John Albion Andrew
John Albion Andrew | |
---|---|
25th Governor of Massachusetts | |
In office January 3, 1861 – January 4, 1866 | |
Lieutenant | John Z. Goodrich John Nesmith Joel Hayden |
Preceded by | Nathaniel P. Banks |
Succeeded by | Alexander H. Bullock |
Member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives from the 6th Suffolk district | |
In office January 6, 1858 – January 5, 1859 Serving with George P. Clapp | |
Preceded by | Countywide district |
Succeeded by | Thornton K. Lothrop Martin Brimmer II |
Personal details | |
Born | Windham, Massachusetts (now Windham, Maine) | May 31, 1818
Died | October 30, 1867 Boston, Massachusetts | (aged 49)
Political party | Whig (1840–1848) Free Soil (1848–1854) Republican (1854–1867) |
Spouse | Eliza Jane Hersey |
Children | John F. Andrew |
Profession | Lawyer |
Signature | |
John Albion Andrew (May 31, 1818 – October 30, 1867) was an American lawyer and politician from
Educated at Bowdoin College, Andrew was a radical abolitionist of slavery from an early age, engaged in the legal defense of fugitive slaves against owners seeking their return. He provided legal support to John Brown after his 1859 raid on Harpers Ferry, Virginia, raising his profile and propelling him to the Massachusetts governor's chair. Andrew was a persistent voice criticizing President Abraham Lincoln's conduct of the war, and pressing him to end slavery. By the end of the war, his politics had moderated, and he came to support the Reconstruction policies of Lincoln's successor, Andrew Johnson.
In Massachusetts, Andrew opposed the Know Nothing movement of the 1850s and the state's strict alcohol prohibition laws, and oversaw the state takeover of the Hoosac Tunnel construction project. In 1865, he signed legislation establishing the Massachusetts State Police, the first statewide police force of its type in the nation. He died early of apoplexy at the age of 49.
Early life and career
Andrew was born in Windham (in modern-day Maine, then a part of Massachusetts) on May 31, 1818, the eldest of four children. His father, Jonathan Andrew, was descended from an early settler of Boxford, Massachusetts, and ran a small but prosperous merchant business in Windham. His mother, Nancy Green Pierce, was a teacher at Fryeburg Academy.[1] Andrew's 5th great grandfather was an immigrant from England named George Andrew who settled in Boxford, Massachusetts, in 1637. His 4th great grandfather was born in Boxford, Massachusetts, in 1638, being his first American-born ancestor.[2]
Andrew received his primary education first at home, and then at several area boarding schools. After his mother's death in 1832, he attended Gorham Academy in nearby Gorham.[1][3] During his youth he exhibited talent for both memory and public speaking, memorizing church sermons and recounting them with the same oratorical style in which they were delivered.[4] While a teenager, he was exposed to the early abolitionist writings of William Lloyd Garrison and others.[5] He entered Bowdoin College in 1833.[1] Although he was studious and popular with other students, he did not shine academically and was ranked near the bottom in his class.[6]
After his graduation in 1837, Andrew moved to
Antislavery legal and political advocate
After his admission to the bar, Andrew joined the
In 1847, Andrew, then 29 and with his law practice underway, met Eliza Jane Hersey of
The Boston Vigilance Committee attracted many new members following congressional passage of the federal Fugitive Slave Act of 1850, which required law enforcement officials and citizens of free states as well as slave states to aid in the recovery of fugitive slaves. Andrew sat on a subcommittee that handled the legal defense of individuals accused of being fugitive slaves.[15] He was also a regular attendee at meetings of the "Bird Club", a political group organized by businessman Francis Bird. Its members were mainly anti-slavery ex-Whigs, described by Samuel Gridley Howe[16] as "straight & impractical republicans".[17] Bird Club members would dominate the state's political establishment into the 1870s.[18] Andrew's political activity was otherwise minimal, as he was devoted to his growing law practice and family, which was settled in Hingham. By 1855, his practice was sufficiently successful that he also purchased a house on Charles Street in Boston.[19]
In 1854, Andrew became personally involved in the highly publicized fugitive slave case of
Andrew was elected chair of a committee to manage a nominating convention for the 1854 elections.
In 1857, Andrew won election as a representative in the
I pause not now to consider ... whether the enterprise of John Brown and his associates in Virginia was wise or foolish, right or wrong; I only know that, whether the enterprise itself was the one or the other, John Brown himself was right.
