Samuel C. Pomeroy | |
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| United States Senator fromKansas | |
| In office April 4, 1861 – March 3, 1873 | |
| Preceded by | None (statehood) |
| Succeeded by | John J. Ingalls |
| Member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives fromSouthampton | |
| In office 1852–1853 | |
| Preceded by | Chauncy Clapp |
| Succeeded by | Vacant |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Samuel Clarke Pomeroy (1816-01-03)January 3, 1816 |
| Died | August 27, 1891(1891-08-27) (aged 75) |
| Party | Republican |
| Spouse | Lucy Gaylord (m. April 23, 1846–1863 her death) Martha Stanwood Mann Whiting (m. September 20, 1866–1891) |
| Education | Amherst College |
| Profession |
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Samuel Clarke Pomeroy (January 3, 1816 – August 27, 1891) was aUnited States senator fromKansas in the mid-19th century. He served in theUnited States Senate during theAmerican Civil War.[1] Pomeroy also served in theMassachusetts House of Representatives. A Republican, he also was the mayor ofAtchison, Kansas, from 1858 to 1859,[1] the second president of theAtchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad, and the first president to oversee any of the railroad's construction and operations. Pomeroy succeededCyrus K. Holliday as president of the railroad on January 13, 1864.[2]
Samuel C. Pomeroy was born on January 3, 1816, atSouthampton, Massachusetts. He attendedAmherst College.[3] Pomeroy opposed the politics of slavery, and in 1854 he became an affiliate of theNew England Emigrant Aid Company. That fall, he led a group of settlers to Kansas to help found the city ofLawrence.[3][4]
On April 4, 1861, the Kansas legislature elected Pomeroy (along withJames Lane) to be one of Kansas's first federal senators.[3][5] In 1863, during the Civil War, Pomeroy escortedFrederick Douglass to the War Department building to meet War Secretary Edwin Stanton. Afterwards, Douglass attended a meeting with President Abraham Lincoln.[6]
In 1862, Pomeroy was a supporter ofLinconia, a plan toresettlefreedAfrican Americans from the United States.[7]
In 1864, Pomeroy was the chair of a committee supporting Secretary of the TreasurySalmon P. Chase for theRepublican nomination forPresident of the United States over the incumbent,Abraham Lincoln.[8] Pomeroy also spoke in support of Chase's candidacy in the Senate.[9] The Pomeroy committee issued a confidential circular to leading Republicans in February 1864 attacking Lincoln, which had the unintended effect of galvanizing support for Lincoln and seriously damaging Chase's prospects.[8]
On December 18, 1871, at the urging ofFerdinand Vandeveer Hayden and after learning of the findings of theHayden Geological Survey of 1871, Pomeroy introduced theAct of Dedication bill into the Senate that ultimately led to the creation ofYellowstone National Park.[10] On October 11, 1873,Martin F. Conway fired three shots at Pomeroy on New York Avenue in Washington, D.C. One shot hitting his chest and deflecting off his breastbone.[11]
During the1880 presidential election Pomeroy wasJohn W. Phelps' running mate on the revivedAnti-Masonic Party.
During the Kansas senatorial election of 1873, it was alleged that Senator Pomeroy paid $7,000 (~$166,356 in 2024) to Mr.Alexander M. York, aKansas state senator, to secure his vote for reelection to the Senate by theKansas State Legislature.[12] York publicly disclosed the alleged bribe was an attempt to pin a bribery charge against the senator.[13] After 19 ballots in the Kansas Legislature, Pomeroy was ultimately defeated when insiders turned toJohn J. Ingalls.[14]
Pomeroy took to the Senate floor on February 10, 1873, to deny the allegations as a "conspiracy ... for the purpose of accomplishing my defeat,"[12] and urged the creation of aspecial committee to investigate the allegations.[12] The payment of the $7,000 (~$166,356 in 2024) was never disputed bywitnesses, but instead of being a bribe it was described to the committee as a payment meant to be passed along to a second individual as seed money to start a national bank.[15] TheSpecial Committee on the Kansas Senatorial Election issued its report on March 3, 1873, which determined there was insufficient evidence to sustain the bribery charge, and instead was part of a "concerted plot" to defeat Senator Pomeroy.[15]
SenatorAllen G. Thurman ofOhio disagreed with the special committee's findings, stating his belief in Pomeroy's guilt and calling attempts to explain the payment as something other than a bribe as "so improbable, especially in view of the circumstances attending the senatorial election, that reliance cannot be placed upon them."[15] However, Thurman chose not to pursue the matter further, as March 3 coincided with Senator Pomeroy's last day in office.[15] This whole matter was alluded to in detail in the satireThe Gilded Age: A Tale of Today byMark Twain andCharles Dudley Warner, in which the prominent character Senator Dillworth is based on Pomeroy.[16]
Media related toSamuel Clarke Pomeroy at Wikimedia Commons| U.S. Senate | ||
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| Preceded by (none) | U.S. senator (Class 3) from Kansas April 4, 1861 – March 3, 1873 Served alongside:James H. Lane,Edmund G. Ross,Alexander Caldwell | Succeeded by |
| Business positions | ||
| Preceded by | President ofAtchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway 1863–1868 | Succeeded by |
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| Class 3 | ||
| Public Lands (1816–1921) | | |
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| Public Lands and Surveys (1921–1947) | ||
| Interior and Insular Affairs (1947–1977) | ||
| Energy and Natural Resources (1977–) | ||
| International | |
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| National | |
| People | |
| Other | |
