Editing Hannibal Hamlin

{{Short description|Vice President of the United States from 1861 to 1865}}
{{redirect|Senator Hamlin}}
{{More citations needed|date=September 2021}}
{{Use American English|date=October 2019}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=February 2017}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name                = Hannibal Hamlin
| image               = Hannibal Hamlin, photo portrait seated, c1860-65 (cropped).jpg
| caption             = Hamlin {{circa|1860–1865}}
| office              = 15th [[Vice President of the United States]]
| president           = [[Abraham Lincoln]]
| term_start          = March 4, 1861
| term_end            = March 4, 1865
| predecessor         = [[John C. Breckinridge]]
| successor           = [[Andrew Johnson]]
| office1             = 23rd [[List of ambassadors of the United States to Spain|United States Minister to Spain]]
| president1          = [[Chester A. Arthur]]
| term_start1         = December 20, 1881
| term_end1           = October 17, 1882
| predecessor1        = [[Lucius Fairchild]]
| successor1          = [[John W. Foster]]
| jr/sr2              = United States Senator
| state2              = [[Maine]]
| term_start2         = March 4, 1869
| term_end2           = March 3, 1881
| predecessor2        = [[Lot M. Morrill]]
| successor2          = [[Eugene Hale]]
| term_start3         = March 4, 1857
| term_end3           = January 17, 1861
| predecessor3        = [[Amos Nourse]]
| successor3          = Lot M. Morrill
| term_start4         = June 8, 1848
| term_end4           = January 7, 1857
| predecessor4        = [[Wyman B. S. Moor]]
| successor4          = Amos Nourse
| office5             = 26th [[Governor of Maine]]
| term_start5         = January 8, 1857
| term_end5           = February 25, 1857
| predecessor5        = [[Samuel Wells]]
| successor5          = [[Joseph H. Williams]]
| state6              = Maine
| district6           = {{ushr|ME|6|6th}}
| term_start6         = March 4, 1843
| term_end6           = March 3, 1847
| predecessor6        = [[Alfred Marshall (congressman)|Alfred Marshall]]
| successor6          = [[James S. Wiley]]
| birth_date          = {{birth date|1809|8|27}}
| birth_place         = [[Paris, Maine|Paris]], Massachusetts (now Maine), U.S.
| death_date          = {{death date and age|1891|7|4|1809|8|27}}
| death_place         = [[Bangor, Maine]], U.S.
| resting_place       = [[Mount Hope Cemetery (Bangor, Maine)|Mount Hope Cemetery]]
| party               = [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]] (1856–1891)
| otherparty          = [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic]] (before 1856)
| spouse              = {{plainlist|
* {{marriage|Sarah Emery|1833|1855|end=died}}
* {{marriage|[[Ellen Hamlin|Ellen Emery]]|1856}}
}}
| children            = 6, including [[Charles Hamlin (general)|Charles]], [[Cyrus Hamlin (general)|Cyrus]], and [[Hannibal E. Hamlin|Hannibal]]
| signature           = Hannibal Hamlin Signature.svg
| signature_alt       = Cursive signature in ink
<!--Military service-->| allegiance          = {{flagu|United States}}
| branch              = [[Maine State Guard]]
| rank                = [[Corporal]]
| serviceyears        = 1864
| battles             = [[American Civil War]]
}}
'''Hannibal Hamlin''' (August 27, 1809 – July 4, 1891) was an American politician and diplomat who was the 15th [[vice president of the United States]], serving from 1861 to 1865, during President [[Abraham Lincoln]]'s first term. He was the first [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]] vice president.

An attorney by background, Hamlin began his political career as a [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democrat]] in the Maine House of Representatives before being elected twice to the [[United States House of Representatives]], and then to the [[United States Senate]]. With his strong [[abolitionist]] views, he left the Democratic Party for the newly formed Republican Party in 1856. In the [[1860 United States presidential election|1860 general election]], Hamlin balanced the successful Republican ticket as a New Englander partnered with the Northwesterner Lincoln. Although not a close friend of the president, he lent loyal support to his key projects such as the [[Emancipation Proclamation]].

