James Findlay
Major General, Ohio Militia

James Findlay was born on 12 October 1770 in Mercersburg, PA.

Findlay moved with his wife to the Northwest Territory in 1793 and settled in Losantiville, which would later become Cincinnati, OH. He studied law, was admitted to the bar, and practiced as an attorney. Findlay was elected to the Legislative Council of the Northwest Territory in 1798.

He became the U.S. Marshal of Ohio in 1802 and was elected to the First Ohio Legislature when Ohio became a state in 1803. He was elected President of the Cincinnati City Council, also referred to as Mayor, from 1805-06 and again from 1810-11.

During the War of 1812, he was commissioned as Colonel of the 2nd Ohio Volunteer Infantry and commanded the regiment near Detroit. He erected a fort in southern Ohio and was also briefly held as a prisoner of war by the British. After the war, he became Major General of the Ohio Militia's First Division.

Findlay was an enormously successful real estate and business entrepreneur and also helped found Cincinnati's first library. Elected as a Jacksonian Party member to represent Ohio's 1st District in the U.S. House of Representatives, he served from 1825-33. He was not a candidate for re-election in 1832 and was an unsuccessful candidate as a Democratic Party member for Governor of Ohio in 1834.

Honors

Findlay, OH, is named for him as well as Findlay Market, and Findlay Street in Cincinnati.

Personal

His brother, William Findlay, was a Pennsylvania Governor and Senator and another brother, John Findlay, was a Pennsylvania Congressman.

Death and Burial

James Findlay died on 28 December 1835 in Cincinnati when he was 65 years old. He was originally buried in the Presbyterian Grounds and moved to Spring Grove Cemetery in Cincinnati in 1854.

Six years after his death, his wife, Jane Irwin Findlay, lived in the White House with her niece, Jane Irwin Harrison, who had married President William Henry Harrison's son.