CIVIL WAR & GOLD RUSH SIGNED CHINESE COOLIES SLAVERY ABOLITIONIST CONGRESSMAN MA

Description

INVREF#CL4-25
THOMAS DAWES ELIOT
“…Upon the question of slavery I can have but one judgment; and when its extension is sought to be effected over Territories now free, I would resist it without misgiving and without fear…”
T. D. Eliot, Speech in Congress, May 10, 1854
(1808 – 1870)
CIVIL WAR ANTI-SLAVERY “FREE-SOIL” ABOLITIONIST REPUBLICAN PARTY CONGRESSMAN FROM NEW BEDFORD, MASSACHUSETTS 1854-1855 and 1859-1869,
MA STATE SENATOR IN 1846
MEMBER OF THE MASSACHUSETTS HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES IN 1838
&
CLOSE FRIEND OF AMERICAN AUTHOR, PHILOSOPHER,
and
CLERGYMAN, RALPH WALDO EMERSON.
Eliot's concern for the oppressed slaves also extended to the plight of American Indians and Chinese slave coolies.
Coolies were recruited in China as contract laborers but treated like slaves once they arrived in California. He authored a bill, introduced in December 1861, passed by the Thirty-seventh Congress, and signed by President Lincoln in February 1862, which prohibited American vessels from engaging in the trade that brought coolies to the United States.
HERE’S ELIOT’S SIGNATURE REMOVED FROM A 19
th
CENTURY AUTOGRAPH ALBUM, and SIGNED:
“
Thomas D. Eliot
New Bedford
Mass
tts~
”
The document has been inlaid to another sheet, measures 6” x 4” and is in VERY FINE CONDITION.
A FINE ADDITION TO YOUR COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS CIVIL WAR ERA POLITICAL HISTORY AUTOGRAPH, MANUSCRIPT & EPHEMERA COLLECTION.
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BIOGRAPHY OF THE HONORABLE
THOMAS DAWES ELIOT
Thomas Dawes Eliot
(March 20, 1808 – June 14, 1870), was a member of the
United States House of Representatives
from
Massachusetts
. He was born in
Boston
on March 20, 1808. Eliot was named after his grandfather Justice Thomas Dawes of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court.
Eliot attended the public schools of Washington, D.C., and graduated from Columbian College in the District of Columbia, (now
George Washington University
in 1825. He was admitted to the bar and commenced practice in
New Bedford, Massachusetts
.
Eliot served as a member of the
Massachusetts House of Representatives
, and served in the
Massachusetts State Senate
. He was elected as a
Whig
to the Thirty-third Congress to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of
Zeno Scudder
and served from April 17, 1854, to March 3, 1855. He declined to be a candidate for renomination. Eliot was a delegate to the
Free Soil
Convention in
Worcester
in 1855.
He declined to be a candidate for nomination by the
Republican
for
Attorney General of Massachusetts
in 1857. He was elected as a Republican to the Thirty-sixth and to the four succeeding Congresses (March 4, 1859 – March 3, 1869). Eliot served as Chairman of the
Committee Freedmen’s Affairs
(Thirty-ninth and Fortieth Congresses), and the
Committee on Commerce
(Fortieth Congress). He declined to be a candidate for renomination in 1868. He resumed the practice of law and died on June 14, 1870. His interment was in Oak Grove Cemetery in New Bedford, MA.
About the original owner:
I am a proud member of the Universal Autograph Collectors Club (UACC), The Ephemera Society of America, the Manuscript Society and the American Political Items Collectors (APIC) (member name: John Lissandrello). I subscribe to each organizations' code of ethics and authenticity is guaranteed. ~Providing quality service and historical memorabilia online for over twenty years