John J. Beckley

John James Beckley (August 4, 1757 – April 8, 1807) was an American politician who served as the first and fourth Clerk of the United States House of Representatives and the first Librarian of Congress. Prior to this, he served as the Mayor of Richmond, Virginia, in 1783–1784 and 1788–1789.

Born to a family in or around London that fell into poverty during the late 1760s, Beckley was sent by his family to the Colony of Virginia as an indentured servant, serving under the botanist and court official John Clayton. He became prolific in scribal and clerkship duties, and was hired by the clerk of Henrico County after Clayton's death. He was then appointed as the clerk of the county's Committee of Safety in 1775, and over the following years served as an assistant clerk for various state bodies. He followed Virginia's government as it moved from Williamsburg to Richmond, and then to the western portion of the state when it was evacuated due to the ongoing American Revolutionary War.

After the war, Beckley became involved in Richmond city politics, and was elected mayor. He failed to become the secretary of the Constitutional Convention, but became secretary of the Virginia Ratifying Convention. He was elected the first Clerk of the House of Representatives after receiving endorsements from Edmund Randolph and James Madison. Seen as a competent and diligent clerk, he initially sought to maintain impartiality, but secretly passed political intelligence to his Democratic-Republican allies. Infuriated by the Jay Treaty due to his support for the French Revolution, he became increasingly open in his politics. Strongly supportive of political campaigning (unlike his classical republican allies), he managed Thomas Jefferson's campaign in Pennsylvania during the 1796 presidential election. Jefferson lost the election to John Adams, and Beckley was replaced as clerk.

Unemployed and in dire financial straits, in part due to vast land holdings in the Appalachians that he was unable to sell, Beckley returned to practicing law. Seeking revenge against the Federalist Party leader Alexander Hamilton (who he saw as behind his ousting), he leaked his confession to an extramarital affair in 1797, initiating a scandal and disrupting Hamilton's career. With the income from municipal clerkship positions he was appointed to in Philadelphia, he campaigned vigorously for Jefferson in the 1800 presidential election, which saw Jefferson's victory over Adams. Jefferson restored his position as clerk and shortly afterwards made him the inaugural Librarian of Congress. Beckley oversaw the library's early acquisitions and encouraged authors to send copies of their work to the institution. He died in office, and was succeeded in both his clerkship and librarian positions by Patrick Magruder. Beckley's son Alfred was able to secure his land holdings after a 28 year legal dispute and on it founded the town of Beckley, West Virginia, named for his father.