Michael Hahn
Portrait of Hahn byJohn Genin (c. 1865)
Governor of Louisiana
In office March 4, 1864 – March 4, 1865
Lieutenant	James Wells
Preceded by	George Shepley (Military Governor) Henry Allen (Confederate Governor)
Succeeded by	James Wells
Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromLouisiana's2nd district
In office March 4, 1885 – March 15, 1886
Preceded by	John Ellis
Succeeded by	Nathaniel Wallace
In office February 17, 1863[1] – March 4, 1863
Preceded by	Miles Taylor
Succeeded by	James Mann (1868)
Personal details
Born	George Michael Decker Hahn (1830-11-24)November 24, 1830 Klingenmünster,Bavaria (nowGermany)
Died	March 15, 1886(1886-03-15) (aged 55) Washington, D.C., U.S.
Political party	Democratic (before 1862) Union (1862–1863) Republican (1863–1886)
Education	Tulane University (LLB)
Signature

George Michael Decker Hahn (November 24, 1830 – March 15, 1886), was an attorney, politician, publisher andplanter inNew Orleans, Louisiana. He served twice inCongress during two widely separated periods, elected first as aUnionist to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1862, as a Republican to the U.S. Senate in 1865, and later as a Republican to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1884. He was elected as the 19thGovernor of Louisiana, serving from 1864 to 1865 during theAmerican Civil War, when the state was occupied by Union troops. He was the first German-born governor in the United States,^[2] and is also claimed as the first ethnic Jewish governor.^[3] By that time, he was a practicingEpiscopalian.^[4]

In 1865, Hahn was elected to the U.S. Senate, butRadical Republicans refused to allow him or other senators-elect from former Confederate states to be seated. Later, he was elected for several terms as a Republican to the state House during theReconstruction era, where he was also elected as Speaker. Hahn was active as a publisher and editor, owning and operating three newspapers in succession that supported the Republican Party, its program, and its candidates in the state. He spent much of his wealth in supporting these papers. Hahn continued to be politically active, being elected to Congress fromLouisiana's 2nd congressional district in 1884 with a strong majority. He served about a year before his death in office.

Hahn was born in 1830 as the last child in his family, inKlingenmünster,Palatinate, then part of theKingdom of Bavaria, now ofRhineland-Palatinate,Germany. His father died before he was born.^[5][6] Some sources indicate that Hahn's parents were Jewish.^[3][7]

With his widowed mother and four older siblings, Hahn immigrated as a child to the United States, arriving inNew York City. The family traveled to theRepublic of Texas, before settling inNew Orleans in 1840. The following year, Hahn's mother died ofyellow fever and the children were orphaned.^[5] With the help of his older siblings, Hahn continued his education and graduated from City High School. In 1849, at the age of 19, he beganreading law underChristian Roselius, a prominentWhig attorney and laterAttorney General of Louisiana.^[5] In 1851, Hahn graduated from the University of Louisiana (Tulane University) with a law degree. He worked in Roselius's office after getting his degree.^[8]

The following year Hahn was elected to the New Orleans city school board at the age of 22; he ran the school system as its director. He joined theDemocratic party faction led byPierre Soulé. In the Presidential Election of 1860, Hahn supportedStephen Douglas.^[5] He was fluent in English, French and German.

In 1860, Hahn opposed secession, delivering a pro-Union speech inLafayette Square. He avoided taking an oath of allegiance to theConfederacy. Opposed to secession and a supporter of theUnion, Hahn was elected in 1862 as theU.S. representative fromLouisiana's 2nd congressional district. This incorporated most of New Orleans, which had been occupied by Union forces.

Hahn was one of two Louisiana Representatives seated in the37th Congress, which adjourned on March 4, 1863, during the Civil War.^[5] Eventually, Hahn advised that there should be no more representation from Louisiana until it was "reconstructed." During his time in Washington, Hahn met and befriended PresidentAbraham Lincoln.^[9]

In 1864, with almost all of Louisiana under federal occupation, GeneralNathaniel P. Banks, theUnion Military Commander of theDepartment of the Gulf (responsible, among other things, for civil order in occupied Louisiana), called state elections and convened a constitutional convention.Benjamin Franklin Flanders andThomas Jefferson Durant, prominent Unionists, opposed the moderate plan called for by General Banks. Hahn purchased a pro-slaverynewspaper, theNew Orleans True Delta, and used it to promote moderate Unionism supporting Banks' plan, including emancipation of slaves.^[9] Hahn ran for governor with the Free-State Party and won the election with 54% or 11,411 votes.J. Q. A. Fellows, a conservative Democrat, received 26% or 2,996 votes; and Benjamin Franklin Flanders, the radical Republican, received 20% or 2,232 votes.