In the [[1864 United States presidential election|1864 election]], Hamlin was replaced as vice-presidential nominee by [[Andrew Johnson]], a [[Southern Democrats|Southern Democrat]] chosen for his appeal to [[Southern Unionists]]. After being appointed Collector of the Port of Boston, Hamlin was elected to two more terms in the Senate, and finally served as [[List of ambassadors of the United States to Spain|U.S. Minister to Spain]] before retiring in 1882.

==Early life==

[[File:Younger Hannibal Hamlin.jpg|thumb|left|upright=0.8|Hamlin {{Circa|late 1840s}}]]
Hamlin was born to Cyrus Hamlin and his wife Anna (née Livermore) in [[Paris, Maine|Paris]] (now in [[Maine]], then a part of [[Massachusetts]]). He was a descendant in the sixth generation of English colonist James Hamlin, who had settled in [[Barnstable, Massachusetts|Barnstable]], part of the [[Massachusetts Bay Colony]] in 1639.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Andrews|first=H. Franklin|url=https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/008726028|title=The Hamlin family; a genealogy of James Hamlin of Barnstable, Massachusetts, eldest son of James Hamlin, the immigrant, who came from London, England, and settled in Barnstable, 1639. 1639-1902|date=1902|publisher=The author|location=Exira, Ia.|pages=5}}</ref> He was a grandnephew of U.S. Senator [[Samuel Livermore]] II<ref name="lifeandtimes">{{cite book |last=Hamlin |first=Charles Eugene|date=1899|title=The Life and Times of Hannibal Hamlin by his Grandson Charles Eugene Hamlin|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uBFCAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA12|location=Cambridge, Massachusetts|publisher=Riverside Press|pages=2, 12|isbn=978-0722291283}}</ref> of New Hampshire.

According to folklore, Hamlin's life was saved when he was an infant by a [[Native Americans in the United States|Native American]] [[medicine man|medicine woman]] named [[Molly Ockett]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|title=Hannibal Hamlin · Museums of the Bethel Historical Society - Online Collections & Catalog|url=https://bethelhistorical.org/catalog/exhibits/show/mollyockett/item/61|access-date=2021-10-09|website=bethelhistorical.org}}</ref> Hamlin was gravely ill and Ockett prescribed that he be given warm cow's milk, after which he recovered.<ref name=":0" />

Hamlin attended the district schools and [[Hebron Academy]] and later managed his father's farm. From 1827 to 1830 he published the ''Oxford Jeffersonian'' newspaper in partnership with [[Horatio King]].<ref>{{cite journal|last=Waterman|first=Charles E.|date=August 1, 1891|title=The Birthplace of Hannibal Hamlin|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BrUVAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA731|journal=[[The New England Magazine]]|volume=4|issue=6|location=Boston, MA|page=731}}</ref>

He studied law with the firm headed by [[Samuel Fessenden]],<ref>{{cite book|last=Hamlin|first=Charles Eugene|date=1899|title=The Life and Times of Hannibal Hamlin |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uBFCAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA41|location=Cambridge, Massachusetts|publisher=Riverside Press|page=41|isbn=978-0722291283}}</ref> was admitted to the bar in 1833, and began practicing in [[Hampden, Maine]], where he lived until 1848.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=H000121|title=Hamlin, Hannibal – Biographical Information|access-date=2018-08-06|publisher=US Congress}}
</ref>

