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Henry Stanbery (February 20, 1803 – June 26, 1881) was an American lawyer from
Ohio Ohio () is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Of the List of states and territories of the United States, fifty U.S. states, it is the List of U.S. states and territories by area, 34th-l ...
. He was most notable for his service as Ohio's first
attorney general In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general or attorney-general (sometimes abbreviated AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. The plural is attorneys general. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have exec ...
from 1846 to 1851 and the
United States Attorney General The United States attorney general (AG) is the head of the United States Department of Justice, and is the chief law enforcement officer of the federal government of the United States. The attorney general serves as the principal advisor to the p ...
from 1866 to 1868. A native of
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 ...
who was raised in
Zanesville, Ohio Zanesville is a city in and the county seat of Muskingum County, Ohio, United States. It is located east of Columbus and had a population of 24,765 as of the 2020 census, down from 25,487 as of the 2010 census. Historically the state capita ...
, Stanbery was a superior student who graduated from
Washington College Washington College is a private liberal arts college in Chestertown, Maryland. Maryland granted Washington College its charter in 1782. George Washington supported the founding of the college by consenting to have the "College at Chester" name ...
in 1819 at age 16, studied law with two Zanesville attorneys, and attained admission to the bar as soon as he reached the minimum required age of 21. Stanbery resided for many years in Lancaster, where he practiced law in partnership with
Thomas Ewing Thomas Ewing Sr. (December 28, 1789October 26, 1871) was a National Republican and Whig politician from Ohio. He served in the U.S. Senate as well as serving as the secretary of the treasury and the first secretary of the interior. He is als ...
. Stanbery was selected by the state legislature to serve as Ohio's first state attorney general, a post he held from 1846 to 1851. After leaving office he relocated to the
Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line w ...
area, where he continued to practice law. In 1866, Stanbery was appointed U.S. Attorney General. He served until 1868 and worked to sustain President
Andrew Johnson Andrew Johnson (December 29, 1808July 31, 1875) was the 17th president of the United States, serving from 1865 to 1869. He assumed the presidency as he was vice president at the time of the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. Johnson was a De ...
's view that the president should control post-Civil War
Reconstruction Reconstruction may refer to: Politics, history, and sociology * Reconstruction (law), the transfer of a company's (or several companies') business to a new company *''Perestroika'' (Russian for "reconstruction"), a late 20th century Soviet Unio ...
, and that the former Confederate states should be readmitted to the Union even if they took no steps to guarantee rights to former slaves. In 1868, Stanbery resigned so he could join Johnson's defense team during his impeachment trial. Johnson was acquitted, and Johnson attempted to reappoint him as attorney general, but the U.S. Senate would not confirm him. After Johnson left office, Stanbery returned to the Cincinnati area, where he continued to practice law until failing eyesight curbed his activities in 1880. He traveled to New York City for surgery to remove cataracts, which did not improve his vision, and he was blind for the last six months of his life. He was residing temporarily in New York City while continuing to seek treatment when he died on June 26, 1881. Stanbery was buried at
Spring Grove Cemetery Spring Grove Cemetery and Arboretum () is a nonprofit rural cemetery and arboretum located at 4521 Spring Grove Avenue, Cincinnati, Ohio. It is the third largest cemetery in the United States, after the Calverton National Cemetery and Abraham ...
in Cincinnati.


Early life

Henry Stanbery was born in New York City on February 20, 1803, a son of Jonas Stanbery, a physician and land speculator, and his second wife Ann Lucy (McCready) Seaman Stanbery. The family moved to
Zanesville, Ohio Zanesville is a city in and the county seat of Muskingum County, Ohio, United States. It is located east of Columbus and had a population of 24,765 as of the 2020 census, down from 25,487 as of the 2010 census. Historically the state capita ...
, in 1814, and Stanbery revealed himself to be a precocious student while attending a special private school. At age 12, he began attendance at Washington College in
Washington, Pennsylvania Washington is a city in and the county seat of Washington County, Pennsylvania. A part of the Greater Pittsburgh area in the southwestern part of the state, the city is home to Washington & Jefferson College and Pony League baseball. The populat ...
(now
Washington and Jefferson College Washington & Jefferson College (W&J College or W&J) is a private liberal arts college in Washington, Pennsylvania. The college traces its origin to three log cabin colleges in Washington County established by three Presbyterian missionaries to ...
), where he was a member of the Union Literary Society.


Legal career


Start

After his 1819 college graduation, Stanbery studied law in Zanesville first with attorney Ebenezer Granger, and after Granger's death with Charles B. Goddard. He 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 1824, and began to practice with
Thomas Ewing Thomas Ewing Sr. (December 28, 1789October 26, 1871) was a National Republican and Whig politician from Ohio. He served in the U.S. Senate as well as serving as the secretary of the treasury and the first secretary of the interior. He is als ...
in
Fairfield County, Ohio Fairfield County is a county located in the U.S. state of Ohio. As of the 2020 census, the population was 158,921. Its county seat is Lancaster. Its name is a reference to the Fairfield area of the original Lancaster. Fairfield County is ...
.


