Charles Van Wyck
Charles Henry Van Wyck | |
---|---|
U.S. House of Representatives from New York | |
In office February 7, 1870 – March 3, 1871 | |
Preceded by | George W. Greene |
Succeeded by | Charles St. John |
Constituency | 11th district |
In office March 4, 1867 – March 3, 1869 | |
Preceded by | Charles H. Winfield |
Succeeded by | George W. Greene |
Constituency | 11th district |
In office March 4, 1859 – March 3, 1863 | |
Preceded by | Ambrose S. Murray |
Succeeded by | William Radford |
Constituency | 10th district |
Member of the Nebraska Senate | |
In office 1877 1879 1881 | |
Personal details | |
Born | Poughkeepsie, New York | May 10, 1824
Died | October 24, 1895 Washington, D.C. | (aged 71)
Political party | Republican, Populist |
Charles Henry Van Wyck (May 10, 1824 – October 24, 1895) was a Representative from New York, a Senator from Nebraska, and a Union Army brigadier general in the American Civil War.
Early life and political career
Van Wyck was born in
Van Wyck was elected to the
Assassination attempt
Van Wyck delivered a harsh anti-slavery speech on the House floor on March 7, 1860, which denounced the Southern states for the "crime against the laws of God and nature."[3] The speech was widely reported. On February 22, 1861, Van Wyck was assaulted near the United States Capitol by three men in an assassination attempt, an attack which was reported as related to the prior year's speech.[4] Van Wyck fought off the attack, surviving only because a notebook and copy of the Congressional Globe which he had kept in the breast pocket of his coat had blocked the blade of a Bowie knife.[4] The three men fled and were never identified. This was also the same night as an alleged attempt was made to assassinate president-elect Abraham Lincoln in Baltimore, Maryland.[4]
Civil War
During the
Postbellum career
Van Wyck was elected to the Fortieth Congress (March 4, 1867 – March 3, 1869); successfully contested the election of George Woodward Greene to the Forty-first Congress and served from February 17, 1870 to March 3, 1871.
He moved to Nebraska in 1874, where he settled on a farm in
Gallery
See also
References
- ^ Portrait and Biographical Record of Suffolk County (Long Island) New York. New York, NY: Chapman Publishing Co. 1896. pp. 958–961.
- ^ Quinlan, James Eldridge (1873). History of Sullivan County: Embracing an Account of Its Geology, Climate, Aborigines, Early Settlement, Organization ... with Biographical Sketches ... by James Eldridge Quinlan. G. M. Beebe & W. T. Morgans. p. 692. Retrieved 23 October 2020.
- )
- ^ a b c Goodheart, Adam (Mar 16, 2011). "Guns, Blood and Congress". New York Times. Retrieved Mar 17, 2011.
- ^ "Rutgers in the Civil War," Journal of the Rutgers University Libraries Vol. 66 (2014), page 105 http://jrul.libraries.rutgers.edu/index.php/jrul/article/viewFile/1865/3298
- ISBN 0-8047-3641-3.
- ^ Gravestones still existing and clearly readable
Other sources
- Dictionary of American Biography; Harmar, Marie V. and James L. Sellers. "Charles Henry Van Wyck: Soldier-Statesman of New York and Nebraska."
- Nebraska Historical Magazine 12 (April–June 1929): 80-129, 12 (July–September 1929): 190-246, 12 (October–December 1929): 322-73.
External links
- United States Congress. "Charles Van Wyck (id: V000067)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
- Charles Van Wyck papersNebraska State Historical Society
This article incorporates public domain material from the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress