N: Nelson through Noyes

See below for annotated biographies of anti-slavery Whigs. Source: Scribner’s Dictionary of American Biography; Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography.

NELSON, Thomas Henry (c. 1823-March 14, 1896), lawyer, diplomat. In his active law practice in western Indiana and eastern Illinois he met as a legal opponent, and presently as a friend, Abraham Lincoln. He became a leader of the Whig party, and was one of the founders of the Republican party in the Middle West. Several times he was a delegate to state and national conventions.

Dictionary of American Biography, Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York, 1936, Volume 7, Pt. 1, p. 424-425:

NELSON, THOMAS HENRY (c. 1823-March 14, 1896), lawyer, diplomat, was born near Maysville, Kentucky, an elder brother of William Nelson [q.v.], and the son of Dr. Thomas W. Nelson and Frances (Doniphan) Nelson of Mason County, Kentucky, in whose home the Clays, the Crittendens, and other members of the old Kentucky aristocracy were familiar guests. After completing his studies in the Maysville schools, he went in 1844 to Rockville, Indiana, where he studied and practised law for six years, and then moved to Terre Haute, which became his permanent home. In 1855 he formed a law partnership with Abram Adams Hammond, who afterward became governor of Indiana, and in 1856 a partnership with Isaac N. Pierce. In his active law practice in western Indiana and eastern Illinois he met as a legal opponent, and presently as a friend, Abraham Lincoln. He became a leader of the Whig party, and was one of the founders of the Republican party in the Middle West. Several times he was a delegate to state and national conventions. Only once, however, was he a candidate for a public office: in 1860 he made a joint canvass with Daniel W. Voorhees in a campaign for Congress, and his rival won the election. On June 1, 1861, Nelson was appointed minister to Chile by his old friend Lincoln.

Tall and soldierly in bearing, distinguished in appearance, vigorous in action, a brilliant and compelling orator, skilful in public affairs, gifted with a contagious friendliness, he exerted his best efforts to win the friendship of Chile for the United States, and was notably successful, even while he was bringing American claims outstanding against Chile to a speedy and satisfactory settlement. Perhaps the high point of Chilean enthusiasm for Nelson was reached after the terrible fire in the Church of Campaign in Santiago on December 8, 1863, in which about 2,000 persons perished. On this occasion Nelson, with other Americans, showed great heroism in rescuing several individuals. The people of Santiago devoted the following Fourth of July to a celebration to do him honor. In 1865, when hostilities broke out between Chile and Spain, Chile believed that the United States would become her ally. Nelson labored tirelessly to bring about a peaceful settlement between the two warring countries, but was not authorized to involve the United States as a belligerent. The people of Chile were much disappointed, even resentful, but the Minister's policy of neutrality was subsequently indorsed by the State Department.

Returning to the United States in 1866, he campaigned vigorously in favor of the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution. In 1869 he was appointed minister to Mexico, and served there ably and faithfully until 1873, although no outstanding incident marked this period of service. The death of his wife, Elizabeth (Key) Nelson, in Mexico City in 1872 was a severe blow to him. The daughter of Colonel Marshall Key, a Kentucky political leader, she was possessed of great charm, intelligence, and many accomplishments, and since her marriage in 1844 had taken an important part in her husband's career. (See the article on Mrs. Nelson written by William Cullen Bryant, in the Annual Cyclopedia for 1872.) After his resignation from the diplomatic service, Nelson returned to Terre Haute, where he again practise d law and took a prominent part in politics. He died there in 1896, survived by two of his six children.

