Corwin, Thomas

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Thomas Corwin, 1794–1865, American politician, b. Bourbon co., Ky. A lawyer, he was an Ohio legislator in the 1820s, a U.S. Representative (1831–40), and governor of Ohio (1840–42). In the U.S. Senate (1845–50) Corwin, a Whig, violently opposed the Mexican War. He was Secretary of the Treasury (1850–53) under President Fillmore, and although not entirely approving of the Republican position on slavery, he reentered the House (1859–61) as a member of that party. He was minister to Mexico from 1861 to 1864.

See biography by J. Morrow (1896).