Uriah Tracy (February 2, 1755 – July 19, 1807) was an American lawyer and politician from Connecticut. He served in the US House of Representatives (1793 to 1796) and the US Senate (1796 to 1807). From May to November 1800, Tracy served as President pro tempore of the United States Senate.
Youth, family life and early career
Tracy was born in Franklin in the Connecticut Colony. In his youth, he received a liberal education.[1] His name is listed among those in a company from Roxbury that responded to the Lexington Alarm at the beginning of the American Revolutionary War. He later served in the Roxbury Company as a clerk[1]
In 1778, Tracy graduated from Yale University, his contemporaries including Noah Webster. He was admitted to the bar in 1781 and then practiced law in Litchfield for many years.
Tracy had five children with Susannah Bull; Sally, Susan, Julia, George and Caroline. All five would survive to adulthood. His daughter Sally was married to jurist James Gould.[2][3]
Political career
He served in the state legislature in 1788 to 1793 and in the US House of Representatives from April 8, 1793 to October 13, 1796 after he had been chosen as a Federalist.[4]
He resigned his seat when he was elected to the US Senate in place of Jonathan Trumbull Jr., who had resigned.[5]
He has the distinction of being the first member of Congress to be interred in the Congressional Cemetery.[1] His descendants include the mathematician Curtis Tracy McMullen and the author Jeanie Gould.[6]
In 1803, he and several other New England politicians proposed secession of New England from the union because of the growing influence of Jeffersonian Democrats that had been helped by the Louisiana Purchase, which they felt further diminished Northern influence.
Death and aftermath
Tracy died in Washington, D.C on July 19, 1807 at the age of 52, of a long illness which caused dropsy. He was buried at Congressional Cemetery in Washington, D.C.[7]
On October 25, 1807, Chauncey Goodrich was elected by the Connecticut General Assembly to serve the remaining portion of Tracy's term.[8]
Legacy
His portrait, painted by Ralph Earl, is in the collection of the Litchfield Historical Society in Litchfield, Connecticut.
See also
References
- ^ a b c "Eyewitnesses Interred or Memorialized in the Congressional Cemetery" (PDF). Congressional Cemetery. Archived from the original (PDF) on September 10, 2008. Retrieved July 25, 2008.
- ^ archives.yale.edu https://archives.yale.edu/repositories/12/resources/3144. Retrieved January 18, 2025.
{{cite web}}: Missing or empty|title=(help) - ^ "Litchfield Ledger - Student". ledger.litchfieldhistoricalsociety.org. Retrieved January 18, 2025.
- ^ "Sen. Uriah Tracy". Govtrack.us. Retrieved January 1, 2013.
- ^ "Tracy, Uriah (1755-1807)". The Political Graveyard. Retrieved January 1, 2013.
- ^ Tracy Genealogy
- ^ Humanities, National Endowment for the (August 10, 1807). "Portland gazette and Maine advertiser. (Portland, Me.) 1805-1818, August 10, 1807, Image 1". Retrieved January 18, 2025.
- ^ "Bioguide Search". bioguide.congress.gov. Retrieved January 18, 2025.
External links
- United States Congress. "Uriah Tracy (id: T000348)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
- Portrait at the Litchfield Historical Society
- The Political Graveyard
- Govtrack.us
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