Ichabod Bartlett

Ichabod Bartlett (July 24, 1786 – October 19, 1853) was an American politician and a United States Representative from New Hampshire. He was born in Salisbury, New Hampshire, on July 24, 1786. Raised in the late colonial and early national period, he received a classical education that prepared him for higher study and public life. His early years in rural New Hampshire coincided with the formative decades of the new republic, shaping his later engagement in law and politics.

Bartlett attended Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire, where he pursued a traditional classical curriculum and graduated in 1808. Following his graduation, he studied law, reflecting the common path of ambitious young men of his era who sought influence in public affairs through the legal profession. He was admitted to the bar in 1811 and commenced the practice of law in Durham, New Hampshire, establishing himself professionally at a relatively young age.

In 1816 Bartlett moved to Portsmouth, New Hampshire, a significant commercial and political center of the state, where he continued the practice of law. His legal acumen and growing reputation soon led to positions of responsibility in state government. He served as clerk of the New Hampshire Senate in 1817 and 1818, a role that placed him at the center of legislative procedure and state policymaking. From 1819 to 1821 he was state solicitor for Rockingham County, acting as a public prosecutor and legal representative of the state in that jurisdiction.

Bartlett simultaneously began a legislative career in the New Hampshire House of Representatives, serving as a member from 1819 to 1821. In 1821 he was chosen speaker of the New Hampshire House, an indication of the confidence his colleagues placed in his leadership and parliamentary skill. His rising prominence in state politics during this period laid the groundwork for his subsequent election to national office and aligned him with the emerging Adams-Clay faction in national politics.

As a member of the Adams Party representing New Hampshire, Ichabod Bartlett contributed to the legislative process during three terms in office. Elected as an Adams-Clay Republican to the Eighteenth Congress and as an Adams to the Nineteenth and Twentieth Congresses, he served as a United States Representative from March 4, 1823, to March 3, 1829. His service in Congress occurred during a significant period in American history, marked by debates over internal improvements, tariffs, and the evolving party system. In this context he participated in the democratic process and represented the interests of his New Hampshire constituents as part of the coalition that supported John Quincy Adams and Henry Clay.

During his congressional tenure, Bartlett was offered but declined an appointment as chief justice of the court of common pleas in 1825, choosing instead to continue his legislative work and legal practice. After leaving Congress in 1829, he resumed his involvement in state politics. He returned to the New Hampshire House of Representatives in 1830, and again in 1838, 1851, and 1852, reflecting a long-standing commitment to state legislative service over several decades. In 1832 he sought higher executive office as a candidate for governor of New Hampshire but failed in his bid. Nevertheless, he remained influential in state affairs and served as a member of the New Hampshire constitutional convention in 1850, participating in the revision and refinement of the state’s fundamental law.

Bartlett never married and devoted much of his life to public service and the practice of law in Portsmouth. He continued to reside there through his later years, maintaining his legal career alongside intermittent legislative duties. He died in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, on October 19, 1853, at the age of 67 years and 87 days. Ichabod Bartlett was interred at Harmony Grove Cemetery in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, closing the life of a prominent New Hampshire lawyer, legislator, and congressman whose career spanned both state and national arenas during the early nineteenth century.