Joseph Bradley Varnum

Joseph Bradley Varnum (January 29, 1751-September 21, 1821, a Representative and a Senator from Massachusetts; born in Dracut, Middlesex County, MA; largely self-taught; farmer; served in the Revolutionary Army; member, State house of representatives 1780-1785; member, State senate 1786-1795; delegate to the State convention that ratified the Federal Constitution in 1788; justice of the court of common pleas; chief justice of the court of general sessions; elected to the Fourth and to the eight succeeding Congresses and served from March 4, 1795, to June 29, 1811, when he resigned, having been elected Senator; Speaker of the House during the Tenth and Eleventh Congresses; chairman, Committee on Elections (Fifth Congress); elected as a Republican to the United States Senate in 1811 to fill the vacancy in the term commencing March 4, 1811, and served from June 29, 1811, to March 3, 1817; served as President pro tempore of the Senate during the Thirteenth Congress; chairman, Committee on Militia (Fourteenth Congress); delegate to the State constitutional convention in 1820; member, State senate 1817-1821; died in Dracut, Mass., September 21, 1821; interment in Varnum Cemetery.