Frederick T. Frelinghuysen

Frederick Theodore Frelinghuysen (August 4, 1817Template:Spaced ndashMay 20, 1885)<ref name="FTFObit1885"/> was an American lawyer and politician from New Jersey who served as a U.S. Senator and later as United States Secretary of State under President Chester A. Arthur.<ref name="FTFbioguide">Template:Cite web</ref>

Frelinghuysen was born in Millstone, New Jersey, and was adopted by his uncle Theodore Frelinghuysen after his father's death. He graduated from Rutgers College and studied law under his uncle. Frelinghuysen was involved in various political roles, including serving as a delegate to the 1860 Republican National Convention and as Attorney General of New Jersey. He was also appointed to fill a vacancy in the United States Senate.

In 1870, Frelinghuysen was nominated as U.S. ambassador to the United Kingdom but declined the position. He served again as a U.S. Senator from 1871 to 1877, and in 1881, was appointed U.S. Secretary of State by President Chester A. Arthur, serving until 1885. During his tenure, he withdrew the U.S. from the War of the Pacific and negotiated a treaty change with Hawaii, allowing for a naval base at Pearl Harbor.

After his term as Secretary of State, Frelinghuysen returned to Newark, New Jersey, where he died less than three months later. He married Matilda Elizabeth Griswold in 1842, with whom he had six children. Frelinghuysen University in Washington, D.C. was named in his honor in 1917.

Early life and education

File:Frederick T. Frelinghuysen Newark jeh.jpg

Statue honoring Frelinghuysen in Newark, New Jersey

Frelinghuysen was born in Millstone, New Jersey, to Frederick Frelinghuysen (1788–1820) and Mary Dumont. His father died when he was just three years old, and he was adopted by his uncle,<ref name=EB1911/> Theodore Frelinghuysen (1787–1862).

His grandfather, Frederick Frelinghuysen (1753–1804), was an eminent lawyer, one of the framers of the first New Jersey Constitution, a soldier in the American Revolutionary War, a member (1778–1779 and 1782–1783) of the Continental Congress from New Jersey, and from 1793 to 1796 a member of the United States Senate.<ref name=EB1911/>

His uncle, Theodore Frelinghuysen, was Attorney General of New Jersey from 1817 to 1829, was a U.S. Senator from New Jersey from 1829 to 1835, was the Whig candidate for Vice President of the United States on the Henry Clay ticket in the 1844 Presidential election, and was Chancellor of New York University from 1839 until 1850 and president of Rutgers College from 1850 to 1862.<ref name=EB1911/>

Frelinghuysen graduated from Rutgers College in 1836, and studied law in Newark with his uncle, to whose practice he succeeded in 1839, after he was admitted to the bar.<ref name="FTFbioguide"/><ref name=EB1911/>

Career

Following his admission to the bar, he became attorney for the Central Railroad of New Jersey, the Morris Canal and Banking Company and other corporations.<ref name="FTFbioguide"/>

Political career

Template:Conservatism US According to The New York Times, Frelinghuysen was a member of the Whig Party until joining the Republican Party upon its inception.<ref name=obituary>May 21, 1885. Death of Mr. Frelinghuysen. The New York Times. Retrieved January 30, 2022.</ref> He was also crucial in establishing the Republican Party in New Jersey.<ref name=britannicabio>July 20, 1998. Frederick Theodore Frelinghuysen. Britannica. Retrieved January 30, 2022.</ref>

During the American Civil War, Frelinghuysen was active in public office rather than joining the Union Army.<ref name=newjerseyglobe>Wildstein, David (November 11, 2021). Veterans Day: Frelinghuysen and Kean families. New Jersey Globe. Retrieved January 30, 2022.</ref> He was a delegate in 1861 to the Peace Congress, and appointed Attorney General of New Jersey by Governor Charles S. Olden that year to serve in the post until 1867. Frelinghuysen was encouraged by some to run for governor in 1862, though declined.<ref>August 4, 1862. Personal. The New York Times. Retrieved November 8, 2021.</ref>

