John J. Beckley

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John J. Beckley
1st
Jonathan W. Condy
2nd and 7th Mayor of Richmond, Virginia
In office
February 22, 1788 – March 9, 1789
Preceded byRichard Adams, Jr.
Succeeded byAlexander McRoberts
In office
July 1, 1783 – July 6, 1784
Preceded byWilliam Foushee, Sr.
Succeeded byRobert Mitchell
Personal details
Born
John James Beckley

(1757-08-04)August 4, 1757
London, England
DiedApril 8, 1807(1807-04-08) (aged 49)
Washington, D.C., U.S.
Political party
Democratic-Republican
Signature

John James Beckley (August 4, 1757 – April 8, 1807) was an American political campaign manager and the first Librarian of the United States Congress, from 1802 to 1807. He is credited with being the first political campaign manager in the United States and for setting the standards for the First Party System.

Early years

Born in London, Beckley's parents sent him at the age of 11[1] to the Colony of Virginia as an indentured servant. John James Beckley was sold to the mercantile firm of John Norton & Son in response to a request for a scribe by John Clayton, and he arrived in Virginia just before his 12th birthday.[1] Clayton guided Beckley's continuing education, and in working with Clayton, Beckley was introduced to many influential members of the colony. When Clayton died in December 1773, Beckley chose to remain in Virginia rather than return to London.[1]

Contrary to many reports, he was never a student at the

College of William and Mary on December 5, 1776. Since Beckley was not a student at the college, he was not eligible for membership. On December 10, 1778, the constitution of the society was broadened to permit the election of non-students, and a few months later, on April 10, 1779, Beckley was elected. Within a month, as might have been predicted, he was chosen clerk, or secretary.[1]

Career

In June of 1782, Beckley participated in the first election of the city of Richmond, Virginia and was one of the 12 elected councilmen. In 1783, he was elected mayor of Richmond, a role in which he would serve three times.[1] By this time, he had amassed 49,000 acres (20,000 ha) of rich, unoccupied land in the west, but it was tied up in litigation. Beckley was a Freemason, and in 1785 participated in a fundraising effort which was responsible for constructing Mason's Hall in Richmond.[3]

Benjamin Bache
's General Advertiser, becoming known as an articulate exponent of American republicanism. He used the press energetically to denounce Hamilton and the Federalists as crypto-monarchists whose corruption was subversive of American values.

He was elected to the American Philosophical Society in 1791.[6]

Political activities

By 1792, he had started a propaganda machine for the new

with James Reynolds and his wife Maria. This led to James Monroe, Congressmen Muhlenberg (PA) and Venable (VA) confronting the Treasury Secretary on December 15, 1792. Hamilton denied any financial wrongdoing but admitted to an affair with the wife Maria and paying hush money to her husband. The Republicans agreed to keep the matter confidential and it did not become public until 1797.[8]

In 1795, he took the lead in denouncing Jay's Treaty and had emerged as the most visible spokesman of the new Republican Party. Writing under the sobriquet of "A Calm Observer," in 1796 he charged that, among other heinous offenses, George Washington had stolen public funds and that he richly deserved impeachment.[9]

In 1796, he managed the Jefferson campaign in Pennsylvania, blanketing the state with agents who passed out 30,000 hand-written tickets, naming all 15 electors (printed tickets were not allowed). Thus, he told one agent, "In a few days a select republican friend from the City will call upon you with a parcel of tickets to be distributed in your County. Any assistance and advice you can furnish him with, as to suitable districts & characters, will I am sure be rendered. He is one of two republican friends, who have undertaken to ride thro' all the middle & lower counties on this business, and bring with them 6 or 8 thousand tickets." Beckley thus became the first American professional campaign manager. Federalists had him removed as House clerk in 1797. His allies in Pennsylvania soon found him a state job and he became even more active in promoting the Jefferson candidacy in 1800. Jefferson rewarded him with his old post of Clerk of the United States House of Representatives; Beckley got the House to add on the title of Librarian of Congress.[2]

Family

Beckley married Maria Prince, the daughter of a retired ship captain, just before Congress moved from New York to Philadelphia, where the two would live from 1791 until 1801.[1] Their son, Alfred Beckley, was born May 26, 1802.[1] Alfred would go on to found the town of Beckley on the western lands (now in West Virginia), and named it in honor of his father. His home, Wildwood, was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1970.[10]

References

  1. ^
    JSTOR 29781617
    .
  2. ^
    JSTOR 3124417
    .
  3. OCLC 6326284.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link
    )
  4. OCLC 277203534
    .
  5. ^ "John James Beckley - Previous Librarians of Congress | Library of Congress". The Library of Congress. Retrieved March 9, 2018.
  6. ^ "John Beckley". American Philosophical Society Member History. American Philosophical Society. Retrieved December 16, 2020.
  7. ^ Cole, John Y. "Jefferson's Legacy: A Brief History of the Library of Congress - Librarians of Congress". Library of Congress. Retrieved December 15, 2008.
  8. ISBN 0871691000
    .
  9. JSTOR 1923388
    .
  10. ^ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. March 13, 2009.

External links

Government offices
Preceded by
new office
 Clerk of the United States House of Representatives
1789–1797 		Succeeded by
Jonathan W. Condy
Preceded by Clerk of the United States House of Representatives
1801–1807 		Succeeded by
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