Benjamin Tappan (May 25, 1773 – April 20, 1857) was a

United States district judge The United States district courts are the trial courts of the U.S. federal judiciary. There is one district court for each federal judicial district, which each cover one U.S. state or, in some cases, a portion of a state. Each district cou ...

of the United States District Court for the District of Ohio and a

United States senator The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and powe ...

from

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

Education and career

Born on May 25, 1773, in Northampton,

Province of Massachusetts Bay The Province of Massachusetts Bay was a colony in British America which became one of the thirteen original states of the United States. It was chartered on October 7, 1691, by William III and Mary II, the joint monarchs of the kingdoms of ...

, British America, Tappan attended the public schools and was apprenticed as a printer and engraver. He traveled to the

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and studied painting with Gilbert Stuart. He read law in 1799. He was admitted to the bar in

Hartford Hartford is the capital city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It was the seat of Hartford County until Connecticut disbanded county government in 1960. It is the core city in the Greater Hartford metropolitan area. Census estimates since t ...

Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its capita ...

and entered private practice in

Ravenna Ravenna ( , , also ; rgn, Ravèna) is the capital city of the Province of Ravenna, in the Emilia-Romagna region of Northern Italy. It was the capital city of the Western Roman Empire from 408 until its collapse in 476. It then served as the ca ...

, Northwest Territory (State of

from March 1, 1803) from 1799 to 1803, located in what was the

Connecticut Western Reserve The Connecticut Western Reserve was a portion of land claimed by the Colony of Connecticut and later by the state of Connecticut in what is now mostly the northeastern region of Ohio. The Reserve had been granted to the Colony under the terms o ...

until 1800. He was a member of the Ohio Senate from 1803 to 1804. He resumed private practice in Ravenna from 1804 to 1809. He continued private practice in

Steubenville Steubenville is a city in and the county seat of Jefferson County, Ohio, United States. Located along the Ohio River 33 miles west of Pittsburgh, it had a population of 18,161 at the 2020 census. The city's name is derived from Fort Steuben, a ...

, Ohio from 1809 to 1812, and from 1814 to 1816. He was a

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land warfare, land military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight Uniformed services of the United States, U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army o ...

major from 1812 to 1814, during the

War of 1812 The War of 1812 (18 June 1812 – 17 February 1815) was fought by the United States, United States of America and its Indigenous peoples of the Americas, indigenous allies against the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom ...

. He was a Judge of the Ohio Court of Common Pleas for the Fifth Judicial District from 1816 to 1823. He resumed private practice in Steubenville from 1823 to 1838. He was a presidential elector on the Democratic ticket in 1832. In October 1838, he formed a law partnership with

Edwin Stanton Edwin McMasters Stanton (December 19, 1814December 24, 1869) was an American lawyer and politician who served as U.S. Secretary of War under the Lincoln Administration during most of the American Civil War. Stanton's management helped organize ...

Federal judicial service

Tappan received a

recess appointment In the United States, a recess appointment is an appointment by the president of a federal official when the U.S. Senate is in recess. Under the U.S. Constitution's Appointments Clause, the President is empowered to nominate, and with the a ...

from President

Andrew Jackson Andrew Jackson (March 15, 1767 – June 8, 1845) was an American lawyer, planter, general, and statesman who served as the seventh president of the United States from 1829 to 1837. Before being elected to the presidency, he gained fame as ...

on October 12, 1833, to a seat on the United States District Court for the District of Ohio vacated by Judge John Wilson Campbell. He was nominated to the same position by President Jackson on January 20, 1834. His service terminated with the sine die adjournment of the first session of the

23rd United States Congress The 23rd United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, consisting of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C. from March 4, 1833 ...

on June 30, 1834, after his nomination was rejected by the

United States Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and pow ...

on May 29, 1834.

Congressional service

Tappan was elected as a

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (United States) (D) **Democratic ...

from Ohio to the

and served from March 4, 1839, to March 3, 1845. He was Chairman of the Committee to Audit and Control the Contingent Expenses for the

27th 27 (twenty-seven; Roman numeral XXVII) is the natural number following 26 and preceding 28. In mathematics * Twenty-seven is a cube of 3: 3^3=3\times 3\times 3. 27 is also 23 (see tetration). There are exactly 27 straight lines on a smooth ...

and

28th United States Congress The 28th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, consisting of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C. from March 4, 184 ...

es and Chairman of the Committee on the Library for the 27th United States Congress. He was censured by the Senate in 1844 for breach of confidence for passing copies of a proposed treaty with

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...

to the press.

Later career and death

Following his departure from Congress, Tappan resumed private practice in Steubenville from 1845 to 1857. He died on April 12, 1857, in Steubenville, Jefferson County, Ohio. He was interred in Union Cemetery in Steubenville.

Settler and city founder

Tappan was an early settler of the Connecticut Western Reserve in northeastern Ohio and was one of the first settlers in Portage County and the founder of the city of Ravenna.

Family

Tappan was the second child and oldest son of Benjamin Tappan and Sarah (Homes) Tappan, who was a grandniece of

Benjamin Franklin Benjamin Franklin ( April 17, 1790) was an American polymath who was active as a writer, scientist, inventor, statesman, diplomat, printer, publisher, and political philosopher. Encyclopædia Britannica, Wood, 2021 Among the leading inte ...

. Two of his younger brothers were abolitionists

Arthur Tappan Arthur Tappan (May 22, 1786 – July 23, 1865) was an American businessman, philanthropist and abolitionist. He was the brother of Ohio Senator Benjamin Tappan and abolitionist Lewis Tappan, and nephew of Harvard Divinity School theologian ...

and

Lewis Tappan Lewis Tappan (May 23, 1788 – June 21, 1873) was a New York abolitionist who worked to achieve freedom for the enslaved Africans aboard the '' Amistad''. Tappan was also among the founders of the American Missionary Association in 1846, which b ...

. He married, March 20, 1801, Nancy Wright, sister of John C. Wright, afterwards a

United States representative The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they ...

from Ohio. They had one son, Benjamin, born in 1812. His first wife having died, Benjamin was married a second time, in 1823, to Betsy (Lord) Frazer, the widow of Eliphalet Frazer. They had one son, Eli Todd Tappan, later president of

Kenyon College Kenyon College is a private liberal arts college in Gambier, Ohio. It was founded in 1824 by Philander Chase. Kenyon College is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission. Kenyon has 1,708 undergraduates enrolled. Its 1,000-acre campus is ...

References

Sources

* * * Daniel Langdon Tappan. ''Tappan-Toppan Genealogy'', Arlington, Massachusetts, 1915, pp. 24–25. * Brown, R. C. and Norris, J. E. ''History of Portage County Ohio'', Chicago, Illinois, 1885, 1972 rev., pp. 521–522.

External links

* , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Tappan, Benjamin 1773 births 1832 United States presidential electors 1857 deaths 19th-century American judges Burials at Union Cemetery-Beatty Park Censured or reprimanded United States senators Democratic Party United States senators from Ohio Judges of the United States District Court for the District of Ohio Ohio state court judges Democratic Party Ohio state senators Ohio University trustees Politicians from Northampton, Massachusetts People from Ravenna, Ohio Politicians from Steubenville, Ohio United States Army officers United States Army personnel of the War of 1812 United States federal judges admitted to the practice of law by reading law United States federal judges appointed by Andrew Jackson Unsuccessful recess appointments to United States federal courts