Frelinghuysen was a delegate to the 1860 Republican National Convention from New Jersey and from 1861 to 1867 was Attorney General of New Jersey. He was a delegate to the Peace conference of 1861 in Washington, and in 1866 was appointed by the Governor of New Jersey, as a Republican, to fill a vacancy in the United States Senate. In the winter of 1867, he was elected to fill the unexpired term, but a Democratic majority in the New Jersey Legislature prevented his re-election in 1869.<ref name="FTFbioguide"/><ref name=EB1911/>

In 1870, he was nominated by President Ulysses S. Grant, and confirmed by the Senate, as United States Ambassador to the United Kingdom to succeed John Lothrop Motley, but declined the mission. From 1871 to 1877 he was again a member of the United States Senate, in which he was prominent in debate and in committee work, and was chairman of the U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs during the Alabama Claims negotiations.<ref name="FTFbioguide"/><ref name=EB1911/>

He was a strong opponent of the Reconstruction measures of President Andrew Johnson, for whose conviction he voted for in Johnson's impeachment trial.<ref>Template:Appletons'</ref> Frelinghuysen supported the Radical Republicans' program for Reconstruction that emphasized a harsh treatment of former Confederates.<ref name=encyclopedia.combio>Frelinghuysen, Frederick Theodore. Encyclopedia.com. Retrieved January 30, 2022.</ref> He later allied with the GOP Stalwart faction whose members tended to utilize corruption/patronage effectively, though was considered to have a clean record.<ref name=garfieldandarthur>Weisberger, Bernard A. James A. Garfield and Chester A. Arthur. Encyclopedia.com. Retrieved January 30, 2022.</ref>

He was a member of the joint committee which drew up and reported (1877) the Electoral Commission Bill, and subsequently served as a member of the Electoral Commission that decided the 1876 Presidential election.<ref name=EB1911>Template:EB1911</ref> As a Republican, he voted with the eight-member majority on all counts.<ref name="FTFbioguide"/>

U.S. Secretary of State

On December 12, 1881, he was appointed United States Secretary of State by President Chester A. Arthur to succeed James G. Blaine, and served until the inauguration of President Grover Cleveland in 1885.<ref>Sayles, Stephen. The Romero-Frelinghuysen Convention: A Milestone in Border Relations. New Mexico Historical Review 51 (October 1976): 295-311.</ref>

Upon taking the post, Frelinghuysen was tasked with resolving a number of consequences resulted by the actions of his predecessor Blaine.<ref name=garfieldandarthur/> Taking a pacifistic and patient approach,<ref name=britannicabio/><ref name=encyclopedia.combio/> he shared the vision held by William H. Seward of the United States dominating the global market in setting an example for other nations to follow, he withdrew the U.S. from the War of the Pacific between Chile and Peru in which his predecessor unsuccessfully backed the Peruvians.<ref name=garfieldandarthur/><ref name=statedepartmentbio>Biographies of the Secretaries of State: Frederick Theodore Frelinghuysen (1817–1885). Office of the Historian. Retrieved November 14, 2021.</ref>

Frelinghuysen's other actions included canceling a scheduled Pan-American conference against President Arthur's wishes that Blaine had originally planned.<ref name=encyclopedia.combio/><ref name=garfieldandarthur/><ref name=statedepartmentbio/> In addition, he negotiated a treaty change with Hawaii that allowed for a naval base for the U.S. in Pearl Harbor,<ref name=britannicabio/> which was later known for being bombed by Japan in World War II.

In contrast to his predecessors in the position of U.S. Secretary of State, Frelinghuysen proved unable to urge Great Britain to modify the Clayton-Bulwer Treaty terms in a re-negotiation attempt,<ref name=statedepartmentbio/> and instead pushed through a treaty with Nicaragua that would permit the construction of a canal in the country under joint ownership.<ref name=encyclopedia.combio/> However, it was withdrawn later during the presidency of Grover Cleveland by the U.S. Senate, which did not ratify it.<ref name=statedepartmentbio/> Other efforts rejected by Congress included proposals to negotiate reciprocity Spain, Mexico, and Santo Dominigo, in addition to opening an international consortium between the Congo, U.S. and other countries.<ref name=garfieldandarthur/>

Frelinghuysen served in the post until the end of President Arthur's term, effectively resigning in early March 1885.<ref name=statedepartmentbio/>

