DAWSON, John, a Delegate and a Representative from Virginia; born in that State in 1762; was graduated from Harvard University in 1782; studied law; was admitted to the bar, and practiced; member of the State house of delegates 1786-1789; Member of the Continental Congress in 1788; delegate to the State convention in 1788 that ratified the Federal Constitution; elected privy councilor December 16, 1789; elected as a Republican to the Fifth and to the eight succeeding Congresses and served from March 4, 1797, until his death; chairman, Committee on District of Columbia (Thirteenth Congress); was the bearer of dispatches from President John Adams to the Government of France in 1801; served as aide to Gen. Jacob Brown and to Gen. Andrew Jackson in the War of 1812; died in Washington, D.C., March 31, 1814; interment in the Congressional Cemetery.