John Patten (representative) : biography
Major John Patten (April 26, 1746 – December 26, 1800) was an United States farmer and politician from Dover, in Kent County, Delaware. He was an officer of the Continental Army in the American Revolution, a Continental Congressman, and a member of the Democratic-Republican Party, who served in the Delaware General Assembly and as a United States Representative from Delaware.
Almanac
Elections were held October 1. Members of the General Assembly took office on October 20 or the following weekday. The State Assemblymen were elected for a one-year term. They chose the Continental Congressmen for a one-year term. U.S. Representatives took office March 4 and have a two-year term.
After 1792 elections were moved to the first Tuesday of October and members of the General Assembly took office on the first Tuesday of January. The State Legislative Council was renamed the State Senate and the State House of Assembly was renamed the State House of Representatives.
Public Offices | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Office | Type | Location | Party | Began office | Ended office | notes |
State House | Legislature | Dover | non-partisan | October 20, 1785 | October 20, 1786 | |
Continental Congress | Legislature | New York | non-partisan | November 7, 1785 | November 3, 1786 | |
U.S. Representative | Legislature | Philadelphia | Republican | March 4, 1793 | February 14, 1794 | election successfully contested and seat awarded to Henry Latimer |
U.S. Representative | Legislature | Philadelphia | Republican | March 4, 1795 | March 3, 1797 |
United States Congressional service | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Dates | Congress | Chamber | Majority | President | Committees | Class/District |
1793–1795 | 3rd | U.S. House | Anti-Administration | George Washington | at-large | |
1795–1797 | 4th | U.S. House | Republican | George Washington | at-large |
Election results | |||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Year | Office | Subject | Party | votes | % | Opponent | Party | votes | % | ||
1792 | U.S. Representative | John Patten | Republican | 2,273 | 50% | Henry Latimer | Federalist | 2,243 | 50% | ||
1794 | U.S. Representative | John Patten | Republican | 2,409 | 51% | Henry Latimer | Federalist | 2,285 | 49% | ||
1800 | U.S. Representative | John Patten | Republican | 2,340 | 47% | James A. Bayard, Sr. | Federalist | 2,674 | 53% |
Political career
Patten was elected in 1785 to the State House or House of Assembly, as it was then known, and represented Kent County, during the 1785/86 session. At the same time he was elected to the Continental Congress in 1785 and served there one year. He won a closely contested election to the U.S. House in 1792 and took his seat in the U.S. House on March 4, 1793. However, Henry Latimer, the Federal candidate contested the election, claiming that many ballots were invalid because they were filled out incorrectly. After a lengthy study the Federalist majority in the U.S. House voted on February 14, 1794 to invalidate enough ballots to award the seat to Latimer. A few months later Patten again defeated Latimer, and this time served the whole term, from March 4, 1795 until March 3, 1797. Brought out of political retirement in 1800, Patten was defeated for the U.S. House seat by the incumbent Federalist James A. Bayard.