View source for Absalom Tatom

{{short description|American politician}}

{{Infobox officeholder
|name               = Absalom Tatom
|state              = [[North Carolina (state)|North Carolina]]
|district           = [[North Carolina's 4th congressional district|4th]]
|term_start         = December 7, 1795
|term_end           = June 1, 1796
|predecessor        = [[Alexander Mebane]]
|successor          = [[William F. Strudwick]]
|birth_date         = 1742
|birth_place        = [[North Carolina]], U.S.
|death_date         = December 20, 1802
|death_place        = [[Raleigh, North Carolina]], U.S.
|restingplace       = [[City Cemetery (Raleigh, North Carolina)|Old City Cemetery]]
|party              = [[Democratic-Republican Party (United States)|Democratic-Republican]]
}}

{{Use mdy dates|date=July 2016}}
'''Absalom Tatom''' (1742 – December 20, 1802) was a [[United States House of Representatives|U.S. Congressman]] from [[North Carolina]] from 1795 to 1796.

==Biography==
Born in North Carolina in 1742, Tatom was a sergeant in the [[Greenville, North Carolina]] Militia in 1763; he served in North Carolina Militia during the [[American Revolutionary War]], where he was commissioned [[first lieutenant#United States|first lieutenant]] on September 1, 1775, and promoted to the rank of captain June 29, 1776. He resigned from the [[Continental Army]] on September 19, 1776.

On August 15, 1778, Tatom enlisted as assistant quartermaster and keeper of the arsenal in the State service at [[Hillsborough, North Carolina]]; he was contractor for Hillsborough in 1778 and named major of detachment of the North Carolina Light Horse February 12, 1779.

In 1779, Tatom served as clerk of court in [[Randolph County, North Carolina|Randolph County]]; he was elected to the [[North Carolina House of Commons]], but, because of his county clerk position, was disqualified from service in the legislature. In 1781, Tatom was district auditor for Hillsborough.

Tatom rose in state government; in 1782, he was one of three commissioners appointed by Congress to survey lands granted to Continental soldiers in the western territory (later Tennessee); that same year, he was a private secretary of Governor [[Thomas Burke (governor)|Thomas Burke]] and state [[tobacco]] agent. The [[Continental Congress]] named him surveyor of North Carolina in May 1785 and was named  commissioner to sign State paper money in December 1785.

In 1788, Tatom was a delegate to the convention which considered ratification of the [[United States Constitution]]. In 1794, Tatom was elected as a [[Democratic-Republican Party (United States)|Democratic-Republican]] to the [[4th United States Congress]] where he served from March 4, 1795, until his resignation on  June 1, 1796. Tatom was later a member of the state House of Commons from 1797 to 1802; he died in [[Raleigh, North Carolina]], in December 1802 and is buried in the [[City Cemetery (Raleigh, North Carolina)|Old City Cemetery]].

==References==
{{reflist}}
{{CongBio|T000050}} Retrieved on 2009-02-26

{{s-start}}
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{{US House succession box
| state=North Carolina
| district=4
| before=[[Alexander Mebane]]
| years=1795–1796
| after=[[William F. Strudwick]]
}}
{{s-end}}

{{authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tatom, Absalom}}
[[Category:1742 births]]
[[Category:1802 deaths]]
[[Category:Continental Army officers from North Carolina]]
[[Category:Members of the North Carolina House of Representatives]]
[[Category:Burials at City Cemetery (Raleigh, North Carolina)]]
[[Category:American surveyors]]
[[Category:Democratic-Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from North Carolina]]
[[Category:People from Greenville, North Carolina]]
[[Category:People from Randolph County, North Carolina]]
[[Category:19th-century members of the North Carolina General Assembly]]
[[Category:18th-century United States representatives]]