John Biddle (politician)

John Biddle

John Biddle (born March 2, 1792 in Philadelphia , Pennsylvania , †  August 25, 1859 in White Sulfur Springs , Virginia ) was an American politician . Between 1829 and 1831 he represented the Michigan Territory as a delegate in the US House of Representatives .

Career

John Biddle attended the public schools in his home country and then Princeton College . Between 1812 and 1821 he served in the US Army . He also took part in the British-American War of 1812 . By the time he left military service, he had attained the rank of major . During his military service, he temporarily served under General Winfield Scott in the Niagara area. He also commanded Fort Shelby near Detroit for some time . Later he was Deputy Inspector General.

In the years 1821 and 1822 he worked in Green Bay in what is now the state of Wisconsin as an Indian agent. He then acted from 1823 to 1837, also during his time in the US House of Representatives, as head of the land registry in Detroit. He was also an investigator into previous land claims in the Michigan Territory. From 1827 to 1828 he succeeded Jonathan Kearsley as Mayor of Detroit . In 1828, Biddle was elected as a Territory Delegate to Congress in Washington, DC , where he succeeded Austin Eli Wing on March 4, 1829 . He exercised this mandate until his resignation on February 21, 1831, two weeks before the regular end of the legislative period. On March 4, 1831, his predecessor Wing also succeeded him in the US House of Representatives.

In 1835, Biddle was President of the Michigan Constituent Assembly. In the same year he became president of the Michigan Central Railroad . It was then that he joined the newly formed Whig Party . Also in 1835, his candidacy for the US Senate failed . He also ran unsuccessfully as the first governor of Michigan, where he failed clearly at the Democrat Stevens Mason . In 1841 he became the Michigan House of Representatives and, as the successor to Philo C. Fuller, also its president .

In the following years, Biddle withdrew from the public. He first lived on his Wyandotte farm, which he later sold, and spent a lot of time on his other estate near St. Louis . John Biddle died on August 25, 1859 in White Sulfur Springs in what is now West Virginia . He was married to Eliza F. Bradish, with whom he had four children.

Web links

Commons : John Biddle  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• John Biddle in the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress (English)

• John Biddle in the database of Find a Grave (English)