Jacob Burnet (sometimes spelled Burnett) (February 22, 1770May 10, 1853) was an American jurist and statesman from

Ohio Ohio ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the ...

. He served as a U.S. Senator.

Early life

Burnet was born in

Newark, New Jersey Newark ( , ) is the List of municipalities in New Jersey, most populous City (New Jersey), city in the U.S. state of New Jersey, the county seat of Essex County, New Jersey, Essex County, and a principal city of the New York metropolitan area. ...

, the son of Dr. William Burnet. He graduated from the College of New Jersey in 1791, studied law, moved to the

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 part of the unorganized western territory of the United States after the American Revolution. Established ...

and settled in

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ; colloquially nicknamed Cincy) is a city in Hamilton County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. Settled in 1788, the city is located on the northern side of the confluence of the Licking River (Kentucky), Licking and Ohio Ri ...

in 1796. He was admitted to the bar in 1796.

Political career

He was a member of the Territorial councils of Ohio from 1799 to 1802 and served in the Ohio State House from 1814 to 1816. Burnet was considered the "father of the Ohio constitution" and was an associate justice of the

Ohio Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the State of Ohio is the highest court in the U.S. state of Ohio, with final authority over interpretations of Ohio law and the Ohio Constitution. The court has seven members, a chief justice and six associate justices, ...

from 1821 until his resignation in 1828 to serve as United States Senator. He was elected to the U.S. Senate to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of

William Henry Harrison William Henry Harrison (February 9, 1773April 4, 1841) was the ninth president of the United States, serving from March 4 to April 4, 1841, the shortest presidency in U.S. history. He was also the first U.S. president to die in office, causin ...

. He served in the Senate from December 10, 1828, to March 3, 1831. Burnet was elected a member of the American Antiquarian Society in 1815. After leaving Congress, he resumed the practice of law and served as president of Cincinnati College and the Medical College of Ohio. Burnet's ''"Notes on the Early Settlement of the North-western Territory"'' is a primary reference on the early Northwest. He resided in a mansion on the northwest corner of Seventh and Elm streets in Downtown Cincinnati. Burnet died in Cincinnati on May 10, 1853, aged 83. He is interred in Spring Grove Cemetery in Cincinnati.

Family life

Burnet's half-brother David G. Burnet was the first president of the

Republic of Texas The Republic of Texas (), or simply Texas, was a country in North America that existed for close to 10 years, from March 2, 1836, to February 19, 1846. Texas shared borders with Centralist Republic of Mexico, the Republic of the Rio Grande, an ...

Notes

References

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External links

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Congressional Biography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Burnet, Jacob 1770 births 1853 deaths Ohio lawyers Members of the Ohio House of Representatives Northwest Territory officials Justices of the Supreme Court of Ohio Politicians from Newark, New Jersey Politicians from Cincinnati United States senators from Ohio Burials at Spring Grove Cemetery National Republican Party United States senators Ohio National Republicans Princeton University alumni Lawyers from Newark, New Jersey 19th-century American lawyers 19th-century United States senators 19th-century members of the Ohio General Assembly