John S. Heath
{{Short description|American politician}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| birth_date = {{birth date text |1807}}
| birth_place = Hillsborough, New Hampshire
| death_date = {{death year and age| 1849| 1807}}
| death_place = drowned in Lake Huron
| party =
| state_house1 = Michigan
| district1 = St. Clair County
| term_start1 = November 2, 1835
| term_end1 = December 31, 1837
}}
John S. Heath (1807–1849) was an American physician and politician who served two terms in the Michigan House of Representatives.
Biography
John Heath was born in Hillsborough, New Hampshire, in 1807,{{sfn|Bingham|1888|p=337}} the son of blacksmith Sargent Heath.{{sfn|Jenks|1912|p=338}}
He was a schoolmate of President Franklin Pierce, and went on to study medicine in Glens Falls, New York.{{sfn|Bingham|1888|p=337}}
He moved to St. Clair, Michigan, with his father in 1833, and from 1835 to 1836, he co-edited the St. Clair Republican.{{sfn|Jenks|1912|p=338}}
In 1836, he moved from St. Clair to Port Huron, Michigan,{{sfn|Jenks|1912|p=273}} and he also owned mills and manufactured lumber at Pointe Aux Barques.{{sfn|Bingham|1888|p=337}} He married Marilda James, daughter of pioneer Horatio James. {{sfn|Jenks|1912|p=338}}
Heath was elected to the Michigan House of Representatives in the first election under the state's new constitution in 1835, and re-elected to a second term.{{sfn|Bingham|1888|p=337}}
He served as justice of the peace in 1839,{{sfn|A. T. Andreas|1883|p=487}} as postmaster of Port Huron,{{sfn|A. T. Andreas|1883|p=520}} as collector of customs,{{sfn|Bingham|1888|p=337}} and as sheriff of St. Clair County in 1843 and 1844.{{sfn|Bingham|1888|p=337}}{{sfn|St. Clair County|2018}}
In 1841 he began teaching at the first district school in Port Huron.{{sfn|Jenks|1912|p=273}}
He served as a supervisor of Port Huron Township in 1842,{{sfn|Jenks|1912|p=247}}
and was appointed a commissioner of the Detroit & Port Huron Plank Road Company in March 1844.{{sfn|A. T. Andreas|1883|p=470}}
Heath drowned while returning in a small boat from his mills to Port Huron in March 1849.{{sfn|Jenks|1912|p=338}} The boat was later found washed ashore 10 to 12 miles up the coast from Lexington, Michigan, with one of its masts missing. Two of Heath's employees and Peter Shook, the lighthouse keeper at Pointe Aux Barques, on his way to Detroit for supplies, also drowned.{{sfn|Buffalo Weekly Republic|1849|p=4}}
Notes
{{reflist}}
References
- {{Citation
| last = Bingham
| first = Stephen D.
| title = Early History of Michigan: With Biographies of State Officers, Members of Congress, Judges and Legislators
| publisher = Thorp & Godfrey
| place = Lansing
| date = 1888
| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=GRMVAAAAYAAJ
| accessdate = 2018-12-17
}}
- {{Citation
| title = Dr. Heath Drowned
| work = Buffalo Weekly Republic
| date = May 1, 1849
| volume = 3
| issue = 12
| page = 4
| url = https://www.newspapers.com/image/254526215/?terms=John%2BS.%2BHeath
| ref = {{harvid|Buffalo Weekly Republic|1849}}
| accessdate = 2018-12-17
}}
- {{Citation
| title = History of St. Clair County, Michigan
| publisher = A. T. Andreas & Co.
| place = Chicago
| date = 1883
| url = https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=miun.arx2236.0001.001
| accessdate = 2018-12-17
| ref = {{harvid|A. T. Andreas|1883}}
}}
- {{Citation
| last = Jenks
| first = William L.
| title = St. Clair County, Michigan, Its History and Its People
| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=kxjiAAAAMAAJ
| publisher = Lewis
| volume = 1
| location = Chicago
| date = 1912
| accessdate = 2018-12-17
}}
- {{Citation
| title = Michigan Manual
| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=CEqIAAAAMAAJ
| edition = 1877–78
| date = 1877
| publisher = State of Michigan
| place = Lansing
| ref = {{harvid|State of Michigan|1877}}
| accessdate = 2018-12-17
}}
- {{Citation
| title = St. Clair County Sheriffs
| url = https://www.stclaircounty.org/offices/sheriff/PastSheriffs.aspx
| publisher = St. Clair County, Michigan
| date = 2018
| ref = {{harvid|St. Clair County|2018}}
| accessdate = 2018-12-17
}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Heath, John S.}}
Category:People from Michigan Territory
Category:Members of the Michigan House of Representatives
Category:Deaths by drowning in Michigan
Category:People from Hillsborough, New Hampshire
Category:People from St. Clair, Michigan