Thomas Posey

Infobox_Lt_Governor
name=Thomas Posey


caption=Portrait of Posey by John Bayless Hill
order2= 3^rd
office2= Lieutenant Governor of Kentucky
term_start2=January 1806
term_end2=December 1808
governor2= Christopher Greenup
predecessor2= John Caldwell
successor2= Gabriel Slaughter
order4= 3^rd
office4= Governor of Indiana Territory
term_start4= March 3, 1813
term_end4= November 7, 1816
predecessor4=John Gibson
successor4=Jonathan Jennings
office=State Senator of Kentucky
Speaker 1805-1806
term_start=1804
term_end=1806
office3=United States Senator of Louisiana
term_start3=1812
term_end3=1813
predecessor3=Jean N. Destréhan
successor3=James Brown
birth_date=birth date|1750|7|9
birth_place=Fairfax County, Virginia
death_date=death date and age|1818|3|29|1750|7|9
death_place=Shawneetown, Illinois
party=Democrat
profession= Politician, Soldier
spouse=Mary Matthews 1772 - 1778
Mary Alexander Thornton 1784 - 1818
footnotes=
religion=Presbyterian [cite book|title=Biographical and Historical Sketches of Early Indiana|year=1975|author=Woollen, William Wesley|publisher=Ayer Publishing|isbn=0405068964|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=PCbZ8rS-84gC|pages=27]

Thomas Posey (July 9 1750 - March 29 1818) was a officer in the American Revolution, a General during peacetime, Lt. Gov. of Kentucky, Governor of the Indiana Territory, and a Louisiana Senator.

Early life

Posey was born on the banks of the Potomac River on a farm adjacent to Mt Vernon in Fairfax County, Virginia on July 9th, 1750. [ [http://books.google.com/books?id=RBsNAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA369&dq=thomas+posey#PRA1-PA364,M1 The Library of American Biography, By Jared Sparks, Pg 364] ] He received a plain English education and at 19 he moved to Virginia frontier where he intended to engage in a trade or farm. Life on the frontier would not quiet down though and the Indians continual raiding led to a reprisal by the Virginia's Royal Governor, Lord Dunmore. In 1774 Posey was in the quartermaster's department of a armed expedition against the Indians who threatening the frontier settlements. [ [http://books.google.com/books?id=RBsNAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA369&dq=thomas+posey#PRA1-PA364,M1 The Library of American Biography, By Jared Sparks, Pg 365] ] The expedition would succeed in suppressing the Indians for the short term.

The Revolution

Posey was elected a member of the Virginia committee of correspondence in 1775 [ [http://books.google.com/books?id=RBsNAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA369&dq=thomas+posey#PRA1-PA364,M1 The Library of American Biography, By Jared Sparks, Pg 372] ] . He served in the army during the War of Independence, first as a captain in the Continental Army, mostly with the 7th Virginia Regiment, then later rising to the rank of lieutenant colonel in 1782. Some claimed his quick rise was due to the patronage of George Washington. During the war Posey led campaigns against Lord Dunmore who was fortified on Gwyn's Island and drove him and his naval support out of the area. Lord Dunmore had been the officer he served under during the Indian war. In the winter of 1775 the 7th Virginia Regiment marched to join with General George Washington in New Jersey. It was at this time that Washington promoted Posey to the rank of Captain. [ [http://books.google.com/books?id=RBsNAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA369&dq=thomas+posey#PRA1-PA364,M1 The Library of American Biography, By Jared Sparks, Pg 376] ] Posey Corps would then be involved in the battle to drive Gen. Howe back to New York City. In 1778 Lt. Posey replaced Col Morgan as head of a force of riflemen and was promoted to Major. [ [http://books.google.com/books?id=RBsNAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA369&dq=thomas+posey#PRA1-PA364,M1 The Library of American Biography, By Jared Sparks, Pg 378] ] In 1779 Posey was detached from Washington and joined General "Mad" Anthony Wayne in defending the frontier against Indians and Tories that were terrorizing the settlements there. [ [http://books.google.com/books?id=RBsNAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA369&dq=thomas+posey#PRA1-PA364,M1 The Library of American Biography, By Jared Sparks, Pg 380] ] Having dealt with the threat on the frontier, Posey's forces marched toward Charleston where they would join in the siege of General Clinton. During 1781-1782 he would serve with General Wayne again, this time in Georgia against the forces in Savannah. He was promoted to Lt. Col. in 1782 [ [http://books.google.com/books?id=RBsNAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA369&dq=thomas+posey#PRA1-PA364,M1 The Library of American Biography, By Jared Sparks, Pg 381] ]

Serving in the United States Army after the Revolution, he rose to the rank of brigadier general in 1793 and served with "Mad" Anthony Wayne campaigning against the Indians beyond the frontier in the Northwest Indian War. [ [http://books.google.com/books?id=RBsNAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA369&dq=thomas+posey#PRA1-PA364,M1 The Library of American Biography, By Jared Sparks, Pg 392] ]

tate Senator

In 1794 he resigned from the army and moved to Kentucky, where his service in the army provided the popularity for him to be elected as a state senator. First elected in 1804 as a senator, he pesided over the body as president from 1805 to 1806. He was later elected lieutenant governor in 1806. [ [http://books.google.com/books?id=RBsNAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA369&dq=thomas+posey#PRA1-PA364,M1 The Library of American Biography, By Jared Sparks, Pg 395] ]

