John Beatty (December 10, 1749 – May 30, 1826) was an American slave owner,

physician A physician (American English), medical practitioner (Commonwealth English), medical doctor, or simply doctor, is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through th ...

, and statesman from

Princeton, New Jersey Princeton is a municipality with a borough form of government in Mercer County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It was established on January 1, 2013, through the consolidation of the Borough of Princeton and Princeton Township, both of whi ...

Early life

He was born in Neshaminy in the

Province of Pennsylvania The Province of Pennsylvania, also known as the Pennsylvania Colony, was a British North American colony founded by William Penn after receiving a land grant from Charles II of England in 1681. The name Pennsylvania ("Penn's Woods") refers to W ...

on December 10, 1749. Beatty was the oldest of ten children of Irish born Rev. Charles Clinton Beatty and Anne (

née A birth name is the name of a person given upon birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name, or the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a birth certificate or birth re ...

Reading) Beatty, who were married in 1746. His father was a Presbyterian minister who did missionary work among the Native Americans. His maternal grandfather was John Reading, president of the

New Jersey Provincial Council The New Jersey Provincial Council was the upper house of the New Jersey Legislature under colonial rule until it was replaced by the New Jersey Legislative Council under the New Jersey Constitution of 1776. History The Provincial Council was estab ...

and acting Governor of the Province of New Jersey. His paternal grandparents were John Beatty and Christiana (née Clinton) Beatty. John's grandmother was the daughter of

James Clinton Major General James Clinton (August 9, 1736 – September 22, 1812) was an American Revolutionary War officer who, with John Sullivan, led in 1779 the Sullivan Expedition in what is now western New York to attack British-allied Seneca and ...

and the sister of

Charles Clinton Col. Charles Clinton (1690 – 19 November 1773) was an Anglo-Irish soldier and politician in colonial America. A colonel of the French and Indian War, he was the father of General James Clinton and George Clinton, and the grandfather of DeWi ...

(himself the father of Revolutionary War Major General

and

Vice President A vice president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vice president is on t ...

George Clinton, and the grandfather of

New York Governor The governor of New York is the head of government of the U.S. state of New York. The governor is the head of the executive branch of New York's state government and the commander-in-chief of the state's military forces. The governor has a ...

DeWitt Clinton DeWitt Clinton (March 2, 1769February 11, 1828) was an American politician and naturalist. He served as a United States senator, as the mayor of New York City, and as the seventh governor of New York. In this last capacity, he was largely res ...

).Moore, Charles B., "Introductory Sketch to the History of the Clinton Family", ''The New York Genealogical and Biographical Record'', (Richard Henry Greene at al, eds.), New York Genealogical and Biographical Society, 1880
/ref> Beatty graduated from the College of New Jersey (later known as

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial Colleges, fourth-oldest ins ...

) in 1769. He was a student of

Founding Father The following list of national founding figures is a record, by country, of people who were credited with establishing a state. National founders are typically those who played an influential role in setting up the systems of governance, (i.e. ...

Benjamin Rush Benjamin Rush (April 19, 1813) was a Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father of the United States who signed the United States Declaration of Independence, and a civic leader in Philadelphia, where he was a physician, politician, ...

Career

Beatty became a doctor and opened his first practice in

Hartsville, Pennsylvania Hartsville is a populated place situated at the crossroads of Bristol Road and the Old York Road, straddling Warminster and Warwick Township in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, United States. It has an estimated elevation of above sea level. It is s ...

. He rose to the rank of major in the

6th Pennsylvania Regiment The 6th Pennsylvania Regiment, first known as the 5th Pennsylvania Battalion, was a unit of the United States of America (U.S.) Army, raised December 9, 1775, at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, for service with the Continental Army. The regiment ...

of the

Continental Army The Continental Army was the army of the United Colonies (the Thirteen Colonies) in the Revolutionary-era United States. It was formed by the Second Continental Congress after the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War, and was establis ...

during the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...

