  joseph hiester (november 18, 1752june 10, 1832) was the fifth governor of pennsylvania from 1820 to 1823. he was a member of the hiester family political dynasty. ==biography== hiester was the son of john hiester and maria barbara epler. he received a common-school education when he was not working on the farm, and became a clerk in a store in reading run by adam whitman. he became a partner in the store in 1771 when he married elizabeth, whitman's daughter. at the beginning of the american revolutionary war, he raised and equipped in that town a company with which he took part in the battles of long island and germantown. he was promoted to colonel. he was captured and briefly confined in the prison ship âjersey,â where he did much to alleviate the sufferings of his fellow prisoners. later he was transferred to new york city where he was exchanged. he was a member of the convention of 1776 that drafted the articles of confederation, of the pennsylvania state constitutional convention which ratified the united states constitution, and of the state constitutional convention of 1790. he served in the house (1787â1790) and the senate (1790â1794) of pennsylvania. in 1807, he was appointed one of the two major generals to command the quota of pennsylvania militia that was called for by the president. he served in the united states house of representatives from 1797 until 1805, and again from 1815 until 1820, 14 years altogether. in 1817, he ran for governor, only to be defeated by [[william findlay (gov
1752_births 1832_deaths American_people_of_German_descent Democratic-Republican_Party_members_of_the_United_States_House_of_Representatives Democratic-Republican_Party_state_governors_of_the_United_States Governors_of_Pennsylvania Hiester_family Members_of_the_Pennsylvania_House_of_Representatives Members_of_the_United_States_House_of_Representatives_from_Pennsylvania Pennsylvania_Democratic-Republicans Pennsylvania_State_Senators Pennsylvania_militiamen_in_the_American_Revolution People_from_Berks_County,_Pennsylvania People_of_Pennsylvania_in_the_American_Revolution