Daniel Moore Bates (January 28, 1821 – March 28, 1879) was an American lawyer who served as the

U.S. Attorney United States attorneys are officials of the U.S. Department of Justice who serve as the chief federal law enforcement officers in each of the 94 U.S. federal judicial districts. Each U.S. attorney serves as the United States' chief federal c ...

for the District of Delaware. He also served as the

Secretary of State of Delaware The Secretary of State of Delaware is the head of the Department of State of the U.S. state of Delaware. The Department is in charge of a wide variety of public and governmental services, and is divided into the following divisions: *Delaware Di ...

amongst other positions.

Early life

Daniel Moore Bates was born Daniel Elzey Moore in

Laurel, Delaware Laurel is a town in Sussex County, Delaware, United States. The population was 3,708 at the time of the 2010 census. Laurel is part of the Salisbury, Maryland-Delaware Metropolitan Statistical Area. It once hosted the Laurel Blue Hens of the Eas ...

on January 28, 1821. The son of a

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related denominations of Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's b ...

minister Jacob Moore. His mother died when he was young and his father died when he was only eight. He was adopted by, Martin Waltham Bates and Mary Hillyard Bates a lawyer and housewife from

Dover, Delaware Dover () is the capital and second-largest city of the U.S. state of Delaware. It is also the county seat of Kent County and the principal city of the Dover, DE, Metropolitan Statistical Area, which encompasses all of Kent County and is part of ...

. They became his family and he took their last name, becoming Daniel Moore Bates. The Bates were an influential and wealthy couple, and with their help, Daniel enrolled in

Dickinson College , mottoeng = Freedom is made safe through character and learning , established = , type = Private liberal arts college , endowment = $645.5 million (2022) , president = J ...

when he was fourteen graduating in 1839.

Career

He went back to Dover and became a member of the

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there in 1842, after studying law under his father. He began his career in his father's law firm. In 1843, he was a founding member of the State Colonization Society of Delaware, an organization encouraging repatriation of African Americans to Africa. Governor

William Tharp William Tharp (November 27, 1803 – January 9, 1865) was an American farmer and politician from Milford in Kent County, Delaware. He was a member of the Democratic Party, who served in the Delaware General Assembly and as Governor of Delaware. ...

, named him Secretary of State for Delaware in January 1847 a position he held until 1851 (the end of Tharp's term). In 1855, President Franklin Pierce appointed him as the United States Attorney for the district of Delaware and he stayed in this post until 1861. After his appointment he went to Europe to deal with some medical issues, something he would do again later in life. He was one of the Delaware commissioners dispatched to a Peace Conference in February 1861 attempting to avoid the breakup of 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 ...

and the Confederacy's formation. He was one of nine that offered a plan to appease the southern states. After 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 ...

, he was named unanimously to fill the post of chancellor of the Delaware and served in that post until 1873.

Personal life

Bates married Margaret Handy of

Snow Hill, Maryland Snow Hill is a town and the county seat of Worcester County, Maryland, United States. The population was 2,103 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Salisbury, Maryland-Delaware Metropolitan Statistical Area. History Snow Hill was founded in 1 ...

on November 7, 1844. The couple had 5 children. In 1869, he was awarded by Dickinson College with an

Honorary Doctorate An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or ''ad hon ...

. His wife died in October 1869. In March 1879, he was traveling to a court case in

Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, Virginia, the capital of Virginia, United States * Richmond, London, a part of London * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town in England * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, ...

, Virginia, when he became sick and, after two weeks with the illness, he died on March 28, 1879.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bates, Daniel Moore 1821 births 1879 deaths 19th-century American lawyers 19th-century American politicians American lawyers admitted to the practice of law by reading law Delaware lawyers Delaware Democrats Dickinson College alumni People from Dover, Delaware People from Laurel, Delaware Secretaries of State of Delaware United States Attorneys for the District of Delaware