HISTORY
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Matthew Lyon lived a life that made him a witness to some of the most important events and figures of early AmericanHistory. An Irish immigrant, he rose from humble beginnings to becoming a nationally respected figure. He was a veteran of the American Revolution, a pioneer, writer, and respected famous politician in an age that included such American giants as George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and James Madison. And his journey would take him all the way to Arkansas.
Lyon was born in Ireland in 1749 to a desperately poor family. At the age of 14, he was apprenticed to a printer but dreamed of better days for himself. In 1764, he left Ireland for Connecticut, becoming an indentured servant to pay the cost of his voyage. By 1774, with his debts repaid and a new wife, he headed to Vermont.
In 1776, he joined the Green Mountain Boys, commanded by Ethan Allen, and rose to the rank of captain. The Green Mountain Boys became a powerful foe to the British across upstate New York and Vermont from the earliest days of the American Revolution. The militia effectively drove out all British troops from the region, but in 1777, the British returned with a massive force to drive out American resistance. Lyon was part of the effort that repelled the British from Bennington, Vermont, and to Saratoga, New York, where local militias and the Continental Army forced their surrender. The success of this campaign led to international support for America's bid for independence.
After the war, he returned to farming and edited a number of newspapers. He served in the Vermont state legislature for 17 years. In 1796, he was elected to Congress. By 1798, Federalist Party leaders feared a war with France pushed the Alien and Sedition Acts through Congress. The Sedition Act in particular made it illegal to criticize the federal government or the ruling Federalist Party. It became a jailable offense, in the words to the law, 'to write, utter, or print anything false, scandalous, or malicious' against the federal government or its officials.
For Lyon, this was a line too far. Lyon refused to back down from the fight, stepping up his criticisms of the Sedition Act, the Federalists, and President John Adams. Lyon was charged with sedition and sentenced to four months in prison and fined $1,000 (more than $19,000 in 2026 dollars). Outrage at his conviction erupted across Vermont, with his friends from the Green Mountain Boys threatening to destroy the jail and the courthouse to secure his release. Incredibly, even though he was in prison at the time, the people of the First Congressional District of Vermont overwhelmingly re-elected Lyon to Congress as a defender of the cause of free speech. Once Thomas Jefferson was inaugurated as president in 1801, he pardoned everyone convicted under the Sedition Act and refunded all the fines, Lyon included.
In 1801, he left Vermont for Kentucky, settling in an area now known as Lyon County after one of his sons who later represented the area in Congress himself. Matthew Lyon was immediately popular in the area and won election to the state legislature in 1802 and to Congress once again in 1803. He would serve four terms from Kentucky.
At the age of 71, he was ready to embark on yet another adventure in life, this one bringing him to Arkansas. In 1820, the federal government sent him to the Arkansas Territory as an agent to the Cherokees to settle land disputes and other issues. The Arkansas Territory had just been established, and Lyon again looked for new opportunities. In 1821, he ran for territorial delegate, which would make Arkansas the third state or territory he had represented in Congress. He challenged James Woodson Bates, who was running for his second term. Lyon, however, fell short in the balloting and retired from politics.
Lyon settled in at his farm near Clarksville in Johnson County. He died in 1822. Arkansas marked the end of his remarkable journey through American History.
