Biography

04/15/1748 - 06/22/1822

Captain James Poe (Democratic-Republican15) Franklin County 1803-1805 (D15) Constitutionalist (Quid) Franklin County, 1805-1806 (Democratic-Republican15) Franklin County 1806-1807 (Democratic-Republican15) Franklin County 1811-1819

Early Life:

Captain James Poe, born April 15, 1748, Antrim Township, Franklin County, Province of Pennsylvania, British Colonial America; son of Adjutant Thomas Poe; among the first to offer his services to his country, assisted, organization of a company of associators, lieutenant, 1776; commissioned, captain, Third Company, commanded, Colonel Abraham Smith, Eighth Battalion, Cumberland County Militia, July 31, 1777-May 1778; returned, farm, Antrim, Cumberland County; appointed, State authorities, Commissioner of Taxes, Cumberland County, October, 22, 1783; first county commissioner, Franklin County, 1785-1787; elected, Federalist, Pennsylvania State House of Representatives, 1794-1795; elected, Democratic-Republican, Pennsylvania State House of Representatives, 1795-1797; commissioner, Franklin County, 1797-1799; elected, Democratic-Republican, Pennsylvania State House of Representatives, 1800-1803; elected, Democratic-Republican, Pennsylvania State Senate, 1803-1805, elected, Constitutionalist (Quid), Pennsylvania State Senate, 1805-1806, elected, Democratic-Republican, Pennsylvania State Senate, 1806-1807; elected, Democratic-Republican, Pennsylvania State Senate, 1811-1819; retired from public service; married, Elizabeth Cathcart Potter Poe, children, Margaret Latimer Poe Campbell, Thomas Poe, James Poe, Harriett Catharine Poe, John Poe, Charlotte C. Poe, William C. Poe, James Poe, Susan Matilda Poe Van Tries; died, June 22, 1822, (age 74), Franklin County, Pennsylvania; interment, Browns Mill Presbyterian Cemetery, Kauffman, Franklin County, Pennsylvania. 

Pennsylvania Politics:

Franklin County, first county commissioner, 1785-1787, upon the formation of the new county of Franklin. 

Elected, Federalist, Pennsylvania State House of Representatives, 1794-1795.

Elected, Democratic-Republican, Pennsylvania State House of Representatives, 1795-1797.

Franklin County, commissioner, 1797-1799. 

Elected, Democratic-Republican, Pennsylvania State House of Representatives, 1800-1803. 

Elected, Democratic-Republican, Pennsylvania State Senate, 15th district, Franklin County, 1803-1805, Constitutionalist (Quid), Pennsylvania State Senate, 15th district, Franklin County, 1805-1806, Democratic-Republican, Pennsylvania State Senate, 15th district, Franklin County, 1806-1807.

Elected, Democratic-Republican, Pennsylvania State Senate, 15th district, Franklin County, 1811-1819; under the act of March 21, 1808, Franklin County was made an independent Senatorial district, elected first Senator under that apportionment. 

Legacy:

Inscription:
Sacred to the Memory of JAMES POE, Esquire,

Patriot of the Revolution of 1776, a sincere 

friend and honest man and a professor of the

Christian Religion, who departed + this life 

June 22d, 1822, aged 74 years.

Cited:

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

Eagle, William Henry. Some Pennsylvania Women during the War of the Revolution. Harrisburg, PA, USA: Harrisburg Publishing Co., 1898.

A New Nation Votes (tufts.edu)

Capt James Poe (1748-1822) - Find a Grave Memorial