David Barton was one of the first U. S. senators from Missouri, serving 1821–1831.
Background
He was born on December 14, 1783 in Greeneville, North Carolina, the first son of Keziah (Murphy) Barton and the Rev. Isaac Barton, a Baptist, who fought with Sevier at King's Mountain. His grandfather, the Rev. Joshua Barton, also a Baptist, was a native of Massachusetts who drifted south, with the spread of his faith, and then westward into the mountains of present east Tennessee.
Education
David is said to have attended Greeneville Academy.
Career
In 1809 he went to Missouri with two brothers, Joshua and Isaac, settling first in St. Charles. Three years later he moved to St. Louis where he was appointed, in March 1813, deputy attorney-general of the Missouri Territory. During the fall of 1814 he found time to serve as a volunteer Missouri ranger.
In 1815 he was appointed the first circuit judge for the northern district of Missouri, resigning two years later to resume his private practice. When a special session of the territorial legislature was called in 1818, Barton, a delegate, was elected speaker and aided in drafting the document petitioning Missouri's statehood. Two years later, at a meeting of the constitutional convention, he was again elected speaker. Through his power to appoint committees and direct the discussion, he so shaped the completed document that it has been called the "Barton Constitution. " A few months later the General Assembly unanimously elected him Missouri's first United States senator, and in the contest for the selection of his colleague, he aided in the election of Thomas Hart Benton. The incident was not without irony for within a few years Benton became Barton's bitter enemy and contributed largely to his political ruin and his subsequent historical neglect.
Early in 1823 he sought the removal of Gen. William Rector, surveyor-general of Illinois, Missouri, and Arkansas, on charges of corruption. Rector had many friends and in the quarrel which developed, Thomas C. Rector, a brother, challenged Joshua Barton, the Senator's brother, then United States attorney for the district court of Missouri, to a duel. Barton was killed; the quarrel widened, and political opponents used the incident in an attempt to destroy Senator Barton's popularity in Missouri. Meanwhile this popularity had been weakened by Barton himself through his support of Adams in the campaign of 1825. During the tense debate dealing with slavery and sectional issues which followed the introduction of the Foote Resolution, Barton (on Feb. 9, and 11, 1830) arraigned Thomas Hart Benton for presuming to speak for the West in opposing internal improvements and attempting to create sectional discord. He condemned the attacks made upon the Supreme Court, the corruption of elections and the degradation of offices and honors "into the mere spoils of a barbarian war. " He concluded with a warning that these were steps leading to governmental despotism. He returned to Missouri in 1831 and, realizing the impossibility of his reelection to the Senate, ran for the House but was overwhelmingly defeated.
Three years later he was elected by a small majority to the Missouri Senate and served during the session of 1834-35, aiding in the compilation of the "Revised Statutes. " His health, however, was poor, and his friends noticed that he was despondent and moody. Late in 1836 he moved to Boonville. His condition became steadily worse and in June of 1837 he was judged insane. He died at the home of an old friend, William Gibson, near Boonville and was buried in the City Cemetery. In 1858 his body was moved to Walnut Grove Cemetery where a new monument, the gift of the State of Missouri, was erected.
Politics
He advocated internal improvements, a sound and uniform national currency, and justice and humanity in the removal of the Indian tribes to the West. He became increasingly concerned with official corruption, and his fearless prosecution of those whom he believed dishonest aroused a storm of opposition.
Personality
Physically, Barton was unimpressive. He was short and his ill-kempt clothes hung badly from his broad shoulders. His brown eyes were dull and almost hidden beneath bushy eyebrows above which towered a high forehead topped with dark brown hair. His manner was sincere and courteous, however, and this quality won friends for him easily. Considered an excellent stump speaker, he was also forceful on the Senate floor, where, speaking without gestures and almost without variations in inflection, his words seemed to "flow from some inexhaustible fountain": humorous, serious, or with blasting sarcasm.