Thomas Ewing: Difference between revisions
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{{Infobox Officeholder |
{{Infobox Officeholder |
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|name = Thomas Ewing |
| name = Thomas Ewing |
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|image = ThomasEwingSr.jpg |
| image = ThomasEwingSr.jpg |
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|office = 1st [[United States Secretary of the Interior]] |
| office = 1st [[United States Secretary of the Interior]] |
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|president = [[Zachary Taylor]]<br>[[Millard Fillmore]] |
| president = [[Zachary Taylor]]<br>[[Millard Fillmore]] |
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|term_start = March 8, 1849 |
| term_start = March 8, 1849 |
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|term_end = July 22, 1850 |
| term_end = July 22, 1850 |
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|predecessor = Position established |
| predecessor = Position established |
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|successor = [[Thomas McKean Thompson McKennan|Thomas McKennan]] |
| successor = [[Thomas McKean Thompson McKennan|Thomas McKennan]] |
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|office1 = 14th [[United States Secretary of the Treasury]] |
| office1 = 14th [[United States Secretary of the Treasury]] |
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|president1 = [[William Henry Harrison]]<br>[[John Tyler]] |
| president1 = [[William Henry Harrison]]<br>[[John Tyler]] |
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|term_start1 = March 4, 1841 |
| term_start1 = March 4, 1841 |
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|term_end1 = September 11, 1841 |
| term_end1 = September 11, 1841 |
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|predecessor1 = [[Levi Woodbury]] |
| predecessor1 = [[Levi Woodbury]] |
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|successor1 = [[Walter Forward]] |
| successor1 = [[Walter Forward]] |
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|jr/sr2 = [[United States Senator]] |
| jr/sr2 = [[United States Senator]] |
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|state2 = [[Ohio]] |
| state2 = [[Ohio]] |
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|term_start2 = July 20, 1850 |
| term_start2 = July 20, 1850 |
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|term_end2 = March 3, 1851 |
| term_end2 = March 3, 1851 |
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|appointer2 = [[Seabury Ford]] |
| appointer2 = [[Seabury Ford]] |
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|predecessor2 = [[Thomas Corwin]] |
| predecessor2 = [[Thomas Corwin]] |
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|successor2 = [[Benjamin Wade]] |
| successor2 = [[Benjamin Wade]] |
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|term_start3 = March 4, 1831 |
| term_start3 = March 4, 1831 |
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|term_end3 = March 3, 1837 |
| term_end3 = March 3, 1837 |
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|predecessor3 = [[Jacob Burnet]] |
| predecessor3 = [[Jacob Burnet]] |
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|successor3 = [[William Allen (governor)|William Allen]] |
| successor3 = [[William Allen (governor)|William Allen]] |
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|birth_date = {{birth date|1789|12|28}} |
| birth_date = {{birth date|1789|12|28}} |
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|birth_place = [[West Liberty, West Virginia|West Liberty]], [[Virginia]], U.S. (now [[West Virginia]]) |
| birth_place = [[West Liberty, West Virginia|West Liberty]], [[Virginia]], U.S. (now [[West Virginia]]) |
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|death_date = {{death date and age|1871|10|26|1789|12|28}} |
| death_date = {{death date and age|1871|10|26|1789|12|28}} |
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|death_place = [[Lancaster, Ohio|Lancaster]], [[Ohio]], U.S. |
| death_place = [[Lancaster, Ohio|Lancaster]], [[Ohio]], U.S. |
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|party = [[National Republican Party|National Republican]] (Before 1833)<br>[[Whig Party (United States)|Whig]] (1833–1871) |
| party = [[National Republican Party|National Republican]] (Before 1833)<br>[[Whig Party (United States)|Whig]] (1833–1871) |
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|spouse = Maria Wills Boyle |
| spouse = Maria Wills Boyle |
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|education = [[Ohio University]] ([[Bachelor of Arts|BA]]) |
| education = [[Ohio University]] ([[Bachelor of Arts|BA]]) |
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|signature = Thomas Ewing signature.png |
| signature = Thomas Ewing signature.png |
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| children = * [[Charles Ewing (general)]] |
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* [[Hugh Boyle Ewing]] |
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* [[Thomas Ewing Jr.]] |
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}} |
}} |
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'''Thomas Ewing Sr.''' (December 28, 1789{{spaced ndash}}October 26, 1871) was a |
'''Thomas Ewing Sr.''' (December 28, 1789{{spaced ndash}}October 26, 1871) was a National Republican and [[United States Whig Party|Whig]] politician from [[Ohio]]. He served in the [[United States Senate|U.S. Senate]] as well as serving as the [[United States Secretary of the Treasury|secretary of the treasury]] and the first [[United States Secretary of the Interior|secretary of the interior]]. He is also known as the foster father (and subsequently father-in-law) of famous [[American Civil War]] general [[William Tecumseh Sherman]]. |
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==Biography== |
==Biography== |
Revision as of 15:52, 22 October 2022
This article needs additional citations for verification. (March 2022) |
Thomas Ewing | |
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1st United States Secretary of the Interior | |
In office March 8, 1849 – July 22, 1850 | |
President | Zachary Taylor Millard Fillmore |
Preceded by | Position established |
Succeeded by | Thomas McKennan |
14th United States Secretary of the Treasury | |
In office March 4, 1841 – September 11, 1841 | |
President | William Henry Harrison John Tyler |
Preceded by | Levi Woodbury |
Succeeded by | Walter Forward |
United States Senator from Ohio | |
In office July 20, 1850 – March 3, 1851 | |
Appointed by | Seabury Ford |
Preceded by | Thomas Corwin |
Succeeded by | Benjamin Wade |
In office March 4, 1831 – March 3, 1837 | |
Preceded by | Jacob Burnet |
Succeeded by | William Allen |
Personal details | |
Born | West Liberty, Virginia, U.S. (now West Virginia) | December 28, 1789
Died | October 26, 1871 Lancaster, Ohio, U.S. | (aged 81)
Political party | National Republican (Before 1833) Whig (1833–1871) |
Spouse | Maria Wills Boyle |
Children | |
Bildung | Ohio University (BA) |
Signature | |
Thomas Ewing Sr. (December 28, 1789 – October 26, 1871) was a National Republican and Whig politician from Ohio. He served in the U.S. Senate as well as serving as the secretary of the treasury and the first secretary of the interior. He is also known as the foster father (and subsequently father-in-law) of famous American Civil War general William Tecumseh Sherman.
