Thomas Kirker

Thomas Kirker (* 1760 in County Tyrone, Ireland; † 20 February 1837 in Adams County, Ohio ) was an American politician and from 1807 to 1808 the second Governor of Ohio.

Early years

Thomas Kirker attended local schools in his native Ireland. In 1779 he emigrated with his parents to the United States. The family first settled in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. About Kentucky he arrived in 1793 in the Adams County in the then Northwest Territory. There he was working as a farmer.

Political rise

Kirkers political rise began in 1797 as a Justice of the Peace in his district. In 1802 he was a delegate to the Constitutional Convention of Ohio. In 1802 he was elected to the first state legislature of Ohio. A year later he became a member of the country's Senate, where it should belong 1803-1815. In the meantime, he was also president of that body. In March 1807, the Acting Governor Edward Tiffin resigned to take his seat in the U.S. Senate, Kirker had to take over his office as the then President of the Senate.

Governor of Ohio

Thomas Kirker was between 4 March 1807 and the December 12, 1808 Governor of Ohio. During this time, the protection of the white population was an important issue before Indian attacks. To this end, the governor had to mobilize the militia. Then the threat presented but a false alarm out, because the Indians pursued only peaceful intentions. Actually, the term Kirkers should have ended already in 1807. But the elected candidate in the October 1807 J. Meigs turned out to be ineligible because he had not yet lived four years in Ohio. Therefore, the state legislature extended the tenure Kirkers by one year. In the next elections in 1808 Kirker had erected again. Overall, there were three candidates in this election but who belonged to all of the Democratic- Republican Party. This Kirker finished only third and last place. He resigned from his post on 12 December 1808.

Further CV

After his election defeat Kirker remained until 1815 member of the State Senate of Ohio. Between 1816 and 1817 he was again in the state parliament and in 1821 he was a judge in a court of appeal. Between 1821 and 1825 he ended his political deputies activity with a renewed membership in the country's Senate. In the presidential election of 1824 he was one of the electors of Henry Clay. He then retired to his farm in Adams County, where he died in 1837. Thomas Kirker was married to the late 1824 Sara Smith, with whom he had six children.