American politician (1836?1907)
"Senator Alger" redirects here. For the Massachusetts State Senate member, see
Alpheus B. Alger
.
Russell Alger
|
---|
|
|
|
In office
September 27, 1902 ? January 24, 1907
|
Preceded by
| James McMillan
|
---|
Succeeded by
| William Smith
|
---|
|
In office
March 5, 1897 ? August 1, 1899
|
President
| William McKinley
|
---|
Preceded by
| Daniel S. Lamont
|
---|
Succeeded by
| Elihu Root
|
---|
|
In office
January 1, 1885 ? January 1, 1887
|
Lieutenant
| Archibald Buttars
|
---|
Preceded by
| Josiah Begole
|
---|
Succeeded by
| Cyrus G. Luce
|
---|
|
|
Born
| Russell Alexander Alger
(
1836-02-27
)
February 27, 1836
Lafayette Township, Ohio
, U.S.
|
---|
Died
| January 24, 1907
(1907-01-24)
(aged 70)
Washington, D.C.
, U.S.
|
---|
Political party
| Republican
|
---|
Spouse
|
Annette Huldana Squire Henry
(
m.
1861)
|
---|
Children
| 6
|
---|
Signature
| |
---|
|
Allegiance
|
United States
•
Union
|
---|
Branch/service
|
United States Army
•
Union Army
|
---|
Years of service
| 1861?1864
|
---|
Rank
| Colonel
Brevet
Major General
|
---|
Commands
| 5th Michigan Cavalry Regiment
|
---|
Battles/wars
| |
---|
|
Russell Alexander Alger
(
AL
-j?r
; February 27, 1836 ? January 24, 1907) was an American politician and businessman. He served as the 20th
governor of Michigan
,
U.S. Senator
, and
U.S. Secretary of War
. Alger life was a "rags-to-riches" success tale. He became an army officer, financier,
lumber baron
, railroad owner, and government official in several high offices.
[1]
He was supposedly a distant relation of author
Horatio Alger
.
Early life and career
[
edit
]
Russell Alexander Alger was born on February 27, 1836, in
Lafayette Township, Medina County, Ohio
.
[2]
His parents were Russell and Caroline Alger (nee Moulton).
[3]
Hailing from a New England family, his ancestors came from England to Massachusetts in 1759.
[4]
His parents died in 1848, leaving Russell the oldest of three orphan children, without money and with a brother and sister to care for and support.
[2]
He had been accustomed to working for the neighbors for a small quantity of provisions or a few pennies a day even before the death of his parents, who were very poor.
[2]
He now found homes for his brother and sister and secured work for himself on a farm, his remuneration being his board, clothes and the privilege of attending school three months out of the year.
[2]
He attended Richfield Academy in
Summit County, Ohio
, and taught country school for two winters.
[3]
He studied law in
Akron, Ohio
, and was admitted to the
bar
in March 1859. He first began to practice law in
Cleveland
.
[2]
In 1860, he moved to
Grand Rapids, Michigan
, and engaged in the lumber business.
Civil War
[
edit
]
Alger enlisted as a private soldier in the
American Civil War
on September 2, 1861.
[5]
He was commissioned and served as a
captain
and
major
in the
2nd Michigan Cavalry Regiment
.
[5]
In three years, he served in 66 different battles and skirmishes.
On July 1, 1862, at the
Battle of Booneville
, Alger attacked the enemy's rear with ninety men. He was wounded and taken prisoner, but escaped the same day. The
Confederate
forces were soundly defeated.
On October 16, he was made
lieutenant colonel
of the
6th Michigan Cavalry
.
On February 28, 1863, he was promoted to
colonel
of the
5th Michigan Cavalry
. His command was the first to enter
Gettysburg
on June 28. Alger was personally mentioned in the report of General
George Armstrong Custer
on cavalry operations there.
Alger was considered a military strategist and surveyed Union supplies with President Lincoln.
[
citation needed
]
Alger participated in General Sheridan's
Valley Campaigns of 1864
in
Virginia
. On June 11, 1864, at
Trevilian Station
, he captured a large force of Confederates with a brilliant cavalry charge.
On July 8, 1864, Alger was severely wounded pursuing the enemy at Boonesborough,
Maryland
.
Alger resigned from the army on September 20, 1864.
[6]
On January 13, 1866,
President
Andrew Johnson
nominated Alger for the award of the grade of
brevet
brigadier general
of volunteers to rank from June 11, 1865, and the U.S. Senate confirmed the award on March 12, 1866.
