Francis Dunlavy

Francis Dunlavy (1761–1839) was a teacher, judge and Ohio Senator.

Francis Dunlavy
Member of the Ohio Senate from the Hamilton County district
In office March 1, 1803 – December 4, 1803 Serving with Daniel Symmes Jeremiah Morrow John Paul
Preceded by	new office
Succeeded by	Daniel Symmes John Bigger William Ward William C. Schenck
Personal details
Born	1761 Virginia
Died	November 6, 1839 Lebanon, Ohio
Political party	Anti-Federalist

Biography

Born in Virginia, he moved to Columbia, near Cincinnati, in 1792. In 1800, he was elected to the Northwest Territorial Legislature as an Anti-Federalist. Two years later, he was chosen as a delegate to the Ohio Constitutional Convention, representing Hamilton county.[1] Dunlavy took an active role in writing the Ohio Constitution but was unable to include any sort of provision guaranteeing suffrage to African-Americans. In 1803, he was elected to the first Ohio State Senate but was soon appointed a president judge for the Court of Common Pleas for Southwest Ohio even though had never been called to the bar. This position he occupied for the next 14 years, after which he commenced private law practice for about 10 years.

He died November 6, 1839 and is interred in Lebanon, Ohio. His tombstone reads-

He was one of the first white men who entered the Territory now forming Ohio; was a member of the Territorial Legislature, and of the convention which formed the Constitution of Ohio

References

1. "First Constitutional Convention, Convened November 1, 1802". Ohio Archaeological and Historical Publications. V: 131–132. 1896.

Sources

Historical Lebanon Ohio

Pic of tombstone