George Henry Williams

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
For other people named George Williams, see George Williams (disambiguation).
George Williams
Chief Justice of the Oregon Supreme Court
In office
1853–1858
Appointed byFranklin Pierce
Preceded byThomas Nelson
Succeeded byAaron Waite
Personal details
Born(1823-03-26)March 26, 1823
New Lebanon, New York, U.S.
DiedApril 4, 1910(1910-04-04) (aged 87)
Portland, Oregon, U.S.
Political partyDemocratic (Before 1864)
Republican (1864–1910)
Spouse(s)Kate Van Antwerp
Kate Hughes George
Signature

George Henry Williams (March 26, 1823 – April 4, 1910) was an

U.S. flag. However, he also argued that Spain did not have the right to execute American crew members. Nominated for Supreme Court Chief Justice by President Grant, Williams failed to be confirmed by the U.S. Senate primarily due to Williams's opposition to U.S. Attorney A. C. Gibbs, his former law partner, who refused to stop investigating Republican fraud in the special congressional election that resulted in a victory for Democrat James Nesmith.[1]

In 1875, Williams resigned as U.S. Attorney General after his wife was accused of taking bribes from the custom house firm Pratt & Boyd, which attempted to persuade the U.S. Justice Department to drop litigation against the company. After his resignation, Williams took part in the effort to count Florida ballots for Rutherford B. Hayes during the controversial presidential election of 1876. Williams returned to Oregon, resumed private law practice, and was elected Portland's mayor, serving two terms from 1902 to 1905. Williams, at the age of 83, was indicted for not enforcing restrictions on gambling; he was acquitted and served out the rest of his term as mayor.

Early life and law career

George Henry Williams was born in upstate New York, New Lebanon, Columbia County, on March 26, 1823.[2] When he was very young his family moved to Onondaga County, where was educated in public and private schools, including Pompey Academy.[1][2] Williams studied law under Daniel Gott, and was admitted to the bar in 1844. Williams then moved to Iowa Territory, where he practiced law in Fort Madison.[2] After Iowa was admitted to statehood, Williams was elected district judge in 1847, serving until 1852.[2] In 1853, Williams was appointed Chief Justice of Oregon Territory by President Franklin Pierce. At the 1857 Oregon Constitutional Convention, Williams urged that slavery be made illegal in Oregon as a requirement for statehood. Williams advocated unsuccessfully that a woman's property not be subject to her husband's debts.[2]

In the early years of the Oregon Supreme Court, the three justices also

rode circuit and acted as trial level judges. As a presiding judge while riding circuit, Williams presided over the Holmes v. Ford case that freed a slave family since slavery was illegal in the territory.[3] In 1857, he was a member of the Oregon Constitutional Convention held before the establishment of Oregon as a U.S. state.[4] Williams remained on the court until 1858 when he resigned from the bench.[5] He then moved to Portland, Oregon, where he resumed the practice of law.[6]

Williams, a Democrat, supported

Stephen Douglas during the presidential election of 1860
. Williams attended the Oregon Union convention of 1862, having opposed slavery, and was the chairman of the Election Committee.

U.S. Senator

Further information:
Reconstruction Era of the United States

In 1864 Williams, having changed over to the

Radical Republican, was appointed to the Committee on Finance and Public Lands and the Joint Committee on Reconstruction.[2] In 1866 Williams authored the Tenure of Office Act, passed by Congress in 1867 over President Andrew Johnson's veto, that limited the President in removing Cabinet officers.[2] This act was vital to the Republican Party, having saved the offices of appointed Republicans throughout the United States.[2] In 1867, he authored and supported the Military Reconstruction Act, passed by Congress over President Johnson's veto, that authorized U.S. military control of the South.[2] This act permanently restored and Reconstructed the formerly Confederate states in rebellion back into the United States in an orderly and peaceful manner using the strength of the U.S. military.[2] In 1868, Williams and his senatorial colleague Henry W. Corbett
voted guilty in President Andrew Johnson's impeachment trial; Johnson was acquitted by one vote. Williams was defeated in the election of 1870.

