History of the Thirty-Ninth Congress of the United States Part 53

JOHN F. DRIGGS was born in Kinderhook, New York, March 8, 1813. He served an apprentices.h.i.+p in the sash and door-making business, and soon after set up as a master mechanic in New York City. He took no part in politics until 1844, when he a.s.sisted in the reform movement by which James Harper was elected Mayor of New York. He was soon after appointed Superintendent of Blackwell's Island Penitentiary. In 1856 he removed to East Saginaw, Michigan, and was two years after elected President of that town. In 1859 he was elected to the Michigan Legislature. Two years after he was appointed Register at the Land Office for the Saginaw District, and held the office until his election as a Representative from Michigan to the Thirty-Eighth Congress in 1862. He was returned by increased majorities to the Thirty-Ninth and Fortieth Congresses.

EBENEZER DUMONT was born in Vevay, Indiana, November 23, 1814. He was educated at the Indiana University, and adopted the profession of law.

In 1838 he was elected a member of the Indiana Legislature, and from 1839 to 1845 held the office of County Treasurer. He served in the Mexican War as a Lieutenant Colonel, and was subsequently a member of the State Legislature, a Presidential Elector, and President of the State Bank. At the breaking out of the rebellion, he was appointed Colonel of the Seventh Regiment of Indiana Volunteers, and fought in the battle of Philippi, in West Virginia. Having been promoted to the rank of Brigadier General, he commanded a brigade at the battle of Murfreesboro. He was subsequently a.s.signed to the military command of Nashville, and from that place led an expedition against John Morgan, capturing nearly all of his command. In 1862, while yet in the army, he was elected a Representative from Indiana to the Thirty-Eighth Congress, and was re-elected in 1864. His successor in the Fortieth Congress is John Coburn.

EPHRAIM R. ECKLEY was born in Jefferson County, Ohio, December 9, 1812, and was admitted to the bar in 1837. From 1843 to 1853 he served in the House of Representatives and in the Senate of Ohio. In the Civil War he was Colonel of the Twenty-Sixth and Eightieth Regiments of Ohio Volunteers. He fought in several battles, and at Corinth commanded a brigade. In 1862 he was elected a Representative from Ohio to the Thirty-Eighth Congress, and was re-elected to the Thirty-Ninth and Fortieth.--447.

GEORGE F. EDMUNDS was born in Richmond, Vermont, February 1, 1828, and was admitted to the bar in 1849. In 1854 he entered the Vermont Legislature, and served three years as Speaker. In 1861 and 1862 he served in the State Senate, and was the Presiding Officer of that body. He was appointed to the vacancy in the United States Senate occasioned by the death of Solomon Foot, and entered upon the duties of that position in April, 1866.--559, 560.

BENJAMIN EGGLESTON was born in Corinth, New York, January 3, 1816. He removed to Ohio in 1831, and gave his attention to commercial pursuits. He has been identified with many important public enterprises. He was for many years Chairman of the Board of Public Works of Cincinnati, and President of the City Council. He was for some years a member of the State Legislature. In 1860 he was a delegate to the Chicago Convention, and was a Presidential Elector in the election of that year. In 1864 he was elected a Representative from Ohio to the Thirty-Ninth Congress, and was re-elected in 1866.

_CHARLES A. ELDRIDGE_ was born at Bridport, Vermont, February 27, 1821. He removed to the State of New York, where he was admitted to the bar in 1846. In 1848 he removed to Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, and served in the Senate of that State in 1854 and 1855. In 1862 he was elected a Representative from Wisconsin to the Thirty-Eighth Congress, and was returned to the Thirty-Ninth and Fortieth Congresses.--226, 242, 355, 419, 441, 476, 507, 539, 546.

THOMAS D. ELIOT was born in Boston, March 20, 1808. Having graduated at Columbia College, Was.h.i.+ngton, in 1825, he settled as a lawyer in New Bedford. Having served in both branches of the Ma.s.sachusetts Legislature, he first entered Congress in 1855 for an unexpired term.

