Salmon P. Chase

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Salmon P. Chase (between 1860 and 1865) signature

Salmon Portland Chase (born  January 13, 1808 in Cornish , Sullivan County , New Hampshire , †  May 7, 1873 in New York City ) was an American politician and lawyer during the Civil War . He was the presiding judge of the Supreme Court . He was previously Treasury Secretary under Abraham Lincoln and the 23rd governor of Ohio between 1856 and 1860  . Chase was next to Levi Woodbury the only person who belonged to the legislature , the executive and the judiciary and was also governor.

Early years

Chase lost his father when he was nine, so he was raised by his uncle Philander Chase , a bishop . Chase first studied at Worthington in Ohio and Windsor in Vermont , later at Cincinnati College, and graduated from Dartmouth College in 1826 . He was also trained by Attorney General William Wirt and was admitted to the bar in 1829.

Political career

In 1830 he moved to Cincinnati , where he had previously studied, and gained a certain prominence in the legal profession. In 1836 he joined the anti-slavery movement and established himself as a lawyer who represented refugees in court. He believed that the constitution did not allow the government to support or accept slavery . In 1840, Chase was elected to the Cincinnati City Council. Between 1849 and 1855 he represented his state of Ohio in the US Senate . Chase then became a member of the new Republican Party through the Liberty Party and the Free Soil Party that emerged from it . As their candidate, he was elected the new governor of his state in 1855. The election campaign was dominated by the question of slavery.

Governor of ohio

Chase took office on January 14, 1856. After re-election in 1857, he could remain in office until January 9, 1860. During his tenure, a geological survey for the exploration of the mineral resources of Ohio was commissioned. A railway committee was set up. A state statistical office was established and women's rights were strengthened by granting them property rights.

United States Secretary of the Treasury

In 1860 he was under discussion as a presidential candidate for the Republican Party. He failed, but was now the best-known Republican in the country after Abraham Lincoln and had been more anti- slavery than any other member of his party. On March 6, 1861, he was appointed Treasury Secretary by Abraham Lincoln. He then resigned as a US Senator. He was elected to this office again in the fall of 1860. The legislative period began on March 4, 1861, so he had been in the Senate for just two days at the time of his resignation.

Salmon P. Chase on the $ 10,000 bill

As Treasury Secretary in the Lincoln Cabinet from 1861 to 1864 - during the first three years of the Civil War - he rendered services of great value; he introduced the national banking system and paper money. He worked out the banking system on his own and finally presented it to Congress , which then accepted it. This system made it possible to finance the war of secession through the state issue of money without paying the then usual interest of up to 20% per annum for loans from private banks. In contrast, the southern states financed themselves through normal bank loans (from France), which, however, had to be repaid by the northern states after the war. In gratitude for the introduction of the banknotes , his portrait was printed on the $ 10,000 bills, which, however, were mainly used between banks and were rarely in public circulation.

US Supreme Court Justice

Salmon P. Chase as Chief Justice

In June 1864 he resigned as Minister of Finance. After the death of Chief Justice Roger B. Taney in October 1864, President Lincoln appointed Chase as his successor as Chief Justice . He held this office until his death in 1873. One of his first acts in his new office was the admission of the African American John Rock as a lawyer before the Supreme Court. In his capacity as Chief Justice, Chase served as the presiding judge in the unsuccessful impeachment trial of President Andrew Johnson in 1868. Salmon Chase died in 1873.

According to him, Chase County named in Kansas.

family

On March 4, 1834, Chase married Catherine Jane Garniss, who died of puerperal fever on December 1, 1835 . Their daughter Catherine died four years later.

On September 26, 1839, Chase was married for a second time to Eliza Ann Smith. Of the three daughters, only Catherine Jane, called Kate, survived. Kate married Senator William Sprague , a textile manufacturer and former Governor of Rhode Island. Kate's marriage ended in divorce in 1882. (Sprague's money funded Salmon Chase's political ambitions). His wife Eliza died on September 29, 1845.

Chase's third wife was Sarah Bella Dunlop Ludlow on November 6, 1846. Of two daughters, only Chase's beloved daughter Janet (Nettie) Ralston (Mrs. WS Hoyt) survived. Sarah died of tuberculosis on January 13, 1852.

literature

Web links

Commons : Salmon P. Chase  - Collection of images, videos and audio files
personal data
SURNAME Chase, Salmon P.
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Chase, Salmon Portland (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American politician and lawyer
DATE OF BIRTH January 13, 1808
PLACE OF BIRTH Cornish , New Hampshire
DATE OF DEATH May 7, 1873
Place of death New York City