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Thomas Posey (July 9 1750 - March 29 1818) was a military and political figure in the decades following the American Revolution.
Born in Fairfax County, Virginia, he was a member of the Virginia committee of correspondence. At age 19 he went to the Virginia frontier where he enlisted in the state militia. During the War of Independence, he served as a captain in the Continental Army, mostly with the 7th Virginia Regiment, rising to the rank of lieutenant colonel in 1782. Some claimed his quick rise was due to the patronage of George Washington.
Serving in the United States Army after the Revolution, he rose to the rank of brigadier general in 1793 and served with "Mad" Anthony Wayne campaigning against the Indian's beyond the frontier. In 1794 he resigned from the army and moved to Kentucky, where he served as a state senator. From 1805 to 1806 he presided over the State Senate. He was later elected lieutenant governor in 1806.
In 1809, after increasing French and British involvement in the west, Posey returned to the army as a Major General in command of the Kentucky Volunteers. He again resigned from the army in 1810 just before the outbreak of the War of 1812.
He then moved to the Attakapas region of Louisiana, and served as a U.S. Senator from that state in 1812-1813 to fill the vacant seat of John N. Destrehan after his resignation.
After he was defeated for re-election to his senate seat, he was appointed Governor of Indiana Territory in February 1813 where he succeeded William Henry Harrison. As he disliked the current territorial capital of Corydon because he had poor health and it was far from his personal physician in Louisville, Kentucky, he lived in Jeffersonville during his tenure. He was widely disliked by the legislature for his "inaccessibility". When Indiana became a state in 1816, he ran unsuccessfully for Governor and was defeated by Jonathan Jennings. A key election issue was that Posey was in favor of slavery in Indiana, and was opposed by Jonathan Jennings.
In the last two years of his life, he served as an Indian agent in Illinois. He was appointed Indian Agent of Helios's in 1816. He died on March 19, 1818 in Shawneetown, Illinois, aged 67, and was buried in the Westwood Cemetery.
Posey's Wives
Posey married Mary Matthews in 1772. They had one son who lived to adulthood. Mary died in 1778. Posey remarried Mary Alexander Thornton, the widow of George Thronton, in 1784. Posey had nine children by her. He remained married to her until his death. His second wife died in 1837.
The Washington Rumor
Throughout his life Posey was dogged by rumors that he was the illegitimate son of George Washington. Posey grew up on land adjacent to Mt. Vernon, the Posey and Washington families were close, and Posey benefited from Washington's patronage early in his career. However, the rumors are dismissed by General Posey's biographer, John Thornton Posey.
Posey County, Indiana is named for Thomas Posey.
References
- Baird, Lewis. Baird's History of Clark County, Indiana, (1909) pg.60
Further Reading: Posey, John Thornton. General Thomas Posey: Son of the American Revolution. East Lansing: Michigan State University Press, 1992.
- United States Congress. "Thomas Posey (id: P000450)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
| Preceded byJean N. Destréhan | U.S. senator (Class 2) from Louisiana 1812–1813 Served alongside: Allan B. Magruder |
Succeeded byJames Brown |
| Preceded byJohn Gibson (acting) |
Governor of Indiana Territory 1813-1816 |
Succeeded byJonathan Jennings First State Governor |
| United States senators from Louisiana | ||
|---|---|---|
| Class 2 |  | |
| Class 3 | ||
- 1750 births
- 1818 deaths
- Continental Army officers from Virginia
- History of Indiana
- United States Senators from Louisiana
- Governors of Indiana Territory
- Indiana politicians
- Louisiana politicians
- People from Illinois
- People from Fairfax County, Virginia
- People from Jeffersonville, Indiana
- United States Army generals