John Johns Trigg

John Johns Trigg (1748 – May 17, 1804) was an American farmer and politician from Bedford County, Virginia. He fought with the Virginia militia in the Revolutionary War and represented Virginia in the U.S. Congress from 1797 until 1804. He was a slaveholder.[1]

John Johns Trigg
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Virginia's 13th district
In office
March 4, 1803 – May 17, 1804
Preceded byJohn Clopton
Succeeded byChristopher H. Clark
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Virginia's 5th district
In office
March 4, 1797 – March 4, 1803
Preceded byGeorge Hancock
Succeeded byThomas Lewis, Jr.
Member of the Virginia Senate from Franklin, Bedford, Henry, Patrick, Campbell and Pittsylvania Counties
In office
1792–1796
Preceded byRobert Clarke
Succeeded byGeorge Penn
Member of the Virginia House of Delegates from Bedford County
In office
1784–1791
Alongside Robert Clarke, William Leftwich, James Turner, Christopher Clark and David Saunders
Personal details
Born1748 (1748)
Lunenburg County, Virginia Colony, British America
DiedMay 17, 1804(1804-05-17) (aged 55–56)
Bedford County, Virginia, U.S.
Political partyDemocratic-Republican
Other political
affiliations		Anti-Federalist
SpouseDianna Ayers
Children7
Military service
Branch/serviceVirginia State Militia
Years of service1775–1802
RankMajor
Battles/warsAmerican Revolutionary War
*Siege of Yorktown

Life

Family life

John was born on his father's farm near New London in Lunenburg County (now Bedford County) in the Colony of Virginia. He was one of the eight children of William Trigg (1716 – 1773) and Mary (Johns) Trigg (1720 – 1773). His father, William served as a judge in Bedford County (which was formed from part of Lunenburg County in 1754) for many years. His brother, Abram, would serve with him in congress. The Trigg and Johns families both arrived in Virginia from England in the mid-seventeenth century. The Triggs were from Cornwall.

John married Dianna Ayers on December 17, 1770, and they settled on their own plantation "Old Liberty" near what became the town of Liberty (now Bedford, Virginia). The family would grow to include seven children: Stephen, William, Nancy, Daniel, Theodosia, John Johns Jr., and Mary (Polly). Dianna survived John, living until some time after 1807.

Military service

Virginia expanded her militia as the conflict with Great Britain loomed. Trigg raised a new militia company in Bedford County in 1775[2] and led it as its lieutenant. He remained with this unit throughout the war, and saw several local actions. The state's House of Delegates named him as a captain on March 23, 1778, and a major in 1781.[2] He was a major of artillery at the Siege of Yorktown later that year, and was present at the surrender of Lord Cornwallis.

After the war Trigg continued his service in the Virginia militia. He was promoted to lieutenant colonel in 1791, and in 1793 served as a major in the Second Battalion of the Tenth Regiment of the Virginia militia.[2] In 1796 and 1802, he was commander of the 91st Regiment of the Virginia militia.[3]

Political career

Trigg's political service started around 1781 when he became a Justice of the Peace in Bedford County. He was elected to represent the county in the Virginia House of Delegates, and served there from 1784 until 1792.[2] In 1788 he represented Bedford County in the Virginia Convention that ratified the U.S. Constitution.[4] Trigg voted with Patrick Henry and the Antifederalists against ratification.[5] He served in the Virginia Senate from 1792 until 1796.[4]

He was elected in the United States House of Representatives in 1796 as a Jeffersonian Republican. Trigg was re-elected three times, and served in the Congress from 1797. He died at home on May 17, 1804, on his farm near Liberty in Bedford County and was buried in a family plot there.

The Fifth Congress

Trigg arrived on the second day the Fifth Congress of the United States convened, Tuesday, May 16, 1797, and was in time to hear the new President's speech to Congress about his position in regards to France. At this time, Trigg, a Democratic-Republican/Anti-Federalist was in the minority party, as the House was majority Federalist, as was John Adams, the President of the United States. After the President's speech, which caused an uproar among Anti-Federalists as not being sympathetic enough to France and too hawkish,[6] the House debated until May 31 on their response to his address. Their response, with an amendment, basically supported the President's speech. Trigg voted against the response, while his brother Abram voted for it.[7]

Other votes during this session:

  • Yea: June 24 - "An act providing a Naval Armament"[8]
  • Nay: July 3 - Stamp Duties[9]
  • Nay: July 5 - Duty on Salt[10]

When the second session for this Congress returned in November, Trigg arrived three days late on November 16, 1797.

Votes during this session:

  • Nay: May 18 - Establishing a Provisional Army[11]

Electoral history
  • 1797; Trigg was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives unopposed.
  • 1799; Trigg was re-elected with 98.31% of the vote, defeating Federalist George Hancock.
  • 1801; Trigg was re-elected unopposed.

See also

Notes
  1. Weil, Julie Zauzmer; Blanco, Adrian; Dominguez, Leo (January 20, 2022). "More than 1,700 congressmen once enslaved Black people. This is who they were, and how they shaped the nation". Washington Post. Retrieved January 30, 2022.
  2. Biographical Directory of the US Congress. Accessed June 11, 2006
  3. Virginia Militia Records, accessed June 11, 2006.
  4. Swem, Earl G. and Williams, John W., A Register of the General Assembly of Virginia 1776-1918 and of the Constitutional Conventions (Richmond, Va: 1918), 439.
  5. Elliot, Jonathan, The Debates in the Several State Conventions on the Adoption of the Federal Constitution... (Philadelphia: Lippincott, 1891), 3:665.
  6. McCullough, David, John Adams (New York, Simon & Schuster, 2001), 485.
  7. Rivers, John C., Abridgment Of The Debates Of Congress, From 1789 To 1856. From Gales And Seaton's Annals Of Congress; From Their Register Of Debates; And From The Official Reported Debates (New York: D. Appleton & Company, 1857), II, 121-142.
  8. Rivers, Abridgment Of The Debates Of Congress, From 1789 To 1856, II, 155.
  9. Rivers, Abridgment Of The Debates Of Congress, From 1789 To 1856, II, 163.
  10. Rivers, Abridgment Of The Debates Of Congress, From 1789 To 1856, II, 165.
  11. Rivers, Abridgment Of The Debates Of Congress, From 1789 To 1856, II, 275-76.
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