Francis Granger (December 1, 1792 – August 31, 1868)
was an American politician who represented
Ontario County, New York
Ontario County is a county in the U.S. State of New York. As of the 2020 census, the population was 112,458. The county seat is Canandaigua.
Ontario County is part of the Rochester, NY Metropolitan Statistical Area.
In 2006, '' Progres ...
, 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 ...
for three non-consecutive terms. He was a leading figure in the state and national
Whig Party, particularly in its moderate-conservative faction. He served as a Whig vice presidential nominee on the party's multi-candidate 1836 ticket and, in that role, became the only person to ever lose a
contingent election
In the United States, a contingent election is used to elect the president or vice president if no candidate receives a majority of the whole number of Electors appointed. A presidential contingent election is decided by a special vote of th ...
for the vice presidency in the U.S. Senate.
He also served briefly in 1841 as
United States Postmaster General
The United States Postmaster General (PMG) is the chief executive officer of the United States Postal Service (USPS). The PMG is responsible for managing and directing the day-to-day operations of the agency.
The PMG is selected and appointed by ...
in the cabinet of
William Henry Harrison
William Henry Harrison (February 9, 1773April 4, 1841) was an American military officer and politician who served as the ninth president of the United States. Harrison died just 31 days after his inauguration in 1841, and had the shortest pres ...
. In 1856, he became the final Whig Party chairman before the party's collapse, after which he joined the
Constitutional Union Party.
Early life
Granger was born in
Suffield, Connecticut
Suffield is a town in Hartford County, Connecticut, United States. It was once within the boundaries of Massachusetts. The town is located in the Connecticut River Valley with the town of Enfield neighboring to the east. As of the 2020 census, ...
, on December 1, 1792. Granger was born into a prominent political family, with his father,
Gideon Granger
Gideon Granger (July 19, 1767 – December 31, 1822) was an early American politician and lawyer. He was the father of fellow Postmaster General and U.S. Representative Francis Granger.
Early life
Granger was born in Suffield, Connecticut ...
, serving in the
Connecticut House of Representatives
The Connecticut State House of Representatives is the lower house in the Connecticut General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Connecticut. The house is composed of 151 members representing an equal number of districts, with ...
before being appointed by
Thomas Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson (April 13, 1743 – July 4, 1826) was an American statesman, diplomat, lawyer, architect, philosopher, and Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father who served as the third president of the United States from 18 ...
as the longest serving Postmaster General in United States history. His mother was Mindwell (
née
A birth name is the name of a person given upon birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name, or the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a birth certificate or birth re ...
Pease) Granger (1770–1860) and his first cousin,
Amos Phelps Granger, also served two terms in the United States House of Representatives.
Granger pursued classical studies at and graduated from
Yale College
Yale College is the undergraduate college of Yale University. Founded in 1701, it is the original school of the university. Although other Yale schools were founded as early as 1810, all of Yale was officially known as Yale College until 1887, ...
in 1811.
He then moved with his father to
Canandaigua, New York
Canandaigua (; ''Utaʼnaráhkhwaʼ'' in Tuscarora) is a city in Ontario County, New York, United States. Its population was 10,545 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Ontario County; some administrative offices are at the county complex ...
, in 1814, where he
studied law, was
admitted to the bar
An admission to practice law is acquired when a lawyer receives a license to practice law. In jurisdictions with two types of lawyer, as with barristers and solicitors, barristers must gain admission to the bar whereas for solicitors there are dist ...
in 1816 and commenced
practice
Practice or practise may refer to:
Education and learning
* Practice (learning method), a method of learning by repetition
* Phantom practice, phenomenon in which a person's abilities continue to improve, even without practicing
* Practice-based ...
.
Career
Granger started his own political career as a member of the
New York State Assembly
The New York State Assembly is the lower house of the New York State Legislature, with the New York State Senate being the upper house. There are 150 seats in the Assembly. Assembly members serve two-year terms without term limits.
The Ass ...
from 1826 to 1828 and from 1830 to 1832.
He ran unsuccessful campaigns for
Lieutenant Governor of New York
The lieutenant governor of New York is a constitutional office in the executive branch of the Government of the State of New York. It is the second highest-ranking official in state government. The lieutenant governor is elected on a ticket w ...
in 1828, and 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 h ...
in both 1830 and 1832 with the National Republican Party.
