Nathaniel Pope was an American politician and jurist.
Background
He was born on January 5, 1784 in Louisville, Kentucky, United States, the son of William and Penelope (Edwards) Pope. He was the descendant of Nathaniel Pope who settled in Westmoreland County, Virginia, in the middle of the seventeenth century and whose daughter Ann married John Washington, the great-grandfather of George Washington.
Education
He was a graduate of Transylvania University at Lexington, but his name is not on the list of graduates of that institution. However, there is a record showing that he attended in 1802. After leaving Transylvania, he studied law in the office of his brother, John Pope, a federal senator from Kentucky.
Career
After admission to the bar he removed to Sainte Genevieve in Upper Louisiana, now in Missouri, and after a brief sojourn moved on to Kaskaskia, Illinois.
When in 1809 Congress authorized the organization of the Illinois Territory, through the influence of his brother John and of Henry Clay he received the appointment as secretary of the territory. Since the appointed governor, his cousin Ninian Edwards, was detained in Kentucky until June, Pope proceeded to organize the territory, reestablishing certain counties and appointing necessary officials.
In 1812 he served as an officer under Governor Edwards on an expedition to Peoria Lake against the Indians, who became increasingly menacing after the declaration of war against Great Britain. Under the authority of the legislature he revised and digested the Laws of the Territory of Illinois (1815). In the fall of 1816 he was elected territorial delegate to Congress. He resigned his position as secretary to the territory, took his seat in Congress on December 2, 1816, and served until the territory became a state on December 3, 1818.
When Illinois applied for admission to the Union, as territorial delegate he was asked to draw up a resolution for admission, which was adopted by Congress.
In 1819 he was appointed federal district judge for Illinois, a position which he held until his death. In 1824 he was an unsuccessful candidate to fill a vacancy in the United States Senate, and he spent the winter of 1826 in Washington vainly trying to obtain for himself an appointment to the United States Supreme Court.
He died at the home of his daughter in St. Louis.
Achievements
Politics
He was a firm but not an active advocate of the anti-slavery movement.
Connections
In 1809 he was married to Lucretia, the daughter of Elijah Backus. Of their six children the most distinguished was John Pope.