Ohio Attorney General

In 1846, the
Ohio General Assembly The Ohio General Assembly is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Ohio. It consists of the 99-member Ohio House of Representatives and the 33-member Ohio Senate. Both houses of the General Assembly meet at the Ohio Statehouse in Columbus ...
elected Stanbery to serve as Ohio Attorney General, the first person to hold the post. He moved from his home in Lancaster to the state capital of
Columbus Columbus is a Latinized version of the Italian surname "''Colombo''". It most commonly refers to: * Christopher Columbus (1451-1506), the Italian explorer * Columbus, Ohio, capital of the U.S. state of Ohio Columbus may also refer to: Places ...
to assume his new duties. As the initial holder of the position, Stanbery spent much of his time and effort on determining its duties and responsibilities and organizing his staff. His work included creation of a case-tracking system and uniform crime report format for county prosecutors and a successful lobbying campaign to obtain the power to negotiate with individuals and corporations that were in debt to the state. Once he obtained this power in 1848, Stanbery cleared a backlog of existing lawsuits and cases by entering into agreements for partial payment or payment over time. In 1850 he was elected a delegate to the 1850-1851 state constitutional convention. In 1853 he moved to
Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line w ...
, and in 1857 he moved across the
Ohio River The Ohio River is a long river in the United States. It is located at the boundary of the Midwestern and Southern United States, flowing southwesterly from western Pennsylvania to its mouth on the Mississippi River at the southern tip of ...
to
Fort Thomas, Kentucky Fort Thomas is a home rule-class city in Campbell County, Kentucky, United States, on the southern bank of the Ohio River and the site of an 1890 US Army post. The population was 16,325 at the 2010 census, making it the largest city in Campb ...
, where he owned an elegant hilltop mansion, ''The Highlands''.


U.S. Supreme Court nomination

On April 16, 1866, President
Andrew Johnson Andrew Johnson (December 29, 1808July 31, 1875) was the 17th president of the United States, serving from 1865 to 1869. He assumed the presidency as he was vice president at the time of the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. Johnson was a De ...
nominated Stanbery as an
associate justice Associate justice or associate judge (or simply associate) is a judicial panel member who is not the chief justice in some jurisdictions. The title "Associate Justice" is used for members of the Supreme Court of the United States and some sta ...
on the
United States Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...
, to fill the vacancy created by the death of
John Catron John Catron (January 7, 1786 – May 30, 1865) was an American jurist who served as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1837 to 1865, during the Taney Court. Early and family life Little is known of Catron's ...
. The Republicans who controlled Congress were at odds with Johnson over post-Civil War
Reconstruction Reconstruction may refer to: Politics, history, and sociology * Reconstruction (law), the transfer of a company's (or several companies') business to a new company *''Perestroika'' (Russian for "reconstruction"), a late 20th century Soviet Unio ...
. Therefore, rather than consider the Stanbery nomination, Congress instead passed the
Judicial Circuits Act The Judicial Circuits Act of 1866 (ch. 210, ) reorganized the United States circuit courts and provided for the gradual elimination of several seats on the Supreme Court of the United States. It was signed into law on July 23, 1866, by President ...
in July 1866 reducing the size of the Supreme Court. Prior to being nominated, in March 1866, Stanbery assisted Attorney General James Speed in arguing '' Ex parte Milligan'' before the Supreme Court. In its decision the Court held that military tribunals for civilian defendants were illegal in jurisdictions where the civilian criminal justice system was functioning.


U.S. Attorney General

Johnson then nominated Stanbery for
Attorney General In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general or attorney-general (sometimes abbreviated AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. The plural is attorneys general. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have exec ...
, and he was confirmed by the U.S. Senate. Stanbery loyally supported Johnson during his longstanding fight with Congress over Reconstruction. He assisted in drafting Johnson's veto of the first
Reconstruction Act The Reconstruction Acts, or the Military Reconstruction Acts, (March 2, 1867, 14 Stat. 428-430, c.153; March 23, 1867, 15 Stat. 2-5, c.6; July 19, 1867, 15 Stat. 14-16, c.30; and March 11, 1868, 15 Stat. 41, c.25) were four statutes passed duri ...
. After Congress overrode Johnson's vetoes of the first and second Reconstruction Acts, Stanbery provided opinions containing narrow interpretations bolstering Johnson's position on the issue. In Johnson's view, the president had responsibility for Reconstruction, and he intended to return the former Confederate states to the Union and full Congressional representation as soon as possible, without guaranteeing the rights of the former slaves who had been freed during the war. Stanbery agreed, arguing that the federal government had no right to interfere with the states in their administration of their governments and legal systems. Congress determined to take control of Reconstruction, compel former Confederates to prove their loyalty before readmission to the Union, and protect the rights of African Americans. In the third Reconstruction Act, which Johnson and Stanbery opposed, Congress limited the president's authority with respect to post-war Reconstruction and became predominant in the process. As Attorney General, he argued '' Mississippi v. Johnson'' (1867), which held that the separation of powers barred the Supreme Court from issuing an injunction against the President when he implemented Reconstruction by executive action, in effect leaving Reconstruction as a political matter to be decided between the president and Congress. In ''
Georgia v. Stanton ''Georgia v. Stanton aka The Library Case'', 73 U.S. (6 Wall.) 50 (1868), was a case in which the Supreme Court of the United States held that the court does not hold jurisdiction over the ''political'' question of enforcement of the Reconstruction ...
'' (1868), Stanbery successfully argued that the court did not have jurisdiction over the political question of Reconstruction, which again left the matter to the executive and legislative branches.


