Benjamin Gratz Brown (May 28, 1826December 13, 1885) was an American politician. He was a
U.S. Senator
The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States.
The composition and powe ...
, the
20th Governor of Missouri
A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political_regions, political region, ranking under the Head of State, head of state and in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of ...
, and the
Liberal Republican and
Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to:
*Democratic Party (United States)
Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to:
Active parties Africa
*Botswana Democratic Party
*Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea
*Gabonese Democratic Party
*Demo ...
vice presidential candidate in the
presidential election of 1872.
Born in
Frankfort, Kentucky
Frankfort is the capital city of the Commonwealth of Kentucky, United States, and the seat of Franklin County. It is a home rule-class city; the population was 28,602 at the 2020 census. Located along the Kentucky River, Frankfort is the prin ...
, Brown established a legal practice in
St. Louis
St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...
, Missouri. Both of his grandfathers,
John Brown John Brown most often refers to:
*John Brown (abolitionist) (1800–1859), American who led an anti-slavery raid in Harpers Ferry, Virginia in 1859
John Brown or Johnny Brown may also refer to:
Academia
* John Brown (educator) (1763–1842), Ir ...
and
Jesse Bledsoe
Jesse Bledsoe (April 6, 1776June 25, 1836) was a slave owner and Senator from Kentucky.
Life and career
Bledsoe was born in Culpeper County, Virginia in 1776. When he was very young, his family migrated with a Baptist congregation through Cumber ...
, represented Kentucky in the Senate. After settling in St. Louis, Brown won election to the
Missouri House of Representatives
The Missouri House of Representatives is the lower chamber of the Missouri General Assembly. It has 163 members, representing districts with an average size of 37,000 residents. House members are elected for two-year terms during general elections ...
. He became an ally of
Thomas Hart Benton and
Francis Preston Blair Jr.
Francis Preston Blair Jr. (February 19, 1821 – July 8, 1875) was a United States Senator, a United States Congressman and a Union Major General during the Civil War. He represented Missouri in both the House of Representatives and the Senate, a ...
in the struggle for control of the state Democratic Party against pro-slavery forces. As the 1850s progressed, Brown continued to speak against
slavery
Slavery and enslavement are both the state and the condition of being a slave—someone forbidden to quit one's service for an enslaver, and who is treated by the enslaver as property. Slavery typically involves slaves being made to perf ...
, and he helped found the Missouri
Republican Party.
During the
Civil War
A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country).
The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...
, Brown worked to keep Missouri in the
Union
Union commonly refers to:
* Trade union, an organization of workers
* Union (set theory), in mathematics, a fundamental operation on sets
Union may also refer to:
Arts and entertainment
Music
* Union (band), an American rock group
** ''Un ...
. In 1863, he was elected to the Senate as a member of the
Unconditional Union Party
The Unconditional Union Party was a loosely organized political entity during the American Civil War and the early days of Reconstruction. First established in 1861 in Missouri, where secession talk was strong, the party fully supported the preserv ...
. In the Senate, he aligned with the
Radical Republican
The Radical Republicans (later also known as " Stalwarts") were a faction within the Republican Party, originating from the party's founding in 1854, some 6 years before the Civil War, until the Compromise of 1877, which effectively ended Reco ...
s and opposed many of President
Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln ( ; February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was an American lawyer, politician, and statesman who served as the 16th president of the United States from 1861 until his assassination in 1865. Lincoln led the nation thro ...
's policies. He was part of a movement that unsuccessfully sought to replace Lincoln as the 1864 Republican nominee. After the war, Brown strongly opposed President
Andrew Johnson
Andrew Johnson (December 29, 1808July 31, 1875) was the 17th president of the United States, serving from 1865 to 1869. He assumed the presidency as he was vice president at the time of the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. Johnson was a Dem ...
's
Reconstruction
Reconstruction may refer to:
Politics, history, and sociology
*Reconstruction (law), the transfer of a company's (or several companies') business to a new company
*'' Perestroika'' (Russian for "reconstruction"), a late 20th century Soviet Unio ...
policies and supported the
Freedmen's Bureau bills The Freedmen's Bureau bills provided legislative authorization for the Freedmen's Bureau (formally known as the Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen and Abandoned Lands), which was set up by U.S. President Abraham Lincoln in 1865 as part of the United Stat ...
.
