Robert Lucas (April 1, 1781February 7, 1853) was the 12th governor of Ohio, serving from 1832 to 1836. He also served as the first governor of the

Iowa Territory The Territory of Iowa was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from July 4, 1838, until December 28, 1846, when the southeastern portion of the territory was admitted to the Union as the state of Iowa. The remain ...

from 1838 to 1841.

Early life

Lucas was born in 1781 in what was then Mecklenburg, Virginia (his birthplace's location in modern times is known as

Shepherdstown, West Virginia Shepherdstown is a town in Jefferson County, West Virginia, United States, located in the lower Shenandoah Valley along the Potomac River. Home to Shepherd University, the town's population was 1,734 at the time of the 2010 census. History 18 ...

). He was the son of William Lucas and Susannah Barnes. Lucas came from a Quaker family whose roots stretched back to 1679 in Pennsylvania, though the family had recently moved to Virginia. Lucas' father, an

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...

veteran, owned slaves and large amounts of land. According to family legend, Robert's uncle, Joseph Barnes, built a steam-powered boat long before Fulton's invention. Robert received some early schooling in mathematics and surveying, skills that would prove invaluable to his future work.Parish 1907 Around the age of nineteen, Lucas moved to the Scioto Valley of the Northwest Territory, now Ohio. He was preceded by other family members, including two older brothers and a cousin. One brother would later become a general, while his other brother and his cousin would become Ohio legislators. The family bought large parcels of land; eventually the nearby town of Lucasville was named for them. For his skill in recruiting troops for the Army during the increasing hostilities between England, France, and the U.S., Robert Lucas was made Captain in 1807. He was elected to the Ohio General Assembly for the first time in 1808 as a member of the

Ohio House of Representatives The Ohio House of Representatives is the lower house of the Ohio General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Ohio; the other house of the bicameral legislature being the Ohio Senate. The House of Representatives first met in Ch ...

. He was married to Elizabeth Brown, his landlord's daughter, in 1810. Lucas and his wife had a daughter, Minerva, in 1811. Through complex political maneuvering, Lucas was made a Brigadier General in 1810.

War of 1812 and rise to power

Lucas served in the

War of 1812 The War of 1812 (18 June 1812 – 17 February 1815) was fought by the United States, United States of America and its Indigenous peoples of the Americas, indigenous allies against the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom ...

and was famous for his resourcefulness and calm in an increasingly chaotic campaign. As one of his contemporaries stated, "As a spy he was productive and brave — as a soldier he had no superior." Lucas rose to national prominence during the court-martial trial of General

William Hull William Hull (June 24, 1753 – November 29, 1825) was an American soldier and politician. He fought in the American Revolutionary War and was appointed as Governor of Michigan Territory (1805–13), gaining large land cessions from several Am ...

. Hull was accused of incompetence in the loss of Detroit and the Michigan Territory to the British in June 1812, and the journals Lucas kept during the campaign were used as evidence to convict Hull. Lucas' political career blossomed and in 1818 he was named Speaker of the Ohio State Senate, he was succeeded in 1819 by

Allen Trimble Allen Trimble (November 24, 1783 – February 3, 1870) was a Federalist and National Republican politician from Ohio. Son of James Trimble and Jane Allen. He served as the eighth and tenth governor of Ohio, first concurrently as Senate Speaker ...

, who would also go on to be Governor. He was the Ohio

Presidential elector The United States Electoral College is the group of presidential electors required by the Constitution to form every four years for the sole purpose of appointing the president and vice president. Each state and the District of Columbia app ...

in 1820 for

James Monroe James Monroe ( ; April 28, 1758July 4, 1831) was an American statesman, lawyer, diplomat, and Founding Father who served as the fifth president of the United States from 1817 to 1825. A member of the Democratic-Republican Party, Monroe was ...

. In 1822, he lost the State Senate election to his former brother-in-law and political rival, William Kendall. Shortly after, around 1824, Lucas built a large brick house two miles east of Piketon, named Friendly Grove, which became an epicenter of local political activity, and still stands today. Lucas regained his State Senate seat in 1824, and actively campaigned for Andrew Jackson. He was an Ohio

in 1828 for

Andrew Jackson Andrew Jackson (March 15, 1767 – June 8, 1845) was an American lawyer, planter, general, and statesman who served as the seventh president of the United States from 1829 to 1837. Before being elected to the presidency, he gained fame as ...

. Lucas again lost his senate seat in 1828 to Kendall, and Lucas was part of the electoral congress that elected Jackson President that year. Lucas won his senate seat back in 1829, in a special election after Kendall resigned; again, he was elected Senate speaker. In 1831, Lucas ran for the state assembly and lost, but he quickly rebounded.

