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User:Generalissima/John J. Beckley

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John James Beckley
1st Librarian of Congress
In office
January 29, 1802 – April 8, 1807
PresidentThomas Jefferson
Preceded byPosition established
Succeeded byPatrick Magruder
1st and 4th Clerk of the United States House of Representatives
In office
March 4, 1801 – April 8, 1807
Preceded byJohn H. Oswald
Succeeded byPatrick Magruder
In office
April 1, 1789 – May 14, 1797
Preceded byPosition established
Succeeded byJonathan Condy
2nd and 7th Mayor of Richmond, Virginia
In office
February 22, 1788 – March 9, 1789
Preceded byRichard Adams, Jr.
Succeeded byAlexander McRoberts
In office
July 1, 1783 – July 6, 1784
Preceded byWilliam Foushee, Sr.
Succeeded byRobert Mitchell
Clerk of the Virginia House of Delegates
In office
June 1779 – 1789
Preceded byEdmund Randolph
Succeeded byCharles Hay
Personal details
Born
John James Beckley

(1757-08-04)August 4, 1757
near London, England
DiedApril 8, 1807(1807-04-08) (aged 49)
Washington, D.C., United States
Political partyDemocratic-Republican
Signature

John James Beckley (August 4, 1757 – April 8, 1807) was an American politician who served as the first Clerk of the United States House of Representatives and the first Librarian of Congress.

Early life

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John James Beckley was born in or around London on August 4, 1757.[α] Little is known of his early life, family, or education. He had at least two siblings, both of whom would later immigrate to the colonies. His family had been in a relatively well-to-do position, but fell into poverty during the late 1760s.[2][3] Beckley's son wrote that the family originally hailed from Exeter.[1]

Around the end of 1758, Virginian court official and botanist John Clayton requested that the London-based John Norton & Sons mercantile firm send him a young boy to serve as a scribe in his duties as the clerk of Gloucester County, Virginia. Clayton had served as clerk for almost fifty years, but required a scribe due to his own writing abilities declining from old age and failing eyesight. James Withers, a longtime employee of the firm, sent over his eleven year old nephew Beckley, who his parents sold as an indentured servant.[4] John Norton, writing to a relative in Virginia, described Beckley as having good writing abilities and an understanding of arithmetic. Beckley departed from England aboard the Brilliant in March 1769, arriving at the York River of Virginia in mid-May. He was delivered to Clayton's home in Gloucester Court House by fleet manager Ephraim Goosley.[2][5][6]

Clayton, wrote favorably to Norton of the "clever, lively boy", stating that he was very skilled in arithmetic and well-behaved, noting that he "eats & drinks at my table with me like family".[5] Clayton's further references to Beckley were limited to his import orders of shoes, clothing, and other necessities for the boy.[7] Beckley worked diligently as a scribe at the courthouse, with Clayton sternly supervising and ensuring that Beckley improved his handwriting. Beckley witnessed Clayton's will in late October 1773. Clayton died on December 23 of that year, with Beckley proving his will on January 6. He was hired as a clerk by Thomas Adams, the clerk of Henrico County, shortly after Clayton's death.[8]

Early political career

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Sketch of Virginia's second Williamsburg Capitol

In February 1775, John Beckley (now seventeen) was appointed as the clerk of the Committee of Safety for Henrico County. He was reelected to the position by a meeting of freeholders that November. On August 24, 1775, a general Committee of Safety over the whole of the Colony of Virginia was established at its capital city of Williamsburg, with Edmund Pendleton serving as president. Beckley began assisting the Virginia committee's clerk soon afterwards, and was officially appointed assistant clerk on February 7, 1776. As the assistant clerk, he served under John Tazewell and Archibald Blair.[7][9]

State government

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Beckley became the assistant clerk of the Council of Virginia on December 23, 1776. After being reelected as assistant clerk in July 1777, he became the clerk of the Virginia Senate by November of that year, replacing John Pendleton. He had begun to study law by this period, possibly utilizing Clayton's library. He likely also studied it at Williamsburg alongside attorney general Edmund Randolph. In June 1779, Randolph was elected to the Continental Congress, and Beckley succeeded him as Clerk of the Virginia House of Delegates. He was additionally appointed to the clerk of the High Court of Chancery and the state's Court of Appeals, and took over the operations of Randolph's law firm.[9][10] Around this time, Beckley's sister Marry Anne arrived from England, and eventually moved in with John for some time. She later married one of Beckley's clerks.[9]

