Background
Isaac Tichenor was born on February 8, 1754 in Newark, N. J. Little is known of his parentage and early life.
Isaac Tichenor was born on February 8, 1754 in Newark, N. J. Little is known of his parentage and early life.
He was graduated at the College of New Jersey (Princeton) in 1775, began the study of law in Schenectady, N. Y.
He entered the commissary service of the Continental Army. The course of his duties took him to Bennington, Vt. , in 1777 and he settled at that place, where he maintained a residence throughout the rest of his long life.
The organization of the new state of Vermont, accompanied as it was by disputes with neighboring states and some internal dissension, offered opportunity for political leadership and constructive service. Tichenor served in the legislature from 1781 to 1785, being speaker in 1783-84. Between 1782 and 1789 he served as agent to the Continental Congress for several sessions and in 1790 was appointed a commissioner for the settlement of boundary and land-title difficulties with New York. He was a member of the council from 1786 to 1791 and of the supreme court from 1791 to 1796, serving as chief justice for two years and resigning to enter the United States Senate. His service in the latter body was of short duration (October 18, 1796 - October 17, 1797), since in 1797 he was elected governor of Vermont. In this capacity he served continuously for eleven years (1797 - 1807), although the Federalist party to which he belonged was losing ground and in the last part of his service he was usually confronted by Republican legislatures.
He was reported by contemporaries to be most attractive personally, his charming manners winning him the somewhat uncomplimentary nickname of "Jersey Slick. " His messages to the legislature are free from the monotonous pessimism and vindictiveness of many Federalist documents of the era; if they are overloaded with wise saws and governmental truisms, they also contain sound admonitions concerning economy and the retirement of the public debt.
While Tichenor lamented the unfortunate "progress and violence of party spirit" the state under his régime was prosperous and well governed. After a year's enforced retirement, he was reëlected governor for the term 1808-09, his election recording Vermont's bitter opposition to the Embargo, but condemning local instances of violence and disorder which had characterized that opposition. In his message of this year he urged a revision of the criminal code and a humane administration of the newly founded state's prison. He was not in the political foreground during the War of 1812 but in 1815 was elected to the United States Senate for a six-year term. Voting for the most part with the Federalists who still remained in the Capitol, he played no prominent part in national affairs. His last years were spent at Bennington.
His wife, Elizabeth, died in 1815, and he left no children.