Philemon Beecher (March 19, 1776November 30, 1839)The New York Genealogical and Biographical Record, Volume 51, page 27
/ref> was an

Anglo-American Anglo-American can refer to: * the Anglosphere (the Anglo-American world) * Anglo-American, something of, from, or related to Anglo-America ** the Anglo-Americans demographic group in Anglo-America * Anglo American plc Anglo American plc is a ...

attorney and

legislator A legislator, or lawmaker, is a person who writes and passes laws, especially someone who is a member of a legislature. Legislators are often elected by the people, but they can be appointed, or hereditary. Legislatures may be supra-nat ...

who was a member of 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 ...

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 ...

Biography

Philemon Beecher was born in

Oxford Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town. The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...

in the

Connecticut Colony The Connecticut Colony, originally known as the Connecticut River Colony, was an English colony in New England which later became the state of Connecticut. It was organized on March 3, 1636, as a settlement for a Puritans, Puritan congregation o ...

, the son of Abraham Beecher and Desire Tolles. Philemon Beecher received a classical education,

read law Reading law was the primary 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 un ...

and was admitted to the bar. Beecher moved to

Lancaster, Ohio Lancaster ( ) is a city in Fairfield County, Ohio, and its county seat. The population was 40,552 at the 2020 United States census, making it List of municipalities in Ohio, Ohio's 30th largest city, having surpassed Warren, Ohio, Warren and Fin ...

, in 1801 and continued the practice of law,Beecher, Philemon. United States House of Representatives
/ref> being

admitted to the bar An admission to practice law is acquired when a lawyer receives a license to practice law. In jurisdictions with two types of lawyer, as with barristers and solicitors, barristers must gain admission to the bar whereas for solicitors there are dist ...

while Ohio was still the Northwest Territory. He was the leading lawyer of the Lancaster bar for twenty-five years. It was in his office that lawyer and political figure

Thomas Ewing Thomas Ewing Sr. (December 28, 1789October 26, 1871) was a National Republican and Whig politician from Ohio. He served in the U.S. Senate and also served as the fourteenth secretary of the treasury and the first secretary of the interior. ...

studied law. Beecher was often a

barrister A barrister is a type of lawyer in common law jurisdiction (area), jurisdictions. Barristers mostly specialise in courtroom advocacy and litigation. Their tasks include arguing cases in courts and tribunals, drafting legal pleadings, jurisprud ...

at the courthouse in

Marietta, Ohio Marietta is a city in Washington County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. It is located in Appalachian Ohio, southeastern Ohio at the confluence of the Muskingum River, Muskingum and Ohio Rivers, northeast of Parkersburg, West Virginia ...

. Beecher was a member of Scioto Lodge No 2 Free and Accepted Masons in Ohio. Philemon Beecher made the acquaintance of Susan Gillespie, a daughter of Neil Gillespie of

Brownsville, Pennsylvania Brownsville is a borough in Fayette County, Pennsylvania, United States, first settled in 1785 as the site of a trading post a few years after the defeat of the Iroquois enabled a resumption of westward migration after the American Revolutionary ...

when she came to Lancaster on a visit to her sister, Mrs. Hugh Boyle. Philemon Beecher and Susan Gillespie were married in

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

in 1803 or 1804. Originally a

Federalist The term ''federalist'' describes several political beliefs around the world. It may also refer to the concept of parties, whose members or supporters call themselves ''Federalists''. History Europe federation In Europe, proponents of deep ...

, Beecher was elected a member of the

Ohio House of Representatives The Ohio House of Representatives is the lower house of the Ohio General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Ohio; the other house of the bicameral legislature being the Ohio Senate. The House of Representatives first met in ...

in 1803 and again in the three sessions from 1805 to 1807, serving as speaker in 1807. His swarthy complexion earned him the sobriquet of the "Black Knight." In 1805, he opposed a Resolution commending the United States government for the

Louisiana Purchase The Louisiana Purchase () was the acquisition of the Louisiana (New France), territory of Louisiana by the United States from the French First Republic in 1803. This consisted of most of the land in the Mississippi River#Watershed, Mississipp ...

, but the Resolution passed by one vote. Beecher was a witness on behalf of

Fairfield County, Ohio Fairfield County is a county located in the U.S. state of Ohio. As of the 2020 census, the population was 158,921. Its county seat and largest city is Lancaster. Its name is a reference to the Fairfield area of the original Lancaster. Fairf ...