Hahn was elected as the first German-born governor of anAmerican state.^[2] He is also claimed as the first ethnic Jewish governor in the United States;^[3] by then he was worshipping as an Episcopalian.^[4]

On March 4, 1864, Hahn was inaugurated as governor of Union-held Louisiana in an elaborate ceremony paid for by General Banks.^[10] As governor, Hahn supporteduniversal education.^[11]

In his term, Hahn tried to gain suffrage forfreedmen and previouslyfree people of color, but it was too early. He approved the state's ratification of the15th Amendment. Hahn's administration made serious attempts to ensure enfranchisement of black Louisianans, laid the foundation for a public school system for blacks, and began an abortedReconstruction in Louisiana. Governor Hahn played a leading role in the state constitutional convention of 1864, but he was opposed byMajor GeneralStephen A. Hurlbut, who replaced Banks as commander of the Department of the Gulf. General Hurlburt refused to recognize the state civil government of Hahn.

Hahn resigned as governor in March 1865, and was elected by the state legislature to theU.S. Senate in 1865.^[9] However,Radical Republicans did not seat him, as they believed the state had more work to do before being allowed to rejoin the Union.^[12]

Lieutenant GovernorJames Madison Wells succeeded Hahn as governor after his resignation.^[13]

AfterPresident Lincoln was assassinated in April 1865,Congress refused to seat any Representatives or Senators from the former Confederacy until areconstruction plan could be carried out. Senator-elect Hahn returned to New Orleans and allied with radical Republicans calling for aconvention to revise Louisiana's Constitution of 1864 to includeblacksuffrage. He was shot and severely wounded on July 30, 1866, in theNew Orleans Riot.^[5]

In 1867, Hahn became editor and manager of theNew Orleans Republican newspaper, his platform for opposing PresidentAndrew Johnson's lenient Reconstruction program. In 1872, Hahn retired to aplantation inSt. Charles Parish. There he established the village ofHahnville and published his third newspaper, theSt. Charles Herald.^[5] On his plantation, he grewsugar cane, the common commodity crop in the "sugar parishes" of this region.^[14]

From 1872 to 1878 Hahn served in theLouisiana State Legislature. He was elected as Chairman of the Judiciary Committee and Speaker of theLouisiana House of Representatives amid theWheeler Compromise. In 1878 he was appointed as Superintendent of theU.S. Mint in New Orleans, serving until January 1879. At that point, Hahn was appointedJudge of the 26th state judicial district, which includedSaint John the Baptist,Saint Charles, andJefferson parishes. During the 1880 elections, Hahn established and edited theNew Orleans Ledger to promote Republican candidates.

Although Democrats had regained control of the state legislature, Hahn was personally admired for his integrity and consistency of position. In 1884, Hahn was elected toCongress as the Republican candidate fromLouisiana's 2nd congressional district – a race that he won handily by 3,000 votes.^[8] Serving as the only Republican Congressman from Louisiana, Hahn died on March 15, 1886, in his room at theWillard Hotel inWashington, D.C. He suffered a ruptured blood vessel near his heart.^[5] His body was returned to New Orleans.

Hahn's funeral was conducted by an Episcopal priest, and he was buried in New Orleans'sMetairie Cemetery.^[15] He had never married and died poor. He had spent much of his previous wealth in trying to maintain the Republican-oriented newspapers he published.^[16]

• List of members of the United States Congress who died in office (1790–1899)
• List of United States governors born outside the United States
• New Orleans Massacre of 1866
• Maximilian F. Bonzano, another member of early 19th-century German New Orleans

• Congressional Biography
• Baker, Vaughn B., and Amos E. Simpson. "Michael Hahn: Steady Patriot"Louisiana History 13 (summer 1972): pp. 229–52.
• Andrews, Elisha Benjamin (1903).The United States in our own time; a history from reconstruction to expansion; being an extension of "The history of the last quarter century. C. Scribner's Sons. pp. 160–67.

• Media related toMichael Hahn at Wikimedia Commons
• Works by or aboutMichael Hahn atWikisource
• Michael Hahn's Congressional biography
• Hahn exhibit at St. Charles Parish Virtual Museum
• Cemetery Memorial by La-Cemeteries
• Michael Hahn atFind a Grave

• 1830 births
• 1886 deaths
• People from Südliche Weinstraße
• Emigrants from Bavaria to the United States
• Governors of Louisiana
• Jewish American people in Louisiana politics
• Speakers of the Louisiana House of Representatives
• Democratic Party members of the Louisiana House of Representatives
• Tulane University alumni
• Politicians from New Orleans
• Businesspeople from New Orleans
• People from Hahnville, Louisiana
• Editors of Louisiana newspapers
• Louisiana Unionists
• People from the Palatinate (region)
• Unionist Party members of the United States House of Representatives
• Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Louisiana
• Republican Party governors of Louisiana
• Unionist Party state governors of the United States
• School board members in Louisiana
• American lawyers admitted to the practice of law by reading law
• 19th-century American businesspeople
• 19th-century American Jews
• 19th-century members of the United States House of Representatives
• 19th-century members of the Louisiana State Legislature

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