In 1858 he was elected a Representative from Ma.s.sachusetts to the Thirty-Sixth Congress, and has been returned to every succeeding Congress, including the Fortieth.--31, 95, 138, 157 295, 296, 306, 347, 443.

JOHN F. FARNSWORTH was born of New England parentage, in Eaton, Lower Canada, March 27, 1820, but was early removed to the Territory of Michigan. In 1843 he settled in St. Charles, Illinois, and entered upon the practice of law. In 1846 he left the Democratic Party with which he had acted, and joined the "Liberty Party." In 1856 and again in 1858 he was elected to Congress, from what was then known as the Chicago District. In 1861 he raised the Eighth Illinois Cavalry Regiment, of which he was Colonel until his promotion to the rank of Brigadier General. The severe service in which he was engaged in the Peninsular Campaign brought on a disability which necessitated his resignation. In the fall of 1862 he was elected a Representative from Illinois to the Thirty-Eighth Congress, and was re-elected in 1864 and 1866, on both occasions receiving the largest majorities given by any district in the United States.--61, 333, 339, 448, 519, 537.

JOHN H. FARQUHAR was born in Frederick County, Maryland, December 20, 1818. With his widowed mother he removed to Indiana in 1833, and was employed as civil engineer upon some of the earliest public improvements of the State. In 1841 he was elected Secretary of the Indiana Senate. In 1843 he was Chief Clerk of the Indiana House of Representatives, and was the same year admitted to the bar in Brookfield. In 1844 he was a delegate to the National Convention which nominated Henry Clay. In 1852 he was candidate for Presidential Elector on the Scott ticket, and in 1860 on the Lincoln ticket. In 1861 he was commissioned a Captain in the Nineteenth United States Infantry, and was detailed as mustering and disbursing officer for Indiana. In 1864 he was elected a Representative from Indiana to the Thirty-Ninth Congress, and was succeeded by _William S. Holman_ in the Fortieth Congress.

THOMAS W. FERRY was born in Mackinac, Michigan, June 1, 1827. He has been occupied extensively in the lumber trade and in banking. In 1850 he was elected to the House of Representatives of Michigan, and in 1856 to the State Senate. For eight years he was an efficient member of the Republican State Committee, and was a delegate and a Vice-President of the Chicago Convention of 1860. In 1864 he was elected a Representative from Michigan to the Thirty-Ninth Congress, and was re-elected in 1866.

WILLIAM PITT FESSENDEN was born at Boscawen, New Hamps.h.i.+re, October 16, 1806. He graduated at Bowdoin College in 1823, and in 1827 entered upon the practice of law in Portland, Maine. In 1832 he was a delegate to the Convention which nominated Henry Clay. In the same year he was elected to the Maine Legislature, and again in 1840. In 1841 he was elected a Representative in Congress, and declined a re-election. In 1845, 1846, and 1853 he served his fellow citizens in the State Legislature. In 1853 he was elected a United States Senator from Maine, and was re-elected in 1859. Upon the resignation of Mr. Chase as Secretary of the Treasury, in July, 1864, he was appointed to that office. On the 4th of March following he resigned his seat in the Cabinet, and re-entered the United States Senate, to which he had been elected for the term ending in 1871. In the Senate he has held the important positions of Chairman of the Finance Committee and of the Joint Committee on Reconstruction. He has received the degree of LL.D.

from Bowdoin College and Harvard University--27, 42, 136, 271, 224, 373, 377, 380, 394, 412, 419, 431, 432, 453, 456, 540.

_WILLIAM E. FINCH_ was born in Ohio in 1822, and at the age of twenty-one was admitted to the bar. In 1851 he was elected to the State Senate. In the following year he was a delegate to the Convention which nominated General Scott for President. In 1861 he was again elected a State Senator. In 1862 he was elected a Representative from Ohio to the Thirty-Eighth Congress, and was re-elected to the Thirty-Ninth. He was succeeded by _Philadelph Van Trump_ in the Fortieth Congress.--437, 462, 476, 519.

