Frederick Perry Stanton

Frederick Perry Stanton (born December 22, 1814 in Alexandria , Virginia , † June 4, 1894 in Stanton , Florida ) was an American politician and in 1857 governor of the Kansas Territory .

Early years and political advancement

Frederick Stanton attended Columbian College in Washington , from which George Washington University emerged . He then worked as a teacher in Virginia and North Carolina . Eventually he decided to study law. After passing his exams and admission to the bar, he practiced in Memphis , Tennessee .

Stanton's political career began in 1844. That year he was elected to the US House of Representatives in Washington as a member of the Democratic Party for the tenth constituency of Tennessee. His opponent, a certain Dr. Christian of the Whig Party couldn't get over his defeat and carried out a pistol assassination on Stanton. He was injured, but survived the attack. Between March 4, 1845 and March 3, 1855, Stanton was in the House of Representatives. There he was chairman of both the Naval Committee and the Legal Committee.

Kansas Territory Governor

The sources for Stanton's time in Kansas contradict one another. The online biography of the US Congress lists Stanton as governor of the Kansas Territory with a term from 1858 to 1861; this information cannot be correct and contradicts the information of the Kansas Cyclopedie (see web links). According to this account, Stanton was appointed Secretary of State for the Kansas Territory on April 1, 1857. He held this office until December 21, 1857. During this time he had to represent the governor twice. This representation appears to be correct, also with a view to the other governors of the Kansas Territory.

Another résumé

After retiring from the office of Secretary of State, he bought land near Lecompton and built one of the most expensive mansions in Kansas there. After Kansas was accepted into the Union, he applied for the post of US Senator . In the election he was subject to a difference of only one vote. After the outbreak of the civil war , he switched to the Republican Party . At times he was under discussion for a cabinet post in the government of President Abraham Lincoln . Then he practiced as a lawyer in Washington. He later became president of the International Peace League . In 1884 he visited Kansas again, where he gave a speech to veterans from his time in that state. In 1885 he moved to Florida for health reasons, where he died in 1894.

Web links

• Stanton in the Kansas Historical Society (English)
• Frederick Perry Stanton in the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress (English)
• Frederick Perry Stanton in the database of Find a Grave (English)