Career
Mattocks commenced practice in Danville; moved to Peacham, Caledonia County, Vermont. He was a member of the Vermont State house of representatives in 1807, 1815, 1816, 1823, and 1824. During the War of 1812, he served as a brigadier general of militia.
Mattocks was elected to the Seventeenth Congress (March 4, 1821 – March 3, 1823); elected to the Nineteenth Congress (March 4, 1825 – March 3, 1827); and served as chairman of the U.S. House Committee on Expenditures in the Department of War (Nineteenth Congress). He was a judge of the State supreme court in 1833 and 1834; declined to be a candidate for renomination; and became a delegate to the State constitutional convention in 1836. He was elected as a Whig to the Twenty-seventh Congress (March 4, 1841 – March 3, 1843).
Neither Mattocks nor his Democratic opponent was elected by a majority of the popular vote, therefore, the state legislature selected Mattocks as the 16th Governor of Vermont in 1843. During his tenure, he took a strong stand against slavery. During his term, his son, George, committed suicide and, grief-stricken, Mattocks declined to run for another term. He became active in his local Congregational Church.
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