Matthew Lyon

Who was Matthew Lyon?

Matthew Lyon was a printer, farmer, soldier and politician, serving as a United States Representative from both Vermont and Kentucky.

Lyon attended school in Dublin, having been born in nearby County Wicklow, Ireland. He began to learn the printer's trade in 1763, but emigrated to Connecticut in 1764. Lyon landed as a redemptioner and worked on a farm in Woodbury, where he continued his education.

In 1774, Lyon moved to Wallingford, Vermont, and organized a company of militia. He served as adjutant in Colonel Seth Warner's regiment in Canada in 1775, and was then commissioned a Second Lieutenant in the regiment known as the Green Mountain Boys in July 1776. He moved to Arlington, Vermont, in 1777.

Lyon represented Vermont in Congress from 1797 to 1801, and represented Kentucky from 1803 to 1811. His tenure in Congress was tumultuous. He brawled with one Congressman; and was jailed on charges of violating the Sedition Act, winning re-election to Congress from inside his jail cell.