Archibald Easton Baxter (December 16, 1844 – October 6, 1925) was a

Scottish-American Scottish Americans or Scots Americans (Scottish Gaelic language, Scottish Gaelic: ''Ameireaganaich Albannach''; sco, Scots-American) are Americans whose ancestry originates wholly or partly in Scotland. Scottish people, Scottish Americans are cl ...

lawyer and politician from New York.

Life

Baxter was born on December 16, 1844, in

Port Glasgow Port Glasgow ( gd, Port Ghlaschu, ) is the second-largest town in the Inverclyde council area of Scotland. The population according to the 1991 census for Port Glasgow was 19,426 persons and in the 2001 census was 16,617 persons. The most recen ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

. In 1850, his father Duncan brought the family to America, where they settled in

Corning, New York Corning is a city in Steuben County, New York, United States, on the Chemung River. The population was 10,551 at the 2020 census. It is named for Erastus Corning, an Albany financier and railroad executive who was an investor in the company t ...

. Baxter worked on a farm and studied at the Corning Academy. He was a clerk in the village post-office when the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...

broke out. Baxter enrolled in the

141st New York Volunteer Infantry The 141st New York Infantry Regiment was an infantry regiment in the Union Army during the American Civil War. Service The 141st New York Infantry was organized at Elmira, New York, beginning August 14, 1862 and mustered in for three years serv ...

in August 1862 and was mustered in as a private in Company E. By September 1862, he was promoted to sergeant, followed by first sergeant in April 1863 and first lieutenant in August 1863. In May 1864, he was wounded during the

Battle of Resaca The Battle of Resaca, from May 13 to 15, 1864, formed part of the Atlanta Campaign during the American Civil War, when a Union force under William Tecumseh Sherman engaged the Confederate Army of Tennessee led by Joseph E. Johnston. The battle ...

. On January 1, 1865, he was promoted to captain. He was mustered out with his company near

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

, in June 1865. He left the service as brevet-major of volunteers. He later served as adjutant and lieutenant-colonel in the National Guard of New York. Baxter returned to Corning after the War. From 1865 to 1872, he worked in the Tioga Railroad Company. In 1874, he was elected clerk of Steuben County. When he moved to

Bath Bath may refer to: * Bathing, immersion in a fluid ** Bathtub, a large open container for water, in which a person may wash their body ** Public bathing, a public place where people bathe * Thermae, ancient Roman public bathing facilities Plac ...

to work as clerk, and began studying law under Judge

William Rumsey William Rumsey (born October 18, 1841, in Bath, New York, died January 16, 1903, in Rochester, New York) was an American lawyer, diplomat and judge. His father was David Rumsey, a prominent lawyer, politician and judge. He attended Williams C ...

. He then attended Albany Law School, graduating in 1879. After graduating, he moved to Elmira and started practicing law there. He was an active member of and public speaker for the

Republican Party Republican Party is a name used by many political parties around the world, though the term most commonly refers to the United States' Republican Party. Republican Party may also refer to: Africa *Republican Party (Liberia) * Republican Part ...

. In 1882, Baxter ran for the

New York's 29th congressional district New York's 29th congressional district is an obsolete congressional district for the United States House of Representatives which most recently included a portion of the Appalachian mountains in New York known as the " Southern Tier." It was m ...

, losing the election to John Arnot Jr. In 1889, President Benjamin Harrison appointed him

United States Marshal The United States Marshals Service (USMS) is a federal law enforcement agency in the United States. The USMS is a bureau within the U.S. Department of Justice, operating under the direction of the Attorney General, but serves as the enforcem ...

for the

Northern District of New York The United States District Court for the Northern District of New York (in case citations, N.D.N.Y.) serves one of the 94 judicial districts in the United States and one of four in the state of New York. Appeals from the Northern District of New ...

. He was a delegate to the

1896 Republican National Convention The 1896 Republican National Convention was held in a temporary structure south of the St. Louis City Hall in Saint Louis, Missouri, from June 16 to June 18, 1896. Former Governor William McKinley of Ohio was nominated for president on the firs ...