U.S. Joint High Commissioner

Main article: Treaty of Washington (1871)
Studio black-and-white portrait of American High Commissioners.
U.S. Joint High Commission in Washington, D.C.
Williams center standing.
Brady, 1871

In 1871, President Grant appointed Williams one of six U.S. Joint High Commissioners to negotiate a settlement treaty between Britain and the U.S. in Washington, D.C., over the

Wilhelm I, would settle the boundary matter. Williams was able to convince the Committee that the German Emperor needed to strictly interpret the Treaty of 1846 and that the boundary be determined by the most used channel, the Haro Strait. Through Williams's efforts, the German Emperor finally chose the Haro Strait as the Northwest boundary between the U.S. and Canada; the U.S. received the San Juan Islands.[2]

U.S. Attorney General

In December 1871, during later

Reconstruction, President Grant appointed Williams as Attorney General of the United States; he served three years until 1875.[2] His appointment was made to satisfy demands by Pacific Coast politicians that the region be represented in the cabinet. Williams was also the legal counsel for the Alaska Improvement Company in which Grant was a shareholder.[7] President Grant's southern Reconstruction policy worked primarily through Williams's Justice Department supported by Grant's Secretary of War, William W. Belknap.[2]

Prosecution of Klan

Attorney General Williams continued to prosecute the

African American
turnout at the polls throughout the South, and Grant was re-elected in part due to blacks voting for Grant.

Toured the South (1872)

During the presidential election of 1872, Attorney General Williams toured the Southern states advocating President Grant's Southern Reconstruction policy through public speeches. Prominent Southern cities that Williams visited and spoke at included

black civil rights caused the defection of almost all the region's white voters in the 1968 election
.

Alabama election (1872)

When election disputes occurred during the Alabama state elections in 1872; both state Democrats and Republicans appealed to U.S. Attorney General Williams for settlement.[9] Both President Grant and Williams thoroughly consulted each other in considering a settlement for the contentious Alabama political crisis. On December 12, 1872, President Grant and George Henry Williams peacefully settled the disputed Alabama state elections between the Democrats and Republicans by issuing five resolutions to Governor David P. Lewis.[2][9] Gov. Lewis and the Republican legislature agreed to the five resolutions that included a Democratic and Republican representative to make a coordinated count of a disputed election result in Marengo County. Williams had required that the current House resign and the House building be vacated before settling the disputed election returns. Williams also vacated the Alabama Senate while disputed senatorial elections were resolved.[9] In addition to elections, Williams settled per diem compensation disputes for office holders.[9]

Louisiana election (1872)

During the election of 1872, Louisiana was in political turmoil, having two rival factions contending for control of the state legislature.

William P. Kellogg both claimed to have won the governorship; both parties mired in charges of voting fraud.[10] Federal troops led by William H. Emory, in charge of the Department of the Gulf, kept the peace during and immediately after the election.[10] On December 3, Attorney General Williams, at the request of Kellogg, ruled that President Grant would enforce any decision by the United States District Courts.[11] After multiple state Returning Boards failed to resolve the election, U.S. District Court Judge Edmund H. Darrell ordered that Kellogg was the winner of the Louisiana election.[11]

In the meantime, on December 9, U.S. Marshal

African American state governor.[12][13] On December 14, Attorney General Williams informed Warmoth that President Grant recognized Kellogg as the rightful, elected governor of Louisiana.[13] This action upset the McEnery faction, who believed that President Grant and Attorney General Williams had taken sides in a state election.[13] On December 16, Attorney General Williams reaffirmed Kellogg's election, Pinchback as the lawful governor of Louisiana, and recognized other elected Republican candidates and presidential electors.[14]

Virginius affair (1873)

Main article: Virginius Affair

In October 1873, a privateer gun-running ship flying the American flag, the Virginius, secretly owned by Cuban insurgents during the Cuban Ten Years' War was captured by a Spanish warship. In November, a total of 53 crewmembers, including American and British seamen, were tried and executed by Spanish mercenary, Juan D. Burriel, in Santiago, Cuba. On December 17, the Virginius was turned over to the United States Navy according to an agreement between the U.S. and Spain. On the same day, after investigation by the U.S. Justice Department, Attorney General Williams ruled that the Virginius had been purchased by fraud and did not have the legal right to carry the American flag, however, he argued that the Spanish did not have the right to capture it on open waters and execute American crewmen, since the United States only had the right to investigate if the Virginius had been legally registered in New York. Williams’ ruling on the ownership of the Virginius ship was a mixture of "pretense, legality, and bluff".[15] Through negotiations, 91 crewmembers were returned to New York and families of those Americans who were executed by Burriel were eventually awarded $80,000 reparations from Spain in 1875.[16][17]

Chief Justice nomination (1873)

President Grant's withdrawal of Williams's chief justice nomination

In December 1873, President Grant

Senate Judiciary Committee held two days of closed-door hearings concerning the controversy. This was the first recorded instance in which formal hearings are known to have been held on a Supreme Court nominee by a Senate committee. On January 9, 1874, an angered President Grant sent the Senate a letter that withdrew Williams's name from nomination.[18][19]

