James Harlan Signature
Signature from James Harlan (1820-1899), born in Clark County, Illinois, August 26, 1820, was descended from English Quaker stock. At the age of four Harlan moved with his family to Indiana, where he gained a local education and in 1841 entered Asbury University. Graduating with highest honors, he became principal of an academy in Iowa City, Iowa, meanwhile joining the Whig party. Later he studied law, was called to the bar, and in 1850 declined an opportunity to run for the governorship of Iowa. In 1853 he was chosen to serve as head of what became Iowa Wesleyan University, one of the earliest trans-Mississippi institutions of higher learning.
After two years, however, politics specifically agitation over the free-soil movement, which he ardently supported drew him into public life. In 1855 Harlan was elected to the U.S. Senate on the Whig ticket. His energy and forthrightness, displayed throughout his campaign, helped him win the position. He publicly vowed that on constitutional questions he would be guided by Supreme Court decisions, in legislative matters by the views of the people and the lawmakers of Iowa, and "in all questions of conscience by the Bible." Through irregularities in the Iowa legislature, his seat was declared vacant in 1857, but he regained it as a Republican candidate later that year and was reelected in 1861. In Congress, Harlan was at first considered a moderate on sectional matters, but during the Civil War he allied himself with the more radical republicans on numerous issues.
He became a loyal supporter of Abraham Lincoln as war administrator, and also a family intimate; in later years his daughter married Lincoln's eldest son. In nonmilitary matters, he favored westward expansion, homestead and land-grant-college legislation, and the Pacific Railroad Acts, which he sponsored. Shortly before his assassination, the president appointed Harlan secretary of the interior. Though he held the post for 14 months under President Andrew Johnson, political differences between the two finally prompted Harlan's resignation. As secretary, he was a conscientious but controversial administrator, engaging in numerous disputes with other government authorities some of whom charged him, apparently without basis, of corrupt land transactions and personnel appointments. Harlan won a third senate term in 1867, but political rivals banded to prevent his further service in elective office. Though he retired to private life in 1873, he presided over the Alabama Claims 1882-1886. He died at Mount Pleasant, Iowa onOct. 5, 1899.
Signature from James Harlan (1820-1899), born in Clark County, Illinois, August 26, 1820, was descended from English Quaker stock. At the age of four Harlan moved with his family to Indiana, where he gained a local education and in 1841 entered Asbury University. Graduating with highest honors, he became principal of an academy in Iowa City, Iowa, meanwhile joining the Whig party. Later he studied law, was called to the bar, and in 1850 declined an opportunity to run for the governorship of Iowa. In 1853 he was chosen to serve as head of what became Iowa Wesleyan University, one of the earliest trans-Mississippi institutions of higher learning.
After two years, however, politics specifically agitation over the free-soil movement, which he ardently supported drew him into public life. In 1855 Harlan was elected to the U.S. Senate on the Whig ticket. His energy and forthrightness, displayed throughout his campaign, helped him win the position. He publicly vowed that on constitutional questions he would be guided by Supreme Court decisions, in legislative matters by the views of the people and the lawmakers of Iowa, and "in all questions of conscience by the Bible." Through irregularities in the Iowa legislature, his seat was declared vacant in 1857, but he regained it as a Republican candidate later that year and was reelected in 1861. In Congress, Harlan was at first considered a moderate on sectional matters, but during the Civil War he allied himself with the more radical republicans on numerous issues.
He became a loyal supporter of Abraham Lincoln as war administrator, and also a family intimate; in later years his daughter married Lincoln's eldest son. In nonmilitary matters, he favored westward expansion, homestead and land-grant-college legislation, and the Pacific Railroad Acts, which he sponsored. Shortly before his assassination, the president appointed Harlan secretary of the interior. Though he held the post for 14 months under President Andrew Johnson, political differences between the two finally prompted Harlan's resignation. As secretary, he was a conscientious but controversial administrator, engaging in numerous disputes with other government authorities some of whom charged him, apparently without basis, of corrupt land transactions and personnel appointments. Harlan won a third senate term in 1867, but political rivals banded to prevent his further service in elective office. Though he retired to private life in 1873, he presided over the Alabama Claims 1882-1886. He died at Mount Pleasant, Iowa onOct. 5, 1899.