Spouse(s) Elizabeth Watson Niles Party Anti-Administration party | Name Nathaniel Niles | |
Born April 3, 1741South Kingstown, Rhode Island ( 1741-04-03 ) Political party Anti-Administration Party Profession law, medicine, inventor, congressman Role Former United States Representative Books The American Hero: A Sapphick Ode | ||
Previous office Representative 1791–1795 | ||
Nathaniel Niles (April 3, 1741 – October 31, 1828) was an American lawyer and politician. He served as a United States Representative from Vermont.
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Early life
Niles was born in South Kingstown, Rhode Island. He attended Harvard College and graduated from Princeton College in 1766. He studied law and medicine, and taught in New York City. Niles also studied theology and preached in Norwich and Torrington, Connecticut. Niles invented a process for making wire, and erected mills in Norwich.
Career
After the Revolution, Niles moved to West Fairlee, Orange County, Vermont, was a member of the Vermont House of Representatives in 1784 and served as Speaker. From 1784 to 1788, he was a justice of the Vermont Supreme Court and a member of the council in 1785 and 1787.
He was a delegate to the Vermont state constitutional convention of 1791, and upon the admission of Vermont as a State into the Union was elected to the Second Congress as an Anti-Administration Party candidate. Niles was reelected to the Third Congress and served from October 17, 1791, to March 3, 1795.
After his terms in Congress, Niles was again a member of the Vermont House of Representatives from 1800 to 1803 and 1812 to 1815. He was a member of the Governor’s Council from 1803 to 1809. He was a presidential elector for the Thomas Jefferson ticket in 1804 and for the James Madison ticket in 1813. He was a delegate to the State constitutional convention of 1814.
Death
Niles died in Fairlee, Vermont on October 31, 1828, and was interred at West Fairlee Center Cemetery.