==Personal life==
Hamlin married Sarah Jane Emery of Paris Hill in 1833. Her father was [[Maine Attorney General|Stephen Emery]], who was appointed as Maine's Attorney General from 1839 to 1840.<ref>{{cite book|last=Barrett|first=Joseph Hartwell|date=1860|title=Life of Abraham Lincoln (of Illinois)|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yYfBDgvgBUIC&pg=PA196|location=Moore, Wilstach, Keys & Co.|publisher=Cincinnati, OH|page=196}}</ref> Hamlin and Sarah had four children: George, [[Charles Hamlin (general)|Charles]], [[Cyrus Hamlin (general)|Cyrus]], and Sarah.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?referer=https://www.google.com/&httpsredir=1&article=1159&context=findingaids|title=Hamlin Family Papers, 1802–1975|date=2015|website=University of Maine Digital Commons|access-date=January 28, 2020}}</ref>

His wife died in 1855. The next year, Hamlin married Sarah's half-sister, [[Ellen Vesta Emery]]. They had two children together: [[Hannibal E. Hamlin|Hannibal E.]] and Frank. Ellen Hamlin died in 1925.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://library.umaine.edu/speccoll/FindingAids/Hamlinfamilyinventory.htm|title=Fogler Library: Finding Guide to the Hamlin Family Papers|publisher=Library.umaine.edu|access-date=October 1, 2012|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120205201658/http://www.library.umaine.edu/SpecColl/FindingAids/Hamlinfamilyinventory.htm|archive-date=February 5, 2012|df=mdy-all}}</ref>

==Political beginnings==
Hamlin's political career began in  1835, when he was elected to the [[Maine House of Representatives]]. Appointed a [[Major (United States)|Major]] on the staff of Governor [[John Fairfield]], he served with the militia in the bloodless [[Aroostook War]] of 1839. He facilitated negotiations between Fairfield and Lieutenant Governor [[John Harvey (British Army officer)|John Harvey]] of [[New Brunswick]], which helped reduce tensions and make possible the [[Webster–Ashburton Treaty]], which ended the war.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Who Was Vice President During Lincoln's Administration?|url=https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/who-was-vice-president-during-lincoln-s-administration.html|website=WorldAtlas|date=May 22, 2018|language=en|access-date=2020-05-24}}</ref>

Hamlin unsuccessfully ran for the [[United States House of Representatives]] in 1840 and left the State House in 1841. He later was elected to two terms in the [[United States House of Representatives]], serving from 1843 to 1847. He was elected by the state legislature to fill a [[U.S. Senate]] vacancy in 1848, and to a full term in 1851. A [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democrat]] at the beginning of his career, Hamlin supported the presidential candidacy of [[Franklin Pierce]] in 1852.

From the very beginning of his service in Congress, Hamlin was prominent as an opponent of the extension of slavery. He was a conspicuous supporter of the [[Wilmot Proviso]] and spoke against the [[Compromise of 1850]]. In 1854, Hamlin strongly opposed the passage of the [[Kansas–Nebraska Act]], which repealed the [[Missouri Compromise]]. After the [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic Party]] endorsed that repeal at the [[1856 Democratic National Convention]], on June 12, 1856, he withdrew from the Democratic Party and joined the newly organized [[History of the United States Republican Party|Republican Party]], causing a national sensation.

The Republicans nominated Hamlin for [[governor of Maine]] the same year. He won the election by a large margin and was inaugurated on January 8, 1857. In the latter part of February 1857, however, he resigned the governorship. He returned to the [[United States Senate]], serving from 1857 to January 1861.

==Vice presidency (1861–1865)==

[[File:Hamlin button 1860.jpg|left|thumb|1860 election campaign button for [[Abraham Lincoln]] and Hannibal Hamlin.  The other side of the button has Lincoln's portrait.]]
Hamlin was nominated by the Republican Party for [[Vice President of the United States]] in the [[1860 United States presidential election|1860 presidential election]] on a ticket with former Representative [[Abraham Lincoln]], the presidential nominee.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://millercenter.org/president/biography/lincoln-campaigns-and-elections |title=Abraham Lincoln: Campaigns and Elections (Winning Republican Support) |publisher= The Miller Center |access-date=August 27, 2016}}</ref> Given that Lincoln was from Illinois, a vice presidential nominee from [[Maine]] provided regional balance. As a former Democrat, Hamlin could persuade other anti-slavery Democrats that joining the Republican Party was the only way to ensure slavery's demise.{{citation needed|date=December 2016}}

