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the 40th Congress

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Grand Old Partisan celebrates more than seventeen decades of Republican heroes and heroics. Today, I spotlight the 40th Congress. Elected soon after the Civil War, it convened on March 4th 1867. Of the 53 Senators, 41 were Republicans and of 191 Representatives, 134 were Republicans. They made Benjamin Wade the President Pro Tempore and Schuyler Colfax the Speaker of the House. That day, the GOP held 77% of Senate seats and 70% of House seats. Voters in the North appreciated the Party of Lincoln for saving the Union. In the South, only one Confederate state had been re-admitted. Over next two years, seven more states were re-admitted. Republicans there were generally in control, as former slaves could vote and most former rebels could not. By end of the 40th Congress, the Senate was 86% GOP and the House 77%. Though Republicans accomplished much, progress was hindered by the Democrat president, Andrew Johnson. Back to Basics for the Republican Party...
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Edwin Conger, valiant Republican Soldier and Congressman and Ambassador

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Grand Old Partisan celebrates more than seventeen decades of Republican heroes and heroics. Today, I salute Edwin Conger, born March 7th 1843. He was captain with the 102nd Illinois Volunteer Infantry during the Civil War. His regiment battled through Georgia and the Carolinas. Peace restored, the young Republican studied law, then relocated to Iowa. His political career began as county treasurer, then state treasurer. Conger won three congressional terms. President Benjamin Harrison named him ambassador to Brazil. While ambassador to China during the William McKinley and Theodore Roosevelt administrations, he opposed foreign meddling in that country’s internal affairs. Back to Basics for the Republican Party  is my civil rights history of the GOP. To quote the book: "The more we Republicans know about the history of our party, the more Democrats will worry about the future of theirs. For more information, see  www.grandoldpartisan.com .  Here is a  YouT...
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Gerrit Smith, yet another Abolitionist Co-Founder of the Republican Party

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Grand Old Partisan celebrates more than seventeen decades of Republican heroes and heroics. Today, I honor Gerrit Smith, born in upstate New York, March 6th 1797. His parents had become wealthy via the fur trade and real estate. While managing the family fortune, he devoted his life to philanthropy. Smith participated in the American Anti-Slavery Society, donating three thousand homesteads to freedmen. In 1848, the Liberty Party nominated him for President. Women’s suffrage was part of his platform. Four years later, with the Free Soil Party, he won a term in the U.S. House of Representatives. This civil rights activist paid legal expenses for those accused of violating the Fugitive Slave Law. Frederick Douglass dedicated his second autobiography to him. Smith funded the early Republican Party. He supported the Lincoln administration during the Civil War and was delegate for the GOP’s 1872 national convention. Back to Basics for the Repu...
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James Comly, patriotic Republican Journalist and Union Colonel and Baseball Enthusiast and Ambassador to Hawaii

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Grand Old Partisan celebrates more than seventeen decades of Republican heroes and heroics. Today, I salute James Comly, born March 6th 1832. He apprenticed as a printer, then studied law. Ohio's secretary of state named him his chief clerk. He wrote editorials supporting the first two Republican presidential nominees, John Fremont and Abraham Lincoln. During the Civil War, a Republican governor commissioned him major of the 23rd Ohio Infantry. He was promoted to colonel after the regiment's previous commander, Rutherford Hayes, was promoted to brigadier general. For the rest of his life, Comly endured considerable pain from severe wounds. Peace restored, he edited the state GOP's leading newspaper. Comly also organized one of the very first baseball teams, the Buckeye Baseball Club. President Ulysses Grant appointed him postmaster at Columbus. President Rutherford Hayes made him ambassador to Hawaii. He cast an electoral vote for James ...
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the American Negro Academy

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Grand Old Partisan celebrates more than seventeen decades of Republican heroes and heroics. Today, I commemorate the American Negro Academy. This organization of African-American intellectuals promoted higher education, arts and science within their community. It was founded in Washington, DC on March 5th 1897 at the home of John Wesley Cromwell, a former slave who attended Howard University Law School and testified before the Interstate Commerce Commission. His newspaper,  The People's Advocate , editorialized for the GOP. Subsequently, meetings were hosted by the Lincoln Temple United Church of Christ. Other co-founders included former Republican Senator Blanche Bruce, emancipationist preacher Alexander Crummell and Republican poet Paul Dunbar. They sought "to lead and protect their people" and "to be a weapon to secure equality and destroy racis...
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John Wentworth, the first Republican Mayor of Chicago

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Grand Old Partisan celebrates more than seventeen decades of Republican heroes and heroics. Today, I honor John Wentworth, born in New Hampshire, March 15th 1815. The ambitious Dartmouth graduate relocated to frontier Chicago. He soon became editor of its first newspaper and made it a regional influence. He won five congressional terms. Opposition to slavery led Wentworth to join the Republican Party. In 1857, friends of freedom elected him mayor. Highlights of his administration were improving sanitation, reducing deficits and combatting vice. It was Wentworth who advised Abraham Lincoln to name a campaign manager for the 1860 Republican National Convention. This 6'6" dynamo known as "Long John" returned to Congress for a sixth term. Receiving his vote were the 1866 Civil Rights Act, the 14th Amendment and other GOP achievements. He merited being remembered as "a legendary mayor" "who found Chicago a sw...
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