[A Biography History of Eminent and Self-Made Men of the State of Indiana (1880), volume II; H. C. Bradsby, History of Vigo County, Indiana, with Biographical Selections (1891); Osgood Hardy, "When the Monroe Doctrine Was Forgotten," in Chile (New York), March 1930; C. C. Oakey, Greater Terre Haute and Vigo County (1908), volume I; U. S . Department of State, Diplomatic Correspondence, Chile, volumes XVIII-XXIII, Mexico, volumes XXXVIX LVIII; Papers Relating to the Foreign Relations of the U.S., 1863 (pt. 2), 1864 (pt. 4), 1866 (pt. 2), 1870, 1871, 1872 (pt. 1), 1873 (pt. 1); Thomas H. Nelson, Official Letter Books, 1861-65 (MSS.), MSS. Div., Library of Congress; "Report and Accompanying Documents ... on the Relations of the United States with Mexico," House Report No.701, 45 Congress, 2 Session; F. F. Hamilton, Ancestral Lines of the Doniphan, Frazee, and Hamilton Families (1928); Sunday Journal (Indianapolis), March 15, 1896. Date of birth, given in secondary accounts as August 12, 1824, is incompatible with date of September 27, 1824, given for birth of his brother William.]

I. L. T.



NEWBERRY, John Stoughton (November 18, 1826-January 2, 1887), lawyer, manufacturer, U.S. congressman. From his majority he had supported and voted the Whig ticket, but upon the formation of the Republican party he joined forces with it and thereafter remained a stanch supporter.

(Biographical Dictionary of the U.S. Congress 1774-1927 (1928)

Dictionary of American Biography, Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York, 1936, Volume 7, Pt. 1, pp. 444-445:

NEWBERRY, JOHN STOUGHTON (November 18, 1826-January 2, 1887), lawyer, manufacturer, congressman, was born at Sangerfield, Oneida County, New York, the son of Elihu and Rhoda (Phelps) Newberry. He was a descendant of Thomas Newberry who emigrated from Devonshire, England, to Dorchester, Massachusetts, in 1634. Oliver and Walter Loomis Newberry [qq.v.] were John's uncles. Elihu moved from Oneida County westward, finally settling at Romeo, Michigan, where John prepared for college. Later he entered the University of Michigan, took high rank as a student, and graduated in 1847.

Having acquired a practical knowledge of civil engineering, he spent two years with the Michigan Central Railroad. Then, after a year of travel, he entered a law office in Detroit, and was admitted to the bar in 1853. He was soon recognized as an expert in admiralty cases and in 1857 published Reports of Admiralty Cases in the Several District Courts of the United States. In 1855 he married Harriet Newell Robinson, who died in 1856 leaving one son; on October 6, 1859, he married Helen Parmelee Handy and to this union were born two sons. From his majority he had supported and voted the Whig ticket, but upon the formation of the Republican party he joined forces with it and thereafter remained a stanch supporter. President Lincoln appointed him provost-marshal of Michigan in 1862, with the rank of captain of cavalry, an office which he held until 1864, during which time he organized two drafts. Familiar with the needs of the army, he was one of a company of Detroit capitalists who established in 1862 or 1863 the Michigan Car Company to build freight cars for the Union forces; of this company he became president, continuing as such until 1880. Although this venture led him to abandon the practice of law, it developed into a highly profitable enterprise and formed the basis of his large personal fortune, estimated at his death to be from three to four million dollars. The firm soon h ad branches in London, Ontario, and St. Louis, and employed some five thousand men. In 1878, with James McMillan [q. v.], who was associated with the Michigan Car Company, he formed the firm of Newberry & McMillan, capitalists. As the car-building enterprise prospered, so did his other ever-widening business ventures. He helped organize a corporation to build the Detroit, Mackinac & Marquette Railroad. He also established the Vulcan Furnace Company at Newberry, Michigan. As investor he held large interests in banks, factories, and centrally located Detroit real estate. So wide and varied were these holdings that at his death he was a director in almost every local industry.

With the exception of his term as provost marshal, he held public office but twice. In 1862 he was elected to the Detroit board of education, and in 1878 he won the Republican nomination fo r representative to Congress from the First District, and was elected. He served on several important committees and was chairman of the committee on commerce. After one term he retired, feeling that his business interests demanded his full attention. A Congregationalist in his youth, he later joined the Jefferson Avenue Presbyterian Church, where he was noted for regular attendance and his stanch support of church activities. He was interest ed in philanthropic projects and one of his last undertakings was the establishment, together with James McMillan, of the Grace Homeopathic Hospital, to which Newberry gave $100,000. His will contained bequests of $650,000 to institutions and charities.