Hamlin and Lincoln were not close personally but had a good working relationship. At the time, the vice president was part of the legislative branch in his role as president of the Senate and did not attend cabinet meetings; Hamlin did not regularly visit the White House. [[Mary Todd Lincoln]] and Hamlin disliked each other. For his part, Hamlin complained, "I am only a fifth wheel of a coach and can do little for my friends."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mrlincolnswhitehouse.org/inside.asp?ID=89&subjectID=2|title=Abraham Lincoln's White House – Hannibal Hamlin (1809–1891)|publisher=Mrlincolnswhitehouse.org|access-date=October 1, 2012|archive-date=March 9, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160309162345/http://mrlincolnswhitehouse.org/inside.asp?id=89&subjectid=2|url-status=dead}}</ref>

He had little influence in the Lincoln administration, although he urged both the [[Emancipation Proclamation]]<ref>{{cite book |last=Eicher |first=David J. |date=2001 |title=The Longest Night: A Military History of the Civil War |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1p94XzYASDAC&pg=PA366 |location=New York |publisher=Simon & Schuster |page=366 |isbn=978-0-7432-1846-7}}</ref> and the arming of [[Black Americans]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Dray |first=Philip |date=2008 |title=Capitol Men: The Epic Story of Reconstruction Through the Lives of the First Black Congressmen |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hrebAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA14 |location=Boston, MA |publisher=Houghton Mifflin |page=14 |isbn=978-0-618-56370-8}}</ref> He strongly supported [[Joseph Hooker]]'s appointment as commander of the [[Army of the Potomac]],<ref>{{cite book |last=Taaffe |first=Stephen R. |date=2006 |title=Commanding the Army of the Potomac |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5QN3AAAAMAAJ&q=%22as+did+vice+president+hannibal+hamlin%22 |location=Lawrence, KS |publisher=University Press of Kansas |page=55 |isbn=978-0-7006-1451-6}}</ref> which ended in failure at the [[Battle of Chancellorsville]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Steers |first=Edward Jr. |date=2007 |title=Lincoln Legends: Myths, Hoaxes, and Confabulations Associated with Our Greatest President  |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wYmvvEeuAi0C&pg=PA109 |location=Lexington, KY |publisher=University Press of KY |page=109 |isbn=978-0-8131-2466-7}}</ref>

Beginning in 1860, Hamlin was a member of Company A of the [[Maine State Guard]], a [[Militia (United States)|militia]] unit.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1864/07/08/archives/fort-mcclary-garrisoned-vicepresident-hamlin-among-the-privates.html|title=Fort McClary Garrisoned; Vice-President Hamlin Among the Privates|newspaper=The New York Times|date=July 8, 1864}}</ref> When the company was called up in the summer of 1864, militia leaders informed Hamlin that because of his position as vice president, he did not have to take part in the muster. He opted to serve, arguing that he could set an example by doing the duty expected of any citizen, and the only concession made because of his office was that he was quartered with the officers. He reported to [[Fort McClary]], in [[Kittery, Maine|Kittery]], in July, initially taking part in routine assignments including guard duty, and later taking over as company cook. He was promoted to [[Corporal#United States|corporal]] during his service, and mustered out with the rest of his unit in mid-September.<ref>{{cite book|last=Laird|first=Archibald|date=1980|title=The Near Great – Chronicle of the Vice Presidents|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xJoMAQAAMAAJ&q=%22maine+coast+guard%22|location=Boston, MA|publisher=Christopher Publishing House|page=141|isbn=978-0-8158-0381-2}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Scroggins|first=Mark|date=1994|title=Hannibal: The Life of Abraham Lincoln's First Vice President|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OsAZ-50Hbe4C&pg=PA210|location=Lanham, MD|publisher=University Press of America|pages=210–11|isbn=978-0-8191-9440-4}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://civilwarindex.com/armyme/1st_me_state_guards.html|title=Civil War Index – 1st Maine State Guards|website=civilwarindex.com}}</ref>

