Duncan McArthur

Duncan McArthur (June 14, 1772 – April 29, 1839) was a Federalist and National Republican politician from Ohio. He served as the 11th Governor of Ohio.

Born to Scottish immigrants in Dutchess County, New York, McArthur grew up in western Pennsylvania and later moved to Kentucky, where he was employed as an Indian ranger. McArthur moved across the Ohio River in 1797 to the new town of Chillicothe, Ohio, which was to become the state capital in 1803. McArthur grew wealthy investing in land in the surrounding area. McArthur founded the city of Greenfield in 1799. Greenfield is located at N39 21.11958 W83 22.96284 (GPS coordinates), about 21 miles due west of Chillicothe. State Route 28, which runs between Greenfield and Chillicothe, was to be known as General Duncan McArthur Highway per act of the 113th Ohio General Assembly to the effect of:

Ohio Revised Code 5533.11 General Duncan McArthur highway.

The road known as state route number twenty-eight, running in a northeasterly and southwesterly direction, commencing at the village of Milford in Hamilton and Clermont counties and extending through the counties of Clermont, Warren, Clinton, Highland, and Ross to a point of junction with United States route number fifty, and through the municipal corporations of Blanchester, Martinsville, New Vienna, Highland, Leesburg, and Greenfield shall be known as “General Duncan McArthur highway.”

The director of transportation shall erect suitable uniform markers upon said highway indicating the name thereof, such markers to have a background of white enamel, bearing in black enamel the bust of General Duncan McArthur and the words “General Duncan McArthur highway.” Effective Date: 09-28-1973

He was elected to the United States House of Representatives from Ohio's 3rd congressional district while serving in the militia during the War of 1812, but never qualified for office, preferring to continue serving in the military. He was appointed colonel of Ohio volunteers and was second-in-command to General William Hull at Fort Detroit. He and Colonel Lewis Cass were not present at Detroit when Hull surrendered and were greatly angered to hear that Hull had included both of them in the capitulation. When a British officer notified him of the surrender, McArthur is said to have torn off his epalettes and broke his sword in a fit of rage, although historians note similar stories were told about other officers as well. He was paroled and returned to Ohio. He was appointed a Brigadier General in the U.S. Army and commanded a brigade under William H. Harrison during the battle of the Thames. Shortly thereafter he was placed in charge of the Army of the Northwest following Harrison's resignation. He did not face much action but was instead engaged in negotiating treaties with the Indians. In 1817, he was one of two commissioners (along with Lewis Cass) who negotiated the Treaty of Fort Meigs, which was signed September 29 of that year with several Native American tribes.

McArthur served intermittently thereafter in the Ohio House of Representatives and Ohio State Senate, as well as a single term from 1823-1825 in the United States House of Representatives before winning election to the governorship in 1830. McArthur served a single term and did not seek re-election.

McArthur is buried in Grandview Cemetery, Chillicothe, Ross County, Ohio, USA. The small village of McArthur, Ohio, the seat of Vinton County, is named for him.

References

• Cramer, C. H. (April 1937). "Duncan McArthur: The Military Phase". Ohio History (Ohio Historical Society) 46 (2): 128–147. http://publications.ohiohistory.org/ohstemplate.cfm?action=detail&Page=0046128.html&StartPage=128&EndPage=147&volume=46 
• Duncan McArthur at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
• "Duncan McArthur". Appleton's cyclopædia of American biography. 4. 1887. pp. 72–73. http://books.google.com/books?id=q54LAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA72.  Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography

Political offices
Preceded by Thomas Kirker	Speaker of the Ohio Senate 1809–1810	Succeeded by Thomas Kirker
	Speaker of the Ohio House of Representatives 1817–1818	Succeeded by Joseph Richardson
Preceded by Allen Trimble	Governor of Ohio 1830–1832	Succeeded by Robert Lucas
Ohio House of Representatives
Preceded by William Creighton, Sr. James Dunlap John Evans Elias Langham	Representative from Ross and Franklin Counties 1804–1805 Served alongside: Michael Baldwin, James Dunlap, William Patton	Succeeded by James Dunlap Elias Langham David Shelby Abraham J. Williams
Preceded by James Barnes John McDougall Samuel Swearingen	Representative from Ross County 1815–1816 Served alongside: James Barnes, Thomas Scott	Succeeded by James Barnes James Manary William Vance
Preceded by James Barnes James Manary William Vance	Representative from Ross County 1817–1818 Served alongside: James Manary, William Vance	Succeeded by Joseph Kerr John Sill James S. Swearingen
Ohio Senate
Preceded by Abraham Claypool Joseph Kerr	Senator from Ross and Franklin Counties 1805–1806 Served alongside: Joseph Kerr	Succeeded by Himself Abraham Claypool as Senators from Ross, Franklin, and Highland Counties
Preceded by Himself Joseph Kerr as Senators from Ross and Franklin Counties	Senator from Ross, Franklin, and Highland Counties 1806–1808 Served alongside: Abraham Claypool	District eliminated
New district	Senator from Ross County 1808–1813 Served alongside: Henry Massie (1808–1810), Robert Dunlap (1810–1811), James Dunlap (1811–1813)	Succeeded by William Creighton, Sr. James Dunlap
Preceded by Samuel Swearingen	Senator from Ross County 1821–1823	Succeeded by David Crouse
United States House of Representatives
New district	Representative from Ohio's 3rd congressional district 1813–1813-04-05	Succeeded by William Creighton, Jr.
Preceded by John Sloane	Representative from Ohio's 6th congressional district 1823-03-04 – 1825-03-03	Succeeded by John Thomson