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(Redirected from Jesse Thomas (Illinois politician)) American politician (1777–1853)

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Jesse Burgess Thomas


United States Senator from Illinois
In office December 3, 1818 – March 3, 1829
Preceded by	Seat established
Succeeded by	John McLean
Delegate to the U.S. House of Representatives from the Indiana Territory's at-large district
In office October 22, 1808 – March 3, 1809
Preceded by	Benjamin Parke
Succeeded by	Jonathan Jennings

Personal details
Born	Jesse Burgess Thomas 1777 Shepherdstown, Virginia, British America (now West Virginia)
Died	May 2, 1853 (aged 75–76) Mount Vernon, Ohio, U.S.
Political party	Democratic-Republican (Before 1824) National Republican (1824–1834)

Jesse Burgess Thomas (1777 – May 2, 1853) was an American lawyer, judge and politician who served as a delegate from the Indiana Territory to the tenth Congress and later served as president of the Constitutional Convention which led to Illinois being admitted to the Union. He became one of Illinois' first two Senators, and is best known as the author of the Missouri Compromise of 1820. After his retirement from the U.S. Senate in 1829 he lived the rest of his life in Ohio.

Early and family life

Thomas was probably born in Shepherdstown, Virginia (now West Virginia), in part according to his 1850 census entry, although Appleton's Cyclopedia stated he was born somewhat east on what became the National Road in Hagerstown, Maryland (as was his slightly elder brother) and that he was descended from Lord Baltimore. His family moved to Kentucky when Jesse was an infant. He married Rebecca McKenzie (1776–1851) of New York, but they had no children who survived.

Career

Thomas studied law with his elder brother Richard Symmes Thomas (1772–1828) in Bracken County, Kentucky, along the Ohio River, then moved to nearby Mason County, Kentucky, where he 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 fellow delegates chose him as their speaker from 1805 to 1808.

When Benjamin Parke resigned as the territorial delegate to Congress, Thomas was appointed to fill the vacancy from October 22, 1808, until March 3, 1809, when Thomas moved westward to the new Illinois Territory as discussed below. Jonathan Jennings succeeded him as Indiana's territorial delegate and would later become the new state of Indiana's first U.S. representative and later Indiana's Governor.

Thomas moved westward to Kaskaskia, Illinois, on the Mississippi River (which made it flood-prone and ultimately transformed it into an island), then Cahokia and later Edwardsville in Madison County, Illinois, where Thomas would later train his nephew, somewhat confusingly named Jesse B. Thomas, Jr., who would have a distinguished career as an Illinois lawyer and judge.

When Illinois became a territory in 1809, President James Madison (with the consent of the U.S. Senate) appointed Thomas judge of the United States court for the northwestern judicial district. Thomas exercised those duties from 1809 until 1818. Voters from St. Clair County (the oldest county in Illinois and with Cahokia as its major town) elected Thomas as Democratic-Republican to the Illinois State Constitutional Convention in 1818. Fellow delegates elected him to preside over the convention, which chose not to accept slavery in the new state. Upon the new state's admittance to the Union, fellow legislators elected Thomas to the U.S. Senate, in which he would serve for two terms (from 1818 until his retirement in 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 the rest of his life.

Death and legacy

About two years after the death of his wife, Thomas killed himself on May 2, 1853, having lived more than seven decades. He is buried in Mound View Cemetery. Thomas's nephew, Jesse B. Thomas, Jr. (1806–1850), son of his brother Richard Symmes Thomas, served as Illinois Attorney General and on the Illinois Supreme Court.

References

Appleton's Cyclopedia, vol. VI, p. 84
"THOMAS, Jesse Burgess | US House of Representatives: History, Art & Archives".
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.

U.S. House of Representatives
Preceded byBenjamin Parke	Delegate to the U.S. House of Representatives from the Indiana Territory's at-large congressional district 1808–1809	Succeeded byJonathan Jennings
U.S. Senate
New seat	U.S. Senator (Class 3) from Illinois 1818–1829 Served alongside: Ninian Edwards, John McLean, Elias Kane	Succeeded byJohn McLean
Preceded byThomas Hill Williams	Chair of the Senate Public Lands Committee 1820–1823	Succeeded byDavid Barton

v t e United States senators from Illinois
Class 2	Thomas McLean Baker Robinson McRoberts Semple S. Douglas Browning Richardson Yates Logan Davis Cullom Lewis McCormick Deneen Lewis Slattery Brooks P. Douglas Percy Simon Durbin
Class 3	Edwards McLean Kane Ewing Young Breese Shields Trumbull Oglesby Logan Farwell Palmer Mason Hopkins Lorimer Sherman McKinley Glenn Dieterich Lucas Dirksen Smith Stevenson III Dixon Moseley Braun Fitzgerald Obama Burris Kirk Duckworth

