Robert Cumming Schenck

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Robert Cumming Schenck

Robert Cumming Schenck (born October 4, 1809 in Franklin , Ohio , † March 23, 1890 in Washington, DC ) was an American politician , diplomat and officer . Between 1843 and 1851 and again from 1863 to 1871 he represented the state of Ohio in the US House of Representatives ; he also served as the United States' ambassador to Brazil and Great Britain .

Career

Robert Schenck attended the public schools in his home country and then studied at Miami University in Oxford until 1827 . Then he was a member of the faculty of this university until 1829. After a subsequent law degree and his license as a lawyer in 1833, he began to work in Dayton in this profession. Politically, he joined the Whig Party, then founded, in the 1830s . Between 1839 and 1843 he was a member of the Ohio House of Representatives .

In the congressional election of 1842 , Schenck was elected to the US House of Representatives in Washington in the third constituency of Ohio, where he succeeded Patrick Gaines Goode on March 4, 1843 . After three re-elections, he was able to complete four legislative terms in Congress by March 3, 1851 . During this time the Mexican-American War fell . As an opponent of slavery, Schenck was against this war because he feared that this institution would be expanded into the conquered areas. From 1847 to 1849 he was chairman of the Committee on Roads and Canals. In 1850 the compromise of 1850 introduced by US Senator Henry Clay was passed. In the same year Schenck renounced another congress candidacy.

Between 1851 and 1853 he succeeded David Tod as US ambassador to Brazil. Argentina , Uruguay and Paraguay also belonged to his area of ​​responsibility at the time . After his return he practiced as a lawyer again. He was also president of the Fort Wayne Western Railroad Company . In the late 1850s he joined the Republican Party . During the civil war , Schenck served between May 17, 1861 and December 3, 1863, first as Brigadier General and then as Major General in the Union Army .

In the elections of 1862 Schenck was re-elected as a Republican in the third district of his state in Congress, where he replaced the Democrat Clement Vallandigham on March 4, 1863 . After three re-elections, he could remain in the US House of Representatives until his resignation on January 5, 1871. In 1870 he was not re-elected. During this time the civil war ended. Since 1865, the work of Congress has been marked by tension between Republicans and President Andrew Johnson , which culminated in a narrowly unsuccessful impeachment trial. During Schenck's time in Congress, the 13th , 14th and 15th amendments were ratified. Schenk was chairman of the military committee from 1863 to 1867. He then headed the Committee on Ways and Means . In 1866 he was a delegate to the Philadelphia Loyalist Convention .

Between 1871 and 1876 Robert Schenck served as US ambassador to Great Britain, where he succeeded John Lothrop Motley . In 1871 he was a member of the Alabama Claims Commission , which investigated an incident involving the British Confederate ship Alabama in the civil war . After his return from England Schenck practiced as a lawyer in Washington. There he died on March 23, 1890. He was buried in Dayton.

Web links

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Wikisource: Biography in the Encyclopedia Americana of 1920  - sources and full texts (English)
personal data
SURNAME Schenck, Robert Cumming
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American politician, diplomat, and officer
DATE OF BIRTH October 4, 1809
PLACE OF BIRTH Franklin , Ohio
DATE OF DEATH March 23, 1890
Place of death Washington, DC