Jonathan
Jennings
Governor
of
Indiana
November
7, 1816-September 12, 1822
Artist: James
Forbes, American, c. 1800-?
oil on canvas, 36 x 29 (91.5 x 73.6)
Signed l.l.: Jas. Forbes/Pinxt
JONATHAN
JENNINGS, Indiana's first state governor, was a minister's son, born in
New Jersey
and educated in the common schools of
Pennsylvania
. Like most of his successors in the governor's chair,
Jennings
was a lawyer. He was elected as territorial delegate to Congress in 1809,
1811,1812, and 1814, and served as president of the convention called to frame a
constitution for the new state of
Indiana
. His politics were of a personal rather than a party nature.
Jennings
was elected governor in 1816, handily defeating the incumbent territorial
governor, Thomas Posey. He served two terms, leaving office in 1822 after his
election to Congress, to which he was re-elected in 1824, 1826, and 1828. He
also served on commissions in 1818 and 1832 to negotiate treaties with the
Potawatomi, Wea, and Miami Indians.
Indiana
historian William Wesley Woollen says that
Jennings
lost his seat in Congress in 1830 because his friends were concerned about his
drinking problem, believing that life in
Washington
tended to increase
Jennings
' dependence on alcohol.
Jennings
had blue eyes, a
fair complexion, and sandy hair. He was about five feet eight and one-half
inches tall, and later in his life he tended to corpulence. Woollen describes
Jennings
as "a man of polished manners. . . he was always gentle and kind to those
about him. He was not an orator, but he could tell what he knew in a pleasing
way. He wrote well, as well perhaps as any of his successors in the Governor's
office."
Source:
Peat, Wilbur D. Portraits and Painters of the Governors of
Indiana
1800-1978. Revised, edited and with new entries by Diane Gail Lazarus,
Indianapolis Museum of Art. Biographies of the governors by Lana Ruegamer,
Indiana Historical Society.
Indianapolis
:
Indiana
Historical Society and
Indianapolis
Museum
of Art, 1978.
