James Gillespie Blaine
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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