Hon. Elbridge G. Spaulding
Member of theU.S. House of Representatives from New York's32nd district
In office March 4, 1849 – March 3, 1851
Preceded by	Nathan K. Hall
Succeeded by	Solomon G. Haven
In office March 4, 1859 – March 3, 1863
Preceded by	Israel T. Hatch
Succeeded by	Walter L. Sessions
New York State Treasurer
In office 1854–1855
Preceded by	Benjamin Welch
Succeeded by	Stephen Clark
Member of theNew York State Assembly from theErie County, 1st district
In office January 1, 1848 – December 31, 1848
Preceded by	District created
Succeeded by	Benoni Thompson
17th Mayor of theCity of Buffalo
In office 1847–1848
Preceded by	Solomon G. Haven
Succeeded by	Orlando Allen
Personal details
Born	Elbridge Gerry Spaulding (1809-02-24)February 24, 1809 Summer Hill, New York, U.S.
Died	May 5, 1897(1897-05-05) (aged 88) Buffalo, New York, U.S.
Party	Whig,Republican
Spouses	Antoinette Rich ​ ​ (m. 1837; died 1841)​ Nancy Selden Strong ​ ​ (m. 1842; died 1852)​ Delia Strong ​ ​ (m. 1854; died 1895)​
Children	3
Parent(s)	Edward Spaulding Mehitable Goodridge
Profession	Politician, lawyer

Elbridge Gerry Spaulding (February 24, 1809 – May 5, 1897) was an American lawyer, banker, and Republican Party politician.^[1][2] He opposed slavery and supported the idea for the first U.S. currency not backed by gold or silver, thus helping to keep the Union's economy afloat during theU.S. Civil War.^[3][4]

Spaulding was born on February 24, 1809, inSummer Hill, New York, the first of nine children of Edward Spaulding (1764–1845) and Mehitable Goodridge (1770–1838).^[4]

Spaulding's paternal grandfather was Levi Spaulding (1737–1825), a member of the3rd New Hampshire Regiment that saw action during theRevolutionary War at theBattle of Bunker Hill, theBattles of Saratoga, and theBattle of Newtown. In addition, the 3rd participated in or was present at theSiege of Boston, theInvasion of Canada,Valley Forge, andSullivan's Expedition.^[5] His maternal grandfather was the Rev. Sewall Goodridge (1747–1809), the son of Capt. Benjamin Goodridge Sr. (1701–1773), an attorney inLunenburg, Massachusetts, who was appointedcommissioner of the peace in the 1769 underSir Francis Bernard, 1st Baronet (1712–1779), theGovernor of the Province of Massachusetts Bay from 1760 to 1769.^[6]

In 1829, he began the study of law in the office of Fitch & Dibble atBatavia, New York. During this time he served as recording clerk in the county clerk's office to meet his expenses. In 1832, he completed his studies inAttica, New York, withHarvey Putnam. Later that year he was admitted to the bar inGenesee County, New York. In 1834, he moved toBuffalo, and became a clerk in the office of Potter & Babcock, leading attorneys in the city.^[4]

In March 1836, he was appointed City Clerk ofBuffalo. In 1841, Spaulding was elected Alderman of the Third Ward, and served as Chairman of the Executive Committee. He became theMayor of Buffalo in 1847 and was a member of theNew York State Assembly (Erie Co., 1st d.) in1848. While in the Assembly, he secured passage of a law authorizing the formation ofgas light corporations in the State. The Buffalo Gas Light Company was the first such created, and he became a director and stockholder of it.^[4]

Spaulding was elected as aWhig to the31st United States Congress, serving from 1849 to 1851 as the representative forNew York's 32nd congressional district, a district created on March 4, 1833, for the eventual13thPresident of the United StatesMillard Fillmore. Spaulding served for one term in theU.S. House of Representatives. In 1854, he became theNew York State Treasurer, serving until 1855. He was elected again to the House of Representatives as aRepublican, serving in the36th and37th United States Congresses from 1859 to 1863. In 1860, Spaulding delivered a speech denouncing the Democratic Party and its pro-slavery views, and urging Republicans to support Abraham Lincoln for the U.S. presidency.^[7]

It was said that Spaulding was the one who figured out that the American government needed to print money to pay for theCivil War. At the time, it was regarded as economic heresy, but today many believe that the country would not have survived without it.^[1] Such an idea was then dismissed by some as "fiat money", money that is money not because it is backed by gold or silver, but because some government says it is money. He was Chairman of aHouse Ways and Means Subcommittee when the government was in danger of running out of money to pay for the war. He wrote a law that allowed the government to print money and declare it had to be accepted as legal tender.^[1]

In a biography ofCornelius Vanderbilt, titledThe First Tycoon,T. J. Stiles wrote that Spaulding "performed a true miracle: he conjured money out of nothing, and so contributed more toward the Union victory (and the future of New York’s financial sector) than any single battlefield victory." Stiles continued, "If Wall Street had saints, then the college of financial cardinals would surely canonize Elbridge G. Spaulding."^[8]

