John Chambers
John Chambers, from an oil painting
2nd Governor of Iowa Territory
In office
1841–1845
Preceded byRobert Lucas
Succeeded byJames Clarke
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Kentucky's 12th district
In office
March 4, 1835 – March 3, 1839
Preceded byThomas A. Marshall
Succeeded byGarrett Davis
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Kentucky's 2nd district
In office
December 1, 1828 – March 3, 1829
Preceded byThomas Metcalfe
Succeeded byNicholas D. Coleman
Member of the Kentucky House of Representatives
In office
1812
1815
1830–1831
Personal details
Born(1780-10-06)October 6, 1780
Somerset County, New Jersey
DiedSeptember 21, 1852(1852-09-21) (aged 71)
Paris, Kentucky
Political partyAnti-Jacksonian, Whig
Signature

John Chambers (October 6, 1780 – September 21, 1852) was a U.S. Representative from Kentucky and the second Governor of the Iowa Territory. He was appointed by President William Henry Harrison.[1]

Education & early career

Chambers was born at Bromley Bridge, Somerset County, New Jersey, on October 6, 1780, a son of Roland Chambers (1744–1821) and Phoebe (Mullican) Chambers.

He attended the public schools and the Transylvania Seminary at Lexington, Kentucky. In 1794 he moved with his father to Washington, Mason County, Kentucky. After studying law he was admitted to the bar in 1800 and commenced practice in Washington, Kentucky. He owned slaves.[2] Chambers served as aide-de-camp to General William Henry Harrison in the War of 1812 and was at the Battle of the Thames. He served as a member of the Kentucky House of Representatives in 1812, 1815, 1830, and 1831. In 1825, Chambers was appointed judge of the Kentucky Court of Appeals. He resigned in 1827.

U.S. Congressional career

He was elected as a pro-Adams candidate to the Twentieth Congress to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of Thomas Metcalfe and served from December 1, 1828, to March 3, 1829; elected as an Anti-Jacksonian to the Twenty-fourth Congress, and reelected as a Whig to the Twenty-fifth Congress (March 4, 1835 – March 3, 1839); chairman, Committee on Claims (Twenty-fifth Congress).

Chambers represented the counties of Pendleton, Bracken, Robertson, Nicholas and Bourbon.[3]

After Congress

Chambers was appointed Governor of the Iowa Territory in 1841, serving until 1845. He was then appointed commissioner to negotiate a treaty with the Sioux Indians in Minnesota Territory in 1849, and was unsuccessful.[4] He died near Paris, Bourbon County, Kentucky, September 21, 1852, and was interred in the family burial ground at Washington, in Mason County, Kentucky.

Personal life

He married Margaret Taylor (b. May 22, 1781), daughter of Major Ignatius Taylor (1742–1807), on June 16, 1803. She died on March 4, 1807. They had no surviving children.

He married secondly, on October 29, 1807, to Hannah Lee Taylor (January 9, 1791 – November 11, 1832), daughter of Major Ignatius Taylor with his second wife, Barbara Bowie (1756–1805). Hannah was a half-sister to John's first wife Margaret. John and Hannah had twelve children; Margaret Taylor (1808–1863), Joseph Sprigg Taylor, Hannah Lee Taylor, James Taylor, Matilda Taylor, Francis Taylor, Jane Taylor, Mary Taylor, Laura Taylor, John Taylor, James Taylor, Henry Taylor, Lucretia Taylor.

References

  1. ↑ Iowa Columbian Commission Committee of Archaeological, Historical and Statistical Information (1893). A Hand Book of Iowa: Or The Discovery, Settlement, Geographical Location ... and the Excellence of the Social and Moral Life of the State of Iowa. The Commission. p. 143.
  2. ↑ "Congress slaveowners", The Washington Post, January 13, 2022, retrieved July 7, 2022
  3. ↑ Mathis, Kenneth C. Historical Atlas of Political Parties in Congress p. 93
  4. ↑ Folwell, William Watts (1921). A History of Minnesota. St. Paul: Minnesota Historical Society Press. pp. 271–274.
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