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Home | Office Holder | Jonathan Jennings
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After Indiana was granted statehood, Jennings was elected to serve as the first Governor of Indiana. He pressed for the construction of roads and schools, and negotiated the Treaty of St. Mary's to open up central Indiana to American settlement. His opponents attacked his participation in the treaty negotiations as unconstitutional and brought impeachment proceedings against him; the impeachment measure was narrowly defeated by a vote of 15 � 13 following a month-long investigation and the resignation of the lieutenant governor. During his second term and following the Panic of 1819, Jennings began to encounter financial problems because to his commitment to accept no salary; the situation was exacerbated by his inability to keep up with his business interests and run the state government simultaneously. Jennings resigned during his second term as governor upon winning election to the United States House of Representatives. Jennings served another five terms in Congress, promoting federal spending on internal improvement. Jennings had been a heavy drinker of whiskey since his early life. His addiction worsened after the death of his first wife and his development of [[rheumatism]. The problem led to his defeat in his reelection campaign in 1830. His condition was such that he was unable to work his farm; his finances collapsed and his creditors sought to take his land holdings and Charlestown farm. To protect him, his friend Senator John Tipton, purchased his farm and permitted him to continue living there. After his death, his estate was sold by his creditors leaving no funds to purchase a headstone for his grave, which remained unmarked for fifty-seven years. Historians have had varied interpretations of Jennings’ life and impact on the development of Indiana. Early state historians, like Jacob Piatt Dunn and William Woollen, gave Jennings high praise and credited him with the defeat of the pro-slavery forces in Indiana and with laying the foundation of the state. More critical historians during the prohibition era, like Logan Eseray, described Jennings as a crafty and self-promoting politician and focused on his alcoholism. Modern historians, like Keith Mills, place Jennings’ importance between the two extremes, saying that the “state owes him a debt which could never be calculated.” |
