Allen G. Thurman
Allen Granberry Thurman (November 13, 1813 – December 12, 1895), sometimes erroneously spelled Allan Granberry Thurman, was a Democratic U.S. representative, Ohio Supreme Court justice, and Senator from Ohio. He unsuccessfully ran for Vice President of the United States in 1888 with President Grover Cleveland.
For his eugenicist son and baseball executive, see Allen W. Thurman.
Allen G. Thurman
December 12, 1895 (aged 82)
Columbus, Ohio, U.S.
5, including Allen W.
Born in Lynchburg, Virginia, he and his family moved to Chillicothe, Ohio, when Thurman was young. Thurman established a legal practice in Chillicothe with his uncle, William Allen, who later represented Ohio in the U.S. Senate. Thurman won election to the House of Representatives in 1844,[1] becoming the youngest member of that body. He supported the James K. Polk administration during the Mexican–American War and voted for the Wilmot Proviso, which would have banned slavery from any territory gained from Mexico. He served a single term in the House before joining the Supreme Court of Ohio. He narrowly lost the 1867 Ohio gubernatorial election to Rutherford B. Hayes. He won election to the Senate in 1869, becoming an opponent to the Republican Reconstruction policy. He actively campaigned against African-American voting rights and worked to reverse the civil rights advances of Reconstruction.[2] He offered an amendment to continue to segregate public schools in the District of Columbia.[3][4] During the disputed 1876 presidential election, Thurman helped establish the Electoral Commission. Thurman lost re-election in 1881 as the Republicans had won control of the Ohio legislature.[5]
Thurman was a "favorite son" candidate for president in 1880 and 1884. The 1888 Democratic National Convention selected him as President Grover Cleveland's running mate, as Vice President Thomas A. Hendricks had died in office. The aging Thurman did not actively campaign and the Democratic ticket was defeated.
Early years[edit]
Allen Granberry Thurman was born in Lynchburg, Virginia, to Pleasant Thurman and Mary Granberry Allen Thurman. Both of his parents were teachers; his father also a Methodist minister. In 1815, his parents emancipated their slaves and moved to Chillicothe, Ohio. He attended Chillicothe Academy, an academy run by his mother, and then studied law as an apprentice to his uncle, William Allen (who later became a senator from Ohio). At the age of eighteen, Thurman worked on a land survey, and at twenty-one became private secretary to the Governor of Ohio, Robert Lucas. In 1835 he was admitted to the Ohio bar and became his uncle's law partner. In 1837 his uncle entered the Senate.
Career in government[edit]
Congressman[edit]
The same year he was elected to the House of Representatives as its youngest member. He generally supported the majority of the Democrats on all issues except internal improvements, on which he tended to vote with the Whigs. He supported the Polk Administration's conduct of the Mexican–American War, spoke in favor of the 54°40' northern limit to the Oregon territory, and voted for the Wilmot Proviso, which would have banned slavery from the territory gained from Mexico. His support for the latter was due to anti-African-American prejudice, as he wanted to reserve this territory for white settlement. After a single two-year term, he left the House voluntarily to resume private law practice.
State Supreme Court Justice[edit]
In 1851 he was elected to a four-year term (February 1852 – February 1856) on the Ohio Supreme Court,[6] the last year as the chief justice. He then returned to private law practice in Columbus. Thurman spoke out against the repeal of the Missouri Compromise and opposed the pro-slavery Lecompton constitution for Kansas. In 1860 he was a supporter of Stephen A. Douglas for President. A "peace Democrat" or "Copperhead,"[7] he never accepted the right of a state to secede but felt it was unwise to fight a state that had already left the Union, and during the American Civil War he was opposed to Lincoln's policies, especially on emancipation. While he supported the war effort, he encouraged compromise and a political settlement.
On November 14, 1844, Thurman married Mary Anderson Dun Tompkins of Lexington, Kentucky.[24][25][26] Her father was a wealthy landowner named Walter Dun, and she had been married until 1840 when her first husband died.[25][26] Together, Thurman and his wife had five children, including:[6]
He was known as the "Old Roman".[25]
Death and burial[edit]
Thurman died on December 12, 1895, at his home in Columbus and is buried at Green Lawn Cemetery.[27][25]
Legacy[edit]
Following the 2021 United States Capitol attack, Democrats charged that Donald Trump was responsible for the violence and sought to impeach and remove him from office. When the articles of impeachment passed the U.S. House of Representatives and reached the Senate, by which Trump already left office, Chuck Schumer of New York cited a resolution by Thurman against Ulysses S. Grant's Secretary of War William W. Belknap as a precedent for convicting Trump.[28]