George M. Bibb

George Bibb
George Bibb
17th United States Secretary of the Treasury
	In office; July 4, 1844 – March 7, 1845
President	John Tyler; James K. Polk
Preceded by	John C. Spencer
Succeeded by	Robert J. Walker
United States Senator; from Kentucky
	In office; March 4, 1829 – March 3, 1835
Preceded by	Richard Johnson
Succeeded by	John J. Crittenden
	In office; March 4, 1811 – August 23, 1814
Preceded by	Henry Clay
Succeeded by	George Walker
Chief Justice of the Kentucky Court of Appeals
	In office; 1809
	In office; 1827–1828
Personal details
Born	George Mortimer Bibb; October 30, 1776; Prince Edward County, Virginia, U.S.
Died	April 14, 1859 (aged 82); Georgetown, Washington, D.C., U.S.
Resting place	Frankfort Cemetery
Political party	Democratic
Spouse	Martha Tabb Scot
Education	Hampden-Sydney College; College of William and Mary (BA)

George Mortimer Bibb (October 30, 1776 – April 14, 1859) was an American lawyer and politician and the seventeenth United States Secretary of the Treasury. He was chief justice of the Kentucky Court of Appeals and twice represented Kentucky as a senator in Congress, serving from 1811 to 1814 and from 1829 to 1835.

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, Bibb 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.^[2]

While a wealthy man, he claimed to have faced significant financial difficulties from losses in the Panic of 1837.^[3]

Following the death of his father, the Reverend Richard Bibb Sr., George Bibb advised his brother on how to carry out his father's instructions in his will to emancipate his slaves. George Bibb did so despite his personal pro-slavery views.^[3]

However, he did not emancipate his own slaves, believing that free blacks were "a nuisance to society." At the time of Bib's death, his body servant Willis was auctioned in Washington DC, near the White House.^[4]

Career

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.^[2]

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. While in the Senate, he was a strong advocate for pro-slavery views.^[3] In 1834, he was the sole Democratic member of the Senate to vote in support of the censure of President Andrew Jackson.^[5]

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.^[2]

He was in his late sixties 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.^[2]

He was an active Freemason. 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.^[6]

He died in Georgetown, D.C., in 1859, and is buried in Frankfort Cemetery with a cenotaph at the Congressional Cemetery.

References

^ "Lacy, Drury". The National Cyclopædia of American Biography. Vol. II. New York: James T. White & Company. 1921. p. 22.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Allen, William B. (1872). A History of Kentucky: Embracing Gleanings, Reminiscences, Antiquities, Natural Curiosities, Statistics, and Biographical Sketches of Pioneers, Soldiers, Jurists, Lawyers, Statesmen, Divines, Mechanics, Farmers, Merchants, and Other Leading Men, of All Occupations and Pursuits. Bradley & Gilbert. pp. 258–259. Retrieved November 10, 2008.
^ ^a ^b ^c Metzmeier, Kurt X. (2016). "Constructing Freedom: A Letter by George M. Bibb Concerning the Will of the Rev. Richard Bibb Sr". University of Louisville School of Law Legal Studies Research Paper Series No. 2017-5. Rochester, NY. SSRN 2919345.
^ Goodheart, Adam (2011). 1861: The Civil War Awakening. New York: Alfred A. Knopf. pp. 58–60. ISBN 9781400040155. OCLC 676726649.
^ "Voteview | Plot Vote: 23rd Congress > Senate > Vote 21". voteview.com. UCLA Social Sciences Division Department of Political Science. Retrieved June 30, 2023.
^ Denslow, William R. (1957). 10,000 Famous Freemasons. Columbia, Missouri, USA: Missouri Lodge of Research.

External links

United States Congress. "George M. Bibb (id: B000433)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.

U.S. Senate
Preceded by Henry Clay	U.S. senator (Class 2) from Kentucky 1811–1814 Served alongside: John Pope, Jesse Bledsoe	Succeeded by George Walker
Preceded by Richard M. Johnson	U.S. senator (Class 2) from Kentucky 1829–1835 Served alongside: John Rowan, Henry Clay	Succeeded by John J. Crittenden
Political offices
Preceded by John C. Spencer	U.S. Secretary of the Treasury Served under: John Tyler 1844–1845	Succeeded by Robert J. Walker
Honorary titles
Preceded by Alexander Campbell	Most senior living U.S. senator (Sitting or former) November 5, 1857 - April 14, 1859	Succeeded by John J. Crittenden

[Cyclopaedia-1] "Lacy, Drury". The National Cyclopædia of American Biography. Vol. II. New York: James T. White & Company. 1921. p. 22.