In preparation for possible hostilities with the French and British, in 1809 Congress authorized an army of 100,000 men to be mobilized. Kentucky was assigned the task of providing five thousand men. Posey returned to the army as a Major General in command of the Kentucky Volunteers. He again resigned from the army in 1810 just before the outbreak of the War of 1812. [ [http://books.google.com/books?id=RBsNAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA369&dq=thomas+posey#PRA1-PA364,M1 The Library of American Biography, By Jared Sparks, Pg 395] ] He then moved to the Attakapas region of Louisiana, and served as a U.S. Senator from that state in 1812-1813 to fill the vacant seat of John N. Destrehan after his resignation. [ [http://books.google.com/books?id=RBsNAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA369&dq=thomas+posey#PRA1-PA364,M1 The Library of American Biography, By Jared Sparks, Pg 399] ]

Governor of Indiana Territory

[ [http://books.google.com/books?id=308lAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA345&dq=thomas+posey#PPA377,M1 Pioneer History of Indiana, By William Monroe Cockrum Pg 377] ] . When he arrived he relieved General Gibson of his duties as Acting Governor.

Posey was considered to be a charitable and personally likable man in the territory. He was an active member of the Presbyterian Church and became president of a Bible Society, who distributed free bibles to the poor in the territory. [cite book|title=Biographical and Historical Sketches of Early Indiana|year=1975|author=Woollen, William Wesley|publisher=Ayer Publishing|isbn=0405068964|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=PCbZ8rS-84gC|pages=28] In 1815 Posey called a special assembly to meet in Corydon to create a new territorial judiciary to replaced the existing one whose authority was questionable due to the status of the territory when it was created. Posey presided over the assembly which ultimately divided the territory into three judicial districts and appointed several judges. [ [http://books.google.com/books?id=308lAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA345&dq=thomas+posey#PPA377,M1 Pioneer History of Indiana, By William Monroe Cockrum Pg 383] ]

Posey disliked the current territorial capital of Corydon, because he had poor health he wanted to be closer to his personal physician in Louisville, Kentucky. In the fall of 1813, Posey moved to Jeffersonville where he remained for the remainder of his tenure, and from there conducted office of governor. He communicated with the legislature in Corydon by courier. [ [http://books.google.com/books?id=308lAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA345&dq=thomas+posey#PPA377,M1 Pioneer History of Indiana, By William Monroe Cockrum Pg 383] ] He was widely disliked by the legislature for his "inaccessibility", but his pro-slavery sentiments were also at odds with that of the anti-slavery dominated legislature. When Indiana became a state in 1816, he ran unsuccessfully for Governor and was defeated by Jonathan Jennings. A key election issue to the dislike of Posey was that he was in favor of slavery in Indiana, which much of the legislature, Dennis Pennington, and Jonathan Jennings opposed. [Baird, Lewis. "Baird's History of Clark County, Indiana", (1909) pg.60]

After Indiana was granted statehood in 1816 Posey ran for the position of Governor but was defeated by the popular Jonathan Jennings. [ [http://books.google.com/books?id=308lAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA345&dq=thomas+posey#PPA377,M1 Pioneer History of Indiana, By William Monroe Cockrum Pg 392] ] The central theme of the campaign was slavery and the contrast could not have been greater between Jennings and Posey.

Posey's wives

Posey married Martha Matthews in 1772. They had three sons, one of whom lived to adulthood. Martha died in 1778. Posey remarried Mary Alexander Thornton, the widow of George Thornton, in 1784. Posey had nine children by her. He remained married to her until his death. His second wife died in 1837.

The Washington rumor

Throughout his life Posey was dogged by rumors that he was the illegitimate son of George Washington. Posey grew up on land adjacent to Mt. Vernon, the Posey and Washington families were close, and Posey benefited from Washington's patronage early in his career. However, the rumors are dismissed by General Posey's biographer, John Thornton Posey.

Death

In the last two years of his life, he served as an Indian agent in Illinois. He was appointed Indian Agent of Helios's in 1816. [ [http://books.google.com/books?id=RBsNAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA369&dq=thomas+posey#PRA1-PA364,M1 The Library of American Biography, By Jared Sparks, Pg 402] ] He died of Typhus fever on March 19, 1818 in Shawneetown, Illinois, aged 67, and was buried in the Westwood Cemetery.

Posey County, Indiana is named in honor of Thomas Posey.

References

* [http://www.indianahistory.org/library/manuscripts/collection_guides/m0228.html Indiana Historical Society]
* [http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=P000450 Biographical Dictionary of Congress]

Further Reading

Cecere, Michael. "Captain Thomas Posey and the 7th Virginia Regiment." Westminster, MD: Heritage Books, 2005. ISBN 0788435841.

Posey, John Thornton. "General Thomas Posey: Son of the American Revolution." East Lansing, MI: Michigan State University Press, 1992. ISBN 0870133160.