Library of Congress
COLLAMER, Jacob (1791-1865)
Senate Years of Service: 1855-1865

COLLAMER, JACOB, a Representative and a Senator from Vermont; born in Troy, N.Y., January 8, 1791; moved with his father to Burlington, Vt.; attended the common schools, and graduated from the University of Vermont at Burlington in 1810; served in the War of 1812; studied law; admitted to the bar in 1813 and practiced in Woodstock, Vt., from 1813 to 1833; member, State house of representatives 1821, 1822, 1827, 1828; State's attorney for Windsor County 1822-1824; judge of the superior court 1833-1842; elected as a Whig to the Twenty-eighth, Twenty-ninth, and Thirtieth Congresses (March 4, 1843-March 3, 1849); chairman, Committee on Manufactures (Twenty-eighth Congress), Committee on Public Lands (Thirtieth Congress); appointed Postmaster General by President Zachary Taylor 1849-1850; again judge of the superior court of Vermont 1850-1854; elected in 1855 as a Republican to the United States Senate; reelected in 1861 and served from March 4, 1855, until his death in Woodstock, Windsor County, Vt., November 9, 1865; chairman, Committee on Engrossed Bills (Thirty-fourth Congress), Committee on Post Office and Post Roads (Thirty-seventh through Thirty-ninth Congresses), Committee on Library (Thirty-eighth and Thirty-ninth Congresses); interment in River Street Cemetery.

Boston Public Library
Boston, MA
Papers: 1 letter.

Knox College
Seymour Library
Galesburg, IL
Papers: 1 letter (undated) in Seymour autograph collection, 1750-1945.

New-York Historical Society
New York, NY
Papers: May 12, 1849. 1 letter.

Syracuse University
George Arents Research Library
Syracuse, NY
Papers: Correspondence in Mary Edwards Walker papers, 1799-1919 (bulk 1860-1919).

University of Rochester
Rush Rhees Library
Rochester, NY
Papers: 3 letters by and 12 to Collamer (1849-1864) in various collections. Finding aid.

University of Vermont
Bailey/Howe Library
Burlington, VT
Papers: 9 items and photographs.

Vermont Historical Society
Montpelier, VT
Papers: 1813-1903. 2 inches. Business and congressional correspondence and papers, including a letter (1865) to Justin Morrill about Lincoln's death and correspondence relating to statues of Ethan Allen and Collamer in Statuary Hall of the U.S. Capitol. Finding aid.

  • Mower, Edmund C. "Jacob Collamer." Vermonters: A Book of Biographies. Brattleboro: Stephen Daye Press, 1931, pp. 48-52.
  • U.S. Congress. Addresses on the Death of Hon. Jacob Collamer. 39th Cong., 1st sess., 1865-1866. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1866.