Jesse B. Thomas
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Jesse Burgess Thomas | |
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United States Senator from Illinois | |
In office December 3, 1818 – March 3, 1829 | |
Preceded by | none |
Succeeded by | John McLean |
Delegate to the U.S. House of Representatives from Indiana Territory's at-large congressional district | |
In office October 22, 1808 – March 3, 1809 | |
Preceded by | Benjamin Parke |
Succeeded by | Jonathan Jennings |
Personal details | |
Born | 1777 Shepherdstown, Virginia |
Died | May 2, 1853 (aged 75–76) Mount Vernon, Ohio |
Political party | National Republican Democratic-Republican |
Jesse Burgess Thomas (1777 – May 2, 1853) was born in Shepherdstown, Virginia (now West Virginia). He served as a delegate from the Indiana Territory to the tenth Congress and later served as one of Illinois's first two Senators.
Biography
Thomas studied law in Mason County, Kentucky and served as the county clerk until 1803. He then moved north of the Ohio River to Lawrenceburg in Indiana Territory, where he continued to practice law and became the territorial deputy attorney general in 1805. In the same year, he began serving as a delegate to the Territorial house of representatives, and was the body's speaker from 1805-1808.
When Benjamin Parke resigned as the territorial delegate to Congress, Thomas was appointed to fill the vacancy from October 22, 1808 until he moved to Kaskaskia, Illinois on March 3, 1809. Thomas was succeeded as territorial by Jonathan Jennings, the future Governor of the state of Indiana.
When Illinois became a territory in 1809, Thomas was appointed judge of the United States court for the northwestern judicial district, a position he held from 1809 until 1818. In 1818, he presided over the Illinois State Constitutional Convention and upon admittance to the Union, he served as Democratic-Republican Senator for two terms (1818–1829).
In 1820, Thomas proposed the Missouri Compromise to limit slavery above the southern border of Missouri. In 1823 he switched parties and became a Crawford Republican. He served as chairman on the Committee on Public Lands in the 16th and 18th Congresses. He refused the nomination for a third term and moved to Mount Vernon, Ohio in 1829, where he lived until he committed suicide on May 2, 1853.[1] He is buried in Mound View Cemetery.
Thomas's nephew, Jesse B. Thomas, Jr. served as Illinois Attorney General and on the Illinois Supreme Court.
References
- ^ Bateman, Newton; Paul Selby; Franices M. Shonkwiler; Henry L Fowkes (1908). Historical Encyclopedia of Illinois. Chicago, IL: Munsell Publishing Company. p. 521.
External links
- United States Congress. "Jesse B. Thomas (id: T000171)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
- Find-A-Grave biography
- 1777 births
- 1853 deaths
- American politicians who committed suicide
- Delegates to the United States House of Representatives from Indiana Territory
- Democratic-Republican Party United States Senators
- Illinois Democratic-Republicans
- Indiana Democratic-Republicans
- Indiana Territory officials
- Jurists who committed suicide
- Kentucky lawyers
- Members of the Indiana Territorial Legislature
- 19th-century American politicians
- People from Mount Vernon, Ohio
- People from Shepherdstown, West Virginia
- Suicides in Ohio
- United States Senators from Illinois
- Members of Congress who served in multiple states