Representative Frederick Gleed Fleetwood - Contact Information

Frederick Gleed Fleetwood (September 27, 1868 – January 28, 1938) was an American lawyer and Republican politician from Vermont who became most notable for his service as Secretary of State of Vermont and as a United States Representative. Over the course of a long public career, he held a succession of local and state offices before serving one term in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1923 to 1925, where he represented the interests of his Vermont constituents during a significant period in American political and economic development.

Fleetwood was born on September 27, 1868, in Morrisville, a village in the town of Morristown, Lamoille County, Vermont. He was raised in Vermont and educated in the local schools, reflecting the typical upbringing of a New England professional of his generation. His early years in Morrisville and Morristown helped establish the community ties that would underpin his later public service at both the local and state levels. Growing up in a small but civically active community, he became familiar with the workings of town government and the legal system, experiences that helped shape his decision to pursue a career in law and public affairs.

After completing his preparatory education in the local schools, Fleetwood studied law and was admitted to the bar, beginning a legal career that would run in parallel with his political activities. Establishing himself as an attorney in Vermont, he became active in civic affairs and the Republican Party, which dominated state politics in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. His legal training and growing reputation in the community led naturally to his first elected and appointed positions in local government, where his work as a practicing lawyer informed his approach to public administration and legislative matters.

A committed Republican, Fleetwood first gained public office in Morristown, where he served in local positions including town clerk and treasurer. His work in these roles brought him wider recognition and led to his election as State’s Attorney of Lamoille County, a post he held from 1896 to 1898. As State’s Attorney he was responsible for prosecuting criminal cases and representing the state in legal matters within the county, further solidifying his standing as a capable lawyer and public official. He then advanced to the state legislature, serving as a member of the Vermont House of Representatives from 1900 to 1902, where he participated in the formulation of state laws and policies and gained experience in statewide legislative affairs.

Fleetwood’s most sustained period of state-level service came in the office of Secretary of State of Vermont. First elected in 1902, he served as secretary of state from 1902 to 1909, overseeing the administration of elections, the maintenance of official records, and various regulatory and clerical functions central to Vermont’s state government. His tenure coincided with the Progressive Era, when issues of governmental efficiency, transparency, and electoral reform were prominent, and his office played a central role in implementing and managing these changes at the state level. After several years out of that office, he returned to the post and served again from 1917 to 1919, a period that overlapped with the First World War. During this second tenure he again supervised the state’s official documentation and electoral processes at a time when wartime conditions and evolving federal and state responsibilities placed additional demands on Vermont’s administrative apparatus.

Building on his long record in Vermont politics, Fleetwood was elected as a Republican to the United States House of Representatives and served one term in the Sixty-eighth Congress from 1923 to 1925. As a Representative from Vermont, he participated in the legislative process at the national level during a period marked by post–World War I adjustment, economic expansion, and debates over domestic policy in the early 1920s. In the House of Representatives he represented the interests of his Vermont constituents, contributing to deliberations and votes on legislation affecting both his state and the nation. His congressional service, though limited to a single term, formed the capstone of a public career that had progressed from local offices to the national legislature and reflected the trajectory of many New England Republicans of his era.

After leaving Congress in 1925, Fleetwood returned to Vermont and resumed his legal and civic activities, remaining a respected figure in Morrisville and the surrounding region. He continued to be identified with the Republican Party and with the tradition of New England public service that had characterized his career, maintaining his involvement in community affairs and retaining influence as an experienced former state official and member of Congress. Frederick Gleed Fleetwood died in Morrisville, Vermont, on January 28, 1938. He was buried in Pleasant View Cemetery in Morrisville, closing a life closely associated with the legal, political, and civic life of his native state.