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History and Government—Congressional Biographies—Illinois / IndianaJesse Burgess THOMAS
(1777-1853)
Senate Years of Service:
1818-1829Party: Democratic Republican;
Crawford Republican; AdamsTHOMAS, Jesse Burgess, a
Delegate from Indiana Territory and a Senator from Illinois; born
in Shepherdstown, Va. (now West Virginia) in 1777; studied law in
Mason County, Ky., where he also served as county clerk until 1803;
moved to Lawrenceburg, Indiana Territory in 1803 and practiced law;
appointed deputy attorney general of Indiana Territory in 1805;
member, Territorial house of representatives 1805-1808, and served
as speaker 1805-1808; elected as a Delegate from Indiana Territory
to the Tenth Congress to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation
of Benjamin Parke and served from October 22, 1808, to March 3,
1809; moved to Kaskasia in 1809, then to Cahokia, and later to
Edwardsville, Ill.; upon the organization of Illinois Territory was
appointed judge of the United States court for the northwestern
judicial district 1809-1818; delegate to the State constitutional
convention in 1818 and served as president of that body; upon the
admission of Illinois as a State into the Union in 1818 was elected
as a Democratic Republican to the United States Senate; reelected
as a Crawford Republican (later Adams Republican) in 1823, and
served from December 3, 1818, to March 3, 1829; declined to be a
candidate for reelection in 1829; chairman, Committee on Public
Lands (Sixteenth and Seventeenth Congresses); moved to Mount
Vernon, Ohio, in 1829; committed suicide at Mount Vernon, Ohio, May
2, 1853; interment in Mound View Cemetery.
Bibliography
Dictionary of American Biography; Suppiger, Joseph E.
“Amity to Enmity: Ninian Edwards and B. Thomas.”
Journal of the Illinois State Historical Society 67 (April
1974): 201-11; Suppiger, Joseph E. “Burgess Thomas:
Illinois’ Pro-Slavery Advocate.” Ph.D. dissertation,
University of Tennessee, 1970.
Source: Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1771-Present
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