John Varnum

John Varnum (June 25, 1778 – July 23, 1836) was a United States Representative from Massachusetts during the early nineteenth century. He was born in Dracut, Massachusetts, on June 25, 1778, the son of Parker Varnum (1747–1824) and Dorcas Brown Varnum (1754–1800). He was a member of a prominent New England family and was a second cousin, once removed, of Joseph Bradley Varnum and James Mitchell Varnum, both notable political and military figures of the Revolutionary and early national periods. Through his ancestry he shared a common forebear, John Prescott (c. 1604–c. 1682), with a number of later American public figures, including President George H. W. Bush, President George W. Bush, Vice Presidents Charles W. Fairbanks and Garret Hobart, First Lady Abigail Fillmore, and poet Robert Frost.

Varnum received a classical education and entered Harvard University, from which he graduated in 1798. Following his graduation, he studied law and was admitted to the bar. He commenced the practice of law in Haverhill, Massachusetts, where he established himself as an attorney in the early years of the nineteenth century. His legal practice in Haverhill provided the foundation for his entry into public life and connected him with influential families and political networks in Massachusetts.

On October 9, 1806, in Haverhill, Varnum married his first wife, Mary Cooke Saltonstall (1781–1817). She was a member of the distinguished Saltonstall family and the older sister of Leverett Saltonstall I, thereby linking Varnum by marriage to one of Massachusetts’ most prominent political dynasties. The marriage further strengthened his social and political standing in the Commonwealth. After Mary Cooke Saltonstall Varnum’s death in 1817, he remained a widower for several years while continuing his legal and political pursuits.

Varnum’s political career began in Massachusetts state politics, where he was elected as a Federalist to the Massachusetts State Senate. His service in the state senate reflected the Federalist Party’s influence in New England during the early republic and positioned him as a representative of commercial and professional interests in his region. During this period he moved from Haverhill to the growing industrial community of Lowell, Massachusetts, where economic and demographic changes were reshaping the political landscape.

Building on his state-level experience, Varnum was elected as a Federalist to the United States House of Representatives. He represented Massachusetts in the Nineteenth, Twentieth, and Twenty-first Congresses, serving three consecutive terms from March 4, 1825, to March 3, 1831. As a member of the Unknown Party representing Massachusetts, John Varnum contributed to the legislative process during 3 terms in office. His service in Congress occurred during a significant period in American history, as the nation confronted issues of economic development, internal improvements, and the evolving balance of power between the federal government and the states. In this context, he participated in the democratic process and represented the interests of his Massachusetts constituents in the House of Representatives.

During his congressional service, Varnum remarried. On May 23, 1826, in Washington, D.C., he wed Mary Pease Varnum, the widow of James Mitchell Varnum II, his second cousin and the son of Joseph Bradley Varnum. Mary (née Pease) Varnum was the niece of Calvin Pease and Gideon Granger, further connecting John Varnum to a network of prominent legal and political families in New England and the emerging West. This marriage underscored the close interrelationships among leading families in the early United States and reinforced his ties to established political lineages.

After leaving Congress in 1831, Varnum moved westward to the Michigan Territory, reflecting a broader pattern of New England migration into the Old Northwest. He settled in Niles, in what was then the Michigan Territory, where he spent his final years. John Varnum died in Niles on July 23, 1836. He was interred in Silverbrook Cemetery, where his burial marked the close of a career that had spanned the formative decades of the early American republic, from the Federalist ascendancy in Massachusetts to the era of westward expansion.