Joseph Mosley Root (October 7, 1807 – April 7, 1879) 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

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 ...

Life and career

The son of Joseph Root III & Tryphena Mosley he was born October 7, 1807, in

Brutus, New York Brutus is a town in Cayuga County, New York, United States. The population was 4,311 at the 2020 census. It is the most populous town in the county. The name was assigned by a clerk interested in the classics. The town court is located in the ...

. Root pursued classical studies and later studied law in

Auburn, New York Auburn is a city in Cayuga County, New York, United States. Located at the north end of Owasco Lake, one of the Finger Lakes in Central New York, the city had a population of 26,866 at the 2020 census. It is the largest city of Cayuga County, the ...

. He moved to Ohio in 1829, where 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 ...

in 1830 and commenced practice in Norwalk. In 1832-1833, Root was Mayor of

Sandusky, Ohio Sandusky ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Erie County, Ohio, Erie County, Ohio, United States. Situated along the shores of Lake Erie in the northern part of the state, Sandusky is located roughly midway between Toledo, Ohio, Toledo ( wes ...

. In 1835, Root married Mary S. Buckingham in Norwalk. They had five daughters.Sandusky Library History Blog-February 20, 2009
/ref> Root was elected prosecuting attorney of Huron County in 1837. He served as a member of the State Senate in 1840 and 1841. Joseph Root House

Root was elected as a Whig to the Twenty-ninth Congress. He was reelected to the Thirtieth Congress and reelected as a Free-Soil candidate to the Thirty-first Congress (March 4, 1845 – March 3, 1851). In 1848, he introduced a resolution that recommended

New Mexico ) , population_demonym = New Mexican ( es, Neomexicano, Neomejicano, Nuevo Mexicano) , seat = Santa Fe , LargestCity = Albuquerque , LargestMetro = Tiguex , OfficialLang = None , Languages = English, Spanish ( New Mexican), Navajo, Ker ...

and California have territorial governments which excluded slavery.1848 resolution

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The library is ...

He served as chairman of the Committee on Expenditures in the Department of the Treasury (Thirtieth Congress). He served as

Presidential elector The United States Electoral College is the group of presidential electors required by the Constitution to form every four years for the sole purpose of appointing the president and vice president. Each state and the District of Columbia appo ...

on the Republican ticket in 1860. He was appointed

United States Attorney United States attorneys are officials of the U.S. Department of Justice who serve as the chief federal law enforcement officers in each of the 94 U.S. federal judicial districts. Each U.S. attorney serves as the United States' chief federal c ...

for the northern district of Ohio in 1861. He was again a member of the

Ohio Senate The Ohio Senate is the upper house of the Ohio General Assembly. The State Senate, which meets in the Ohio Statehouse in Columbus, first convened in 1803. Senators are elected for four year terms, staggered every two years such that half of the se ...

in 1869. He served as Democratic delegate to the State constitutional convention in 1873. He was an unsuccessful Democratic candidate for probate judge of Erie County in 1875.

Death and legacy

He died in

, April 7, 1879. He was interred in Oakland Cemetery. The Joseph Root House in Sandusky may have been a "safe house" on the

Underground Railroad The Underground Railroad was a network of clandestine routes and safe houses established in the United States during the early- to mid-19th century. It was used by enslaved African Americans primarily to escape into free states and Canada. T ...

, and is listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

Sources

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Root, Joseph Mosley 1807 births 1879 deaths People from Brutus, New York Whig Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Ohio Ohio Free Soilers Free Soil Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Ohio Ohio Republicans Ohio Democrats 1860 United States presidential electors Ohio state senators Ohio Constitutional Convention (1873) People from Norwalk, Ohio Ohio lawyers People from Sandusky, Ohio United States Attorneys for the Northern District of Ohio County district attorneys in Ohio Mayors of places in Ohio 19th-century American politicians 19th-century American lawyers