GEORGE G. FOGG was a newspaper editor, of New Hamps.h.i.+re, until his appointment by President Lincoln as United States Minister Resident for Switzerland. He made a considerable fortune while there by investing his salary in United States Securities when they were very low in Europe. At the opening of the second session of the Thirty-Ninth Congress he took his seat in the Senate, having been appointed to fill the unexpired term of Daniel Clark, which closed on the 4th of March, 1867. He was succeeded by James W. Patterson.

SOLOMON FOOT was born in Cornwall, Vermont, November 19, 1802, and graduated at Middlebury College in 1826. Having occupied some years in teaching, he studied law, and was admitted to the bar in 1831. He was for many years a member of the State Legislature of Vermont, and State Attorney. From 1843 to 1847 he was a Representative in Congress. In 1851 he was elected a Senator in Congress from Vermont, was re-elected in 1857, and again in 1863. For several years he held the office of President _pro tem._ of the Senate. He died in Was.h.i.+ngton, March 28, 1866.--253, 269.

LAFAYETTE S. FOSTER, a lineal descendant of Miles Standish, was born in Franklin, Connecticut, November 22, 1806. In 1828 he graduated at Brown University, which honored him with the degree of LL.D. in 1850.

He was admitted to the bar in 1831. He was six times a member of the Connecticut Legislature, and two years Mayor of the city of Norwich.

In 1855 he was elected a United States Senator for Connecticut, and was re-elected in 1862. He was chosen President _pro tem._ of the Senate at the extra session in 1865, and by the elevation of Andrew Johnson to the Presidency became Acting Vice-President of the United State. His service of twelve years in the Senate closed March 4, 1887, when he was succeeded by Orris S. Ferry.--23, 137, 187, 288, 306, 497, 576.

JOSEPH S. FOWLER was born near Steubenville, Ohio. He was left dependent on his own resources when very young, but by energy and perseverance succeeded in attaining a thorough collegiate education.

Having adopted the profession of teaching, he was elected to a college Professors.h.i.+p of Mathematics in Tennessee. He was subsequently for some years at the head of a flouris.h.i.+ng seminary of learning near Nashville. He was conspicuous for his staunch loyalty, and when the State Government pa.s.sed out of the hands of the rebels he was elected to the important office of Comptroller of Tennessee. In 1865 he was elected a Senator in Congress from Tennessee, but with his colleagues was not admitted to a seat until near the close of the first session of the Thirty-Ninth Congress.--478.

FREDERICK T. FRELINGHUYSEN was born at Millstone, New Jersey, August 4, 1817. His grandfather, of the same name, was a member of the Continental Congress, and was a United States Senator from 1793 to 1796. Young Frederick having been left an orphan at an early age was adopted and reared by his uncle, Hon. Theodore Frelinghuysen. He graduated at Rutgers College, and studied law. He was appointed Attorney General of New Jersey in 1861, and was re-appointed in 1866.

On the 24th of January, 1867, he took his seat as a United States Senator from New Jersey having been elected for the unexpired term of _William Wright_, deceased, which will end March 4, 1869.--492, 497.

JAMES A. GARFIELD was born in Orange, Cuyahoga County, Ohio, November 19, 1831. He graduated at Williams College, Ma.s.sachusetts, in 1856, and was for some years princ.i.p.al of a flouris.h.i.+ng Seminary of learning at Hiram, Ohio. In 1859 and 1860 he was a member of the Ohio Senate.

In 1861 he entered the army as Colonel of the Forty-Second Regiment of Ohio Volunteers, and in the following year was commissioned a Brigadier General. He served as Chief of Staff to General Rosecrans.

He fought at the battles of s.h.i.+loh, Corinth, and Chicamauga. For gallant service in the last named battle he was promoted to the rank of Major General. In 1862 he was elected a Representative from Ohio to the Thirty-Eighth Congress, and was re-elected to the Thirty-Ninth and Fortieth Congresses.--144, 438, 450, 524, 540, 538, 553, 557.

_ADAM J. GLOSSBRENNER_ was born in Hagerstown, Maryland, August 31, 1810. He was apprenticed at an early age to the printing-business.

