Jonas March Tebbetts (January 5, 1820 – January 16, 1913) was an American salesman, reporter, lawyer, prosecutor, judge, abolitionist, unionist, politician, and judge in the United States.

Early life, education, and career

He was born in

Rochester, New Hampshire Rochester is a city in Strafford County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 32,492 at the 2020 census. In addition to the downtown area, the city contains the villages of East Rochester, New Hampshire, East Rochester, Gonic, New Ha ...

. He studied at

Phillips Exeter Academy (not for oneself) la, Finis Origine Pendet (The End Depends Upon the Beginning) gr, Χάριτι Θεοῦ (By the Grace of God) , location = 20 Main Street , city = Exeter, New Hampshire , zipcode ...

, and in 1838, he enrolled at Western University (later the

University of Pittsburgh The University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) is a public state-related research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The university is composed of 17 undergraduate and graduate schools and colleges at its urban Pittsburgh campus, home to the universit ...

) in

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

, but "his knowledge in various subjects resulted in his becoming an instructor of English, ancient history, and Greek and Latin languages".

Legal and political career

By 1843, Tebbetts had established himself in the legal community of

Crawford County, Arkansas Crawford County is a County (United States), county located in the Ozarks region of the U.S. state of Arkansas. As of the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census, the population was 61,948, making it the 12th-most populous of Arkansas's 75 counti ...

, well enough to be named secretary of a committee of the county bar association convened to draft a statement on the murder of another lawyer in the county, and of a committee of the county

Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...

to nominate representatives for the state legislature. In August 1850, Tebbetts was himself elected to the

Arkansas House of Representatives The Arkansas State House of Representatives is the lower house of the Arkansas General Assembly, the state legislature of the US state of Arkansas. The House is composed of 100 members elected from an equal amount of constituencies across the ...

, serving from November 1850 to January 1851, and "earning a reputation as a pro-Union, antislavery Democrat". During the

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 th ...

, Tebbetts was pro-Union, which led to threats on his life, causing him and his family to flee from Arkansas, living thereafter for periods in Missouri and Kentucky.

Personal life and death

Tebbetts married Matilda Winlock, a student at Fayetteville Female Seminary, in 1847. They lived in Fayetteville, Arkansas where they built Headquarters House in 1853 and 1854. They had several children. He became a follower of Alexander Campbell's disciples of Christ. Headquarters House became a Confederate headquarters and then a Union headquarters. Also now known as the Tebbetts House, it later became home to the Washington County Historical Society. Tebbetts became a widower in 1892, while his family was living in Kentucky, and moved to the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, home of his daughter, Lily, where he died at the age of 83. A collection of his papers are part of the Arkansas Digital Archives.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tebetts, Jonas March 1820 births 1913 deaths University of Pittsburgh alumni Phillips Exeter Academy alumni Democratic Party members of the Arkansas House of Representatives People from Rochester, New Hampshire 19th-century American legislators 19th-century American judges People from Crawford County, Arkansas Lawyers from Pittsburgh Arkansas lawyers Politicians from Pittsburgh 19th-century American lawyers