Francis Swaine Muhlenberg Explained

Francis Swaine Muhlenberg
State:	Ohio
Term Start:	December 19, 1828
Term End:	March 3, 1829
Preceded:	William Creighton, Jr.
Succeeded:	William Creighton, Jr.
Office2:	Member of the Ohio House of Representatives from Pickaway County
Term Start2:	December 3, 1827
Term End2:	November 30, 1828
Preceded2:	Guy W. Doan Jacob Linsey
Succeeded2:	Val Keffer
Party:	Adams
Birth Date:	22 April 1795
Birth Place:	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, US
Death Place:	Pickaway County, Ohio, US
Alma Mater:	Dickinson College

Francis Swaine Muhlenberg (April 22, 1795December 17, 1831) was a political leader, member of the United States House of Representatives from Ohio, and a member of the Muhlenberg Family political dynasty.^[1]

Formative years

Francis Swaine Muhlenberg was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. His father, John Peter Gabriel Muhlenberg, was an American Revolutionary War hero and member of the United States Congress.^[2] His uncle, Frederick Augustus Conrad Muhlenberg, was the first Speaker of the United States House of Representatives.^{[3] [4]}

Muhlenberg attended Dickinson College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, studied law, and was admitted to the Pennsylvania bar in 1816.^[5]

Career and marriage

From 1820 to 1823, Muhlenberg served as private secretary to Pennsylvania Governor Joseph Hiester.^{[6] [7]}

He moved west to Pickaway County, Ohio, and was elected to the Ohio House of Representatives in 1827.^{[8] [9]} Sometime during this phase of his life, according to The Cincinnati Enquirer, he married Mary Barr Denny, after settling near her home in Circleville, Ohio, on lands granted to his father, General Peter Muhlenberg, for services in the Revolutionary War."^[10]

In 1828, he was elected the U.S. House of Representatives to fill the congressional seat vacated by the resignation of William Creighton, Jr. in the Twentieth United States Congress. He served until March 3, 1829.^{[11] [12] [13]}

After his congressional career, Muhlenberg worked as a businessman and land speculator in Ohio and Kentucky.^{[14] [15]}

Death and interment

Muhlenberg died in Pickaway County, Ohio on December 17, 1831, and was interred at the Protestant Cemetery in Circleville.^{[16] [17]}

Legacy

Muhlenberg Township, Pickaway County, Ohio, was named after him.

Notes and References

1. Kennedy, Will P. "Capital Sidelights." Washington, D.C.: The Sunday Star, October 11, 1942, p. 27 (subscription required).
2. Kennedy, "Capital Sidelights," The Sunday Star, October 11, 1942.
3. "Muhlenberg, Francis Swaine," in Biographical Directory of the United States. Washington, D.C.: Offices of the House and Senate Historians, U.S. Congress, retrieved online February 16, 2023.
4. Kestenbaum, Lawrence. "Muhlenberg, Francis Swaine (1795-1831)" (biography). Ann Arbor, Michigan: The Political Graveyard, May 10, 2022.
5. "Muhlenberg, Francis Swaine," in Biographical Directory of the United States, U.S. Congress.
6. "Muhlenberg, Francis Swaine," in Biographical Directory of the United States, U.S. Congress.
7. Kestenbaum, "Muhlenberg, Francis Swaine (1795-1831)," The Political Graveyard.
8. "Muhlenberg, Francis Swaine," in Biographical Directory of the United States, U.S. Congress.
9. Kestenbaum, "Muhlenberg, Francis Swaine (1795-1831)," The Political Graveyard.
10. "Isabella F. Hopkins Expires on Eighty-Seventh Birthday; Founded Children's Hospital." Cincinnati, Ohio: The Cincinnati Enquirer, February 4, 1935, p. 1 (subscription required).
11. "The Muhlenberg Family." Butler, Pennsylvania: The Butler Citizen, November 4, 1887, p. 1 (subscription required).
12. "Muhlenberg, Francis Swaine," in Biographical Directory of the United States, U.S. Congress.
13. Kestenbaum, "Muhlenberg, Francis Swaine (1795-1831)," The Political Graveyard.
14. "Muhlenberg, Francis Swaine," in Biographical Directory of the United States, U.S. Congress.
15. Kestenbaum, "Muhlenberg, Francis Swaine (1795-1831)," The Political Graveyard.
16. "Muhlenberg, Francis Swaine
17. Kestenbaum, "Muhlenberg, Francis Swaine (1795-1831)," The Political Graveyard.