John Blanchard (September 30, 1787 – March 9, 1849) was a Whig member of the

U.S. 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 chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they ...

from

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, ...

. John Blanchard was born in

Peacham, Vermont Peacham is a town in Caledonia County, Vermont, United States. The population was 715 at the 2020 census. History In 1763, Governor Benning Wentworth of New Hampshire gave a charter for the region to a group of proprietors, and the town was gi ...

. He taught school, and graduated from

Dartmouth College Dartmouth College (; ) is a private research university in Hanover, New Hampshire. Established in 1769 by Eleazar Wheelock, it is one of the nine colonial colleges chartered before the American Revolution. Although founded to educate Native ...

Hanover, New Hampshire Hanover is a town located along the Connecticut River in Grafton County, New Hampshire, United States. As of the 2020 census, its population was 11,870. The town is home to the Ivy League university Dartmouth College, the U.S. Army Corps of En ...

, in 1812. He moved to Pennsylvania in 1812 and settled in

York, Pennsylvania York (Pennsylvania Dutch: ''Yarrick''), known as the White Rose City (after the symbol of the House of York), is the county seat of York County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is located in the south-central region of the state. The populatio ...

, where he again taught school. He studied law, was admitted to the bar March 31, 1815, and commenced practice in

Lewistown, Pennsylvania Lewistown is a borough in and the county seat of Mifflin County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is the principal city of the '' Lewistown, PA Micropolitan Statistical Area'', which encompasses all of Mifflin County. It lies along the Juniata Riv ...

. He moved to

Bellefonte, Pennsylvania Bellefonte is a borough in, and the county seat of, Centre County in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. It is approximately twelve miles northeast of State College and is part of the State College, Pennsylvania Metropolitan Statistical Area. The bor ...

, the same year and continued the practice of law. He owned slaves. Blanchard was elected as a Whig to the Twenty-ninth and Thirtieth Congresses. He was not a candidate for renomination 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 ...

. He died in

Columbia, Pennsylvania Columbia, formerly Wright's Ferry, is a borough (town) in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, United States. As of the 2020 census, it had a population of 10,222. It is southeast of Harrisburg, on the east (left) bank of the Susquehanna River, ac ...

, en route from

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

, to his home in 1849. Interment in Union Cemetery in Bellefonte. His son Edmund Blanchard became a prominent businessman in Bellefonte.

References

Sources

The Political Graveyard
{{DEFAULTSORT:Blanchard, John 1787 births 1849 deaths People from Peacham, Vermont American people of English descent Whig Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Pennsylvania Pennsylvania lawyers American slave owners 19th-century American lawyers Dartmouth College alumni