Representatives of the 2nd District of Ohio--Biographies
One of them was a hatter, a couple were preachers, a few
were farmers, and lots of them were lawyers.
One was denounced for "treasonable utterances," and several
were war heroes.
Seven of them were named John. One was named Jean.
One became President of the United States. One was both
the son of one President and the father of another one. One
sat next to a former President in Congress and caught him
as he fell dying.
One was killed in a stagecoach crash, one fell down an elevator
shaft, and another one was the victim of a body snatching.
All of them were members of Congress from the 2nd District
of Ohio.
General Notes on Ohio's early government:
At least six states had territory affected by the terms of
the Northwest Ordinance in 1787. Of those territories, Ohio
was the first to enter the Union as a state. Initially, the
Ohio Territory had been ruled by a military governor and three
judges. Residents had no voice in government and were represented
in the United States Congress by a non-voting delegate at
large. In 1798, the Ohio Territory gained a sufficient population
(5,000 males) to initiate self-government. A 22-member territorial
legislature was formed, of which five members were selected
to serve as a territorial council.
Ohio became eligible for statehood in 1802, when the population
reached 60,000 persons. Male voters elected delegates to a
Constitutional Convention, at which the delegates drafted
the constitution Ohio's state government is based on. On February
19, 1803, the United States Congress approved the constitution
and admitted Ohio into the Union as the 17th state.
William Henry Harrison served as the territorial delegate
of Ohio before it became a state. He served for a few months
in 1799 and early 1800, and then resigned. William MacMillan
served briefly as Harrison's replacement. Paul Fearing from
Marietta, Ohio, then served as representative from 1801 until
Ohio became an official state in 1803. From 1803 until 1813,
Ohio only had one representative at large, Jeremiah Morrow
from Lebanon. In 1813, Ohio was divided into six districts.
The following list is of the representatives of Ohio's 2nd
District, though the boundaries of it have changed over time.
