US Con Blaine, James Gillespie - U.S. Congressman, ME

James Gillespie Blaine

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Born: January 31, 1830

Birthplace: West Brownsville, Pennsylvania

Father: Ephraim Lyon Blaine 1796 – 1850
(Buried: Saint Peters Cemetery, Brownsville, Pennsylvania)​

Mother: Maria Louise Gillespie 1801 – 1871
(Buried: Saint Peters Cemetery, Brownsville, Pennsylvania)​

Wife: Harriet Stanwood 1827 – 1903
(Buried: Blaine Memorial Park, Augusta, Maine)​

Children:

Stanwood Blaine 1851 – 1854​
(Buried: Forest Grove Cemetery, Augusta, Maine)​
Walker Blaine 1855 – 1890​
(Buried: Oak Hill Cemetery, Washington, D.C.)​
Emmons Blaine 1857 – 1892​
(Buried: Graceland Cemetery, Chicago, Illinois)​
Alice Stanwood Blaine Coppinger 1860 – 1890​
(Buried: Oak Hill Cemetery, Washington, D.C.)​
Margaret Blaine Damrosch 1865 – 1949​
(Buried: Ledgelawn Cemetery, Bar Harbor, Maine)​
James Gillespie Blaine Jr. 1868 – 1926​
(Buried: Whitney Family Mausoleum, Rocklin, California)​
Harriet Blaine Beale 1871 – 1958​
(Buried: Ledgelawn Cemetery, Bar Harbor, Maine)​

Political Party: Republican Party

Education:


1847: Graduated from Washington College​

Occupation before War:

Teacher at Western Military Institute in Blue Lick Springs Kentucky​
1852 – 1854: Teacher at Pennsylvania Institute for the Blind​
1853 - 1857: Editor and Co – Owner of Kennebec Journal​
1856: Maine Delegate to Republican Party National Convention​
1856: Supporter of John McLean for Republican Party Nomination​
1857 – 1860: Editor of Portland Advertiser Newspaper​
1859 – 1862: Maine State Representative​
1860: Attended Republican Party National Convention even though not a Delegate​
1860: Campaigner and Supporter of Abraham Lincoln Campaign​

Civil War Career:

1861: Voted to organize and equip Maine Units to Join Union Army​
1861 – 1862: Speaker of Maine State House of Representatives​
1863 – 1876: United States Congressman from Maine​
Clashed at times with Thaddeus Stevens who was a Radical Rep.​
1863: Supporter of the Commutation provision of the Military Draft​
Proposed a Constitutional amendment allowing to impose taxes​
1865: Supporter of the 14th​ Amendment to the Constitution​

Occupation after War:

Voted in favor of Radical Republican Reconstruction​
Opposed the bill that barred Southerners from attending West Point​
1868: Voted in favor of impeaching President Andrew Johnson​
1869: Voted in as speaker of House in a vote of 135 to 57​
1869 – 1875: Speaker of U.S. House of Representatives​
1869 – 1875: Chairman of House Rules Committee​
1872: Mentioned as possible replacement of Grant as President​
Supporter of General Amnesty for all people except Jefferson Davis​
1875: Proposed the Blaine Amendment​
1876: Unsuccessful Candidate for Republican Nomination​
1876 – 1881: United States Senator from Maine​
1877 – 1879: Senate Chairman of Civil Service and Retrenchment​
1877 – 1879: Senate Chairman of Rules Committee​
1880: Unsuccessful Candidate for Republican Nomination​
1881: United States Secretary of State Department​
1882: Appeared before Congress during investigation in diplomacy​
1884: Completed his first Memoir called Twenty Years of Congress
1884: Unsuccessful Republican Party Presidential Candidate​
1887: Visited England, Ireland, Germany, France, and Scotland​
1888: Considered as a Candidate for Republican Party Nomination​
1889 – 1892: United States Secretary of State Department​
1892: Made one speech in New York during the Election year​
1893: President of Pan American Congress​

Died: January 27, 1893

Place of Death: Washington, D.C.

Funeral Place: Presbyterian Church of the Covenant

Age at time of Death: 62 years old

Original Burial Place: Oak Hill Cemetery, Washington, D.C.

Burial Place: Since 1920, Blaine Memorial Park, Augusta, Maine
 
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