When seventeen years of age he journeyed westward, and became foreman in the office of the "Ohio Monitor," and afterwards of the "Western Telegraph." In 1829 he returned to Pennsylvania and settled in York, and there published the "York Gazette." In 1849 he was elected Sergeant-at-arms of the House of Representatives for the Thirty-First Congress, and held the same office through the four following Congressional terms. In 1861 he was private secretary to President Buchanan. In 1864 he was elected a Representative from Pennsylvania to the Thirty-Ninth Congress.

_CHARLES GOODYEAR_ was born in Schoharie County, New York, April 26, 1805. He graduated at Union College in 1824, and entered upon the practice of law in 1827. In 1839 he was elected to the New York Legislature, and in 1841 was appointed First Judge of Schoharie County. In 1845 he was elected a Representative to the Twenty-Ninth Congress, and twenty years after was elected to the Thirty-Ninth Congress. During the interval he devoted his attention to the business of banking. His successor in the Fortieth Congress is _John V. L.

Pruyn_.

_HENRY GRIDER_ was born in Kentucky, July 16, 1796. He was a private in the last war with England. He subsequently divided his attention between agriculture and law. In 1827 and 1831 he was elected to the Legislature of Kentucky, and in 1833 to the State Senate. As early as 1843 he was elected a Representative to Congress from Kentucky and held the position until 1847. He was re-elected to the Thirty-Seventh, Thirty-Eighth, and Thirty-Ninth Congresses. He died before the expiration of the last term for which he was elected.--417, 570.

JAMES W. GRIMES was born in Deering, New Hamps.h.i.+re, October 16, 1816.

He graduated at Dartmouth College in 1836, and soon after removed to Iowa, where he was, in 1838, elected to the first Territorial Legislature. From 1854 to 1858 he was Governor of Iowa. In 1859 he was elected a Senator in Congress, and was in 1865 elected for a second term, which will end in 1871. In 1865 he received the degree of LL.D.

from Iowa College. He was a delegate to the Peace Congress of 1861.

For a number of years he has been Chairman of the Committee on Naval Affairs.

JOSIAH B. GRINNELL was born in New Haven, Vermont, December 22, 1821.

He received a collegiate and theological education. In 1855, he went to Iowa, where he turned his attention to farming, and became the most extensive wool-grower in the State. He was four years a member of the Iowa Senate, and two years a special agent for the General Post Office. In 1862 he was elected a Representative from Iowa to the Thirty-Eighth Congress, and was re-elected to the Thirty-Ninth. He was succeeded by William Loughridge in the Fortieth Congress.--70, 153, 507, 572, 573, 574.

JOHN A. GRISWOLD was born in Rensselaer County, New York, in 1822. He has been engaged in the iron trade and business of banking. He was once Mayor of the City of Troy. In 1862 he was elected a Representative from New York to the Thirty-Eighth Congress, was re-elected in 1864, and again in 1866.--523.

_JAMES GUTHRIE_ was born near Bardstown, Kentucky, in 1795. Having spent some years in trading with New Orleans as the owner of flatboats, he settled in Louisville as a lawyer, at the age of twenty-five. He was at one time shot by a political opponent, and was in consequence laid up for three years. He served nine years in the State Legislature and six years in the Kentucky Senate. He subsequently took an active part in the banking business, and was President of the Nashville and Louisville Railroad. He was President of the Kentucky Const.i.tutional Convention of 1851. In 1853 he became Secretary of the Treasury under President Pierce. He was a delegate to the Chicago Convention of 1864. In 1865 he was elected United States Senator from Kentucky for the term ending in 1871.--46, 134, 160, 210, 214.

ROBERT S. HALE was born, in Chelsea, Vermont, September 24, 1822, and graduated at the University of Vermont in 1842. He settled for the practice of law at Elizabethtown, New York. He subsequently held the position of Judge of Ess.e.x County, Regent of the University of New York, and Presidential Elector. In 1864 he was elected a Representative from New York to the Thirty-Ninth Congress, and was succeeded in the Fortieth Congress by Orange Ferris.--82, 372.