[7]
On February 28, 1867, President Johnson nominated Alger for the award of the grade of brevet major general of volunteers to rank from June 11, 1865, and the U.S. Senate confirmed the award on March 2, 1867.
[8]
In 1868, he was elected the first commander of the Michigan department of the
Grand Army of the Republic
. In 1889, he became the Grand Army's National Commander-in-Chief.
[1]
He was also a member of the Michigan Commandery of the
Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States
.
Lumber baron
[
edit
]
After the Civil War, Alger settled in
Detroit
as head of Alger, Smith & Company and the Manistique Lumbering Company. His holdings included a great pine forest on
Lake Huron
covering over 100 square miles (260 km
2
) and producing more than 75,000,000 board feet (180,000 m
3
) of lumber per annum.
[9]
In order to transport the lumber, Alger led his company to create the
Detroit, Bay City and Alpena Railroad
,
[10]
of which Alger served as president.
[11]
After clear cutting forests in the lower peninsula, his lumber companies acquired land in the
Upper Peninsula of Michigan
including Kingston Plains, just south of the
Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore
. These bleak stump plains have resisted 90 years of reforestation efforts.
[12]
Alger made a fortune logging the area which he used to propel himself to governor of Michigan.
[13]
At the turn of the 20th century, he and Florida landowner Martin Sullivan established the Alger-Sullivan Lumber Company, which milled lumber in
Foshee, Alabama
and
Century, Florida
.
[14]
Political activism
[
edit
]
Alger was active in politics as a
Republican
.
[15]
In 1866, he was a delegate to the party's
Wayne County
convention and its state convention.
[15]
In the late 1860s, Alger was a leader of the Boys in Blue, an organization of Union veterans formed to support Republican Party policies and candidates.
[16]
In October 1872, Alger was a vice president of the committee that organized a Republican campaign event which featured a speech by
James G. Blaine
, then serving as
Speaker of the United States House of Representatives
.
[17]
In June 1876, Alger was a vice president of the committee which sponsored a Republican rally in Detroit that began that year's presidential campaign.
[18]
In early October 1876, Alger was a vice president of the committee that organized a mass Republican rally in Detroit which featured a speech by former governor
Edward Follansbee Noyes
of
Ohio
.
[19]
In late October 1876, he was one of the vice presidents of the committee that organized a Republican rally in Detroit which included a keynote address by U.S. Senator
James G. Blaine
of
Maine
.
[20]
In early June 1880, Alger was a delegate to a mass interstate meeting of Union veterans which met in
Chicago
to devise a plan for supporting Republican candidates in that year's elections.
[21]
In mid-June, he presided over the Republican meeting in Detroit which was organized to ratify the results of the
1880 Republican National Convention
, which had been held earlier in the month.
[22]
Governor of Michigan
[
edit
]
In 1884, Alger was elected
Governor of Michigan
and served from January 1, 1885, to January 1, 1887.
[23]
Highlights of his term included creation of the state board of pardons, the founding of a veterans home in
Grand Rapids
, the creation of two new counties (
Alger
and
Iron
), and establishment of the
Michigan College of Mines
.
[23]
Alger declined renomination in 1886.
[23]
Alger's name was placed in nomination for president at the
1888 Republican National Convention
. He rose in balloting to 142 votes, with 416 necessary to win, but
Benjamin Harrison
ultimately obtained the nomination and went on to win the general election. After the election, Alger served as a
presidential elector
for Harrison.
[23]
Secretary of War
[
edit
]
On March 5, 1897, Alger was appointed
Secretary of War
in the
Cabinet
of
U.S. President
William McKinley
.
As Secretary, Alger recommended pay increases for military personnel serving at foreign
embassies
and
legations
, legislation to authorize a Second Assistant Secretary of War, and a
constabulary
force for
Cuba
,
Puerto Rico
, and the
Philippines
.
He was criticized for the inadequate preparation and inefficient operation of the department during the
Spanish?American War
, especially for his appointment of
William R. Shafter
as leader of the Cuban expedition and the
United States Army beef scandal
, in which poor-quality canned beef was supplied to the Army.
[24]
"Algerism" became an epithet to describe the claimed incompetence of the Army, especially as compared to the more stellar performance of the Navy.
[25]
Alger resigned at President McKinley's request on August 1, 1899. He published a personal history of the war titled
The Spanish?American War
in 1901.
