A Slice in Third Party Vice-Presidential Time: 1856-1858
Here's some fun historical trivia. Between the dates of the birth of John Temple Graves (November 9, 1856, just five days after the presidential election) to the death of John Anthony Quitman (July 17, 1858) there were 46 Third Party Vice-Presidential Candidates living between the Earth and the sky. By July 1858 nine of these individuals had already served as VP nominees.
Here's mosaic of this unique group and where they were between November 9, 1856-July 17, 1858--
Henry Lee (February 4, 1782 – February 6, 1867)
VP candidate for Nullifier Party 1832
Retired as a Boston merchant in 1840.
Sidney Rigdon (February 19, 1793 – July 14, 1876)
VP candidate for Reform Party 1844
Lived with relatives in Friendship, NY. Was making some moves to start a new religion.
Charles Francis Adams Sr. (August 18, 1807 – November 21, 1886)
VP candidate for Free Soil Party 1848
Elected to the US House of Representatives for Massachusetts as a Republican in 1858.
Charles C. Foote (March 30, 1811 – May 3, 1891)
VP candidate for National Liberty Party 1848
Working as a Presbyterian minister and involved with the underground railroad in Michigan.
George Washington Julian (May 5, 1817 – July 7, 1899)
VP candidate for Free Soil Party 1852
Became active in the new Republican Party.
Charles Jones Jenkins (January 6, 1805 – June 14, 1883)
VP candidate for Union Party 1852
Serving as a member of the Union Party in the Georgia State Senate.
Reynell Coates (December 10, 1802 – April 27, 1886)
VP candidate for Native American Party (aka American Party) 1852
Editor of a serial, Leaflets of Memory.
John Anthony Quitman (September 1, 1798 (or 1799) – July 17, 1858)
VP candidate for Southern Rights Party 1852
Died July 17, 1858 in Natchez, Miss, said to be the result of the mysterious National Hotel Disease.
Andrew Jackson Donelson (August 25, 1799 – June 26, 1871)
VP candidate for American (Know-Nothing) Party 1856
Moved to Memphis, Tenn. in 1858.
Joseph Lane (December 14, 1801 – April 19, 1881)
VP candidate for Constitutional Democratic Party 1860
Delegate to the U.S. House of Representatives as a Democrat for Oregon Territory.
Edward Everett (April 11, 1794 – January 15, 1865)
VP candidate for Constitutional Union Party 1860
Went on a national speaking tour and wrote a weekly column in support of raising funds for preserving George Washington's Mount Vernon estate.
Samuel McFarland (1795 - February 17, 1868)
VP candidate for Radical Abolitionists Party (aka Liberty Party) 1860
Sheep farmer near Washington, Penn. Involved with the underground railroad.
Frederick Douglass (ca. February 1818 – February 20, 1895)
VP candidate for Equal Rights Party (aka People's Party aka Cosmo-Political Party aka National Radical Reformers) (1872)
His book, My Bondage and My Freedom published in 1857. John Brown visits Douglass in Rochester, NY 1858.
John Quincy Adams II (September 22, 1833 – August 14, 1894)
VP candidate for Straight-Out Democratic Party (1872)
Attorney in Boston, Mass.
Benjamin Gratz Brown (May 28, 1826 – December 13, 1885)
VP candidate for Liberal Republican Party and Democratic Party (1872)
Served in the Missouri House of Representatives, editor of the Missouri Democrat, ran for Governor of Missouri as a Republican in 1857 and was defeated.
John Russell (September 20, 1822 - November 4, 1912)
VP candidate for Prohibition Party (1872)
Methodist minister in Michigan
Samuel Fenton Cary (February 18, 1814 – September 29, 1900)
VP candidate for Greenback Party 1876
Birth of Samuel Fenton Cary Jr. in Cincinnati (Mar. 22, 1857)
Donald Kirkpatrick (September 9, 1830 - September 19, 1889)
VP candidate for American National Party (aka Anti-Masonic Party aka Anti-Secret Society Party) (1876)
Salt manufacturer in Syracuse, NY area.
