George F. Edmunds
George Franklin Edmunds (February 1, 1828 – February 27, 1919) was an American attorney and Republican politician who represented the state of Vermont in the United States Senate from 1866 to 1891. He was a candidate for the Republican presidential nomination in 1880 and 1884 as a leading representative of New England and of the faction favoring civil service reform.
For the Pennsylvania politician, see George W. Edmonds.
George F. Edmunds
John Sherman
John H. Woodward, Asahel Peck, Elmer Beecher
Leverett B. Englesby, Amos Hobart, A. J. Crane
Edward C. Palmer
Carlous Noyes
February 27, 1919 (aged 91)
Pasadena, California, U.S.
Green Mount Cemetery, Burlington, Vermont
Susan Marsh Edmunds
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Edmunds was born in Richmond, Vermont and began to study law while still a teenager; he proved an adept student, and was admitted to the bar as soon as he reached the minimum required age of 21. He practiced in Burlington and became active in local politics and government. Before entering the Senate, he served in a number of high-profile positions in state government, including Speaker of the Vermont House of Representatives and President pro tempore of the Vermont State Senate.
Edmunds was appointed to the U.S. Senate in 1866, filling the vacancy caused by the death of Solomon Foot. He was subsequently elected by the Vermont General Assembly, and reelected in 1868, 1874, 1880, and 1886 before resigning in November 1891. As a longtime member of the U.S. Senate, he served in a variety of leadership posts, including chairman of the committees on Pensions, the Judiciary, the Private Land Claims, and Foreign Relations. He was also the leader of the Senate Republicans as President pro tempore of the Senate and chairman of the Republican Conference. Edmunds was an unsuccessful candidate for president at the 1880 and 1884 Republican National Conventions.
After leaving the Senate he practiced law in Philadelphia. Edmunds later lived in retirement in Pasadena, California, where he died in 1919. He was buried at Green Mount Cemetery in Burlington, Vermont.
Early life[edit]
George F. Edmunds was born in Richmond, Vermont on February 1, 1828, the son of Ebenezer Edmunds and Naomi (Briggs) Edmunds.[1] He attended the local schools and was privately tutored.[1] Edmunds began studying law as a teenager, spending time in both the office of his brother-in-law A. B. Maynard and the office of David A. Smalley and Edward J. Phelps.[1] He was admitted to the bar as soon as he was eligible in 1849.[1] He practiced in Burlington, and became active in politics by serving in local offices including Town Meeting Moderator.[2][3][4] While practicing law, one of the students who studied under him was Russell S. Taft, who later served as Lieutenant Governor and as Chief Justice of the Vermont Supreme Court.[5]
A Republican, he was elected to the Vermont House of Representatives in 1854. He served until 1860, and was Speaker from 1857 to 1860.[1] He moved to the Vermont Senate in 1861, where he served until 1862.[1] While in the State Senate, Edmunds was chosen to serve as President pro tempore.[6][7]
Presidential campaigns[edit]
1880 campaign[edit]
Edmunds was a candidate for president at the 1880 Republican National Convention. Nominated by Frederick H. Billings, he received 34 votes on the first ballot, carrying Vermont and Massachusetts. His support remained at 31 or 32 votes through the 29th ballot, after which his supporters began to trend towards eventual nominee James A. Garfield.[29][30]
1884 campaign[edit]
In 1884, Republicans who favored civil service reform, including Carl Schurz, George William Curtis, Theodore Roosevelt and Henry Cabot Lodge, supported Edmunds for President over incumbent President Chester A. Arthur and former Senator James G. Blaine, hoping to build a groundswell for Edmunds if the two stronger candidates deadlocked.
Revelations about Edmunds's legal work for railroads and corporations while sitting in the Senate prevented Edmunds from attaining wide support from reformers. On the first ballot he received 93 votes, once again carrying Vermont and Massachusetts, along with Rhode Island, a significant minority in New York, and scattered delegates from throughout the West. His support declined, however, and the nomination went to Blaine on the fourth ballot.
After the convention, many Edmunds supporters backed Democratic nominee Grover Cleveland, earning them the nickname "Mugwumps". Edmunds himself refused support for Blaine, who ultimately narrowly lost the general election.
Although Blaine was the leader of the Half-Breeds, he was viewed with suspicion and distrust by Edmunds, who believed that a true Half-Breed must support civil service reform.[12] Indeed, Blaine's inclinations in the late 1870s were closer to that of the Stalwarts, evident in his hostility towards civil service reform and the policies pursued by Half-Breed Rutherford B. Hayes.[31]
During the campaign, Edmunds stated:[11]
Senate resignation, retirement and death[edit]
Edmunds resigned from the Senate in 1891 in order to start a law practice in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.[36]
He later retired to Pasadena, California where he died on February 27, 1919.[37] He was buried at Green Mount Cemetery in Burlington.[38]
Family[edit]
In 1852 Edmunds married Susan Marsh Lyman (1831–1916), a niece of George Perkins Marsh.[39] They had two daughters.
Awards and Honors[edit]
Among Edmunds's honors were an honorary Master of Arts from the University of Vermont and honorary LL.D. degrees from Middlebury College, Dartmouth College and the University of Vermont.[40][41] He was elected to the American Philosophical Society in 1895.[42]
Legacy[edit]
Edmunds Elementary and Middle Schools in Burlington, which share a complex, opened as the city's high school in 1900 on land donated by Edmunds, and became a middle and elementary grades facility in 1964.[43][44]
Mount Rainier's Edmunds Glacier[45] and the town of Edmonds, Washington (despite the spelling) are named for him.[46]
The Vermont Historical Society maintains the George F. Edmunds Fund, which awards an annual prize for student research and writing on Vermont history.[47]
His birthplace in Richmond, Vermont is a privately owned residence and farm, and marked by a Vermont Historic Sites Commission sign.[48]