Thaddeus Betts

---

title: "Thaddeus Betts" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["1789-births", "1840-deaths", "connecticut-lawyers", "connecticut-whigs", "connecticut-state-senators", "lieutenant-governors-of-connecticut", "members-of-the-connecticut-house-of-representatives", "politicians-from-norwalk,-connecticut", "united-states-senators-from-connecticut", "whig-party-united-states-senators", "yale-college-alumni", "connecticut-national-republicans", "19th-century-american-lawyers", "19th-century-members-of-the-connecticut-general-assembly", "19th-century-united-states-senators"] description: "American politician" topic_path: "law" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thaddeus_Betts" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary American politician ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox officeholder"]

Field	Value
name	Thaddeus Laddins Betts
jr/sr	United States Senator
state	Connecticut
term_start	March 4, 1839
term_end	April 7, 1840
predecessor	John M. Niles
successor	Jabez W. Huntington
office2	Lieutenant Governor of Connecticut
order2	32nd and 34th
term_start2	May 4, 1832
term_end2	May 1, 1833
governor2	John Samuel Peters
predecessor2	Vacant
successor2	Ebenezer Stoddard
term_start3	May 7, 1834
term_end3	May 6, 1835
governor3	Samuel A. Foot
predecessor3	Ebenezer Stoddard
successor3	Ebenezer Stoddard
office4	Member of the Connecticut Senate
from the 12th District
term_start4	1831
term_end4	1832
predecessor4	Charles Hawley
successor4	Charles Hawley
office5	At-large member of the Connecticut Senate
term_start5	1828
term_end5	1830
office6	Member of the
Connecticut House of Representatives from Norwalk
term_start6	May 1815
term_end6	October 1815
alongside6	Benjamin Isaacs
predecessor6	Jacob Osborne,
Lewis Mallory
successor6	Benjamin Isaacs,
John Eversley
term_start7	1830
term_end7	1831
alongside7	Eli Bennett
predecessor7	Clark Bissell, Charles W. Taylor
successor7	Eli Bennett, David Roberts
birth_date
birth_place	Norwalk, Connecticut
death_date
death_place	Washington, D.C.
restingplace	Union Cemetery, Norwalk
spouse	Antoinette Cannon Betts
alma_mater	Yale College
occupation	lawyer
party	Whig
::

|name=Thaddeus Laddins Betts |jr/sr= United States Senator |state= Connecticut |term_start= March 4, 1839 |term_end=April 7, 1840 |predecessor=John M. Niles |successor=Jabez W. Huntington |office2=Lieutenant Governor of Connecticut |order2=32nd and 34th |term_start2=May 4, 1832 |term_end2=May 1, 1833 |governor2=John Samuel Peters |predecessor2=Vacant |successor2=Ebenezer Stoddard |term_start3=May 7, 1834 |term_end3=May 6, 1835 |governor3=Samuel A. Foot |predecessor3=Ebenezer Stoddard |successor3=Ebenezer Stoddard |office4=Member of the Connecticut Senate from the 12th District |term_start4=1831 |term_end4=1832 |predecessor4=Charles Hawley |successor4=Charles Hawley |office5=At-large member of the Connecticut Senate |term_start5=1828 |term_end5=1830 |office6=Member of the Connecticut House of Representatives from Norwalk |term_start6=May 1815 |term_end6=October 1815 |alongside6=Benjamin Isaacs |predecessor6=Jacob Osborne, Lewis Mallory |successor6=Benjamin Isaacs, John Eversley |term_start7=1830 |term_end7=1831 |alongside7=Eli Bennett |predecessor7=Clark Bissell, Charles W. Taylor |successor7=Eli Bennett, David Roberts |birth_date= |birth_place=Norwalk, Connecticut |death_date= |death_place=Washington, D.C. |restingplace=Union Cemetery, Norwalk |spouse=Antoinette Cannon Betts |alma_mater=Yale College |occupation=lawyer |party=Whig

Thaddeus Laddins Betts (February 4, 1789 – April 7, 1840) was the 32nd and 34th lieutenant governor of the state of Connecticut from 1832 to 1833 and from 1834 to 1835, and a United States senator from Connecticut from 1839 to 1840. He had previously served in the Connecticut Senate representing the 12th district and Connecticut House of Representatives from Norwalk, Connecticut.

Biography

Betts was born in Norwalk, Connecticut. He was the son of William Maltby Betts (1759-1832) and Lucretia (Gregory) Betts (1763-1830). He completed preparatory studies, then attended and was graduated from Yale College in 1807. He studied law, and was admitted to the bar in 1810. He began his law practice in Norwalk. He married Antoinette Cannon who was born on April 20, 1789, and died on February 26, 1864.

Career

Betts was a member of the Connecticut House of Representatives in 1815. He was a member of the Connecticut Senate in 1828 as a senator at-large, and was again a member of the state house of representatives in 1830. Betts was then a member of the Connecticut Senate in 1831 representing the 12th District.

In 1832 and 1834, Betts was elected the 32nd and 34th Lieutenant Governor of Connecticut and served two terms, under Governors John Samuel Peters from 1832 to 1833 and under Samuel A. Foot from 1834 to 1835.

Elected as a Whig to the U.S. Senate, Betts served from March 4, 1839 until his death in 1840.

Death

Betts died in Washington, D.C., on April 7, 1840 (age 51 years, 63 days). The funeral took place at the Capitol with the Chaplains to Congress officiating and the President of the United States, Martin Van Buren, attending. He is interred at Union Cemetery, Norwalk, Connecticut. There is a cenotaph for him at the Congressional Cemetery, Washington, D.C.

References

References

1. "CT Lieutenant Governors". Connecticut State Library.
2. "Thaddeus Betts". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
3. "Thaddeus Betts". The Political Graveyard.
4. "Thaddeus Betts". Govtrack US Congress.
5. "Thaddeus Betts". Historic Congressional Cemetery.

::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::