Tristram Shaw

Tristram Shaw ( * May 23, 1786 in Hampton, Rockingham County, New Hampshire, † March 14, 1843 in Exeter, New Hampshire ) was an American politician. Between 1839 and 1843 he represented the State of New Hampshire in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Career

Tristram Shaw grew up in his hometown of Hampton, where he attended the public schools. Later he was employed as a farmer and merchant. Shaw was one of the founders of the Rockingham Farmers Mutual Fire Insurance Company. In the following years, he held several local offices in Hampton and later in Exeter. At Hampton he was sitting in the council. Politically, Shaw was a member of the Democratic Party. He was a member of the House of Representatives from New Hampshire and was from 1834 to 1835 the state Senate. In 1836 he was one of the democratic electors who formally chose Martin Van Buren as U.S. president.

In the congressional elections of 1838, which were held all across the state, Shaw was for the fifth parliamentary seat from New Hampshire in the U.S. House of Representatives in Washington DC selected. There he entered on March 4, 1839, the successor of Joseph Weeks. After a re-election in 1840 he was able to complete up to March 3, 1843 two terms in Congress, which were determined by the discussions about a possible connection of the Republic of Texas to the United States. Since 1841, it also came in Congress to violent conflicts over the policies of President John Tyler, the more and more distant from his Whig Party and the Democrats approached.

Towards the end of his time in Congress worsened Shaw's health, which was posted for years, dramatically. He died on March 14, 1843 in Exeter, exactly ten days after the expiration of his last term. Tristram Shaw was the last owner of the fifth Representatives seat from New Hampshire. A census of the state of New Hampshire were conceded only four seats in Congress from 1843.