John Beatty (December 10, 1749 – May 30, 1826) was an American physician, statesman and slaveowner[1] from Princeton, New Jersey.[2][3]
Early life
Coat of Arms of John Beatty
He was born in Neshaminy in the Province of Pennsylvania on December 10, 1749.[2] Beatty was the oldest of ten children of Irish born Rev. Charles Clinton Beatty and Anne (née Reading) Beatty, who were married in 1746. His father was a Presbyterian minister who did missionary work among the Native Americans.
In 1784, when Thomas Jefferson's proposed ban on slavery in all future territories came up for a vote in Congress, Beatty became sick and was absent from the meeting. As Jefferson noted, "[Je]rsey would have been for it, but there were but two members, one of whom [Beatty] was sick in his chambers"; thus, New Jersey could not submit its vote.[14] The proposal failed to pass by one vote.[15]
Beatty was married to Catherine DeKlyn (1773–1861), the daughter of Mary (née Van Sant) DeKlyn and Barnt DeKlyn, who became wealthy selling textiles to the Continental Army during the American Revolution.[17] Together, they were the parents of Robert Beatty and William Beatty.[18]
Beatty was admitted as an original member of The Society of the Cincinnati in the state of New Jersey,[19][20] and served as the organization's treasurer from 1823 until his death on May 30, 1826, in Trenton in Mercer County, New Jersey.[21][22]
Legacy
The Presbyterian Historical Society in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, has a collection of personal papers, including diaries, correspondences and genealogical notes, related to the Beatty Family. Besides John Beatty's papers, the collection also includes journals by his father, Charles Clinton Beatty, who served as an early missionary with George Duffield among Native Americans.[4]
References
^"Congress slaveowners", The Washington Post, January 19, 2022, retrieved January 25, 2022
^Mays, Terry M. (2005). Historical Dictionary of Revolutionary America. Scarecrow Press. p. 24. ISBN 9780810853898. Retrieved May 22, 2018.
^ a b"Guide to the Beatty Family Papers". www.history.pcusa.org. Presbyterian Historical Society. May 5, 2014. Retrieved May 22, 2018.
^Jordan, John Woolf (1913). Genealogical and Personal History of the Allegheny Valley, Pennsylvania. Lewis Historical Publishing Company. p. 721. Retrieved May 22, 2018.
^Bergen, Tunis Garret (1915). Genealogies of the State of New York: A Record of the Achievements of Her People in the Making of a Commonwealth and the Founding of a Nation. Lewis Historical Publishing Company. Retrieved July 18, 2017.
^Moore, Charles B., "Introductory Sketch to the History of the Clinton Family", The New York Genealogical and Biographical Record, (Richard Henry Greene at al, eds.), New York Genealogical and Biographical Society, 1880
^"To George Washington from John Beatty, 28 April 1789". founders.archives.gov. Founders Online. Retrieved May 22, 2018.
^Gansevoort Jr., Peter (2014). Hero of Fort Schuyler: Selected Revolutionary War Correspondence of Brigadier General Peter Gansevoort, Jr. McFarland. p. 254. ISBN 9781476616803. Retrieved May 22, 2018.
^Heitman, Francis Bernard (1914). Historical Register of Officers of the Continental Army During the War of the Revolution, April 1775, to December, 1783. Rare Book Shop Publishing Company. p. 95. Retrieved May 22, 2018.
^Purcell, L. Edward. Who Was Who in the American Revolution. New York: Facts on File, 1993. ISBN 0-8160-2107-4.
^Jensen, Merrill; DenBoer, Gordon; Becker, Robert A. (1976). The Documentary History of the First Federal Elections, 1788-1790. Univ of Wisconsin Press. p. 52. ISBN 9780299106508. Retrieved May 22, 2018.
^"Founders Online: To James Madison from Thomas Jefferson, 25 April 1784".
^Merkel, William (2009). "Jefferson's Failed Anti-Slavery Proviso of 1784 and the Nascence of Free Soil Constitutionalism". Seton Hall Law Review. Retrieved March 7, 2021.
^"Voteview | Plot Vote: 3rd Congress > House > 9". voteview.com. Retrieved August 21, 2023.
^"New Jersey and National Registers of Historic Places - Mercer County" (PDF). New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection - Historic Preservation Office. March 1, 2011. p. 9. Archived from the original (PDF) on December 3, 2010. Retrieved March 28, 2011.
^Metcalf, Bryce (1938). Original Members and Other Officers Eligible to the Society of the Cincinnati, 1783-1938: With the Institution, Rules of Admission, and Lists of the Officers of the General and State Societies Strasburg, VA: Shenandoah Publishing House, Inc., p. 48.
^"Officers Represented in the Society of the Cincinnati". The American Revolution Institute of the Society of the Cincinnati. Retrieved April 9, 2021.
^"John Beatty | The Society of the Cincinnati in the State of New Jersey". njcincinnati.org. Retrieved May 14, 2019.