John Beatty (December 10, 1749 – May 30, 1826) was an American

physician A physician, medical practitioner (British English), medical doctor, or simply doctor is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through the Medical education, study, Med ...

, statesman and slaveowner from

Princeton, New Jersey The Municipality of Princeton is a Borough (New Jersey), borough in Mercer County, New Jersey, United States. It was established on January 1, 2013, through the consolidation of the Borough of Princeton, New Jersey, Borough of Princeton and Pri ...

Early life

He was born in Neshaminy in the

Province of Pennsylvania The Province of Pennsylvania, also known as the Pennsylvania Colony, was a British North American colony founded by William Penn, who received the land through a grant from Charles II of England in 1681. The name Pennsylvania was derived from ...

on December 10, 1749. Beatty was the oldest of ten children of Irish born Rev. Charles Clinton Beatty (1715–1772) and Anne (

née The birth name is the name of the person given upon their birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name or to the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a births registe ...

Reading) Beatty (1723–1768), who were married in 1746. His father was a Presbyterian minister who did missionary work among the Native Americans. His maternal grandfather was John Reading (1686–1767), president of the

New Jersey Provincial Council His Majesty's Council for the Province of New Jersey was the upper house of the New Jersey Legislature under colonial rule until it was replaced by the New Jersey Legislative Council under the New Jersey Constitution of 1776. History The Provinc ...

and acting Governor of the province of New Jersey. His paternal grandparents were John Beatty (1645–1729) and Christiana (née Clinton) Beatty (1685–1776). John's grandmother was the daughter of

James Clinton Major general (United States), Major-General James Clinton (August 9, 1736 – September 22, 1812) was a Continental Army officer and politician who fought in the American Revolutionary War. During the war he, along with John Sullivan (ge ...

(1667–1718) and the sister of

Charles Clinton Col. Charles Clinton (1690 – 19 November 1773) was an Anglo-Irish soldier and politician in colonial America. A colonel of the French and Indian War, he was the father of General James Clinton and George Clinton, and the grandfather of DeWit ...

(1690–1773) (himself the father of Revolutionary War Major General

(1736–1812) and

Vice President A vice president or vice-president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vi ...

George Clinton (1739–1812), and the grandfather of

New York Governor The governor of New York is the head of government of the U.S. state of New York. The governor is the head of the executive branch of New York's state government and the commander-in-chief of the state's military forces. The governor ha ...

DeWitt Clinton DeWitt Clinton (March 2, 1769February 11, 1828) was an American politician and Naturalism (philosophy), naturalist. He served as a United States Senate, United States senator, as the mayor of New York City, and as the sixth governor of New York. ...

(1769–1828)).Moore, Charles B., "Introductory Sketch to the History of the Clinton Family", ''The New York Genealogical and Biographical Record'', (Richard Henry Greene at al, eds.), New York Genealogical and Biographical Society, 1880
/ref> Beatty graduated from the College of New Jersey (later known as

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private Ivy League research university in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial ...

) in 1769. He was a student of

Founding Father The following is a list of national founders of sovereign states who were credited with establishing a state. National founders are typically those who played an influential role in setting up the systems of governance, (i.e., political system ...

Benjamin Rush Benjamin Rush (April 19, 1813) was an American revolutionary, a Founding Father of the United States and signatory to the U.S. Declaration of Independence, and a civic leader in Philadelphia, where he was a physician, politician, social refor ...

Career

Beatty became a doctor and opened his first practice in Hartsville, Pennsylvania. He rose to the rank of major in the 6th Pennsylvania Regiment of the

Continental Army The Continental Army was the army of the United Colonies representing the Thirteen Colonies and later the United States during the American Revolutionary War. It was formed on June 14, 1775, by a resolution passed by the Second Continental Co ...

during the

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 the armed conflict that comprised the final eight years of the broader American Revolution, in which Am ...

. He was captured at the surrender of Fort Washington on November 16, 1776. After his exchange, he was appointed Commissary General for Prisoners with the rank of colonel. By the end of the war he had become a resident of

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...

, serving as a member of the

New Jersey Legislative Council The New Jersey Legislative Council was the upper house of the New Jersey Legislature under the New Jersey Constitution of 1776. It replaced the New Jersey Provincial Council under colonial rule and was replaced by the New Jersey Senate under the ...

