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Charles B. Penrose

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For other people with the same name, see Charles Penrose (disambiguation).
Charles B. Penrose
Pennsylvania State Senate, 1st district
In office
1857–1857
1st Assistant Secretary of the Treasury
In office
March 12, 1849 – October 9, 1849
PresidentZachary Taylor
Preceded byPosition established
Succeeded byAllen A. Hall
4th Solicitor of the United States Treasury
In office
March 17, 1841 – March 4, 1845
PresidentWilliam Henry Harrison
John Tyler
Preceded byMatthew Birchard
Succeeded bySeth Barton
Speaker of the Pennsylvania Senate
In office
1838–1839
In office
1841–1841
Pennsylvania State Senate, 14th district
In office
1838–1841
Pennsylvania State Senate, 16th district
In office
1833–1836
Personal details
Born(1798-10-06)October 6, 1798
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.
DiedApril 6, 1857(1857-04-06) (aged 58)
Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Resting placeLaurel Hill Cemetery, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Political partyDemocratic-Republican, Whig, Republican
SpouseValeria Fullerton Biddle
Children5
Parents
  • Clement Biddle Penrose
  • Anne Howard Bingham
RelativesBoies Penrose (grandson)
Charles Bingham Penrose (grandson)
R. A. F. Penrose Jr. (grandson)
Spencer Penrose (grandson)
See Biddle family
ProfessionLawyer

Charles Bingham Penrose (October 6, 1798 – April 6, 1857) was an American politician who served as a Democratic-Republican and Whig member of the Pennsylvania Senate for the 16th and 14th district from 1833 to 1841 and as a Republican member for the 1st district in 1857. He served as Speaker of the Pennsylvania Senate from 1838 to 1839 and again in 1841. He was a key figure during the Buckshot War unrest in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, after the 1838 legislative election, when both Whigs and Democrats claimed control over the Pennsylvania House of Representatives.

He served as Solicitor of the United States Treasury from 1841 to 1845 in the William Henry Harrison and John Tyler administrations and as the first Assistant Secretary of the Treasury in 1849 during the Zachary Taylor administration.

Early life

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Penrose was born in the Frankford neighborhood[1] of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on October 6, 1798, to Clement Biddle Penrose and Anna Howard Bingham.[2] He moved with his family to St. Louis, Missouri, when his father was assigned as commissioner of the Louisiana Territory by President Thomas Jefferson. He volunteered to fight during the War of 1812, however the St. Louis based company was never called into active service.[3]

Penrose studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1821.[3]

Political career

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Penrose was elected as a Democratic-Republican party member of the Pennsylvania Senate for the 16th district and served from 1833 to 1835. He switched political parties to the Whig party and served for the 16th district from 1835 to 1837. He served as a Whig member of the Pennsylvania Senate for the 14th district from 1837 to 1841 including as Speaker of the Senate from 1838 to 1839 and again in 1841.[2][4]

Buckshot War

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Main article: Buckshot War

Penrose was a key figure during the Buckshot War of 1838, when both the Whig and Democratic parties claimed control over the Pennsylvania House of Representatives.[5] Penrose certified the Whig results from Philadelphia for the Senate which prompted Charles Brown, one of the rejected candidates, to request to speak. A crowd of hundreds armed with bowie knives and pistols were in attendance to support the Democratic side. They began to shout "You shall admit Brown and Stevens (another Democratic candidate)" and "We will have Burrowes', Stevens', and Penrose's blood". Penrose, Thaddeus Stevens and Secretary of Commonwealth Thomas H. Burrowes fled the Capitol through a window in the back of the Senate chambers to escape the mob.[6]

Governor Joseph Ritner declared a rebellion[7] and Pennsylvania State Milita General Robert Patterson came to Harrisburg with troops to quell any potential violence. Both Penrose and Governor Ritner wrote to Captain Edwin Vose Sumner in command of Federal troops in Carlisle to also come to Harrisburg, however Vose refused to interfere in what he deemed a state political matter.[8]

Treasury

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He was a delegate to the convention that nominated William Henry Harrison as president.[9] In 1841, Penrose was appointed Solicitor of the Treasury in the Harrison administration and was reappointed in the John Tyler administration from 1841 to 1845.[2] In March 1849 he was appointed the first Assistant Secretary of the Treasury, serving under William Morris Meredith in the Zachary Taylor administration, but only served for a short time.[10]

He switched political parties again and served as a Republican member of the Pennsylvania Senate for the 1st district in 1857.[2]

During his second tenure in the State Senate, Penrose was accused of using bribes to arrange the election of Simon Cameron to the United States Senate, but nothing was proved and he was not charged with wrongdoing.[11]