In 1862, Hamlin presided over the [[Federal impeachment trial in the United States|impeachment trial]] in the Senate of Judge [[West Hughes Humphreys]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Hinds' Precedents, Volume 3 - Chapter 74 - The Impeachment and Trial of West H. Humphreys |url=https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GPO-HPREC-HINDS-V3/html/GPO-HPREC-HINDS-V3-23.htm |website=www.govinfo.gov |access-date=18 December 2022}}</ref>

In June 1864, the Republicans and [[War Democrat]]s joined to form the [[National Union Party (United States)|National Union Party]]. Although Lincoln was renominated, War Democrat [[Andrew Johnson]] of Tennessee was named to replace Hamlin as Lincoln's running mate. Lincoln was seeking to broaden his base of support and was also looking ahead to Southern [[Reconstruction era of the United States|Reconstruction]], at which Johnson had proven himself adept as military governor of occupied Tennessee. Hamlin, by contrast, was an ally of the Northern "[[Radical Republicans]]" (who later [[Impeachment of Andrew Johnson|impeached Johnson]]). Lincoln and Johnson were elected in November 1864, and Hamlin's term expired on March 4, 1865. Hamlin swore Johnson in as Vice President. Johnson, who was drunk, subsequently gave an [[Andrew Johnson's drunk vice-presidential inaugural address|incoherent speech]].

Although Hamlin narrowly missed becoming president, his vice presidency ushered in a half-century of sustained national influence for the [[Maine Republican Party]]. In the period 1861–1911, Maine Republicans occupied the offices of vice president, [[United States Secretary of the Treasury|Secretary of the Treasury]] (twice), [[United States Secretary of State|Secretary of State]], [[President pro tempore of the United States Senate]], and [[Speaker of the United States House of Representatives]] (twice), and fielded a presidential nominee in [[James G. Blaine]], a level of influence in national politics unmatched by subsequent Maine political delegations.

==Post-vice presidency (1865–1891)==
After leaving the vice presidency, Hamlin served briefly as [[Boston Custom House|Collector]] of the [[Port of Boston]]. Appointed to the post by Johnson, he resigned in protest over Johnson's [[Reconstruction Era|Reconstruction]] policy and accompanying efforts to build a political following loyal to him after he had been repudiated by the Republicans. Republicans had supported Johnson as part of the National Union ticket during the war, but opposed him after he became president and his position on Reconstruction deviated from theirs.<ref>{{cite book |last=Hamlin |first=Charles Eugene |date=1899 |title=The Life and Times of Hannibal Hamlin |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uBFCAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA507 |location=Cambridge, Massachusetts |publisher=Riverside Press |pages=505–09|isbn=978-0722291283 }}</ref>

Not content with private life, Hamlin returned to the U.S. Senate in 1869 to serve two more terms before declining to run for reelection in 1880 because of an ailing heart. His last duty as a public servant came in 1881 when [[United States Secretary of State|Secretary of State]] [[James G. Blaine]] convinced President [[James A. Garfield]] to name Hamlin as [[United States Ambassador to Spain]]. Hamlin received the appointment on June 30, 1881, and held the post until October 17, 1882.

