Chittenden Lyon

Chittenden Lyon was born in Fair Haven, Vermont, on February 22, 1787, the son of Matthew Lyon and Beulah (Chittenden) Lyon.{{cite book |editor1-last=Kleber |editor1-first=John E. |date=1992 |title=The Kentucky Encyclopedia |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CcceBgAAQBAJ&pg=PA587 |location=Lexington, KY |publisher=The University Press of Kentucky |page=587 |isbn=978-0-8131-5901-0 |via=Google Books}} Beulah Lyon was the daughter of Governor Thomas Chittenden and the sister of Governor Martin Chittenden. Chittenden Lyon attended the common schools of Fair Haven before the Lyon family moved to Kentucky in 1801. The Lyons settled in Caldwell County, Kentucky, and after completing his education, Lyon became a successful merchant and farmer in Eddyville. He owned slaves.{{Citation|title=Congress slaveowners|date=2022-01-13|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/history/interactive/2022/congress-slaveowners-names-list/|newspaper=The Washington Post|access-date=2022-07-07}} According to descriptions by his contemporaries, Lyon was a "giant," well over six feet tall and nearly 350 pounds.{{cite magazine |last=Linehan |first=John C. |date=1900 |title=Irish Pioneers and Builders of Kentucky |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fXdIAQAAIAAJ&pg=PA82 |magazine=The Journal of the American-Irish Historical Society |volume=III |location=Boston, MA |publisher=American-Irish Historical Society |page=82 |via=Google Books}}

As a Democratic-Republican, Lyon was a member of the Kentucky House of Representatives from 1822 to 1825.{{cite book |last=Collins |first=Lewis |date=1924 |title=Collins' Historical Sketches of Kentucky |volume=II |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RU_WAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA773 |location=Louisville, KY |publisher=John P. Morton Incorporated |page=773 |via=Google Books}} In 1826, Lyon was elected to the United States House of Representatives as a Jacksonian. He was reelected three times, and served from March 4, 1827, to March 3, 1835. He was not a candidate for reelection in 1834, and returned to his business and farming interests. Lyon died in Eddyville, on November 23, 1842, and was buried in Eddyville Cemetery. In 1842, he had been elected to the Kentucky House of Representatives, but he died before the start of the term and never took his seat.{{cite book |last=Kentucky House of Representatives |date=1843 |title=Journal of the House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Kentucky |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DepAAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA75 |location=Frankfort, KY |publisher=A. G. Hodges |page=75 |via=Google Books}}

In 1817, Lyon married Nancy Vaughn (1796–1828).{{cite web |url=https://www.ancestry.com |title= Caldwell County, Kentucky Marriage Index, 1809-1828, Entry for Chittenden Lyon and Nancy Vaughn |website=Ancestry.com |publisher=Ancestry.com LLC |location=Lehi, UT |access-date=February 3, 2021 |url-access=subscription}}{{cite news |date=February 28, 1828 |title=Death Notice, Mrs. Nancy Lyon |url=https://www.genealogybank.com |work=United States Telegraph |location=Washington, DC |page=1 |url-access=subscription |via=GenealogyBank.com}} In 1829, he married Frances (Baker) Jones (1802–1866). With her first husband, Frances Lyon was the mother of Edmund W. Jones (1822–1853).

With his first wife, Lyon was the father of:

• Mary Ann (1818–1873)
• Margaret Aurelia (b. 1820)
• Matthew Skinner (1823–1891)
• Giles James Nelson (b. 1825)
• Chittenden Patton (1827–1863)

With Frances Baker, Lyon was the father of:

• Helen Minerva (1830–1880)
• Loraine Elvira (1831–1840)
• Thompson Archer (1833–1899)

Margaret Lyon was the first wife of U.S. Senator Willis Benson Machen.

Lyon County, Kentucky, which was separated from Caldwell County, Kentucky in 1854, was named in his honor.{{cite book | url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_luoxAQAAMAAJ | title=The Register of the Kentucky State Historical Society, Volume 1 | publisher=Kentucky State Historical Society | year=1903 | pages=[https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_luoxAQAAMAAJ/page/n36 36]}}{{cite book|last=Collins|first=Lewis|title=History of Kentucky|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=F5FQAQAAIAAJ&pg=PA489|year=1877|page=489|publisher=Library Reprints, Incorporated |isbn=9780722249208}}

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• [https://web.archive.org/web/20070509230958/http://home.hiwaay.net/~woliver/C_Lyon_Letters.html Chittenden Lyon Letters]

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{{S-bef|before=John F. Henry}}

{{S-ttl|title=Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Kentucky's 12th congressional district|years=1827–1833 (obsolete district)}}

{{S-aft|after=Thomas A. Marshall}}

{{S-bef|before=Henry Daniel}}

{{S-ttl|title=Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Kentucky's 1st congressional district|years=1833–1835}}

{{S-aft|after=Linn Boyd}}

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{{USCongRep-start|congresses= 20th–23rd United States Congress |state=Kentucky}}

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Lyon, Chittendon}}

Category:1787 births

Category:1842 deaths

Category:People from Fair Haven, Vermont

Category:Chittenden family

Category:American people of Irish descent

Category:Jacksonian members of the United States House of Representatives from Kentucky

Category:Members of the Kentucky House of Representatives

Category:Kentucky state senators

Category:People from Lyon County, Kentucky

Category:Elected officials who died without taking their seats

Category:Members of the United States House of Representatives who owned slaves

Category:19th-century members of the United States House of Representatives

Category:19th-century members of the Kentucky General Assembly