Benjamin Gratz Brown (May 28, 1826December 13, 1885) was an American politician. He was a

U.S. Senator 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 power ...

, the

20th 20 (twenty; Roman numeral XX) is the natural number following 19 and preceding 21. A group of twenty units may also be referred to as a score. In mathematics *20 is a pronic number. *20 is a tetrahedral number as 1, 4, 10, 20. *20 is the ba ...

Governor of Missouri A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

, and the Liberal Republican and Democratic Party vice presidential candidate in the presidential election of 1872. Born in

Frankfort, Kentucky Frankfort is the capital city of the Commonwealth of Kentucky, United States, and the seat of Franklin County. It is a home rule-class city; the population was 28,602 at the 2020 census. Located along the Kentucky River, Frankfort is the pr ...

, Brown established a legal practice in

St. Louis St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...

, Missouri. Both of his grandfathers, John Brown and

Jesse Bledsoe Jesse Bledsoe (April 6, 1776June 25, 1836) was a slave owner and Senator from Kentucky. Life and career Bledsoe was born in Culpeper County, Virginia in 1776. When he was very young, his family migrated with a Baptist congregation through Cumbe ...

, represented Kentucky in the Senate. After settling in St. Louis, Brown won election to the

Missouri House of Representatives The Missouri House of Representatives is the lower chamber of the Missouri General Assembly. It has 163 members, representing districts with an average size of 37,000 residents. House members are elected for two-year terms during general elections ...

. He became an ally of Thomas Hart Benton and

Francis Preston Blair Jr. Francis Preston Blair Jr. (February 19, 1821 – July 8, 1875) was a United States Senator, a United States Congressman and a Union Major General during the Civil War. He represented Missouri in both the House of Representatives and the Senate, a ...

in the struggle for control of the state Democratic Party against pro-slavery forces. As the 1850s progressed, Brown continued to speak against

slavery Slavery and enslavement are both the state and the condition of being a slave—someone forbidden to quit one's service for an enslaver, and who is treated by the enslaver as property. Slavery typically involves slaves being made to perf ...

, and he helped found the Missouri

Republican Party Republican Party is a name used by many political parties around the world, though the term most commonly refers to the United States' Republican Party. Republican Party may also refer to: Africa * Republican Party (Liberia) *Republican Party ...

. During the

Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government polici ...

, Brown worked to keep Missouri in the Union. In 1863, he was elected to the Senate as a member of the

Unconditional Union Party The Unconditional Union Party was a loosely organized political entity during the American Civil War and the early days of Reconstruction. First established in 1861 in Missouri, where secession talk was strong, the party fully supported the pre ...

. In the Senate, he aligned with the

Radical Republican The Radical Republicans (later also known as "Stalwarts") were a faction within the Republican Party, originating from the party's founding in 1854, some 6 years before the Civil War, until the Compromise of 1877, which effectively ended Recon ...

s and opposed many of President

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 throu ...

's policies. He was part of a movement that unsuccessfully sought to replace Lincoln as the 1864 Republican nominee. After the war, Brown strongly opposed 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 ...

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 ...

policies and supported the Freedmen's Bureau bills. Brown resigned from the Senate in 1867 but helped found the Liberal Republican Party in 1870. The party chose Brown as its nominee for governor, and he defeated incumbent Republican Governor

Joseph W. McClurg Joseph Washington McClurg (February 22, 1818December 2, 1900) was the 19th Governor of Missouri in the decade following the American Civil War. His stepfather was William Murphy. Biography Born near St. Louis, Missouri, McClurg was orphaned at ...

. Brown sought the new party's 1872 presidential nomination but was defeated by

Horace Greeley Horace Greeley (February 3, 1811 – November 29, 1872) was an American newspaper editor and publisher who was the founder and editor of the '' New-York Tribune''. Long active in politics, he served briefly as a congressman from New York ...

. After the nomination of Greeley, the

1872 Liberal Republican convention An influential group of dissident Republicans split from the party to form the Liberal Republican Party in 1870. At the party's only national convention, held in Cincinnati in 1872, ''New York Tribune'' editor Horace Greeley was nominated for Pres ...

chose Brown as the party's vice presidential nominee. Seeking to avoid splitting the vote of opponents to President

Ulysses S. Grant Ulysses S. Grant (born Hiram Ulysses Grant ; April 27, 1822July 23, 1885) was an American military officer and politician who served as the 18th president of the United States from 1869 to 1877. As Commanding General, he led the Union A ...