In the early spring of 1780, the Virginia government moved from Williamsburg to Richmond. Beckley rented a house in the town and purchased several slaves. He also began to practice law and participate in city government, and established a chapter of Phi Beta Kappa in the city. The stay in Richmond was short-lived; in January 1781, Beckley and the General Assembly evacuated from the city due to the threat of General Benedict Arnold's forces. The assembly soon returned, but was evacuated again due to General Charles Cornwallis's Virginia campaign. The assembly was briefly located in Charlottesville before its relocation to Staunton. During his time at Staunton, he visited portions of western Virginia including Warm Springs. Impressed by the region's settlement potential, he became involved in land speculation there alongside assemblyman George Clendenin.[11][12]

By the early 1780s, he began to work alongside prominent Virginian politician Thomas Jefferson. He helped Jefferson evacuate a number of state records to Jefferson's Monticello plantation during British military campaigns in the region. In March 1781, he likely acted as a press liaison for Jefferson, bringing to The Virginia Gazette a correspondence between Jefferson and General George Washington.[13][14]

Postwar period

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Beckley frequently worked alongside Edmund Randolph over the course of their political careers.

Beckley returned with the assembly to Richmond in the fall of 1781; although the assembly was initially planned to meet in October, this was delayed by continued presence of Cornwallis. It finally reconvened in late November.[15] In May 1782, Richmond was incorporated as a city, and Beckley purchased a house in the city shortly afterwards, seeking to participate in the city elections. On July 2, 1782, the city's roughly 800 freeholders elected Beckley as one of Henrico County's twelve council members. The day after his election as councilor, Beckley was elected by the council as one of its four aldermen. He was judged to be very competent in this role, serving to draft meeting procedures, police regulations, and methods to record the city's vital statistics. He was elected as the city's second mayor the following year at the young age of 26.[16][17][18]

Beckley continued to serve in city government over the next six years, alternating between postings as councilman, alderman, and mayor.[12] As mayor, he oversaw street repairs and the construction of a local jail. Although successful in politics due to his clerical abilities, he was unable to fully enter the social environment of the Virginian elite due to his background as an indentured servant.[19] He attempted to reach higher status through land speculation and other investments. By 1783, Beckley owned eight slaves.[17][20]

In 1787, Beckley traveled to the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia with the hope to be elected as the secretary of the convention, staying with James Madison and Randolph at the home of Eliza House Trust. Madison felt that Beckley was unlikely to be elected secretary, writing to Randolph a month before the convention:[16][21]

If Mr. Beckley has no other view in coming to Philada. than that of the secretaryship of the convention, I suspect the chance of his success ought hardly to recommend the trip. Other solicitations will certainly oppose him, backed by services in a more conspicuous, & in the common opinion, more meritorious.

— James Madison, letter to Edmund Randolph, April 11, 1787[22]

Beckley spent several weeks meeting with officials at the convention, attempting to curry favor, with such a frequent presence that some mistook him as a delegate. Beckley was unable to convince the Virginia delegates to nominate him for secretaryship; the position instead went to William Jackson.[16][21] Leaving the convention early, he instead planned to serve as a delegate to the Virginia Ratifying Convention in Richmond, where the Constitution of the United States would be ratified. Unlikely to be elected as a delegate for Richmond, he instead chose to run as a delegate for Greenbrier County, a remote Appalachian county where he had significant land investments. He traveled to in Greenbrier in March 1788, where he lost the election to two locals who had previously served as his surveyors. Despite this, he was able to secure the position as the convention's secretary. He produced 15 copies of Virginia's ratification, which were delivered to the other states and Congress.[18][21] After the convention, he again served as the mayor of Richmond from 1788 until his resignation on March 9, 1789.[18][23]