. In 1895, Baxter was elected

Clerk of the New York State Assembly The Clerk of the New York State Assembly heads the administration of the New York State Assembly. The outgoing clerk of the previous session presides over a new Assembly until a Speaker Speaker may refer to: Society and politics * Speaker (politi ...

. He served as Clerk in

1895 Events January–March * January 5 – Dreyfus affair: French officer Alfred Dreyfus is stripped of his army rank, and sentenced to life imprisonment on Devil's Island. * January 12 – The National Trust for Places of Histor ...

1896 Events January–March * January 2 – The Jameson Raid comes to an end, as Jameson surrenders to the Boers. * January 4 – Utah is admitted as the 45th U.S. state. * January 5 – An Austrian newspaper reports that Wil ...

1897 Events January–March * January 2 – The International Alpha Omicron Pi sorority is founded, in New York City. * January 4 – A British force is ambushed by Chief Ologbosere, son-in-law of the ruler. This leads to a puniti ...

1898 Events January–March * January 1 – New York City annexes land from surrounding counties, creating the City of Greater New York as the world's second largest. The city is geographically divided into five boroughs: Manhattan, B ...

1899 Events January 1899 * January 1 ** Spanish rule ends in Cuba, concluding 400 years of the Spanish Empire in the Americas. ** Queens and Staten Island become administratively part of New York City. * January 2 – **Bolivia sets up a c ...

1900 As of March 1 ( O.S. February 17), when the Julian calendar acknowledged a leap day and the Gregorian calendar did not, the Julian calendar fell one day further behind, bringing the difference to 13 days until February 28 ( O.S. February 15), 2 ...

1901 Events January * January 1 – The Crown colony, British colonies of New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania, Victoria (Australia), Victoria and Western Australia Federation of Australia, federate as the Australia, ...

1902 Events January * January 1 ** The Nurses Registration Act 1901 comes into effect in New Zealand, making it the first country in the world to require state registration of nurses. On January 10, Ellen Dougherty becomes the world's f ...

1903 Events January * January 1 – Edward VII is proclaimed Emperor of India. * January 19 – The first west–east transatlantic radio broadcast is made from the United States to England (the first east–west broadcast having been ...

1904 Events January * January 7 – The distress signal ''CQD'' is established, only to be replaced 2 years later by ''SOS''. * January 8 – The Blackstone Library is dedicated, marking the beginning of the Chicago Public Library system. * ...

1905 As the second year of the massive Russo-Japanese War begins, more than 100,000 die in the largest world battles of that era, and the war chaos leads to the 1905 Russian Revolution against Nicholas II of Russia (Shostakovich's 11th Symphony i ...

1906 Events January–February * January 12 – Persian Constitutional Revolution: A nationalistic coalition of merchants, religious leaders and intellectuals in Persia forces the shah Mozaffar ad-Din Shah Qajar to grant a constitution, ...

, and

1907 Events January * January 14 – 1907 Kingston earthquake: A 6.5 Mw earthquake in Kingston, Jamaica, kills between 800 and 1,000. February * February 11 – The French warship ''Jean Bart'' sinks off the coast of Morocco. ...

. Baxter was a 32nd degree freemason, a member of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, and a member of the

Grand Army of the Republic The Grand Army of the Republic (GAR) was a fraternal organization composed of veterans of the Union Army (United States Army), Union Navy (U.S. Navy), and the Marines who served in the American Civil War. It was founded in 1866 in Decatur, Il ...

. He attended the Episcopal Church. He married Rosemund E. Wheeler in 1873. Their children were Charles, Louise, and Maud. Baxter moved to

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

in 1913. He died there on October 6, 1925. He was buried in Sylvan Lawn Cemetery in Greene, New York.

References

External links

*
The Political Graveyard
'
Archie E. Baxter
at ''

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'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Baxter, Archie E. 1844 births 1925 deaths 19th-century American politicians Clerks of the New York State Assembly Burials in New York (state) Scottish emigrants to the United States People from Port Glasgow Politicians from Corning, New York People of New York (state) in the American Civil War Union Army officers New York National Guard personnel People from Bath, New York Albany Law School alumni New York (state) lawyers Politicians from Elmira, New York New York (state) Republicans United States Marshals American Freemasons 19th-century American Episcopalians 20th-century American Episcopalians 19th-century American lawyers