Francis Gillette

Francis Gillette

Francis Gillette (* 14. December 1807 in Old Windsor, Bloomfield , Connecticut ; †  30th September 1879 in Hartford , Connecticut) was an American politician of the Free Soil Party , of the state of Connecticut in the US Senate represented.

Gillette was still a child when his parents moved with him from Connecticut to Massachusetts , where the family settled in Ashfield . He graduated from Yale College in 1829 and then continued his law studies before he returned to Connecticut for health reasons and worked there in agriculture.

His political career began with the election to the Connecticut House of Representatives in 1832; further terms followed in 1836 and 1838. In 1842 he finished third in the election for governor of Connecticut as a candidate for the short-lived Liberty Party behind the victorious Democrat Chauncey F. Cleveland and the defeated incumbent William W. Ellsworth of the Whigs . A total of nine further unsuccessful attempts to achieve this office followed between 1843 and 1872. From 1849 to 1865, Gillette was chairman of the state authority for education.

After joining the Free Soil Party, Francis Gillette was elected to the US Senate in 1854 , replacing Truman Smith , who resigned during the legislature . After the end of his term in March 1855, he was not considered for a new candidacy. As a result, he became involved in building the Republican Party in Connecticut. In the party newspaper Evening Press he acted as a silent partner for many years.

Aside from politics, Francis Gillette gave lectures on agricultural issues and the abstinence movement . He was on the governing body of Central Connecticut State University , of which he was also president for a long time. Professionally, he was still active in the real estate business.

Gillette's older son Edward went into politics like his father and became a member of the US House of Representatives in 1879 . The 13 years younger son William made a name for himself as a playwright.

Web links

• Francis Gillette in the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress (English)

• Francis Gillette in the database of Find a Grave (English)