Jonh Largon

JOHN LANGDON

1741-1819

John Langdon was a politican from Portsmouth, New Hampshire, and one of the first two United States senators from that state. Langdon was an early supporter of the Revolutionary War and served in the Continental Congress. After being in Congress for 12 years, including serving as the first president pro tempore of the Senate, Langdon became governor of New Hampshire. He turned down a nomination for vice presidential candidate in 1812, and later retired until his death in 1819.

New Hampshire was short of cash so John Langdon funded the expenses for himself and Nicholas Gilman; they arrived at the Convention on July 23, after the main debate over the Connecticut Compromise was completed and yet just in time for a one-week recess. In 1775 John Langdon was elected as one of New Hampshire's representatives to the Second Continental Congress. At that time Portsmouth was suffering from the lack of trade and the people needed work, so when Congress voted to build 13 frigates, John Langdon managed to have one assigned to Portsmouth.

After being one of the early supporters of the Revolutionary War he later worked for Continental Congress. He stayed with the Congress for twelve years, and he became the Senate's first president pro tempore. He then became an agent for the Continental forces to fight off the British, and he supervised the construction of numerous battleships including the America, the Raleigh, and the Ranger which had John Paul Jones as its captain.

After he retired from the second continental congress he also became a member of New Hampshire Legislature during 1801 to 1805, in which his last two terms he served as a speaker. He was governor from 1805 to 1811 and in 1812 John Langdon turned down the nomination to be a vice presidential candidate and later decided to retire. He died in Portsmouth that had been his home almost all his life. The town of Langdon, New Hampshire; Langdon Street in Madison, Wisconsin; were some of the places so named in honor of the man that became an important part of a rich history.

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