Nathanael Greene Pendleton

Nathanael Greene Pendleton (August 25, 1793 – June 16, 1861) was a United States Representative from Ohio and a prominent lawyer and legislator in the early nineteenth century. He was the son of Nathaniel Pendleton, a noted jurist and Revolutionary War officer who had served as an aide-de-camp to General Nathanael Greene, and Susan Bard Pendleton. Born in Savannah, Georgia, on August 25, 1793, he was named in honor of General Greene, reflecting his family’s close ties to the Revolutionary generation.

In his youth, Pendleton moved with his parents from Savannah to New York City, where his father continued his legal career. Growing up in this environment, he was exposed early to the legal profession and public affairs. He pursued formal education in New York and entered Columbia College (now Columbia University), from which he was graduated in 1813. His education at Columbia placed him among the well-trained young professionals of his era and provided a foundation for his subsequent legal and political career.

After completing his collegiate studies, Pendleton read law and was admitted to the bar, beginning the practice of law in New York. During this period, he served in the War of 1812, a conflict that shaped the political and economic development of the young nation and provided many future public officials with formative military experience. His service in the war complemented his legal training and strengthened his credentials as a citizen-soldier in the post-Revolutionary generation.

In 1818 Pendleton moved west to Cincinnati, Ohio, a rapidly growing city on the Ohio River that was emerging as a commercial and legal center of the Old Northwest. There he established a law practice and became part of the city’s professional and civic leadership. His legal work and growing reputation led naturally to involvement in state politics, and he was elected to the Ohio State Senate, in which he served from 1825 to 1827. As a state senator, he participated in the legislative affairs of a state undergoing expansion and development, helping to shape Ohio’s early legal and political institutions.

Pendleton’s state-level service and standing in the Whig Party led to his election to the United States House of Representatives. He was elected as a Whig to the Twenty-seventh Congress and served from March 4, 1841, to March 3, 1843, representing Ohio during a period marked by intense national debates over banking, tariffs, and the scope of federal power. He did not seek renomination in 1842, returning instead to private life and the practice of law in Cincinnati. His congressional service, though limited to a single term, placed him among the influential Whig legislators of his time.

In his later years, Pendleton continued to reside in Cincinnati, remaining a respected figure in the city’s legal and social circles. He was the father of George Hunt Pendleton, who would go on to become a prominent Democratic politician, serving in both the House and Senate and as the Democratic nominee for Vice President in 1864. Through his descendants, Nathanael Greene Pendleton’s family remained active in public and professional life; his great-granddaughter Nathalie Schenck Laimbeer became a pioneering woman banker in New York in the 1910s and 1920s, reflecting the family’s continued engagement in civic and economic leadership.

Nathanael Greene Pendleton died in Cincinnati, Ohio, on June 16, 1861. He was interred in Spring Grove Cemetery, one of the city’s principal burial grounds, where his grave marks the resting place of a lawyer, legislator, and congressman whose life bridged the early Republic and the eve of the Civil War.