# Joseph Kerr

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{{short description|American politician (1765-1837)}}
{{other people|Joseph Kerr}}
{{Infobox officeholder
|name                = Joseph Kerr
|jr/sr1             = United States Senator
|state1              = [Ohio](/source/Ohio)
|term_start1         = December 10, 1814
|term_end1           = March 3, 1815
|predecessor1        = [Thomas Worthington](/source/Thomas_Worthington_(governor))
|successor1          = [Benjamin Ruggles](/source/Benjamin_Ruggles)
|office2             = Member of the [Ohio Senate](/source/Ohio_Senate) from [Ross](/source/Ross_County%2C_Ohio) and [Franklin](/source/Franklin_County%2C_Ohio) counties
|term_start2         = 1804
|term_end2           = 1806
|preceded2           = Abraham Claypool<br>[Nathaniel Massie](/source/Nathaniel_Massie)
|succeeded2          = Abraham Claypool<br>[Duncan McArthur](/source/Duncan_McArthur)
|office3             = Member of the [Ohio House of Representatives](/source/Ohio_House_of_Representatives) from [Ross County](/source/Ross_County%2C_Ohio)
|term_start3         = 1818
|term_end3           = 1820
|preceded3           = Duncan McArthur<br>James Manary<br>William Vance
|succeeded3          = John Bailhache<br>John Entrekin<br>William Vance
|office4             = Member of the [Ohio House of Representatives](/source/Ohio_House_of_Representatives) from [Ross County](/source/Ross_County%2C_Ohio)
|term_start4         = 1808
|term_end4           = 1809
|preceded4           = '''New district'''
|succeeded4          = James Dunlap<br>Joseph Gardner<br>Nathaniel Massie<br>David Shelby<br>Edward Tiffin
|birth_date         = 1765
|birth_place        = [Chambersburg, Pennsylvania](/source/Chambersburg%2C_Pennsylvania)
|death_date         = August 22, {{death year and age|1837|1765}}
|death_place        = [East Carroll Parish, Louisiana](/source/East_Carroll_Parish%2C_Louisiana), US
|party               = [Democratic-Republican](/source/Democratic-Republican_Party)
}}

'''Joseph Kerr''' (1765{{spaced ndash}}August 22, 1837) was a [Democratic-Republican](/source/United_States_Democratic-Republican_Party) politician from [Ohio](/source/Ohio) who served in the [United States Senate](/source/United_States_Senate).

==Biography==
Kerr (pronounced "car") was born in [Kerrtown, Pennsylvania](/source/Chambersburg%2C_Pennsylvania) (now Chambersburg), and moved to Ohio in 1792. 
He served in a number of positions as clerk, surveyor, judge and justice of the peace in the [Northwest Territory](/source/Northwest_Territory).

He served as justice of the peace at Manchester, Adams County, Ohio in 1797. and as a judge of the first quarter session court of Adams County, Northwest Territory, in 1797.

Kerr's son, Joseph Kerr Jr., died in the [Battle of the Alamo](/source/Battle_of_the_Alamo).<ref>{{cite web | last =  Groneman | first = Bill | title = KERR, JOSEPH | publisher = Texas State Historical Association | date = June 15, 2010 | url = http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/fke71}}</ref>

==Career==
After statehood was declared, Kerr was elected to the [Ohio House of Representatives](/source/Ohio_House_of_Representatives) in 1808, 1816, 1818, and 1819. He was elected to the [Ohio State Senate](/source/Ohio_State_Senate) in 1804 and 1810. He also served as a [brigadier general](/source/brigadier_general) of [Ohio Volunteers](/source/Ohio_Volunteers) during the [War of 1812](/source/War_of_1812), in charge of supplying provisions to the [Army of the Northwest](/source/Army_of_the_Northwest_(United_States)).

Kerr was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1814 to fill a vacancy created by the resignation of [Thomas Worthington](/source/Thomas_Worthington_(governor)).<ref>{{cite web|url= http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=K000141|title= KERR, Joseph, (1765 - 1837)|publisher= Biographical Directory of the United States Congress|access-date=August 24, 2012}}</ref> Kerr served from December 10, 1814, to March 3, 1815,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.govtrack.us/congress/members/joseph_kerr/406307|title= govtrack.us|publisher=  Civic Impulse, LLC.|access-date=August 24, 2012}}</ref> and did not seek re-election.

