List of delegates to the 1816 Indiana constitutional convention explained

Forty-three men from the Indiana Territory were elected to attend a constitutional convention to consider statehood for Indiana. The delegates convened at Corydon, the territorial capital, from June 10 through June 29, 1816. On June 11 the delegation passed a resolution (34 to 8) to proceed with the task of writing the state's first constitution and forming a state government.[1] [2] An Enabling Act, which President James Madison signed into law on April 19, 1816, provided for the election of the delegates that took place on May 13, 1816. The delegation was apportioned among thirteen counties in the territory and based on each county's population.[3] [4]

Jonathan Jennings, an elected delegate from Clark County, presided over the convention; William Hendricks, although he was not an elected delegate, served as the convention's secretary.[5] The delegation adopted the state constitution with a simply majority vote (33 to 8). It went into effect on June 29, 1816.[6]

The convention's elected delegates were:

NameCounty
Represented
Thomas Carr Sr.
John K. GrahamClark County
Jonathan Jennings[7] Clark County
James Lemen (James Lemon) Clark County
James Scott[8] Clark County
James Dill
Ezra FerrisDearborn County
Solomon ManwaringDearborn County
James Brownless
William H. EadsFranklin County
Robert Hanna[9] Franklin County
Enoch McCartyFranklin County
James Noble[10] Franklin County
Alexander Devin[11]
Frederick Rapp[12] Gibson County
David RobbGibson County
James SmithGibson County
John Boone[13]
Davis FloydHarrison County
Daniel C. Lane[14] Harrison County
Dennis Pennington[15] Harrison County
Patrick ShieldsHarrison County
Nathaniel Hunt
David H. MaxwellJefferson County
Samuel SmockJefferson County
John Badollet
John BenefielKnox County
John Johnson[16] Knox County
William PolkeKnox County
Knox County
Charles Polke
Dann Lynn
William Cotton
Daniel Grass[17]
John DePauw
William Graham[18] Washington County
William LoweWashington County
Samuel MilroyWashington County
Robert McIntireWashington County
Patrick Beard
Jeremiah CoxWayne County
Hugh CullWayne County
Joseph Holman[19] Wayne County

References

External links

Notes and References

  1. Book: John D. Barnhart and Dorothy L. Riker. Indiana to 1816: The Colonial Period . Indiana Historical Bureau and the Indiana Historical Society . The History of Indiana . I . 1971 . Indianapolis . 441–43 . See also Pamela J. Bennett. Indiana Statehood . The Indiana Historian . 6, 8–9 . Indiana Historical Bureau . Indianapolis . September 1999.
  2. The eight delegates who opposed the resolution for Indiana statehood were John Johnson and William Polke of Knox County; David Robb and Frederick Rapp of Gibson County; John Boone of Harrison County; and Nathaniel Hunt, David H. Maxwell, and Samuel Smock, who comprised the entire delegation from Jefferson County. See Barnhart and Riker, pp. 442–43, 448.
  3. Barnhart and Riker, pp. 441–43, and Bennett, ed., p. 4.
  4. [Orange County, Indiana|Orange]
  5. Barnhart and Riker, p. 444.
  6. Book: William P. McLauchlan . The Indiana State Constitution: A Reference Guide. Greenwood Press. Reference Guides to the State Constitutions of the United States . 26 . 1996 . Westport, CT . 4. 978-0-313-29208-8.
  7. Jennings was elected the first governor of Indiana after statehood and served from 1816 to 1822. He also served in the U.S. Congress from 1823 to 1831. See Barnhart and Riker, p. 443, and Bennett, pp. 8–9, 14.
  8. Scott was one of the first three judges appointed to the Indiana Supreme Court on December 28, 1816. The other two were Jesse Lynch Holman and John Johnson, a fellow convention delegate. See Book: Linda C. Gugin and James E. St. Clair. Justices of the Indiana Supreme Court. 2010. Indiana Historical Society Press. Indianapolis. 1, 5, 9. 9780871952882.
  9. Hanna was appointed to fill a vacancy in the U.S. Senate; he served from August 19, 1831, to January 3, 1832. See Web site: Robert Hanna . Biographical Dictionary of the United States Congress . 2016-08-15.
  10. Noble, the first U.S. Senator from Indiana after statehood, served from December 11, 1816, until his death in 1831.See Web site: James Noble . Biographical Dictionary of the United States Congress . 2016-08-15. He was also the brother of Noah Noble, governor of Indiana from 1831 to 1837. See Barnhart and Riker, p. 461, Bennett, p. 14, and Book: Linda C. Gugin and James E. St. Clair . The Governors of Indiana . Indiana Historical Society Press and the Indiana Historical Bureau . 2006 . Indianapolis . 70–79 . 0-87195-196-7 .
  11. Devin was a Baptist minister in Gibson County. See Book: Dunn Jr., Jacob Piatt. Indiana and Indianans : A History of Aboriginal and Territorial Indiana and the Century of Statehood. The American Historical Society . I . 1919. Chicago and New York . 301 .
  12. Frederick Rapp, the adopted son of Harmonist leader George Rapp, served as a spokesman for the Harmony Society. See Bennett, p. 14.
  13. John Boone, also known as Squire Boone, was the brother of frontiersman Daniel Boone. See Bennett, p. 14, and Dunn Jr., p. 298.
  14. Lane served as Indiana’s state treasurer from 1816 to 1823. See Bennett, p. 14.
  15. Pennington, a farmer, stonemason, and Indiana Territory legislator, supervised construction of the Harrison County courthouse, which served as the state’s first capitol building from 1816 to 1825. After statehood he served eighteen years in the Indiana General Assembly. See Bennett, p. 14, John W. Ray . A Recollection of Dennis Pennington . The Indiana Quarterly Magazine of History . 3 . 1 . 26–28 . Indiana University . Bloomington . March 1907. 2016-08-16. Book: Robert M. Taylor Jr. . Errol Wayne Stevens . Mary Ann Ponder . Paul Brockman . Indiana: A New Historical Guide . Indiana Historical Society . 1992 . Indianapolis . 169–70. 0871950499.
  16. Johnson was one of the first three judges appointed to the Indiana Supreme Court on December 28, 1816. The other two were James Scott, a fellow convention delegate, and Jesse Lynch Holman. See Bennett, p. 14, and Gugin and St. Clair, eds., Justices of the Indiana Supreme Court, pp. 1, 5, 9.
  17. Grass was excused from the convention on June 19, 1816, due to ill health. See Bennett, p. 14.
  18. Graham served in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1837 to 1839. See Bennett p. 14.
  19. Holman, the youngest delegate, was twenty-eight years old. Barnhart and Riker, pp. 443, 447.

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