Joseph Reed Ingersoll (June 14, 1786 – February 20, 1868) was an American lawyer and statesman from
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 ...
. In 1835 he followed his father,
Jared Ingersoll
Jared Ingersoll (October 24, 1749 – October 31, 1822) was an American Founding Father, lawyer, and statesman from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He was a delegate to the Continental Congress and a signer of the United States Constitution. He se ...
, and his older brother,
Charles Jared Ingersoll
Charles Jared Ingersoll (October 3, 1782 – May 14, 1862) was an American lawyer, writer and politician who served as a Democratic member of the U.S. House of Representatives for Pennsylvania's 1st congressional district from 1813 to 1815, Pe ...
, to represent
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, ...
in the
U.S. House
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 ...
.
Biography
He graduated from
Princeton College
Princeton University is a private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the ni ...
in 1804. He studied law with his father, was admitted to the bar and commenced practice in
Philadelphia
Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...
. In 1825, Ingersoll was elected to the
American Philosophical Society
The American Philosophical Society (APS), founded in 1743 in Philadelphia, is a scholarly organization that promotes knowledge in the sciences and humanities through research, professional meetings, publications, library resources, and communit ...
.
He was elected in
1834
Events
January–March
* January – The Wilmington and Raleigh Railroad is chartered in Wilmington, North Carolina.
* January 1 – Zollverein (Germany): Customs charges are abolished at borders within its member states.
* January 3 ...
as a
Whig anti-
Jacksonian candidate to the
Twenty-fourth Congress. He declined to be a candidate for renomination in
1836
Events
January–March
* January 1 – Queen Maria II of Portugal marries Prince Ferdinand Augustus Francis Anthony of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha.
* January 5 – Davy Crockett arrives in Texas.
* January 12
** , with Charles Darwin on board, re ...
, serving 1835–1837. He resumed the practice of law.
Ingersoll was elected as a
Whig to the
Twenty-seventh Congress to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of
John Sergeant. He was reelected as a Whig to the
Twenty-eighth,
Twenty-ninth, and
Thirtieth Congresses. He declined to accept the nomination as a candidate for reelection in
1848
1848 is historically famous for the wave of revolutions, a series of widespread struggles for more liberal governments, which broke out from Brazil to Hungary; although most failed in their immediate aims, they significantly altered the polit ...
. In all, his second stay in office lasted from 1841 to 1849.
He was the chairman of the
United States House Committee on the Judiciary
The U.S. House Committee on the Judiciary, also called the House Judiciary Committee, is a Standing committee (United States Congress), standing committee of the United States House of Representatives. It is charged with overseeing the administra ...
during the Thirtieth Congress. He was an advocate for protection and a firm supporter of
Henry Clay. One of his noted efforts in the House was a defense of Clay's
tariff of 1842
The Tariff of 1842, or Black Tariff as it became known, was a protectionist tariff schedule adopted in the United States. It reversed the effects of the Compromise Tariff of 1833, which contained a provision that successively lowered the tariff ...
.
In 1852, President
Millard Fillmore
Millard Fillmore (January 7, 1800March 8, 1874) was the 13th president of the United States, serving from 1850 to 1853; he was the last to be a member of the Whig Party while in the White House. A former member of the U.S. House of Represen ...
sent him to the
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...
as the
U.S. Minister. He served about a year, and then retired to private life, devoting himself to literary pursuits. The degree of
LL.D.
Legum Doctor (Latin: “teacher of the laws”) (LL.D.) or, in English, Doctor of Laws, is a doctorate-level academic degree in law or an honorary degree, depending on the jurisdiction. The double “L” in the abbreviation refers to the early ...
was conferred on him by Lafayette and Bowdoin in 1836, and that of D.C.L. by Oxford in 1845.
He died in Philadelphia in 1868. Interment in St. Peter's Protestant Episcopal Churchyard.
Works
He was a warm adherent of the Union, and at the time of 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 ...
prepared an essay entitled "Secession, a Folly and a Crime." He published a translation from the Latin of Roceus's (Francesco Rocco's) tracts "De Navibus et Naulo" and "De Assecuratione" (Philadelphia, 1809), and was the author of a ''Memoir of
Samuel Breck'' (1863).
Notes
Sources
The Political Graveyard
Attribution
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ingersoll, Joseph
1786 births
1868 deaths
Politicians from Philadelphia
Ingersoll family
American people of English descent
Pennsylvania National Republicans
National Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives
Whig Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Pennsylvania
Ambassadors of the United States to the United Kingdom
19th-century American diplomats
Princeton University alumni
19th-century American politicians
Lawyers from Philadelphia
Burials at St. Peter's churchyard, Philadelphia
19th-century American lawyers
19th-century American Episcopalians