Background
Robert Lucas was born on April 1, 1781, at Shepherdstown, Virginia (now West Virginia), the United States. He was the son of Susannah (Barnes) and William Lucas, a Revolutionary soldier of some wealth.
Robert Lucas was born on April 1, 1781, at Shepherdstown, Virginia (now West Virginia), the United States. He was the son of Susannah (Barnes) and William Lucas, a Revolutionary soldier of some wealth.
Robert Lucas obtained his early education largely from a private tutor, who instructed him, especially in mathematics and surveying.
When Robert Lucas was about twenty, he moved with his parents to the valley of the Scioto in the Northwest Territory, and in the new state of Ohio, he became a surveyor for Scioto County, justice of the peace, and an officer in the militia, in which he reached the grade of major-general. In the War of 1812, after helping to organize a battalion of volunteers from his brigade of Ohio militia, Robert Lucas acted as a detached officer in the disastrous campaign of General Hull. During this time he kept a daily journal that has been published as The Robert Lucas Journal of the War of 1812.
State politics engrossed his attention in the period following the war. Robert Lucas had been a member of the lower house in 1808 and 1809. In 1814 he was elected to the state Senate. About 1816 Robert Lucas moved to the newly organized Pike County, where he opened a general store at Piketon. He continued to represent his district in the state Senate until 1822 and, again, from 1824 to 1828 and from 1829 to 1830. In the session of 1831 and 1832, he served once more in the lower house.
Robert Lucas had become well known in Ohio and in 1830 was nominated for the governorship of the state. He was defeated but, two years later, was again nominated and was elected. During the presidential campaign of this year, he attended the first national convention of the Democratic party and was given the honor of acting as its temporary and permanent chairman. He served for two terms as governor of Ohio.
After two years of retirement, Robert Lucas was appointed in 1838, by Van Buren as governor and superintendent of Indian affairs for the newly created territory of Iowa. He was fifty-seven years old, full of experience, intense in his convictions, and positive in his methods. The early part of his governorship was stormy because of the hostility of an ambitious young secretary of the territory and the opposition of a youthful and spirited territorial legislature that chafed at the limitations imposed by the absolute veto power of the governor. Again he found himself involved in a boundary dispute, the line between the state of Missouri and the territory of Iowa being at issue. In 1841 Harrison appointed John Chambers, a Whig, as governor of the territory, and Robert Lucas retired to private life.
Robert Lucas spent his last years for the most part on his farm near Iowa City, Iowa, and devoted much energy to the causes of temperance and public education, and to the encouragement of railroad projects.
Robert Lucas was distinguished for his service in the state legislature. During his governorship, the most notable service was the vigorous part he took in the acute controversy over the boundary line between the state of Ohio and the territory of Michigan, which led to the "Toledo War". His most conspicuous public service was his participation in the convention of 1844 to form a constitution for the state of Iowa.
Robert Lucas was an ardent worker in the Methodist Church and spent a good deal of time writing religious hymns and verses.
Robert Lucas was a staunch supporter of Jacksonian politics. He had been a life-long Democrat but he refused to vote for Franklin Pierce and cast his ballot in the last year of his life for the Whig ticket.
Robert Lucas was a man of practical common sense and of seasoned wisdom in political matters, and, though stern and unbending in his policies.
On April 4, 1810, Robert Lucas married Elizabeth Brown, who died in 1812. His second wife was Friendly Ashley Sumner. They married on March 7, 1816.
