Edward Stanly

Edward Stanly
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from North Carolina's 3rd district
In office
1837–1843
Preceded by Ebenezer Pettigrew
Succeeded by David S. Reid
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from North Carolina's 8th district
In office
1849–1853
Preceded by Richard S. Donnell
Succeeded by Thomas L. Clingman
Personal details
Spouse(s)
Cornelia Baldwin (m. 1859)

Edward W. Stanly (January 10, 1810 – July 12, 1872) was a North Carolina politician and orator who represented the southeastern portion of the state in the United States House of Representatives for five terms. In 1857, Stanly ran for Governor of California, but lost to John B. Weller. Politicians of the mid-nineteenth century remarked that Stanly bore a strong physical resemblance to William H. Seward, though this resemblance lessened over time.

Biography

Stanly was born in New Bern, North Carolina, on January 10, 1810. He was a son of U.S. Rep. John Stanly of New Bern and a cousin of U.S. Senator George Edmund Badger. Stanly attended New Bern Academy and graduated from the American Literary, Scientific and Military Academy, Norwich University in 1829. He then studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1832. He settled in Beaufort County and began to practice law.

Four years later, he successfully ran for a seat in the United States House of Representatives on the Whig ticket. He served in the Twenty-fifth, Twenty-sixth and Twenty-seventh congresses from March 4, 1837 to March 3, 1843. Stanly earned his reputation as North Carolina's greatest orator of his generation during his first term in Congress. Throughout his service in Congress, Stanly was a leader of the Southerners who emphasized the Union over states' rights. He won the nickname the 'Conqueror' during his re-election campaign of 1839.

After an unsuccessful bid for re-election in 1843 due to unfavorable redistricting, Stanly returned to North Carolina, where he served as a member of the House of Commons from 1844 to 1846 and again in 1848. He was speaker of the State House from 1844 to 1846, and his impartial presiding was hailed by Commoners of both parties as returning dignity to the chamber in the place of the former political rancor. Stanly served briefly as attorney general of North Carolina in 1847-1848.

In 1849, Stanly was again elected to the U.S. House, serving two terms from March 4, 1849 to March 3, 1853. He declined to run for a sixth term in the elections of 1853 and instead moved to California and practiced law in San Francisco. He was the Republican Party’s unsuccessful candidate for governor in 1857.

Abraham Lincoln appointed Stanly military governor of eastern North Carolina with the rank of brigadier general on May 26, 1862. Stanly resigned this office less than a year later on March 2, 1863, in a dispute with President Lincoln over the Emancipation Proclamation.

He returned to California and resumed his law practice. He died in San Francisco on July 12, 1872. He is buried in the Stanly family plot at Mountain View Cemetery in Oakland, California.

Personal life

On May 11, 1859, in San Francisco, Stanly married Cornelia Baldwin, the sister of Joseph G. Baldwin, a Virginia-born attorney who served on the California Supreme Court.[1] She died April 13, 1903, in San Francisco.[2] Stanly had a very colorful nephew who fought on the Confederate side during the Civil War, Brigadier General Lewis Armistead. Armistead led the Boys in Grey at Pickett’s Charge during the Battle of Gettysburg. Stanly and Armistead were born in the same house in New Bern, North Carolina. The home stands today, a pilgrimage stop for both the Blue and the Grey.

Sources consulted

  • United States Congress. "Edward Stanly (id: S000799)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
  • NCpedia

Further reading

  • Norman D. Brown, "Edward Stanly: First Republican Candidate for Governor of California," California Historical Society Quarterly, vol. 47, no. 3 (Sept. 1968), pp. 251–272. In JSTOR
  • Norman D. Brown, Edward Stanly: Whiggery's Tarheel 'Conqueror.' Tuscaloosa, AL: University of Alabama Press, 1974.

References

  1. ↑ "City Intelligence". Sacramento Daily Union (17 (2534)). California Digital Newspaper Collection. 11 May 1859. p. 3. Retrieved August 8, 2017.
  2. ↑ "Died, Stanly". San Francisco Call. California Digital Newspaper Collection. 14 April 1903. p. 15. Retrieved August 8, 2017.
U.S. House of Representatives
Preceded by
Ebenezer Pettigrew		 Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from North Carolina's 3rd congressional district
1837–1843		 Succeeded by
David S. Reid
Preceded by
Richard S. Donnell		 Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from North Carolina's 8th congressional district
1849–1853		 Succeeded by
Thomas L. Clingman
Legal offices
Preceded by
Spier Whitaker		 Attorney General of North Carolina
1848–1851		 Succeeded by
Bartholomew F. Moore
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