BURGES, Tristam, (great–granduncle of Theodore Francis Green), a Representative from Rhode Island; born in Rochester, Mass., February 26, 1770; attended the common schools; studied medicine at a school in Wrentham; upon the death of his father he abandoned the study of medicine; was graduated from Rhode Island College (now Brown University), Providence, R.I., in 1796; studied law; was admitted to the bar in 1799 and commenced practice in Providence, R.I.; member of the Rhode Island state house of representatives in 1811 and was prominent as a member of the Federal Party; appointed chief justice of the supreme court of Rhode Island in May 1815; unsuccessful candidate for election to the same in 1816; professor of oratory in Brown University; elected as an Adams candidate to the Nineteenth and to the succeeding Congress; reelected as an Anti-Jacksonian candidate to the Twenty-first and to the two succeeding Congresses (March 4, 1825-March 3, 1835); chairman, Committee on Revolutionary Pensions (Nineteenth Congress), Committee on Military Pensions (Nineteenth and Twentieth Congresses), Committee on Revolutionary Claims (Twenty-first Congress), Committee on Invalid Pensions (Twenty-second and Twenty-third Congresses); unsuccessful candidate for reelection; unsuccessful Whig candidate for Governor in 1836; resumed the practice of law; died on his estate, "Watchemoket Farm" (now a part of East Providence, R.I.), October 13, 1853; interment in North Burial Ground, Providence, R.I.
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[ Top ]Bowen, Henry L. Memoir of Tristam Burges: With selections from his speeches and occasional writings. Providence: Marshall, Brown; Philadelphia: W. Marshall, 1835.
Burges, Tristam. The address of a farmer to the honest men of all parties in the state of Rhode-Island. [Providence?: N.p., 1833].
------. Address to the landholders and farmers of Newport County. 2d ed. Providence: Printed at the office of the Daily Advertiser, 1829.
------. Address to the Rhode-Island society for the encouragement of domestick industry. Providence: Miller and Hutchens, printers, 1822.
------. Argument laid before the Honourable the Board of Commissioners under the treaty between the United States and His Catholic Majesty concluded at Washington on the 22d day of February, A.D. 1819 in the case of the ship Tyre of Providence. By the claimants. Washington: Davis & Force, 1824.
------. Battle of Lake Erie, with notices of Commodore Elliot's conduct in that engagement. Providence: Brown & Cady, 1839.
------. A brief of the remarks made before the Committee on rail-ways and canals. [Boston?: N.p., 1837?]
------. The cause of man: an oration, together with valedictory addresses, pronounced at the commencement of Rhode Island College, September 7, A.D. 1796. Printed at Providence: By Carter and Wilkinson, 1796.
------. An oration, pronounced ... on Wednesday, the 7th of June ... Providence: N.p., 1797.
------. Parts of the morning hour: a speech delivered by Mr. Burges, of Rhode Island, in the House of Representatives, March 18, 20, & 26, 1834, when the Secretary of the Treasury's reasons for removing the public money were under consideration, in the resolution of Mr. Mardis, of Alabama, and the amendment offered by him. Washington: Printed by Gales and Seaton, 1834.
------. Solitude and society contrasted: An oration pronounced at the annual meeting of the Philological Society in Middleborough, on Wednesday, the 7th of June, 1797. Providence, [R.I.]: Printed by Carter and Wilkinson, 1797.
------. Speech of Mr. Burges, of R. I., on the judiciary bill. Delivered in the House of Representatives of the United States, Jan 23, 1826. Washington: Printed by Gales & Seaton, 1826.
------. Speech of Mr. Burges, of Rhode Island, delivered in the House of Representatives of the United States, April 21st, A. D. 1828, on the tariff. Washington: Way and Gideon, printers, 1828.
------. Speech of Mr. Burges, of Rhode Island, in Committee of the Whole on the State of the Union, March 29, 1828, on Mr. Mallary's motion to amend the bill on wool and woollens. 2nd ed. [Washington?: N.p.], 1828.
------. Speech of Mr. Burges of Rhode Island in the case of Samuel Houston, charged with a violation of the rights and powers of the House by assaulting the Hon. William Stanberry, a member from Ohio, for words spoken in debate: Delivered in the House of Representatives, May 11, 1832. Washington: Printed by Gales and Seaton, 1832.
------. Speech of Mr. Burges, of Rhode Island, on the amendatory bills for relief of the survivors of the revolutionary army, in Committee of the Whole. Washington: Printed by Gales & Seaton, 1827.
------. Speech of Mr. Burges, of Rhode Island, on the bill to reduce and otherwise alter the duties on imports. Delivered in Committee of the Whole, House of Representatives, Jan. 28 and 29, 1833. Washington: Printed by Gales & Seaton, 1833.
------. Speech of Mr. Burges, of Rhode Island, on the motion to strike from the general appropriation bill the salary appropriated for the minister to Russia. Washington: Printed by Gales & Seaton, 1831.
------. Speech of the Hon. Tristam Burges, of Rhode Island, at the public dinner given him by the citizens of New York, March 30, 1831. [New York: N.p., 1831].
------. The valley of Alvardo; or, The spy of Tennessee; a legend of Mexico. Providence: Printed by M. B. Young, 1847.
Cooper, James Fenimore. The battle of Lake Erie, or, Answers to Messrs. Burges, Duer, and Mackenzie. Cooperstown: H. & E. Phinney, 1843.
