Rowland E. Trowbridge | |
|---|---|
.jpg) | |
| 21stCommissioner of Indian Affairs | |
| In office 1880–1881 | |
| President | Rutherford B. Hayes |
| Preceded by | Ezra A. Hayt |
| Succeeded by | Hiram Price |
| Member of theU.S. House of Representatives from Michigan's4th district | |
| In office March 4, 1861 – March 3, 1863 | |
| Preceded by | De Witt C. Leach |
| Succeeded by | Francis W. Kellogg |
| Member of theU.S. House of Representatives from Michigan's5th district | |
| In office March 4, 1865 – March 4, 1869 | |
| Preceded by | Augustus C. Baldwin |
| Succeeded by | Omar D. Conger |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1821-06-18)June 18, 1821 |
| Died | April 20, 1881(1881-04-20) (aged 59) |
| Political party | Republican |
Rowland Ebenezer Trowbridge (June 18, 1821 – April 20, 1881) was an American politician fromMichigan. A United States congressman fromMichigan's 4th congressional district from 1861 to 1863 and again from 1865 to 1869, he worked on agricultural policy and was chairman of theCommittee on Agriculture during the40th United States Congress.
For most of his life he remained a farmer but resumed a role in federal politics from 1880 to 1881 ascommissioner of Indian Affairs for PresidentRutherford B. Hayes.
Trowbridge was born inHorseheads, New York toStephen Van Rensselaer Trowbridge (1794–1859) and Elizabeth Conkling (1797–1873) In the first year of his life, he moved with his parents and siblings in 1821 toOakland County, Michigan, where his family settled a farm in present-dayTroy.[1] He had eleven siblings, including mechanical engineer and generalWilliam Petit Trowbridge (1828–1892), and fellow general Luther Stephen Trowbridge (1836–1912).
Trowbridge attendedKenyon College inGambier, Ohio, where befriended futureU.S. PresidentRutherford B. Hayes and futureSupreme Court Associate JusticeStanley Matthews, and graduated in 1841.[2] Problems with his vision forced him to halt his ambitions for a career in law.[2]
Returning to farming after graduation, he settled in Thorndale, Michigan, in 1848 and began a political career as town supervisor.[2] In 1851 he returned to his parents' county as a farmer and became a member of theMichigan Senate, serving from 1856 to 1860 fromBloomfield, Michigan. He married Mary Ann Satterlee in 1851, with whom he had four children: Susan Elisabeth (1852),Stephen Van Rensselaer (1855), Tillman Conklin (1857), and Samuel Satterlee (1860).[2] They moved to Mary Ann's hometown ofBirmingham, Michigan, in 1860, trading the Bloomfield farm for a mill there.[2]
The same year, Trowbridge was elected as aRepublican fromMichigan's 4th congressional district to the37th United States Congress, serving from March 4, 1861, to March 3, 1863.[3] Afterredistricting as a result of the1860 census, Trowbridge ran as a candidate in the newly created5th congressional district in 1862, losing toDemocratAugustus C. Baldwin. In 1864, Trowbridge defeated Baldwin to be elected to the39th Congress, and was reelected in 1866 to the40th Congress, serving from March 4, 1865, to March 3, 1869.[3] He served as chairman of theCommittee on Agriculture during the 40th Congress.[3] He was an unsuccessful candidate for re-nomination,[3] and returned to life in farming, purchasing a farm in Lansing in 1873.[2]
Trowbridge's political career briefly resumed in the last few years of his life, when his college friend Rutherford Hayes waselected President of the United States. He served as commissioner of Indian Affairs under Hayes in 1880 and 1881.[2]
He died inBirmingham, Michigan, and is interred there inGreenwood Cemetery.[3]
| U.S. House of Representatives | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | United States Representative for the 4th Congressional District of Michigan 1861 – 1863 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | United States Representative for the 5th Congressional District of Michigan 1865 – 1869 | Succeeded by |