—Andrew, in his 1859 fund-raising appeal for John Brown's defense[31]
Following John Brown's 1859 raid on Harpers Ferry, Virginia, Andrew helped organize legal aid for Brown.[32] He expressed sympathy with Brown's position, if not his deeds.[31] Andrew's efforts on behalf of Brown brought him statewide notice, and also drew the attention of Southern interests in the United States Senate. They were seeking evidence to tie Northern interests to the funding and arming of Brown's force, and Andrew was summoned to testify to his connections with Brown.[33] Andrew led efforts to raise money to help Brown's family.
Andrew's actions on behalf of Brown and his family were highly popular in Massachusetts. The Massachusetts Republican Committee published his speeches and testimony on Brown's behalf in a pamphlet to distribute to voters.[34]
Andrew's popularity made him the choice to head the Massachusetts delegation to the
War Governor of Massachusetts
When Andrew took office on January 2, 1861, on the eve of the American Civil War, the Albany Argus called him "a lawyer of a low type and a brutal fanatic" who "proposes to maintain the condemned [personal liberty] statutes of [Massachusetts], and to force upon the South by arms, an allegiance to the Constitution thus violated."[38] In the early war years that followed, Andrew was a persistent radical voice, pressuring President Abraham Lincoln on the conduct of the war and the need to end slavery.[39]
Shortly after taking office, Andrew began to ready the Massachusetts
Andrew was a regular voice, although somewhat muted in public statements, in the drive to declare an end to slavery. When Lincoln announced his preliminary Emancipation Proclamation in September 1862 (shortly after the Union victory in the Battle of Antietam), Andrew was supportive, but called it "a poor document but a mighty act", and complained that it was too limited in scope and late in becoming effective.[44] Andrew was one of the leading state executives at the Loyal War Governors' Conference in Altoona, Pennsylvania, held in late September 1862, which ultimately backed the Emancipation Proclamation and the continued war effort.[45]
Andrew was a leading force in promoting the enlistment of black men as uniformed soldiers in the
By the end of the war, Andrew's politics had moderated. In late 1865, he expressed support for the Reconstruction policies of President Andrew Johnson, resulting in a split with his longtime political ally Charles Sumner.[51] The party split was such that Andrew was considered as a potential candidate for Sumner's Senate seat, but he rejected the possibility.[52] With the war at an end in 1865, he decided not to run for reelection.[51] In his final speech to the state legislature in January 1866 he outlined his vision of how Reconstruction should proceed, significantly diverging from the Radical agenda by not making black suffrage a prerequisite for the readmission of rebel state legislators to Congress.[53] He had in part acted on private efforts to aid in the reconstruction of the south in 1865, forming a land agency as a clearing house for Northerners seeking to invest in the southern properties.[54]
Andrew was elected a 3rd Class Companion (honorary member) of the Pennsylvania Commandery of the Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States in recognition of his support of the Union during the Civil War.[55]
Domestic Massachusetts issues
Andrew was elected with support from a large and primarily populist base. He was not part of Boston's relatively conservative aristocracy, whose support he needed to govern, especially in managing the war effort. Many of his military advisors and aides were drawn from Boston's elites, which caused some discontent among his populist supporters.[56]
Construction of the Hoosac Tunnel was a significant issue within the state during Andrew's tenure. The state had loaned its builder, the Troy and Greenfield Railroad, $2 million in the 1850s to support the construction. In 1861, both outgoing Governor Banks, and Andrew, after he took office, refused to sign a bill authorizing additional funding to the financially troubled project. Andrew lacked confidence in Herman Haupt, the tunnel's chief engineer, and withdrew the state engineer overseeing the project.[57] These actions cost Andrew votes in the 1861 election in the towns on the railroad route, but not enough to cost him the election.[58] The state took over the tunnel project in 1862, and it was finally completed at great expense in 1875.[57]
Andrew also had to contend with ongoing political activities of the nativist Know Nothings, some of whom were now in the Republican fold. The state had in 1859 enacted a constitutional amendment requiring newly naturalized citizens to wait two years before they could vote. This amendment was repealed in 1862–1863 (by a process requiring votes of consecutive legislatures and a referendum).
