Joseph R. Hawley | |
|---|---|
 | |
| United States Senator fromConnecticut | |
| In office March 4, 1881 – March 3, 1905 | |
| Preceded by | William W. Eaton |
| Succeeded by | Morgan G. Bulkeley |
| 42nd Governor of Connecticut | |
| In office May 2, 1866 – May 1, 1867 | |
| Lieutenant | Oliver Winchester |
| Preceded by | William A. Buckingham |
| Succeeded by | James E. English |
| Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromConnecticut's1st district | |
| In office December 2, 1872 – March 3, 1875 | |
| Preceded by | Julius L. Strong |
| Succeeded by | George M. Landers |
| In office March 4, 1879 – March 3, 1881 | |
| Preceded by | George M. Landers |
| Succeeded by | John R. Buck |
| Personal details | |
| Born | October 31, 1826[1]: 22 Stewartsville, North Carolina[1]: 22 |
| Died | March 18, 1905(1905-03-18) (aged 78)[1]: 22 Washington, D.C.[1]: 22 |
| Political party | Republican |
| Alma mater | Hamilton College |
| Signature | .png) |
| Military service | |
| Branch/service | United States Army (Union Army) |
| Rank | Brigadier general Brevetmajor general |
| Battles/wars | |
Joseph Roswell Hawley (October 31, 1826 – March 18, 1905) was the42nd Governor of Connecticut, aU.S. politician in theRepublican andFree Soil parties, aCivil War general, and a journalist and newspaper editor. He served two terms in theUnited States House of Representatives and was a four-termU.S. Senator.
Hawley, a direct descendant ofJoseph Hawley, first of the name in America, through Ebenezer, Joseph and Samuel, was born in Stewartsville, nearLaurinburg, North Carolina, where Hawley's father, a native ofConnecticut, was pastor of aBaptist church. He was born at theStewart-Hawley-Malloy House; it was added to theNational Register of Historic Places in 1975.[2][3] His father returned to Connecticut in 1837 and Joseph attended and graduated fromHamilton College inNew York in 1847. He was admitted to the bar in 1850 and practiced law inHartford, Connecticut for six years.[4]
An ardent opponent ofslavery, Hawley became aFree Soiler, was a delegate to the National Convention which nominatedJohn Parker Hale for the presidency in 1852, and subsequently served as chairman of the party's State Committee and editor of the party's newspaper, theCharter Oak. In 1856, he took a leading part in organizing the Republican Party in Connecticut, and in 1857 became editor of theHartford Evening Press, a newly established Republican newspaper.[4]
 | This sectiondoes notcite anysources. Please helpimprove this section byadding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged andremoved.(January 2020) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
Hawley served in theFederal army with distinction throughout theCivil War, rising from the rank of captain to that ofbrevetmajor general of volunteers.[4] In April 1861, Hawley helped recruit and organize aninfantry company. He was mustered into the three-month 1st Connecticut Infantry with the rank ofcaptain of Company A on April 22. He first saw combat at theFirst Battle of Bull Run in July, receiving praise from hisbrigade commander, GeneralErasmus D. Keyes.
After mustering out, he then assistedCol.Alfred H. Terry in raising the7th Connecticut Infantry, a three-year regiment, and was named aslieutenant colonel. He participated in thePort Royal Expedition in November, and commanded the forces assigned to garrison two captured forts. He was a part of the four-month siege that culminated in the capture ofFort Pulaski in April 1862. Again, he commanded the garrison force. With Colonel Terry's promotion to brigade command, Hawley succeeded him as commander of the 7th Connecticut, leading the regiment in the battles ofJames Island and Pocotaligo.
He was in Brannan's expedition toFlorida in January 1863, and commanded the post at Ferandina, nearJacksonville. In April, he participated in an unsuccessful expedition to captureCharleston, South Carolina. In the summer, he commanded a brigade onMorris Island during thesiege of Charleston, and was involved in the attacks onFort Wagner in September. During the autumn, he procured enough Spencer breech-loading rifles to outfit his regiment with the rapid-fire weapon.
