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Joseph Rogers Underwood (October 24, 1791 – August 23, 1876) was an American politician, lawyer and judge who was a
United States Representative The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the Bicameralism, 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 Artic ...
and
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from
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 ...
.


Early and family life

Joseph Underwood was born in
Goochland County, Virginia Goochland County is a county located in the Piedmont of the Commonwealth of Virginia. Its southern border is formed by the James River. As of the 2020 census, the population was 24,727. Its county seat is Goochland. Goochland County is inclu ...
to John Underwood, a veteran of the American Revolutionary War, and his wife Frances Rogers. His younger brother Warner Lewis Underwood later also represented Kentucky's 3rd Congressional district. Joseph Underwood moved to
Barren County, Kentucky Barren County is a County (United States), county located in the south-central portion of the U.S. state of Kentucky. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 44,485. Its county seat is Glasgow, Kentucky, Glasgow. T ...
in 1803 and lived with his uncle, Edmund Rogers. He attended private schools and graduated from Transylvania College in
Lexington, Kentucky Lexington is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city coterminous with and the county seat of Fayette County, Kentucky, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census the city's population was 322,570, making it the List of ...
in 1811. He studied read law in Lexington under Robert Wickliffe, but interrupted those studies to serve in the
War of 1812 The War of 1812 was fought by the United States and its allies against the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom and its allies in North America. It began when the United States United States declaration of war on the Uni ...
as a
Lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a Junior officer, junior commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations, as well as fire services, emergency medical services, Security agency, security services ...
in the Thirteenth Regiment of the Kentucky Infantry. He married Eliza McCowes Trotter on March 26, 1817, and they had several children before her death in 1835, including Eugene Underwood (1818–1893), Julia Underwood Cox (1822–1875)(whose Washington D.C. husband John Threlkeld Cox, the son of the Mayor of Georgetown would become a Confederate cavalry colonel and perhaps brevet brigadier general), Eliza Underwood Rutledge (1829–1865) (whose Tennessee husband became a Confederate Major) and Jane Underwood Rogers (1830–1907). After her death, Underwood married Elizabeth Threlkeld Cox (1818–1884) (sister of John Threlkeld Cox who married his eldest daughter Julia). Their children included John Cox Underwood (1840–1913), Robert Underwood (1844–1907), Lily Underwood Munford (1854–1885), and Josephine Underwood Woods (1858–1920).