Reform elements within the Republican establishment pressed Andrew for enforcement of the state's alcohol prohibition law, which had been passed in 1855, and which had been poorly enforced, particularly in Boston. In response, legislation was enacted in 1865 and signed by Andrew creating a statewide constabulary, now the Massachusetts State Police; it was the first police force of its kind in the nation.[63] Andrew was not a supporter of prohibition, and did little to enforce the law; his fondness of alcohol was well known.[64]
Post-war career
Andrew resumed the practice of law after leaving office,[65] although he intended to remain active in politics. He sought the chairmanship of the state Republican Party, competing against Radicals. When President Johnson engaged in political attacks against Charles Sumner in 1866, charging him with treason, Andrew decided to withdraw from the contest.[66]
Among Andrew's clients in 1867 were a group of businessmen who sought a loosening of the state's strict alcohol prohibition law. Even though Andrew had laxly enforced the law while governor, his successor Alexander Bullock was a strict prohibitionist, and his enforcement of the law was the strictest the state had yet seen.[64] Andrew represented the businessmen in extensive hearings (lasting six weeks) before a legislative committee considering the issue.[67] His promotion of the cause was seized on by Democrats in the 1867 gubernatorial campaign, in which Andrew's chief of staff John Quincy Adams II was running as a Democrat against Bullock.[68][69]
Governor Andrew died on October 30, 1867, of apoplexy after having tea at his home in Boston.[14] He was at first buried at Mount Auburn Cemetery in Cambridge, but his remains were moved in 1875 to the Hingham (Old Ship) Cemetery in Hingham.[70] His grave is marked by a full-size statue, mounted on a pedestal.[14]
Honors and memorials
- Andrew Square in South Boston is named in his honor.[71]
- John A. Andrew St., in the Jamaica Plain section of Boston, is named in his honor,[72] and his name is one of four on the Soldier's Memorial in the same community (along with Lincoln, Admiral David Farragut, and General George Henry Thomas).[73]
- John Andrew Hospital at Tuskegee University in Tuskegee, Alabama, is named for him.[74]
- The City of Boston placed a plaque at the site of his home on Charles Street in 1924.[1]
- In 2007, governor Deval Patrick hung Andrew's portrait over the fireplace in his office, calling him an inspiration.[75]
- John A. Andrew School in Windham, Maine is named for him.
References
- ^ a b c d Reno, p. 377
- ^ The Life of John A. Andrew: Governor of Massachusetts, 1861-1865, Volume 1, by Henry Greenleaf Pearson pg. 1
- ^ Pearson, pp. 1:7–9
- ^ Pearson, pp. 1:10–12
- ^ Pearson, p. 1:13
- ^ Pearson, pp. 1:15–23
- ^ Reno, p. 378
- ^ Donald, pp. 144–149
- ^ Pearson, pp. 1:43–45
- ^ Trent, pp. 158–159
- ^ Pearson, p. 1:47
- ^ Earle, pp. 168–175
- ^ Pearson, pp. 1:50–54
- ^ a b c Bay State Monthly
- ^ Cumbler, p. 71
- ^ "Battle Hymn of the Republic" author Julia Ward Howe "and her husband, Dr. Samuel Gridley Howe, were the Andrews' closest friends, involved in promoting abolition, women's rights, and prison reform in the 1840s and 1850s". Engle, Stephen D., "I Stood Before His Silent Grave", p. 210.
- ^ Trent, p. 184
- ^ Mohr, p. 3
- ^ Pearson, pp. 1:54–57
- ^ State Street Trust Company, p. 43
- ^ Pearson, p. 1:57
- ^ Earle, p. 182
- )
- ^ Pearson, pp. 1:61–63
- ^ Pearson, pp. 1:64–65
- ^ Pearson, pp. 1:65–67
- ^ Pearson, pp. 1:68–69
- ^ Pearson, pp. 1:73–92
- ^ Pearson, pp. 1:92–93
- ^ Pearson, p. 1:95
- ^ a b Pearson, p. 1:100
- ^ Pearson, pp. 1:73–96
- ^ Pearson, pp. 1:105–110
- . Boston: Republican State Committee.
- ^ Pearson, pp. 1:111–113
- ^ Pearson, pp. 1:119–120
- ^ Pearson, pp. 1:123–128
- ^ Brooklyn Daily Eagle, January 10, 1861, p. 2
- ^ McKitrick, p. 222
- ^ O'Connor, p. 48
- ^ Pearson, p. 1:143
- ^ O'Connor, pp. 64–65
- ^ O'Connor, pp. 88–89
- ^ O'Connor pp. 115–117
- ^ Pearson, pp. 2:48–56
- ^ O'Connor, pp. 52–53
- ^ Duncan, pp. 48, 51
- ^ Weigley, pp. 186–188
- ^ Weigley, pp. 188–189
- ^ Campbell, p. 194
- ^ a b Baum, p. 104
- ^ McKitrick, p. 229
- ^ Baum, p. 105
- ^ McKitrick, p. 226
- ^ "Prominent Companions of the Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States". Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War. Archived from the original on March 3, 2016. Retrieved May 16, 2016.