National politics
He was then elected as an
Anti-Jacksonian
The National Republican Party, also known as the Anti-Jacksonian Party or simply Republicans, was a political party in the United States that evolved from a conservative-leaning faction of the Democratic-Republican Party that supported John ...
to the
24th Congress
The 24th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, consisting of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C. from March 4, 1835 ...
serving from March 4, 1835, to March 3, 1837.
In
1836
Events
January–March
* January 1 – Queen Maria II of Portugal marries Prince Ferdinand Augustus Francis Anthony of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha.
* January 5 – Davy Crockett arrives in Texas.
* January 12
** , with Charles Darwin on board, re ...
, the
Whig Party was unable to settle on one set of candidates for its presidential ticket. Granger was a regional vice presidential nominee for the northern and border states on the same ticket as
William Henry Harrison
William Henry Harrison (February 9, 1773April 4, 1841) was an American military officer and politician who served as the ninth president of the United States. Harrison died just 31 days after his inauguration in 1841, and had the shortest pres ...
, though in Massachusetts he was on the Whig ticket headed by
Daniel Webster
Daniel Webster (January 18, 1782 – October 24, 1852) was an American lawyer and statesman who represented New Hampshire and Massachusetts in the U.S. Congress and served as the U.S. Secretary of State under Presidents William Henry Harrison ...
. Though Democrat
Martin Van Buren
Martin Van Buren ( ; nl, Maarten van Buren; ; December 5, 1782 – July 24, 1862) was an American lawyer and statesman who served as the eighth president of the United States from 1837 to 1841. A primary founder of the Democratic Party, he ...
secured enough votes in the
Electoral College to win the presidency, Virginia's 23 electors refused to vote for his running mate
Richard M. Johnson, who had then lacked only one vote. As a result, votes were split among Johnson, Granger,
John Tyler
John Tyler (March 29, 1790 – January 18, 1862) was the tenth president of the United States, serving from 1841 to 1845, after briefly holding office as the tenth vice president in 1841. He was elected vice president on the 1840 Whig tick ...
and
William Smith with none getting the majority. This triggered a
contingent election
In the United States, a contingent election is used to elect the president or vice president if no candidate receives a majority of the whole number of Electors appointed. A presidential contingent election is decided by a special vote of th ...
, the only contingent vice presidential election by the Senate in history, under the
Twelfth Amendment with the
U.S. Senate deciding between the top two vote-getters Johnson and Granger.
As the
25th Congress consisted of 35 Democrats and 17 Whigs, Granger could not hope to be elected and was defeated by Johnson 33-16.
In the general election of the same year, Granger was also running as a Whig candidate for election to the
25th Congress, but failed in that bid as well.
He was re-elected to Congress as a Whig to the
26th and
27th Congresses serving from March 4, 1839, to March 5, 1841.
Harrison would win the presidency four years later in 1840 but Granger was not again his running mate and was instead replaced by John Tyler.
If Granger had been reselected as Harrison's running mate in 1840, Granger as vice president would have become president when President Harrison died in April 1841 after a month in office.
In 1841, Granger was appointed
Postmaster General
A Postmaster General, in Anglosphere countries, is the chief executive officer of the postal service of that country, a ministerial office responsible for overseeing all other postmasters. The practice of having a government official responsib ...
in the
Cabinet
Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to:
Furniture
* Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers
* Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets
* Filin ...
of
President
President most commonly refers to:
*President (corporate title)
* President (education), a leader of a college or university
* President (government title)
President may also refer to:
Automobiles
* Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...
William Henry Harrison
William Henry Harrison (February 9, 1773April 4, 1841) was an American military officer and politician who served as the ninth president of the United States. Harrison died just 31 days after his inauguration in 1841, and had the shortest pres ...
and served from March 6 to September 18, 1841,
the day when almost all Whig Cabinet members left the government of new President
John Tyler
John Tyler (March 29, 1790 – January 18, 1862) was the tenth president of the United States, serving from 1841 to 1845, after briefly holding office as the tenth vice president in 1841. He was elected vice president on the 1840 Whig tick ...
on the instruction of their party leader
Henry Clay
Henry Clay Sr. (April 12, 1777June 29, 1852) was an American attorney and statesman who represented Kentucky in both the United States Senate, U.S. Senate and United States House of Representatives, House of Representatives. He was the seven ...
. Following that event, he was again elected to the Congress in a
special election
A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, a bye-election in Ireland, a bypoll in India, or a Zimni election (Urdu: ضمنی انتخاب, supplementary election) in Pakistan, is an election used to f ...
to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of Representative
John Greig
John Greig (born 11 September 1942) is a Scottish former professional footballer, who played as a defender. He spent his entire career with Rangers, as a player, manager and director. Greig was voted "The Greatest Ever Ranger" in 1999 by the ...
