Daniel S. Dickinson

Daniel S. Dickinson

Daniel Stevens Dickinson (*  11. September 1800 in Goshen , Litchfield County , Connecticut ; †  12. April 1866 in New York City ) was an American politician of the Democratic Party , of the State of New York in the US Senate represented and as its Lieutenant Governor served.

Rise in New York

A native of Connecticut Daniel Dickinson was just a little boy when his parents with him to Guilford in Chenango County attracted the State of New York. There he attended public schools and did an apprenticeship with a men's outfitter. From 1821 he was employed in Wheatland as a teacher. Later he was active in land surveying; He also studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1828, whereupon he began practicing law in Guilford. From 1827 to 1832 he was also postmaster there. After moving to Binghamton , he served as the city's first president from 1834.

Dickinson served in the New York Senate from 1837 to 1840 ; between 1843 and 1844 he held the post of lieutenant governor under Governor William C. Bouck . He was also a member of the Electoral College , which James K. Polk elected US President in the presidential election in 1844 .

Senator in Washington

After the resignation of US Senator Nathaniel P. Tallmadge , Dickinson was appointed his successor in Congress ; he took up this mandate from November 30, 1844 and, after confirmation, could exercise it until March 3, 1851 in the next election. When trying again for re-election, he failed because of the Whig candidate Hamilton Fish . During his tenure in the Senate, Dickinson served as chairman of the finance committee ; He was also a member of the Committee on Manufactures and the Committee on Private Land Claims .

Within the Democratic Party of New York Dickinson was one of the conservative faction of the "Hunkers", which stood in opposition to the "Barnburners". This wing of the party split off in 1848 and joined the Free Soil Party . In the subsequent split of the "Hunkers", Dickinson turned out to be the spokesman for the "Hards" who, in contrast to the "Softs" under William L. Marcy, opposed a reconciliation with the "Barnburners".

Late years

After his departure from Congress, Dickinson initially worked as a lawyer again. In 1852 he took part as a delegate to the Democratic National Convention in Baltimore . The following year he was named New York Harbor Tax Collector by President Franklin Pierce , but he declined the appeal. In the run-up to the presidential election in 1860 , he supported the candidacy of John C. Breckinridge .

In 1861 Dickinson was elected Attorney General of New York State, where he ran for the War Democrats , a group within the Democratic Party that supported Republican President Abraham Lincoln and his policies. In 1864, he was appointed federal commissioner for the settlement of the arable land on Hudson Bay and Puget Sound . Before the presidential election in 1864 , he was considered a possible candidate for the vice-presidency alongside Lincoln, who then chose Andrew Johnson . Instead, the President appointed him United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York , which he remained from 1865 until his death the following year.

Web links

• Daniel S. Dickinson in the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress (English)

• Daniel S. Dickinson in the database of Find a Grave (English)