Barnabas Bidwell

Barnabas Bidwell

Portrait by John Brewster, Jr.
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Massachusetts's 12th district
In office 1805–1807
Preceded by	Simon Larned
Succeeded by	Ezekiel Bacon
Attorney General of Massachusetts
In office June 15, 1807 – August 30, 1810
Preceded by	James Sullivan
Succeeded by	Perez Morton
Member of the Massachusetts State Senate
In office 1801–1804
Member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives
In office 1805–1807
Treasurer of Berkshire County, Massachusetts^[1]
In office September, 1791 – August, 1810
Personal details
Born	August 23, 1763 Township No. 1 now Monterey, Massachusetts
Died	July 27, 1833 Bath, Upper Canada
Resting place	Cataraqui Cemetery, Kingston, Ontario
Nationality	American, Canadian
Political party	Democratic-Republican
Children	Marshall Spring Bidwell
Alma mater	Yale College class of 1785, Brown University
Profession	Attorney
Religion	Presbyterian^[2]

Barnabas Bidwell (August 23, 1763 – July 27, 1833) was a politician of the late 18th and early 19th centuries, active in Massachusetts and Upper Canada. Educated at Yale, he practiced law in western Massachusetts and served as treasurer of Berkshire County. He served in the state legislature, and was the state attorney general from 1807 to 1810, when irregularities in the Berkshire County books prompted his flight to Upper Canada. There he won a seat in the provincial assembly, but was denied on account of his status as a fugitive from justice.

Life

Bidwell was born to Adonijah Bidwell and Jemima Devotion in Township No. 1 (now Monterey, Massachusetts), and graduated from Yale College in 1785. He later attended the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations (now known as Brown University) in Providence, Rhode Island. He was admitted to the Massachusetts state bar in 1805 and commenced practice in Stockbridge, Massachusetts.

Bidwell was a Massachusetts State Senator from 1801 to 1804, Massachusetts House of Representatives from 1805 to 1807. Bidwell was elected as a Democratic-Republican and served in the Ninth and Tenth Congresses (March 4, 1805 – July 13, 1807). He was Attorney General of Massachusetts (June 15, 1807 – August 30, 1810).

Accused of embezzling money while Berkshire County treasurer, he and his family fled to Canada in 1810 and settled in Kingston, Upper Canada (now Ontario).

Bidwell won a seat in the Legislative Assembly of Upper Canada for Lennox and Addington, but failed to take his seat because his election was petitioned against on the grounds that he was a fugitive from justice, a person of immoral character and had taken an oath of allegiance to the United States.^[3] After an unusually long debate Bidwell was expelled from the House by a vote of seventeen to sixteen.^[4]

Bidwell died in Bath, Upper Canada, and his remains are interred in Kingston's Cataraqui Cemetery.

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Legacy

His son Marshall Spring Bidwell successfully sat in the same seat from 1824 to 1836. Marshall Spring Bidwell later left for the United States.

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Footnotes

^ Dexter, Franklin Bowditch (1907), Biographical sketches of the graduates of Yale college with annals of the College History Volume IV, New York, NY: Henry Holt and Company, p. 388
^ De Lancey, Edward Floyd (1890), Marshall S. Bidwell, a memoir, historical and biographical, New York, NY: Edward Floyd De Lancey, p. 5
^ McMullen, John Mercier (1891), The history of Canada: from its first discovery to the present time, Volume 1, Brockville, Ont.: McMullen & Co., p. 450
^ McMullen, John Mercier (1891), The history of Canada: from its first discovery to the present time, Volume 1, Brockville, Ont.: McMullen & Co., p. 451

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External links

United States House of Representatives
Preceded by Simon Larned	Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Massachusetts's 12th congressional district March 4, 1805 – July 13, 1807	Succeeded by Ezekiel Bacon
Legal offices
Preceded by James Sullivan	Massachusetts Attorney General June 15, 1807 – August 30, 1810	Succeeded by Perez Morton

Authority control	VIAF: 3843784

Persondata
Name	Bidwell, Barnabas
Alternative names
Short description	Politician and lawyer of Massachusetts and Upper Canada
Date of birth	August 23, 1763
Place of birth	Township No. 1 now Monterey, Massachusetts
Date of death	July 27, 1833
Place of death	Bath, Upper Canada

Members of the U.S. House of Representatives from Massachusetts

1st district	Ames Dexter Goodhue Holten Sedgwick Skinner Sedgwick J Bacon Eustis Quincy Ward, Jr. Mason Gorham Webster Gorham Appleton Gorham Lawrence Fletcher Lawrence Winthrop Appleton Winthrop S Eliot Appleton Scudder T Eliot Hall T Eliot Buffinton Crapo Davis Randall Wright Lawrence Treadway Heselton Conte Olver Neal

2nd district	Goodhue Foster W Lyman Sedgwick Ward W Lyman Shepard J Crowninshield Story Pickman Reed Pickering Silsbee Barstow B Crowninshield Choate Phillips Saltonstall King Rantoul Fay Crocker Buffinton Ames Harris Long Morse Gillett Churchill Bowles Kaynor Granfield Clason Furcolo Boland Neal McGovern

