Theophilus C. Callicot

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Theophilus Carey Callicot ^[1] (b. 1826) was an American newspaper editor and politician.

[edit] Life

He lived with his wife Fitzina H. Callicot (1829-1867) at 158 High Street in Brooklyn when their one year old daughter Mary Fitzina died on April 17, 1852. Later they had another daughter Williamina Frederica (1854-1875).

[edit] State Assembly

He was a Democratic member from Kings County of the New York State Assembly for several terms.

In 1860, during the debate of black suffrage, he told the Assembly that "the proposition to put Negroes on a footing of political equality with white men is repugnant to the sense of the American people. They will never consent to share the proud title of 'American citizen' with an inferior and abject race." ^[2]

In 1863, the Republicans and the Democrats had an equal number of members in this Assembly, and the election of a Speaker proved to be difficult. After more than three weeks of deadlock, Callicot offered the Republican leader Chauncey Depew a deal: If the Republicans elect him Speaker, then Callicot would vote for the Republican candidates for the U.S. Senate. Depew accepted, and on January 26, Callicot was elected Speaker on the 89th ballot. Shortly afterward, the Democrats accused Callicot of improper proceedings to achieve his election as Speaker and started an investigation during which he was suspended from the speakership, and Depew was elected Acting Speaker. In April, Callicot was cleared of all accusations, and took his seat as Speaker for the remainder of the session.

At the next state election he was defeated for re-election to the Assembly.

[edit] Federal office

In 1865, President Andrew Johnson appointed him Customs Collector at Brooklyn, New York. In 1868, he was accused of "traffic in illegal liquor", and convicted. He was fined $ 10,000 and sent to prison for two years. After serving out his term at Albany Penitentiary, he continued to be detained there because he did not pay the fine, and was released only after a presidential pardon in December 1870. ^[3]

[edit] Newspaper editor

In 1890, he had been the editor of the Albany Evening Times in Albany, New York for more than 15 years, when Governor David B. Hill transferred the State Printing from the Albany Argus, a pro-Cleveland paper, to Callicot's paper. As the editor, Callicot had "carried on the business of political assassination, abusing the best and lauding the worst men of the Democratic Party. He has used the knife and hatchet freely upon such Democrats as Samuel J. Tilden, Daniel Manning, the Cassidys, Governor Lucius Robinson and President Grover Cleveland." ^[4]

In 1896, he became the editor of the Albany Argus.

[edit] Notes

1. ^ The name is often written Callicott in contemporary newspaper accounts, but in the letter he sent to Secretary of State Lansing in 1918 he signed his name with only one t.
2. ^ [1] Google book = Craig Steven Wilder: A Covenant with Color: Race and Social Power in Brooklyn (Columbia University Press, 2000, ISBN 0-231-11907-0)
3. ^ Notice in the Putnam County Courier of Carmel, New York on December 10, 1870
4. ^ [2] NYT on January 2, 1890

[edit] Sources

• [3] The transfer of the State printing contract, with Callicot's curriculum, in NYT on January 2, 1890
• [4] Proceedings in the case against Callicot and John S. Allen, in NYT on May 23, 1868
• [5] Transcription of Stamford Mirror of Stamford, New York, edition of June 30, 1896, mentioning Callicot's takeover of the Argus
• [6] The papers of Isaiah Thornton Williams, at NY Public Library
• [7] Obit of daughter Mary Fitzina, in NYT on April 19, 1852
• [8] Circumstances of his election as Speaker on Mr. Lincoln and New York
• [9] The end of the "Callicot Investigation", in NYT on April 18, 1863
• [10] Speaker election, in NYT on January 27, 1863

[edit] External links

• [11] Facsimile of his letter to Robert Lansing from Wiesbaden in 1918, at Annuity Museum