Editing John Fowler (politician)

{{short description|American politician}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=June 2020}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name                = John Fowler
| state = [[Kentucky]]
| district = [[Kentucky's 5th congressional district|5th]]
| term_start = March 4, 1803
| term_end = March 3, 1807
| predecessor = ''Constituency established''
| successor = [[Benjamin Howard (Missouri politician)|Benjamin Howard]]
| state1               = [[Kentucky]]
| district1            = [[Kentucky's 2nd congressional district|2nd]]
| term_start1           = March 4, 1797
| term_end1             = March 3, 1803
| predecessor1 = [[Alexander D. Orr]]
| successor1 = [[John Boyle (congressman)|John Boyle]]
| birth_date          = {{birth date|1756|04|27}}
| birth_place         = [[Chesterfield County, Virginia]], U.S.
| death_date          = {{death date and age|1840|08|22|1756|04|27}}
| death_place         = [[Lexington, Kentucky]], U.S.
| resting_place       = [[Episcopal Burying Ground and Chapel (Lexington, Kentucky)|Old Episcopal Cemetery]]
}}

'''John Fowler''' (April 27, 1756 – August 22, 1840)<ref name="Wright">John Dean Wright, ''Lexington: Heart of the Bluegrass'' (University Press of Kentucky, 1982), p. 41.</ref> was an American [[Plantations in the American South|planter]] and political leader in [[Virginia]] and [[Kentucky]].<ref>Elizabeth A. Perkins, Distinctions and Partitions Amongst Us: Identity and Interaction in the Revolutionary Ohio Valley" in ''Contact Points: American Frontiers from the Mohawk Valley to the Mississippi, 1750-1830'' (University of North Carolina Press, 1998), p. 230.</ref> He was a [[Jeffersonian democracy|Jeffersonian Democrat]] who served as a [[Democratic-Republican Party|Democratic-Republican]] member of the [[United States House of Representatives]] from Kentucky in the [[United States Congress]] from 1797 to 1807. Fowler was also an early settler and civic leader in [[Lexington, Kentucky]].

==Early life and education==
Fowler was born in [[Chesterfield County, Virginia]], on April 27, 1756, to John and Judith (Hudson) Fowler.<ref>The ''[[Biographical Directory of the United States Congress]]'' gives a birth date of 1755, but the ''Kentucky Encyclopedia'' gives the 1756 date.</ref> He attended the [[common schools]].<ref name="CongBio">[http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=F000322 Fowler, John] in the ''[[Biographical Directory of the United States Congress]]''.</ref> He fought in the [[American Revolutionary War]], joining [[Robert Patterson (pioneer)|Captain Patterson's]] company in 1777 as a [[first lieutenant]] and rising to the rank of captain in 1783. Fowler studied at the [[College of William & Mary]] in 1780; he was a member of the [[Williamsburg, Virginia|Williamsburg]] Lodge [[Freemasonry|Freemasons]].<ref name="KY Encyclopedia">[https://books.google.com/books?id=CcceBgAAQBAJ&pg=PA350 Fowler, John], in ''The Kentucky Encyclopedia'' (University Press of Kentucky, 1992), ed. John E. Kleber, p. 350.</ref>

== Career ==
In 1783, Fowler moved to [[Lexington, Kentucky]]. In October 1786, by act of the [[Virginia General Assembly]], Fowler was appointed to serve as one of the trustees of the new city of [[Frankfort, Kentucky]]. In June 1787, Fowler joined Captain James Brown's company of Kentucky volunteers, which [[Indian Wars|fought Indians]]. In 1787, Fowler was part of the [[Danville, Kentucky|Danville]] convention of 1787 (Kentucky's third statehood convention), representing [[Fayette County, Kentucky|Fayette County]], then part of Virginia but later part of Kentucky.<ref name="CongBio" /> The same year, Fowler was elected to the [[Virginia House of Delegates]]. On 1788, Fowler was Fayette County to the [[Virginia Ratifying Convention]], which ratified the [[United States Constitution]].<ref name="KY Encyclopedia" /> In 1788, Fowler, along with [[Richard Clough Anderson Sr.]] and [[Green Clay]], established Lexington Freemason Lodge No. 1. From 1787 to 1794, Fowler served as an [[Ensign (rank)|ensign]] in the Lexington Light Infantry, and fought against Indians. Fowler was a member of Kentucky Society for Promoting Useful Knowledge, which was associated with the [[Danville Political Club]].<ref name="KY Encyclopedia" />

