death_date birth_date residence term_end constituency death_place term_start spouse image name occupation caption relations predecessor birth_place party office nickname successor religion article_title
2 december 1854 18 may 1776 central barren , indiana 1816 1820 1827 1833 1845 1824 1830 1846 harrison county harrison county harrison county harrison county , indiana 1809 speaker 1816 1825 1830 1842 1822 1828 1845 jenine dennis pennington2.jpg dennis pennington farmer photo first state capitol building of dennis pennington on display in the indiana walter q. gresham -lrb- nephew -rrb- none cumberland county , virginia whig party indiana of representatives territorial legislature speaker indiana state senate indiana house `` uncle dennis '' , `` father pennington '' none methodist dennis pennington

dennis pennington

dennis pennington -lrb- may 18 , 1776 -- december 2 , 1854 -rrb- was an early legislator in indiana and the indiana territory , speaker of the first indiana state senate , speaker of the territorial legislature , a member of the whig party serving over 37 years in public office , and one of the founders of indiana .
he was also a stonemason and member of the grand lodge of indiana .
his major political contributions were his strong opposition of slavery and his support of squatter 's rights , and he was responsible for the construction of indiana 's first state capitol building .