Common Pleas Judge William W. Irvin at the latter's

impeachment Impeachment is a process by which a legislative body or other legally constituted tribunal initiates charges against a public official for misconduct. It may be understood as a unique process involving both political and legal elements. In Eur ...

trial in 1806. Irvin was married to the sister of Beecher's future wife. Irvin went on to follow Beecher in the Ohio legislature, in Congress and was later on the Ohio Supreme Court. Philemon Beecher was unsuccessful as a candidate for

United States Senator The United States Senate consists of 100 members, two from each of the 50 U.S. state, states. This list includes all senators serving in the 119th United States Congress. Party affiliation Independent Senators Angus King of Maine and Berni ...

in 1807 against

Edward Tiffin Edward Tiffin (June 19, 1766 – August 9, 1829) was an American politician who served as the first governor of Ohio and later as a United States Senate, United States Senator from Ohio as a member of the Democratic-Republican Party, Democratic-R ...

. That year he also failed to win a place on the bench as judge 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, ...

. Philemon Beecher was appointed a major general in the Ohio

militia A militia ( ) is a military or paramilitary force that comprises civilian members, as opposed to a professional standing army of regular, full-time military personnel. Militias may be raised in times of need to support regular troops or se ...

. The

Bank was chartered in 1816 with Beecher as president for one year. He continued as a director of the bank for many years. Philemon Beecher was elected as a

from

Ohio's 5th congressional district Ohio's 5th congressional district is in northwestern and north central Ohio and borders Indiana. The district is currently represented by Republican Party (United States), Republican Bob Latta. Recent election results from statewide races ...

to the

Fifteenth In music, a fifteenth or double octave, abbreviated ''15ma'', is the interval between one musical note and another with one-quarter the wavelength or quadruple the frequency. It has also been referred to as the bisdiapason. The fourth harmonic, ...

and Sixteenth Congresses. He was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1820. Described in later years as an old-line Whig, in 1822, Philemon Beecher was elected as an Adams-Clay Republican from the new Ohio 9th district to the Eighteenth Congress, and an Adams candidate to the Nineteenth and Twentieth Congresses. In the 1824 battle between

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

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 ...

for Ohio's

electoral An election is a formal group decision-making process whereby a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has operated s ...

votes, he voted for Adams. In 1826, Philemon Beecher participated as a managing member of The Colonization Society in Lancaster, an organization promoting

repatriation Repatriation is the return of a thing or person to its or their country of origin, respectively. The term may refer to non-human entities, such as converting a foreign currency into the currency of one's own country, as well as the return of mi ...

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...

as an alternative to

slavery Slavery is the ownership of a person as property, especially in regards to their labour. Slavery typically involves compulsory work, with the slave's location of work and residence dictated by the party that holds them in bondage. Enslavemen ...

. He was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1828 when he was defeated by his brother-in-law, William W. Irvin. Philemon Beecher returned to Lancaster and continued the practice of law until his death there, aged 63, November 30, 1839. He and his wife are interred in Elmwood Cemetery.

References

* Wiseman, C. M. L. Centennial history of Lancaster, Ohio, and Lancaster people: 1898, the one hundredth anniversary of the settlement of the spot where Lancaster stands Lancaster, Ohio: C.M.L. Wiseman, 1898, ©1897, 407 pgs. * History of the Republican Party in Ohio Chicago: Lewis Publishing Co., 1898, 1579 pgs. * Taylor, William Alexander. Ohio statesmen and annals of progress: from the year 1788 to the year 1900. Columbus, Ohio: Press of the Westbote Co., state printers, 1899, ©1898, 458 pgs. * Wiseman, C. M. L. Pioneer period and pioneer people of Fairfield County, Ohio. Columbus, Ohio: F. J. Heer Printing Co., 1901, 431 pgs. * Rerick, Rowland H. State centennial history of Ohio: covering the periods of Indian, French and British dominion, the Territory Northwest, and the hundred years of statehood. Madison, Wis.: Northwestern Historical Association, 1902, 423 pgs. * A Standard history of Ross County, Ohio. Chicago: Lewis Publishing Co., 1917, 1006 pgs. * Jacobus, Donald Lines, compiler. Families of Ancient New Haven Rome, NY: Press of Clarence D. Smith, 1927, eight volumes plus cross reference index volume. * Weisenburger, Francis P. The passing of the frontier from 1825 to 1850. Columbus, Ohio: Ohio State Archaeological and Historical Society, 1941, 538 pgs. {{DEFAULTSORT:Beecher, Philemon 1776 births 1839 deaths People from Oxford, Connecticut People from colonial Connecticut American people of English descent Federalist Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Ohio Democratic-Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Ohio National Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Ohio Ohio Whigs Speakers of the Ohio House of Representatives Members of the Ohio House of Representatives People from Lancaster, Ohio American Freemasons American lawyers admitted to the practice of law by reading law 19th-century members of the United States House of Representatives 19th-century members of the Ohio General Assembly Candidates in the 1807 United States elections