's re-election, the

1872 Democratic National Convention The 1872 Democratic National Convention was a presidential nominating convention held at Ford's Grand Opera House on East Fayette Street, between North Howard and North Eutaw Streets, in Baltimore, Maryland on July 9 and 10, 1872. It resulted in ...

subsequently nominated the Liberal Republican ticket. The Republican ticket nonetheless triumphed in the election, as Grant won 55.6% of the popular vote and a majority of the electoral vote. Greeley died after the election but before the electors officially cast their votes, and Brown received some of Greeley's electoral votes. After the election, Gratz returned to his law practice and affiliated with the Democratic Party.

Early life

Brown was born in 1826 in

, the son of Judith Ann (Bledsoe) and

Mason Brown Mason Brown (November 10, 1799 – January 27, 1867) was an American politician who served as secretary of state of Kentucky and Kentucky state treasurer. Mason Brown was born November 10, 1799, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to John Brown ...

. He was the grandson of Senators John Brown and

of Kentucky. He graduated from

Transylvania University Transylvania University is a private university in Lexington, Kentucky. It was founded in 1780 and was the first university in Kentucky. It offers 46 major programs, as well as dual-degree engineering programs, and is accredited by the Southern ...

in Lexington in 1845 where he was a member of

Beta Theta Pi Beta Theta Pi (), commonly known as Beta, is a North American social fraternity that was founded in 1839 at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. One of North America's oldest fraternities, as of 2022 it consists of 144 active chapters in the Uni ...

fraternity, and 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, ...

New Haven, Connecticut New Haven is a city in the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is located on New Haven Harbor on the northern shore of Long Island Sound in New Haven County, Connecticut and is part of the New York City metropolitan area. With a population of 134 ...

, in 1847. He studied law, and later settled in

Missouri Missouri is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee): Iowa to the north, Illinois, Kentucky and Tennessee to the east, Arkansas t ...

. There he joined his cousin,

Francis P. Blair, Jr. Francis Preston Blair Jr. (February 19, 1821 – July 8, 1875) was a United States Senator, a United States Congressman and a Union Major General during the Civil War. He represented Missouri in both the House of Representatives and the Senate, a ...

, and Senator Thomas Hart Benton in a struggle against the pro-

faction for control of Missouri's Democratic Party. He was a correspondent for the Missouri Republican at the

Treaty of Fort Laramie (1851) The Fort Laramie Treaty of 1851 was signed on September 17, 1851 between United States treaty commissioners and representatives of the Cheyenne, Sioux, Arapaho, Crow, Assiniboine, Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara Nations. Also known as Horse Cree ...

and served as the secretary at the treaty negotiations. He married Mary Gunn (1842–1888) in 1858, and together they had six children.

Political career

Brown became a member of the

and served there between 1852 and 1858. An able lawyer in St. Louis, Brown made a speech in 1857 against a joint resolution opposing emancipation. The speech marked the beginning of the Free Soil movement in Missouri. He was a leader of the movement. After that, he edited the '' Missouri Democrat'' between 1854 and 1859. He was an unsuccessful candidate for Governor of Missouri in 1857. On August 26, 1856 he fought a

duel A duel is an arranged engagement in combat between two people, with matched weapons, in accordance with agreed-upon rules. During the 17th and 18th centuries (and earlier), duels were mostly single combats fought with swords (the rapier and ...

Bloody Island (Mississippi River) Bloody Island was a sandbar or "towhead" (river island) in the Mississippi River, opposite St. Louis, Missouri, which became densely wooded and a rendezvous for duelists because it was considered "neutral" and not under Missouri or Illinois co ...

with Thomas C. Reynolds (then the St. Louis District Attorney) over the slavery issue. Reynolds was not hurt but Brown was shot in the leg and limped for the rest of his life. Brown became a founding member of the

in Missouri. Throughout the 1860s, he and Blair contested control of the state's Republican party. He worked to prevent Missouri from seceding from the Union in 1861. After that, he served as an officer in the

Union Army During the American Civil War, the Union Army, also known as the Federal Army and the Northern Army, referring to the United States Army, was the land force that fought to preserve the Union (American Civil War), Union of the collective U.S. st ...

during the first half of the

, raising a regiment (the 4th U.S. Reserves) and serving as its

colonel Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge ...

