Hamilton Fish

See Hamilton Fish (disambiguation) for others with the same name

Hamilton Fish, (3 August 1808–7 September 1893), born in New York City, was an American statesman who served as Governor of New York, United States Senator and United States Secretary of State.

Biography

Fish was born at what is now known as the Stuyvesant-Fish House in Greenwich Village, New York City, to Nicholas Fish and Elizabeth Stuyvesant (a great-great-granddaughter of New Amsterdam's Peter Stuyvesant), and his parents named him after their friend Alexander Hamilton. Nicholas Fish (1758-1833) was a leading Federalist politician and notable figure of the American Revolutionary War. Fish married Julia Kean (a descendant of a New Yorker who was a New Jersey governor, William Livingston) in 1836. They would have three sons and five daughters, and multiple notable relatives.

Hamilton graduated from Columbia College in 1827 and was admitted to the New York bar in 1830, but practiced only briefly. He served as commissioner of deeds for the city and county of New York from 1832 through 1833, and was an unsuccessful candidate for New York State Assembly in 1834.

Political career

As a member of the Whig party, Fish was elected to the House of Representatives, defeating Democrat John McKeon and serving in the 28th Congress from New York's 6th District between 1843 and 1845. After losing his bid for re-election, he returned to private practice as a lawyer. He was the Whig candidate for lieutenant governor of New York in 1846, but was defeated by Democrat Addison Gardner, in part because of Fish's opposition to the Anti-Rent faction. In 1847, however, after Gardner was appointed a judge of the New York Court of Appeals, Fish was elected (November 1847) to complete the term (to January 1849).

He was elected as Governor of New York in 1849, defeating John A. Dix and Reuben H. Walworth, and served from November 7, 1848 through November 5, 1850.

He was elected to the United States Senate March 4, 1851 to replace Daniel S. Dickinson and there he served on the U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations until the end of his term March 3, 1857. He was a Republican for the latter part of his term and was part of a moderately anti-slavery faction. He opposed the repeal of the Missouri Compromise. At the expiration of his term, he traveled with his family to Europe and remained there until shortly before the opening of the American Civil War, when he returned to begin actively campaigning for the election of Abraham Lincoln.

In 1861 and 1862 he was associated with John A. Dix, William M. Evarts, William E. Dodge, A.T. Stewart, John Jacob Astor and other New York men on the Union Defence Committee, which (from April 22, 1861 to April 30, 1862) cooperated with the New York City government in the raising and equipping troops, and disbursed more than $1 million for the relief of New York volunteers and their families.

US Secretary of State

He also served as Secretary of State between March 17, 1869 and March 12, 1877 under Ulysses S. Grant. He was Grant's longest-serving Cabinet officer.

He conducted the negotiations with Great Britain which resulted in the Treaty of Washington of 1871, under which the Alabama claims and the San Juan Boundary Dispute (concerning the Oregon boundary line) were referred to arbitration. He also negotiated the reciprocity treaty of 1875 with the Kingdom of Hawaii.

In 1871 Fish presided at the peace conference at Washington between Spain and the allied republics of Peru, Chile, Ecuador and Bolivia, which resulted in a general truce between those countries.

It was chiefly due to his restraint and moderation that a satisfactory settlement of the Virginius Affair was reached by the United States and Spain in 1873.

Within the Department of State, he promoted testing job applicants to see if they were truly qualified for duty at a consulate.

Later life

After leaving the Cabinet, he returned to the law and managing his real estate in New York City.

He died at Glen Clyffe, his estate near Garrison, New York in Putnam County, New York in the Hudson River Valley, and is buried in Garrison at St. Philip's Church-in-the-Highlands Cemetery.

Other involvements

Vice-president general of the Society of the Cincinnati from 1848 to 1854, president general from 1854 until his death
Appointed by U.S. President Abraham Lincoln as one of the board of commissioners for the relief and exchange of Union prisoners of war in the South
President of the New York Historical Society from 1867-1869
Served as a trustee of Columbia University for 53 years (1840–1849, 1851–1893), and as chairman of the board of trustees from 1859 until his death in 1893
Served as president of the Union League Club
Acted as a trustee of both the Lenox Library and the Astor Library, which were later shaped into the New York Public Library

Notable relatives

Fish had many notable ancestors and descendants.

Through his ancestor Gilbert Livingston (b. 1690) he was a second cousin four times removed of US Senator Prescott Bush and his son George H. W. Bush and grandson George W. Bush, both US Presidents.
He had a son, a grandson and a great-grandson (all named Hamilton Fish) serve in the U.S. House of Representatives for New York:
- Son Hamilton Fish II (1849–1936)
- Grandson Hamilton Fish III (1888–1991)
- Great-grandson Hamilton Fish IV (1926–1996)
His great-great grandson Hamilton Fish V ran for Congress in 1988 and 1994 (to succeed his retiring father) but lost. With other investors, Hamilton Fish V purchased The Nation out of bankruptcy in 1977, and sold it in 1995, but remains connected to the foundation. He is also an adviser to George Soros.
Another son Stuyvesant Fish was an important railroad executive
Another son Nicholas Fish was a U.S. diplomat, who was appointed second secretary of legation at Berlin in 1871, became secretary in 1874, and was charge d'affaires at Berne in 1877-1881, and minister to Belgium in 1882-1886, after which he engaged in banking in New York City.
- Nicholas's son Hamilton Fish charged San Juan Hill with the Rough Riders and is said to be the first American killed in the battle
Grand-nephew Hamilton F. Kean, US Senator from New Jersey
Great-grand-nephew Thomas Kean, Governor of New Jersey

See also: Fish family

Sources

External links