Galusha A. Grow | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Grow, between 1865 and 1880 | |
| 24th Speaker of the United States House of Representatives | |
| In office July 4, 1861 – March 4, 1863 | |
| Preceded by | William Pennington |
| Succeeded by | Schuyler Colfax |
| Leader of theHouse Republican Conference | |
| In office July 4, 1861 – March 4, 1863 | |
| Preceded by | William Pennington |
| Succeeded by | Schuyler Colfax |
| Member of the U.S. House of Representatives fromPennsylvania | |
| In office February 26, 1894 – March 3, 1903 | |
| Preceded by | William Lilly |
| Succeeded by | John M. Morin (1913) |
| Constituency | at-large district |
| In office March 4, 1851 – March 3, 1863 | |
| Preceded by | David Wilmot |
| Succeeded by | William Henry Miller |
| Constituency | 12th district (1851–53) 14th district (1853–63) |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Aaron Galusha Grow (1823-08-31)August 31, 1823 Ashford, Connecticut, U.S. |
| Died | March 31, 1907(1907-03-31) (aged 83) Glenwood, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| Political party | Democratic (1850–1857) Republican (1857–1907) |
| Alma mater | Amherst College |
| Profession | Attorney |
| Signature |  |
Galusha Aaron Grow (August 31, 1823 – March 31, 1907) was the 24thspeaker of the United States House of Representatives, serving from 1861 to 1863. Elected as aDemocrat in the1850 congressional elections, he switched to the newly organizedRepublican Party in the mid-1850s when the Democratic Party tried to force the extension ofslavery into western territories.
Elected speaker for the37th Congress, Grow presided over the House during the initial years of theAmerican Civil War. During his tenure Congress passed the landmarkHomestead Act of 1862, which he supported. Grow was defeated for reelection in1862. For over a century he remained the lastincumbent House speaker to be defeated, until SpeakerTom Foley lost his seat in1994.[1]
After leaving office he continued to speak out on political issues, but did not serve in elective office. Then, 31 years after leaving office, Grow won an1894 special election to succeedWilliam Lilly. It remains one of the longest knowninterregnums between terms of service for a House member. Over the course of his career, Grow represented the people of threePennsylvania congressional districts: the12th district (1851–1853),14th district (1853–1863), andPennsylvania's at-large congressional district (1894–1903).
Grow was born Aaron Galusha Grow inAshford, Connecticut. Hisgiven names were the suggestions of an aunt living in Vermont, who was visiting Grow's mother when he was christened: "Aaron" was the aunt's husband's name (his full name was Aaron Nichols (1764–1807)), and"Galusha" was the surname of agovernor of Vermont she admired.[2] His family called him Galusha when he was growing up, and before Grow was a teenager, he had started writing his name with his given names reversed.[2] He was educated at Franklin Academy inSusquehanna County, Pennsylvania, and later atAmherst College. He studied law and was admitted to the bar in November 1847 and then began his law practice.[3]
Grow ran as aDemocrat in the1850 election and served as a member of that party during the32nd and33rd congresses, and into the34th Congress. He switched parties in the wake of President Pierce's signing of theKansas-Nebraska Act.[2] He ran as aRepublican in the1856 election and remained a member of that party for the rest of his political career.
