John Simpson | |
---|---|
Member-elect of the U.S. House of Representatives from Kentucky's 8th district | |
Died before taking office | |
Preceded by | Constituency established |
Succeeded by | Stephen Ormsby |
Speaker of the Kentucky House of Representatives | |
In office December 3,1810 –December 1812 | |
Preceded by | William Logan |
Succeeded by | Joseph H. Hawkins |
Personal details | |
Born | Virginia,British America |
Died | River Raisin,Michigan,U.S. | January 22,1813
Resting place | Frankfort Cemetery |
Political party | Democratic-Republican |
Height | 6 ft 7 in (201 cm) [1] |
Military service | |
Allegiance | United States |
Branch/service | United States Army |
Rank | Captain |
Unit | 1st Regiment of Riflemen |
Battles/wars | Northwest Indian War • Battle of Fallen Timbers War of 1812 • Battle of River Raisin |
John Simpson (died January 22,1813) [2] was a United States Army officer,attorney,and politician. Simpson saw military action in both the Northwest Indian War and the War of 1812. He also served 4 terms in the Kentucky House of Representatives including 2 years as the House's Speaker. In 1812 he was elected to the United States House of Representatives but died before he could take office.
Simpson was born in Virginia and moved to Kentucky with his family as a child during the 1780s. [3] They settled in Lincoln County [4] and Simpson would attend school in first Danville and then Bardstown. [5]
During the war Simpson volunteered for the Legion of the United States under the command of Gen. Anthony Wayne. He participated in the final skirmish of war;the Battle of Fallen Timbers [6] but did not see battle as he stayed behind to guard supplies. [3]
After the war Simpson moved to Shelby County,Kentucky where he would study law and become one of Shelby County's first attorneys. [7] He went on to be elected to the Kentucky House of Representatives representing Shelby County. He was elected to 4 consecutive terms from 1806 to 1811. [6] He was elected Speaker of the House from 1810 to 1811;defeating Samuel South and William MacMillan. [8]
In 1812 he was elected to the United States House of Representatives from the newly created 8th District of Kentucky. Although the 8th district had just been formed he defeated incumbent Stephen Ormsby who had been redistricted from the 3rd. He defeated Ormsby by a 'small margin'. [9] Before taking his seat the War of 1812 broke out and Simpson rejoined the army. Ormsby would later win a special election to be his replacement. [10]
During the War of 1812 Simpson once again volunteered for service. On August 15,1812 [1] he joined the First Rifle Regiment using his political clout to become the Captain of the regiment's third company. [5] Under the command of Col. John Allen his regiment helped reinforce Gen. Hull in Detroit. [4] He participated in the Battle of River Raisin on January 22,1813. He joined the battle during a British counterattack while the regular soldiers where retreating to the river. While his company only lost one soldier during its first engagement [11] he was killed early into the retreat. [1] In September 1834 human remains believed to be his were exhumed and returned to Kentucky. However,they have never been positively identified. He is also believed to have been reburied in the Frankfort Cemetery in Frankfort,Kentucky but the exact location is unknown. [3]
John Simpson is the namesake of both Simpsonville,Kentucky and Simpson County,Kentucky. [5] Fourth street of Shelbyville,Kentucky was also once named Simpson street in his honor. [12]
Shelby County is a county located in the U.S. state of Kentucky. As of the 2020 census,the population was 48,065. Its county seat is Shelbyville. The county was established in 1792 and named for Isaac Shelby,the first Governor of Kentucky. Shelby County is part of the Louisville/Jefferson County,KY–IN Metropolitan Statistical Area. Shelby County's motto is "Good Land,Good Living,Good People".
Shelbyville is a home rule-class city in and the county seat of Shelby County,Kentucky,United States. The population was 17,282 at the 2020 census.
Simpsonville is a home rule-class city in Shelby County,Kentucky,in the United States. It is located 8 miles west of Shelbyville,Kentucky and 23 miles east of Louisville situated along U.S. 60. The population was 2,484 during the 2010 U.S. Census.
William Orlando Butler was a U.S. political figure and U.S. Army major general from Kentucky. He served as a Democratic representative from Kentucky from 1839 to 1843,and was the Democratic vice-presidential nominee under Lewis Cass in 1848.
Christopher Greenup was an American politician who served as a U.S. Representative and the third Governor of Kentucky. Little is known about his early life;the first reliable records about him are documents recording his service in the Revolutionary War where he served as a lieutenant in the Continental Army and a colonel in the Virginia militia.
Isaac Shelby was an American politician and military officer who was the first and fifth Governor of Kentucky and served in the state legislatures of Virginia and North Carolina. He also fought in Lord Dunmore's War,the American Revolutionary War,and the War of 1812. While governor,he led the Kentucky militia in the Battle of the Thames,an action that was rewarded with a Congressional Gold Medal. Counties in nine states,and several cities and military bases,have been named in his honor. His fondness for John Dickinson's "The Liberty Song" is believed to be the reason Kentucky adopted the state motto "United we stand,divided we fall".
