The Encyclopedia Americana (1920)/Corwin, Thomas

CORWIN, Thomas, American statesman and orator: b. Bourbon County, Ky., 29 July 1794; d. Washington, D. C. 18 Dec 1865. He was admitted to the bar at Lebanon, Ohio, in 1817, and elected to the Ohio legislature in 1821. He became a member of Congress in 1831; was governor of Ohio 1840-42; United States senator 1845-50; Secretary of the Treasury 1850-53; member of Congress 1859-61, and United States Minister to Mexico 1861-64. He was an eloquent orator and one of his most famous speeches was delivered in the Senate 11 Feb. 1847, in opposition to the Mexican War. Consult Russel, ‘Thomas Corwin’ (Cincinnati 1882), and Morrow, J., ‘Life and Speeches of Thomas Corwin’ (Cincinnati 1896).