Everything about John Langdon totally explained
» For other people named John Langdon, see John Langdon (disambiguation)
John Langdon (
June 26,
1741—
September 18,
1819) was a politician from
New Hampshire and one of the first two
United States Senators from that state. Langdon was an early supporter of the
American Revolutionary War and later served in the
Continental Congress. After being in
Congress for 12 years, including serving as the first
President pro tempore of the Senate, Langdon became
Governor of New Hampshire. He turned down a nomination for
Vice Presidential candidate in 1812, and later retired until he planned his death in 1819. Today, Langdon is considered the most important New Hampshire politician in early American history.
Langdon was born in
Portsmouth,
New Hampshire. His father was a prosperous farmer and local politician, whose family had emigrated to America before 1660 and was among the first to settle near the mouth of
Piscataqua River, a settlement which became Portsmouth, one of
New England's major
seaports. Langdon attended the local grammar school, run by a veteran of the 1745
siege against the
French at
Fortress Louisbourg in
Canada. After finishing his primary education, Langdon served an
apprenticeship as a clerk. He and his older brother, Woodbury, rejected the opportunity to join in their father's successful agricultural pursuits, and went to sea instead, apprenticed themselves to local naval merchants.
By age 22, Langdon was
captain of a cargo ship called the
Andromache sailing to the
West Indies. Four years later he owned his first merchantman, and would continue over time to acquire a small fleet of vessels, engaged in the
triangular trade between Portsmouth, the
Caribbean, and
London. His older brother was even more successful in international trade, and by 1770 both young men were among Portsmouth's wealthiest citizens.
British control of the shipping industries greatly hurt Langdon's business, motivating him to become a vigorous and prominent supporter of the revolutionary movement in the 1770s. He served on the New Hampshire
committee of correspondence and a nonimportation committee, and also attended various patriot assemblies. In 1774, he participated in the seizure and confiscation of British munitions from
Fort William and Mary.
Langdon served as a member of the First Continental Congress from 1775 to 1776. He resigned in June 1776 to become agent for the Continental forces against the
British and superintended the construction of several warships including the
Raleigh, the
America, and the
Ranger which was captained by
John Paul Jones. In 1777, he equipped an expedition against the British, participating in the
Battle of Bennington and commanding
Langdon's Company of Light Horse Volunteers at
Saratoga and in
Rhode Island.
Langdon was again a member of the
Continental Congress in 1787 and became a delegate to the
Constitutional Convention in 1787, serving as a member of the New Hampshire delegation. Langdon was elected to the U.S. Senate and served from
March 4,
1789, to
March 3,
1801. He was elected the first President pro tempore of the Senate on
April 6,
1789, and also served as President pro tempore during the Second Congress.
Langdon later served as a member of the New Hampshire legislature (1801-05), with the last two terms as Speaker; he served as Governor of New Hampshire from 1805-11, with the exception of 1809. Langdon declined the nomination to be a candidate for
Vice President in 1812, and later retired. He died in his hometown of Portsmouth in 1819, and was interred at the Langdon Tomb in the .
The town of
Langdon, New Hampshire is named after John Langdon, as well as Langdon Street in
Madison, Wisconsin, a town with several streets named after founding fathers.
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