Brown resigned from the Senate in 1867 but helped found the
Liberal Republican Party in 1870. The party chose Brown as its nominee for governor, and he defeated incumbent Republican Governor
Joseph W. McClurg
Joseph Washington McClurg (February 22, 1818December 2, 1900) was the 19th Governor of Missouri in the decade following the American Civil War. His stepfather was William Murphy.
Biography
Born near St. Louis, Missouri, McClurg was orphaned a ...
. Brown sought the new party's 1872 presidential nomination but was defeated by
Horace Greeley
Horace Greeley (February 3, 1811 – November 29, 1872) was an American newspaper editor and publisher who was the founder and newspaper editor, editor of the ''New-York Tribune''. Long active in politics, he served briefly as a congressm ...
. After the nomination of Greeley, the
1872 Liberal Republican convention chose Brown as the party's vice presidential nominee. Seeking to avoid splitting the vote of opponents to President
Ulysses S. Grant
Ulysses S. Grant (born Hiram Ulysses Grant ; April 27, 1822July 23, 1885) was an American military officer and politician who served as the 18th president of the United States from 1869 to 1877. As Commanding General, he led the Union Ar ...
's re-election, the
1872 Democratic National Convention
The 1872 Democratic National Convention was a presidential nominating convention held at Ford's Grand Opera House on East Fayette Street, between North Howard and North Eutaw Streets, in Baltimore, Maryland on July 9 and 10, 1872. It resulted in ...
subsequently nominated the Liberal Republican ticket. The Republican ticket nonetheless triumphed in the election, as Grant won 55.6% of the popular vote and a majority of the
electoral vote. Greeley died after the election but before the electors officially cast their votes, and Brown received some of Greeley's electoral votes. After the election, Gratz returned to his law practice and affiliated with the Democratic Party.
Early life
Brown was born in 1826 in
Frankfort, Kentucky
Frankfort is the capital city of the Commonwealth of Kentucky, United States, and the seat of Franklin County. It is a home rule-class city; the population was 28,602 at the 2020 census. Located along the Kentucky River, Frankfort is the prin ...
, the son of Judith Ann (Bledsoe) and
Mason Brown
Mason Brown (November 10, 1799 – January 27, 1867) was an American politician who served as secretary of state of Kentucky and Kentucky state treasurer.
Mason Brown was born November 10, 1799, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to John Brown a ...
. He was the grandson of Senators
John Brown John Brown most often refers to:
*John Brown (abolitionist) (1800–1859), American who led an anti-slavery raid in Harpers Ferry, Virginia in 1859
John Brown or Johnny Brown may also refer to:
Academia
* John Brown (educator) (1763–1842), Ir ...
and
Jesse Bledsoe
Jesse Bledsoe (April 6, 1776June 25, 1836) was a slave owner and Senator from Kentucky.
Life and career
Bledsoe was born in Culpeper County, Virginia in 1776. When he was very young, his family migrated with a Baptist congregation through Cumber ...
of Kentucky. He graduated from
Transylvania University
Transylvania University is a private university in Lexington, Kentucky. It was founded in 1780 and was the first university in Kentucky. It offers 46 major programs, as well as dual-degree engineering programs, and is accredited by the Southern ...
in Lexington in 1845 where he was a member of
Beta Theta Pi
Beta Theta Pi (), commonly known as Beta, is a North American social fraternity that was founded in 1839 at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. One of North America's oldest fraternities, as of 2022 it consists of 144 active chapters in the Unite ...
fraternity, and from
Yale College
Yale College is the undergraduate college of Yale University. Founded in 1701, it is the original school of the university. Although other Yale schools were founded as early as 1810, all of Yale was officially known as Yale College until 1887, ...
in
New Haven, Connecticut
New Haven is a city in the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is located on New Haven Harbor on the northern shore of Long Island Sound in New Haven County, Connecticut and is part of the New York City metropolitan area. With a population of 134,02 ...
, in 1847. He studied law, and later settled in
St. Louis
St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...
,
Missouri
Missouri is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee ...
. There he joined his cousin,
Francis P. Blair, Jr., and Senator
Thomas Hart Benton in a struggle against the pro-
slavery
Slavery and enslavement are both the state and the condition of being a slave—someone forbidden to quit one's service for an enslaver, and who is treated by the enslaver as property. Slavery typically involves slaves being made to perf ...
faction for control of Missouri's
Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to:
*Democratic Party (United States)
Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to:
Active parties Africa
*Botswana Democratic Party
*Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea
*Gabonese Democratic Party
*Demo ...