[J. G. Bartlett, Newberry Genealogical (1914); Cyclopedia of Michigan (1890); Charles Moore, History of Michigan (191 5); Henry Hall, America's Successful Men of Affairs, volume II (1896); Biographical Directory American Congress (1928); Detroit Free Press, January J, 1887; Evening News (Detroit), January 3, 1887.]

J.J.S.



NEWELL, William Augustus (September 5, 1817-August 8, 1901), congressman and governor of New Jersey. In 1856 he had identified himself with the American party and was elected governor of New Jersey; he served two terms from 1857 to 1861. In these critical years he led in the unification of the interests of the American and Republican parties in the state. By 1860 he had become a Republican and was a delegate to the Republican convention at Chicago.

Biographical Dictionary of the U.S. Congress 1774-1927 (1928)

Dictionary of American Biography, Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York, 1936, Volume 7, Pt. 1, pp. 459-460:

NEWELL, WILLIAM AUGUSTUS (September 5, 1817-August 8, 1901), congressman and governor of New Jersey, was born in Franklin, Ohio, the son of James Hugh and Eliza D. (Hankinson) Newell of Freehold, New Jersey. His parents had temporarily moved to Ohio but returned to New Jersey when he was three years of age. He attended school at New Brunswick, New Jersey, and was graduated from Rutgers College in 1836. He received the M.D. degree from the medical department of the University of Pennsylvania in 1839 and began the practice of medicine with his uncle at Manahawkin, Ocean County, New Jersey. He went to Imlaystown and about 1844 settled at Allentown, New Jersey, where he built up a large and lucrative practice. The same year he began practice his attention was called to a shipwreck off the coast near his home, and, appalled at the loss of life when thirteen bodies were brought ashore, he began to experiment with lines and with a mortar to reach a wrecked vessel in the hope of preventing future accidents. He was so far successful that, eight years later when serving in Congress, he had plans for a life-saving service, which gave impetus to the establishment of a federal life-saving service that was adapted for the entire sea and lake coasts (Remarks of William A. Newell ... August 3, 1848, 1848; Letter from William A. Newell ... to Hon. William J. Sewell, 1898, with useful citations). He served two terms in Congress as a Whig, from 1847 to 1851, and then resumed practice in Allentown.

In 1856 he had identified himself with the American party and was elected governor of New Jersey; he served two terms from 1857 to 1861. In these critical years he led in the unification of the interests of the American and Republican parties in the state. By 1860 he had become a Republican and was a delegate to the Republican convention at Chicago. Under Lincoln's administration he was appointed superintendent of the life-saving service in New Jersey. He was for a period examining surgeon of drafted soldiers in his state. In 1865 he returned to Congress for one term. He was defeated for reelection as he was in several later efforts to be elected to the House and to the Senate as well as to the governorship. Nevertheless he continued to keep a firm hold on party patronage in the state. In 1875 he became president of the New Jersey state board of agriculture, and his efforts were important in the establishment of the federal agricultural bureau. In 1880 President Hayes appointed him governor of Washington Territory, in which office he served four years. Then he was appointed Indian inspector for the same territory. He practised a year in Olympia and was resident surgeon in the soldiers' and sailors' home there. He returned to Allentown, New Jersey, in 1889, where he continued to practise until the time of his death. He was married in early life to Joanna Van Deursen of New Brunswick, New Jersey, who di ed while he was governor of Washington Territory. They had three children.

[Information from Mrs. Wm. S. Meek, Elizabeth, New Jersey; The Biographical Encyclopedia of N. J . (1877); The New Jersey Coast (2 volumes, 1902); Biographical Dir. American Congress (1928); Who's Who in America, 1901-02; C. M. Knapp, New Jersey Politics during the Period of the Civil War (1924); C. A. Snowden, History of Wash. (1909), volume IV; Newark Evening News, August 8, 11, 1901.]

A.V-D.H.



NILES, Hezekiah (October 10, 1777-April 2, 1839), newspaper editor, Niles' Weekly Register. Niles devoted many editorials to the institution of slavery, which he declared should be abolished, though gradually. While in Delaware he was an officer of the state abolition society.