- ^ Miller, pp. 12–13
- ^ a b Weber, pp. 139–140
- ^ Baum, pp. 65–68
- ^ Baum, pp. 44, 48
- ^ Baum, p. 57
- ^ Miller, pp. 21–22
- ISBN 978-1555534615.
- ^ Mohr, pp. 5–8
- ^ a b Baum, p. 127
- ^ Pearson, p. 2:294
- ^ Baum, p. 107
- ^ Pearson, pp. 2:306–307
- ^ Pearson, pp. 2:309–310
- ^ Baum, pp. 127, 131
- ^ "John A. Andrew". Hingham Public Library. Retrieved March 18, 2016.
- ^ Sammarco, page number unknown
- ^ "John A. Andrew". Jamaica Plain Historical Society. April 14, 2005. Retrieved March 18, 2016.
- ^ "Civil War Memorial and Streets". Jamaica Plain Historical Society. May 14, 2004. Retrieved December 6, 2022.
- ^ Watson, p. 68
- ^ "A Place of Prominence for Bowdoin Alum". Campus News. Bowdoin College. February 5, 2007. Retrieved March 18, 2016.
Bibliography
- "John Albion Andrew". The Bay State Monthly. 3 (3). August 1885.
- Baum, Dale (1984). The Civil War Party System: The Case of Massachusetts, 1848–1876. Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina Press. OCLC 9970596.
- Campbell, Stanley (1970). The Slave Catchers: Enforcement of the Fugitive Slave Law, 1850–1860. Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina Press. OCLC 826853940.
- Cumbler, Jonathan (2008). From Abolition to Rights for All: The Making of a Reform Community in the Nineteenth Century. Philadelphia, PA: University of Pennsylvania Press. OCLC 154800554.
- OCLC 19357352.
- Duncan, Russell (1999). Where Death and Glory Meet: Colonel Robert Gould Shaw and the 54th Massachusetts Infantry. Athens, GA: University of Georgia Press. OCLC 246304145.
- Earle, Jonathan (2005). Jacksonian Antislavery and the Politics of Free Soil, 1824–1854. Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina Press. OCLC 62144840.
- Engle, Stephen D. (2023). "'I Stood before His Silent Grave': John Albion Andrew, the Soul of a Champion", in Final Resting Places: Reflections on the Meaning of Civil War Graves, edited by Brian Matthew Jordan and Jonathan W. White. Athens, Georgia: The University of Georgia Press.
- McKitrick, Eric L (1988) [1960]. Andrew Johnson and Reconstruction. New York: Oxford University Press. OCLC 18322276.
- Miller, Richard F (2005). Harvard's Civil War: A History of the Twentieth Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry. Hanover, NH: University Press of New England. OCLC 60515104.
- Mohr, James (1976). Radical Republicans in the North: State Politics During Reconstruction. Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press. OCLC 1959465.
- O'Connor, Thomas (1997). Civil War Boston. Boston: Northeastern University Press. OCLC 36900764.
- Pearson, Henry (1904). The Life of John A. Andrew. Cambridge, MA: Houghton, Mifflin. )
- Reno, Conrad (1901). Memoirs of the Judiciary and the Bar, Volume 3. Boston: Century Memorial Publishing. OCLC 426554681.
- Sammarco, Anthony (May 12, 1995). "Andrew Square named after abolitionist "War Governor" John Andrew" (PDF). Dorchester Community News. Retrieved March 18, 2016.[permanent dead link]
- State Street Trust Company (1912). Forty of Boston's historic houses. Boston: State Street Trust Company. OCLC 2847254.
- Stowe, Harriet Beecher. "Gov. John A. Andrew", in Men of Our Times; Or Leading Patriots of the Day (1868), and in The Lives and Deeds of Our Self-Made Men (1872).
- Trent, James (2012). The Manliest Man: Samuel G. Howe and the Contours of Nineteenth-Century American Reform. Amherst, MA: University of Massachusetts Press. OCLC 768167116.
- Watson, Wilbur H. (1999). Against the Odds: Blacks in the Profession of Medicine in the United States. New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction Publishers. p. 68. OCLC 45843812.
- Weber, Thomas (1999). The Northern Railroads in the Civil War, 1861–1865. Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press. pp. 139–140. OCLC 40256053.
- Weigley, Russell (2000). A Great Civil War: A Military and Political History, 1861–1865. Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press. OCLC 231855116.
- Wilson, J. G.; Fiske, J., eds. (1900). . Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography. New York: D. Appleton.
External links
- Biography by Jamaica Plain Historical Society
- Library of Congress. Photo of John A. Andrew statue, State House, Boston, Mass.