Matthew Lyon
| Matthew Lyon | |
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Black and white close up of portrait on display at Vermont State House.
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| Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Kentucky's 1st district |
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In office March 4, 1803 – March 3, 1811 |
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| Preceded by | Thomas T. Davis |
| Succeeded by | Anthony New |
| Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Vermont's 1st district |
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In office March 4, 1797 – March 3, 1801 |
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| Preceded by | Israel Smith |
| Succeeded by | Israel Smith |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
July 14, 1749 County Wicklow, Ireland |
| Died | August 1, 1822 (aged 73) Spadra Bluff, Arkansas, U.S. |
| Political party | Democratic-Republican |
| Spouse(s) | Mary Horsford and Beulah M. Chittenden |
| Children | Ann Lyon James Lyon Pamela Lyon Lorraine Lyon Minerva Lyon Chittenden Lyon Aurelia Lyon Matthew Lyon Jr. Noah Lyon (died in infancy) Beulah Lyon Giles Lyon Elizabeth Lyon |
| Profession | farmer, printer, congressman |
Matthew Lyon (July 14, 1749 – August 1, 1822) was an Irish-born American printer, farmer, soldier and politician, who served as a United States Representative from both Vermont and Kentucky.
Lyon represented Vermont in Congress from 1797 to 1801, and represented Kentucky from 1803 to 1811. His tenure in Congress was tumultuous. He brawled with one Congressman, and was jailed on charges of violating the Sedition Act, winning re-election to Congress from inside his jail cell.
Lyon's trial, conviction, and incarceration boosted his status among the fledgling Democratic-Republican Party as a free-speech martyr.
Lyon attended school in Dublin, after having been born in nearby County Wicklow, Ireland. He began to learn the printer's trade in 1763, but emigrated to Connecticut in 1764, where he worked on a farm in Woodbury and continued his education. Lyon landed as a redemptioner.
In 1774, Lyon moved to Wallingford, Vermont (then known as the New Hampshire Grants), and organized a company of militia. He was an adjutant in Colonel Seth Warner's regiment in Canada in 1775, and in July 1776 was commissioned a second lieutenant in the Green Mountain Boys' regiment. He moved to Arlington, Vermont, in 1777.
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