Dictionary of American Biography, Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York, 1936, Volume 7, Pt. 1, pp. 521-522:

NILES, HEZEKIAH (October 10, 1777-April 2, 1839), editor, was born at Jefferis' Ford, Chester County, Pennsylvania, whither his parents had gone for safety just before the battle of the Brandywine. His father, Hezekiah Niles, a plane-maker of Philadelphia, had married Mary Way of Wilmington, Delaware, and moved to the latter place. Both were of the Quaker faith, though the father was "disowned" a few years after going to Wilmington. Though definite record is lacking, it is probable that the younger Hezekiah attended the Friends' School in Wilmington. At seventeen he was apprenticed to Benjamin Johnson, a printer of Philadelphia, with whom he worked for three years, until 1797, when he was released because of his master's lack of funds. Niles's first writing was done in Philadelphia; in 1794 he published in newspapers several essays favoring protection, and in 1796 arguments against Jay's Treaty. He married Ann, daughter of William Ogden, of Wilmington, May 17, 1798, and they had twelve children. She died in 1824, and two years later Niles married Sally Ann Warner, by whom he had eight children. At the time of his second marriage he was described by an acquaintance as "a short stout-built man, stooping as he walked, speaking in a high key, addicted to snuff, and with a keen gray eye, that lighted up a plain face with shrewd expression" (J. E. Semmes, John H. B. Latrobe and His Times, 1917, p. 184).

Upon returning to Wilmington in 1797 Niles assisted in publishing an almanac and did job printing. After two years he formed a partnership with Vincent Bonsal, but the partnership was dissolved because of losses incurred in the publication of The Political Writings of John Dickinson (2 volumes, 1801). In 1805, following the failure of a short-lived literary magazine, the Apollo, Niles moved to Baltimore and became editor of the Baltimore Evening Post. This paper supported the Jeffersonian party in all of its policies; it was sold in June 1811, and Niles immediately issued the prospectus for his Weekly Register (later Niles' Weekly Register) which after seven years of publication had over 10,000 subscribers. This paper he edited and published until 1836, with the assistance of his son, William Ogden Niles, from 1827 to 1830, and on it his reputation is based. In these twenty-five years he made it the strongest and most consistent advocate of union, internal improvements, and protection to industry, in the country. Niles was probably as influential as any in the nationalist economic school which sponsored the American System after the War of 1812. He was the intimate associate of Mathew Carey and Henry Clay. He was a principal mover in the protectionist conventions at Harrisburg in 1827 and at New York in 1831; for the former he wrote the address to the people of the United States; of the latter he was the chief secretary (Niles' Weekly Register, August 11, October 13, 1827; November 5, 1831). In each instance he gave spirit and form to the work of the convention, and utilized, besides, his remarkable talents and opportunities as a propagandist in its behalf. His opinions and advocacies developed as he advanced. He opposed the recharter of the first Bank of the United States in 1811, believing it to be unconstitutional and a harmful monopoly. But he espoused the recharter of the second Bank of the United States in Jackson's administration, declaring that it had become a necessity to prosperity. In politics, Niles was a Jeffersonian until 1816 or 1817, when he described himself as a no-party man. On January 10, 1824, he wrote: "I cannot believe that either [Jackson or Calhoun] will be elected, and should regret votes thrown away. I esteem both, personally and politically; and though my private wish is rather for Mr. Adams, I shall be content to accept any other than Mr. Crawford" (Darlington Collection, post). When Jackson came into office in 1829, Niles differed sharply with his policies, and became a Whig.

Niles devoted many editorials to the institution of slavery, which he declared should be abolished, though gradually. While in Delaware he was an officer of the state abolition society. In his arguments for the protective tariff, he exerted himself with much ingenuity to win the agricultural interest to his side. His writing was characterized by vigor and decision. He was a tireless worker, and supplied statistical evidence where many in his group were content with eloquence. Besides a number of pamphlets, he published the Principles and Acts of the Revolution in America (1822). He never held national office, but in Wilmington was twice town clerk and twice assistant burgess; in Baltimore he served two terms in the first branch of the city council. He was elected and reelected (1818-19) grand high priest by the Masonic Order in Maryland. He was a leading figure in the Baltimore Typographical Society. He died in Wilmington.

