Benjamin Franklin Angel (November 28, 1815 – September 11, 1894) was an American lawyer, politician and diplomat.

Life

Benjamin Franklin Angel was born in

Burlington, New York Burlington is a town in Otsego County, New York, United States. The population was 1,140 at the 2010 census. The Town of Burlington is in the northwestern part of the county and is located north of Oneonta. Geography According to the United St ...

, the son of Benjamin Angel and Abigail (Stickney) Angel. He studied law, was admitted to the bar, and commenced practice in Geneseo. He was

Surrogate A surrogate is a substitute or deputy for another person in a specific role and may refer to: Relationships * Surrogacy, an arrangement where a woman agrees to carry and give birth to a child for another person who will become its parent at bi ...

of Livingston County from 1836 to 1840 and from 1844 to 1847. He married Julia Jones. He was a delegate to the

1852 Democratic National Convention The 1852 Democratic National Convention was a presidential nominating convention that met from June 1 to June 5 in Baltimore, Maryland. It was held to nominate the Democratic Party's candidates for president and vice president in the 1852 electio ...

Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

. In 1853, his health having become impaired, he accepted an appointment as United States Consul at

Honolulu Honolulu (; ) is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, which is in the Pacific Ocean. It is an unincorporated county seat of the consolidated City and County of Honolulu, situated along the southeast coast of the island ...

, then in the

Kingdom of Hawaii The Hawaiian Kingdom, or Kingdom of Hawaiʻi ( Hawaiian: ''Ko Hawaiʻi Pae ʻĀina''), was a sovereign state located in the Hawaiian Islands. The country was formed in 1795, when the warrior chief Kamehameha the Great, of the independent island ...

. In 1855, he was sent by President

Franklin Pierce Franklin Pierce (November 23, 1804October 8, 1869) was the 14th president of the United States, serving from 1853 to 1857. He was a northern Democrat who believed that the abolitionist movement was a fundamental threat to the nation's unity ...

to China as Special Commissioner to settle a dispute between some American merchants and the Chinese government regarding the exaction of export duties. This mission was successful, and he returned to the United States by way of the East Indies, Egypt, and Europe. On his return, he was nominated for Congress without his consent, but was defeated. In 1857, Angel was appointed by President

James Buchanan James Buchanan Jr. ( ; April 23, 1791June 1, 1868) was an American lawyer, diplomat and politician who served as the 15th president of the United States from 1857 to 1861. He previously served as secretary of state from 1845 to 1849 and repr ...

as Minister to Sweden and Norway, and remained in

Stockholm Stockholm () is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, largest city of Sweden as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people liv ...

until 1861. He was a delegate to the

1864 Democratic National Convention The 1864 Democratic National Convention was held at The Amphitheatre in Chicago, Illinois. The Convention nominated Major General George B. McClellan from New Jersey for president, and Representative George H. Pendleton of Ohio for vice president ...

at Chicago. He was President of the

New York State Agricultural Society The New York State Agricultural Society was founded in 1832, with the goal of promoting agricultural improvement. One of its main activities is operating the annual New York State Fair. Activities A major activity of the society is running the ...

from 1873 to 1874. He died in

Geneseo, New York Geneseo is a Administrative divisions of New York#Town, town in Livingston County, New York, Livingston County in the Finger Lakes region of New York (state), New York, United States. It is at the south end of the five-county Rochester metropol ...

in 1894.

Sources

''The New York Civil List''
compiled by Franklin Benjamin Hough (page 414; Weed, Parsons and Co., 1858)
"The Obituary Record; Benjamin F. Angel"
in ''NYT'' on September 13, 1894 {{DEFAULTSORT:Angel, Benjamin Franklin 1815 births 1894 deaths New York (state) Republicans People from Geneseo, New York People from Burlington, New York Ambassadors of the United States to Sweden New York (state) state court judges American consuls 19th-century American diplomats 19th-century American judges