Benjamin Tappan (May 25, 1773 – April 20, 1857) was a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the District of Ohio and a United States senator from Ohio.

Education and career

Born on May 25, 1773, in

Northampton Northampton () is a market town and civil parish in the East Midlands of England, on the River Nene, north-west of London and south-east of Birmingham. The county town of Northamptonshire, Northampton is one of the largest towns in England; ...

, Province of Massachusetts Bay,

British America British America comprised the colonial territories of the English Empire, which became the British Empire after the 1707 union of the Kingdom of England with the Kingdom of Scotland to form the Kingdom of Great Britain, in the Americas from 16 ...

, Tappan attended the public schools and was apprenticed as a printer and engraver. He traveled to the West Indies and studied painting with

Gilbert Stuart Gilbert Charles Stuart ( Stewart; December 3, 1755 – July 9, 1828) was an American painter from Rhode Island Colony who is widely considered one of America's foremost portraitists. His best-known work is an unfinished portrait of George Washi ...

. He

read law Reading law was the method used in common law countries, particularly the United States, for people to prepare for and enter the legal profession before the advent of law schools. It consisted of an extended internship or apprenticeship under the ...

in 1799. He was admitted to the bar in Hartford, Connecticut and entered private practice in Ravenna,

Northwest Territory The Northwest Territory, also known as the Old Northwest and formally known as the Territory Northwest of the River Ohio, was formed from unorganized western territory of the United States after the American Revolutionary War. Established in 1 ...

(State of Ohio from March 1, 1803) from 1799 to 1803, located in what was the Connecticut Western Reserve until 1800. He was a member of the

Ohio Senate The Ohio Senate is the upper house of the Ohio General Assembly. The State Senate, which meets in the Ohio Statehouse in Columbus, first convened in 1803. Senators are elected for four year terms, staggered every two years such that half of the se ...

from 1803 to 1804. He resumed private practice in Ravenna from 1804 to 1809. He continued private practice in Steubenville, Ohio from 1809 to 1812, and from 1814 to 1816. He was a United States Army major from 1812 to 1814, during the War of 1812. He was a Judge of the

Ohio Court of Common Pleas Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

for the Fifth Judicial District from 1816 to 1823. He resumed private practice in Steubenville from 1823 to 1838. He was a presidential elector on the Democratic ticket in 1832. In October 1838, he formed a law partnership with Edwin Stanton.

Federal judicial service

Tappan received a recess appointment from President Andrew Jackson on October 12, 1833, to a seat on the United States District Court for the District of Ohio vacated by Judge

John Wilson Campbell John Wilson Campbell (February 23, 1782 – September 24, 1833) was a United States representative from Ohio and a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the District of Ohio. Education and career Born on February 2 ...

. He was nominated to the same position by President Jackson on January 20, 1834. His service terminated with the sine die adjournment of the first session of the

23rd United States Congress The 23rd United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, consisting of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C. from March 4, 1833, ...

on June 30, 1834, after his nomination was rejected by the United States Senate on May 29, 1834.

Congressional service

Tappan was elected as a Democrat from Ohio to the United States Senate and served from March 4, 1839, to March 3, 1845. He was Chairman of the Committee to Audit and Control the Contingent Expenses for the 27th and

28th United States Congress The 28th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, consisting of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C. from March 4, 1843 ...

es and Chairman of the Committee on the Library for the 27th United States Congress. He was censured by the Senate in 1844 for breach of confidence for passing copies of a proposed treaty with Texas to the press.

Later career and death

Following his departure from Congress, Tappan resumed private practice in Steubenville from 1845 to 1857. He died on April 12, 1857, in Steubenville, Jefferson County, Ohio. He was interred in Union Cemetery in Steubenville.

Settler and city founder

Tappan was an early settler of the Connecticut Western Reserve in northeastern Ohio and was one of the first settlers in Portage County and the founder of the city of Ravenna.

Family

Tappan was the second child and oldest son of Benjamin Tappan and Sarah (Homes) Tappan, who was a grandniece of Benjamin Franklin. Two of his younger brothers were abolitionists Arthur Tappan and Lewis Tappan. He married, March 20, 1801, Nancy Wright, sister of John C. Wright, afterwards a United States representative from Ohio. They had one son, Benjamin, born in 1812. His first wife having died, Benjamin was married a second time, in 1823, to Betsy (Lord) Frazer, the widow of Eliphalet Frazer. They had one son,

Eli Todd Tappan Eli Todd Tappan (1824–1888) was an American educator, mathematician, author, lawyer and newspaper editor who served as president of Kenyon College, among other public distinctions. He was the son of Senator Benjamin Tappan and the father of aut ...

, later president of Kenyon College.

References

Sources

* * * Daniel Langdon Tappan. ''Tappan-Toppan Genealogy'', Arlington, Massachusetts, 1915, pp. 24–25. * Brown, R. C. and Norris, J. E. ''History of Portage County Ohio'', Chicago, Illinois, 1885, 1972 rev., pp. 521–522.

External links

* , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Tappan, Benjamin 1773 births 1832 United States presidential electors 1857 deaths 19th-century American judges Burials at Union Cemetery-Beatty Park Censured or reprimanded United States senators Democratic Party United States senators from Ohio Judges of the United States District Court for the District of Ohio Ohio state court judges Democratic Party Ohio state senators Ohio University trustees Politicians from Northampton, Massachusetts People from Ravenna, Ohio Politicians from Steubenville, Ohio United States Army officers United States Army personnel of the War of 1812 United States federal judges admitted to the practice of law by reading law United States federal judges appointed by Andrew Jackson Unsuccessful recess appointments to United States federal courts