[R. G. Stone, Hezekiah Niles as an Economist (1933); biographical notices in Niles' National Register (as it was then called), April 6, 13, 1839; Philadelphia North American, April 4, 1839; Baltimore Patriot and Commercial Gazette, April 3, 1839; " Village Record, West Chester, Pennsylvania, Notae Cestrienses, No. 34," in Genealogical Society of Pennsylvania Colls. The Register is the best source for his opinions and activities. See also H Clay and Darlington collections in MSS. Div., Library of Congress; E. T. Schultz, History of Freemasonry in Maryland, II (1855); J. S. Futhey and Gilbert Cope, History of Chester County, Pennsylvania (1881); Edward Stanwood, American Tariff Controversies in the Nineteenth Century (1903), volume I.]

B.M.

Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Volume IV, p. 521:

NILES, Hezekiah, editor, born in Chester county, Pennsylvania, 10 October, 1777; died in Wilmington, Delaware, 2 April, 1839. He learned printing, and about 1800 became a member of an unsuccessful publishing firm in Wilmington. He then removed to Baltimore, Maryland, where for six years he edited a daily paper. He is chiefly known as the founder, printer, and publisher of “Niles's Register,” a weekly journal published in Baltimore, which he edited from 1811 until 1836, and which is considered so valuable as a source of information concerning American history that the first 32 volumes, extending from 1812 till 1827, were reprinted. The “Register” was continued by his son, William Ogden Niles, and others, until 27 June, 1849, making altogether 76 volumes. He advocated the protection of national industry, and was with Mathew Cary a champion of the “American system.” In addition to a series of humorous essays entitled “Quill Driving,” published in a periodical, he compiled a work entitled “Principles and Acts of the Revolution” (Baltimore, 1822). The towns of Niles, Mich., and Niles, Ohio, were named in his honor. Appletons’ Cylcopædia of American Biography, 1888.



NORTON, Jesse O., Member of the U.S. House of Representatives, voted for Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution, abolishing slavery. Elected as a Whig to the Thirty-third Congress and reelected as an Opposition Party candidate to the Thirty-fourth Congress (March 4, 1853-March 3, 1857); was not a candidate for renomination in 1856; judge of the eleventh judicial district of Illinois 1857-1862; elected as a Republican to the Thirty-eighth Congress (March 4, 1863-March 3, 1865); was not a candidate for renomination in 1864; delegate to the Union National Convention at Philadelphia in 1866.

NORTON, JESSE OLDS, a Representative from Illinois; born in Bennington, Bennington County, Vt., December 25, 1812; was graduated from Williams College, Williamstown, Massachusetts, in 1835; moved to Illinois; studied law; was admitted to the bar in 1840 and began practice in Joliet, Illinois; member of the state constitutional convention in 1847; member of the state house of representatives in 1851 and 1852; elected as a Whig to the Thirty-third Congress and reelected as an Opposition Party candidate to the Thirty-fourth Congress (March 4, 1853-March 3, 1857); was not a candidate for renomination in 1856; judge of the eleventh judicial district of Illinois 1857-1862; elected as a Republican to the Thirty-eighth Congress (March 4, 1863-March 3, 1865); was not a candidate for renomination in 1864; delegate to the Union National Convention at Philadelphia in 1866; resumed the practice of his profession; died in Chicago, Illinois, August 3, 1875; interment in Oakwood Cemetery, Joliet, Illinois.

(Biographical Dictionary of the U.S. Congress 1774-1927 (1928); Congressional Globe)



NOYES, William Curtis (August 19, 1805-December 25, 1864), New York lawyer. Originally a Whig, he became a Republican upon the dissolution of the former party (1856). He was defeated for the office of state's attorney general in 1857, though running ahead of the party ticket. As a stanch Republican, he publicly attacked the Kansas-Nebraska Bill and Fugitive Slave Law. He was a delegate to the Peace Conference in Washington (1861), where he labored to harmonize conflicting views between the sections. His unionist convictions are summed up in the title of an address, which he delivered in 1862 to support the Emancipation Proclamation: One Country! One Constitution! One Destiny!

