Representative John Truman Stoddert

John Truman Stoddert (October 1, 1790 – July 19, 1870) was an American politician and lawyer from Maryland who served one term in the United States House of Representatives as a member of the Jacksonian, or Jackson Party, during a formative period in the nation’s political development. He was born at Smith Point in Nanjemoy, Charles County, Maryland, on October 1, 1790, the son of William Truman Stoddert and Sally Massey. He was a great-nephew of William Smallwood, a prominent Revolutionary War general and governor of Maryland, a family connection that situated him within an established tradition of public service in the state.

Stoddert received a classical education and graduated from the College of New Jersey (now Princeton University) in 1810. Following his undergraduate studies, he pursued legal training at the Litchfield Law School in Connecticut, one of the leading law schools in the United States at the time, and continued his legal studies in Annapolis under Judge Alexander C. Magruder. After completing his legal education, he was admitted to the bar and commenced the practice of law in Charles County, Maryland, establishing himself as an attorney in the region.

During the War of 1812, Stoddert served in the militia, holding the rank of major and acting as aide-de-camp under Philip Stuart. His military service took place at a time when Maryland was directly affected by British incursions, and his role contributed to the state’s defense efforts. On May 23, 1815, in Anne Arundel County, Maryland, he married Elizabeth Gwynn. The couple had two daughters, Mary and Elizabeth, and maintained their family ties and interests in Charles County. Like many members of the Maryland planter class of his era, Stoddert was a slave owner, a fact that reflected and reinforced the slave-based agricultural economy in which he later engaged.

Stoddert entered public life in state politics soon after the War of 1812. He served in the Maryland House of Delegates from 1815 to 1816 and again in 1820, representing his home county in the state legislature. His service in the House of Delegates coincided with a period of political realignment and debate over internal improvements and state development. In 1826 he further participated in state governance as a senate elector from Charles County, taking part in the process by which members of the Maryland Senate were chosen under the state’s then-existing constitutional arrangements.

At the national level, Stoddert served one term in the United States Congress. Elected as a Jacksonian Democrat, he represented Maryland’s eighth congressional district in the Twenty-third Congress, serving from March 4, 1833, to March 3, 1835. As a member of the Jackson Party, he contributed to the legislative process during a significant period in American history marked by debates over federal power, banking policy, and the expansion of democratic participation. In this capacity, he participated in the democratic process and represented the interests of his Maryland constituents in the House of Representatives, aligning himself with the broader Jacksonian movement that emphasized popular sovereignty and opposition to concentrated economic power.

After his departure from Congress in 1835, Stoddert did not return to national office but instead devoted himself to agricultural pursuits. He engaged in farming and plantation management in Charles County, reflecting both his family’s longstanding connection to the land and the central role of agriculture in the regional economy. He later moved to Baltimore, one of Maryland’s principal urban centers, while maintaining his ties to his family estate in Charles County. In the closing years of his public life, he remained involved in state affairs and was a member of the Maryland Constitutional Convention of 1867, which met in the aftermath of the Civil War to revise the state’s fundamental law during Reconstruction.

John Truman Stoddert died on July 19, 1870, at Wicomico House, his family residence located at the West Hatton Estate in Charles County, Maryland, while visiting from Baltimore. He was buried at Wicomico House. His long life spanned from the early national period through the Civil War and into Reconstruction, and his career encompassed military service, legal practice, state legislative work, a term in the United States Congress as a Jacksonian representative of Maryland’s eighth district, and later participation in the reconfiguration of Maryland’s constitutional order.