Edward Breitung (November 10, 1831 – March 3, 1887) was a

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

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Michigan Michigan () is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the List of U.S. states and ...

. He served one term in the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they ...

from 1883 to 1885.

Early life and career

Breitung, the son of John M. Breitung, a

Lutheran Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Cathol ...

minister, was born in the city of Schalkau in the Duchy of

Saxe-Meiningen Saxe-Meiningen (; german: Sachsen-Meiningen ) was one of the Saxon duchies held by the Ernestine line of the Wettin dynasty, located in the southwest of the present-day German state of Thuringia. Established in 1681, by partition of the Ernest ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

(now in Sonneberg District,

Thuringia Thuringia (; german: Thüringen ), officially the Free State of Thuringia ( ), is a state of central Germany, covering , the sixth smallest of the sixteen German states. It has a population of about 2.1 million. Erfurt is the capital and lar ...

). He attended the College of Mining in Meiningen, then one of the celebrated schools in Germany for scientific and classical studies. In 1849, after the revolution in Germany, he immigrated to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

and settled in

Kalamazoo County, Michigan Kalamazoo County is a county located in the U.S. state of Michigan. , the population was 261,670. The county seat is Kalamazoo. Kalamazoo County is included in the Kalamazoo–Portage, MI Metropolitan Statistical Area. History Kalamazoo Count ...

. He moved to

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 t ...

in 1851 and became a clerk in a mercantile house. He moved to Marquette and engaged in mercantile pursuits until 1859, when he went to Negaunee. Here he was also engaged in the mercantile business; however, his store burnt in 1860. After this, he ran the Pioneer Blast Furnace in Negaunee, with Israel Case, under a four-year contract. Subsequently he engaged exclusively in iron-mining operations in 1864, explored for iron deposits in Marquette and

Menominee The Menominee (; mez, omǣqnomenēwak meaning ''"Menominee People"'', also spelled Menomini, derived from the Ojibwe language word for "Wild Rice People"; known as ''Mamaceqtaw'', "the people", in the Menominee language) are a federally recog ...

Counties, locating several profitable mines from 1864 to 1867. He later became interested iron mining in Minnesota, and in gold and silver mining in

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. On November 28, 1870, Edward married Mary Paulin, who was originally from Belgium, Wisconsin. Mary had been working as a chambermaid at a boarding house in Republic (Smith's Mine), Michigan, where Edward owned the Republic Mine. Edward and Mary's first child was Edward Jr., born on November 1, 1871 in Negaunee. Their second child, William, was born ca. Mar. 1874 in Negaunee, but became sick soon thereafter. Edward did not make it back from his Lansing duties before William's death, on August 26th of the same year, from cholera. Edward Breitung2

Congress

Breitung was a member of the

Michigan State House of Representatives The Michigan House of Representatives is the lower house of the Michigan Legislature. There are 110 members, each of whom is elected from constituencies having approximately 77,000 to 91,000 residents, based on population figures from the 2010 U ...

in 1873 and 1874 and a member of the

Michigan State Senate The Michigan Senate is the upper house of the Michigan Legislature. Along with the Michigan House of Representatives, it composes the state legislature, which has powers, roles and duties defined by Article IV of the Michigan Constitution, adopt ...

in 1877 and 1878. He served as mayor of Negaunee in 1879, 1880, and 1882. He was elected as 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 ...

to the

from

Michigan's 11th congressional district Michigan's 11th congressional district is a United States congressional district northwest of Detroit, comprising portions of northwestern Wayne and southwestern Oakland counties. Until 1993, the district covered the state's Upper Peninsula a ...

for the Forty-eighth Congress, serving from March 4, 1883 to March 3, 1885. He declined to be a candidate for renomination in 1884.

Death

Breitung died in Eastman, Georgia before he was able to move into a winter house he had built. This was also before construction was due to begin on his new house in Marquette, Michigan. He is interred in the Breitung Mausoleum at Park Cemetery in Marquette. Breitung Township, Minnesota is named after him for his work in developing the

Soudan Mine The Lake Vermilion-Soudan Underground Mine State Park is a Minnesota state park at the site of the Soudan Underground Mine, on the south shore of Lake Vermilion, in the Vermilion Range (Minnesota). The mine is known as Minnesota's oldest, deep ...

there in the 1880s. Breitung Township, Michigan is also named for him. Edward Breitung's widow married into the Samuel R. Kaufman family of Marquette, marrying Samuel's son Nathan Kaufman. Mary had in fact placed Nathan in effective charge of several Breitung businesses while Edward was away in Congress. Breitung's son, Edward N. Breitung Jr., continued his father's successful mining enterprises in the

Upper Peninsula of Michigan The Upper Peninsula of Michigan – also known as Upper Michigan or colloquially the U.P. – is the northern and more elevated of the two major landmasses that make up the U.S. state of Michigan; it is separated from the Lower Peninsula by ...

and much further afield. Edward Jr. also married into the Kaufman family, wedding Nathan's sister Charlotte. Despite his father's political career, Edward Jr.'s loyalties were compromised with the outbreak of World War I. He attempted to profit through the questionable purchase of an impounded German ship. Later, his nephew, and others working in the Breitung New York office, served time for involvement in plots to bomb American factories and merchant ships. Edward Jr. and Charlotte had one child: Juliet. Although Charlotte was grooming Juliet for New York's high society, she eloped with their Marquette neighbor's gardener, Max. Edward Jr. "gracefully" offered Max a chance to prove himself in a Breitung mine in New Mexico, where over the course of two months he faced nine life-threatening events. Coming back to New York, Max was attacked twice in the same evening, and left for dead.

References

2. Nyquist, Michael S., Honorable Edward N. Breitung and Son Edward and Granddaughter Juliet, Amazon Books, 2023

External links

''American biographical history of eminent and self-made men ... Michigan volume.'' Cincinnati, Western biographical publishing co., 1878.Biographical record; this volume contains biographical sketches of leading citizens of Houghton, Baraga and Marquette Counties, Michigan ... Chicago, Biographical Publishing Co.,1903.
Nyquist, Michael S., Honorable Edward N. Breitung and Son Edward and Granddaughter Juliet, Amazon Books, 2023 {{DEFAULTSORT:Breitung, Edward 1831 births 1887 deaths People from Negaunee, Michigan People from Sonneberg (district) Mayors of places in Michigan Republican Party members of the Michigan House of Representatives Republican Party Michigan state senators Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Michigan People from Saxe-Meiningen Immigrants to the United States 19th-century American legislators