Seth Barton (December 5, 1795 – December 29, 1854) was an American attorney and government official who was active in Alabama and Louisiana. He served the federal government as Solicitor of the United States Treasury and Chargé d'affaires in Chile.
Biography Barton was born in Baltimore, Maryland on December 5, 1795, the son of shipping merchant Seth Barton and Sarah Emerson (Maxwell) Barton.The United States in Latin America: A Historical Dictionary, by David Shavit, 1992, page 18 He attended Washington and Lee University, where he studied law and attained admission to the bar.Catalogue of the Officers and Alumni of Washington and Lee University, published by the University, 1888, page 68
In 1821 he relocated to Tuscaloosa, Alabama, where he continued to practice law and became involved in the newspaper business.Memorial Record of Alabama, published by Brant & Fuller, Chicago, 1893, page 170 He apparently served in the militia, in that he was often referred to in correspondence and press accounts as "Colonel", though the exact details of his military service are not currently known.
Barton was elected to the Alabama House of Representatives in 1825. Seth Barton entry, History of Alabama and Dictionary of Alabama Biography, by Thomas McAdory Owen and Marie Bankhead Owen, Volume 3, 1921, page 109
In 1828 Barton was an unsuccessful candidate for the United States House of Representatives. Robert Emmett Bledsoe Baylor entry, History of Alabama and Dictionary of Alabama Biography, by Thomas McAdory Owen and Marie Bankhead Owen, Volume 3, 1921, page 117
Barton moved to New Orleans, Louisiana in 1830, where he continued to practice lawThe Papers of Henry Clay, by Henry Clay, edited by James Franklin Hopkins and Robert Seager, 1973, page 672 Alabama, Her History, Resources, War Record, and Public Men: From 1540 to 1872, by Willis Brewer, 1872, pages 566 to 567 as a partner of Judah P. Benjamin. In 1843 he ran unsuccessfully for the Louisiana House of Representatives, and in 1844 he supported James K. Polk for President, including writing letters to the editor under the pen name John Randolph of Roanoke.
Polk, as President, rewarded Barton with an appointment as Solicitor of the Treasury, where he served from 1845 to 1847.Correspondence of James K. Polk: July-December 1845, by James Knox Polk, 2004, page 93The Bench and Bar of the South and Southwest, 1876, by Henry Stuart Foote, pages 203 to 204 Register of the Department of Justice, published by United States Department of Justice, 1885, page 4The Papers of Jefferson Davis: June 1841-July 1846, by Jefferson Davis, 1975, page 524
Barton served as U.S. Chargé d'affaires in Chile from 1847 to 1849.The Mission of Colonel Seth Barton, United States Chargé D'Affaires to Chile, 1847-1849, by Thomas Ray Shurbutt, 1967 While at this post he created controversy by marrying a local woman in a Protestant service. The leaders of Chile's Catholic Church were angered because as a Protestant and a man who had been divorced, they believed Barton to be violating church tenets by marrying Isabel Astaburruaga, who was Catholic.Parley P. Pratt: The Apostle Paul of Mormonism, by Terryl L. Givens and Matthew J. Grow, 2011, page 308Rendering Unto Caesar: The Catholic Church and the State in Latin America, by Anthony James Gill, 1998, page 124Freedom and Religion in the Nineteenth Century, by Richard J. Helmstadter, 1997, page 310
After leaving office, Barton resumed practicing law in New Orleans as the partner of Pierre Soulé. He died of yellow fever in New Orleans on December 29, 1854.American Biographical Notes, by Franklin Benjamin Hough, 1875, page 19
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