William Creighton Jr. (October 29, 1778 – October 1, 1851) was the 1st

Secretary of State of Ohio The Secretary of State of Ohio is an elected statewide official in the State of Ohio. The Secretary of state is responsible for overseeing elections in the state; registering business entities (corporations, etc.) and granting them the author ...

, a

United States 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 ...

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 ...

and a

United States district judge The United States district courts are the trial courts of the United States federal judiciary, U.S. federal judiciary. There is one district court for each United States federal judicial district, federal judicial district, which each cover o ...

of the

United States District Court for the District of Ohio The following are former United States district courts, which ceased to exist because they were subdivided into smaller units. With the exception of California, each of these courts initially covered an entire U.S. state, and was subdivided as the ...

Education and career

Born on October 29, 1778, in Berkeley County,

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

(now

West Virginia West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian, Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States.The Census Bureau and the Association of American Geographers classify West Virginia as part of the Southern United States while the Bur ...

), Creighton graduated from

Dickinson College , mottoeng = Freedom is made safe through character and learning , established = , type = Private liberal arts college , endowment = $645.5 million (2022) , president = J ...

in 1795 and

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 ...

in 1798. He was admitted to the bar and entered private practice in Chillicothe, Ross County,

Northwest Territory The Northwest Territory, also known as the Old Northwest and formally known as the Territory Northwest of the River Ohio, was formed from unorganized western territory of the United States after the American Revolutionary War. Established in 1 ...

(State of

from March 1, 1803) from 1798 to 1803. He was the 1st

from 1803 to 1808. He resumed private practice in Chillicothe from 1808 to 1809. He was the

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 District of Ohio from 1809 to 1811. He was 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 1810. He again resumed private practice in Chillicothe from 1811 to 1812.

Congressional service

Creighton was elected as a

Democratic-Republican 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 early ...

from

Ohio's 3rd congressional district Ohio's 3rd congressional district is located entirely in Franklin County and includes most of the city of Columbus. The current district lines were drawn in 2011, following the redistricting based on the 2010 census. It is currently represent ...

to the

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of the

13th United States Congress The 13th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, consisting of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C. from March 4, 1813 ...

to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of

United States 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 ...

Duncan McArthur Duncan McArthur (1772April 29, 1839) was a military officer and a Federalist and National Republican politician from Ohio. He served as the 11th governor of Ohio. When first elected to state office as a representative, he was serving in the ...

. He was reelected to the

14th United States Congress The 14th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, consisting of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in the Old Brick Capitol in Washingto ...

and served from May 4, 1813, to March 3, 1817. He was an unsuccessful candidate for election in 1815 to the

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from Ohio. He was elected as an Adams Republican from

Ohio's 6th congressional district Ohio's 6th congressional district is represented by Representative Bill Johnson (R-OH). This district runs along the eastern side of the state, bordering West Virginia, and Pennsylvania. It stretches from Marietta through several Ohio River in ...

to the United States House of Representatives of the

20th United States Congress The 20th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, consisting of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C. from March 4, 1827, ...

and served from March 4, 1827, until his resignation in 1828 to accept a federal judicial position. He was reelected as an

Anti-Jacksonian The National Republican Party, also known as the Anti-Jacksonian Party or simply Republicans, was a political party in the United States that evolved from a conservative-leaning faction of the Democratic-Republican Party that supported John Qu ...

to the United States House of Representatives of the 21st and

22nd United States Congress The 22nd United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, consisting of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C. from March 4, 1831 ...

es, serving from March 4, 1829, to March 3, 1833. He was not a candidate for renomination in 1832. Following his first two terms in Congress, Creighton was President of the Chillicothe Branch of the

Second Bank of the United States The Second Bank of the United States was the second federally authorized Hamiltonian national bank in the United States. Located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the bank was chartered from February 1816 to January 1836.. The Bank's formal name, ac ...

in 1817. In between his terms in Congress, Creighton engaged in private practice in Chillicothe from 1817 to 1827.

Federal judicial service

Creighton received a

recess appointment In the United States, a recess appointment is an appointment by the president of a federal official when the U.S. Senate is in recess. Under the U.S. Constitution's Appointments Clause, the President is empowered to nominate, and with the advi ...

from President

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 ...

on November 1, 1828, to a seat on the

vacated by Judge

Charles Willing Byrd Charles Willing Byrd (July 26, 1770 – August 25, 1828) was Secretary of the Northwest Territory, acting Governor of the Northwest Territory and a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the District of Ohio. Educ ...

. He was nominated to the same position by President Adams on December 11, 1828. His service terminated on March 3, 1829, after his nomination was not confirmed by the

, which never voted on his nomination. The Senate on February 16, 1829, passed a resolution that it was “not expedient to fill the vacancy at the present session of Congress.”

Later career and death

Following the termination of his federal judicial service, Creighton resumed private practice in Chillicothe from 1833 to 1851. He died on October 8, 1851, in Chillicothe. He was interred in Grand View Cemetery in Chillicothe.

Family

Creighton had married Elizabeth Meade in September 1805, and they had six daughters and three sons.

References

Sources

External links

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Creighton, William Jr. 1778 births 1851 deaths Judges of the United States District Court for the District of Ohio United States federal judges appointed by John Quincy Adams 19th-century American judges Members of the Ohio House of Representatives Politicians from Chillicothe, Ohio Ohio Whigs 19th-century American politicians Ohio University trustees Secretaries of State of Ohio Unsuccessful recess appointments to United States federal courts Dickinson College alumni Ohio sheriffs Burials at Grandview Cemetery (Chillicothe, Ohio) United States Attorneys for the District of 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 Ohio National Republicans United States federal judges admitted to the practice of law by reading law