During the35th United States Congress, on February 5, 1858, he was physically attacked by DemocratLaurence M. Keitt in the House chambers, leading to a brawl between northerners and southerners. Keitt, offended by Grow's having stepped over to his side of the House chamber, dismissively demanded that Grow sit down, calling him a "black Republican puppy". Grow responded by telling Keitt that "No negro-driver shall crack his whip over me." Keitt became enraged and went for Grow's throat, shouting that he would "choke [him] for that". A large brawl involving approximately fifty representatives erupted on the House floor, ending only when a missed punch from Rep.Cadwallader Washburn upended thehairpiece of Rep.William Barksdale. The embarrassed Barksdale accidentally replaced the wig backwards, causing both sides to erupt in spontaneous laughter.[4][5][6]
Later that year Grow wasre-elected to a fifth term. When the next Congress convened in December 1859, he was one of 90 congressmen to receive votes during the two-month-long 44-ballotspeaker election,[7] dropping out following the first ballot.[8]On December 29, 1859, North Carolina Congressman Lawrence O'Bryan Branch challenged Galusha Grow to a duel after the two exchanged insults on the House Floor. Both men and their seconds were arrested by District of Columbia police before the duel could take place.[9]
The deepening rift betweenslave states and free states overshadowed Grow's1861 re-election victory, as a national crisis erupted in December 1860 whenSouth Carolina became the first of several Southern states to adopt anOrdinance of Secession. Four months later, on April 12, 1861,Confederate forcesfired upon Fort Sumter, igniting theCivil War. In response,PresidentAbraham Lincoln called the37th Congress into session on July 4. When the House convened that day, Grow was nominated to beSpeaker of the House; also nominated wasFrancis Preston Blair Jr. Grow was elected on the first ballot, but only after Blair withdrew following theroll call vote, at which time 28 votes shifted to Grow.[10]
1861 election for speaker – 159 votes cast, 80 votes necessary to win election:[11][12]
■ Galusha A. Grow (R–Pennsylvania) 99
■ Francis Preston Blair Jr. (R–Missouri) 12
■ John J. Crittenden (CU–Kentucky) 12
■ John S. Phelps (D–Missouri) 7
■ Clement Vallandingham (D–Ohio) 7
■ Erastus Corning (D–New York) 7
■ Samuel S. Cox (D–Ohio) 6
■ Others 9
Although events of the war dominated and theFirst Battle of Bull Run occurred only two weeks after the 37th Congress was called into session, under Grow's leadership, several major acts of Congress were passed and signed into law, particularly theMorrill Land-Grant College Act (passed House June 17, 1862), thePacific Railway Act authorizing land grants to encourage the construction of thetranscontinental railroad, and theHomestead Act, which in over a century resulted in the establishment of 1.6 million homesteads.
Grow, a supporter of theRadical Republicans, was defeated in his re-election bid in 1862, becoming the second sitting House Speaker in a row to lose his seat.
Grow was a delegate to the Republican National Convention in1864 and1868.
He moved toHouston, Texas in 1871, and that year became president of what became known as theInternational - Great Northern Railroad, a position he held until 1875. He then returned to Pennsylvania and the practice of law from 1875 to 1894.
Grow returned to the United States Congress as amember at-large from Pennsylvania from 1894 to 1903; was the chairman of the committee on education in the 56th Congress.
Grow resided inGlenwood, Pennsylvania, from 1903 until his death there on March 31, 1907.[3] A biography of Galusha Grow,Galusha A. Grow: Father of the Homestead Law, was written by James T. Du Bois and Gertrude S. Mathews and published byHoughton Mifflin in 1917.[2]
A monument to Grow was erected in 1915 at theSusquehanna County Courthouse Complex inMontrose, Pennsylvania.[13]
| U.S. House of Representatives | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Member of the U.S. House of Representatives fromPennsylvania's 12th congressional district March 4, 1851 – March 3, 1853 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Member of the U.S. House of Representatives fromPennsylvania's 14th congressional district March 4, 1853 – March 3, 1863 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Member of the U.S. House of Representatives fromPennsylvania's at-large congressional district February 26, 1894 – March 3, 1903 | Succeeded by Vacant |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by | Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives July 4, 1861 – March 4, 1863 | Succeeded by |
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| Education and Labor (1867–1883) |  | |
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| Education (1883–1947) | ||
| Labor (1883–1947) | ||
| Education and Labor* (1947–) | ||
| Note | * Alternately namedEconomic and Educational Opportunities in 104th Congress andEducation and the Workforce in 105th through 109th and 112th through 115th Congresses. | |
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| People | |
| Other | |
