Rufus McIntire (December 19, 1784 – April 28, 1866) was a

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

lawyer A lawyer is a person who is qualified to offer advice about the law, draft legal documents, or represent individuals in legal matters. The exact nature of a lawyer's work varies depending on the legal jurisdiction and the legal system, as w ...

, captain of U.S. Army artillery in 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 ...

congressman A member of congress (MOC), also known as a congressman or congresswoman, is a person who has been appointed or elected and inducted into an official body called a congress, typically to represent a particular constituency in a legislature. The t ...

U.S. Marshal
land agent and hostage/prisoner in the

Aroostook War The Aroostook War (sometimes called the Pork and Beans WarLe Duc, Thomas (1947). The Maine Frontier and the Northeastern Boundary Controversy. ''The American Historical Review'' Vol. 53, No. 1 (Oct., 1947), pp. 30–41), or the Madawaska War, w ...

Biography

Early life

Rufus McIntire was born on December 19, 1784, at York, Massachusetts (now in

Maine Maine ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the United States, and the northeasternmost state in the Contiguous United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Provinces and ...

). He attended Berwick Academy and was graduated from

Dartmouth College Dartmouth College ( ) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Hanover, New Hampshire, United States. Established in 1769 by Eleazar Wheelock, Dartmouth is one of the nine colonial colleges chartered before the America ...

in 1809. After graduation, he read law for three years with John Holmes of Alfred, Maine.

Career

Rufus McIntire was admitted to the York County Bar Association in 1812, but when the war with Great Britain intervened, he was commissioned as a captain of a

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...

artillery Artillery consists of ranged weapons that launch Ammunition, munitions far beyond the range and power of infantry firearms. Early artillery development focused on the ability to breach defensive walls and fortifications during sieges, and l ...

company (3rd Regiment) during the

. McIntire's troops were deployed in northern New York State and Canada and were engaged in significant battles at

Sackets Harbor Sackets Harbor (earlier spelled Sacketts Harbor) is a village in Jefferson County, New York, United States, on Lake Ontario. The population was 1,450 at the 2010 census. The village was named after land developer and owner Augustus Sackett, who f ...

, Crysler's Farm and

Fort Oswego Fort Oswego was an 18th-century trading post in the Great Lakes region in North America, which became the site of a battle between French and British Army forces in 1756 during the North American phase of the Seven Years' War, known in the United ...

. He was a voting member in the Brunswick Convention of 1816. In 1820, the year Maine acquired statehood, he was elected to the

House of Representatives. In early 1827, he and ex-governor William King were named Maine's members of the commission to establish the boundary with New Hampshire. Later that year, he was elected a

to replace the deceased William Burleigh in the

Twentieth United States Congress The 20th 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 Washington, D.C. from March 4, 1827, ...

. He served thereafter in the Twenty-first, Twenty-second, and Twenty-third U.S. Congresses from September 10, 1827, through 1835. In 1837, McIntire was a candidate for the Democratic party's nomination for

governor A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the ...

; but at the state convention, he finished second to Gorham Parks by a vote of 137 to 167. McIntire served as the State Land Agent in 1839 and 1840. Because the boundary between Maine and

New Brunswick New Brunswick is a Provinces and Territories of Canada, province of Canada, bordering Quebec to the north, Nova Scotia to the east, the Gulf of Saint Lawrence to the northeast, the Bay of Fundy to the southeast, and the U.S. state of Maine to ...

remained unsettled, he was sent with a posse of militiamen into the disputed Aroostook territory to combat the intrusion of Canadian lumbering operations. On the night of February 12, 1839, McIntire's cabin was surrounded by armed Canadians, who took him prisoner and transported him to jail in

Fredericton Fredericton (; ) is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of New Brunswick. The city is situated in the west-central portion of the province along the Saint John River (Bay of Fundy), Saint John River, ...

. The incident led to the activation of large militia forces in both Maine and New Brunswick in the affair which became known as the

. McIntire was appointed as

br>Marshal
for

in January 1849 by Democratic President

James K. Polk James Knox Polk (; November 2, 1795 – June 15, 1849) was the 11th president of the United States, serving from 1845 to 1849. A protégé of Andrew Jackson and a member of the Democratic Party, he was an advocate of Jacksonian democracy and ...

; but shortly after the Whig

Zachary Taylor Zachary Taylor (November 24, 1784 – July 9, 1850) was an American military officer and politician who was the 12th president of the United States, serving from 1849 until his death in 1850. Taylor was a career officer in the United States ...

was inaugurated in March of that year, McIntire was removed from the office. He was later appointed Surveyor of Customs in

Portland, Maine Portland is the List of municipalities in Maine, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maine and the county seat, seat of Cumberland County, Maine, Cumberland County. Portland's population was 68,408 at the 2020 census. The Portland metropolit ...

by President

Franklin Pierce Franklin Pierce (November 23, 1804October 8, 1869) was the 14th president of the United States, serving from 1853 to 1857. A northern Democratic Party (United States), Democrat who believed that the Abolitionism in the United States, abolitio ...

, in which position he served from 1853 through 1857. Rufus McIntire died at the age of 82 in

Parsonsfield, Maine Parsonsfield is a town in York County, Maine, United States. The population was 1,791 at the 2020 census. Parsonsfield includes the villages of Kezar Falls, Parsonsfield, and North, East and South Parsonsfield. It is part of the Portland-South ...

on April 28, 1866.

Philosophical and/or political views

Like his legal mentor John Holmes, Rufus McIntire was a committed Jeffersonian in his early years. In his first congressional campaign, he ran on the Adams (Anti-Jackson) ticket; but in succeeding terms he ran and served as a stalwart Jacksonian Democrat.''Eastern Argus'' (Portland), 11 July 1834, p. 1.

Marriage and family

Rufus McIntire married Nancy Rolfe Hannaford in 1819. They had eight children, three of whom died in infancy. After Nancy's death on February 2, 1830, Rufus married her sister, Mary B. Hannaford in 1832. They had two children.

Notes

References

* McIntire, Rufus. ''The War of Northern New York : The Observations of Captain Rufus McIntire''. Edited by John C. Fredriksen. ''New York History'', 68 (July 1987), pp. 297–324. * Dearborn, J.W., ''A History of the first century of the town of Parsonsfield, Maine'', Portland: Brown Thurston & Co., 1888, pp. 21–23, 317–318, portrait p. 21.

External links

McIntire, Rufus - Biographical Info

McIntire, Rufus - Guide to Research Papers

Letter from Gov. Fairfield to Rufus McIntire

Lithographic image of Rufus McIntire

Findagrave.com Rufus McIntire
{{DEFAULTSORT:McIntire, Rufus 1784 births 1866 deaths United States Army officers Dartmouth College alumni People from York, Maine Politicians from York County, Maine Jacksonian members of the United States House of Representatives from Maine People from Parsonsfield, Maine 19th-century members of the United States House of Representatives