Dictionary of American Biography, Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York, 1936, Volume 7, Pt. 1, p. 592:

NOYES, WILLIAM CURTIS (August 19, 1805-December 25, 1864), New York lawyer, was born in Schodack, New York, the son of George and Martha (Curtis) Noyes and a descendant of James Noyes who came to New England in 1633. He received a common-school and academy education, and at the age of fourteen years entered as a student the law office of Welcome Esleeck of Albany. He completed his studies in the office of Storrs & White of Whitesboro, was admitted to the bar as attorney in 1827 and as counselor in 1830. He practised law successively in Rome and Utica and became district attorney of Oneida County before his thirtieth year. In 1838 he removed to New York and rapidly advanced to the front ranks as an advocate.

Lacking a college education, he possessed the capacity to educate himself. He gradually built up a remarkable library, valued at $60,000, consisting of about five thousand law books and two thousand general works, all of which he bequeathed to Hamilton College on his death. He possessed a taste for miscellaneous reading and was a profound student of the law. His success as an advocate was enhanced by his exhaustive researches into the law and facts of his cases. He reduced his briefs to writing, memorized his speeches, and delivered them as though unpremeditated. In the "Huntington case" his masterly analysis of moral insanity secured the conviction of Huntington, a Wall Street broker on trial for forgery, who had set up a plea of insanity. Another notable suit was the Rose Will case (4 Abbott's Court of Appeals Decisions, 108), in which Noyes ably presented the history and doctrine of charitable uses. His greatest triumph occurred in the suit of the Mechanics' Bank vs. New York & New Haven R.R. Co. (13 New York Reports, 599). In this trial in the New York court of appeals Noyes defended the stockholders of the railroad against the claim that they should be deprived of their holdings without compensation, because the transfer agent of the railroad had issued fraudulent stock to a third party.

Although he was sincerely interested in public affairs and politics, he was never a politician in the ordinary sense. Originally a Whig, he became a Republican upon the dissolution of the former party (1856). He was defeated for the office of state's attorney general in 1857, though running ahead of the party ticket. As a stanch Republican, he publicly attacked the Kansas-Nebraska Bill and Fugitive Slave Law. He was a delegate to the Peace Conference in Washington (1861), where he labored to harmonize conflicting views between the sections. His unionist convictions are summed up in the title of an address, which he delivered in 1862 to support the Emancipation Proclamation: One Country! One Constitution! One Destiny! In 1857, with Alexander W. Bradford and David Dudley Field he was appointed to codify the state laws, and in this work engaged chiefly in the revision of the penal code, which he completed just before his death. Though the code was rejected in New York, it was adopted at a later elate by several western states. Noyes was a consistent Christian and philanthropist. For years he supported a home missionary without hinting of it to others. He was on the executive committee of the American Temperance Union, and was chosen president of the New England Society three clays before he died. He was twice married, first to Anne Tracy, who bore him three children, and second to Julia A. Tallmadge, to whom two children were born. He was survived by one daughter of each marriage.

[H. E. Noyes and H. E. Noyes, Genealogical Record of ... James, Nicholas and Peter Noyes (1904), volume II; 43 Barbour's Supreme Court Reports (New York), 649-73; S. W. Fisher, William Curtis Noyes, a Baccalaureate Discourse (1866); American Annual Cyclopedia .. 1864 (1865); David McAdam and others, History of the Bench and Bar of New York, volume I (1897); C. A. Alvord, printer, Library of William Curtis Noyes (1860); Charles Warren, A History of the American Bar (1911); New York Herald, December 27, 1864; letters from Noyes to G. C. Verplanck, April 18, 1840 and 1842, March 31, 1846, November 21, 1859 (MSS.), New York Historical Society]

A. L. M.

Sources:
Dictionary of American Biography, Volumes I-X, Edited by Dumas Malone, New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1930.

Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, Volumes I-VI, Edited by James Grant Wilson & John Fiske, New York: D. Appleton and Co., 1888-1889.