Upon returning from Spain, Hamlin retired from public life to his home in [[Bangor, Maine]], which he had purchased in 1851. The [[Hannibal Hamlin House]]—as it is known today—is in central Bangor at 15 5th Street. Incorporating [[Victorian architecture|Victorian]], [[Italianate architecture|Italianate]], and [[Mansard roof|Mansard]]-style architecture, the mansion was posted to the [[National Register of Historic Places]] in 1979.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://landmarkhunter.com/151758-hannibal-hamlin-house|title=The Hannibal Hamlin House posted to the National Register of Historic Places in 1979|access-date=November 13, 2011}}</ref>

Hamlin was elected as a Third Class Companion of the [[Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States]]. Third Class was the MOLLUS division created to recognize civilians who had contributed outstanding service to the Union during the war.

==Death==
[[File:Hannibal Hamlin Gravesite.jpg|thumb|Hamlin's grave]]
On July 4, 1891, Hamlin collapsed and fell unconscious while playing cards at the Tarratine Club he founded in downtown Bangor, and died there a few hours later, at the age of 81.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.atlasobscura.com/places/hannibal-hamlin-death-couch?|title=Hannibal Hamlin Death Couch|website=Atlas Obscura}}</ref> He was buried in the Hamlin family plot at [[Mount Hope Cemetery (Bangor, Maine)|Mount Hope Cemetery]] in Bangor. He outlived six of his successors in the vice presidency ([[Andrew Johnson]], [[Schuyler Colfax]], [[Henry Wilson]], [[William A. Wheeler]], [[Chester A. Arthur]], and [[Thomas A. Hendricks]]), more than any other U.S. vice president. He was also the third American Vice President to die on Independence Day.

He is buried in the Mount Hope Cemetery in [[Bangor, Maine]].

==Family==
Hamlin had four sons who grew to adulthood: [[Charles Hamlin (general)|Charles Hamlin]], [[Cyrus Hamlin (general)|Cyrus Hamlin]], [[Hannibal E. Hamlin|Hannibal Emery Hamlin]] and Frank Hamlin. Charles and Cyrus served in the Union forces during the [[American Civil War|Civil War]], both becoming generals, Charles by [[brevet (military)|brevet]]. Cyrus was among the first Union officers to argue for the enlistment of black troops, and commanded a brigade of freedmen in the [[Siege of Port Hudson]]. Charles and sister Sarah were present at [[Ford's Theater]] the night of [[Abraham Lincoln assassination|Lincoln's assassination]]. Hannibal Emery Hamlin was [[Maine Attorney General]] from 1905 to 1908. Hannibal Hamlin's great-granddaughter [[Sally Hamlin]] was a child actor who made many [[spoken word]] recordings for the [[Victor Talking Machine Company]] in the early 20th century.

Hannibal's older brother, Elijah Livermore Hamlin, was president of the Mutual Fire Insurance Co. of Bangor and the Bangor Institution for Savings.<ref>Augustus C. Smith, ''Bangor, Brewer, and Penobscot Co. Directory, 1859–1860'' (Bangor, 1859)</ref> He was twice an unsuccessful candidate for [[governor of Maine]] in the late 1840s, and served as mayor of Bangor in 1851–1852. The brothers were members of different political parties (Hannibal a Democrat, and Elijah a Whig) before both becoming Republican in the later 1850s.<ref name="Elijahobit">{{cite news|title=The late Hon. Elijah L. Hamlin| newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|date=July 23, 1872|access-date=December 20, 2010|url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1872/07/23/79183928.pdf}}</ref>

Hannibal's nephew (Elijah's son) Augustus Choate Hamlin was a physician, artist, mineralogist, author, and historian. He was also mayor of Bangor in 1877–1878, and a founding member of the Bangor Historical Society.<ref>{{cite book| first=Warren King| last=Moorhead| title=A Report on the Archeology of Maine| page=34| isbn=978-0404156435|year=1980|publisher=AMS Press|location=New York City}}</ref>

