Thomas Corwin was born in Bourbon County, KY, on July 29, 1794. In 1798, he moved with his parents to Lebanon in Warren County, Ohio. He served briefly in the War of 1812, earning the nickname "the Wagon Boy." He studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1817. He started practicing law in Lebanon, Ohio, and became the prosecuting attorney of Warren County from 1818 to 1828. Corwin was an effective orator and was known for his wit, eloquence, and fiery debates.

On November 13, 1822, Corwin married Sarah Ross, sister of newly elected Congressman Thomas Randolph Ross (Ohio 2nd). The couple had five children.

Corwin's father, Matthias Corwin, had served in the Legislature for 10 consecutive terms. Corwin followed in his father's footsteps first by serving as a member of the Ohio House of Representatives 1822-1823, and again in 1829. In 1830, he was elected as a National Republican (eventually called Whigs) to the Congress from Ohio's 2nd District. The former Democratic-Republican Party had by this time split into the Democratic party (made up of Jacksonian Republicans) and the National Republicans (made up of the nationalist faction favoring stronger central government). While in Congress, Corwin continued to gain a reputation as a spokesman for the Whig party, speaking out on popular issues such as the Michigan border dispute and extending the Cumberland Road.

The number of Ohio's congressional districts again increased at the time of the 23rd Congress, this time to 19. In that Congress, Corwin represented the 4th District of Ohio and was elected to three succeeding terms until his resignation. He left Congress in May of 1840 to run for governor of Ohio. The Whig convention unanimously nominated him, and he won the election, defeating incumbent Wilson Shannon. He also used his skill in mobilizing grass-roots in campaigning for William Henry Harrison's presidential victory that same year. Corwin served as governor from 1840 to 1842 but lost in a rematch with Shannon.

The Ohio General Assembly appointed him to the United States Senate as a Whig. He took his seat in and served until July 20, 1850, when he resigned to become President Millard Fillmore's Secretary of the Treasury,where he remained until the end of Fillmore's term.

In 1858 Corwin ran for Congress again, this time from Ohio's 7th District. Since the Whig party had by this time declined and merged into the Republican Party, he was elected as a Republican to the 36th Congress and won re-election to the following term as well. He is possibly best known for the Corwin Amendment, which was one of the final attempts to avoid civil war and would have prohibited any other amendments to the Constitution from interfering with slavery in the individual states. The Corwin Amendment was passed by Congress 1861 and was sent to the states for ratification. Only two states ratified it before the Civil War, and technically it is still pending because it did not have an expiration date.

In 1861, only a few days into the 37th Congress, Corwin resigned his seat to become U.S. Minister to Mexico. Corwin helped to keep America's relations with Mexico friendly and worked throughout the Civil War to thwart Confederate efforts to sway Mexico's allegiance. He served as Minister to Mexico from 1861 to 1864, when he finally resigned. After retiring from political life, he remained in Washington, DC, where he practiced law there until his death on December 18, 1865. He was buried in Lebanon, Ohio.

Sources:
Wikipedia/Answers.com-Dictionary of American Biography
Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
A History and Biographical Cyclopaedia of Butler County, Ohio. From OH Historical Society Journals Corwin Family Obituaries of Warren County
Infoplease
OH Historical Society Database

>back