# Benjamin Swift
> Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Benjamin_Swift
> Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Benjamin_Swift.md
> Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benjamin_Swift
> Source revision: 1351576977
> License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/)
{{Short description|American politician (1781–1847)}}
{{for|a Scottish writer|William Romaine Paterson}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=November 2020}}
{{Infobox officeholder
|name = Benjamin Swift
|image = BSwift.jpg
|office = [United States Senator](/source/List_of_United_States_senators_from_Vermont)
from [Vermont](/source/Vermont)
|jr/sr1 =
|state1 = [Vermont](/source/Vermont)
|term_start1 = March 4, 1833
|term_end1 = March 3, 1839
|preceded1 = [Horatio Seymour](/source/Horatio_Seymour_(Vermont_politician))
|succeeded1 = [Samuel S. Phelps](/source/Samuel_S._Phelps)
|office2 = Member of the [United States House of Representatives](/source/United_States_House_of_Representatives) from [Vermont's 4th congressional district](/source/Vermont's_4th_congressional_district)
|term_start2 = March 4, 1827
|term_end2 = March 3, 1831
|predecessor2 = [Ezra Meech](/source/Ezra_Meech)
|successor2 = [Heman Allen (of Milton)](/source/Heman_Allen_(of_Milton))
|office3 = Member of the [Vermont House of Representatives](/source/Vermont_House_of_Representatives) from [St. Albans](/source/St._Albans_(town)%2C_Vermont)
|term_start3 = 1825
|term_end3 = 1827
|predecessor3 = [Stephen Royce](/source/Stephen_Royce)
|successor3 = [John Smith](/source/John_Smith_(Vermont_politician))
|birth_date = {{birth date|1781|4|3}}
|birth_place = [Amenia, New York](/source/Amenia%2C_New_York), U.S.
|death_date = {{death date and age|1847|11|11|1781|4|3}}
|death_place = [St. Albans, Vermont](/source/St._Albans_(town)%2C_Vermont), U.S.
|resting_place = [Greenwood Cemetery](/source/Greenwood_Cemetery_(St._Albans%2C_Vermont))
[St. Albans, Vermont](/source/St._Albans_(town)%2C_Vermont)
|parents = Job Swift
Mary Ann (Sedgwick) Swift
|spouse = Rebecca Brown Swift
|children = 9
|alma_mater = [Litchfield Law School](/source/Litchfield_Law_School)
|profession = [Politician](/source/Politician)
[Lawyer](/source/Lawyer)
[Banker](/source/Banker)
[Farmer](/source/Farmer)
|party = [Democratic-Republican](/source/Democratic-Republican_Party)
[National Republican](/source/National_Republican_Party_(United_States))
[Whig](/source/Whig_Party_(United_States))
}}
'''Benjamin Swift''' (April 9, 1780 – November 11, 1847) was an American [lawyer](/source/lawyer), [banker](/source/banker) and [politician](/source/politician) from [Vermont](/source/Vermont). He served as a [United States representative](/source/United_States_House_of_Representatives) and [United States senator](/source/United_States_Senate), and helped found the [Whig Party](/source/Whig_Party_(United_States)).
==Early life==
Swift was born in [Amenia, New York](/source/Amenia%2C_New_York), the son of Job Swift and Mary Ann (Sedgwick) Swift.[{{cite web|url= http://records.ancestry.com/benjamin_swift_records.ashx?pid=16621377|title=Benjamin Swift|publisher = Ancestry.com.|accessdate= May 6, 2014}}] In 1786, at the age of five, he moved with his father to [Bennington](/source/Bennington%2C_Vermont) in the [Vermont Republic](/source/Vermont_Republic). He attended the common schools in Bennington before attending [Litchfield Law School](/source/Litchfield_Law_School) in 1801.[{{cite web|url= http://www.litchfieldhistoricalsociety.org/ledger/students/2519|title=Benjamin Swift|publisher =Litchfield Historical Society.|accessdate= May 6, 2014}}] He studied law and was [admitted to the bar](/source/admitted_to_the_bar) in 1806. He began the [practice of law](/source/practice_of_law) in Bennigton before moving to [Manchester](/source/Manchester_(town)%2C_Vermont) to practice law. In 1809 he moved to [St. Albans](/source/St._Albans_(town)%2C_Vermont) to practice law. He also engaged in banking and farming in the area.
==Political career==
He held various political positions in Vermont, and was elected to the [Vermont State House](/source/Vermont_State_House) in 1825.[{{cite book|last=Middlebury College|title=Catalogue of Officers and Students of Middlebury College in Middlebury, Vermont|date=1917|publisher=The College|page=xiv|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TapBAAAAYAAJ&pg=PR13 }}] He served in the State House until 1827. He was then elected to serve Vermont as a [National Republican Party](/source/National_Republican_Party) candidate in the United States House of Representatives. He served in the [Twentieth](/source/20th_United_States_Congress) and the [Twenty-first Congresses](/source/21st_United_States_Congress) from March 4, 1827, to March 3, 1831.[{{cite book|last=Herringshaw|first=Thomas William|title=Herringshaw's Encyclopedia of American Biography of the Nineteenth Century|date=1904|publisher=American Publishers' Association|page=910|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Xxg7AQAAMAAJ&pg=PA910 }}] While in Congress, he was on the executive committee of the Congressional Temperance Society.[{{cite book|last=American Temperance Union|title=Journal of the American Temperance Union, Volumes 1-4|date=1837|publisher=The Union|page=36|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Xc9OAAAAYAAJ&pg=RA1-PA36 }}] He declined renomination.
In 1833 he was elected as an [Anti-Jacksonian](/source/Anti-Jacksonian_Party_(United_States)) candidate to the United States Senate, serving from March 4, 1833, to March 3, 1839.[{{cite book|last=U.S. Government Printing Office|title=United States Congressional Serial Set|date=1913|publisher=U.S. Government Printing Office|page=[https://archive.org/details/unitedstatescon24conggoog/page/n1041 1039]|url=https://archive.org/details/unitedstatescon24conggoog }}] While in the Senate, Swift was a strong opponent of [President](/source/President_of_the_United_States) [Andrew Jackson](/source/Andrew_Jackson) and helped found the Whig Party.[{{cite web|url= http://voca58.org/cemeteries/fpcat.php?input=Congressman|title=Prominent People Buried in Vermont |publisher = Vermont Old Cemetery Association.|accessdate= May 6, 2014}}]
==Family life==
Swift married Rebecca Brown on October 26, 1809.