Orig WAR 1812 LT KY INFANTRY WHIG US SENATOR CONGRESSMAN FREE FRANK SIGNED CUT For Sale

JOSEPH ROGERS UNDERWOOD

(1791 – 1876)

UNITED STATES WHIG PARTY SENATOR FROM BOWLING GREEN, KENTUCKY 1847-1853,

UNITED STATES WHIG PARTY CONGRESSMAN FROM KENTUCKY 1835-1843,

CIVIL WAR MEMBER OF THE KENTUCKY STATE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 1861-1863,

MEMBER OF THE KENTUCKY STATE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES FROM BOWLING GREEN 1825-1826 and KY HOUSE SPEAKER IN 1846,

MEMBER OF THE KENTUCKY STATE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES FROM GLASGOW 1816-1819,

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WAR OF 1812 LIEUTENANT IN THE 13thKENTUCKY INFANTRY REGIMENT

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Here’s Underwood’s signature removed from a Free Frank letter cover, and signed:

“~ Underwood m c”

The document measures 4” x 1” and is in very fine condition.

An Excellent Piece of Maryland Political History to add to your Autograph, Manuscript & Ephemera Collection.

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF THE HONORABLE

JOSEPH R. UNDERWOOD

Joseph Rogers Underwood(October 24, 1791 – August 23, 1876) was alawyer,judge, War of 1812 officer,United States and family life

Joseph Underwood was born inGoochland County, Virginiato John Underwood, a veteran of the American Revolutionary War, and his wife Frances Rogers. His younger brotherWarner Lewis Underwoodlater also represented Kentucky\'s 3rd Congressional district.

Joseph Underwood moved toBarren County, Kentuckyin 1803 and lived with his uncle, Edmund Rogers. He attended private schools and graduated fromTransylvania CollegeinLexington, Kentuckyin 1811. He studied read law in Lexington under Robert Wickliffe, but interrupted those studies to serve in theWar of 1812as aLieutenantin the Thirteenth Regiment of theKentucky Infantry.

He married Eliza McCowes Trotter on March 26, 1817 and they had several children before her death in 1835, including Eugene Underwood (1818-1893), Julia Underwood Cox (1822-1875)(whose Washington D.C. husband John Threlkeld Cox, the son of the Mayor of Georgetown would become a Confederate cavalry colonel and perhaps brevet brigadier general), Eliza Underwood Rutledge (1829-1865) (whose Tennessee husband became a Confederate Major) and Jane Underwood Rogers (1830-1907). After her death, Underwood married Elizabeth Threlkeld Cox (1818-1884) (sister of John Threlkeld Cox who married his eldest daughter Julia). Their children includedJohn Cox Underwood(1840-1913), Robert Underwood (1844-1907), Lily Underwood Munford (1854-1885), and Josephine Underwood Woods (1858-1920).

He was admitted to thebarin 1813 and began practicing law inGlasgow, Kentucky.

Underwood served among Glasgow\'s town trustees and as county auditor until 1823. He was a member of theKentucky House of Representativesfrom 1816 to 1819.

In 1823, he moved toBowling Green, Kentucky, and again was elected to the State House of Representatives, serving from 1825 to 1826. He ran unsuccessfully forlieutenant governor of Kentuckyin 1828, then served as a judge of theCourt of Appealsfrom 1828 until 1835, following theOld Court-New Court controversy.

An opponent ofAndrew Jacksonand outspoken emancipationist, Underwood was elected as aWhigto theUnited States House of Representatives, servingKentucky\'s District 3from March 4, 1835 until March 3, 1843. There he was chairman of theU.S. House Committee on the District of Columbia. He declined to be a candidate for renomination in 1843, and resumed the practice of law. He was a presidential elector on the Whig ticket in 1844, and voters again elected him to the State House in 1846, where he served as speaker.

Underwood was elected as aWhigto theUnited States Senateand served from March 4, 1847 to March 3, 1853, when he did not run for reelection.

Underwood sent his own able-bodied slaves toLiberiaand urged others to do likewise, although he supported theCompromise of 1850. Before theAmerican Civil War, Underwood campaigned in Kentucky for theConstitutional Union Party. He ran for the state legislature again and was elected, serving two more terms, from 1861 to 1863 and fighting secessionists in the border state legislature. However, two of his sons would support the Confederacy. He attended the Democratic National Convention in 1864 and helped rebuild that party in the state.

Underwood died near Bowling Green and was interred in Fairview Cemetery.Western Kentucky Universityhas his papers. His sonJohn C. Underwoodbecame aConfederate Engineerand later Bowling Green\'s city engineer and briefly mayor, as well as Kentucky\'s 21st Lieutenant Governor. His grandsonOscar Wilder Underwood(Eugene\'s son) became majority leader in the U.S. House as well as the U.S. Senate.

ORIGINAL PURCHASE HISTORY PROVENANCE

Proud member of the Universal Autograph Collectors Club (UACC), The Ephemera Society of America, the Manuscript Society and the American Political Items Collectors (APIC) (member name: John Lissandrello). I subscribe to each organizations\' code of ethics and authenticity is guaranteed. ~Providing quality service and historical memorabilia online for over twenty years.~