George Mortimer Bibb (October 30, 1776 – April 14, 1859) was an American lawyer and politician and the seventeenth

United States Secretary of the Treasury 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 ...

. He was chief justice of the Kentucky Court of Appeals and twice represented Kentucky as a senator in Congress, serving from 1811 to 1814 and from 1829 to 1835.

Biography

Bibb was born in Prince Edward County, Virginia, graduated from

Hampden–Sydney College gr, Ye Shall Know the Truth , established = , type = Private liberal arts men's college , religious_affiliation = Presbyterian Church (USA) , endowment = $258 million (2021) , president = Larry Stimpert , city = Hampden Sydney, Virginia , cou ...

in 1791, and later graduated from the

College of William & Mary The College of William & Mary (officially The College of William and Mary in Virginia, abbreviated as William & Mary, W&M) is a public research university in Williamsburg, Virginia. Founded in 1693 by letters patent issued by King William III ...

, then studied law. He was admitted to the bar and practiced law in

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

and

Lexington, Kentucky Lexington is a city in Kentucky, United States that is the county seat of Fayette County, Kentucky, Fayette County. By population, it is the List of cities in Kentucky, second-largest city in Kentucky and List of United States cities by popul ...

. After making a permanent move to Kentucky, Bibb was elected to 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 ...

in 1806, 1810, and again in 1817. He was appointed a judge of the Kentucky Court of Appeals in 1808 and then chief justice through 1810. While a wealthy man, he claimed to have faced significant financial difficulties from losses in the

Panic of 1837 The Panic of 1837 was a financial crisis in the United States that touched off a major depression, which lasted until the mid-1840s. Profits, prices, and wages went down, westward expansion was stalled, unemployment went up, and pessimism abound ...

. Following the death of his father, the Reverend Richard Bibb Sr., George Bibb advised his brother on how to carry out his father's instructions in his will to emancipate his slaves. George Bibb did so despite his personal pro-slavery views.

Career

In 1811 he was elected to 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 ...

from Kentucky and served until 1814 when he again returned to Lexington to work as a lawyer. He moved to

Frankfort, Kentucky Frankfort is the capital city of the Commonwealth of Kentucky, United States, and the seat of Franklin County. It is a home rule-class city; the population was 28,602 at the 2020 census. Located along the Kentucky River, Frankfort is the prin ...

in 1816 and sided with the New Court faction in the

Old Court-New Court controversy Old or OLD may refer to: Places *Old, Baranya, Hungary *Old, Northamptonshire, England *Old Street station, a railway and tube station in London (station code OLD) *OLD, IATA code for Old Town Municipal Airport and Seaplane Base, Old Town, Mai ...

in the 1820s. He was again named Chief Justice of the Kentucky Court of Appeals in 1827, serving for a year. He was re-elected to the

in 1829 and served as a Jacksonian Democrat through 1835. During the 21st Congress he was chairman of the U.S. Senate Committee on Post Office and Post Roads. While in the Senate, he was a strong advocate for pro-slavery views. He was chancellor of the Louisville Chancery Court from 1835 through 1844 and in 1844 became President John Tyler's fourth

serving through 1845. He was in his late sixties when he assumed his Treasury position, dressing "in antique style, with kneebreeches." Bibb's ''Annual Report on the State of the Finances'' for 1844 consisted of an elaborate compilation of statistics detailing the financial history of the nation since 1789. In addition, he presented a solid argument for the establishment of a "sinking fund," accumulated through regular deposits and used to pay the interest and principal on the national debt. Bibb advocated using Treasury surplus revenue from customs and internal revenue collection to supply the sinking fund. Such a fund had been used effectively to reduce the deficit from 1789 to 1835, but Bibb was unable to revive it. After this he was a lawyer in Washington, D.C., and an assistant in the U.S. Attorney General's office. He was an active

Freemason Freemasonry or Masonry refers to fraternal organisations that trace their origins to the local guilds of stonemasons that, from the end of the 13th century, regulated the qualifications of stonemasons and their interaction with authorities ...

. He was the first master of Russellville Lodge No. 17, Russellville, Kentucky and was master of Hiram Lodge No. 4, in Frankfort. He was also past master of Lexington Lodge No. 1 at Lexington, and served as secretary in 1804. In 1804 he was grand master of Kentucky. He died in

Georgetown, D.C. Georgetown is a historic neighborhood, and commercial and entertainment district located in Northwest Washington, D.C., situated along the Potomac River. Founded in 1751 in the Province of Maryland, the port of Georgetown predated the establi ...

, in 1859, and is buried in Frankfort Cemetery with a cenotaph at the Congressional Cemetery.

External links

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bibb, George M. 1776 births 1859 deaths 19th-century American politicians 19th-century American judges People from Prince Edward County, Virginia American people of Welsh descent United States Secretaries of the Treasury Tyler administration cabinet members Democratic-Republican Party United States senators from Kentucky Democratic Party United States senators from Kentucky Jacksonian United States senators from Kentucky Kentucky Democratic-Republicans Kentucky Jacksonians Judges of the Kentucky Court of Appeals College of William & Mary alumni Hampden–Sydney College alumni Burials at Frankfort Cemetery