Nathaniel Pope
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| Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Illinois | |
| In office March 3, 1819 – January 23, 1850 | |
| Appointed by | James Monroe |
| Preceded by | Seat established |
| Succeeded by | Thomas Drummond |
| Delegate to the U.S. House of Representatives from the Illinois Territory's at-large district | |
| In office December 2, 1816 – November 30, 1818 | |
| Preceded by | Benjamin Stephenson |
| Succeeded by | John McLean (Representative) |
| Secretary of the Illinois Territory | |
| In office April 24, 1809 – December 16, 1816 | |
| Governor | Ninian Edwards |
| Preceded by | Seat established |
| Succeeded by | Joseph Phillips |
| Governor of Illinois Territory | |
Acting | |
| In office April 24, 1809 – June 11, 1809* | |
| Preceded by | Position established |
| Succeeded by | Ninian Edwards |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1784-01-05)January 5, 1784 Louisville, Virginia, U.S. (now Kentucky) |
| Died | January 23, 1850(1850-01-23) (aged 66) St. Louis, Missouri, U.S. |
| Resting place | Bellefontaine Cemetery |
| Political party | Democratic-Republican |
| Education | Transylvania University |
| *Pending Edwards' arrival. | |
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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.
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] Although the youngest boy in his family, Pope could trace his ancestors in Virginia back to around 1650 when Nathaniel Pope moved from strife-torn Maryland into what became called the Northern Neck of Virginia, as did Humphrey Pope and James Pope, probably his brothers.[2] Both this man's parents had been born in Westmoreland County, Virginia, as had his grandfather Worden Pope (1705–1748) and great-grandfather Nathaniel Pope III (1660–1719, sometime called "Bridges" after another of his thrice-widowed mother's husbands), although his grandmother Hester Netherton Pope was born in what was then Stafford County, Virginia. Although the Pope family was well-established in Virginia, its members would only begin holding statewide office after the Revolutionary War, in which they supported the Patriot cause under the leadership of their neighbor, George Washington (whose distant ancestor John Washington had married the daughter of one of the earliest men named Nathaniel Pope. His eldest brother John Pope (1770–1845) was born in Prince William County, Virginia and would also become a lawyer and hold high political office, including in both houses of the Kentucky legislature as well as the U.S. Congress before becoming governor of the Arkansas Territory. Other brothers included William H. Pope Jr (1775–1844) who was born as the family continued moving westward into Fauquier County, Virginia, and Alexander Pope (1781–1826) and Nathaniel Pope (1784–1850), both of whom were born as the family moved to Louisville in what became the state of Kentucky when he was a boy. His birth family included several sisters who survived to adulthood and married including Penelope Edwards Oldham (1769–1821), Jane Pope Field (1772–1852; also born in Fauquier County) and Hester Pope Edwards (1788–1868; born in Louisville). After a private education appropriate to his class, Nathaniel Pope attended Transylvania University, then read law in 1804.[1]
Admitted to the bar, Nathaniel Pope entered private practice in Ste. Genevieve, Louisiana Territory (now Missouri) and across the Mississippi RiverinKaskaskia, Indiana Territory (that became Illinois Territory from March 1, 1809) from 1804 to 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. Although Boyle resigned after three weeks (in order to become Kentucky's Chief Justice) and was succeeded by Ninian Edwards (a lawyer and Maryland politician who was related to Pope's mother and had moved to Kentucky and now the Illinois Territory), Nathaniel Pope served 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 Democratic-Republican[3]
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.[4][5] He was a register for the United States General Land OfficeinEdwardsville, Illinois Territory (State of Illinois from December 3, 1818) from November 30, 1818, to March 3, 1819.[5][1]
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.[6] 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.[6]
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.[5][7]
Pope was an unsuccessful candidate for election to the United States Senate in 1824.[5]
Pope County, Illinois, was named for Pope, as was the recently closed Nathaniel Pope Elementary School in North Lawndale, Chicago, Illinois.[citation needed]
| Political offices | ||
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| New office | Governor of Illinois Territory Acting 1809 |
Succeeded by |
| Secretary of the Illinois Territory 1809–1816 |
Succeeded by | |
| U.S. House of Representatives | ||
| Preceded by | Delegate to the U.S. House of Representatives from the Illinois Territory's at-large congressional district 1816–1818 |
Succeeded by as U.S. Representative |
| Legal offices | ||
| New seat | Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Illinois 1819–1850 |
Succeeded by |
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