Schuyler Colfax
Schuyler Colfax (/ˈskaɪlər ˈkoʊlfæks/ SKY-lər KOHL-fax; March 23, 1823 – January 13, 1885) was an American journalist, businessman, and politician who served as the 17th vice president of the United States from 1869 to 1873, and prior to that as the 25th speaker of the House of Representatives from 1863 to 1869. Originally a Whig, then part of the short-lived People's Party of Indiana, and later a Republican, he was the U.S. Representative for Indiana's 9th congressional district from 1855 to 1869.
Schuyler Colfax
January 13, 1885 (aged 61)
Mankato, Minnesota, U.S.
Whig (before 1854)
Republican (after 1854)
Indiana People's Party (1854)
Colfax was known for his opposition to slavery while serving in Congress, and was a founder of the Republican Party. During his first term as speaker, he led the effort to pass the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, which abolished slavery. When it came before the House for a final vote in January 1865, he emphasized his support by casting a vote in favor—by convention the speaker votes only to break a tie. Chosen as Ulysses S. Grant's running mate in the 1868 election, the pair won easily over Democratic Party nominees Horatio Seymour and Francis Preston Blair Jr. As was typical during the 19th century, Colfax had little involvement in the Grant administration. In addition to his duties as president of the U.S. Senate, he continued to lecture and write for the press while in office. Believing Grant would only serve one term, in 1870, Colfax attempted unsuccessfully to garner support for the 1872 Republican presidential nomination by telling friends and supporters he would not seek a second vice presidential term. When Grant announced that he would run again, Colfax reversed himself and attempted to win the vice-presidential nomination, but it was given to Henry Wilson.
An 1872–73 Congressional investigation into the Crédit Mobilier scandal identified Colfax as one of several federal government officials who, in 1868, had accepted payments of cash and discounted stock from the Union Pacific Railroad in exchange for favorable action during the construction of the transcontinental railroad. Though he vociferously defended himself against charges, his reputation suffered. Colfax left the vice presidency at the end of his term in March 1873, and never again ran for office. Afterward, he worked as a business executive and became a popular lecturer and speechmaker.[1]
Colfax suffered a heart attack and died at a railroad station in Mankato, Minnesota, on January 13, 1885, while en route to a speaking engagement in Iowa.[2] He is one of only two persons to have served as both speaker of the House and vice president, the other being John Nance Garner.[3]
Newspaper editor[edit]
In 1842, Colfax became the editor of the pro-Whig South Bend Free Press, owned by John D. Defrees.[11] When Defrees moved to Indianapolis the following year and purchased the Indiana Journal, he hired Colfax to cover the Indiana Senate for the Journal.[5][12] In addition to covering the state senate, Colfax contributed articles on Indiana politics to the New York Tribune, leading to a friendship with its editor, Horace Greeley.[13]
In 1845, Colfax purchased the South Bend Free Press and changed its name to the St. Joseph Valley Register.[11] He owned the Register for nine years, at first in support of the Whigs, then shifting to the newly established Republican Party.[14]
Whig Party politician[edit]
While covering the Indiana Senate as a journalist, Colfax also served as the Whig Party's assistant enrolling clerk from 1842 to 1844.[15] In 1843, several South Bend residents formed a debating society in which members researched and discussed current events and other topics of interest, and Colfax became a prominent member.[16] The organization's success led it to create a moot state legislature, in which members introduced, debated, and voted on bills in accordance with the rules of the Indiana General Assembly.[12] As with the debating society, Colfax was a prominent member of South Bend's moot legislature.[12]
Colfax's success in the debating society and moot legislature made him prominent enough to take part in politics, and he was selected as a delegate to the 1848 Whig National Convention, where he was selected as one of the gathering's secretaries and supported Zachary Taylor for the presidency.[17] He was next elected as a delegate to Indiana's 1849–1850 state constitutional convention.[17] Colfax was the 1851 Whig nominee for Congress in the district which included South Bend, but narrowly lost to his Democratic opponent,[17] primarily because he voted against a measure at the constitutional convention that stopped free African Americans from moving to Indiana.[17]
In 1852, Colfax was a delegate to the Whig National Convention and was selected to serve as a convention secretary.[17] He supported Winfield Scott for president, and after Scott was nominated, Colfax took an active part in the campaign,by making speeches and authoring and distributing newspaper articles and editorials.[18] In 1852, Colfax's political supporters encouraged him to make a second run for the U.S. House, but he declined.[19]
Post vice-presidency (1873–1885)[edit]
Lecturer and business executive[edit]
After leaving office in March 1873, Colfax began to recover his reputation, embarking on a successful career as a traveling lecturer offering speeches on a variety of topics. His most requested presentation was one on the life of Abraham Lincoln, whom the nation had begun to turn into an icon. With an expanding population that desired to know more details and context about Lincoln's life and career, an oration from someone who had known him personally was an attraction audiences were willing to pay to hear, and Colfax delivered his Lincoln lecture hundreds of times to positive reviews.
