Charles James Folger (April 16, 1818 – September 4, 1884) was an American lawyer and politician. A member of 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 ...

, he was a State Senator in New York from 1862 to 1869 and served as the 34th

U.S. Secretary of the Treasury The United States secretary of the treasury is the head of the United States Department of the Treasury, and is the chief financial officer of the federal government of the United States. The secretary of the treasury serves as the principal a ...

from Novemember 14th, 1881 until his death in 1884. Folger was the Republican nominee for

Governor of New York The governor of New York is the head of government of the U.S. state of New York. The governor is the head of the executive branch of New York's state government and the commander-in-chief of the state's military forces. The governor has ...

1882 Events January–March * January 2 ** The Standard Oil Trust is secretly created in the United States to control multiple corporations set up by John D. Rockefeller and his associates. ** Irish-born author Oscar Wilde arrives in ...

, but was defeated by the Democratic Party's nominee, future President

Grover Cleveland Stephen Grover Cleveland (March 18, 1837June 24, 1908) was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 22nd and 24th president of the United States from 1885 to 1889 and from 1893 to 1897. Cleveland is the only president in American ...

Early life

He was born in 1818 on the island of

Nantucket Nantucket () is an island about south from Cape Cod. Together with the small islands of Tuckernuck and Muskeget, it constitutes the Town and County of Nantucket, a combined county/town government that is part of the U.S. state of Massachuse ...

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous U.S. state, state in the New England ...

. When Folger was 12 years old his family moved to Geneva, New York. He later attended Geneva College (now called

Hobart and William Smith Colleges Hobart and William Smith Colleges are Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts colleges in Geneva, New York. They trace their origins to Geneva Academy established in 1797. Students can choose from 45 maj ...

), where in 1836 he graduated with honors. After his graduation, he

read law Reading law was the method used in common law countries, particularly the United States, for people to prepare for and enter the legal profession before the advent of law schools. It consisted of an extended internship or apprenticeship under the ...

with

Mark H. Sibley Mark Hopkins Sibley (1796 -– September 8, 1852) was an American politician from New York. Life Sibley was born in Great Barrington, Massachusetts in 1796. He studied law, was admitted to the bar, and commenced practice in Canandaigua, New Yo ...

and Alvah Worden in

Canandaigua (town), New York Canandaigua (pronounced "Ka-nuhn-day-gwuh") is a town in Ontario County, New York, United States. The population was 11,109 at the 2020 census. The Town of Canandaigua borders the City of Canandaigua at the north end of Canandaigua Lake and i ...

and was admitted to the bar of New York state three years later in 1839. He began his practice in

Lyons (village), New York Lyons is a hamlet (and census-designated place) in Wayne County, New York, United States. The population was 3,619 at the 2010 census. It is located in the southern half of the town of Lyons. The hamlet and the town are named after Lyon (somet ...

, but returned to Geneva in 1840, where he remained for the rest of his life. On June 18, 1844, he married Susan Rebecca Worth.

Public life

FOLGER, Charles J-Treasury (BEP engraved portrait)

In 1844, Folger was appointed to the bench of the Ontario County Court of Common Pleas, serving for about a year. He was a Republican member of the

New York State Senate The New York State Senate is the upper house of the New York State Legislature; the New York State Assembly is its lower house. Its members are elected to two-year terms; there are no term limits. There are 63 seats in the Senate. Partisan com ...

(26th D.) from 1862 to 1869, sitting in the 85th, 86th, 87th, 88th, 89th, 90th, 91st and 92nd New York State Legislatures. During his term he served as

President pro tempore A president pro tempore or speaker pro tempore is a constitutionally recognized officer of a legislative body who presides over the chamber in the absence of the normal presiding officer. The phrase ''pro tempore'' is Latin "for the time being". ...

for four years and as Chairman of the Judiciary Committee. Folger served as a delegate to the New York State Constitutional Convention of 1867–68 and to the

1868 Republican National Convention The 1868 Republican National Convention of the Republican Party of the United States was held in Crosby's Opera House, Chicago, Cook County, Illinois, on May 20 to May 21, 1868. Ulysses S. Grant won the election and became the 18th president of t ...

. Folger resigned from the State Senate in 1869, having been appointed by 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 ...

to Assistant

United States Treasurer The treasurer of the United States is an officer in the United States Department of the Treasury who serves as custodian and trustee of the federal government's collateral assets and the supervisor of the department's currency and coinage produc ...

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 ...