John Allen was an American politician and army officer who was killed in the War of 1812.
The Battles of Frenchtown,also known as the Battle of the River Raisin and the River Raisin Massacre,were a series of conflicts in Michigan Territory that took place from January 18–23,1813,during the War of 1812. It was fought between the United States of America and a joint force of British and Native Americans near the River Raisin in Frenchtown.
George Madison was the sixth Governor of Kentucky. He was the first governor of Kentucky to die in office,serving only a few weeks in 1816. Little is known of Madison's early life. He was a member of the influential Madison family of Virginia,and was a second cousin to President James Madison. He served with distinction in three wars –the Revolutionary War,Northwest Indian War,and War of 1812. He was twice wounded in the Northwest Indian War,and in the War of 1812 he was taken prisoner following the Battle of Frenchtown in Michigan.
Bland Williams Ballard was a soldier and politician from Kentucky.
Martin D. Hardin was a politician and lawyer from Kentucky. Born in Pennsylvania,his family immigrated to Kentucky when he was still young. He studied law under George Nicholas and commenced practice at Richmond,Kentucky. His cousin,future U.S. Representative Benjamin Hardin,studied in his law office. He represented Madison County in the Kentucky House of Representatives for a single term.
The Frankfort Cemetery is a historic rural cemetery located on East Main Street in Frankfort,Kentucky. The cemetery is the burial site of Daniel Boone,the famed frontiersman,and contains the graves of other famous Americans including seventeen Kentucky governors and a Vice President of the United States.
Paschal Hickman was an American military officer who was killed in the Massacre of the River Raisin,an important event in the War of 1812. Hickman County,Kentucky is named for him.
During the War of 1812,Kentucky supplied numerous troops and supplies to the war effort. Because Kentucky did not have to commit manpower to defending fortifications,most Kentucky troops campaigned actively against the enemy. This led to Kentucky seeing more battle casualties than all other states combined.
Nathaniel Gray Smith Hart was a Lexington,Kentucky lawyer and businessman,who served with the state's volunteer militia during the War of 1812. As Captain of the Lexington Light Infantry from Kentucky,Hart and many of his men were killed in the River Raisin Massacre of January 23,1813,after being taken prisoner the day before following the Battle of Frenchtown in Michigan Territory.
Benjamin Franklin Graves (1771–1813) was a politician and military leader in early 19th-century Kentucky. During the War of 1812,Graves served as a major in the 2nd Battalion,5th Kentucky Volunteer regiment. Together with other officers,he commanded Kentucky troops in the Battle of Frenchtown on January 22,1813,in Michigan Territory. This was part of an effort by Americans to take the British-controlled fort at Detroit,Fort Shelby. This battle had the highest number of American fatalities in the war:of 1,000 American troops,nearly 400 were killed in the conflict,and 547 were taken prisoner. The next day an estimated 30-100 Americans were killed by Native Americans after having surrendered.
Elijah P. Marrs was a minister and educator in Louisville,Kentucky. He was a sergeant in the 12th Regiment Heavy Artillery U.S. Colored Troops during the American Civil War (1861–1865). After the war he taught in various schools and helped organize Loyal Leagues to defend blacks from attacks by the Ku Klux Klan. Together with his brother,Henry,he helped found what became Simmons College of Kentucky in Louisville in 1879.
The Kentucky War Memorial is a memorial to Kentuckians who have died in all wars. On a high-point called the "State Mound" in Frankfort Cemetery in Frankfort,Kentucky,the memorial consists of a 65-foot-tall monument erected in 1850,nine low stone monuments built in a semi-circle,and two low straight monuments. The 1850 monument honors men who died up until 1850 and it lists the battles and the officers who fell. The semi-circular area to the south of the tall monument lists the wars,and the straight monuments list the names of all of Kentucky's fallen. The wars mentioned include:War of Independence,War of 1812,the Texas War of Independence,the Mexican War,Civil War,Spanish–American War,World War I,World War II,Korean War,Vietnam War,and Persian Gulf War.
William Atherton was an American soldier,rifleman and veteran of the War of 1812 from Shelbyville,Kentucky. He was a private in Captain John Simpson's company of the 1st Rifle Regiment. He served under William Henry Harrison. Atherton wrote a journal that detailed his war service within the Kentucky militia,including their defeat and subsequent massacre at River Raisin by opposing forces,and his subsequent capture and imprisonment.
Anthony Crockett was an American soldier during the American Revolutionary War,the Northwest Indian War,and the War of 1812. He also served as a Kentucky politician.