Fowler was the treasurer of [[Transylvania University|Transylvania Seminary]] from 1789 to 1793. He was "gentleman justice" for [[Woodford County, Kentucky]] from May 5, 1789, to 1794. From 1792 to 1794, Fowler served as [[clerk of the court]] of [[oyer and terminer]], and clerk to the directors of public buildings. In the [[United States Senate elections, 1794 and 1795|1794 elections]], Fowler was a candidate for U.S. Senate from Kentucky, but was eliminated on the first ballot in the Kentucky Legislature; [[Humphrey Marshall (politician)|Humphrey Marshall]] received eighteen votes, [[John Breckinridge (Virginia and Kentucky)|John Breckinridge]] sixteen, Fowler eight, and incumbent [[John Edwards (Kentucky)|John Edwards]] seven.<ref name="New History">Lowell H. Harrison & James C. Klotter, ''A New History of Kentucky'' (University Press of Kentucky, 1997).</ref>

Fowler was elected to the [[United States House of Representatives]] in 1797. He was reelected several times&mdash;he served in the [[Fifth United States Congress|Fifth]], [[Sixth United States Congress|Sixth]], [[Seventh United States Congress|Seventh]], [[Eighth United States Congress|Eighth]], and [[Ninth United States Congress|Ninth]] congresses&mdash;and served a total of ten years, leaving office in 1807. After leaving office, he served as a member of the board of trustees of Lexington, and chairman of the board from 1817 to 1818.<ref name="KY Encyclopedia"/> Fowler also served as the fourth [[postmaster]] of Lexington, from 1814 to 1822.<ref name="KY Encyclopedia"/>

Fowler had large land holdings in Virginia and Kentucky. He was one of the founders of the Kentucky Agricultural Society. Sometime before 1800, Fowler established "Fowler's Gardens" on three hundred acres near Lexington.<ref name="KY Encyclopedia"/> This large tract of land on the eastern edge of Lexington opened as a park in 1817, and the area was used for fairs, picnics, [[barbeque]]s, political gatherings, and other events.<ref name="Wright"/>

In 1802, Fowler donated ninety-three acres of land near [[Carlisle, Kentucky]], to the [[Concord Presbyterian Church (Kentucky)|Concord Presbyterian Church]].<ref name="KY Encyclopedia"/>

== Personal life ==
Fowler married Millicent Wills of Virginia sometime before 1789, and they had five children. Millicent Wills Fowler predeceased him in July 1833. Fowler died in Lexington on August 22, 1840. He is buried in the [[Episcopal Burying Ground and Chapel (Lexington, Kentucky)|Old Episcopal Cemetery]] in Lexington.<ref name="KY Encyclopedia" />

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
{{CongBio|F000322}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fowler, John}}
[[Category:1756 births]]
[[Category:1840 deaths]]
[[Category:American Freemasons]]
[[Category:American military personnel of the Indian Wars]]
[[Category:18th-century American planters]]
[[Category:College of William & Mary alumni]]
[[Category:Delegates to the Virginia Ratifying Convention]]
[[Category:Democratic-Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Kentucky]]
[[Category:Members of the Virginia House of Delegates]]
[[Category:People from Chesterfield County, Virginia]]
[[Category:Politicians from Lexington, Kentucky]]
[[Category:Virginia militiamen in the American Revolution]]
[[Category:19th-century members of the United States House of Representatives]]
[[Category:18th-century members of the United States House of Representatives]]