[26]
Vendetta against John S. Mosby
[
edit
]
John Singleton Mosby
accused Alger of pursuing a vendetta against him during Alger's tenure as War Secretary.
[27]
Mosby had been a
Confederate
partisan during the Civil War.
[27]
Afterwards, he became a
Republican
and supported the presidential candidacies of
Ulysses S. Grant
and
Rutherford B. Hayes
.
[28]
In 1878, Hayes appointed Mosby as U.S. Consul in
Hong Kong
, where Mosby served until 1885.
[28]
Mosby supported
William McKinley
for president in 1896, and was assured by members of Congress close to McKinley that he could expect appointment to a consulship in Asia or South America.
[28]
When no appointment was forthcoming, Mosby concluded that Alger was blocking his return to the consular service and claimed that Alger was pursuing a vendetta.
[28]
According to Mosby, because during the war Mosby had ordered the execution of soldiers under Alger's command who were accused of looting and destroying the property of supporters of the Confederacy in 1864.
[27]
Historians and authors have concluded that it is more probable that the official preventing Mosby from receiving an appointment under McKinley was Secretary of State
John Sherman
.
[28]
When Mosby began serving in Hong Kong, he concluded that his predecessor,
David H. Bailey
, had been involved in embezzlement and fraud.
[28]
Bailey was forced to resign as U.S. Consul in
Shanghai
.
[28]
Bailey was from Sherman's home state of Ohio, and Sherman had authority over diplomatic appointments, so Sherman is more likely than Alger to have taken revenge on Mosby.
[28]
U.S. Senator
[
edit
]
On September 27, 1902, Alger was appointed by Michigan Governor
Aaron T. Bliss
to the
United States Senate
to fill the vacancy caused by the death of
James McMillan
. He was elected to the seat by the
Michigan State Legislature
in January 1903.
[29]
Alger was chairman of the
Senate Committee on Pacific Railroads
during the
59th Congress
.
[30]
Personal life
[
edit
]
Alger was the founder of a prominent family, many of whom became involved in 20th century Michigan politics and active in the
Republican Party
.
[31]
The Algers had a home in Black River,
Alcona Township, Michigan
, from which Alger oversaw his lumbering operations.
On April 2, 1861, he married Annette Huldana Squire Henry of
Grand Rapids
.
[3]
They had six children; Henrietta, Caroline, Frances, Russell Jr., Frederick, and Allan.
Frederick graduated from Harvard in 1899, served as a lieutenant colonel with the American Expeditionary Force in France during the
First World War
, and was awarded the French
Legion of Honor
.
Russell Jr. was instrumental in persuading the
Packard Motor Car Company
to move to Michigan from Ohio. He built a palatial
Italian Renaissance
style estate, "The Moorings," in
Grosse Pointe
. It was donated in 1949 and became the
Grosse Pointe War Memorial
.
[32]
Death
[
edit
]
He died in
Washington, D.C.
, in 1907. He is interred in
Elmwood Cemetery
in
Detroit, Michigan
.
Legacy
[
edit
]
In a memorial address, Senator
John Spooner
of
Wisconsin
said of Alger, "No man without noble purpose, well-justified ambitions, strong fiber, and splendid qualities in abundance could have carved out and left behind him such a career."
[33]
An early movie entitled
General Wheeler and Secretary of War Alger at Camp Wikoff
documents an official visit to Camp Wikoff, New York as Secretary of War.
[34]
The visit and film were produced to garner support from the New York newspapers.
[35]
In May 1898, the War Department established Camp Russell A. Alger on a farm near
Falls Church
and
Dunn Loring, Virginia
. Faced with a
typhoid fever
epidemic
, it was abandoned the month at the war's end in August 1898 and sold the following month. In its brief existence, 23,000 men trained there for service. It is commemorated by an official Virginia historical marker.
[36]
Named for Alger
[
edit
]
Monuments
[
edit
]
In 1909, a monument to Alger was erected on the William G. Mather Building in Munising, Michigan. It consists of a bronze bust of Alger on a stone pedestal, and was sculpted by Detroit sculptor
Carlo Romanelli
with funds provided by the heirs of Alger and by the Board of Education of the Munising Township Schools.
In 1921, a memorial fountain was dedicated to Alger in
Grand Circus Park
, Detroit by sculptor
Daniel Chester French
and architect
Henry Bacon
.
[39]
See also
[
edit
]
Bibliography
[
edit
]
- Russell Alexander Alger (1901).
The Spanish?American War
. Kessinger Publishing.
