Lyon was the representative for Kentucky’s 1st congressional district and was a Republican. He served from 1807 to 1811.
He was previously the representative for Kentucky’s 1st congressional district as a Republican from 1805 to 1807; the representative for Kentucky’s 1st congressional district as a Republican from 1803 to 1805; the representative for Vermont’s 1st congressional district as a Republican from 1799 to 1801; and the representative for Vermont’s 1st congressional district as a Republican from 1797 to 1799.
Misconduct/alleged misconduct
Lyon faced an allegation of violating Sedition Act on October 9, 1798 by accusing President John Adams of having a taste for excessive pomp, for which he was convicted and fined and served four months in prison while a member of the House. On Feb. 22, 1799, the House of Representatives failed to expel him, 49-45. In 1799, he was re-elected after conviction and while still in jail.
Feb. 22, 1799 | House of Representatives failed to expel, 49-45 |
1799 | Re-elected after conviction and while still in jail. |
Lyon faced an allegation of “disorderly behavior” when, incensed that the House failed to expel Lyon for spitting tobacco juice at him in January and unsatisfied with Lyon's apology, Griswold attacked Lyon on February 15, 1798 with a cane while Lyon defended himself with a pair of fireplace tongs. On Feb. 23, 1798, the House of Representatives failed to censure either member, 47-48.
Feb. 16, 1798 | Both members pledged to keep the peace. |
Feb. 20, 1798 | Committee on Privileges recommended against expulsion |
Feb. 23, 1798 | House of Representatives failed to censure either member, 47-48 |
Lyon faced an allegation of spitting tobacco juice at Griswold on January 30, 1798. On Feb. 2, 1798, the Committee on Privileges recommended expulsion. On Feb. 1, 1798, he sent a letter of apology. On Feb. 12, 1798, the House of Representatives failed to censure him, 44-52 and failed to expel him, 52-44.
Feb. 2, 1798 | Committee on Privileges recommended expulsion |
Feb. 1, 1798 | Letter of apology. |
Feb. 12, 1798 | House of Representatives failed to censure him, 44-52 and failed to expel him, 52-44 |
Voting Record
Missed Votes
From Jun 1797 to Mar 1811, Lyon missed 391 of 1,069 roll call votes, which is 36.6%. This is much worse than the median of 19.5% among the lifetime records of representatives serving in Mar 1811. The chart below reports missed votes over time.
We don’t track why legislators miss votes, but it’s often due to medical absenses and major life events.
Primary Sources
The information on this page is originally sourced from a variety of materials, including:
- unitedstates/congress-legislators, a community project gathering congressional information
- United States Congressional Roll Call Voting Records, 1789-1990 by Howard L. Rosenthal and Keith T. Poole.
- Martis’s “The Historical Atlas of Political Parties in the United States Congress”, via Keith Poole’s roll call votes data set, for political party affiliation for Members of Congress from 1789 through about year 2000