In 1862, he drafted theLegal Tender Act, and the National Currency Bank Bill. At the time, the only circulating paper money was notes issued by banks. Those notes were supposed to be convertible into gold, although the banks had been forced to suspend such conversions at the end of 1861. There was no central bank. The bill passed Congress not because it was thought to be good policy absent a crisis, but because it was necessary. "It was at once a loan to the government without interest and a national currency, which was so much needed for disbursement in small sums during the pressing exigencies of the war," Spaulding wrote years later in his book,History of the Legal Tender Paper Money.^[1]

On September 5, 1837, he married Antoinette Rich (1818–1841), daughter of Gaius Basset Rich and Aphia Salisbury Rich. Antoinette died in 1841 without bearing any children.^[9]

On September 5, 1842, he married Nancy Selden Strong (1824–1852), the daughter of Samuel Strong and Delia Selden Strong ofWindsor, Connecticut. Together with Nancy, he had three children before her death in 1852. They were:^[9]

• Charlotte Spaulding (1843–1934), who marriedFranklin Sidway (1834–1920)^[10]
• Edward Rich Spaulding (1845–1908),^[11] who married Mary Tenney Blanchard (1851–1923)^[12]
• Samuel Strong Spaulding (1849–1933), who married Annie Margaret Watson (1852–1924)^[13]

On May 2, 1854, after Nancy's death in 1852, he married Delia Strong (1812–1895), Nancy's sister. Spaulding's marriage with Delia lasted over 40 years until her death in 1895, however, they did not have any children together.^[9]

Spaulding died on May 5, 1897, in Buffalo and is buried atForest Lawn Cemetery. In his will, Spaulding indicated that at his death, the house at 775 Main Street was to be demolished. Therefore, in 1897 the house was torn down. Later the "Spaulding Building", built in 1906 at 763 Main St. by Edward Rich Spaulding, and the "Sidway Building", built in 1907 at 775–783 Main St. byFranklin Sidway and Charlotte Spaulding Sidway, were both built on the property.^[9]

Around 1850, Spaulding bought the "Hollister Mansion" at 775Main Street in Buffalo, the house in which Delia and Spaulding lived for their entire married lives. The property had earlier been part of the farm of Deacon Jabez Goodell, who in 1830 sold it to William Hollister and George Palmer jointly, each of whom planned to build their residences on the property. Hollister chose the western part, onMain Street, and Palmer the quieter and more rural eastern part, on Washington Street. Hollister built his house in 1835–1836 (on the southeast corner of Main and Goodell) and lived there until it was sold to Spaulding in 1850, who made extensive alterations. Spaulding's daughter, Charlotte, marriedFranklin Sidway in the house in 1866.^[9]

Around 1870, Spaulding built a Victorian eraStick Style home as his summer retreat onGrand Island named "River Lawn". He owned a half mile of river front that encompassed 350 acres of broad woodlands and cultivated fields. There, Spaulding indulged his hobby of raising some of the finest cattle in the nation.^[14]Lewis F. Allen, uncle-in-law ofGrover Cleveland, was the first of the so-called society of the day to build a house on the island, and Spaulding was the second. After that, it became a fashionable mecca, and numerous other houses were built. In 1879, the socially prominentFalconwood Club, formed in 1858, built its clubhouse adjacent to the Spaulding property.^[9]

Theboathouse he constructed on his "River Lawn" estate, known as theSpaulding-Sidway Boathouse, was listed on theNational Register of Historic Places in 1998.^[15] Much later in 1935, the boathouse was floated up river to its present location inOakfield byFrank St. John Sidway, Spaulding's grandson.

In 1846, Spaulding was one of the original founders that helped to get theUniversity at Buffalo established. He was a member of the original council of the university, and remained a member until his death in 1897. Today, there is anundergraduatedormitory, as well as academic and administrative offices, named for him at the university.^[16]

During the 1930s, Spaulding's "River Lawn" estate later was donated to theNew York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation, by his heirs, and became the basis for present dayBeaver Island State Park.^[17]

• 1869 –History of the Legal Tender Paper Money Issued During the Great Rebellion^[18]
• 1875 –Legal Tender Act^[19]
• 1876 –Centennial: One Hundred Years of Progress in the Business of Banking^[20]

• Frank St. John Sidway

Sources

• Wright, Robert K. (1989).The Continental Army. Washington, D.C.: Center of Military History United States Army.ISBN 0160019311.
• Nicolson, Colin (2000).The "Infamas Govener" Francis Bernard and the Origins of the American Revolution. Boston, MA: Northeastern University Press.ISBN 978-1-55553-463-9.OCLC 59532824.

Wikiquote has quotations related toElbridge G. Spaulding.

• United States Congress."Elbridge G. Spaulding (id: S000705)".Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. Retrieved on 2009-04-11
• Congressman Elbridge G. Spaulding
• Google BooksThe New York Civil List compiled by Franklin Benjamin Hough (pages 35f and 306; Weed, Parsons and Co., 1858)
• Elbridge G. Spaulding Mayors of Buffalo, New York, U.S. atThe Buffalonian

• 1809 births
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