In 1875, he became vice president of the Indiana Reaper and Iron Company.[53] On February 12, 1875, having returned to Washington, D.C., to give a lecture, he advised his friends in Congress who were frustrated over the slow pace of action: "Ah! the way to get out of politics is to get out of politics."[53]
He had remained popular in his home area, and was often encouraged to run again for public office, but he always declined. Finally, in April 1882, when pressed to consider becoming a candidate for his old U.S. House seat in the upcoming election, Colfax announced in a letter to the South Bend Tribune that, while he deeply appreciated how much his friends wanted him to run for public office again, he was satisfied by the 20 years of service he had given during the "stormiest years of our nation's history." He also said that he was enjoying his life as a private citizen, and would neither be a candidate nor accept any nomination for any office in the future, stating that his "only ambition now is to go in and out among my townsmen as a private citizen during what years of life may remain for me to enjoy on this earth".[54]
Colfax was married twice:
Colfax was a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows (IOOF). In 1850, Colfax and members William T. Martin of Mississippi and E. G. Steel of Tennessee were appointed to prepare a ritual pertaining to the Rebekah Degree and present a report at the 1851 annual meeting.[60] On September 20, 1851, the IOOF approved the degree and Colfax was credited as its author and founder.[61][62]
In 1854 Colfax was initiated into the Beta Theta Pi fraternity at DePauw University as an honorary member.[63]
Colfax was initiated into the fraternity of Free & Accepted Masons as an Entered Apprentice at Washington D.C.'s Lebanon Lodge No. 7 on August 15, 1856. He completed his Fellow Craft and Master Mason degrees at St. Joseph Lodge No. 45 in South Bend, Indiana, however, he was not an especially active member. After failing to continue paying his dues, he was dropped from the rolls of Lebanon Lodge on December 16, 1864.[64]
Historical reputation[edit]
Colfax's 20 years of public service ended in controversy in 1873 due to the revelation that he was involved in the Crédit Mobilier scandal. He never returned to seek political office in part because he believed that it was best to stay out of politics once leaving office, and in part because he was content with his life as a private citizen. Because of his success as a lecturer, his reputation was somewhat restored.
The Revenue Cutter Service commissioned and named an iron-framed side-wheel steamer after Colfax in 1871. It served along the Atlantic Coast and hosted President McKinley aboard prior to her decommissioning in 1899.[65]
Towns in the U.S. states of California, North Carolina, Illinois, Washington, Wisconsin, Indiana, Iowa, Texas, and Louisiana are named after him. Schuyler, Nebraska, named after Colfax, is the county seat of Colfax County, Nebraska. The ghost town of Colfax, Colorado, was named after him, as was Colfax County, New Mexico.
Colfax Avenue in South Bend is named in his honor. Colfax's home of his adult years stood on that street, at 601 W. Market St. The city later renamed the street in his honor. The Colfax home was demolished and, as of 2019, a Seventh-day Adventist church stands on the spot. There is another Colfax Avenue in Mishawaka, Indiana, the city just east of South Bend. There is also a Colfax Avenue in the Grant City section of Staten Island, one of the boroughs of New York City. The main east–west street traversing Aurora, Denver, and Lakewood, Colorado, and abutting the Colorado State Capitol is named Colfax Avenue in the politician's honor; it is also known as the longest continuous commercial street in the U.S.[66] There is also a Colfax Place in the Highland Square neighborhood in Akron, Ohio; in Minneapolis, Minnesota; in Roselle Park, New Jersey; and a Colfax Street on Chicago's South Side. There is a Colfax Street in Springdale, Pennsylvania, that leads up Mt. Colfax as well as one in Palatine, Illinois, in Evanston, Illinois, and in Jamestown, New York. Dallas, Texas, and one of its suburbs, Richardson, each have separate residential roads named Colfax Drive. There is also a Colfax Avenue in the San Fernando Valley area of Los Angeles[67] and in Concord, California, as well as in Benton Harbor, Michigan.
Colfax School was built in South Bend and opened in 1898 just a few blocks from the Schuyler Colfax home. The school building still stands, as of 2019, at 914 Lincoln Way West, although it is no longer a school and today is known as Colfax Cultural Center. In the 1950s and 1960s, one of the downtown movie theaters was The Colfax. There is a Colfax Elementary School in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The Schuyler-Colfax House in Wayne, New Jersey, which was built by Colfax's ancestors, was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1973.[68]
The Schuyler Colfax monument in Colfax, California was made in his honor.[69] There is another statue of Colfax in Indianapolis, Indiana.[70]
Media portrayals[edit]
Actor Bill Raymond portrayed Colfax during his time as Speaker in the 2012 Steven Spielberg film Lincoln.[71] Raymond was in his early seventies when the film was made[72] while Colfax was in his early forties during the period depicted in the film.[2]