Gideon Tabor Stewart (August 7, 1824 - June 10, 1909)
VP candidate for Prohibition Party (1876)
Attorney in Norwalk, Ohio. Married Abby N. Simmons Mar. 30, 1857. Attempted to form a Prohibition Party in 1857 at a Columbus, Ohio convention but fell short.
Barzillai Jefferson Chambers (December 5, 1817 – September 16, 1895)
VP candidate for Greenback Party 1880
Surveyor in Texas.
Samuel Clarke Pomeroy (January 3, 1816 – August 27, 1891)
VP candidate for Anti-Masonic Party (aka American Party aka Anti-Secret Society Party aka National American Party) (1880)
Started his term as Mayor of Atchison, Kansas in Mar. 1858.
Henry Adams Thompson (March 23, 1837 – July 8, 1920)
VP candidate for Prohibition Party (1880)
Graduated from Jefferson College in Pennsylvania (now Washington & Jefferson College) with a B.A. in 1858
Absolom Madden West (1818 – September 30, 1894)
VP candidate for Greenback Party 1884
Official with the Mississippi Central Railroad.
Marietta Lizzie Bell Stow (1830? – December 27, 1902)
VP candidate for Equal Rights Party (aka National Equal Rights Party) (1884)
VP candidate for National Woman Suffragists' Party (1892)
Divorced Ezekial F. Bell, May 26, 1857, in Cuyahoga County, Ohio.
William Daniel (January 24, 1826 – October 13, 1897)
VP candidate for Prohibition Party (1884)
Served in the Maryland House of Delegates 1856-1857, Maryland Senate 1857-1858 as a member of the American Party. Proposed local option law for alcohol.
John A. Colvin (January 8, 1841 - February 15, 1900)
VP candidate for Industrial Reform Party (1888)
A teenager in Montgomery County, Ohio.
Peter Dinwiddie Wigginton (September 6, 1839 – July 7, 1890)
VP candidate for American Party (1888)
Probably studying law at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
William Harrison Thompson Wakefield (December 13, 1834 - July 26, 1913)
VP candidate for United Labor Party (1888)
Probably in Kansas and active on the abolitionist side of the conflict there.
Charles E. Cunningham (July 1, 1823 – April 21, 1895)
VP candidate for Union Labor Party (1888)
A Democrat living in Johnson County, Mo.
John Anderson Brooks (June 3, 1836 – February 3, 1897)
VP candidate for Prohibition Party (1888)
Began his ministry in Mason County, Ky. Married Sue E. Osborn Oct. 14, 1857 but she died three weeks later.
Charles Stuart Welles (February 22, 1848 - February 5, 1927)
VP candidate for Equal Rights Party (1888)
Child in Hornellsville, NY?
Charles Horatio Matchett (May 15, 1843 – October 23, 1919)
VP candidate for Socialist Labor Party (1892)
Teenager in Brighton, Mass.?
James Gaven Field (February 24, 1826 – October 12, 1901)
VP candidate for People's Party (1892)
Attorney in Virginia.
Simon Bolivar Buckner (April 1, 1823 – January 8, 1914)
VP candidate for National Democratic Party (1896)
In Chicago as a civilian managing the real estate of his late father-in-law. Moved to Louisville, Ky. in late 1857. Daughter Lily born Mar. 7, 1858.
Hale Johnson (August 21, 1847 – November 4, 1902)
VP candidate for Prohibition Party (1896)
Boy in Indiana.
Matthew Maguire (June 28, 1850 (some sources have 1855) - January 1, 1917)
VP candidate for Socialist Labor Party (1896)
Boy in the New York City area.
Thomas Edward Watson (September 5, 1856 – September 26, 1922)
VP candidate for People's Party (1896)
Small boy in Thomson, Ga.
