Samuel Delucenna Ingham (September 16, 1779 – June 5, 1860) was a state legislator, judge,
U.S. Representative and served as
U.S. Treasury Secretary
The United States secretary of the treasury is the head of the United States Department of the Treasury, and is the chief financial officer of the federal government of the United States. The secretary of the treasury serves as the principal a ...
under
President Andrew Jackson.
Early life and education
Ingham was born near
New Hope, Pennsylvania. His parents were Dr. Jonathan Ingham, "a famous physician from Philadelphia," and his wife, the former Ann Welding.
After a pursuit of classical studies, he was an apprentice to a paper maker along Pennypack Creek, not far from Philadelphia.
Manufacturer
After completing his apprenticeship, Ingham became the manager of a paper mill at
Bloomfield, New Jersey. It was while here he met Rebecca Dodd, whom he married in 1800. They had five children.
Also in 1800 Ingham returned to Pennsylvania and established a paper mill on his mother's farm (his father having died in 1793) that would be his main source of employment in the coming years.
Political career

He was a member of the
Pennsylvania House of Representatives
The Pennsylvania House of Representatives is the lower house of the bicameral Pennsylvania General Assembly, the legislature of the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. There are 203 members, elected for two-year terms from single member districts.
It ...
from 1806 to 1808. Then, Ingham was appointed Justice of the Peace by the Governor of Pennsylvania.
He was a member of the
United States House of Representatives from 1813 to July 6, 1818. He easily trounced his Federalist opponents in the first two elections and had no opposition at all in 1816. He resigned from Congress in 1818 because of his wife's ill health. He was appointed the
Prothonotary (Chief Clerk, Notary and Registrar of the Court) of the Court of Common Pleas of
Bucks County, Pennsylvania after leaving Congress. In 1819 Rebecca Dodd Ingham died.
Ingham served as
Secretary of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
The secretary of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania (or "secretary of state") administers the Pennsylvania Department of State of the U.S. state (officially, "commonwealth") of Pennsylvania. The secretary is appointed by the governor subject to ...
from 1819 to 1820.
In 1822 Ingham married Deborah Hall of
Salem, New Jersey. They would become the parents of three children.
Also in 1822 Ingham was elected to Congress where he would serve until 1829.
During the
13th Congress 13th Congress may refer to:
* 13th Congress of the Philippines (2004–2007)
* 13th Congress of the Russian Communist Party (Bolsheviks) (1924)
* 13th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party (1987)
* 13th National Congress of the Kuominta ...
he was chair of the United States House Committee on Pensions and Revolutionary War Claims. During the
14th
14 (fourteen) is a natural number following 13 (number), 13 and preceding 15 (number), 15.
In relation to the word "four" (4), 14 is spelled "fourteen".
In mathematics
* 14 is a composite number.
* 14 is a square pyramidal number.
* 14 is a s ...
,
15th
15 (fifteen) is the natural number following 14 (number), 14 and preceding 16 (number), 16.
Mathematics
15 is:
* A composite number, and the sixth semiprime; its proper divisors being , and .
* A deficient number, a smooth number, a lucky ...
,
19th
19 (nineteen) is the natural number following 18 and preceding 20. It is a prime number.
Mathematics
19 is the eighth prime number, and forms a sexy prime with 13, a twin prime with 17, and a cousin prime with 23. It is the third full re ...
and
20th
20 (twenty; Roman numeral XX) is the natural number following 19 and preceding 21. A group of twenty units may also be referred to as a score.
In mathematics
*20 is a pronic number.
*20 is a tetrahedral number as 1, 4, 10, 20.
*20 is the ba ...
Congresses, he was chair of the
House Committee on the Post Office and Post Roads, and he was chair of the
House Committee on Expenditures in the Post Office Department during the 15th Congress.
Secretary of the Treasury
Ingham served as the ninth Secretary of the US Treasury from March 6, 1829, to June 21, 1831.
