CORWIN
CORWIN
moved with
x^r^t?^
^o ^^^TT^iy-^^f-x^.
was a ritizen of Ipswich, Mass., in 1634, of South-
hold, Lung Island, N. Y., in 1640, and died there in
1658. His father removed from Fayette county,
Pa., thence to Mason county, Ky., in 1785 and sub-
sequently to Bourbon county. In 1798 he re-
his family of six children, his
widowed mother and
most of his brothers
and sisters to the
Miami valley near the
present site of Leba-
non, Ohio. He was a
justice of the peace,
for ten years a rep-
resentative in the
state legislature,
speaker of tlie House in 1815 and 1824, presi- dential elector on the Madison ticket in 1812, an associate judge of the court of common pleas, 1816- 23, and a trustee of Miami university, 1815-18. He died Sept. 4, 1829. Of his four sons three, Matthias, Thomas and Jesse, became lawyers. Thomas was brought up on his father's farm and helped to subdue the wilderness out of whicli the farm was carved. He had few school advantages until he was twelve years old, when he began regular attendance at a winter school conducted by Jacob Grigg, a Baptist clergyman who had been educated in England. After two winters' attendance he was kejit at home, his father's means only allowing him to educate one son to a profession and Matthias, being the oldest son, was kept at school. After 1808 his time during the daj^s was fully occupied in hard work on the farm and in teaming to and from Cincinnati, thirty miles distant. From this occupation he gained the nickname "the wagon boy," afterward used in jjolitical campaigns. In the war of 1812 he was em])loyed in carrying provisions to the army of General Harrison, encamped on the waters of the St. Mary's which emptied into the Maumee. He employed his evenings in reading and ac- quired a knowledge of Latin and other academic studies by using the textbooks of his brother Matthias. In 1815 he took up the study of law under the direction of Joshua Collett and at the same time continued his reading of history and the English classics. He cultivated his elocution- ary powers at the village debating society and gained a local reputation as an eloquent speaker. He was admitted to the bar in 1817 when nearly twenty-three years old. He rode the circuit of the courts of his judicial district, which em- braced five or six counties, on horseback, carry- ing his books, briefs and change of clothing in
saddle-bags, and an overcoat and umbrella
strapped behind the saddle. He was married
Nov. 13, 1822, to Sarah, sister of Thomas R. Ross,
a representative from Lebanon, Ohio, in the 16th,
17th and 18th congresses. In October, 1821, he
was elected a representative in the Ohio legisla-
ture and was re-elected in 1822 without opposition.
The next seven years he declined re-election.
At these elections no question of party politics
entered into the canvass, the candidates depend-
ing on personal popularity and supposed fitness for
office. In October, 1829, the party lines become
more defined and Corwin accepted the candidacy
for representative in the state legislature, sup-
ported by the anti- Jackson party, and was elected.
He served as chairman of the judiciary commit-
tee. In 1830 he was elected a representative in
the 22d congress by a majority of 733 votes, while
Robert Lucas, the Jackson candidate for governor,
received a majority of 381 in the congressional
district. He supported the National Republican
party which subsequently- became known as the
Whig party. He framed the new charter of the
United States bank, and formed a protective
tariff and a system of internal improvements by
the federal government. Mr. Corwin was re-
elected to the 23d, 24th, 25th and 26th congresses.
In 1838 he was elected without opposition. On Feb.
15, 1840, he made his famous speech in the house
of representatives in reply to General Crary, a
representative from Michigan who had attacked
the military record of General Harrison, and it
gained him a national reputation as an orator.
At the Whig state convention of Feb. 22, 1840,
he received the unanimous nomination of the
convention for governor of Ohio, and he resigned
his office of representative in congress March 18,
1840, to take effect in May following. In the
presidential campaign of 1840, he became known
as the ablest stump speaker in America. He
carried the state by over 16,000 majority, twice
as large as had ever before been accorded any
candidate for governor or president. He was in"
augurated governor, Dec. 16, 1840, but continued
to reside at Lebanon and to carry on his law
l^ractice. In 1842 he was renominated and de-
feated with the entire Whig partj'. In 1844 he
was made president of the W^hig state convention,
declined the nomination for governor, was placed
at the head of the electoral ticket for Clay and
Frelinghuysen and canvassed the state for the
Whig ticket which was successful. On Dec. 2,
1844, he was elected a United States senator, as
successor to Benjamin Tappan, Democrat, whose
term would expire Maich 3, 1845. He took his
seat Dec. 1, 1845. His first speech was in favor
of land bounties to the soldiers of the Mexican
war and was delivered in January, 1847, during
the second session of the 29th congress. On
