Charles Willing Byrd

Charles Willing Byrd (July 26, 1770 – August 25, 1828) was Secretary of the Northwest Territory, acting Governor of the Northwest Territory and a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the District of Ohio. Education and career Born on July 26, 1770, on Westover Plantation in Charles City County, Colony of Virginia, British America, Byrd read law in 1794, with Gouverneur Morris in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and was admitted to the bar. He was a land agent for Philadelphia financier Robert Morris in Lexington, Kentucky from 1794 to 1797. He was in private practice in Philadelphia from 1797 to 1799. He was appointed Secretary of the Northwest Territory by President John Adams on October 3, 1799, serving from 1799 to 1802. Byrd took his oath of office before Governor Arthur St. Clair on February 26, 1800. While serving as Secretary of the Northwest Territory, Byrd also served as a Hamilton county delegate to the 1802 Ohio Constitutional Convention. He was acting Governor of the Northwest Territory from 1802 to 1803. Byrd served as Secretary of the Northwest Territory until Ohio became a state on March 1, 1803. Byrd served as Territorial Governor until Edward Tiffin was duly elected governor of the state of Ohio on March 3, 1803. In 1803, Byrd served as a delegate to Ohio's constitutional convention. Federal judicial service