Page:The Biographical Dictionary of America, vol. 02.djvu/419

 CORWIN

CORWIN

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was a ritizen of Ipswich, Mass., in 1634, of South- hold, Lung Island, N. Y., in 1640, and died there in 1658. His father removed from Fayette county, Pa., thence to Mason county, Ky., in 1785 and sub- sequently to Bourbon county. In 1798 he re- his family of six children, his widowed mother and most of his brothers and sisters to the Miami valley near the present site of Leba- non, Ohio. He was a justice of the peace, for ten years a rep- resentative in the state legislature,

speaker of the House in 1815 and 1824, presi- dential elector on the Madison ticket in 1812, an associate judge of the court of common pleas, 1816- 23, and a trustee of Miami university, 1815-18. He died Sept. 4, 1829. Of his four sons three, Matthias, Thomas and Jesse, became lawyers. Thomas was brought up on his father's farm and helped to subdue the wilderness out of which the farm was carved. He had few school advantages until he was twelve years old, when he began regular attendance at a winter school conducted by Jacob Grigg, a Baptist clergyman who had been educated in England. After two winters' attendance he was kejit at home, his father's means only allowing him to educate one son to a profession and Matthias, being the oldest son, was kept at school. After 1808 his time during the daj^s was fully occupied in hard work on the farm and in teaming to and from Cincinnati, thirty miles distant. From this occupation he gained the nickname "the wagon boy," afterward used in jjolitical campaigns. In the war of 1812 he was em])loyed in carrying provisions to the army of General Harrison, encamped on the waters of the St. Mary's which emptied into the Maumee. He employed his evenings in reading and ac- quired a knowledge of Latin and other academic studies by using the textbooks of his brother Matthias. In 1815 he took up the study of law under the direction of Joshua Collett and at the same time continued his reading of history and the English classics. He cultivated his elocution- ary powers at the village debating society and gained a local reputation as an eloquent speaker. He was admitted to the bar in 1817 when nearly twenty-three years old. He rode the circuit of the courts of his judicial district, which em- braced five or six counties, on horseback, carry- ing his books, briefs and change of clothing in

saddle-bags, and an overcoat and umbrella strapped behind the saddle. He was married Nov. 13, 1822, to Sarah, sister of Thomas R. Ross, a representative from Lebanon, Ohio, in the 16th, 17th and 18th congresses. In October, 1821, he was elected a representative in the Ohio legisla- ture and was re-elected in 1822 without opposition. The next seven years he declined re-election. At these elections no question of party politics entered into the canvass, the candidates depend- ing on personal popularity and supposed fitness for office. In October, 1829, the party lines become more defined and Corwin accepted the candidacy for representative in the state legislature, sup- ported by the anti- Jackson party, and was elected. He served as chairman of the judiciary commit- tee. In 1830 he was elected a representative in the 22d congress by a majority of 733 votes, while Robert Lucas, the Jackson candidate for governor, received a majority of 381 in the congressional district. He supported the National Republican party which subsequently- became known as the Whig party. He framed the new charter of the United States bank, and formed a protective tariff and a system of internal improvements by the federal government. Mr. Corwin was re- elected to the 23d, 24th, 25th and 26th congresses. In 1838 he was elected without opposition. On Feb. 15, 1840, he made his famous speech in the house of representatives in reply to General Crary, a representative from Michigan who had attacked the military record of General Harrison, and it gained him a national reputation as an orator. At the Whig state convention of Feb. 22, 1840, he received the unanimous nomination of the convention for governor of Ohio, and he resigned his office of representative in congress March 18, 1840, to take effect in May following. In the presidential campaign of 1840, he became known as the ablest stump speaker in America. He carried the state by over 16,000 majority, twice as large as had ever before been accorded any candidate for governor or president. He was in" augurated governor, Dec. 16, 1840, but continued to reside at Lebanon and to carry on his law l^ractice. In 1842 he was renominated and de- feated with the entire Whig partj'. In 1844 he was made president of the W^hig state convention, declined the nomination for governor, was placed at the head of the electoral ticket for Clay and Frelinghuysen and canvassed the state for the Whig ticket which was successful. On Dec. 2, 1844, he was elected a United States senator, as successor to Benjamin Tappan, Democrat, whose term would expire Maich 3, 1845. He took his seat Dec. 1, 1845. His first speech was in favor of land bounties to the soldiers of the Mexican war and was delivered in January, 1847, during the second session of the 29th congress. On