Mark Trafton

Mark Trafton
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Massachusetts's 11th district
In office March 4, 1855-March 3, 1857
Preceded by	John Z. Goodrich
Succeeded by	Henry L. Dawes
Personal details
Born	August 1, 1810[1] Bangor, Maine[1]
Died	March 8, 1901[2] West Somerville, Massachusetts[3]
Resting place	Peabody Cemetery, Springfield, Massachusetts
Political party	American Party
Spouse(s)	Eliza Young[1]
Children	John Trafton;[1] Adeline Trafton, born February 8, 1845;[4][1] James Trafton;[1]
Occupation	Shoemaker[1][5]
Profession	Methodist Episcopal pastor
Religion	Congregationalist,[1] Methodist Episcopal

Mark Trafton (August 1, 1810 - March 8, 1901) was a Methodist Episcopal minister who, as a member of the American Party served one term in the U.S. Representative from Massachusetts.

Family history

Trafton's mother Margaret Dennett,^[1] was the daughter of Jacob Dennett, one of Bangor, Maine's original settlers.^[6]

Early life

Trafton was born in Bangor, Maine (then a district of Massachusetts) to Theodore^[5][1] and Margaret (Dennett) Trafton.^[1] When he was fifteen years old he was apprenticed to a Mr. Weed, a shoemaker^[1][5] of Bangor, Maine.^[5]

Education

Trafton studied at Kent's Hill Seminary, and was ordained pastor of the Methodist Episcopal church in Westfield, Massachusetts. In the early 1850s he traveled in Europe and published his letters home as Rambles in Europe: In a Series of Familiar Letters (Boston, 1852). The volume is dedicated to George W. Pickering, a cousin and prominent merchant in Bangor, Maine, who may have financed the trip.^[7] Trafton never lost touch with his home town of Bangor, returning to speak at its centennial celebration in 1869.^[8]

Family life

In 1836^[1] Trafton married Eliza Young of East Pittston, Maine.^[1] The Trafton's had six children including sons John and James Trafton,^[1]and daughter Adeline Trafton.^[4][1] Eliza Trafton died in 1882.^[1]

Member of Congress

Trafton was elected as the candidate of the American Party (aka the Know-Nothing Party) to the Thirty-fourth Congress (March 4, 1855-March 3, 1857). All eleven U.S. Representatives in the Massachusetts delegation were members of the American Party, including Speaker of the House Nathaniel P. Banks. According to his New York Times obituary, Trafton "had been an active leader in the anti-slavery reform, and while a member of Congress he secured the cordial hate of his opponents by his bold assaults upon the slave power".^[2] He was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1856 to the Thirty-fifth Congress, and resumed his ministerial duties as pastor of a church in Mount Wollaston, Massachusetts.

Career as a Clergyman

Trafton served as the pastor of the Trinity Methodist Episcopal Church in Charlestown.

Death and burial

Trafton died in West Somerville, Massachusetts, March 8, 1901. He was interred in Peabody Cemetery, Springfield.

References

• Mark Trafton at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress

End notes

1. ^ ^{a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q} Boston Evening Transcript (March 9, 1901), Rev. Mark Trafton., Boston, Massachusetts: Boston Evening Transcript , p. 6. 
2. ^ ^{a b} Special to The New York Times (March 9, 1901), DEATH LIST OF A DAY.; The Rev. Mark Trafton., New York, New York: The New York Times 
3. ^ The Lewiston Daily Sun (March 9, 1901), Reverend Mark Trafton., Lewiston, Maine: Lewiston Daily Sun, p. 3 
4. ^ ^{a b} John William Leonard, ed. (1903.), Who's Who in America, 1903-1905, Chicago, Illinois: A N Marquis, p. 853. 
5. ^ ^{a b c d} George Bancroft Griffith, ed. (1888.), The Poets of Maine: A Collection of Specimen Poems from over Four Hundred Verse-Makers of the Pine-Tree State: With Biographical Sketches, Portland, Maine: Elwell, Pickard & company, p. 143. 
6. ^ James Vickery, ed., The Journals of John Edwards Godfrey, ft. p. 279
7. ^ See Adams-Pickering Block
8. ^ Centennial Celebration of Bangor (Me.) (1869), p. 90

 This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.

United States House of Representatives
Preceded by John Z. Goodrich	Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Massachusetts's 11th congressional district March 4, 1855-March 3, 1857	Succeeded by Henry L. Dawes

Persondata
Name	Trafton, Mark
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	August 1, 1810
Place of birth
Date of death	March 8, 1901
Place of death