Rees Hill (August 15, 1776 – November 24, 1852) was a U.S. army colonel[1][2] in the War of 1812 and a politician who served as a member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives from Greene County,[3] speaker of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives, and a Pennsylvania State Senator.
Rees Hill | |
---|---|
16th Speaker of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives | |
In office 1816–1816 | |
Preceded by | Jacob Holgate |
Succeeded by | William Davidson |
18th Speaker of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives | |
In office 1819–1819 | |
Preceded by | William Davidson |
Succeeded by | Joseph Lawrence |
Personal details | |
Born | August 15, 1776 Frederick County, Virginia |
Died | November 24, 1852 near Winchester, Virginia | (aged 76)
Political party | Democratic Republican |
Early life
Hill was born in Frederick County, Virginia and married Nancy Heaton.[4]
Military service
As a colonel in the U.S. army during the War of 1812, he was stationed at Erie, Pennsylvania. On July 30, 1813, his detachment received orders to join the northwestern army.[5][6] He was commended by then-general (and future president) William Henry Harrison in a letter to President James Madison.[7]
Rees Hill (along with Thomas Sargeant of Harrisburg, Cromwell Pearce of Chester County, and Samuel McKean of Bradford County) was appointed as an aide de camp to the commander in chief of the commonwealth of Pennsylvania.[8]
After Military Service
On March 3, 1819, Congress and President James Monroe approved an act to reimburse Hill for money he had spent for expenses of his troops during the War of 1812.[9][10]
Political career
Hill was a member of the Democratic Republican party.[11]
Hill was Speaker of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives in two non-consecutive years (1816 and 1819).[12] His first election as speaker took place on December 5, 1815.[13] He was elected as speaker a second time on December 10, 1816.[14] On December 1, 1818, he again won election as speaker with 74 votes (other votes were: John Purdon – 9, Samuel Bond – 1, Phineas Jenks – 1, and William N. Irvine – 1).[15] On December 7, 1819 (for the session beginning in December, 1819 and lasting through most of 1820), he came in third in a vote for speaker with 14 of the 93 votes cast. (The speaker elected was Joseph Lawrence with 56 votes. Other votes were: Phineas Jenks – 21, Wilson Smith – 1, and William Lehman – 1).[16][17]
He served as chairman of the Committee of Ways and Means in the Pennsylvania House in 1820[18] and was elected a Pennsylvania State Senator for the 18th district in November, 1820. Service in the Pennsylvania State Senate for the 20th district, began on December 6, 1820.[19] He was elected as a Pennsylvania State Senator again two years later.[20]
After his political career ended, Hill returned to Virginia and managed the estates of his father and Uncles. He died on November 24, 1852 in Frederick County, Virginia and was interred in Winchester, Virginia.[21]
See also
References
- ^ [1]
- ^ "Public Debt", Berks and Schuylkill Journal, p. 2, April 28, 1821
- ^ "A List of Senators and Members of the House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of", Berks and Schuylkill Journal, p. 2, November 15, 1817
- ^ "Pennsylvania State Senate - Rees Bowen Hill Biography". www.legis.state.pa.us. Retrieved November 10, 2019.
- ^ "Erie, July 30, 1813", True American, p. 3, August 11, 1813
- ^ "(Advertisement)", True American, p. 4, September 21, 1814
- ^ Lundy's Lane Historical Society (1902), "The documentary history of the campaign upon the Niagara frontier ...", Tribune, vol. 5, India, pp. 141–142
- ^ "Appointments by the Governor", Berks and Schuylkill Journal, p. 2, November 14, 1818
- ^ "The Public Statutes at Large of the United States of America", National Advocate, p. 2, June 7, 1819
- ^ United States (1846), The Public Statutes at Large of the United States of America, vol. 6, Charle C. Little and James Brown, p. 231
- ^ "From the Waynsburgh Messenger Sept 21 to the Republicans", Washington Reporter, p. 2, September 30, 1816
- ^ Scharf, John Thomas; Westcott, Thompson (1884), History of Philadelphia, 1609–1884: 1609–1884, Everts, p. 1766
- ^ "(Legislative)", National Standard, p. 3, December 27, 1815
- ^ "(Legislative)", American Beacon, p. 3, December 13, 1816
- ^ Spirit of the Times, vol. 1, no. 6, p. 3, December 8, 1818
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(help) - ^ Carlisle Republican, vol. 1, no. 6, p. 23, December 14, 1819
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(help) - ^ "From the National Intelligencer. State Concerns.", American (New York), p. 2, December 15, 1819
- ^ "Letters", Franklin Gazette, p. 2, February 22, 1820
- ^ "Legislative", Free Press, p. 2, November 16, 1820
- ^ "Election Returns", Berks and Schuylkill Journal, p. 2, November 2, 1822
- ^ "Pennsylvania House of Representatives - Rees P. Hill 1815-1817, 1818-1819". www.legis.state.pa.us. Retrieved November 12, 2019.