Philemon Beecher (March 19, 1776November 30, 1839)The New York Genealogical and Biographical Record, Volume 51, page 27
/ref> was an

Anglo-American Anglo-Americans are people who are English-speaking inhabitants of Anglo-America. It typically refers to the nations and ethnic groups in the Americas that speak English as a native language, making up the majority of people in the world who spe ...

attorney and

legislator A legislator (also known as a deputy or lawmaker) is a person who writes and passes laws, especially someone who is a member of a legislature. Legislators are often elected by the people of the state. Legislatures may be supra-national (for ex ...

who was a member of the

United States House of Representatives 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 house, lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the United States Senate, Senate being ...

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 ...

Biography

Philemon Beecher was born in

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

in the

Connecticut Colony The ''Connecticut Colony'' or ''Colony of Connecticut'', originally known as the Connecticut River Colony or simply the River Colony, was an English colony in New England which later became Connecticut. It was organized on March 3, 1636 as a settl ...

, the son of Abraham Beecher and Desire Tolles. Philemon Beecher received a classical education,

read law Reading law was the method used in common law countries, particularly the United States, for people to prepare for and enter the legal profession before the advent of law schools. It consisted of an extended internship or apprenticeship under the ...

and was admitted to the bar. Beecher moved to

Lancaster, Ohio Lancaster ( ) is a city in Fairfield County, Ohio, in the south-central part of the state. As of the 2020 census, the city population was 40,552. The city is near the Hocking River, about southeast of Columbus and southwest of Zanesville. It is ...

, in 1801 and continued the practice of law,Beecher, Philemon. United States House of Representatives
/ref> being

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 ...

while Ohio was still the Northwest Territory. He was the leading lawyer of the Lancaster bar for twenty-five years. It was in his office that lawyer and political figure

Thomas Ewing Thomas Ewing Sr. (December 28, 1789October 26, 1871) was a National Republican and Whig politician from Ohio. He served in the U.S. Senate as well as serving as the secretary of the treasury and the first secretary of the interior. He is also ...

studied law. Beecher was often a

barrister A barrister is a type of lawyer in common law jurisdictions. Barristers mostly specialise in courtroom advocacy and litigation. Their tasks include taking cases in superior courts and tribunals, drafting legal pleadings, researching law and ...

at the courthouse in

Marietta, Ohio Marietta is a city in, and the county seat of, Washington County, Ohio, United States. It is located in southeastern Ohio at the confluence of the Muskingum and Ohio Rivers, northeast of Parkersburg, West Virginia. As of the 2020 census, Mar ...

. Beecher was a member of Scioto Lodge No 2 Free and Accepted Masons in Ohio. Philemon Beecher made the acquaintance of Susan Gillespie, a daughter of Neil Gillespie of

Brownsville, Pennsylvania Brownsville is a borough (Pennsylvania), borough in Fayette County, Pennsylvania, United States, first settled in 1785 as the site of a trading post a few years after the Sullivan Expedition, defeat of the Iroquois enabled a post-Revolutionary war ...

when she came to Lancaster on a visit to her sister, Mrs. Hugh Boyle. Philemon Beecher and Susan Gillespie were married in

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 1803 or 1804. Originally a

Federalist The term ''federalist'' describes several political beliefs around the world. It may also refer to the concept of parties, whose members or supporters called themselves ''Federalists''. History Europe federation In Europe, proponents of de ...

, Beecher was elected a member of 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 ...

in 1803 and again in the three sessions from 1805 to 1807, serving as

speaker Speaker may refer to: Society and politics * Speaker (politics), the presiding officer in a legislative assembly * Public speaker, one who gives a speech or lecture * A person producing speech: the producer of a given utterance, especially: ** I ...

in 1807. His swarthy complexion earned him the sobriquet of the "Black Knight." In 1805, he opposed a

Resolution Resolution(s) may refer to: Common meanings * Resolution (debate), the statement which is debated in policy debate * Resolution (law), a written motion adopted by a deliberative body * New Year's resolution, a commitment that an individual mak ...

commending the United States government for the

Louisiana Purchase The Louisiana Purchase (french: Vente de la Louisiane, translation=Sale of Louisiana) was the acquisition of the territory of Louisiana by the United States from the French First Republic in 1803. In return for fifteen million dollars, or app ...

, but the Resolution passed by one vote. Beecher was a witness on behalf of

Fairfield County, Ohio Fairfield County is a county located in the U.S. state of Ohio. As of the 2020 census, the population was 158,921. Its county seat is Lancaster. Its name is a reference to the Fairfield area of the original Lancaster. Fairfield County is p ...

Common Pleas Judge William W. Irvin at the latter's

impeachment Impeachment is the process by which a legislative body or other legally constituted tribunal initiates charges against a public official for misconduct. It may be understood as a unique process involving both political and legal elements. In ...

trial in 1806. Irvin was married to the sister of Beecher's future wife. Irvin went on to follow Beecher in the Ohio legislature, in Congress and was later on the Ohio Supreme Court. Philemon Beecher was unsuccessful as a candidate for

United States Senator The United States Senate is the Upper house, upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the United States House of Representatives, House of Representatives being the Lower house, lower chamber. Together they compose the national Bica ...

in 1807 against

Edward Tiffin Edward Tiffin (June 19, 1766August 9, 1829) was an American politician from Ohio. A member of the Democratic-Republican party, he served as the first governor of Ohio and later as a United States Senator. Biography Sources indicate that he was ...