The following year, Hawley commanded a brigade under GeneralTruman Seymour in theBattle of Olustee in Florida. He and his men were reassigned to the front lines inVirginia as a part of Terry's Division,X Corps,Army of the James. He was in the battles ofDrewry's Bluff, Deep Run, Derbytown Road, and other actions near Bermuda Hundred and Deep Bottom. With openings created by battlefield losses and reassignments, Hawley commanded a division during theSiege of Petersburg and was promoted in September 1864 tobrigadier general of volunteers. Concerned over keeping the peace during the November elections, Hawley commanded a hand-picked brigade shipped toNew York City to safeguard the election process.
In January 1865, Hawley succeeded his mentor Alfred Terry as divisional commander when Terry was sent to command troops in the attacks onFort Fisher. Hawley later joined him inNorth Carolina as Chief of Staff for the X Corps. After the capture ofWilmington, North Carolina, Hawley took over command of the forces in southeastern North Carolina. In June, following the surrender of the Confederate armies, Hawley rejoined Terry and served as Chief of Staff for the Department of Virginia, serving until October when he returned home to Connecticut. He was breveted as a major general in September 1865, and mustered out of the army on January 15, 1866.
_(page_8_crop).jpg)
After the war, Hawley served as governor of Connecticut from April 1866 to April 1867, but was defeated in the1867 election. A few months after stepping down from that office, he bought theHartford Courant newspaper, which he combined with thePress. Under his editorship, this became the most influential newspaper in Connecticut and one of the leading Republican papers in the country.[4]
Hawley was the permanent chairman of theRepublican National Convention in 1868, was a delegate to the conventions of 1872, 1876 and 1880. He represented Connecticut in the U.S. Congress from December 1872 until March 1875 and again in 1879–81, having lost the two elections in between. From 1873 to 1876, he served as president of the United States Centennial Commission, which planned and ran theCentennial Exhibition in Philadelphia.[4] He was also a trustee of Hamilton College and received his LL. D. degree in 1875 (and another one fromYale in 1888).
Hawley was a United States Senator from 1881 to 1905, being one of the key Republican leaders both in the House and the Senate.[5] He was chairman of the committee oncivil service, and vigorously promoted civil service reform legislation. He also chaired a special committee called to investigate the production of military ordnance and warships. In this capacity, he wrote a detailed report on the heavy steel industry and gun making in the United States andEngland.
He died inWashington, D.C., two weeks after stepping down from the Senate after his fourth term.[1]: 3 At the time, he was the longest serving Senator from Connecticut.[1]: 3 Abronzebas relief representation of Hawley was commissioned fromHerbert Adams, which was installed in the north portico of theConnecticut Capitol building and dedicated 18 October 1912.[1]: 4 He was buried inCedar Hill Cemetery, Connecticut.[6]
Hawley has a battery named in his honor atFort Baldwin, inPhippsburg, Maine.
Hawley and his wife Harriet Foote Hawley adopted one of her nieces after the girl's parents died; asMargaret Foote Hawley she would go on to achieve some note as a painter ofportrait miniatures.[7][8] Harriet's sisterKate Foote Coe lived with the Hawleys while she was working as a newspaper correspondent in Washington.[9]
This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Hawley, Joseph Roswell".Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 13 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 101.| Party political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Republican nominee forGovernor of Connecticut 1866,1867 | Succeeded by |
| U.S. House of Representatives | ||
| Preceded by | Member of the U.S. House of Representatives fromConnecticut's 1st congressional district December 2, 1872 – March 3, 1875 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Member of the U.S. House of Representatives fromConnecticut's 1st congressional district March 4, 1879 – March 3, 1881 | Succeeded by |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by | Governor of Connecticut 1866–1867 | Succeeded by |
| U.S. Senate | ||
| Preceded by | U.S. senator (Class 1) from Connecticut 1881–1905 Served alongside:Orville H. Platt | Succeeded by |
| Class 1 |  | |
|---|---|---|
| Class 3 | ||
Chairs of theUnited States Senate Committee on Armed Services | ||
|---|---|---|
| Military Affairs Committee (1816–1947) | | |
| Naval Affairs Committee (1816–1947) | ||
| Armed Services Committee (1947–present) | ||
| Post Office and Post Roads (1816–1947) | | |
|---|---|---|
| Civil Service and Retrenchment (1873–1921) | ||
| Civil Service (1921–1947) | ||
| Post Office and Civil Service (1947–1977) | ||
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| People | |
| Other | |
