John Langdon

Infobox Officeholder
name =John Langdon

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order =1st & 3rd
office =President pro tempore of the United States Senate
term_start =April 6, 1789
term_end =August 9, 1789
November 5, 1792 – December 2, 1793
president =George Washington
predecessor =None; first
Richard Henry Lee (1792)
successor =Richard Henry Lee
Ralph Izard
order2 =United States Senator
from New Hampshire
term_start2 =April 6, 1789
term_end2 =March 4, 1801
predecessor2 =None; first
successor2 =James Sheafe
order3 =2th, 4th, 8th & 10th Governor of New Hampshire
term_start3 =June 1, 1785
term_end3 =June 7, 1786
June 4, 1788 – January 22, 1789
June 6, 1805 – June 8, 1809
1810 – June 5, 1812
predecessor3 =Meshech Weare
John Sullivan
John T. Gilman
Jeremiah Smith
successor3 =John Sullivan (twice)
Jeremiah Smith
William Plumer
birth_date =June 26, 1741
birth_place =Portsmouth, New Hampshire
death_date =September 18, 1819
death_place =Portsmouth, New Hampshire
nationality =
party =Pro-Administration
Anti-Administration
Democratic-Republican
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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 his death in 1819. Today, Langdon is considered the most important New Hampshire politician in early American history. who

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. [http://www.wisconsinhistory.org/odd/archives/002071.asp]

ources

*CongBio|L000067
*"The Founding Fathers: New Hampshire." U.S. National Archives and Records Administration. [http://www.lib.virginia.edu/speccol/exhibits/mellon/acquiring.html]
*"John Langdon." "Soldier-Statesmen of the Constitution". U.S. Army Center of Military History. [http://www.army.mil/cmh-pg/books/RevWar/ss/langdon.htm]
* [http://books.google.com/books?id=XSDnxlK1sMUC&printsec=titlepage&source=gbs_summary_r State Builders: An Illustrated Historical and Biographical Record of the State of New Hampshire. State Builers Publishing Manchester, NH 1903]

succession box
title=President pro tempore of the United States Senate
before=none
years=April 6,1789–August 9,1789
after=Richard Henry Leesuccession box
title=President pro tempore of the United States Senate
before=Richard Henry Lee
years=November 5,1792–December 2,1793
after=Ralph Izard
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