CHARLES A. ELDRIDGE was born at Bridport, Vermont, February 27, 1821. He removed to the State of New York, where he was admitted to the bar in 1846. In 1848 he removed to Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, and served in the Senate of that State in 1854 and 1855. In 1862 he was elected a Representative from Wisconsin to the Thirty-Eighth Congress, and was returned to the Thirty-Ninth and Fortieth Congresses.—226, 242, 355, 419, 441, 476, 507, 539, 546.
THOMAS D. ELIOT was born in Boston, March 20, 1808. Having graduated
at Columbia College, Washington, in 1825, he settled as a lawyer in
New Bedford. Having served in both branches of the Massachusetts
Legislature, he first entered Congress in 1855 for an unexpired term.
In 1858 he was elected a Representative from Massachusetts to the
Thirty-Sixth Congress, and has been returned to every succeeding
Congress, including the Fortieth.—31, 95, 138, 157 295, 296, 306,
347, 443.
JOHN F. FARNSWORTH was born of New England parentage, in Eaton, Lower Canada, March 27, 1820, but was early removed to the Territory of Michigan. In 1843 he settled in St. Charles, Illinois, and entered upon the practice of law. In 1846 he left the Democratic Party with which he had acted, and joined the "Liberty Party." In 1856 and again in 1858 he was elected to Congress, from what was then known as the Chicago District. In 1861 he raised the Eighth Illinois Cavalry Regiment, of which he was Colonel until his promotion to the rank of Brigadier General. The severe service in which he was engaged in the Peninsular Campaign brought on a disability which necessitated his resignation. In the fall of 1862 he was elected a Representative from Illinois to the Thirty-Eighth Congress, and was re-elected in 1864 and 1866, on both occasions receiving the largest majorities given by any district in the United States.—61, 333, 339, 448, 519, 537.
JOHN H. FARQUHAR was born in Frederick County, Maryland, December 20, 1818. With his widowed mother he removed to Indiana in 1833, and was employed as civil engineer upon some of the earliest public improvements of the State. In 1841 he was elected Secretary of the Indiana Senate. In 1843 he was Chief Clerk of the Indiana House of Representatives, and was the same year admitted to the bar in Brookfield. In 1844 he was a delegate to the National Convention which nominated Henry Clay. In 1852 he was candidate for Presidential Elector on the Scott ticket, and in 1860 on the Lincoln ticket. In 1861 he was commissioned a Captain in the Nineteenth United States Infantry, and was detailed as mustering and disbursing officer for Indiana. In 1864 he was elected a Representative from Indiana to the Thirty-Ninth Congress, and was succeeded by William S. Holman in the Fortieth Congress.
THOMAS W. FERRY was born in Mackinac, Michigan, June 1, 1827. He has been occupied extensively in the lumber trade and in banking. In 1850 he was elected to the House of Representatives of Michigan, and in 1856 to the State Senate. For eight years he was an efficient member of the Republican State Committee, and was a delegate and a Vice-President of the Chicago Convention of 1860. In 1864 he was elected a Representative from Michigan to the Thirty-Ninth Congress, and was re-elected in 1866.
WILLIAM PITT FESSENDEN was born at Boscawen, New Hampshire, October 16, 1806. He graduated at Bowdoin College in 1823, and in 1827 entered upon the practice of law in Portland, Maine. In 1832 he was a delegate to the Convention which nominated Henry Clay. In the same year he was elected to the Maine Legislature, and again in 1840. In 1841 he was elected a Representative in Congress, and declined a re-election. In 1845, 1846, and 1853 he served his fellow citizens in the State Legislature. In 1853 he was elected a United States Senator from Maine, and was re-elected in 1859. Upon the resignation of Mr. Chase as Secretary of the Treasury, in July, 1864, he was appointed to that office. On the 4th of March following he resigned his seat in the Cabinet, and re-entered the United States Senate, to which he had been elected for the term ending in 1871. In the Senate he has held the important positions of Chairman of the Finance Committee and of the Joint Committee on Reconstruction. He has received the degree of LL.D. from Bowdoin College and Harvard University—27, 42, 136, 271, 224, 373, 377, 380, 394, 412, 419, 431, 432, 453, 456, 540.
WILLIAM E. FINCH was born in Ohio in 1822, and at the age of twenty-one was admitted to the bar. In 1851 he was elected to the State Senate. In the following year he was a delegate to the Convention which nominated General Scott for President. In 1861 he was again elected a State Senator. In 1862 he was elected a Representative from Ohio to the Thirty-Eighth Congress, and was re-elected to the Thirty-Ninth. He was succeeded by Philadelph Van Trump in the Fortieth Congress.—437, 462, 476, 519.
GEORGE G. FOGG was a newspaper editor, of New Hampshire, until his appointment by President Lincoln as United States Minister Resident for Switzerland. He made a considerable fortune while there by investing his salary in United States Securities when they were very low in Europe. At the opening of the second session of the Thirty-Ninth Congress he took his seat in the Senate, having been appointed to fill the unexpired term of Daniel Clark, which closed on the 4th of March, 1867. He was succeeded by James W. Patterson.
SOLOMON FOOT was born in Cornwall, Vermont, November 19, 1802, and graduated at Middlebury College in 1826. Having occupied some years in teaching, he studied law, and was admitted to the bar in 1831. He was for many years a member of the State Legislature of Vermont, and State Attorney. From 1843 to 1847 he was a Representative in Congress. In 1851 he was elected a Senator in Congress from Vermont, was re-elected in 1857, and again in 1863. For several years he held the office of President pro tem. of the Senate. He died in Washington, March 28, 1866.—253, 269.
LAFAYETTE S. FOSTER, a lineal descendant of Miles Standish, was born in Franklin, Connecticut, November 22, 1806. In 1828 he graduated at Brown University, which honored him with the degree of LL.D. in 1850. He was admitted to the bar in 1831. He was six times a member of the Connecticut Legislature, and two years Mayor of the city of Norwich. In 1855 he was elected a United States Senator for Connecticut, and was re-elected in 1862. He was chosen President pro tem. of the Senate at the extra session in 1865, and by the elevation of Andrew Johnson to the Presidency became Acting Vice-President of the United State. His service of twelve years in the Senate closed March 4, 1887, when he was succeeded by Orris S. Ferry.—23, 137, 187, 288, 306, 497, 576.