Samuel Clarke Pomeroy (January 3, 1816 – August 27, 1891) was a

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 ...

senator from

Kansas Kansas () is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its capital is Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to th ...

in the mid-19th century. He served in 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 ...

during 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 ...

. Pomeroy also served in the

Massachusetts House of Representatives The Massachusetts House of Representatives is the lower house of the Massachusetts General Court, the state legislature of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. It is composed of 160 members elected from 14 counties each divided into single-member ...

. A Republican, he also was the mayor of

Atchison, Kansas Atchison is a city and county seat of Atchison County, Kansas, United States, along the Missouri River. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 10,885. The city is named in honor of US Senator David Rice Atchison from Missouri ...

, from 1858 to 1859, the second president of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad, and the first president to oversee any of the railroad's construction and operations. Pomeroy succeeded Cyrus K. Holliday as president of the railroad on January 13, 1864.

Career

Early life

Samuel C. Pomeroy was born on January 3, 1816, at

Southampton, Massachusetts Southampton () is a town in Hampshire County, Massachusetts, United States. It was established first as a district of Northampton in 1732. It was incorporated in 1775. The name Southampton was given to it during its first town meeting in 1773. It ...

. He attended Amherst College. Pomeroy opposed the politics of slavery, and in 1854 he became an affiliate of the

New England Emigrant Aid Company The New England Emigrant Aid Company (originally the Massachusetts Emigrant Aid Company) was a transportation company founded in Boston, Massachusetts by activist Eli Thayer in the wake of the Kansas–Nebraska Act, which allowed the population of ...

. That fall, he led a group of settlers to Kansas to help found the city of

Lawrence Lawrence may refer to: Education Colleges and universities * Lawrence Technological University, a university in Southfield, Michigan, United States * Lawrence University, a liberal arts university in Appleton, Wisconsin, United States Preparator ...

1860s

On April 4, 1861, the Kansas legislature elected Pomeroy (along with James Lane) to be one of Kansas's first federal senators. In 1863, during the Civil War, Pomeroy escorted

Frederick Douglass Frederick Douglass (born Frederick Augustus Washington Bailey, February 1817 or 1818 – February 20, 1895) was an American social reformer, abolitionist, orator, writer, and statesman. After escaping from slavery in Maryland, he became ...

to the War Department building to meet War Secretary Edwin Stanton. Afterwards, Douglass attended a meeting with President Abraham Lincoln. In 1862, Pomeroy was a supporter of

Linconia Linconia was the name of a proposed Central American colony suggested by Republican United States Senator Samuel Pomeroy of Kansas in 1862, after U.S. President Abraham Lincoln asked the Senator and United States Secretary of the Interior Caleb ...

, a plan to resettle freed African Americans from the United States. In 1864, Pomeroy was the chair of a committee supporting Secretary of the Treasury

Salmon P. Chase Salmon Portland Chase (January 13, 1808May 7, 1873) was an American politician and jurist who served as the sixth chief justice of the United States. He also served as the 23rd governor of Ohio, represented Ohio in the United States Senate, a ...

for the

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 ...

nomination for

President of the United States The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States ...

over the incumbent,

Abraham Lincoln Abraham Lincoln ( ; February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was an American lawyer, politician, and statesman who served as the 16th president of the United States from 1861 until his assassination in 1865. Lincoln led the nation thro ...

. Pomeroy also spoke in support of Chase's candidacy in the Senate. The Pomeroy committee issued a confidential circular to leading Republicans in February 1864 attacking Lincoln, which had the unintended effect of galvanizing support for Lincoln and seriously damaging Chase's prospects.

1870s

On December 18, 1871, at the urging of

Ferdinand Vandeveer Hayden Ferdinand Vandeveer Hayden (September 7, 1829 – December 22, 1887) was an American geologist noted for his pioneering surveying expeditions of the Rocky Mountains in the late 19th century. He was also a physician who served with the Union Ar ...

and after learning of the findings of the

Hayden Geological Survey of 1871 The Hayden Geological Survey of 1871 explored the region of northwestern Wyoming that later became Yellowstone National Park in 1872. It was led by geologist Ferdinand Vandeveer Hayden. The 1871 survey was not Hayden's first, but it was the first ...

