Tristam BURGES, Congress, RI (1770-1853)

BURGES Tristam , a Representative from Rhode Island; born in Rochester, Mass., February 26, 1770; attended the common schools; studied medicine at a school in Wrentham; upon the death of his father he abandoned the study of medicine; was graduated from Rhode Island College (now Brown University), Providence, R.I., in 1796; studied law; was admitted to the bar in 1799 and commenced practice in Providence, R.I.; member of the State house of representatives in 1811 and was prominent as a member of the Federal Party; appointed chief justice of the supreme court of Rhode Island in May 1815; unsuccessful candidate for election to the same in 1816; professor of oratory in Brown University; 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); chairman, 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); unsuccessful candidate for reelection; unsuccessful Whig candidate for Governor in 1836; resumed the practice of law; died on his estate, ``Watchemoket Farm'' (now a part of East Providence, R.I.), October 13, 1853; interment in North Burial Ground, Providence, R.I.

Bibliography

Bowen, Henry L. Memoir of Tristam Burges: With selections from his speeches and occasional writings. Providence: Marshall, Brown; Philadelphia: W. Marshall, 1835.

Source: Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1771-Present