moved to a portion of Crown Point which was included in the town of Schroon at Schroon's founding, and was subsequently incorporated into the town of

North Hudson, New York North Hudson is a town in Essex County, New York, United States. The population was 240 at the 2010 census. The town derives its name by being near the northern end of the Hudson River. The town is in the south-central part of the county and is ...

Political career

His political career began in 1804 when he became a justice of the peace and Schroon's

town supervisor The administrative divisions of New York are the various units of government that provide local services in the American state of New York. The state is divided into boroughs, counties, cities, towns, and villages. (The only boroughs, the f ...

. In 1808 he was appointed

judge A judge is a person who wiktionary:preside, presides over court proceedings, either alone or as a part of a judicial panel. In an adversarial system, the judge hears all the witnesses and any other Evidence (law), evidence presented by the barris ...

of the Essex County court of common pleas, and he served until his death. Pond served in the

New York State Assembly The New York State Assembly is the lower house of the New York State Legislature, with the New York State Senate being the upper house. There are 150 seats in the Assembly. Assembly members serve two-year terms without term limits. The Ass ...

from 1808 to 1810. In 1810 Pond was elected as a

Democratic-Republican The Democratic-Republican Party (also referred to by historians as the Republican Party or the Jeffersonian Republican Party), was an American political party founded by Thomas Jefferson and James Madison in the early 1790s. It championed l ...

to the Twelfth Congress (March 4, 1811 – March 3, 1813). During the

War of 1812 The War of 1812 was fought by the United States and its allies against the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom and its allies in North America. It began when the United States United States declaration of war on the Uni ...

he served in the New York Militia as a

matross A matross was a soldier of artillery, who ranked next below a gunner. The duty of a matross was to assist the gunners in loading, firing and sponging the guns. They were provided with firelocks, and marched with the store-wagons, acting as guards ...

in Captain Russell Walker's company of the 6th Artillery Regiment. He participated in the defense of northern New York and took part in the September, 1814

Battle of Plattsburgh The Battle of Plattsburgh, also known as the Battle of Lake Champlain, ended the final British invasion of the northern states of the United States during the War of 1812. Two British forces, an army under Lieutenant General Sir George Prévos ...

Death

In 1814 Pond was elected to the

Fourteenth Congress The 14th 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 the Old Brick Capitol in Washingt ...

, the term of which was scheduled to begin on March 4, 1815. He died in Schroon on October 6, 1814, of disease incurred through exposure at the Battle of Plattsburgh, and so never took his seat in the Fourteenth Congress. Pond was buried in North Hudson's Pine Ridge Cemetery. On September 3, 1923, he was re-interred in

Elizabethtown, New York Elizabethtown is a town in Essex County, New York, United States. The population was 1,163 at the 2010 census. The county seat of Essex County is the hamlet of Elizabethtown, located in the northern part of the town. The name is derived from E ...

's Riverside Cemetery.

Resources

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pond, Benjamin 1768 births 1814 deaths People from Stockbridge, Massachusetts Politicians from Berkshire County, Massachusetts People from Poultney (town), Vermont People from Essex County, New York Town supervisors in New York (state) Members of the New York State Assembly New York state court judges American military personnel killed in the War of 1812 Democratic-Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from New York (state) 19th-century members of the New York State Legislature 19th-century members of the United States House of Representatives