. He was a correspondent for the Missouri Republican at the
Treaty of Fort Laramie (1851)
The Fort Laramie Treaty of 1851 was signed on September 17, 1851 between United States treaty commissioners and representatives of the Cheyenne, Sioux, Arapaho, Crow, Assiniboine, Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara Nations. Also known as Horse Cree ...
and served as the secretary at the treaty negotiations. He married Mary Gunn (1842–1888) in 1858, and together they had six children.
Political career
Brown became a member of the
Missouri House of Representatives
The Missouri House of Representatives is the lower chamber of the Missouri General Assembly. It has 163 members, representing districts with an average size of 37,000 residents. House members are elected for two-year terms during general elections ...
and served there between 1852 and 1858. An able lawyer in St. Louis, Brown made a speech in 1857 against a joint resolution opposing emancipation. The speech marked the beginning of the
Free Soil
The Free Soil Party was a short-lived coalition political party in the United States active from 1848 to 1854, when it merged into the Republican Party. The party was largely focused on the single issue of opposing the expansion of slavery into ...
movement in Missouri. He was a leader of the movement. After that, he edited the ''
Missouri Democrat
Missouri is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee ...
'' between 1854 and 1859. He was an unsuccessful candidate for Governor of Missouri in 1857.
On August 26, 1856 he fought a
duel
A duel is an arranged engagement in combat between two people, with matched weapons, in accordance with agreed-upon Code duello, rules.
During the 17th and 18th centuries (and earlier), duels were mostly single combats fought with swords (the r ...
on
Bloody Island (Mississippi River)
Bloody Island was a sandbar or "towhead" (river island) in the Mississippi River, opposite St. Louis, Missouri, which became densely wooded and a rendezvous for duelists because it was considered "neutral" and not under Missouri or Illinois con ...
with
Thomas C. Reynolds
Thomas Caute Reynolds (October 11, 1821 – March 30, 1887) was the Confederate governor of Missouri from 1862 to 1865, succeeding upon the death of Claiborne F. Jackson after serving as lieutenant governor in exile. In 1864 he returned to the ...
(then the St. Louis District Attorney) over the slavery issue. Reynolds was not hurt but Brown was shot in the leg and limped for the rest of his life.
Brown became a founding member of the
Republican Party in Missouri. Throughout the 1860s, he and Blair contested control of the state's Republican party. He worked to prevent Missouri from
seceding from the Union in 1861. After that, he served as an officer in the
Union Army
During the American Civil War, the Union Army, also known as the Federal Army and the Northern Army, referring to the United States Army, was the land force that fought to preserve the Union (American Civil War), Union of the collective U.S. st ...
during the first half of the
Civil War
A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country).
The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...
, raising a regiment (the 4th U.S. Reserves) and serving as its
colonel
Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations.
In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge of ...
. He recruited over 1,100 soldiers for his regiment, many of whom were St. Louis-area
German-Americans
German Americans (german: Deutschamerikaner, ) are Americans who have full or partial Germans, German ancestry. With an estimated size of approximately 43 million in 2019, German Americans are the largest of the self-reported ancestry groups by ...
, a key constituency that Brown courted for his political advantage.
Brown resigned from the Army after he was elected in late 1863 as an
Unconditional Unionist
The Unconditional Union Party was a loosely organized political entity during the American Civil War and the early days of Reconstruction. First established in 1861 in Missouri, where secession talk was strong, the party fully supported the preserv ...
to the
U.S. Senate
The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States.
The composition and powe ...
to fill the vacancy caused by the expulsion of
Waldo P. Johnson
Waldo Porter Johnson (born September 16, 1817August 14, 1885) was an American politician who served as a Confederate States Senator from Missouri from 1863 to 1865.
Biography
Born in Bridgeport, Virginia (present-day West Virginia), Waldo Porte ...
. Brown opposed
Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln ( ; February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was an American lawyer, politician, and statesman who served as the 16th president of the United States from 1861 until his assassination in 1865. Lincoln led the nation thro ...
