Joseph McMinn was governor of Tennessee from 1815 to 1821.

Biography

A native of Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania

The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...

 and a Quaker, he arrived in Tennessee

Tennessee

Tennessee is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States. It has a population of 6,346,105, making it the nation's 17th-largest state by population, and covers , making it the 36th-largest by total land area...

 in 1787. He was twice elected to serve in the legislature of the Territory of the United States South of the River Ohio ("Southwest Territory"), in 1794 and 1796. He was also a delegate to the 1796 constitutional convention

Constitutional convention (political meeting)

A constitutional convention is now a gathering for the purpose of writing a new constitution or revising an existing constitution. A general constitutional convention is called to create the first constitution of a political unit or to entirely replace an existing constitution...

 and helped write the state constitution that came into effect when Tennessee was admitted to the Union effective June 1, 1796.

He served in the Tennessee State Senate from 1807 to 1809, and became governor

Governor

A governor is a governing official, usually the executive of a non-sovereign level of government, ranking under the head of state...

 in 1815. While governor, he concentrated on peaceful relationships with Native Americans

Native Americans in the United States

Native Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples in North America within the boundaries of the present-day continental United States, parts of Alaska, and the island state of Hawaii. They are composed of numerous, distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which survive as...

 in order to ease the way for more white settlement, particularly to the west. The Chickasaw Purchase Treaty, in which most of what is now West Tennessee

West Tennessee

West Tennessee is one of the three Grand Divisions of the State of Tennessee. Of the three, it is the one that is most sharply defined geographically. Its boundaries are the Mississippi River on the west and the Tennessee River on the east...

 was acquired, was accomplished during his tenure as governor. Fourteen new counties were created.

Upon his retirement as governor due to the term limit

Term limit

A term limit is a legal restriction that limits the number of terms a person may serve in a particular elected office. When term limits are found in presidential and semi-presidential systems they act as a method to curb the potential for monopoly, where a leader effectively becomes "president for...

s in the 1796 constitution that he had helped to draft, he became an agent for the Cherokee

Cherokee

The Cherokee are a Native American people historically settled in the Southeastern United States . Linguistically, they are part of the Iroquoian language family...

s until the time of his death. The town of McMinnville, Tennessee

McMinnville, Tennessee

McMinnville is the largest city in and the county seat of Warren County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 13,605 at the 2010 census...

 and McMinn County, Tennessee are named in his honor.