. That year he also failed to win a place on the bench as judge of the

Ohio Supreme Court The Ohio Supreme Court, Officially known as The Supreme Court of the State of Ohio is the highest court in the U.S. state of Ohio, with final authority over interpretations of Ohio law and the Ohio Constitution. The court has seven members, a ...

. Philemon Beecher was appointed a

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 a ...

in the Ohio

militia A militia () is generally an army or some other fighting organization of non-professional soldiers, citizens of a country, or subjects of a state, who may perform military service during a time of need, as opposed to a professional force of r ...

. The

Bank was chartered in 1816 with Beecher as president for one year. He continued as a director of the bank for many years. Philemon Beecher was elected as a

from

Ohio's 5th congressional district Ohio's 5th congressional district is in northwestern and north central Ohio and borders Michigan and Indiana. The district is currently represented by Republican Bob Latta. The district borders have changed somewhat from the previous redistrict ...

to the

Fifteenth In music, a fifteenth or double octave, abbreviated ''15ma'', is the interval between one musical note and another with one-quarter the wavelength or quadruple the frequency. It has also been referred to as the bisdiapason. The fourth harmonic, ...

and Sixteenth Congresses. He was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1820. Described in later years as an old-line Whig, in 1822, Philemon Beecher was elected as an Adams-Clay Republican from the new Ohio 9th district to the Eighteenth Congress, and an Adams candidate to the Nineteenth and Twentieth Congresses. In the 1824 battle between

Andrew Jackson Andrew Jackson (March 15, 1767 – June 8, 1845) was an American lawyer, planter, general, and statesman who served as the seventh president of the United States from 1829 to 1837. Before being elected to the presidency, he gained fame as ...

and

John Quincy Adams John Quincy Adams (; July 11, 1767 – February 23, 1848) was an American statesman, diplomat, lawyer, and diarist who served as the sixth president of the United States, from 1825 to 1829. He previously served as the eighth United States S ...

for Ohio's

electoral An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has operat ...

votes, he voted for Adams. In 1826, Philemon Beecher participated as a managing member of The Colonization Society in Lancaster, an organization promoting

repatriation Repatriation is the process of returning a thing or a person to its country of origin or citizenship. The term may refer to non-human entities, such as converting a foreign currency into the currency of one's own country, as well as to the pro ...

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

as an alternative to

slavery Slavery and enslavement are both the state and the condition of being a slave—someone forbidden to quit one's service for an enslaver, and who is treated by the enslaver as property. Slavery typically involves slaves being made to perf ...

. He was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1828 when he was defeated by his brother-in-law, William W. Irvin. Philemon Beecher returned to Lancaster and continued the practice of law until his death there, aged 63, November 30, 1839. He and his wife are interred in Elmwood Cemetery.

References

* Wiseman, C. M. L. Centennial history of Lancaster, Ohio, and Lancaster people: 1898, the one hundredth anniversary of the settlement of the spot where Lancaster stands Lancaster, Ohio: C.M.L. Wiseman, 1898, ©1897, 407 pgs. * History of the Republican Party in Ohio Chicago: Lewis Publishing Co., 1898, 1579 pgs. * Taylor, William Alexander. Ohio statesmen and annals of progress: from the year 1788 to the year 1900. Columbus, Ohio: Press of the Westbote Co., state printers, 1899, ©1898, 458 pgs. * Wiseman, C. M. L. Pioneer period and pioneer people of Fairfield County, Ohio. Columbus, Ohio: F. J. Heer Printing Co., 1901, 431 pgs. * Rerick, Rowland H. State centennial history of Ohio: covering the periods of Indian, French and British dominion, the Territory Northwest, and the hundred years of statehood. Madison, Wis.: Northwestern Historical Association, 1902, 423 pgs. * A Standard history of Ross County, Ohio. Chicago: Lewis Publishing Co., 1917, 1006 pgs. * Jacobus, Donald Lines, compiler. Families of Ancient New Haven Rome, NY: Press of Clarence D. Smith, 1927, eight volumes plus cross reference index volume. * Weisenburger, Francis P. The passing of the frontier from 1825 to 1850. Columbus, Ohio: Ohio State Archaeological and Historical Society, 1941, 538 pgs. {{DEFAULTSORT:Beecher, Philemon 1776 births 1839 deaths People from Oxford, Connecticut People of colonial Connecticut American people of English descent Federalist Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Ohio Democratic-Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Ohio National Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Ohio Ohio Whigs Speakers of the Ohio House of Representatives Members of the Ohio House of Representatives People from Lancaster, Ohio American Freemasons American lawyers admitted to the practice of law by reading law Burials in Ohio