Jonathan Jennings
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| Jonathan Jennings | |
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First Governor of Indiana
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| In office Dec. 12, 1816 – Dec. 1, 1822 |
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| Lieutenant | Christopher Harrison, Ratliff Boon |
| Preceded by | None |
| Succeeded by | Ratliff Boon |
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| In office Nov. 27, 1809 – Dec. 11, 1816 |
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| Preceded by | Jesse B. Thomas |
| Succeeded by | William Hendricks[1] |
| In office December 2, 1822 – March 3, 1831 |
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| Preceded by | William Hendricks |
| Succeeded by | John Carr |
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| Born | 1784 Readington, New Jersey |
| Died | July 26, 1834 Charlestown, Indiana |
| Political party | Democratic-Republican |
| Spouse | Ann Gilmore Hay |
Jonathan Jennings (1784 – July 26, 1834) was an Indiana Democratic Republican born in Readington, New Jersey. He immigrated to in Indiana 1806 and became the Indiana Territory's representative to Congress. He played a critical role in Indiana's early statehood being a leader in abolitionist movement who overturned the early pro-slavery laws in the Territory. As the president of Indiana's constitutional convention Jennings and his partisans were able to instate a constitutional ban on slavery.
After statehood Jennings served as the first Governor of Indiana were he pushed for the construction of roads and schools and negotiated the Treaty of St. Mary's, allowing the state to purchase millions of acres of from the Native American tribe and opened central Indiana to white settlement. After his governorship he returned to Congress were he represented Indiana for six terms before loosing a reelection bid a retiring to his farm. He farmed several year in Charlestown, Indiana until his death.
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[edit] Biography
[edit] Early Life
Jonathan Jennings was born in Readington, New Jersey in 1784 to a Presbyterian minister. About 1790 his family moved to Dunlap Creek in Fayette County, Pennsylvania. He later attended grammar school in Canonsburg, PA.
He arrived in Clark County, Indiana in 1806 and initially resided in Jeffersonville where he studied and practiced law. The same year he married Ann Gilmore Hay. In 1807 he moved to Vincennes were he was admitted to the bar. In the same year he became clerk to the receiver of public money and then assistant to the clerk of the house of representatives of the territorial government. In 1808 he became involved in working with the newspaper in Vincennes. Vincennes was the center of the pro-slavery movement in the territory, but Jennings was bitterly opposed to slavery. Slavery was attracting widespread attention in the territory because of recent attempts to legalize if by Governor William Henry Harrison, and many of his newspapers articles railed against the administration and their pro-slavery sentiment.
In 1809 Jennings left Vincennes and moved to Charlestown were he began a dry good buisness in partnership with Christopher Harrison in Salem, Indiana.
[edit] Congressman
"No slavery in Indiana" was his motto, and he labored for that goal. In 1809 he defeated Territorial Governor William Henry Harrison's chosen candidate, Thomas Randolph, for the Indiana Territory representative to Congress. On November 27, 1809 Jennings was elected as a delegate to the 11th Congress where he served three successive terms, leaving office on December 11, 1816. [2]. During his bid for reelection he ran against another pro-slavery candidate, Waller Taylor. Jennings' two election campaigns were divisive; Randolph would become a strong opponent of Jennings. Taylor even went so far as to challenge Jennings to a duel in the reelection campaign.[3] In Congress he was a strong opponent to slavery in the former Northwest Territory and a tough critic of William Henry Harrison.
Jennings, using his position in Congress, led the movement to speed Indiana's statehood against the wishes of Territory Governor Thomas Posey. Posey, who was appointed by the President of the United States, would lose his position if statehood was approved.
In 1811 Jennings introduced legislation to grant Indiana statehood, but the War of 1812 caused Congress to put off plans for statehood until the conclusion of the war. Again in early 1816 Jennings submitted a bill to Congress which would authorize the state to organize for statehood, this time the bill passed. The Enabling Act granted Hoosiers the right to form a government and write a constitution.