, Pomeroy introduced the Act of Dedication bill into the Senate that ultimately led to the creation of

Yellowstone National Park Yellowstone National Park is an American national park located in the western United States, largely in the northwest corner of Wyoming and extending into Montana and Idaho. It was established by the 42nd U.S. Congress with the Yellowst ...

1880s

During the 1880 presidential election Pomeroy was John W. Phelps' running mate on the revived Anti-Masonic Party.

Bribery charges

During the Kansas senatorial election of 1873, it was alleged that Senator Pomeroy paid $7,000 to Mr. Alexander M. York, a Kansas state senator, to secure his vote for reelection to the Senate by the

Kansas State Legislature The Kansas Legislature is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Kansas. It is a bicameral assembly, composed of the lower Kansas House of Representatives, with 125 state representatives, and the upper Kansas Senate, with 40 state senators. ...

.''Senate Journal.'' 42nd Cong., 3rd sess
1214

1215
York publicly disclosed the alleged bribe was an attempt to pin a bribery charge against the senator. Pomeroy ultimately lost the election to

John J. Ingalls John James Ingalls (December 29, 1833August 16, 1900) was an American Republican politician who served as a United States senator from Kansas. Ingalls is credited with suggesting the state motto and designing the state seal. Life and career John ...

. State Senator York was also one of the brothers of Dr. William York, one of the murder victims of the

Bloody Benders The Bender family, more well known as the Bloody Benders, were a family of serial killers in Labette County, Kansas, United States, from May 1871 to December 1872. The family consisted of John Bender, his wife Elvira, their son John Jr., and the ...

Family. Pomeroy took to the Senate floor on February 10, 1873, to deny the allegations as a "conspiracy ... for the purpose of accomplishing my defeat," and urged the creation of a special committee to investigate the allegations. The payment of the $7,000 was never disputed by

witness In law, a witness is someone who has knowledge about a matter, whether they have sensed it or are testifying on another witnesses' behalf. In law a witness is someone who, either voluntarily or under compulsion, provides testimonial evidence, e ...

es, but instead of being a bribe it was described to the committee as a payment meant to be passed along to a second individual as seed money to start a national bank.''Senate Journal.'' 42nd Cong., 3rd sess. March 3, 1873
2161
The Special Committee on the Kansas Senatorial Election issued its report on March 3, 1873, which determined there was insufficient evidence to sustain the bribery charge, and instead was part of a "concerted plot" to defeat Senator Pomeroy. Senator Allen G. Thurman of

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

disagreed with the special committee's findings, stating his belief in Pomeroy's guilt and calling attempts to explain the payment as something other than a bribe as "so improbable, especially in view of the circumstances attending the senatorial election, that reliance cannot be placed upon them." However, Thurman chose not to pursue the matter further, as March 3 coincided with Senator Pomeroy's last day in office. This whole matter was alluded to in detail in the satire The Gilded Age: A Tale of Today by Mark Twain and

Charles Dudley Warner Charles is a masculine given name predominantly found in English and French speaking countries. It is from the French form ''Charles'' of the Proto-Germanic name (in runic alphabet) or ''*karilaz'' (in Latin alphabet), whose meaning was " ...

, in which the prominent character Senator Dillworth is based on Pomeroy."Afterword" by Greg Camfield to the Oxford University Press edition of ''The Gilded Age'', p.15.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Pomeroy, Samuel C. 1816 births 1891 deaths People from Southampton, Massachusetts American people of English descent Kansas Republicans Republican Party United States senators from Kansas Radical Republicans Republican Party members of the Massachusetts House of Representatives Mayors of places in Kansas 19th-century American railroad executives Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway presidents People from Atchison, Kansas Politically motivated migrations American colonization movement Anti-Masonry Amherst College alumni People of Kansas in the American Civil War Union (American Civil War) political leaders