Theodore M. Pomeroy

Theodore Medad Pomeroy was born on December 31, 1824. He spent his childhood in Elbridge, New York, where he went to live when he was nine years old.^[1]

He was educated at the Monroe Academy and at 15, entered Hamilton College^[2] as a junior, as students under 13 were not admitted. He graduated in 1842 at age 17 and was ranked in the first division of 6 in a class of 24.^[1]

In May 1843, at the age of 18, he left his parents' home in Cayuga^{[clarification needed]} and moved to Auburn, where he entered the firm of Beach & Underwood as a law student. William H. Seward was counsel for the firm as he had just finished serving as the Governor of New York from 1838 to 1842.^[3] Christopher Morgan and Samuel Blatchford, who later became an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, became associated with the firm. On May 23, 1846,^[2] he was admitted to practice as an attorney in the state of New York.^[1]

In 1847, he was elected by the Whig Party as clerk of Auburn and in 1851, he was nominated by the Whigs and was elected district attorney.^[2] He was reelected again in 1853 and served a second term. At the end of his second term he was chosen to be a Member of the New York Assembly by the Republicans to represent the second district of Cayuga and served in the legislature in 1857 but declined renomination.^[1]

In September 1860, he was nominated and elected by the Republican Party to represent the 25th congressional district, composed of the counties of Cayuga and Wayne, in the House of Representatives. On July 4, 1861,^[4] he took his seat at the extra session of the 37th Congress convened by President Abraham Lincoln, right after the start of the Civil War.^[5] He was referred to as the youngest-looking member on the floor by Washington newspaper correspondents, who described him as follows:

Mr. Pomeroy of Auburn is small in stature, with keen black eyes, a peculiarly expressive countenance and somewhere near as smart as chain lightning, at least when he deals with lower law Democracy. He is one of the most energetic and effective debaters in the House and brimful to running over with that kind of Republicanism which is found in the now somewhat antiquated document known as the Declaration of Independence. The lions of buccaneer Democracy fare hard when they fall into his hands and he occasionally handles certain old fogy Republicans without gloves.^[1]

He was nominated by acclamation in 1862, 1864, and 1866 from the 24th congressional district which comprised the counties of Cayuga, Wayne and Seneca. On March 3, 1869, Pomeroy's final full day in office came to a close with the 40th Congress.

Schuyler Colfax, who was to be sworn into office as vice president the next day, resigned as speaker of the House. Upon his resignation, the House passed a motion declaring Pomeroy, who was himself leaving Congress the next day, duly elected as speaker in place of Colfax. In office for one day, his is the shortest tenure of any speaker of the U.S. House.^[6]

After leaving Congress, Pomeroy was briefly out of politics. He returned to public life in the mid-1870s and was elected mayor of Auburn, New York, serving from 1875 to 1876, then as a member of the New York State Senate (25th D.) in 1878 and 1879.^[2][5]

After the war ended, a boom in business production and industry began around the country. In the spring of 1866, the Merchants Union Express Company was organized to transport trade and goods across the United States with Elmore P. Ross as president, William H. Seward Jr. as vice-president, John N. Knapp as secretary, William C. Beardsley as treasurer, and Pomeroy as their attorney. By October 1866, the company was transporting goods across the major U.S. railroads and by the beginning of 1867, the company operated a network of express lines across the entire United States.^[1] The huge business incurred equally huge debts and in 1868,^[7] the company was acquired and merged with the American Merchants Union, now known as the American Express Company. Pomeroy stayed on and served as first vice-president^[2] and general counsel,^[8] along with co-founder William Fargo and later with William's brother, J. C. Fargo, in 1868.^[5][9][10]

On September 4, 1855, while serving his second term as District Attorney, he married Elizabeth Leitch Watson (1835–1892), the second daughter of Robert Watson, also of Auburn. Elizabeth's sister, Janet MacNeil Watson (1839–1913), married William H. Seward Jr. (1839–1920).^[11] Together, they had five children.^[12]

Pomeroy retired from public life in 1879 and lived at 168 Genesee Street in Auburn, where he died in 1905.^[2] Harriet Tubman (1822–1913) was a close friend of the family who helped care for the Pomeroy children. She attended his funeral and it was reported that only her flowers and letter were placed on his casket and buried with him.^[11][12]

Pomeroy's grandchildren include New York state senator Robert Watson Pomeroy (1902–1989), Janet Pomeroy Avery (1891–1969), who married John Foster Dulles (1888–1959), the U.S. secretary of state during the Eisenhower Administration, and Josephine Herrick (1897–1972), photographer and teacher.^[12]

His great-grandchildren include John W. F. Dulles (1913–2008), a professor of history and specialist in Brazil at the University of Texas at Austin,^[13] Lillias Dulles Hinshaw (1914–1987), a Presbyterian minister, and Avery Dulles (1918–2008), who converted to Roman Catholicism, entered the Jesuit order, and became the first American theologian to be appointed a cardinal.^[12]

Notes

Sources

• Van Deusen, Glyndon (1967). William Henry Seward. New York: Oxford University Press. OCLC 426046.

• United States Congress. "Theodore M. Pomeroy (id: P000424)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.