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T. A. D. Fessenden

American politician and lawyer (1826–1868)

Correspondence, annotated notebooks and portrait silhouettes prepared for research
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Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionJul 18, 2026
Entity authorityQ974019
Source-derived summary

Thomas Amory Deblois Fessenden (January 23, 1826 – September 28, 1868) was an American politician. He was a U.S. Representative from Maine.

Born in Portland, Maine, he was the son of abolitionist legislator Samuel Fessenden, and brother of Treasury Secretary William P. Fessenden and congressman Samuel C. Fessenden. He was an uncle of Union Army generals Francis Fessenden and James D. Fessenden.

He attended North Yarmouth Academy and Dartmouth College and graduated from Bowdoin College in 1845. He then studied law and was admitted to the bar in April 1848. He established a practice in Mechanic Falls, Maine, and moved to Auburn, Maine in 1850, where he continuing working as an attorney.

He was a delegate to the Republican National Convention in 1856 and 1868 and a member of the Maine House of Representatives in 1860 and 1868, as well as prosecuting attorney for Androscoggin County in 1861 and 1862.

He was elected as a Republican to the 37th Congress to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of Charles W. Walton and served from December 1, 1862, to March 3, 1863, and was not a candidate for renomination in 1862.

He returned to Maine and resumed the practice of law.

Editorial summary

This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “T. A. D. Fessenden” as american politician and lawyer (1826–1868). Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.

Editorial reviewA productive starting point for separating a subject’s documented career from later reputation and commemoration. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1826, 1868, 1845, 1848—that can be checked directly. The authority record carries competing date values—1826-01-23, 1826-02-23—which should remain separate until their references and qualifiers are resolved. The account is most persuasive where Fessenden, American and politician can be independently traced.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

The subject matters to the people & ideas register because the source frames it as american politician and lawyer (1826–1868). Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.

Evidence profile

Chronology provides the most reliable spine for this subject; interpretation should follow only after identities and dates are secure. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jul 18, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q974019. 2 of 2 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 1 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1826, 1868, 1845 and 1848.

Critical limits

Public reputation and documentary evidence do not always develop together; absence from a summary is not evidence of historical absence. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Read biographical claims against dates, named institutions and the cited references. Distinguish a subject’s later reputation from evidence produced during their lifetime.

Best used for
  • Establishing names and roles
  • Building a first chronology
  • Locating cited institutions
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Personal papers, civil or court records, institutional files and the scholarship cited by the source.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “T. A. D. Fessenden”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow T. A. D. Fessenden primary sources, T. A. D. Fessenden archive and Fessenden research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “T. A. D. Fessenden”?
  2. Which claims depend on a single source or contested interpretation?
  3. Which primary records establish identity, chronology and institutional ties?
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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from T. A. D. Fessenden” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.