Andrew Johnson impeachment trial

When Congress moved to impeach Johnson as the result of the Reconstruction dispute, Stanbery resigned as attorney general on March 12, 1868 and joined his defense team. An illness limited Stanbery's participation in Johnson's trial, but he submitted several opinions and arguments in writing to aid Johnson's other attorneys. Much of his effort focused on ensuring that Johnson received
due process Due process of law is application by state of all legal rules and principles pertaining to the case so all legal rights that are owed to the person are respected. Due process balances the power of law of the land and protects the individual per ...
, which had the effect of slowing the proceedings and making a conviction in the heat of the moment less likely. By the time Johnson was acquitted, Stanbery had rejoined the team, and he took part in several pro-Johnson celebrations. After the trial, Johnson renominated Stanbery for Attorney General, but the U.S. Senate refused to confirm him. Stanbery then returned to Ohio to resume his law practice.


Later career

Stanbery returned to the Cincinnati area, where he resumed practicing law and served as president of the city's bar association from 1873 to 1876. He wrote occasional articles on political and legal questions, and also delivered lectures and speeches. He was also a longtime member of St. Paul's Episcopal Church in
Newport, Kentucky Newport is a home rule-class city at the confluence of the Ohio and Licking rivers in Campbell County, Kentucky. The population was 15,273 at the 2010 census. Historically, it was one of four county seats of Campbell County. Newport is a majo ...
.


Retirement and death

In his later years, Stanbery's eyesight worsened as the result of cataracts, and his wife and he moved to New York City to seek treatment. He underwent surgery to remove the cataracts, but his eyesight continued to fail until he was blind for the last six months of his life. He continued to reside in New York City while seeking treatment, but died there on June 26, 1881 after bronchitis left him unable to breathe while on a carriage ride in
Central Park Central Park is an urban park in New York City located between the Upper West and Upper East Sides of Manhattan. It is the fifth-largest park in the city, covering . It is the most visited urban park in the United States, with an estimated ...
. He was buried at
Spring Grove Cemetery Spring Grove Cemetery and Arboretum () is a nonprofit rural cemetery and arboretum located at 4521 Spring Grove Avenue, Cincinnati, Ohio. It is the third largest cemetery in the United States, after the Calverton National Cemetery and Abraham ...
in Cincinnati.


Family

Stanbery was married in 1829 to Frances E. Beecher of Lancaster, a daughter of
Philemon Beecher Philemon Beecher (March 19, 1776November 30, 1839) was an Anglo-American attorney and legislator who was a member of the United States House of Representatives from Ohio. Biography Philemon Beecher was born in Oxford in the Connecticut Colony, ...
. They had five children - Frances E., Henry, Philemon B., Louisa, and George - the last three of whom survived him. Frances Beecher Stanbery died in 1840, and in 1841 Stanbery married Cecilia Key Bond, a daughter of William Key Bond. Henry Stanbery's half-brother
William Stanbery William Stanbery (August 10, 1788 – January 23, 1873) was an American attorney and politician who served as a U.S. Representative from Ohio from 1827 to 1833. Early life Born in Essex County, New Jersey, Stanbery received an academic educ ...
was also an attorney, and served 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 1827 to 1833.


See also

*
Unsuccessful nominations to the Cabinet of the United States Members of the Cabinet of the United States are nominated by the president and are then confirmed or rejected by the Senate. Listed below are unsuccessful cabinet nominees—that is, individuals who were nominated and who either declined their own ...
*
Unsuccessful nominations to the Supreme Court of the United States The Supreme Court of the United States is the highest-ranking judicial body in the United States. Established by Article III of the Constitution, the detailed structure of the court was laid down by the 1st United States Congress in 1789. Congr ...


References


External links

* *
Henry Stanbery Historic Marker
in Campbell County, Kentucky {{DEFAULTSORT:Stanbery, Henry 1803 births 1881 deaths 19th-century American Episcopalians Andrew Johnson administration cabinet members Burials at Spring Grove Cemetery Members of the defense counsel for the impeachment trial of Andrew Johnson Ohio Attorneys General Ohio Constitutional Convention (1850) Ohio Republicans Ohio Whigs 19th-century American politicians Rejected or withdrawn nominees to the United States Executive Cabinet People from Zanesville, Ohio People from Fort Thomas, Kentucky Politicians from Cincinnati Politicians from Pittsburgh United States Attorneys General Washington & Jefferson College alumni People from Lancaster, Ohio Unsuccessful nominees to the United States Supreme Court 19th-century American judges