v t e Members of the U.S. House of Representatives from Indiana
1st district	Prince Call Boon Blake Boon Proffit R. Owen Embree Albertson Lockhart Miller Lockhart Niblack Law Niblack Fuller Heilman Kleiner Hovey Posey Parrett Taylor Hemenway Foster Boehne Sr. Lieb Denton Luhring W. Wilson Rowbottom Boehne Jr. Schulte Madden Benjamin Hall Visclosky Mrvan
2nd district	Jennings J. Carr Ewing J. W. Davis Ewing J. W. Davis Thompson Henley Dunham English Cravens Kerr Wolfe J. Williams Humphreys Cobb O'Neall Bretz Hardy Miers Chaney Cullop Bland Greenwood Durgan Halleck Landgrebe Fithian Sharp McIntosh M. Pence Chocola Donnelly Walorski Yakym
3rd district	Test O. Smith Test Carty J. Carr Graham J. Carr J. L. White T. Smith J. L. Robinson Dunham G. G. Dunn Hughes W. Dunn Harrington R. Hill Hunter Holman Kerr N. Carr Bicknell Stockslager Howard J. Brown Tracewell Zenor Cox Dunbar Gardner Dunbar Crowe Pettengill Grant Crook S. Crumpacker Nimtz Brademas Hiler Roemer Souder Stutzman Banks Stutzman (elect)
4th district	A. Lane G. H. Dunn T. Smith Cravens C. Smith Julian Parker J. Lane Cumback Foley Holman Farquhar Holman Julian Je. Wilson New Sexton New Holman Watson Holman Griffith Dixon Benham Canfield Farley Gillie Kruse Adair Roush Quayle Coats Long Souder Buyer Rokita Baird
5th district	McCarty Rariden Kennedy W. Brown Wick W. Brown Hendricks Parker Holloway Kilgore Julian Coburn Holman Browne Matson Cooper Overstreet Faris Holliday Moss Sanders N. Johnson Gillen Griswold Harness Walsh Beamer Roush Roudebush Hillis Jontz Buyer Burton Brooks Spartz
6th district	Kinnard Herod Wick Wallace J. W. Davis G. G. Dunn Gorman Hendricks Barbour Gregg Porter Dumont Coburn Voorhees Hunter M. Robinson W. Myers Browne H. Johnson Watson Barnard Gray Comstock Elliott Larrabee Jenckes N. Johnson Harden Wampler Roudebush Bray D. Evans Burton M. Pence Messer G. Pence Shreve (elect)
7th district	Hannegan A. White Howard H. S. Lane Wright McGaughey Thompson McGaughey J. G. Davis Scott J. G. Davis Voorhees Washburn Orth Manson Cason Landers Hanna Matyr Peelle English Bynum Henry Overstreet Korbly Moores Updike Ludlow Greenwood Landis Noland Bray J. Myers Pease Kerns J. Carson A. Carson
8th district	Pettit McDonald Mace Ja. Wilson A. White Orth Tyner Hunter Hostetler Peirce Lamb Johnston Brookshire Faris Henry Cromer Adair Vestal Boehne Jr. La Follette E. Mitchell Denton Merrill Denton Zion Hayes Cornwell Deckard McCloskey Hostettler Ellsworth Bucshon Messmer (elect)
9th district	Sample Cathcart Fitch Eddy Shanks Cason M. White Orth Doxey Ward Cheadle Waugh Hanly Landis Morrison Purnell Crowe E. Wilson Hogan E. Wilson L. Hamilton B. Hill Sodrel B. Hill Young Hollingsworth Houchin
10th district	Kennedy Rockhill Harlan Brenton Chamberlain Case W. Mitchell Edgerton Defrees W. Williams Sayler Haymond Calkins Motte T. Wood W. Owen Patton Hammond Hatch E. Crumpacker Peterson W. Wood Gray Springer Harvey Harmon Harvey Roudebush Dennis Sharp Jacobs Jr. J. Carson
11th district	Harlan Pettit Shanks McDowell Stilwell Shanks Packard J. Evans Cowgill Steele Martin Steele Landis Rauch Kraus Cook Hall Griswold Larrabee Ludlow Jacobs Sr. Brownson Barr Bruce Jacobs Jr. Hudnut Jacobs Jr.
12th district	A. Hamilton Colerick Lowry J. B. White McClellan McNagny Leighty J. M. Robinson Gilbert Gilhams Cline Fairfield Hogg Ludlow
13th district	Baker Calkins Shively Ford Shively Conn Royse Brick Barnhart Hickey Pettengill
At-large	Hendricks Jennings Packard / Orth / W. Williams
Territory	Parke Thomas Jennings

v t e Chairmen of the United States Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources
Public Lands (1816–1921)	Morrow Williams Thomas Barton King Kane Poindexter Ewing Walker Smith Woodbridge Breese Felch Borland Dodge Stuart Johnson Harlan Pomeroy Sprague Oglesby McDonald Plumb Dolph Berry Dubois Hansbrough Nelson Smoot Chamberlain Myers Smoot
Public Lands and Surveys (1921–1947)	Smoot Lenroot Ladd Stanfield Nye Kendrick Wagner Adams Hatch
Interior and Insular Affairs (1947–1977)	Butler O'Mahoney Butler Cordon Murray Anderson Jackson
Energy and Natural Resources (1977–)	Jackson McClure Johnston F. Murkowski Bingaman F. Murkowski Bingaman Domenici Bingaman Wyden Landrieu L. Murkowski Manchin

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