. He served from November 27, 1841, to March 3, 1843, and was not a candidate for reelection in
1842
Events
January–March
* January
** Michael Alexander takes office, as the first appointee to the Anglican-German Bishopric in Jerusalem.
** American medical student William E. Clarke of Berkshire Medical College becomes the first pe ...
.
Later career
A supporter of the
Compromise of 1850
The Compromise of 1850 was a package of five separate bills passed by the United States Congress in September 1850 that defused a political confrontation between slave and free states on the status of territories acquired in the Mexican–Am ...
, Granger led the pro-
Fillmore group which became known as the
Silver Gray Whigs after Granger's own silver hair. This faction would remain in conflict with the anti-Compromise
Sewardites until the collapse of the Whig Party in the state in 1855.
Chairman of the Whig National Executive Committee from 1856 to 1860, Granger joined in the call for the convention of the
Constitutional Union Party that was held in May 1860. He was then a member of the peace convention of 1861 held in
Washington, D.C., in an effort to devise means to prevent the
impending war.
Personal life
He married Cornelia Rutsen Van Rensselaer (1798–1823), the daughter of Jeremiah Van Rensselaer and Sybella Adeline (née Kane) Van Rensselaer.
She was also the granddaughter of Brigadier General
Robert Van Rensselaer,
[Spooner]
pp. 197 who was a member of the
New York Provincial Congress
The New York Provincial Congress (1775–1777) was a revolutionary provisional government formed by colonists in 1775, during the American Revolution, as a pro-American alternative to the more conservative New York General Assembly, and as a repla ...
from 1775 to 1777 and later a member of the New York State Assembly in the
1st
First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1).
First or 1st may also refer to:
*World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement
Arts and media Music
* 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and reco ...
,
2nd
A second is the base unit of time in the International System of Units (SI).
Second, Seconds or 2nd may also refer to:
Mathematics
* 2 (number), as an ordinal (also written as ''2nd'' or ''2d'')
* Second of arc, an angular measurement unit, ...
and
4th New York State Legislature
The 4th New York State Legislature, consisting of the New York State Senate and the New York State Assembly, met from September 7, 1780, to July 1, 1781, during the fourth year of George Clinton's governorship, first at Poughkeepsie, then at A ...
s.
The Grangers' home at Canandaigua from 1817 to 1827, now known as the
Francis Granger House, was listed on the
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...
in 1984.
Together, they had a daughter, son, and an unnamed second daughter who died with her mother in childbirth in 1823.
* Adele Granger (1819–1892), who married John Eliot Thayer (1803–1857), the son of
Nathaniel Thayer
Rev. Nathaniel Thayer I (July 11, 1769 – June 23, 1840) was a congregational Unitarian minister.
Early life
Nathaniel Thayer was born in Hampton, New Hampshire to Ebenezer Thayer and Martha Olivia Cotton. His father was a pastor in Hampton ...
. After his death, she remarried in 1865 to
Robert Charles Winthrop
Robert Charles Winthrop (May 12, 1809 – November 16, 1894) was an American lawyer and philanthropist, who served as the speaker of the United States House of Representatives. He was a descendant of John Winthrop.
Early life
Robert Charles ...
(1809–1894),
a U.S. Senator and Representative who served as
Speaker of the House
The speaker of a deliberative assembly, especially a legislative body, is its presiding officer, or the chair. The title was first used in 1377 in England.
Usage
The title was first recorded in 1377 to describe the role of Thomas de Hunger ...
.
* Gideon Granger II (1821–1868), who married Isaphine Pierson (1826–1905), the daughter of U.S. Representative
Isaac Pierson.
Granger died in Canandaigua on August 31, 1868.
He was buried at
Woodlawn Cemetery.
References
;Notes
;Sources
External links
*
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Granger, Francis
1792 births
1868 deaths
19th-century American politicians
American lawyers admitted to the practice of law by reading law
Anti-Masonic Party politicians from New York (state)
Members of the New York State Assembly
New York (state) lawyers
People from Suffield, Connecticut
Politicians from Canandaigua, New York
National Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives
New York (state) National Republicans
Tyler administration cabinet members
United States Postmasters General
1836 United States vice-presidential candidates
Whig Party (United States) vice presidential nominees
Whig Party members of the United States House of Representatives from New York (state)
William Henry Harrison administration cabinet members
Yale College alumni