John Test (1781 – October 9, 1849) was a

U.S. 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 c ...

from

Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th s ...

. John Test was born and raised near

Salem, New Jersey Salem is a city in Salem County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 U.S. Census, the city's population was 5,146,

.In 1790 when John Test was 8 or 9 years of age, his father signed a petition concerning road repair in Salem County. Document: Record Group: Legislature; Series: Petitions and Other Papers relating to Bridges, Canals, Dams, Ferries and Roads, 1765-1835 ew Jersey State Archives Call Number: Box 4, Folder 41; Page Number: 1; Family Number: 37. In 1793 John Test 11 or 12 years old, his father is listed in the Salem County, Upper Alloways Creek Tax List. Ancestry.com. New Jersey, Compiled Census and Census Substitutes Index, 1643-1890 atabase on-line Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 1999. Original data: Jackson, Ronald V., Accelerated Indexing Systems, comp.. New Jersey Census, 1643-1890. Compiled and digitized by Mr. Jackson and AIS from microfilmed schedules of the U.S. Federal Decennial Census, territorial/state censuses, and/or census substitutes. In 1795 John Test age 14 resident of Salem, N.J. advertised as a runaway servant. Grubb, Farley. ''Runaway Servants, Convicts, and Apprentices'' Advertised in ''the Pennsylvania Gazette'', 1728-1796. Baltimore, MD, USA: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1992, p.169. He moved to

Fayette County, Pennsylvania Fayette County is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. It is located in southwestern Pennsylvania, adjacent to Maryland and West Virginia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 128,804. Its county seat is Uniontown. The county wa ...

, and operated Fayette Chance Furnace for several years. He moved to

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...

, and then to

Brookville, Indiana Brookville is a town in Brookville Township, Franklin County, Indiana, United States. The population was 2,596 at the 2010 census. The town is the county seat of and the largest community entirely within Franklin County. History Brookville was ...

, and operated a grist mill. He studied law. He was

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 ...

and began practice in

. He held several local offices. He served as judge of the third district circuit 1816–1819. Test was elected as a Jackson Republican to the Eighteenth Congress and reelected as an Adams candidate to the Nineteenth Congress (March 4, 1823 – March 3, 1827). He was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1826 to the Twentieth Congress. Test was elected as an Anti-Jacksonian to the Twenty-first Congress (March 4, 1829 – March 3, 1831). Presiding judge of the Indiana circuit court. He moved to Mobile, Alabama, and resumed the practice of law. He died near

Cambridge City, Indiana Cambridge City is a town in Jackson Township, Wayne County, Indiana, Jackson Township, Wayne County, Indiana, Wayne County, in the U.S. state of Indiana. The population was 1,870 at the 2010 census. History Cambridge City was laid out and platted ...

, October 9, 1849. He was interred in

. Test was the maternal grandfather of author and

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states ...

Union Army During the American Civil War, the Union Army, also known as the Federal Army and the Northern Army, referring to the United States Army, was the land force that fought to preserve the Union of the collective states. It proved essential to th ...

Major General Major general (abbreviated MG, maj. gen. and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. The disappearance of the "sergeant" in the title explains the apparent confusion of ...

Lew Wallace Lewis Wallace (April 10, 1827February 15, 1905) was an American lawyer, Union general in the American Civil War, governor of the New Mexico Territory, politician, diplomat, and author from Indiana. Among his novels and biographies, Wallace is ...

, the son of Indiana lawyer and politician David Wallace and Test's daughter Esther. His daughter Mary was the wife of James Rariden, a fellow U.S. Representative from Indiana.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Test, John 1781 births 1849 deaths 19th-century American politicians Democratic-Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives Indiana Democratic-Republicans Indiana National Republicans Indiana state court judges Members of the United States House of Representatives from Indiana National Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives People from Salem, New Jersey People from Cambridge City, Indiana Politicians from Philadelphia