Nathaniel Niles (politician)

Nathaniel Niles (born April 3, 1741 in South Kingston , Rhode Island Colony , † October 31, 1828 in Fairlee , Vermont ) was an American lawyer and politician . Between 1791 and 1795 he represented the second constituency of the state of Vermont in the US House of Representatives .

Career

Nathaniel Niles enjoyed a very good education. He received this first at Harvard College , which later became Harvard University , and then until 1766 at Princeton College , the forerunner of Princeton University . He studied law, medicine and theology and was temporarily employed as a teacher in New York . He served as a preacher in the cities of Norwich and Torrington . He also made a name for himself in Norwich by inventing a method of making wire and building a few mills.

After the American Revolution, he moved to Fairlee, Vermont. In 1784 he was elected to the Vermont House of Representatives. There he became President of the House. Between 1784 and 1788 he was a judge on the Vermont Supreme Court . In 1791 he was a delegate to a meeting to revise the Vermont Constitution. Politically, he joined the opposition to the then federal government under President George Washington and later became a member of Thomas Jefferson's Democratic Republican Party .

After the state of Vermont officially entered the United States, Niles was elected to the US House of Representatives in the second district of that state, which was then still in Philadelphia . After re-election in 1792, he could remain in Congress until March 3, 1795 . Following his time in Congress, Niles was a member of the Vermont House of Representatives from 1800 to 1803 and again between 1812 and 1815. Between 1803 and 1809 he was a member of the governor's advisory staff . In 1804 and 1812 he was his party's presidential elector for Thomas Jefferson and James Madison . In 1814 he was again a delegate at another meeting to reform the state constitution. After that, Niles retired. He died on October 31, 1828 and was buried in West Fairlee.

Web links

• Nathaniel Niles in the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress (English)

• Nathaniel Niles in the database of Find a Grave (English)