Preceded by 14th Secretary of War Lewis Cass Preceded by US Envoy to Mexico James Wilkinson |
Joel Roberts Poinsett 15th United States Secretary of War 1837—1841 United States Minister to Mexico1825—1829 |
Succeeded by 16th Secretary of War John Bell Succeeded by US Special Diplomatic Agent to Mexico Anthony Butler |
Joel Roberts Poinsett (March 2, 1779 – December 12, 1851) was an American physician and diplomat. He was the first U.S. agent in South America, a member of the South Carolina legislature and 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 co-founder of the National Institute for the Promotion of Science and the Useful Arts (a predecessor of the Smithsonian Institution.)
Born in 1779 in Charleston, South Carolina, to a wealthy physician, Dr. Elisha Poinsett, and his wife Katherine Ann Roberts, he was educated in Connecticut and Europe, gaining expertise in languages, the law, and military affairs.
He died of tuberculosis, hastened by an attack of pneumonia, in Stateburg, South Carolina, in 1851, and is buried at the Church of the Holy Cross Episcopal Cemetery. [1]
First Minister to Mexico. |
He had a summer home in Greenville, South Carolina from about 1836 to his death in 1851, which was nearby this private club, named on his behalf. The website for the club has beautiful photographs of the surroundings. The Poinsett Club. The Club facility was formerly the home of Lewis Parker, a textile executive. Info on the home was provided by an email from C. Morningstar, on 2/5/2021.
His life and career are well documented on WikiPedia.org and won't be recounted here.[2]
Another wonderful read can be found here; [3]
See also:
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