John Holmes | |
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| United States Senator fromMaine | |
| In office June 13, 1820 – March 3, 1827 | |
| Preceded by | None |
| Succeeded by | Albion Parris |
| In office January 15, 1829 – March 3, 1833 | |
| Preceded by | Albion Parris |
| Succeeded by | Ether Shepley |
| Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromMassachusetts's14th district | |
| In office March 4, 1817 – March 15, 1820 | |
| Preceded by | Cyrus King |
| Succeeded by | District eliminated until 1903[1] |
| Member of theMassachusetts Senate | |
| In office 1813–1817 | |
| Member of theMaine House of Representatives | |
| In office 1836–1837 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1773-03-14)March 14, 1773 |
| Died | July 7, 1843(1843-07-07) (aged 70) Portland, Maine, U.S. |
| Resting place | Cotton Brooks,Eastern Cemetery, Portland, Maine |
| Political party | Democratic-Republican National Republican |
| Alma mater | Rhode Island College |
| Profession | Lawyer |
John Holmes (March 14, 1773 – July 7, 1843) was anAmerican politician. He served as aU.S. Representative fromMassachusetts and was one of the first twoU.S. senators fromMaine. Holmes was noted for his involvement in theTreaty of Ghent.
Holmes was born inKingston in theProvince of Massachusetts Bay, and attendedpublic schools in Kingston. In 1796, he graduated from theCollege of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations (the former name ofBrown University) inProvidence,Rhode Island. Holmes studied law and wasadmitted to the bar in 1799, opening a law practice inAlfred in Massachusetts'District of Maine. At this time, he was also engaged in literary pursuits.
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Holmes, aDemocratic-Republican, was elected to theMassachusetts General Court in 1802, 1803, and 1812. He was elected to theMassachusetts State Senate in 1813 and 1814.
In 1816, Holmes was one of the commissioners under theTreaty of Ghent to divide theislands ofPassamaquoddy Bay between theUnited States andGreat Britain. He was also appointed by the legislature to organize state prisons and revise the Massachusetts criminal code.
Holmes was elected as aUnited States representative from Massachusetts in 1816, serving from March 4, 1817, to his resignation on March 15, 1820. During the 16th Congress, Holmes served aschairman of the Committee on Expenditures in the Department of State. Holmes supportedWilliam H. Crawford, (a "Crawford Republican"), andJohn Quincy Adams. He was opposed toAndrew Jackson (an "Anti-Jackson").
Holmes supported theMissouri Compromise, and was praised byThomas Jefferson for his pamphletMr. Holmes's Letter to the People of Maine. In the letter, Jefferson thanks Holmes for a copy of thispamphlet. This pamphlet defends Holmes's position on supporting theMissouri Compromise—the admission of Maine as afree state with the admission ofMissouri as aslave state, which was an unpopular position in Maine. Jefferson himself rejected the compromise:
But this momentous question, like a fire bell in the night, awakened and filled me with terror. I considered it at once as the knell of the Union. it is hushed indeed for the moment. but this is a reprieve only, not a final sentence. a geographical line, coinciding with a marked principle, moral and political, once conceived and held up to the angry passions of men, will never be obliterated; and every new irritation will mark it deeper and deeper. (...) An abstinence too from this act of power would remove the jealousy excited by the undertaking of Congress, to regulate the condition of the different descriptions of men composing a state. this certainly is the exclusive right of every state, which nothing in the constitution has taken from them and given to the general government. could congress, for example say that the Non-freemen of Connecticut, shall be freemen, or that they shall not emigrate into any other state?
- — Letter by Thomas Jefferson to John Holmes, April 22, 1820[2]
Holmes was later a delegate to the Maine Constitutional Convention. Upon separation from Massachusetts and the admission of Maine as a state, he was elected to theUnited States Senate and served from June 13, 1820, to March 3, 1827. Holmes was again elected to the Senate to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation ofAlbion Parris, serving from January 15, 1829, to March 3, 1833. During the 17th Congress, Holmes served as chairman of theCommittee on Finance (1821–1822); during the 21st Congress, Holmes was chairman of the Committee on Pensions.
After leaving the Senate, Holmes resumed his law practice. From 1836 to 1837, he was a member of the Maine House of Representatives. In 1841, Holmes was appointed as theUnited States Attorney for the District of Maine, a post he held until his death inPortland on July 7, 1843.[3]
Holmes was interred in a private tomb of Cotton Brooks,Eastern Cemetery.
In 1840, Holmes publishedThe Statesman, Or Principles of Legislation and Law, a law book.[4]
| U.S. House of Representatives | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Member of the U.S. House of Representatives fromMassachusetts's 14th congressional district March 4, 1817 – March 15, 1820 | Succeeded by district moved to Maine |
| U.S. Senate | ||
| Preceded by None | U.S. senator (Class 1) from Maine 1820–1827 Served alongside:John Chandler | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | U.S. senator (Class 1) from Maine 1829–1833 Served alongside:John Chandler,Peleg Sprague | Succeeded by |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by Nathan Sanford New York | Chairman of the U.S. Senate Committee on Finance 1821–1822 | Succeeded by Walter Lowrie Pennsylvania |
| Class 1 |  | |
|---|---|---|
| Class 2 | ||
| International | |
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| National | |
| People | |
| Other | |