The Spanish American War Russell A. Alger.
- Dictionary of American Biography
- Bell, Rodney E. "A Life of Russell Alexander Alger." Ph.D. dissertation, University of Michigan, 1975'
- Eicher, John H., and
David J. Eicher
,
Civil War High Commands.
Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2001.
ISBN
0-8047-3641-3
.
- U.S. Congress.
Memorial Addresses for Russell Alexander Alger
. 59th Cong., 2nd sess.
Washington, D.C.
: Government Printing Office, 1907.
- Michigan Historical Commission. 1924.
Michigan Biographies: Russell Alger
, Lansing.
- Michigan Commandery of the Military of the Loyal Legion of the United States.
- Final Journal of the Grand Army of the Republic
, 1957. Compiled by Cora Gillis, Jamestown, New York, Past National President, Daughters of Union Veterans of the Civil War from 1861 to 1865, Inc. and last National Secretary of the Grand Army of the Republic.
References
[
edit
]
- ^
a
b
Bourasaw, Noel V., "Russell A. Alger, logging capitalist, Michigan governor, Secretary of War,"
Skagit River Journal of History & Folklore
, 2004.
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
Johnson 1906
, p. 78
- ^
a
b
c
Moulton, Henry William (1906).
Moulton Annals
, pp. 84, 114?17. Chicago: Edward A. Clayhill.
- ^
https://www.google.com/books/edition/Legislative_Souvenir_and_Political_Histo/_Y9MOqysKfsC?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=Russell+A.+Alger+ancestry&pg=PA48&printsec=frontcover
- ^
a
b
Who Was Who in American History - the Military
. Chicago: Marquis Who's Who. 1975. p. 6.
ISBN
0837932017
.
- ^
Eicher, John H., and
David J. Eicher
,
Civil War High Commands
. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2001.
ISBN
0-8047-3641-3
. p. 101.
- ^
Eicher, 2001, p. 739. A typographical error shows the confirmation date as March 12, 1865.
- ^
Eicher, 2001, p. 739.
- ^
Appleton's Cyclopedia of American Biography
, edited by James Grant Wilson, John Fiske Six volumes, New York: D. Appleton and Company, 1887-1889.
- ^
Berry, Dale.
"Railroad History Story: Railroad Origins in Alpena, Michigan"
.
RRHX: Michigan's Internet Railroad History Museum
. Archived from
the original
on July 24, 2013
. Retrieved
December 15,
2013
.
- ^
The Official Railway List
. Railway Purchasing Agent Company. 1888. p. 71.
- ^
Geology and Landscape of Michigan’s Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore and Vicinity
William L. Blewett, Wayne State University Press, 2012
- ^
Murphy, Donovan (2022) "On the Altar of Industry: A History of the Kingston Plains," Upper Country: A Journal of the Lake Superior Region: Vol. 10, Article 2. Available at:
https://commons.nmu.edu/upper_country/vol10/iss1/2https://commons.nmu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1075&context=upper_country
[
permanent dead link
]
- ^
"Century, Florida - 100 years and still counting"
. The Alger-Sullivan Historical Society
. Retrieved
July 10,
2010
.
- ^
a
b
"Wayne County Republican Convention"
.
Detroit Free Press
. Detroit, MI. August 29, 1866. p. 5 – via
Newspapers.com
.
- ^
"Boys In Blue"
.
Livingston County Daily Press and Argus
. Howell, MI. August 26, 1868. p. 1 – via
Newspapers.com
.
- ^
"Speaker Blaine: Great Speech At The Wigwam Thursday Night"
.
Detroit Advertiser and Tribune
. Detroit, MI. October 24, 1872. p. 4 – via
GenealogyBank.com
.
- ^
"1876! -- The Campaign Opened!"
.
Detroit Advertiser and Tribune
. Detroit, MI. June 20, 1876. p. 1 – via
GenealogyBank.com
.
- ^
"The Campaign: Immense Republican Mass Meeting At The Central Wigwam"
.
Detroit Advertiser and Tribune
. Detroit, MI. October 9, 1876. p. 1 – via
GenealogyBank.com
.
- ^
"Senator Blaine: The Speech of the Distinguished Statesman on Saturday"
.
Detroit Advertiser and Tribune
. Detroit, MI. October 23, 1876. p. 1 – via
GenealogyBank.com
.
- ^
"A Veteran Soldiers' Mass Convention"
.
St. Joseph Herald
. St. Joseph, MI. May 22, 1880. p. 2 – via
Newspapers.com
.