[edit] Indiana's Statehood
At the state constitutional convention in 1816 held in Corydon, Jennings's partisans were able to elect him as president of the convention. Dennis Pennington, a leading man in the territorial legislature, was able to get many abolitionists appointed as delegates to the convention. This allowed Jennings and his partisans to have their way in writing the constitution. Their primary goal was to put a constitutional ban on slavery. It was mainly due to the actions of Jennings and Pennington that the ban on slavery was put in place.
[edit] Governor Jennings
In the election for Indiana's first governor, Jennings beat Thomas Posey 5,211 to 3,934. He served as Governor in Corydon. Upon his election he strongly condemned slavery[4]. He went further asking the legislature to enact laws that would prevent the
"unlawful attempts to seize and carry into bondage persons of color legally entitled to their freedom: and at the same time, as far as practical, to prevent those who rightfully owe service to the citizen of any other State of Territory, from seeking, within the limits of this State (Indiana), a refuge from the possession of their lawful masters."
He stated that such laws would help secure the freedom of many.[5] He would reverse some of these positions in 1817 when federal law superseded his attempts to assist fugitive slaves; he later requested that the legislature seek to prevent fugitive slaves from entering the state.[6] This position was a direct contradiction of his previous request and his personal feelings, but he claimed it was needed in order to "maintain harmony among the states".
In 1818 Jennings began a large scale plan for internal improvements in the state. Most of the projects where directed toward the constructions of roads , canals, and other projects that were thought to enhance the commercial appeal and economic viability of the state.[7] The state was experiencing budget shortages at that time and Jennings had to pursue other means to finance the projects, mainly by issuing bonds from the state bank and the sale of public land.[8] The over spending led to problems in short term budget, but the infrastructure improvements initiated by Jennings had to desired effects in the decades to after his governorship.[9]
In 1819 Jennings served as a United States Commissioner to negotiate a treaty with the Native Americans in the northern and central parts of the state. In doing so, he acted as an agent of President. The treaty he negotiated, known as the Treaty of St. Mary's, allowed the state to purchase millions of acres of land and opened up most of central Indiana to white settlement.
Jennings almost lost seat as governor over his role in signing the treaty. The state constitution forbid a person to hold a position in both the state and federal government simultaneously, but Jennings had acted as a commissioner of the federal government to negotiate a treaty with the natives[10]. In the Indiana House of Representatives the pro-slavery opposition party began impeachment proceedings against Jennings before he had returned from the negotiations. Jennings was "mortified" that his actions were questioned and he proceeded to burn all the documents granting him authority from the federal government. The Lieutenant Governor, Christopher Harrison, immediately took up the position as governor in the absence and declared that Jennings' actions where the equivalent of a resignation. When Jennings returned from the negotiations there was still contention in the General Assembly; two men claimed to be governor. The legislature called for Jennings before them to be interrogated for his actions, but he declined to appear.[11] The legislature then demanded copies of the documents he received from the federal government to which he replied by letter stating:
"If I were in possession of any public documents calculated to advance the public interest it would give me pleasure to furnish them and I shall at all times be prepared to afford you any information which the constitution or laws of the State may require... If the difficulty real or supposed has grown out of the circumstances of my having been connected with the negotiation at St Mary's I feel it my duty to state to the committee that I acted from an entire conviction of its propriety and an anxious desire on my part to promote the welfare and accomplish the wishes of the whole people of the State in assisting to add a large and fertile tract of country to that which we already possess"[12]
The legislature then summoned everyone in the surrounding area who had any knowledge of the events at St Mary's but found that no one was certain of Jennings role in the commission. After a short period of wrangling in the General Assembly, they passed a resolution 15 to 13 that Jennings was the "rightful governor" and they would permit him to retain his seat as governor.[13]
The Christopher Harrison was outraged by the decision and resigned.[14] Harrison considered his honor tarnished and ran against Jennings in his reelection bid of 1820 but was soundly beaten, 2,008 votes to Jennings 11,256.[15]
After reelection Jennings led a commission, that included Harrison, northward into the newly acquired lands. The commission was charged to select the site of a new, permanent, capitol in the center of the state. The commission ultimately chose Indianapolis on the White River.