3rd district	Gerry Bourne Coffin Lyman Mattoon Cutler Nelson Livermore White Pickering Nelson Varnum Nelson Osgood Cushing Abbott Duncan Edmands Damrell C Adams Thomas Rice Twichell Whiting Pierce Field Dean Field Ranney L Morse Andrew Walker Thayer R Hoar Washburn Thayer Wilder Paige Foss Casey Philbin Drinan Donohue Early Blute McGovern N Tsongas

4th district	Sedgwick Dearborn Thatcher Wadsworth Foster Lincoln Hastings Varnum Richardson Dana Stearns Fuller Everett Hoar Parmenter Thompson Palfrey Thompson Sabine Walley Comins Rice Hooper Frost Abbott L Morse Collins J O'Neil Apsley Weymouth Tirrell Mitchell Wilder Winslow Stobbs Holmes Donohue Drinan Frank Kennedy III

5th district	Partridge Bourne Freeman L Williams Dwight Ely Mills Lathrop Sibley Davis Lincoln Hudson Allen Appleton Burlingame Appleton Hooper Alley Butler Gooch Banks Bowman L Morse Hayden Banks Hoar Stevens Knox Ames J Rogers E Rogers F Morse Cronin P Tsongas Shannon Atkins Meehan N Tsongas Markey

6th district	Thatcher Leonard Reed Sr. J Smith Taggart Allen Locke Kendall Grennell Alvord Baker Ashmun G Davis Upham T Davis Alley Gooch Banks Butler Thompson Loring Stone Lovering Lodge Cogswell Moody Gardner Lufkin Andrew G Bates W Bates Harrington Mavroules Torkildsen Tierney

7th district	Leonard Ward Leonard Bullock Bishop Mitchell Barker Baylies Turner Baylies Hulbert Henry Shaw Dwight Allen Grennell Briggs Rockwell Goodrich Banks Gooch Boutwell Brooks Esty Hoar Tarbox Butler Russell Stone Cogswell Everett Barrett Roberts Phelan Maloney W Connery L Connery Lane Macdonald Markey Capuano

8th district	Grout Thatcher Ames Otis Eustis L Williams Green Gardner Green Reed Baylies Sampson Hobart Lathrop Bates Calhoun Adams Mann Wentworth Knapp Train Baldwin Hoar JMS Williams Warren Claflin Candler Russell Allen Greenhalge Stevens McCall Deitrick Dallinger Thayer Dallinger Healey Goodwin Macdonald O'Neill Kennedy II Capuano Lynch

9th district	Varnum Bishop Dean Wheaton Reed Folger Reed Dwight Briggs Jackson Hastings H Williams Hale Fowler Little Dewitt Thayer Bailey Walker Washburn Crocker Hoar Rice T Lyman Ely Burnett Candler G Williams O'Neil Fitzgerald Conry Keliher Murray Roberts Fuller Underhill Luce Russell Luce Eliot Gifford Nicholson Keith McCormack Hicks Moakley Lynch Keating

10th district	Goodhue Sewall Read Hastings Upham J Allen Brigham Wheaton Morton F Baylies Bailey HAS Dearborn W Baylies Borden H Williams Borden Burnell Grinnell Scudder Dickinson Chaffee Delano Dawes Crocker Stevens Seelye Norcross Rice Russell J Walker McEttrick Atwood Barrows Naphen McNary O'Connell Curley Murray Tague Fitzgerald Tague Douglass Tinkham Herter Curtis Martin Heckler Studds Delahunt Keating

11th district	Bradbury Bartlett Cutler Stedman A Bigelow Brigham B Adams Russell Hobart Richardson J Adams Reed Burnell Goodrich Trafton Dawes Chapin Robinson Whiting Wallace Coolidge Draper Sprague Powers Sullivan Peters Tinkham Douglass Higgins Flaherty Curley Kennedy O'Neill Burke Donnelly

12th district	Dearborn Parker Lee S Thatcher Skinner Larned Bidwell Bacon Dewey Hulbert Strong Kendall L Bigelow Baylies Hodges J Adams Robinson Rockwell Crosby Morse Lovering Powers Weeks Curley Gallivan McCormack Keith Studds

13th district	Wadsworth Seaver Ruggles Dowse Eustis Reed Randall Simpkins Greene Weeks Mitchell Carter Luce Wigglesworth Burke

14th district	G Thatcher Cutts King Holmes Lovering Foss Harris Gilmore Olney Frothingham Wigglesworth Martin

15th district	Wadsworth Ilsley Whitman Widgery Bradbury Whitman Greene Leach Martin Gifford

16th district	S Thatcher Cook Tallman Davis Brown Orr Hill T Thacher Walsh Gifford

17th district	Bruce Chandler Gannett F Carr Wood J Carr Wilson Kinsley

18th district	Wilson Rice Parker

19th district	Parker Conner Gage Cushman

20th district	Hubbard Parris Lincoln

At-large	Cobb

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Last modified on 7 April 2013, at 22:22