Career

He was admitted to the bar in 1813 and began practicing law in
Glasgow, Kentucky Glasgow is a home rule-class city in Barren County, Kentucky, United States. It is the seat of its county. Glasgow is the principal city of the Glasgow micropolitan area, which comprises Barren and Metcalfe counties. The population was 15,01 ...
. Underwood served among Glasgow's town trustees and as county auditor until 1823. He was a member of the
Kentucky House of Representatives The Kentucky House of Representatives is the lower house of the Kentucky General Assembly. It is composed of 100 Representatives elected from single-member districts throughout the Commonwealth. Not more than two counties can be joined to form a ...
from 1816 to 1819. In 1823, he moved to
Bowling Green, Kentucky Bowling Green is a city in Warren County, Kentucky, United States, and its county seat. Its population was 72,294 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of cities in Kentucky, third-most populous city in the stat ...
, and again was elected to the State House of Representatives, serving from 1825 to 1826. He ran unsuccessfully for
lieutenant governor of Kentucky The lieutenant governor of Kentucky was created under the state's second constitution, which was ratified in 1799. The inaugural officeholder was Alexander Scott Bullitt, who took office in 1800 following his election to serve under James Garra ...
in 1828, then served as a judge of the
Court of Appeals An appellate court, commonly called a court of appeal(s), appeal court, court of second instance or second instance court, is any court of law that is empowered to hear a case upon appeal from a trial court or other lower tribunal. Appellat ...
from 1828 until 1835, following the Old Court-New Court controversy. An opponent of
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 outspoken emancipationist, Underwood was elected as a Whig to the
United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the Bicameralism, 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 Artic ...
, serving Kentucky's District 3 from March 4, 1835, until March 3, 1843. There he was chairman of the U.S. House Committee on the District of Columbia. He declined to be a candidate for renomination in 1843, and resumed the practice of law. He was a presidential elector on the Whig ticket in 1844, and voters again elected him to the State House in 1846, where he served as speaker. Underwood was elected as a Whig to the
United States Senate The United States Senate is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the United States House of Representatives, U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and ...
and served from March 4, 1847, to March 3, 1853, when he did not run for reelection. Underwood manumitted his slaves and sent them to
Liberia Liberia, officially the Republic of Liberia, is a country on the West African coast. It is bordered by Sierra Leone to Liberia–Sierra Leone border, its northwest, Guinea to Guinea–Liberia border, its north, Ivory Coast to Ivory Coast–Lib ...
, he also urged others to do likewise, although he supported the
Compromise of 1850 The Compromise of 1850 was a package of five separate bills passed by the United States Congress in September 1850 that temporarily defused tensions between slave and free states during the years leading up to the American Civil War. Designe ...
. Before the
American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...
, Underwood campaigned in Kentucky for the Constitutional Union Party. He inherited seven slaves in 1858 when his older cousin died however he immediately manumitted them as well. He wanted slavery to end, but also favored a form of gradual emancipation rather than immediate emancipation. He did not believe the federal government had the authority to impose slavery-related laws on states according to the constitution, but was opposed to secession. He ran for the state legislature again and was elected, serving two more terms, from 1861 to 1863 and fighting secessionists in the border state legislature. However, two of his sons would support the Confederacy. He attended the Democratic National Convention in 1864 and helped rebuild that party in the state. During the civil war he was a "strong Union sympathizer" and was outspoken about his support for the union.


Death and legacy

Underwood died near Bowling Green.
Western Kentucky University Western Kentucky University (WKU) is a public university in Bowling Green, Kentucky, United States. It was founded by the Commonwealth of Kentucky in 1906, though its roots reach back a few decades earlier. It operates regional campuses in Glas ...
has his papers.Folklife Archives, Manuscripts &, "Underwood Collection (MSS 58)" (2011). MSS Finding Aids. Paper 1675. https://digitalcommons.wku.edu/dlsc_mss_fin_aid/1675 His son John C. Underwood became a Confederate Engineer and later Bowling Green's city engineer and briefly mayor, as well as Kentucky's 21st Lieutenant Governor. His grandson Oscar Wilder Underwood (Eugene's son) became majority leader in the U.S. House as well as the U.S. Senate.


References

* ''Dictionary of American Biography'' * * Priest, Nancy L. "Joseph Rogers Underwood: Nineteenth Century Kentucky Orator." Register of the Kentucky Historical Society 75 (October 1977): 386–403 * Stickles, Arndt M., ed.
Joseph R. Underwood's Fragmentary Journal of the New and Old Court Contest in Kentucky
" Filson Club History Quarterly 13 (October 1939): 202–10. {{DEFAULTSORT:Underwood, Joseph Rogers 1791 births 1876 deaths People from Goochland County, Virginia American people of English descent National Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Kentucky Whig Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Kentucky Whig Party United States senators from Kentucky Kentucky Constitutional Unionists Speakers of the Kentucky House of Representatives Members of the Kentucky House of Representatives Judges of the Kentucky Court of Appeals Kentucky lawyers Transylvania University alumni People from Kentucky in the War of 1812 People of Kentucky in the American Civil War Southern Unionists in the American Civil War 19th-century Kentucky state court judges 19th-century American lawyers United States senators who owned slaves Members of the United States House of Representatives who owned slaves 19th-century members of the United States House of Representatives 19th-century United States senators 19th-century members of the Kentucky General Assembly