Francis Granger
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Francis Granger | |
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| In office March 6, 1841 – September 18, 1841 |
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| Preceded by | John Milton Niles |
| Succeeded by | Charles Anderson Wickliffe |
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| Born | December 1, 1792 Suffield, Connecticut, U.S. |
| Died | August 31, 1868 (aged 75) Canandaigua, New York, U.S. |
| Political party | National Republican, Whig, Anti-Masonic |
| Spouse | Cornelia Rutson VanRensselaer Granger |
| Profession | Politician, Lawyer |
Francis Granger (December 1, 1792 – August 31, 1868) was a Representative from New York. He was the son of Gideon Granger, another Postmaster General, and the first cousin of Amos P. Granger.
[edit] Biography
Granger was born in Suffield, Connecticut and pursued classical studies at and graduated from Yale College in 1811. He then moved with his father to Canandaigua, New York in 1814, where he studied law, was admitted to the bar in 1816 and commenced practice. He married Cornelia Rutson VanRensselaer. They had one son, Gideon Granger II, born in 1821, and an unnamed daughter whom died with her mother in child birth in 1823.
Granger was a member of the State assembly from 1826 to 1828 and from 1830 to 1832. He was an unsuccessful candidate for Lieutenant Governor of New York in 1828, and in both 1830 and 1832 was an unsuccessful National Republican candidate for Governor of New York. In 1836, he was unsuccessful as a Whig and Anti-Masonic candidate for Vice President, which he narrowly lost when it was voted by the U.S. Senate that Richard M. Johnson was the rightful winner, and also unsuccessful as a Whig candidate for election to the Twenty-Fifth Congress.
He was, however, elected as an Anti-Jacksonian to the Twenty-Fourth Congress (March 4, 1835 to March 3, 1837), and was elected as a Whig to the Twenty-Sixth and Twenty-Seventh Congresses (he served from March 4, 1839, to March 5, 1841). Granger was appointed Postmaster General in the Cabinet of President William Henry Harrison and served from March 6 to September 18, 1841, after which he was again elected to the Twenty-Seventh Congress to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of John Greig and served from November 27, 1841, to March 3, 1843. Granger was not a candidate for reelection in 1842.
A supporter of the Compromise of 1850, Granger led the pro-Fillmore group which became known as the Silver Gray Whigs after Granger's own silver hair. This faction would remain in conflict with the anti-Compromise Sewardites until the collapse of the Whig Party in the state in 1855.
Chairman of the Whig National Executive Committee from 1856 to 1860, Granger joined in the call for the convention of the Constitutional Union Party that was held in May of 1860. He was then a member of the peace convention of 1861 held in Washington, D.C. in an effort to devise means to prevent the impending war. He died in Canandaigua and was buried at Woodlawn Cemetery.
[edit] External links
- Francis Granger at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
- Francis Granger at Find A Grave
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by John M. Niles |
United States Postmaster General March 6, 1841 – September 18, 1841 |
Succeeded by Charles A. Wickliffe |
| United States House of Representatives | ||
| Preceded by John Dickson |
Member from New York's 26th congressional district March 4, 1835 – March 3, 1837 |
Succeeded by Mark H. Sibley |
| Preceded by Mark H. Sibley |
Member from New York's 26th congressional district March 4, 1839 – March 5, 1841 |
Succeeded by John Greig |
| Preceded by John Greig |
Member from New York's 26th congressional district November 27, 1841 – March 3, 1843 |
Succeeded by Amasa Dana |
| Party political offices | ||
| New political party | Whig Party vice presidential candidate 1836 with John Tyler¹ |
Succeeded by John Tyler |
| Notes and references | ||
| 1. The Whig Party ran regional candidates in 1836; John Tyler ran in the Southern states, and Granger ran in the Northern states. | ||
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