Calvin Clifford Chaffee (August 28, 1811 – August 8, 1896) was an American doctor and politician. He was an outspoken opponent of slavery.

Life and work

Born in

Saratoga Springs, New York Saratoga Springs is a city in Saratoga County, New York, United States. The population was 28,491 at the 2020 census. The name reflects the presence of mineral springs in the area, which has made Saratoga a popular resort destination for over 2 ...

, Chaffee graduated from the medical school of Middlebury College,

Middlebury, Vermont Middlebury is the shire town (county seat) of Addison County, Vermont, United States. As of the 2020 U.S. Census, the population was 9,152. Middlebury is home to Middlebury College and the Henry Sheldon Museum of Vermont History. History On ...

, in 1835. He settled in Springfield, Massachusetts, where he began his medical practice. In 1854 he was elected on the American Party ticket to the Thirty-fourth Congress as part of the Know Nothing party sweep of the Massachusetts congressional delegation that year. An abolitionist who received an honorary degree from Amherst in the same ceremony as

Charles Sumner Charles Sumner (January 6, 1811March 11, 1874) was an American statesman and United States Senator from Massachusetts. As an academic lawyer and a powerful orator, Sumner was the leader of the anti-slavery forces in the state and a leader of th ...

, he became a

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

and was reelected to Congress as such in 1856. He was married to Clara Nourse (1813 – 1848) until her death in 1848. They had two children: a daughter, Emma Lovetta Wilder (Chaffee) (1838 – 1910) and a son, Clemens Clifford Chaffee (1841 – 1867). In 1850 Chaffee married Eliza Irene Emerson (née Sanford) (1815 – 1903). Irene Emerson was the widow of Dr. John Emerson, the owner of the slave

Dred Scott Dred Scott (c. 1799 – September 17, 1858) was an enslaved African American man who, along with his wife, Harriet, unsuccessfully sued for freedom for themselves and their two daughters in the '' Dred Scott v. Sandford'' case of 1857, popula ...

. She had a daughter, Henrietta Sanford King (Emerson) (1843 – 1919), from her first marriage. There is speculation Blaustein, pp 147 that Chaffee advanced the ''Dred Scott'' case as a test for slavery. However, contemporary reports have him discover from the ''Springfield Argus'' that his new wife owned the most famous slave in the world in February 1857, only a month before the Supreme Court handed down the infamous ''Dred Scott'' decision. Criticized nationwide for apparent hypocrisy, Chaffee immediately arranged for the return of Scott to his original owners, the Blow family, for emancipation. Because of negative publicity from the Scott case, Chaffee did not seek reelection in 1858 and became Librarian of the

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entitles. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often c ...

from 1860-1862. He then practiced medicine in Washington, D.C. until 1876, when he returned to Springfield. He died there in 1896 at age 84.

References

Bibliography

External links

Biography of Dred Scott
by Christyn Elley, Missouri State Archives * {{DEFAULTSORT:Chaffee, Calvin C. 1811 births 1896 deaths Politicians from Saratoga Springs, New York American abolitionists Middlebury College alumni Politicians from Springfield, Massachusetts Know-Nothing members of the United States House of Representatives from Massachusetts Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Massachusetts 19th-century American politicians