==Death==
Kerr's extensive farm went bankrupt in 1826, and he moved to [Memphis, Tennessee](/source/Memphis%2C_Tennessee) and then to rural [Louisiana](/source/Louisiana), where he purchased a homestead near [Lake Providence](/source/Lake_Providence%2C_Louisiana).<ref>{{cite web | title = KERR, Joseph, (1765 - 1837) | publisher = Biographical Directory of the United States Congress | url = http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=K000141 | access-date = March 1, 2014}}</ref>  He died on August 22, 1837.

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
*{{Cite Appletons'|wstitle=Kerr, Joseph|year=1900 |short=x}}
{{navboxes|title=Offices and distinctions|list=<!-- Succession box -->
{{s-start}}
{{s-par|us-oh-sen}}
{{s-bef | before=Abraham Claypool<br />[Nathaniel Massie](/source/Nathaniel_Massie)}}
{{s-ttl | title=Senator from [Ross](/source/Ross_County%2C_Ohio) and [Franklin](/source/Franklin_County%2C_Ohio) Counties | years=1804–1806 | alongside=Abraham Claypool (1804–1805)<br />[Duncan McArthur](/source/Duncan_McArthur) (1805–1806)}}
{{s-aft | after=Abraham Claypool<br />[Duncan McArthur](/source/Duncan_McArthur) | as=Senators from Ross, Franklin, and [Highland](/source/Highland_County%2C_Ohio) Counties}}
{{s-par|us-oh-hs}}
{{s-new | district}}
{{s-ttl | title=Representative from [Ross County](/source/Ross_County%2C_Ohio) | years=1808–1809 | alongside=[Jessup Nash Couch](/source/Jessup_Nash_Couch), James&nbsp;Dunlap, Samuel&nbsp;Monnett, David&nbsp;Shelby}}
{{s-aft | after=James Dunlap<br />Joseph Gardner<br />[Nathaniel Massie](/source/Nathaniel_Massie)<br />David Shelby<br />[Edward Tiffin](/source/Edward_Tiffin)}}
{{s-bef | before=[Duncan McArthur](/source/Duncan_McArthur)<br />James Manary<br />William Vance}}
{{s-ttl | title=Representative from [Ross County](/source/Ross_County%2C_Ohio) | years=1818–1820 | alongside=1818–1819: John Sill, James S. Swearingen<br />1819–1820: Isaac Cook, Samuel Tizzard}}
{{s-aft | after=John Bailhache<br />John Entrekin<br />William Vance}}
{{s-par|us-sen}}
{{U.S. Senator box|class=1|state=Ohio| before = [Thomas Worthington](/source/Thomas_Worthington_(governor))| after = [Benjamin Ruggles](/source/Benjamin_Ruggles) | years =1814–1815| alongside=[Jeremiah Morrow](/source/Jeremiah_Morrow)}}
{{s-mil}}
{{s-bef | before=[Thomas Worthington](/source/Thomas_Worthington_(governor))}}
{{s-ttl | title=[Adjutant General of Ohio](/source/Adjutant_General_of_Ohio) | years=1809–1810}}
{{s-aft | after=[Isaac Van Horne](/source/Isaac_Van_Horne)}}
{{s-end}}
}}
{{USSenOH}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kerr, Joseph}}
Category:1765 births
Category:1837 deaths
Category:American surveyors
Category:American militia generals
Category:American militiamen in the War of 1812
Category:Democratic-Republican Party United States senators from Ohio
Category:Members of the Ohio House of Representatives
Category:Military personnel from Pennsylvania
Category:Northwest Territory judges
Category:Ohio state senators
Category:People from Chambersburg, Pennsylvania
Category:People from Lake Providence, Louisiana
Category:19th-century United States senators
Category:19th-century members of the Ohio General Assembly

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Joseph Kerr](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Kerr) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Kerr?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.