Ohio Governor, 1832–1836

As an ardent Democrat, perhaps the highlight of his career was to serve as the chairman and president of the 1832 Democratic National Convention, the

Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...

's first national convention. Lucas was also nominated the Democratic candidate for governor in 1832, and won after a vitriolic campaign.

Lucas County, Ohio Lucas County is a county located in the northwestern part of the U.S. state of Ohio. It is bordered to the east by Lake Erie, and to the southeast by the Maumee River, which runs to the lake. As of the 2020 census, the population was 431,279 ...

, was established and named for the governor during his second term, in defiance of the Michigan Territory, which also claimed the land around the mouth of the Maumee Riverthus provoking the almost-bloodless

Toledo War The Toledo War (1835–36), also known as the Michigan–Ohio War or the Ohio–Michigan War, was an almost bloodless boundary dispute between the U.S. state of Ohio and the adjoining territory of Michigan over what is now known as the Toledo ...

Iowa Territorial Governor, 1838–1841

During his tenure running Iowa, he again showed his tendency towards conflict with other states, starting the Honey War with Missouri. Technically, Lucas was not the first acting governor of the Iowa territory. William B. Conway, appointed territorial secretary by

Martin Van Buren Martin Van Buren ( ; nl, Maarten van Buren; ; December 5, 1782 – July 24, 1862) was an American lawyer and statesman who served as the eighth president of the United States from 1837 to 1841. A primary founder of the Democratic Party, he ...

, arrived in Iowa six weeks before Lucas and thus assumed the duties of acting governor. Friction developed between Lucas and Conway over some of the decisions Conway made in Lucas' absence, and led to an acerbic relationship. Lucas was often at odds with the territorial legislature, his liberal use of absolute veto power and his condescending rebukes of legislators often made him the target of acrimonious exchanges. Conway complained to Van Buren that Lucas committed "vexatious, ungraceful, petulant, ill-natured and dogmatic interferences" with the legislature.Petersen 1952a:317–318 Van Buren and the U. S. Congress responded by limiting the territorial governor’s veto power and his ability to make appointments. Lucas served for only a few years as territorial governor, from 1838–1841, and spent those years mostly in Burlington, Iowa and

Muscatine, Iowa Muscatine ( ) is a city in Muscatine County, Iowa, United States. The population was 23,797 at the time of the 2020 census, an increase from 22,697 in 2000. The county seat of Muscatine County, it is located along the Mississippi River. The lo ...

(then called Bloomington), as there were only provisional accommodations in Iowa City for the territorial legislature.

Death and legacy

Lucas was buried in Oakland Cemetery in Iowa City, Iowa. Lucas' retirement house in Iowa City, Plum Grove, is maintained by the state as a monument to Lucas.

References

Bibliography

*Gilpin, Alec R. (1958) ''The War of 1812 in the Old Northwest.'' Michigan State University Press, Lansing, Michigan. *Parish, John C. (1948) Iowa in the Days of Lucas. ''Palimpsest'' 29:13–18. *Petersen, William J. (1948) Robert Lucas. ''Palimpsest'' 29:1–12. *Petersen, William J. (1952) ''The Story of Iowa: The Progress of an American State.'' Lewis Historical Publishing, New York. *Ryan, Daniel J. (1912) ''History of Ohio: The Rise and Progress of an American State.'' Vol. 3, Century History Co., New York. *Shambaugh, Benjamin F. (editor) 1906 ''Executive Journal of Iowa 1838–1841: Governor Robert Lucas.'' State Historical Society of Iowa, Iowa City. *Swisher, Jacob A. (1948) Plum Grove. ''Palimpsest'' 29:19–32. * *Verchères de Boucherville, Thomas (1940)''War on the Detroit: The Chronicles of Thomas Verchères de Boucherville and the Capitulation by an Ohio Volunteer.'' Edited by Milo M. Quaife. Lakeside Press, Chicago. *Wright, Luella M. (1944) Robert Lucas in Verse. ''Palimpsest'' 25:234–248.

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lucas, Robert 1781 births 1853 deaths American militia generals Military personnel from West Virginia American militiamen in the War of 1812 Governors of Iowa Territory American people of English descent Democratic Party governors of Ohio Democratic Party members of the Ohio House of Representatives Politicians from Iowa City, Iowa People from Pike County, Ohio People from Shepherdstown, West Virginia People from West Virginia in the War of 1812 Presidents of the Ohio State Senate Democratic Party Ohio state senators Robert Lucas family 1820 United States presidential electors 1828 United States presidential electors 19th-century American politicians