John Mattocks

John Mattocks (March 4, 1777 – August 14, 1847) was an American Whig politician, a brigadier general in the War of 1812, U.S. Congressman, and sixteenth Governor of Vermont.

Biography
Mattocks was born in Hartford, Connecticut on March 4, 1777. He moved with his parents to Tinmouth, Vermont in 1778. His father, Samuel Mattocks, was a veteran of the American Revolution and served as Vermont State Treasurer from 1784 to 1800. John Mattocks pursued an academic course, studied law in Middlebury, Vermont and Fairfield, Connecticut, and was admitted to the bar in 1797. He married Esther Newell and they had five children; three sons, George, John, and William; and two daughters named Esther who died in their first years.

Career
Mattocks commenced practice in Danville; moved to Peacham, Caledonia County, Vermont. He was a member of the Vermont State house of representatives in 1807, 1815, 1816, 1823, and 1824. During the War of 1812, he served as a brigadier general of militia.

Mattocks was elected to the Seventeenth Congress (March 4, 1821 – March 3, 1823); elected to the Nineteenth Congress (March 4, 1825 – March 3, 1827); and served as chairman of the U.S. House Committee on Expenditures in the Department of War (Nineteenth Congress). He was a judge of the Vermont Supreme Court in 1833 and 1834; declined to be a candidate for renomination; and became a delegate to the State constitutional convention in 1836. He was elected as a Whig to the Twenty-seventh Congress (March 4, 1841 – March 3, 1843).

Neither Mattocks nor his Democratic opponent Daniel Kellogg received a majority of the popular vote for Governor in 1843. In accordance with the Vermont Constitution, the Vermont General Assembly made the selection, and chose Mattocks. During his tenure, he took a strong stand against slavery. During his term, his son, George, committed suicide and, grief-stricken, Mattocks declined to run for another term. He became active in his local Congregational Church.

Death and legacy
Mattocks died in Peacham, Vermont, August 14, 1847; is interred at Peacham Village Cemetery, Caledonia County, Vermont. His house, built in 1805 and purchased in 1807, stands in the center of town and is a local landmark. His son, John was a minister, and his son, William became a lawyer, and Caledonia County's state's attorney.