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Theodore Sedgwick
5th Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives
In office December 2, 1799 – March 4, 1801
Preceded by	Jonathan Dayton
Succeeded by	Nathaniel Macon
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Massachusetts's 1st, 2nd & 4th district
In office March 4, 1789 – March 4, 1793 (4th) March 4, 1793 – March 4, 1795 (2nd) March 4, 1795 – June 1796 (1st) March 4, 1799 – March 4, 1801 (1st)
Preceded by	Benjamin Goodhue (1793) Fisher Ames, Samuel Dexter, Benjamin Goodhue]], Samuel Holten (General Ticket) (1795) Thomson J. Skinner (1799)
Succeeded by	Henry Dearborn, George Thatcher, Peleg Wadsworth (General ticket) (Maine District) (1793) William Lyman Thomson J. Skinner John Bacon (Massachusetts)
Born	May 9, 1746 West Hartford, Connecticut
Died	January 24, 1813 Boston, Massachusetts
Political party	Federalist

Theodore Sedgwick (May 9, 1746-January 24, 1813), a Delegate, a Representative, and a Senator from Massachusetts and the fifth Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, was born in West Hartford, Connecticut.

Sedgwick attended Yale College, where he studied theology and law. He did not graduate, but went on to study law under Mark Hopkins of Great Barrington, the grandfather of Mark Hopkins, the distinguished later president of Williams College. He was admitted to the bar in 1766 and commenced practice in Great Barrington, Massachusetts; moved to Sheffield, Massachusetts; during the American Revolution served in the expedition against Canada in 1776.

Sedgwick married, April 17, 1774 (his second), Pamela Dwight, born June 26, 1753, died September 20, 1807, daughter of Brigadier General Joseph Dwight of Great Barrington and his second wife, Abigail Williams (Sargent) Dwight. Pamela was the grand-daughter of Colonel Ephraim Williams, the founder of Williams College. They had ten children of whom three died within a year of birth.^[1]

A Federalist, Sedgwick's political career began in 1780 and lasted until he became a judge of the supreme court of Massachusetts in 1802, a position he held until his death in Boston, Massachusetts in 1813. He was buried in Stockbridge, Massachusetts.

As lawyers he and Tapping Reeve pled the case of Brom and Bett vs. Ashley for Mum Bett, a black slave who had fled from her master on account of cruel treatment. The jury ruled that she was free, thus making this case the earliest application of the declaration of the Massachusetts Constitution of 1780 that "all men are born free and equal." This decision was later upheld by the state Supreme Court after Sedgwick became a justice thereof. Mum Bett, who changed her name to Elizabeth Freeman, chose to work for the Sedgwick household for much of the rest of her life and is buried in the family plot. Her grave is marked by a monument beside the grave of his daughter Catharine Maria Sedgwick, the first noted female writer in the United States.^[2]

1. ^ New Haven Colony Historical Society
2. ^ New Haven Colony Historical Society

• Biography at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress

Speakers of the United States House of Representatives

Muhlenberg • Trumbull • Muhlenberg • Dayton • Sedgwick • Macon • Varnum • Clay • Cheves • Clay • Taylor • Barbour • Clay • Taylor • Stevenson • Bell • Polk • Hunter • White • Jones • Davis • Winthrop • Cobb • Boyd • Banks • Orr • Pennington • Grow • Colfax • Pomeroy • Blaine • Kerr • Randall • Keifer • Carlisle • Reed • Crisp • Reed • Henderson • Cannon • Clark • Gillett • Longworth • Garner • Rainey • Byrns • Bankhead • Rayburn • Martin • Rayburn • Martin • Rayburn • McCormack • Albert • O'Neill • Wright • Foley • Gingrich • Hastert • Pelosi

Presidents pro tempore of the United States Senate

Langdon • Lee • Langdon • Izard • H Tazewell • Livermore • Bingham • Bradford • Read • Sedgwick • Laurance • Ross • Livermore • Tracy • Howard • Hillhouse • Baldwin • Bradley • Brown • Franklin • Anderson • Smith • Bradley • Milledge • Gregg • Gaillard • Pope • Crawford • Varnum • Gaillard • Barbour • Gaillard • Macon • Smith • L Tazewell • White • Poindexter • Tyler • W R King • Southard • Mangum • Sevier • Atchison • W R King • Atchison • Cass • Bright • Stuart • Bright • Mason • Rusk • Fitzpatrick • Bright • Fitzpatrick • Foot • Clark • Foster • Wade • Anthony • Carpenter • Anthony • Ferry • Thurman • Bayard • Davis • Edmunds • Sherman • Ingalls • Manderson • Ransom • Harris • Frye • (Special: Bacon • Curtis • Gallinger • Brandegee • Lodge) • Clarke • Saulsbury • Cummins • Moses • Pittman • W H King • Harrison • Glass • McKellar • Vandenberg • McKellar • Bridges • George • Hayden • Russell • Ellender • Eastland • Magnuson • Young • Magnuson • Thurmond • Stennis • Byrd • Thurmond • Byrd • Thurmond • Byrd • Stevens • Byrd Emeritus: Thurmond • Byrd • Stevens