Uriah Tracy

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Uriah Tracy
President pro tempore of the United States Senate
In office
May 14, 1800 – November 16, 1800
Preceded bySamuel Livermore
Succeeded byJohn E. Howard
United States Senator
from Connecticut
In office
October 13, 1796 – July 19, 1807
Preceded byJonathan Trumbull, Jr.
Succeeded byChauncey Goodrich
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Connecticut's At-large congressional district
In office
April 8, 1793 – October 13, 1796
Preceded byZephaniah Swift
Succeeded bySamuel W. Dana
Personal details
Born(1755-02-02)February 2, 1755
Franklin, Connecticut Colony, British America
DiedJuly 19, 1807(1807-07-19) (aged 52)
Washington, D.C., U.S.
Political partyFederalist
Alma materYale University
ProfessionLawyer, Politician

Uriah Tracy (February 2, 1755 – July 19, 1807) was an American lawyer and politician from Connecticut. He served in the US House of Representatives (1793 to 1796) and the US Senate (1796 to 1807). From May to November 1800, Tracy served as President pro tempore of the United States Senate.

Early life and career[edit]

Tracy was born in Franklin in the Connecticut Colony. In his youth, he received a liberal education.[1] His name is listed among those in a company from Roxbury that responded to the Lexington Alarm at the beginning of the American Revolutionary War. He later served in the Roxbury Company as a clerk[1]

In 1778, Tracy graduated from Yale University, his contemporaries including Noah Webster. He was admitted to the bar in 1781 and then practiced law in Litchfield for many years.

Political career[edit]

He served in the state legislature in 1788 to 1793 and in the US House of Representatives from April 8, 1793 to October 13, 1796 after he had been chosen as a Federalist.[2]

He resigned his seat when he was elected to the US Senate in place of Jonathan Trumbull Jr., who had resigned.[3] Tracy served until the time of his death in Washington, DC on July 19, 1807.

He has the distinction of being the first member of Congress to be interred in the Congressional Cemetery.[1] His descendants include the mathematician Curtis Tracy McMullen and the author Jeanie Gould.[4]

In 1803, he and several other New England politicians proposed secession of New England from the union because of the growing influence of Jeffersonian Democrats that had been helped by the Louisiana Purchase, which they felt further diminished Northern influence.

Legacy[edit]

His portrait, painted by Ralph Earl, is in the collection of the Litchfield Historical Society in Litchfield, Connecticut.

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c "Eyewitnesses Interred or Memorialized in the Congressional Cemetery" (PDF). Congressional Cemetery. Archived from the original (PDF) on September 10, 2008. Retrieved July 25, 2008.
  2. ^ "Sen. Uriah Tracy". Govtrack.us. Retrieved January 1, 2013.
  3. ^ "Tracy, Uriah (1755-1807)". The Political Graveyard. Retrieved January 1, 2013.
  4. ^ Tracy Genealogy

External links[edit]


U.S. Senate
Preceded by U.S. senator (Class 3) from Connecticut
1796–1807
Served alongside: James Hillhouse
Succeeded by
U.S. House of Representatives
Preceded by Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Connecticut's at-large congressional district

April 8, 1793 – October 13, 1796
Succeeded by
Political offices
Preceded by President pro tempore of the United States Senate
May 14, 1800 – November 16, 1800
Succeeded by