Representative Joseph Reed Ingersoll

Joseph Reed Ingersoll (June 14, 1786 – February 20, 1868) was an American lawyer, diplomat, and statesman from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Born and raised in Philadelphia, he was a member of a prominent political family: his father, Jared Ingersoll, had been a leading lawyer, a signer of the U.S. Constitution, and a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania, and his older brother, Charles Jared Ingersoll, also served in the House. In this context of public service and legal distinction, Joseph Reed Ingersoll grew up in an environment that closely linked the law, politics, and national affairs.

Ingersoll pursued a classical education and graduated from Princeton College in 1804. Following his graduation, he read law under the guidance of his father, Jared Ingersoll, one of the most respected attorneys in Pennsylvania. After completing his legal studies, he was admitted to the bar and commenced the practice of law in Philadelphia, building a successful career in the city’s legal community. His intellectual and professional standing was recognized early; in 1825 he was elected to membership in the American Philosophical Society, reflecting his engagement with scholarly and civic life in addition to his legal work.

By the mid-1830s, Ingersoll entered national politics, following the path of his father and brother to the United States Congress. As a member of the Whig Party representing Pennsylvania, he was elected in 1834 as a Whig anti-Jacksonian candidate to the Twenty-fourth Congress and served from 1835 to 1837. In this first term he contributed to the legislative process during a significant period in American history, participating in the democratic process and representing the interests of his constituents. He declined to be a candidate for renomination in 1836 and, after his initial service in Congress, returned to Philadelphia to resume the practice of law.

Ingersoll reentered Congress several years later. He was elected as a Whig to the Twenty-seventh Congress in 1841 to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of John Sergeant. He was subsequently reelected as a Whig to the Twenty-eighth, Twenty-ninth, and Thirtieth Congresses, serving continuously from 1841 to 1849. Over these five terms in office, he became an influential Whig legislator. During the Thirtieth Congress he served as chairman of the United States House Committee on the Judiciary, a position that placed him at the center of debates over federal legal and constitutional questions. He was an advocate of protective tariffs and a firm supporter of Henry Clay, and one of his noted efforts in the House was a vigorous defense of Clay’s tariff of 1842, reflecting his broader commitment to Whig economic policy. Ingersoll declined to accept the nomination as a candidate for reelection in 1848, thereby concluding his congressional career at the close of his term in 1849.

After leaving Congress, Ingersoll continued to be called upon for high public service. In 1852 President Millard Fillmore appointed him United States Minister to the United Kingdom, one of the most important diplomatic posts in the American foreign service at the time. He served in London for about a year, representing U.S. interests during a period of evolving Anglo-American relations, and then retired from diplomatic life and returned to the United States. His service as minister capped a long public career that had encompassed both legislative and diplomatic responsibilities.

In retirement, Ingersoll devoted himself largely to literary and scholarly pursuits while remaining an engaged observer of national affairs. He was a warm adherent of the Union, and during the American Civil War he prepared an essay titled “Secession, a Folly and a Crime,” in which he argued forcefully against the legality and wisdom of secession. His literary work extended beyond contemporary political issues: he published a translation from the Latin of Francesco Rocco’s tracts “De Navibus et Naulo” and “De Assecuratione” (Philadelphia, 1809), reflecting his interest in legal and commercial scholarship, and later authored the “Memoir of Samuel Breck” (1863), a biographical study of another prominent Philadelphia figure. His intellectual contributions were recognized by academic institutions: in 1836 the degree of LL.D. was conferred upon him by both Lafayette College and Bowdoin College, and in 1845 he received the degree of D.C.L. from the University of Oxford.

Joseph Reed Ingersoll spent his final years in Philadelphia, maintaining the civic and intellectual engagements that had characterized his long life. He died in Philadelphia on February 20, 1868, and was interred in St. Peter’s Protestant Episcopal Churchyard. His career, spanning law, legislation, diplomacy, and letters, reflected both the traditions of his distinguished family and the broader currents of American political and intellectual life in the first half of the nineteenth century.