Charles Sedgwick May (March 22, 1830 – March 25, 1901) was an American politician and the 16th

lieutenant governor of Michigan The lieutenant governor of Michigan is the second-ranking official in U.S. state of Michigan, behind the governor. The current lieutenant governor by default is Garlin Gilchrist, a Democrat, who has held the office since January 1, 2019. Proce ...

Early life

May was born in

Sandisfield, Massachusetts Sandisfield is a town in Berkshire County, Massachusetts, United States. It is part of the Pittsfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 989 at the 2020 census. History Sandisfield was first settled in 1750 as Hou ...

, and at the age of four moved to Richland, Michigan. He worked there on a farm until the age of fifteen and became a student of the State University (now

Western Michigan University Western Michigan University (Western Michigan, Western or WMU) is a public research university in Kalamazoo, Michigan. It was initially established as Western State Normal School in 1903 by Governor Aaron T. Bliss for the training of teachers ...

) at

Kalamazoo Kalamazoo ( ) is a city in the southwest region of the U.S. state of Michigan. It is the county seat of Kalamazoo County. At the 2010 census, Kalamazoo had a population of 74,262. Kalamazoo is the major city of the Kalamazoo-Portage Metropolit ...

. He studied law in Bennington, Vermont and

Battle Creek, Michigan Battle Creek is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan, in northwest Calhoun County, Michigan, Calhoun County, at the confluence of the Kalamazoo River, Kalamazoo and Battle Creek River, Battle Creek rivers. It is the principal city of the Battle C ...

and was admitted to the bar in 1854. From November 1855 to October 1856, May was associate political editor of the ''Detroit Daily Tribune'' and its

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, Na ...

correspondent. He commenced the practice of law in Battle Creek, but soon returned to Kalamazoo where he was elected prosecuting attorney in 1860. May resigned in 1861, and raised Company K, Second Michigan Infantry, the first volunteer company from Kalamazoo, and was commissioned as captain 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 ...

. He participated in several of the early battles, including the battle of Bull Run and Blackburn's Ford. He resigned due to ill health.

Politics

In 1862, May was elected lieutenant governor and served from 1863 to 1865. The following year he was a member of the 1866 Republican state convention. In 1872, he broke party ranks and supported

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (United States) (D) **Democratic ...

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 ...

for U. S. President against the re-election of

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 was a losing Democratic candidate for

U. S. Senate The United States Senate is the Upper house, upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the United States House of Representatives, House of Representatives being the Lower house, lower chamber. Together they compose the national Bica ...

in 1876. He then practiced law in

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at th ...

and later returned to practice law in Kalamazoo.

Retirement and death

In 1888, May retired due to ill health and built a country home, “Island View”, overlooking

Gull Lake Gull Lake may refer to: Native American entities *Gull Lake Indian Reservation, located near Brainerd, Minnesota, surrounding Gull Lake *Gull Lake Band of Mississippi Chippewa, whose descendants are located on the White Earth Indian Reservation L ...

where he wrote several newspaper and magazine articles and several books. He died of heart disease there just three days after his seventy-first birthday. He is

interred Burial, also known as interment or inhumation, is a method of final disposition whereby a dead body is placed into the ground, sometimes with objects. This is usually accomplished by excavating a pit or trench, placing the deceased and objec ...

at Mountain Home Cemetery, Kalamazoo, Kalamazoo County, Michigan, USA.

Family life

May was the son of Rockwell May (1799 - 1895) and Celestia E Underwood May (1800 - 1889). He married Cornelia E Myers about 1851 and after her death in 1852, he married Eliza Edna Dailey in about 1853. They had four children: Charles Frederick, Gordon Allen, Cornelia Eliza, and Allen Potter. His brother

Dwight May Dwight May (September 8, 1822 – January 28, 1880) was a politician from the U. S. state of Michigan who also served as officer in the Union Army during the American Civil War. Early life May was born in Sandisfield, Massachusetts to Rockwell an ...

was elected lieutenant governor in 1867.

References

External links

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{{DEFAULTSORT:May, Charles S. 1830 births 1901 deaths Lieutenant governors of Michigan Michigan lawyers Burials in Michigan Western Michigan University alumni Michigan Republicans Michigan Democrats People from Sandisfield, Massachusetts People from Richland, Michigan