Henry Latimer

Henry Latimer

Henry Latimer (born April 24, 1752 in Newport , Delaware Colony , †  December 19, 1819 in Philadelphia , Pennsylvania ) was an American politician ( Federalist Party ) who represented the state of Delaware in both chambers of Congress .

Origin and early life

Henry Latimer's father, James, was a wealthy businessman and sat in the Delaware Parliament from 1778 to 1779. He later attended the State Assembly which ratified the United States Constitution on December 7, 1787 . Henry's older brother George was a member of parliament in Delaware from 1779 to 1782; he later served as Speaker of the House of Representatives from Pennsylvania .

After completing medical studies, Henry Latimer first attended the College of Philadelphia from 1773 before moving to Scotland in 1775 and finishing his education at the College of Edinburgh . He returned to America and got caught up in the turmoil of the Revolutionary War . As a member of the Flying Hospital , he was part of a mobile medical unit in the service of the Continental Army . He also took part in the Battle of Brandywine .

Political career

On April 8, 1784, Latimer was elected as a delegate to the Continental Congress. However, he did not take part in its meetings in Annapolis and was replaced by another politician. Like his father and brother before, he moved into the Delaware House of Representatives , to which he was a member from 1787 to 1791. During the last year he served as President of Parliament. In 1792 he stood in the election for the House of Representatives of the United States against John Patten of the Democratic Republican Party and was defeated by this with a difference of 30 votes. Latimer contested the result, however, and was right, whereupon he was able to take his seat in Congress on February 14, 1794. In the next election in the same year he met Patten again, who this time prevailed with a larger majority.

Before the original end of his tenure in March 1795, Latimer was elected US Senator by the Delawares parliament, whereupon he resigned his seat on February 7 of this year and moved to the Senate. There he took the place of George Read, which had previously remained vacant for over a year . After initially ending his term of office, Latimer was also reelected; however, he resigned on February 28, 1801 from this office. He was no longer politically active, but exercised numerous other duties: For example, he was director of the Bank of Delaware , president of the agricultural society in New Castle County and chairman of the board of trustees of Newark College .

Latimer died in Philadelphia in 1819 and was buried in the Presbyterian Cemetery in Wilmington . When that cemetery had to give way to the Wilmington Institute library , his remains were reburied in Wilmington and Brandywine Cemetery .

Web links

• Henry Latimer in the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress (English)

• Henry Latimer in the database of Find a Grave (English)
• The Senators from Delaware