The state was in a poor economic condition when Jennings left office. The state's Panic of 1819 had severely hurt the state's industry (agriculture) and cause even greater harm to the state's banks. Under Jennings, the states credit took a hit when government bonds that were issued by the State bank had to be slashed in value in order to cover the government's debt. Although avoiding bankruptcy, the state left many investors with considerable losses.[16]
[edit] Back to Congress
After serving the two three years terms allowed by the state constitution, Jennings returned to Congress succeeding the outgoing William Hendricks. In 1822, while still governor, he was elected as a Democratic Republican to the 17th Congress. After winning the election, he resigned his position as governor and was succeeded by Ratliff Boon. He was a Jacksonian Republican in the 1824 18th Congress. He was an Adams Republican in the 19th and 20th Congresses. He then became an Anti-Jacksonian in the 21st Congress and was finally defeated in the election of 1830 by war hero John Carr. Jennings had served from December 2, 1822, to March 3, 1831. The loss of his position may have been linked to his alcoholism that had worsened while he lived in Washington. Many of his friends thought that the stress of Washington caused him to drink liberally. But he would continue to enjoy alcohol until his death.[17] During this time he also twice served as Grand Master of the Indiana Grand Lodge of Freemasons.
[edit] Retirement
After being defeated in the 1830 congressional election, Jennings retired to his farm in Charlestown where he tended his farm and engaged in agricultural pursuits. In 1832 he briefly re-entered public life as a commissioner to negotiate a treaty with Native Americans for lands in Northern Indiana and Michigan. The treaty was successfully completed and another large tract of land was procured for the state.
Jennings died on July 26, 1834 near Charlestown and was buried in the Charlestown Cemetery.
[edit] Jennings Legacy
Jennings's chief legacy was his staunch opposition to slavery. Without his strong stance, Indiana would perhaps have become a slave state which would have had wide reaching consequences in the turbulent decades to come after his death. His opposition to both Posey in the election and his actions as well as his supporters at the Constitutional Convention are significant in prevention of allowing slavery to enter Indiana and the rest of the former Northwest Territory.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ Hendricks was the first representative of the State of Indiana
- ^ Woollen, 31
- ^ Woollen, 32
- ^ Woollen, 33
- ^ Woollen, 33
- ^ Woollen, 34
- ^ Goodrich, 188-189
- ^ Goodrich, 188-189
- ^ Goodrich, 191-192
- ^ Woollen, 37
- ^ Jacob Piatt Dunn (1919). Indiana and Indianians. American Historical Society, 378.
- ^ Jacob Piatt Dunn (1919). Indiana and Indianians. American Historical Society, 378.
- ^ Woollen, 38
- ^ Woollen, 39
- ^ Woollen, 39
- ^ Goodrich, 188-192
- ^ Woollen, 39
[edit] Sources
- Woollen, William Wesley (1975). Biographical and Historical Sketches of Early Indiana. Ayer Publishing. ISBN 0405068964.
- Goodrich, De Witt C. & Tuttle, Charles Richard (1875). An Illustrated History of the State of Indiana.
[edit] External links
- Indiana State Historical Bureau biography of Jonathan Jennings
- Jonathan Jennings at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
- Jonathan Jennings on Find-A-Grave
- Biographical Dictionary of Congress
| Preceded by Jesse B. Thomas |
Delegate to the U.S. House of Representatives from Indiana Territory November 27, 1809 – December 11, 1816 |
Succeeded by William Hendricks *State of Indiana - Indiana Territorial government was dissolved |
| Preceded by Thomas Posey (territorial governor) |
Governor of Indiana 1816 – 1822 |
Succeeded by Ratliff Boon |
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