Lyon served as a member from Arlington in the
Vermont House of Representatives from 1779 to 1783. He founded
Fair Haven,
Vermont in 1783 and returned to the state House of Representatives from 1787 to 1796 as its member. In October 1785, while serving as clerk of the Vermont Court of Confiscation, Lyon was
impeached by the
Vermont Council of Censors for his failure to provide the state with records of the Court of Confiscation. Lyon was elected assistant judge of
Rutland County in 1786 and was elected to again serve in the state house later the following year. The newspaper was later renamed to the
Fair Haven Gazette, and was published until Lyon sold its works. In 1794, Lyon sold the printing press and other equipment for the
Gazette to Reverend Samuel Williams and Judge Samuel Williams of
Rutland, who used it to found the
Rutland Herald.
Congress Lyon was an unsuccessful candidate for election to the
Second and
Third Congresses. He unsuccessfully contested the election of
Israel Smith to the
Fourth Congress. Lyon won election as a
Democratic-Republican to the
Fifth and
Sixth Congresses (March 4, 1797 – March 3, 1801); he was not a candidate for renomination in 1800.
Altercation with Roger Griswold Lyon had the distinction of being one of the first two members investigated for a supposed violation of House rules when he was accused of "gross indecency" for spitting in
Roger Griswold's face; Griswold was investigated for attacking Lyon in retaliation. On January 30, 1798, the House was considering whether to remove
William Blount of
Tennessee from office. Mockingly, Griswold asked if Lyon would be using his wooden sword, a reference to Lyon's supposed dismissal from Gates' command during the Revolution. Furious, Lyon spat tobacco juice on Griswold, earning himself the nickname "The Spitting Lyon". Not satisfied with the apology, on February 15, 1798, Griswold retaliated by attacking Lyon with a wooden cane, beating him about the head and shoulders in view of other representatives on the House floor. Although the committee appointed to investigate recommended censure of both Lyon and Griswold, the House as a whole rejected the motion. The issue was resolved when both Lyon and Griswold promised the House that they would keep the peace and remain on good behavior.
Imprisonment for sedition Lyon also has the distinction of being the only person to be elected to Congress while in jail. On October 10, 1798, he was found guilty of violating the
Alien and Sedition Acts, which prohibited malicious writing about the American government as a whole, or of the houses of
Congress, or of the
president. During the
Quasi War with France, Lyon was the first person to be put to trial for violating the acts after he published editorials criticizing
Federalist President
John Adams. Lyon had launched his own newspaper,
The Scourge of Aristocracy and Repository of Important Political Truth, when the
Rutland Herald refused to publish his writings. On October 1, Lyon printed an editorial which included charges that Adams had an "unbounded thirst for ridiculous pomp, foolish adulation, and selfish avarice," as well as the accusation that Adams had corrupted the Christian
religion to further his war aims. Before the Alien and Sedition Acts had been passed, Lyon had also written a letter to Alden Spooner, the publisher of the
Vermont Journal. In this letter, which Lyon wrote in response to criticism in the
Journal, Lyon called the president "bullying," and the Senate's responses "stupid." These also were published prior to the Acts. This defense was not allowed. Lyon was sentenced to four months in a jail cell used for felons, counterfeiters, thieves, and runaway slaves in
Vergennes, and ordered to pay a $1,000 fine and court costs ();
Judge William Paterson lamented being unable to give a harsher punishment. While in jail, Lyon won election to the Sixth Congress by nearly doubling the
votes of his closest adversary, 4,576 to 2,444.
Election of 1800 In the
election of 1800, the vote went to the House of Representatives because of a tie in
electoral votes between
Thomas Jefferson and
Aaron Burr, who were supposed to have been the Democratic-Republican candidates for president and vice president respectively. Many Federalists decided Burr as president was preferable to Jefferson. House members voted by state, with a majority required for a state's vote to be awarded, and a majority of nine states required to win. During the first 35 ballots, Jefferson carried eight states and Burr six, with two states counted as "no result" because of a tie among their House members. Vermont was one of the two "no result" states, because
Lewis Morris voted for Burr and Lyon cast his ballot for Jefferson. On the 36th ballot, several Federalists decided to break the impasse by allowing the election of Jefferson through either casting blank ballots or absenting themselves from the House chamber during the vote. Morris was among the Federalists who took part; as a result of Morris's decision to be absent, Lyon's vote for Jefferson moved Vermont into his column. Vermont was one of two states to switch from "no result" to Jefferson, and he carried 10 states on the final ballot; Lyon thus played an important role in Jefferson's victory. ==Later career==