Samuel Fenton Cary (February 18, 1814 – September 29, 1900) was an American politician who was a member of the U.S. House of Representatives 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 ...

and significant

temperance movement The temperance movement is a social movement promoting temperance or complete abstinence from consumption of alcoholic beverages. Participants in the movement typically criticize alcohol intoxication or promote teetotalism, and its leaders emph ...

leader in the 19th century. Cary became well known nationally as a prohibitionist author and lecturer.

Early life

Cary was born on February 18, 1814, in

Cincinnati, Ohio 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 ...

, where he attended public schools. He graduated from

Miami University Miami University (informally Miami of Ohio or simply Miami) is a public research university in Oxford, Ohio. The university was founded in 1809, making it the second-oldest university in Ohio (behind Ohio University, founded in 1804) and the ...

in 1835 and from the

Cincinnati Law School The University of Cincinnati College of Law was founded in 1833 as the Cincinnati Law School. It is the fourth oldest continuously running law school in the United States — after Harvard, the University of Virginia, and Yale — and the first in ...

in 1837.

Early career

Cary was admitted to the bar in 1837, practicing law out of his in office in Cincinnati. He was elected a judge in the

Ohio State Supreme Court The Ohio Supreme Court, Officially known as The Supreme Court of the State of Ohio is the highest court in the U.S. state of Ohio, with final authority over interpretations of Ohio law and the Ohio Constitution. The court has seven members, a ...

, but decided to pass on the position, continuing to practice law. He stopped working in law in 1845 to become a farmer and also to devote himself to temperance and anti-slavery groups. He gave lectures and wrote books on

prohibition Prohibition is the act or practice of forbidding something by law; more particularly the term refers to the banning of the manufacture, storage (whether in barrels or in bottles), transportation, sale, possession, and consumption of alcoholi ...

and

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 ...

matters. He was a delegate to the

Republican National Convention The Republican National Convention (RNC) is a series of presidential nominating conventions held every four years since 1856 by the United States Republican Party. They are administered by the Republican National Committee. The goal of the Repu ...

in 1864 supporting

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 ...

for a second term. Cary served as paymaster general for the State of Ohio under Governors Bartley and Bebb. He then became Collector of Internal Revenue for Ohio's first district in 1865.

U.S. House of Representatives

In 1867, Cary was elected to the

40th United States Congress The 40th 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, 1867, ...

as an Independent Republican to represent Ohio's second district, fining the vacancy left by the resignation of

Rutherford B. Hayes Rutherford Birchard Hayes (; October 4, 1822 – January 17, 1893) was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 19th president of the United States from 1877 to 1881, after serving in the U.S. House of Representatives and as governo ...

who had just been elected

Governor of Ohio 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 ...

. He served in Congress from November 21, 1867, to March 3, 1869. There, he became the chairman of the

Committee on Education and Labor The Committee on Education and Labor is a standing committee of the United States House of Representatives. There are 50 members in this committee. Since 2019, the chair of the Education and Labor committee is Robert Cortez Scott of Virginia. Hi ...

. Cary voted against the impeachment 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 ...

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 ...

. He lost the election to the Forty-first Congress in 1868 to Job E. Stevenson.

Campaigns for lieutenant governor and vice president

In 1875, Cary was also an unsuccessful candidate for

Lieutenant Governor of Ohio The position of lieutenant governor of Ohio was established in 1852. The lieutenant governor becomes governor if the governor resigns, dies in office or is removed by impeachment. Before 1852, the president of the Ohio State Senate would serve as ...

. Cary joined the

Greenback Party The Greenback Party (known successively as the Independent Party, the National Independent Party and the Greenback Labor Party) was an American political party with an anti-monopoly ideology which was active between 1874 and 1889. The party ran ...

and was the nominee for Vice President of the United States in the 1876 election after

Newton Booth Newton Booth (December 30, 1825July 14, 1892) was an American entrepreneur and politician. Early life Born to Hannah (née Pitts) of North Carolina and Beebe Booth

declined to run. He ran with Peter Cooper who was running for the presidency against

. Hayes won the presidency along with his running mate,

William A. Wheeler William Almon Wheeler (June 30, 1819June 4, 1887) was an American politician and attorney. He served as a United States representative from New York from 1861 to 1863 and 1869 to 1877, and the 19th vice president of the United States from 1877 t ...

. Cooper and Cary also came behind the Democratic Party candidates Samuel J. Tilden and

Thomas A. Hendricks Thomas Andrews Hendricks (September 7, 1819November 25, 1885) was an American politician and lawyer from Indiana who served as the 16th governor of Indiana from 1873 to 1877 and the 21st vice president of the United States from March until his ...

Honors

Frank Page, the founder and first mayor of

Cary, North Carolina Cary is a town in Wake and Chatham counties in the U.S. state of North Carolina and is part of the Raleigh–Cary, NC Metropolitan Statistical Area. According to the 2020 Census, its population was 174,721, making it the seventh largest mun ...

, named the town after Cary because he admire Cary's temperance speech given in the community previously.

Personal

Cary was twice married. First to Maria Louisa Allen on October 18, 1836; she died of consumption on September 25, 1847. They had three children: Martha Louisa Cary, Ella Woodnutt Cary and Lou Allen Cary. In 1849, he married Lida Stillwell. They had three children: Olive Cary, Samuel Fenton Cary Jr., and Jessie Cary. Cary lived out final twenty years of his life as a writer and lecturer. He died at the Cary Homestead in College Hill, Cincinnati, Ohio, on September 29, 1900. He is interred with his family in

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.

References

External links

*
The Cary Heritage Museum
, - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Cary, Samuel Fenton Cary, North Carolina Farmers from Ohio American temperance activists Burials at Spring Grove Cemetery Members of the United States House of Representatives from Ohio Miami University alumni Ohio lawyers Politicians from Cincinnati 1876 United States vice-presidential candidates University of Cincinnati College of Law alumni Writers from Cincinnati 1814 births 1900 deaths Ohio Republicans Ohio Democrats Ohio Greenbacks Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives Greenback Party vice presidential nominees 19th-century American politicians 19th-century American lawyers