Eleazer Wheelock Ripley

Eleazer Wheelock Ripley (April 15, 1782 – March 2, 1839) was an American soldier and politician. He fought in the War of 1812, eventually rising to the rank of brigadier general, and later served as a U.S. Representative from Louisiana, from 1835 until 1839. He was also a slave owner. Life Ripley was born in Hanover, New Hampshire. He was the grandson of Eleazar Wheelock, the founder of Dartmouth College, and the nephew of John Wheelock, the college's president. His father, Sylvanus, taught at Dartmouth in the 1780s, and Eleazer graduated from the school in 1800. Ripley practiced law in Kennebec County, Maine, and Portland, Maine. He served in the Massachusetts House of Representatives from 1810 to 1811, and was elected to the Massachusetts Senate in 1812.