_AARON HARDING_ was born in Greene County, Kentucky. He was admitted to the bar in 1833. He was elected to the Kentucky Legislature in 1840. In 1861 he was elected a Representative from Kentucky to the Thirty-Seventh Congress and was re-elected to the Thirty-Eighth and Thirty-Ninth Congresses. His successor in the Fortieth Congress is _J.

Proctor Knott_.--361, 462.

ABNER C. HARDING was born in East Hampton, Connecticut, February 10, 1807. He practiced law in the State of New York, and subsequently in Illinois. He was for many years engaged extensively in farming and railroad management. In 1848 he was a member of the Illinois Const.i.tutional Convention, and subsequently of the Legislature. In 1862 he enlisted as a private in the Eighty-Third Illinois Infantry, and became its Colonel. He was promoted to the rank of Brigadier General. In 1864 he was elected a Representative from Illinois to the Thirty-Ninth Congress, and was re-elected in 1866.--522.

_BENJAMIN G. HARRIS_ was born in Maryland, December 13, 1806. He was for a time a student of Yale College, and afterwards studied at the Cambridge Law School. He returned to his native State and engaged in the practice of law and agriculture. He served for several years in the Maryland House of Delegates. In 1863, and again in 1865, he was elected a Representative to Congress from Maryland. In May, 1865, he was arrested and tried by court-martial for violating the Fifty-Sixth Article of War, and was declared guilty; but the President ordered the sentence of the court to be remitted in full. He was succeeded in the Fortieth Congress by _Frederick Stone_.

IRA HARRIS was born in Charleston, New York, May 31, 1802. He graduated at Union College in 1824, and soon after entered upon the practice of law in Albany, and for many years devoted attention exclusively to his profession. In 1844 he was elected to the New York Legislature, and served two terms. In 1846 he was a delegate to the State Const.i.tutional Convention, and was the same year elected to the State Senate. In 1847 he was elected Judge of the Supreme Court, and held the office twelve years. In 1861 he was elected a Senator in Congress from New York for the term ending in 1867, when he was succeeded by Roscoe Conkling.

ROSWELL HART was born in Rochester, New York, in 1821. He graduated at Yale College in 1843, and was admitted to the bar in 1847, but entered immediately upon mercantile pursuits. In 1864 he was elected a Representative from New York to the Thirty-Ninth Congress. His successor in the Fortieth Congress is Lewis Selye.

ISAAC R. HAWKINS was born in Maury County, Tennessee, May 16, 1818. He was engaged in agricultural pursuits until twenty-two years of age, when he commenced the study of law. In 1843 he settled, for the practice of law, in Huntington, Tennessee, where he now resides. He served as a Lieutenant in the Mexican War. In 1860 he was elected to the Legislature of Tennessee. He was a delegate to the Peace Congress of 1861, and in the spring and summer of that year was actively engaged in making speeches throughout his State against secession. In September, 1862, he entered the army as Lieutenant-Colonel of the Seventh Tennessee Cavalry. In 1864 he was captured by the enemy at Union City, Tennessee, and was imprisoned at Mobile and Macon. He was one of the fifty officers placed by the rebels under fire of the Federal force off Charleston. Having been exchanged, he commanded the cavalry force in Western Kentucky until the close of the war. In August, 1865, he was elected a Representative from Tennessee to the Thirty-Ninth Congress, and was re-elected to the Fortieth Congress.

RUTHERFORD B. HAYES was born in Delaware, Ohio, October 4, 1822. He graduated at Kenyon College, and subsequently at the Cambridge Law School. He was City Solicitor for Cincinnati from 1858 to 1861. He went into the army at the opening of the war as Major of the Twenty-Third Ohio Volunteers, and reached the rank of Brigadier General. In 1864 he was elected a Representative from Ohio to the Thirty-Ninth Congress. He was, in 1866, re-elected to the Fortieth Congress, but having been elected Governor of Ohio in 1867, he resigned his seat in Congress, and was succeeded by Samuel F. Carey.