. The following year, Folger was elected one of the first judges of the re-organized

New York Court of Appeals The New York Court of Appeals is the highest court in the Unified Court System of the State of New York. The Court of Appeals consists of seven judges: the Chief Judge and six Associate Judges who are appointed by the Governor and confirmed by t ...

. After the death of

Sanford E. Church Sanford Elias Church (April 18, 1815 – May 14, 1880) was an American lawyer and Democratic politician. He served as Lieutenant Governor of the state of New York and chief judge of the New York Court of Appeals. Early life Born in Milford, Ot ...

, Folger was appointed

Chief Judge A chief judge (also known as presiding judge, president judge or principal judge) is the highest-ranking or most senior member of a lower court or circuit court with more than one judge. According to the Federal judiciary of the United States, th ...

by Governor Alonzo B. Cornell on May 20, 1880, to fill the vacancy temporarily. In November he was elected to a full 14-year term as Chief Judge. He was a member of the "

Stalwart Stalwart is an adjective synonymous with ''"strong"''. It may also refer to: Relating to people: * Stalwart (politics), member of the most patronage-oriented faction of the United States Republican Party in the late 19th century In ships and mil ...

" faction of the Republican Party,Ketchersid, William L. (2003)
The Gilded Age Presidency Reconsidered
p. 56. ''Google Books''. Retrieved March 13, 2022. led by New York senator Roscoe Conkling, which was known during the early Gilded Age for its advocacy of civil rights and opposition towards civil service reform. In 1881, President

James Garfield James Abram Garfield (November 19, 1831 – September 19, 1881) was the 20th president of the United States, serving from March 4, 1881 until his death six months latertwo months after he was shot by an assassin. A lawyer and Civil War gene ...

offered Folger the position of United States Attorney General, which he declined. Later that year, he resigned from the bench to accept an appointment by President Chester Arthur to serve as Secretary of the Treasury. In 1883 he appointed Mifflin E. Bell to the

Office of the Supervising Architect for the U.S. Treasury The Office of the Supervising Architect was an agency of the United States Treasury Department that designed federal government buildings from 1852 to 1939. The office handled some of the most important architectural commissions of the nineteenth ...

, an

agency Agency may refer to: Organizations * Institution, governmental or others ** Advertising agency or marketing agency, a service business dedicated to creating, planning and handling advertising for its clients ** Employment agency, a business that ...

that designed

federal Federal or foederal (archaic) may refer to: Politics General *Federal monarchy, a federation of monarchies *Federation, or ''Federal state'' (federal system), a type of government characterized by both a central (federal) government and states or ...

government buildings from 1852 to 1939.

Gubernatorial race

While serving as U.S. Secretary of the Treasury, Folger ran in

for

, but was defeated by Democrat

Death

Folger died on September 4, 1884, at his home on Main Street in Geneva, NY. He was buried at Glenwood Cemetery, Geneva, at the side of his wife who had died seven years earlier. The Geneva Fire Department's C.J. Folger Hook & Ladder Co. #1 is named in his honor, as is

Folger Park Folger Park is a public park named after former Secretary of the Treasury Charles J. Folger. It is located at 2nd Street and D Street, Southeast, Washington, D.C., in the Capitol Hill neighborhood. Andrew Ellicott modified Pierre L'Enfant's plan ...

in Washington, D.C. In 1879 and 1880, a company of the

New York Army National Guard The New York Army National Guard is a component of the New York National Guard and the Army National Guard. Nationwide, the Army National Guard comprises approximately one half of the United States Army's available combat forces and approximat ...

was organized in Geneva and named the Folger Independent Corps in honor of Folger. The unit became the 34th Independent Company and served during the Spanish–American War as Company B, 3rd New York Infantry Regiment. The unit currently exists as Co. D, 2nd Battalion, 108th Infantry Regiment, based in Ithaca, New York.

References

Political Graveyard

Appointed Secretary of the Treasury, in NYT on October 28, 1881, with short bio

Obit in NYT on September 5, 1884
''The New York Civil List''
compiled by Franklin Benjamin Hough (page 362; Weed, Parsons and Co., 1858) * , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Folger, Charles James 1818 births 1884 deaths 19th-century American politicians 19th-century American judges United States Secretaries of the Treasury Chief Judges of the New York Court of Appeals Republican Party New York (state) state senators Hobart and William Smith Colleges alumni People from Nantucket, Massachusetts Politicians from Geneva, New York Arthur administration cabinet members Stalwarts (Republican Party)