Honored by New York Bar (1874)

On January 31, 1874, prominent members of the New York Bar and Bench attend a reception given by Col. Eliott F. Shepard in honor of U.S. Attorney General Williams.[20] The extravagantly lighted party took place on No. 10 East 44 Street in New York from 8 pm to 10 pm. Williams had initially visited New York on vacation for a reunion with old friends.[20] The Bernstein Band performed a series of popular musical opera arrangements. Prominent New York judges attended, including Justice Louis B. Woodruff and Justice Noah Davis. Almost 800 persons showed up in attendance including a future President, Collector of New York, Chester A. Arthur.[20]

Resignation and corruption (1875)

President Grant forced Williams to resign in April 1875 upon a rumor in Washington, D.C., that Williams's wife had accepted $30,000 in payment in order for Williams to drop litigation against alleged fraudulent activities of a New York mercantile house Pratt & Boyd.[21] Also under scrutiny was Williams’ wife's purchase using government money of an expensive carriage in Washington, which she had equipped with liveried coachman and footman.[22] Williams had also commingled his personal accounts with those of the Justice Department, paying personal checks using government money, although he made repayment.[23] One of Grant's reforming cabinet members Postmaster Marshall Jewell, informed Grant Congress was planning a formal investigation into William's Justice Department. Senator Roscoe Conkling, Grant's ally in the U.S. Senate, had asked Grant that Att. Gen. Williams step down from office.[21] William's resigned office, and Grant appointed reformer and famous New York lawyer Edwards Pierrepont for his replacement. [24] Pierrepont made extensive investigations into the conduct of the U.S. Attorneys and U.S. Marshals in the Southern states, exposing fraud and corruption, and gave specific reform orders to that were vigorously enforced, cleaning up the Justice Department.[25]

Later career

In February 1876, Williams was part of a three-man defense team who defended

Benjamin H. Bristow
to clean up Republican corruption. Babcock was acquitted.

Mayor Williams at groundbreaking ceremony of the Lewis and Clark Centennial Exposition (1904). Williams is second from left holding hat in his right hand.

After resigning Williams declined an offer from Grant to become the U.S. minister to Spain. George Williams campaigned for the election of Rutherford B. Hayes as president in 1876. During the controversial presidential election of 1876, Williams, now a private citizen, went to Florida to manage the Hayes ballot returns.[2]

After the 1876 U.S. presidential election, Williams returned to his Portland private law practice. Williams supported women's suffrage and the Oregon "popular government" movement.[2]

In 1895, Williams published a compilation of Occasional Addresses gathered "from newspapers and stray places"[26] that he had delivered as early as 1869, with the majority dating from 1885 to 1893. Intended primarily as a souvenir for friends, professional and political speeches were excluded. Among the 21 addresses presented are tributes delivered on the deaths of Generals U.S. Grant and W.T. Sherman and several prominent judges, and speeches bearing upon the history and growth of Portland, the study and practice of medicine, the militia, and the United States Supreme Court. Williams' address on the value of good thoughts was intended as advice to the 1891 graduating class of the high school at Portland.

On October 11, 1901, the Episcopal Church of America met in San Francisco to decide whether Episcopal clergymen could remarry divorced persons and discipline any Episcopal members who remarried.[27] Former Attorney General Williams attended the meeting and opposed all restrictions by the Episcopal church on married and divorced persons and stated that such matters belonged in civil law as opposed to church law.[27]

Williams was elected Portland's mayor serving from 1902 to 1905.[2] On January 4, 1905, Mayor Williams, at the age of 83 years, was indicted by a grand jury in Multnomah County for allegedly refusing to enforce laws that regulated gambling .[28] Williams was charged for not closing down gambling facilities on July 13, 1904, that operated within four miles of Portland.[28] Portland's Chief of Police Charles H. Hunt's indictment was similar to Mayor Williams's indictment.[28] Williams, however, was acquitted and served out the rest of his term in office.

On May 28, 1905, Mayor Williams gave a speech in honor of the opening of the Lewis and Clark Centennial Exposition.[29] Vice President Charles W. Fairbanks was the keynote speaker who attended the opening ceremony.[29] President Theodore Roosevelt officially mechanically opened the ceremony by pressing a button in Washington, D.C.[29]

Death and burial

Williams died April 4, 1910, in Portland and is buried at River View Cemetery in that city.[30]

Historical reputation

Williams was the first presidential cabinet member appointed from Oregon.

