John Cleves Symmes

Captain John Cleves Symmes Jr. (November 5, 1780 – May 28, 1829) was an American Army officer, trader, and lecturer. Symmes is best known for his 1818 variant of the Hollow Earth theory, which introduced the concept of openings to the inner world at the poles.

Early life

John Cleves Symmes Jr. was born in Sussex County, New Jersey, son of Thomas and Mercy (née Harker) Symmes. He was named for his uncle John Cleves Symmes, a delegate to the Continental Congress, a Colonel in the Revolutionary War, Chief Justice of New Jersey, father-in-law of US President William Henry Harrison and pioneer in the settlement and development of the Northwest Territory. Though Justice Symmes had no male children, the younger John Cleves Symmes was often referred to by his later military rank, or with the suffix of "Jr.", so as to distinguish him from his uncle. Symmes "received a good common English education" and on March 26, 1802, at the age of twenty-two, obtained a commission as an Ensign in the US Army (with the assistance of his uncle).

He was commissioned into the 1st Infantry Regiment and was promoted to Second Lieutenant on May 1, 1804, to First Lieutenant on July 29, 1807, and to Captain on January 20, 1813. In 1807, Symmes fought a pistol duel with Lieutenant Marshall. Symmes suffered a wound in his wrist; Marshall one in his thigh. Afterwards, the two men became friends. On December 25, 1808, Symmes married Mary Anne Lockwood (nee. Pelletier), a widow with six children, all of whom he was to raise alongside his own children by Mary.