The 1817 United States House of Representatives election in Indiana took place on August 4, 1817. Incumbent U.S. representative William Hendricks defeated former territorial governor Thomas Posey to represent Indiana's at-large congressional district in the 15th United States Congress.

Political parties played an unimportant role in Indiana congressional elections before the 1830s. Hendricks, an independent politician aligned with the eastern political faction, was opposed by the western faction led by U.S. senator Waller Taylor. Hendricks initially faced the editor of the Corydon Indiana Herald, Reuben W. Nelson. Nelson's campaign floundered during the spring of 1817, and he withdrew in favor of Posey, who lost the election to Hendricks by a wide margin.

Candidates Hendricks Hendricks was born in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, in 1782 and graduated from Jefferson College. He left Pennsylvania after 1810, migrating first to Cincinnati and then to Madison, Indiana, where he worked as an attorney at law. He became involved in territorial politics, winning election to the legislature from Jefferson County, Indiana, in 1813. Between 1813 and 1816 he held several appointive positions, including that of territorial printer, prosecutor, and United States Attorney. He served as speaker of the territorial House of Representatives and as secretary of the Indiana constitutional convention in 1816, despite not being a delegate.

Hendricks was one of the leaders of the eastern political faction during the territorial period, which lobbied successfully for the abolition of slavery in Indiana. His alliance with the antislavery leader, Jonathan Jennings, helped him to win the first election for the state's at-large congressional district in 1816.

Nelson Reuben W. Nelson was born in Duchess County, New York, in 1777. He moved to the Indiana Territory in around the year 1810, and became a prominent attorney and Mason in Jeffersonville, Indiana, and editor of the Corydon Indiana Herald. Nelson initially challenged Hendricks in the spring of 1817, but withdrew shortly before the election.

Posey Posey was born in Fairfax County, Virginia, in 1750. He served as a captain in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War. In 1793, he accepted a brigadier general's commission and served in the Northwest Indian War. He was a delegate to the Virginia Ratifying Convention and voted to ratify the Constitution of the United States. A member of the Federalist Party, he and ran unsuccessfully for the U.S. House of Representatives in 1797. After his defeat, Posey moved with his family to Henderson County, Kentucky, where he worked as an attorney. He moved again to Jeffersonville, Indiana, in 1813, following his appointment to succeed the retiring territorial governor, William Henry Harrison.

Posey petitioned the United States Congress to repeal the Northwest Ordinance's ban on slavery in the Northwest Territory as early as 1799. As governor, Posey succeeded Harrison as the leader of the proslavery political faction in Indiana. Recognizing the rising opposition to slavery in the territory, Posey stated privately that he would oppose new proslavery legislation, but remained closely associated with proslavery leaders in Southwestern Indiana. He lost the 1816 Indiana gubernatorial election to Jennings, whose victory confirmed the antislavery faction as the dominant force in Indiana politics.

General election Campaign Nelson announced his candidacy in the spring of 1817. He received the vocal backing of the proslavery press, but his campaign failed to gain a significant popular following. Nelson ultimately withdrew from the race and endorsed Posey in the month before the election. The Vincennes, Indiana Western Sun praised Posey's military record in contrast to Hendricks, whom they accused of shortchanging veterans of the War of 1812. The Sun'''s correspondents charged that Hendricks and the other leaders of the antislavery faction were "without either public or individual merit" and deserved to be "discarded as unworthy servants." Posey's failing health and Federalist political leanings, however, undermined the former governor's campaign.

Hendricks did not respond to his opponents' attacks until after the election. Friendly coverage from the Corydon Indiana Gazette and the Madison Indiana Republican countered the hostile editorial stance of the Indiana Herald and the Western Sun''. Privately, Hendricks expressed concern about the possibility of a strong re-election challenge and wrote to his allies in Indiana seeking information about his rivals' political activities. Such fears were apparently misplaced, for Hendricks defeated Posey by a wider margin than Jennings in 1816.

Results

Results by county County William Hendricks Thomas Posey Margin Total Votes % Votes % Votes % Clark 467 55.93 368 44.07 99 11.86 835 Daviess 135 45.00 165 55.00 -30 -10.00 300 Dearborn 365 63.70 208 36.30 157 27.40 573 Franklin 1,019 95.50 48 4.50 971 91.00 1,067 Gibson 116 39.06 181 60.94 -65 -21.88 297 Harrison 457 51.52 430 48.48 27 3.04 887 Jackson 192 86.49 30 13.51 162 72.97 222 Jefferson 453 61.80 280 38.20 173 23.60 733 Jennings 80 81.63 18 18.37 62 63.26 98 Ripley Knox 35 9.19 346 90.81 -311 -81.63 381 Orange 482 69.65 210 30.35 272 39.31 692 Perry 56 26.92 152 73.08 -96 -46.15 208 Pike 71 50.00 71 50.00 0 0.00 142 Posey 121 21.08 453 78.92 -332 -21.08 574 Sullivan 128 45.22 155 54.77 -27 -9.54 283 Switzerland 222 63.79 126 36.21 96 27.59 348 Warrick — 195 100.00 -195 -100.00 195 Washington 383 61.28 242 38.72 141 22.56 625 Wayne 961 87.68 135 12.32 826 75.36 1,096 TOTAL 5,743 60.10 3,813 39.90 1,930 20.20 9,556

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