Introduction
Nathaniel W. Pope (January 5, 1784 – January 23, 1850) was the Secretary of the Illinois Territory, a Delegate to the United States House of Representatives from the Illinois Territory and a United States District Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Illinois.
Education and career
Born on January 5, 1784, in Louisville, District of Kentucky, Virginia (now Kentucky), Pope attended Transylvania University and read law in 1804. He was admitted to the bar and entered private practice in Ste. Genevieve, Louisiana Territory (now Missouri) and Kaskaskia, Indiana Territory (Illinois Territory from March 1, 1809) from 1804 to 1809. He was appointed Secretary of the Illinois Territory by President James Madison, serving from 1809 to 1816. He was acting Governor of the Illinois Territory in 1809. He was an Illinois Territorial Militia officer in 1812. Pope was a Democratic-Republican
Congressional service
Pope was elected on September 5, 1816, as a Delegate to the United States House of Representatives for a term of two years, serving in the 15th United States Congress from March 4, 1817 to November 30, 1818. He was a register for the United States Land Office in Edwardsville, Illinois Territory (State of Illinois from December 3, 1818) from November 30, 1818 to March 3, 1819.
Notable legislation
Pope was instrumental both in securing the new territory's admission as the 21st State on December 3, 1818 (the statehood resolution passed regardless of the creative counting to achieve the former minimum of 60,000 persons) as well as in adjusting the new state's northern boundary from the southern extremity of Lake Michigan to 42° 30'. Adding the land now included in the thirteen northern counties became very important for Illinois' development, because it included what was to become its largest city (Chicago), although it also retarded Wisconsin's qualification for admission to the Union. Furthermore, Pope drafted the statehood resolution to ensure that 2% of land sales would be used to fund roads and 3% to fund schools, unlike the previous statehood resolutions which required 5% to be used to fund roads.
Federal judicial service
Pope was nominated by President James Monroe on March 3, 1819, to the United States District Court for the District of Illinois, to a new seat authorized by 3 Stat. 502. He was confirmed by the United States Senate on March 3, 1819, and received his commission the same day. His service terminated on January 23, 1850, due to his death in St. Louis, Missouri. He was interred in the Colonel O’Fallon Burying Ground and later reinterred at the Bellefontaine Cemetery in St. Louis.
Unsuccessful campaign
Pope was an unsuccessful candidate for election to the United States Senate in 1824.
Honor
Pope County, Illinois, was named for Pope, as was the recently closed Nathaniel Pope Elementary School in North Lawndale, Chicago, Illinois.
Sourcess
- "Nathaniel Pope:From Connections and Factional Politics to Champion of Statehood" from Illinois History, December 1993
- United States Congress. "Nathaniel Pope (id: P000432)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
- Nathaniel Pope at the Biographical Directory of Federal Judges, a public domain publication of the Federal Judicial Center.