- ^
"Political: A Republican Ratification Meeting"
.
Lake County Star
. Baldwin, MI. June 17, 1880. p. 3 – via
GenealogyBank.com
.
- ^
a
b
c
d
"Biography, Michigan Governor Russell Alexander Alger"
.
NGA.org
. Washington, DC: National Governors Association. May 29, 2010
. Retrieved
December 21,
2021
.
- ^
Folsom, Dr Burton W. (December 7, 1998).
"Russell Alger and the Spanish?American War"
.
- ^
"Russell Alexander Alger - The World of 1898: The Spanish?American War (Hispanic Division, Library of Congress)"
.
Library of Congress
.
- ^
Russell Alexander Alger (1901).
The Spanish?American War
. Kessinger Publishing.
- ^
a
b
c
"Alger Dislikes Mosby"
.
The San Francisco Call
. San Francisco, CA. May 11, 1898. p. 7 – via
Newspapers.com
.
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
f
g
h
Ramage, James (1999).
Gray Ghost: The Life of Col. John Singleton Mosby
. Lexington, KY: University of Kentucky Press. p. 302.
ISBN
978-0-8131-9253-6
– via
Google Books
.
- ^
"S. Doc. 58-1 - Fifty-eighth Congress. (Extraordinary session -- beginning November 9, 1903.) Official Congressional Directory for the use of the United States Congress. Compiled under the direction of the Joint Committee on Printing by A.J. Halford. Special edition. Corrections made to November 5, 1903"
.
GovInfo.gov
. U.S. Government Printing Office. November 9, 1903. p. 52
. Retrieved
July 2,
2023
.
- ^
"Chairmen of Senate Standing Committees 1789-Present"
(PDF)
. Senate Historical Office. June 2008. p. 35
. Retrieved
May 7,
2009
.
- ^
Kestenbaum, Lawrence.
"The Political Graveyard: Index to Politicians: Alexandre to Alleman"
.
- ^
"The Alger Family"
.
- ^
Moore, Charles (1915).
History of Michigan
. Vol. II. Chicago: The Lewis Publishing Co. p. 687.
- ^
General Wheeler and Secretary of War Alger at Camp Wikoff (1898)
at
IMDb
- ^
McSherry, Patrick.
"Camp Wikoff"
.
- ^
"Camp Russell A. Alger Historical Marker"
.
- ^
"Gazateer of Obscure Michigan Place Names"
. Herbarium,
University of Michigan
. Archived from
the original
on September 9, 2015
. Retrieved
July 28,
2015
.
- ^
"Welcome to the Alger Neighborhood - Alger Heights"
.
- ^
"Russell Alexander Alger Memorial Fountain"
. Retrieved
May 8,
2012
.
Attribution
External links
[
edit
]
- Russell Alexander Alger in Library of Congress's The World of 1898: The Spanish?American War
- Bell, William Gardner (1992).
"Russell Alexander Alger"
.
Secretaries of War and Secretaries of the Army: Portraits & Biographical Sketches
.
United States Army Center of Military History
. CMH Pub 70-12. Archived from
the original
on December 14, 2007
. Retrieved
July 19,
2010
.
- Biography of Alger through 1891 from "Chapter LIII: Grand Rapids and Kent County in the War for the Union," Baxter, Albert,
History of the City of Grand Rapids
, New York and Grand Rapids: Munsell & Company, Publishers, 1891.
- Image of Russell Alger from "1888 Presidential Possibilities" card set
t207.com
- "Russell A. Alger"
.
Find a Grave
. Retrieved
August 13,
2008
.
- Grosse Pointe War Memorial
- Russell Alger, Jr. Mansion
- Memorial Library
Archived
July 14, 2011, at the
Wayback Machine
- Public Arts and Sculpture, Russell A. Alger Fountain.
- Russell A Alger Biography at Elmwood Cemetery
Archived
February 18, 2012, at the
Wayback Machine
- Russell A. Alger Family Papers
at the
William L. Clements Library
- Russell Alexander Alger, late a senator from Michigan, Memorial addresses delivered in the House of Representatives and Senate frontispiece 1907
|
---|
Confederate
leaders
| |
---|
Union
leaders
| |
---|
Other notable
military personnel
| |
---|
Local civilians
| |
---|
|
---|
International
| |
---|
National
| |
---|
Academics
| |
---|
Artists
| |
---|
People
| |
---|
Other
| |
---|