John Steele

Who was John Steele?

John Steele was a member of the United States House of Representatives from the state of North Carolina between 1790 and 1793.

Born in Salisbury, North Carolina in 1764, the son of Elizabeth Maxwell Gillespie and William Steele, John Steele attended Clio's Nursery and the English School, both near his hometown. Named assessor in 1784 and a town commissioner in 1787, Steele was first elected to the North Carolina House of Commons in 1787 and served again multiple times: in 1788, 1794, 1795, 1806, and from 1811-1813. He was a delegate to the state constitutional convention in Hillsborough in 1788 and to the 1789 convention in Fayetteville which ratified a new state constitution, and was a special commissioner from North Carolina to treat with the Cherokee and Chickasaw Indians from 1788 to 1790.

From April 19, 1790, until March 3, 1793, Steele was a member of the United States House of Representatives. He was considered Pro-Administration.

On July 1, 1796, Steele was appointed Comptroller of the Treasury by President George Washington; he was reappointed by Presidents Adams and Jefferson until his resignation on December 15, 1802.