John Tipton

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John Shields Tipton
John Tipton from Who-When-What Book, 1900
United States Senator
In office 1832 – 1839
Preceded by	Robert Hanna
Succeeded by	Albert S. White
Born	August 14, 1786 Sevier County, Tennessee
Died	April 5, 1839 Logansport, Indiana
Political party	Democratic

John Shields Tipton (August 14, 1786 - April 5, 1839) was an American politician.

Tipton was born in what is now Sevier County, Tennessee. His father was killed by the Indians. His great uncle, also named John, was a prominent man in the area. When he was an infant, his uncle's house was besieged by supporters of an attempt to create the 14th state in Northeastern Tennessee called the State of Franklin.

At the age of 17, Tipton moved to Harrison County, Indiana. He became a farmer, and joined a militia which protected himself and other settlers from Native American tribes. He commanded a militia unit in the Battle of Tippecanoe campaign in 1811.

Tipton eventually entered politics. He served as a member of the Indiana State House of Representatives from 1819 to 1823. During this time, he founded the town of Columbus, Indiana originally known as Tiptonia, he participated in commissions to establish a new state capital for Indiana and to set the boundaries between Indiana and Illinois. In 1823, he became the United States Indian agent for the Potawatomi and Miami tribes. Also a captain in the militia, Tipton was responsible for rounding up the uncooperative Potawatomi and forcibly moving them to Kansas in what became known as the Potawatomi Trail of Death.

In 1831, Tipton was elected by the state legislature to a seat in the United States Senate from Indiana to fill the unexpired term of James Noble who had died. He was reelected to a full term in 1832. He was a member of the United States Democratic Party and a strong supporter of Andrew Jackson. He served as chairman of the committees on roads and canals and Native American affairs from 1837 to 1839. In 1838, at the behest of Governor David Wallace, Tipton organized the forced removal of 859 Potawatomi from the vicinity of Plymouth and started them on the two-month-long "Trail of Death" to Kansas, which resulted in the deaths of more than 40 of them. He declined to run for reelection due to poor health, and his term expired a month before his death. He died in Logansport, Indiana, a town that he helped to found. The town of Tipton, Indiana and Tipton County, Indiana are named after him.

[edit] Affiliations

• Past Grand Master Mason of Indiana

[edit] External links

• John Tipton Portrait

[edit] References

v • d • e United States Senators from Indiana Class 1: Noble • Hanna • Tipton • White • Bright • Wright • Turpie • T. Hendricks • Pratt • McDonald • Harrison • Turpie • Beveridge • Kern • New • Ralston • Robinson • Minton • Willis • Jenner • Hartke • Lugar Class 3: Taylor • W. Hendricks • Smith • Hannegan • Whitcomb • Cathcart • Pettit • Fitch • Lane • Morton • Voorhees • Fairbanks • Hemenway • Shively • Taggart • Watson • Van Nuys • Jackson • Jenner • Capehart • Bayh II • Quayle • Coats • Bayh III