Background
Edward was born on June 19, 1766 in Carlisle, England. His parents, Henry and Mary (Parker) Tiffin, with their five children emigrated in 1784 and settled near Charles Town, Va. , now in Jefferson County, W. Va.
Edward was born on June 19, 1766 in Carlisle, England. His parents, Henry and Mary (Parker) Tiffin, with their five children emigrated in 1784 and settled near Charles Town, Va. , now in Jefferson County, W. Va.
He studied medicine in England, then attended Jefferson Medical College in Philadelphia.
He began practice in Charles Town.
In the spring of 1798 Tiffin and his brother-in-law, Thomas Worthington, with their families and several negroes, whom they had recently manumitted, removed to Chillicothe, Ohio. If he removed to Ohio with political ambitions, he acted opportunely, for the Virginia Military District became a political unit that determined Ohio's political history for more than a decade.
From 1798, when St. Clair appointed him prothonotary of the territorial court of common pleas, until his death he was constantly in public office. In 1799 and 1801 he was a member of the territorial legislature, and served as speaker in both sessions. Contemporary correspondence points to Tiffin as the leading spirit in the internal organization of the "Chillicothe Junto" that successfully opposed St. Clair. As president of the constitutional convention in November 1802 he determined the membership of committees and was able to prevent any concerted action on the part of the Federalists.
Elected governor almost without opposition in the subsequent state election and reëlected two years later, he took office in March 1803. The constitution of 1802 gave little authority to the governor, but as leader of Ohio Jeffersonians, he exerted considerable influence.
He was elected to the federal Senate on January 1, 1807, to fill the place of Worthington, whose term was about to expire but resigned after adjournment in March 1809.
Although he seems to have desired to retire to his farm and to his medical practice he could not keep out of politics. He served as speaker of the state House of Representatives in the sessions of 1809-10 and 1810-11.
When in 1812, Congress created a general land office to be administered by a commissioner, Madison, apparently without solicitation, appointed him to the position. He entered into his new duties with characteristic energy; he brought order out of the chaotic records and surveys and was able, in December 1813, to present a creditable report to the Thirteenth Congress.
When the British invaded the capital, he was sufficiently far-sighted to remove his records to a place of safety. However, he longed for his home in Ohio and with the consent of Madison exchanged positions, in the fall of 1814, with Josiah Meigs, surveyor-general of the Northwest and carried on the routine of this office almost to the day of his death.
He and his wife became ardent Methodists, and he was ordained a lay preacher by Bishop Asbury in 1792.
Although English-born, he urged that English common-law crimes, as such, should not be recognized by Ohio courts. The requisite legislation was enacted, and hence in Ohio all crimes are, of necessity, statutory.
In his second administration he displayed such energy in directing the efforts to capture Aaron Burr's flotilla that his activity was publicly praised by Jefferson.
He supported the measures of the administration, including the embargo policy, and served on a number of committees having to do with Western problems; and his advice seems to have carried weight.
In the controversy involving the right of the state courts to nullify acts of the state legislature on the grounds of unconstitutionality, being a thoroughgoing Jeffersonian, he was a party to the passage of the "sweeping-resolutions" by which the conservative court was ousted.
Short of stature with heavy body and light limbs, a large head, and round, florid face, he was remarkable for his animation and energy.
In 1789 he married Mary, the daughter of Robert Worthington, a wealthy land-owner of the neighborhood. They had no children.
In July 1808 his wife died. On April 16 of the following year he married Mary Porter, who had recently removed to Ohio from Delaware. Four daughters and a son were born to this second marriage.