Tristam Burges (February 26, 1770October 13, 1853) was a

U.S. Representative The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the 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 Article One of th ...

from

Rhode Island Rhode Island ( ) is a state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Connecticut to its west; Massachusetts to its north and east; and the Atlantic Ocean to its south via Rhode Island Sound and Block Is ...

, and great-great-uncle of Rhode Island politician Theodore Francis Green.

Early life and law career

Burges was born in Rochester 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 ...

on February 26, 1770, to John and Abigail Burges. Burges's father was a cooper and farmer, and a Revolutionary War veteran. Burges attended the common schools. He studied medicine at a school in Wrentham. Upon the death of his father he abandoned the study of medicine. He was graduated from Rhode Island College (now

Brown University Brown University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. It is the List of colonial colleges, seventh-oldest institution of higher education in the US, founded in 1764 as the ' ...

Providence, Rhode Island Providence () is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Rhode Island, most populous city of the U.S. state of Rhode Island. The county seat of Providence County, Rhode Island, Providence County, it is o ...

, valedictorian of the class of 1796. He studied law, and 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 ...

in 1799 and commenced practice in

. He married in 1801 to a daughter of Hon. Welcome Arnold, and had several children.

Political career

He served as member of the

Rhode Island General Assembly The State of Rhode Island General Assembly is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Rhode Island. A bicameral body, it is composed of the lower Rhode Island House of Representatives with 75 representatives, and the upper Rhode Island Se ...

in 1811 and a prominent member of the

Federalist Party The Federalist Party was a conservativeMultiple sources: * * * * * * * * and nationalist American political party and the first political party in the United States. It dominated the national government under Alexander Hamilton from 17 ...

. He was appointed chief justice of the Supreme Court of Rhode Island in May 1815, serving for just one year. In 1815 Burges was named as professor of oratory and ''belles letters'' at

; he taught lectures in rhetoric and oratory. He was dismissed from this position in 1830. Burges was elected to the US Congress in 1825 as a Federalist and served for ten years. He was known for his witty repartee with the anti-New England Virginian John Randolph of Roanoke. He favored a protective trade

tariff A tariff or import tax is a duty (tax), duty imposed by a national Government, government, customs territory, or supranational union on imports of goods and is paid by the importer. Exceptionally, an export tax may be levied on exports of goods ...

, and he lost a re-election race because he refused to accept a tariff compromise proposed by

Henry Clay Henry Clay (April 12, 1777June 29, 1852) was an American lawyer and statesman who represented Kentucky in both the United States Senate, U.S. Senate and United States House of Representatives, House of Representatives. He was the seventh Spea ...

. Burges was elected as an Adams candidate to the Nineteenth and Twentieth Congresses and elected as an Anti-Jacksonian to the Twenty-first through the Twenty-third Congresses (March 4, 1825 – March 3, 1835). He served as chairman of the Committee on Revolutionary Pensions (Nineteenth Congress), Committee on Military Pensions (Nineteenth and Twentieth Congresses), Committee on Revolutionary Claims (Twenty-first Congress), Committee on Invalid Pensions ( Twenty-second and Twenty-third Congresses). He was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection. After an unsuccessful run for Rhode Island Governor as a Whig party candidate in 1836, he resumed the practice of law in

East Providence, Rhode Island East Providence is a city in Providence County, Rhode Island, United States. The population was 47,139 at the 2020 census, making it the fifth-largest city in the state. Geography East Providence is located between the Providence and Seeko ...

. His desk and bookcase currently resides in the Stanley Weiss Collection. It was made in

in the early 1800s. The maker is uncertain, but it was possibly made by James Halyburton. He died on his estate, Watchemoket Farm in 1853 in the town of

Seekonk, Massachusetts Seekonk is a town in Bristol County, Massachusetts, United States, on the Massachusetts border with Rhode Island. It was incorporated in 1812 from the western half of Rehoboth. The population was 15,531 at the 2020 census. In 1862, under a U.S. ...

(in the portion of which that would later be given from Massachusetts to Rhode Island and be incorporated as

, from a Supreme Court order settling a boundary dispute between the two states). He was interred in North Burial Ground,

Sources

External links

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Encyclopedia Brunoniana
{{DEFAULTSORT:Burges, Tristam 1770 births 1853 deaths Members of the United States House of Representatives from Rhode Island Brown University alumni Rhode Island National Republicans Rhode Island Whigs National Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives Brown University faculty Chief justices of the Rhode Island Supreme Court People from Rochester, Massachusetts Rhode Island Federalists Rhode Island lawyers People from East Providence, Rhode Island People from colonial Rhode Island Burials at North Burying Ground (Providence) 19th-century American lawyers 19th-century members of the United States House of Representatives