James Pollock
13thGovernor of Pennsylvania
In office January 16, 1855 – January 19, 1858
Preceded by	William Bigler
Succeeded by	William F. Packer
Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromPennsylvania's13th district
In office April 5, 1844 – March 3, 1849
Preceded by	Henry Frick
Succeeded by	Joseph Casey
Director of the United States Mint
In office May 1861 – September 1866
President	Abraham Lincoln Andrew Johnson
Preceded by	James Ross Snowden
Succeeded by	William Millward
In office May 1869 – March 1873
President	Ulysses S. Grant
Preceded by	Henry Linderman
Succeeded by	Henry Linderman
Personal details
Born	(1810-09-11)September 11, 1810 Milton, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Died	April 19, 1890(1890-04-19) (aged 79) Lock Haven, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Resting place	Milton Cemetery, PA
Party	Whig
Spouse	Sarah Ann Hepburn (m. 1837–1886; her death)
Children	3 sons 5 daughters
Alma mater	College of New Jersey
Signature

James Pollock (September 11, 1810 – April 19, 1890) was the 13thgovernor of Pennsylvania from 1855 to 1858.^[2]

James Pollock graduated from theCollege of New Jersey at Princeton before setting up a law practice in his home community, inMilton, Pennsylvania. District attorney and judicial appointments followed and in 1844 he was elected to theUnited States House of Representatives where he served three successive terms.

As a freshman congressman, Pollock boarded in the same rooming house as another new congressman,Abraham Lincoln (who would later become the16thPresident of the United States), and they soon developed a mutual respect and longstanding friendship.

Pollock was an early supporter ofSamuel Morse and his idea for atelegraph and was instrumental in getting theUnited States Congress to appropriate a small amount to help build the first line. He was present in the room when the first message, "What hath God wrought" was received, ushering in a new age oftelecommunication.

Pollock was also the first in congress to advocate the construction of a railroad across the continent, connecting newly acquired California with the east. In a speech in 1848 he said, "At the risk of being considered insane, I will venture the prediction that, in less than twenty-five years from this evening, a railroad will be completed and in operation between New York and San Francisco, California." Thetranscontinental railroad was completed in 1869, four years inside the limit fixed by Mr. Pollock.

He returned to the judiciary in Pennsylvania's Eighth District in 1850.

Pollock was nominated by theWhig Party for the governor's race in1854, amid controversy surrounding theKansas–Nebraska Act. A large crowd attended his inaugural ceremonies on January 16, 1855. Historians believe this was the first Pennsylvania inaugural ceremony to be held in the "open air." Attendance was estimated at 10,000 to 15,000 guests.^[3]

During his administration,Pennsylvania began to sell its publicly held railroads and canals, and he helped steer the state through the financialPanic of 1857. He chaired the Pennsylvania delegation to thePeace Conference of 1861, and was appointed by President Lincoln as Director of the Philadelphia mint that same year. While leading theUnited States Mint, he was instructed by the Secretary of the TreasurySalmon P. Chase in a letter to come up with suggestions for including "the trust of our people in God" in a motto on America's coins. Pollock proposed a number of mottos, including "Our Trust Is In God" and "God Our Trust," which Chase ultimately revised to "In God We Trust".^[4] During his tenure at the Mint, theAmerican Philosophical Society elected Pollock to membership in 1863.^[5]

Pollock was a member of theNational Reform Association, which seeks to add aChristian amendment to the U.S. Constitution.^[4]

The 1864 two-cent piece was the first coin with the approved motto and today all American coins are inscribed with "In God We Trust."

James Pollock was also a trustee ofLafayette College from 1855 to 1876, and its president from 1863 onwards.^[6]

James Pollock possessed a strong faith in God. Concurring with Secretary Chase's instructions, in his 1863 report to the Secretary of the Treasury, he wrote,"We claim to be a Christian nation—why should we not vindicate our character by honoring the God of Nations…Our national coinage should do this. Its legends and devices should declare our trust in God—in Him who is "King of Kings and Lord of Lords." The motto suggested, "God our Trust," is taken from our National Hymn, theStar-Spangled Banner." The sentiment is familiar to every citizen of our country—it has thrilled the hearts and fallen in song from the lips of millions of American Freemen. The time for the introduction of this or a similar motto, is propitious and appropriate. 'Tis an hour of National peril and danger—an hour when man's strength is weakness—when our strength and our nation's strength and salvation, must be in the God of Battles and of Nations. Let us reverently acknowledge his sovereignty, and let our coinage declare our trust in God."

Mr. Pollock served as Vice President of theAmerican Sunday School Union from 1855 until his death in 1890. In that role he had the distinction of presiding over more mission business meetings than any man in the history of AMF other than the first president. Greatly respected by his fellow managers, it was recorded that 'he was always eager to do his Lord's business with earnestness and dispatch' and while conscious of the power of his masterful mind and loving heart, his fellows managers 'most appreciated his depth of consecration.'

Pollock co-foundedSunday Breakfast Rescue Mission, ahomeless shelter and soup kitchen, in 1878 with notable fellow churchgoersJohn B. Stetson andJohn Wanamaker.^[7] What began as a simple cup of coffee and roll before church has grown to become the leading emergency shelter and largest indoor provider of meals in Philadelphia.^[8]

Pollock has a residence area, dining commons, computer learning center, and campus road named for him on theUniversity Park campus ofPenn State University, the institution which received its charter during his term as governor. Included in a Model UN civil war committee.

• United States Congress."James Pollock (id: P000416)".Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
• The Political Graveyard
• The Sunday School Movement and the American Sunday School Union by Edwin Wilbur Rice: Union Press, 1917.
• The Torch and the Flag by Galbraith Hall Todd; Union Press, 1966.
• United States Mint Annual Report, 1863.
• In Memoriam, James Pollack: published privately by the family of James Pollack, c. 1890.

• James Pollock atFind a Grave
• James Pollock atFamilySearch

• 1810 births
• 1890 deaths
• Pennsylvania state court judges
• Governors of Pennsylvania
• Directors of the United States Mint
• Politicians from Philadelphia
• Princeton University alumni
• Whig Party United States representatives from Pennsylvania
• 19th-century people from Pennsylvania
• Whig Party state governors of the United States
• Lafayette College trustees
• Lincoln administration personnel
• Andrew Johnson administration personnel
• Grant administration personnel
• 19th-century United States representatives
• Members of the American Philosophical Society

• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata
• Use mdy dates from May 2021