Biography

12/30/1729 - 01/31/1816

Major General John Michael Piper (Democratic Republican12) Bedford, Huntingdon and Somerset Counties 1801-1805

Early Life: 

Major General John Michael Piper, born December 30, 1729, Croghan, County Offaly, Leinster, Ireland; son of John James and Margaret P. Piper; settled Big Spring, Cumberland County; moved, Bedford County, Piper’s Run, 1771; justice of the Peace, Bedford County, 1773; delegate, Provincial Convention, Carpenter's Hall, Philadelphia, 1776; elected, Constitutionalist, General Assembly of Pennsylvania, 1785-1789; delegate, Pennsylvania Constitutional Convention of 1790; elected, Commissioner, Mifflin County, Pennsylvania, 1801; elected, Democratic Republican, Pennsylvania State Senate, 1801-1805; appointed, Major General, Pennsylvania Militia, 1801-1816; unsuccessful campaign, Auditor, Bedford County, 1810; unsuccessful campaign, House of Representatives, Bedford County, 1812; unsuccessful campaign, Commissioner, Bedford County, 1814; unsuccessful campaign, House of Representatives, Bedford County, 1821; married, Elizabeth Jane Piper, 1770, children, General William Piper, James Piper, Margaret Peggy Radney; John Piper, John F. Piper, Jane McCandish, Zaddock Zebulon Piper; Elizabeth Smith, Captain James Piper, Lieutenant Alexander Moore Piper, David Piper, Esther Piper, Thomas C. Piper, William Piper, John F Piper; died, January 31, 1816 (age 86) Hopewell Township, Bedford County, Pennsylvania; interment, Piper Family Cemetery, Cypher, Bedford County, Pennsylvania. 

Early Career:

Enlisted, under command of Colonel John Armstrong, Kittanning Campaign of 1756; commissioned, lieutenant, Pennsylvania regiment, June 1765; lieutenant colonel, Revolution, Bedford County Militia; appointed major-general of militia, 1801-1816.      

Pennsylvania Politics: 

Justice of the Peace, Bedford County, 1773.  

Delegate, Provincial Convention, Carpenter's Hall, Philadelphia, 1776.  

Elected, Constitutionalist, General Assembly of Pennsylvania, Bedford County, 1785-1789.

Delegate, Pennsylvania Constitutional Convention of 1790; convention for forming a new Constitution, Philadelphia, November 21, 1789. 

Elected, Commissioner, Mifflin County, Pennsylvania, 1801.

Elected, Democratic Republican, Pennsylvania State Senate, 12th district, Bedford, Huntingdon and Somerset Counties, 1801-1805.  

Unsuccessful campaign, Auditor, Bedford County, Pennsylvania 1810. 

Unsuccessful campaign, House of Representatives, Bedford County, Pennsylvania, 1812.

Unsuccessful campaign, Commissioner, Bedford County, Pennsylvania, 1814. 

Unsuccessful campaign, House of Representatives, Bedford County, Pennsylvania, 1821.

Pennsylvania State House of Representatives Biography:

Not currently available. 

Legacy:

Built a stone house that became Fort Piper; shelter for neighbors during Indian attacks, engraved chimney is all that remains on Colonel John Drive, Hopewell Township, Pennsylvania.

Son, General William Piper, Pennsylvania State Senate, 14th district, Bedford County, 1817-1820, 22nd district, Cambria, Somerset Counties, 1821-1832.

William Piper  - Pennsylvania Senate Library (pasen.gov)

United States House of Representatives, Twelfth, Thirteenth, Fourteenth Congresses, 1811-1817. Bioguide Search (congress.gov)

Cited:

Cox, Harold. "Senate Members P". Wilkes University Election Statistics Project. Wilkes University.

The History of Bedford, Somerset and Fulton Counties, Pennsylvania, 1884, Waterman, Watkins and Company, p. 346.

A New Nation Votes (tufts.edu)

Col John M. Piper (1729-1816) - Find a Grave Memorial