Joseph Hiester
5th Governor of Pennsylvania
In office December 19, 1820 – December 16, 1823
Preceded by	William Findlay
Succeeded by	John Andrew Shulze
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania
In office 1797–1805
Preceded by	George Ege
Succeeded by	Isaac Anderson, John Whitehill and Christian Lower
Constituency	3rd district (1787–1803) 5th district (1803–1805)
In office 1815–1820
Preceded by	Daniel Udree
Succeeded by	Daniel Udree
Constituency	7th district
Member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives
In office 1787–1790
Member of the Pennsylvania Senate for the 17th district
In office 1790–1794
Preceded by	district created
Succeeded by	Presley Carr Lane
Personal details
Born	(1752-11-18)November 18, 1752 Bern Township, Province of Pennsylvania, British America
Died	June 10, 1832(1832-06-10) (aged 79) Reading, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Political party	Democratic-Republican
Spouse	Elizabeth Whitman Hiester (?–1825; her death)
Signature

Joseph Hiester (November 18, 1752 – June 10, 1832) was an American politician, who served as the fifth governor of Pennsylvania from 1820 to 1823.^[1] He was a member of the Hiester family political dynasty, and was a member of the Democratic-Republican Party.

Biography[edit]

Hiester was the son of John Hiester and Maria Barbara Epler. He received a common-school education when he was not working on the farm, and became a clerk in a store in Reading run by Adam Whitman. He became a partner in the store in 1771 when he married Elizabeth, Whitman's daughter.^[2] He owned slaves.^[3]

At the beginning of the American Revolutionary War, he raised and equipped in that town a company with which he took part in the battles of Long Island and Germantown. He was then promoted to colonel. He was captured and briefly confined in the prison ship "Jersey," where he did much to alleviate the sufferings of his fellow prisoners. Later he was transferred to New York City where he was exchanged.^[2]

He was a member of the convention of 1776 that drafted the Articles of Confederation, of the Pennsylvania state constitutional convention which ratified the United States Constitution, and of the state constitutional convention of 1790. He served in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives from 1787 to 1790 and the Pennsylvania Senate for the 17th district from 1790 to 1794.^[4] In 1807, he was appointed one of the two major generals to command the quota of Pennsylvania militia that was called for by the president. He served in the United States House of Representatives from 1797 until 1805, and again from 1815 until 1820, 14 years altogether. In 1817, he ran for governor, and was defeated by William Findlay. Hiester faced Findlay again in 1820 and narrowly won a single term in office. Refusing on principle to stand for reelection in 1823,^[2] he served until 1824 when he retired from public life. During his term, he presided over the dedication of the first state capitol building in the new capital of Harrisburg. He surprised partisans and opponents by making appointments strictly on merit rather than party affiliation.^[2]

He was known by the nickname of "Old German Grey" and spoke with a Pennsylvania Dutch German accent.^[5]

Initially buried at Reading's Reformed Church cemetery after his death in 1832, his remains were exhumed and reinterred at the Charles Evans Cemetery during the mid-19th century.^[6]

Legacy[edit]

A residence hall on the Penn State University Park campus was named after him.

Notes[edit]

References[edit]

• United States Congress. "Joseph Hiester (id: H000574)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
• Wilson, J. G.; Fiske, J., eds. (1892). "Hiester, Daniel" . Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography. New York: D. Appleton.
• The Political Graveyard

External links[edit]

• Joseph Hiester at Find a Grave