Samuel Finley Vinton

Samuel Finley Vinton

Samuel Finley Vinton (born September 25, 1792 in South Hadley , Hampshire County , Massachusetts , †  May 11, 1862 in Washington, DC ) was an American politician . Between 1823 and 1837 and again from 1843 to 1851 he represented the state of Ohio in the US House of Representatives .

Career

Samuel Vinton attended Williams College in Williamstown , Massachusetts until 1814 . After a subsequent law degree and his admission as a lawyer in 1816, he began to work in Gallipolis (Ohio) in this profession. There he also held several local offices. At the same time he embarked on a political career. In the 1820s he joined the movement against future President Andrew Jackson and became a member of the short-lived National Republican Party . He became a Whig in the 1830s .

In the congressional elections of 1822 , Vinton was elected to the US House of Representatives in Washington in the then newly established seventh constituency of Ohio, where he took up his new mandate on March 4, 1823. After six re-elections, he was able to complete seven legislative terms in Congress by March 3, 1837 . Since 1833 he represented there as the successor to William Creighton the sixth district of his state. The period up to 1829 was marked by heated discussions between the supporters of Andrew Jackson and those of President John Quincy Adams and Henry Clay . Since President Jackson took office in 1829, there has been heated debate inside and outside of Congress about its policies. It was about the controversial enforcement of the Indian Removal Act , the conflict with the state of South Carolina , which culminated in the nullification crisis , and the banking policy of the president. In 1836 Vinton declined to run again. After that he practiced as a lawyer again.

In the elections of 1842 Vinton was re-elected to Congress in the twelfth district of his state as a Whigs candidate, where he replaced Joshua Mathiot on March 4, 1843 . After three re-elections, he was able to spend four more terms in the US House of Representatives until March 3, 1851. The period up to 1845 was marked by tension between President John Tyler and the Whig Party. In addition, a possible annexation of the Republic of Texas , which has been independent of Mexico since 1836, was already being discussed. Thereafter, the Mexican-American War that arose from the annexation debate overshadowed the work of Congress. The post-war period was dominated by discussions about the question of slavery . In 1850, the 1850 compromise introduced by US Senator Henry Clay was passed. From 1847 to 1849, Samuel Vinton was chairman of the Committee on Ways and Means . In 1850 he renounced another congressional candidacy.

In 1851 he ran unsuccessfully for governor of Ohio. In 1853 and 1854 he was president of the Cleveland and Toledo Railroad . In 1862 he was assigned by President Abraham Lincoln to estimate the value of slaves released in the District of Columbia . Samuel Vinton died on May 11, 1862 in the federal capital Washington.

Web links

Commons : Samuel Finley Vinton  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• Samuel Finley Vinton in the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress (English)

• Samuel Finley Vinton in the database of Find a Grave (English)