Beckley delivered Virginia's votes to the capital city of New York City after the 1788–89 presidential election.[18] Again serving as the clerk of the House of Delegates, Beckley was faced with a proposed set of reforms which would reduce his wages. Such a pay cut threatened to disrupt his finances, which were already limited by an obligation to send money to his elderly parents in England. Seeking a higher-paying position, he attempted to secure the post of clerk of the newly-formed United States House of Representatives.[24] He solicited endorsements for the position while staying with Madison in a house on Maiden Lane in New York. Madison and Randolph both advocated for Beckley's appointment. In a letter of recommendation to Caleb Strong, Randolph described Beckley as a good friend and "inferior to no man in America in all of the duties of a clerk and draughtsman."[13][18][25] Beckley additionally gained support of Virginia's large congressional delegation. Voting began immediately after the election of the first Speaker of the House, Frederick Muhlenberg. After a tied first round, Beckley was elected clerk on April 1, 1789, narrowly defeating the New Jerseyan William S. Stockton.[25][26]

First congressional clerkship

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Beckley took up a variety of administrative tasks in his role as House Clerk. He initiated roll calls, read bills and motions, applied the Seal of the House to official documents of the body, and certifying the passage of bills and resolutions. He was additionally responsible for the printing of the House Journal, as well as its distribution to the President, house members, and the state legislatures. During the 2nd Congress, he was allotted funds to hire three assistant clerks.[26] He was seen as a competent and efficient clerk, with congressman John Page writing in 1797 that "there never was a more correct & diligent clerk".[27] While in New York, Beckley became closely tied to the city's elite class, freed from the stigma of his background as a servant. Although he began making friends with some members of Congress, his relations and correspondence with Jefferson and Madison, his fellow Virginians, remained limited to political matters.[28]

Through his duties, Beckley gathered political intelligence for his Jeffersonian political allies, regularly passing on information to Jefferson, Madison, and James Monroe.[29] His position allowed him opportunities to eavesdrop on conversations, and his clerkship duties gave him the chance to survey a large number of documents circulating through the house. After Congress' relocation to Philadelphia in 1790, Beckley made regular visits to New York City, gathering large amounts of political intelligence.[30] He wrote a number of anonymous editorials in a prominent anti-Federalist newspaper, the Philadelphia-based Aurora General Advertiser. Writing variously as "Americanus" or "A Calm Observer", he leaked sensitive information on Federalist leaders.[29] In 1793, he supplied Jefferson with a "list of papermen" in Congress, listing those who were confirmed or suspected to be stockholders or directors of banks.[30]

Although Beckley initially sought to maintain appearances of impartiality and nonpartisanship in his official duties as Clerk, this gradually became untenable. Due to his support for the French government, he was staunchly opposed to the Jay Treaty with Great Britain. However, despite rallying Jeffersonian opposition to the treaty, it narrowly passed in the House by a margin of 51 to 48. He became increasingly open in his partisanship following this loss.[29]

Party and campaign management

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Beckley first participated in political campaigning during the 1796 United States presidential election, where he managed Jefferson's campaign in the Pennsylvania election. Following the announcement of Washington's retirement, Beckley contacted a number of influential officials in Pennsylvania to seek their assistance in the Democratic-Republican campaign. He sent general William Irvine a list of the state's electors and asked for him to "scatter a few copies thro' some proper hands".[31]

Removal

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Due to his intense anti-Federalist partisanship, he was opposed by many among the Federalist-majority House of the 5th Congress. Beckley was voted out of office on April 1, 1797, losing to Jonathan Williams Condy in a close house vote of 40 to 41. Three days later, Thomas Jefferson wrote to James Madison in disappointment regarding the "loss of the ablest clerk in the US".[32][29]

Election of 1800 and second clerkship

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After Jefferson's victory in the 1800 presidential election, Beckley sent the president-elect a letter detailing a number of suggested principles to maintain republican government. He advocated that the United States avoid foreign treaties, the promotion of agriculture through the elimination of excise and land tax, and the repeal of the Alien and Sedition Acts.

