Jacob Stout

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jacob Stout (* 1764 in Kent County , Delaware Colony , † November 1, 1857 in Smyrna , Delaware ) was an American politician and governor of the state of Delaware from 1820 to 1821 .

Early years and political advancement

Jacob Stout began his professional career in the tanning industry and in agriculture. He was one of the founders of Leipsic in Delaware, where he was born in 1764. Politically, he joined the Federalist Party . Between 1812 and 1813 he was a member of the Delaware House of Representatives and from 1815 to 1819 he was a member of the State Senate , of which he became president.

Delaware Governor

In the gubernatorial elections of 1819, fellow party member Henry Molleston was elected to the highest office in Delaware. He should have taken up his new office in January 1820. However, he died on November 11, 1819. As a result, a regulation came into force in Delaware, according to which Senate President Stout was to serve as governor for a year. Then new elections should decide who should end the remaining two years of Molleston's tenure. According to this agreement, Jacob Stout succeeded John Clark on January 18, 1820 . His year-long tenure was overshadowed by heated debates over slavery in Delaware and across the United States . In Delaware, a border region between the north and the south , this topic and the admission of new states to the American Union as free or slave states were particularly hotly debated. The legislature was also deeply divided on this issue. The governor himself was against the expansion of slavery into new territories. The dispute was settled at the federal level with the Missouri Compromise by US Senator Henry Clay . At the end of his short term, Stout resigned on January 16, 1821 from his office, which the newly elected John Collins took over.

Another résumé

In 1822, Stout became a judge on an appeals court. Between 1844 and 1847 he was President of Smyrna Bank . In the meantime he returned to his private interests. Jacob Stout died in 1857. He was married twice and had a total of five children.

literature

  • Robert Sobel and John Raimo (Eds.): Biographical Directory of the Governors of the United States, 1789–1978. Volume 1, Meckler Books, Westport, 1978. 4 volumes.

Web links