JOEL ROBERTS POINSETT
Poinsett County Arkansas Genealogy Trails
JOEL ROBERTS POINSETT (1779-1851), a Representative from South Carolina; born in Charleston, S.C., March 2, 1779; spent his early childhood in England; returned to America in 1788; attended private school at Greenfield Hill, Conn., and later in Wandsworth, near London, England; studied medicine at the University of Edinburgh, Scotland, and attended the military school in Woolwich, England; returned to Charleston, S.C., in 1800; studied law for a few months; traveled extensively in Europe from 1801 to 1809, returning to the United States for short intervals; sent to South America by President Madison in 1809 to investigate the prospects of the revolutionists there in their struggle for independence from Spain; returned to Charleston, S.C., in 1816; member of the state house of representatives 1816-1819; served as president of the board of public works; declined the offer of commissioner to South America by President Monroe; elected as a Republican to the Seventeenth Congress reelected as a Jackson Republican to the Eighteenth Congress, and elected as a Jacksonian to the Nineteenth Congress and served from March 4, 1821, to March 7, 1825, when he resigned to enter the diplomatic service; Minister to Mexico 1825-1829; member of the state house of representatives, 1830-1831; Secretary of War in the Cabinet of President Van Buren 1837-1841; died near what is now Statesburg, Sumter County, S.C., December 12, 1851; interment in the Church of the Holy Cross (Episcopal) Cemetery.
Source: Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
JOEL ROBERTS POINSETT (March 2, 1779 – December 12, 1851) was a physician, botanist and American statesman. He was a member of the United States House of Representatives, the first United States Minister to Mexico (the United States did not appoint ambassadors until 1896), a U.S. Secretary of War under Martin Van Buren and a cofounder of National Institute for the Promotion of Science and the Useful Arts (a predecessor of the Smithsonian Institution), as well as the namesake of Poinsett County, Arkansas, the historic Poinsett Bridge in Greenville County, South Carolina, and the poinsettia, a popular Christmas flower.
Born in 1779 in Charleston, South Carolina to Dr. Elisha Poinsett and his wife Ann Richards, he was educated in Connecticut and Europe, gaining expertise in medicine and the law. He served as a "special agent" to South American countries from 1810 to 1814 (he was sent there by President James Madison in 1809 to investigate the prospects of the revolutionists, in their struggle for independence from Spain), and returned to his home state of South Carolina in 1815. He ran for office there and served in the South Carolina state legislature from 1816 to 1820 as well as the S.C. Board of Public Works from 1818 to 1820. From 1821 to 1826 he represented South Carolina in the lower house of the United States Congress. He simultaneously served as a special envoy to Mexico from 1822 to 1823 and was appointed the first American minister to Mexico in 1825, and became embroiled in the country’s political turmoil until his recall in 1830. It was during this time that he visited the area of southern Mexico called Taxco del Alarcon and discovered what was later to become known as the poinsettia. (The Aztecs referred to the winter-blooming plant as cuetlaxochitl; its Latin name is Euphorbia pulcherrima or "the most beautiful Euphorbia.") Poinsett, an avid amateur botanist sent samples of the plant home to the States and by 1836 the plant was most widely known as the "poinsettia."
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Poinsett County Arkansas Genealogy Trails
JOEL ROBERTS POINSETT (1779-1851), a Representative from South Carolina; born in Charleston, S.C., March 2, 1779; spent his early childhood in England; returned to America in 1788; attended private school at Greenfield Hill, Conn., and later in Wandsworth, near London, England; studied medicine at the University of Edinburgh, Scotland, and attended the military school in Woolwich, England; returned to Charleston, S.C., in 1800; studied law for a few months; traveled extensively in Europe from 1801 to 1809, returning to the United States for short intervals; sent to South America by President Madison in 1809 to investigate the prospects of the revolutionists there in their struggle for independence from Spain; returned to Charleston, S.C., in 1816; member of the state house of representatives 1816-1819; served as president of the board of public works; declined the offer of commissioner to South America by President Monroe; elected as a Republican to the Seventeenth Congress reelected as a Jackson Republican to the Eighteenth Congress, and elected as a Jacksonian to the Nineteenth Congress and served from March 4, 1821, to March 7, 1825, when he resigned to enter the diplomatic service; Minister to Mexico 1825-1829; member of the state house of representatives, 1830-1831; Secretary of War in the Cabinet of President Van Buren 1837-1841; died near what is now Statesburg, Sumter County, S.C., December 12, 1851; interment in the Church of the Holy Cross (Episcopal) Cemetery.
Source: Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
JOEL ROBERTS POINSETT (March 2, 1779 – December 12, 1851) was a physician, botanist and American statesman. He was a member of the United States House of Representatives, the first United States Minister to Mexico (the United States did not appoint ambassadors until 1896), a U.S. Secretary of War under Martin Van Buren and a cofounder of National Institute for the Promotion of Science and the Useful Arts (a predecessor of the Smithsonian Institution), as well as the namesake of Poinsett County, Arkansas, the historic Poinsett Bridge in Greenville County, South Carolina, and the poinsettia, a popular Christmas flower.
Born in 1779 in Charleston, South Carolina to Dr. Elisha Poinsett and his wife Ann Richards, he was educated in Connecticut and Europe, gaining expertise in medicine and the law. He served as a "special agent" to South American countries from 1810 to 1814 (he was sent there by President James Madison in 1809 to investigate the prospects of the revolutionists, in their struggle for independence from Spain), and returned to his home state of South Carolina in 1815. He ran for office there and served in the South Carolina state legislature from 1816 to 1820 as well as the S.C. Board of Public Works from 1818 to 1820. From 1821 to 1826 he represented South Carolina in the lower house of the United States Congress. He simultaneously served as a special envoy to Mexico from 1822 to 1823 and was appointed the first American minister to Mexico in 1825, and became embroiled in the country’s political turmoil until his recall in 1830. It was during this time that he visited the area of southern Mexico called Taxco del Alarcon and discovered what was later to become known as the poinsettia. (The Aztecs referred to the winter-blooming plant as cuetlaxochitl; its Latin name is Euphorbia pulcherrima or "the most beautiful Euphorbia.") Poinsett, an avid amateur botanist sent samples of the plant home to the States and by 1836 the plant was most widely known as the "poinsettia."
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.