19th century American politician
The Honorable
James R. Doolittle
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In office
March 4, 1857 ? March 3, 1869
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Preceded by
| Henry Dodge
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Succeeded by
| Matthew H. Carpenter
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In office
March 4, 1861 ? March 4, 1867
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Preceded by
| William K. Sebastian
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Succeeded by
| John B. Henderson
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In office
October 1853 ? March 1856
|
Preceded by
| Wyman Spooner
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Succeeded by
| Charles Minton Baker
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Born
| (
1815-01-03
)
January 3, 1815
Hampton, New York
, U.S.
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Died
| July 27, 1897
(1897-07-27)
(aged 82)
Providence, Rhode Island
, U.S.
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Resting place
| Mound Cemetery
,
Racine, Wisconsin
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Political party
| Republican
(1854–1871)
Democratic
(after 1871)
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Spouse
|
Mary Lovina Cutting
(
m.
1837; died 1879)
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Children
| 6
|
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Alma mater
| Hobart College
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Profession
| Politician, lawyer
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James Rood Doolittle Sr.
(January 3, 1815 – July 27, 1897) was an American politician who served as a
U.S. Senator from Wisconsin
from March 4, 1857, to March 4, 1869. He was a strong supporter of President
Abraham Lincoln
's administration during the
American Civil War
.
[1]
[2]
Early life
[
edit
]
Born in
Hampton, New York
, Doolittle was the son of Reuben Doolittle and Sarah Rood. He attended
Middlebury Academy
in
Wyoming, New York
, and, in 1834, he graduated from
Hobart College
in
Geneva, New York
. He subsequently studied law and was admitted to the
New York bar association
in 1837.
Early career
[
edit
]
He then established a law practice in
Rochester
. Doolittle moved to
Warsaw, New York
, in 1841. From 1847 to 1850, he was the
district attorney
for
Wyoming County
. He also served for a time as a
colonel
in the
New York State
militia
.
In 1851, Doolittle moved to
Racine, Wisconsin
, and, in 1853, was elected Wisconsin Circuit Court Judge for the 1st Circuit, defeating incumbent appointee
Wyman Spooner
. During his time as judge, he presided over the July 1855 case of
The State of Wisconsin v. David F. Mayberry
,
[3]
the result of which led to the only recorded
lynching
in the history of
Rock County, Wisconsin
. Doolittle resigned from the court in March 1856.
Senator
[
edit
]
Until the 1850
repeal
of the
Missouri Compromise
, Doolittle was a
Democrat
. He left the party and was elected and then re-elected to the Senate as a
Republican
in 1857 and 1863, respectively. He was a delegate to the
Peace Conference of 1861
in
Washington, DC
.
While senator, Doolittle was the Chairman of the
Committee on Indian Affairs
. Along with his colleague,
Jacob Collamer
of
Vermont
, Doolittle represented the minority view for the Mason Report (June 1860), which was prepared by the Senate committee to investigate
John Brown
's raid on
Harper's Ferry
in October 1859. He also proposed a constitutional amendment to ban secession.
During the Civil War, Doolittle supported many of Lincoln's policies, and he was active in representing Wisconsin's interests on
Capitol Hill
. During the summer recess of 1865, he visited the Natives west of the
Mississippi River
as chairman of the
Joint Special Committee on Conditions of Indian Tribes
, which was charged with an inquiry into the condition of the Native tribes and their treatment by the US civil and military authorities. In the West, the committee split into subcommittees, which considered different regions with Doolittle participating in the inquiry into Native affairs in
Kansas
, the
Indian Territory
, and
Colorado
.
The report of the committee,
The Condition of the Tribes
, was issued on January 26, 1867. Doolittle was accused by
The New York Times
in 1872, while he was under consideration for appointment as
Secretary of the Interior
in the projected "reform cabinet" by Democratic presidential candidate
Horace Greeley
, of suppressing the report, as it contained information exposing the Native ring of fraudulent suppliers of goods to the Native tribes under treaty obligations. The
Times
alleged that the report was printed only after the
Cincinnati Gazette
obtained a copy of it.
[4]
Doolittle took a prominent part in the debate on the various war and reconstruction measures, upholding the federal government but always insisting that the
seceding
states had never ceased to be a part of the
Union
. He strongly opposed the
Fifteenth Amendment
and believed that each state should determine questions of
suffrage
for itself.
Later life
[
edit
]
After he left
Congress
, he ran for
Governor of Wisconsin
in 1871 as a Democrat. After he lost, he retired from politics.
Doolittle returned to the Midwest and became a lawyer in
Chicago
,
Illinois
while he maintained his residence in Racine. He served for a year as the acting president of the
Old University of Chicago
,
[6]
and he spent many years on its staff as a professor in the law school as well as serving on the Board of Trustees.
He was president of the
National Union Convention
of 1866 in Philadelphia and also of the
1872 Democratic National Convention
in
Baltimore
, which adopted the nomination of
Horace Greeley
. He died of
Bright's disease
in
Edgewood
,
Rhode Island
in 1897,
[7]
and was interred in
Mound Cemetery
in Racine, Wisconsin.
Personal life and family
[
edit
]
James R. Doolittle married Mary Lovina Cutting on July 27, 1837. They had four sons and two daughters, and were married for 42 years before her death in 1879.
[8]
Their son James Jr. became a prominent lawyer in Chicago, and served five years on the
Chicago Board of Education
.
[9]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
"Wisconsin History website"
. Archived from
the original
on June 11, 2011
. Retrieved
October 4,
2009
.
- ^
Political Graveyard site
- ^
State of Wisconsin v. David F. Mayberry
(1st Cir., Wisconsin Courts, July 11, 1855),
Text
.
- ^
"DOOLITTLE AND THE INDIANS.; What the Senator Knows About Suppressing Reports A Good Secretary of the Interior for Greeley's Reform Cabinet",
New York Times
, September 8, 1872
- ^
Goodspeed, Thomas W. (1916).
A History of the University of Chicago, Founded by John D. Rockefeller: The First Quarter-Century
.
University of Chicago Press
. pp. 18?19 – via
Internet Archive
.
- ^
"Doolittle is Dead"
.
The Topeka Daily Capital
. July 28, 1897. p. 4
. Retrieved
June 3,
2015
– via
Newspapers.com
.
- ^
"Obituary"
.
Chicago Tribune
. November 12, 1879. p. 4
. Retrieved
March 25,
2023
– via
Newspapers.com
.
- ^
"James R. Doolittle Jr"
.
Chicago Tribune
. August 9, 1889. p. 2
. Retrieved
March 25,
2023
– via
Newspapers.com
.
Sources
[
edit
]
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Full Committee
(1820–1947)
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Select Committee
(1977–1993)
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Full Committee
(1993–)
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International
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National
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People
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Other
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