Donelson Caffery (September 10, 1835December 30, 1906) was an American

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking ...

from the state of

Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is borde ...

, a soldier in the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states ...

, and a sugar plantation owner.

Biography

Caffery was born in

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, the seat of St. Mary Parish. His great-grandfather, Colonel

John Donelson John Donelson (1718–1785) was an American frontiersman, ironmaster, politician, city planner, and explorer. After founding and operating what became Washington Iron Furnace in Franklin County, Virginia for several years, he moved with his family ...

, co-founder of the city of Nashville, was the father-in-law of

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Andrew Jackson Andrew Jackson (March 15, 1767 – June 8, 1845) was an American lawyer, planter, general, and statesman who served as the seventh president of the United States from 1829 to 1837. Before being elected to the presidency, he gained fame as ...

. During the

, Caffery served in the

Confederate Confederacy or confederate may refer to: States or communities * Confederate state or confederation, a union of sovereign groups or communities * Confederate States of America, a confederation of secessionist American states that existed between 1 ...

army as a

lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations. The meaning of lieutenant differs in different militaries (see comparative military ranks), but it is often ...

in the 13th Louisiana Infantry Regiment. After the war, he became a lawyer and owned a sugar plantation. He was elected to the Louisiana State Senate, he was a Democrat, and in 1892, he was appointed to the

United States 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 pow ...

from Louisiana to fill the unexpired term of Randall L. Gibson who died in office. Caffery began a full six-year term in 1894, on election by the

Louisiana State Legislature The Louisiana State Legislature (french: Législature d'État de Louisiane) is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Louisiana. It is a bicameral body, comprising the lower house, the Louisiana House of Representatives with 105 repres ...

, and he served in the Senate until 1901. He was a strong anti-imperialist and anti-expansionist, a position driven by his concern that new American possessions in tropical climes (like

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, and the

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) would harm his fellow Louisiana sugar planters by flooding the market with cheaper (and now tariff-free) sugar. He was the first nominee for President of the United States of the "Democratic National Party" at its Indianapolis Convention in 1900 but declined the nomination of this group. He declined to seek a second full term in 1900. Strangely, a group of anti-imperialists, meeting in New York on 5 September 1900, also nominated Caffery for President and

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attorney and historian Archibald M. Howe for Vice President. Caffery, a staunch

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 ...

, likewise refused this nomination, and Howe quickly withdrew as well. Caffery served as chairman of the Senate Committee on enrolled bills from 1893 to 1894 and as chairman of the Senate Committee on corporations organized in the

District of Columbia ) , 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, ...

from 1899 to 1901. After he left the Senate, Caffery resumed practicing law. He died in 1906 on December 30 in

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans

Louisiana, and is interred at Franklin Cemetery in his native Franklin. Caffery's son, Donelson Caffery, Jr., was the gubernatorial nominee of the "Lily-White" faction of the Republican Party in the 1900 Louisiana gubernatorial election. He lost badly to W. W. Heard. Caffery's grandson, Patrick T. Caffery, served one term in the Louisiana House of Representatives and two terms in the United States House of Representatives from 1969–73.See also Jefferson Caffery, his cousin.

References

* Retrieved on 2008-10-08 {{DEFAULTSORT:Caffery, Donelson 1835 births 1906 deaths People from Franklin, Louisiana American people of Irish descent Democratic Party United States senators from Louisiana Louisiana Democrats Louisiana lawyers People of Louisiana in the American Civil War Confederate States Army officers 19th-century American politicians