's moderation and objected to the
Emancipation Proclamation
The Emancipation Proclamation, officially Proclamation 95, was a presidential proclamation and executive order issued by United States President Abraham Lincoln on January 1, 1863, during the Civil War. The Proclamation changed the legal sta ...
because it did not free slaves in Missouri and other loyal border states. He was a key figure in the move to replace Lincoln with
John C. Frémont
John Charles Frémont or Fremont (January 21, 1813July 13, 1890) was an American explorer, military officer, and politician. He was a U.S. Senator from California and was the first Republican nominee for president of the United States in 1856 ...
in the
presidential election of 1864. In the Senate, Brown was chairman of the
Public Buildings and Grounds committee and of the
Committee to Audit and Control the Contingent Expense. Following Lincoln's assassination, Brown was vehemently opposed to new President
Andrew Johnson
Andrew Johnson (December 29, 1808July 31, 1875) was the 17th president of the United States, serving from 1865 to 1869. He assumed the presidency as he was vice president at the time of the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. Johnson was a Dem ...
's moderate plan of
Reconstruction
Reconstruction may refer to:
Politics, history, and sociology
*Reconstruction (law), the transfer of a company's (or several companies') business to a new company
*'' Perestroika'' (Russian for "reconstruction"), a late 20th century Soviet Unio ...
. He also supported the Radical-sponsored Civil Rights Bill and Freedmen's Bureau Bill. Brown left the Senate in 1867 because of ill health.
In 1870, dissatisfied with the Missouri Republicans, he joined the new
Liberal Republican Party. The party nominated Brown for governor, and he defeated Republican incumbent
Joseph W. McClurg
Joseph Washington McClurg (February 22, 1818December 2, 1900) was the 19th Governor of Missouri in the decade following the American Civil War. His stepfather was William Murphy.
Biography
Born near St. Louis, Missouri, McClurg was orphaned a ...
. Brown served as the Governor between 1871 and 1873.
Presidential election of 1872
Brown was one of the contenders for the Liberal Republican presidential nomination, but lost to newspaper editor
Horace Greeley
Horace Greeley (February 3, 1811 – November 29, 1872) was an American newspaper editor and publisher who was the founder and newspaper editor, editor of the ''New-York Tribune''. Long active in politics, he served briefly as a congressm ...
. Brown was the vice presidential candidate under Greeley in the
presidential election of 1872 for the Liberal Republican and Democratic parties. Greeley died on November 29 of illness, before the
electoral college could vote, and the electoral votes (63 of 66) that were to have been for Greeley were split among four others, including Brown, who received eighteen of those electoral votes. The Republicans, incumbent
president
President most commonly refers to:
*President (corporate title)
*President (education), a leader of a college or university
*President (government title)
President may also refer to:
Automobiles
* Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...
Ulysses S. Grant
Ulysses S. Grant (born Hiram Ulysses Grant ; April 27, 1822July 23, 1885) was an American military officer and politician who served as the 18th president of the United States from 1869 to 1877. As Commanding General, he led the Union Ar ...
and the vice presidential candidate, U.S. Senator
Henry Wilson
Henry Wilson (born Jeremiah Jones Colbath; February 16, 1812 – November 22, 1875) was an American politician who was the 18th vice president of the United States from 1873 until his death in 1875 and a senator from Massachusetts from 1855 to ...
of
, won the election anyway.
Brown returned to his law practice, quit the Republican Party and resumed his ties to the Democrats. He died in
Kirkwood, Missouri
Kirkwood is an inner-ring western suburb of St. Louis located in St. Louis County, Missouri. As of the 2010 census, the city's population was 27,540. Founded in 1853, the city is named after James P. Kirkwood, builder of the Pacific Railroad th ...
and is interred there at Oak Hill Cemetery.
References
Retrieved on 2009-03-30
External links
Brown biography*
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Brown, B. Gratz
1826 births
1885 deaths
1872 United States vice-presidential candidates
American duellists
Burials in Missouri
Candidates in the 1872 United States presidential election
Democratic Party governors of Missouri
Democratic Party (United States) vice presidential nominees
Governors of Missouri
Liberal Republican Party state governors of the United States
Members of the Missouri House of Representatives
Missouri Democrats
Missouri Liberal Republicans
Missouri Republicans
Missouri Unconditional Unionists
Politicians from Lexington, Kentucky
People from St. Louis County, Missouri
People of Missouri in the American Civil War
Republican Party governors of Missouri
Republican Party United States senators from Missouri
Transylvania University alumni
Unconditional Union Party United States senators
Yale College alumni