Benjamin Tappan Jr (1773 - 1857)

Born 25 May 1773 in Northampton, Massachusetts

Ancestors

Descendants

Died 20 Apr 1857 at age 83 in Steubenville, Jefferson, Ohio, United States

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Preceded by Thomas Morris

Benjamin Tappan US Senator (Class 1) from Ohio 1839—1845

Succeeded by Thomas Corwin

Biography

Benjamin Tappan Jr is Notable.

Benjamin is the son of Benjamin and Sarah (Homes) Tappan.^[1] His father was one of the principal proprietors of Ravenna Township in Portage County, Ohio and, in June of 1799, he set out to make a settlement there. He finished the first cabin in 1800.

On 20 Mar 1801, Benjamin married 1) Nancy Wright, the sister of John Crafts Wright who would later become a congressman of Ohio. They had one son:

• Benjamin, b. 1812

Tappan served in the Ohio State Senate from 1803 to 1804. In 1809, he moved to Steubenville, Jefferson County, Ohio where he continued his law practice. During the War of 1812, Benjamin achieved the rank of Major in the 4th Division (Wadsworth's) Ohio Militia.^[2] After the war, he served as county judge, judge of the fifth Ohio Circuit Court of Common Pleas from 1816 to 1823. His first wife having died, Benjamin married 2) Betsy (Lord) Frazer, the widow of Eliphalet Frazer, in 1823. They had one son:

• Eli Todd Tappan, later president of Kenyon College.

In 1838, Benjamin was elected as a Democrat to the U.S. Senate. He was censured on May 10, 1844 for disclosing the terms of a secret message from President John Tyler detailing the possible terms of the annexation of Texas to the New York Evening Post.

Sources

1. ↑ Massachusetts Births and Christenings, 1639-1915
2. ↑ United States War of 1812 Index to Service Records, 1812-1815

• "United States Census, 1850," database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MX39-L9K : 21 December 2020), Benjamin Tappan in household of Benjamin Tappan, Steubenville, Jefferson, Ohio, United States; citing family , NARA microfilm publication (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.).
• Find A Grave Memorial# 8136774
• Benjamin Tappan on Wikipedia
• Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
• Tappan, Daniel Langdon. Tappan-Toppan Genealogy (D.L. Tappan, Arlington, Mass., 1915). Page 25.[1]