Background
Jesse Franklin was born on March 24, 1760 in Orange County, Virginia, and was the third son of Bernard and Mary (Cleveland) Franklin.
governor military senator statesman
Jesse Franklin was born on March 24, 1760 in Orange County, Virginia, and was the third son of Bernard and Mary (Cleveland) Franklin.
Franklin received scarcely the rudiments of an education, leaving school before he reached the age of twelve, but this deficiency was later to some extent made up by extensive reading.
At seventeen Jesse Franklin was a Revolutionary soldier, and according to family tradition a lieutenant, but, after the habit of many Revolutionary warriors, he soon returned home. Before 1776 his father had determined to move to North Carolina, and he now sent the youth to spy out the land. After an extended search young Franklin chose a fertile spot in Surry County to which the family presently repaired. The region swarmed with Loyalists, and in a short time Franklin was captain and adjutant in a patriot regiment commanded by Benjamin Cleveland, his maternal uncle.
Distinguishing himself at the battle of King’s Mountain, afterwards he continued in service in the partisan warfare of the period, and was intensely hated and feared by the Loyalists who finally captured and hanged him with his own bridle, only to have it break and allow him to escape. He was a volunteer at Guilford Court House where he again displayed dashing courage. The close of the war found him a major of militia.
In 1784 he was elected to the House of Commons, and by annual election he served until 1787 and again from 1789 to 1791.
In 1792 he returned to Surry and represented that county in 1793 and 1794. In the latter year he was elected to Congress and served one term. In the House he was an ally of his colleague, Nathaniel Macon, whose views, particularly in relation to economy in government, coincided with his own. At the close of his term he was elected to the Commons for two successive years, and in 1798 was elected to the United States Senate, serving from 1799 to 1805.
During the impeachment trial of Judge Pickering, he was chosen president pro tempore, his friend Macon being at the same time speaker of the House. Franklin voted for the conviction of Pickering and also for the conviction of Justice Samuel Chase. As chairman of a special committee he reported adversely to the suspension of the Ordinance of 1787 in order to secure the admission of Cuban refugees with their slaves.
He spoke seldom in the Senate, but was active and valuable in committee work, and won nationally the reputation he had at home for hard practical sense, straightforward simplicity, and fine integrity. Defeated for reelection, his county at once sent him to the state Senate for two terms.
In 1806 he was again elected to the United States Senate and served from 1807 to 1813. During this second term he was again prominent in committee work. As chairman of the committee to investigate the connection of Senator Smith of Ohio with the Burr conspiracy, he recommended his expulsion and ably managed the trial which resulted in acquittal followed by Smith’s resignation. He was an eager advocate of the War of 1812, but just as it began he was defeated and retired to private life.
In 1816 he was appointed by President Madison a commissioner with David Meriwether and Andrew Jackson to treat with the Chickasaws and Cherokees, and in September, at the Chickasaw Council House, he signed treaties with both tribes. He was appointed a commissioner to sell lands acquired from the Cherokees, and was also a member of a commission to determine the boundary line with Georgia. In December 1820 he was elected governor, but declined reelection the following year on account of bad health.
Franklin died of dropsy at his home after an illness of nine months in Surry County, North Carolina on August 31, 1823. He was interred in Surry County. In 1906, his remains were moved to Guilford Courthouse National Military Park, near Greensboro.
In his political affiliation Franklin was a Democrat-Republican and was elected as Democratic Republican to the United States Senate in 1806.
During his second term as a Governor of North Carolina, Franklin was an eager advocate of the War of 1812.
Franklin spoke seldom in the Senate, but was active and valuable in committee work, and won nationally the reputation he had at home for hard practical sense, straightforward simplicity, and fine integrity.
When the war ended, Franklin moved to Wilkes County and a few years later married Meeky Perkins, the daughter of Hardy Perkins of Rockbridge County, Virignia, a woman of great beauty, ability, and strong character.