Business career

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He established a law practice in Carlisle, Pennsylvania,[12] from 1845 to 1847 and in Philadelphia, from 1847 to 1857.[2]

He was president of the Cumberland Valley Railroad, published three volumes of "Reports of Cases in the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania" and served as trustee and secretary of the Board of Trustees for Dickinson College.[10]

Charles B. Penrose tombstone in Laurel Hill Cemetery

Penrose died of pneumonia[10] in Harrisburg on April 6, 1857,[13] and was interred at Laurel Hill Cemetery in Philadelphia.[14]

Personal life and family

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He married a cousin, Valeria Fullerton Biddle[1] and together they had five children.[15] She was a granddaughter of early American clergyman and patriot Elihu Spencer.[16] Their second son, Dr. R.A.F. Penrose Sr.,[15] was professor of obstetrics and diseases of women and children at the University of Pennsylvania.[17]

His grandson Charles Bingham Penrose was a Philadelphia gynecologist who invented the Penrose surgical drain.[18] Another grandson, Boies Penrose became a U.S. Senator.[17] Grandsons R.A.F. Penrose and Spencer Penrose also achieved distinction, the former for his geologic surveys and entrepreneurial activity in Texas, Arkansas and Colorado,[19] the latter for founding many mining and financial companies in Colorado as well as the Pike's Peak Chapter of the American Red Cross.[20]

Publications

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References

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Citations

  1. ^ a b MacKenzie, George Norbury (1917). Colonial Families of the United States of America. Baltimore, Maryland: The Seaforth Press. p. 375. Retrieved December 23, 2023.
  2. ^ a b c d e "Charles Bingham Penrose". www.library.pasen.gov. Library of the Senate of Pennsylvania. Retrieved December 22, 2023.
  3. ^ a b Leach 1903, p. 83.
  4. ^ Cochran, Thos. B. (1888). Smull's Legislative Hand Book, and Manual of the State of Pennsylvania. Harrisburg: E.K. Myers. p. 263. Retrieved December 23, 2023.
  5. ^ The Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography. Volume 23. Philadelphia: The Historical Society of Pennsylvania. 1899. pp. 144–146. Retrieved December 23, 2023.
  6. ^ Trefousse, Hans L. (1997). Thaddeus Stevens: Nineteenth Century Egalitarian. Chapel Hill: The University of North Carolina Press. p. 59. ISBN 0-8078-2335-X. Retrieved December 24, 2023.
  7. ^ Donehoo, George P. (1926). Pennsylvania: A History. New York: Lewis Historical Publishing Company, Inc. p. 1358. Retrieved December 24, 2023.
  8. ^ Kelker, Luther Reily (1907). History of Dauphin County Pennsylvania. New York: The Lewis Publishing Company. p. 162. Retrieved December 24, 2023.
  9. ^ Leach 1903, p. 86.
  10. ^ a b c Leach 1903, p. 87.
  11. ^ Boies Penrose, Symbol of an Era, by Robert Douglas Bowden, 1971, page 82
  12. ^ Biographical and Portrait Cyclopedia of Cumberland, York, and Adams Counties, Pennsylvania, published by Heritage Society of Pennsylvania, 1986, page 100
  13. ^ History of Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, published by Cumberland County Historical Society, 1982, page 169
  14. ^ "Charles B Penrose". www.remembermyjourney.com. Retrieved December 22, 2023.
  15. ^ a b Nevin, Alfred (1876). Men of Mark of Cumberland Valley, Pa. 1776-1876. Philadelphia: Fulton Publishing Company. pp. 323–324. Retrieved December 23, 2023.
  16. ^ Leach 1903, p. 88.
  17. ^ a b Encyclopaedia of Contemporary Biography of Pennsylvania. Vol. III. New York: Atlantic Publishing & Engraving Company. 1898. pp. 79–80. Retrieved December 23, 2023.
  18. ^ Beers, Paul B. (2010). Pennsylvania Politics Today and Yesterday: The Tolerable Accommodation. Penn State Press. p. 52. ISBN 978-0271044989.
  19. ^ Leach 1903, p. 125.
  20. ^ Leach 1903, pp. 123–124.

Sources

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Pennsylvania State Senate
Preceded by
 Member of the Pennsylvania Senate, 16th District
1833-1837 		Succeeded by
Preceded by
 Member of the Pennsylvania Senate, 14th District
1837-1841 		Succeeded by
Preceded by
 Member of the Pennsylvania Senate, 1st District
1857 		Succeeded by
Political offices
Preceded by
Position established
 U.S. Assistant Secretary of the Treasury
Served under: Zachary Taylor
1849 – 1849 		Succeeded by
Legal offices
Preceded by Solicitor of the United States Treasury
1841–1845 		Succeeded by
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