Alexander, De Alva Stanwood (17 July 1845–30 January 1925), congressman and historian, was born in Richmond, Maine, the son of Stanwood Alexander and Priscilla Brown. When his father died in 1852, Alexander and his mother moved to Ohio, where he lived until his enlistment, at the age of sixteen, in the Ohio Volunteer Infantry during the Civil War. After the war he completed his education at the Edward Little Institute in Auburn, Maine, and graduated from Bowdoin College in 1870. He later served for several years on Bowdoin’s board of overseers. In 1871 he married Alice Colby; their childless union ended with her death in 1890....
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Alexander, De Alva Stanwood (1845-1925), congressman and historian
John D. Buenker
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Barnwell, Robert Woodward (1801-1882), educator, congressman, and U.S. and Confederate senator
Leonard Schlup
Barnwell, Robert Woodward (10 August 1801–25 November 1882), educator, congressman, and U.S. and Confederate senator, was born at Beaufort, South Carolina, the son of Robert Gibbes Barnwell, a prosperous planter and Federalist member of Congress, and Elizabeth Wigg Hayne. In 1817 he entered Harvard College, where he became friendly with ...
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Burdick, Usher Lloyd (1879-1960), author, educator, and legislator
Thomas M. Leonard
Burdick, Usher Lloyd (21 February 1879–19 August 1960), author, educator, and legislator, was born in Owatonna, Minnesota, the son of Ozias Burdick and Lucy Farnum, farmers. In 1882 the family settled in Graham’s Island in the Dakota Territory, where Burdick attended local public schools and learned the Sioux Indian language and customs. Following his graduation from the State Normal School at Mayville, North Dakota, in 1900, he worked for two years as deputy superintendent of schools in Benson County, North Dakota. In 1901 he married Emma Rassmussen, and they had two sons and a daughter. Frustrated by local politics, Burdick changed career objectives and moved to Minneapolis, Minnesota, where he taught in a business college while attending the University of Minnesota’s law program, from which he graduated in 1904. He also played football at the university, which won the Big Ten championships in 1903 and 1904. After graduating he returned to Munich, North Dakota, where he was admitted to the bar and began practicing law....
Article
Crary, Isaac Edwin (1804-1854), congressman and educator
Roger L. Rosentreter
Crary, Isaac Edwin (02 October 1804–08 May 1854), congressman and educator, was born in Preston, Connecticut, the son of Elisha Crary and Nabby Avery, farmers. He graduated from Trinity College in 1827 and spent two years practicing law in Hartford, Connecticut. In 1832 Crary moved to Marshall, Michigan, where he established that town’s first law firm. While law remained Crary’s profession, the advancement of education was his avocation, and he was instrumental in making Michigan a leader in the field of public education during the nineteenth century....
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English, William Hayden (1822-1896), congressman, vice presidential candidate, and historian
Philip R. VanderMeer
English, William Hayden (27 August 1822–07 February 1896), congressman, vice presidential candidate, and historian, was born in Lexington, Indiana, the son of Elisha G. English and Mahala Eastin. Elisha, a landowner and railroad vice president, was a Democrat who served in the Indiana legislature for nearly twenty years and was friends with many important politicians. William benefited from his father’s contacts and status and was influenced by his views....
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Garnett, James Mercer (1770-1843), congressman, agricultural reformer, and educator
Sara B. Bearss
Garnett, James Mercer (08 June 1770–23 April 1843), congressman, agricultural reformer, and educator, was born at “Mount Pleasant” plantation, near present-day Loretto in Essex County, Virginia, the son of planters Muscoe Garnett and Grace Fenton Mercer. He was privately educated, and in 1793 married his first cousin, Mary Eleanor Dick Mercer. The couple had four daughters and four sons....
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Hammond, Jabez Delano (1778-1855), politician and historian
Donald M. Roper
Hammond, Jabez Delano (02 August 1778–18 August 1855), politician and historian, was born in New Bedford, Massachusetts, the son of Jabez Hammond and Priscilla Delano. He grew up in Woodstock, Vermont, where he was educated in the common schools. At age fifteen he began teaching school, and, after becoming eligible through a brief apprenticeship, began a medical practice in Reading, Vermont. Dissatisfied with the medical profession for unknown reasons, Hammond sought to improve his fortune in New York, moving to Newburgh and reading law in Jonathan Fiske’s office while supporting himself as a schoolmaster. Admitted to the bar in 1805, the young lawyer pursued further opportunity in the Susquehanna Valley in the town of Cherry Valley, building “within a short time a reputable and profitable legal practice” and entering politics....
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Hunt, Carleton (1836-1921), lawyer, educator, and congressman
Carolyn E. De Latte
Hunt, Carleton (01 January 1836–14 August 1921), lawyer, educator, and congressman, was born in New Orleans, Louisiana, the son of Thomas Hunt, a physician, and Aglae Carleton, the daughter of an associate justice of the Supreme Court of Louisiana. Hunt spent his early life in the stimulating surroundings of an upper-class family of professionals and academicians. He took his A.B. degree from Harvard in 1856 and then read law in the office of ...
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Lynch, John Roy (1847-1939), U.S. congressman, historian, and attorney
Rodney P. Carlisle
Lynch, John Roy (10 September 1847–02 November 1939), U.S. congressman, historian, and attorney, was born on “Tacony” plantation near Vidalia, Louisiana, the son of Patrick Lynch, the manager of the plantation, and Catherine White, a slave. Patrick Lynch, an Irish immigrant, purchased his wife and two children, but in order to free them, existing state law required they leave Louisiana. Before Patrick Lynch died, he transferred the titles to his wife and children to a friend, William Deal, who promised to treat them as free persons. However, when Patrick Lynch died, Deal sold the family to a planter, Alfred W. Davis, in Natchez, Mississippi. When Davis learned of the conditions of the transfer to Deal, he agreed to allow Catherine Lynch to hire her own time while he honeymooned with his new wife in Europe. Under this arrangement, Catherine Lynch lived in Natchez, worked for various employers, and paid $3.50 a week to an agent of Davis, keeping whatever else she earned....