Librarian of Congress

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Works and views

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Beckley assisted Jefferson in the creation of his 1801 Manual of Parliamentary Practice. In 1798, he reviewed and annotated Jefferson's notes on parliamentary procedure, and sent him excerpts from his 1791 work entitled Books of Minutes on Parliamentary Proceedings.[33][34]

Bibliography

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Personal life

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In 1779, Beckley was elected as the 32nd member of the Phi Beta Kappa society at the College of William & Mary, following a rule change which allowed non-students such as Beckley to join. Through the society, Beckley became friends with John Brown and John Page, with whom he would design the society's seal. Less than a month after joining, he was elected as the society's clerk. Beckley wrote the charters of the society's first two branch chapters at Harvard and Yale. He was also elected to the Williamsburg Lodge of Freemasons in 1779.[9][10][35]

During his early political career in postwar Virginia, Beckley frequently attempted to boost his wealth and prestige through investments. These include his acquisition of 49,000 acres (200 km2) worth of land warrants in 1783, which he used to purchase large amounts of territory in Greenbrier County, now part of West Virginia. His land investments were rendered unprofitable after the collapse of the land speculation scheme of financiers Robert Morris and John Nicholson. His efforts to become affiliated with the Virginia gentry, whether through wealth or a favorable marriage, were ultimately unsuccessful. He spent much of his time in Richmond at various taverns, where he became drinking companions with future Supreme Court justice John Marshall.[20]

On June 15, 1791, he was elected to the American Philosophical Society.[14]

Beckley died in Washington, D.C., on April 8, 1807.

Notes

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  1. ^ This date comes from the memoirs of Beckley's son, Alfred Beckley, written when he was around 80 years old. Known inaccuracies with Alfred Beckley's accounts cast some doubt on the authenticity of details such as Beckley's birth date.[1]

References

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Citations

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  1. ^ a b Berkeley & Berkeley 1973, p. 3.
  2. ^ a b Berkeley & Berkeley 1975, p. 83.
  3. ^ Pasley 1996, pp. 536–537.
  4. ^ Berkeley & Berkeley 1973, p. 4.
  5. ^ a b Berkeley & Berkeley 1962, pp. 434–435, 444.
  6. ^ Gawalt 1995, p. 9.
  7. ^ a b Berkeley & Berkeley 1962, pp. 435–436.
  8. ^ Berkeley & Berkeley 1973, pp. 7–8.
  9. ^ a b c d Berkeley & Berkeley 1975, p. 84.
  10. ^ a b Berkeley & Berkeley 1962, pp. 436–437.
  11. ^ Berkeley & Berkeley 1973, pp. 22–23.
  12. ^ a b Berkeley & Berkeley 1962, p. 438.
  13. ^ a b Jahoda 1960, p. 249.
  14. ^ a b Berkeley & Berkeley 1962, p. 440.
  15. ^ Berkeley & Berkeley 1973, p. 31.
  16. ^ a b c Berkeley & Berkeley 1975, pp. 84–85.
  17. ^ a b Gawalt 1995, p. 10.
  18. ^ a b c d e Berkeley & Berkeley 1962, pp. 438–439.
  19. ^ Pasley 1996, pp. 539–541.
  20. ^ a b Pasley 1996, pp. 539–540.
  21. ^ a b c Pasley 1996, pp. 541–542.
  22. ^ Pasley 1996, p. 541.
  23. ^ "Clerk Information: John James Beckley". Virginia House of Delegates. Retrieved 16 June 2024.
  24. ^ Pasley 1996, pp. 542–543.
  25. ^ a b Gawalt 1995, p. 11.
  26. ^ a b Jenkins & Stewart 2004, pp. 3–4.
  27. ^ Cunningham 1956, p. 41.
  28. ^ Pasley 1996, p. 543.
  29. ^ a b c d Jenkins & Stewart 2004, pp. 9–12.
  30. ^ a b Cunningham 1956, pp. 42–43.
  31. ^ Cunningham 1956, pp. 47–48.
  32. ^ Berkeley & Berkeley 1962, p. 439.
  33. ^ Gawalt 1995, p. 29.
  34. ^ Howell 1988, p. 15.
  35. ^ Pasley 1996, p. 539.

Works cited

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Further Reading

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  • Martin, Raymond V. (1949–1950). "Eminent Virginian: A Study of John Beckley". West Virginia History. 11: 44–61.
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