28 Facts About Benjamin Parke

Benjamin Parke was an American lawyer, politician, militia officer, businessman, treaty negotiator in the Indiana Territory who served as a United States federal judge in Indiana after it attained statehood in 1816.

Benjamin Parke was a founder of the public library at Vincennes, Indiana, and a founder and member of the board of trustees of Vincennes University.

Benjamin Parke served as the first President of the Indiana Historical Society.

Benjamin Parke received a limited education and left home at the age of twenty.

Benjamin Parke served in that capacity from 1804 to 1808.

In 1805, Benjamin Parke was elected as one of the two Knox County representatives to the lower house of Indiana's first territorial legislature, which met at Vincennes on July 20,1805.

Benjamin Parke, a federalist and Governor Harrison's political ally, was a supporter of slavery and indenturing laws in the territory that were being debated at the time.

Benjamin Parke was reelected to the post in 1807 and served in the 9th and 10th United States Congresses from December 12,1805, until March 1,1808.

Benjamin Parke resigned prior to his appointment as a territorial judge and accepting a position on Governor Harrison's staff.

Benjamin Parke served in that post until 1816, when Indiana became a state.

Benjamin Parke initially served as a captain of a company of Indiana Light Dragoons and fought at the Battle of Tippecanoe in 1811.

Benjamin Parke was promoted to major and took command of the cavalry after Major Joseph Hamilton Daveiss was killed on November 7,1811.

Benjamin Parke was among the nine-member committee that drafted Article V of the constitution, which outlined the judicial branch of state government.

Benjamin Parke served as chair of a select committee to redraft the article's initial version, which defined the state's Supreme Court, circuit courts, and other courts that the Indiana General Assembly might choose to establish.

Benjamin Parke was among the signers of the new constitution, which the delegates adopted on June 29,1816, during the final day of the convention.

Benjamin Parke was confirmed by the United States Senate on March 5,1817, and received his commission on March 6,1817.

Benjamin Parke's service terminated on July 12,1835, due to his death.

Benjamin Parke was a member of the university's first board of trustees.

Benjamin Parke was appointed as the Monroe County sales agent and became a land speculator in Bloomington, although he never lived there.

Benjamin Parke was named an agent of the company in 1821; however, the mill burned the following year under mysterious circumstances, destroying the company's paper assets in the Vincennes State Bank, which Benjamin Parke organized with other investors.

The bank failed and Benjamin Parke was the only one of the mill company's and bank's officers to accept financial responsibility for the debts.

Benjamin Parke sold his property in Vincennes and used the proceeds to pay creditors.

In December 1830, Benjamin Parke was elected as the first president of the Indiana Historical Society.

Benjamin Parke served in that capacity until his death in 1835.

Benjamin Parke suffered from tubercular consumption and paralysis of his right side.

Benjamin Parke died at Salem, Washington County, Indiana, on July 12,1835.

Benjamin Parke is buried at Crown Hill Cemetery in Salem.

Benjamin Parke was known among his peers for his honesty and integrity and as an example to others for his devotion to civic duty and useful public service.