. He was captured at the surrender of Fort Washington on November 16, 1776. After his exchange, he was appointed Commissary General for Prisoners with the rank of colonel. By the end of the war he had become a resident of

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

, serving as a member of the

New Jersey Legislative Council The New Jersey Legislative Council was the upper house of the New Jersey Legislature under the New Jersey Constitution of 1776 until it was replaced by the New Jersey Senate under the Constitution of 1844. History The Legislative Council replaced ...

(now the

New Jersey Senate The New Jersey Senate was established as the upper house of the New Jersey Legislature by the Constitution of 1844, replacing the Legislative Council. There are 40 legislative districts, representing districts with an average population of 232, ...

) from 1781 to 1783, representing Middlesex County, and delegate from that state to the

Continental Congress The Continental Congress was a series of legislative bodies, with some executive function, for thirteen of Britain's colonies in North America, and the newly declared United States just before, during, and after the American Revolutionary War. ...

in 1784 and 1785. In 1784, when Thomas Jefferson's proposed ban on slavery in all future territories came up for a vote in Congress, Beatty became sick and was absent from the meeting. As Jefferson noted, " esey would have been for it, but there were but two members, one of whom eattywas sick in his chambers"; thus, New Jersey could not submit its vote. The proposal failed to pass by one vote. Beatty was the speaker of the

New Jersey General Assembly The New Jersey General Assembly is the lower house of the New Jersey Legislature. Since the election of 1967 (1968 Session), the Assembly has consisted of 80 members. Two members are elected from each of New Jersey's 40 legislative districts for ...

from 1789 to 1790, and a member of the

U.S. House of Representatives 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 ...

in the Third Congress from 1793 to 1795. He later served as

Secretary of State of New Jersey The secretary of state of New Jersey oversees the Department of State, which is one of the original state offices. The Secretary is responsible for overseeing artistic, cultural, and historical programs within the U.S. state of New Jersey, as we ...

from 1795 to 1805.

Personal life

Beatty was married to Catherine DeKlyn (1773–1861), the daughter of Mary (née Van Sant) DeKlyn and Barnt DeKlyn, who became wealthy selling textiles to the Continental Army during the American Revolution. Together, they were the parents of Robert Beatty and William Beatty. Beatty was admitted as an original member of The

Society of the Cincinnati The Society of the Cincinnati is a fraternal, hereditary society founded in 1783 to commemorate the American Revolutionary War that saw the creation of the United States. Membership is largely restricted to descendants of military officers wh ...

in the state of New Jersey, and served as the organization's Treasurer from 1823 until his death on May 30, 1826 in Trenton in

Mercer County, New Jersey Mercer County is a county located in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Its county seat is Trenton, also the state capital, but also directly borders the Philadelphia metropolitan area and is included within the Federal Communications Commission's ...

Legacy

The

Presbyterian Historical Society The Presbyterian Historical Society (PHS) is the oldest continuous denominational historical society in the United States.Smylie, James H. 1996. ''A Brief History of the Presbyterians.'' Louisville, Kentucky: Geneva Press. Its mission is to col ...

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

, has a collection of personal papers, including diaries, correspondences and genealogical notes, related to the Beatty Family. Besides John Beatty's papers, the collection also includes journals by his father, Charles Clinton Beatty, who served as an early missionary with George Duffield among Native Americans.

References

External links

* * *
The Society of the Cincinnati

The American Revolution Institute
{{DEFAULTSORT:Beatty, John 1749 births 1826 deaths Clinton family of New York People from Bucks County, Pennsylvania American Revolutionary War prisoners of war held by Great Britain Continental Army officers from Pennsylvania Continental Army staff officers Continental Congressmen from New Jersey 18th-century American politicians Members of the United States House of Representatives from New Jersey Secretaries of State of New Jersey Members of the New Jersey General Assembly Members of the New Jersey Legislative Council Speakers of the New Jersey General Assembly Physicians in the American Revolution Physicians from New Jersey Physicians from Pennsylvania Presidents of the Medical Society of New Jersey