JAMES H. D. HENDERSON was born in Livingston County, Kentucky, July 23, 1810. In 1817 he removed with his parents to Missouri, and learned the printing business in Jefferson City. He subsequently published a weekly newspaper at Bowling Green, Missouri. At the age of twenty-five he entered the ministry of the c.u.mberland Presbyterian Church, and after preaching for a time in Missouri, he accepted the pastoral charge of a congregation in Pennsylvania. Having held this position eight years, he resigned in 1851, and soon after emigrated to Oregon.

There he engaged in agricultural pursuits, but was active in preaching and lecturing against slavery, intemperance, gambling, and other popular vices. He was elected to the office of Superintendent of Common Schools for Oregon. In 1864 he was elected the Representative from Oregon to the Thirty-Ninth Congress. He was succeeded by Rufus Mallory.

JOHN B. HENDERSON was born in Virginia, November 16, 1826, and at ten years of age removed with his parents to Missouri. He taught school as a means of support while attaining an academical education. He studied law, and was admitted to the bar in 1848. He was subsequently twice elected to the Missouri Legislature. In 1856 he was a Democratic Presidential Elector, and was a delegate to the Charleston Convention of 1860. On the expulsion of Trusten Polk from the United States Senate, he was appointed to fill the vacancy. In 1863 he was elected for the full term, ending in 1869.--161, 377, 382, 386, 388, 461, 530, 531, 533, 534, 559.

_THOMAS A. HENDRICKS_ was born in Muskingum County, Ohio, September 7, 1819. He was educated at South Hanover College. He studied law at Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, and settled in Indiana for the practice of his profession. In 1848 he served in the State Legislature, and was a prominent member of the Indiana Const.i.tutional Convention of 1850. In 1851 he was elected a Representative in Congress from Indiana, and served two terms. In 1855 he was appointed Commissioner of the General Land Office, and held that office until his resignation in 1859. In 1860 he was the Democratic candidate for Governor of Indiana, and was defeated by Henry S. Lane. In 1863 he was elected United States Senator from Indiana, for the term ending in 1869.--28, 108, 136, 211, 218, 296, 306, 395, 432, 455, 459, 460, 491, 498, 531, 532, 533, 535, 548.

WILLIAM HIGBY was born in Ess.e.x County, New York, August 18, 1813. He graduated at the University of Vermont in 1840, and practiced law in New York until 1850, when he removed to California. Three years after he was elected District Attorney of Cavaleras County, and held the office until 1859. He was subsequently a member of the State Senate.

In 1863 he was elected a Representative from California to the Thirty-Eighth Congress, and was successively re-elected to the Thirty-Ninth and Fortieth Congresses.--356, 357, 358, 510, 575.

RALPH HILL was born in Trumbull County, Ohio, October 12, 1827, and was left in early life entirely dependent upon his own exertions.

After taking an academical course of study, he attended the New York State and National Law School at b.a.l.l.ston Spa, where he graduated to the degree of LL.B., in 1851. In the following year he settled in the practice of his profession at Columbus, Indiana. In 1864 he was elected a Representative from Indiana to the Thirty-Ninth Congress.

His successor in the Fortieth Congress is Morton C. Hunter.--356.

_ELIJAH HISE_ was born in Pennsylvania, and removed in early life to Lexington, Kentucky. Having studied law, he established himself in Russellville, Kentucky, for the practice of his profession. He served as member of the State Legislature and a Judge of the Superior Court of Kentucky. He was long regarded as one of the moat eloquent and effective political speakers of Kentucky. In 1865 he was elected a Representative from Kentucky to the Thirty-Ninth Congress. In May, 1867, he was re-elected to the Fortieth Congress, and a few days after committed suicide, alleging the gloomy political prospects of the country as a reason for the act. His successor in the Fortieth Congress is Jacob S. Galladay.--511, 521.

PHINEAS W. HITCHc.o.c.k was born in New Lebanon, New York, November 30, 1831. Having graduated at Williams College, Ma.s.sachusetts, in 1855, he studied law, and emigrated to Nebraska Territory in 1857. In 1861 he was appointed by President Lincoln Marshal of the Territory, and held this office until his election as a Delegate from Nebraska to the Thirty-Ninth Congress.