Shortly before completion of his second term as governor in 1822, Jennings was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives, before retiring from public service in 1831. In Congress Jennings promoted federal spending on internal improvements. Jennings had been a heavy drinker of alcohol for much of his life. His addiction worsened after the death of his first wife, Ann, and his development of rheumatism. Jennings's alcoholism led to defeat in his reelection campaign in 1830. In retirement his condition worsened and he was unable to work his farm. When his finances collapsed, his creditors sought to take his land holdings and Charlestown farm. To protect his friend, U.S. Senator John Tipton purchased Jennings's farm and permitted him to continue living there. After Jennings's death, his estate was sold, but it left no funds to purchase a headstone for his grave, which remained unmarked for fifty-seven years. Historians have offered varied interpretations of Jennings's life and impact on the development of Indiana. Early state historians, Jacob Piatt Dunn Jr. and William Wesley Woollen, gave Jennings high praise and credited him with the defeat of the pro-slavery forces in Indiana and with laying the foundation of the state. More critical historians during the prohibition era, such as Logan Eseray, described Jennings as a crafty and self-promoting politician and focused on his alcoholism. Among the modern historians, Randy Mills places Jennings's importance between the two extremes, but agreed with Woolen's assessment that the state "owes him more than she can compute." Early life Family background Jonathan Jennings, the son of Jacob and Mary Kennedy Jennings, was born in either Readington Township, Hunterdon County, New Jersey, or Rockbridge County, Virginia, on March 27, 1784. He was the sixth of the Jennings's eight children. His father was a doctor, Presbyterian missionary, and an ordained minister in the Dutch Reformed Church. His mother, who was well educated and practiced medicine, was the daughter of Samuel Kennedy, a Presbyterian minister at Basking Ridge, New Jersey. Mary, who may have had a medical degree, assisted her husband in his practice. Around 1790 Jennings's father moved the family to Dunlap Creek in Fayette County, Pennsylvania, where Jennings remained until his adulthood. After his mother's death in 1792, Jennings was raised by his older sister, Sarah, and his brother, Ebenezer. Jennings was particularly close to Ebenezer and his younger sister, Ann, and her husband, David G. Mitchell, who was