Daniel Jenifer

Daniel Jenifer (April 15, 1791 – December 18, 1855) was an American lawyer, diplomat, and statesman from Charles County, Maryland. Born in Charles County, he was a member of a prominent Maryland family and a grandnephew of Daniel of St. Thomas Jenifer (1723–1790), one of Maryland’s leading Revolutionary-era figures and a signer of the United States Constitution. His family home, known as Retreat, was located near Port Tobacco, Maryland, and served as the center of his personal and professional life. Through marriage he was also connected to national politics as the son-in-law of Congressman John Campbell (1765–1828).

Jenifer received his early education in local public schools before pursuing more formal training at Charlotte Hall Military Academy in St. Mary’s County, Maryland. After completing his studies there, he read law and prepared for admission to the bar, entering the legal profession in Maryland. His legal training and family connections positioned him to participate actively in the political life of his state during a period of significant national change and partisan realignment in the early nineteenth century.

Jenifer’s political career began in the context of the short-lived National Republican Party, which emerged in opposition to President Andrew Jackson and his policies. By the early 1830s he had aligned himself with the National Republicans and sought federal office under their banner. Following the dissolution of the National Republican Party in the mid-1830s, he became a member of the Whig Party, continuing his opposition to Jacksonian Democracy and supporting a more activist federal government in matters such as internal improvements and economic policy.

In the congressional elections of 1830, Jenifer was elected as a National Republican to represent Maryland’s 1st Congressional District in the United States House of Representatives. He took his seat in Washington, D.C., on March 4, 1831, succeeding Clement Dorsey, and served in the Twenty-second Congress until March 3, 1833. During this term, national politics were dominated by the policies of President Andrew Jackson and the intensifying sectional conflict known as the Nullification Crisis, centered on South Carolina’s challenge to federal tariff laws. Jenifer was not re-elected in 1832 and thus initially served only a single term.

Jenifer returned to Congress after winning election in 1834 as a Whig from Maryland’s 7th Congressional District. He served three consecutive terms in the House, from March 4, 1835, to March 3, 1841, encompassing the Twenty-fourth, Twenty-fifth, and Twenty-sixth Congresses. In these years he witnessed the closing phase of Andrew Jackson’s presidency, including controversies over the Bank of the United States and executive power, and then the early administration of President Martin Van Buren, marked by the Panic of 1837 and ensuing economic difficulties. Jenifer’s service during this period reflected the emerging Whig opposition to Jacksonian policies and the broader debates over federal authority, economic regulation, and sectional interests.

After the conclusion of his congressional service, Jenifer was appointed to a significant diplomatic post. In 1841, President John Tyler selected him to succeed Henry Muhlenberg as United States Minister to the Austrian Empire. In this capacity, Jenifer represented American interests at the imperial court in Vienna from 1841 to 1845, a period preceding the revolutionary upheavals that would soon sweep Europe. His tenure as minister concluded when he was replaced in 1845 by William Henry Stiles, a former congressman from Georgia, as the Tyler administration came to an end and diplomatic appointments shifted with the incoming administration.

Following his return from Europe, Jenifer resumed a quieter public life in Maryland. Between 1845 and 1851 he served as a notary for wills in Charles County, continuing to draw on his legal background and longstanding ties to the local community. He spent his later years at or near his family estate, Retreat, maintaining his position as a respected figure in the region. Daniel Jenifer died on December 18, 1855, near Port Tobacco Village in Charles County, Maryland, closing a career that had spanned law, national legislation, and diplomatic service during a formative period in the history of the United States.