Thomas CHILTON, Congress, KY (1798-1854)

CHILTON, Thomas, (grandfather of Horace Chilton), a Representative from Kentucky; born near Lancaster, Garrard County, Ky., July 30, 1798; attended the common schools in Paris, Ky.; studied law; was admitted to the bar and commenced practice in Owingsville, Bath County, Ky.; member of the State house of representatives in 1819; moved to Elizabethtown, Ky.; was a candidate for election to the Twentieth Congress to fill the vacancy caused by the death of William S. Young, but owing to an irregularity the votes of one county were eliminated and the credentials were issued to his opponent, John Calhoon; subsequently both candidates renounced all claim to the seat and petitioned the Governor for a new election; was duly elected as a Jacksonian candidate to fill the resulting vacancy; reelected as Jacksonian to the Twenty-first Congress and served from December 22, 1827, to March 3, 1831; unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1830 to the Twenty-second Congress; resumed the practice of law in Elizabethtown; presidential elector for Clay and Sergeant in 1832; elected as an Anti-Jacksonian to the Twenty-third Congress (March 4, 1833-March 3, 1835); declined to be a candidate for renomination in 1834; moved to Talladega, Ala., and resumed the practice of law; was pastor of a church in Hopkinsville, Ky.; president of the Alabama Baptist State Convention in 1841; abandoned the practice of law and became general agent of the Alabama convention; continued his ministerial duties in Montgomery, Greensboro, and Newbern, Ala.; moved to Houston, Tex., in 1851 and served as pastor of a Baptist church; died in Montgomery, Montgomery County, Tex., August 15, 1854; interment in the Old Cemetery.

Bibliography

Hannum, Sharon Elaine. “Thomas Chilton: Lawyer, Politician, Preacher.” Filson Club Historical Quarterly 38 (April 1964): 97-114.

Source: Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1771-Present