(now the

New Jersey Senate The New Jersey Senate is the upper house of the New Jersey Legislature by the Constitution of 1844, replacing the Legislative Council. There are 40 legislative districts, representing districts with an average population of 232,225 (2020 figure ...

) from 1781 to 1783, representing Middlesex County, and delegate from that state to the

Continental Congress The Continental Congress was a series of legislature, legislative bodies, with some executive function, for the Thirteen Colonies of British America, Great Britain in North America, and the newly declared United States before, during, and after ...

in 1784 and 1785. In 1784, when Thomas Jefferson's proposed ban on slavery in all future territories came up for a vote in Congress, Beatty became sick and was absent from the meeting. As Jefferson noted, " esey would have been for it, but there were but two members, one of whom eattywas sick in his chambers"; thus, New Jersey could not submit its vote. The proposal failed to pass by one vote. Beatty was the speaker of the

New Jersey General Assembly The New Jersey General Assembly is the lower house of the New Jersey Legislature. Since the election of 1967 (1968 session), the Assembly has consisted of 80 members. Two members are elected from each of New Jersey's 40 legislative districts f ...

from 1789 to 1790, an unsuccessful candidate for the U.S. House of Representatives in 1791, and a member of the

U.S. House of Representatives 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 ...

in the Third Congress from 1793 to 1795. While serving in the U.S. House, he was one of nine representatives to vote against the

Eleventh Amendment to the United States Constitution The Eleventh Amendment (Amendment XI) is an amendment to the United States Constitution which was passed by Congress on March 4, 1794, and ratified by the states on February 7, 1795. The Eleventh Amendment restricts the ability of individuals ...

. He later served as

Secretary of State of New Jersey The secretary of state of New Jersey oversees the Department of State, which is one of the original state offices. The Secretary is responsible for overseeing New Jersey State Council on the Arts, artistic, cultural, and New Jersey Historical Com ...

from 1795 to 1805.

Personal life

Beatty was married to Catherine DeKlyn, the daughter of Mary (née Van Sant) DeKlyn and Barnt DeKlyn, who became wealthy selling textiles to the Continental Army during the American Revolution. Together, they were the parents of Robert Beatty and William Beatty. Beatty was admitted as an original member of The

Society of the Cincinnati The Society of the Cincinnati is a lineage society, fraternal, hereditary society founded in 1783 to commemorate the American Revolutionary War that saw the creation of the United States. Membership is largely restricted to descendants of milita ...

in the state of New Jersey, and served as the organization's treasurer from 1823 until his death on May 30, 1826, in Trenton in

Mercer County, New Jersey Mercer County is a county located in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Its county seat is Trenton, also the state capital, but also directly borders the Philadelphia metropolitan area and is included within the Federal Communications Commission's ...

Legacy

The

Presbyterian Historical Society The Presbyterian Historical Society (PHS) is the oldest continuous denominational historical society in the United States.Smylie, James H. 1996. ''A Brief History of the Presbyterians.'' Louisville, Kentucky: Geneva Press. Its mission is to coll ...

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

, has a collection of personal papers, including diaries, correspondences and genealogical notes, related to the Beatty Family. Besides John Beatty's papers, the collection also includes journals by his father, Charles Clinton Beatty, who served as an early missionary with George Duffield among Native Americans.

References

External links

* * *
The Society of the Cincinnati

The American Revolution Institute
{{DEFAULTSORT:Beatty, John 1749 births 1826 deaths Clinton family (New York) Politicians from Bucks County, Pennsylvania American Revolutionary War prisoners of war held by Great Britain Continental Army officers from Pennsylvania Continental Army staff officers Continental Congressmen from New Jersey 18th-century American physicians 19th-century American physicians 19th-century New Jersey politicians Members of the United States House of Representatives from New Jersey Secretaries of state of New Jersey Members of the New Jersey General Assembly Members of the New Jersey Legislative Council Speakers of the New Jersey General Assembly Physicians in the American Revolution Physicians from New Jersey Physicians from Pennsylvania Presidents of the Medical Society of New Jersey Members of the United States House of Representatives who owned slaves 18th-century members of the United States House of Representatives 18th-century members of the New Jersey Legislature Candidates in the 1790–1791 United States elections