. He recruited over 1,100 soldiers for his regiment, many of whom were St. Louis-area

German-Americans German Americans (german: Deutschamerikaner, ) are Americans who have full or partial German ancestry. With an estimated size of approximately 43 million in 2019, German Americans are the largest of the self-reported ancestry groups by the Unite ...

, a key constituency that Brown courted for his political advantage. Brown resigned from the Army after he was elected in late 1863 as an

Unconditional Unionist The Unconditional Union Party was a loosely organized political entity during the American Civil War and the early days of Reconstruction. First established in 1861 in Missouri, where secession talk was strong, the party fully supported the preserv ...

to the U.S. Senate to fill the vacancy caused by the expulsion of Waldo P. Johnson. Brown opposed

's moderation and objected to the

Emancipation Proclamation The Emancipation Proclamation, officially Proclamation 95, was a presidential proclamation and executive order issued by United States President Abraham Lincoln on January 1, 1863, during the American Civil War, Civil War. The Proclamation c ...

because it did not free slaves in Missouri and other loyal border states. He was a key figure in the move to replace Lincoln with

John C. Frémont John Charles Frémont or Fremont (January 21, 1813July 13, 1890) was an American explorer, military officer, and politician. He was a U.S. Senator from California and was the first Republican nominee for president of the United States in 1856 ...

in the presidential election of 1864. In the Senate, Brown was chairman of the Public Buildings and Grounds committee and of the Committee to Audit and Control the Contingent Expense. Following Lincoln's assassination, Brown was vehemently opposed to new President

's moderate plan of

. He also supported the Radical-sponsored Civil Rights Bill and Freedmen's Bureau Bill. Brown left the Senate in 1867 because of ill health. In 1870, dissatisfied with the Missouri Republicans, he joined the new Liberal Republican Party. The party nominated Brown for governor, and he defeated Republican incumbent

. Brown served as the Governor between 1871 and 1873.

Presidential election of 1872

Brown was one of the contenders for the Liberal Republican presidential nomination, but lost to newspaper editor

. Brown was the vice presidential candidate under Greeley in the presidential election of 1872 for the Liberal Republican and Democratic parties. Greeley died on November 29 of illness, before the electoral college could vote, and the electoral votes (63 of 66) that were to have been for Greeley were split among four others, including Brown, who received eighteen of those electoral votes. The Republicans, incumbent

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 ...

and the vice presidential candidate, U.S. Senator

Henry Wilson Henry Wilson (born Jeremiah Jones Colbath; February 16, 1812 – November 22, 1875) was an American politician who was the 18th vice president of the United States from 1873 until his death in 1875 and a senator from Massachusetts from 1855 ...

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut Massachusett_writing_systems.html" ;"title="nowiki/> məhswatʃəwiːsət.html" ;"title="Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət">Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət'' En ...

, won the election anyway. Brown returned to his law practice, quit the Republican Party and resumed his ties to the Democrats. He died in

Kirkwood, Missouri Kirkwood is an inner-ring western suburb of St. Louis located in St. Louis County, Missouri. As of the 2010 census, the city's population was 27,540. Founded in 1853, the city is named after James P. Kirkwood, builder of the Pacific Railroad ...

and is interred there at Oak Hill Cemetery.

References

Retrieved on 2009-03-30

External links

Brown biography
* , - , - , - , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Brown, B. Gratz 1826 births 1885 deaths 1872 United States vice-presidential candidates American duellists Burials in Missouri Candidates in the 1872 United States presidential election Democratic Party governors of Missouri Democratic Party (United States) vice presidential nominees Governors of Missouri Liberal Republican Party state governors of the United States Members of the Missouri House of Representatives Missouri Democrats Missouri Liberal Republicans Missouri Republicans Missouri Unconditional Unionists Politicians from Lexington, Kentucky People from St. Louis County, Missouri People of Missouri in the American Civil War Republican Party governors of Missouri Republican Party United States senators from Missouri Transylvania University alumni Unconditional Union Party United States senators Yale College alumni