Benjamin Parke

American judge

Benjamin Parke (September 2, 1777 – July 12, 1835) was an American lawyer, politician , militia officer, businessman, treaty negotiator in the Indiana Territory who also served as a United States federal judge in Indiana after it attained statehood in 1816. Parke was the Indiana Territory's attorney general (1804–1808); a representative to the territory's first general assembly (1805); its first territorial delegate to the United States House of Representatives (1805–1808); one of the five Knox County delegates to the Indiana constitutional convention of 1816; and a territorial court judge (1808–1816). After Indiana attained statehood, Parke served as the first United States District Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Indiana (1817–1835).

In addition to his service in Indiana's territorial and state government, Parke participated in the local militia , attaining the rank of colonel under the command of William Henry Harrison , and participated in the Battle of Tippecanoe during the War of 1812 . Parke was also active in civic and educational affairs. He was a founder of the public library at Vincennes , Indiana, and a founder and member of the board of trustees of Vincennes University . In 1816, he helped select the township in what became Monroe County , Indiana, for the use of a state seminary, which later became Indiana University in Bloomington . Parke also served as the first President of the Indiana Historical Society (1830–1835).

Early life and education

[(https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Benjamin_Parke&action=edit&section=1 "Edit section: Early life and education")
]

Parke, the son of a farmer, was born in New Jersey on September 2, 1777.

He received a limited education and left home at the age of twenty. In 1797 he moved to Lexington, Kentucky , where he read law in the office of James Brown and was admitted to the bar in 1799.

Marriage and family

[(https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Benjamin_Parke&action=edit&section=2 "Edit section: Marriage and family")
]

Parke married Elizabeth "Eliza" Barton in Lexington. The couple had two children, a son, Barton, and a daughter, Sarah.

Sarah married Abram (or Abraham) Hite of Louisville , Kentucky, and had one son. After Sarah died, Parke and his wife raised their grandson. Parke's son and grandson died during a cholera epidemic in 1833, leaving Parke with no heirs.

Career

[(https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Benjamin_Parke&action=edit&section=3 "Edit section: Career")
]

Early years

[(https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Benjamin_Parke&action=edit&section=4 "Edit section: Early years")
]

Around 1800–1801, Parke and his wife moved to Vincennes , the capital of the Indiana Territory , where he engaged in private law practice 1804.

After Parke befriended William Henry Harrison , the governor of the Indiana Territory, he served in several positions in the territorial government.

Governor Harrison appointed Parke as Attorney General of the Indiana Territory. He served in that capacity from 1804 to 1808.

In 1805, Parke was elected as one of the two Knox County representatives to the lower house of Indiana's first territorial legislature, which met at Vincennes on July 20, 1805.

Parke, a federalist and Governor Harrison's political ally, was a supporter of slavery and indenturing laws in the territory that were being debated at the time.

Congressional delegate

[(https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Benjamin_Parke&action=edit&section=5 "Edit section: Congressional delegate")
]

In 1805, the Indiana territorial legislature elected Parke as its first territorial representative to the United States House of Representatives . Parke was reelected to the post in 1807 and served in the 9th and 10th United States Congresses from December 12, 1805, until March 1, 1808.

Parke resigned prior to his appointment as a territorial judge and accepting a position on Governor Harrison's staff.

While serving in Congress and in response to requests from his constituents, Parke asked that body to amend the Northwest Ordinance to pass legislation permitting slavery in Indiana, but the effort was unsuccessful.[_citation needed
_]

Territorial judge and militia leader

[(https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Benjamin_Parke&action=edit&section=6 "Edit section: Territorial judge and militia leader")
]

President Thomas Jefferson appointed Parke as a Judge for the Indiana Territory in 1808. He served in that post until 1816, when Indiana became a state.

During Tecumseh's War and the War of 1812 , Parke joined the Indiana Territory's militia and rose through the ranks as a captain and major , before attaining the rank of colonel and serving on the staff of General Harrison, who was also the territorial governor.

…