William Trevitt
William Trevitt was a doctor, politician, diplomat, and newspaper publisher in 19th century Ohio. He served two times as Ohio Secretary of State, three years in the Ohio House of Representatives, was a surgeon in the Mexican–American War, and was a diplomat in South America.Biography
William Trevitt was born February 7, 1809 in Mont Vernon, New Hampshire, youngest son of Henry and Jane Trevitt. He graduated as a doctor of medicine in the Class of 1830 from Dartmouth Medical School, and moved to Baltimore, Fairfield County, Ohio, where he practiced medicine.
Trevitt moved to Thornville, Perry County, Ohio, where he was elected to serve 1836–1839 in the Ohio House of Representatives.
Ohio Secretary of State Carter B. Harlan died in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on June 9, 1840. Governor Shannon appointed Trevitt to the position on a temporary basis until the Ohio General Assembly met early in 1841 to elect a successor.
During the Mexican–American War, Trevitt was a surgeon with the Second Ohio Infantry. In 1851, a new constitution in Ohio made the Secretary of State an elective position, and Trevitt defeated the Free Soil Party incumbent and a Whig, and was re-elected in 1853. He lost to a Republican for re-election in 1855, and served January 1852 to January 1856.
From 1857 to 1860, Trevitt was consul to Valparaíso, Chile, and 1860–1861 to Callao, Peru, by appointment of President Franklin Pierce. He returned to Columbus, Ohio, where he entered the newspaper business. He established the Sunday Morning News in November 1867, and published it until selling in 1870.
Trevitt died in Columbus on February 8, 1881. He was interred at Green Lawn Cemetery, Columbus, Ohio. He had married Lucinda Butler in Columbus, and had six children.