Ignatius Loyola Donnelly (November 3, 1831 – January 1, 1901)
VP candidate for People's Party (aka Populist Party aka Middle of the Road Populists) (1900)
Ran in 1857 for the Minnesota Territorial Senate as a Republican and was defeated. Elected Dakota County Commissioner (Minn.) in 1858 by July 1858 was preparing for another run for the Territorial Senate.
Henry Brewer Metcalf (April 2, 1829 – October 5, 1904)
VP candidate for Prohibition Party (1900)
A partner in a Boston dry goods importing company.
David Herron Martin (Mar. 28, 1849 - 1933)
VP candidate for United Christian Party (1900)
Probably attending school in Allegheny, Penn.
Valentine Remmel (March 9, 1853 - May 9, 1929)
VP candidate for Socialist Labor Party (1900)
Boy in Pittsburgh, Penn.
Thomas Henry Tibbles (May 22, 1840 – May 14, 1928)
VP candidate for People's Party (aka Populist Party) (1904)
As a teenager was involved in the warfare on the abolitionist side in Kansas. By 1858 he was attending Mt. Union College in Alliance, Ohio.
George Washington Carroll (April 1, 1855 - December 14, 1935)
VP candidate for Prohibition Party (1904)
Small child in Mansfield, La.
Lorenzo Stephen Coffin (April 29, 1823 - January 17, 1915)
VP candidate for United Christian Party (1908)
Farmer near Fort Dodge, Iowa.
Samuel Wardell Williams (February 7, 1851 – August 5, 1913)
VP candidate for People's Party (aka Populist Party) (1908)
Boy in Mount Carmel, Ill.
John Temple Graves (November 9, 1856 – August 8, 1925)
VP candidate for Independence Party (aka Independence League aka National Independence League) (1908)
Born Nov. 9, 1856 in Willington, SC.
Fun facts of the time slot:
1856 Nov. 13 - Louis Brandeis born (d. 1941)
1856 Nov. 19 or 20 - The ancient skeleton of a human measuring over ten feet tall is alleged to have been unearthed in Wheeling, (now West) Virginia.
1856 Dec. 28 - Woodrow Wilson born (d. 1924)
1857 Jan. 9 - Fort Tejon earthquake in California registered at a magnitude of 7.9
1857 Feb. 3 - National Deaf Mute College (later Gallaudet University) is established.
1857 Mar. 4 - James Buchanan sworn in as President.
1857 Mar. 6 - Dred Scott v. Sandford
1857 Mar. 23 - First elevator is installed, New York City
1857 May - 1858 July - Utah War
1857 May 1 - William Walker, an American who usurped the Presidency of Nicaragua in July 1856, is overthrown
1857 June 16 - The New York Municipal Police and the Metropolitan Police engage in a riot with each other in New York City.
1857 July 4 - William L. Marcy died (b. 1786)
1857 July 4-5 - Dead Rabbits Riot involves hundreds of gang members in New York City.
1857 Sept. - Panic of 1857
1857 Sept. 3 - Dr. John McLoughlin died (b. 1784)
1857 Sept. 7-11 - Mountain Meadows Massacre.
1857 Sept. 15 - William Howard Taft born (d. 1930)
1857 Nov. 5 - Ida Tarbell born (d. 1944)
1858 Mar. 1 - The Eliza Battle, a steamboat, caught fire near Pennington, Ala. killing about 33 people. It has become part of Alabama folklore as a ghost ship
1858 Mar. 4 - Commodore Matthew Perry died (b. 1794)
1858 Apr. 10 - Thomas Hart Benton died (b. 1782)
1858 May 11 - Minnesota admitted as the 32nd state
1858 May 19 - Marais des Cygnes massacre
1858 June 1 - Johann Mueller (b. 1829) of Ann Arbor, Mich. was killed when a load of logs pulled by his horses falls and crushes his chest. His gravestone visually portrays the event and can still be seen in Ann Arbor's Forest Hill Cemetery.
1858 June 16 - "A house divided against itself, cannot stand. I believe this government cannot endure, permanently, half slave and half free."--Abraham Lincoln, Republican candidate for the US Senate in Illinois
