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Nathaniel Pope (January 5, 1784 – January 23, 1850) was an American government leader in the early history of the State of Illinois. He served as the Secretary of the Illinois Territory, then as a Delegate to the United States House of Representatives from the Illinois Territory, and for over thirty years as the United States district judge for the United States District Court for the District of Illinois.

Early life and education

Born on January 5, 1784, in Louisville in what was then District of Kentucky, Virginia (but became Kentucky in his lifetime), to the former Penelope Sanford Edwards (1757-) and her husband Col. William H. Pope (1740–1825).[1] After a private education appropriate to his class, Nathaniel Pope attended Transylvania University, then read law in 1804.[1]

Early career

Admitted to the bar, Nathaniel Pope entered private practice in Ste. Genevieve, Louisiana Territory (now part of Missouri) in 1804. He later moved across the Mississippi River to practice in Kaskaskia, Indiana Territory, which became part of Illinois Territory on March 1, 1809.[1] When the Illinois Territory was created, President James Madison appointed Kentucky politician John Boyle as the Territorial Governor and Pope as the Territorial Secretary.

Boyle resigned after three weeks to become Kentucky’s Chief Justice and was succeeded by Ninian Edwards. Edwards, a lawyer and Maryland politician who had moved to Kentucky and then the Illinois Territory, was related to Pope’s mother. Pope served as territorial secretary from 1809 to 1816.[1] He was acting Governor of the Illinois Territory in 1809.[1] He was an Illinois Territorial Militia officer in 1812.[1] Pope was a member of the Democratic-Republican party.[2]

Congressional service

Pope was elected on September 5, 1816, as a Delegate to the United States House of Representatives for a term of two years, serving in the 14th and 15th United States Congresses from December 2, 1816, to November 30, 1818.[3][4] He was a register for the United States General Land Office in Edwardsville, Illinois Territory (State of Illinois from December 3, 1818) from November 30, 1818, to March 3, 1819.[4][1]

Notable legislation

Pope was instrumental both in securing the new territory’s admission as the 21st State on December 3, 1818 (the statehood resolution passed regardless of the creative counting to achieve the former minimum of 60,000 persons) as well as in adjusting the new state’s northern boundary from the southern extremity of Lake Michigan extending it north to the 42° 30′ parallel. Adding the land now included in the thirteen northern counties became very important for Illinois’ development, because it included what was to become its largest city (Chicago), although it also slowed Wisconsin‘s qualification for admission to the Union.[5] Furthermore, Pope drafted the statehood resolution to ensure that 2% of land sales would be used to fund roads and 3% to fund schools, unlike the previous statehood resolutions which required 5% to be used to fund roads.[5]

Federal judicial service

Pope’s grave (2nd row, 2nd from left) at Bellefontaine Cemetery

Pope was nominated by President James Monroe on March 3, 1819, to the United States District Court for the District of Illinois, to a new seat authorized by 3 Stat. 502.[1] He was confirmed by the United States Senate on March 3, 1819, and received his commission the same day.[1] His service terminated on January 23, 1850, due to his death in St. Louis, Missouri.[1] He was interred in the Colonel O’Fallon Burying Ground and later reinterred at the Bellefontaine Cemetery in St. Louis.[4][6]

As a federal judge, Pope notably granted habeas corpus to Mormon leader Joseph Smith to avoid extradition to Missouri over the attempted assassination of Lilburn Boggs, a former governor of Missouri.[7]

Unsuccessful campaign

Pope was an unsuccessful candidate for election to the United States Senate in 1824.[4]

Honor

Pope County, Illinois, was named for Pope, as was the recently closed Nathaniel Pope Elementary School in North Lawndale, Chicago, Illinois.[citation needed]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Nathaniel Pope at the Biographical Directory of Federal Judges, a publication of the Federal Judicial Center.
  2. ^ Lusk, David W. (1887). Politics and Politicians of Illinois. Springfield, IL: H. W. Rokker. p. 377.
  3. ^ A Biographical Congressional Directory. U.S. Congress. 1903. p. 69.
  4. ^ a b c d United States Congress. “Nathaniel Pope (id: P000432)”. Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
  5. ^ a b “Nathaniel Pope — J. Ill. S. H. S. 3:7‑21 (1911)”. penelope.uchicago.edu.
  6. ^ Clark, William; Clark, Jonathan; Society, Filson Historical (June 19, 2019). Dear Brother: Letters of William Clark to Jonathan Clark. Yale University Press. ISBN 978-0300090109 – via Google Books.
  7. ^ Wilson, John M. (1880). Memoir of Justin Butterfield. Lincoln Financial Foundation Collection. Chicago : Chicago Legal News Co. pp. 18–21.

Sources

Further reading

  • Angle, Paul M. McClelland. Nathaniel Pope from 1784 to 1850, A Memoir. [Springfield, Ill.]: Privately printed, 1937. OCLC 5844104
  • Bloom, Jo Tice. “Peaceful Politics: The Delegates from Illinois Territory from 1809 to 1818.” The Old Northwest 6 (Fall 1980): 203–15.
  • Illinois (Ter.) Laws, Statutes, etc. Laws of the Territory of Illinois, revised and digested, under the authority of the legislature. By Nathaniel Pope. Kaskaskia: Printed by Matthew Duncan Printer to the Territory, 1815.