[History-2] Allen, William B. (1872). A History of Kentucky: Embracing Gleanings, Reminiscences, Antiquities, Natural Curiosities, Statistics, and Biographical Sketches of Pioneers, Soldiers, Jurists, Lawyers, Statesmen, Divines, Mechanics, Farmers, Merchants, and Other Leading Men, of All Occupations and Pursuits. Bradley & Gilbert. pp. 258–259. Retrieved November 10, 2008.

[:0-3] Metzmeier, Kurt X. (2016). "Constructing Freedom: A Letter by George M. Bibb Concerning the Will of the Rev. Richard Bibb Sr". University of Louisville School of Law Legal Studies Research Paper Series No. 2017-5. Rochester, NY. SSRN 2919345.

[4] Goodheart, Adam (2011). 1861: The Civil War Awakening. New York: Alfred A. Knopf. pp. 58–60. ISBN 9781400040155. OCLC 676726649.

[5] "Voteview | Plot Vote: 23rd Congress > Senate > Vote 21". voteview.com. UCLA Social Sciences Division Department of Political Science. Retrieved June 30, 2023.

[Denslow-6] Denslow, William R. (1957). 10,000 Famous Freemasons. Columbia, Missouri, USA: Missouri Lodge of Research.

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v t e United States senators from Kentucky
Class 2	Brown Thruston Clay Bibb Walker Barry Hardin Crittenden Johnson Bibb Crittenden Morehead J. Underwood Thompson Powell Guthrie McCreery Stevenson Beck Carlisle Lindsay Blackburn Paynter James Martin Stanley Sackett Robsion Williamson M. Logan Chandler Stanfill Cooper Chapman T. Underwood Cooper Barkley Humphreys Cooper Huddleston McConnell
Class 3	Edwards Marshall J. Breckinridge Adair Clay Pope Bledsoe Talbot W. Logan Talbot Rowan Clay Crittenden Metcalfe Clay Meriwether Dixon Crittenden J. C. Breckinridge Davis Machen McCreery Williams Blackburn Deboe McCreary Bradley Camden Beckham Ernst Barkley Withers Clements Morton Cook Ford Bunning Paul

v t e Chairmen of the United States Senate Committee on Post Office and Civil Service
Post Office and Post Roads (1816–1947)	Wilson Stokes Lanman Johnson Bibb Grundy Robinson Henderson Merrick Niles Rusk Yulee Gwin Collamer Dixon Ramsey Hamlin Ferry Maxey Ferry Hill Conger Sawyer Vilas Wolcott Mason Penrose Bourne Bankhead Townsend Sterling Moses Phipps Oddie McKellar Chávez
Civil Service and Retrenchment (1873–1921)	Wright Clayton Blaine Teller Butler Hawley Chace Wolcott Call Jarvis Pritchard Baker Perkins Cummins Pomerene McKellar Sterling
Civil Service (1921–1947)	Sterling Stanfield Couzens Dale Bulow Downey
Post Office and Civil Service (1947–1977)	Langer Johnston Carlson Johnston Monroney McGee

v t e Cabinet of President John Tyler (1841–1845)
Secretary of State	Daniel Webster (1841–1843) Abel P. Upshur (1843–1844) John C. Calhoun (1844–1845)
Secretary of the Treasury	Thomas Ewing (1841) Walter Forward (1841–1843) John Canfield Spencer (1843–1844) George M. Bibb (1844–1845)
Secretary of War	John Bell (1841) John Canfield Spencer (1841–1843) James Madison Porter (1843–1844) William Wilkins (1844–1845)
Attorney General	John J. Crittenden (1841) Hugh S. Legaré (1841–1843) John Nelson (1843–1845)
Postmaster General	Francis Granger (1841) Charles A. Wickliffe (1841–1845)
Secretary of the Navy	George Edmund Badger (1841) Abel P. Upshur (1841–1843) David Henshaw (1843–1844) Thomas Walker Gilmer (1844) John Y. Mason (1844–1845)

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