Amos Lane (March 1, 1778 – September 2, 1849) was an American lawyer and politician who served two terms as a

U.S. Representative The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Article One of th ...

from

Indiana Indiana ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Michigan to the northwest, Michigan to the north and northeast, Ohio to the east, the Ohio River and Kentucky to the s ...

from 1833 to 1837. His youngest son, James Henry Lane, was a controversial figure during the

Bleeding Kansas Bleeding Kansas, Bloody Kansas, or the Border War, was a series of violent civil confrontations in Kansas Territory, and to a lesser extent in western Missouri, between 1854 and 1859. It emerged from a political and ideological debate over the ...

struggles prompted by the Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854, as well as the commander of the Kansas Brigade effecting the emancipation of slaves in

Missouri Missouri (''see #Etymology and pronunciation, pronunciation'') is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it border ...

during the American Civil War.

Early life and education

Amos Lane was descended from Scotch-Irish American colonialists who had originally settled in the Pennsylvanians, some of whom emigrated to New York. Amos Lane was born in that state on March 1, 1779. There he labored on his father's farm in his boyhood, and was apprenticed at the age of 14 to a

millwright A millwright is a craftsman or skilled tradesman who installs, dismantles, maintains, repairs, reassembles, and moves machinery in factories, power plants, and construction sites. The term ''millwright'' (also known as ''industrial mechanic'') ...

, serving four years. Lane studied law for two years (1803–1805) and was admitted to the bar in

Ogdensburg, New York Ogdensburg is a city in St. Lawrence County, New York, United States. The population was 10,064 at the 2020 census. In the late 18th century, European-American settlers named the community after American land owner and developer Samuel Ogden. T ...

. He soon married a widow, Mrs. Mary Howes, daughter of Revolutionary War veteran John Foote. Mary, of

Puritan The Puritans were English Protestants in the 16th and 17th centuries who sought to rid the Church of England of what they considered to be Roman Catholic practices, maintaining that the Church of England had not been fully reformed and should b ...

stock, who had received as superb an education available to an American white woman of her day. The Foote side of the family included a

Connecticut Connecticut ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York (state), New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. ...

governor and a U.S. Senator. The couple left New York in 1807 and ultimately settled in

Lawrenceburg, Indiana Lawrenceburg is a city and the county seat of Dearborn County, Indiana, United States. The population was 5,129 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It is the largest city in Dearborn County. Lawrenceburg is in southeast Indiana, on th ...

Dearborn County Dearborn County is one of 92 counties of the U.S. state of Indiana. Located on the Ohio border near the southeast corner of the state, Dearborn County was formed in 1803 from a portion of Hamilton County, Ohio. In 2020, the population was 50,6 ...

on the Ohio River. Amos and Mary had seven children, six of whom reached maturity, comprising three sons and three daughters. The sons had promising or notable careers. John Foote Lane (1810–1936) was a West Point graduate and studied law with William Wirt. He organized and led a regiment of Creek and

Cherokee The Cherokee (; , or ) people are one of the Indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands of the United States. Prior to the 18th century, they were concentrated in their homelands, in towns along river valleys of what is now southwestern ...

Indians, and died fighting in the

Seminole Wars The Seminole Wars (also known as the Florida Wars) were a series of three military conflicts between the United States and the Seminoles that took place in Florida between about 1816 and 1858. The Seminoles are a Native American nation which co ...

. George W. Lane was a successful merchant, railroad director, and newspaper publisher. Lane's youngest son, James Henry Lane played key political and military roles in establishing

Kansas Territory The Territory of Kansas was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from May 30, 1854, until January 29, 1861, when the eastern portion of the territory was admitted to the United States, Union as the Slave and ...

as a free state and advancing

Abraham Lincoln Abraham Lincoln (February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was the 16th president of the United States, serving from 1861 until Assassination of Abraham Lincoln, his assassination in 1865. He led the United States through the American Civil War ...

’s emancipation policies freeing slaves in Missouri during the American Civil War.

Political career

Lane, a staunch supporter of

Democratic-Republican The Democratic-Republican Party (also referred to by historians as the Republican Party or the Jeffersonian Republican Party), was an American political party founded by Thomas Jefferson and James Madison in the early 1790s. It championed l ...

President

Thomas Jefferson Thomas Jefferson (, 1743July 4, 1826) was an American Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father and the third president of the United States from 1801 to 1809. He was the primary author of the United States Declaration of Indepe ...

, was denied admission to the Dearborn bar by a county administrator and judge who were partisan Federalists. Lane took his family to the state of

Kentucky Kentucky (, ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north, West Virginia to the ...

