George M. Bibb
George Mortimer Bibb | |
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File:George M. Bibb - Brady-Handy.jpg | |
17th United States Secretary of the Treasury | |
In office July 4, 1844 – March 7, 1845 |
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President | John Tyler |
Preceded by | John C. Spencer |
Succeeded by | Robert J. Walker |
United States Senator from Kentucky |
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In office March 4, 1829 – March 3, 1835 |
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Preceded by | Richard M. Johnson |
Succeeded by | John J. Crittenden |
United States Senator from Kentucky |
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In office March 4, 1811 – August 23, 1814 |
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Preceded by | Henry Clay |
Succeeded by | George Walker |
Personal details | |
Born | Prince Edward County, Virginia, U.S. |
October 30, 1776
Died | Script error: The function "death_date_and_age" does not exist. Georgetown, Washington, D.C. |
Political party | Democratic |
Spouse(s) | Martha Tabb Scot |
Alma mater | Hampden–Sydney College College of William & Mary |
Profession | Politician, Lawyer |
George Mortimer Bibb (October 30, 1776 – April 14, 1859) was an American politician.
Biography
Bibb was born in Prince Edward County, Virginia, graduated from Hampden–Sydney College in 1791,[1] and later graduated from the College of William & Mary, then studied law. He was admitted to the bar and practiced law in Virginia and Lexington, Kentucky. After making a permanent move to Kentucky he was elected to the Kentucky House of Representatives in 1806, 1810 and again in 1817. He was appointed a judge of the Kentucky Court of Appeals in 1808 and then chief justice through 1810.
In 1811 he was elected to the United States Senate from Kentucky and served until 1814 when he again returned to Lexington to work as a lawyer. He moved to Frankfort, Kentucky in 1816 and sided with the New Court faction in the Old Court-New Court controversy in the 1820s. He was again named Chief Justice of the Kentucky Court of Appeals in 1827, serving for a year.
He was re-elected to the United States Senate in 1829 and served as a Jacksonian Democrat through 1835. During the 21st Congress he was chairman of the U.S. Senate Committee on Post Office and Post Roads.
He was chancellor of the Louisville Chancery Court from 1835 through 1844 and in 1844 became President John Tyler's fourth United States Secretary of the Treasury serving through 1845.
He was a very aged man when he assumed his Treasury position, dressing "in antique style, with kneebreeches." Bibb's Annual Report on the State of the Finances for 1844 consisted of an elaborate compilation of statistics detailing the financial history of the nation since 1789. In addition, he presented a solid argument for the establishment of a "sinking fund," accumulated through regular deposits and used to pay the interest and principal on the national debt. Bibb advocated using Treasury surplus revenue from customs and internal revenue collection to supply the sinking fund. Such a fund had been used effectively to reduce the deficit from 1789 to 1835, but Bibb was unable to revive it.
After this he was a lawyer in Washington, D.C., and an assistant in the U.S. Attorney General's office.
He was an active Freemasonry. He was the first master of Russellville Lodge No. 17, Russellville, Kentucky and was master of Hiram Lodge No. 4, in Frankfort. He was also past master of Lexington Lodge No. 1 at Lexington, and served as secretary in 1804. In 1804 he was grand master of Kentucky.[2]
He died in Georgetown, D.C., in 1859, and is buried in Frankfort Cemetery.
External links
- Find A Grave profile for George Bibb
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- George M. Bibb at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
References
United States Senate | ||
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Preceded by | U.S. Senator (Class 2) from Kentucky 1811–1814 Served alongside: John Pope, Jesse Bledsoe |
Succeeded by George Walker |
Preceded by | U.S. Senator (Class 2) from Kentucky 1829–1835 Served alongside: John Rowan, Henry Clay |
Succeeded by John J. Crittenden |
Political offices | ||
Preceded by | U.S. Secretary of the Treasury Served under: John Tyler 1844–1845 |
Succeeded by Robert J. Walker |
Honorary titles | ||
Preceded by | Most Senior Living U.S. Senator (Sitting or Former) November 5, 1857 - April 14, 1859 |
Succeeded by John J. Crittenden |
- This is a redirect from a page that has been moved (renamed). This page was kept as a redirect to avoid breaking links, both internal and external, that may have been made to the old page name. For more information follow the bold category link.
- Pages with broken file links
- 1776 births
- 1859 deaths
- Burials at Frankfort Cemetery
- College of William & Mary alumni
- United States Secretaries of the Treasury
- United States Senators from Kentucky
- Hampden–Sydney College alumni
- Democratic-Republican Party United States Senators
- Democratic Party United States Senators
- Kentucky Democratic-Republicans
- Kentucky Democrats
- Tyler administration cabinet members
- Judges of the Kentucky Court of Appeals