Elisha Boudinot: Vermont Voters Disgraced Themselves by Reelecting a Congressman Who Was Jailed for Violating the Sedition Act

Autograph Letter Signed, to Governor Isaac Tichenor, February 12, 1799, New Ark, N.J. 1 p., 8 x 12 3/4 in. With integral address leaf (half missing). "I am sorry that your state have so disgraced themselves by sending again as their Representative the in-famous Lyon - but, we are in an age of excentricity! May we weather the storm!"To the chagrin of President John Adams and the Federalists like New Jersey Supreme Court Judge Elisha Boudinot, voters re-elected Congressman Matthew Lyon while he was in jail for violating the Sedition Act of 1798. The Act outlawed the publishing of "any false, scandalous, and malicious writing or writings against the government of the United States, or the President of the United States, with intent to defame.or to bring them into contempt or disrepute." Most historians view the Alien and Sedition Acts as an overreaching criminalization of dissent during a war scare (the Quasi War with France). Complete Transcript New Ark 12th feb 1799Dear Sir Mr Chipman sent me the one hundred dollars you forwarded by him. As I propose to begin raising a house this spring, if it is in my power to raise the means, I shall esteem it as a particular favor if you will remit me the ballance, either by the post or some private opportunity, as whether I get a house or not will in some measure depend on it, and I have been so driven about from place to place that I long for a resting spot I am sorry that your state have so disgraced themselves by sending again as their representative the in-famous Lyon - but, we are in an age of excentricity! May we weather the storm! Will you please to make my best respects acceptable to Mrs Tichenor. I am Dr Sir Your most obd sert Elisha BoudinotGovr Tichenor[address leaf:] [Ti]chenor Esqr / Bennington [Vermont][docket:] Letter 12 Feby 1799 / Mr Boudinots Ret / for $1200 by Jno Chipm[an]Historical BackgroundMatthew Lyon, U.S. Congressman from Vermont, was the first person to be convicted under the Sedition Act. An Irish immigrant, Lyon supported the French Revolution and advocated the creation of radical Democratic Societies that had drawn the ire of President Washington in 1793. In Congress in 1797, during a nasty debate with Connecticut Federalist Roger Griswold, Lyon spat in Griswold's face. Griswold later beat Lyon with a hickory cane.In October 1798, Lyon was tried for publishing and criticizing a letter from Joel Barlow that analyzed the deteriorating relationship between the U.S. and France, and counseled mobilization for war. Lyon was fined $1,000 and imprisoned for four months. To the dismay of Federalists, this made Lyon a hero who voters reelected by a wider margin. Lyon used a new publication, The Scourge of Aristocracy, to resume his attacks on John Adams and the Federalists. Their fear and scorn of democracy caused the Federalists to become increasingly unpopular; the party never recovered after Jefferson's victory in 1800.Elisha Boudinot (1749-1819) was born in Philadelphia. His merchant and silversmith father was a neighbor and friend of Benjamin Franklin. Elisha studied law under his brother Elias Boudinot IV (1740-1821). Elisha established a practice in Newark, New Jersey. He served as Secretary of the New Jersey Council of Safety in 1778. That December, he became the state's Commissary of Prisoners. After the war, he was a land speculator and promoter of manufacturing. From 1798 to 1804, he served as an associate judge of the New Jersey Supreme Court.Isaac Tichenor (1754-1838) was a lawyer and Federalist politician from Bennington, Vermont. He served as his state's agent lobbying the Continental Congress for statehood, which was achieved in 1791. He served as assemblyman, chief justice and governor (1797-1807, 1808-1809), and was elected to the U.S. Senate twice, serving from 1796-1797, and from 1815-1821.Matthew Lyon (1749-1822) began to learn the printing and bookbinding trades in Dublin. In 1764, he emigrated to Connecticut, (See website for full description).…