At age 22 he became a sea captain, like his older brother Woodbury Langdon, sailing to the West Indies.
Then the British imposed trade restrictions with the Revenue Act of 1764 and the Stamp Act of 1765.
When John Langdon sailed his ship into Portsmouth, New Hampshire, the British seized his cargo of sugar and rum.
The British then imposed the Tea Act, provoking the Boston Tea Party, December 16, 1773.
The same day Portsmouth resolved to refuse all British ships from landing with tea.
King George III issued a royal order, October 19, 1774, banning the export of gunpowder and arms to America.
When
word reached Portsmouth, John Langdon led 400 men to capture British
Fort William and Mary in New Castle, seizing arms and 100 barrels of
gunpowder.
In 1775, John Langdon was elected a delegate to the Continental Congress, as was later his brother, Woodbury Langdon.
In
1776, John Langdon oversaw the building of American warships, including
the "Ranger," which he recommended be captained by John Paul Jones.
Langdon
was elected Speaker of the New Hampshire House, 1776-1782, where he
championed fiscal responsibility of using silver and gold instead of
paper currency.
When the British recaptured Fort Ticonderoga, Speaker John Langdon reportedly told the Legislature:
"I
have 3,000 dollars in hard money. I will pledge the plate in my house
for 3,000 more, and I have 70 hogsheads of Tobago rum which shall be
disposed of for what it will bring. These and the avails of these are at
the service of the state. If we defend our homes and our firesides, I
may get my pay; if we do not defend them, the property will be of no
value to me."
Langdon built seven ships with which he raided British ships.
As a colonel, he led a voluntary company of soldiers to Saratoga, where he witnessed the surrender of British General Burgoyne.
He commanded soldiers in 1778 with John Sullivan's army in Rhode Island.
In 1784, John Langdon was a State Senator and in 1785 he was elected President (Governor) of New Hampshire.
As
President (Governor) of the State of New Hampshire, John Langdon issued
A Proclamation for a Day of Public Fasting and Prayer. February 21,
1786:
"...that the citizens of this State may with one heart and
voice, penitently confess their manifold sins and transgressions, and
fervently implore the divine benediction, that a true spirit of
repentance and humiliation may be poured out upon all orders and degrees
of men, and a compleat and universal reformation take place...
that
he would be pleased to bless the great Council of the United States of
America, and direct their deliberations to the wise and best
determinations...
and above all, that he would rain down
righteousness upon the earth, revive religion, and spread abroad the
knowledge of the true GOD, the Saviour of man, throughout the world."
In 1786, John Langdon was chosen as a delegate to the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia.
New Hampshire became the ninth state to ratify, making the U.S. Constitution law, June 21, 1788.
Governor John Langdon wrote to George Washington:
"I
have the great pleasure of informing your Excellency that this State
has this day adopted the Federal Constitution...thereby placing the Key
Stone in the great arch."
In 1788, John Langdon was elected New Hampshire's first U.S. Senator, traveling to the U.S. Capital in New York City.
The
Senate elected him President of the Senate, where he counted the votes
of the electoral college in the first national election.
Langdon
informed George Washington that was elected President, and on April 30,
1789, he administered the oath of office to the nation's first chief
executive.
Returning to New Hampshire as Governor, John Langdon
issued a Proclamation, October 10, 1805, acknowledging the nation's
victory over the Muslim Barbary Pirates of North Africa:
"It
has been customary...to set apart a certain day...for...publicly
recognizing their dependence upon Almighty God for protection, and that
they might express their gratitude to Him for all blessings and mercies
received and implore a continuance of them;-
I
therefore...appoint Thursday, the 28th day of November...as a day of
public Thanksgiving and Prayer...in praising and adoring Almighty God,
and in offering up our thanks to Him as the great author of every good
and perfect gift...
For the termination of our contest with one of the African powers; the liberation of our fellow-citizens from bondage...But
above all, for the inestimable blessings of the gospel of peace and
salvation, the means of grace and hopes of future glory, through the
merits of a crucified Savior. ..
That he would bless the means used for the promulgation of his word, and make pure religion and morality more and more abound."
Get the book, Prayers and Presidents - Inspiring Faith from Leaders of the PastAfter
retiring, John Langdon founded the New Hampshire Bible Society in
1812, four years before the American Bible Society was founded.
Serving as its first President, its goal was to put a Bible in every New Hampshire home.
John Langdon had been visited in 1817 by President James Monroe, as the newspaper reported:
"While
at Portsmouth, the President spent that part of the Sabbath which was
not devoted to public divine service, with that eminent patriot and
Christian, John Langdon.
His tarry...was probably longer than the time devoted to any individual in New England."
John Langdon died SEPTEMBER 18, 1819.
As Governor, John Langdon had issued a Proclamation, October 21, 1785:
"It
therefore becomes our indispensable Duty, not only to acknowledge,
in general with the rest of Mankind, our dependence on the Supreme
Ruler of the Universe, but as a People peculiarly favoured, to
testify our Gratitude to the Author of all our Mercies, in the most
solemn and public manner...
To celebrate the Praises of our
divine Benefactor; to acknowledge our own Unworthiness, confess our
manifold Transgressions, implore his Forgiveness, and intreat the
continuance of those Favours which he had been graciously pleaded to
bestow upon us;
That he would...bless our Seminaries of
Learning, and spread the Gospel of his Grace over all the Earth. And
all servile Labour is forbidden on said Day."
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