DAVID BARTON

(1793 - 1843)
Senator

Barton was born in Green County, Tennessee, Dec. 14, 1783. He moved to Missouri in 1809 where he practiced law. He was elected Attorney General in 1813 an office he held for two years. He was named Speaker of the Territorial Legislature in 1818. He was elected President of the First Constitutional Convention of Missouri. He claimed he wrote the first constitution and it was in force until displaced by the Drake Constitution in 1866. He served for two years as the first United States Senator from Missouri. He was elected by acclamation. After leaving the U.S. Senate, Barton became a State Senator from St. Louis, in 1834, and later Circuit Judge at Boonville, in 1835. A portrait of Barton hangs on the wall of the Hall of Representatives in Jefferson City. Barton was sometimes called the "Forgotten Statesman", but few men have had a more valid claim to recognition and remembrance in Missouri.

Cities of Barton County:
		Clark City Lewis City