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Lynch, John Roy (1847-1939)
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John Roy Lynch. Albumen silver print, c. 1883, by Charles Milton Bell. National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution.
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Miller, Thomas Ezekiel (1849-1938), political leader and educator
William C. Hine
Miller, Thomas Ezekiel (17 June 1849–08 April 1938), political leader and educator, was born in Ferrebeeville, South Carolina, the son of Richard Miller and Mary Ferrebee, occupations unknown. Miller’s race was a source of periodic concern and speculation. Although he always considered himself to be black, Miller’s very fair complexion led to allegations during his political career that he was white, the abandoned child of an unmarried white couple....
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Morris, Edward Joy (1815-1881), legislator, author, and diplomat
Norman B. Ferris
Morris, Edward Joy (16 July 1815–31 December 1881), legislator, author, and diplomat, was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, of unknown ancestry. He attended the University of Pennsylvania and graduated from Harvard College in 1836. He studied law and was admitted to the Philadelphia bar in 1842, while serving in the Pennsylvania assembly, 1841–1843. Morris served one term as a Whig in Congress, 1843–1845. When his bid for reelection failed, he resumed his law practice. In 1847 he married Elizabeth Gatliff Ella of Philadelphia, with whom he had two daughters....
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Murphy, Henry Cruse (1810-1882), lawyer, U.S. congressman, and historical scholar
Rodney P. Carlisle
Murphy, Henry Cruse (05 July 1810–01 December 1882), lawyer, U.S. congressman, and historical scholar, was born in Brooklyn, New York, the son of John G. Murphy, a skilled mechanic, and Clarissa Runyon. Murphy attended Columbia University, graduating in 1830, and studied law. In 1833 he married Amelia Greenwood; they had two children....
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Quincy, Josiah (1772-1864), Federalist congressman, Boston mayor, and president of Harvard
Robert A. McCaughey
Quincy, Josiah (04 February 1772–01 July 1864), Federalist congressman, Boston mayor, and president of Harvard, was born in Boston, Massachusetts, the son of Josiah Quincy, Jr., a lawyer and revolutionary pamphleteer, and Abigail Phillips. Quincy’s father died in 1775, leaving him to be raised by his mother and grandfather, Colonel Josiah Quincy. At age six he was sent off to Phillips Academy, where he submitted to a regimen of Calvinist doctrine and corporal punishment. In 1786 he enrolled at Harvard, where eleven Phillipses and ten Quincys had preceded him. There he became a Unitarian and class orator....
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Richardson, James Daniel (1843-1914), congressman
Leonard Schlup
Richardson, James Daniel (10 March 1843–24 July 1914), congressman, was born in Rutherford County, Tennessee, the son of John Watkins Richardson, a physician and state legislator, and Augusta Mary Starnes. After attending local schools, he pursued studies at Franklin College near Nashville but withdrew before earning a degree to enlist in the Confederate army as a private. Richardson served throughout the duration of the Civil War, participating in the battles of Vicksburg, Baton Rouge, Murfreesboro (Stones River), Chickamauga, and Missionary Ridge. He left military service in 1865 as adjutant of the Forty-fifth Tennessee Volunteer Infantry. In 1865 he married Alabama Pippin; they raised five children....
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Seelye, Julius Hawley (1824-1895), clergyman, educator, and U.S. congressman
Edward L. Lach, Jr.
Seelye, Julius Hawley (14 September 1824–12 May 1895), clergyman, educator, and U.S. congressman, was born in Bethel, Connecticut, the son of Seth Seelye, a merchant and farmer, and Abigail Taylor. Nearsighted as a child, he was mistakenly considered unintelligent by his parents, who originally planned a career in his father’s store for the boy. Seelye, however, doggedly pursued a course of self-education, and in January 1846, on the advice of a friend, he entered the freshman class at Amherst College. He graduated in 1849 and immediately began study at the Auburn Theological Seminary, completing the course in 1852. Seelye had been offered a tutorial position at Amherst in 1851 but instead went to Europe, where he studied philosophy at the University of Halle. Returning to the United States in 1853, he was ordained to the ministry on 10 August of that year in Schenectady, New York, where he held the pastorate of the First Reformed Dutch Church for the following five years. During this period he continued the study of Kantian philosophy under the direction of his uncle Dr. ...
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Thayer, Eli (1819-1899), educator and congressman
Louis S. Gerteis
Thayer, Eli (11 June 1819–15 April 1899), educator and congressman, was born in Mendon, Massachusetts, the son of Cushman Thayer, a farmer and storekeeper, and Miranda Pond. Thayer studied at Worcester Manual Labor High School (later Worcester Academy) and entered Brown University in 1840. He graduated in 1845, and that year he married Caroline M. Capron. They had seven children. Settling in Worcester, Massachusetts, Thayer taught in the town’s school and served as its principal from 1847 to 1849. He purchased land in Worcester on which he supervised the construction (1848–1852) of a castle-style building that housed the Oread Collegiate Institute, a pioneering school for young women. The building also served for nearly fifty years as the Thayer family home. As Thayer established himself as a New England educational reformer, he also entered politics as a champion of the Free Soil party. In 1852 he won election to the Massachusetts General Court....