Biography
Born in West Liberty, Ohio County, Virginia (now West Virginia), he was the son of American Revolutionary War veteran George Ewing. After studying at Ohio University and reading law under Philemon Beecher, Ewing began practicing law in Lancaster, Ohio, in 1816. In 1824, he was joined in that practice by Henry Stanbery.
As a colorful country lawyer, he was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1830 as a Whig and served a single term. He was unsuccessful in seeking a second term in 1836. Ewing served as Secretary of the Treasury in 1841, serving under Presidents William Henry Harrison and John Tyler. He resigned on September 11, 1841, along with the entire cabinet (except Secretary of State Daniel Webster), in protest of Tyler's veto of the Banking Act.
Ewing was later appointed to serve as the first Secretary of the Interior by President Zachary Taylor. Ewing served in the position from March 8, 1849 to July 22, 1850 under Taylor and Millard Fillmore. As James G. Blaine later wrote:
Thomas Ewing of Ohio, selected to organize the Department of the Interior, just then authorized by law, was a man of intellectual power, a lawyer of the first rank, possessing a stainless character, great moral courage, unbending will, an incisive style, both with tongue and pen, and a breadth of reading and wealth of information never surpassed by any public man in America.[1]
As first secretary, Ewing consolidated bureaus from various Departments, such as the Land Office from the Treasury Department and the Indian Bureau from the War Department. The bureaus were being kicked out of their offices as unwanted tenants in their former departments. However, the Interior Department had no office space, so Ewing rented space. Later, the Patent Office building, with a new east wing, provided permanent space in 1852. Ewing initiated the Interior Department's culture of corruption by wholesale replacement of officials with political patronage. Newspapers called him "Butcher Ewing" for his efforts.
In 1850, Ewing was appointed to the Senate to fill the vacancy created by the resignation of Thomas Corwin, and served from July 20, 1850 – March 3, 1851. Ewing was unsuccessful in seeking re-election in 1850. In 1861, Ewing served as one of Ohio's delegates to the peace conference held in Washington in hopes of staving off civil war. After the war, Ewing was appointed by President Andrew Johnson to a third cabinet post as Secretary of War in 1868 following the firing of Edwin M. Stanton but the Senate, still outraged at Johnson's firing of Stanton – which had provoked Johnson's impeachment – refused to act on the nomination.
Ewing married Maria Wills Boyle, a Roman Catholic, and raised their children in her faith. His foster son was the famous general William Tecumseh Sherman. Sherman eventually married Thomas Ewing Sr.'s daughter, Ellen Ewing Sherman. Ewing's namesake son, Thomas Ewing Jr., was an American Civil War Union army general and two-term U.S. Congressman from Ohio. Two of Ewing's other sons – Hugh Boyle Ewing and Charles Ewing – also became generals in the Union army during the Civil War.
Ewing was born a Presbyterian, but for many years attended Catholic services with his family. He was formally baptized into the Catholic faith during his last illness.[2]
Ewing remained a Whig following his joining of the party in 1833, even when the national Whig Party collapsed and was replaced by the Republican Party. This makes Ewing one of the only federal politicians to remain a member the Whig Party when many others bolted to the Republican or American parties.
Prior to his death on October 26, 1871, Ewing had been the last surviving member of the Harrison and Tyler Cabinets. Future President and Governor of Ohio Rutherford B. Hayes was a pallbearer at his funeral. He is buried in Saint Mary Cemetery, Lancaster, Fairfield County, Ohio.[3]
See also
References
- ^ Blaine, James Gillespie, Twenty Years of Congress, Vol. 1, Ch. V.
- ^ Lewis, 33-34, 609-10.
- ^ "Thomas Ewing". Find A Grave. Retrieved August 23, 2012.
Further reading
- Memorial of Thomas Ewing, of Ohio (New York: Catholic Publication Society, 1873), compiled by his daughter, Ellen Ewing Sherman.
- Lewis, Lloyd, Sherman: Fighting Prophet (New York: Harcourt, Brace & Co., 1932)
- Miller, Paul I., "Thomas Ewing, Last of the Whigs," Ph.D. diss., Ohio State University, 1933.
- Heineman, Kenneth J. Civil War Dynasty: The Ewing Family of Ohio, (New York: New York University Press, 2012).
External links
- 1789 births
- 1871 deaths
- 19th-century American politicians
- People from West Liberty, West Virginia
- Ewing family (politics and military)
- Catholics from West Virginia
- Converts to Roman Catholicism from Calvinism
- United States Secretaries of the Treasury
- William Henry Harrison administration cabinet members
- Tyler administration cabinet members
- United States Secretaries of the Interior
- Taylor administration cabinet members
- National Republican Party United States senators from Ohio
- Whig Party United States senators from Ohio
- Ohio National Republicans
- Ohio Whigs
- Rejected or withdrawn nominees to the United States Executive Cabinet
- American lawyers admitted to the practice of law by reading law
- Ohio lawyers
- Ohio University alumni