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John Pope to Thomas Jefferson, 10 March 1817

From John Pope

Lexington March 10th 1817

Dr Sir

I beg leave to make known to you my freind Doctor Watkins of Tennessee who has purchased a farm near you & is about to become your neighibour—He is a gentleman of fine talents & high respectability & worthy of your attention—I shall be obliged by any services you may render him—Please to accept assurances of the respect & esteem of your most obt Hble Ser

John Pope

RC (MHi); dateline at foot of text; endorsed by TJ as received 23 Dec. 1817 and so recorded in SJL. Enclosed in Thomas G. Watkins to TJ, 21 Dec. 1817.

John Pope (1770–1845), attorney and public official, was a native of Prince William County, Virginia, who moved to Kentucky by 1780 with his parents. He studied for one year at the College of William and Mary in 1790. Pope then read for the bar in Kentucky and began a law practice in Shelbyville. In 1798, 1802, and 1806 he was elected to the Kentucky General Assembly, and he cast his vote for TJ as a presidential elector in 1800. Pope sat in the United States Senate, 1807–13, with service as president pro tempore, 1809–11. He lost his bid for reelection due in part to his opposition to the American declaration of war on Great Britain in 1812, and his political views brought him into conflict with Henry Clay. Pope taught law at Transylvania University, 1813–16, after which he moved to Frankfort and became Kentucky’s secretary of state. By 1819 he had become an ally of Andrew Jackson, who rewarded him with the governorship of Arkansas Territory, 1829–35. Pope then resumed the practice of law in Springfield, Kentucky, and he served three terms as a Whig in the United States House of Representatives, 1837–43 (Orval Walker Baylor, John Pope, Kentuckian: His Life and Times, 1770–1845 [1943]; William and Mary Provisional List description begins A Provisional List of Alumni, Grammar School Students, Members of the Faculty, and Members of the Board of Visitors of the College of William and Mary in Virginia. From 1693 to 1888, 1941 description ends , 33; Clay, Papers description begins James F. Hopkins and others, eds., The Papers of Henry Clay, 1959–92, 11 vols. description ends ; George T. Blakey, “Rendezvous with Republicanism: John Pope vs. Henry Clay in 1816,” Indiana Magazine of History 62 [1966]: 233–50; Biog. Dir. Cong. description begins Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1774–Present, online resource, Office of the Clerk, United States House of Representatives description ends ; JEP description begins Journal of the Executive Proceedings of the Senate of the United States description ends , 4:8, 9 [9 Mar. 1829]; Jackson, Papers description begins Sam B. Smith, Harold D. Moser, Daniel Feller, and others, eds., The Papers of Andrew Jackson, 1980– , 9 vols. description ends , esp. 7:28–9; Terr. Papers description begins Clarence E. Carter and John Porter Bloom, eds., The Territorial Papers of the United States, 1934–75, 28 vols. description ends , 19:100–1 and vol. 21; Boston Daily Atlas, 29 July 1845).

Index Entries

  • Pope, John; identified search
  • Pope, John; introduces T. G. Watkins to TJ search
  • Pope, John; letter from search
  • Watkins, Thomas G.; introduced to TJ search