After his term as Secretary of State Frelinghuysen returned to his home in Newark where he died less than three months after retiring.<ref>Rollins, John William. Frederick Theodore Frelinghuysen, 1817-1885: The Politics and Diplomacy of Stewardship. Ph.D. dissertation, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin 1974</ref>

Legacy

In 1917, Frelinghuysen University in Washington D.C. was named in honor of his service to African American causes.<ref name="couriernews">Template:Cite news</ref>

Marriage and children

On January 25, 1842, Frelinghuysen married Matilda Elizabeth Griswold (1817–1889).<ref name="MrsFTFObit1889"/> She was the daughter of George Griswold,<ref name="Lee1910"/> a merchant in New York City who "made an immense fortune in the time of the clipper trade with China."<ref name="MrsFTFObit1889"/> Together, they were the parents of three daughters and three sons, including:<ref name="Lee1910">Template:Cite book</ref>

• Matilda Griswold Frelinghuysen (1846–1926),<ref name="MGFGObit1926">Template:Cite news</ref> who married Henry Winthrop Gray (1840–1906),<ref name="GWGObit1906">Template:Cite news</ref> a prominent merchant<ref name="Lee1910"/> in 1889.<ref name="1889Wedding">Template:Cite news</ref>
• Charlotte Louisa "Lucy" Frelinghuysen (1847–1930),<ref name="CFObit1930">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="Lee1910"/>
• Frederick Frelinghuysen (1848–1924),<ref name="FFobit1924">Template:Cite news</ref> who married Estelle B. Kinney, daughter of Thomas T. Kinney, in 1902.<ref name="1902Engagement">Template:Cite news</ref>
• George Griswold Frelinghuysen (1851–1936),<ref name="GGFObit1936">Template:Cite news</ref> who married Sara Linen Ballantine, granddaughter of Peter Ballantine, in 1881.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
• Sarah Helen Frelinghuysen (1856–1939),<ref name="SHMObit1939"/> who first married Judge John J. Davis (1851–1902), the grandson of Massachusetts governor John Davis. After his death, she married Brig. Gen. Charles Laurie McCawley (1865–1935), the son of Charles G. McCawley, the 8th Commandant of the Marine Corps, in 1906.<ref name="SHMObit1939">Template:Cite news</ref>
• Theodore Frelinghuysen (1860–1928),<ref name="TFObit1928"/> who married Alice Dudley Coats (1861–1889) in 1885.<ref name="1885Wedding">Template:Cite news</ref> After her death, he married Elizabeth Mary "Lily" (née Thompson) Cannon, a daughter of William G. Thompson and descendant of Elijah Brush, both Mayors of Detroit, and the widow of Henry Lee Grand Cannon.<ref name="TFObit1928">Template:Cite news</ref>

Frelinghuysen died at Newark on May 20, 1885, aged 67.<ref name="FTFObit1885">Template:Cite news</ref> He was buried at Mount Pleasant Cemetery, Newark.<ref>American National Biography</ref><ref>Dictionary of American Biography</ref><ref name="1885Burial">Template:Cite news</ref> His widow died a few years later in February 1889.<ref name="MrsFTFObit1889">Template:Cite news</ref>

Descendants

Through his eldest son Frederick, he was the grandfather of George Griswold Frelinghuysen II, who married Anne de Smolianinof; Estelle C. "Suzy" Frelinghuysen, who married fellow painter George Lovett Kingsland Morris; Frederick Frelinghuysen; Thomas Frelinghuysen; and Theodore Frelinghuysen.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Through his daughter Sarah and granddaughter Mathilda Elizabeth Frelinghuysen (née Davis) Lodge (1876–1960), who married George Cabot Lodge, he was the great-grandfather of Henry Cabot Lodge Jr. (1902–1985), the diplomat and United States Senator from Massachusetts,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="Jackson1998">Template:Cite book</ref> and John Davis Lodge (1903–1985), also a diplomat, U.S. Representative, and Governor of Connecticut.<ref name=JohnDavisLodge>Template:Cite dictionary</ref>

References

Sources

• Template:Cite Appletons'

External links

• Template:Findagrave
• Template:CongBio
• Biographical information for Frederick T. Frelinghuysen from The Political Graveyard