Although Williams had some successes as U.S. Attorney general, he was not a reformer and was involved in corruption during his tenure in federal office. Historian Jean Edward Smith, critical of Williams, said whenever "tested as attorney general he failed dismally." [22]

Marriages and family

Williams married Kate Van Antwerp in Iowa in 1850, and they had one daughter.[6] He married a second time in 1867 to Kate Hughes George, and the couple adopted two children.[6][30]

See also

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to George Henry Williams.
  1. ^
    LCCN 44041895
    . Retrieved January 16, 2015.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u Yamhill County Circuit Court, Oregon Judicial Department (2009)
  3. ^ Milner, Darrell (12 February 2007). "Holmes v. Ford (1853)". African American History in the West. University of Washington. Archived from the original on 2007-09-27. Retrieved July 30, 2007.
  4. ^ "Biographical Sketch of George Williams". Crafting the Oregon Constitution. Oregon State Archives. Archived from the original on 2016-06-08. Retrieved 2016-06-20.
  5. ^ "Oregon Blue Book: Supreme Court Justices of Oregon" (PDF).
  6. ^ a b c Corning, Howard M. Dictionary of Oregon History. Binfords & Mort Publishing, 1956.
  7. ^ Willam B. Hesseltine, *Grant the Politician*, 262
  8. ^ a b c Williams (1996), The Great South Carolina Ku Klux Klan Trials, 1871–1872, p. 123
  9. ^ a b c d "Alabama: The Compromise Proposed by Attorney-General Williams Accepted By The Republicans". The New York Times. December 13, 1872. p. 1. Retrieved January 15, 2015.
  10. ^ a b c Norris-Milligin-Faulk, pp. 270–271
  11. ^ a b Norris-Milligin-Faulk, p. 271
  12. ^ William B. Hesseltine, *Ulysses S. Grant: Politician* (New York: Dodd Meade & Company, 1935), 240
  13. ^ a b c Norris-Milligin-Faulk, p. 272
  14. ^ "Statement of the Attorney-General Williams on the Question". The New York Times. December 17, 1872. Archived from the original on 2018-07-26. Retrieved 2018-07-26.
  15. ^ Bradford, p. 102
  16. ^ Bradford, pp. 106–107
  17. ^ Bradford, p. 126
  18. ^ McFeely, pp. 390–391
  19. JSTOR 20611711
    . Retrieved March 7, 2022.
  20. ^ a b c "Reception to Attorney General Williams". The New York Times. February 1, 1874. p. 8. Archived from the original on 2018-07-26. Retrieved January 15, 2015.
  21. ^ a b Smith 2001, p. 584.
  22. ^ a b Smith 2001, p. 560.
  23. ^ Smith 2001, pp. 560–561.
  24. ^ White 2016, p. 557.
  25. ^ "The Conduct of Southern Marshals and Attorneys; Attorney General Pierrepont's Instructions Rigorously Enforced Preparing for the Change in the United States Treasury Counting the Money the Postal Contract Frauds Registering Notes Coming into the Treasury to Prevent Robbery". The New York Times. June 17, 1875. p. 5. Archived from the original on 2018-03-23. Retrieved February 7, 2018.
  26. ^ Williams, George H. (1895). Occasional Addresses. Portland, Oregon: F.W. Baltes and Company. pp. preface.
  27. ^ a b "Episcopal Deputies Discuss Remarriage". The New York Times. October 12, 1901. Archived from the original on 2018-07-26. Retrieved 2018-07-26.
  28. ^ a b c "Portland Mayor Indicted". The Lewiston Daily Sun. January 5, 1905.
  29. ^ a b c "Oregon World's Fair Opened By President". The New York Times. June 2, 1905. Archived from the original on 2018-07-26. Retrieved January 15, 2015.
  30. ^ a b "George Henry Williams". Office of the Attorney General. U.S. Department of Justice. Archived from the original on 2010-06-02. Retrieved 20 May 2010.

Sources

Books

External links
Legal offices
Preceded by Justice of the Oregon Supreme Court
1853–1858 		Succeeded by
Preceded by
Chief Justice of the Oregon Supreme Court

1853–1858
Preceded by United States Attorney General
1871–1875 		Succeeded by
U.S. Senate
Preceded by
U.S. Senator (Class 2) from Oregon
1865–1871
Served alongside: James Nesmith, Henry Corbett
 Succeeded by
Political offices
Preceded by
Mayor of Portland

1902–1906 		Succeeded by
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=George_Henry_Williams&oldid=1188197764"