The
Second Bank of the United States, viewed by Jackson and much of the nation as an unconstitutional and dangerous
monopoly, was Ingham's primary concern as Secretary of the Treasury. Jackson mistrusted the Second Bank of the United States and all other banks.
[ ]
Jackson thought that there should be no
paper currency in circulation but only coins and that the
US Constitution
The Constitution of the United States is the supreme law of the United States of America. It superseded the Articles of Confederation, the nation's first constitution, in 1789. Originally comprising seven articles, it delineates the nation ...
was designed to expel paper currency from the
monetary system. Ingham believed in the Second Bank and attempted to resolve conflicts between Jackson, who wanted it destroyed, and the Bank's president,
Nicholas Biddle.
Despite being unable to reach any resolution between Jackson and Biddle, Ingham left office over an unrelated incident, which stemmed from his involvement in the social ostracism of
Peggy Eaton, the wife of
Secretary of War John H. Eaton, by a group of Cabinet members and their wives. It was led by
Floride Calhoun
Floride Bonneau Calhoun (née Colhoun; February 15, 1792 – July 25, 1866) was the wife of U.S. politician John C. Calhoun. She is best known for her leading role in the Petticoat affair, which occurred during her husband's service as ...
, the wife of Vice President
John C. Calhoun
John Caldwell Calhoun (; March 18, 1782March 31, 1850) was an American statesman and political theorist from South Carolina who held many important positions including being the seventh vice president of the United States from 1825 to 1832. He ...
and became known as the
Petticoat affair. Eaton challenged Ingham to a duel, which Ingham did not accept. On June 20, 1831, Eaton recruited a posse to search for Ingham, and Ingham responded by arming himself and requesting Jackson's help. With no help forthcoming from the president, Ingham fled to Baltimore the following morning and then to Bucks County, thus likely saving his life.
Societies
During the 1820s, Ingham was a member of the prestigious
Columbian Institute for the Promotion of Arts and Sciences, which counted among its members two eventual presidents,
Andrew Jackson and
John Quincy Adams, and many other prominent men of the day, including well-known representatives of the military, government service, medical, and other professions.
In 1840, Ingham was elected as a member to the
American Philosophical Society.
Later life
After resigning as Secretary of the Treasury, Ingham resumed the manufacture of paper, and engaged in the development of
anthracite coal
Anthracite, also known as hard coal, and black coal, is a hard, compact variety of coal that has a submetallic luster. It has the highest carbon content, the fewest impurities, and the highest energy density of all types of coal and is the high ...
fields. He was involved with the organization of the
Beaver Meadow Railroad Company (e. 1830
[
]), of which he was then made president for a time.
[
] He was connected with the organization of the
Hazleton Coal Company. He worked to promote canals such at the
Lehigh Navigation and the
Delaware Canal. He moved to
Trenton, New Jersey, in 1849, where he worked with that city's Mechanics Bank.
[Ceasar, ''History of Ingham County'', p. 4]
Ingham died in
Trenton, New Jersey, and is interred in the Solebury Presbyterian Churchyard,
Solebury, Pennsylvania.
Ingham County, Michigan, one of several
Cabinet counties
The Cabinet counties are ten counties in the southern part of the U.S. state of Michigan named after President Andrew Jackson and people who served in his Cabinet. The Michigan Territorial legislature created twelve counties in 1829, naming eigh ...
named for members of Jackson's administration, is named in Ingham's honor.
Notes
References
Further reading
*
*
*
External links
*Finding aid to th
Samuel D. Ingham correspondenceat th
University of Pennsylvania Libraries
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Ingham, Samuel D.
1779 births
1860 deaths
19th-century American politicians
United States Secretaries of the Treasury
Democratic Party members of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives
Papermakers
People from Bucks County, Pennsylvania
Politicians from Trenton, New Jersey
Secretaries of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
Jackson administration cabinet members
Burials in Pennsylvania
Democratic-Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Pennsylvania