Martin W. Bates - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Martin Waltham Bates was a lawyer and politician from Dover, in Kent County, Delaware. He was a member of the Federalist Party, and then the Democratic Party, who served in the Delaware General Assembly and as U.S. Senator from Delaware.

Early life and family

Bates was born in Salisbury, Connecticut. He married Mary Hillyard, the daughter of Charles Hillyard. They lived in Dover, at "Woodburn," presently the Delaware Governor's mansion, and were members of the Presbyterian Church. After moving to Delaware, Bates taught school, studied medicine and the law. He was admitted to the Bar in 1822, and practiced in Dover the remainder of his life.

Political career

Bates served in the State House in the 1826 session and was a member of the Delaware Constitutional Convention of 1852. He became U.S. Senator in 1857 when he was elected by the General Assembly to fill the vacancy caused by the death of U.S. Senator John M. Clayton

John M. Clayton

John Middleton Clayton was an American lawyer and politician from Delaware. He was a member of the Whig Party who served in the Delaware General Assembly, and as U.S. Senator from Delaware and U.S. Secretary of State....

, which had been briefly filled by the appointment of Joseph P. Comegys. He served only the remainder of the term, from January 14, 1857 to March 3, 1859, as he was defeated for reelection in 1858 by Willard Saulsbury, Sr.

Death and legacy

Bates died at Dover and is buried there in the Old Presbyterian Cemetery, on the grounds of the Delaware State Museum.

Almanac

Elections were held the first Tuesday of October. Members of the General Assembly took office on the first Tuesday of January. State Representatives had a term of one year. The General Assembly chose the U.S. Senators, who took office March 4th for a six year term. They also chose the delegates to the Constitutional Convention of 1852.

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|State Representative

Delaware House of Representatives

The Delaware House of Representatives is the lower house of the Delaware General Assembly; the state legislature of the U.S. State of Delaware. It is composed of 41 Representatives from an equal amount of constituencies, each of whom is elected to a two year term. The Delaware General Assembly...

|Legislature

Legislature

A legislature is a kind of deliberative assembly with the power to pass, amend, and repeal laws. The law created by a legislature is called legislation or statutory law. In addition to enacting laws, legislatures usually have exclusive authority to raise or lower taxes and adopt the budget and...

|Dover

Dover, Delaware

The city of Dover is the capital and second largest city in the U.S. state of Delaware. It is also the county seat of Kent County, and the principal city of the Dover, Delaware Metropolitan Statistical Area, which encompasses all of Kent County. It is located on the St. Jones River in the Delaware...

Delaware House of Representatives

|Legislature

Legislature

|Dover

Dover, Delaware

Delaware House of Representatives

|Legislature

Legislature

|Dover

Dover, Delaware

Delegate

A delegate is a person who speaks or acts on behalf of an organization at a meeting or conference between organizations of the same level A delegate is a person who speaks or acts on behalf of an organization (e.g., a government, a charity, an NGO, or a trade union) at a meeting or conference...

|Convention

Constitutional convention (political meeting)

A constitutional convention is now a gathering for the purpose of writing a new constitution or revising an existing constitution. A general constitutional convention is called to create the first constitution of a political unit or to entirely replace an existing constitution...

|Dover

Dover, Delaware

|1852
|1852
|State Constitution

Constitutional convention (political meeting)

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|U.S. Senator

United States Senate

The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...

|Legislature

Legislature

|Washington

Washington, D.C.

Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....

|January 14, 1857
|March 3, 1859
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{|class=wikitable style="width: 94%" style="text-align: center;" align="center"
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!colspan=7 style="background: #ccccff;" |Delaware General Assembly service
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|1819
|62nd

Delaware General Assembly

The Delaware General Assembly is the legislature of the U.S. state of Delaware. It is a bicameral legislature composed of the Delaware Senate with 21 Senators and the Delaware House of Representatives with 41 Representatives...

|State House

Delaware House of Representatives

|Federalist

Federalist Party (United States)

The Federalist Party was the first American political party, from the early 1790s to 1816, the era of the First Party System, with remnants lasting into the 1820s. The Federalists controlled the federal government until 1801...

|Jacob Stout

Jacob Stout

Jacob Stout was an American manufacturer and politician from Little Creek Hundred, in Kent County, Delaware. He was a member of the Federalist Party, who served in the Delaware General Assembly and as Governor of Delaware....

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|Kent at-large

Kent County, Delaware

Kent County is a county located in the central part of the U.S. state of Delaware. It is coextensive with the Dover, Delaware, Metropolitan Statistical Area. As of 2010 the population was 162,310, a 28.1% increase over the previous decade. The county seat is Dover, the state capital...

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|1826
|65th

Delaware General Assembly

|State House

Delaware House of Representatives

|Federalist

Federalist Party (United States)

|Charles Polk
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|Kent at-large

Kent County, Delaware

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|1827
|65th

Delaware General Assembly

|State House

Delaware House of Representatives

|Federalist

Federalist Party (United States)

|Charles Polk
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|Kent at-large

Kent County, Delaware

{|class=wikitable style="width: 94%" style="text-align: center;" align="center"
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|1856-1857
|34th

34th United States Congress

The Thirty-fourth United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, consisting of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C. from March 4, 1855 to March 4, 1857, during the last two years...

|U.S. Senate

United States Senate

|Democratic

Democratic Party (United States)

The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...

|Franklin Pierce

Franklin Pierce

Franklin Pierce was the 14th President of the United States and is the only President from New Hampshire. Pierce was a Democrat and a "doughface" who served in the U.S. House of Representatives and the Senate. Pierce took part in the Mexican-American War and became a brigadier general in the Army...

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|class 2

Classes of United States Senators

The three classes of United States Senators are currently made up of 33 or 34 Senate seats. The purpose of the classes is to determine which Senate seats will be up for election in a given year. The three groups are staggered so that one of them is up for election every two years.A senator's...

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|1857-1859
|35th

35th United States Congress

The 35th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, consisting of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C. from March 4, 1857 to March 3, 1859, during the first two years of James...

|U.S. Senate

United States Senate

|Democratic

Democratic Party (United States)

|James Buchanan

James Buchanan

James Buchanan, Jr. was the 15th President of the United States . He is the only president from Pennsylvania, the only president who remained a lifelong bachelor and the last to be born in the 18th century....

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|class 2

Classes of United States Senators

Images

Biographical Dictionary of the United States Congress; portrait courtesy of the Library of Congress.

External links

Places with more information

Delaware Historical Society
Delaware Historical Society
The Delaware Historical Society began in 1864 as an effort to preserve documents from the Civil War. Since then, it has expanded into a state-wide historical institution with several venues and a major museum in Wilmington and the historic Read House & Gardens in New Castle.The society...

; website; 505 Market St, Wilmington, Delaware; (302) 655-7161
University of Delaware
University of Delaware
The university is organized into seven colleges:* College of Agriculture and Natural Resources* College of Arts and Sciences* Alfred Lerner College of Business and Economics* College of Earth, Ocean and Environment* College of Education and Human Development...

; Library website; 181 South College Ave, Newark, Delaware; (302) 831-2965

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