Charles S. May

Charles Sedgwick May (born March 22, 1830 in Sandisfield , Berkshire County , Massachusetts , †  March 25, 1901 in Yorkville , Michigan ) was an American politician . Between 1863 and 1865 he was lieutenant governor of the state of Michigan.

Career

At the age of four, Charles May came with his family to Richland , Michigan, where he grew up on a farm. He attended State University in Kalamazoo , now Western Michigan University . After studying law and being admitted to the bar in 1854, he began to work in this profession. In 1855 and 1856 he was also the political editor of the Detroit Daily Tribune . He then practiced as a lawyer in Battle Creek for some time . In 1860 and 1861 he was the public prosecutor in Kalamazoo. At the beginning of the Civil War , he set up an infantry unit from Michigan with which he went to war. He took part in a few battles, but then had to quit military service for health reasons. Politically, he was a member of the Republican Party .

In 1862 May was elected lieutenant governor of Michigan alongside Austin Blair . He held this office between 1863 and 1865. He was Deputy Governor and Chairman of the State Senate . In 1866, he attended the Michigan regional Republican Convention as a delegate. In 1872 May spoke out against the re-election of President Ulysses S. Grant . He went over to the Democrats and supported Horace Greeley, who was nominated by them as an opposing candidate . This defeated in the elections and died in November 1872. Four years later Charles May ran unsuccessfully as a Democrat for the US Senate . Then he worked again as a lawyer in Detroit. In 1888 he retired to his country estate Island View for health reasons . In the following years he wrote a few books and newspaper articles. He died in Yorkville on March 25, 1901. His older brother Dwight was also Lieutenant Governor of Michigan from 1867 to 1869.

Web links

• Charles S. May in the database of Find a Grave (English)
• The Political Graveyard
• Short biography