Augustus served as surgeon in the [[2nd Maine Volunteer Infantry Regiment]] during the Civil War, eventually becoming a U.S. Army Medical Inspector, and later the Surgeon General of Maine. He wrote books about [[Andersonville Prison]] and the [[Battle of Chancellorsville]].<ref name="Chancellorsville">{{cite book|author=Augustus Choate Hamlin|title=The Battle of Chancellorsville|location=Bangor, Maine|year=1896|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sF8fAAAAMAAJ}}</ref> Hannibal's grand-nephew (Elijah's grandson) Isaiah K. Stetson was Speaker of the [[Maine House of Representatives]] in 1899–1900,<ref name=Speakers>{{cite web|title=Speakers of the Maine House of Representatives 1820–|url=http://legislature.maine.gov/9256|publisher=Maine State Legislature| date=October 6, 2015|access-date=October 21, 2015}}</ref> and owned a large company in Bangor which manufactured and shipped lumber and ice and ran a shipyard and marine railway.<ref>{{cite web|title=Isaiah K. Stetson profile|url=http://www.onlinebiographies.info/me/rmm/stetson-ik.htm|work=Representative Men of Maine|year=1893|access-date=October 21, 2015|archive-date=September 24, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924060532/http://www.onlinebiographies.info/me/rmm/stetson-ik.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref>

Hannibal's first cousin [[Cyrus Hamlin]], who was a graduate of the [[Bangor Theological Seminary]], became a missionary in Turkey, where he founded [[Robert College]]. He later became president of [[Middlebury College]] in Vermont. His son, [[Alfred Dwight Foster Hamlin|A. D. F. Hamlin]], Hannibal's first cousin once removed, became a professor of architecture at [[Columbia University]] and a noted architectural historian. There are biographies of Hamlin by his grandson Charles E. Hamlin (1899, reprinted 1971) and by H. Draper Hunt (1969).<ref>{{cite book |last1=WorldCat |title=The life and times of Hannibal Hamlin |oclc=1559174 }}</ref>

==Honors and legacy==
[[File:Hannibal Hamlin statue, Bangor, ME IMG 2073.JPG|right|thumb|Sculptor [[Charles Tefft]] of [[Brewer, Maine]], created this bronze statue of Hannibal Hamlin, which was dedicated in 1927 in downtown [[Bangor, Maine|Bangor]].]]

[[Hamlin County, South Dakota]] is named in his honor, as are [[Hamlin, Kansas]]; [[Hamlin, New York]]; [[Hamlin, West Virginia]]; [[Hamlin Township, Mason County, Michigan|Hamlin Township]]; [[Hamlin Lake]] in [[Mason County, Michigan]]; [[Hamlin Peak]], a mountain in [[Piscataquis County, Maine]]; and [[Hamlin, Maine|Hamlin]], a small Maine village that is a U.S.–Canada border crossing with [[Grand Falls, New Brunswick]]. There are statues in Hamlin's likeness in the [[United States Capitol]] and in a public park ([[Norumbega]] Mall) in Bangor, Maine.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Norumbega Mall, Bangor, ca. 1935|url=https://www.mainememory.net/artifact/66219|access-date=2022-02-01|website=Maine Memory Network|language=en}}</ref>

There is also a building on the [[University of Maine]] Campus, in [[Orono, Maine|Orono]], named Hannibal Hamlin Hall. A fire broke out there on February 13, 1944, in which two students died and one was severely injured. The building was later rebuilt. Hannibal Hamlin Memorial Library is next to his birthplace in [[Paris, Maine]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Shirak |first=Ralph |title=Hannibal Hamlin Hall |url=https://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/univ_photos/452 |access-date=2022-06-18 |website=DigitalCommons@UMaine |language=en}}</ref>

The Hampden Maine Historical Society exhibits a restoration of his first law office at its Kinsley House Museum grounds.

