Othniel Looker (October 4, 1757July 23, 1845) was a
Democratic-Republican Party
The Democratic-Republican Party, known at the time as the Republican Party and also referred to as the Jeffersonian Republican Party among other names, was an American political party founded by Thomas Jefferson and James Madison in the earl ...
politician 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 ...
. He served briefly as the fifth
governor of Ohio.
Biography
Sources vary on Looker's birth location. He was born either in
Morris County, New Jersey, or on
Long Island, New York.
His gravestone was engraved with the Morris County location.
Locker moved with his mother to
Hanover Township, New Jersey
Hanover Township is a township in Morris County, New Jersey, United States. At the 2010 United States Census, the township's population was 13,712, reflecting an increase of 814 (+6.3%) from the 12,898 counted in the 2000 Census, which had i ...
, when he was two-years-old, after the death of his father. He enlisted with the
New Jersey militia
The New Jersey Line was a formation within the Continental Army. A "New Jersey Line" was the quota of numbered infantry regiments that the Congress of the Confederacy assigned to New Jersey at various times. New Jersey Line, 1776
The first two ...
in 1776, and served out the remainder of 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 ...
as a
private.
In 1779, Looker married Pamela Clark, and circa 1788 Looker moved to
Vermont
Vermont () is a state in the northeast New England region of the United States. Vermont is bordered by the states of Massachusetts to the south, New Hampshire to the east, and New York to the west, and the Canadian province of Quebec to ...
and then to
New York, working as a school teacher.
[
]
Career
He served in the New York State Assembly from 1803 to 1804. After receiving a land grant for his war services, Looker moved to Hamilton County, Ohio in 1804, and served in the Ohio House of Representatives
The Ohio House of Representatives is the lower house of the Ohio General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Ohio; the other house of the bicameral legislature being the Ohio Senate.
The House of Representatives first met in Ch ...
from 1807 to 1810. He served in the Ohio Senate from 1810 to 1817.[
While serving as Speaker of the Ohio Senate from 1813 to 1814, Looker was concurrently elevated to the governorship, after then-Governor ]Return J. Meigs Jr.
Return Jonathan Meigs Jr. (; November 17, 1764March 29, 1825) was a Democratic-Republican Party, Democratic-Republican politician from Ohio. He served as the fourth governor of Ohio, fifth United States Postmaster General, and as a United States ...
resigned to become Postmaster General
A Postmaster General, in Anglosphere countries, is the chief executive officer of the postal service of that country, a ministerial office responsible for overseeing all other postmasters. The practice of having a government official responsib ...
.[
Looker sought re-election, but was badly defeated by the far more well-known ]Thomas Worthington Thomas or Tom Worthington may refer to:
*Thomas Worthington (Douai) (1549–1627), English Catholic priest and third President of Douai College
* Thomas Worthington (Dominican) (1671–1754), English Dominican friar and writer
* Thomas Worthington ...
. He continued to live in Ohio until his wife's death, and later moved to Palestine, Illinois, to be with his daughter Rachel Kitchell, and he is buried there in Kitchell Cemetery. Looker was the Ohio 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 app ...
in 1816 for James Monroe
James Monroe ( ; April 28, 1758July 4, 1831) was an American statesman, lawyer, diplomat, and Founding Father who served as the fifth president of the United States from 1817 to 1825. A member of the Democratic-Republican Party, Monroe was ...
.
Legacy
The Village Historical Society, in Harrison, Ohio
Harrison is a city in Hamilton County, Ohio, United States. The city is located in the Cincinnati-Northern Kentucky metropolitan area. The population was 9,897 at the 2010 census, and was estimated in 2019 to be 11,896.
History
Harrison was l ...
, has restored the home of former Ohio Governor Othniel Looker. The Othniel Looker House is open to the public, free of charge, on a few dates during each year, and special tours can be arranged for school groups. The Othniel Looker House 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 ...
.
References
External links
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*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Looker, Othneil
1757 births
1845 deaths
Governors of Ohio
Members of the New York State Assembly
Members of the Ohio House of Representatives
New Jersey militiamen in the American Revolution
Presidents of the Ohio State Senate
People from Palestine, Illinois
People from Harrison, Ohio
People from Hanover Township, New Jersey
Ohio Democratic-Republicans
1816 United States presidential electors
People from Long Island
Burials in Illinois
Democratic-Republican Party state governors of the United States
19th-century American politicians