Leonard Jarvis

Who was Leonard Jarvis?

Leonard Jarvis, Jr. was an American businessman and politician who served as a member of the United States House of Representatives from Maine. Jarvis was the son of Leonard Jarvis, Sr. and Susan Jarvis, he was born in Boston, Massachusetts on October 19, 1781. He attended the common schools, graduated from Harvard in 1800. After his graduation from Harvard, Jarvis moved to France, he lived in France for the next sixteen years. In 1816 he moved to Surry, Maine. On August 15, 1816 he married Mary Hubbard Greene in Boston, Massachusetts, she died in November 1841. In about 1844 he married Anna Howard Spooner,.

He was the sheriff of Hancock County, Maine from 1821 to 1829. He was a collector of customs for the Penobscot district from 1829 to 1831.

He was elected as a Jacksonian to the Twenty-first Congress and the three succeeding Congresses. He served from March 4, 1829 to March 3, 1837. During the Twenty-fourth Congress, he was the chairman of the United States House Committee on Naval Affairs. In 1835 Jarvis challenged Francis O. J. Smith to a duel, Smith declined.