, and after several moves, settled briefly in

Burlington, Kentucky Burlington is a census-designated place (CDP) in and the county seat of Boone County, Kentucky, United States. The population was 17,318 at the 2020 census. History Burlington was incorporated in 1824. However, today Burlington is unincorpora ...

in Boone County, where he was granted a license to practice law in 1814. Shortly thereafter, the political situation shifted in Lawrenceburg and there he embarked on a successful practice as a criminal lawyer . Assigned as prosecuting attorney for Dearborn county in 1815, his political and legal career advanced, and he was elected to Indiana's lower house of congress in 1816, where he was frequently selected as a committee chairman. In 1817, he was selected as the speaker of the Indiana house of representatives. Lane was elected as a Jacksonian to the Twenty-third and Twenty-fourth Congresses (March 4, 1833 – March 3, 1837). He was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1836 to the Twenty-fifth Congress. Initially in favor of

internal improvements Internal improvements is the term used historically in the United States for public works from the end of the American Revolution through much of the 19th century, mainly for the creation of a transportation infrastructure: roads, turnpikes, can ...

during his early legislative tenure, he supported

John Quincy Adams John Quincy Adams (; July 11, 1767 – February 23, 1848) was the sixth president of the United States, serving from 1825 to 1829. He previously served as the eighth United States secretary of state from 1817 to 1825. During his long diploma ...

and

Henry Clay Henry Clay (April 12, 1777June 29, 1852) was an American lawyer and statesman who represented Kentucky in both the United States Senate, U.S. Senate and United States House of Representatives, House of Representatives. He was the seventh Spea ...

in the

1824 United States presidential election Presidential elections were held in the United States from October 26 to December 2, 1824. Andrew Jackson, John Quincy Adams, Henry Clay and William Crawford were the primary contenders for the presidency. The result of the election was in ...

, but switched his allegiance to

Andrew Jackson Andrew Jackson (March 15, 1767 – June 8, 1845) was the seventh president of the United States from 1829 to 1837. Before Presidency of Andrew Jackson, his presidency, he rose to fame as a general in the U.S. Army and served in both houses ...

and the Democratic Party after 1828. As such, he supported the dismantling of the

Second Bank of the United States The Second Bank of the United States was the second federally authorized Second Report on Public Credit, Hamiltonian national bank in the United States. Located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the bank was chartered from February 1816 to January ...

, while emerging as a leading proponent of Democratic Party policy in southeastern Indiana. Lane would remain “an influential man in the Democratic party for more than a quarter of a century” according to historian Wendell Holmes Stephenson. Judge O. F. Roberts, of

Aurora, Indiana Aurora is a city in Dearborn County, Indiana, United States. The population was 3,479 at the 2020 census. Geography According to the 2010 census, Aurora has a total area of , of which (or 89.41%) is land and (or 10.59%) is water. History Aur ...

ranked Amos Lane's oratorical skills second only to contemporaries

Thomas Corwin Thomas Corwin (July 29, 1794 – December 18, 1865), also known as Tom Corwin, The Wagon Boy, and Black Tom was a politician from the state of Ohio. He represented Ohio in both houses of Congress and served as the 15th governor of Ohio and the 2 ...

and Henry Clay: Roberts added: “He could express more sarcasm and bitterness by his manner of speaking than any man I ever heard before an audience.”

Later life

He resumed the practice of law. He was again a member of the Indiana House of Representatives in 1839 and served as speaker. Amos Lane died in

, September 2, 1849. He was interred in the Lawrenceburg Cemetery. He was reinterred in Greendale Cemetery.Stephenson, 1930 p. 14: “...his death in 1849…” month and day not specified here.

Notes

Sources

* Stephenson, Wendell Holmes. 1930. ''The Political Career of James H. Lane.'' Volume 3.

Kansas Historical Society The Kansas Historical Society is the official state historical society of Kansas. Headquartered in Topeka, it operates as "the trustee of the state" for the purpose of maintaining the state's history and operates the Kansas Museum of Histor ...

Topeka, Kansas Topeka ( ) is the capital city of the U.S. state of Kansas and the county seat of Shawnee County. It is along the Kansas River in the central part of Shawnee County, in northeastern Kansas, in the Central United States. As of the 2020 cen ...

. Doctoral dissertation, William O. Lynch, doctoral publicaton 13-1054.

External links

Amos Lane Letter
in the collection of the

Indiana State Library and Historical Bureau The Indiana State Library and Historical Bureau is a public library building, located in Indianapolis, Indiana. It is the largest public library in the state of Indiana, housing over 60,000 manuscripts. Established in 1934, the library has gathe ...

. {{DEFAULTSORT:Lane, Amos 1778 births 1849 deaths Indiana Democratic-Republicans Indiana lawyers Jacksonian members of the United States House of Representatives from Indiana Kentucky lawyers People from Aurora, Cayuga County, New York People from Burlington, Kentucky People from Lawrenceburg, Indiana Speakers of the Indiana House of Representatives 19th-century members of the United States House of Representatives 19th-century members of the Indiana General Assembly