10/06/2026
Robert Lucas, Ohio's twelfth Governor, was born in Mecklenburg, VA, (now Shepherdstown, WV) 1 Apr 1781. He served from 1832 to 1836, and later served as Iowa's First Territorial Governor from 1838 to 1841. Gov Lucas was a central figure in the Toledo War, between Michigan and Ohio, over control of the mouth of the Maumee River to Lake Erie, which Ohio secured, through congressional legislation, and the Honey War, another land dispute, this time between Iowa and Missouri. with Lucas' state again victorious, after a Supreme Court decision.
As a youth, Lucas, attained his education through private tutors, focusing on mathematics and surveying. He moved to the Northwest Territory, later Scioto County, Ohio, about 1800. Robert was appointed the 3rd Surveyor of Scioto County, after John Russell and Matthew Curran, shortly after statehood.
Gov Lucas' first encounter into politics, was as an Ohio House of Representatives member, from 1808 to 1809. Robert then began his military career, becoming an officer with the state militia, and rose to the rank of Brigadier General in 1810. During the War of 1812, he also kept a war journal, which was later published in 1906.
Lucas rose to national prominence during General William Hull's court-martial trial, who was accused of incompetence due to the loss of Detroit and the Michigan Territory to the British in June 1812. Lucas' journals, kept during the campaign, were used as evidence for Hull's conviction.
He returned to the Ohio Statehouse as a Senator in 1814, and in 1818, he was named Speaker, he was succeeded in 1819, by Allen Trimble, who would also go on to be Ohio's eighth and tenth Governor. That term ended in 1822, when he lost the Senate election to his former brother-in-law and political rival, William Kendall. Lucas served again from 1824 to 1830. It was during this time, Lucas built a large brick house two miles east of Piketon, "Friendly Grove" which became the epicenter of local political activity, and still stands today.
Robert returned to again serve in the Ohio House from 1831 to 1832. The future governor, was a presidential elector in 1820 for James Monroe, and in 1828 for Andrew Jackson, and served as 'Chair' at the 1832 Democratic National Convention, the Democratic Party's first national convention.
Later that year, Lucas won the 1832 general election, and was elected Governor, and was also reelected to his second term in 1834. After leaving the governorship, Lucas ran unsuccessfully for a US Senate seat. President Van Buren appointed him, the first Governor of the Iowa Territory, in 1838. Gov Lucas held that position and Superintendent of Iowa Territory Indian Affairs, from 1838 to 1841.
It was during the mid 1840s timeframe, Gov Lucas built "Plum Grove" South of Iowa City, on his 360-acre farm. This historic home was a two-story, red-brick Greek Revival and Federal-style house, named after the eastern plum orchard on the property. The Lucas family lived there until Robert's death in 1853, and his wife, Friendly, remained until the late 1850s with the property being sold in 1866. Lucas's retirement house, Plum Grove, is maintained by the State of Iowa, as a monument to Lucas.
Robert married Elizabeth Betsy Brown, his landlord's daughter, on 4 Apr 1810, in Portsmouth. The couple had a daughter, Minerva, in 1811, but sadly Elizabeth died in 1812. He remarried, to Friendly Ashley Sumner, on 7 Mar 1816, in Portsmouth. Friendly and Robert had seven children together, 4 boys and three girls, all born in Piketon; Sumner, Abigail Maria, Robert (died in infancy), Susannah, Edward William, Mary E and Robert Sumner.
Governor Robert Lucas passed away 7 Feb 1853, and was buried in the Oakland Cemetery in Iowa City, Iowa. His wife, Friendly died 18 Dec 1873, in Iowa City, and was buried next to Gov Lucas in Oakland Cemetery.
