Joseph Bradley Varnum

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Joseph Bradley Varnum
7th Speaker of the United States House of Representatives
In office October 26, 1807 – March 4, 1811
President	Thomas Jefferson James Madison
Preceded by	Nathaniel Macon
Succeeded by	Henry Clay
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Massachusetts's 9th district
In office March 4, 1795 – March 3, 1803
Preceded by	None; first
Succeeded by	Phanuel Bishop
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Massachusetts's 4th district
In office March 4, 1803 – March 4, 1811
Preceded by	Seth Hastings
Succeeded by	William M. Richardson
United States Senator from Massachusetts
In office June 29, 1811 – March 3, 1817
Preceded by	Timothy Pickering
Succeeded by	Harrison Gray Otis
President pro tempore of the United States Senate
In office December 6, 1813 – February 3, 1814
Preceded by	William H. Crawford
Succeeded by	John Gaillard
Born	January 29, 1751 Dracut, Massachusetts
Died	December 21, 1821 (aged 70) Dracut, Massachusetts
Political party	Democratic-Republican

Joseph Bradley Varnum (January 29, 1751–September 21, 1821) was a U.S. politician of the Democratic-Republican Party from Massachusetts.

[edit] Biography

Joseph Bradley Varnum was born in Dracut, Massachusetts. He was a farmer who, despite having little formal education, was learned enough to serve as a justice of the court of common pleas and a Chief Justice of the court of general sessions.

After serving in the Massachusetts militia during the American Revolutionary War, Varnum served for 15 years in the Massachusetts state legislature, starting in the House of Representatives (1780–1785) before moving up to the Senate (1786–1795).

In 1795, Varnum was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives, where he served from March 4, 1795 until his resignation on June 29, 1811. During his last four years in the House, he served as its Speaker.

Varnum was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1811 for one term; after returning to Massachusetts in 1817, he again served in the state Senate, until his death.

Varnum died in Dracut, and his body is interred in Varnum Cemetery. His brother was James Mitchell Varnum.

VARNUM, Joseph Bradley, (brother of James Mitchell Varnum), a Representative and a Senator from Massachusetts; born in Dracut, Middlesex County, Mass., January 29, 1750 or 1751; largely self-taught; farmer; served in the Revolutionary Army; member, State house of representatives 1780-1785; member, State senate 1786-1795; delegate to the State convention that ratified the Federal Constitution in 1788; justice of the court of common pleas; chief justice of the court of general sessions; elected to the Fourth and to the eight succeeding Congresses and served from March 4, 1795, to June 29, 1811, when he resigned, having been elected Senator; Speaker of the House during the Tenth and Eleventh Congresses; chairman, Committee on Elections (Fifth Congress); elected as a Democratic Republican to the United States Senate in 1811 to fill the vacancy in the term commencing March 4, 1811, and served from June 29, 1811, to March 3, 1817; served as President pro tempore of the Senate during the Thirteenth Congress; chairman, Committee on Militia (Fourteenth Congress); delegate to the State constitutional convention in 1820; member, State senate 1817-1821; died in Dracut, Mass., September 21, 1821; interment in Varnum Cemetery.

[edit] References

• Dictionary of American Biography
• Varnum, Joseph. “Autobiography of General Joseph B. Varnum.” Edited by James M. Varnum. Magazine of American History 20 (November 1888): 405-14.

• Joseph Bradley Varnum at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress

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