[[Hannibal Hamlin House|Hamlin's house]] in [[Bangor, Maine|Bangor]] subsequently housed the presidents of the adjacent [[Bangor Theological Seminary]]. It is listed on the [[National Register of Historic Places]], as is Hamlin's birthplace in [[Paris, Maine]] (as part of the [[Paris Hill Historic District]]).<ref>{{cite book |title=National Register of Historic Places 1966-1994: Cumulative list through January 1, 1994 |date=1997 |publisher=The Preservation Press |isbn=0891332545 |pages=306–320}}</ref>

Hamlin Park in Chicago is named in his honor.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.chicagoparkdistrict.com/parks-facilities/Hamlin-Park/|title=Hamlin Park {{!}} Chicago Park District|last=|first=|website=www.chicagoparkdistrict.com|language=en|access-date=2018-05-09}}</ref>

==In popular culture==
Hamlin appears briefly in three [[alternate history]] writings by [[Harry Turtledove]]: ''[[The Guns of the South]]'', ''[[Counting Up, Counting Down#Must and Shall|Must and Shall]]'', and ''[[How Few Remain]]''.<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Guns of the South|last=Turtledove|first=Harry|publisher=Random House|year=1992|isbn=0345384687|location=New York|pages=[https://archive.org/details/gunsofsouth00harr/page/248 248]|quote=...'but when it finally convened, it renominated Lincoln and Hannibal Hamlin...'|via=Google Books|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/gunsofsouth00harr/page/248}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.changingthetimes.net/bookreviews/AllStop.html|title=Russo-Japanese War – The Dogger Bank Incident Goes Wrong|website=www.changingthetimes.net|access-date=February 3, 2017}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|title=How Few Remain|last=Turtledove|first=Harry|publisher=Hodder and Stoughton|year=1998|isbn=9781444744965|location=London}}</ref>

In ''[[Fallout 3]]'', a quest called Head of State involves returning the Lincoln Memorial statue's head to its pedestal. The leader of the group trying to return the head to Abraham Lincoln's statue is named Hannibal Hamlin.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.ign.com/wikis/fallout-3/Head_of_State|date=May 17, 2024|title=Head of State|access-date=August 20, 2024|last=IGN-Gameguides|publisher=IGN}}</ref>

==See also==
* [[List of American politicians who switched parties in office]]
* [[Statue of Hannibal Hamlin]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Further reading==
* {{cite book |last1=Glonek |first1=James Francis |title=Hannibal Hamlin and the Vice-Presidency |date=1948 |publisher=University of Wisconsin–Madison}}
* {{cite web |title=Hannibal Hamlin, 15th Vice President (1861–1865) |url=https://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/common/generic/VP_Hannibal_Hamlin.htm |website=United States Senate |access-date=14 September 2018}}
* {{cite book | title = Hannibal Hamlin of Maine, Lincoln's First Vice-President
| author = Harry Draper Hunt | publisher = Syracuse University Press | year = 1969
| isbn =  978-0-8156-2142-3 | oclc = 24587}}
* {{cite journal |last1=Speiser |first1=Matt |title=The Ticket's Other Half: How and Why Andrew Johnson Received the 1864 Vice Presidential Nomination |journal=Tennessee Historical Quarterly |date=2006 |volume=65 |issue=1 |pages=42–69 |jstor=42628582}}

==External links==
{{Commons category}}
{{EB1911 poster|Hamlin, Hannibal|Hannibal Hamlin}}
{{Biographical Directory of Congress|H000121}}
* [http://www.mlwh.org/inside.asp?ID=89&subjectID=2 Biography at Mr. Lincoln's White House]
* [https://archive.org/details/hannibalhamlin00hamlrich ''The life and Times of Hannibal Hamlin '' by Charles Eugene Hamlin]
* [http://bangorinfo.com/Focus/focus_hannibal_hamlin.html Bangor in Focus: Hannibal Hamlin]
* {{cite news|author=Ted Widmer |date=November 22, 2010 |title=Lincoln Speaks |url=http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/11/22/lincoln-speaks |department=Opinionator (department) |newspaper=[[The New York Times]]}}
* [http://www.hamlin.lib.me.us/ Hamlin Memorial Library and Museum]

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