Franklin Corwin

Franklin Corwin (January 12, 1818 – June 15, 1879) was a United States Representative from Illinois and a lawyer and legislator in both Ohio and Illinois. He was born in Lebanon, Warren County, Ohio, where he attended local private schools before pursuing legal studies. Coming from a politically prominent family, he was the nephew of U.S. Representatives Moses Bledso Corwin and Thomas Corwin, the latter of whom also served as governor of Ohio and U.S. Secretary of the Treasury. This family background placed him in an environment closely connected to public affairs from an early age.

Corwin studied law in Ohio and was admitted to the bar in 1839. He commenced the practice of law in Wilmington, Clinton County, Ohio, where he established himself as an attorney and entered public life. His legal career in Ohio coincided with his growing involvement in state politics, and he became active in the Whig and later Republican political circles that shaped mid-nineteenth-century Ohio.

Corwin served in both houses of the Ohio General Assembly, gaining legislative experience in the state’s lower and upper chambers. His tenure in the Ohio legislature contributed to his reputation as an able lawyer and legislator and provided him with a grounding in legislative procedure and state governance. Through this period he built the political and professional connections that would later support his move westward and his subsequent career in Illinois.

In 1857, Corwin moved to Peru, LaSalle County, Illinois, where he resumed the practice of law. He soon entered Illinois politics and was elected to the Illinois House of Representatives. In that body he rose to a position of leadership, serving as speaker of the Illinois House of Representatives. His speakership reflected both his legislative experience acquired in Ohio and his standing within the Illinois Republican Party during a period of rapid political change leading up to and following the Civil War.

Corwin was elected as a Republican to the Forty-third Congress and served as a United States Representative from Illinois from March 4, 1873, to March 3, 1875. Representing his Illinois constituency in the U.S. House of Representatives, he served during the later years of the Reconstruction era, aligning with the Republican majority that shaped national policy in the aftermath of the Civil War. His single term in Congress placed him among a generation of Midwestern legislators engaged with issues of reconstruction, economic development, and federal-state relations.

In 1874, Corwin was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection to the Forty-fourth Congress. After leaving Congress at the close of his term in March 1875, he returned to Peru, Illinois, and resumed the practice of law. He continued to live and work there until his death. Franklin Corwin died in Peru in June 1879, aged 61, concluding a career that had encompassed legislative service in two states and a term in the national legislature.