David Crockett’s Certificate of Election

David “Davy” Crockett is an American frontiersman whose folksy “backwoods” persona captured the American popular imagination. He became a legend with his death in 1836 at the famed battle of the Alamo at the hands of a Mexican garrison. This certificate of election was issued in 1827 by the state of Tennessee to Congressman Crockett after his election as a Jacksonian to the U.S. House of Representatives. When a representative, delegate, or resident commissioner of the U.S. House of Representatives is elected to office, a certificate of election is issued as proof that the Member-elect is entitled to the seat. The certificate is signed by the governor or secretary of state from where the Member was elected, and then it is transmitted to the Clerk of the U.S. House of Representatives. The Clerk uses the certificates to create the roll for the incoming Congress. The certificate of election is then part of the official records of the U.S. House of Representatives.